laugh. cry. then laugh some more...
robin's random reflections and rambling realizations
God is never so completely available and fully known as when His own come before Him in worship.
“…You are holy, inhabiting the praises of your people.” Psalm 22:3
“You will seek Me and find me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13
“You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11
ROBIN HOLSTEEN (@robinholsteen) has shared a Tweet with you:
“TozerAW: “Worship is no longer worship when it reflects the culture around us more than the Christ within us.” AW Tozer” —http://twitter.com/TozerAW/status/74851976332050432
“Life is an endless series of risks, rewards and repercussions. In our relationships. In our work. In our play. If we don’t risk anything, we don’t live — we just exist. If we risk too much, our very existence could be in peril. Each of us chooses daily whether the reward/repercussion is worth the risk. We accept some risks to pursue the joy of the reward for ourselves or for others. We avoid some risks to protect ourselves and others from the pain of the repercussion. Here then, is the question: when you risk, expecting joy, and receive instead pain, how will you persevere through the pain to pursue further joy?”
Psalm 5:11
“But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.”
Isaiah 61:1-3
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.”
…the home we’ve been looking and longing for all our lives.
“Why are not our hearts continually set on heaven? Why dwell we not there in constant contemplation? Bend thy soul to study eternity, busy thyself about the life to come, habituate thyself to such contemplations, and let not those thoughts be seldom and cursory, but bathe thyself in Heaven’s delights.” —Richard Baxter (1615-1691)
“It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and then cried:
‘I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!’ — C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle
Further up and further in!
Father, create in me a longing to cry “further up” and “further in”. Remove from me the lifeless contentment to rest here and replace it with a restless anticipation that “heaven is our real home.”
On the seventh day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “joy” ~
“You have made known to me the paths of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence.” ~ Acts 2:28
On the sixth day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “light for the darkest of nights” ~
“You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.” ~ Psalm 18:28
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” ~ John 12:46
On the fifth day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “a dwelling place” ~
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” ~ Psalm 90:1
“One thing have I asked of the LORD; that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life…” ~ Psalm 27:4
One the fourth day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “perspective” ~
“Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths.” ~ Psalm 25:3
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” ~ Isaiah 55:8-9
On the third day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “salvation” ~
“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” ~ Psalm 62:5-7
“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness; as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” ~ Isaiah 61:10
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ…” ~ I Thessalonians 5:9
On the second day of Christmas, True Love gave to me “opportunity” ~
“If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved…for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ “ ~ Romans 10:9 & 13
