Friday, February 3, 2017

Padkos - January 2017

Wisdom For Reading Proverbs

Christ Sensitizes us for Reality - Ask Pastor John

Four Reasons to Slow Down  - Jon Bloom

Grumpiness at Work - Tim Keller

10 Things To Know About Sanctification

When You Feel Dead on The Inside

'The Muggle Protest' - Steve Baarendse (TruthXchange) -Excellent article

Lay Aside The Weight of Insecurity - Jon Bloom

Early Signs of Spiritual Danger - Sinclair Ferguson

Don't Resent God's Training Ground  "Don’t resent God’s training ground. It is here in your current circumstances — with the responsibilities he has entrusted to you, in the location he has placed you, alongside the people to whom he has assigned you — that you will find the good works he has prepared in advance for you (Ephesians 2:10). And that is always where the calling begins — for today, and for all that he is preparing in you for the days to come.
He sees you. He has not forgotten you. And you can trust him.
So, serve wholeheartedly today. Make the most of every opportunity. Run the race marked out for you with patient faith and persevering hope, setting your heart on the promise that he is working all things — all suffering, all waiting, all confusion, all reroutes, all journeys in the wilderness — for the good of us who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). And he himself will fulfill that purpose in us, that he might receive all the glory when he does."

Kindness That Comes Too Late "I would rather have a coffin without a flower and a funeral without a eulogy than a life without the love and encouragement of friends." "To display true love to our friends, we need to anoint them beforehand for their burial. Post-mortem kindness does nothing to cheer their burdened spirits while they live. Tears falling at the funeral make no atonement for neglect during the difficult days of their life. Don’t keep the alabaster jars of your love and encouragement sealed up until your friends are dead. Flood their lives with its scent today. Speak encouraging words while they can still hear them. The things you would say when they are gone, say before they go. The flowers you would send for their coffins, send to their homes today. After all, flowers piled on a coffin cast no fragrance backward over the weary days already gone."

Battling Anxiety - Joni Eareckson Tada  "But as Dr. John Piper says, “Let us make war, not with other people, but with our own unbelief. It is the root of anxiety, which, in turn, is the root of so many other sins.”" 

The Threat of Joy in Ministry "Jesus is shocking in the way He exposes counterfeit happiness. In fact, His whole ministry turns our understanding of joy, satisfaction, and success upside down. "  "One thing is clear: Jesus' teachings go against the grain of every human tendency. So it's no surprise that His command NOT to rejoice comes at the most unexpected time."

Padkos - May 2023

  'A Cry of Grief' - Philip Yancey