Remedy For Idolatry

From this article - Remedy Our Idolatry

"France’s foremost preacher of the nineteenth century, Adolphe Monod, explained the mystery of this truth in a most profound way: “I strive to live in the communion of Jesus Christ—praying to Him, waiting for Him, speaking to Him, hearing Him, and, in a word, constantly bearing witness to Him day and night; all which would be idolatry if He were not God, and God in the highest sense of the word, the highest that the human mind is capable of giving to that sublime name.”"

Padkos May 2015

Christian Apps Jeffrey Kranz “This map pulls together Christian apps of all kinds: from native iOS and Android, Web-based, desktop software, and even a PowerPoint plugin. It’s not a comprehensive list, but it should give you an idea of what’s out there. And of course, remember that this is an observation, not a recommendation.”
I have cursed you Tim Challis “The notes in the MacArthur Study Bible say it well: “Since you have many offensive words to be forgiven, don’t keep strict accounts of other’s offensive words against you.” “Even though I know how many idle words I speak, I assume that other people mean every word. I allow myself far greater leeway than I allow others. I excuse myself while condemning them.”
Don’t Let Pride Steal Your Joy – Jon Bloom “This is why everything about the gospel is designed to expose our pride and force us to put it to death. God doesn’t humble us because, like some conceited tyrant, he takes pleasure in our grovelling. He humbles us because he wants us to be happy and free — he wants us to reflect his image! God is perfectly humble; he sees all things — himself and everything else — exactly as they are. And he is the happiest being alive.”
4 Ways to Know hat You Are Pursuing - Jeremy Writebol “Once we identify our core pursuits, we can address how to navigate those pursuits in a way that will free us from the ensnaring power of sin and death. To help us further diagnose our motivational drives and ambitions, we need to take a walk into the darkness. We need to step into our nightmares and look at our fears in the face. By moving the things that bring us the deepest fear and anxiety into the light, we can clearly see the pursuits that drive our daily lives.”
I Went All The Way Back – Ray Ortlund “I came to see that these two problems are interrelated. There is a reason why people who believe God is love (1 John 4:7-8) treat one another with unlove. The reason is not a lack of biblical orthodoxy about God. The reason is a lack of personal reality with God. A theoretical God of love can be defended as a doctrinal concept, even while being denied as a practical reality. But unreality with God inevitably shows: “And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God” (Isaiah 8:21).”
Worse Trend Ever
Has Authenticity Trumped Holiness?
Failure Is Not a Virtue
On Writing Well – I’m sure this applies to more than writing books…
The Importance of Friendship -
Conflict is an Opportunity For Grace – David Mathis “For the Christian, conflict is not something to avoid or ignore. It is an opportunity for the triumph of grace.”
5 Signs of a Strong Friendship - Rosilind Jukic
4 Purposes of Godly Friendships – Kelly Needham
I Want A Friend Like That! – Kimberly Wagner
5 Things to do With God’s Word – Michael J Kruger “Indeed, Jesus embodies all five of these characteristics. He trusted, studied, used, delighted in, and obeyed God’s Word. In fact, he did all these things even more than the first David. While David certainly serves as an example of what to do with God’s word, Jesus is the ultimate example. One greater than David has come. And he loved God’s Word.”
6 Counterfeits That Lead Away From The Biblical Gospel – Trevin Wax “When it comes to the gospel, the best way to spot a counterfeit gospel is to know the biblical gospel – not only to master it in a cerebral, objective sense, but to be captured by the beauty of what God has done for us in Christ.”
YOLO (You Only Live Once) – Ryan Shelton “But YOLO is a mask worn by an ancient despot. Who doesn’t remember his previous disguises? He has had other aliases. You may remember him as carpe diem, or more recently, “the bucket list.” He has gone incarnate in figures like Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray or Robin Williams’s portrayal of professor John Keating in Dead Poets Society. He ensnares would-be servants of the true King by holding out fleeting satisfaction and vaporous rewards.”
Quotes From Les Miserables – Trevin Wax

When God Does The Miracle We Did Not Ask For – Vaneetha Rendall “With every heartache I wanted a Red Sea miracle. A miracle that would astonish the world, reward me for my faithfulness, make my life glorious. I didn’t want manna.”

He Cares For Me

“At first, I just want the agony to go away. I don’t rejoice in the moment. I don’t rejoice at all. But as I cling to God and his promises, he sustains me. Yet over time, I realize I have an inexplicable joy. Not in my circumstances but in the God who cares so fiercely for me.”

From : When God Does The Miracle I Didn't Ask For' (Vaneetha Rendall)

Padkos - April 2015

Parable of Sin – Cancer – John Piper   “All human suffering, especially the suffering of the Son of God, is meant to portray to dull souls the unimaginable moral ugliness of sin and the unimaginable offensiveness of sin to God.”

‘The Dead End Of Sexual Sin’ by Rosaria Butterfield.

 

Help Me Face Today  Amanda Knoke     “When our fear of man seems louder than our trust in him, or our fear for the future overwhelms our thoughts, or our fear and comparison strips us of our joy, the Lord proclaims to us, fear not, I am with you. . . .”

 

The Secret You Need To Know About Inconveniences - Ann Voskamp   “Inconvenience is the DNA of healthy love.” “The only way to live a remarkable life, is not to get everyone to notice you, but to leave noticeable marks of love everywhere you go.”

 

Steward the Gifts God Has Assigned to You  Jon Bloom  -“God gifts all of us in such a way that our gifts channel blessings to others by meeting various needs, and they channel the blessing of humility to us by exposing our pride and pushing us to receive God’s grace to live by God-pleasing faith (Hebrews 11:6). When this happens it produces gratitude in everyone. It’s perfect! Our gifts work to bless others and sanctify us. It’s exactly what recovering selfaholics need.”

Messy Community – Christina Fox  “But when life gets hard and there is no laughter to share, that’s when friendship is seen for what it truly is. When life gets messy, that’s where the rubber meets the road.”

When Fear Seizes You  - Stacy Reaoch  “Don’t allow the enemy of fear to seize you and take you captive. Fight him off with the promises of God’s word and his unchanging character.”

3 Ways To Remember God’s Grace  - Steven Lee  “Remembering who God is and who we are is the antidote to grumbling. If we see our world, our lives, and our circumstances through the lens of Jesus’s cross, everything will come into focus. And that clarity of sight will awaken joy in us. It is looking through this lens that we find a deep sense of what it means to be loved by a good and kind heavenly Father.”

Arguments Against Anxiety – John Piper (Look at the Book)

 

You Have Just Enough Time – Jon Bloom  “Busyness is moral laziness [because it is often a statement of our self-importance and our excuse to be inattentive to people] . . . But God has given us just enough time to do what we need to do moment by moment to respond to him. And his grace is there; it is eternally present. Every moment is a sacrament where time touches eternity and there is exactly enough time to do what God has called us to do.” Prof. Bruce Hindmarsh

Practises We Need Back in Our Lives – Paul Perkins  “Perhaps you can relate, whether with technology, children, marriage or simply getting older. Life is in a constant state of flux. While change is good, the unintended consequences of change aren’t always to our benefit. Unless we take a minute to assess what we’ve lost in the process of gaining, we might end up without what we would do best to keep. “

God Owes Me Nothing – Darryl Dash  “Why do I live like God owes me something? Could it be that I’m really serving myself when I think I’m serving God?”

Another on from the Challis blog

Indifference

Found this one over on Tim Challis' blog :

Too true

A Spot of Wisdom

When people praise you, don’t let it go to your head. When they criticize you, don’t let it go to your heart. —C.J. Rhodes