Value Beyond All Thought

I came across this part of a Puritan prayer yesterday.  I thought it was too good not to share.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God, its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.  Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.  Yet thy compassions yearn over me, thy heart hastens to my rescue, thy love endured my curse, thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.  Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation, bathed in thy blood, triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

                                                                             -Arthur Bennet, The Valley of Vision

Little Things

"Do little things as though they were great, because of the majesty of Jesus Christ who does them in us, and who lives our life: and do the greatest things as though they were little and easy, because of His omnipotence."  ~ Blaise Pascal 

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."   ~Antonio Smith

 

 

"What we call little things are merely the causes of great things; they are the beginning, the embryo, and it is the point of departure which, generally speaking, decides the whole future of an existence. One single black speck may be the beginning of a gangrene, of a storm, of a revolution." ~ Henri Frederic Amiel


"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee." ~Marian Wright Edelman


"I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble." ~Helen Keller 


"Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon." ~Booker T. Washington

Quotes

We recently had Missions Conference at my church, and some quotes made by famous missionaries were put up on the church walls.  Some of them I had heard before, while others were quite new to me.  I copied down a few of my favorites, and thought I would share them here.

"People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries.  They forget that they too are expending their lives, and when the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted."   ~Nate Saint

"Many of us are missing something in life because we are after the second best.  I put before you what I have found to be best, One who is worthy of all our devotion: Jesus Christ."  ~Eric Liddell

"God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on Him."  ~Hudson Taylor

"God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him."  ~Hudson Taylor

"God, I pray, light these idle sticks of my life and may I burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life, but a full one like Yours, Lord Jesus."  ~Jim Elliott

"If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?"  ~David Livingstone

These were very thought provoking and powerful for me.  I hope they are for you as well.

The Bend in the Road

Bends in the road have always had a certain fascination for me. Some of my favorite pictures are - you guessed it! - bends in the road.  I don't know what it is about them.  Maybe it's the sense of mystery they contain, because you never know just what lies around the bend.  One of my favorite parts in Anne of Green Gables talks about the bend in the road:

"Oh, I've dozens of plans, Marilla.  I've been thinking them out for a week.  I shall give life here my best, and I believe it will give its best to me in return.  When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road.  I thought I could see along it for many a milestone.  Now there is a bend in it.  I don't know what lies around the bend but I'm going to believe that the best does.  It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla.  I wonder how the road beyond it goes - what there is of green glory and soft, checkered light and shadows - what new landscapes - what new beauties - what curves and hills and valleys further on."

Yes, you never know what lies beyond the bend, and yes, it has its fascination.  Sometimes it can be a little uncertain and scary not knowing what lies ahead next, but - I know the One who already knows what lies around that bend.  And the next bend.  And the next.  I don't know what God has in store for me, but it lies waiting for me just around the corner - around the bend in the road.

"I am only one, but I am one.  I cannot do everything, but I can do something.  And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do."  
~Edward Everett Hale

"God comes where my helplessness begins."  

~Oswald Chambers

"Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instruments afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him." ~Hudson Taylor

"All of God's people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary by the purpose He has given them." -Oswald Chambers