Wednesday Words

"These verses [about the wise men] show us that there may be true servants of God in places where we should not expect to find them.  The Lord Jesus has many 'hidden ones', like these wise men.  Their story on earth may be as little known as that of Melchizedek, Jethro, and Job.  But their names are in the book of life, and they will be found with Christ on the day of his appearing.  It is well to remember this.  We must not look round the earth and say hastily, 'All is barren'.  The grace of God is not tied to places and families.  The Holy Spirit can lead souls to Christ without the help of any outward means.  Men may be born in dark places of the earth, like these wise men, and yet like them be made 'wise for salvation'.  There are some traveling to heaven at this moment, of whom the church and the world know nothing.  They flourish in secret places like the 'lily among thorns', and seem to 'waste their sweetness on desert air'.  But Christ loves them, and they love Christ."

 

--J.C. Ryle

 

Ryle, J.C. "The Lessons of the Wise Men." Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.

Comp. Nancy Guthrie. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008. 110. Print.

Wednesday Words

 

An artist’s failure to work is rarely mechanical—fingers that fail to curl around a pen or a brush—but spiritual: a fear that has rendered them artistically blind or deaf. The solution to them all is to draw closer to God, the source of all order, rest, and freedom, and of every image, sound, and word.

Wallace, Carey. "On Discipline." Web log post. Cardus. N.p., 13 May 2011.
Source: Ivester, Lanier. "Creativity: Spiritual Battle and Spiritual Discipline, Part One." Web log post. The Rabbit Room. N.p., 9 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <www.rabbitroom.com>.

Wednesday Words

 

Peterson, Andrew. All You'll Ever Need. Resurrection Letters Vol. II. Ben Shive, 2008. CD. Centricity Music

Wednesday Words

 

Jen. "Green is the New Yuck". Processed Food Builds Muscle: A Culinary Critique on What Really Makes a Healthy Man. Sarcastic Wife Press. 2013. Print.

Wednesday Words

Taylor, Grace. "The Wrong Gospel." Web log post. Voice of the Martyrs. N.p., 20 Nov. 2013. Web. 20 Nov. 2013.

Wednesday Words

As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

Luke 11:27-28

 

"How great a privilege was it to this young virgin (Mary) to conceive in her womb and hold in her arms and suckle at her breasts, a Child who was the great and eternal and infinitely beloved Son of God, the Creator and mighty Governor of heaven and earth and the great Savior of mankind.  Well might she say upon it, "My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior."

But hearing and keeping the word of God renders a person more blessed than any of those privileges.  By 'hearing the Word of God' is either intended an external or an internal or spiritual hearing.  The woman to whom Christ directed himself in the text had been hearing the word externally.  Christ therefore here informs her that if she not only hears but keeps this word, he will render her more blessed than that privilege that she spoke of."

--Jonathan Edwards

 

 

Luke. English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2001. Print.

 

Edwards, Jonathan. "To Be More Blessed Than Mary." Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.
Comp. Nancy Guthrie. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 57. Print.
Parenthesis mine.

Wednesday Words

 

Donne, John, and Joseph "Skip" Ryan. "Tabernacled Among Us." Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus.

Comp. Nancy Guthrie. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 20. Print.

Wednesday Words

 

Whitefield, George. "Contemplating Christmas." Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus. By Nancy Guthrie. Wheaton: Crossway, 2008. 11. Print.

Wednesday Words

Genesis. Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Crossway, 2013. Print.

Wednesday Words

 

Wednesday Words

"But, dear reader, there is no comfort in the word 'farewell', even if you say it in French.  'Farewell' is a word that, in any language, is full of sorrow.  It is a word that promises absolutely nothing."
 

The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo 

Wednesday Words

Margaret Hale, to her father about her opinion of the proud, Mr. Thornton:

"He is the first specimen of a manufacturer--of a person engaged in trade--that I have had the opportunity of studying, papa.  He is my first olive; let me make a face while I swallow it."

North & South, Elizabeth Gaskell

Wednesday Words

"We talk as those who believe God is omnipotent and omnipresent, but we often act as if He can only work through one person, one method, or one kind of ministry at a time.  If we don't refuse ourselves the indulgence, we can lapse into the mentality of a spoiled child who thinks that if God shows you favor, He must hate me...
"One the other hand, we can do our level best not to compare ourselves with those of similar gifting or calling...others will leap forward to do it for us.  Stand back and watch how many observers will try to nudge you into a competition with someone who fills a similar slot.  The idea that anything comparable is automatically competitive."

~Beth Moore, Mercy Triumphs

Wednesday Words

 

"True hope changes sorrow, but does not obliterate it.  Death is not to be taken as a 'normal, beautiful release' but as an enemy which separates body from spirit and human beings from each other.  It spoils the beautiful creation of God.  It is so basically an enemy that God says that He will pay a great price, a ransom, to deliver us from death's power..."

~Edith Schaeffer, Affliction