| Poster | Thread | PaulWest
Member
Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Quote:
Is it black by any chance?
Oh, yes. Black and strong! Strong tea and coffee are my vices. I drink Earl Grey in the evenings, putting a dab of either hazelnut or vanilla cream in for a nice, smooth sweetness.
Yup, this is what I do. I stay home Friday and Saturday nights, read the Bible, chat with my Christian friends, and drink tea!
I guess Jesus will do that to a fellow.
Brother Paul :-)
(edit) I remember reading about when John Wesley tried quit tea. The headaches, the irascibility. It was a huge fight for him, trying to break from the bondage. It was only then when he realized what kind of pull the caffine had had on his flesh!
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Paul Frederick West
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|  2007/2/24 10:56 | Profile | PaulWest
Member
Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Quote:
Bowing in full surrender, low at his blessed feet, bidding him take, break me, and make, till I am molded complete
I've never heard this one, Joy. And from Oswald J. Smith, no less! The quote I excerpted above from the hymn neatly sums up the cry in my heart. Oh, Lord, take me and break me and make me complete and perfect within. Breaking engenders making, and the breaking is often very painful. The purging flames can be hot, the dross extracted noisome, but Christian perfection is not cheap, the price of our slavation was not cheap - and the cost of following Christ and being molded into His image is not cheap either. But it is [i]possible[/i] in his strength!
[i]"...let us go on unto perfection..."[/i]
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2007/2/24 11:21 | Profile |
| | Re: | | Quote:
Breaking engenders making, and the breaking is often very painful. The purging flames can be hot, the dross extracted noisome, but Christian perfection is not cheap, the price of our salvation was not cheap - and the cost of following Christ and being molded into His image is not cheap either. But it is possible in his strength!
Amen! This reminds me of what Keith Daniel and Gerhard Du Toit say, "It will cost you absolutely everything to surrender/go through with God, but it will cost you far more not to."
"My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." Psalms 63:8 |
| | 2007/2/24 11:30 | | PaulWest
Member
Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Quote:
"It will cost you absolutely everything to surrender/go through with God, but it will cost you far more not to."
Oh, how true. It will cost you absolutely [i]everything[/i] to follow Christ. When you become a follower of Christ, you go to your own funeral. Following Jesus Christ will exact a lifetime of bloody spiritual combat and wrestling. Wicked spirits attemt to assignnate you at every corner; your very own heart beating in your chest is wicked and deceitful; your tongue is caught on hellfire; the flesh that envelops your spirit is treacherous; your allied conscience can't even be fully trusted. No, we have absolutely nothing but the engrafted Word of God! No sure rock to stand on but Jesus Christ! Most potential followers don't want to hear this; they instead want the smooth road, some form of self-sufficiency, the assurance of frequent rest and easy sailing, and ultimately to float into heaven on flowery beds of ease.
Leonard Ravenhill wrote something along these lines. A sort of spin-off from Isaac Watt's hymn "Am I Soldier of the Cross?" Here's what Ravenhill wrote:
I must be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease
Let others fight to win the prize
and battle on their knees
I cannot fight, but I must reign
In heaven's blest abode
I'm glad that some endure the pain -
[b]I'm resting in the Lord![/b]
There are no foes for meto face
My pastor is so good
he says, "Just draw on saving grace
And love the brotherhood"
I am a soldier of the cross
Unfaithful though I am
I pay my tithes for his own cause
And blush to speak his name
I'm sure in that day of rewards
He'll give me some small prize
And so my gracious, loving Lord
Will wipe tears from my eyes
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2007/2/24 11:55 | Profile | PaulWest
Member
Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas
| | Re: | | Sister Joy, have you heard this gem:
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
May I devote my life wholly to Thee:
Watch Thou my wayward feet,
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart, help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
Teach me to do Thy will most lovingly;
Be Thou my Friend and Guide,
Let me with Thee abide;
Purer in heart, help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
Until Thy holy face one day I see:
Keep me from secret sin,
Reign Thou my soul within;
Purer in heart, help me to be
[url=http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/u/purerinh.htm]Purer in Heart, O God[/url]
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Paul Frederick West
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| | 2007/2/24 12:06 | Profile |
| | Re: | | Quote:
I must be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease
Let others fight to win the prize
and battle on their knees
I cannot fight, but I must reign
In heaven's blest abode
I'm glad that some endure the pain -
I'm resting in the Lord!
There are no foes for meto face
My pastor is so good
he says, "Just draw on saving grace
And love the brotherhood"
I am a soldier of the cross
Unfaithful though I am
I pay my tithes for his own cause
And blush to speak his name
I'm sure in that day of rewards
He'll give me some small prize
And so my gracious, loving Lord
Will wipe tears from my eyes
.
Oh, that is very sobering. [i]I cannot fight, but I must reign, In heaven's blest abode, I'm glad that some endure the pain - I'm resting in the Lord![/i]. Once again, humanism! I want what will benefit [b]me[/b] the most! Ah, it is indeed a fight, a fight to keep self off the throne and Christ on. And yet in my own strength I cannot not win, but Christ in me overcomes.
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." Romans 8:37.
"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." Eph. 6:10, be strong [i]in the Lord[/i], and in the power of [i]His might[/i]. |
| | 2007/2/24 12:38 | |
| | Re: | | No, brother Paul, I don't think I've heard this song. I'll have to look it up in our hymnal, it looks like a really good song. Thank you for sharing it, brother.
Quote:
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
May I devote my life wholly to Thee:
Watch Thou my wayward feet,
Guide me with counsel sweet;
Purer in heart, help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
Teach me to do Thy will most lovingly;
Be Thou my Friend and Guide,
Let me with Thee abide;
Purer in heart, help me to be.
Purer in heart, O God, help me to be;
Until Thy holy face one day I see:
Keep me from secret sin,
Reign Thou my soul within;
Purer in heart, help me to be.
This is such a beautiful heartcry, [i]'Purer in heart, help me to be.[/i]'
"The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." Psalms 138:8 |
| | 2007/2/24 12:50 | |
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