Forgiven Souls Are Humble « J.C. Ryle Quotes

Forgiven souls are HUMBLE. They cannot forget that they owe all they have and hope for to free grace, and this keeps them lowly. They are brands plucked from the fire—debtors who could not pay for themselves—captives who must have remained in prison forever—but for undeserved mercy—wandering sheep who were ready to perish when the Shepherd found them! What right then have they to be proud? I do not deny that there are proud saints. But this I do say—they are of all God’s creatures the most inconsistent, and of all God’s children the most likely to stumble and pierce themselves with many sorrows. We have nothing we can call our own–but sin and weakness. Surely there is no garment that befits us so well, as humility.

~ J.C. Ryle

God is our home

“The eternal God is thy refuge.” - Deuteronomy 33:27


The word refuge may be translated “mansion,” or “abiding- place,” which gives the thought that God is our abode, our home. There is a fulness and sweetness in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, although it be the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret; and dearer far is our blessed God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being.

It is at home that we feel safe: we shut the world out and dwell in quiet security. So when we are with our God we “fear no evil.” He is our shelter and retreat, our abiding refuge. At home, we take our rest; it is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. And so our hearts find rest in God, when, wearied with life’s conflict, we turn to him, and our soul dwells at ease.

At home, also, we let our hearts loose; we are not afraid of being misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So when we are with God we can commune freely with him, laying open all our hidden desires; for if the “secret of the Lord is with them that fear him,” the secrets of them that fear him ought to be, and must be, with their Lord. Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness: and it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. We have joy in him which far surpasses all other joy.

It is also for home that we work and labour. The thought of it gives strength to bear the daily burden, and quickens the fingers to perform the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our home. Love to him strengthens us. We think of him in the person of his dear Son; and a glimpse of the suffering face of the Redeemer constrains us to labour in his cause. We feel that we must work, for we have brethren yet to be saved, and we have our Father’s heart to make glad by bringing home his wandering sons; we would fill with holy mirth the sacred family among whom we dwell. Happy are those who have thus the God of Jacob for their refuge!

-Charles Spurgeon

5 New clips from Narnia

Clip 1: You'll know me by another name



Clip 2: Transition to Narnia



Clip 3: Dark Island



Clip 4: We have nothing if not belief



Clip 5: You'll see her again

Cat and gator face off, gator blinks

Some things you have to see to believe. Here's a cat with the heart of a Lion.



HT: Biblical Christianity

More clips from Narnia

Here is another brief clip from Narnia along with a preview of the theme song performed by Carrie Underwood.

A Person and a Place: Safely Home - Randy Alcorn

Bertrand Russell has been called the greatest mind of the twentieth century. Anticipating his death he said, “There is darkness without, and when I die there will be darkness within. There is no splendor, no vastness anywhere; only triviality for a moment, and then nothing.”

Whether or not he repented and turned to Christ before he died, Russell now knows how terribly wrong he was in thinking human beings exist only temporarily. Death is not a hole; it’s a door. We don’t end; we relocate.

Russell failed to recognize what children intuitively know. Heaven is not a fairy tale. It’s not some baseless dream. Heaven is an objective reality that exists independently of anyone’s belief or disbelief in it. Heaven is real. So real that earth, in comparison, is but the Shadowlands.

C. S. Lewis said, “There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven, but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we have ever desired anything else.... Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand.”

We long for a perfect world not just because this one isn’t but because we sense there really is one. Whether or not we realize it, we’re homesick for heaven. Continue>>

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