Month: April 2021

Encouragement to live fully for God’s glory, all the way to the end

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“There are no sunset years for the Christian. Until the day you die, you have a race to run and a ministry to finish… So, straighten your back. Open your eyes. Brace your shoulders. And cry out, ‘I will not waste it!’”
(John Piper)

“David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers.”
(Acts 13:36 ESV)

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
(Mark Twain)

“…life is fragile and death is inevitable. We don’t know the number of days we will have, nor can we choose how easy or hard our path. To quote the wisdom of Gandalf:  All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.’”
(Brett McCracken)

“…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:13-14 ESV)

A few years ago, Senators Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) established unusual benchmarks for deciding whether to run for reelection in 2022, potential six-year terms that would end with Grassley in his mid-90s and Leahy in his late 80s.

“If I can run three miles four times a week, I’ll be running for reelection,” Grassley, now 87, said at the time. His office pointed to an interview with Iowa media in which he explained that he ran 13 straight days during his recent asymptomatic bout of covid-19, although his morning runs are now just 2 miles.

“We know [the Apostle] John, likely in his 80’s or even older, was still serving his brothers and sisters in the Lord. Again, Bible scholars estimate Anna was anywhere from 84 to 105 years old, and yet; she ‘continued to spend every day praying at the temple (Luke 2:36-37).’”
(Dave Maddox)

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.”
(Anonymous)

“All I want now is to preach the gospel, die and be forgotten.”
(Count Zinzendorf)

As we reflect on God’s goodness to us through the cross on this Good Friday 2021, here is a collection of Scriptures, quotes and one worship song to encourage and uplift you on this Resurrection weekend.

“…and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,
that we might die to sin and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed.”

1 Peter 2:24 NASB

“And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”

Colossians 2:13-14 NASB

“The best of men are only men at their very best. Patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, church fathers, reformers, puritans – all are sinners who need a Savior.”

J.C. Ryle

“But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Galatians 6:14 NASB

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”

1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV

“Every time we look at the cross, Christ seems to say to us, ‘I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.’ Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size.”

John R. W. Stott, The Message of Galatians

“I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you. For I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins.”

1 Corinthians 15:1,3 ESV

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8 ESV

Finally, I wanted to share a song that I think can encourage all of us, no matter where we find ourselves on our spiritual journey – “Come As You Are” by Christian recording artist David Crowder (it’s been viewed over 28 million times on YouTube).

Come As You Are
(by David Crowder)

Come out of sadness
From wherever you’ve been
Come broken hearted
Let the rescue begin
Come find your mercy
Oh sinner come kneel

Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal

So lay down your burdens
Lay down your shame
All who are broken
Lift up your face

Oh wanderer come home
You’re not too far
So lay down your hurt
Lay down your heart
Come as you are

There’s hope for the hopeless
And all those who’ve strayed
Come sit at the table
Come taste the grace

There’s rest for the weary
Rest that endures
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t cure

There’s joy for the morning
Oh sinner be still

Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal
Earth has no sorrow
That heaven can’t heal