We tend not to think of our daily devotions as training sessions, but they are.
"Your heart has to be prepared ahead of time through faith & prayer & grace & mercy & love & forgiveness so you can keep your heart open in hell, when hell happens." -- Richard Rohr
There is real joy in the practice of piety. The righteous are not putting off earthly pleasure for eternal security.
"The path to heaven lies through heaven, and all the way to heaven is heaven." -- St. Catherine of Siena
Your social status informs the conditions of your salvation: good news for the poor, sobering news to the rich.
"For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord's freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ's servant." -- I Corinthians 7: 23
There is a pleasure, a very real joy to be had in reading and saying and thinking about the Word of God.
“How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!!” -- Psalms 119:103 (KJV)
Is your love for Christ overflowing? Do you want to do something for him? Perform an act of charity for one of "the least of these."
"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." -- Matthew 25:40 (KJV)
A defining characteristic of Godly wisdom is that, for all its shrewdness, it does no harm.
"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." -- Matthew 10:16 (KJV)
🎨 Aaron Spong
The danger of a good thing is that the enjoyment thereof may condition you not to appreciate (or even seek after) something new.
"No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better." -- Luke 5:39 (KJV)
Sin is everywhere, but grace is also everywhere. Everything is everywhere, & if you look at the world, & all you see is sin, you are blind to the abundance of grace.
"Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound"
David knows the sincerity of love & commitment he feels in the moment of singing the 119th Psalm is not guaranteed to last, but his prayer is that it would.
"With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments." -- Psalms 119:10
🎨 Arthur Szyk
The goodness of God's steadfast love lies in its constancy.
"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" -- Psalm 106:1
It's a reciprocal relationship: you receive Him, and he gives you the power to be like him.
"But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." -- John 1:12 (KJV)
These are the gentiles. If you are a Christian who is not of Jewish descent, this is you.
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." -- John 10:16 (KJV)
"Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee." -- Psalm 143:8 (KJV)
You might not have heard about it, but the guys at Lumo have made a cinematically literate, word-for-word cinematic adaption of the four gospels. If you're into Bible movies, this is well worth checking out.
https://t.co/Zm7LLmHN3U