God is ever seeking to get down to us – to be the divine man in us. And we are ever saying, “That be far from Thee, Lord!” We are careful, in our unbelief, over the divine dignity, of which He is too grand to think. Better pleasing to God…is the audacity of Job, who, rushing into His presence, and flinging the door of His presence-chamber to the wall, like a troubled – it may be angry – but yet faithful child, calls aloud in the ear of Him whose perfect Fatherhood be has yet to learn, “Am I a sea or a whale, that Thou settest a watch over me?”… The devotion of God to His creatures is perfect; He does not think about Himself, but about them; He wants nothing for Himself, but finds His blessedness in the outgoing of blessedness. Ah! it is a terrible – shall it be a lonely glory, this? We will draw near with our human response, our abandonment of self in the faith of Jesus. He Lives Himself to us – shall we not give ourselves to Him? Shall we not give ourselves to each other whom He loves?
Blessing
John Pulsford
Unhappy spirit, cast down under thy sins, multitudes of sins, years of sins! – heavily burdened as thou art, and pierced through with sorrows, thou mayest look to God, and hope, for “HE delighteth in mercy.” His mercy can make thee a clean and beautiful, a happy and rejoicing spirit. God will be “delighted” to make thee “equal to the angels.” So humble, so loving is thy God, and so earnestly does He long to bless thee, that behold, He stands at thy door and knocks.
C. S. Lewis
If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. If we consider the unblushing promises of reward … promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at sea. We are far too easily pleased.
Henry Ward Beecher
The unthankful heart…discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart…will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessing.
George Matheson
There are some prayers that are followed by a Divine silence because we are not yet ripe for all we have asked; there are others which are so followed because we are ripe for more. We do not always know the full strength of our own capacity; we have to be prepared for receiving greater blessings than we have ever dreamed of.
Author Unknown
There is no test of faith so true as the grace of thanksgiving. Are you praising God enough? Are you thanking Him for your actual blessings that are more than can be numbered, and are you daring to praise Him even for those trials which are but blessings in disguise? Have you learned to praise Him in advance for the things that have not yet come?
Henry Ward Beecher
The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessing.
Maltbie Davenport (Mattie D) Babcock
Be on the lookout for mercies. The more we look for them, the more of them we will see. Blessings brighten when we count them.
Henri J. M. Nouwen
Many people don’t think they are loved, or held safe, and so when suffering comes they see it as an affirmation of their worthlessness. The great question of ministry and the spiritual life is to learn to live our brokenness under the blessing and not the curse.
Wesley L. Duewel
God delights to plan for His children. No human father ever experienced such joy in planning for his child as God experiences as He plans for you. He does not want you to miss any part of His beautiful purpose for you. His plans are filled with details of blessing, joy, and wonderful surprises. David said, “The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare”