He Loves Me!

God loves me.  The Creator of the universe loves ME.  He tenderly, genuinely cares about ME! 

Do I ever doubt this?  Then maybe it's time for me to have another look through the grille.

"I am the Lord, your God, who grasps your right hand.  It is I who say to you 'fear not, I will help you.'" (Isaiah 41:13)

"I am the Good Shepherd.  I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, in the same way that the Father knows Me and I know the Father; for these sheep I will give my life."  (John 10:14-15)

"Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you."  (1 Peter 5:7)

"The Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from the snare."  (Psalm 3:26)

"My sheep hear My voice.  I know them, and they follow Me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.  No one shall snatch them out of My hand."  (John10:27-28)

"He who obeys the commandments he has from Me is the one who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father.  I will love him, and reveal Myself to him,''  (John 14:21)

"It is precisely in this that God proves His love for us: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)

"I am sure of this much:  that He who began the good work in you will carry it through to completion, right up to the day of Christ Jesus."  (Philippians 1:6)

"By His wounds, you were healed."  (1 Peter 2:24)

"God is love."  (1 John 4:16)

"Arise, My beloved, and come!  For see, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone...." (Song of Songs 2:10-11)

"Ah, you are beautiful, My beloved, ah, you are beautiful!"  (Song of Songs 4:1)

Painting:  Cima da Conegliano, God the Father

You are invited to click here to leave comments in the Parlor   

Jesus is....

Among so many other wondrous "things," Jesus is:

"The Reflection of the Father’s glory, the exact Representation of the Father’s being." (Hebrews 1:3).  

"The Resurrection and the Life." (John 11:25)

 

"The Bread of Life."  (John 6:35)

"The Word.."(John 1:1)

"The Way, and the Truth, and the Life.."  (John 14:6)

"The True Vine.."  (John 15:1)

"The Good Shepherd." (John 10:7)

“Lord!” (Philippians 2:11)

"The Light of the world." (John 8:12)

"The Messiah."  (Luke 9:20)

"The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world." (John 1:29)

"The Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End."  (Revelation 21:6)

"I AM."  (John 8:58)

Free

"Who can free me from this body under the power of death?  All praise to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord!"  (Romans 7:24-25)

"You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance:  that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."  (1 Timothy 1:15)

"In His own body He brought your sins to the cross, so that all of us, dead to sin, could live in accord with God's will.  By His wounds, you were healed."  (1 Peter 2:24-25)

"It is in Christ and through His blood that we have been redeemed and our sins forgiven, so immeasurably generous is God's favor to us."  (Ephesians 1:6-7)

"I will forgive their evildoing, and their sins I will remember no more."  (Hebrews 8:12)

"The grace of God has appeared, offering salvation to all men.  It trains us to reject godless ways and worldly desires, and live temperately, justly, and devoutly in this age as we await our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and of our Savior Jesus Christ."  (Titus 2:11-13)

"All of us, gazing on the Lord's glory with unveiled faces, are being transformed from glory to glory into His very image by the Lord Who is the Spirit."  (2 Corinthians 3:18)


James Tissot painting

You are invited to click here to leave comments in the Parlor  

Day by Day, the Choice is Ours

As we view life according to Scripture and Church teaching, we often find ourselves facing choices.  Shall we conduct our lives as the world around us says and does and counsels....  or will we live "through the grille?"  God has given us free will; He doesn't treat us like puppets. 

In essence, two ways of life lie before us.  The world's way or God's way?  Day by day, we are given opportunities to repent, to grow, to change direction.  Day by day, the choice is ours.   

"Be intent on things above rather than on things of earth.  After all, you have died! Your life is hidden now with Christ in God.  When Christ our life appears, you shall appear with Him in glory.  Put to death whatever in your nature is rooted in earth:  fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires, and that lust which is called idolatry.  These are the sins which provoke God's wrath.  Your own conduct was once of this sort, when these sins were your very life.  You must put that aside now:  all the anger and quick temper, the malice, the insults, the foul language.  Stop lying to one another.  What you have done is put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new man, one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator."   (Colossians 3:2-10)

Painting: Gustav Jagerspacher Der Zweifler 1921

You are invited to click here to join us for comments in the Parlor 

Your Light Must Shine So That...

"You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Men do not light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket.  They set it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your Heavenly Father."  (Matthew 5:14-16)

Painting: Martin Ferdinand Quadal

With this post, I am beginning a week-long series of scripture quotes, trusting God to use these to "strengthen our grillwork."  You are invited to click here to join us for comments in the Parlor, and to share (if you wish) scriptures that are particularly meaningful to you.