Lover of My Soul

“Do you know who you are? Do you know who you were designed to be? Do you know the Father’s intent for your life? You are meant to hear in your spirit the same thing Jesus heard when he came out of the waters of baptism at the beginning of his ministry: ‘You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased’....J I Packer puts it simply. ‘What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God for his Father’...Our highest privilege and deepest need is to experience the holy God as our loving Father, to approach him without fear and to be assured of his fatherly care and concern.” Greg Ogden

“O dear soul, pray, and tell Him everything that is wanting, be it ever so great or ever so small. His loving-kindness will hear even the least petition; nay, He will seem to be ignorant of what thou dost not tell Him. But whatever is poured out before Him is actually addressed and lodged in its proper place, and does not lie upon thy heart any longer, but upon His heart, which cannot rest till you are relieved. And if you have experienced His help aforetime in great or small things, you may depend on His readiness to help you out of troubles hereafter; only be earnest in prayer for His help. We often imagine we were willing and drawing near to Him, but He was unwilling, and refused our request; but it is not so: He rather draws us, and desires our relief more than we do; for it is He that works even this willing mind.” K.H. Von Bogatzky

“You know to what extent You have already changed me, You who first healed me of the lust of vindicating myself, so that You might forgive all my remaining iniquities, and heal my diseases, and redeem my life from corruption, and crown me with loving-kindness and tender mercies, and satisfy my desire with good things.” St. Augustine

“Since I know I have nothing I have not received – I can’t even claim the breath in my lungs – all things come from His loving and good hands – all things. I am to be grateful. I must train my mind and my mouth to be perpetually thankful for all that He has given me. God delights in the praise of His people.” BHY

“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives-the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections-that requires hard spiritual work. Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for. Let's not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.” Henri Nouwen

“Jesus! What a friend for sinners! Jesus lover of my soul! Friends may fail me, foes assail me; He, my Savior, makes me whole. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus! What a strength in weakness! Let me hide myself in Him; Tempted tried and sometimes failing, He, my strength my victory wins. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end. Jesus! What a help in sorrow! While the billows o’er me roll, Even when my heart is breaking, He, my Comfort helps my soul. Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end.” J. Wilbur Chapman

“All God’s ways are loving even if we cannot readily discern that with our eyes of flesh. None of us can see the entire picture yet God makes known from the beginning from ancient times what is yet to come. His purposes will stand and He will do all that He pleases. He is a good and loving and faithful God Who only allows what is best for every heir of mercy. We can trust Him with our lives.” BHY

“What can be deeper than His Presence and constant care? In a world in which multitudes feel isolated and alienated, we have the permanent companionship of the most loving and powerful Being in the universe. Nothing could be more important and life shaping than that. Whatever difficulty we go through, He nevertheless holds us by the hand.” Chris Tiegreen

“In this promise, God gives to His people everything. ‘Never will I leave you.’ Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is He mighty? He will show Himself strong on the behalf of them that trust Him. Is He love? Then with loving-kindness He will have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side.” Charles H. Spurgeon

“Knowing Him as loving Father is the foundation for intimate relationship with Him. First Corinthians 13:4-7 is a picture of the Father's love. Personalize it, and receive it for yourself. My Father who loves me is patient with me, kind to me.... My Father's love is not rude, nor self-seeking, not easily angered, and keeps no record of wrongs. My Father's love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. My Father's love always protects me, always trusts me, always hopes [believes the best about me], always perseveres and never gives up on me. My Father's love for me never fails.” Sylvia Gunter

“Satan woos us with pleasantness to seek our bondage (as if self wasn’t enough) and then bites us with guilt and shame. Indeed, his desire is to entice us towards a conduct that would ruin us. He is our enemy not our friend. God, on the other hand, lovingly woos us from “the jaws of distress” - which is every form of sin and captivity holding us tightly, to seek our freedom. Christ came to set us free. We are not to be yoked again to slavery. Make no mistake about it – sin harm’s. Indeed, it is a death sentence. Satan wants us to believe that God is holding out on us, that He does not have our best interest at heart while all the while, through the blood of Jesus, all God seeks to hold out on us is death and destruction.” BHY

“(Why does God) bother to speak to us? The truly staggering answer that the Bible gives to this question is that God’s purpose in revelation is to make friends with us. It was to this end that he created us rational beings, bearing his image, able to think and hear and speak and love; he wanted there to be genuine personal affection and friendship, two-sided, between himself and us—a relation, not like that between a man and his dog, but like that of a father to his child, or a husband to his wife. Loving friendship between two persons has no ulterior motive; it is an end in itself. And this is God’s end in revelation. He speaks to us simply to fulfill the purpose for which we were made; that is, to bring into being a relationship in which he is a friend to us, and we to him, he finding his joy in giving us gifts and we finding ours in giving him thanks”. J I Packer

“A strong confidence in God’s loving intentions and enveloping care fortifies us to face whatever life throws at us.” Ray Ortlund

“My hope rests on the willing, faithful, powerful, and loving presence of God with me. It is the ultimate gift of gifts to everyone who walks the harsh and bumpy road between birth and eternity. Our hope is not found in understanding why God allowed suffering into our lives. Our hope is not found in the belief that somehow we will tough our way through. Our hope is not found in doctors, lawyers, pastors, family, or friends. Our hope is not found in our resilience or ingenuity. Our hope is not found in ideas or things. Though we may look to all those for temporary help, ultimately our hope rests in the faithful and gracious presence of the Lord with us.” Paul David Tripp