"The thing that concerns me is not will God let us find Him, but will we seek Him?" -Richard Owen Roberts


If you have never been to http://www.ellerslie.com/, go now!

The frying pan came back today....

 "Truly God is good to Israel,
   to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
   my steps had nearly slipped.
 For I was envious of the arrogant
   when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
 For they have no pangs until death;
   their bodies are fat and sleek.
They are not in trouble as others are;
   they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
Therefore pride is their necklace;
   violence covers them as a garment.
Their eyes swell out through fatness;
   their hearts overflow with follies.
They scoff and speak with malice;
   loftily they threaten oppression.
They set their mouths against the heavens,
   and their tongue struts through the earth.
Therefore his people turn back to them,
   and find no fault in them.
And they say, "How can God know?
   Is there knowledge in the Most High?"
Behold, these are the wicked;
   always at ease, they increase in riches.
All in vain have I kept my heart clean
   and washed my hands in innocence.
For all the day long I have been stricken
   and rebuked every morning.
If I had said, "I will speak thus,"
   I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
 But when I thought how to understand this,
   it seemed to me a wearisome task,
until I went into the sanctuary of God;
   then I discerned their end.
 Truly you set them in slippery places;
   you make them fall to ruin.
How they are destroyed in a moment,
   swept away utterly by terrors!
Like a dream when one awakes,
   O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
When my soul was embittered,
   when I was pricked in heart,
I was brutish and ignorant;
   I was like a beast toward you.
 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
   you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
   and afterward you will receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
   And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
 My flesh and my heart may fail,
   but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
   you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
But for me it is good to be near God;
   I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
   that I may tell of all your works." - Psalm 73

"For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked." How easy it is to fall prey to that! I am thankful that the Holy Spirit showed this to me today. Thankful that Jesus came so that we could have the Holy Spirit, and thankful for my God who is continually with me, guides me with His counsel, and will receive me to glory, in Jesus. It is truly truly good for me to be near my God. My flesh and my heart will fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. He is my refuge; I will tell of all His works!

You know in Tangled, where Repunzel hits Flinn over the head with a frying pan. Yeah... I now know how he feels. 

  "I am the True Vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.  As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another."- John 15:1-17

"Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
   to dwell in your courts!
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
   the holiness of your temple!"- Psalm 65:4

Praying for humility this morning. How many times I get caught up in the pleasures of this world and forget that this-- this life-- is so not about me.