Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.
Another year of progress, another year of praise,
Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.
Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,
Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;
Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;
Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,
Another year of training for holier work above.
Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be
On earth, or else in heaven, another year for Thee.
-Frances Havergal (1874) 
"Every authoritarian regime in history started by promising to protect people from "dangerous" speech. The power to censor is the power to control. Once speech is restricted, all other freedoms inevitably fall."
Build your library of old books. They’ll soon become as scarce as truth itself. When old knowledge becomes novel, society is already in danger. 
Charles Spurgeon
Omnipotence cannot do an unloving thing toward a believer. Oh! rest quite sure. Christian, a hard thing, an unloving thing from God toward one of his own people is quite impossible. He is kind to you when he casts you into prison as when he takes you into a palace;
He is as good when he sends famine into your house as when he fills your barns with plenty. The only question is, Art thou his child? If so, he hath rebuked thee in affection, and there is love in his chastisement.
Saying “I’m a long-term investor” is easy.
Actually doing it is hard.
Long term focus requires patience.
Patience requires conviction
Conviction comes from lots of knowledge about your position
You need passion to read that much.
Passion = most important investment filter
O consider, dear soul, the stubbornness of the natural man! He doth not come gently to Christ, as though grace were a suitor and he the sovereign. Nay, he resists. He strives against God’s Spirit, hardens his neck, and flees from the holy pursuit of heaven. He is not merely indifferent, but actively opposed, loving darkness rather than light, because his deeds are evil.
And were it not for sovereign grace, he would continue in this rebellion unto perdition. He runs—from truth, from mercy, from the hand that would heal him. His feet are swift to mischief, and his heart is set on its own destruction.
But here is the glory of grace: it doth not stand afar off waiting to be chosen—it overtakes. The Lord runs faster than the sinner. The grace of God is not a weak persuasion, but an almighty conquest. It subdues the will, captures the affections, and bends the knee that once stood defiant.
So let no man boast that he found Christ, as though he had accomplished the journey. Rather, let him confess, “I was fleeing still, but grace laid hold of me.” This is the marrow of our comfort: that salvation is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy. 
He is the first and last, the beginning and the end!
He is the keeper of creation and the creator of all!
He is the architect of the universe and the manager of all times!
He always was, He always is and He always will be unmoved, unchanged, undefeated and never undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings peace!
The world can’t understand him, the armies can’t defeat Him, the schools can’t explain Him and the leaders can’t ignore Him.
Herod couldn’t kill Him, the Pharisees couldn’t confuse Him and the people couldn’t hold Him!
Nero couldn’t crush Him, Hitler couldn’t silence Him and the New Age can’t replace Him!
He is light, love, longevity and Lord!
He is goodness, kindness, gentleness and God!
He is holy, righteous, mighty, powerful and pure!
His ways are right, His word is eternal, His will is unchanging and His mind is on me!
He is my Redeemer, my Savior, my guide and my peace!
He is my joy, my comfort, my Lord and He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love, His burden is light and His goal for me is abundant life!
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise, the power of the powerful, the ancient of days, the ruler of rulers, the leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and the sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come!
He will never leave me, never forsake me, never mislead me, never forget me and never overlook me!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face death, He carries me home!
He is God!
He is faithful.
I am His and He is mine!
God is in control, I am on His side and that means all is well with my soul.
Unknown Author
We need sleep. I once was the fool who thought running on as little sleep as possible demonstrated toughness. Maybe so under certain circumstances but as a practice it is weakness.
It's true that the slothful man sleeps too much.
Proverbs 24 warns:
“‘A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest,’ then your poverty will come as a robber and your want like an armed man.”
It's good to not want to be this man. He is pathetic.
But, as with many things, there are ditches on both sides of the roads when it comes to sleep.
Too much sleep is bad—but so is too little.
Psalm 127 says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors.”
The man that sleeps too much presumes that God or others will make up for his slack.
The man that sleeps too little presumes that it is through his labors alone that his needs will be met.
Both are wrong. Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
We need to work hard and rest hard.
God makes rich the hands of the diligent, but that diligence must be done trusting in the providence of God. That allows you to rest in His goodness.
Hence, Psalm 127 also tell us that God “gives to His beloved sleep.” Sleep, brothers. Rest easy knowing "He who keeps you will not slumber" (Ps 121:3).
From " It's good to be a man" 
John Flavel
Always remember that, however soon and unexpected your parting with your relations was, yet your lease was expired before you lost them, and you enjoyed them every moment of the time that God intended them for you…Oh, if this had been done, or that omitted; had it not been for such miscarriages and oversights, my dear husband, wife, or child had been alive at this day! No, no, the Lord’s time was fully come, and all things concurred and fell in together to bring about the pleasure of His will. Let that satisfy you: had the ablest physicians in the world been there, or had they that were prescribed another course, as it is now so it would have been when they had done all…He who appointed the seasons of the year appointed the seasons of our comfort in our relations; and as those seasons cannot be altered, no more can these. All the course of providence is guided by an unalterable decree; what falls out casually to our apprehension yet falls out necessarily in respect of God’s appointment. 
Painting: Peasant Burial - by Erik Theodor Werenskiold (1855–1938)
We see precisely the same thing going on today. Under exactly the same circumstances and conditions, one is melted and another remains unmoved. Under the same sermon one man will listen with indifference, while another will have his eyes opened to see his need, and his will moved, to close with God's offer of mercy. To one the Gospel is revealed, to another it is "hidden." Why? All we can say is, "Even so Father, for so it seemed good in your sight" (Mat 11:26)
~ Arthur Pink 1886-1952
Investing is like planting an orchard.
At the start, it's all work and zero fruit.
After a few years, fruit starts to appear.
After 10 years, you are reliably producing fruit.
After 30 years, you're producing more fruit than your family could eat in a lifetime.
~Brian Feroldi
"The doctrine of God's sovereignty is deeply humbling to the creature.....it removes every ground for human boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its stead....It insists that the Lord has to apply as well as supply salvation; that He has to complete as well as begin His saving work in our souls..... It tells us we are "born, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man—but of God" (John 1:13).
"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us—but unto Your name give glory, for Your mercy, and for Your truth's sake!" (Psalm 115:1)
With what wondering praise shall we exclaim:
"Why was I made to hear His voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make a wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?
'Twas the same love that spread the feast,
That sweetly forced me in;
Else I had still refused to taste
And perished in my sin!"
Arthur Pink, “The Sovereignty of God"
