Classic Christian Devotions

Classic Christian Devotions

"God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him" (Colossians 1:19).

The next thing I am going to say may be difficult to accept, just as it is difficult to say, and yet faithfulness demands that things like this should be said. There is going to be a tremendous surprise one day over this matter. There is a tremendous amount of energy, and activity, and machinery, and zeal and devotion in the work of the Lord, in the service of the Lord, which seems to be producing something quite big, and carrying on something quite extensive. It is not for us to judge, but it is for us to lay down laws and recognize those laws, or, rather, recognize laws that are laid down to God. When eventually all work, all service, all activity, is weighed in the balances, which will determine what abides forever or passes away forever, all that which was merely human energy for God will go; all that which was merely man's enterprise for the Lord will go; all that which was in any way out from man himself, even though in devotion to God, will go. Only that which was the energy of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, the power of Christ, the wisdom of Christ, will remain. God is not using your energies and my energies. He is calling upon us to use the energies of Christ. God cannot set His seal upon anything that is of man.

God's seal only rests upon that which is of His Son, and we must not say that because a thing is big, extensive, and seems to be a great work for God, that it necessarily is such. What we have got to be quite sure about is that that thing is not being carried on by the momentum of man, or the momentum of organization, the momentum of machinery, the momentum of human zeal and energy for God, nor by the momentum of a program, but that it is being energized by the Holy Spirit, that it is Christ Himself who is the Life and the Power of that thing. In so far as human personalities, energies and all that kind of thing are the mainspring, we may be sure that in the end there is going to be a good deal that goes. That can be seen as you look back over the history of things which claimed to represent God. The object of saying this is not for one moment to cast a cloud of suspicion or doubt over this basic truth. It is along the line of jealousy for Christ. Nothing will remain in this universe eventually but what is Christ, and we must recognize that everything for God's ultimate purpose is bound up with and in Christ, and it IS Christ.

~T. Austin-Sparks~
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Have I Committed the Unpardonable Sin?

When a person is obsessed by the idea that he or she has committed the unpardonable sin, such obsession is the result of satan's attempt to harass a saint, rather than his effort to destroy a sinner. If that may seem a somewhat strange thing to say, I want quite simply to attempt to make clear what I mean by it. It speak now entirely from experience, and experience may not be trusted as infallible foundation for dogmatic statement.

Speaking entirely from experience, I declare that I have never yet found a man or woman, hard and rebellious and determined in sin, who possessed that particular fear. It is always the fear of the sensitive soul, always the fear of some trembling child of God. I do not say that it is always the case, but I do say that I have never met an exception.

Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that satan never destroys men by making them believe that they're committed such a sin, but he does harass the saints by attempting to make them believe that. A method I have invariably followed for many years in dealing with those who come to me and say that they have, or that they fear they have committed the sin against the Spirit which has no forgiveness, is that of asking them this question: If you have committed this sin, will you be good enough to tell me what it is? I have never yet found a person possessed of the fear that they have committed it who could tell me what it is.

~G. Campbell Morgan~
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The Snare of Fear

Proverbs 29:25 tells us,

The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

A snare is a noose used for catching an animal.  Fear will cause you to be snared or trapped, just like an animal.

I have a friend in the church who has a very large nut tree in his yard, which the squirrels regularly raid.  He put this big net over the tree, but it did not seem to deter the squirrels at all.  So he finally got a trap and set it up on the roof right next to the nut tree.  To date, he has caught about 120 squirrels.

When the squirrel is in the trap, it is totally at his mercy.  It can't go anywhere.  He happens to be a fairly merciful gentleman, so he takes them over to a local park and lets them go.

When fear gets a hold of your life, you become like one of those trapped squirrels--you are not going anywhere.  You are at its mercy.  You will not progress spiritually.  It keeps you bound.  The fear of man can keep you from obeying God; it will keep you from pleasing God.  It will keep you from the joy you would experience when you trust God.

In fact, there is a contrast in our verse today.  The man or woman who is bound by the fear of man, will not be trusting God in some area of his life.  Look at the two parts of the verse together:  The fear of man brings a snare, but... in contrast ...whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.

Do not allow the fear of man to control your life.  Instead, trust in the Lord.  

~Bayless Conley~

Answers for Each Day Ministries