Sunday, July 3, 2016

Worthy Savings of Great Christians

An atheist's most embarrassing moment is when he feels profoundly thankful for something, but can't think of anybody to thank for it.
~Mary Ann Vincent~
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Atheism thrives where religion is most debated.
~H. G. Wells~
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When we think of the atonement we are apt to think only of what man gains. We must remember what it cost God and what it costs Him now when men refuse his love.
~Frank Fitt~
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In the Cross, God descends to bear in His own heart the sins of the world. In Jesus, he atones at unimaginable cost to Himself.
~Woodrow A. Geier~
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Let us not forget that the crucifixion of Christ was, and was intended to be to all the intelligences of the universe, the most significant exhibition of the love of God. "Herein was love."
~J. Gilchrist Lawson~
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I must die or get somebody to die for me. If the Bible doesn't teach that, it doesn't teach anything. And that is where the atonement of Jesus Christ comes in.
~Dwight L. Moody~
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When God pardons, He consigns the offense to everlasting forgetfulness.
~Merv Rosell~
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The atonement for which the Cross is but the symbol,is wholly ethical in its implications; for in the Cross ...mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace embraced each other.
~Miles W. Smith~
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All progress is made by men of faith who believe in what is right and, what is more important, actually do what is right in their own private affairs. You cannot add to the peace and good will of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love right where you live and work.
~Thomas Dreier~
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Christianity is not believing the impossible, but doing the incredible.
~Sherwood Eddy~
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Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; unbelief, in denying them.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson~
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When civilization fails, it is always man who has failed - not in his body, not in his fundamental equipment and capacities, but in his will, spirit and mental habits. Men and civilizations live by their beliefs and die when their beliefs pass into doubt.
~Philip Lee Ralph~
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People who believe that man is a happenstance evolution out of matter impelled by blind force are too naive to live in a world which long ago discovered that magic doesn't work.
~Charles Spurgeon~

Friday, July 1, 2016

Untold Injury (and other devotionals)

To offer a sinner the gift of salvation based upon the work of Christ, while at the same time allowing him to retain the idea that the gift carries with it no moral implications, is to do him untold injury where it hurts him worst. Many evangelical teachers insist so strongly upon free, unconditional grace as to create the impression that sin is not a serious matter and that God cares very little about it. He is concerned only with our escaping the consequences. The gospel then in practical application means little more than a way to escape the fruits of our past. The heart that has felt the weight of its own sin and along with this has seen the dread whiteness of the Most High God will never believe that a message of forgiveness without transformation is a message of good news. To remit a man's past without transforming his present is to violate the moral sincerity of his own heart. To that kind of thing God will be no party. We must have courage to preach the whole message. By so doing we shall undoubtedly lose a few friends and make a number of enemies. But the true Christian will not grieve too much about that. He has enough to do to please his Lord and Savior and to be true to the souls of all men. That may well occupy him too completely to leave much time for regrets over the displeasure of misguided men.
A. W. Tozer
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" I don't bow down to great men. I bow down to the Great Man, and if you have learned to worship the Son of Man, you will not worship other men. " A. W. Tozer
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Don't ask God to take away your problems. Instead, ask God to guide you and give you faith, strength and courage to face the problems.
~A. W. Tozer~
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When there is something in the Word of God that I don't like, the problem is not with the Word of God. It's with me.
~R. C. Sproul~
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He that reads the Bible to find fault with it will soon discover that the Bible finds fault with him.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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Things that won't get you into heaven: good works, baptism, church, religion, Sunday school, charity, money, mass, communion, parents, political affiliation, denomination, friends, positive thinking and just being a good person. Things that will get you to heaven: Jesus Christ.
~Unknown~
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People often claim to hunger for the truth, but seldom like the taste when it is served up.
~A. W. Tozer~
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I must realize that my obedience even in the smallest detail of life has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it.
~Oswald Chambers~
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When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles. When he stops studying the Bible the devil laughs. When he stops praying the devil shouts for joy.
~Corrie Ten Boom~
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For a Christian this world is the only hell they will know. For the unbeliever this world is the only heaven they will know.
~A. W. Tozer~
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A part-time Christian cannot defeat a full-time devil.
~A. W. Tozer~
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The devil won't bother you when you are living in sin, he'll bother you when you're trying to get out.
~A. W. Tozer~
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To be born again is to enter into a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views, new principles, new tastes, new affections, new likes, new dislikes, new fears, new joys, new sorrows, to love the things once hated, new hatred to things once loved, new thoughts of God, ourselves, the world, the life to come.
~J. C. Ryle~
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To promise heaven, and not warn of hell. To offer forgiveness without repentance, to preach the gospel without the Cross, is a false message giving false hope.
~Greg Laurie~
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Believers must never adjust the Bible to the age, but the age to the Bible.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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Life begins once Jesus becomes the reason you live it.
~A. W. Tozer~
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I can't brag about my love for God because I fail Him daily. But I can brag about His love for me because it never fails.
~A. W. Tozer~______________________________

The heart that learns to die with Christ soon knows the blessed experience of rising with Him, and all the world's persecutions cannot still the high note of holy joy that springs up in the soul that has become the dwelling place of God.
~A. W. Tozer~

Monday, June 27, 2016

Peace with God (and other devotionals)

BIBLE MEDITATION:
“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
The thing your heart is yearning for is peace. Jesus is called “The Prince of Peace.” The Bible says, “Let the peace of God rule your heart” (Philippians 4:7). You see, God, through Jesus, came to give you peace.

Has anyone ever left you anything in a will? Jesus did. Just before He went to the cross He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).

This is the legacy Jesus left for you. Jesus willed His body to Joseph of Arimathea for burial. Jesus gave the care of His mother to the apostle John. Jesus yielded up His spirit to God the Father. But Jesus gave His peace to you. And there’s no lawyer on earth that can break that will. It is yours. It is your throne gift.

ACTION POINT:
If you don’t have peace, it’s because you don’t understand what you have in the name of Jesus. There is welfare in His name. Call upon Him today. Ask Him to help you receive the peace He has provided.

~Adrian Rogers~
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Habakkuk 3:6

His ways are everlasting.

What He hath done at one time, He will do yet again. Man's ways are variable, but God's ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting truth: among them are the following-the Lord's ways are the result of wise deliberation; He ordereth all things according to the counsel of His own will. Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by surprise, or happen otherwise than He has foreseen. His ways are the outgrowth of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One Himself can undergo change, His ways, which are Himself in action, must remain for ever the same. Is He eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?-then His ways must ever be distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature: when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know the shadow of a turning, His ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of His people. Who can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? But it is not might alone which gives stability; God's ways are the manifestation of the eternal principles of right, and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality which ages cannot diminish. This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever, and in Him the Lord is ever gracious to His people.

~Charles Spurgeon~

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Hosea 5:7

They have dealt treacherously against the Lord.

Believer, here is a sorrowful truth! Thou art the beloved of the Lord, redeemed by blood, called by grace, preserved in Christ Jesus, accepted in the Beloved, on thy way to heaven, and yet, "thou hast dealt treacherously" with God, thy best friend; treacherously with Jesus, whose thou art; treacherously with the Holy Spirit, by whom thou hast been quickened unto life eternal! How treacherous you have been in the matter of vows and promises. Do you remember the love of your espousals, that happy time-the springtide of your spiritual life? Oh, how closely did you cling to your Master then! saying, "He shall never charge me with indifference; my feet shall never grow slow in the way of His service; I will not suffer my heart to wander after other loves; in Him is every store of sweetness ineffable. I give all up for my Lord Jesus' sake." Has it been so? Alas! if conscience speak, it will say, "He who promised so well has performed most ill. Prayer has oftentimes been slurred-it has been short, but not sweet; brief, but not fervent. Communion with Christ has been forgotten. Instead of a heavenly mind, there have been carnal cares, worldly vanities and thoughts of evil. Instead of service, there has been disobedience; instead of fervency, lukewarmness; instead of patience, petulance; instead of faith, confidence in an arm of flesh; and as a soldier of the cross there has been cowardice, disobedience, and desertion, to a very shameful degree." "Thou hast dealt treacherously." Treachery to Jesus! what words shall be used in denouncing it? Words little avail: let our penitent thoughts execrate the sin which is so surely in us. Treacherous to Thy wounds, O Jesus! Forgive us, and let us not sin again! How shameful to be treacherous to Him who never forgets us, but who this day stands with our names engraven on His breastplate before the eternal throne.

~Charles Spurgeon~

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Give Up Everything

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:33

Am I willing to give up everything for the sake of the gospel? I asked myself this question after returning from India on a recent mission trip. The comforts of my modern culture can cause me to gravitate to the comfortable. I reflected on my American expectation for financial security in contrast to my Indian friend who has educated the poor for 30 years without cash compensation. Has a desire for riches replaced my passion for Christ’s true riches? Honest evaluation keeps me authentic about my intentions to grow into a genuine disciple of Jesus. I give up to grow up.

Jesus was not shy in addressing the large crowds about commitment. If the audience was merely enamored by miracles, healing and revolutionary teaching—without personal heart transformation—they did not qualify to be disciples. Jesus the teacher clearly defines His discipleship terms: unequivocal surrender. Unquestionable loyalty to the Lord holds up under the pressure of persecution. A disciple is a student—a lifetime learner, who is always in the process of applying the truth. Our journey with Jesus is all about giving up everything for Jesus.

“But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]” (Philippians 3:7, AMP).

Are you holding back anything from your heavenly Father? There may be a relationship you hope will change, but in the meantime the Lord wants you to give it up to Him. The Holy Spirit may lead you to give up a job opportunity so He can guide you into a better career change. Give up your child to Christ— He can give your son or daughter exactly what they need. How do you give up everything? By wholehearted faith in Jesus, who gave up everything on the cross for you. Trust the One who died for you—to give back salvation, peace and security.

When we give up everything it does not mean we have to give over everything. A test of the heart helps us get to the heart of our motives. Our open handedness allows the Lord to add and take away from our lives at His discretion, but our close fisted hands define who we really trust, ourselves. Forsaken idols foster our faith, but idols held close compete with our devotion to Jesus. We are born naked, we die naked and by faith we live naked, only clothed by our commitment to Christ. We give up everything for God so we can receive all we need from God. Discipleship costs everything!

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matthew 13:44).

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I give up everything so I can become a faithful follower of Jesus.

Application: What is the Holy Spirit asking me to forsake so I can know Christ better?

Related Readings: Job 1:21; Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 19:21; Acts 2:45

~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~

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Steadfast Trust & Obedience

Today's reading: 2 Kings 8:1-6

Today we get another lesson from the Shunamite woman we first met in 2 Kings 4. What we see is a continuation of this woman being steadfast in trusting and being obedient to God through many uncertain and difficult circumstances. I love how God protects her by warning her of the coming famine, providing for her in a foreign country, and then ensuring that her property plus lost income are given back to her upon her return.

What's one thing that stood out to you from the Shunamite woman's example, and why? What does this passage reveal about how God moves and the ways in which He provides?

~Tami~

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And there was Anna, a prophetess... which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day (Luke 2:36,37).

No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much.

Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God. Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.

If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. Oh, that Christian men would remember this! Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.

Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church; but it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men.

We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue.

~L. B. Cowman~

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Friday, June 24, 2016

A Timely Word (and other devotionals)

A Timely Word

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

Genesis 3:7-11

(7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (8) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (9) Then the LORDGod called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" (10) So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." (11) And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"
New King James Version

This account of Adam's and Eve's reaction to their sindemonstrates that sin destroys innocence.

Were two people ever more innocent at the beginning of their lives than Adam and Eve? Immediately after sinning, though, they felt shame because of their nakedness, and they doubly showed their guilt by hiding from God. Do the truly innocent have any need to hide? Do the innocent need to feel shame?

Sin leaves a tarnish on a person's mind so that he does not look at life in quite the same way anymore. Davidexpresses how this tarnish affected him in Psalm 40:12, "My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up." Paul later explains, "To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled" (Titus 1:15).

A well-known series of scriptures, beginning in Matthew 18:1, touches on innocence and its destruction. It starts with a question from the disciples: "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" Jesus replies that unless we become as little children, we will not be in the Kingdom of Heaven. Is not the beauty of their innocence and the harmless vulnerability of little children a major reason why we find them so adorable? They produce no harm, shame, or guilt. But what happens as they become adults? They become sophisticated, worldly, cosmopolitan, cynical, suspicious, sarcastic, prejudiced, self-centered, cool, uninvolved, and many other negative things. They also seem to lose their zest for life. Sin does that.

~John W. Ritenbaugh~

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Lord, how can we know the way?

(J.R. Miller, "Evening Thoughts" 1907)

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, how can we know the way?"
Jesus said to him, "I am the way" John 14:5-6

This is the first day of a new year. We are setting out on a journey of which we can have no knowledge in advance. The road is one on which we never have gone hitherto. We know not what any day will have for us . . .
what our duties will be,
what burdens shall be laid upon us,
what sorrows we shall have to endure,
what battles we shall have to fight.

"You have never traveled this way before." Joshua 3:4. We cannot see one step before us! How can we know the way?

As we sit in the quiet, this first evening, and ask the question, we hear an answer which is full of comfort. Jesus says to us, "I am the way!"

All we shall have to do, therefore, will be to follow Jesus. He has made a way through this dark world for us. He has gone over all the journey and opened a road for us at great cost. He went over the way Himself--we shall find His shoe-prints at every step.
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He has a definite way for each one of us. Every mile of the journey He has chosen--and every place where I pitch my tent He has selected for me!
"Leaving you an example, so that you should follow in His steps!" 1 Peter 2:21

I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the One who is the stairway between heaven and earth. (John 1:51 NLT)

Christ risen means an open heaven. The Spirit of the Anointing comes upon us because the crucified One is risen. He comes to us out of an open heaven which the Son of God has opened for us.... The Lord Jesus said: “When He, the Spirit... is come, He shall guide you into all the truth.” And John confirms this in saying: “The anointing which ye received... teaches you concerning all things.” That is represented by the angels ascending and descending. The Holy Spirit is communicating with us, but Christ is the ladder, reaching from earth to heaven. Where is that ladder? It is not in the world. The ladder is set up in our hearts. It is Christ in our hearts. There is an open way from heaven in our hearts, Christ Himself, leading us into the very presence of God. The Holy Spirit moves in relation to Christ to bring us into communion with Christ, just as Christ is in communion with His Father.

The all-sufficiency of Christ is secured for us on that basis. We are in the heavenlies, because Christ is in us. If joined to His person the limitations are gone. There is a direct and immediate communion with God, and the Holy Spirit can reveal to us heavenly things. Thus we understand what it means to receive everything directly from God in Christ. Christ in us means an inward knowledge of God, a heart-relationship with Him. It is an inward life from God, an inward power of God. But that is a mystery which the world does not and cannot know. It cannot understand that our Lord Jesus was willing to accept exactly the same basis of life with its limitation in which we live, although without sin. Yet, in fellowship with His Father, He continually broke through these limitations, and overcame them in drawing all His provision, all the fullness from His Father alone. His sufficiency was in His Father. So we are called to live, by the Spirit, a life triumphant over all our weaknesses, a life where Christ is everything, and where His victory is our victory. The work of the Cross is finished. The veil is rent. The way is open. Thus Christ risen in heaven means for us an open heaven where everything is possible for us in Christ, that we may glorify Him!

By T. Austin-Sparks

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Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Perfection (and other devotionals)

Perfection

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
Psalm 19:7

John 14:6

(6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
New King James Version

During the Passover service, we always read John 14 in its entirety. It is chock-full of insight and instruction that we, as Christ's disciples, need to live fully as Christians and to prepare for eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Jesus opens the chapter by saying:

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe inGod, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know. (John 14:1-4)

He sets the goal before us, eternal life in God's house. He says that He will soon be going to that same goal, where He will be in a better position to prepare us to reach it. Then He says, "You know the way there," which has Thomas scratching his head. "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" (verse 5). In other words, if we do not have a clear idea of the goal, how can we find our way there? It is impossible. A person must have a destination in mind before he can map out the route.

In verse 6, Jesus provides the answer: "I am the way, thetruth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Jesus' emphasis is on "the way," since that is the force of Thomas' question. Some commentators have even gone so far as to say that the real sense of His statement is, "I am the true and living way"—that is, the words "life" and "truth" modify "way."

He implies that the Father will only accept as His children those who imitate the character and process of salvationthat Christ pioneered. He is called the Captain or Author of our salvation (Hebrews 2:10). Jesus has blazed the trail before us, showing us the way to go—and the way to go is to follow in His footsteps, to imitate Him (I John 2:6). There is only one road that leads to the Kingdom of God, the road that Christ Himself trod. He expands this idea inJohn 14:7-11:

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father, so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves."

This paragraph adds another level to why God will only accept us through Christ—because Jesus was and is just like the Father. A son, if he is a true son, will show the characteristics of his father, which is exactly what we see in Jesus Christ and the Father in heaven. Christ thinks like the Father, speaks like the Father, and acts like the Father. Everything the Father would do is what Christ does. Therefore, if we want to be members of this Family, we, as Christ's brothers and sisters, will have to think, say, and do the same sorts of things as the Father and the Son.

This is why we must go through Christ. There is no other way! The children must have the same character as the Father and the Son, or there is no admittance. Thus, we must imitate Christ if we desire to enter God's Kingdom. He is the way, the method, or the process by which eternal salvation is secured, and if we should try to achieve it any other way, we will fail.

~Richard T. Ritenbaugh~

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Why a Jealous God?

"For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me."

—Exodus 20:5

We usually view jealousy as something negative, and certainly it can be. We might think of a jealous person as controlling, demanding, and even prone to fly into a rage without the slightest reason.

But in Exodus 20 God says, "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (verses 4–5, emphasis added).

God is a loving Father. He loves us and wants an exclusive relationship with us. Is that unreasonable?

If you have children, then I think you are probably a jealous parent. You want the best for your child. You probably think your child is the best at whatever it is that he or she does, whether it's athletics or music or something else. In the same way, God loves you, and He wants the best for you. So He is jealous in a sense.

I would also think that if you are married, you are probably a jealous husband or wife. How would you feel, wives, if your husband said, "My date is here. I'm going out with her now. Can she borrow that outfit that looks really good on you?" No self-respecting wife would put up with something like that. Nor should she.

God is a jealous God and wants an exclusive relationship with us. He is saying, "You belong to Me, and I have committed myself to you. So that is the way it needs to be." That is the concept being communicated when God described himself as a "jealous" God.

~Greg Laurie~

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I saw a door standing open in heaven, and... the voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you....” (Revelation 4:1 NLT)

My aim, in cooperation with the Lord, is to make everything preeminently practical; and so we apply the challenge immediately, and I ask you, is the Holy Spirit within you presenting God's fullness in His Son in an ever-growing way? Is that the nature of your spiritual life? If not, then you must have some definite exercise before the Lord about it; there is something wrong. The anointing means that, and if that is not the nature of your spiritual life, there is something wrong in your case in relation to the anointing. To Nathanael the Lord Jesus said, "Henceforth" (our old English word is "hereafter," but I think many people have mistakenly thought that means the "after life") "ye shall see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." Hereafter, of course, was the immediate hereafter, the days of the Holy Spirit which were coming so soon. With an open heaven you see, and you see God's meaning concerning His Son.

That open heaven for the Lord Jesus was the anointing. The Spirit descended and lighted upon Him. It was the anointing, and it is the same for us. The open heaven is the anointing of the Spirit from the day of Pentecost onward upon Christ within us. That open heaven means a continually growing revelation of Christ.

Oh, let me urge this. I am brought back to urge this.... The open heaven at once brings God's revelation in Christ to your very door, makes it available to you, so that you are not dependent in the first place upon libraries, books, addresses or anything else. It is there for you. However much the Lord may see good to use these other things for your help and enrichment, you have your own open heaven, your own clear way through, and no closed dome over your head. The Lord Jesus is becoming more and ever more wonderful in your own heart, because "God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness" hath "shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

~T. Austin-Sparks~

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Understanding Grace
by Chuck Swindoll

John 1:14

What exactly is grace? And is it limited to Jesus' life and ministry? You may be surprised to know that Jesus never used the word itself. He just taught it and, equally important, He lived it. Furthermore, the Bible never gives us a one-statement definition, though grace appears throughout its pages . . . not only the word itself but numerous demonstrations of it. Understanding what grace means requires our going back to an old Hebrew term that meant "to bend, to stoop." By and by, it came to include the idea of "condescending favor."

If you have traveled to London, you have perhaps seen royalty. If so, you may have noticed sophistication, aloofness, distance. On occasion, royalty in England will make the news because someone in the ranks of nobility will stop, kneel down, and touch or bless a commoner. That is grace. There is nothing in the commoner that deserves being noticed or touched or blessed by the royal family. But because of grace in the heart of the queen, there is the desire at that moment to pause, to stoop, to touch, even to bless.

The late pastor and Bible scholar Donald Barnhouse perhaps said it best: "Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace."

To show grace is to extend favor or kindness to one who doesn't deserve it and can never earn it. Receiving God's acceptance by grace always stands in sharp contrast to earning it on the basis of works. Every time the thought of grace appears, there is the idea of its being undeserved. In no way is the recipient getting what he or she deserves. Favor is being extended simply out of the goodness of the heart of the giver.

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Worthy Sayings of Great Christians

I fear that for the most part people are worshiping worship rather than worshiping God and communing with Him.

~A. W. Tozer~
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To put it simply as I can, if you are not spiritually reborn, you are not a Christian.
~R. C. Sproul~
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You cannot force someone to comprehend a message they are not ready to receive. Still,you must never underestimate the power of planting a seed.
~Unknown~
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Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
~Corrie Ten Boom~
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Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for you?
~A. W. Tozer~
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The gravest question any of us face is whether we do or do not love the Lord. Too much hinges on the answer to pass the matter off lightly.
~A. W. Tozer~
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Men are in a restless pursuit after satisfaction in everything. They give no thought for their eternal state, the present hour absorbs them. They turn to another and another of earth's broken cisterns, hoping to find water where not a drop was ever found yet.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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The answer to the national delema is not the oval room of the White House but the upper room in God's house.
~Leonard Ravenhill~
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Those who do "love the truth" (Thess. 2:10) are they in whom a divine work of grace has been wrought. They have something more than a clear, intellectual understanding of the Scripture. It is the food of their souls, the joy of their hearts (Jeremiah 15:16). They love the truth, and because they do so, they hate error, and shun it as deadly poison. They are jealous for God, and will not sit under a minister whose teaching dishonors Him. They will not listen to preaching which exalts man into the place of supremacy, so that he is the decider of his own destiny.
~Arthur Pink~
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People on earth hate to hear the word "repent." Those in hell wish they could hear it just once more.
~Unknown~
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God never commanded you to trust people. God commanded you to love people and to trust Him. Know the difference. Your joy and victory depend on it.
~A. W. Tozer~

A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons

A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Worthy Savings of Great Christians

Friday, July 1, 2016

Untold Injury (and other devotionals)

Monday, June 27, 2016

Peace with God (and other devotionals)

Friday, June 24, 2016

A Timely Word (and other devotionals)

Genesis 3:7-11

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Perfection (and other devotionals)

John 14:6

Why a Jealous God?

"For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me."

—Exodus 20:5

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Worthy Sayings of Great Christians