Christ's Sympathy To Weary Pilgrims # 3
The Personal Attractions of Jesus
Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend! (Song of Songs 5:16).
The personal attractions of Jesus are all inviting and irresistible!
His love within us.
His glory charms us.
His beauty attracts us.
His sympathy soothes us.
His gentleness subdues us.
His faithfulness inspires us.
He is the "altogether lovely One!"
Jesus is all that is tender in love.
Jesus is all that is wise in counsel.
Jesus is all that is patient and kind.
Jesus is all that is faithful in friendship.
Jesus is all that is balmy, soothing, and healing.
The heart of Jesus is ever loving towards His children.
The disposition of Jesus is ever kind towards His children.
The nature of Jesus is ever sympathizing towards His children.
Jesus is your Brother, your Friend, your Redeemer.
As your Brother - He knows the need of His brethren in adversity.
As your Friend - He shows Himself Friendly.
As your Redeemer - He has redeemed your soul from sin and hell.
Jesus has ascended up on high to take possession of heaven on your behalf, and to prepare a place for you!
Upon His heart He wears your name as a precious pearl in the priestly breastplate.
There is...
not a moment of your time,
nor an event of your life,
nor a circumstance of your daily history,
nor a mental or spiritual emotion of yours -
in which you are not borne upon the love, and
remembered in the ceaseless intercession of Christ.
Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend! (Song of Songs 5:16).
For You!
"The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me!" (Galatians 2:20).
Is Jesus precious to your heart?
Is He the object of your supreme admiration and delight?
Does He have your warmest affection?
Do you love Jesus?
You must light your torch of affection for Christ - at the altar of Calvary. You must go there, and learn and believe what the love of Jesus is to you: the vastness of that love; the self-sacrifice of that love; how that love of Christ labored and wept, bled, suffered, and died for you!
Can you stand before this love - this love so precious, so great, so enduring, so self-consuming, so changeless; and know that...
for you this was this offering,
for you this Cross,
for you this agony,
for you this scorn and insult,
for you this death -
And feel no sensibility, no emotion, no love to Jesus? Impossible!
Do not be cast down, then, in vain regrets that your love to Christ is so frigid, so fickle, so dubious. Go and muse upon the reality and the greatness of the Saviour's love to you - and if love can inspire love, while you muse, the fire will burn, and your soul shall be all in flame with love to Jesus!
He Will Be Our Guide Even Unto Death!
"For this God is our God forever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!" (Psalm 48:14).
The world passes away. Everything here in this present world is changing.
"Life is like a painted dream;
Like the rapid summer stream;
Like the fleeting meteor's ray;
Like the shortest winter's day;
Like the fitful breeze that sighs;
Like the waning flame that dies;
Darting, dazzling on the eye;
Fading in eternity!"
A rope of sand,
a spider's web,
a silken thread,
a passing shadow,
an ebbing wave,
are the most fitting and expressive emblems of all things belonging to this present earthly state. The homes that sheltered us in childhood - we leave. The land which gave us birth - we leave. The loved ones who encircled our hearths - pass away. The friends of early years - depart. And the world that was so sunny, and the life that was so sweet - is all beclouded and embittered - the whole scenery of existence changed into wintry gloom. Such are the saddening, depressing effects of life's vicissitudes.
But in the midst of all, "This God is our God forever and ever! All beings change - but God. All things change - but heaven. The evolutions of time revolve, the events of earth go onward, but He upon whom all things hang, and by whom all events are shaped and controlled, moves not. "For I am the Lord, I change not."
Our affairs may alter.
Our circumstances may change.
Our relations and friends may depart one by one.
Our souls in a single day pass through many fluctuations of spiritual feeling.
But He who chose us to be His own, and who has kept us to the present moment - is our covenant God and Father forever and ever, and will never throw us off and cast us away.
"For this God is our God forever and ever! He will be our guide even unto death!"
~Octavius Winslow~
A Proliferation of Christian Devotionals and Sermons
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Saturday, April 21, 2018
Classic Christian Authors # 1
Classic Christian Authors # 1
He prayed earnestly!
(Frederick Marsh)
"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly . . . " James 5:17
The thing which made Elijah pray as he did, was the man that he was. When our Great High Priest comes with the lighted torch of His grace, and ignites the wood of our being into a holy flame--then the sweet-smelling fragrance of our requests ascend acceptably to God, and bring down the benediction of His love.
The art of prayer, is a sense of desperate need! There must be a sense of need, and an earnest desire to have that need met.
"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast."
Prayer is a sin-killer. No one can sin and pray; for prayer will either make us cease from sin--or sin will make us cease from prayer.
Prayer is a power-bringer. It is the hand which touches the hem of the garment of Divine grace, and causes the life which is in the Divine One to flow into us.
Prayer is a victory-giver. Bunyan's Christian found that the weapon of "all-prayer" was sufficient to wound and defeat the adversary who would stop him in his progress as a pilgrim.
Prayer is a holiness-promoter. It is like the gentle dew which falls upon the thirsty plants and causes them to be refreshed and to fructify.
Prayer is a dispute-adjuster. Let any two brethren who are at loggerheads get on their knees, and ask the Lord about any disputed matter--and they will find the Lord saying to their troubled spirits, "Peace, be still."
Prayer is an obstacle-remover, as Peter found when an angel came in answer to the prayers of the saints, and delivered him from the prison of Herod's hate.
Prayer is a Christ-revealer, for it clarifies our vision, and enables us to see unseen spiritual realities.
Prayer is the secret of a holy life! We cannot do without prayer. The spiritual life is born in prayer--and it flourishes, and is strong, as it lives in that same atmosphere!
It is not the arithmetic of our prayers--how many they are;
nor the rhetoric of our prayers--how eloquent they are;
nor the geometry of our prayers--how long they are;
nor the music of our prayers--how sweet our voice may be;
nor the logic of our prayers--how proper they may be;
nor the method of our prayers--how orderly they may be;
nor even the theology of our prayers--how good the doctrine may be,
which God cares for. It is only fervency in prayer, which will make a man prevalent with God. Fervent prayer hits the mark, and pierces the walls of Heaven! "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much!" James 5:16
__________________________________
Break the chains of this ensnaring habit!
(Hetty Bowman, "Life--its Duties and Discipline")
"The time is short!" 1 Corinthians 7:29
"Redeeming the time!" Ephesians 5:16
We believe that, to go back to the good old custom of calling things by their right names--the charge of idleness might very truthfully be brought against many professors. I mean the habitual wasting of the fragments of time, "Those parings of precious time--those leavings of days and remnants of hours, which so many sweep out into the waste of existence!"
We feel constrained, in all Christian faithfulness, to lift up our voice against this great evil. It is more than an evil--it is a sin most displeasing in the sight of God! It mars the usefulness, and leaves an unsightly blemish on the character of many an otherwise lovely Christian. It will demand a solemn reckoning in the great day of account. You have no more right, reader, to the time which you thus foolishly and sinfully squander--than you have to your neighbor's goods. Time is not your own, nor was it given you to be employed as you yourself think proper. It is a trust committed to you by God! Oh, see that you do not abuse it! You are wasting what millions, now in the regions of eternal despair, would give worlds to buy back again--what you yourself will regret with tears of bitter repentance, when, on a deathbed, you look back upon a life in which so little has been done.
Be warned! Break the chains of this ensnaring habit before they are wound so closely about you that you cannot get free from them! Remember that every day these chains of indolence are riveted more firmly. They are light and easy now--but before long, they will grow into iron fetters! Your only hope of safety is in casting them from you at once, with the determination of a renewed will, and the heaven-imparted strength given to all who truly seek it.
Remembering that you were not "redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ"--you should pass the time of your sojourning here as strangers and pilgrims, looking for a better country--a heavenly one!
A Christian's fingers need never be unoccupied. He may always have on hand some profitable reading--to fill up the little moments that might otherwise run to waste. Idleness is, more than anything else (considered in connection with the consequences to which it often leads) disgraceful to a Christian!
"Tis not for man to trifle! Life is brief,
And sin is here.
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear.
We have no time to sport away the hours,
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
"Not many lives, but only one, have we,
One, only one!
How sacred should that one life ever be,
That narrow span!
Day after day filled up with blessed toil,
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil."
Horatius Bonar
"So teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom!" Psalm 90:12
___________________________________
How has the fine gold become dim!
(Hetty Bowman, "Separation From the World")
If some of the holy men of a former generation could once more return to the scene of their labors and sorrows--what would they find among those who profess to follow in their steps? Would they witness . . .
the same decision,
the same faithfulness,
the same unyielding adherence to principles which involve contempt and scorn,
the same resolute separation from everything that is even questionable in its tendency
--which characterized their own walk in the world?
Would they not rather be grieved by the levity, the trifling, the inconsistency which are too often displayed--even by those whose names are enrolled in the list of professing Christians?
Would they not be amazed at the slender barrier which divides those who are in the world--from those who say that they haverenounced it?
Would they not be bewildered by the strange mixture of good and evil which is presented by many who bear the name of Christ; one day to be found in the committee-room of some religious society--and the next day at a dance; one day at a prayer-meeting--and the next day at a concert?
Deeply would their hearts be saddened by these things, and mournfully would they exclaim, "How has the fine gold become dim!"
It is to be feared that the religion of the day is, in many respects, of too easy a nature. We know . . .
little of sacrifice,
little of deliberate counting the cost,
little of forsaking all for Christ's sake!
Truly the Church of God in these latter days, has need to watch that she be not found lingering in the plains of Sodom--instead of pressing forward, with girded loins and hastening step, to the Zoar which she has set out to seek.
Let her take heed, lest He who "walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks," visits her suddenly with the rod of His wrath--and lest her slumber be broken by the unlooked-for coming of the Bridegroom!
Believer! Seek to know your place in your Father's heart of love--and then no earthly thing will tempt you thence. Oh, leave the broken cisterns of this poor world, which can never quench your spirit's fevered thirst. Cast yourself upon the fullness of God's grace and mercy, and pray that His own hand may satisfy you with the riches that are treasured up in Christ!
He prayed earnestly!
(Frederick Marsh)
"Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly . . . " James 5:17
The thing which made Elijah pray as he did, was the man that he was. When our Great High Priest comes with the lighted torch of His grace, and ignites the wood of our being into a holy flame--then the sweet-smelling fragrance of our requests ascend acceptably to God, and bring down the benediction of His love.
The art of prayer, is a sense of desperate need! There must be a sense of need, and an earnest desire to have that need met.
"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast."
Prayer is a sin-killer. No one can sin and pray; for prayer will either make us cease from sin--or sin will make us cease from prayer.
Prayer is a power-bringer. It is the hand which touches the hem of the garment of Divine grace, and causes the life which is in the Divine One to flow into us.
Prayer is a victory-giver. Bunyan's Christian found that the weapon of "all-prayer" was sufficient to wound and defeat the adversary who would stop him in his progress as a pilgrim.
Prayer is a holiness-promoter. It is like the gentle dew which falls upon the thirsty plants and causes them to be refreshed and to fructify.
Prayer is a dispute-adjuster. Let any two brethren who are at loggerheads get on their knees, and ask the Lord about any disputed matter--and they will find the Lord saying to their troubled spirits, "Peace, be still."
Prayer is an obstacle-remover, as Peter found when an angel came in answer to the prayers of the saints, and delivered him from the prison of Herod's hate.
Prayer is a Christ-revealer, for it clarifies our vision, and enables us to see unseen spiritual realities.
Prayer is the secret of a holy life! We cannot do without prayer. The spiritual life is born in prayer--and it flourishes, and is strong, as it lives in that same atmosphere!
It is not the arithmetic of our prayers--how many they are;
nor the rhetoric of our prayers--how eloquent they are;
nor the geometry of our prayers--how long they are;
nor the music of our prayers--how sweet our voice may be;
nor the logic of our prayers--how proper they may be;
nor the method of our prayers--how orderly they may be;
nor even the theology of our prayers--how good the doctrine may be,
which God cares for. It is only fervency in prayer, which will make a man prevalent with God. Fervent prayer hits the mark, and pierces the walls of Heaven! "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much!" James 5:16
__________________________________
Break the chains of this ensnaring habit!
(Hetty Bowman, "Life--its Duties and Discipline")
"The time is short!" 1 Corinthians 7:29
"Redeeming the time!" Ephesians 5:16
We believe that, to go back to the good old custom of calling things by their right names--the charge of idleness might very truthfully be brought against many professors. I mean the habitual wasting of the fragments of time, "Those parings of precious time--those leavings of days and remnants of hours, which so many sweep out into the waste of existence!"
We feel constrained, in all Christian faithfulness, to lift up our voice against this great evil. It is more than an evil--it is a sin most displeasing in the sight of God! It mars the usefulness, and leaves an unsightly blemish on the character of many an otherwise lovely Christian. It will demand a solemn reckoning in the great day of account. You have no more right, reader, to the time which you thus foolishly and sinfully squander--than you have to your neighbor's goods. Time is not your own, nor was it given you to be employed as you yourself think proper. It is a trust committed to you by God! Oh, see that you do not abuse it! You are wasting what millions, now in the regions of eternal despair, would give worlds to buy back again--what you yourself will regret with tears of bitter repentance, when, on a deathbed, you look back upon a life in which so little has been done.
Be warned! Break the chains of this ensnaring habit before they are wound so closely about you that you cannot get free from them! Remember that every day these chains of indolence are riveted more firmly. They are light and easy now--but before long, they will grow into iron fetters! Your only hope of safety is in casting them from you at once, with the determination of a renewed will, and the heaven-imparted strength given to all who truly seek it.
Remembering that you were not "redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ"--you should pass the time of your sojourning here as strangers and pilgrims, looking for a better country--a heavenly one!
A Christian's fingers need never be unoccupied. He may always have on hand some profitable reading--to fill up the little moments that might otherwise run to waste. Idleness is, more than anything else (considered in connection with the consequences to which it often leads) disgraceful to a Christian!
"Tis not for man to trifle! Life is brief,
And sin is here.
Our age is but the falling of a leaf,
A dropping tear.
We have no time to sport away the hours,
All must be earnest in a world like ours.
"Not many lives, but only one, have we,
One, only one!
How sacred should that one life ever be,
That narrow span!
Day after day filled up with blessed toil,
Hour after hour still bringing in new spoil."
Horatius Bonar
"So teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom!" Psalm 90:12
___________________________________
How has the fine gold become dim!
(Hetty Bowman, "Separation From the World")
If some of the holy men of a former generation could once more return to the scene of their labors and sorrows--what would they find among those who profess to follow in their steps? Would they witness . . .
the same decision,
the same faithfulness,
the same unyielding adherence to principles which involve contempt and scorn,
the same resolute separation from everything that is even questionable in its tendency
--which characterized their own walk in the world?
Would they not rather be grieved by the levity, the trifling, the inconsistency which are too often displayed--even by those whose names are enrolled in the list of professing Christians?
Would they not be amazed at the slender barrier which divides those who are in the world--from those who say that they haverenounced it?
Would they not be bewildered by the strange mixture of good and evil which is presented by many who bear the name of Christ; one day to be found in the committee-room of some religious society--and the next day at a dance; one day at a prayer-meeting--and the next day at a concert?
Deeply would their hearts be saddened by these things, and mournfully would they exclaim, "How has the fine gold become dim!"
It is to be feared that the religion of the day is, in many respects, of too easy a nature. We know . . .
little of sacrifice,
little of deliberate counting the cost,
little of forsaking all for Christ's sake!
Truly the Church of God in these latter days, has need to watch that she be not found lingering in the plains of Sodom--instead of pressing forward, with girded loins and hastening step, to the Zoar which she has set out to seek.
Let her take heed, lest He who "walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks," visits her suddenly with the rod of His wrath--and lest her slumber be broken by the unlooked-for coming of the Bridegroom!
Believer! Seek to know your place in your Father's heart of love--and then no earthly thing will tempt you thence. Oh, leave the broken cisterns of this poor world, which can never quench your spirit's fevered thirst. Cast yourself upon the fullness of God's grace and mercy, and pray that His own hand may satisfy you with the riches that are treasured up in Christ!
Saturday, April 14, 2018
Christ's Symphony To Weary Pilgrims # 2
Christ's Symphony To Weary Pilgrims # 2
Plunge Into This Fathomless, Boundless Ocean of Love!
Christ is wonderful in His love. Love was the first and eternal link in the golden chain lowered from the highest throne in heaven - down to the lowest depth of earth. That Christ should love us was the beginning of wonders. When we endeavor to comprehend that love, measure it, fathom it, scale it - we learn that it has heights we cannot reach, depths we cannot sound, lengths and breadths we cannot measure! Such love, such divine love, such infinite love, such everlasting love, such redeeming, such dying love - is an ocean whose eternal waves waft into our fallen world, every wonder of God and of heaven.
That Jesus should love such begins as us - that He should love us while we were yet sinners - that He should set His heart upon us, choose us, die for us, save us, and finally bring us to glory, knowing what we were, and what we would prove to be - oh, this is wondrous love indeed!
Plunge into this fathomless, boundless ocean of love, O sin-burdened one! It will cover all your sins, it will efface all your guilt; it will flood over all your unworthiness - and, floating upon its golden waves, it will gently waft you to the shore of eternal blessedness!
How often have you wondered why Christ should set His heart upon such a one as you! And is it not a wonder that, amid all your fickleness and backslidings, and cold, base returns - this love of God towards you has not chilled or changed? But do not rest, do not be satisfied with your present limited experience of Christ's wonderful love. It is so marvelously great. This ocean of love is so fathomless, boundless, and inexhaustible - that you may plunge, with all your infirmities, sins, and sorrows, into its fullness, exclaiming, "O, the depth!" The well is deep! Drink abundantly, O beloved!
"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should - how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Love, suffering, and bleeding, and expiring!
The love of Christ! Such a precious theme! Of it, can we ever weary? Never! Its greatness, can we ever know? Never! Its plenitude, can we fully contain? Never! Its depths cannot be fathomed, its dimensions cannot be measured! It passes knowledge! All that Jesus did for His people was but the unfolding and expression of His love.
Traveling to Bethlehem - I see love incarnate!
Tracking His steps as He went about doing good - I see love laboring!
Visiting the house of Bethany - I see love sympathizing!
Standing by the grave of Lazarus - I see love weeping!
Entering the gloomy precincts of Gethsemane - I see love sorrowing!
Passing on to Calvary - I see love suffering, and bleeding, and expiring!
The whole scene of His life - is but an unfolding of the deep, and awesome, and precious mystery of redeeming love!
"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should - how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
It Is I!
"Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid" (Mark 6:50).
Listen, then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm.
It is I who raised the tempest in your soul - and will control it.
It is I who sent your affliction - and will be with you in it.
It is I who kindled the furnace - and will watch the flames, and bring you through it.
It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross - and who will strengthen you to bear it.
It is I who mixed your cup of grief - and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your Father's will.
It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth - and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child.
It is I who has done it ALL!
I make the clouds My chariot, and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment. The night hour is My time of coming, and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk. Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.
It is I - your Friend, your Brother, your Saviour! A am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good.
It is I who permitted...
the enemy to assail you,
the slander to blast you,
the unkindness to wound you,
the need to press you!
Your affliction did not spring out of the ground, but came down from above - a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light. c;ad om a robe of ebony.
I have sent all in love!
This sickness is not unto death - but for the glory of God.
This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all!
In every stormy wind,
in every darksome night,
in every lonesome hour,
in every rising fear,
- the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid."
~Octavius Winslow~
(continued with # 3)
Plunge Into This Fathomless, Boundless Ocean of Love!
Christ is wonderful in His love. Love was the first and eternal link in the golden chain lowered from the highest throne in heaven - down to the lowest depth of earth. That Christ should love us was the beginning of wonders. When we endeavor to comprehend that love, measure it, fathom it, scale it - we learn that it has heights we cannot reach, depths we cannot sound, lengths and breadths we cannot measure! Such love, such divine love, such infinite love, such everlasting love, such redeeming, such dying love - is an ocean whose eternal waves waft into our fallen world, every wonder of God and of heaven.
That Jesus should love such begins as us - that He should love us while we were yet sinners - that He should set His heart upon us, choose us, die for us, save us, and finally bring us to glory, knowing what we were, and what we would prove to be - oh, this is wondrous love indeed!
Plunge into this fathomless, boundless ocean of love, O sin-burdened one! It will cover all your sins, it will efface all your guilt; it will flood over all your unworthiness - and, floating upon its golden waves, it will gently waft you to the shore of eternal blessedness!
How often have you wondered why Christ should set His heart upon such a one as you! And is it not a wonder that, amid all your fickleness and backslidings, and cold, base returns - this love of God towards you has not chilled or changed? But do not rest, do not be satisfied with your present limited experience of Christ's wonderful love. It is so marvelously great. This ocean of love is so fathomless, boundless, and inexhaustible - that you may plunge, with all your infirmities, sins, and sorrows, into its fullness, exclaiming, "O, the depth!" The well is deep! Drink abundantly, O beloved!
"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should - how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Love, suffering, and bleeding, and expiring!
The love of Christ! Such a precious theme! Of it, can we ever weary? Never! Its greatness, can we ever know? Never! Its plenitude, can we fully contain? Never! Its depths cannot be fathomed, its dimensions cannot be measured! It passes knowledge! All that Jesus did for His people was but the unfolding and expression of His love.
Traveling to Bethlehem - I see love incarnate!
Tracking His steps as He went about doing good - I see love laboring!
Visiting the house of Bethany - I see love sympathizing!
Standing by the grave of Lazarus - I see love weeping!
Entering the gloomy precincts of Gethsemane - I see love sorrowing!
Passing on to Calvary - I see love suffering, and bleeding, and expiring!
The whole scene of His life - is but an unfolding of the deep, and awesome, and precious mystery of redeeming love!
"May you have the power to understand, as all God's people should - how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully!" (Ephesians 3:18-19).
It Is I!
"Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid" (Mark 6:50).
Listen, then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm.
It is I who raised the tempest in your soul - and will control it.
It is I who sent your affliction - and will be with you in it.
It is I who kindled the furnace - and will watch the flames, and bring you through it.
It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross - and who will strengthen you to bear it.
It is I who mixed your cup of grief - and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your Father's will.
It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth - and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child.
It is I who has done it ALL!
I make the clouds My chariot, and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment. The night hour is My time of coming, and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk. Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.
It is I - your Friend, your Brother, your Saviour! A am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good.
It is I who permitted...
the enemy to assail you,
the slander to blast you,
the unkindness to wound you,
the need to press you!
Your affliction did not spring out of the ground, but came down from above - a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light. c;ad om a robe of ebony.
I have sent all in love!
This sickness is not unto death - but for the glory of God.
This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all!
In every stormy wind,
in every darksome night,
in every lonesome hour,
in every rising fear,
- the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid."
~Octavius Winslow~
(continued with # 3)
Saturday, April 7, 2018
The Wonder Of Redemption (and others)
The Wonder of Redemption
"For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9)
My brethren in the Christian faith, stand with me in defense of this basic doctrine: The living God did not degrade Himself in the Incarnation. When the Word was made flesh, there was no compromise on God's part!
It is plain in the ancient Athanasian Creed that the early church fathers were cautious at this point of doctrine. They would not allow us to believe that God, in the Incarnation, became flesh by a coming down of the Deity into flesh, but rather by taking of mankind into God. That is the wonder of redemption!
In the past the mythical gods of the nations were not strangers to compromise. But the holy God who is God, our heavenly Father, could never compromise Himself!
He remained ever God, and everything else remained not God. That gulf still existed even after Jesus Christ had become man and dwelt among us. This much, then, we can know about the acts of God - He will never back our of His bargain. This amazing union of man with God is effected unto perpetuity!
Heavenly Father, thank You for making it possible for mankind to become redeemed to the most high God! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_________________________________
Our Life In Christ
"Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Certainly not all of the mystery of the Godhead can be known by man - but just as certainly, all that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ!
When the Apostle Paul said with yearning, "That I may know him" (Philippians 3:10), he was not speaking of intellectual knowledge. Paul was speaking of the reality of an experience of knowing God personally and consciously, spirit touching spirit and heart touching heart.
We know that people spend a lot of time talking about a deeper Christian life - but few seem to want to know and love God for Himself.
The precious fact is that God is the deeper life!! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life, and as I plunge on into the knowledge of the triune God, my heart moves on into the blessedness of His fellowship. This means that there is less of me and more of God - thus my spiritual life deepens and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will!
Dear Lord, this morning and throughout this day, may there be more and more of You and less and less of me. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
God Sets No Limit
"Let no man deceive you with vain words" (Ephesians 5:6).
Do you know that there are Bible "interpreters" now who believe they can set up rules as to how much we can have of God? However, the Lord Himself has promised that as far as He is concerned, He is willing to keep the candles of my soul brightly burning!
So, my heart tells me to ignore the modern scribes whose interpretations, I fear, are forcing the Spirit, the blessed Dove, to fold His wings and be silent. I turn rather to one of Dr. A. B. Simpson's hymns rarely sung now, probably because very few believers have this experience of which he wrote:
I take the hand of love divine,
I count each precious promise mine
With this eternal countersign -
I take - He undertakes!
I take Thee, blessed Lord,
I give myself to Thee;
And Thou, according to Thy Word
Dost undertake for me!
Lord, fill me anew with Your precious Spirit. I pray that others will see You living in me today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
"For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2:9)
My brethren in the Christian faith, stand with me in defense of this basic doctrine: The living God did not degrade Himself in the Incarnation. When the Word was made flesh, there was no compromise on God's part!
It is plain in the ancient Athanasian Creed that the early church fathers were cautious at this point of doctrine. They would not allow us to believe that God, in the Incarnation, became flesh by a coming down of the Deity into flesh, but rather by taking of mankind into God. That is the wonder of redemption!
In the past the mythical gods of the nations were not strangers to compromise. But the holy God who is God, our heavenly Father, could never compromise Himself!
He remained ever God, and everything else remained not God. That gulf still existed even after Jesus Christ had become man and dwelt among us. This much, then, we can know about the acts of God - He will never back our of His bargain. This amazing union of man with God is effected unto perpetuity!
Heavenly Father, thank You for making it possible for mankind to become redeemed to the most high God! Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
_________________________________
Our Life In Christ
"Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Certainly not all of the mystery of the Godhead can be known by man - but just as certainly, all that men can know of God in this life is revealed in Jesus Christ!
When the Apostle Paul said with yearning, "That I may know him" (Philippians 3:10), he was not speaking of intellectual knowledge. Paul was speaking of the reality of an experience of knowing God personally and consciously, spirit touching spirit and heart touching heart.
We know that people spend a lot of time talking about a deeper Christian life - but few seem to want to know and love God for Himself.
The precious fact is that God is the deeper life!! Jesus Christ Himself is the deeper life, and as I plunge on into the knowledge of the triune God, my heart moves on into the blessedness of His fellowship. This means that there is less of me and more of God - thus my spiritual life deepens and I am strengthened in the knowledge of His will!
Dear Lord, this morning and throughout this day, may there be more and more of You and less and less of me. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
____________________________
God Sets No Limit
"Let no man deceive you with vain words" (Ephesians 5:6).
Do you know that there are Bible "interpreters" now who believe they can set up rules as to how much we can have of God? However, the Lord Himself has promised that as far as He is concerned, He is willing to keep the candles of my soul brightly burning!
So, my heart tells me to ignore the modern scribes whose interpretations, I fear, are forcing the Spirit, the blessed Dove, to fold His wings and be silent. I turn rather to one of Dr. A. B. Simpson's hymns rarely sung now, probably because very few believers have this experience of which he wrote:
I take the hand of love divine,
I count each precious promise mine
With this eternal countersign -
I take - He undertakes!
I take Thee, blessed Lord,
I give myself to Thee;
And Thou, according to Thy Word
Dost undertake for me!
Lord, fill me anew with Your precious Spirit. I pray that others will see You living in me today. Amen
~A. W. Tozer~
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Favorite Pastor Quotes 10
Favorite Pastor Quotes 10
Mark him down as a proud man!
(Ashton Oxenden, "The Touchstone of Humility")
One way in which a really humble Christian shows himself, is by having a high opinion of others. Paul says, "In lowliness of mind--let each esteem other better than himself." "Honor one another above yourselves."
Whenever you see a person who appears to take every opportunity of putting down others--mark him down as a proud man--and be sure that he does it in order to exalt himself!
On the other hand, whenever you see any one anxious to hide his brother's failings, unwilling to expose his little defects--you will generally find that he is a humble man, and one who deeply feels the many faults of his own character.
________________________________
Mark him down as a proud man!
(Ashton Oxenden, "The Touchstone of Humility")
One way in which a really humble Christian shows himself, is by having a high opinion of others. Paul says, "In lowliness of mind--let each esteem other better than himself." "Honor one another above yourselves."
Whenever you see a person who appears to take every opportunity of putting down others--mark him down as a proud man--and be sure that he does it in order to exalt himself!
On the other hand, whenever you see any one anxious to hide his brother's failings, unwilling to expose his little defects--you will generally find that he is a humble man, and one who deeply feels the many faults of his own character.
________________________________
The evangelistic methods of our present golden-calf Christianity!
(A.W. Tozer)
Any objection to the evangelistic methods of our present golden-calf Christianity, is met with the triumphant reply, "But we are winning the lost!"
And what are you winning them to?
To true discipleship?
To cross-carrying?
To self-denial?
To separation from the world?
To crucifixion of the flesh?
To holy living?
To nobility of character?
To a despising of the world's treasures?
To total committal to Christ?
To cross-carrying?
To self-denial?
To separation from the world?
To crucifixion of the flesh?
To holy living?
To nobility of character?
To a despising of the world's treasures?
To total committal to Christ?
Of course, the answer to all these questions is NO!
_________________________________
His teaching makes practical Christians!
(James Smith)
"But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name--He will teach you all things!" John 14:26
The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the church. To Him the promise refers, "All Your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children."
He taught the apostles all things necessary for their office and work.
He teaches the true ministers of Christ, leading them into the truth as it is in Jesus.
And He teaches every believer--all that is really necessary for him to know!
The Bible is the lesson-book,
the believer is the scholar,
the blessed Spirit is the teacher, and
experimental religion is the education!
No one teaches like Him!
He teaches us . . .
gradually,
silently, and
always effectually!
For only what the Spirit teaches us--do we really know!
He teaches us . . .
what God requires in His Word,
what He has provided in His gospel;
what Christ is to His people,
what His people are to Him.
His teaching makes practical Christians--for He always teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present world!
(James Smith)
"But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name--He will teach you all things!" John 14:26
The Holy Spirit is the Teacher of the church. To Him the promise refers, "All Your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children."
He taught the apostles all things necessary for their office and work.
He teaches the true ministers of Christ, leading them into the truth as it is in Jesus.
And He teaches every believer--all that is really necessary for him to know!
The Bible is the lesson-book,
the believer is the scholar,
the blessed Spirit is the teacher, and
experimental religion is the education!
No one teaches like Him!
He teaches us . . .
gradually,
silently, and
always effectually!
For only what the Spirit teaches us--do we really know!
He teaches us . . .
what God requires in His Word,
what He has provided in His gospel;
what Christ is to His people,
what His people are to Him.
His teaching makes practical Christians--for He always teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present world!
______________________________
We would never commit a sin!
(Charles Spurgeon, "How God Condemned Sin")
Such are the assemblage of graces found only in Jesus, each sparkling with peerless luster, and all blending with such exquisite gracefulness--that we are at once moved with awe and touched with love as we contemplate Him.
Such majesty--and yet such meekness in His demeanor.
Such solemnity--and yet such tenderness in His speech.
So impartial in judgment--and yet so forgiving in temper.
So full of zeal--and yet so equally full of patience.
So keen to detect malice--and yet so slow to resent it.
Such a wise mentor--and yet such a gentle sympathizing friend.
Jesus was perfectly . . .
innocent,
harmless,
gentle,
meek,
loving,
tender.
All His words were love.
All His actions were kindness.
We would never commit a sin, if we would but first say to ourselves, "Would Jesus have done this?"
Such are the assemblage of graces found only in Jesus, each sparkling with peerless luster, and all blending with such exquisite gracefulness--that we are at once moved with awe and touched with love as we contemplate Him.
Such majesty--and yet such meekness in His demeanor.
Such solemnity--and yet such tenderness in His speech.
So impartial in judgment--and yet so forgiving in temper.
So full of zeal--and yet so equally full of patience.
So keen to detect malice--and yet so slow to resent it.
Such a wise mentor--and yet such a gentle sympathizing friend.
Jesus was perfectly . . .
innocent,
harmless,
gentle,
meek,
loving,
tender.
All His words were love.
All His actions were kindness.
We would never commit a sin, if we would but first say to ourselves, "Would Jesus have done this?"
__________________________________
The Infinite has become an infant!
(Charles Spurgeon, "The Condescension of Christ!")
"Even angels long to look into these things!" 1 Peter 1:12
Oh, how surprised angels were, when they were first informed that Jesus Christ, the Prince of Light and Majesty, intended to shroud Himself in clay and become a babe, and live and die! We do not know how it was first mentioned to the angels--but when the rumor first began to get afloat among the sacred hosts, you may imagine what strange wonderment there was.
What! Was it true that He whose crown was all bedecked with stars, would lay that crown aside?
What! Was it certain that He about whose shoulders was cast the government of the universe, would become a man dressed in a peasants garment?
Could it be true that He who was everlasting and immortal, would one day be nailed to a cross?
And when He descended from on high, they followed Him; for Jesus was "seen by angels," and seen in a special sense, for they looked upon Him in rapturous amazement, wondering what it all could mean.
Oh, can you conceive the yet increasing wonder of the heavenly hosts when He put aside His majesty--when they saw the tiara taken off, when they saw Him unbind His belt of stars, and cast away His sandals of gold?
Can you conceive it, when He said to them: "I do not disdain the womb of the virgin--I am going down to earth to become a man!"
And now wonder, you angels, the Infinite has become an infant!
He, upon whose shoulders the universe hangs--hangs at His mothers bosom!
He who created all things, and bears up the pillars of creation--has now become so weak that He must be carried by a woman!
And oh, wonder, you angels who knew Him in His riches, while you admire His poverty!
Where does the new-born King sleep? Had He the best room in Caesar's palace? Has a cradle of gold been prepared for Him, and pillows of down, on which to rest His head? No! Where the ox fed, in the dilapidated stable, in the feeding trough--there the Savior lies, swathed in the swaddling bands of the children of poverty!
See Him who made the worlds--handle the hammer and the nails, assisting Joseph in the trade of a carpenter!
Mark Him who has put the stars on high, and made them glisten in the night; mark Him without one star of glory upon His brow--a simple child, as other children.
Let us leave the scenes of His childhood and His earlier life. See Him when He becomes a man--as for His food, He oftentimes hungered; and always was dependent upon the charity of others for the relief of His needs!
He who scattered the harvest over the broad acres of the world--at times had nothing to stop the pangs of His hunger!
He who dug the springs of the ocean--sat upon a well and said to a Samaritan woman, "Give me a drink!"
He rode in no chariot, but He walked His weary way, foot-sore, over the flints of Galilee!
He had no where to lay His head. He looked upon the fox as it hurried to its burrow, and the fowl as it went to its resting-place, and He said, "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests--but I have nowhere to lay my head."
He who had once been waited on by angels--becomes the servant of servants, takes a towel, girds Himself, and washes His disciples' feet!
He who was once honored with the hallelujahs of ages--is now spit upon and despised!
Oh, there are no words to picture the humiliation of Christ! What leagues of distance between Him that once sat upon the throne--and Him that died upon the cross! Oh, who can tell the mighty chasm between yon heights of glory--and the cross of deepest woe!
Trace Him, Christian. Follow Him all His journey through. Begin with Him in the wilderness of temptation, see Him fasting there, and hungering with the wild beasts around Him. Trace Him along His weary way, as the Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He is the byword of the drunkard, He is the song of the scorner, and He is hooted at by the malicious--see Him as they point their finger at Him, and call Him a "drunken man and wine-bibber!"
Follow Him along His 'Via Dolorosa', until at last you meet Him among the olive groves of Gethsemane--see Him sweating great drops of blood!
Follow Him to the pavement of Gabbatha--see Him pouring out rivers of gore beneath the cruel whips of Roman soldiers!
With weeping eye follow Him to the cross of Calvary, see Him nailed there!
Mark His poverty--so poor that His unpillowed head is girt with thorns in death!
Oh, Son of Man, I know not which to admire most--Your height of glory--or Your depths of misery!
If I had a tale to tell you this day of some king, who, out of love to some fair maiden, left his kingdom and became a peasant like herself--you would stand and wonder, and would listen to the charming tale. But when I tell of God concealing His dignity to become our Savior--our hearts are scarcely touched!
"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich!" 2 Corinthians 8:9
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Are You Normal?
Are You Normal?
Are you normal? You would probably answer yes to that question, but do you really know what normality is for a human being?
After all, a knowledge of normality is the only basis upon which we can diagnose accurately. That is why we have to understand very clearly how God created us: only then can we have an intelligent understanding of what has gone wrong, and its consequences, and what God has done to put things right.
In Psalm 8, David asks God, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" Then David acknowledges, "You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:4-6). This was man in his innocence, man in normality, man as God created him in Adam: crowned with glory!
What was the glory with which God crowned man? God had said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness: ( Genesis 1:26). Man in the image of God was to be equipped by His divine indwelling, the Holy Spirit occupying the human spirit, so that man would manifest the very glory of God. It was a derived glory, exclusively dependent upon the presence of the Creator within the creature. Likewise the authority man was to exercise over the earth was the authority that derived exclusively from his submission to God's authority.
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God Himself (the Creator within the creature) must be the origin of His own image. After God completed His work of creation by creating man, "God saw that everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). What did He see in that moment when He looked at man whom He created in His perfect image? He saw Himself! For "God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him" (Genesis 1:27).
God Himself, as our Creator, always intended that He should indwell us; His cherished ambition was to be seen and heard in those He created. That is normality for a human being, when God Himself is behaving in and through a man or woman. This is the purpose for which He created us, that we might be a physical, visible expression on this earth of the God who is otherwise invisible, as John tells us: "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18).
God created each human being with a physical, visible, and audible body to be inhabited by an invisible God, to make Himself visible through what that person does and says and is. God Himself must be the origin of this activity within us, which is called "righteousness. God is the author of all righteousness, and for you and me to produce it, He must be within us the origin of His own image, the source of His own activity, the dynamic of His own demands, and the cause of His own effect.
Therefore if any human being is truly normal in his or her behavior, there is only One Person to be congratulated, and that is God Himself. Normality for a human being is when God can be seen by anything and everything which that person does and says and is.
Our "natural" man, or who we are in our flesh, is void of righteousness and also of any true spirituality: "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). The natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because he is morally and intellectually incapacitated. The natural man is not normal; he is not what God created and intended man to be. In his fallen condition he is destitute, empty, and alienated from the person of his Creator.
The moment you come to realize that only God can make a person righteous and godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know Him, and to let God be God in and through you, whatever that will mean. This will leave you with no margin for picking and choosing, for there is only one God, and He is absolute, and He made you expressly for Himself.
"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and .... put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:23-24).
1. How normal are you? What is true normality for a human being?
2. What does it mean "to let God be God in and through you?
~W. Ian Thomas~
Are you normal? You would probably answer yes to that question, but do you really know what normality is for a human being?
After all, a knowledge of normality is the only basis upon which we can diagnose accurately. That is why we have to understand very clearly how God created us: only then can we have an intelligent understanding of what has gone wrong, and its consequences, and what God has done to put things right.
In Psalm 8, David asks God, "What is man that You are mindful of him?" Then David acknowledges, "You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:4-6). This was man in his innocence, man in normality, man as God created him in Adam: crowned with glory!
What was the glory with which God crowned man? God had said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness: ( Genesis 1:26). Man in the image of God was to be equipped by His divine indwelling, the Holy Spirit occupying the human spirit, so that man would manifest the very glory of God. It was a derived glory, exclusively dependent upon the presence of the Creator within the creature. Likewise the authority man was to exercise over the earth was the authority that derived exclusively from his submission to God's authority.
The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God Himself (the Creator within the creature) must be the origin of His own image. After God completed His work of creation by creating man, "God saw that everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). What did He see in that moment when He looked at man whom He created in His perfect image? He saw Himself! For "God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him" (Genesis 1:27).
God Himself, as our Creator, always intended that He should indwell us; His cherished ambition was to be seen and heard in those He created. That is normality for a human being, when God Himself is behaving in and through a man or woman. This is the purpose for which He created us, that we might be a physical, visible expression on this earth of the God who is otherwise invisible, as John tells us: "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18).
God created each human being with a physical, visible, and audible body to be inhabited by an invisible God, to make Himself visible through what that person does and says and is. God Himself must be the origin of this activity within us, which is called "righteousness. God is the author of all righteousness, and for you and me to produce it, He must be within us the origin of His own image, the source of His own activity, the dynamic of His own demands, and the cause of His own effect.
Therefore if any human being is truly normal in his or her behavior, there is only One Person to be congratulated, and that is God Himself. Normality for a human being is when God can be seen by anything and everything which that person does and says and is.
Our "natural" man, or who we are in our flesh, is void of righteousness and also of any true spirituality: "The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). The natural man cannot know the things of the Spirit of God because he is morally and intellectually incapacitated. The natural man is not normal; he is not what God created and intended man to be. In his fallen condition he is destitute, empty, and alienated from the person of his Creator.
The moment you come to realize that only God can make a person righteous and godly, you are left with no option but to find God, and to know Him, and to let God be God in and through you, whatever that will mean. This will leave you with no margin for picking and choosing, for there is only one God, and He is absolute, and He made you expressly for Himself.
"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and .... put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:23-24).
1. How normal are you? What is true normality for a human being?
2. What does it mean "to let God be God in and through you?
~W. Ian Thomas~
Saturday, March 10, 2018
What Kind of a Christian?
What Kind of a Christian?
God is the absolute source of righteousness, but there is also an absolute source of unrighteousness - the devil. All human activity derives from one or the other of these two origins.
That is why the Bible says, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Whatever does not derive from your attitude of total dependence upon God, whatever does not release God's activity through your life, is sin. It is sin because it stems from an attitude of independence that makes you open to any and all of satan's deceptions in his long history of usurping God's authority.
Every step you take, every attitude you adopt, every decision you make, everything you do and all you hope to be, is either in dependence upon the God who created you as His own dwelling place, or else the byproduct of the demon spirit of this world, "who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), and who perpetuates his lies through a mindset of self-reliance in fallen humanity.
The Bible calls this attitude of independence a "carnal mind" (Romans 8:7). It is a mind that is set "on the things of the flesh" rather than on "the things of the spirit" (Romans 8:5). It means exercising the faculties of your personality in ways that are not dependent on the God whose presence alone imparts to you the quality of true humanity that He always intended for you.
It means thinking godlessly. In other words, thinking lightlessly, with a mind still in darkness. You take a step, you make a decision, you conceive your plans, you assume a responsibility, all without relating the situation to God and to His light and to all that He is within you.
This carnal mind can be in the believer just as much as in the unbeliever. Carnal or fleshly Christians have been regenerated by the restoration of the Holy Spirit to their human spirit but in certain ways they still repudiate the Spirit's legitimate right to reestablish the rule of Christ in their minds, in their emotions, and in their wills. Although they profess Christ as Redeemer, their actions and decisions typically are taken for the sake of their own interests and for who they are in themselves, rather than for God's interests and for who He is. Their minds are still the plaything and the workshop of the devil, for the devil is smart enough and cunning enough that he can always persuade countless numbers of professing Christians to try and be Christians without Christ. They are willing to do anything for Jesus' sake, but they fail to understand that His presence is absolutely imperative to do it, that without Him we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing.
To be a carnal Christian is still to claim the right to exercise your own jurisdiction, make your own decisions and plans, choose your own pathway. But you will be useless to God, and you will make it into heaven only "as through fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15).
What kind of Christian do you want to be? To choose to be a carnal Christian is to choose spiritual oblivion. But if you decide genuinely that Christ must be everything, and have everything in your life, if you say in your heart, "I want nothing less that to be all that for which the blood of God's dear Son was shed," then He is ready to lead you into discoveries that can completely revolutionize your whole humanity for time and eternity.
"He who sins is of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
1. In what ways might there be some self-dependence behind any current plans or decisions that you may have made? Of what current attitudes or actions of self-dependence in your life do you need to repent?
2. In the responsibilities, duties, and activities that lie immediately ahead, what can you identify as God's purpose and interests? What is He wanting to accomplish?
3. What kind of Christian do you truly want to be? How would you express this in your own words?
~W. Ian Thomas~
God is the absolute source of righteousness, but there is also an absolute source of unrighteousness - the devil. All human activity derives from one or the other of these two origins.
That is why the Bible says, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23). Whatever does not derive from your attitude of total dependence upon God, whatever does not release God's activity through your life, is sin. It is sin because it stems from an attitude of independence that makes you open to any and all of satan's deceptions in his long history of usurping God's authority.
Every step you take, every attitude you adopt, every decision you make, everything you do and all you hope to be, is either in dependence upon the God who created you as His own dwelling place, or else the byproduct of the demon spirit of this world, "who now works in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2), and who perpetuates his lies through a mindset of self-reliance in fallen humanity.
The Bible calls this attitude of independence a "carnal mind" (Romans 8:7). It is a mind that is set "on the things of the flesh" rather than on "the things of the spirit" (Romans 8:5). It means exercising the faculties of your personality in ways that are not dependent on the God whose presence alone imparts to you the quality of true humanity that He always intended for you.
It means thinking godlessly. In other words, thinking lightlessly, with a mind still in darkness. You take a step, you make a decision, you conceive your plans, you assume a responsibility, all without relating the situation to God and to His light and to all that He is within you.
This carnal mind can be in the believer just as much as in the unbeliever. Carnal or fleshly Christians have been regenerated by the restoration of the Holy Spirit to their human spirit but in certain ways they still repudiate the Spirit's legitimate right to reestablish the rule of Christ in their minds, in their emotions, and in their wills. Although they profess Christ as Redeemer, their actions and decisions typically are taken for the sake of their own interests and for who they are in themselves, rather than for God's interests and for who He is. Their minds are still the plaything and the workshop of the devil, for the devil is smart enough and cunning enough that he can always persuade countless numbers of professing Christians to try and be Christians without Christ. They are willing to do anything for Jesus' sake, but they fail to understand that His presence is absolutely imperative to do it, that without Him we are nothing, have nothing, and can do nothing.
To be a carnal Christian is still to claim the right to exercise your own jurisdiction, make your own decisions and plans, choose your own pathway. But you will be useless to God, and you will make it into heaven only "as through fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15).
What kind of Christian do you want to be? To choose to be a carnal Christian is to choose spiritual oblivion. But if you decide genuinely that Christ must be everything, and have everything in your life, if you say in your heart, "I want nothing less that to be all that for which the blood of God's dear Son was shed," then He is ready to lead you into discoveries that can completely revolutionize your whole humanity for time and eternity.
"He who sins is of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
1. In what ways might there be some self-dependence behind any current plans or decisions that you may have made? Of what current attitudes or actions of self-dependence in your life do you need to repent?
2. In the responsibilities, duties, and activities that lie immediately ahead, what can you identify as God's purpose and interests? What is He wanting to accomplish?
3. What kind of Christian do you truly want to be? How would you express this in your own words?
~W. Ian Thomas~
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