I have not been well these past 3 weeks. I have been fighting a bad cold and have been weaker then I have ever been. Weeks before this I was saying how I never get a cold, I never get the flu. Never says never..... I am slowly starting to get back on my feet and my breathing is getting a littl better. I was reading some quotes at "Grace Gems" and came across this on by J. C. Ryle,"Christ in the Sick Room". If you can find the time to read this, please do. It is a bit long but so worth reading.
We are so dependent on our Lord, as you read this you see that God is in control and thank God He is....
Isaiah had said—"Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster on the boil, and he shall recover." —Isaiah 38:21
Sickness, disease, decay, and death are the common lot of all mankind without exception. You have a striking proof of this in the chapter from which my text is taken. The Holy Spirit shows us a king and ruler of men, a dweller in palaces, a possessor of all that money can obtain, a good man, a holy man, a friend of God—laid low by disease, like the poorest man in the kingdom. Hear what the Holy Spirit says, "In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death."
This is the old story. It is the history of every child of Adam for the last 6,000 years—except Enoch and Elijah. It is as true of the infant who only lives a few hours, as it is true of Methuselah who lived 969 years. The story of every patriarch in the 5th of Genesis concludes with the simple words "and he died."
There is no discharge in this war. Sooner or later all die. There is no exemption for any rank or class or condition. High and low, rich and poor, gentle and simple, learned and unlearned, kings and their subjects, saints and sinners—all alike are liable to disease and all must submit to the king of terrors. The admirals and generals who have left behind a world-wide reputation, the statesmen who have swayed senates and made indelible marks on the history of their own time—are all carried one after another to the grave. Rich men, in spite of all their privileges, enjoy no immunity from sickness and death.
No medical skill can prevent death. Our physicians and surgeons are unwearied in their efforts to find new remedies and modes of treatment. They compass sea and land in order to prevent disease, and discover remedies, diminish pain, and lengthen life. But in spite of vaccination and quinine and chloroform, in spite of all that medicine and surgery can do—there is something which your ablest doctors find beyond their reach. When the time appointed by God comes, they cannot keep men and women alive.
After all, there is nothing amazing in this. The tabernacle or tent in which our soul lives, the human body, is a most frail and complicated machine. From the sole of the foot to the crown of the head there is not a part of us which is not liable to disease. When I think of the variety of ailments which may assail our frame, I do not wonder so much that we die at last—as I do that we live so long.
But whence comes this liability to sickness, disease, and death? How are we to account for it? This is a question which will arise in many minds—and it is one which ought to be answered. Perfection is the ordinary mark of all God's handiwork—perfection in the heaven above us and the earth beneath us—perfection in the movements of a planet like Jupiter—and perfection in a fly's wing or a blade of grass.
Look through a telescope or microscope at anything which God created and you find nothing defective. How then can we account for the power of disease, decay, and death over the body of man?
There is only one book that supplies an answer to this question. That book is the Bible. The fall of man at the beginning has brought sin into the world, and sin has brought with it the curse of sickness, suffering, and pain. These are not things which God created at the beginning. They are the consequences of man's transgression. To suppose that a perfect God could deliberately create imperfection, is a supposition too monstrous to be believed. It is man that is to blame—and not God. The countless bodily sufferings that we see are the just consequence of man's original disobedience.
Here to my mind lies one among many proofs that the Bible is given by inspiration of God. It accounts for many things which the Deist cannot explain. When I see a little infant, too young to know good from evil, convulsed with bodily pain and hovering between life and death in a weeping mother's arms, I would be utterly puzzled and confounded if I did not believe the Bible. I would ask myself, "Where is the justice and mercy of allowing such distress? Where is the wisdom and love of the Creator?" But when I turn to the Bible the mysterious problem is solved. I learn that suffering is the result of Adam's fall. That infant would not have suffered if Adam had not sinned.
In the next place I ask you to learn from this chapter that sickness is not an unmixed evil.
That King Hezekiah received spiritual benefit from his illness I think there can be no doubt. The beautiful and pathetic language of his "writing," which Isaiah was inspired to record, places that beyond question. The good man saw things in his sickness which he had never seen clearly and fully in the days of health. "By these things," he says, "men live." He might have added, "By these things men learn."
I do not say that sickness always does good. Alas! We ministers know to our sorrow that it frequently does no good at all. Too often we see men and women, after recovering from a long and dangerous illness, more hardened and irreligious than they were before. Too often they return to the world, if not to Sin, with more eagerness and zest than ever; and the impressions made on their conscience in the hour of sickness are swept away like children's writing on the sand of the sea-shore when the tide flows.
But I do say that sickness ought to do us good. And I do say that God sends it in order to do us good. It is a friendly letter from heaven. It is a knock at the door of conscience. It is the voice of the Savior asking to be let in. Happy is he who opens the letter and reads it, who hears the knock and opens the door, who welcomes Christ to the sick room. Come now, and let me plead with you a little about this, and show you a few of the lessons which He by sickness would teach us.
1. Sickness is meant to make us think—to remind us that we have a soul as well as a body—an immortal soul—a soul that will live forever in happiness or in misery—and that if this soul is not saved we had better never have been born.
2. Sickness is meant to teach us that there is a world beyond the grave—and that the world we now live in is only a training-place for another dwelling, where there will be no decay, no sorrow, no tears, no misery, and no sin.
3. Sickness is meant to make us look at our past lives honestly, fairly, and conscientiously. Am I ready for my great change if I should not get better? Do I repent truly of my sins? Are my sins forgiven and washed away in Christ's blood? Am I prepared to meet God?
4. Sickness is meant to make us see the emptiness of the world and its utter inability to satisfy the highest and deepest needs of the soul.
5. Sickness is meant to send us to our Bibles. That blessed Book, in the days of health, is too often left on the shelf, becomes the safest place in which to put a bank-note, and is never opened from January to December. But sickness often brings it down from the shelf and throws new light on its pages.
6. Sickness is meant to make us pray. Too many, I fear, never pray at all, or they only rattle over a few hurried words morning and evening without thinking what they do. But prayer often becomes a reality when the valley of the shadow of death is in sight.
7. Sickness is meant to make us repent and break off our sins. If we will not hear the voice of mercies, God sometimes makes us "hear the rod."
8. Sickness is meant to draw us to Christ. Naturally we do not see the full value of that blessed Savior. We secretly imagine that our prayers, good deeds, and sacrament-receiving will save our souls. But when flesh begins to fail, the absolute necessity of a Redeemer, a Mediator, and an Advocate with the Father, stands out before men's eyes like fire, and makes them understand those words, "Simply to Your cross I cling," as they never did before. Sickness has done this for many—they have found Christ in the sick room.
9. Last, but not least, sickness is meant to make us feeling and sympathizing towards others. By nature we are all far below our blessed Master's example, who had not only a hand to help all, but a heart to feel for all. None, I suspect, are so unable to sympathize as those who have never had trouble themselves—and none are so able to feel as those who have drunk most deeply the cup of pain and sorrow.
Men and brethren, when your time comes to be ill, I beseech you not to forget what the illness means. Beware of fretting and murmuring and complaining, and giving way to an impatient spirit. Regard your sickness as a blessing in disguise—a good and not an evil—a friend and not an enemy. No doubt we should all prefer to learn spiritual lessons in the school of ease and not under the rod. But rest assured that God knows better than we do how to teach us. The light of the last day will show you that there was a meaning and a "need be" in all your bodily ailments. The lessons that we learn on a sick-bed, when we are shut out from the world, are often lessons which we should never learn elsewhere. Settle it down in your minds, that, however much you may dislike it, sickness is not an unmixed evil.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
TRUST
Do you ever sometimes wonder why some things happen in your life? Do you question God and ask,"Why?" I have to admit it, I do at times. Sometimes my faith is not as strong as it should be. The weakness of my flesh comes out and I worry or fret over things. Life sometimes with throw you a hardship and you will go through afflictions that you have no control over and He wants us to trust Him. He knows all about it, He planned it for what ever purpose, He has control of it and it will bring Him glory as you trust Him. There are no accidents in the life of a child of God. Even in the darkest moments in our lives, we have a light that shines through it. Knowing that I am not in control and He is comforts me.
Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."--Corrie Ten Boom
When the world smiles upon us, and we have got a warm nest, how do we prophesy of rest and peace in those acquisitions, thinking with good Baruch, great things for ourselves, but Providence by a particular or general calamity overturns our plans (Jer. 45:4,5), and all this to turn our hearts from the creature to God.
He wants us to trust Him in every situation, even in those times of clamity. Meditate on His word and find peace....
"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end" (Ps. 73:17).
Those circumstances, which to the dim eye of Jacob's faith wore a hue so somber, were at that very moment developing and perfecting the events which were to shed around the evening of his life the halo of a glorious and cloudless sunset. All things were working together for his good! And so, troubled soul, the "much tribulation" will soon be over, and as you enter the "kingdom of God" you shall then see, no longer "through a glass darkly" but in the unshadowed sunlight of the Divine presence, that "all things" did "work together" for your personal and eternal good.
—Arthur W. Pink
"And God placed all things under His feet and
appointed Him to be head over everything,"
Ephesians 1:22
How vast, how numerous, how complicated are
the various events and circumstances which attend
the Christian here below, as he travels onward to
his heavenly home!
But if all things are put under Jesus' feet, there
cannot be a single circumstance over which He
has not supreme control. Everything in providence
and everything in grace are alike subject to His
disposal. There is not . . .
a trial,
a temptation,
an affliction of body or soul,
a loss,
a cross,
a painful bereavement,
a vexation,
a grief,
a disappointment,
a case, state or condition,
which is not put under Jesus' feet.
He has sovereign, supreme disposal over
all events and circumstances. As possessed of
infinite knowledge He sees them; as possessed
of infinite wisdom He can manage them; and
as possessed of infinite power He can dispose
and direct them for our good and His own glory.
How much trouble and anxiety would we save
ourselves, could we firmly believe, realize, and
act on this!
If we could see by the eye of faith that . . .
every foe and every fear,
every difficulty and perplexity,
every trying or painful circumstance,
every looked for or unlooked for event,
every source of care, whether at present or
in prospect—are all at His sovereign disposal,
what a load of anxiety and care would be
often taken off our shoulders!
-(J. C. Philpot, "Meditations on Ephesians")
Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."--Corrie Ten Boom
When the world smiles upon us, and we have got a warm nest, how do we prophesy of rest and peace in those acquisitions, thinking with good Baruch, great things for ourselves, but Providence by a particular or general calamity overturns our plans (Jer. 45:4,5), and all this to turn our hearts from the creature to God.
He wants us to trust Him in every situation, even in those times of clamity. Meditate on His word and find peace....
"Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end" (Ps. 73:17).
Those circumstances, which to the dim eye of Jacob's faith wore a hue so somber, were at that very moment developing and perfecting the events which were to shed around the evening of his life the halo of a glorious and cloudless sunset. All things were working together for his good! And so, troubled soul, the "much tribulation" will soon be over, and as you enter the "kingdom of God" you shall then see, no longer "through a glass darkly" but in the unshadowed sunlight of the Divine presence, that "all things" did "work together" for your personal and eternal good.
—Arthur W. Pink
"And God placed all things under His feet and
appointed Him to be head over everything,"
Ephesians 1:22
How vast, how numerous, how complicated are
the various events and circumstances which attend
the Christian here below, as he travels onward to
his heavenly home!
But if all things are put under Jesus' feet, there
cannot be a single circumstance over which He
has not supreme control. Everything in providence
and everything in grace are alike subject to His
disposal. There is not . . .
a trial,
a temptation,
an affliction of body or soul,
a loss,
a cross,
a painful bereavement,
a vexation,
a grief,
a disappointment,
a case, state or condition,
which is not put under Jesus' feet.
He has sovereign, supreme disposal over
all events and circumstances. As possessed of
infinite knowledge He sees them; as possessed
of infinite wisdom He can manage them; and
as possessed of infinite power He can dispose
and direct them for our good and His own glory.
How much trouble and anxiety would we save
ourselves, could we firmly believe, realize, and
act on this!
If we could see by the eye of faith that . . .
every foe and every fear,
every difficulty and perplexity,
every trying or painful circumstance,
every looked for or unlooked for event,
every source of care, whether at present or
in prospect—are all at His sovereign disposal,
what a load of anxiety and care would be
often taken off our shoulders!
-(J. C. Philpot, "Meditations on Ephesians")
Monday, April 14, 2008
HE KNOWS MY NAME
He knows my name, before time began. He calls me His own, I am a child of God and His love, He has promised forever. He knows my every thought and sees my every tear.
He knows me, for who I am and loves me still. When life throws you a loop, it is so comforting to know God knows all about it and is in control of it. When the tears fall down, you feel His presence.
THE CHRISTIAN JOURNEY
Life is a journey, often a short one, and always uncertain.
But there is another journey.
The believer is traveling through a waste howling wilderness, to another and a glorious region, where ineffable delight and happiness await us.
The road is narrow, the entrance strait, so strait that thousands miss it and perish in the wilderness. But true believers, under the teaching and convoy of the Holy Spirit, find it and walk in it.
The King, in His infinite love and compassion, has made a hedge about them, separating and defending them from the many beasts of prey that lurk around them; and although they hear their howlings and behold their threatenings, they are safe from their power.
But their strongest foe is within themselves; a heart deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. From this there is no escape but by constant watchfulness,and earnest cries to their best Friend and Guide for protection.
Were it not for this faithful Guide, how often, discouraged by reason of the way, would they turn back!
But He....
watches over them by night and by day,
strengthens them when weak,
upholds them when falling,
encourages them when cast down,
defends them when attacked,
provides for them when in need,
leads them by living streams, and
causes them there to lie down in pleasant
pastures, and on sunny banks.
And as they advance they obtain brighter views of the good land they are nearing, and they long to see the King in His beauty, and the land that is yet very far off, and to meet those that have already arrived on that happy shore.
Friday, April 11, 2008
WHAT IS THE LORD'S PRAYER
"In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my
God for help. From His temple He heard my voice;
my cry came before Him, into His ears." Psalm 18:6
"In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He
answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5
I found this interesting
Question: "What is the Lord's prayer and should we pray it?"
Answer: The Lord’s prayer is a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Matthew 6:9-13 reads, “This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'” Many people mistakenly understand the Lord’s prayer to be a prayer we are supposed to pray word for word. Some people treat the Lord’s prayer as almost a magic formula, as if the words themselves have some specific power or influence with God.
The Bible teaches us the opposite. God is far more interested in our hearts when we pray than He is in our words. Matthew 6:6 teaches us, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:7 goes on to say, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” In prayer, we are to pour out our hearts to God (Philippians 4:6-7), not simply recite memorized words to God.
Instead, the Lord’s prayer should be understood as an example, a pattern of how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray. It gives us the “ingredients” that should go into prayer. Here is how it breaks down. “Our Father in heaven” is teaching us who to address our prayers to, the Father. “Hallowed be your name” is telling us to worship God, and to praise Him for who He is. The phrase “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a reminder to us that we are to pray for God’s plan in our lives and the world, not our own plan. We are to pray for God’s will to be done, not for our desires. We are encouraged to ask God for the things we need in “give us today our daily bread.” “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” remind us to confess our sins to God and to turn from them – and then also to forgive others as God has forgiven us. The conclusion of the Lord’s prayer, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is a plea for help in achieving victory over sin and a request for protection from the attacks of the devil.
So, again, the Lord’s prayer is not a prayer we are to memorize and recite back to God. It is only an example of how we should be praying. Is there anything wrong with memorizing the Lord’s prayer? Of course not! Is there anything wrong with praying the Lord’s prayer back to God? Not if your heart is in it and you truly mean the words you say. Remember, in prayer, God is far more interested in us communing with Him and speaking from our hearts than He is in the specific words we use. Philippians 4:6-7 declares, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded, or rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true mother would not have the child divided. God loves a broken and a contrite heart, so He loathes a divided heart. God neither loves halting or halving.- Thomas Brooks
God for help. From His temple He heard my voice;
my cry came before Him, into His ears." Psalm 18:6
"In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He
answered by setting me free." Psalm 118:5
I found this interesting
Question: "What is the Lord's prayer and should we pray it?"
Answer: The Lord’s prayer is a prayer that Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4. Matthew 6:9-13 reads, “This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'” Many people mistakenly understand the Lord’s prayer to be a prayer we are supposed to pray word for word. Some people treat the Lord’s prayer as almost a magic formula, as if the words themselves have some specific power or influence with God.
The Bible teaches us the opposite. God is far more interested in our hearts when we pray than He is in our words. Matthew 6:6 teaches us, “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:7 goes on to say, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.” In prayer, we are to pour out our hearts to God (Philippians 4:6-7), not simply recite memorized words to God.
Instead, the Lord’s prayer should be understood as an example, a pattern of how to pray. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray. It gives us the “ingredients” that should go into prayer. Here is how it breaks down. “Our Father in heaven” is teaching us who to address our prayers to, the Father. “Hallowed be your name” is telling us to worship God, and to praise Him for who He is. The phrase “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is a reminder to us that we are to pray for God’s plan in our lives and the world, not our own plan. We are to pray for God’s will to be done, not for our desires. We are encouraged to ask God for the things we need in “give us today our daily bread.” “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” remind us to confess our sins to God and to turn from them – and then also to forgive others as God has forgiven us. The conclusion of the Lord’s prayer, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one” is a plea for help in achieving victory over sin and a request for protection from the attacks of the devil.
So, again, the Lord’s prayer is not a prayer we are to memorize and recite back to God. It is only an example of how we should be praying. Is there anything wrong with memorizing the Lord’s prayer? Of course not! Is there anything wrong with praying the Lord’s prayer back to God? Not if your heart is in it and you truly mean the words you say. Remember, in prayer, God is far more interested in us communing with Him and speaking from our hearts than He is in the specific words we use. Philippians 4:6-7 declares, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
God looks not at the elegancy of your prayers, to see how neat they are; nor yet at the geometry of your prayers, to see how long they are; nor yet at the arithmetic of your prayers, to see how many they are; nor yet at the music of your prayers, nor yet at the sweetness of your voice, nor yet at the logic of your prayers; but at the sincerity of your prayers, how hearty they are. There is no prayer acknowledged, approved, accepted, recorded, or rewarded by God, but that wherein the heart is sincerely and wholly. The true mother would not have the child divided. God loves a broken and a contrite heart, so He loathes a divided heart. God neither loves halting or halving.- Thomas Brooks
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Friday, April 04, 2008
MADE AN ERROR
Please be patient with me as I correct my mistake. I removed all my links from the side bar. Leave it to me. I will be fixing it this weekend when I have more time.
Cristina
Thursday, April 03, 2008
HE THAT JUSTIFIED THE WICKED
I sometimes wonder how far we should go when we are spreading the gospel, at what time is it when we should cease speaking with someone and leave it up to God and His will in the matter.I believe satan will use folks to bring division umong the brethern. It bothers me when I see a christian putting down another christian when they both are trying to reach a lost person, when the other christian stands up for the lost, I think they have crossed over the line and I believe that those that are haters of Christ love to see division festering and satan loves it even more. The haters of christ are conniving and even come across that they actually have an interest in what we are saying but in actuality their main objective is to bring division and they meet their goal many of the times. I am not saying we should not share the gospel with everyone, but we need to be decerning. I looked up Proverbs 17:15 and found this and found it interesting. Brothers and sisters need to stand firm together.When we lift up the world and put down each other what are we saying? When a believer shares that gospel it is offensive to the world and no matter how lovey dovey we present it they will battle you on it and be disgusted with it. When a brother or sister stands firm I find some christians find fault and say your not being loving enough, the bible tells us the Truth offends and that means anyway it is presented. Let us all remember not to justify the wicked....
King James Bible
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD
Proverbs 17:15 (New International Version)
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
the LORD detests them both.
New American Standard Bible
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
He that justifieth
tsadaq (tsaw-dak')
to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense) -- cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just(-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be turn to) righteous(-ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the wicked
rasha` (raw-shaw')
morally wrong; concretely, an (actively) bad person -- + condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and he that condemneth
rasha` (raw-shah')
to be (causatively, do or declare) wrong; by implication, to disturb, violate -- condemn, make trouble, vex, be (commit, deal, depart, do) wicked(-ly, -ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the just
tsaddiyq (tsad-deek')
just -- just, lawful, righteous (man).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
even they both
shnayim (shen-ah'-yim)
two; also (as ordinal) twofold -- both, couple, double, second, twain, + twelfth, + twelve, + twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
are abomination
tow`ebah (to-ay-baw')
something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol -- abominable (custom, thing), abomination.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to the LORD
Yhovah (yeh-ho-vaw')
(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God -- Jehovah, the Lord.
King James Bible
He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD
Proverbs 17:15 (New International Version)
15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
the LORD detests them both.
New American Standard Bible
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.
He that justifieth
tsadaq (tsaw-dak')
to be (causatively, make) right (in a moral or forensic sense) -- cleanse, clear self, (be, do) just(-ice, -ify, -ify self), (be turn to) righteous(-ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the wicked
rasha` (raw-shaw')
morally wrong; concretely, an (actively) bad person -- + condemned, guilty, ungodly, wicked (man), that did wrong.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and he that condemneth
rasha` (raw-shah')
to be (causatively, do or declare) wrong; by implication, to disturb, violate -- condemn, make trouble, vex, be (commit, deal, depart, do) wicked(-ly, -ness).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the just
tsaddiyq (tsad-deek')
just -- just, lawful, righteous (man).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
even they both
shnayim (shen-ah'-yim)
two; also (as ordinal) twofold -- both, couple, double, second, twain, + twelfth, + twelve, + twenty (sixscore) thousand, twice, two.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
are abomination
tow`ebah (to-ay-baw')
something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence; especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol -- abominable (custom, thing), abomination.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
to the LORD
Yhovah (yeh-ho-vaw')
(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God -- Jehovah, the Lord.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
IF GOD HAD LEFT ME ALONE...
Sometimes, when I see some of the worst characters
in the street, I feel as if my heart must burst forth in
tears of gratitude that God has never let me act as they
have done! I have thought, "If God had left me alone,
and had not touched me by His grace, what a great sinner
I would have been! I would have run to the utmost lengths
of sin, dived into the very depths of evil. Nor would I have
stopped at any vice or folly, if God had not restrained me!"
I feel that I would have been a very king of sinners, if God
had left me alone. I cannot understand the reason why I
am saved, except upon the ground that God would have it
so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of
reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine grace.
Spurgeon
in the street, I feel as if my heart must burst forth in
tears of gratitude that God has never let me act as they
have done! I have thought, "If God had left me alone,
and had not touched me by His grace, what a great sinner
I would have been! I would have run to the utmost lengths
of sin, dived into the very depths of evil. Nor would I have
stopped at any vice or folly, if God had not restrained me!"
I feel that I would have been a very king of sinners, if God
had left me alone. I cannot understand the reason why I
am saved, except upon the ground that God would have it
so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of
reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Divine grace.
Spurgeon
Friday, March 21, 2008
Paul Washer: The True Meaning of the Cross
I encourage you to listen to this message by Mr. Paul Washer. Mr. Washer has a love for Christ and a love for the lost and for the Saints.
Wonder not then that all the true followers of Christ, the saints of every age, have so gloried in the cross of Christ, have imputed such great things to it, have desired nothing so much as to be partakers of it, to live in constant union with it. It is because His sufferings, His death and cross, were the fulness of His victory over all the works of the devil. Not an evil in flesh and blood, not a misery of life, not a chain of death, not a power of hell and darkness, but were all baffled, broken, and overcome by the process of a suffering and dying Christ. Well, therefore, may the cross of Christ be the glory of Christians!
William Law (1686-1761)
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US!
"The cross is not primarily a burden (although it is that indeed); it is first of all an instrument of death. Jesus demands of those who follow Him that they must lay their lives on the line; they must be ready to suffer as Jesus suffered. They must be willing to literally lose their lives."
from Spurgeon's sermon, "Christ's Marvelous Giving"
Do you see that dreadful procession going through the streets
of Jerusalem, along the rough pavement of the Via Dolorosa?
Do you see the weeping women as they mourn because of him?
How is it that Jesus is willing to be led a captive up to
the hill of Calvary? Alas! they throw him on the ground!
They drive accursed iron through his hands and feet.
They hoist him into the air! They dash the cross into its
appointed place, and there he hangs, a naked spectacle of
scorn and shame, derided of men, and mourned by angels.
How is it that the Lord of glory, who made all worlds,
and hung out the stars like lamps, should now be
bleeding and dying there?
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US!
Can you see the streaming fountains of the four wounds in his
hands and feet? Can you trace his agony as it carves lines upon
his brow and all down his emaciated frame? No you cannot see
the griefs of his soul. No spirit can behold them. They were too
terrible for you to know them. It seemed as though all hell were
emptied into the bosom of the Son of God, and as though all the
miseries of all the ages were made to meet upon him.
Now why is all this but that he gave himself for us till his head
hung down in death, and his arms, in chill, cold death, hung
down by his side, and they buried the lifeless Victor in the tomb.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US!
from Spurgeon's sermon, "Christ's Marvelous Giving"
Do you see that dreadful procession going through the streets
of Jerusalem, along the rough pavement of the Via Dolorosa?
Do you see the weeping women as they mourn because of him?
How is it that Jesus is willing to be led a captive up to
the hill of Calvary? Alas! they throw him on the ground!
They drive accursed iron through his hands and feet.
They hoist him into the air! They dash the cross into its
appointed place, and there he hangs, a naked spectacle of
scorn and shame, derided of men, and mourned by angels.
How is it that the Lord of glory, who made all worlds,
and hung out the stars like lamps, should now be
bleeding and dying there?
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US!
Can you see the streaming fountains of the four wounds in his
hands and feet? Can you trace his agony as it carves lines upon
his brow and all down his emaciated frame? No you cannot see
the griefs of his soul. No spirit can behold them. They were too
terrible for you to know them. It seemed as though all hell were
emptied into the bosom of the Son of God, and as though all the
miseries of all the ages were made to meet upon him.
Now why is all this but that he gave himself for us till his head
hung down in death, and his arms, in chill, cold death, hung
down by his side, and they buried the lifeless Victor in the tomb.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
"Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6
What had You done, O my sweet Savior, and ever-blessed
Redeemer—that You were thus betrayed by Judas, sold to
the Jews, apprehended as a malefactor, and led bound as
a lamb to the slaughter? What evil had You committed,
that You should be thus openly arraigned, falsely accused,
and unjustly condemned? What was Your offence? Whom
did You ever wrong? that You should be thus . . .
woefully scourged with whips,
crowned with thorns,
reviled with words,
buffeted with fists,
beaten with staves?
O Lord, what did You do to deserve to have Your blessed
face spit upon, and covered as it were with shame; to have
Your hands and feet nailed to the cross; to be lifted up on
the cursed tree; to be crucified among thieves, and made
to taste gall and vinegar; and in Your deadly extremity, to
endure such a sea of God's wrath, that made You cry out,
as if You had been forsaken by God Your Father; yes, to
have Your innocent heart pierced with a cruel spear, and
Your precious blood spilt before Your blessed mother's eyes?
Sweet Savior, how much were You tormented to endure all
this—seeing I am so much amazed even to think upon it!
What is the cause, then, O Lord, of this Your cruel
ignominy, passion, and death? I, O Lord—I am the
cause of these Your sorrows!
My sins wrought Your shame;
my iniquities are the occasion of Your injuries;
I have committed the fault—and You are punished for the offence;
I am guilty—and You are arraigned;
I committed the sin—and You suffered the death;
I have done the crime—and You hung on the cross!
Oh, the deepness of God's love!
Oh, the amazing profoundness of heavenly grace!
Oh, the immeasurable measure of divine mercy!
The wicked transgress—and the just is punished;
the guilty set free—and the innocent is arraigned;
the malefactor is acquitted—and the harmless condemned;
what the evil man deserves—the holy God suffers!
What shall I say? Man sins—and God dies!
O Son of God! who can sufficiently . . .
express Your love, or
commend Your pity, or
extol Your praise?
I was proud—and You are humble;
I was disobedient—and You became obedient;
I ate the forbidden fruit—and You hung on the cursed tree;
evil lust drew me to eat the pleasant apple—
and perfect love led You to drink of the bitter cup;
I tasted the sweetness of the fruit—
and You tasted the bitterness of the gall.
O my God, here I see . . .
Your goodness—and my vileness;
Your justice—and my injustice.
And now, O blessed Lord, You have endured all this for
my sake; what shall I render unto You for all Your benefits
bestowed upon me, a sinful soul? What shall I render to
You, for giving Yourself in Your infinite love, to so cruel
a death, to procure my redemption?
--from Grace Gems
Sunday, March 09, 2008
BE STILL MY SOUL
Psa 46:10 Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble -- THOMAS WATSON
I remember a friend sharing with my husband and I about a Chinese missionary that was in prision for sharing the word of God. He was put to work in the area of the prison where the waste was deposited and all day long he would sing hymns and this was one of the hymns he loved the most. He found peace in this horrid situation. His soul was at ease because he was thanking the Lord even then.
Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such an one is "content" with such as he has (Heb. 13:5).
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. --JOHN PIPER
If I am a son of God, nothing but God will satisfy my soul; no amount of comfort, no amount of ease, no amount of pleasure,will give me peace or rest. If I had the full cup of all the world's joys held up to me, and could drain it to the dregs, I should still remain thirsty if I had not God....
We are so blessed, to be a child of Gods.
Cristina
Friday, March 07, 2008
AND THE SHOFAR BLEW
My favorite Fiction Author is Francine Rivers. Every one of her books that I have had the time to read has been a great book. She honors God throughout her writing. This week I just finished her book, "And the Shofar Blew" and it was one of my favorites. It was a long story, over 400 pages and it took me a few months to read. As I was waiting for my husband Jim to get out of surgery on Wednesday, I read the last chapter and as I came upon the last few pages I told Jim I better read it at home because I know it will bring tears to my eyes.In the Old Testament, God called his people to action with the blast of the shofar, a ram's horn. God still calls his people today. In this relevant and timely contemporary novel, dynamic young preacher Paul Hudson is committed to building his church--but at what cost? As Paul's zeal and ambition build, he loses sight of the One who called him. As Paul and those around him struggle to discern what it truly means to live out their faith, they must ultimately choose between their own will or God's plan.
As I read up on the use of a Shofar it was interesting to see in the Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance 3:4. that The shofar says, "Wake up from your (moral) sleep. You are asleep. Get up from your slumber. You are in a deep sleep. Search for your behavior. Become the best person you can. Remember God, the One Who created you."
Today, the shofar is used mainly on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is blown in synagogues to mark the end of the fast at Yom Kippur, and blown at four particular occasions in the prayers on Rosh Hashanah. Because of its inherent ties to the Days of Repentance and the inspiration that comes along with hearing its piercing blasts, the shofar is also blown after morning services for the entire month of Elul, the last month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth of the Jewish ecclesiastical year. It is not blown on the last day of month, however, to mark the difference between the voluntary blasts of the month and the mandatory blasts of the holiday. Shofar blasts are also used during penitential rituals such as Yom Kippur Katan and optional prayer services called during times of communal distress. The exact modes of sounding can vary from location to location.
I think sometimes we need a rude awaking in our walk, maybe we need to hear a Shofar once in awhile but I know we have something even better, we have the Holy Spirit to blown the shofar when we are straying a little off the path.
If you like fictions, I do recommend this book..
Cristina
Sunday, March 02, 2008
ANOTHER WORD CONCERNING THE DOWN-GRADE
Here is some more words concerning what is going on in the churches....And Spurgeon wrote this in 1887...look what is going on today
O lover of the gospel can conceal from himself the fact that the days are evil. We are willing to make a large discount from our apprehensions on the score of natural timidity, the caution of age, and the weakness produced by pain; but yet our solemn conviction is that things are much worse in many churches than they seem to be, and are rapidly tending downward. Read those newspapers which represent the Broad School of Dissent, and ask yourself, How much farther could they go? What doctrine remains to be abandoned? What other truth to be the object of contempt? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese; and this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea usurps pulpits which were erected for gospel preaching. The Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy with them!
At the back of doctrinal falsehood comes a natural decline of spiritual life, evidenced by a taste for questionable amusements, and a weariness of devotional meetings. At a certain meeting of ministers and church-officers, one after another doubted the value of prayer-meetings; all confessed that they had a very small attendance, and several acknowledged without the slightest compunction that they had quite given them up. What means this? Are churches in a right condition when they have only one meeting for prayer in a week, and that a mere skeleton? Churches which have prayer-meetings several times on the Lord's-day, and very frequently during the week, yet feel their need of more prayer; but what can be said of those who very seldom practice united supplication? Are there few conversions? Do the congregations dwindle? Who wonders that this is the case when the spirit of prayer has departed?
As for questionable amusements—time was when a Nonconformist minister who was known to attend the play-house would soon have found himself without a church. And justly so; for no man can long possess the confidence, even of the most worldly, who is known to be a haunter of theatres. Yet at the present time it is matter of notoriety that preachers of no mean repute defend the play-house, and do so because they have been seen there. Is it any wonder that church members forget their vows of consecration, and run with the unholy in the ways of frivolity, when they hear that persons are tolerated in the pastorate who do the same? We doubt not that, for writing these lines we shall incur the charge of prudery and bigotry, and this will but prove how low are the tone and spirit of the churches in many places. The fact is, that many would like to unite church and stage, cards and prayer, dancing and sacraments. If we are powerless to stem this torrent, we can at least warn men of its existence, and entreat them to keep out of it. When the old faith is gone, and enthusiasm for the gospel is extinct, it is no wonder that people seek something else in the way of delight. Lacking bread, they feed on ashes; rejecting the way of the Lord, they run greedily in the path of folly.
An eminent minister, who is well versed in the records of Nonconformity, remarked to us the other day that he feared history was about to repeat itself among Dissenters. In days gone by, they aimed at being thought respectable, judicious, moderate, and learned, and, in consequence, they abandoned the Puritanic teaching with which they started, and toned down their doctrines. The spiritual life which had been the impelling cause of their dissent declined almost to death's door, and the very existence of evangelical Nonconformity was threatened. Then came the outburst of living godliness under Whitefield and Wesley, and with it new life for Dissent, and increased influence in every direction.
Alas! many are returning to the poisoned cups which drugged that declining generation, when it surrendered itself to Unitarian lethargy. Too many ministers are toying with the deadly cobra of "another gospel," in the form of "modern thought." As a consequence, their congregations are thinning: the more spiritual of their members join the "Brethren," or some other company of "believers unattached"; while the more wealthy, and show-loving, with some of unquestionable devoutness, go off to the Church of England.
Let us not hide from ourselves the fact that the Episcopal Church is awake, and is full of zeal and force. Dissenting as we do most intensely from her Ritualism, and especially abhorring her establishment by the State, we cannot but perceive that she grows, and grows, among other reasons, because spiritual life is waning among certain Dissenters. Where the gospel is fully and powerfully preached, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, our churches not only hold their own, but win converts; but when that which constitutes their strength is gone—we mean when the gospel is concealed, and the life of prayer is slighted—the whole thing becomes a mere form and fiction. For this thing our heart is sore grieved. Dissent for mere dissent's sake would be the bitter fruit of a wilful mind. Dissent as mere political partisanship is a degradation and travesty of religion. Dissent for truth's sake, carried out by force of the life within, is noble, praiseworthy, and fraught with the highest benefits to the race. Are we to have the genuine living thing, or are we to have that corruption of the best from which the worst is produced? Conformity, or nonconformity, per se is nothing; but a new creature is everything, and the truth upon which alone that new creature can live is worth dying a thousand deaths to conserve. It is not the shell that is so precious, but the kernel which it contains; when the kernel is gone, what is there left that is worth a thought? Our nonconformity is beyond measure precious as a vital spiritual force, but only while it remains such will it justify its own existence.
The case is mournful. Certain ministers are making infidels. Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith. A plain man told us the other day that two ministers had derided him because he thought we should pray for rain. A gracious woman bemoaned in my presence that a precious promise in Isaiah which had comforted her had been declared by her minister to be uninspired. It is a common thing to hear working-men excuse their wickedness by the statement that there is no hell, "the parson says so." But we need not prolong our mention of painful facts. Germany was made unbelieving by her preachers, and England is following in her track. Attendance at places of worship is declining, and reverence for holy things is vanishing; and we solemnly believe this to be largely attributable to the scepticism which has flashed from the pulpit and spread among the people. Possibly the men who uttered the doubt never intended it to go so far; but none the less they have done the ill, and cannot undo it. Their own observation ought to teach them better. Have these advanced thinkers filled their own chapels? Have they, after all, prospered through discarding the old methods? Possibly, in a few cases genius and tact have carried these gentry over the destructive results of their ministry; but in many cases their pretty new theology has scattered their congregations. In meeting-houses holding a thousand, or twelve hundred, or fifteen hundred, places once packed to the ceiling with ardent hearers, how small are the numbers now! We would mention instances, but we forbear. The places which the gospel filled the new nonsense has emptied, and will keep empty.
This fact will have little influence with "the cultured"; for, as a rule, they have cultivated a fine development of conceit. "Yes," said one, whose pews held only here and there a worshipper, "it will always be found that in proportion as the preacher's mind enlarges, his congregation diminishes." These destroyers of our churches appear to be as content with their work as monkeys with their mischief. That which their fathers would have lamented they rejoice in: the alienation of the poor and simple-minded from their ministry they accept as a compliment, and the grief of the spiritually-minded they regard as an evidence of their power. Truly, unless the Lord had kept his own we should long before this have seen our Zion ploughed as a field.
The other day we were asked to mention the name of some person who might be a suitable pastor for a vacant church, and the deacon who wrote said, "Let him be a converted man, and let him be one who believes what he preaches; for there are those around us who give us the idea that they have neither part nor lot in the matter." This remark is more commonly made than we like to remember, and there is, alas! too much need for it. A student from a certain college preached to a congregation we sometimes visit such a sermon that the deacon said to him in the vestry, "Sir, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?" The youth replied, "I suppose I do." To which the deacon answered, "I suppose you do not, or you would not have insulted us with such false doctrine." A little plain-speaking would do a world of good just now. These gentlemen desire to be let alone. They want no noise raised. Of course thieves hate watch-dogs, and love darkness. It is time that somebody should spring his rattle, and call attention to the way in which God is being robbed of his glory, and man of his hope.
It now becomes a serious question how far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside to another gospel. Christian love has its claims, and divisions are to be shunned as grievous evils; but how far are we justified in being in confederacy with those who are departing from the truth? It is a difficult question to answer so as to keep the balance of the duties. For the present it behoves believers to be cautious, lest they lend their support and countenance to the betrayers of the Lord. It is one thing to overleap all boundaries of denominational restriction for the truth's sake: this we hope all godly men will do more and more. It is quite another policy which would urge us to subordinate the maintenance of truth to denominational prosperity and unity. Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good-natured brother, who has so many fine points about him. Let each believer judge for himself; but, for our part, we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for, under color of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing THE MASTER.
We fear it is hopeless ever to form a society which can keep out men base enough to profess one thing and believe another; but it might be possible to make an informal alliance among all who hold the Christianity of their fathers. Little as they might be able to do, they could at least protest, and as far as possible free themselves of that complicity which will be involved in a conspiracy of silence. If for a while the evangelicals are doomed to go down, let them die fighting, and in the full assurance that their gospel will have a resurrection when the inventions of "modern thought" shall be burned up with fire unquenchable
C.S. Spurgeon
O lover of the gospel can conceal from himself the fact that the days are evil. We are willing to make a large discount from our apprehensions on the score of natural timidity, the caution of age, and the weakness produced by pain; but yet our solemn conviction is that things are much worse in many churches than they seem to be, and are rapidly tending downward. Read those newspapers which represent the Broad School of Dissent, and ask yourself, How much farther could they go? What doctrine remains to be abandoned? What other truth to be the object of contempt? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese; and this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea usurps pulpits which were erected for gospel preaching. The Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy with them!
At the back of doctrinal falsehood comes a natural decline of spiritual life, evidenced by a taste for questionable amusements, and a weariness of devotional meetings. At a certain meeting of ministers and church-officers, one after another doubted the value of prayer-meetings; all confessed that they had a very small attendance, and several acknowledged without the slightest compunction that they had quite given them up. What means this? Are churches in a right condition when they have only one meeting for prayer in a week, and that a mere skeleton? Churches which have prayer-meetings several times on the Lord's-day, and very frequently during the week, yet feel their need of more prayer; but what can be said of those who very seldom practice united supplication? Are there few conversions? Do the congregations dwindle? Who wonders that this is the case when the spirit of prayer has departed?
As for questionable amusements—time was when a Nonconformist minister who was known to attend the play-house would soon have found himself without a church. And justly so; for no man can long possess the confidence, even of the most worldly, who is known to be a haunter of theatres. Yet at the present time it is matter of notoriety that preachers of no mean repute defend the play-house, and do so because they have been seen there. Is it any wonder that church members forget their vows of consecration, and run with the unholy in the ways of frivolity, when they hear that persons are tolerated in the pastorate who do the same? We doubt not that, for writing these lines we shall incur the charge of prudery and bigotry, and this will but prove how low are the tone and spirit of the churches in many places. The fact is, that many would like to unite church and stage, cards and prayer, dancing and sacraments. If we are powerless to stem this torrent, we can at least warn men of its existence, and entreat them to keep out of it. When the old faith is gone, and enthusiasm for the gospel is extinct, it is no wonder that people seek something else in the way of delight. Lacking bread, they feed on ashes; rejecting the way of the Lord, they run greedily in the path of folly.
An eminent minister, who is well versed in the records of Nonconformity, remarked to us the other day that he feared history was about to repeat itself among Dissenters. In days gone by, they aimed at being thought respectable, judicious, moderate, and learned, and, in consequence, they abandoned the Puritanic teaching with which they started, and toned down their doctrines. The spiritual life which had been the impelling cause of their dissent declined almost to death's door, and the very existence of evangelical Nonconformity was threatened. Then came the outburst of living godliness under Whitefield and Wesley, and with it new life for Dissent, and increased influence in every direction.
Alas! many are returning to the poisoned cups which drugged that declining generation, when it surrendered itself to Unitarian lethargy. Too many ministers are toying with the deadly cobra of "another gospel," in the form of "modern thought." As a consequence, their congregations are thinning: the more spiritual of their members join the "Brethren," or some other company of "believers unattached"; while the more wealthy, and show-loving, with some of unquestionable devoutness, go off to the Church of England.
Let us not hide from ourselves the fact that the Episcopal Church is awake, and is full of zeal and force. Dissenting as we do most intensely from her Ritualism, and especially abhorring her establishment by the State, we cannot but perceive that she grows, and grows, among other reasons, because spiritual life is waning among certain Dissenters. Where the gospel is fully and powerfully preached, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, our churches not only hold their own, but win converts; but when that which constitutes their strength is gone—we mean when the gospel is concealed, and the life of prayer is slighted—the whole thing becomes a mere form and fiction. For this thing our heart is sore grieved. Dissent for mere dissent's sake would be the bitter fruit of a wilful mind. Dissent as mere political partisanship is a degradation and travesty of religion. Dissent for truth's sake, carried out by force of the life within, is noble, praiseworthy, and fraught with the highest benefits to the race. Are we to have the genuine living thing, or are we to have that corruption of the best from which the worst is produced? Conformity, or nonconformity, per se is nothing; but a new creature is everything, and the truth upon which alone that new creature can live is worth dying a thousand deaths to conserve. It is not the shell that is so precious, but the kernel which it contains; when the kernel is gone, what is there left that is worth a thought? Our nonconformity is beyond measure precious as a vital spiritual force, but only while it remains such will it justify its own existence.
The case is mournful. Certain ministers are making infidels. Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith. A plain man told us the other day that two ministers had derided him because he thought we should pray for rain. A gracious woman bemoaned in my presence that a precious promise in Isaiah which had comforted her had been declared by her minister to be uninspired. It is a common thing to hear working-men excuse their wickedness by the statement that there is no hell, "the parson says so." But we need not prolong our mention of painful facts. Germany was made unbelieving by her preachers, and England is following in her track. Attendance at places of worship is declining, and reverence for holy things is vanishing; and we solemnly believe this to be largely attributable to the scepticism which has flashed from the pulpit and spread among the people. Possibly the men who uttered the doubt never intended it to go so far; but none the less they have done the ill, and cannot undo it. Their own observation ought to teach them better. Have these advanced thinkers filled their own chapels? Have they, after all, prospered through discarding the old methods? Possibly, in a few cases genius and tact have carried these gentry over the destructive results of their ministry; but in many cases their pretty new theology has scattered their congregations. In meeting-houses holding a thousand, or twelve hundred, or fifteen hundred, places once packed to the ceiling with ardent hearers, how small are the numbers now! We would mention instances, but we forbear. The places which the gospel filled the new nonsense has emptied, and will keep empty.
This fact will have little influence with "the cultured"; for, as a rule, they have cultivated a fine development of conceit. "Yes," said one, whose pews held only here and there a worshipper, "it will always be found that in proportion as the preacher's mind enlarges, his congregation diminishes." These destroyers of our churches appear to be as content with their work as monkeys with their mischief. That which their fathers would have lamented they rejoice in: the alienation of the poor and simple-minded from their ministry they accept as a compliment, and the grief of the spiritually-minded they regard as an evidence of their power. Truly, unless the Lord had kept his own we should long before this have seen our Zion ploughed as a field.
The other day we were asked to mention the name of some person who might be a suitable pastor for a vacant church, and the deacon who wrote said, "Let him be a converted man, and let him be one who believes what he preaches; for there are those around us who give us the idea that they have neither part nor lot in the matter." This remark is more commonly made than we like to remember, and there is, alas! too much need for it. A student from a certain college preached to a congregation we sometimes visit such a sermon that the deacon said to him in the vestry, "Sir, do you believe in the Holy Ghost?" The youth replied, "I suppose I do." To which the deacon answered, "I suppose you do not, or you would not have insulted us with such false doctrine." A little plain-speaking would do a world of good just now. These gentlemen desire to be let alone. They want no noise raised. Of course thieves hate watch-dogs, and love darkness. It is time that somebody should spring his rattle, and call attention to the way in which God is being robbed of his glory, and man of his hope.
It now becomes a serious question how far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside to another gospel. Christian love has its claims, and divisions are to be shunned as grievous evils; but how far are we justified in being in confederacy with those who are departing from the truth? It is a difficult question to answer so as to keep the balance of the duties. For the present it behoves believers to be cautious, lest they lend their support and countenance to the betrayers of the Lord. It is one thing to overleap all boundaries of denominational restriction for the truth's sake: this we hope all godly men will do more and more. It is quite another policy which would urge us to subordinate the maintenance of truth to denominational prosperity and unity. Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good-natured brother, who has so many fine points about him. Let each believer judge for himself; but, for our part, we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for, under color of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing THE MASTER.
We fear it is hopeless ever to form a society which can keep out men base enough to profess one thing and believe another; but it might be possible to make an informal alliance among all who hold the Christianity of their fathers. Little as they might be able to do, they could at least protest, and as far as possible free themselves of that complicity which will be involved in a conspiracy of silence. If for a while the evangelicals are doomed to go down, let them die fighting, and in the full assurance that their gospel will have a resurrection when the inventions of "modern thought" shall be burned up with fire unquenchable
C.S. Spurgeon
DOES GOD LOVE EVERYONE?
This is Robery Morey speaking about a subject some folks do not want to talk about or believe and that is "God is a God of Wrath" and that He does not love everyone in the world. I always hear "God died on the Cross for everyone", No He did not because if He died for everyone, then all would be saved. ....and that is Universalism...
When He shows no anger!
("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)
"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and
punishes every son whom He receives." Heb. 12:6
There cannot be a greater evidence of God's
hatred and wrath--than His refusing to correct
men for their sinful courses and vanities!
Where God refuses to correct--there God resolves
to destroy! There is no man so near God's axe--so
near the flames--so near hell--as he whom God
will not so much as spend a rod upon!
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."
Revelation 3:19
God is most angry--when He shows no anger!
Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not
be silent under God's most smarting rod?
Cristina
Friday, February 29, 2008
THE TENDERNESS OF GOD
When the Lord removes the blinders
and reveals Himself to His child
He sees the Lord for whom He is
Tender and merciful.
"He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11
How soothing, in the hour of sorrow, or bereavement, or death, to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend. Reader, these words tell you of One nearer, dearer, tenderer still; the Friend that never fails; a tender God!
By how many endearing epithets does Jesus exhibit the tenderness of His relation to His people.
Does a shepherd watch tenderly over his flock? "The Lord is my Shepherd."
Does a father exercise fondest solicitude towards his children? "I will be a Father unto you."
Does a mother's love exceed all other earthly types of affection. "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you."
Is the 'apple of the eye' (the pupil) the most sensitive part of the most delicate bodily organ? He guards His people "as the apple of His eye!"
"He will not break the bruised reed."
When the Shepherd and Guardian of Souls finds the sinner, like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains, how tenderly He deals with him! There is no look of wrath; no word of upbraiding; in silent love "He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing!"
Reader, are you mourning over... the weakness of your faith; the coldness of your love; your manifold spiritual declensions?
Fear not. He knows your frame! He will give 'feeble faith' tender dealing. He will "carry" in His arms those that are unable to walk, and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others.
When "the lion" or "the bear" comes, you may trust the true David, the tenderest of Shepherds!
Are you suffering from outward trial?
Confide in the tenderness of your God's dealings with you. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes; the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children the very moment He is chastising them. The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times; it may be, needlessly harsh. But not so God. He may seem, like Joseph to his brethren, to 'speak roughly'; but all the while there is love in His heart.
The 'pruning knife' will not be used unnecessarily. It will never cut too deeply.
The 'furnace' will not burn more fiercely than is absolutely required. A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames.
And what, believer, is the secret of all this tenderness? "There is a Man upon the Throne!" Jesus, the God Man Mediator; combining with the might of Godhead, the tenderness of spotless humanity.
Is your heart crushed with sorrow? so was His!
Are your eyes dimmed with tears? so were His? "Jesus wept!" Bethany's Chief Mourner still wears the Brother's heart in glory!
Others may be unable to enter into the depths of your trial; Jesus can; Jesus does!
With such a tender God.... caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night,
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8
John MacDuff
and reveals Himself to His child
He sees the Lord for whom He is
Tender and merciful.
"He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young." Isaiah 40:11
How soothing, in the hour of sorrow, or bereavement, or death, to have the countenance and sympathy of a tender earthly friend. Reader, these words tell you of One nearer, dearer, tenderer still; the Friend that never fails; a tender God!
By how many endearing epithets does Jesus exhibit the tenderness of His relation to His people.
Does a shepherd watch tenderly over his flock? "The Lord is my Shepherd."
Does a father exercise fondest solicitude towards his children? "I will be a Father unto you."
Does a mother's love exceed all other earthly types of affection. "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you."
Is the 'apple of the eye' (the pupil) the most sensitive part of the most delicate bodily organ? He guards His people "as the apple of His eye!"
"He will not break the bruised reed."
When the Shepherd and Guardian of Souls finds the sinner, like a lost sheep, stumbling on the dark mountains, how tenderly He deals with him! There is no look of wrath; no word of upbraiding; in silent love "He lays him on His shoulders rejoicing!"
Reader, are you mourning over... the weakness of your faith; the coldness of your love; your manifold spiritual declensions?
Fear not. He knows your frame! He will give 'feeble faith' tender dealing. He will "carry" in His arms those that are unable to walk, and will conduct the burdened ones through a path less rough and rugged than others.
When "the lion" or "the bear" comes, you may trust the true David, the tenderest of Shepherds!
Are you suffering from outward trial?
Confide in the tenderness of your God's dealings with you. The strokes of His rod are gentle strokes; the needed discipline of a father yearning over his children the very moment He is chastising them. The gentlest earthly parent may speak a harsh word at times; it may be, needlessly harsh. But not so God. He may seem, like Joseph to his brethren, to 'speak roughly'; but all the while there is love in His heart.
The 'pruning knife' will not be used unnecessarily. It will never cut too deeply.
The 'furnace' will not burn more fiercely than is absolutely required. A tender God is seated by it, tempering the fury of its flames.
And what, believer, is the secret of all this tenderness? "There is a Man upon the Throne!" Jesus, the God Man Mediator; combining with the might of Godhead, the tenderness of spotless humanity.
Is your heart crushed with sorrow? so was His!
Are your eyes dimmed with tears? so were His? "Jesus wept!" Bethany's Chief Mourner still wears the Brother's heart in glory!
Others may be unable to enter into the depths of your trial; Jesus can; Jesus does!
With such a tender God.... caring for me, providing for me, watching my path by day, and guarding my couch by night,
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8
John MacDuff
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Watch Out for the False Teachers Among You
I read this at Biblical Discernment Ministrie's Site and thought it worthy of sharing.....
"Paul said that these false teachers (Romans 16:17,18) are effective in deceiving believers. They're effective for two reasons: (1) These false teachers are very effective communicators -- 'They use smooth and flattering speech to deceive people;' ... (2) Believers aren't paying attention. Believers are unsuspecting ... They're [the false teachers] using smooth and flattering speech. They have personal magnetism about them. Our attention gets turned away from what they are saying to how they are saying it, to the impression they are making with their own personality. And when we are put in that situation, we turn our attention from the content of what is being taught, and ... we open ourselves up to be deceived and turned away from our purity and devotion to Jesus Christ."Now, one of the ways that believers get deluded is they begin to focus on what they agree with in false teaching, but what is at issue is what we disagree with ... Many believers are being deluded today [in this way] ... In such a debate [with false teachers], we have to be sure to focus on what we disagree on ... we have to be very careful as we are exposed to false teachers. " ... If we're talking about it being the power of God that establishes us, how do believers get deceived? Did God's power not work for them? ... You must understand the means of God's power -- 'according to my Gospel ' ... The Gospel of God is the message of Jesus Christ. He is the subject of that message ... The Gospel includes everything related to His death, burial, and resurrection ... The whole book of Romans is a detailed presentation of the Gospel ... God's power always works in the context of His Gospel, His revealed Word ... That is true not only in the initial salvation of the lost, but the ongoing salvation that the believer experiences [i.e., progressive sanctification] ... God's power does not work in the life of God's child -- to establish them, to firmly plant them, to strengthen them -- apart from the ministry of the Word of God in that life. If you are not being regularly exposed and taught and saturated with the Word of God, then God's power will not operate to establish you, and you will become a prey to satanic deception."I hope you have this underlined in your Bible -- 'There will also be false teachers among you.' He doesn't say maybe. We're not talking about the [cults] ... we're talking about those that rise from within the Church of Jesus Christ and promote false doctrine. 'They will secretly introduce destructive heresies' (2 Peter 2:1). How can you secretly introduce a destructive heresy among believers? Well, you present it under the guise of being truth to believers who are unsuspecting. You present it very cleverly, very smoothly ... "We [the Church] are more concerned with our feelings and our experiences than we are with the Truth of God ... You better be looking for a place where the Word is believed and taught. That's what the Church is; it's the pillar and support of the truth ... Are you looking for friends or are you looking for the truth? We want to corrupt and twist the Church to make it what people want ... Come to the church that believes and teaches the truth! ... God's power does not operate apart from God's Word ... If Satan wants to disrupt the work of God in your life, what does he do? -- attack the Word, so that the power of God does not work ... You could never have been saved apart from the Word of God, and you ought to understand, you can never grow, you can never be firmly planted as a child of God, unless you are constantly, constantly taking in the diet of the pure milk of the Word of God ... We must have that imbedded in our hearts and minds. Never be satisfied, never tolerate anything else, than a ministry that is focused in its entirety on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
Saturday, February 23, 2008
WARFARE
When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith. Abraham Kuyper
We are in a battle that we know one day will end in Victory. We know because the scriptures tell us that (Revelation 20:1-15) It will come when Jesus returns and Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
We are going to find when we are walking stronger and stronger each day for Christ Satan will try everything to tempt us to fall. He doesn't want us sharing the gospel with the lost. He would rather the world see us sin, he would rather see us quarrel amongst one another so the lost do not see the unity that should be found amongst brothers and sisters. Satan does NOT want the true gospel to be spread so he uses false teachers and preachers to spread hearsay. (1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2).
Satan is so suttle, he is the great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That is why reading and studying the word is SO important. That is why we put on the Armor of God, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).
Verse Ephesians 12 tells us why.... For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place. Satan will use anyone and anything to take us away from the Word, Satan is the father of lies and he is using many men and women behind the pulpit for his plan. God has given us the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan, and secures our innermost being from his attacks.We are fitted with feet to walk the right path and to avoid being tempted.We have our shields, Hebrews 12:2 tells us it is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial; and like a shield of mighty warriors, by which mighty things are done, and by which the believer not only repels, but conquers the enemy.WOW! We have our helmet, this a good description...The head of the soldier was among the principal parts to be defended, as on it the deadliest strokes might fall, and it is the head that commands the whole body. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure Gospel “hope” of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine, or give way to Satan’s temptations to despair. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because his mind is incapable of discerning between truth and falsehood. And finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and we sure know how important this is to a believer. It is our livelihood, it is our guide as we live in this foreign land until we are called home and are present with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we hear those words we have long to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant, Well done!" Servant of God, well done; well hast thou fought The better fight..
The same moment in which I close my eyes on a
world of sin and suffering, I open them in glory!
Just a note...if you have a problem with your brother or sister dealing with the lost or with sin in their lives, go to that brother and sister privately and not in front of the lost because the lost just love to see God's children fight amongst one another. I see it more and more in blogs...
We are in a battle that we know one day will end in Victory. We know because the scriptures tell us that (Revelation 20:1-15) It will come when Jesus returns and Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
We are going to find when we are walking stronger and stronger each day for Christ Satan will try everything to tempt us to fall. He doesn't want us sharing the gospel with the lost. He would rather the world see us sin, he would rather see us quarrel amongst one another so the lost do not see the unity that should be found amongst brothers and sisters. Satan does NOT want the true gospel to be spread so he uses false teachers and preachers to spread hearsay. (1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2).
Satan is so suttle, he is the great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That is why reading and studying the word is SO important. That is why we put on the Armor of God, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).
Verse Ephesians 12 tells us why.... For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place. Satan will use anyone and anything to take us away from the Word, Satan is the father of lies and he is using many men and women behind the pulpit for his plan. God has given us the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan, and secures our innermost being from his attacks.We are fitted with feet to walk the right path and to avoid being tempted.We have our shields, Hebrews 12:2 tells us it is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial; and like a shield of mighty warriors, by which mighty things are done, and by which the believer not only repels, but conquers the enemy.WOW! We have our helmet, this a good description...The head of the soldier was among the principal parts to be defended, as on it the deadliest strokes might fall, and it is the head that commands the whole body. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure Gospel “hope” of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine, or give way to Satan’s temptations to despair. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because his mind is incapable of discerning between truth and falsehood. And finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and we sure know how important this is to a believer. It is our livelihood, it is our guide as we live in this foreign land until we are called home and are present with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we hear those words we have long to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant, Well done!" Servant of God, well done; well hast thou fought The better fight..
The same moment in which I close my eyes on a
world of sin and suffering, I open them in glory!
Just a note...if you have a problem with your brother or sister dealing with the lost or with sin in their lives, go to that brother and sister privately and not in front of the lost because the lost just love to see God's children fight amongst one another. I see it more and more in blogs...
*what I meant by doing it privately is when we are angry and instead of being nasty in front of the lost go to the brother and sister one on one , thank you Sarah
Cristina
Cristina
Thursday, February 21, 2008
PROVIDENCE
Those circumstances, which to the dim eye of Jacob's faith wore a hue so somber, were at that very moment developing and perfecting the events which were to shed around the evening of his life the halo of a glorious and cloudless sunset. All things were working together for his good! And so, troubled soul, the "much tribulation" will soon be over, and as you enter the "kingdom of God" you shall then see, no longer "through a glass darkly" but in the unshadowed sunlight of the Divine presence, that "all things" did "work together" for your personal and eternal good.
—Arthur W. Pink
Do you ever wonder why certain circumstances happen in our lives? When there is loss in our lives how do we react? Sure there is sorrow but to the Christian there is comfort from the Holy Spirit. To the Holy, there is understanding because we know the Bible tells us, "He has a purpose" in all things----to bring Him Glory.
Corrie Ten Boom said "Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
God sees the whole picture and He has planned it all since the beginning of time. There is no mistakes, no coincidences, everything we are given are blessings given to us to learn from and grow. We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.
God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.--Charles Spurgeon
Christians have the advantage of knowing the Lord will work out all things for His Good and our good. He love His children with an everlasting love that will guide them through good times and bad. The lost have no hope, they live in darkness and can not see the Glory of God.
His word says Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'Matthew 10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Colossians 1:16-18 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
It is hard for the lost to grasp the idea that God is in charge of the storms, the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the tsunami and the damage that sometimes happens when these occur.
Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[ This verse shows that God's plan & purpose will NOT be changed, despite man's attempt at doing so. Though man tries to change things for his own sinful purposes, God's will & purpose will ALWAYS prevail.)
Samuel 2:6-10 6 "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. 8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He has set the world upon them. 9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail. 10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed."The Children of God trust in God and know that He has planned the beginning to the end and it will all end up for good and for His glory. The Christian may not understand sometimes why certain things happen but their faith in their Savior and the work on the cross He suffered and that is sufficient enough for them.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
AND LASTLY.....
Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[ This verse shows that God's plan & purpose will NOT be changed, despite man's attempt at doing so. Though man tries to change things for his own sinful purposes, God's will & purpose will ALWAYS prevail. ]
Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
—Arthur W. Pink
Do you ever wonder why certain circumstances happen in our lives? When there is loss in our lives how do we react? Sure there is sorrow but to the Christian there is comfort from the Holy Spirit. To the Holy, there is understanding because we know the Bible tells us, "He has a purpose" in all things----to bring Him Glory.
Corrie Ten Boom said "Every experience God gives us, every person he puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only he can see."
God sees the whole picture and He has planned it all since the beginning of time. There is no mistakes, no coincidences, everything we are given are blessings given to us to learn from and grow. We serve a gracious Master who knows how to overrule even our mistakes to His glory and our own advantage.
God is too good to be unkind and He is too wise to be mistaken. And when we cannot trace His hand, we must trust His heart.--Charles Spurgeon
Christians have the advantage of knowing the Lord will work out all things for His Good and our good. He love His children with an everlasting love that will guide them through good times and bad. The lost have no hope, they live in darkness and can not see the Glory of God.
His word says Isaiah 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'Matthew 10:29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Colossians 1:16-18 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
It is hard for the lost to grasp the idea that God is in charge of the storms, the hurricanes, the tornadoes, the tsunami and the damage that sometimes happens when these occur.
Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[ This verse shows that God's plan & purpose will NOT be changed, despite man's attempt at doing so. Though man tries to change things for his own sinful purposes, God's will & purpose will ALWAYS prevail.)
Samuel 2:6-10 6 "The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. 8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. "For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He has set the world upon them. 9 He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. "For by strength no man shall prevail. 10 The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces; From heaven He will thunder against them. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth. "He will give strength to His king, And exalt the horn of His anointed."The Children of God trust in God and know that He has planned the beginning to the end and it will all end up for good and for His glory. The Christian may not understand sometimes why certain things happen but their faith in their Savior and the work on the cross He suffered and that is sufficient enough for them.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high, And see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, By the greatness of His might And the strength of His power; Not one is missing.
AND LASTLY.....
Genesis 50:20 "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[ This verse shows that God's plan & purpose will NOT be changed, despite man's attempt at doing so. Though man tries to change things for his own sinful purposes, God's will & purpose will ALWAYS prevail. ]
Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."
Saturday, February 09, 2008
THE GREATEST LOVE OF ALL
"There is a friend who sticks closer than
a brother." Proverbs 18:24
Such a friend is Jesus. He is so a friend
to every one of His people, as if He were
a friend to none besides. Jesus is . . .
an omnipotent friend;
an omniscient friend;
an omnipresent friend;
an indeficient friend;
a sovereign friend;
an immutable friend;
a watchful friend;
a loving friend;
a faithful friend;
a compassionate friend;
a close friend,
a universal friend—a friend in
all cases and in all places,
our first friend,
a constant friend—"Whom He loves,
He loves to the end." John 13:1
The true healing of the soul is always through the birth of love. Before a soul loves, it lives only to itself; as soon as love is born it lives beyond itself and finds its life in the object of its love. It is Christ who first reveals the full measure of love, who makes us seethe one adequate Object of love, and who forges within our human spirits the invisible bonds of a love that binds us forever to Him who so loved us. Here in Him - "a Man loving all the world, a God dying for mankind" - we see that we are infinitely beloved, that the foundations of an eternal Friendship are laid, that God is infinitely prone to love, and that true love spares nothing for the sake of what it loves - "O miraculous and eternal Godhead suffering on a Cross for me!
Rufus M Jones
Go measure the heavens with your span;
go weigh the mountains in the scales;
go take the ocean's water and calculate each drop;
go count the sand upon the sea's wide shore;
and when you have accomplished all of this,
then you can tell how much He loves you!
He has loved you long!
He has loved you well!
He will love you forever!
C H Spurgeon
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