Saturday, July 30, 2011

Babes

Jam 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jam 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Aren’t newly-born babies quite cute? They may not actually be too cute at the very first, immediately after birth, but most will agree that babies are really cute up to and about the age of two and a half or three; then, they begin to be kids! I wonder if the Lord sees us that way. I wonder if we aren’t quite lovely at first, until we begin to grow toward adulthood. The road to adulthood is a long, winding path, and full of many pitfalls; how do these affect our lives, and our walk with the Lord? Oh for the innocence of the child; the loyalty and the unfeigned love that they have toward others is soon lost and replaced with…life in this world. 1 Peter 2:2 says: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:” perhaps the Lord would prefer us to remain in the same state of mind that we were as a young child of God—as a babe in Christ. Oh, He wants us to grow, and to learn more about Him and His great love for us; He wants us to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of Truth, but in the final analysis, I can’t help but think that perhaps He would like us as sweet and as cuddly as the very young infant, before the indoctrination and the problems of the world sets in, and totally dependent on Him! I believe He wants us to grow in the Word, but to remain as babes in practice, depending totally on Him for all our needs. Remember this the next time you hold a precious little bundle in your hands, and try to see yourself as you see that sweet little baby.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Loving the Lord through dependency

Dependency

Love grows through dependency. As a new born baby, we begin to love those that take care of us, this is one reason why we must not prolong the babies stay in the hospital. The baby will love the one who first loved him. (1 Jn. 4:19).
The evolutionist teaches that we are all animals, and that animals know their mother by instinct, but we are people, we do not act on instinct. The newly born babe does not instinctively know who “mom” is, but soon learns through her tender loving care that she is “mom”. It is the same with us and our Lord.
We love Him because He fist loved us, and we respond to His love in reciprocating it back to Him. The more you learn to depend upon the Lord, the greater your love will be toward Him. Learn to trust Him; in so doing, you will grow to love Him more and more. As the Lord reached out to each of us, we responded to His love by returning it back to Him; in this way, we have learned that he loves us enough to provide for us, and to sacrifice for us, as a mother does her beloved child. Find ways to depend more fully on the Lord, and see if your love does not grow greater toward Him.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Kindness, Compassion and Forgiveness

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (Eph. 4:32)

Upon observation, I would say that this verse is perhaps the most ignored verse in the Bible, or at least one of the most ignored and less practiced. We have three important steps of maturity outlined here for us, as an example for a godly Christian walk.

The first, “Be ye kind”; though it says “one to another” implying other Christians, I feel we owe all men a certain amount of kindness, at least until they prove themselves unworthy of it. Nonetheless, in the Christian world, we need to remember to exercise kindness, especially when dealing with one another. Kindness seems to be lacking in fundamentalism these days, but among the ranks of the godly, we must be known by our kind attitude toward our fellow man. It is very easy to get out of sorts when others oppose our views, it becomes a personal thing to many of us, and we are pout on the defense. Sarcasm; hostility; name-calling, these have no place among the brethren, and yet we do it so easily.

The second thing of note is “Tenderhearted”. Tenderheartedness speaks of compassion, but perhaps a little more than generalized compassion, it speaks of personalizing our compassion; of directing it, and “aiming” it in a selected direction, for a certain purpose; it is compassion in action.
Tenderheartedness is much needed in the church today; I would rather have a man with a heart for others than a man that is faithful in church. Compassion, in my opinion, is worth more than faithfulness to church. Show me a compassionate man, and I’ll show you a loving man, but not all faithful men are loving.

The third thing we need is forgiveness. Forgiving, really, honestly forgiving, is a very hard thing to do. If we say “I can forgive, but I won’t forget” then we do not have forgiveness. Forgiveness entails trust restored; if we cannot restore the trust in our minds of one that has offended us, we have not truly forgiven them. How easily we can remember past offenses, and forget our own; we hope to be forgiven our offenses, but fail to forgive others theirs! We ask for that which we are not willing to give. It is hard to forget, but time and prayer can heal such wounds, and trust can be restored once again.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Approaching the Throne of Grace

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.
Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

(Psa. 100:1,2)

As we approach the throne of God in prayer, will we smugly leave our requests at His feet? We are actually ushered unto the throne room of God, and stand before the God of gods, and yet we often come to Him with a broken heart. Does He hear from us when things are going well; when we can sing and rejoice in His presence? Can we “come before His presence with singing” and make a “joyful noise” unto Him? He is sad when we are sad, and rejoices when we rejoice. Why? Because He loves us more than we have ever been loved before, and He feels our infirmities. What a wonderful thing to be so greatly loved by One so great! Blessed be the name of the Lord, forever and ever more, amen.
Let us go before Him with a merry heart, and not only when burdens have gotten us down, and allow Him to hear us rejoice in his presence and still ask for grace. Too many times He hears from us only when we are blue, but the Lord knows our burdens and He carries us through. That is worth rejoicing over!

Friday, July 15, 2011

July 15

Morning
“The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.”
- Lev_6:13
Keep the altar of private prayer burning. This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here, therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer, of vital and experimental religion.
Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer availeth much. Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the Church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbours, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world. Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotion? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplications. Let us set apart special seasons for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire should be smothered beneath the ashes of a worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar, and lessen our influence both in the Church and in the world.
The text will also apply to the altar of the heart. This is a golden altar indeed. God loves to see the hearts of his people glowing towards himself. Let us give to God our hearts, all blazing with love, and seek his grace, that the fire may never be quenched; for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. Many foes will attempt to extinguish it; but if the unseen hand behind the wall pour thereon the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher. Let us use texts of Scripture as fuel for our heart’s fire, they are live coals; let us attend sermons, but above all, let us be much alone with Jesus. C.H. Spurgeon

he said it much better than I could!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Peace with God

Finding the Peace of God

“Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Phil. 4:9)

“Learned” by personal experience, and observation of Truth.
Two Ways of learning:
1. Compiling known facts;
2. Experiencing first-hand.

“Received” Believed and applied Truths.
Two ways of receiving:
1. Accepting it as Truth indeed;
2. Making the Truth useful.

“Heard” Those things not yet understood, but known to be true.
1. Rumored;
2. Learned by seeking after Truth.

“Seen” In the Word of God.
1. By the examples of others;
2. By observing godly men.

The Bible is full of godly men; the God of peace be with you.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Going Home

Home is still Home

Home--a place of joy; of fond memories.
Home--where joy abounds, and fears are wiped away, and sorrows forgotten.
I’m going home.

Home, where growing up was filled with wonder and adventure;
Sometimes there was sorrow--sometimes joy, but home is always home.
It was a place of love; a place of learning; a sanctuary from the storms of life.
It was a place of chastisements and mercy; of comfort, and grace,
A place of learning.

Memories linger on; they have impressed themselves deeply into our lives, and are still very much a part of us.
There have been fighting’s and fears; smiles and tears;
There were betrayals, and friendships, follies and fears, but there was also joy and gladness. When my trial is over…I’m going home.

Home (earthly) was a place of security and comfort; of testing’s and trials; of heartbreak and laughter, but here was always love, spliced with victory.
Home--it isn’t what it used to be, things have changed; I am not what I used to be either, I have grown, and so has “home”.
It still holds a special place in my heart, and endearing place of fond memories; whatever else it may be--

Home is still home.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Our three fold ministry

Our three-fold ministry:

We are to:
Exalt the Savior;
Exhort the saints;
Evangelize the world.

Exalting the Savior will of necessity,
Exhort the saint; exhorting the saints will
Edify us, as well as others; and
Exonerate the sinner.


It is--
Expedient that we obey the Lord;
Exciting to serve Him;

We must;
Experience salvation;
Execute justice;
Enquire of the Lord,
Evangelize the world.