Just sharing.

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“And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither.”

Revelation 11:12

Without considering these words in their prophetical connection, let us regard them as the invitation of our great Forerunner to his sanctified people. In due time there shall be heard “a great voice from heaven” to every believer, saying, “Come up hither.” This should be to the saints the subject of joyful anticipation. Instead of dreading the time when we shall leave this world to go unto the Father, we should be panting for the hour of our emancipation. Our song should be—

“My heart is with him on his throne,
And ill can brook delay;
Each moment listening for the voice,
‘Rise up and come away.’”


We are not called down to the grave, but up to the skies. Our heaven-born spirits should long for their native air. Yet should the celestial summons be the object of patient waiting. Our God knows best when to bid us “Come up thither.” We must not wish to antedate the period of our departure. I know that strong love will make us cry,

“O Lord of Hosts, the waves divide,
And land us all in heaven;”


but patience must have her perfect work. God ordains with accurate wisdom the most fitting time for the redeemed to abide below. Surely, if there could be regrets in heaven, the saints might mourn that they did not live longer here to do more good. Oh, for more sheaves for my Lord's garner! more jewels for his crown! But how, unless there be more work? True, there is the other side of it, that, living so briefly, our sins are the fewer; but oh! when we are fully serving God, and he is giving us to scatter precious seed, and reap a hundredfold, we would even say it is well for us to abide where we are. Whether our Master shall say “go,” or “stay,” let us be equally well pleased so long as he indulges us with his presence.

 

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The BIG Lie that Leads to a Lonely Marriage




Marriage, by its very definition, is the joining of two separate lives into one unified family. Two become one on a spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical level. God designed it this way. So, how is it that some people find themselves in a lonely marriage? It all begins with one or both partners believing a BIG lie.

We live in a society that applauds independence and the notion of achieving success all by ourselves. We are often groomed to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves because “no one else will”. Being independent and self-sufficient is certainly not a bad thing in and of itself, but it can lead to a lonely existence when we pursue it above all else (and many times we do). In a world where half of marriages end in divorce, we are taught to have one foot in the door and one foot out the door just to be ready in case our marriage fails. Some even have prenups, secret bank accounts, or money stashes in preparation for the day they may decide to divorce their spouse. What is the common denominator in all of these things?

It is the belief that we don’t NEED each other…that we can and should live our lives as if we were never married. It is a BIG LIE that sends husbands and wives into a lonely marital existence for years, and some even decide to call it quits.

So, what does a lonely marriage look like? It is two married people living very disconnected lives. Each spouse is highly engaged in his or her work during the day and doesn’t choose to involve his or her spouse in the workplace functions. There are no sweet texts or phone calls to connect with each other during the day. When they get home at night, both spouses are hyper-focused on the kids and all of their needs.

All conversation seems to center around what has been done or what needs to be done to take care of the kids, home, and finances. Both the husband and wife are much more concerned with setting up “Girls Night Out” or “Night Out with the Guys” as opposed to a date night. They rarely have sex, and when they do, there is a lack of connection. They both seem to be civil with each other, especially in public places, but there is frustration in the undercurrent of all of their communication.

They both feel stifled by the other and even resent most of what their spouse does. The husband and wife try to find reasons to not spend time together because the time they spend together is the loneliest and most exhausting part of their day. Both have completely lost sight of what brought them together in the first place. Somewhere along the way they lost their togetherness in an effort to pursue their independence. After all, they have each been doing their “own thing” and handling it all just fine, so they don’t really NEED each other, do they?

If this scenario described your marriage, please know that it doesn’t have to be this way. You CAN have the close, intimate marriage that you so desire.




So, if we are in a lonely marriage, what steps can we take to turn it around?


1. We need to engage in meaningful conversation with each other every day.
If we find that we are in a lonely marriage, there has been a breakdown of communication somewhere along the way. We need to start talking again. These conversations involve more than, “Kids have soccer on Friday” or “Office party is on Saturday night” or “What’s for dinner?”. We need to laugh together and talk about our hopes, fears, and dreams. We need to reconnect, and conversation is the bridge that will get us there. I also encourage you to start praying together every night. Your first prayer may be just asking God to help you get out of this lonely time in your marriage, and then you can add to your prayer list together.

2. We must remove anything that is perpetrating the loneliness in our marriage.
Are we spending more time with our friends than our spouse? If so, we need to spend less time with those friends and more time with our spouse. We need to invest in our friendship with our spouse! Are we staying at work too late? If so, we need to rearrange our work schedule so we can spend more time at home. We need to start connecting with our spouse throughout the day. This can be as simple as a sweet or flirtatious text saying, “I love you. I hope you are having a great day.” or a quick phone call to check in. This lets our partner know that we care, and we also feel cared for when they make us a high priority and not an afterthought. This is HUGE in marriage.

3. We must understand and admit that WE NEED EACH OTHER.
Some of you may think that needing your spouse shows weakness, makes you “needy”, or gives him/her too much power in your life, but the honest truth is a marriage will quickly become a lonely place unless both spouses are willing to lean on each other and care for one another as God intended. We are not giving up our individuality but we are trading our completely independent lives for a supportive, interdependent union with our spouse. I am not encouraging or promoting an unhealthy co-dependent marriage in which spouses emotionally abuse each other and neediness runs rampant. A healthy, balanced marriage is like a beautiful ballroom dance where the husband and wife are completely intertwined and in tune to one another with God leading them in their journey together. He gave us such a gift when He gave us our spouse. He never meant for us to live in a lonely marriage, so let’s embrace and cherish the beautiful gift of our marriage and let love defeat the loneliness.

 

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The God of All Comfort "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30 NIV __________________ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Psalm 46:1-3 KJV __________________ You who fear the LORD, praise Him; All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And stand in awe of Him, all you descendants of Israel. For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from him; But when he cried to Him for help, He heard. Psalm 22:23,24 NASB __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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''He shall save his people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:21

Many persons, if they are asked what they understand by salvation, will reply, “Being saved from hell and taken to heaven.” This is one result of salvation, but it is not one tithe of what is contained in that boon. It is true our Lord Jesus Christ does redeem all his people from the wrath to come; he saves them from the fearful condemnation which their sins had brought upon them; but his triumph is far more complete than this. He saves his people “from their sins.”

Oh! sweet deliverance from our worst foes. Where Christ works a saving work, he casts Satan from his throne, and will not let him be master any longer. No man is a true Christian if sin reigns in his mortal body. Sin will be in us — it will never be utterly expelled till the spirit enters glory; but it will never have dominion. There will be a striving for dominion — a lusting against the new law and the new spirit which God has implanted — but sin will never get the upper hand so as to be absolute monarch of our nature. Christ will be Master of the heart, and sin must be mortified. The Lion of the tribe of Judah shall prevail, and the dragon shall be cast out.

Professor! is sin subdued in you? If your life is unholy your heart is unchanged, and if your heart is unchanged you are an unsaved person. If the Saviour has not sanctified you, renewed you, given you a hatred of sin and a love of holiness, he has done nothing in you of a saving character. The grace which does not make a man better than others is a worthless counterfeit. Christ saves his people, not in their sins, but from them. “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord.” “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” If not saved from sin, how shall we hope to be counted among his people. Lord, save me now from all evil, and enable me to honour my Saviour.

 

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Obedience - Key to Blessing If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment Job 36:11 NIV __________________ For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Romans 2:13 KJV __________________ O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. Deuteronomy 6:3-6 NASB __________________ And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matthew 12:49,50 RSV __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face ... because we have sinned against thee.”

Daniel 9:8

A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past?

As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and against love—light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced. Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's own elect ones, who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus’ bosom. Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession! Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence.

Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter's denying his Master. Remember, it is written, “He wept bitterly.” Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas! these sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning. My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee—the mercy which spares thee—the love which pardons thee!

 

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Who Is the Holy Spirit?



The Holy Spirit is perhaps the most overlooked person of the Trinity in many Christian circles today, but he is equally deserving of the praise and adoration given to the Father and Son. He is the crucial third component to the work of the triune God. The Spirit is the one who introduces us to the Father and Son, and then continues to remind us of the Father and Son.
The name “Holy Spirit” does not give a concrete picture of an individual person like “Father” or “Son” might, but he acts out his distinct role as specifically and uniquely as the other persons. The Spirit isn’t an it; the Spirit is a he. Jesus promised that he would send the Spirit from himself and the Father as a “helper” to live within believers (John 14:16, 26; 15:26; Acts 1:8; Eph. 1:13-14). This promise came true at Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit filled believers and performed miraculous deeds through them (Acts 2:4). Christians experience and represent the triune God through the guidance of the Spirit (John 16:7-8; 1 Cor. 6:19-20; Gal. 5:22-25).

In his book Forgotten God, Francis Chan writes, “We are not all we were made to be when everything in our lives and churches can be explained apart from the work and presence of the Spirit of God.” It is important to remember that the Holy Spirit literally lives and works in believers (2 Tim. 1:14). Through the Spirit, God himself accompanies Christians through the ups and downs of life, leading us in truth and pointing us toward the joy of knowing him. As if shackles have been undone from our feet, we are liberated by the Spirit to walk in true freedom from the slavery of sin.


The Holy Spirit is not just a mere expression of God, but God himself. Christians should be encouraged to walk in the expectation that we really are empowered to live as children of the Father, being led, as Luke writes, by “the Spirit of Jesus” (Acts 16:7). The Spirit isn’t some ooga-booga force; he is the personal presence of God to empower disciples of the risen Jesus to live for the glory of God. This is why Paul can say, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:15-16).

 

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Let Us Humble Ourselves Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight. Isaiah 5:20,21 NIV __________________ Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Galatians 6:1-3 KJV __________________ For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends. 2 Corinthians 10:18 NASB __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Remove far from me vanity and lies.”

Proverbs 30:8

“O my God, be not far from me.”

— Psalm 38:21

Here we have two great lessons—what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity—he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him, for she said, “I fear that this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it.”

Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life.

Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

 

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Christian Worship Is a Discipline, Not a Fun Experience




In January, I joined a gym and signed myself up for some personal training.
My previous personal attitude to strenuous physical activity could be summed up with this great t-shirt slogan, “No Pain, No Pain,” but now in my mid-30s, you might say I’ve lost a bit of my fire, which honestly never burned too hot to begin with. I worked out off and on in college, always stopping when my biceps and waistline started showing the first signs of improvement. I owe it to myself and my family to make some lasting changes this time around, and as a Christian, I really have no other choice. Not caring for my body as I ought is sin, and it’s one that I’m particularly apt to excuse in myself.

I’m not going to lie. Sometimes I really, really hate working out. I don’t like getting up early. Completing each exercise tries my patience. And though it’s getting better with time, it still often feels like I’m punishing myself.
My trainer, Ryan, is quite possibly the nicest person on the face of the earth – seriously, the guy is a real prince – but a lot of mornings, I’m not crazy about him, either.
But this is good for me. I know it is. So I continue to go.

And a funny thing is starting to happen. It’s getting better. I’m feeling stronger. I have more energy for the people and work that I love. My mind feels clearer and sharper, too. Hopefully, when the time comes for my annual physical in a few months, there will be more evidence of positive effects on my health because of the working out, combined with my other resolution to stop eating so much crap.

It’s the same with worship. We go because we need to. The gifts Jesus offers us in the liturgy are to our great benefit, so much so that living a healthy Christian life apart from them is impossible. Some people who call themselves Christians want you to believe otherwise. They tell you that worship is personal. That you need to find the style of worship that fits you just right, gives you nice feelings about Jesus, and allows you to express yourself. They are wrong. They are telling you a lie that defies biblical teaching and 2000 years of church history. What the liturgy affords you is something that you cannot get from being in nature, or playing golf, or repaying your weekly sleep debt.


The fact that I even need to say this would suggest that it’s not all that easy. If worship consistently gave us good feelings, entertained us, and hit our felt needs straight on, churches everyone would be packed. But that’s not how it works. Doing historic, liturgical Christian worship demands a lot out of you. You have to pray things that seem foreign. You have to sing music that is different than what you hear everywhere else. You have to continually humble yourself and admit your full reliance on God.

Hopefully, as the discipline of worship is cultivated within us, things will get a bit easier. The act of physically getting your tired carcass to the church building will become a habit. The patterns of prayer practiced on Sundays will bear fruit in your personal acts of devotion and worship. By God’s grace, He will create in you an awareness of the marvelous salvation offered through His Son.

Sometimes, you will find that you enjoy liturgy. The beauty of the refined language will resonate. The weekly proclamation of the Gospel will overwhelm you. That’s all well and good, but still, be careful! These feeling do not legitimize the discipline, and they should always be subject to your will. Whatever our emotions tell us, we should always approach liturgy with a sense of sobriety and seriousness.
That is the real danger in the entertainment, pop-worship church. They do everything they can do to arouse good feelings within you through their music and their charismatic leaders so that the feelings take your will captive. But the experience of an emotional high is not worship, and you need to run from any place that tries this approach. They probably don’t even realize it, but they are manipulating you.

Seriously! Leave them behind, and get out!
Find a church that is actually historically liturgical; find one which holds both preaching the Word and administering the Sacraments in high regard. If your church looks and feels like a jesusy rock concert, you need to find a new one. If it is a country club atmosphere with no real seriousness toward the gospel and liturgy, you need to find a new one. If they talk all about justice but never about the Gospel of Jesus, you need to find a new one. If they cater to your tastes with a bunch of diverse worship “styles,” you need to find a new one. It is not getting any earlier. You’re not getting any younger. It won’t get any easier than it is right now. Stop looking for an emotional experience, and start cultivating some discipline.

 

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The Lost Art of Celebrating Dads



I know I may not be in the majority when I say that I think dads get a raw deal. I grew up with an amazing dad and I (not unrelated) have dreamed of being a father at least as much as I have dreamed of personal and professional successes, both of which are not true for everybody.
But I toggle between sadness, disappointment, and anger at the way we talk about dads in our culture. We have adopted, hook-line-sinker, the image of dads as Homer-Simpson-esque idiots (just about every television dad plays this role) or the absent/abusive/neglecting workaholic who doesn’t care about anything other than affairs with his secretary and the corner office.
I say all of this because with Fathers Day approaching, it is not enough for us to take a cute and cuddly break to obligatorily thank dads for giving it there best shot (bless their stupid hearts). We need to do a better job of celebrating dads. And here is why.

Dads Desire

Men have a deep desire to be dads. We have a deep desire to love and care, to serve our families, to be empathetic and helpful. Dads want to be good dads. Even boys who are not yet dads want to be good dads.
But we live in a world where male privilege and toxic masculinity silence the best in us. Men are afraid to speak up, unskilled at vulnerability, and sometimes feel like aliens inside themselves because they are constantly told a) the strong survive and b) the strong abuse. Since men feel afraid and insecure, these narratives are like anvils heaped on their shoulders, heavy and ever-present. And they have no idea what to do with them.
The core fear of any man is the fear of rejection. And men are constantly rejected as dads – labeled as buffoons and weaklings and then as domineering and patriarchal when they try to compensate. Men feel crippled and do not know what to do. The narratives become self-fulfilling as they are reinforced.


Deep down, men want to be dads. They want to help. They are trying to help. They want to love and are trying to figure out how to be strong and caring at the same time. My own dad, for example, cannot say a prayer at our family gatherings without breaking into tears. He almost never cries outside of that, at least that I see. But he is overcome with his desire, his appreciation, his care. He cannot contain (or express) how much he desires to be a dad and how much it means to him.


Dads are Capable
See the above story of my dad.

Look, dads are different than moms. They just are. I’m not talking about traditional gender roles and I realize the dangers of generalities, but there is something different about dads. Boys need them. Girls need them. Scientific research shows that children with active dads are better equipped for life as an adult. Just as moms are capable, so are dads.
We need dads. Just like we need moms. Dads are firm, playful, adventurous, risk-taking. They are wise, caring, compassionate. They promote a sense of belonging, safety, and worth.
Our world is experiencing a real crisis of male leadership in the family. This is not an indictment on the male species and their ability/willingness to parent, but a referendum on the cultural perspective that has shaped societal norms.
Celebrating dads for what they are worth is the key to rescuing the crisis of fatherlessness in our society. It is not to shame dads, to give up or make due without them. It is to awaken what we have ignored in them, what they themselves have ignored. The calling on their lives to love.

 

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On His Side The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV __________________ That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. Luke 1:74,75 KJV __________________ "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me," declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:17 NASB __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.”

2 Timothy 1:9

The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, “Who hath saved us.” Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now. The Christian is perfectly saved in God's purpose; God has ordained him unto salvation, and that purpose is complete.

He is saved also as to the price which has been paid for him: “It is finished” was the cry of the Savior ere he died. The believer is also perfectly saved in his covenant head, for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ. This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Savior saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavor to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted in sin.

God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but he called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them. The excellencies which we see in a believer are as much the work of God as the atonement itself. Thus is brought out very sweetly the fulness of the grace of God.

Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the author of it: and what motive but grace could move him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is for ever excluded. Such is the believer's privilege—a present salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it—a holy life.

 

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Seek Him! But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. Deuteronomy 4:29-31 NIV __________________ Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till He come and rain righteousness upon you. Hosea 10:12 KJV __________________ The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble; And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; Declare among the peoples His deeds. Psalm 9:9-11 NASB __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle.”

Psalm 76:3

Our Redeemer's glorious cry of “It is finished,” was the death-knell of all the adversaries of his people, the breaking of “the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle.” Behold the hero of Golgotha using his cross as an anvil, and his woes as a hammer, dashing to shivers bundle after bundle of our sins, those poisoned “arrows of the bow;” trampling on every indictment, and destroying every accusation.

What glorious blows the mighty Breaker gives with a hammer far more ponderous than the fabled weapon of Thor! How the diabolical darts fly to fragments, and the infernal bucklers are broken like potters’ vessels! Behold, he draws from its sheath of hellish workmanship the dread sword of Satanic power! He snaps it across his knee, as a man breaks the dry wood of a fagot, and casts it into the fire. Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill him, for the punishment of our sin was borne by Christ, a full atonement was made for all our iniquities by our blessed Substitute and Surety.

Who now accuseth? Who now condemneth? Christ hath died, yea rather, hath risen again. Jesus has emptied the quivers of hell, has quenched every fiery dart, and broken off the head of every arrow of wrath; the ground is strewn with the splinters and relics of the weapons of hell's warfare, which are only visible to us to remind us of our former danger, and of our great deliverance.

Sin hath no more dominion over us. Jesus has made an end of it, and put it away for ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end. Talk ye of all the wondrous works of the Lord, ye who make mention of his name, keep not silence, neither by day, nor when the sun goeth to his rest. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

 

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4 Characteristics of a Good and Faithful Servant



What does Jesus mean by calling some, “Good and faithful servant?” Who is a faithful servant?
Faithful
What believer doesn’t long for the day when Jesus will say to them, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:23). This is opposed to those who wouldn’t even invest in what God had entrusted to them (Matt 25:24-27), but what does it mean to be a faithful servant. Jesus doesn’t say “good and gifted servant,” or “good and skilled servant.” It is being faithful where He puts the emphasis, so what does it mean to be faithful, particularly a faithful servant of Christ? You don’t have to look far to find out what we are commanded do (Matt 25:35-36; James 1:27). In fact, God has preordained good works for you do to, if you and I would only walk in (or do) them (Eph 2:10).

Being faithful is going where and when one’s needed. Ninety-percent of serving is just showing up, so being faithful means being available. One person that doesn’t show up is one person who won’t serve. That means more for someone else to do, so just showing up is essential to being a faithful servant. If you think what you are doing is insignificant, don’t miss the fact that Jesus said that if “You have been faithful over a little,” He “will set you over much,” so you might “Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:23). Your faithfulness doesn’t depend on how little or how much you have, but what you do with it. Are you faithful in showing up and in using what you have been given by God?

Available
If we make ourselves available, we’ll be more faithful, but the world competes with our time and resources. It’s a battle of the flesh verses the Spirit. It is just as the Apostle Paul wrote, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom 7:15), and as a result, “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (Rom 7:19). God often places opportunities to serve or share Christ, but sometimes we are thinking of ourselves too much and fear rejection. Let’s face it. We all like to be liked, but that’s not what we’re called to. We are called to share Christ, and serve Christ by doing unto others, which Jesus’ takes personally (Matt 25:40). The day will come when “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:12).

For some that will be a day of rejoicing, but apparently, for some, it will be a day of shame, as they knew they were negligent in their calling, doing little or nothing for Christ. The Apostle John wrote in that context, saying, “And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming” (1 John 2:28). If you are abiding in Christ, you will be available for Christ. Abiding in Christ produces fruits of the Spirit, and Jesus said that it is “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:8). It’s not so much ability as it is availability. I believe 90% of being a faithful servant is simply being available!

Teachable
One way to look at being faithful is to be abiding in Jesus’ words, and those words are found in Scripture. The more we read the Bible, the more it reads us, and shows us where we come up short, but it also shows us ways we can be more faithful, and that’s our desire; to be good and faithful servant. One aspect of being a faithful servant is sitting at the Master’s feet and learning from Him, and that means reading His book, the Bible. This book helps us to yield to the Spirit more easily. The Bible helps us grow in holiness (sanctification), teaches us how to witness, and it reveals who are Jesus’ disciples (John 13:34-35). A faithful servant learns from the Master, so more time spent with the Master and His Word, the more you will naturally want to serve Christ (Matt 25:35-36, 40). A person who has their portion of His daily Bread will recognize serving opportunities when they see them, having seen dozens in Scripture.

Flexible
Your best friends, relatives, or spouse are generally the only ones you’d wouldn’t worry about calling at three in the mourning if their car broke down. There’s probably on a handful of people that most of us could call at that hour and ask for help, but that’s what separates the faithful ones from those who are only friends when it’s smooth sailing. When the waters get rough, many will bail out on us, but the faithful ones will not. It seems that the hardest times reveal who is and who is not closest to us. Scripture teaches us that “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” (Prov 17:17), even if that adversity comes at three in the morning. One thing about helping out was in a case where a nursery worker called in sick and so they asked the congregation if someone would be willing to lend a hand to the nursery worker assistant. I realize that there is no gift for emptying diaper pails, changing diapers, and feeding babies, but not one person offered to help, even though they only needed them for half an hour. That is until my wife stepped up. She was faithful, making herself available, and was flexible in serving where she could.

Conclusion
Today is closer than yesterday to the day when Jesus will say to some, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:23)? Notice that Jesus doesn’t emphasize what is being done, or how much a person has, but what they’ve done with what they’ve been given. The widow’s mite was the greatest of all giving that day. I believe that Jesus will say well done, good and faithful servant for being faithful in the things that He command us to do, and those things are revealed in Scripture (i.e. Matt 25:35-36, 28:19-20;James 1:27, etc.). He will see this being done to others, by in reality, it is being done unto Him (Matt 25:40). Having done nothing for Him is a serious problem (Matt 25:40), but that’s the point.

We do it for Him, and we do it to Him, and we do it for His glory (Psalm 115:1; John 15:8). Jesus is looking for those who will be faithful; who will make themselves available, those who will be open and remain teachable, and to be flexible in whatever situation God has placed them in. I worked as a janitor for seven years, and nothing is below our dignity if we do it as unto the Lord. There is no trivial servant who has so little that he or she could still not be faithful. Perhaps someday, maybe soon (?), you and I will hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt 25:23).

 

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Let Us Be Content Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5,6 NIV __________________ But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 1 Timothy 6:6-8 NASB __________________ Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17,18 RSV __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.

 

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“Lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil [or, the evil one].”

Luke 11:4

What we are taught to seek or shun in prayer, we should equally pursue or avoid in action. Very earnestly, therefore, should we avoid temptation, seeking to walk so guardedly in the path of obedience, that we may never tempt the devil to tempt us. We are not to enter the thicket in search of the lion. Dearly might we pay for such presumption.

This lion may cross our path or leap upon us from the thicket, but we have nothing to do with hunting him. He that meeteth with him, even though he winneth the day, will find it a stern struggle. Let the Christian pray that he may be spared the encounter. Our Saviour, who had experience of what temptation meant, thus earnestly admonished his disciples — “Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

But let us do as we will, we shall be tempted; hence the prayer “deliver us from evil.” God had one Son without sin; but he has no son without temptation. The natural man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards, and the Christian man is born to temptation just as certainly. We must be always on our watch against Satan, because, like a thief, he gives no intimation of his approach. Believers who have had experience of the ways of Satan, know that there are certain seasons when he will most probably make an attack, just as at certain seasons bleak winds may be expected; thus the Christian is put on a double guard by fear of danger, and the danger is averted by preparing to meet it.

Prevention is better than cure: it is better to be so well armed that the devil will not attack you, than to endure the perils of the fight, even though you come off a conqueror. Pray this evening first that you may not be tempted, and next that if temptation be permitted, you may be delivered from the evil one.

 

[beensetfree]

The Power of Encouragement



There is power in the tongue to either destroy or build up, but read about the benefits that encouragement bring.
Burdens Shared
I remember hearing that a joy shared is doubled, but a sorrow shared is halved, and I believe that is true, but I also believe that God wants us to take all of our burdens to Him. Jesus tells us all, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30). If you are broken and crushed, then you are nearer to God than most of us are because it says, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). When we have a burden, it’s best to take it to the Lord, for He alone can “find rest for [our] souls,” and by unloading our heavy burdens upon Him, He can “give you rest.”

Giving Courage
The word discouragement generally means experiencing a loss of confidence or enthusiasm or dispiritedness, however discouragement can be given to others by the words we use, and these discouraging words can show our disapproval of what they’re doing. Our toxic words can be creating difficulties for others, but discouraging someone from doing something is not always a bad thing. We may be trying to prevent someone from hurting themselves or others, but at other times, we can take the wind out of their sails and bring them down by what we say.

Do our words build up or do they tear down? Do they encourage or do they discourage? To encourage someone means you support them, you give them confidence, and you give them hope. Our words can help persuade others to persevere or they can even stimulate a person toward personal development and growth, so to encourage someone is to give them the courage to keep pressing ahead. Discouragement takes that away, but our encouragement can build up a person just when they need it the most.

Transitions
When Moses had died, God tried to encourage Joshua because he was now the leader of a nation of millions, so God tells Joshua to “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). If we recognize the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5), then we can be encouraged and continue through life’s struggles. The Apostle Paul asks us, “If God is for us, who can be against us” (Rom 8:31b)? When we feel discouraged and exhausted, read the Word of God because those “who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31).

Building Up
You probably know your share of people who are discouraging to be around, but also those who are encouraging to be around, so if you don’t want to be discouraged yourself, try to be around encouraging people. These are the kinds of people that build others up. They are courteous, they are polite, and they see the positive in things more than the negative. Paul instructs us to “encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess 5:11), and don’t let any “corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph 4:29), so “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up” (Rom 15:2). In this way, we can “pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Rom 14:19). Tearing down others by words is easy, but so is building others up by encouragement, so “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Rom 12:18). That is more easily done when we speak words of encouragement.

Encouragement from God
If there is a shortage of encouraging words from those you know, turn to the Scriptures and you can be encouraged. Be encouraged by the fact that “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Prov 30:5). Be encouraged that you “can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13). Be encouraged that you can “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Psalm 55:22).

One thing we can be encouraged by is the fact that “God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing” (1 Thess 5:9-11). Is there someone you know who feels down? Build them up with words of promise from God, and there are many, like “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zeph 3:17).

Conclusion
My prayer for you is that “the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope” (Rom 15:13). When you are discouraged, have fears about the future, and are overwhelmed by the problems of today, remember that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Tm 1:7). God will ensure that all things will work out for our very best (Rom 8:28), even if it doesn’t look like the “very best.” We can trust God with the future, especially since He’s been there and back, and knows the end from the beginning. God is never taken by surprise. He is in charge…even in the midst of chaos. That should encourage you.

 

[beensetfree]

He Gives Wisdom For to the man who pleases him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and heaping, only to give to one who pleases God. Ecclesiastes 2:26 RSV __________________ Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Proverbs 2:5-7 KJV __________________ Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Psalm 51:6 NASB __________________ Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift: Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God is the object of our faith; the only faith that saves is faith in Him.