Just sharing.

[beensetfree]

“And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table.”

Matthew 15:27

This woman gained comfort in her misery by thinking great thoughts of Christ . The Master had talked about the children's bread: “Now,” argued she, “since thou art the Master of the table of grace, I know that thou art a generous housekeeper, and there is sure to be abundance of bread on thy table; there will be such an abundance for the children that there will be crumbs to throw on the floor for the dogs, and the children will fare none the worse because the dogs are fed.”

She thought him one who kept so good a table that all that she needed would only be a crumb in comparison; yet remember, what she wanted was to have the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said, “It is nothing to him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give.”

This is the royal road to comfort. Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair; but great thoughts of Christ will pilot you into the haven of peace. “My sins are many, but oh! it is nothing to Jesus to take them all away. The weight of my guilt presses me down as a giant's foot would crush a worm, but it is no more than a grain of dust to him, because he has already borne its curse in his own body on the tree. It will be but a small thing for him to give me full remission, although it will be an infinite blessing for me to receive it.” The woman opens her soul's mouth very wide, expecting great things of Jesus, and he fills it with his love.

Dear reader, do the same. She confessed what Christ laid at her door, but she laid fast hold upon him, and drew arguments even out of his hard words; she believed great things of him, and she thus overcame him. She won the victory by believing in Him . Her case is an instance of prevailing faith; and if we would conquer like her, we must imitate her tactics.

 

[beensetfree]

Oh Christian, Where is Your Joy!?



There is strength in being filled with joy, and to help you be filled with joy, here is a study on helping you find the joy again.
Joyless Christians
For some reason, some of the saddest people on the planet may be Christians. I can’t understand why they’ve lost their joy, unless their joy was dependent upon circumstances, and if they lost their joy due to that, then they don’t have that deep, abiding joy found only in the Lord. They are basing their joy on how the day goes or what’s going on in their life. This kind of joy is fleeting, and it’s not from the Lord but dependent upon the moment, but joy is a source of strength for us when we need it, but it’s also something we must choose. Just like we can learn to be content (Phil 4:12), we can learn to be joyful, and the Scriptures can help us do that. In fact, God will supply the joy as we shall see.

The Source
If the source of joy is dependent upon circumstances, then our joy will come and go like the morning mist. Our joy will depend on how the day goes, but a believer has every reason to be full of joy, but we are not the source of true joy. The psalmist says, “You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Psalm 4:7). There is great strength in joy. No one wants to be around someone who is constantly complaining or whining. After Ezra read the Law of God before the people, they wept, but Ezra said, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength” (Neh 8:10). The source of our joy is the Lord, and this joy is a resource for strength, so we may be at our weakest when we have no joy at all. Here’s how to tank up on the joy of the Lord. The psalmist wrote, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). That ought to fill your cup with joy.

The End in Mind
I don’t really like traveling that much and was probably one of the kids that kept asking, “Are we there yet,” but we were able to endure the traveling by placing our minds on the destination. In other words, if we can live with the end in mind, we can better endure today. The Bible says that some sweet day “the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Rev 21:3). Believer’s also look forward to the day when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4). Living with the destination in mind, we can endure today’s trials. James wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3).

The Apostle Peter desires our focus to be on the day of His return, writing, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Pet 1:8). Jesus’ imminent return ought to fill us with joy! Jesus encouraged the disciples by them “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). The fullness of Joy is found only in Christ, but this joy also comes from Christ, so it is not originated in the human heart. Humans may be joyful at the birth of a child, but this joy eventually wears down after the hard work of caring for the child begins, however the joy of the Lord endures forever. That’s why we should “give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 107:1).

A Choice
We can choose contentment. So says the Apostle Paul, writing, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Phil 4:12). He had to learn the hard way…from the experience of suffering, but his eyes were on Christ and not on the moment. Paul learned contentment because he chose to learn it. It’s the same thing with joy. Joy is a choice. Besides, we’re better off being in a state of joy since “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Prov 17:22).

After the disciples learned Jesus was going away, He told them, “you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22). Not long after this, they did rejoice after seeing Him raised from the dead, so Scripture tells us that a permanent, abiding joy only comes from God, and from knowing Christ, but we must also choose joy by choosing to abide in Christ and His Word. “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). To say “let us rejoice” means we must allow ourselves to rejoice. We’re not helpless victims of life’s circumstances.

Conclusion
I plead guilty. There are times I’ve lost my joy, but if we count our blessings and write them out one by one, we should end up with several pages to reflect upon. One blessing is that God forgives and forgets, and “his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Perhaps the greatest joy of all is being used by God to save souls. There is no greater joy than the joy of a soul-winner, with the understanding that God alone saves, but what a privilege to be used by Him to rescue the perishing.

That’s the same kind of joy in heaven when someone is saved. Jesus said that “there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10). Listen to Jesus: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). Many have lost their joy because they’ve based their joy on circumstances, but the joy of the Lord is from the Lord; it is our strength. “[T]he kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom 14:17). The Holy Spirit or God Himself is the giver of joy, but we still have a choice to make, so I say choose joy.

 

[beensetfree]

Seek Righteousness But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33 KJV __________________ Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Isaiah 3:10 KJV __________________ But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11,12 NIV __________________ 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.

 

[beensetfree]

“I will accept you with your sweet savour.”

Ezekiel 20:41

The merits of our great Redeemer are as sweet savour to the Most High. Whether we speak of the active or passive righteousness of Christ, there is an equal fragrance. There was a sweet savour in his active life by which he honoured the law of God, and made every precept to glitter like a precious jewel in the pure setting of his own person. Such, too, was his passive obedience, when he endured with unmurmuring submission, hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness, and at length sweat great drops of blood in Gethsemane, gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked out the hair, and was fastened to the cruel wood, that he might suffer the wrath of God in our behalf.

These two things are sweet before the Most High; and for the sake of his doing and his dying, his substitutionary sufferings and his vicarious obedience, the Lord our God accepts us. What a preciousness must there be in him to overcome our want of preciousness! What a sweet savour to put away our ill savour! What a cleansing power in his blood to take away sin such as ours! and what glory in his righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved! Mark, believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since it is in him!

Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus. You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received his merit, you cannot be unaccepted. Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah's gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though he sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when he looks at you through Christ, he sees no sin. You are always accepted in Christ, are always blessed and dear to the Father's heart. Therefore lift up a song, and as you see the smoking incense of the merit of the Saviour coming up, this evening, before the sapphire throne, let the incense of your praise go up also.

 

[beensetfree]

The Explosive Redefinition of Love in 1 Corinthians 13






The most famous Scripture passage associated with marriage is 1 Corinthians 13, because it’s the passage that the vast majority of married folks had read at their weddings.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

It’s a beautiful description, isn’t it? This is how love should always be described: patient, kind, trusting, hopeful. But for most of us, that’s where it stops: it’s a beautiful description of what a marriage should look like, and hopefully it is. But sooner or later, the honeymoon ends. Then you’re chasing careers, having kids, paying bills, fixing toilets, just doing life, and it’s amazing just how quickly this feeling of love that we see here in 1 Corinthians 13 gets lost in the chaos of life.
That’s why so often married couples look at each other after several years and say, “I just don’t love you anymore. Whatever feeling that was there is gone.” It doesn’t help when we get a constant picture from society telling us exactly what love should look like and what should feel like. Culture would tell us that love looks like a romantic getaway, but doesn’t mention the debt that comes from trying to maintain a lifestyle you can’t afford. Culture tells us that love is like The Bachelor, with exotic locations, background music, script writers and seven takes to get your lines right.

But that’s not what marriages look like. Marriages look like conflicting work schedules, folding laundry at 10 pm, biblical marriage looks like monogamy, one man, one woman, together forever. From a sexual standpoint, when’s the last time tv and movies celebrated monogamy in marriage? It just doesn’t happen.
So, on the one hand, we’ve got this beautiful picture of love in 1 Corinthians 13 that is read once at our weddings and then promptly forgotten about, and after that we’ve got a constant bombardment from culture of a false narrative of what love is supposed to look like.

From culture’s standpoint, love is a feeling. Here’s the argument I want to make: I don’t think culture’s definition of love and marriage is working, because I think culture’s definition of love is flawed. That’s why so many marriages, even good Christian marriages, are struggling. So, what I want to humbly suggest is that we go back to 1 Corinthians 13 and see what we’ve missed. If the Bible is true, if it’s authoritative, if it’s inspired by God, and I believe it is, then the 1 Corinthians 13 definition of love should have practical application and should improve our marriages even today.

So, let’s look back at this passage again, and I’m going to simply pull out one small but absolutely marriage-changing truth from 1 Corinthians 13,
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 1 Corinthians 13:4
Right here, we see it five times. This one statement flies in the face of how culture defines love. You’ll see it in the words that are italicized: patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. What’s significant about these words? They are all verbs. They are all actions. None of them are feelings. And that’s the whole ballgame right there.
Culture would have you believe that love is primarily a feeling. The Apostle Paul taught that love is a verb, love is an action. Love is a choice.
How would this change marriages? Well, think about what typically happens a marriage breaks down. At some point, the husband and wife look at each other and say, “I’m sorry, I just don’t love you anymore.” And if love is a feeling, well then, you can’t control your feelings, can you? It’s just one of those things. You can’t be held accountable for how you feel, can you? If love is a feeling then you’re off the hook.

But if love is a choice, well then, that changes things. When you look at your spouse and say, “I don’t love you anymore,” in reality what you’re saying is “I’m choosing not to love you anymore. I’m making a choice, and I’m choosing to stop showing you love.” Wow, that’s a bit more harsh, isn’t it? Now, here’s the pushback to all of that: are you saying that marriage is supposed to be an emotionless void of feeling where we just stay married out of obligation even if the feeling we associate with love is long gone? No, God created feelings, God created emotions, and He wants and designed marriage to be filled with romance, feelings of elation, contentment, laughter, ecstasy. But that’s the byproduct. Let me put it another way, because this is a deep concept and if we can understand it we can fundamentally improve all of our marriages.

Let’s say you want to be happy. Let’s say that your goal is to be happy in life. It’s a very common goal and it’s not necessarily a bad goal. Who doesn’t want to be happy, right? Well, there are different ways you can be happy. You can go for immediate happiness. What does that look like? Well, it’s more enjoyable in the short run to take a vacation and skip work rather than have to earn a paycheck, so you could say that skipping work and dropping out of school will lead to happiness. And in a very short-sighted way, it will. You could also make the argument that drugs lead to happiness, at least in the short-term. That’s why people take drugs, to try and find happiness.

So what’s the problem with quitting your job and taking drugs if you want to be happy? Well, that momentary happiness will quickly give way to a longer term unhappiness as now you have no job, no money, and a drug addiction. But, that is one way to be happy, at least in the short-term. What’s another way to be happy? Go to school and get a good degree, which doesn’t sound like fun in the short-term but leads to a higher income and a higher quality of life, which results in happiness. Find a job that where you can make a difference, and alongside the paycheck, you’ll discover that when you’re living your purpose you’re a happier person. Even when you become a giving person, when you give back towards others, it actually makes you a happier person.

So, there is a much better way to seek happiness in life, even if it means a bit of hard work. Let’s carry this concept back into marriage. Everyone wants to be happy in marriage. We want a marriage filled with love and laughter. There’s nothing wrong with that. The problem is that the world’s definition of love, that love is an elusive feeling, that will lead to only short-term happiness. And then when the honeymoon is over and the feeling is gone, you’ll break things off and search for the feeling somewhere else, never mind the relational scars that will remain in you and kids in your ever elusive quest for happiness. What Paul presents is a different way, the harder way, the staying in school and working hard in your career way to achieve a deeper, longer lasting form of love and happiness in a marriage.

 

[beensetfree]

Growing in Grace Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5 NIV __________________ Herein is My Father glorified: that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples. John 15:8 KJV __________________ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:17,18 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.

 

[beensetfree]

“I called him, but he gave me no answer.”

Song of Solomon 5:6

Prayer sometimes tarrieth, like a petitioner at the gate, until the King cometh forth to fill her bosom with the blessings which she seeketh. The Lord, when he hath given great faith, has been known to try it by long delayings. He has suffered his servants’ voices to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky. They have knocked at the golden gate, but it has remained immovable, as though it were rusted upon its hinges. Like Jeremiah, they have cried, “Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our prayer should not pass through.”

Thus have true saints continued long in patient waiting without reply, not because their prayers were not vehement, nor because they were unaccepted, but because it so pleased him who is a Sovereign, and who gives according to his own pleasure. If it pleases him to bid our patience exercise itself, shall he not do as he wills with his own! Beggars must not be choosers either as to time, place, or form. But we must be careful not to take delays in prayer for denials: God's long-dated bills will be punctually honoured; we must not suffer Satan to shake our confidence in the God of truth by pointing to our unanswered prayers. Unanswered petitions are not unheard.

God keeps a file for our prayers — they are not blown away by the wind, they are treasured in the King's archives. This is a registry in the court of heaven wherein every prayer is recorded. Tried believer, thy Lord hath a tear-bottle in which the costly drops of sacred grief are put away, and a book in which thy holy groanings are numbered. By-and-by, thy suit shall prevail. Canst thou not be content to wait a little? Will not thy Lord's time be better than thy time? By-and-by he will comfortably appear, to thy soul's joy, and make thee put away the sackcloth and ashes of long waiting, and put on the scarlet and fine linen of full fruition.

 

[beensetfree]

Whatever Happened to Sympathy?



Have you noticed the disappearance of sympathy and how it’s been replaced with judgment?
Sympathy
Sympathy has been described as having pity or sorrow over someone else’s loss or misfortune, but sympathy can be encouraging to the one who needs it, giving them the support they need at the time they need it. Not that long ago, a lady was nearly in tears and told our Bible study group that while she was doing dishes, her wedding ring fell down the drain. I thought, “Oh no,” but before I could speak to offer her my sympathy, someone coldly said, “Well, you shouldn’t have put in near the sink! That wasn’t smart.” Another said, “Why’d you take it off in the first place?”

Finally, I said what should have been said to begin with: “I am so sorry to hear that. That’s terrible. Were you able to get it out?” By then, the lady was shaken and just shook her head no. Instead of giving this woman a little sympathy when she needed it, they all seemed to blame her. They basically said it was her fault. Whether it was her fault or not is beside the point. No one cared to offer her sympathy. Instead, they criticized her “carelessness.” It’s not surprising that this lady eventually left the church. It wasn’t just that, but you could see that there was just no sympathy for her, but plenty of blame. Why? Maybe it’s just our nature to criticize and to blame people for what happens to them. That’s sad, because someday, we might need a little sympathy from someone, and the last thing we’d need is criticism.

Langauge
One man who is a pastor of a prison church was troubling a lot of the church members. It was on account of his language. Not only that, even those who were not in the church complained about his foul mouth. I heard one complaint after another, but he always tried to justify his actions to everyone by saying he was raised around it. His father spoke that way all the time. He said that’s the reason he just can’t seem to stop. The problem with that thinking is he was trying to play on the people’s sympathy about the way he was raised to excuse his ongoing language. This is just an excuse they said, and slowly, members of this church are starting to leave. He ignored the fact that believers are new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17), with new dispositions, being led by the Spirit (Gal 5:18). All believers are to “Let no 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).

Swear words from a pastor are not befitting to the call, no matter what excuses there are. I heard it all the time when I worked in a machine shop, but I never brought it home. Our words either “give grace to those who hear,” or they see us talking just like the world, being no different from the world. No wonder they don’t want “that.” I cannot give my sympathy to someone who is supposed to be a pastor and tells me and others that “I just can’t stop cursing.” I can understand a slip up once in a while, but this pastor swears every day and all day. Believers ought to guard their mouth from “filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place” (Eph 5:4), and it’s especially true for a pastor or church leader. Really, it should be true of all believers.

Criminals as the Victims
Today it seems that criminals have become the victims, and the victims are sometimes criticized for placing themselves in certain situations. That may be true. Maybe they used bad judgment, but they’re still the victim, but sometimes, instead of the criminal being in the wrong, it’s almost as if the victim was at fault. Why have we suddenly begun to blame the victims at times, and not the criminals themselves? Does it seem that criminals are now playing on our sympathies and that they’re actually the “victim” in all this? Not in all cases. Many admit their guilt and confess their crimes, but it does seem that some criminals try to play on a jury or judge’s sympathies. At least their lawyers do.

The criminal did what they did because of their bad childhood or their father hated them or beat them, or whatever they say. It may or may not be true, but as an adult, to try and use their backgrounds to try and justify their “poor choices,” means that they are not accepting responsibility for their actions. From my many years in the prison ministry, I’ve seen the fact that criminals who own their crimes are better off in the long run than those who don’t accept responsibility for their actions. Admission and confession is a giant step to rehabilitation.

Stand Alone
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.”
For the criminal that blames their past for their present behavior, remember, their father was not there with them when they broke and entered, stole the car, or shot someone, so to try and blame him (or whoever or whatever they blame) for their crime, will not work in a court of law. The judge won’t drag the criminal’s father into court and sentence both. No, it is just as it says in the Bible, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor 5:10).

By saying “each one,” Paul means we will all be judged one at a time. We will be judged for what we have done, but also for what we haven’t done (Matt 25:41; 1 John 3:17). Believers won’t be judged as to whether they’ll enter the kingdom or not, but judged for what they did and didn’t do while here on earth (1 Cor 3:15), but in a court of law, the judge convicts the criminal, not those who are supposed to be responsible for the criminal’s actions. Of course, some are accessories to the crime, but that’s a different matter, but to excuse behavior strictly on the basis of a person’s past is to take no responsibility for their actions.

Conclusion
It’s not really hard to do. The next time someone suffers from a loss or some accident or similar event, try to be sympathetic. Even if they made a mistake, who doesn’t!? We all fall short, so if we are to expect sympathy from others, let us show it to others first. Remember our Lord. It is He “who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Cor 1:4).

When the Apostle Paul was at a very low point in his ministry, God sent His comfort through the person of Titus, writing that “God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus” (2 Cor 7:6). Finally, the Apostle Peter writes to me and to “all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind” (1 Pet 3:8). When someone suffers a loss of some kind, don’t criticize…sympathize, so “if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,” and “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil 2:1, 3).

 

[beensetfree]

Money Money Money... But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 8:18-20 NIV __________________ He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread: but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough. A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. Proverbs 28:19,20 KJV __________________ As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 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.

 

[beensetfree]

“Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord.”

Lamentations 3:40

The spouse who fondly loves her absent husband longs for his return; a long protracted separation from her lord is a semi-death to her spirit: and so with souls who love the Saviour much, they must see his face, they cannot bear that he should be away upon the mountains of Bether, and no more hold communion with them. A reproaching glance, an uplifted finger will be grievous to loving children, who fear to offend their tender father, and are only happy in his smile.

Beloved, it was so once with you. A text of Scripture, a threatening, a touch of the rod of affliction, and you went to your Father's feet, crying, “Show me wherefore thou contendest with me?” Is it so now? Are you content to follow Jesus afar off? Can you contemplate suspended communion with Christ without alarm? Can you bear to have your Beloved walking contrary to you, because you walk contrary to him? Have your sins separated between you and your God, and is your heart at rest?

O let me affectionately warn you, for it is a grievous thing when we can live contentedly without the present enjoyment of the Saviour's face. Let us labour to feel what an evil thing this is — little love to our own dying Saviour, little joy in our precious Jesus, little fellowship with the Beloved! Hold a true Lent in your souls, while you sorrow over your hardness of heart. Do not stop at sorrow!

Remember where you first received salvation. Go at once to the cross. There, and there only, can you get your spirit quickened. No matter how hard, how insensible, how dead we may have become, let us go again in all the rags and poverty, and defilement of our natural condition. Let us clasp that cross, let us look into those languid eyes, let us bathe in that fountain filled with blood—this will bring back to us our first love; this will restore the simplicity of our faith, and the tenderness of our heart.

 

[beensetfree]

There Are Only Two Ways To God



Many claim that there are many paths to God, but what does the Bible say about this?
The Way

Prior to Jesus’ death on the cross and His ascension into heaven, Jesus told the disciples that “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:3). He was trying to reassure their troubled hearts. They had grown close to Jesus over the last three years plus He spent with them, but now their Master was going away. They knew that Jesus was to return to the Father, but they were troubled about His leaving them. Thomas, as if speaking for all of them, asked, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way” (John 14:4)? That’s a great question. Today people may ask, “How can I inherit eternal life or go to heaven?” Jesus Himself answers this (and Thomas) by saying, so “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

This was a question about going where Jesus was going, and that was to the Father, but they also wanted to go to be with Jesus again. They knew the implications of Jesus’ leaving and they wanted reassurance that they could go to where Jesus went. They wanted to know the way. By Thomas asking his question, it shows he wanted to know more about Jesus coming again to take them to be with Him, so that, “where I am you may be also.“ One thing about coming to Jesus is that “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44). The way to the Father is first His calling, however, this calling must be through Jesus Christ. The biblical truth is, you “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31). God has no other way but through Christ.

The Truth
The Bible never indicates that there is more than one path to God, not to mention many. Scripture says there is only one way, and one way alone, but at least there is a way. A way is better than no way. The Apostle Peter told the “rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem” (Acts 4:5) that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, but even after the council ordered them “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18), Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20). These men were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection, so they could not help “but speak of what [they] had seen and heard.” It didn’t matter whether they were beaten or jailed…they could not stop speaking because Jesus had commissioned them.

The Life
For those who still think there must be more than one path, I will give you this. There are two paths. One path is described in Revelation21:2- which says, “And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God,” and at that time, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev 21:4). Jesus says there are two ways we can go, but we must “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matt 7:13-14). The idea is that most are not going the right way. They’re taking the broad way…the “interstate” so to speak…and they’re all going the wrong way!

That’s why we need to tell them of “the way,” or the only way (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Today, the majority of the world is on the broad path…perhaps it’s because too few from the narrow path care to go to the broad path to warn others. The narrow way is hard and difficult, and maybe that’s why “those who find it are few.” Daniel the Prophet, in writing of the end-times resurrection, said that “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2). Those on the narrow path will awaken to everlasting life, but those “many” that rejected Christ are raised to “shame and everlasting contempt.” Jesus even indicates that many who profess Christ will be turned away, telling them He never even knew them, and not just a few, but “many” (Matt 7:21-23).

The Broad Path
No one has to go down the broad path of destruction. They have the ability to come to Christ and be saved. They can humble themselves and confess their sins and their need for the Savior, but God will not pour out His grace on the proud (James 4:6). The Apostle John wrote of the final judgment of mankind, and he “saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done” (Rev 20:12), “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15). To be found in the book of life, you must receive eternal life through Jesus Christ. He is not one of many ways, but the only way. He is the truth, the life, and the way…the only way. He is not one of many ways, not one of many truths, not one of many ways to life. He is it! You’ve got no other. The wide path is full of “others” who think their works will save them, but we know that’s not possible (Eph 2:8-9).

Conclusion
There is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ, but if you reject Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you still have a path to God…but it is the broad road that leads to judgment and destruction. I am willing to suffer insults and name-calling for the sake of the gospel, knowing it’s not my responsibility to save anyway. It is their response to His ability, but it is our responsibility to tell others. They may hate the message, and even hate us, but Jesus reminded the disciples, and He reminds us today that “A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours” (John 15:20). If they keep His Word, they are headed down the highway of righteousness, into the kingdom, but reject His Word, and He will reject you on Judgment Day.

 

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Courage & Confidence Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD. Psalm 31:24 KJV __________________ He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on 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 40:29-31 NKJV __________________ I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27:13,14 KJV __________________ 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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“And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night.”

2 Samuel 21:10

If the love of a woman to her slain sons could make her prolong her mournful vigil for so long a period, shall we weary of considering the sufferings of our blessed Lord? She drove away the birds of prey, and shall not we chase from our meditations those worldly and sinful thoughts which defile both our minds and the sacred themes upon which we are occupied? Away, ye birds of evil wing! Leave ye the sacrifice alone!

She bore the heats of summer, the night dews and the rains, unsheltered and alone. Sleep was chased from her weeping eyes: her heart was too full for slumber. Behold how she loved her children! Shall Rizpah thus endure, and shall we start at the first little inconvenience or trial? Are we such cowards that we cannot bear to suffer with our Lord? She chased away even the wild beasts, with courage unusual in her sex, and will not we be ready to encounter every foe for Jesus’ sake? These her children were slain by other hands than hers, and yet she wept and watched: what ought we to do who have by our sins crucified our Lord?

Our obligations are boundless, our love should be fervent and our repentance thorough. To watch with Jesus should be our business, to protect his honour our occupation, to abide by his cross our solace. Those ghastly corpses might well have affrighted Rizpah, especially by night, but in our Lord, at whose cross-foot we are sitting, there is nothing revolting, but everything attractive. Never was living beauty so enchanting as a dying Saviour. Jesus, we will watch with thee yet awhile, and do thou graciously unveil thyself to us; then shall we not sit beneath sackcloth, but in a royal pavilion.

 

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4 Things Your Worship Service Needs to Better Help People Know God






This has nothing to do with style of music, the translation of the Bible you use or whether or not you employ a fog machine to enhance the light show. People worship in many different styles, and many forms can be successful, whether you have ancient pews or the newest stadium seating. Transcending personal preferences, I believe there are four things every worship service needs to better help people know God, and these four things aren’t as simple or as easy as you might think.

1). Authentic – People crave authenticity in a world of plastic fakeness. Everything is pre packaged and slick today to better help marketing, and churches are not immune. Worship services can become a cauldron of fakeness, where worshippers show only the side they think other people want to see and those on stage show only a photoshopped illusion of what Christianity should be. Authenticity transcends style of music or translation of the Bible. It’s a heart issue, starting with the pastor and working its way down to every volunteer serving as an usher. Has your church discovered its unique DNA? Are you comfortable being yourself, or do you feel the need to copy the megachurch down the road or blindly follow the prescribed rituals of your denomination? If your services feel inauthentic, people won’t engage on a heart level. (And by the way, authentic doesn’t mean lazy. Excellence provides a level of comfort for attenders, but it has to be done with authenticity).

2). Enjoyable – This doesn’t seem very spiritual at first but trust me it has a huge impact on helping people know God through your worship service. I recently visited a new church that my family had never been to before. After picking the kids up from their kids environments, the very first words out of my mouth as a father were “Did you have a good time?” Why? As a dad I instinctively know that if my kids enjoy church they’ll want to come back. If you go a restaurant with bad seating, horrible service and lukewarm food, what are the chances you’ll ever frequent that establishment again? From the friendliness of the greeters to the aesthetics in the room to the quality of the music to the relatability of the preacher, are your church services enjoyable? If they are, people will show back up, and the more people show up, the better chance they’ll have to know God through your services.

3). Helpful – You can go to a comedy show or watch a movie and have an enjoyable experience. But those experiences don’t help you throughout the week. What should mark a worship service as different is that it helps people throughout the week, not just entertaining them for an hour on Sundays. A lot of this comes down to the sermon itself. I recently had a guest come up to me and share how strange and different (in a good way) our worship service was. He understood us and he felt like I was talking directly to him when I preached. His background? Greek Orthodox. Half of his services were literally in Greek and form and ritual reigned over practical application. Are you giving people truth that is practically helpful in their everyday lives? People flock to helpful services.

4). Powerful – You have to have this or you don’t have a service at all. The hard part is, you can’t force or manipulate this. If you want your services to help people better know God, then God needs to show up. It’s as simple as that. You can’t manipulate it. The Holy Spirit has to do his work. Our part is to pray like crazy, get our hearts right and remove every distraction we can think of that keeps people from encountering God. But when God shows up in power, watch out! Lives start changing and your church will never be the same.

 

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Graciously, He Answers Prayer Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you. Isaiah 30:18,19 NIV __________________ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 KJV __________________ Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full. John 16:23,24 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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“It is time to seek the Lord.”

Hosea 10:12

This month of April is said to derive its name from the Latin verb aperio, which signifies to open, because all the buds and blossoms are now opening, and we have arrived at the gates of the flowery year. Reader, if you are yet unsaved, may your heart, in accord with the universal awakening of nature, be opened to receive the Lord. Every blossoming flower warns you that it is time to seek the Lord; be not out of tune with nature, but let your heart bud and bloom with holy desires.

Do you tell me that the warm blood of youth leaps in your veins? then, I entreat you, give your vigour to the Lord. It was my unspeakable happiness to be called in early youth, and I could fain praise the Lord every day for it. Salvation is priceless, let it come when it may, but oh! an early salvation has a double value in it. Young men and maidens, since you may perish ere you reach your prime, “It is time to seek the Lord.”

Ye who feel the first signs of decay, quicken your pace: that hollow cough, that hectic flush, are warnings which you must not trifle with; with youit is indeed time to seek the Lord. Did I observe a little grey mingled with your once luxurious tresses? Years are stealing on apace, and death is drawing nearer by hasty marches, let each return of spring arouse you to set your house in order. Dear reader, if you are now advanced in life, let me entreat and implore you to delay no longer. There is a day of grace for you now—be thankful for that, but it is a limited season and grows shorter every time that clock ticks.

Here in this silent chamber, on this first night of another month, I speak to you as best I can by paper and ink, and from my inmost soul, as God's servant, I lay before you this warning, “It is time to seek the Lord.” Slight not that work, it may be your last call from destruction, the final syllable from the lip of grace.

 

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He Loves Us! "Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you." Deuteronomy 7:12,13 NKJV __________________ The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing! Zephaniah 3:17 RSV __________________ But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7 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 see his seed; he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”

Isaiah 53:10

Plead for the speedy fulfilment of this promise, all ye who love the Lord. It is easy work to pray when we are grounded and bottomed, as to our desires, upon God's own promise. How can he that gave the word refuse to keep it? Immutable veracity cannot demean itself by a lie, and eternal faithfulness cannot degrade itself by neglect. God must bless his Son, his covenant binds him to it. That which the Spirit prompts us to ask for Jesus, is that which God decrees to give him. Whenever you are praying for the kingdom of Christ, let your eyes behold the dawning of the blessed day which draweth near, when the Crucified shall receive his coronation in the place where men rejected him.

Courage, you that prayerfully work and toil for Christ with success of the very smallest kind, it shall not be so always; better times are before you. Your eyes cannot see the blissful future: borrow the telescope of faith; wipe the misty breath of your doubts from the glass; look through it and behold the coming glory. Reader, let us ask, do you make this your constant prayer? Remember that the same Christ who tells us to say, “Give us this day our daily bread,” had first given us this petition, “Hallowed be thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.”

Let not your prayers be all concerning your own sins, your own wants, your own imperfections, your own trials, but let them climb the starry ladder, and get up to Christ himself, and then, as you draw nigh to the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, offer this prayer continually, “Lord, extend the kingdom of thy dear Son.” Such a petition, fervently presented, will elevate the spirit of all your devotions. Mind that you prove the sincerity of your prayer by labouring to promote the Lord's glory.

 

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Confidence in Him! May those who fear you turn to me, those who understand your statutes. May my heart be blameless toward your decrees, that I may not be put to shame. My soul faints with longing for your salvation, but I have put my hope in your word. Psalm 119:79-81 NIV __________________ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Romans 10:11 KJV __________________ For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 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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“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Isaiah 53:6

Here a confession of sin common to all the elect people of God. They have all fallen, and therefore, in common chorus, they all say, from the first who entered heaven to the last who shall enter there, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” The confession, while thus unanimous, is also special and particular: “We have turned every one to his own way.” There is a peculiar sinfulness about every one of the individuals; all are sinful, but each one with some special aggravation not found in his fellow. It is the mark of genuine repentance that while it naturally associates itself with other penitents, it also takes up a position of loneliness.

“We have turned every one to his own way,” is a confession that each man had sinned against light peculiar to himself, or sinned with an aggravation which he could not perceive in others. This confession is unreserved; there is not a word to detract from its force, nor a syllable by way of excuse. The confession is a giving up of all pleas of self-righteousness. It is the declaration of men who are consciously guilty—guilty with aggravations, guilty without excuse: they stand with their weapons of rebellion broken in pieces, and cry, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.”

Yet we hear no dolorous wailings attending this confession of sin; for the next sentence makes it almost a song. “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” It is the most grievous sentence of the three, but it overflows with comfort. Strange is it that where misery was concentrated mercy reigned; where sorrow reached her climax weary souls find rest. The Saviour bruised is the healing of bruised hearts. See how the lowliest penitence gives place to assured confidence through simply gazing at Christ on the cross!