"Unto you that believe, He is precious." - 1 Peter 2:7
Jesus is precious to believers--as the Bread of God coming down from heaven, and giving everlasting life to their souls. By Him they are really, constantly, and daily supported, fed and sustained. As bread is sweet and precious to a hungry man, so is Christ sweet and precious to those who live by Him. The entertainment that He gives to them is a divine, a spiritual feast!
Jesus is precious to believers--as the Sun of Righteousness. The beams of His grace are healing, enlightening, cheering, and full of consolation. If natural light is sweet, if it is a pleasant thing to behold the sun; how much more pleasant to experience the irradiating influences of the Light of life!
Jesus is precious to believers--as the fountain where they bathe their weary souls, and in which they are cleansed from all sin and impurity. He is the tree of life, under the shadow of which, they sit with great delight, and His fruit is sweet to their taste. He is a rock, a strong tower, a hiding-place, where they find protection from every storm, and security from every foe. He was precious to the Psalmist under all these views--"I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower." It is therefore the delight of their lives to know Him, to love and honor Him with their whole hearts, and to aspire after conformity to His blessed image and His holy will."
O blessed Redeemer, I find in you all that my poor helpless soul stands in need of. Though I have the greatest reason for shame and humiliation on account of what I am in myself, yet in You I behold everything to elevate my hopes, and to afford me relief and encouragement! May my soul magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoice in God my Savior! The characters and relations in which You have revealed Yourself to me in Your Word, exhibit a balm for every wound, and a cordial for every fear.
If I am naked--You are the Lord my righteousness. If I am soul-sick--You are my physician. If I am weak and helpless--You are my strength. If I am neglected and despised--You are my compassionate and faithful friend. If I am ignorant--You are made unto me wisdom. If I am polluted and enslaved--You are made unto me sanctification and redemption. If I am nothing but emptiness and vanity--You are full of grace and truth."
Yes, He is very precious to you who believe!
- John Faucett
Saturday, August 30, 2008
A Mother's Prayer
[Editor's note: The previous unnamed poem or hymn on praying for our children was by Amy Carmichael
Father, our children keep!
We know not what is coming on the earth;
Beneath the shadow of Thy heavenly wing,
O keep them , keep them, Thou Who gav'st them birth.
Father, draw nearer us!
Draw firmer round us Thy protecting arm;
Oh, clasp our children closer to Thy side,
Uninjured in the day of earth's alarm.
Them in Thy chambers hide!
Oh, hide them and preserve them calm and safe,
When sin abounds and error flows abroad,
And Satan tempts, and human passions chafe.
Oh keep them undefiled!
Unspotted from a tempting world of sin;
That, clothed in white, through the bright city gates--
They may, with us, in triumph enter in.
- Horatius Bonar
Father, our children keep!
We know not what is coming on the earth;
Beneath the shadow of Thy heavenly wing,
O keep them , keep them, Thou Who gav'st them birth.
Father, draw nearer us!
Draw firmer round us Thy protecting arm;
Oh, clasp our children closer to Thy side,
Uninjured in the day of earth's alarm.
Them in Thy chambers hide!
Oh, hide them and preserve them calm and safe,
When sin abounds and error flows abroad,
And Satan tempts, and human passions chafe.
Oh keep them undefiled!
Unspotted from a tempting world of sin;
That, clothed in white, through the bright city gates--
They may, with us, in triumph enter in.
- Horatius Bonar
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Revive Me
"My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me according to Your Word." Psalm 119:25
"Revive me, Lord--quicken Your work in my soul, and strengthen that which You have wrought in me. The love which withers, the faith which trembles, the hope which fluctuates, the joy which droops--inspire with new life, new energy, new power! It is of little importance what others think of me; Lord, You know that my soul cleaves to the dust.
There is in my heart at times more of earth than of heaven, more of self than of Christ, and more of the creature than of God. You know me in secret--at times how my grace wanes, how my affections chill, how seldom my closet is visited, how much my Bible is neglected, how insipid to my taste are the means of grace, and how irksome are all spiritual duties and privileges.
Lord, stir up Yourself to the reviving of my soul; quicken, oh, revive me!"
- Octavius Winslow
"Revive me, Lord--quicken Your work in my soul, and strengthen that which You have wrought in me. The love which withers, the faith which trembles, the hope which fluctuates, the joy which droops--inspire with new life, new energy, new power! It is of little importance what others think of me; Lord, You know that my soul cleaves to the dust.
There is in my heart at times more of earth than of heaven, more of self than of Christ, and more of the creature than of God. You know me in secret--at times how my grace wanes, how my affections chill, how seldom my closet is visited, how much my Bible is neglected, how insipid to my taste are the means of grace, and how irksome are all spiritual duties and privileges.
Lord, stir up Yourself to the reviving of my soul; quicken, oh, revive me!"
- Octavius Winslow
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
With All Thy Getting, Get Unction
The offense of prayer is that it does not essentially tie in to mental efficiency. Prayer is conditioned by one thing--spirituality. You do not need to be spiritual to preach or deliver sermons of homiletical perfection of exegetical exactitude. Preaching affects men, but prayer affects God. Preaching often affects time, but prayer affects eternity. The pulpit can be a shop window to display our talent, but the prayer closet speaks death to fleshly display.
The tragedy of this hour is that we have too many dead men giving out dead sermons to dead people. Why? Because the strange thing today which exists in the pulpit is a horrible thing: it is preaching without unction. What is unction? It's hard to define. Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. The unctionless preacher is a savor of death unto death. The Word does not live unless divine unction is upon the preacher. Preachers, with all thy getting--get unction from above!
Preaching is a spiritual business. A sermon born in the head reaches the head, but a sermon born in the heart reaches the heart. Unction cannot be learned, but only experienced through prayer. Unction is like dynamite--it will pierce, it will sweeten, it will soften. When the hammer of logic and the fire of human zeal fail to open the stony heart, unction will succeed.
Away with this powerless preaching which is unmoving because it was born in a tomb instead of a womb, and nourished in a fireless, prayerless soul. If God has called us preachers to the ministry, then we should get unctionized. With all thy getting--get unction, lest barrenness will be the badge of our unctionless intellectualism.
- Leonard Ravenhill
The tragedy of this hour is that we have too many dead men giving out dead sermons to dead people. Why? Because the strange thing today which exists in the pulpit is a horrible thing: it is preaching without unction. What is unction? It's hard to define. Preaching without unction kills instead of giving life. The unctionless preacher is a savor of death unto death. The Word does not live unless divine unction is upon the preacher. Preachers, with all thy getting--get unction from above!
Preaching is a spiritual business. A sermon born in the head reaches the head, but a sermon born in the heart reaches the heart. Unction cannot be learned, but only experienced through prayer. Unction is like dynamite--it will pierce, it will sweeten, it will soften. When the hammer of logic and the fire of human zeal fail to open the stony heart, unction will succeed.
Away with this powerless preaching which is unmoving because it was born in a tomb instead of a womb, and nourished in a fireless, prayerless soul. If God has called us preachers to the ministry, then we should get unctionized. With all thy getting--get unction, lest barrenness will be the badge of our unctionless intellectualism.
- Leonard Ravenhill
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
For our Children
Father, hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril;
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.
From the worldlings hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness;
Holy Father, save our children.
Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them;
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging;
Holy Father, for our children.
And wherever they may bide,
Lead them home at eventide.
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril;
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand pluck them.
From the worldlings hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness;
Holy Father, save our children.
Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them;
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging;
Holy Father, for our children.
And wherever they may bide,
Lead them home at eventide.
Christ the Only True & Successful Shepherd
"I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep." - Ezekiel 34:15
Ezekiel 34:11-24 is so similar to both Ps. 23 and John 15; all three portions speak of the Shepherd and His care for His own; what comfort is derived from the great truths and realities that Ezekiel 34 gives us.
It certainly was blessedly applied to our family and hearts this very day. Our two youngest children, Richard and Caroline, entered Ryan High School here in Denton this morning for their first day of school as 10th graders. Earlier in the morning, I had come to Ezekiel 34 as part of my daily reading schedule. Linda and I had already been praying that God would keep them, protect, guide, sanctify, help, and watch over their souls daily. So it was no accident or coincidence that the Lord encouraged my heart the very day they start to school with the assurance, "I myself will be their shepherd." After breakfast, the four of us read 34:11-14 together and prayed it as they were ready to leave for school. It was a word from the Lord and will likely be the theme of our school year.
As children get older and are gone, or are in situations, classrooms, and places that parents won't be there physically, one can become fearful, worried, anxious, and wrongfully agitated over the well-being of their children. We simply have to let go, relax, give over the reigns to another, and rest is His perfect ability to do what we cannot do- keep our children and work in them to bring His purposes.
So what a glorious thing it is to be able to pray daily and regularly, "Lord Jesus, shepherd them-- be to them daily, moment by moment, what you are as a Shepherd; I cannot keep them-- so please keep them; I cannot watch over them so please do so; I cannot guide their every step or keep them from those who are evil, but You can fully; so please shepherd and keep them, and become more real to them than their parents or friends are." Our prayer, morning by morning, will specifically be, "Lord Jesus, shepherd them today."
Throughout that section of 34:11-24, wonderful promises are repeated:
- "I myself will search for my sheep" - vs. 11
- "I will seek out my sheep" - vs. 12
- "I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness" - 12
- "I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep" - 15
- "I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd" - 23
- "And I the Lord will be their God" - 24
What more could a believer need or ask for? What more could a parent hope for, whose children are "away" from you? What could be better than a 24/7 heavenly bodyguard, who has a shepherd's heart to reach them, keep them, and shepherd them. How glorious is that?
A fresh re-reading of Psalm 23, John 15, and Ezekiel 34 together will certainly yield great blessing, comfort, faith and strength, especially if your children have just left for college or are in a school outside your own home. Your have a blessed and perfect Shepherd working on your behalf. What could be better? You can't get better than perfect- and that is our Christ- the Great Shepherd of the sheep- a perfect and perfectly loving and wise Shepherd.
- Mack T.
Ezekiel 34:11-24 is so similar to both Ps. 23 and John 15; all three portions speak of the Shepherd and His care for His own; what comfort is derived from the great truths and realities that Ezekiel 34 gives us.
It certainly was blessedly applied to our family and hearts this very day. Our two youngest children, Richard and Caroline, entered Ryan High School here in Denton this morning for their first day of school as 10th graders. Earlier in the morning, I had come to Ezekiel 34 as part of my daily reading schedule. Linda and I had already been praying that God would keep them, protect, guide, sanctify, help, and watch over their souls daily. So it was no accident or coincidence that the Lord encouraged my heart the very day they start to school with the assurance, "I myself will be their shepherd." After breakfast, the four of us read 34:11-14 together and prayed it as they were ready to leave for school. It was a word from the Lord and will likely be the theme of our school year.
As children get older and are gone, or are in situations, classrooms, and places that parents won't be there physically, one can become fearful, worried, anxious, and wrongfully agitated over the well-being of their children. We simply have to let go, relax, give over the reigns to another, and rest is His perfect ability to do what we cannot do- keep our children and work in them to bring His purposes.
So what a glorious thing it is to be able to pray daily and regularly, "Lord Jesus, shepherd them-- be to them daily, moment by moment, what you are as a Shepherd; I cannot keep them-- so please keep them; I cannot watch over them so please do so; I cannot guide their every step or keep them from those who are evil, but You can fully; so please shepherd and keep them, and become more real to them than their parents or friends are." Our prayer, morning by morning, will specifically be, "Lord Jesus, shepherd them today."
Throughout that section of 34:11-24, wonderful promises are repeated:
- "I myself will search for my sheep" - vs. 11
- "I will seek out my sheep" - vs. 12
- "I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness" - 12
- "I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep" - 15
- "I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will feed them; he shall feed them and be their shepherd" - 23
- "And I the Lord will be their God" - 24
What more could a believer need or ask for? What more could a parent hope for, whose children are "away" from you? What could be better than a 24/7 heavenly bodyguard, who has a shepherd's heart to reach them, keep them, and shepherd them. How glorious is that?
A fresh re-reading of Psalm 23, John 15, and Ezekiel 34 together will certainly yield great blessing, comfort, faith and strength, especially if your children have just left for college or are in a school outside your own home. Your have a blessed and perfect Shepherd working on your behalf. What could be better? You can't get better than perfect- and that is our Christ- the Great Shepherd of the sheep- a perfect and perfectly loving and wise Shepherd.
- Mack T.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Dear brethren,Our ministry trip to Alaska, scheduled for Oct 14-28, will be approaching fast; I would ask you to pray for the preparation for this and for all the provision that will be needed.
As far as I know right now, I will be doing three aspects of ministry during this time:
1) Speaking for 3-4 days to the students at the Seminary/Bible college in Bethel
2) Speaking at an annual pastor's and minister's conference for western Alaska
3) Preaching out among the Eskimo villages in various churches
We thank you for remembering us; we will send another report in the coming weeks as a reminder.
We also would ask you to pray for 2 brothers who are on trips this week for a number of days- Paul Washer on a 12 day preaching trip to Peru- Saeed heading to eastern Europe and Britain for 1 month among Persian churches.
Yours with warm gratitude,
Mack Tomlinson
As far as I know right now, I will be doing three aspects of ministry during this time:
1) Speaking for 3-4 days to the students at the Seminary/Bible college in Bethel
2) Speaking at an annual pastor's and minister's conference for western Alaska
3) Preaching out among the Eskimo villages in various churches
We thank you for remembering us; we will send another report in the coming weeks as a reminder.
We also would ask you to pray for 2 brothers who are on trips this week for a number of days- Paul Washer on a 12 day preaching trip to Peru- Saeed heading to eastern Europe and Britain for 1 month among Persian churches.
Yours with warm gratitude,
Mack Tomlinson
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