Some 60 years ago, most all good churches had a street meeting. But now that light of testimony has gone out. Then there used to be a weekly prayer meeting in most churches; that light, too, has gone out. There used to be a Sunday night meeting, but in most churches, that light has gone out. There also used to be a family altar, but in most homes now, that light has gone out as well. And there used to be 10 lights (Commandments) in every schoolroom. Now that light has gone out. But God will arise and yet scatter His enemies.
Prophets, God ordained, must arise,
Prophets are holy men,
Prophets are lonely men,
True prophets are not appeasers, but opposers,
Prophets are definite, defiant, and difficult.
The man who bows the knee to the Father will not bow the knee to compromise.
A man must hear the voice of God before he can be a voice for God.
Man’s only options are the blood of the Lamb or the wrath of the Lamb.
Smart men walked on the moon, daring men walked on the ocean floor, but wise men walk with God.
- Leonard Ravenhill
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Divine Providence in the Smallest Things a Basis for Joy and Hope
"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered!" - Matthew 10:29-30
C. H. Spurgeon said, "It is most important for us to learn that the smallest trifles are as much arranged by the God of Providence, as the most startling events. He who counts the stars has also numbered the hairs of our heads. Our lives and deaths are predestined, but so, also, are our sitting down and our rising up!"
How right Spurgeon is and how much we must see God's gracious, loving, intimate and sovereign control and involvement in every atom of the universe and every atom of our lives and existence. Notice what Jesus does not say: "The very hairs of your head are all COUNTED." He says they are numbered--numbered just like the stars individually by name; every hair on our head is numbered; for some of us, we have lost some numbers over the years, but the hairs we still have are intimately known and kept by He who calls every star by name.
I am glad today that absolutely nothing--nothing can happen to the Christian without the Father's immediate control and presence. Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater. If sparrows are completely under the intimate eye and always in the presence of the living God, then how much more the lives of His beloved children, right down to the smallest issues like the very hairs of our head; and if our hairs, how much more all the greater realities of life--what comes our way, what providences happen to us, our needs being met, whatever sicknesses or trials that come--we have a Keeper whose love and watching eye is ever on us; it is even more than that--we have His presence with and in us, never to be separated or disconnected from His perfect loving care and ruling in all things.
Spurgeon again-- "His divine providence in our lives and death, but also, our sitting down and our rising up."
Divine Providence makes my heart glad and rejoice with confidence and hope, not in myself, but in Him alone.
- Mack Tomlinson
C. H. Spurgeon said, "It is most important for us to learn that the smallest trifles are as much arranged by the God of Providence, as the most startling events. He who counts the stars has also numbered the hairs of our heads. Our lives and deaths are predestined, but so, also, are our sitting down and our rising up!"
How right Spurgeon is and how much we must see God's gracious, loving, intimate and sovereign control and involvement in every atom of the universe and every atom of our lives and existence. Notice what Jesus does not say: "The very hairs of your head are all COUNTED." He says they are numbered--numbered just like the stars individually by name; every hair on our head is numbered; for some of us, we have lost some numbers over the years, but the hairs we still have are intimately known and kept by He who calls every star by name.
I am glad today that absolutely nothing--nothing can happen to the Christian without the Father's immediate control and presence. Jesus is arguing from the lesser to the greater. If sparrows are completely under the intimate eye and always in the presence of the living God, then how much more the lives of His beloved children, right down to the smallest issues like the very hairs of our head; and if our hairs, how much more all the greater realities of life--what comes our way, what providences happen to us, our needs being met, whatever sicknesses or trials that come--we have a Keeper whose love and watching eye is ever on us; it is even more than that--we have His presence with and in us, never to be separated or disconnected from His perfect loving care and ruling in all things.
Spurgeon again-- "His divine providence in our lives and death, but also, our sitting down and our rising up."
Divine Providence makes my heart glad and rejoice with confidence and hope, not in myself, but in Him alone.
- Mack Tomlinson
Monday, December 28, 2009
No Other Book like It
The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers.
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its history is true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy.
It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you.
It is the traveller's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's charter.
Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand object, our good is its design and the glory of God its end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.
Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgement, and will be remembered forever.
It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
— Anonymous
Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its history is true, and its decisions are immutable.
Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe and practice it to be holy.
It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you.
It is the traveller's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's charter.
Here paradise is restored, heaven opened and the gates of hell disclosed.
Christ is its grand object, our good is its design and the glory of God its end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.
Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.
It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgement, and will be remembered forever.
It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
— Anonymous
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Keeping Perspective when under Trials
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." 2 Corinthians 4:16
"For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die!" 1 Corinthians 15:53
The lesson of the imperishable life has a special application to those who suffer from sickness or from any bodily affliction. It will help us to endure physical sufferings quietly and unmurmuringly, if we will remember that it is only the outward man that can be touched and affected by these experiences, and that the inward man may not only be kept unharmed, but may be growing all the while in beauty and strength, being spiritually renewed through pain and suffering.
A poor shoemaker in his dreary little shop in a great city one day noticed that there was one little place in his dark room from which he could get a view of green fields, blue skies and faraway hills. He wisely set up his bench at that point so that at any moment he could lift his eyes from his dull work and have a glimpse of the great, beautiful world outside.
Just so, from the darkest sick-room and from the midst of the keenest sufferings, there is always a point from which we can see the face of Christ and have a glimpse of the glory of heaven. If only we will find this place and get this vision, it will make it easy to endure even the greatest suffering.
"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, when we die and leave these bodies, we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing." 2 Corinthians 5:1-2
Sickness is discouraging and hard to bear. But we should remember that doing of the will of God is always the noblest, holiest thing we can do any hour, however hard it may be for us. If we are called to suffer, let us suffer patiently and sweetly. Under all our sharp trials, let us keep the peace of God in our hearts. The outward man may indeed decay, but the inward man will be renewed day by day.
- J. R. Miller
"For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die!" 1 Corinthians 15:53
The lesson of the imperishable life has a special application to those who suffer from sickness or from any bodily affliction. It will help us to endure physical sufferings quietly and unmurmuringly, if we will remember that it is only the outward man that can be touched and affected by these experiences, and that the inward man may not only be kept unharmed, but may be growing all the while in beauty and strength, being spiritually renewed through pain and suffering.
A poor shoemaker in his dreary little shop in a great city one day noticed that there was one little place in his dark room from which he could get a view of green fields, blue skies and faraway hills. He wisely set up his bench at that point so that at any moment he could lift his eyes from his dull work and have a glimpse of the great, beautiful world outside.
Just so, from the darkest sick-room and from the midst of the keenest sufferings, there is always a point from which we can see the face of Christ and have a glimpse of the glory of heaven. If only we will find this place and get this vision, it will make it easy to endure even the greatest suffering.
"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down, when we die and leave these bodies, we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God Himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing." 2 Corinthians 5:1-2
Sickness is discouraging and hard to bear. But we should remember that doing of the will of God is always the noblest, holiest thing we can do any hour, however hard it may be for us. If we are called to suffer, let us suffer patiently and sweetly. Under all our sharp trials, let us keep the peace of God in our hearts. The outward man may indeed decay, but the inward man will be renewed day by day.
- J. R. Miller
Learning in Christ's School
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in need."
- Philippians 4:11-12
Contentment comes from learning to do without things which we once supposed to be essential to our comfort.
- J. R. Miller
Life is a 'school'. All its experiences are 'lessons'. We are all in 'Christ's school' and He is always 'educating' us.
Disciples are learners and all true Christians are disciples. We enter the lowest grade when we begin to be Christians. We have everything to learn. Each new experience is a new lesson set for us by the great Teacher.
The business of noble Christian living is learning. We know nothing when we begin. Learning is not confined to what we get from reading books. All of life is a school. 'Christ's books' are ever being put into our hands, and 'lessons' are set for us continually.
Paul tells us of one of the lessons he had learned in the 'school of experience'. "I have learned," he said, "the secret of being content in any and every situation." We are glad to know that Paul had to learn to be contented. We are apt to think that such a man as he was did not have to learn to live as we common people do, that he always knew, for instance, how to be contented. Here, however, we have the confession that he had to learn the lesson just as we do. He did not always know the secret of contentment. He was well on in years when he said this, from which we conclude that it took him a long time to learn the lesson and that it was not easy for him to do it. Christ's school is not easy.
Sorrow is a choice lesson in Christ's school. Sorrow is not an accident breaking into our life, without meaning or purpose. God could prevent the coming of the sorrow if He so desired. He has all power, and nothing can touch the life of any of His children unless He is willing. Since we know that God loves us and yet permits us to suffer, we may be quite sure that there is a blessing, something good, in whatever it is that brings us pain or sorrow.
We shrink from pain. We would run away from afflictions. We would refuse to accept sorrow. But there are things worth suffering for, things dearer than ease and pleasure. We learn lessons in pain which repay a thousand times--the cost of our tears!
The Bible tells us that God preserves the tears of His children, putting them in His tear-bottle. Tears are sacred to God, because of the blessings that come through them to His children. In heaven we will look back on our lives of pain and sorrow on the earth and will find that our best lessons have come through our tears!
All the Christian graces have to be learned in 'Christ's school'. There Paul had learned contentment. He never would have learned it, however, if he had had only pleasure and ease all his life. Contentment comes from learning to do without things, which we once supposed to be essential to our comfort. Paul had learned contentment through finding such fullness of blessing in Christ that he did not need the 'secondary things' any more.
Perhaps we would succeed better in learning this same grace if we had fewer of life's comforts and if sometimes we experience need. The continuity of blessings that flow like a river into our lives gives us no opportunity to learn contentment.
When sufferings come into our life . . .
disagreeable things--instead of pleasant things;
hunger and poverty--instead of plenty;
rough ways--instead of flower-strewn paths;
God is teaching us the lesson of contentment, so that we can say at length, that we have learned the secret of being content!
- J. R. Miller
- Philippians 4:11-12
Contentment comes from learning to do without things which we once supposed to be essential to our comfort.
- J. R. Miller
Life is a 'school'. All its experiences are 'lessons'. We are all in 'Christ's school' and He is always 'educating' us.
Disciples are learners and all true Christians are disciples. We enter the lowest grade when we begin to be Christians. We have everything to learn. Each new experience is a new lesson set for us by the great Teacher.
The business of noble Christian living is learning. We know nothing when we begin. Learning is not confined to what we get from reading books. All of life is a school. 'Christ's books' are ever being put into our hands, and 'lessons' are set for us continually.
Paul tells us of one of the lessons he had learned in the 'school of experience'. "I have learned," he said, "the secret of being content in any and every situation." We are glad to know that Paul had to learn to be contented. We are apt to think that such a man as he was did not have to learn to live as we common people do, that he always knew, for instance, how to be contented. Here, however, we have the confession that he had to learn the lesson just as we do. He did not always know the secret of contentment. He was well on in years when he said this, from which we conclude that it took him a long time to learn the lesson and that it was not easy for him to do it. Christ's school is not easy.
Sorrow is a choice lesson in Christ's school. Sorrow is not an accident breaking into our life, without meaning or purpose. God could prevent the coming of the sorrow if He so desired. He has all power, and nothing can touch the life of any of His children unless He is willing. Since we know that God loves us and yet permits us to suffer, we may be quite sure that there is a blessing, something good, in whatever it is that brings us pain or sorrow.
We shrink from pain. We would run away from afflictions. We would refuse to accept sorrow. But there are things worth suffering for, things dearer than ease and pleasure. We learn lessons in pain which repay a thousand times--the cost of our tears!
The Bible tells us that God preserves the tears of His children, putting them in His tear-bottle. Tears are sacred to God, because of the blessings that come through them to His children. In heaven we will look back on our lives of pain and sorrow on the earth and will find that our best lessons have come through our tears!
All the Christian graces have to be learned in 'Christ's school'. There Paul had learned contentment. He never would have learned it, however, if he had had only pleasure and ease all his life. Contentment comes from learning to do without things, which we once supposed to be essential to our comfort. Paul had learned contentment through finding such fullness of blessing in Christ that he did not need the 'secondary things' any more.
Perhaps we would succeed better in learning this same grace if we had fewer of life's comforts and if sometimes we experience need. The continuity of blessings that flow like a river into our lives gives us no opportunity to learn contentment.
When sufferings come into our life . . .
disagreeable things--instead of pleasant things;
hunger and poverty--instead of plenty;
rough ways--instead of flower-strewn paths;
God is teaching us the lesson of contentment, so that we can say at length, that we have learned the secret of being content!
- J. R. Miller
The Real Christmas Story -- John MacArthur
The Real Christmas Story -- John MacArthur
http://www.reformedvoices.com/
http://www.reformedvoices.com/
The Promise of His Guidance
"Show me the way I should walk, for I come to you in prayer." Psalm 143:8
We cannot know the way ourselves. The path across one little day seems very short, but none of us can find it ourselves. Each day is a hidden world to our eyes as we enter it in the morning. We cannot see one step before us as we go forth. An impenetrable veil covers the brightest day, as with night's black robes. It may have joys and prosperities for us or it may bring to us sorrows and adversities. Our path may lead us into a garden or the garden may be a Gethsemane. We have our plans as we go out in the morning, but we are not sure that they will be realized. The day will bring duties, responsibilities, temptations, perils, tangles which our fingers cannot unravel, and obscure paths in which we cannot find the way.
What could be more fitting in the morning than the prayer, "Show me the way I should walk!" God knows all that is in the day for us. His eye sees to its close and He will be our guide.
There is no promise given more repeatedly in the Bible than that of divine guidance. We have it in the shepherd psalm, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness." Paths of righteousness are right paths. All God's paths are clean and holy; they are the ways of His commandments. But there is another sense in which they are right paths. They are the right ways because they are the best ways for us. Often they are not the ways which we would have chosen. They do not seem to be good ways. But nevertheless they are right and lead to blessing and honor. We are always safe, therefore, in praying this prayer on the morning of any day, "Show me the way I should walk!"
- J. R. Miller
We cannot know the way ourselves. The path across one little day seems very short, but none of us can find it ourselves. Each day is a hidden world to our eyes as we enter it in the morning. We cannot see one step before us as we go forth. An impenetrable veil covers the brightest day, as with night's black robes. It may have joys and prosperities for us or it may bring to us sorrows and adversities. Our path may lead us into a garden or the garden may be a Gethsemane. We have our plans as we go out in the morning, but we are not sure that they will be realized. The day will bring duties, responsibilities, temptations, perils, tangles which our fingers cannot unravel, and obscure paths in which we cannot find the way.
What could be more fitting in the morning than the prayer, "Show me the way I should walk!" God knows all that is in the day for us. His eye sees to its close and He will be our guide.
There is no promise given more repeatedly in the Bible than that of divine guidance. We have it in the shepherd psalm, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness." Paths of righteousness are right paths. All God's paths are clean and holy; they are the ways of His commandments. But there is another sense in which they are right paths. They are the right ways because they are the best ways for us. Often they are not the ways which we would have chosen. They do not seem to be good ways. But nevertheless they are right and lead to blessing and honor. We are always safe, therefore, in praying this prayer on the morning of any day, "Show me the way I should walk!"
- J. R. Miller
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