Reflections for October 23, 2011

Psalms 51:6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. (KJV)

Lead me here by Your grace and blood and keep me here Dear Lord Jesus.

Psalms 51:8 Make me full of joy and rapture; so that the bones which have been broken may be glad. (BBE)

When I sin against You Dear Lord Jesus, You will correct me out of Your great love for me. Here also King David shows and tells us (because of his own trouble, despair, and agony) that the Lord Jesus will not allow us to live in sin, rebellion and disobedience and be happy and peaceful in sin. We must forsake or leave that sin (repentance) and then our Lord Jesus will answer by giving us the petition of verse 12 in this same Psalms.

Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. (KJV)

You Dear Lord Jesus will never turn away from any person, any soul that comes to this point in their inner man or woman.

Evening

“Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”

- Luk_22:46

When is the Christian most liable to sleep? Is it not when his temporal circumstances are prosperous? Have you not found it so? When you had daily troubles to take to the throne of grace, were you not more wakeful than you are now? Easy roads make sleepy travellers. Another dangerous time is when all goes pleasantly in spiritual matters. Christian went not to sleep when lions were in the way, or when he was wading through the river, or when fighting with Apollyon, but when he had climbed half way up the Hill Difficulty, and came to a delightful arbour, he sat down, and forthwith fell asleep, to his great sorrow and loss. The enchanted ground is a place of balmy breezes, laden with fragrant odours and soft influences, all tending to lull pilgrims to sleep. Remember Bunyan’s description: “Then they came to an arbour, warm, and promising much refreshing to the weary pilgrims; for it was finely wrought above head, beautified with greens, and furnished with benches and settles. It had also in it a soft couch, where the weary might lean.” “The arbour was called the Slothful’s Friend, and was made on purpose to allure, if it might be, some of the pilgrims to take up their rest there when weary.” Depend upon it, it is in easy places that men shut their eyes and wander into the dreamy land of forgetfulness. Old Erskine wisely remarked, “I like a roaring devil better than a sleeping devil.” There is no temptation half so dangerous as not being tempted. The distressed soul does not sleep; it is after we enter into peaceful confidence and full assurance that we are in danger of slumbering. The disciples fell asleep after they had seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain top. Take heed, joyous Christian, good frames are near neighbours to temptations: be as happy as you will, only be watchful.

By Charles H. Spurgeon

Reflections for October 22, 2011

THE PROMISE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God; I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."-- Act_2:17.

IN HIS sermon, on the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter quoted the latter part of this prediction by the Prophet (Joe_2:28). Not much is known of this prophet, who probably lived in Judah during the reign of Uzziah. But evidently his anticipation of the outpouring of the Divine Spirit had its fulfillment in those memorable scenes in which the Christian Church was born.

Before the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit had descended only upon the elect souls of the Hebrew race---upon Abraham and Moses, upon Samuel and Elijah, upon Isaiah and others of the prophets. This supreme gift of God was reserved in those days for the spiritual aristocracy of Israel, for the men who were called to eminent office and responsibility, as kings, prophets, or leaders. But Joel said that the time would come when the Holy Spirit, who had been reserved for the few, was to be poured out upon the many--the young men and maidens would prophesy; even the slaves and the most despised classes of the community would partake of the Divine experience.

Whatever Pentecost means--it is open to the reception and enjoyment of us all, "Every one of you," said St. Peter, "shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." To you are the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call (Act_2:38-39). Let us take this to heart.

Some years ago, electricity was the perquisite of the few, but now the poorest girl or lad may utilize it and be carded along in the electric car; and it is the boast of our scientists and inventors that they are able to bring the benefits of their discoveries within the reach of the neediest amongst us. And Pentecost resembles this, in that the forces and gifts of the Eternal Spirit are now within the grasp of the feeblest hand which is stretched out to appropriate them. But there must be first the putting away of evil, the emptying of our hearts, the hunger and thirst of the soul for righteousness, before God can give us our share in the Gift which was made once for all to the Church, but must be claimed by each successive believer.

PRAYER

Let Thy Holy Spirit dwell in me continually, and make me Thy temple and sanctuary. AMEN.

By F. B. Meyer

Reflections for October 21, 2011

THE UNHEEDED SECRET

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (KJV)

The great enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ in the present day is the conception of practical work that has not come from the New Testament, but from the Systems of the world in which endless energy and activities are insisted upon, but no private life with God. The emphasis is put on the wrong thing. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation, for lo the kingdom of God is within you," a hidden, obscure thing. An active Christian worker too often lives in the shop window. It is the innermost of the innermost that reveals the power of the life.

We have to get rid of the plague of the spirit of the religious age in which we live. In Our Lord's life there was none of the press and rush of tremendous activity that we regard so highly, and the disciple is to be as His Master. The central thing about the kingdom of Jesus Christ is a personal relationship to Him, not public usefulness to men.

It is not its practical activities that are the strength of this Bible Training College, its whole strength lies in the fact that here you are put into soak before God. You have no idea of where God is going to engineer your circumstances, no knowledge of what strain is going to be put on you either at home or abroad, and if you waste your time in over-active energies instead of getting into soak on the great fundamental truths of God's Redemption, you will snap when the strain comes; but if this time of soaking before God is being spent in getting rooted and grounded in God on the unpractical line, you will remain true to Him whatever happens.

By Oswald Chambers

Reflections for October 20, 2011

WHEREBY SHALL I KNOW?

Matthew 11:25 I thank Thee, O Father ... because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. (KJV)

In spiritual relationship we do not grow step by step; we are either there or we are not. God does not cleanse us more and more from sin, but when we are in the light, walking in the light, we are cleansed from all sin. It is a question of obedience, and instantly the relationship is perfected. Turn away for one second out of obedience, and darkness and death are at work at once.

All God's revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking. Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes. Let God's truth work in you by soaking in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up.

One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when one five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam. "I suppose I shall understand these things some day!" You can understand them now. It is not study that does it, but obedience. The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away. God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming "wise and prudent."

By Oswald Chambers

Reflections for October 19, 2011

Ephesians 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with every spiritual gift in the heavenly places in Christ, just as God the Father chose me in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and without blame before Jesus Christ in love, having predestined me to adoption as His son by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made me accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:7-10 In Jesus Christ I have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound or increase to me in all wisdom and understanding, having made known to me the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of  the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-12 In Jesus Christ also I have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of God the Father who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that I who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In Jesus Christ I also trusted, after I heard the word of truth, the gospel of my salvation; in whom also, having believed, I was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of my inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession (me, spirit, soul, and body), to the praise of His glory.

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (KJV)

Now is the time for us (true believers) to decide within our own hearts whether we believe (without compromise) the whole counsel of God (the Bible) or not. If we believe the Bible we must say what it says without fear or reservation (speak the truth in love). Whenever we water down the Word of God, as not to offend people, we only end up offending people in the worst possible way of all by letting them believe that their false beliefs and lifestyles will not end them in eternal destruction. This action does not exemplify Christ love for humanity, but on the contrary perpetuates satan’s original lie he presented in the Garden of Eden.

Reflections for October 18, 2011

Matthew 6:19-21  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. (KJV)

My heart must be a single minded devotion to the things of God. I must be governed by My Lord Jesus’ will and desires and He will engraft those desires into my heart when I communicate with Him through prayer and reading of His Word.

Judges 16

This entire Chapter always speaks rebuke to me because I find myself identifying with his weakness for women and making foolish choices by allowing the lust of the flesh to supersede the Word of God. How foolish was Samson to let his lust for sexual pleasure destroy what God had done for him and through him. In my opinion, he cared for Delilah but he was more consumed with lust for her. Delilah used him for monetary gain as many women use sex to control men. I have been where he was and can testify to how debilitated you feel after allowing these weeds that remain in our corrupt nature to sprout and grow into outward sin by not pulling them or cutting them off at the root with the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (KJV)

Three times she asked him to reveal the secret to his strength and each time she did what he told her and the Philistines were upon him. I could understand the first slip, but after the second he should have consulted the Lord and then the Lord would have revealed to him her evil intentions, but his pride and lust outweighed his need to acknowledge his weakness to the Lord and ask for help. This is why God the Holy Spirit over and over in the New Testament through Paul and others tell us to not to be filled with pride and try to stand and fight the devil in the area of sexual lust, but on the contrary He tells us to flee (to run away from this temptation) as Joseph so smartly headed. Genesis 39:12 His master's wife grabbed his coat and said to him, "Come to bed with me." But Joseph ran out of the house so fast that he left his coat in her hand. (ERV) This is what Samson should have done here and I can say I should have done likewise on occasions.

Judges 16:7 And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man. (KJV)

When I fail to daily devour Your Word Dear Lord Jesus, I become very spiritually weak and vulnerable to sexual lust and sexual sin with women. This is what happened to Samson here, he forgot the source of his strength was from the Lord and not his hair.

Judges 16:21 But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. (KJV)

Verse 1 says Samson saw the woman and went to sleep with her. The source or root cause of his sin was the very thing the devil afflicted when he was captured. Confirming again the Word of God in whatever we sow we will reap a harvest good or bad. We must guard what our eyes look upon. Mat 6:22-23 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! (KJV)

Your conduct will be regular and steady. All that is needful to direct the body is that the eye be fixed right. No other light is required. So all that is needful to direct the soul and the conduct is, that the eye of faith be fixed on heaven; that the affections be there. By Albert Barnes

And what the eye is to the body, the intention is to the soul. We may observe with what exact propriety our Lord places purity of intention between worldly desires and worldly cares, either of which directly tend to destroy. If thine eye be single - Singly fixed on God and heaven, thy whole soul will be full of holiness and happiness. John Wesley

Reflections for October 17, 2011

Nehemiah 9:38 And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it. (KJV)

There are certain principles outlined in these chapters in Nehemiah, which may well be included in our covenant with God:

(1) Never to allow anything in private or business life which is not in keeping with the high ideals of the Bible.

(2) To set aside a certain proportion of our income and time for the maintenance of the Work and House of God.

(3) To observe the Rest-Day.

But a covenant is between two. No resolution of ours is strong enough to keep us true. The most fervent protestations and vows may fail us in the day of trial, and our covenants are permanent only so far as God is party to them. But if Jesus is our Co-Signatory, there will be a safe-guard and certainty which all the powers of evil will not be able to overthrow.

Livingstone's covenant with God was that he might heal the open plague-spot of the Arab slave-trade. A covenant like this, in some cases, has been signed with blood. This was D. L. Moody's prayer, as a young man: "Great God, let the world learn, through my life, what Thou canst do by a man wholly devoted to Thee!"

PRAYER

We present to Thee, O God, ourselves to be a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable, our reasonable service. Fulfill through us the good pleasure of Thy goodness, and the work of faith with power. AMEN.

By F. B. Meyer

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (KJV)

Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption. In the Cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin. God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin. The condemnation is not that I am born with heredity of sin, but if when I realize Jesus Christ came to deliver me from it, I refuse to let Him do so, from that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation. "And this is the judgment" (the critical moment), "that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light."

By Oswald Chambers