Reflections for October 16, 2011

Let us also delight in God through His Word. Let us not read the Bible as a task, but dwell upon it, until its beauties become woven into our thoughts and lives. It is thus that life becomes purified and enriched. We shall no longer desire base or corrupting things, but God will give us the desires of our heart, and we shall be satisfied, if we delight ourselves in Him. By F. B. Meyer

Reflections for October 15, 2011

Galatians 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. (KJV)

Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. (KJV)

We have obtained the promise spoken of here in these two verses; therefore, our having the Spirit of God living in our spirits makes us a new race of human beings on earth. When keep this at the forefront of our understanding, then we see why those still under the control of the other spirit hate true Christians; Ephesians 2:2 “the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience” If a Christian is not hated by those still under the control of the other spirit, question: Is there something wrong with their profession of faith in Christ?

Galatians 4:3-7 It is the same for us. We were once like children, slaves to the useless rules of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, who was born from a woman and lived under the law. God did this so that he could buy the freedom of those who were under the law. God's purpose was to make us his children. Since you are now God's children, he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, "Abba, Father." Now you are not slaves like before. You are God's children, and you will receive everything he promised his children. (ERV)

Now we have been born again by the Power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, therefore, we are no longer slaves to sin and the cruel rudiments of this world. We have received the Promise of the Holy Spirit and along with every Promise in the Word of God are ours. We need never ever allow the devil to intimidate us for his grip on us has been destroyed forever.

October 15 by F.B. Meyer

WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN

"Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple."-- Luk_14:33.

THREE TIMES over in this chapter, our Lord says these solemn words: "he cannot be My disciple." There are three conditions of discipleship. First, we must be prepared to put first things first; second, we must be willing to suffer daily crucifixion; third, we must be detached from all things, because attached to Christ. The conditions seem severe, but they must be fulfilled, if we would enter Christ's School.

Disciple stands for learner. Our Lord is prepared to teach us the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; but it is useless to enter His class unless we have resolved to do as He says. Put first things first. When our Lord uses the word hate, He clearly means that the love we are to have for Him is to be so much greater, that comparatively our natural affection will be as if it were hate. No one could have loved His Mother more than our Lord did. In His dying agony His special thought and care was for her, but on three different occasions He put her aside. We are sometimes called to put aside those who are nearest and dearest, if their demands conflict with the claims of Christ.

The daily cross. In each of us there is the self-principle, and for each of us there is a perpetual necessity to deny self. Some talk about bearing the cross in a glib fashion, but its true meaning is shame, suffering, and sorrow, which no one realizes but God, and which perhaps strikes deeper down into the roots of our being as we grow older. There is an opportunity in your life, in respect to some person or circumstance, for an ever-deepening appreciation of union with Christ in His death, and for which you must be daily prepared to surrender your own way and will.

Renunciation. It may be necessary to surrender all we have for Christ, or it may be that He will ask us to hold all as a steward or trustee for Himself and others. No one can lay down the rule for another. The main point to decide is this: "Am I willing to do what Christ wants me to do; to yield my will for Him to mould it, and my life for Him to work through it?" If so, all else will adjust itself.

PRAYER

O Lord, save me in spite of myself. May I be Thine; wholly Thine, and, at all costs, Thine. In humiliation, in poverty, in self abnegation, Thine. Thine in the way Thou knowest to be most fitting, in order that Thou mightest be now and ever mine. AMEN.

Reflections for October 14, 2011

Here is what our brother in Christ Matthew Henry (1662-1714) had to say about us delighting ourselves in the Lord, “If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humors of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.”

The hearts of Christ true followers must cling to Him and His Word and never let anything separate us from our close fellowship with Him and the truth of His Word. We must remember that everything written to us about the things that happened to the children of Israel were written for our admonition or warning. Our Heavenly Father expects us to be grateful and thankful to Him because He has reconciled us back to Himself and allowed us to learn His truth so that we might not enter into some of the same destructive paths as the children of Israel.

Perhaps the ugliest thing found in our hearts by our Heavenly Father is ingratitude. We should be willing and able to say as Job said to his wife, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” This should be the continual cry of every redeemed soul. Every redeemed soul experiences hatred down here since Christ has taken us out of this world. The world hated Christ as He walked down here among men. Are we better or greater than He is? He thanked the Father for everything, even the cross. Should we not be compelled to do likewise, if we love Him?

Reflections for October 13, 2011

Galatians 2:17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. (KJV)

I must not show or allow hypocrisy in my life, for Christ is not a minister of sin. Jesus Christ teaches me throughout His Word that His grace will allow me to live here on earth without being enslaved to sin I cannot help, but through His love for me exhorts and bids me always to come to Him for His strength to combat my weakness. Hebrews 2:18 And now he can help those who are tempted. He is able to help because he himself suffered and was tempted. (ERV)

Gal 2:18-21 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (KJV)

No person can ever be justified before God by any outward working of the law (none of the ceremonials rituals, i.e. receiving the sacraments, reciting rehearsed prayers, church attendance, praying to dead people (patron saints), infant baptism, etc. All of these things are of no effect in the saving of anyone’s soul. By trying to do enough good works to merit your salvation, a person frustrates Christ grace and renders it powerless to save them. Not that Christ grace is powerless, but it cannot work along with man’s perceived good works.

But for those who have acknowledged ourselves to be nothing but helpless sinners and received Him into our hearts, Christ now lives there and creates a new man internally that is now capable through His grace and power to live a new moral life acceptable to Him; a life that will now bring Glory to Him now on the earth. It is now all about Christ’s grace working effectually in me to bear the newness of life Paul speaks of in Romans 6. Romans 6:4-7 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. (KJV)

Morning

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. (KJV)

Genuine, spiritual mourning for sin is the work of the Spirit of God. Repentance is too choice a flower to grow in nature’s garden. Pearls grow naturally in oysters, but penitence never shows itself in sinners except divine grace works it in them. If thou hast one particle of real hatred for sin, God must have given it thee, for human nature’s thorns never produced a single fig. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh.”

True repentance has a distinct reference to the Saviour. When we repent of sin, we must have one eye upon sin and another upon the cross, or it will be better still if we fix both our eyes upon Christ and see our transgressions only, in the light of his love.

True sorrow for sin is eminently practical. No man may say he hates sin, if he lives in it. Repentance makes us see the evil of sin, not merely as a theory, but experimentally-as a burnt child dreads fire. We shall be as much afraid of it, as a man who has lately been stopped and robbed is afraid of the thief upon the highway; and we shall shun it-shun it in everything-not in great things only, but in little things, as men shun little vipers as well as great snakes. True mourning for sin will make us very jealous over our tongue, lest it should say a wrong word; we shall be very watchful over our daily actions, lest in anything we offend, and each night we shall close the day with painful confessions of shortcoming, and each morning awaken with anxious prayers, that this day God would hold us up that we may not sin against him.

Sincere repentance is continual. Believers repent until their dying day. This dropping well is not intermittent. Every other sorrow yields to time, but this dear sorrow grows with our growth, and it is so sweet and bitter, that we thank God we are permitted to enjoy and to suffer it until we enter our eternal rest.

By Charles H. Spurgeon

Reflections for October 12, 2011

2 Corinthians 3:17 (AMP): “Now the Lord is the Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

What does this word “liberty” actually mean? Well this English word liberty comes from the Greek word eleutheria, which means “freedom; moral or ceremonial freedom.” What does this moral freedom produce? Christ is the Spirit who takes away that covering by working in hearts. The Law itself also works in hearts, though in vain because the Law speaks to the spiritually dead (those who are dead in trespasses and sin). The Holy Spirit makes alive or brings life. The Lord Jesus Christ is represented as the Spirit. Christ is the end of the law for justification and righteousness to all who believe. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and He is the dispenser of all gifts, graces, and influences.

When I received the Gospel, the Spirit of the Lord was given to me. The Spirit of the Lord lives and works in me to bring this liberty or freedom from the slavery of sin and sin’s power. The Spirit of God gives light and clearness of view. This is a general truth. The Spirit of God removes obscurity and enables me to see truth plainly and clearly. This truth cannot be denied. The word “freedom” perhaps better conveys the idea.

Dear Lord Jesus, though I am clouded with the things of this world, help me see with clarity and truth that only emanates from Your Word. Amen

Reflections for October 11, 2011

Morning

Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. (KJV)

The act of prayer teaches us our unworthiness, which is a very salutary lesson for such proud beings as we are. If God gave us favours without constraining us to pray for them we should never know how poor we are, but a true prayer is an inventory of wants, a catalogue of necessities, and a revelation of hidden poverty. While it is an application to divine wealth, it is a confession of human emptiness. The most healthy state of a Christian is to be always empty in self and constantly depending upon the Lord for supplies; to be always poor in self and rich in Jesus; weak as water personally, but mighty through God to do great exploits; and hence the use of prayer, because, while it adores God, it lays the creature where it should be, in the very dust. Prayer is in itself, apart from the answer which it brings, a great benefit to the Christian. As the runner gains strength for the race by daily exercise, so for the great race of life we acquire energy by the hallowed labour of prayer. Prayer plumes the wings of God’s young eaglets, that they may learn to mount above the clouds. Prayer girds the loins of God’s warriors, and sends them forth to combat with their sinews braced and their muscles firm. An earnest pleader cometh out of his closet, even as the sun ariseth from the chambers of the east, rejoicing like a strong man to run his race. Prayer is that uplifted hand of Moses which routs the Amalekites more than the sword of Joshua; it is the arrow shot from the chamber of the prophet foreboding defeat to the Syrians. Prayer girds human weakness with divine strength, turns human folly into heavenly wisdom, and gives to troubled mortals the peace of God. We know not what prayer cannot do! We thank thee, great God, for the mercy-seat, a choice proof of thy marvellous lovingkindness. Help us to use it aright throughout this day!

By Charles H. Spurgeon

Evening

Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (KJV)

In the second epistle to Timothy, first chapter, and ninth verse, are these words-”Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling.” Now, here is a touchstone by which we may try our calling. It is “a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace.” This calling forbids all trust in our own doings, and conducts us to Christ alone for salvation, but it afterwards purges us from dead works to serve the living and true God. As he that hath called you is holy, so must you be holy. If you are living in sin, you are not called, but if you are truly Christ’s, you can say, “Nothing pains me so much as sin; I desire to be rid of it; Lord, help me to be holy.” Is this the panting of thy heart? Is this the tenor of thy life towards God, and his divine will? Again, in Philippians, Phi_3:13, Phi_3:14, we are told of “The high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Is then your calling a high calling? Has it ennobled your heart, and set it upon heavenly things? Has it elevated your hopes, your tastes, and your desires? Has it upraised the constant tenor of your life, so that you spend it with God and for God? Another test we find in Heb_3:1-”Partakers of the heavenly calling.” Heavenly calling means a call from heaven. If man alone call thee, thou art uncalled. Is thy calling of God? Is it a call to heaven as well as from heaven? Unless thou art a stranger here, and heaven thy home, thou hast not been called with a heavenly calling; for those who have been so called, declare that they look for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God, and they themselves are strangers and pilgrims upon the earth. Is thy calling thus holy, high, and heavenly? Then, beloved, thou hast been called of God, for such is the calling wherewith God doth call his people.

By Charles H. Spurgeon

Reflections for October 10, 2011

John 1:1 (AMP): “In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.”

God’s Word became flesh to live among us. Christ knew the temptations we would suffer through, and He experienced earthly life with us in order that He might restore us. Why do we need restoration? We need restoration because Adam’s fall into sin in the Garden of Eden destroyed our ability to live the “higher” life in direct fellowship with a holy God. Thus, Christ has come to restore to us a purity that we can only receive through Him. It is through Christ that we become a “new creation.” Through Christ’s salvation He accomplishes the renovation of man and his restoration from a state of sin. This new creation is a restored state as it was with the “first creation.” The Greek word Logos, identified as the Word of God, was the source of life during the first creation in the beginning. In a similar but higher sense, Christ is the source of “life” to the soul dead in trespasses and sins.

Here is what R. A. Torrey (1856-1928) said about God’s Love:

 “What does the Bible tell us as to how God shows His love? 1) That God shows

 His love, by pardoning Sin. Isaiah 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the

 unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have

 love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His

 abundant pardon. God tells us plainly in His Word that He is willing to forgive

 any sinner that lives, no matter how deep down he has gone, if he will only turn from

 sin and turn to Him; and He will forgive him the very moment he does so. Of course,

 God cannot forgive a man while he holds on to his sin, and retain His own moral

 character. I have a boy. I love that boy, and I would give a great deal to see him now.

 I believe there is nothing that boy could do but, if he repented and turned from it, I

 would forgive him. But I could not forgive him if he held on to his evil way. I could

 continue to love him and seek to save him, but I could not forgive him. And God

 cannot forgive us, and remain what He is, a Holy God, until we are ready to quit our

 sin.”