Thursday, March 26, 2015

CHRISTIAN LOVE

"Christian love... is compatible with the profoundest hatred of error, and the most zealous contending for the truth." -J Gresham Machen

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

THE VALUE OF WISDOM

The transcendent excellency divine wisdom

(James Smith, "Food for Hungry Souls")

"For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold. 
 Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. 
 She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left. 
 She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying. 
 Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly!" 
Proverbs 3:14-18 

See the transcendent excellency divine wisdom

Men desire health--but bodily health is only for a time. 
Divine wisdom gives perpetual health, both of body and soul. 

Men desire wealth--but riches are not forever.
Divine wisdom gives unsearchable riches--enduring riches! 

Men desire life--but human life is brief. 
Divine wisdom gives everlasting life, and life in perfection and interminable blessedness. 

Men desire honor--but earthly honor is fading. 
Divine wisdom confers the highest honors, associating us in the nearest relation with God, who is the source of all real honor. 

Men desire pleasure--but what does earthly pleasure amount to? 
Divine wisdom leads . . .
  to rivers of pleasure,
  to oceans of joy,
  to fountains of purest delight! 

Men desire fame--but fame among sinners, is but a puff of noisy breath. 
Divine wisdom makes us famous, if not on earth--in Heaven; if not in time--in eternity!

If therefore we would possess health and wealth; 
if we would live forever, and live forever in honor;
if we would enjoy endless pleasure, and shine among God's worthies
--then we must get wisdom! It is transcendently excellent, for all the world would not purchase it--though God freely gives it! Nor would the possession of the whole world make up for the loss of it--if we neglect and despise it. Nor would a world, or ten thousand worlds, make a man half so happy!

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom!" Proverbs 4:7 

Monday, March 9, 2015

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Today I thought of this...If an olympic runner asked me, "How is your fitness training going?"  and I replied, "Pretty slow and I can't understand why?"  The runner asks, "How often are you jogging?"  Then I reply, "Jogging? what do you mean?"  And the runner elaborates, "You know, like jogging a mile or two every other day."  Then I reply, "Oh yeah, I jogged a mile a year ago, so I have done that before, why should I have to do that again?"

In this way the thought hit me, "As Christians we have said, and have others said, 'Why read this chapter of the Bible again, I have read it before, like a year ago, everyone knows what Romans 8 says, right?"  But in almost every hobby you can name...basketball, weight-lifiting, running, baseball, football, soccer, golf, etc, people know that have shot free throws before, and ran a mile before, and practiced their curveball or fastball or batting; they hit 30 balls with their 7 iron on the practice green."

 So I encourage us to stay nourished with the Word of God.  Continue to read Philippians even if you have read it 7x over the years, continue to read Jeremiah and Exodus, and the Proverbs;  too many of us, namely me, are way out of shape spiritually.  Sanctification is all of grace, and not of some empty routine of daily devotionals, but even so, God uses means, and He uses His Word and prayer to feed us and strength us.  Don't rest in a head knowledge, press on until God burns it into you heart.

Friday, March 6, 2015

Picture on Prayer

Zoom in on the photo and read the text.  It is a great devotional on prayer. 

Monday, March 2, 2015

ALL NEW

All things have become new!
(Thomas Reade)
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new!" 2 Corinthians 5:17
Our perceptions will be new. A divine light will break in upon our minds. The darkness of error, which obscured the truth from our view, will be dissipated.
Our principles will be new. We shall act from pure, holy, unselfish motives. Faith working by love will be the grand moving principle. Self will no longer be the pivot on which we turn--but Jesus will be our all in all.
Our practice will be new. We shall live no longer according to the sinful customs of the world, or the powerful solicitations of the flesh--but according to the holy precepts of the everlasting Gospel. We shall delight in the law of God after the inward man. It will be our food and drink to do the will of our Father.
Our plans will be new. We shall dedicate ourselves, and all we have and are, to the service of that divine Savior who loved us, and gave Himself for us. We shall not be daily occupied in forming plans for worldly pleasure, or projecting schemes for the acquisition of worldly profit; but in devising means for carrying on the cause of truth, and for spreading the knowledge of a crucified Redeemer throughout the earth.
Our prospects will be new. The darkness being past, and the true light now shining--we shall see the distant radiance of the heavenly Zion, and behold, with the telescopic eye of faith, the land which is very far off.
Our privileges will be new.
God will be our reconciled Father.
Jesus will be our Savior and friend.
The Holy Spirit will be our sanctifier and comforter.
And Heaven will be our eternal home!
Our portion will be new. All those exceeding great and precious promises, will be ours. We shall be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ! We shall be the citizens of the New Jerusalem, and inherit that kingdom that is incorruptible and undefiled, prepared for all the new creatures in Christ Jesus, before the foundation of the world.
To sum up all this blessedness, we shall experience in this world a progression in holiness--and in the world to come, a perpetuity of bliss!