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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Evening ...
Proverbs 30:8
Remove far from me vanity and lies.
"O my God, be not far from me." Psalm 38:21. Here we have two great
lessons-what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a
Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to the sun,
so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort
when his eyes are fixed on vanity-he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is
quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he
cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should
I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy. A converted wife
who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him, for she said, "I fear
that this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore I have
made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it." Christians must seek
their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful
enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have
heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit;
but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is fatal. No Christian is
safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is
always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not
safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this
life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is
when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually starved, and
endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He
may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his
Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes
down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites
Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!
Matthew 13:22-23
(22) He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the
word, and he becometh unfruitful. (23) But he that received seed into the good
ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth
fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
In Matthew 13:22-23, the only difference between the seed sown among
weeds and the seed sown on good soil is in the action of the hearer. Both heard
the Word, but only one acts on what he hears. Think about this. The seed sown
on good soil could easily be overcome and choked out by weeds if action were to
become inaction. What if spiritual laziness sets in?
What would happen if, say, a man has a vegetable garden and next to this
garden is a small patch of kudzu? He cannot spray it with a herbicide because
of the danger of it drifting onto his plants. What should he do? He must go out
every day to monitor the situation and take whatever action is appropriate.
Perhaps he needs to cut the kudzu back, or maybe it will be okay for another
day.
The point is that the gardener must stir himself to be diligent. What
happens if he tries to manage the kudzu from his bed or from the easy chair in
front of his television? In a few weeks, he would go out to pick some red,
ripe, juicy tomatoes and find that, not only does he not have any tomatoes, but
he does not even have a garden!
The biblical term for someone who is spiritually inactive, or even
asleep, is Laodicean! What Revelation 3:14-18 describes as a Laodicean is
nothing more than a Christian choked by weeds. The Laodicean knows that kudzu
is out there, but his attitude is lethargic. "I'll get to it later," he says.
"My favorite show is coming on!" The Laodicean says in verse 17, "I am rich,
have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." What did Christ say the weeds
were? The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the pleasures
of this life!
Every day we have to "hoe" our spiritual garden. prayer and Bible study
we all understand about-we know how necessary they are to Christian growth. But
we need to go even further and fight, root out, the weeds. Is that television
show, novel, movie, or sportscast an entanglement? Are we spending too much
time trying to "make it" or "get ahead" or "keep up with the Joneses"? Do we
allow ourselves to become easily sidetracked by "little things"? While sleeping
late instead of getting up early to pray, is kudzu creeping over our fruit?
Ask yourself, "Am I asleep?" If you know you are not asleep, ask, "Am I
coasting?" You may find that you have allowed other pursuits to crowd out
higher, spiritual priorities. If so, you need to wade into your overgrown
garden and begin pulling out weeds by the fistful.
Mike Ford
From Weeds!
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Evening ...
2 Timothy 1:9
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling.
The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, "Who hath saved us." Believers
in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a
hopeful state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved.
Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of
in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and
enjoyed now. The Christian is perfectly saved in God's purpose; God has
ordained him unto salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as
to the price which has been paid for him: "It is finished" was the cry of the
Saviour ere He died. The believer is also perfectly saved in His covenant head,
for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ. This complete salvation is
accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Saviour saved upon the cross are
in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto
holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavour to be like Christ; they choose
holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which
leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted
in sin. God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but He
called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by His
workmanship in them. The excellencies which we see in a believer are as much
the work of God as the atonement itself. Thus is brought out very sweetly the
fulness of the grace of God. Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is
the author of it: and what motive but grace could move Him to save the guilty?
Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our
righteousness is for ever excluded. Such is the believer's privilege-a present
salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it-a holy life.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5
(1) If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth
thee a sign or a wonder, (2) And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof
he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not
known, and let us serve them; (3) Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that
prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know
whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
(4) Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
(5) And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because
he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out
of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust
thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt
thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
What is coming from the prophet's mouth? Something false. Who is this
prophet speaking for, what supernatural spirit? It is not the spirit of God,
but a demon speaking through a human being, inspiring and motivating him. God
permits it and expects His people to put that person to the test. God expects
us to be able to discern the spirit that is motivating the speaker. The test is
to see whether we will remain loyal to God-loyal in terms of keeping His
commandments.
Thus, the listener better have a good working knowledge of God, which
returns us to II Corinthians 10:5, where Paul warns that reasonings will exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God. This clarifies the devices that Satan
will use to turn us aside. This also underlines our need to be able to thwart
those devices. We need to have a good working knowledge of God-not things about
God so much, but the knowledge of God the Person, the Being with whom we have a
relationship.
Also, Deuteronomy 13 confirms that some of these false prophets will be
able to do miracles, which Paul confirms in II Thessalonians 2, and John
confirms in Revelation 11. What is in the New Testament is built upon what God
has already shown in the Old Testament-that Satan's modus operandi will be
carried through from one covenant to the other. We have to understand that such
signs-the ability to do miracles-are not of themselves indications of authority
from God. They must be combined with teaching that agrees with God's already
revealed will.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Satan (Part 2)
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