From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening ...
2 Chronicles 31:21
He did it with all his heart and prospered.
This is no unusual occurrence; it is the general rule of the moral universe
that those men prosper who do their work with all their hearts, while those are
almost certain to fail who go to their labour leaving half their hearts behind
them. God does not give harvests to idle men except harvests of thistles, nor
is He pleased to send wealth to those who will not dig in the field to find its
hid treasure. It is universally confessed that if a man would prosper, he must
be diligent in business. It is the same in religion as it is in other things.
If you would prosper in your work for Jesus, let it be heart work, and let it
be done with all your heart. Put as much force, energy, heartiness, and
earnestness into religion as ever you do into business, for it deserves far
more. The Holy Spirit helps our infirmities, but He does not encourage our
idleness; He loves active believers. Who are the most useful men in the
Christian church? The men who do what they undertake for God with all their
hearts. Who are the most successful Sabbath-school teachers? The most talented?
No; the most zealous; the men whose hearts are on fire, those are the men who
see their Lord riding forth prosperously in the majesty of His salvation.
Whole-heartedness shows itself in perseverance; there may be failure at first,
but the earnest worker will say, "It is the Lord's work, and it must be done;
my Lord has bidden me do it, and in His strength I will accomplish it."
Christian, art thou thus "with all thine heart" serving thy Master? Remember
the earnestness of Jesus! Think what heart-work was His! He could say, "The
zeal of Thine house hath eaten Me up." When He sweat great drops of blood, it
was no light burden He had to carry upon those blessed shoulders; and when He
poured out His heart, it was no weak effort He was making for the salvation of
His people. Was Jesus in earnest, and are we lukewarm?
Morning ...
Psalm 39:12
I am a stranger with thee.
Yes, O Lord, with Thee, but not to Thee. All my natural alienation from Thee,
Thy grace has effectually removed; and now, in fellowship with Thyself, I walk
through this sinful world as a pilgrim in a foreign country. Thou art a
stranger in Thine own world. Man forgets Thee, dishonours Thee, sets up new
laws and alien customs, and knows Thee not. When Thy dear Son came unto His
own, His own received Him not. He was in the world, and the world was made by
Him, and the world knew Him not. Never was foreigner so speckled a bird among
the denizens of any land as Thy beloved Son among His mother's brethren. It is
no marvel, then, if I who live the life of Jesus, should be unknown and a
stranger here below. Lord, I would not be a citizen where Jesus was an alien.
His pierced hand has loosened the cords which once bound my soul to earth, and
now I find myself a stranger in the land. My speech seems to these Babylonians
among whom I dwell an outlandish tongue, my manners are singular, and my
actions are strange. A Tartar would be more at home in Cheapside than I could
ever be in the haunts of sinners. But here is the sweetness of my lot: I am a
stranger with Thee. Thou art my fellow-sufferer, my fellow-pilgrim. Oh, what
joy to wander in such blessed society! My heart burns within me by the way when
thou dost speak to me, and though I be a sojourner, I am far more blest than
those who sit on thrones, and far more at home than those who dwell in their
ceiled houses.
"To me remains nor place, nor time:
My country is in every clime;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
While place we seek, or place we shun,
The soul finds happiness in none:
But with a God to guide our way,
'Tis equal joy to go or stay."
2 Corinthians 13:5
(5) Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves.
Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be
reprobates?
2 Corinthians 10:12
(12) For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves
with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves,
and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
We understand that we are to examine ourselves in the weeks preceding
Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread. Sometimes, however, we miss the
purpose for the examination. Consider these two scriptures in relation to
self-examination:
u Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove
yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless
indeed you are disqualified. (II Corinthians 13:5)
u For we dare not to class ourselves or compare ourselves with those
who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and
comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (II Corinthians 10:12)
If we are not careful in this, we can easily fall into two snares, both
of which center on the self.
The most obvious one, expressed in II Corinthians 10:12, is that we will
judge ourselves in light of other people. This fatal trap deceitfully provides
us with self-justification for the way we are. The result is that we will not
change or grow because we will be judging according to our own standards—and
why change perfection? Self-examination by our own code produces
self-righteousness.
The other dangerous snare occurs when our self-examination is so rigorous
that we become very depressed and feel salvation is impossible. This is just as
utterly self-indulgent as the other! This "woe is me" approach is a
not-too-subtle blast against God's judgment and grace for calling us and making
things so difficult for us!
Anyone who compares himself to others is not exhibiting faith in God. He
is telling God that His Son's life means little to him. Likewise, anyone who
feels so morose with guilt that he threatens not to take the Passover is not
exhibiting faith in God. He is telling God that He is unable to forgive that
much.
At Passover, our focus should be on the payment for sin through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God in His grace is willing to forgive our
transgressions on the basis of Christ's death. During Unleavened Bread, the
focus shifts to overcoming sin and coming out of this world through God's
power, which is also part of His grace. At Passover, it is the grace of God to
justify us through Christ's blood. At Unleavened Bread, it is the grace of God
to sanctify us as we move toward His Kingdom and glorification.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Christ, Our Passover
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daily devotional
Evening ...
Psalm 39:1
I will take heed to my ways.
Fellow-pilgrim, say not in your heart, "I will go hither and thither, and I
shall not sin;" for you are never so out of danger of sinning as to boast of
security. The road is very miry, it will be hard to pick your path so as not to
soil your garments. This is a world of pitch; you will need to watch often, if
in handling it you are to keep your hands clean. There is a robber at every
turn of the road to rob you of your jewels; there is a temptation in every
mercy; there is a snare in every joy; and if you ever reach heaven, it will be
a miracle of divine grace to be ascribed entirely to your Father's power. Be on
your guard. When a man carries a bomb-shell in his hand, he should mind that he
does not go near a candle; and you too must take care that you enter not into
temptation. Even your common actions are edged tools; you must mind how you
handle them. There is nothing in this world to foster a Christian's piety, but
everything to destroy it. H! ow anxious should you be to look up to God, that
He may keep you! Your prayer should be, "Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe."
Having prayed, you must also watch; guarding every thought, word, and action,
with holy jealousy. Do not expose yourselves unnecessarily; but if called to
exposure, if you are bidden to go where the darts are flying, never venture
forth without your shield; for if once the devil finds you without your
buckler, he will rejoice that his hour of triumph is come, and will soon make
you fall down wounded by his arrows. Though slain you cannot be; wounded you
may be. "Be sober; be vigilant, danger may be in an hour when all seemeth
securest to thee." Therefore, take heed to thy ways, and watch unto prayer. No
man ever fell into error through being too watchful. May the Holy Spirit guide
us in all our ways, so shall they always please the Lord.
Morning ...
2 Timothy 2:1
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Christ has grace without measure in Himself, but He hath not retained it for
Himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied
out His grace for His people. "Of His fulness have all we received, and grace
for grace." He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like
the fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty
pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it. Like a tree, He bears
sweet fruit, not to hang on boughs, but to be gathered by those who need.
Grace, whether its work be to pardon, to cleanse, to preserve, to strengthen,
to enlighten, to quicken, or to restore, is ever to be had from Him freely and
without price; nor is there one form of the work of grace which He has not
bestowed upon His people. As the blood of the body, though flowing from the
heart, belongs equally to every member, so the influences of grace are the
inheritance of every saint united to the! Lamb; and herein there is a sweet
communion between Christ and His Church, inasmuch as they both receive the same
grace. Christ is the head upon which the oil is first poured; but the same oil
runs to the very skirts of the garments, so that the meanest saint has an
unction of the same costly moisture as that which fell upon the head. This is
true communion when the sap of grace flows from the stem to the branch, and
when it is perceived that the stem itself is sustained by the very nourishment
which feeds the branch. As we day by day receive grace from Jesus, and more
constantly recognize it as coming from Him, we shall behold Him in communion
with us, and enjoy the felicity of communion with Him. Let us make daily use of
our riches, and ever repair to Him as to our own Lord in covenant, taking from
Him the supply of all we need with as much boldness as men take money from
their own purse.
Romans 5:12
(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:
When Adam and Eve sinned, God judged them. Since they were the father and
mother of all of mankind, and they were the only representatives of mankind at
the time, all of mankind figuratively sinned in Adam and Eve. God's judgment
was correct, because given the chance, every human has sinned.
What then happened to Adam and Eve? They were ushered out of the Garden,
and God put a cherubim at its entrance to guard the Garden and the Tree of Life
so that nobody could get back to where God created mankind. This is why at
times the Bible bids people to return to God when they had never seemingly
turned away from Him. Yet, all of mankind did turn away from God in Adam and
Eve, and He invites us to return to the place, symbolically, where everything
started, back to the environs He occupies, where the Tree of Life is.
The relationship with God is everything to our salvation. Without what
Christ did in dying for our sins, we would not be in the position to have one
with Him. Christ's payment of our sins opens up the way for a relationship to
be built and for us to grow in the Holy Spirit, because now we have access to
the Tree of Life in a relationship with God.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Holy Spirit and the Trinity (Part 7)
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