From: Suzianty Herawati
"The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory." --Deuteronomy 5:24
God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory.
Any aim less than this were unworthy of Himself.
But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we
are? Man's eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honour,
has too high an estimate of his
own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is
clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there may be room for
God to be exalted; and this is the
reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that,
being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to
behold the majesty of God when He comes forth to work their deliverance. He
whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the
Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness
for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams
and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but they who "do
business in great waters," these see His "wonders in the deep." Among the huge
Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the
power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if
you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your
experience of God's greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched
you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have
been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant
Moses, that you might behold His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you
have not been left to the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity
might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been
capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His
wonderful dealings with you.
by CH Spurgeon
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From: Bayo Afolaranmi
Dear Beloved,
"I LOVE YOU"
"Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good"
(Romans 12:9, NASB).
I have already composed the message for this week, in fact I have translated it
into Esperanto language and was about to send the translation to the person
that always help me to edit it. However, as people are celebrating the
Valentine's Day, I am led to keep that message till another week and write
another one on love.
The sentence "I love you" is common among people, especially people of opposite
sex, either married or single. The sentence is so common that most people have
lost or misinterpreted the real meaning of the most important word in it -
love. To some, "I love you," means I want to get something from you. To others,
love is the glorified word for lust. The intention of "I love you" of others is
to gratify their selfish desire. No wonder, love has become one of the most
common words in any language.
What does love means to you? How are you demonstrating it? Do you really mean
it when you tell somebody, "I love you"? Paul described what love is and it is
in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil
but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,
always perseveres. Love never fails" (NIV). So it means that when I say "I love
you," what I am saying in essence is that: I will be patient with you; I will
be kind with you; I will not envy you; I will not elevate myself higher than
you; I will not be self-centered; I will not be easily provoked by you; I will
keep no record of any wrong you do to me; I will not have hidden agenda against
you; I will be truthful to you; I will protect you; I will trust you; I will
have hope in you; I will persevere with you; and my love is not temporary.
Anything short of these is hypocrisy.
The love between Jonathan and David is a good example of a love without
hypocrisy. Jonathan demonstrated all those attributes of love described above
to David (see 1 Samuel 18:3-4; 20:1-42; 23:18).
I love you. Do I?
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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