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From: Suzianty Herawati
"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." --Revelation 22:17 Jesus says, "take freely." He wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, if you be but willing, you are invited; therefore come! You have no belief and no repentance,--come to Him, and He will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take "Freely," without money and without price. He gives Himself to needy ones. The drinking fountains at the corners of our streets are valuable institutions; and we can hardly imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his purse, when he stands before one of the m, and to cry, "I cannot drink because I have not five pounds in my pocket." However poor the man is, there is the fountain, and just as he is he may drink of it. Thirsty passengers, as they go by, whether they are dressed in fustian or in broadcloth, do not look for any warrant for drinking; its being there is their warrant for taking its water freely. The liberality of some good friends has put the refreshing crystal there and we take it, and ask no questions. Perhaps the only persons who need go thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain, are the fine ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages. They are very thirsty, but cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them, they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with parched lips. Oh, how many there are who are rich in their own good works and cannot therefore come to Christ! "I will not be saved," they say, "in the same way as the harlot or the swearer." What! go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep. Is there no pathway to glory but the path which led the thief there? I will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without the living water; but, "WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY." CH Spurgeon
================================================ From: Suzianty Herawati
"God, even our own God." --Psalm 67:6 It is strange how little use we make of the spiritual blessings which God gives us, but it is stranger still how little use we make of God Himself. Though He is "our own God," we apply ourselves but little to Him, and ask but little of Him. How seldom do we ask counsel at the hands of the Lord! How often do we go about our business, without seeking His guidance! In our troubles how constantly do we strive to bear our burdens ourselves, instead of casting them upon the Lord, that He may sustain us! This is not because we may not, for the Lord seems to say, "I am thine, soul, come a nd make use of me as thou wilt; thou mayst freely come to my store, and the oftener the more welcome." It is our own fault if we make not free with the riches of our God. Then, since thou hast such a friend, and He invites thee, draw from Him daily. Never want whilst thou hast a God to go to; never fear or faint whilst thou hast God to help thee; go to thy treasure and take whatever thou needest--there is all that thou canst want. Learn the divine skill of making God all things to thee. He can supply thee with all, or, better still, He can be to thee instead of all. Let me urge thee, then, to make use of thy God. Make use of Him in prayer. Go to Him often, because He is thy God. O, wilt thou fail to use so great a privilege? Fly to Him, tell Him all thy wants. Use Him constantly by faith at all times. If some dark providence has beclouded thee, use thy God as a "sun;" if some strong enemy has beset thee, find in Jehovah a "shield," for He is a sun and shield to His people. If thou hast lost thy way in the mazes of life, use Him as a "guide," for He will direct thee. Whatever thou art, and wherever thou art, remember God is just what thou wantest, and just where thou wantest, and that He can do all thou wantest. CH Spurgeon ===============================================
From: Bayo
Afolaranmi
Dearly Beloved, AFRAID TO PREACH THE WORD? "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15, NKJV). "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV). Recently, for the first time in the history of this email ministry, I had the opportunity of having my weekly messages ready for a whole month. Even when I serialized my messages into parts, I seldom had two messages ready for two weeks at the same time. As I ruminated over the themes of these prepared messages, I realized that they were all warnings about one issue or the other. None was an encouragement to my readers. From my experience in this email ministry, people tend to react positively more to messages of encouragement more than messages of warning. People leave my groups (where they receive my weekly devotional messages) more when I send warning messages. This fact made me to be afraid to go ahead and send the warning messages for the whole month. In fact, I started entertaining the fear before I sent the first message. Nevertheless, as I was ruminating on this issue, those two Bible passages above came to my mind. Coincidentally, they were addressed to the same person Timothy in the same book of the Bible that bears his name. In fact, there is this third admonition to him in that same book: "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2, NKJV). These three admonitions made me to went ahead and send the warning messages to people without minding the seemingly consequence of losing more readers in the email ministry. Are you selective in preaching the word of God? Or are you known for a particular theme or section of the Bible? This needs not be! Remember, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." Are you afraid that people may leave your church or ministry for "rightly dividing the word of truth"? You do not need to be afraid. Yours is to preach the word "in season and out of season" in teaching, reproving, correcting, instructing, convincing, encouraging, and even warning your audience. The Lords is to do the work of conviction. In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). NB Let me confess that in this past one month, instead of losing members, I had more members in my email ministry and more positive reactions to my messages to the extent that I could not response personally to every reaction as I used to do because of the unprecedented reactions of people. Therefore, do not be afraid to preach the word as you are led by the Holy Spirit. The Lord is faithful! _______________________________________ Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). +234 805 515 9591 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritualdigest2003/ "I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. FOR TO ME, TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN" (Ph ilippians 1:20-21, NIV). ===="Jadikan semua bangsa muridKU" (Mat 28:19)==== Aku mengucap syukur kepada Allahku karena persekutuanmu dalam Berita Injil mulai dari hari pertama sampai sekarang ini. Akan hal ini aku yakin sepenuhnya, yaitu Ia, yang memulai pekerjaan yang baik diantara kamu, akan meneruskannya sampai pada akhirnya pada hari Kristus Yesus. Fil 1:5 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mailing List Jesus-Net Ministry Indonesia - JNM - Daftar : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Keluar : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Posting: [email protected] If you have any comment or suggestion about this mailing list, to : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Bagi Saudara yang berdomisili di Amerika, saudara dapat bergabung dengan mailing list Keluarga Kristen USA (KK-USA) dengan mengirimkan email kosong ke [EMAIL PROTECTED] dan ikuti instruksi yang ada. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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