From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening...
Zechariah 11:2
Howl, fir tree, for the cedar is fallen.
When in the forest there is heard the crash of a falling oak, it is a sign
that the woodman is abroad, and every tree in the whole company may tremble
lest to-morrow the sharp edge of the axe should find it out. We are all like
trees marked for the axe, and the fall of one should remind us that for every
one, whether great as the cedar, or humble as the fir, the appointed hour is
stealing on apace. I trust we do not, by often hearing of death, become callous
to it. May we never be like the birds in the steeple, which build their nests
when the bells are tolling, and sleep quietly when the solemn funeral peals are
startling the air. May we regard death as the most weighty of all events, and
be sobered by its approach. It ill behoves us to sport while our eternal
destiny hangs on a thread. The sword is out of its scabbard-let us not trifle;
it is furbished, and the edge is sharp-let us not play with it. He who does not
prepare for death is more than ! an ordinary fool, he is a madman. When the
voice of God is heard among the trees of the garden, let fig tree and sycamore,
and elm and cedar, alike hear the sound thereof. Be ready, servant of Christ,
for thy Master comes on a sudden, when an ungodly world least expects Him. See
to it that thou be faithful in His work, for the grave shall soon be digged for
thee. Be ready, parents, see that your children are brought up in the fear of
God, for they must soon be orphans; be ready, men of business, take care that
your affairs are correct, and that you serve God with all your hearts, for the
days of your terrestrial service will soon be ended, and you will be called to
give account for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether
they be evil. May we all prepare for the tribunal of the great King with a care
which shall be rewarded with the gracious commendation, "Well done, good and
faithful servant"
Luke 17:5-10
(5) And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. (6) And the
Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this
sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea;
and it should obey you. (7) But which of you, having a servant plowing or
feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go
and sit down to meat? (8) And will not rather say unto him, Make ready
wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and
drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? (9) Doth he thank that servant
because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. (10) So likewise
ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We
are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
Verse 10 contains the key to increased faith: the word "say." The
principle boils down to working with a specific attitude. Christ tells us to do
everything possible to be as profitable as this servant (verses 7-8), without
expecting any recognition for it (verse 9). Then we can present the sincere,
humble attitude: "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty
to do."
Humanly, the servant could have taken the attitude, "You owe me! Didn't I
go 'above and beyond'?" No! "Above and beyond" is not applicable to our
relationship with God. We could never do enough to put God in our debt.
I Corinthians 4:7 asks, "What do you have that you did not receive?" We
have no room to boast that we have done anything without God's oversight (
Daniel 4:28-35). I Corinthians 6:20 tells us we owe God everything, as He has
redeemed us by the most precious blood of His own Son. Paul commands us not to
grow weary but do good to all ( Galatians 6:9-10). James ! echoes him:
"Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (
James 4:17). God has backed us into a corner. Where do we have any room for
"above and beyond"?
In both the planning and action stages of works of goodness or faith, we
decide how much to give, how far to go. But in hindsight, what good thing have
we ever done that qualifies for "above and beyond" our duty to God? Whatever it
was, the Scriptures plainly show we were commanded to do it! It was our duty
because we found it in our power to do it ( Proverbs 3:27). We cannot take the
attitude that, "We did these good things, so that makes us profitable to God."
If we do, we have no basis f! or faith. Our faith would be in ourselves, not in
God.
Staff
From Beware of Faith Blockers!
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Evening...
Song of Solomon 5:4
My Beloved put in His hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved
for Him.
Knocking was not enough, for my heart was too full of sleep, too cold and
ungrateful to arise and open the door, but the touch of His effectual grace has
made my soul bestir itself. Oh, the longsuffering of my Beloved, to tarry when
He found Himself shut out, and me asleep upon the bed of sloth! Oh, the
greatness of His patience, to knock and knock again, and to add His voice to
His knockings, beseeching me to open to Him! How could I have refused Him! Base
heart, blush and be confounded! But what greatest kindness of all is this, that
He becomes His own porter and unbars the door Himself. Thrice blessed is the
hand which condescends to lift the latch and turn the key. Now I see that
nothing but my Lord's own power can save such a naughty mass of wickedness as I
am; ordinances fail, even the gospel has no effect upon me, till His hand is
stretched out. Now, also, I perceive that His hand is good where all else is
unsuccessful, He can open when nothing else will. Blessed be His name, I feel
His gracious presence even now. Well may my bowels move for Him, when I think
of all that He has suffered for me, and of my ungenerous return. I have allowed
my affections to wander. I have set up rivals. I have grieved Him. Sweetest and
dearest of all beloveds, I have treated Thee as an unfaithful wife treats her
husband. Oh, my cruel sins, my cruel self. What can I do? Tears are a poor show
of my repentance, my whole heart boils with indignation at myself. Wretch that
I am, to treat my Lord, my All in All, my exceeding great joy, as though He
were a stranger. Jesus, thou forgivest freely, but this is not enough, prevent
my unfaithfulness in the future. Kiss away these tears, and then purge my heart
and bind it with sevenfold cords to Thyself, never to wander more
Proverbs 2:1-6
(1) My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with
thee; (2) So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to
understanding; (3) Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy
voice for understanding; (4) If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for
her as for hid treasures; (5) Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD,
and find the knowledge of God. (6) For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth
cometh knowledge and understanding.
God's Word is like His other creations. Like air, it too has
multi-faceted uses. In fact, it seems as though its uses are inexhaustible. It
does not matter whether one lives in the time of Abraham, Moses, David, Ezra,
Christ, or now. Its directly stated words or their spirit will apply. God's
Word is so infinite and pure that it is always valid, always true, always
applicable, and always an inexhaustible source of guidance. Jesus says that
God's "word is truth" ( John 17:17). Solomon adds, "Every word of God is pure"
( Proverbs 30:5), and David writes, "The words of the LORD are pure words, like
silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times" ( Psalm 12:6).
Psalm 119:17-18 states, "Deal bountifully with Your servant, that I may
live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your
law." The author of this psalm has the right idea. Asking God for guidance into
His Word should be our request each day. Understand, however, that it is one
thing to deem the Bible a great book because of its reputation-it is another to
study the Bible soberly, seeking for instruction in righteousness. This we must
do.
Solomon instructs us in Proverbs 2:1 on the necessary attitude toward
it: "My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you. . .
." We should treat God's Word like treasure, as something precious. We should
not treat it merely as something expensive but personally desired and used as
our guide to life. Possessing it in this manner is within reach if we stretch
ourselves or make sacrificial effort to have it. It is such a powerful tool
that we should approach it as if it is the pearl of great price. Yet, this
treasure is not something put in a safe-deposit vault and taken out only to
look at on rare occasions. We are to seek it so that it can produce success and
beneficial results in us. It is the most useful tool readily available to man
to guide him in the most important area of life-his relationships with God and
fellow man.
Verses 2-6 add a great deal of understanding about how vigorous and
persistent our efforts should be toward possessing the treasure of God's Word.
The phrase "incline your ear" (verse 2) pictures a person cocking his head and
cupping his ear with his hand while straining to hear-understand-more
distinctly. It depicts exerting physical effort, and the word "heart" shows we
must apply strenuous mental effort as well. Admittedly, God's Word is not
always easy to understand. It is a tool that requires varying levels of skill
to use. At times, we must research patiently and diligently in many areas of
Scripture to get as comprehensive a picture of its teaching on a given subject
as possible.
In verse 3, "cry out" more literally means "invite to come." It is
admonishing us to be open-minded as we research its pages. Our heart easily
deceives us through lifelong prejudices and biases because we have passively
accepted them as true. When God's Word challenges them, we are often moved to
defend them. "Lift up your voice" adds greater intensity to "cry out," showing
that we should not be passive regarding these biases. We need to search into
them sincerely, and if we find them to be wrong, reject them.
By reminding us that the things we consider to be valuable usually have
to be laboriously dug for and brought up from the depths, verse 4 urges us to
pursue the riches of God's Word seriously.
Verse 5 then introduces an exceedingly interesting and essential
principle we need to know for our growth. Proverbs 1:7 informs us, "The fear of
the LORD is the beginning of knowledge," but Proverbs 2:5 adds that the fear of
the Lord is also a goal in our search for wisdom. This is important to
understanding "knowing God" because the thrust of the Bible reveals that we can
only come to know Him by obeying Him, by striving to be morally perfect. The
fear of the Lord is a major motivator in producing conformity to Him and His
will. It helps us enormously to reverence Him deeply, and if we do, it will
result in sincere obedience from the heart. In this context, the Bible
essentially equates the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God.
Verse 6 confirms that God is the source of all ethical authority as
well as the blessings that flow from obedience to the knowledge of Him. The
preceding verses urge obedience to Him as the principle of life because it
results in knowing Him. Therefore, the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of God,
understanding, and wisdom are all part of the same spiritual "salad." They are
inextricably linked as necessary for those who want to please God and live the
abundant life He intends for His children. Though we can properly define them
as technically different from one another, in reality, they cannot be
separated. The glue that holds them together is obedience to what we already
know while we strive to improve all of them together. Verse 9 to the end of the
chapter expounds the benefits of our search for this treasure.
In Psalm 119, the author shows how many varied and distinct elements
are in fact linked in order to comprise a whole generally called "the law." The
same principle holds true of those elements of Proverbs 2:1-6. The psalmist
asks God to deal bountifully with him ( Psalm 119:17-18), so he can
keep-obey-what he learned as he searched out each element. This shows that we
need to consider the whole package in Proverbs 2:1-6 because each of these
elements draws on the others for support while simultaneously producing fruit
toward the others.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Offerings of Leviticus (Part One): Introduction
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