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daily devotional
Evening...
Ruth 2:3
She gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part
of the field belonging unto Boaz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
Her hap was. Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident, but how divinely was it
overruled! Ruth had gone forth with her mother's blessing, under the care of
her mother's God, to humble but honourable toil, and the providence of God was
guiding her every step. Little did she know that amid the sheaves she would
find a husband, that he should make her the joint owner of all those broad
acres, and that she a poor foreigner should become one of the progenitors of
the great Messiah. God is very good to those who trust in Him, and often
surprises them with unlooked for blessings. Little do we know what may happen
to us to-morrow, but this sweet fact may cheer us, that no good thing shall be
withheld. Chance is banished from the faith of Christians, for they see the
hand of God in everything. The trivial events of to-day or to-morrow may
involve consequences of the highest importance. O Lord, deal as graciously with
Thy servants as Thou didst with Ruth. How blessed would it be, if, in wandering
in the field of meditation to-night, our hap should be to light upon the place
where our next Kinsman will reveal Himself to us! O Spirit of God, guide us to
Him. We would sooner glean in His field than bear away the whole harvest from
any other. O for the footsteps of His flock, which may conduct us to the green
pastures where He dwells! This is a weary world when Jesus is away-we could
better do without sun and moon that without Him-but how divinely fair all
things become in the glory of His presence! Our souls know the virtue which
dwells in Jesus, and can never be content without Him. We will wait in prayer
this night until our hap shall be to light on a part of the field belonging to
Jesus wherein He will manifest Himself to us.
Revelation 14:11-12
(11) And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and
they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and
whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (12) Here is the patience of the
saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus.
The mark of the Beast identifies those who are devoted to the Beast. They
have given their lives in worship and obedience to him, and have received his
mark. The Beast will be the leader of the new world order now forming. And
ironically-tragically-members of God's church are now being led back to that
world and away from keeping His commandments.
Our responsibility remains clear, however. God's Word identifies the
distinctive difference between those who worship Him and those who worship the
Beast. Those who worship God keep His commandments. We must do everything in
our power to keep from sinking into the same spiritual vortex that has already
swallowed so many. Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good! Keep
God's Ten Commandments-all of them!
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Damnable Heresies
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
"The church in thy house."
Philemon 2
Is there a Church in this house? Are parents, children, friends, servants, all
members of it? or are some still unconverted? Let us pause here and let the
question go round-Am I a member of the Church in this house? How would father's
heart leap for joy, and mother's eyes fill with holy tears if from the eldest
to the youngest all were saved! Let us pray for this great mercy until the Lord
shall grant it to us. Probably it had been the dearest object of Philemon's
desires to have all his household saved; but it was not at first granted him in
its fulness. He had a wicked servant, Onesimus, who, having wronged him, ran
away from his service. His master's prayers followed him, and at last, as God
would have it, Onesimus was led to hear Paul preach; his heart was touched, and
he returned to Philemon, not only to be a faithful servant, but a brother
beloved, adding another member to the Church in Philemon's house. Is there an
unconverted servant or child absent this morning? Make special supplication
that such may, on their return to their home, gladden all hearts with good news
of what grace has done! Is there one present? Let him partake in the same
earnest entreaty.
If there be such a Church in our house, let us order it well, and let all act
as in the sight of God. Let us move in the common affairs of life with studied
holiness, diligence, kindness, and integrity. More is expected of a Church than
of an ordinary household; family worship must, in such a case, be more devout
and hearty; internal love must be more warm and unbroken, and external conduct
must be more sanctified and Christlike. We need not fear that the smallness of
our number will put us out of the list of Churches, for the Holy Spirit has
here enrolled a family-church in the inspired book of remembrance. As a Church
let us now draw nigh to the great head of the one Church universal, and let us
beseech him to give us grace to shine before men to the glory of his name.
"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be."
Matthew 24:39
Universal was the doom, neither rich nor poor escaped: the learned and the
illiterate, the admired and the abhorred, the religious and the profane, the
old and the young, all sank in one common ruin. Some had doubtless ridiculed
the patriarch-where now their merry jests? Others had threatened him for his
zeal which they counted madness-where now their boastings and hard speeches?
The critic who judged the old man's work is drowned in the same sea which
covers his sneering companions. Those who spoke patronizingly of the good man's
fidelity to his convictions, but shared not in them, have sunk to rise no more,
and the workers who for pay helped to build the wondrous ark, are all lost
also. The flood swept them all away, and made no single exception. Even so, out
of Christ, final destruction is sure to every man of woman born; no rank,
possession, or character, shall suffice to save a single soul who has not
believed in the Lord Jesus. My soul, behold this wide-spread judgment and
tremble at it.
How marvellous the general apathy! they were all eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, till the awful morning dawned. There was not one wise
man upon earth out of the ark. Folly duped the whole race, folly as to
self-preservation-the most foolish of all follies. Folly in doubting the most
true God-the most malignant of fooleries. Strange, my soul, is it not? All men
are negligent of their souls till grace gives them reason, then they leave
their madness and act like rational beings, but not till then.
All, blessed be God, were safe in the ark, no ruin entered there. From the huge
elephant down to the tiny mouse all were safe. The timid hare was equally
secure with the courageous lion, the helpless cony as safe as the laborious ox.
All are safe in Jesus. My soul, art thou in him?
John 17:3
(3) And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
John 17:6
(6) I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of
the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy
word.
John 17:11
(11) And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I
come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast
given me, that they may be one, as we are.
John 17:26
(26) And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the
love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.
He refers to God's name three times in this brief and exceedingly
important prayer! The name represents what He spent His ministry revealing to
us about God. He keeps us through His name both by our trusting in what it
means and our obedience to how it shows we should live.
He defines eternal life as "to know God." "Know" suggests a very close
intimacy, just as a husband and wife are intimate in marriage ( Genesis 4:1).
It indicates experiential knowledge, not theoretical. In Amos 5:4, God
exclaims, "Seek Me and live!" He is saying, "Turn to Me and My way of life;
seek to know Me," not "Search for Me," because He has already revealed Himself
to us. He is saying, "Seek to know Me by living the same way I do." That is how
experiential knowledge of Him becomes an intimate knowing of Him. He will walk
with such people ( Amos 3:3).
Aionis, the word translated "eternal," deals less with duration of life
(although it is included), than it does with quality of life. Living endlessly
is not necessarily good. Would anyone want to live forever with a demon's
quality of life? True eternal life is the life of God. To possess it means
experiencing now some of its splendor because it is being lived and producing
its glorious fruits.
Psalm 9:10 adds, "And those who know Your name will put their trust in
You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Those living by
faith do not trust in what He is called, for that would be mere superstition.
Their faith is in what He is, His character and nature, which they have
experienced by seeking to live His way.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Third Commandment
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