From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
daily devotional
Evening...
Acts 1:8
And ye shall be witnesses unto Me.
In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at
His example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple
of Jerusalem: by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain's brow. He is
witnessing night and day; His mighty prayers are as vocal to God as His daily
services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and Pharisees cannot
shut His mouth; even before Pilate He witnesses a good confession. He witnesses
so clearly, and distinctly that there is no mistake in Him. Christian, make
your life a clear testimony. Be you as the brook wherein you may see every
stone at the bottom-not as the muddy creek, of which you only see the
surface-but clear and transparent, so that your heart's love to God and man may
be visible to all. You need not say, "I am true:" be true. Boast not of
integrity, but be upright. So shall your testimony be such that men cannot help
seeing it. Never, for fear of feeble man, restrain your witness. Your lips have
been warmed with a coal from off the altar; let them speak as like
heaven-touched lips should do. "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening
withhold not thine hand." Watch not the clouds, consult not the wind-in season
and out of season witness for the Saviour, and if it shall come to pass that
for Christ's sake and the gospel's you shall endure suffering in any shape,
shrink not, but rejoice in the honour thus conferred upon you, that you are
counted worthy to suffer with your Lord; and joy also in this-that your
sufferings, your losses, and persecutions shall make you a platform, from which
the more vigorously and with greater power you shall witness for Christ Jesus.
Study your great Exemplar, and be filled with His Spirit. Remember that you
need much teaching, much upholding, much grace, and much humility, if your
witnessing is to be to your Master's glory.
Hebrews 10:19-22
(19) Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the
blood of Jesus, (20) By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (21) And having an high priest
over the house of God; (22) Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water.
Praying to the Father, through Jesus Christ, brings us into the presence
of the most holy, positive, righteous, peaceful, serving, giving, humble,
merciful, and unchanging attitudes and character that exist in the entire
universe! The notes at Psalm 16:11 demonstrate a simplified effect of this in
how the attitudes of people we spend time with affect us. Whether that person's
attitude is positive or negative, unless we resist or our attitude is strong,
our attitude tends to echo the strength of the other's attitudes. If the other
is personally close to us-especially if we deem the relationship important to
us-the effect of the transfer of attitudes intensifies. Similarly, physical
nearness also intensifies the effect.
This is why men reflect Satan's spirit. Satan "broadcasts" it over our
entire environment here on earth, thus, we are always "near" it. In fact, God
has willed that at this time it have no strong competition among the
unconverted. Even we cannot entirely escape its influence; even when in God's
presence we can bring that spirit with us.
Notice that Hebrews 10:22 says, "[L]et us draw near. . . ." Nearness
enhances the transfer of the qualities of God's Spirit, and He greatly desires
we have these qualities because they will make us like Him. Being in His
presence is a primary way this is accomplished. This is why a person can leave
God's presence in prayer at peace, full of joy, or filled with confidence-or on
the other hand, chastened, having been led to remorse and repentance. Drawing
near to God has little to do with distance and everything to do with deepening
our relationship with Him. As this occurs, prayer begins to change things-us.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Sovereignty of God: Part Nine
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daily devotional
Evening...
Psalm 68:28
Strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.
It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God continually to
strengthen that which He has wrought in us. It is because of their neglect in
this, that many Christians may blame themselves for those trials and
afflictions of spirit which arise from unbelief. It is true that Satan seeks to
flood the fair garden of the heart and make it a scene of desolation, but it is
also true that many Christians leave open the sluice-gates themselves, and let
in the dreadful deluge through carelessness and want of prayer to their strong
Helper. We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Preserver of
it also. The lamp which was burning in the temple was never allowed to go out,
but it had to be daily replenished with fresh oil; in like manner, our faith
can only live by being sustained with the oil of grace, and we can only obtain
this from God Himself. Foolish virgins we shall prove, if we do not secure the
needed sustenance for our lamps. He who built the world upholds it, or it would
fall in one tremendous crash; He who made us Christians must maintain us by His
Spirit, or our ruin will be speedy and final. Let us, then, evening by evening,
go to our Lord for the grace and strength we need. We have a strong argument to
plead, for it is His own work of grace which we ask Him to strengthen-"that
which Thou hast wrought for us." Think you He will fail to protect and sustain
that? Only let your faith take hold of His strength, and all the powers of
darkness, led on by the master fiend of hell, cannot cast a cloud or shadow
over your joy and peace. Why faint when you may be strong? Why suffer defeat
when you may conquer? Oh! take your wavering faith and drooping graces to Him
who can revive and replenish them, and earnestly pray, "Strengthen, O God, that
which thou hast wrought for us."
Revelation 3:14
(14) And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the
creation of God;
Jesus Christ calls Himself "the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness. . .
." We say, "Amen," at the end of a prayer. What is "amen"? It affirms that the
prayer is true and one agrees with it. Here Jesus is the Amen. Descriptive
terms follow it to help us understand-He is a "Faithful and True Witness."
Christ is the faithful and true witness of God-His example is an exact
representation of what God would be like if He were a man. Already, He is
contrasting Himself with the Laodicean and what He finds so distasteful. They
are faithless in carrying out their responsibilities to Christ. They are
lukewarm-good for nothing but vomiting.
We have been called to be witnesses. Through the prophet Isaiah, God
says, "[Y]ou are My witnesses . . . that I am God" ( Isaiah 43:12). He has made
witnessing our responsibility. We witness with our lives, but the Laodicean
fails miserably as a witness because he is so worldly. The only witness Christ
gets out of him is that he is worldly, which is spiritually useless.
The illustration described here is as if the Laodiceans were on trial and
Christ, the Faithful and True Witness, is testifying against them. As the
Source of all creation, He is not fooled by their diplomacy and compromise: He
sees their witness is unfaithful and untrue. In fact, the word Laodicea means
"judgment of the people," and the entire letter is a study in contrasting
judgments, the Laodicean's and God's. The physical man looks at his material
and social circumstances and evaluates himself as spiritually sound. On the
other hand, the spiritual God looks at the same person and sees spiritual
poverty.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The World, the Church and Laodiceanism
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