From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Morning...
Philippians 1:21
For me to live is Christ.
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the
Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the
dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new
and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the
one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we
have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for Him; to His
glory we would live, and in defence of His gospel we would die; He is the
pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our
character. Paul's words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim
and end of his life was Christ-nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of
an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his
very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his
life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea?
Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business-are you
doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self-aggrandizement and for family
advantage? Do you ask, "Is that a mean reason?" For the Christian it is. He
professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without
committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle in
some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for
Christ as the apostle did? Yet,this alone is the true life of a Christian-its
source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one
word-Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only
in Thee and to Thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough
and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, "Ready for
either."
January 7
Evening...
Song of Solomon 4:12
My sister, my spouse.
Observe the sweet titles with which the heavenly Solomon with intense
affection addresses His bride the church. "My sister, one near to me by ties of
nature, partaker of the same sympathies. My spouse, nearest and dearest, united
to me by the tenderest bands of love; my sweet companion, part of my own self.
My sister, by my Incarnation, which makes me bone of thy bone and flesh of thy
flesh; my spouse, by heavenly betrothal, in which I have espoused thee unto
myself in righteousness. My sister, whom I knew of old, and over whom I watched
from her earliest infancy; my spouse, taken from among the daughters, embraced
by arms of love, and affianced unto me for ever. See how true it is that our
royal Kinsman is not ashamed of us, for He dwells with manifest delight upon
this two-fold relationship. We have the word "my" twice in our version; as if
Christ dwelt with rapture on His possession of His Church. "His delights were
with the sons of men," because those sons of men were His own chosen ones. He,
the Shepherd, sought the sheep, because they were His sheep; He has gone about
"to seek and to save that which was lost," because that which was lost was His
long before it was lost to itself or lost to Him. The church is the exclusive
portion of her Lord; none else may claim a partnership, or pretend to share her
love. Jesus, thy church delights to have it so! Let every believing soul drink
solace out of these wells. Soul! Christ is near to thee in ties of
relationship; Christ is dear to thee in bonds of marriage union, and thou art
dear to Him; behold He grasps both of thy hands with both His own, saying, "My
sister, my spouse." Mark the two sacred holdfasts by which thy Lord gets such a
double hold of thee that He neither can nor will ever let thee go. Be not, O
beloved, slow to return the hallowed flame of His love.
Psalms 119:165
(165) Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend
them.
Psalms 119:49-50
(49) Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me
to hope. (50) This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened
me.
Psalms 119:63
(63) I am a companion of all them that fear thee, and of them that keep
thy precepts.
Some modern translations will replace the last phrase with something
akin to "nothing can make them stumble." Nothing can entice them to sin, nor
can the sins of others cause them to fall.
As a fruit, the love of God's instruction—paying attention to and
keeping His law—produces peace, which is a wonderful, strong sense of
well-being, stability, and confident assurance in what we already have. Thus,
the enticement to go another way holds no attraction. Why exchange something we
have proven to be eternally good for something else of very nebulous and
doubtful short-term value?
The psalmist writes in verse 49, "Remember the word to your servant,
upon which You have caused me to hope." Why turn aside from a way that gives
hope? "This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life. .
. . I am a companion of all those who fear You, and of those who keep Your
precepts" (verses 50, 63). Peace, hope, comfort in affliction, fellowship with
wonderful, like-minded people also submitting to God, and life all come as a
result of loving God's law. In other verses, he adds delight, understanding,
and wisdom.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Defense Against Offense
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