From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Joel 2:8 Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his
path.
Locusts always keep their rank, and although their number is legion, they do
not crowd upon each other, so as to throw their columns into confusion. This
remarkable fact in natural history shows how thoroughly the a Lord has infused
the spirit of order into His universe, since the smallest animate creatures are
as much controlled by it as are the rolling spheres or the seraphic messengers.
It would be wise for believers to be ruled by the same influence in all their
spiritual life. In their Christian graces no one virtue should usurp the sphere
of another, or eat out the vitals of the rest for its own support. Affection
must not smother honesty, courage must not elbow weakness out of the field,
modesty must not jostle energy, and patience must not slaughter resolution. So
also with our duties, one must not interfere with another; public usefulness
must not injure private piety; church work must not push family worship into a
corner. It is ill to offer God o ne duty stained with the blood of another.
Each thing is beautiful in its season, but not otherwise. It was to the
Pharisee that Jesus said, "This ought ye to have done, and not to have left the
other undone." The same rule applies to our personal position, we must take
care to know our place, take it, and keep to it. We must minister as the Spirit
has given us ability, and not intrude upon our fellow servant's domain. Our
Lord Jesus taught us not to covet the high places, but to be willing to be the
least among the brethren. Far from us be an envious, ambitious spirit, let us
feel the force of the Master's command, and do as He bids us, keeping rank with
the rest of the host. To-night let us see whether we are keeping the unity of
the Spirit in the bonds of peace, and let our prayer be that, in all the
churches of the Lord Jesus, peace and order may prevail.
Morning...
Deuteronomy 5:24 The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory.
God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory.
Any aim less than this were unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God
be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man's eye is not single, he
has ever a side glance towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his
own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is
clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there may be room for
God to be exalted; and this is the reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes
into straits and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly
and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when He comes
forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one even and smooth path,
will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of
self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness for being filled with the
revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know
but little of the God of tempests; but they who "do business in great waters,"
these see His "wonders in the deep." Among the huge Atlantic-waves of
bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah,
because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by
a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God's greatness
and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge
to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in
which Jehovah has set you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold
His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the
darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that
in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings
of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you.
Colossians 3:12-13
(12) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; (13) Forbearing
one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any:
even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
The very fact that Paul urges us to dress ourselves with these virtues
signifies that none of us has "arrived" spiritually. All of us are flawed,
deficient, and weak in some respects. As we yield and develop these virtues, we
must be forbearing and forgiving toward our brothers on the basis of Christ's
example of forbearance and mercy toward us. The enabling power of God's Spirit
is already within us, or this exhortation would be in vain.
It can be done if we will choose to humble ourselves and act when we
become aware of the need of a brother or of the church itself. God calls upon
us here not merely to act but to do it with affection. In all cases, we must
let our heart dictate to our hand, to let our most tender feelings encounter
the miseries of those in distress, just as Christ did in descending to clothe
Himself in clay. We need to let our feelings be at hand and readily touched
that we might open our hands wide in help.
This world has hardened us. We have seen so much arrogance and cruelty
that God warns that at the end people will be "without natural affection" (II
Timothy 3:3, KJV). We are this end-time generation, and we must go a long way
even to start to be like Christ in kindness. But we can do it! Perhaps we can
liken beginning to be like this to learning to swim by just "jumping in."
Kindness is something that we must develop, and we can do it because God has
already enabled us by His Spirit. This fruit is especially sweet tasting and a
major factor in producing unity.
Never forget God's character, His example, and this promise He has given
to us in Isaiah 54:10: "'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be
removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of
peace be removed,' says the Lord, who has mercy on you."
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The Fruit of the Spirit: Kindness
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daily devotional
Evening ...
1 Kings 18:40
Let not one of them escape.
When the prophet Elijah had received the answer to his prayer, and the fire
from heaven had consumed the sacrifice in the presence of all the people, he
called upon the assembled Israelites to take the priests of Baal, and sternly
cried, "Let not one of them escape." He took them all down to the brook Kishon,
and slew them there. So must it be with our sins-they are all doomed, not one
must be preserved. Our darling sin must die. Spare it not for its much crying.
Strike, though it be as dear as an Isaac. Strike, for God struck at sin when it
was laid upon His own Son. With stern unflinching purpose must you condemn to
death that sin which was once the idol of your heart. Do you ask how you are to
accomplish this? Jesus will be your power. You have grace to overcome sin given
you in the covenant of grace; you have strength to win the victory in the
crusade against inward lusts, because Christ Jesus has promised to be with you
even unto the end. If you would triumph over darkness, set yourself in the
presence of the Sun of Righteousness. There is no place so well adapted for the
discovery of sin, and recovery from its power and guilt, as the immediate
presence of God. Job never knew how to get rid of sin half so well as he did
when his eye of faith rested upon God, and then he abhorred himself, and
repented in dust and ashes. The fine gold of the Christian is oft becoming dim.
We need the sacred fire to consume the dross. Let us fly to our God, He is a
consuming fire; He will not consume our spirit, but our sins. Let the goodness
of God excite us to a sacred jealousy, and to a holy revenge against those
iniquities which are hateful in His sight. Go forth to battle with Amalek in
His strength, and utterly destroy the accursed crew: let not one of them escape.
Morning ...
Numbers 2:31
They shall go hindmost with their standards.
The camp of Dan brought up the rear when the armies of Israel were on the
march. The Danites occupied the hindmost place, but what mattered the position,
since they were as truly part of the host as were the foremost tribes; they
followed the same fiery cloudy pillar, they ate of the same manna, drank of the
same spiritual rock, and journeyed to the same inheritance. Come, my heart,
cheer up, though last and least; it is thy privilege to be in the army, and to
fare as they fare who lead the van. Some one must be hindmost in honour and
esteem, some one must do menial work for Jesus, and why should not I? In a poor
village, among an ignorant peasantry; or in a back street, among degraded
sinners, I will work on, and "go hindmost with my standard." The Danites
occupied a very useful place. Stragglers have to be picked up upon the march,
and lost property has to be gathered from the field. Fiery spirits may dash
forward over untrodden paths to learn fresh truth, and win more souls to Jesus;
but some of a more conservative spirit may be well engaged in reminding the
church of her ancient faith, and restoring her fainting sons. Every position
has its duties, and the slowly moving children of God will find their peculiar
state one in which they may be eminently a blessing to the whole host. The rear
guard is a place of danger. There are foes behind us as well as before us.
Attacks may come from any quarter. We read that Amalek fell upon Israel, and
slew some of the hindmost of them. The experienced Christian will find much
work for his weapons in aiding those poor doubting, desponding, wavering,
souls, who are hindmost in faith, knowledge, and joy. These must not be left
unaided, and therefore be it the business of well-taught saints to bear their
standards among the hindmost. My soul, do thou tenderly watch to help the
hindmost this day.
Revelation 11:3
(3) And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a
thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
"Clothed in sackcloth." II Kings 1:8 is the response of some people who
reported what they had seen to the king, Ahaziah: "So they answered him, 'A
hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist.' And he said, 'It is Elijah
the Tishbite." Matthew 3:4 describes John the Baptist: "Now John himself was
clothed in camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was
locust and wild honey." So Elijah and John the Baptist both wore sackcloth. In
a way, they are types of these Two Witnesses.
Being clothed in sackcloth has several meanings in the Bible. They are
all somewhat similar, but they have nuances that we need to consider.
Sackcloth was worn by those who were in mourning. Recall in Ezekiel 9
that the angel was supposed to mark all those who sighed and cried for all the
troubles of Jerusalem. That is a sign of woe, of mourning, or of being sorry
for the fall of this once great nation or for their sins.
Sackcloth also can mean repentance, as an outward sign of the inner
repentance of a person. Therefore it also has another meaning of being humble.
A repentant person should be a humble person. He has seen his sins and turned
from them.
Another meaning is austerity. This is one that the world often sees in
John the Baptist and Elijah, that they were "poor" men. However, that is not
necessarily the case. Austerity does not necessarily mean that one is poor. It
can mean though that a person leads a simple lifestyle, and that he has removed
the frills that complicate his life. Wearing sackcloth, then, could mean a
person has stripped down to the simplest essentials of his physical life.
Of course, the one that goes with this would then be poverty, yet not
necessarily physical poverty (a lack of money) but spiritual poverty (poor in
spirit). This is a fine way of looking at the wearing of sackcloth in the case
of the Two Witnesses—and frankly, of Elijah and John the Baptist. They were
ready to be filled and given the riches of God because they had considered
themselves lowly and needy. They knew they needed what only God could give.
They were poor in spirit.
However, all of these meanings could apply to the Two Witnesses: They
mourn for the troubles this world is going through; they are repentant and
humble; they are austere, not having any of the frills and complications that
clutter other people's lives—they have stripped themselves of the things that
would weigh them down so that they can run (Hebrews 12:1); and they are
certainly poor in spirit.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
From The Two Witnesses (Part 3)
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