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daily devotional
Evening...
Psalm 68:10 Thou, O God, hast prepared of Thy goodness for the poor.
All God's gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He
anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which He has treasured up in
Christ Jesus, He provides of His goodness for the poor. You may trust Him for
all the necessities that can occur, for He has infallibly foreknown every one
of them. He can say of us in all conditions, "I knew that thou wouldst be this
and that." A man goes a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day's
advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and
necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. "Ah!" says he, "I did not
foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things
with me, so necessary to my comfort." But God has marked with prescient eye all
the requirements of His poor wandering children, and when those needs occur,
supplies are ready. It is goodness which He has prepared for the poor in heart,
goodness and goodness only. "My grace is sufficient for thee." "As thy days, so
shall thy strength be." Reader, is your heart heavy this evening? God knew it
would be; the comfort which your heart wants is treasured in the sweet
assurance of the text. You are poor and needy, but He has thought upon you, and
has the exact blessing which you require in store for you. Plead the promise,
believe it and obtain its fulfillment. Do you feel that you never were so
consciously vile as you are now? Behold, the crimson fountain is open still,
with all its former efficacy, to wash your sin away. Never shall you come into
such a position that Christ cannot aid you. No pinch shall ever arrive in your
spiritual affairs in which Jesus Christ shall not be equal to the emergency,
for your history has all been foreknown and provided for in Jesus.
Morning...
Isaiah 30:18 Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you.
God often DELAYS IN ANSWERING PRAYER. We have several instances of this in
sacred Scripture. Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel until near the
dawn of day-he had to wrestle all night for it. The poor woman of Syrophenicia
was answered not a word for a long while. Paul besought the Lord thrice that
"the thorn in the flesh" might be taken from him, and he received no assurance
that it should be taken away, but instead thereof a promise that God's grace
should be sufficient for him. If thou hast been knocking at the gate of mercy,
and hast received no answer, shall I tell thee why the mighty Maker hath not
opened the door and let thee in? Our Father has reasons peculiar to Himself for
thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to show His power and His sovereignty,
that men may know that Jehovah has a right to give or to withhold. More
frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art perhaps kept waiting in order
that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows that delay will quicken and
increase desire, and that if He keeps thee waiting thou wilt see thy necessity
more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and that thou wilt prize the mercy
all the more for its long tarrying. There may also be something wrong in thee
which has need to be removed, before the joy of the Lord is given. Perhaps thy
views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou mayest be placing some little
reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply and entirely to the Lord Jesus.
Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that He may the more fully display the riches
of His grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all filed in heaven, and if not
immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten, but in a little while
shall be fulfilled to thy delight and satisfaction. Let not despair make thee
silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication.
Genesis 2:18
(18) And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be
alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Perhaps verse 18 could be rephrased as, "It is not good that man be
independent." Our God establishes principles and patterns in His Word from
which we can extract wisdom, the practical application of truth. Some of the
most basic and fundamental patterns for His purpose are established very early
in Genesis.
What is He showing here? That, in relation to God's purpose, the
most and the best will not be produced in us if we are alone. If we are
independent, we remove ourselves from the circumstances that will produce the
most toward His purpose. In this specific context, God is not commanding
everyone to marry, but He is clearly showing that marriage is better than
remaining single.
Everyone understands from his own experiences that the more people
who comprise a unit or community, the greater the number and intensity of
problems. This occurs largely because our carnality drives us to compete rather
than cooperate. Sometimes a person desires so strongly to be independent of
this kind of community relationship that he separates himself in order to be
completely free from the suspicions, distrust, offenses, and other hardships
that occur within a group. To put it another way, it is very similar to a
soldier running away from the battlefield to protect himself.
In its rawest form, it is selfishness and self-interest. It can be
a self-serving avoidance of being useful, of contributing steadfast strength
and encouragement, of being a right example to others or of being found wrong
and corrected. If nothing else, we are detaching ourselves from the unit to
which God intends we show allegiance and give service.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From In the Grip of Distrust
.
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daily devotional
Evening...
Colossians 3:24 Ye serve the Lord Christ.
To what choice order of officials was this word spoken? To kings who proudly
boast a right divine? Ah, no! too often do they serve themselves or Satan, and
forget the God whose sufferance permits them to wear their mimic majesty for
their little hour. Speaks then the apostle to those so-called "right reverend
fathers in God," the bishops, or "the venerable the archdeacons"? No, indeed,
Paul knew nothing of these mere inventions of man. Not even to pastors and
teachers, or to the wealthy and esteemed among believers, was this word spoken,
but to servants, ay, and to slaves. Among the toiling multitudes, the
journeymen, the day labourers, the domestic servants, the drudges of the
kitchen, the apostle found, as we find still, some of the Lord's chosen, and to
them he says, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto
men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance:
for ye serve the Lord Christ." This saying ennobles the weary routine of
earthly employments, and she ds a halo around the most humble occupations. To
wash feet may be servile, but to wash His feet is royal work. To unloose the
shoe-latchet is poor employ, but to unloose the great Master's shoe is a
princely privilege. The shop, the barn, the scullery, and the smithy become
temples when men and women do all to the glory of God! Then "divine service" is
not a thing of a few hours and a few places, but all life becomes holiness unto
the Lord, and every place and thing, as consecrated as the tabernacle and its
golden candlestick.
"Teach me, my God and King, in all things
Thee to see; And what I do in anything to do it as to Thee.
All may of Thee partake, nothing can be so mean,
Which with this tincture, for Thy sake, will not grow bright and clean.
A servant with this clause makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, makes that and the action fine."
Morning...
Habakkuk 3:6 His ways are everlasting.
What He hath done at one time, He will do yet again. Man's ways are variable,
but God's ways are everlasting. There are many reasons for this most comforting
truth: among them are the following-the Lord's ways are the result of wise
deliberation; He ordereth all things according to the counsel of His own will.
Human action is frequently the hasty result of passion, or fear, and is
followed by regret and alteration; but nothing can take the Almighty by
surprise, or happen otherwise than He has foreseen. His ways are the outgrowth
of an immutable character, and in them the fixed and settled attributes of God
are clearly to be seen. Unless the Eternal One Himself can undergo change, His
ways, which are Himself in action, must remain for ever the same. Is He
eternally just, gracious, faithful, wise, tender?-then His ways must ever be
distinguished for the same excellences. Beings act according to their nature:
when those natures change, their conduct varies also; but since God cannot know
the shadow of a turning, His ways will abide everlastingly the same. Moreover
there is no reason from without which could reverse the divine ways, since they
are the embodiment of irresistible might. The earth is said, by the prophet, to
be cleft with rivers, mountains tremble, the deep lifts up its hands, and sun
and moon stand still, when Jehovah marches forth for the salvation of His
people. Who can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest Thou? But it is not
might alone which gives stability; God's ways are the manifestation of the
eternal principles of right, and therefore can never pass away. Wrong breeds
decay and involves ruin, but the true and the good have about them a vitality
which ages cannot diminish. This morning let us go to our heavenly Father with
confidence, remembering that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and
for ever, and in Him the Lord is ever gracious to His people.
Revelation 3:17
(17) Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have
need of nothing'?and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind,
and naked?
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
From the beginning to the end of its history, Israel's great sin
was trying to get the best of both worlds. They professed that God was their
god, but they proved their insincerity by not honoring Him with their
attention, their time, their energy. He was low on their list of priorities.
God was always on the back burner, so to speak. This is idolatry.
In regard to Laodiceanism, we have to be concerned about the same
sin. Laodiceanism is the most subtle form of idolatry. A Laodicean is a
Christian who has turned inward. Though he is a part of the church of God, his
worship is self-centered. He worships himself and his interests in God's name,
while going through the motions of worshipping God. Such is idolatry. What sin
is the most distasteful to God? Undoubtedly, it is idolatry! And seeing that
sin so skillfully embedded in the Laodicean, He spews them out of His mouth!
Laodiceanism is also the most refined form of worldliness. That
worries God. Beginning with an attraction to the world, and building through
self-concern that overpowers spiritual concerns, the Laodicean unwittingly
worships himself in the place of God. The Laodicean has misjudged what is
important in life, and therefore he prioritizes wrongly. He gives his attention
to pursuits that are not intrinsically evil, things God desires to bless His
people with, but because his priorities are wrong, he merits God's scathing
condemnation.
Probably all of us have slumped into Laodiceanism somewhat. Because
it is so prevalent in the world, it is almost impossible to avoid. But it can
be resisted! We still have time for repentance. Each of us can make a greater
effort to study, pray, fast, grow in love for each other, unselfishly help our
neighbors, and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit while we have the time
and opportunity. We must not allow this opportunity to slip away.
John W. Ritenbaugh
From The World, the Church and Laodiceanism
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