From: Suzianty Herawati "Your heavenly Father." --Matthew 6:26
God's people are doubly His children, they are His offspring by creation, and they are His sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call Him, "Our Father which art in heaven." Father! Oh, what precious word is that. Here is authority: "If I be a Father, where is mine honour?" If ye be sons, where is your obedience? Here is affection mingled with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion; an obedience demanded which is most cheerfully rendered--which would not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which God's children yield to Him must be loving obedience. Do not go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmaster's toil, but run in the way of His commands because it is your Father's way. Yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is your Father's will, and His will should be the will of His child. Father !--Here is a kingly attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the King's crown is forgotten in the King's face, and His sceptre becomes, not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy--the sceptre indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of Him who wields it. Father!--Here is honour and love. How great is a Father's love to his children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a father's heart and hand must do for his sons. They are his offspring, he must bless them; they are his children, he must show himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word--Father! There is all I can ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say, "Father." CH Spurgeon ====================================================== From: Suzianty Herawati "I have prayed for thee." --Luke 22:32 How encouraging is the thought of the Redeemer's never- ceasing intercession for us. When we pray, He pleads for us; and when we are not praying, He is advocating our cause, and by His supplications shielding us from unseen dangers. Notice the word of comfort addressed to Peter--"Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat; but"--what? "But go and pray for yourself." That would be good advice, but it is not so written. Neither does he say, "But I will keep you watchful, and so you shall be preserved." That were a great blessing. No, it is, "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." We little know what we owe to our Saviour's prayers. When we reach the hill-tops of heaven, and look back upon all the way whereby the Lord our God hath led us, how we shall praise Him who, before the eternal throne, undid the mischief which Satan was doing upon earth. How shall we thank Him because He never held His peace, but day and night pointed to the wounds upon His hands, and carried our names upon His breastplate! Even before Satan had begun to tempt, Jesus had forestalled him and entered a plea in heaven. Mercy outruns malice. Mark, He does not say, "Satan hath desired to have you." He checks Satan even in his very desire, and nips it in the bud. He does not say, "But I have desired to pray for you." No, but "I have prayed for you: I have done it already; I have gone to court and entered a counterplea even before an accusation is made." O Jesus, what a comfort it is that thou hast pleaded our cause against our unseen enemies; countermined their mines, and unmasked their ambushes. Here is a matter for joy, gratitude, hope, and confidence. CH Spurgeon =================================================== From: Bayo Afolaranmi Dearly Beloved, DETERMINE TO BE DISTINCT! "When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away" (Genesis 5:21-24, NIV). "So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking" (Ephesians 4:17, NIV). Genesis Chapter Five is one of such boring chapters in the Bible. It contains the list of people that lived and died for nothing spectacular. In this list is the story of a man that was distinct-Enoch. He lived the shortest time of all the people in the list, but he lived with a purpose, and the chroniclers of the Holy Scriptures recognized it. Twice in the less than five verses that were devoted to him, it was recorded that he walked with God for most part of his years. A Bible commentator put it thus: "[Enoch] walked in the name and fear of God, according to His will, in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord then made known; he walked by faith in the promises of God, and in the view of the Messiah, the promised seed; he walked uprightly and sincerely, as in the sight of God; he had familiar converse, and near and intimate communion with Him.." In the Bible, another phrase for "to walk" is "to live." Enoch distinguished himself from the other people in the list by living his life for God. God rewarded him in His own way. The nature of this reward has become a subject of controversy among Bible scholars. However, what matters here is that God took note of Enoch's distinction and rewarded him for it. God is looking for people that will distinguish themselves in this perverse world by walking with Him. He wants people that will determine to walk or live in His fear and will, walk or live in all His commandments and ordinances, walk or live by faith and total trust in Him, walk or live uprightly and sincerely, and walk or live in intimate communion with Him. He is ready to reward such people accordingly. Will you be one of such people? This year, determine to be distinct! In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
