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GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION
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Topic: GRACE AND THE TRUTH - DAILY INSPIRATION (Read 375972 times)
nChrist
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THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
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Reply #690 on:
February 28, 2008, 09:48:30 PM »
THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION
By JOHN McKAY, Pastor
Scripture Reading: II Corinthians 5:18-20
God has revealed through Paul that He is satisfied with what Christ Jesus has accomplished on the cross. No longer are we kept away from God by His separation from us. In the Old Testament, man did not have direct access to God. Man was kept at a distance by many things including the tabernacle - temple system of isolation. The death of the Lord Jesus has reconciled mankind to God. But even as two in a fight are not friends when one is still unreconciled, so we are not friends with the Father unless we accept the reconciliation which Christ provides.
In the Bible text before us, the Apostle Paul says to vacillating Corinthians, "Be ye reconciled to God." The Lord has done the work of reconciliation, but we are not friends and our alienation is not removed unless we believe that He died for us.
Since the Lord will not take the unreconciled believer into fellowship with Himself, we, too, should learn the lesson that the ministry of reconciliation does not involve bringing the unchanged unbeliever into fellowship with the saints. The ministry of reconciliation is important; the practice of separation is also important. Separation does not limit or narrow one's true ministry. Before the clear statement of separation in II Cor. 6:14-18, the Apostle declares that he --- as separated --- is enlarged. The Corinthians were straitened (restricted) by their failure. They were to be enlarged, but not by forsaking the principles of separation.
We, with the Corinthians, need both the ministry of reconciliation and the practice of separation. They must go together for fullness of our reward.
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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A HOLY TEMPLE
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Reply #691 on:
February 28, 2008, 09:50:23 PM »
A HOLY TEMPLE
By ROBERT E. HANNA, Pastor
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:21, 22
Individually and collectively, the members of the Body of Christ constitute the temple of the Holy Spirit of God. We need not await a divine visitation or a miraculous sign; the indwelling Spirit is ever present. "Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? ... He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's" (l Cor. 6:15, 17, 19,20).
Not only so, but we are the permanent abiding place of the Holy Spirit. Pity the saint of God who is ignorant of the priceless gift of life eternal. There is no power in heaven or earth capable of snatching away our certified citizenship in glory. " ..... After that ye believed, ye were sealed [in Christ] with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest (assurance or pledge) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory" (Eph. I:13,l4).
The work of Christ to secure our heavenly position, is finished. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who HATH blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as He HATH chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world ... having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself...wherein He HATH made us accepted in the beloved" (Eph. 1:3-6).
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD
«
Reply #692 on:
March 01, 2008, 09:50:40 PM »
STEWARDS OF THE MYSTERIES OF GOD
IVAN L. BURGENER, PASTOR
Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 4: 1
"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful."
What is a steward? We used to have them on railroad trains --- Oh yes, on ocean ships as well. But was Paul one of these? While Paul was the servant of all he was far more than a baggage handler. The word steward means the same as "administrator" or "dispenser." It describes one who manages the property or wealth of another.
The Bible gives examples of stewards: There were stewards, faithful and wise, a certain "rich man, which had a steward," and "Erastus the chamberlain [steward) of the city. These men were all administrators of property belonging to others. They were to dispense the wealth according to the dictates of the wealthy men they served. From this it is easy to see the importance of "faithfulness" as the chief virtue of a steward. It matters little what or how the steward thought things ought to be done. He was to do the wishes of the one he served.
Now Paul was just such a steward. God had revealed the riches of His grace to Paul in a very distinct and new way. Never before had God told any of His esteemed servants or prophets anything about the secrets He told Paul. Having been therefore entrusted with such a treasure, Paul had a duty to "make known the riches of His grace". This was Paul's stewardship. This was his administration, that is, this was the new program God had commissioned him to carry out. No wonder he said, "necessity is laid upon me" (9:16). If Paul alone had been given the revelation, who else could make it known? And again, "a dispensation of the gospel is committed to me" (9:17).
Our stewardship today is to promote and make known that administration given to Paul!
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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HEART OF THE MATTER
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Reply #693 on:
March 01, 2008, 09:52:11 PM »
HEART OF THE MATTER
By Miles Stanford
"That I may know Him" (Phil. 3:10).
Immaturity is selfish; maturity is selfless. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). "The question for the tried and tempted, the harassed and oppressed, is this: 'Which would you rather have, the power of Christ's hand in deliverance from trial, or the sympathy of His heart in the midst of trial?' The carnal mind, the unsubdued heart, the restless spirit, will, no doubt, at once exclaim, 'Oh! let Him only put forth His power and deliver me from this insupportable trial, this intolerable burden, this crushing difficulty. I sigh for deliverance. I only want deliverance.'
"But the spiritual mind, the subdued heart, the lowly spirit, will say, and that without a single particle of reserve, 'Let me only enjoy the sweet company of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in my trial, and I ask no more. I do not want even the power of His hand to deprive me of one drop of consolation supplied by the tender love and profound sympathy of His heart. I know He can deliver me, but if He does not see fit to do so, if it does not fall in with His unsearchable counsels, and harmonize with His wise and faithful purpose concerning me so to do, I know it is only to lead me into a deeper and richer realization of His most precious sympathy.''' - C.H.M.
"The same faith that sees glory for us at the end of the path sees God for us all through the path. This is the secret of real strength. What unbelief does is to compare ourselves and our own strength with circumstances. What faith does is to compare God with circumstances."
"For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" (II Cor.1:5).
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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LIFE'S PURPOSE
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Reply #694 on:
March 03, 2008, 09:23:45 AM »
LIFE'S PURPOSE
By Miles Stanford
"For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9).
Our Lord the Vine provides all that His branches will ever need for fruit-bearing. All provision is according to our Father's riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:19).
"Christian growth is the becoming real in ourselves, of what is already true of us in the Lord Jesus. 'I am the vine, ye are the branches,' He says. But the vine furnishes the branches, not only with the principle of life, but with the type of life. No pressure or molding from without is needed to shape them to the pattern of the parent stock. Every minutest peculiarity of form, and color, and taste, and fragrance is determined by the root, and developed from it. A true believer, therefore, will ask no better thing of the Lord than that the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in his body (II Cor. 4:11). For such a manifestation will, by a necessary principle, be the unfolding within him of every needed element of joy and sorrow, of suffering and triumph." - A.J.G .
"Straining, driving effort does not accomplish the work God gives a man to do; we must partake of Christ so fully that He more than fills the life. It will then be not overwork but overflow."
"And ye are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col. 2:10).
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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RELENTLESS PURPOSE
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Reply #695 on:
March 04, 2008, 08:33:32 AM »
RELENTLESS PURPOSE
By Miles Stanford
"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him" (II Chron. 16:9).
All of God's thoughts concerning us are centered in His Son, where He has placed us. Hence they are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil" (Jer. 29:11). Others may do evil against us, but our Father turns it into our good, for Jesus' sake.
"The purpose of God is that through the conditions and sufferings of my life should develop in me the features of His Son. On the one hand, the features of the old creation may be seen to be more and more terrible and horrible, as I recognize them in myself; but over against that God is doing something which is other than my old self. He is bringing into being Another, altogether other, and that is His Son, my new life. Slowly, seemingly all too slowly; never-the-less something is developing. The sonship is not very much in evidence yet, but it is going to be manifested. What God has been doing will come out into the light eventually --- conformity to the image of His Son." --- T. A-S.
"Afflictions are in the hands of the Holy Spirit to effect the softening of the heart in order to receive heavenly impression. Job said, 'God maketh my heart soft' (Job 23:16). As the wax in its natural hard state cannot take the impress of the signet, and needs to be melted to render it susceptible, so the believer is by trials prepared to receive, and made to bear, the divine likeness."
"Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Col. 2:7).
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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FACT FINDING
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Reply #696 on:
March 05, 2008, 08:39:40 AM »
FACT FINDING
By Miles Stanford
"Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord" (II Pet. 1:2).
We cannot too highly value and appreciate heart-hunger for the Word. It is of the Spirit of Truth. We may have been born again without knowing much of the Bible, but we certainly are not going to grow to any extent apart from a careful and persistent study of the Word of God. Yes, the maturing believer is a Spirit --- dependent student of the Scriptures, "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature" (II Pet. 1.4).
"Christian progress is not a question of attaining to some abstract standard, or of pressing through to some far-off goal. It is wholly a question of seeing God's standard in God's Word. You advance spiritually by finding out what you really are (in Christ), not by trying to become what you hope to be. That goal you will never reach, however earnestly you may strive.
"It is when you see you are dead unto sin that you die to it (daily); it is when you see you are risen that you arise; it is when you see you are a 'new creation' in Him that you (progressively) grow. Seeing the accomplished fact in the Word determines the pathway to the realizing of that fact. The end is reached by seeing, not by desiring or working. The only possibility of spiritual progress lies in our discovering the truth as God sees it; the truth concerning Christ, the truth concerning ourselves in Christ." -W.N.
"Come and see the works of God" (Ps. 66:5 ).
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/
If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST
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Reply #697 on:
March 05, 2008, 10:15:32 PM »
THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF CHRIST
By DONALD W. WEFFALD,
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:8
Paul said, "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph. 3:8 ). We might wish to dispute with him about being "the least of all saints" but who can argue with him about the "riches of Christ?" Spiritual wealth, of course, is what is meant and indeed, in Christ "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:3). And how wonderful it is that poor believing sinners "have redemption through His (Christ's blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His (God's) grace" (Eph. 1:7).
But Paul said, "unsearchable riches." What are those "unsearchable riches?" In the Greek, the word "unsearchable" is anexichniaston and means literally, "not to be tracked out" (Gingrich). It is found in only one other place in the New Testament, Romans 11:33, where it is translated "past finding out." The riches that Paul preached among the Gentiles cannot be "tracked out." But what riches are they? The context is the best clue. One such clue is the fact that it has to do with what he preached among the Gentiles. He had just been discussing the "mystery" in which "the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel" (Eph. 3:6). He has reference to the "mystery of Christ" (Eph. 3:4), which was revealed to him (Eph. 3:3) and not revealed in previous ages --- "not made known unto the sons of men" (Eph. 3:5). This "mystery" of the Jew and Gentile in one Body was hid in God" (Eph. 3:9) and so cannot be "tracked out in the Old Testament Scriptures.
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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REVEALED BY THE SPIRIT
«
Reply #698 on:
March 07, 2008, 12:15:37 PM »
REVEALED BY THE SPIRIT
By RALPH BALOG
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:5
For nearly 2,000 years members of the Body of Christ have received spiritual insight and blessings by reading the Word of God. The Word of God was written by the Spirit of God (II Tim. 3:16). So it is the Holy Spirit, since the time of the apostle Paul, Who reveals truths from His Word for the Body of Christ. The key word in Eph. 3:5 is NOW.
Paul, however, was confronted "face to face" with the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ in the heavenlies (II Cor. 12: 1-4). From Him, Paul received the many revelations which became his "epistles" to the churches of that day and also our direct instructions for today.
Question? If all members of the Body of Christ are indwelt by the same Holy Spirit of Christ, how is it we have numerous denominations all claiming to teach the truth? Answer! The Holy Spirit never reveals anything apart from His holy Word, RIGHTLY DIVIDED, so all denominations are wrong!
God in II Tim. 2:15 is telling us how we may be approved workmen, through whom the Spirit can reveal truths to bless us and cause us to walk worthy of our vocation as ambassadors for Christ.
Let no man deceive you with vain words. The Holy Spirit gives no special revelations to mankind today. Nor does the Lord Jesus Christ "walk with you and TALK with you." Sorry, but hymnology is not proper theology. God speaks only through His Word as we read it and the Spirit applies it to our heart.
We must read the Word and allow it to saturate our thinking. Then the Spirit of God has something upon which to act to cause us to become more and more into the likeness, spiritually, of our blessed Head, the Lord Jesus Christ.
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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NEED, THEN SUPPLY
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March 07, 2008, 11:45:55 PM »
NEED, THEN SUPPLY
By Miles Stanford
"Not as though I had already attained ... but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12).
The heavenly Husbandman develops a believer on the same principle that He does a tree: planting, growth, consolidation, rest, and then more growth. There are stages. We are shown our sin and need - self. Then we hunger for freedom and life -- Christ. This is a progression. At first, we consider the shocking revelation of self the greatest of calamities; later, we realize that it is the pathway to the blessed revelation of our life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Before we can take on the likeness of the Lord Jesus, we must see ourselves and know how we look; we must be brought into the place where we are not dismayed nor cast down when we discover how little we are conformed to His image. It is only as we see our need, that we can be supplied." - C.McI.
"It does us no good, but only discourages us if we see our failures and shortages and do not behold the beauty of Christ, and apprehend and experience our sufficiency in Him. On the other hand, if we see only what we are in Him and do not discern our defects; if we do not apprehend that which must be appropriated and worked out in us; if we do not see all that must be put off, and that Christ must be put on in actual control and manifestation, we become self-satisfied and puffed up --- we lose our invaluable 'need.''' - C.McI.
"I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Phil. 3:8, Wms.).
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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ABIDING FAITH
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Reply #700 on:
March 10, 2008, 01:03:57 AM »
ABIDING FAITH
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him" (Col. 2:6).
One day we came to Him in utter need and reliance, and received life. Every day we are to abide in Him in utter need and reliance, that He may live that life in and through us. We are born again by faith, and we are to live anew by faith. "He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
'There are earnest Christians who are zealous for a free Gospel, with acceptance of Christ, and justification by faith alone. But after this they think everything depends on their diligence and faithfulness. While they firmly grasp the truth, 'justified by faith,' they have hardly noticed the larger truth, 'the just shall live by faith.' They have not yet understood what a perfect Saviour the Lord Jesus is, and how He will each day do for the sinner just as much as He did the first day when they came to Him.
"They know not that the life of grace is always and only a life of faith, and that in the relationship to the Lord Jesus the one daily and unceasing duty of the disciple is to believe, because believing is the one channel through which Divine grace and strength can flow into the heart of man. The old nature of the believer remains evil and sinful to the last; it is only as he daily comes, all empty and helpless, to his Saviour to receive of His life and strength, that he can bring forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God." - A.M.
"Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Col. 2:7).
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/
If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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UNITY OF DESIGN
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Reply #701 on:
March 10, 2008, 01:05:56 AM »
UNITY OF DESIGN
By Miles Stanford
"So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death" (Phil. 1:20).
If we look to other Christians as examples to follow, we will soon be discouraged by the prevailing low standard. If we look to Christ as our example, we will be utterly discouraged because of His infinitely high standard. Hence it is essential that we understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is our life; He is not a legal example to emulate, but the source of life from which we grow.
"It is not in any conventional standard of frames and feelings that the disciple is to find the measure of attainment required of him. It is not by any painful reproducing of another's spiritual history that he is to acquire the true comfort of spirit which he longs for. Outward imitation, though it be of the perfect Example Himself, ha little place in the order of spiritual growth ---- little place because little possibility. 'Without Me (i.e, apart from Me, in separation from Me) ye can do nothing.' To abide in Christ is the only secret of Christlikeness; for only thus is obtained the likeness of unity, which is perfect and enduring, instead of the likeness of conformity, which is only partial and transient." - A.J.G.
"In the pathway of discipline and trial we learn by bitter experience the truth of Paul's confession, 'In me ... in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.' Coupled with that is the lesson that God waits with infinite patience, like the potter, to work out a design of grace and beauty with such frail material." --- M.H.F.
"And He is the head of the body, the church; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence" (Col. 1 :18 ).
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
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If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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ACCEPTABLE CONSECRATION
«
Reply #702 on:
March 10, 2008, 05:33:26 PM »
ACCEPTABLE CONSECRATION
By Miles Stanford
"The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
If a Christian does not realize his identification with Christ in His death, he does not know true consecration. Crucifixion is the path to, and foundation of, consecration. The deeper truths are not entered into through consecration --- they are its basis. "The price of consecration is crucifixion."
" 'Present yourself unto God as alive from the dead' (Rom. 6:13). This is the true ground of consecration. For believers to 'consecrate themselves to God' ere they have learnt their union with Christ in death and resurrection is only to present to God the members of the natural man, which He cannot use. Only those 'alive from the dead'---- that is, having appropriated their likeness with Him in death --- are bidden to present their members as instruments unto God."
"The modern teaching of consecration, which is tantamount to the consecration of the 'old man,' seeks to bypass the death sentence and therefore only leads to frustration and failure. When, however, you and I are prepared, in simple humility, to make the fact of our death with Christ our daily basis of life and service, there is nothing that can prevent the uprising and outflow of new life, and meet the need of thirsty souls around us." - J.C.M.
"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors bound not to the Flesh, that we should live after the Flesh [but to the Spirit]" (Rom. 8:12, Cony).
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From Grace And The Truth Ministries
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/
If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
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EN-GRACED IN THE BELOVED ONE
«
Reply #703 on:
March 11, 2008, 08:51:08 PM »
EN-GRACED IN THE BELOVED ONE
By Ivan Burgener
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1: 6
God has chosen us in Christ "before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him." It was "in love," on God's part, that He predestinated us according to His will, placing us as sons (full grown sons) by Jesus Christ. This grand plan was "to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved (One)."
This word "accepted" in our verse is the word "EN-GRACED" in our title because that is exactly what it means. Literally, God en-graced us in His grace! Did He do this apart from the Lord Jesus Christ? By no means! We have been "accepted (or en-graced) in the beloved (One)." But Christ is not merely the agent or instrument whereby God has shown this grace to us. We are en-graced "in the Beloved." It is "in Christ" that we receive this grace as we are placed in Him, baptized into His One Body, vitally identified with our risen Head in heaven! It is "in the Beloved" that we enter into this favor. Apart from Christ, we have nothing of God's grace, or any spiritual blessing!
We were chosen in Christ "before the foundation of the world," but we are "en-graced in the Beloved One, in Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace!" And that is just how rich His grace is. Every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies is ours in Christ, and the riches of His grace is not one bit impoverished by such-sharing!
The "glory" of this grace might be taken in connection with God's revelation of this grace. One of God's glories is that He can and does reveal Himself. This "grace" was ever in the heart of God. Thus Paul is led into one of the most wondrous doxologies of all his letters as he contemplates the revelation of this grace, by which grace we have been en-graced in the Beloved One.
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/
If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
Click Below For FREE Email Subscription:
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/pop_up.htm
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UNDER LAW OR UNDER GRACE?
«
Reply #704 on:
March 13, 2008, 06:54:39 AM »
UNDER LAW OR UNDER GRACE?
By Pastor Joel Finck
Scripture Reading: Romans 6:14
People are always looking for an excuse to sin. If they can somehow justify their sin with Scripture, so much the better --- or so they think. Paul knew that God's super-abounding grace would probably be misused by some to become lax about sin. Therefore, immediately after informing us that we "are not under the law, but under grace," he quickly added, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid" (Romans 6:14,15).
We should thank God we are not under the law! No longer are we required to bring animal sacrifices as an offering for sin. No more do we live in the bondage of the Mosaic code, which spelled out every detail of life and threatened death for those who slipped. What freedom we have in Christ!
Yet Christian liberty was never designed to give us freedom to sin; rather, it was meant to give us freedom to serve. "For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).
Indeed, when we exercise genuine Christian love, we actually fulfill in a practical way that which the Law could never produce; that is, experiential righteousness. "Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Romans 13:10). While so many today are trying to live by law, let us who know the grace of God live by grace, and thereby demonstrate to a dying world what the power of God can do in the life of a yielded believer.
___________________________________
From Grace And The Truth Ministries
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/
If this devotion has been a blessing to you, please share it with others. The Word of God is so needed in our troubled world.
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ.
Click Below For FREE Email Subscription:
http://www.graceandthetruth.com/pop_up.htm
___________________________________
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