Daily Inspirational

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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THE GOD OF MIGHT AND MIRACLES  

                                           




Scripture Reading:  Mark 4:35-41;  Psalms 147:18

We often hear John Peterson's hymn, "It took a Miracle."  The words in this hymn indeed reveal the sovereighty of our God in relation to the affairs even of "Nature."
     "My Father is omnipotent,
     and that you can't deny;
     A God of might and miracles,
     'Tis written in the sky."
In Mark's inspired account of the sudden storm on the Sea of Galilee, let us examine those wonderous words of our Lord when he commanded the winds and the waves:  "Peace, be still!"  A more exact translation reads:  "Silence! Be muzzled!"  Obviously He was not merely speaking out into the air.  He was commanding Satan, the one who was behind this ferocious storm.  We see in Job 1:19 that even Satan can control the weather.  But where was God in this storm?  True, in the Person of the Lord Jesus, he was in the boat with His frightened disciples.  But what about the Father?  Yes, He knew well what His beloved Son was going through, but He also knew that His Son had the authroity over the winds and the waves to command them to be still.  "And there was (came to be) a great calm."  No wonder the disciples said one to another, "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

For further investigation about His obvious control of the elements, turn to the prophecy of the book of the Revelation.  Here we are given glimpses of things which definitely will take place in the heavens and on this earth during the future "Day of the Lord"  (Rev 1:10).  See His control of the elements, and the sun and stars in chapters 5, 8, and 16!.  Is He in control today--during this Dispensation when He is "silent?"  Indeed He is!  No won-der the devout believer in Christ can find complete comfort in the words of Romans 8:28--even in relation to the weather and circumstances!

                "Wondrous sovereign of the sea,
                Jesus, Savior, pilot me."

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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THE SOVEREIGN GOD AND HIS WORD  






Scripture Reading:  2 Tim. 3:15-17; Psa 68:11



"Prove to me in one word that the Bible IS the inspired Word of God, " demanded King Fredrick of Prussia of a Christian minister one time.  After a few moments of thought the answer came clear.  "The Jew, Sir, the remarkable Jew is one evidence that the Bible is the inspired Word of God."

Yes!  The Bible is the very Word of our sovereign God even though He chose to use some forty human authors through which to give His Word.  Yet the truth still stands, "The Lord (the Master) gave the Word" (Psa. 68:11).  "All scripture is given by inspiration of God"--that is, "all Scripture is God breathed." By His Spirit He brought the Word of God into being!  No wonder we read in Hebrews 4:12 that it is "living and active."  "His Word, said the Psalmist, ' runneth very swiftly'  (Psa. 147:15).  According to both Isaiah 55:11 and Mathew 4:4, it came forth from the very mouth of God!  Blessed Book!  It is forever "settled in heaven!"

Can men ever destroy this book?  They may burn Bibles by the thousands, pass laws preventing the propagation of that Book, jail or even slay the preachers of it, yet "heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away" (Matt 24:35).  Men may cry that it is out-dated and not relevant to our times,  yet it  still abides  and  is changing the lives of millions who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!  Why?  Because God has sworn to stand by His Word.  "I will hasten My word to perform it"  (Jer 1:12)

     "The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
     'Mid the raging storms of time;
     Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
     And they glow with a light sublime.
     The Bible stands ev'ry test we give it,
     For its Author is divine;
     By grace alone I expect to live it
     And prove it and make it Mine."

Now we may say a hearty "Amen" to these blessed truths--and rightly should we.  But the acid test is this:  "Does this Book have authority over my life?"  If not, then you are in rebellion against its blessed Author!  I trust you are not, but if you are, remember that "rebellion is as the sin of witch-craft, and stubborness is as iniquity and idolatry!"

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE FATHER IN SALVATION  

Scripture reading:  Eph. 1:3-6; Rom 8:28-30; I Pet. 1:2


When we come to the blessed theme of our personnal salvation, we observe readily that each Person in the Godhead had a distinct part therein.  It has been stated in the light of Ephesians 1:3-14 that God the Father planned our salvation, God the Son purchased our salvation, and God the Holy Spirit protects our salvation.  When we begin to think of the magnitude of our salvation and the wonder of it all, we feel constrained to sing with William R. Newell.
     "Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan!
     Oh, the grace that bro't it down to man!
     Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span
     At Calvary!"







What was the distinct role of the Father in our salvation?  He purposed to "bring many sons into glory" (Heb. 2:10).  As a Father--the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ--the desire of His holy and loving heart was to fill His house-hold with "many sons" who should bear the image and likeness of His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus!  Thus, especially in relation to this  present  economy of  grace,  He  was pleased to elect out of the name of mankind many who would become part of this great family.  Thus we read of what has been aptly called "the Golden Chain of Redemption" in Rom 8:29-30.  Let us stop and look at each golden link:  He first purposed in His own heart; then He foreknew (knew beforehand) all who should fulfill that purpose;  (His election of those who should comprise this family should fit in here) then He predestinated these elected ones--that is, He marked them out beforehand--to the position as full-grown sons (notice Eph 1:5 here); then (after they were born and prior to their salvation--experience), He called them effectually to Himself; then, by faith He justified them (that is, declared them perfectly righteous); finally He glorified them (notice how this is already certain even though none have experienced it yet!)
     "Sons we are by God's election
     Who on Jesus Christ believe,
     By eternal destination."

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SON IN SALVATION  

Scripture Reading:  John 17:1-3;  Eph. 1:7-12



It was the distinct pleasure of the Father to plan our salvation through bringing about the "Golden Chain of Redemption"  (Rom 8:28-30,  Eph. 1:3-6).  We say it reverently,  that the Father's plan would have been power-less and ineffective had it not been for the fact that it was the role of the Son of God to purchase our salvation.  Thus we read of his having been "foreordained before the foun-dation of the world"  in relation to His suffer-ing and sacrificial death as "a Lamb without blemish and without spot:  (I Peter 1:18-20).

The primary mission of the Lord Jesus in His first advent was redemptive and not regal.  His second advent will be regal.  He came as Hebrews 10:7 states, "to do thy will, O God."  that will of the Father included His drinking that awful "cup" in the garden of Gethsemane (which I believe related to His being forsaken and cut off by His Father while He was to be-come the sin-bearer for all mankind);  it involved His suffering and deep humiliation as a malefactor both from His arrest in the garden to His agony on that Roman cross; it involved the terrible agonies which His Holy Soul suffered while the Father was laying upon Him "the iniquity of us all;"  it involved His experience of death--a thing that He, the eternal Son of God, had never, ever experi-enced; and it involved Him being buried in a borrowed tomb--the Creator and Lord of Glory dead and buried (think of it!!)

What was all of this for?  To redeem us--buy us out of the slave market--from Satan's power, sin, self, this present evil age, and the power of death itself.  What wealth is packed away in those blessed words,  "In Whom (Christ) we have (as a present possession) redemption through His blood, the forgive-ness of sins according to the riches of His grace" (Eph. 1:7)!  With Fanny Crosby we must sing anew:

          "Redeemed--how I love to proclaim it!
          Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
          Redeemed thro' His infinite mercy,
          His child, and forever, I am."

Pastor Paul Hume

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Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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THE SOVEREIGHTY OF THE SPIRIT IN SALVATION  

Scripture Reading:  2 Thes. 2:13-14;   Eph. 1:13-14


It has been stated that the blessed Holy Spirit of God is "the executive member of the Godhead."  This is indeed true.  The Father's plan to bring "many sons into glory" must be further carried out by the Son's purchase by His own blood of those "many sons" out of the slave market of Satan and sin and death.  He died, was buried, and was raised again from the dead to save all whom the Father had given to Him (John 6:37, 17:2-3).  But unless the Spirit of God applies the redemptive work of Christ, then the Father's plan is again powerless!

But not so!  The Holy Spirit has been sent into the world on a special mission.  This mission is to glorify the Son of God in saving and sanctifying those whom the Father chose in Christ before the foundation of the world.  What does this work of the Holy Spirit include?  He first draws the sinner to Christ  (John 6:44).  This is also referred to as being the "sanctification of the Spirit" in 2 Thessalonians 2:13.  By this, the Holy Spirit woos and draws and sets apart the one who is "dead in trespasses and sins" to Christ.  He also convicts the sinner of "sin, righteousness, and judgment" (John 16:8-11).  He pricks the conscience and brings the Word of God to bear upon it.  Then He grants "the hearing of faith," (Rom 10:8, 17; Eph. 1:13).  He causes the sinner to "hear with understanding" (see Matthew 13:23 on this).  Never is the sinner told to work up his own faith in order to be saved.  Rather, God grants every sinner  "the hearing of faith"--a gift from God (Eph. 2:8-9)--in order to be saved.  The  Holy Spirit regenerates the one who believes on Christ Jesus, that is, He imparts the Life of Christ into his spirit, and, as Romans 8:10 states, the "spirit is life on account of righteousness."  Remember, "that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:6).  At the same time He baptizes the one who believes into Christ and thereby makes him a member of "the church, which is His body."  He also, at that same moment, takes up His permanent dwelling in the believer and He becomes the seal of God (as well as the new nature) in the believer.

Wondrous salvation!  Do you have Him in your heart today?


Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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SALVATION AND THE HUMAN WILL





Scripture Reading:  Rom 9:15-16; John 1:12-13; 3:16







Dwight Lyman Moody once said that "the whosoever wills are the elect, and whosoever won'ts are the non-elect!"  This is certainly true.  The human will does play an important part in personal salvation.  But the problem which ultimately must be faced when one deals with the sovereignty of God must touch on this matter of what place man's will plays--if any.

Now there are two extremes to avoid.  One is that since God is sovereign, and since man cannot save himself at all, then man has no part at all in salvation.  That is, God will save him without any action on his part.  The other extreme is that God cannot and will not save anyone unless he is willing to be saved.

In between these extremes we believe the truth lies.  It is true that the sinner is "dead in trespasses and sins"  therefore cannot, of himself, take one step toward God and salvation.  It is also true that God has given man a will, and He respects that will.  Yet due to the fact that the depravity of the human nature has also crippled the will, God must first move and work in the sinner to make him willing to be saved!  This is what Christ meant when He said, "No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:44).  This is also what is meant in John 1:12-13:  "But as many as received Him (Christ),  to them gave He power (authority) to become the sons of God (children of God), even to them that believe on His name; which were born, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."  Therefore, as Romans 9:16 states, "it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy."





Hence, how beautiful it all works out.  Of my own will, I did not want God or His salvation (Christ).  But He wooed me and drew me with love and power and gave me the willingness to receive Christ into my life!  Bless the Lord, O my soul!

     "I've found a Friend, oh such a Friend!
     He loved me ere I knew Him;
     He drew me with the cords of love,
     And thus He bound me to Him."  (J.G.    Small)

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

Daily Inspirational

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"TIS A CHARMING SOUND"  

Scripture Reading:  Psa. 89:15; Acts 18:25-28



"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound,"  declared the inspired Psalmist of Israel.  This "joyful sound" related to the blowing of the silver trumpet for various holy day assemblies (Num 10:10).  However, there is a sweet spiritual application for us here.  Could not "the joyful sound" be what Phillip Doddridge and Augustus Toplady wrote of in their hymn "Grace: 'Tis a Charming Sound?"

     "Grace! 'Tis a charming sound,
     Harmonious to the ear;
     Heav'n with the echo shall resound,
     And all the earth shall hear.
     'Twas grace that wrote my name
     In life's eternal book;
     'Twas grace that gave me to the lamb,
     Who all my sorrows took."

What a gem of truth lies in Acts 18:27, often never ovserved.  Stop and look at it with me:  "...who, when he (that is, Apollos) was come, helped them much which had believed through grace.'  "dr. Bullinger states concern-ing the little preposition "through" (dia in the Greek) that "it includes the idea of proceeding from and passing out."  This would mean, then, that the grace which came out from God in Christ and had passed out to their hearing the Word of God, had caused them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we, like they, "believe through grace."  Blessed grace of God!

You probably have run in to someone who confessed,  "I just can't believe the Bible!"  That person is partially right.  Of himself, he cannot generate the right kind of faith by which alone God saves people.  It is all of the grace--the unmerited favor of God.  And everyone who is honest at heart CAN become a receipient of this enabling grace to 'believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou  shall be save, and thy house."

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

THE FAITH THAT SAVES  




Scripture Reading:  Mark 11:22; Gal 2:20; Heb 12:1-2






It has been truly said that Satan has a
counterfeit for almost everything that God does (except to give Life).  The Apostle Paul speaks of "another gospel"  (2 Cor 11:4a; Gal 1:6-9),  "another Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4b: much of Christendom today worships this "Jesus!"), "another spirit" (2 Cor 11:4c: how prevalent is this "spirit" now);  "false apostles of Christ" (2 Cor 11:13:  witness the Mormons and their chief apostle, Joseph Smith!),  and "ministers of righteousness"  (2 Cor 11:15:  how many priests and ministers fall into this category today!)

Obviously, therefore, there must be a counterfeit faith.  We know there are many false "faiths" today..the apostate Protestant "faith," the Roman Catholic "faith," and the Jehovah's Witnesses "faith" (and the like).  Yes, many of the people involved in these false systems have "faith."  I heard a liberal preacher on the radio only yesterday broad-casting from a popular church which is only four blocks from our church and exhorting his hearers that the way to keep one's life from being empty is to "have faith in God."  This sounds real good.  It even sounds Biblical!





Did not our Lord exhort his wondering disciples in Mark 11:22, "Have faith in God?"   But a more accurate rendering of this command makes the meaning clearer:  "Hold to the faith of God!"  True, saving faith is not naturally generated.  All of us have a "natural faith:"  e.g., we believe that the cooks in the restaurant where we are eating haven't put poison in our food; we trust the car in which we ride; we believe what history tells us about our great country, and etc.  But the kind of faith which our Lord speaks of is identical to that which Paul speaks of:  "...justified by the faith of Christ" (Gal 2:16;"...I live by (or in) the faith of the Son of God" (Gal 2:20); "...boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him"  (Eph 3:12).





We have a blessed truth in Hebrews 12:2:  "Look away (from all else) unto Jesus, the Author (that is, the Originator) and Finisher (that is, the Completer) of faith."  True, saving faith comes from God in Christ Jesus.  This faith saves.  This faith sanctifies.  This faith sustains.  This faith pleases God.  Does this faith operate in you?

Pastor Paul Hume

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[Brother Love]

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD AND SECURITY  

Scripture Reading:  Psa. 37:23-28;  Col. 3:1-4

Closely related to the sovereignty of God in salvation is the blessed truth of the security of the saints.  This security is the postion of all who have truly been born again, for they have been given the "gift of God, which is eternal life."  This life is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Since every one who has this Life is in vital spiritual union with Christ, it follows that he "shall never perish."

A lady who had been recently saved was sharing her salvation with another lady who also said she was saved.  Said this other lady,  "You  say that you are in the hollow of His hand.  But isn't it possible for you to slip through His fingers?"  The newly-saved lady calmly replied, "No, for I am one of His fingers!"  How true!  By grace and by means of the Holy Spirit's baptizing each one of us into union with Christ, we become actual members of Christ.  Thus we find the poet's words true:

          "And this I shall find,
            We two are so joined,
            He'll not be in glory
            And leave me behind."

To be sure, certain passages such as Hebrews 6:4-8 and 2 Peter 2:20-22 and some others can be 'brought forth by those who do not (or will not) understand this precious truth.  Once the contextual setting of each passage is honesly studied, and the dispen-sational interpretation is honestly employed, it will be found that the true believer in Christ is indeed everlastingly secure.  Such security when rightly understood leads to a godly life rather than to an antinomian "Let's sin and live as we please since we are forever saved!"  attitude.

What are some of the reasons for our security in Christ?  1)  We have been chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the World;  2)  We are kept by the power of God:  3) We are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption; 4) We are complete in Christ; 5) We are members of  Christ's body; 6)  We have everlasting life; and 7)   We can never be separat ed from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord! (Study Eph 1:4; I Pet 1:5; Eph 4:30; Col 2:9-10; Eph 5:30; John 3:16; and Rom 8:38-39)

Pastor Paul Hume

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[Brother Love]

THE GIFTS OF THE SOVEREIGN GOD  






Scripture Reading:  Eph 4:7-16:  1 Cor 12:4-11







Undoubtedly you have stopped to ask your-self.  "Why is it that one person is so mechan-ically inclined and another person--even in the same family--isn't?  Why can one person be so musical and able to create music while another  person  can't carry  a tune  in  a bucket?  Why are some naturally diligent and prosperous while others are so lazy and could care less about getting ahead in life?  The only answer is that God, the giver of life and being to all men (Acts 17:29) has been pleased to thus distribute His talents in the natural realm--even though sin has ruined and perverted these natural gifts.

Likewise  in the  realm  of  those  who are saved.  All have the same salvation.  All are indwelt equally with the same Holy Spirit.   All have a new nature.  All are loved by the Father.  But His gifts have not been bestowed equally.  These two passages ought to make this clear.  Now, lest someone reasons, "I don't have any gift from God other than eternal life."  Let us note what Ephesians 4:7 states:  "But in accordance with the measure of Christ's gift.  His favor has been bestowed upon each of us."  (Williams Trans.)  The grace mentioned in this verse does not refer to saving grace.  Nor does it even refer to sanctifying grace.  It clearly refers to serving grace!  Not all the members of the body of Christ have the same office or function, but all members of Christ have a function!  I do not believe there is such a thing as a true believer who does not have some spiritual gift by  which he can serve the Lord!  True, only a few are called to be "evangelists, and pastor-teaches,"  but all have been gifted to sufficiently  engage in "the work of minis-tering"  (Eph. 4:12, lit.)!

Has God given you a spiritual gift?  Yes, in-deed He has!  Do you know what it is?  See also Romans 12:1-8 and 1 Peter 4:7-11 on this theme.  True the sign gifts such as healings, tongues, the working of miracles, and proph-esying have passed away (1 Cor. 13:1-13).  But other gifts remain, and it is your privilege and responsibility to find out what your gift is.  Then ask the Lord for the grace to so use that gift  that He  might  be  glorified  and believer's might be edified and sinners saved.

Pastor Paul Hume

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[Brother Love]

This is my last post of the Daily Inspirational, if you like it send e-mail to the below address and reques it.

"Grace & Peace"
Brother Love

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READY MY PLACE TO FILL  


Scripture Reading:  John 4:1-42;  Acts 16:6-12

There is a hymn which we seldom sing, yet its words fit the spirit of the suggested Scriptures for our mediation today:

     "Ready to suffer, grief or pain,
     Ready to stand the test:
     Ready to stay at home and send
     Others, if He sees best.
     Ready to go, ready to stay,
     Ready my place to fill;
     Ready for service, lowly or great,
     Ready to do His will."

We observed yesterday that God the Holy Spirit under the Headship of the Lord Jesus Christ sovereignly  bestows His gifts.  If you have read Acts 16:6-12, you will also notice that God sovereignly assigns the place of service.  It was not in the sovereign will of God for Paul and Silas to enter into Bithynia and certain parts of Asia (Minor) to preach the gospel.  That was for "another man" (see Rom 15:20).  But it was the will of God for them to  "go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them."  What a min-istry they had in that part of Greece!  Later on it became the will of God (I am sure) for Paul to go to Rome by way of being a political prisoner!  Some argue that Paul was out of God's will in his journey to Jerusalem (Acts 21:10-23:30).  I don't believe he was, else the words of the Lord--"Be of good cheer, Paul:  for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also in Rome"--actually commend him for getting out of His will.  No, Paul was in the will of God, for he had "a place to fill" in Rome!

What about you?  What about me?  You may not be a preacher or a missionary, but are you in God's place for you?  You may be a "humble housewife,"  yet God has that "place" for you to represent Christ in.  You may be a student at such and such a school, yet you are there not by chance but by Divine choice to represent Christ there!  You may be a businessman or even an executive, yet God has you in this place so you can represent Christ there!  Are you in your "place?"

Pastor Paul Hume

[Brother Love]

NOTHING BUT A NOTHING





"Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" (1 Peter 3:15).



Many sincere believers are apt to put up an insincere front in order to "protect the Gospel." so as not to "let the Lord down."  But He will increase, if we but decrease.  There is nothing like being nothing!

"It is true that there is the hunger to be devoted, and to be like the Lord Jesus, long before one's acts and manner corroborate the hunger, and make it a fact; but the more the hungers which grace has generated  in your heart are given a place, the sooner will they become experiential facts; and the more the Lord Jesus has His throne within you, the more you will 'rejoice in Him and have no confidence in the flesh' " (Philippians 3:3).

" 'I know so little of the Lord Jesus,' one may say, and this may be true; but every grace that is in Him is in every saint, though not
developed.  If I am a babe in Christ, where there is true lowliness of heart, I display God, as a babe manifesting Him; but if, as a babe, I am attempting to manifest Him as a man, there will be frustration and failure.

"My wisdom will be, not to set myself up above that which I really am. If walking in true lowliness and manifesting that measure of the Lord Jesus in which we have grown, there will be certain progress." ----W.K.

"Perhaps there is nothing so hard as not to appear anything but what you are. If you do so to your advantage, you will be some day found out, but if to your disadvantage, there is no doubt that He who searcheth the heart and trieth the reins will one day vindicate you."

"I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11).

MILES J. STANFORD

[Brother Love]

FREE BORN




If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)




Faith in the facts alone gives the rest of reliance.

"Is there an accuser, a judge, or an execut-ioner, still after us?  The accuser may go away rebuked by this that God has justified us; the judge may go away rebuked by this that the Lord Jesus has died--has already
suffered the judgment, and His work has been accepted to the full in heaven itself;   the executioner may go away rebuked by this that all the malice of earth and hell together shall never drag us away from the firm em- brace of our God.   And  if  there  be now neither accuser to charge, nor judge to condemn, nor executioner to slay, the court is cleared!"---J.G.B.

"It is a blessed thing to be shown our enemies and told with Gideon, that Jehovah has delivered them into our hands (Joshua 8:7).  Our old man has been crucified (Rom.  6:6), the world 'overcome', and its prince
"judged" (John 16:33, 11).  If we are walking by faith, as risen with the Lord Jesus Christ, Satan, the world, and the flesh are under our feet." ---J.N.D.

"Not a hair of the child of God can fall with-out God's permission.  Satan is but the  unintentional instrument to accomplish God's will; he can do no more than he is allowed to do.  If trials come as a host against us, we know that the Almighty is between us and them.  They will but work  out for us His own purpose of love."

"What shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
... Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:35, 37).

Miles Stanford                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  












Should this devotional be a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving the daily word. You may forward this to them, by copy and paste method,  and they can use the below link to subscribe. We love to meet new people.





2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.








"FOR OF HIM, AND THROUGH HIM, AND TO HIM, ARE ALL THINGS:  TO WHOM BE GLORY FOR EVER AMEN."

[Brother Love]

WEB SITE
Grace And The Truth
www.graceandthetruth.com

E-Mail GracentheTruth@aol.com
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CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE




"If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf" (1 Peter 4:16).









Often the lapidary will polish the jewel with its own dust.  Just so our Father makes use of the weak and beggarly element of our nature to
produce the mirror like luster in which His image is finally reflected for all to see.  "they shall be Mine.. . in that day when I make up My jewels" (Malachi 3:17).

"Those who know the Lord best are those who have gone the deepest way. Those who go the deep way of trial do so because God puts the premium  upon their knowledge of Him.  They are the people who are shut up to God. But this knowledge is firstly, constitutional:  that is, it is to
constitute a certain kind of person and character; and secondly it is vocational:  it does not end with the person concerned, but is the essence of service, in time and eternity.  God is very prac-tical, and requires that things in His service are never merely theoretical but real and true to life." ---T.A-S.






"Our path ought to be the mold, the opportunity, for the expression and virtue of Christ's life.  Saints seek to use Him rather in order to get
through their circumstances, instead of seeing in the circumstances the mold in which they are to be taught the strength and power of the Lord
Jesus.  May we grow in Him, knowing Him, not only as helping us through circumstances, but using the circumstances which He puts us through as opportunities for enlarging our souls in Himself."

"But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Peter 4:13).

MILES J. STANFORD

[Brother Love]

GAZE & GROW




"Who (Jesus), being the brightness of His (God's) glory, and the express image of His person" (Hebrews 1:3).



Basically, the Bible is the Biography of the Beloved.  Its primary object is to provide the Object for our contemplation and conformity.

Many a Christian has not got beyond this:  Christ is a shelter for me, and takes care of me.  Souls look for their barrel of meal not to waste, and their cruse of oil not to fail.  But  is that all?  Is it that Christ comes and dwells with me and cares for me?

I maybe bold to say it is not.  Is it shelter only?  No!  You are mutilating Christianity if you confine it to that.  God says:  I have
saved you by My own Son, and now another factor must come in; you are to live by the One who has saved you; My purpose is that you are to be conformed to His blessed image.

There comes a moment when the soul knows union with Christ.  Has your soul ever got a glimpse, by the Spirit, of Christ risen?  Of 'the mark' of which Paul speaks?  It is Christ in heaven; He is my Object!

Practically it is what souls have lost sight of.  They do not look for acquaintance with Christ Risen.  The first thing is the education of the
Word; the second, Christ Himself must be seen (2 Corinthians 3:18).  The Word delights the heart, but till the eye of your spirit has rested on the Person of Christ, you have not the model for the Word to take; there is no formation.

"Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

MILES J. STANFORD












Should this devotional be a blessing to you, maybe you have a friend or family member that would like to start receiving the daily word. You may forward this to them, by copy and paste method,  and they can use the below link to subscribe. We love to meet new people.





2 Tim 2:15  Study to show thyself approved unto God, a  workman  that needeth  not  to  be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

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Daily Inspirational

WEB SITE
Grace And The Truth
www.graceandthetruth.com

E-Mail GracentheTruth@aol.com