Daily Inspirational

[Brother Love]

PERSONIFICATION



"God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction" (Genesis 41:52).



To share what we have may minister tempo-rarily to the physical; but to minister to the spiritual in an eternal way we must share what we are, and that calls for growth in the Lord Jesus Christ.

"We can only comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves have been comforted of God.  Others can only really be helped by what has been the power of life in the would-be helper.

"Information, by itself, however correct and orthodox, however strongly held in convic-tion and passed on in passion, will lack an essential and indispensable quality or value for spiritual constitution.

"Hence it has ever been God's way to raise up a vessel, personal or corporate, in which His message has been wrought by fiery ordeal.  The  messenger  must not  only  have the message in him, but he must be in the mess-       age; not only in mind and feeling, but in experience and being." ---T.A-S.

"We really can only come into the reality of things by being 'pressed out of measure' (2 Corinthians 1:.  So the Lord has to take much time to make our spiritual history.   When at length our eyes are open, we cry,
'O, why did I not see it before!'  But every-thing else had to prove insufficient before we could really be shown, and that takes time."

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time" (1 Peter 5:6).

MILES J. STANFORD
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

EDIFYING EQUILIBRIUM



"That ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).



There should be neither undergrowth, nor overgrowth, but balanced growth. Spiritual equilibrium alone will bring forth much fruit both in us and in others.

"A popular notion that the first obligation of the Church is to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth is false.  The first obligation is to be spiritually worthy to spread it...to spread an effete (worn out) and degenerate brand of  Christianity to pagan lands is not to fulfill the Great Commission."

"We were created for more than our own spiritual development; reproduction, not mere development, is the goal to mature being---reproduction in other lives.  There is a tendency in some characters, running parallel to the high cultivation that spends its whole energy on the production of bloom at the expense of seed.

"The flowers that are bent on perfecting them-selves, by becoming double,end in barren-ness, and a like barrenness comes to the soul whose interests are all concentrated upon its own spiritual  well-being,  heedless  of the  needs around.  The true, ideal flower, is the one that uses its gifts as means to an end; the brightness and sweetness are not for its own glory; they are but to attract the bees and butterflies that will fertilize and make it fruitful." ---L.T.

"Holding forth the Word of Life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain" (Philippians 2:16).

MILES J. STANFORD
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

ATTENTION




"Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God" (Deuteronomy 8:11).



Our Father would be free to favor us with far more of His riches in Christ Jesus if we would keep more in mind that grace is un-merited favor---so that "He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy" (Romans 9:23).

"It seems so natural, when one is surrounded with blessings, and thus sensible of being an object of divine favor, that the eye is turned from God to oneself; for when God is before one, self gets no place, though there be the deepest awareness of His favor.

"Hence it is the saint who is the object of the greatest favor who needs to be on his guard, that he allow not his eye to rest on himself where the favors are sent, but on God from whom they come.  If his eye turns to himself because of the favor, then the favor has been the means of turning his heart from God to a mere gift of His."

"If there be a growing up into the measure of the stature of Christ, there must be a con-scious refusal of that which would tend to revive or invigorate the old nature.  The saint is not only a new creature to grow into the likeness of the Lord Jesus, but he has to watch and beware lest the things he has to do with should in any way minister to another will in him, which would divert him from God to himself.  Self is the circle and center of man's mind in his fallen state; but when Christ is formed in the soul, God is the center and source of everything."---J.B.S.

"For we...worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confi-dence in the flesh" (Philippians 3:3).

MILES J. STANFORD
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

NO CROSS, NO CHRIST!




"Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27).



One hears much today about "body life," with its emphasis upon New Testament gathering, rather than Christ-centered growth.  The Body is meant to manifest the Head, and that necessitates spiritual members.

"Where there is no Cross there is no life, and no ministry of life.  The object of suffering is that there may be a full and abundant minis-try. ..ill treat our bodies.  The Holy Spirit Him-self takes responsibility for our experience, leading us in paths where we encounter, in body, heart, or spirit, that measure of 'the dying of Jesus' that will mean enrichment
of our ministry."

"There are many today who seem to think that it is all or largely a matter of the order, technique, and form, and if we are to return to the 'New Testament' form or order of churches all would be well.  The fact is that, while certain things characterize the New Testament churches, the Word does not give us a complete pattern according to which churches are to be formed!

"There is no blueprint for churches in the New Testament and to try to form such churches is only to create another system which may be as legal, sectarian and dead as others.  Churches, like  the  Church, are
organisms which spring out of life, which
life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers.  Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church."---T.A-S.

MILES J. STANFORD
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

DEAD MEN DON'T SIN




Freedom begins and ends at the cross of Christ.  It was at Calvary that the penalty for our sin was dealt with once and for all.  It was there that Christ was punished on our behalf in order that we might be free of sin's debt.   But something else took place at the cross that equally effects our freedom.  Not only was the penalty of sin dealt with that day, but the power of sin as well. Christ's death and resurrection marked the end of sin's power to control the believer.  Just as sin could not control the Son of God, so it is powerless to control those who have been place into Christ through faith.
Unfortunately, many who would nod in agreement with the above statement are any-thing but free experientially.  They are still slaves to the same habits and sin that plag-ued them in their pre-Christian days.  There  is no victory over sin.  There is little joy.  Consequently, there is little reason to keep struggling.  And so for many believers their motto becomes "Well, nobody's perfect."
God does not intend for us to continue to live as slaves to sin.  The message of the cross is freedom from sin--both its penalty and its power.  While it is true that we will always be temptable, it is not true that we must give in to temptation.  The moment you were saved, you were given new life--Christ's life.  You died to your old life; a life domin-ated by the power and lure of sin.  Your new life is the same life that enable Christ to walk this earth for three years without sinning.  It is the very life that enabled him to walk out of the grave unaffected by death.  On the day you were born again, you became a new person with a brand new potential in regard to sin and death.
To make this historical and theological truth a reality we must appropriate it.  That is, we must accept it as fact and act on it.  As long as we are convinced to the contrary, we will continue to live as slaves.
Have you acknowledged your freedom from sin's power? Have you been claiming it?   Or have you been relying on your feelings as in-dicators of your relationship to sin?   Your feelings will tell you that nothing has chang-ed; everything is as it has always been.
But God says you are different.  He says you are dead to sin, and dead people are free from the power of sin. Who will you choose to believe today?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN TO ME
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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Grace And The Truth
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[Allinall]

DEAD MEN DON'T SIN




Freedom begins and ends at the cross of Christ.  It was at Calvary that the penalty for our sin was dealt with once and for all.  It was there that Christ was punished on our behalf in order that we might be free of sin's debt.  But something else took place at the cross that equally effects our freedom.  Not only was the penalty of sin dealt with that day, but the power of sin as well. Christ's death and resurrection marked the end of sin's power to control the believer.  Just as sin could not control the Son of God, so it is powerless to control those who have been place into Christ through faith.
Unfortunately, many who would nod in agreement with the above statement are any-thing but free experientially.  They are still slaves to the same habits and sin that plag-ued them in their pre-Christian days.  There  is no victory over sin.  There is little joy.  Consequently, there is little reason to keep struggling.  And so for many believers their motto becomes "Well, nobody's perfect."
God does not intend for us to continue to live as slaves to sin.  The message of the cross is freedom from sin--both its penalty and its power.  While it is true that we will always be temptable, it is not true that we must give in to temptation.  The moment you were saved, you were given new life--Christ's life.  You died to your old life; a life domin-ated by the power and lure of sin.  Your new life is the same life that enable Christ to walk this earth for three years without sinning.  It is the very life that enabled him to walk out of the grave unaffected by death.  On the day you were born again, you became a new person with a brand new potential in regard to sin and death.
To make this historical and theological truth a reality we must appropriate it.  That is, we must accept it as fact and act on it.  As long as we are convinced to the contrary, we will continue to live as slaves.
Have you acknowledged your freedom from sin's power? Have you been claiming it?  Or have you been relying on your feelings as in-dicators of your relationship to sin?  Your feelings will tell you that nothing has chang-ed; everything is as it has always been.
But God says you are different.  He says you are dead to sin, and dead people are free from the power of sin. Who will you choose to believe today?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN TO ME

Amen.  Freed from sin's penalty at the cross, freed from sin's power in the present, and freed from sin's presence in glory.  

[Brother Love]

"With Christ"



There is a well-known Negro spiritual which begins with these words: 'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' The immediate answer is 'No, I wasn't there,' But after deeper reflec-tion we have to answer differently. 'Yes, I was there --in the person of Jesus Christ.'
'How do you arrive at that?' we inquire. The Word of God -- especially in Paul's epistles -- sets forth a marvelous truth. It centers in another 'big-little' word. This word is 'with.'  When Christ was crucified, we were crucified 'with Him.' When Christ died, we died 'with Him.' When He was buried, we were buried 'with Him.' Then when He arose from among the dead, we were raised 'with Him.' When He ascended and passed through the heavens, we ascended 'with Him.' When he took His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on High, we were seated together 'with Him' When He appears in His glory, we will also 'appear with Him in glory.' Then the promise is that if we 'endure, we shall also reign with Him' (2 Timothy 2:12).
Now all of this speaks not so much of our union with Christ as our association with Christ. We were 'with Him' in His death, burial, resurrection and enthronement. We are 'with Him' in His glorified life now. We shall be 'with Him' in the ages to come. This is glorious 'positional truth.' But what about the experiential side of this blessed truth? How does this affect my daily life here on earth?

It means that by faith, based on the divine facts. I reckon myself to have died with Christ unto sin and 'the elements of the world' (Romans 6:2,11, Colossians 2:20); to have been buried with Christ in death (Colossians 2:12); to have been 'quickened together with Christ' (Ephesians 2:1,5); to have been 'raised up together' with Christ (Eph. 2:6); to have been 'made to sit to-gether in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Ephesians 2:6). God has already accomplished these feats, and it is up to each one of us to believe what God has spoken and to rest upon them!


Then it also means that I presently share in the very life of Christ. We are 'saved in His life' (Romans 5:10). We have been called 'into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord' (1 Corinthians 1:9). This involves communing with Him, meditating in His Word of Truth, engaging in praise and prayer and drawing wisdom, grace and strength from Him. It means also not only to suffer for Him, but to 'suffer with Him' (Romans 8:17). Only His grace can enable us to do this since we naturally are averse to suffering.  But what eternal rewards will be ours if we do so!


Finally, it means to walk with Him 'in newness of life.' 'How can two walk together, except they be agreed?' (Amos 3:3) As we daily 'trust and obey,' we can walk together in every circumstance, and experience what one hymn writer states, 'It is glory just to walk with Him!' Are you not only 'in Christ' but 'with Christ' today?

Pastor Paul Hume
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

THE DEEPER LIFE





There is much in the Word of God relative to a closer walk with the Lord Jesus.  To  be exact as to Scriptural reference, I would like to submit a few: Ephesians 6:10, 'Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.'; 2 Peter 3:18, 'But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,'; John 10:10 , 'I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly,'; Romans 12:2, 'And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.'

Beloved Christian, there is more than just being saved from something. Thank God we are saved to Someone. Salvation is not some sort of spiritual mechanism by which you are automatically escalated from one spiritual floor to another.   Salvation  is  a  spiritual romance with our beloved Savior. It is a walk of love. It is not a religious endurance con-test. Do we really love Christ Jesus? Do we love His companionship?  Do  we  want to know Him better? Paul prayed, 'That I may know him...' Phil. 3:10.

Personally I have no time for a supercilious 'holier than thou' attitude. God doesn't either -- see Isaiah 65:5. Don't be fooled. This is not a deeper life. That life is usually composed of negatives -- don't - don't - don't. This is the devil's counterfeit. However, there is life of sweet and spiritual composure that bears testimony of a spirit-filled (controlled) life. We all need this badly. Will you, dear friend, pray with me relative to this matter? Let's not wear any badges or labels. Let's  just  show  it  by ministry in the many aspects of Christ's call-ing. Let's be prayer meeting saints; let's give Christ our talents; let's not get under the load. 'But be filled (controlled) with the spirit.' Eph. 5:18.

Amen and love,
Pastor Lloyd Peterson
=================================
Daily Inspirational

WEB SITE
Grace And The Truth
www.graceandthetruth.com

E-Mail GracentheTruth@aol.com

[Brother Love]

DEAD MEN DON'T SIN




Freedom begins and ends at the cross of Christ.  It was at Calvary that the penalty for our sin was dealt with once and for all.  It was there that Christ was punished on our behalf in order that we might be free of sin's debt.  But something else took place at the cross that equally effects our freedom.  Not only was the penalty of sin dealt with that day, but the power of sin as well. Christ's death and resurrection marked the end of sin's power to control the believer.  Just as sin could not control the Son of God, so it is powerless to control those who have been place into Christ through faith.
Unfortunately, many who would nod in agreement with the above statement are any-thing but free experientially.  They are still slaves to the same habits and sin that plag-ued them in their pre-Christian days.  There  is no victory over sin.  There is little joy.  Consequently, there is little reason to keep struggling.  And so for many believers their motto becomes "Well, nobody's perfect."
God does not intend for us to continue to live as slaves to sin.  The message of the cross is freedom from sin--both its penalty and its power.  While it is true that we will always be temptable, it is not true that we must give in to temptation.  The moment you were saved, you were given new life--Christ's life.  You died to your old life; a life domin-ated by the power and lure of sin.  Your new life is the same life that enable Christ to walk this earth for three years without sinning.  It is the very life that enabled him to walk out of the grave unaffected by death.  On the day you were born again, you became a new person with a brand new potential in regard to sin and death.
To make this historical and theological truth a reality we must appropriate it.  That is, we must accept it as fact and act on it.  As long as we are convinced to the contrary, we will continue to live as slaves.
Have you acknowledged your freedom from sin's power? Have you been claiming it?  Or have you been relying on your feelings as in-dicators of your relationship to sin?  Your feelings will tell you that nothing has chang-ed; everything is as it has always been.
But God says you are different.  He says you are dead to sin, and dead people are free from the power of sin. Who will you choose to believe today?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN TO ME

Amen.  Freed from sin's penalty at the cross, freed from sin's power in the present, and freed from sin's presence in glory.  

And Amen Bro

Brother Love

[Ambassador4Christ]

DEAD MEN DON'T SIN




Freedom begins and ends at the cross of Christ.  It was at Calvary that the penalty for our sin was dealt with once and for all.  It was there that Christ was punished on our behalf in order that we might be free of sin's debt.  But something else took place at the cross that equally effects our freedom.  Not only was the penalty of sin dealt with that day, but the power of sin as well. Christ's death and resurrection marked the end of sin's power to control the believer.  Just as sin could not control the Son of God, so it is powerless to control those who have been place into Christ through faith.
Unfortunately, many who would nod in agreement with the above statement are any-thing but free experientially.  They are still slaves to the same habits and sin that plag-ued them in their pre-Christian days.  There  is no victory over sin.  There is little joy.  Consequently, there is little reason to keep struggling.  And so for many believers their motto becomes "Well, nobody's perfect."
God does not intend for us to continue to live as slaves to sin.  The message of the cross is freedom from sin--both its penalty and its power.  While it is true that we will always be temptable, it is not true that we must give in to temptation.  The moment you were saved, you were given new life--Christ's life.  You died to your old life; a life domin-ated by the power and lure of sin.  Your new life is the same life that enable Christ to walk this earth for three years without sinning.  It is the very life that enabled him to walk out of the grave unaffected by death.  On the day you were born again, you became a new person with a brand new potential in regard to sin and death.
To make this historical and theological truth a reality we must appropriate it.  That is, we must accept it as fact and act on it.  As long as we are convinced to the contrary, we will continue to live as slaves.
Have you acknowledged your freedom from sin's power? Have you been claiming it?  Or have you been relying on your feelings as in-dicators of your relationship to sin?  Your feelings will tell you that nothing has chang-ed; everything is as it has always been.
But God says you are different.  He says you are dead to sin, and dead people are free from the power of sin. Who will you choose to believe today?

AUTHOR UNKNOWN TO ME

Amen.  Freed from sin's penalty at the cross, freed from sin's power in the present, and freed from sin's presence in glory.  

Thank You Jesus
AAAAAAAAAAAMEN

[Brother Love]

On Earth But Also In Heaven!




Someone asked another person who professed faith in Jesus Christ, 'What earthly good are you for heaven's sake?' You've heard it a hundred times about being 'so heavenly minded so as to be no earthly good.' 'Yet, it is terribly possible on the other hand to be 'so earthly minded and no heavenly good.'

The true believer in Christ Jesus today is rather an odd person! By that we mean that he is, in a sense, to have his head in heaven and his feet on earth! Look at Paul's line of reasoning about this in his Epistle to the Colossians, Paul writes: 'If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourselves to decrees...?' (Colossians 2:20.) Then follow Paul on into the next chapter: 'If (since) then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set our mind on the things above, not on things which are upon the earth.  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.'

The point of Paul's words seem to be that true believers in Christ have died (judicially) with Christ. They have experienced a spiritual resurrection insomuch that their life is 'hid with Christ in God.'  Where is Christ? He is seated at the right hand of God.' So every believer is, in a very real sense, in heaven - - right now!

Another passage makes this clear: 'But God...made us alive together with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus' (Ephesians 2:4,5,6). This seems so fantastic that it couldn't be real. But it is! We may not feel this truth very often, but we surely can believe it! By faith, resting upon the veracity of God's Word of Truth, we know we have been, as the hymn writer has stated:



'In the Beloved' Accepted am I,
Risen, ascended, and seated on high;
Saved from all sin thro' His infinite grace,
With the redeemed ones accorded a place.
'In the Beloved,' God's marvelous grace
Calls me to dwell in this wonderful place;
God sees my Savior and then He sees me;
'In the Beloved,' accepted and free.'



Now the truth of Philippians 3:20 becomes all the more bright: 'For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

But then going back to Paul's exhortations in Colossians 3, we find him being very 'earthly' to his advice. He says, 'Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed, which amounts to idolatry (3.5) He speaks about our 'earthly body,' or 'our members which are upon earth.'  Physically and bodily we are very much in this world and on this earth. But spiritually we are in heaven!

This is why the Apostle goes on in Colossians 3 to explain what a heavenly life is in a hell-like world! He goes on to tell us how to live a heaven-controlled life personally, domestically and vocationally every day. Meditate upon Colossians 3:5-4:6, and even commit it to memory. And let's gear our lives each day to keep in tune with heaven - where our real Life is - so that we'll be more earthly good.

Pastor Paul Hume
=================================
Daily Inspirational

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Grace And The Truth
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[Brother Love]

Fellowship In The Gospel



In writing the church at Philipi Paul said, "I thank my God...for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Phil. 1:3,5.  What does fellowship mean? Dr. Harry Ironside illustrated it by picturing a team of horses pulling together. The word itself means partnership. It implies working together with a common goal in mind. There are various aspects of fellowship. There is the possibility of sweet and wholesome communion while working together.






When we were boys and working together in the field we didn't spend all our time talking about the work we were doing. While we were doing that work we exchanged ideas, planned our recreation, told stories and debated. This was fun too; it helped us to pass the time as we labored and to make the burden of the day lighter. Fellowship is so important to all of us as Christian. We need to get together and have some of the other folk share life with us and we with them.







Man in a sense is a triumvirate, that is, an association of three in the governing forces of life Genesis 2:7 says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."  To me this is Body, Soul and Spirit. Dust of the ground - Body; Breath of Life - Spirit, and living soul (union of body and spirit) -Soul. Daily we care for the body by feeding, washing and repairing it. The spirit is cared for too if we are right with God. This is done by the ministry through the Word of God.  Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4.







What about the soul? Can its needs be met by physical culture or spiritual exercise?  Indeed it cannot. There is therefore the need to care for the soul. In my way of thinking this is done by fellowship; the communion with fellow Christians. It does us all good to become acquainted with each other. The exchange of ideas, the expression of convictions concerning life, to get the other fellow's slant on life, the making known of burdens and problems, spiritual an economic, to gain the attention and sympathies of others. This is good and wholesome for us all. Do you want me to prove it to you? Doesn't it make you feel better to know your friends have problems financially as well as you do? Really now, wouldn't you hate to be the only person in your circle of friends having mortgage on your property? It may not really be right in a deeper sense to 'feel good' because your close friend is paying installments of his car, but it sure goes for encouragement. This may all seem trite but it is only to illustrate that we need fellowship as Christians in order to learn how goals are gained, problems are solved and trials are endured. We need one another more than we know. Should you be a person inclined to shut yourself off from the rest of the world, break the spell or habit, meet with fellow Christians for pure, good, clean and wholesome fellowship. The early Christians did, why not today? God forbid that we as a church should ever major in socials. This is not our calling. We are called of the Lord to 'peach the gospel.' However, in the preaching of the gospel there necessitates in our program a place for expression and communion relative to the soul. We can thus better pray for, sympathize with and encourage one another in our pulling together in the matters that are spiritual and eternal. Thus, should your class in Bible School or circle of friends in any auxiliary of the church meet for fellowship, be sure to meet with them. May God our Heavenly Father guide us in our spiritual programming that in all things we may please Him.  

Amen and love,
Pastor Lloyd Peterson

=================================
Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

WHAT WILT THOU HAVE ME TO DO?
Acts 9:6





These are the words of repentant Saul on the road to Damascus. These words are fitting for any Christian as well.  In fact, I think it is a good question to ask of God and then look to His Word for the answer. There are so many misconceived ideas as to what our Heavenly Father expects or desires the child of God to do.  I'm not thinking so much of the Chris-tian's calling as I am the Christian's service in that calling relative to soul winning.





I have heard preachers, evangelists, etc. remark that unless a person has led someone to Christ they doubt the person's salvation. This sin-cerity is appreciated and thank the Lord for such a sincere and passionate desire to lead someone to Christ. Yet the Word of God does not teach such a doctrine. I've often said, and I suppose I'll go on saying it, 'I've had the joy of leading so and so to Christ.'  Well, when you really look at the Word and think it over carefully, can we know who the instrument really was? Do you remember what Jesus said about His experience in Samaria? He said to them, 'And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth, I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor; other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.' John 4:37, 38.

God does let some choice vessels enter into the labors of others. It's a joy if a person has the privilege to bring someone to a climactic decision.  However, the reward is shared and the greater portion is certainly for him who labored.

Why am I writing thus? Well, to seek to show that what God expects of us is to be faithful. He wants us to serve honestly, naively and faithfully in the errands He sends us on. He never says 'bring me so much fruit.'  My father used to send me to the field for certain labors. Often I was in the field alone. And those fields to my boyish eyes were so horribly large. I thought , 'I'll just never cover this ground.  I can never finish the job.'  I used to get so discouraged, especially if it were the job of pulling mustard out of the grain fields. I hated that task. It seemed that the weeds grew faster than I could pull them.  However, I can never recall that my father gave me so much ground to cover - or else! He just wanted me to be faithful. Do what you can with what tools you have. And so, be-loved that's all our heavenly Father wants. Just faithfulness.  He could have made you with much greater abilities if He had so chosen. But He didn't. So let's never be discouraged if we are sure that we are faithful.

We have seen folk come to Christ here at church and it has been brought about by a faithful naive ministry of our members. Don't be discouraged where God has called you to labor. Just be truly faithful. We all have different gifts. Maybe yours is just to smile to encourage and strengthen another's heart.  Maybe it's to labor behind the scenes. God keeps the books. He knows your heart. Don't weep if you feel you have never led a soul to Christ; as long as you are sure you've been faithful, you surely have. Maybe God let some-one enter into your labors.  How wonderful!

May God make us one great team at our church - this is my prayer.

Amen and love,
Pastor L. Peterson
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Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

The Difficulty Of Choice





In Joshua's last charge to Israel he said "Choose you this day whom ye will serve," Joshua 24:15 Strange as it may seem, Joshua was not asking the people to choose between his God and the gods of the pagan, "gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell." Were these people really regenerate; that is, had they come to know the Lord as a Christian knows his heavenly Father today? Had they really known the Lord, I don't think they would have had this charge put to them. Joshua had no trouble in the matter. He said, "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."


The world of unbelief is really to be pitied.  I don't think we really realize their depraved position. It is so easy for me to judge a per-son for not surrendering to the Lord. I have visited families where there has been a tremendous need; in fact, the situation has been so desperate that only one thing and absolutely one could salvage the situation. That is a surrender of themselves to God. Usually, if not always, this is the last thing that they will consider. Any other plan that might be offered, from psychiatric treatment to a change of environment and social habitat, is usually considered; but a choice between the gods of this world and the God of the universe, that's out!  Why is this so? As a Christian you ask, "Oh, why won't people choose the Lord for He gives so much and is the real answer to every problem?"  There are reasons and we should know them. If we could get a true picture of Adam before the fall and Adam after the fall, then we would understand. When sin entered the nature of man it did something to him. Self was altered, twisted and warped. Self lies in the way.


I like very much what J. Gregory Mantle says about this, He says, "Self is the essence of personality." There are three elements in human personality -- the judgment, the affections and will.  All these constituents of our selfhood have been corrupted and dis-located by the Fall. The judgment is not to be relied upon. It puts darkness for light and light for darkness. It has lost its proper estimate of values, and is set on gaining the world to the loss of the soul.  The affection is depraved, seeking the things below rather than the things above. Its tendrils are turned earthward rather than heavenward.  It loves the world and prefers it to the love of the Father. The will has lost its regal power, strong when it should be weak; and it is weak "when it ought to be strong. It says 'no' when it ought to say 'yes' and 'yes' when it ought to say 'no.' The egotist is a pitiable creature. The whole  foreground  of his  picture is dominated by one sinister figure - SELF. The capital 'I' stands out everywhere! Man has to make a choice every day.  He has but one nature or power from which to receive his directions--and that is from self-nature. Naturally, yes, just as natural as it is for us to get hungry and as natural for us to live in atmosphere rather than out of it; so natural it is for an unregenerate person to make a choice contrary to God. The natural person today wants gods. It is only a matter of choice between gods: Eddyism, Unity, Ruthrfordism, liberalism, modernism or what have you? That is why Joshua said "Choose between the gods" The true child of God will choose as Joshua did. The lesson in this whole matter is this: as Christians we should be thankful that we 'were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.' We should remember that somebody prayed for us before our salvation.  I'm sure there were those who were wise enough to realize that we were 'dead in trespasses and sins' and they pitied us when we made some choices we did. Hence, we should pray for the un-converted. I think I know a little about His word but how and why he works is often a mystery to me.


But l do know He has asked me to pray for the unsaved and at His leading to invite them to make a choice and He will, at and in His time, quicken the mind that is dead. How thankful we should be that we have a new nature and IF we surrender our wills to His, our choice will always be 100% perfect.

Amen and love,
Pastor L. Peterson
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Daily Inspirational

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[Brother Love]

The Stillness of Trust
                                                by Philip E. Howard, Jr.






For getting that God is still on the throne brings along a train of troubles. It is possible - in fact, it is almost a fad among some Christians - to spend entirely too much thought on the awful state of the world and to be continually wondering "what we are coming to."  If we let our thoughts run too far on this gloomy theme it is but a step to thinking (unconsciously perhaps) that we could do a better job in the management of this world if only we had the chance! Of course, no believer would dare to say this openly, and would be shocked if he found himself giving reign to such thoughts; but  an inch of anxiety soon grows into a yard of distrust.






Then, if we begin to count up the things that appear to go wrong in one day or one week in our personal lives, we very soon fall into   a state  of complaint  and  fretfulness  that scatters our peace of mind to the winds. We say to ourselves, "If this hadn't happened and if that hadn't happened, I could have done thus and so; and since I can't, what is the use of even trying to do things well?" There is also the danger of blaming other people or "second causes,"  instead  of believing that God had a purpose in allow- ing certain things to happen. The Forty-sixth Psalm is a good antidote for  this  state  of mind, and  it pays  to read  it over  slowly, meditatively and prayer-fully. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"- always with us in time and space, so that we never need to wait for a special place or time to seek for His help. The "river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High," is a picture of the water of life, always available to refresh the one in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Twice we are reminded that "the Lord of hosts is with us." World-shaking conditions are described and we are invited to "come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolation's he hath made in the earth." Finally, against the back-ground of the world's, tumult, there is this quieting word, as refreshing and sparkling as the dew at sunrise on a summer morning: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."


It is as though God were saying to us: "Stop talking for a while and listen quietly to My Word; leave the government of the world to Me, for the day is coming when 'the govern-ment shall be upon his shoulder,' when the Prince of Peace shall rule in righteousness. And in regard to your own life, don't even   try to manage every detail of every day, but commit  the hours  of  each  day  to  Me and really believe that I am working in you and  for you. Cast all your care upon Me, for I do care for you, I love you for the sake of my beloved Son.






It is wonderful to see how obeying this com-mand will relieve  the  tension  in the  taut strings of our nerves, as  when  a  violinist loosens the four strings of his instrument when he puts it away. Hear Him saying now to you, "Be still, and know that I am God."

Amen and love,
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Daily Inspirational

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Grace And The Truth
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