Thursday, July 31, 2014
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Saturday, July 26, 2014
God is our Father and He has compassion on us, not wanting strife but of love and unity
Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Phil 3:13
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isa 43:18
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2
The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. Prov 19:11
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. Isa 43:18
Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2
The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride. Ecclesiastes 7:8
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13
A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. Prov 19:11
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. Matthew 6:14
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Everlasting love
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10
I. THE GREAT SOURCE OF REDEMPTION — "everlasting love" — love without beginning, love without change, and love without end.
1. Everlasting love is love without a beginning. The eternity of Divine love is a subject which we cannot fathom, but we may look at it in relation to our own being. Go back behind creation, before the Divine will had generated a single atom of matter, and in that very we discover ourselves in a perfect, living, actual conception, subjective being was embraced, nourished, and delighted in by "everlasting love." The love of God is not an emotion of delight created by the appearance of comeliness, but delight itself; not an emotion excited by beauty, but beauty itself. There is a tendency in the human mind to thrust itself behind the birthday of time, and fall — where? Into the arms of "everlasting love."
2. "Everlasting love" is love without change. Man, in relation to the eternity of God, must be regarded as a whole. "Everlasting love" embraces that whole. Our first impulse is to regard it as encircling the pure and the innocent, but turning aside from the disobedient and simple. It is not so, for the Word says, "God so loved the world." Sin has transformed a paradise into a wilderness, a heaven into a hell, but sin cannot change "everlasting love." That explains it all.
3. "Everlasting love" is love without end. On every Mohammedan tombstone the inscription begins, "He remains," i.e., God. To-day we will write on every gravestone, The love of God remains. Ah, there are many gravestones besides those in the churchyard. You may imagine inscriptions like these: "To the memory of friendship"; "To the memory of parental and filial affection"; "To the memory of marriage sacredness and devotion." But those fires, which once burnt brightly, have gone out for want of fuel, or for something that is worse. Should there be an aching void or bitter disappointment because former sources of affection have dried up, let us not turn to the devil to supply their places, but let us turn to the "everlasting love" of God.
II. THE METHOD OF REDEMPTION. "Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." We sometimes think that our Heavenly Father deals with us harshly, or unkindly. Yes, why the cross and not the crown? You see the child running in from the garden full of tears, and saying, "Something has hurt me." On examination it is found that a thorn is in one of the fingers. Then the gentlest of hands will endeavour to extract it. When she is doing so, the child will cry out, "Oh, mother, you hurt me." Ah, it is not the mother that hurts, but the thorn. When God takes out the thorn, we think that He hurts us. Not so, it is the thorn. Even God cannot take sin out of the heart but that it will give pain.
1. In dealing with the attractions of "everlasting love," we must bear in mind the fact that we can only be saved by attraction. Grace begins its work by transforming the heart into the image of the Son of God. One grain of the Saviour's love in that heart will leaven the whole. The sinner must be made willing to part with his sin. The power to effect this comes from God, but it can only be applied when the willing cry rends his heart, "Lord, save, or I perish."
2. Consider the particular form which God's loving-kindness has assumed in order to attract man to virtue. Under what aspects has mercy appeared unto men? We look back, and see an altar, and a victim, and a priest. But we soon learn that these are only types, yet, God's mercy pursued man in times of yore, and does now, and everywhere. To-day, it is not altar, victim, or priest; but the Son of God, in a body like our own, and bearing up under the vicissitudes of life. In Christ Jesus we have the picture of loving-kindness. Sometimes that picture is in words of sympathy, of love, of encouragement, and inspiration. "Never man spake like this Man." At other times the picture is in deeds, — the most gracious and marvellous. The sick are healed. The blind see. The deaf hear. The dead live. Is the picture overdrawn?
(T. Davies, M. A.)
Isaiah 54:10
Everlasting Love
by T. Davies, M. A.
Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you
with an everlasting love…
with an everlasting love…
I. THE GREAT SOURCE OF REDEMPTION — "everlasting love" — love without beginning, love without change, and love without end.
1. Everlasting love is love without a beginning. The eternity of Divine love is a subject which we cannot fathom, but we may look at it in relation to our own being. Go back behind creation, before the Divine will had generated a single atom of matter, and in that very we discover ourselves in a perfect, living, actual conception, subjective being was embraced, nourished, and delighted in by "everlasting love." The love of God is not an emotion of delight created by the appearance of comeliness, but delight itself; not an emotion excited by beauty, but beauty itself. There is a tendency in the human mind to thrust itself behind the birthday of time, and fall — where? Into the arms of "everlasting love."
2. "Everlasting love" is love without change. Man, in relation to the eternity of God, must be regarded as a whole. "Everlasting love" embraces that whole. Our first impulse is to regard it as encircling the pure and the innocent, but turning aside from the disobedient and simple. It is not so, for the Word says, "God so loved the world." Sin has transformed a paradise into a wilderness, a heaven into a hell, but sin cannot change "everlasting love." That explains it all.
3. "Everlasting love" is love without end. On every Mohammedan tombstone the inscription begins, "He remains," i.e., God. To-day we will write on every gravestone, The love of God remains. Ah, there are many gravestones besides those in the churchyard. You may imagine inscriptions like these: "To the memory of friendship"; "To the memory of parental and filial affection"; "To the memory of marriage sacredness and devotion." But those fires, which once burnt brightly, have gone out for want of fuel, or for something that is worse. Should there be an aching void or bitter disappointment because former sources of affection have dried up, let us not turn to the devil to supply their places, but let us turn to the "everlasting love" of God.
II. THE METHOD OF REDEMPTION. "Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee." We sometimes think that our Heavenly Father deals with us harshly, or unkindly. Yes, why the cross and not the crown? You see the child running in from the garden full of tears, and saying, "Something has hurt me." On examination it is found that a thorn is in one of the fingers. Then the gentlest of hands will endeavour to extract it. When she is doing so, the child will cry out, "Oh, mother, you hurt me." Ah, it is not the mother that hurts, but the thorn. When God takes out the thorn, we think that He hurts us. Not so, it is the thorn. Even God cannot take sin out of the heart but that it will give pain.
1. In dealing with the attractions of "everlasting love," we must bear in mind the fact that we can only be saved by attraction. Grace begins its work by transforming the heart into the image of the Son of God. One grain of the Saviour's love in that heart will leaven the whole. The sinner must be made willing to part with his sin. The power to effect this comes from God, but it can only be applied when the willing cry rends his heart, "Lord, save, or I perish."
2. Consider the particular form which God's loving-kindness has assumed in order to attract man to virtue. Under what aspects has mercy appeared unto men? We look back, and see an altar, and a victim, and a priest. But we soon learn that these are only types, yet, God's mercy pursued man in times of yore, and does now, and everywhere. To-day, it is not altar, victim, or priest; but the Son of God, in a body like our own, and bearing up under the vicissitudes of life. In Christ Jesus we have the picture of loving-kindness. Sometimes that picture is in words of sympathy, of love, of encouragement, and inspiration. "Never man spake like this Man." At other times the picture is in deeds, — the most gracious and marvellous. The sick are healed. The blind see. The deaf hear. The dead live. Is the picture overdrawn?
(T. Davies, M. A.)
Friday, July 18, 2014
A Seal and an Inscription
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm.
Isaiah 49:16, Song of Solomon 8:6
Daily Devotional for July 18
http://bibleresources.org/devotional
Isaiah 49:16, Song of Solomon 8:6
Daily Devotional for July 18
http://bibleresources.org/devotional
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
To find what is good
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
Now seek the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
1 Chron 22:19
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
Matthew 13:44-46
Jeremiah 29:13
Now seek the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.
1 Chron 22:19
Sunday, June 29, 2014
God is Faithful
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.
If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:13, Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:24
If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself. Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 1:8, 2 Timothy 2:13, Deuteronomy 7:9, 1 Thessalonians 5:24
Bit by bit matters.
Bit by bit matters.
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10
God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Eccs 12:14, 2 Cor 5:10
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21
The Day and Hour Unknown (Matthew 24:36-51)
36“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,f but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. Luke 16:10
God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. Eccs 12:14, 2 Cor 5:10
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!' Matthew 25:21
The Day and Hour Unknown (Matthew 24:36-51)
36“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,f but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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