tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57589610093190057222024-03-21T22:02:22.318-07:00Don't let the well run drydon't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-3916171283896599732013-09-18T02:47:00.002-07:002013-09-18T02:47:52.086-07:00<br />
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<b>Ignorance Is No Excuse...</b><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><b><i>"But I Would Not Have You To Be Ignorant Brethren..."</i></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Papyrus; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: medium;"><left>Romans 11:25 <i>For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.</i><br />
This is a powerful admonition, and one not to be lightly passed over. Six times Paul used this statement...<i><'I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren.'</i> And each time he was clarifying a widely held <b>'wrong thinking'</b> among believers. These warnings are not directed at the unsaved and lost in the world, but to believers.<br />
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If there were ever a time in the history of mankind, when ignorance concerning spiritual realities was rampant, it is today.<br />
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The world is fully given over to the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life, the love of mammon; while the church is wallowing in apathy and compromise, calling darkness light and error truth. Blind leaders making bold claims, competing among themselves over a piece of the pie, while equally blind followers applaud their 'works' and willingly follow them into the ditches.<br />
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2 Peter 1:8-11 <i>For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.</i><br />
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<b>What things is Peter referring to here?</b><br />
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2 Peter 1:3,4 <i>According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.</i><br />
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Those who call themselves 'Christian' today, are well versed in the promises, at least the ones that hold great appeal to our flesh (carnal nature); such as health, wealth and prosperity. The teachings prevalent in Christian circles today are full of great promises of a better life... but according to what standards? How many of us are even seeking after godliness? or glory and virtue? or desire to partake of the divine nature?<br />
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Consider what Peter said in 2 Peter 1:2<i> May grace (God's favor) and peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.</i>[Amplified]<br />
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Are we seeking the things that Peter is describing here?<br />
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Are we seeking God for His favor, or to receive favor among men?<br />
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Are we seeking after spiritual prosperity?<br />
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Or material prosperity?<br />
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Do we even believe that we can obtain the full, personal, precise and correct knowledge of God?<br />
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Or not??<br />
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Do we realize that the exceedingly great & precious promises given to us... are given so that we might be partakers with Him of His divine nature?<br />
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Did not our Lord plainly state that we <i>"cannot love God and mammon"</i> (the things of this world)? Have we considered ... What is 'Spiritual Prosperity,' and why is it more desirable than worldly, material wealth?<br />
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[Bear in mind when you read the Word of God... paying especially close attention to the red letters found throughout the Gospels. Ignore those who attempt to cast doubt on the inerrant validity of the Scriptures. God is more than able, regardless of how many human agents hands the scriptures have passed through down to this, the final generation, to keep His Holy Record's integrity intact. It is not as important the translation one reads, as it is important that one read with their spiritual understanding being enlightened and prompted by the Holy Spirit.]<br />
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Repeating verse 4, <i>Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.</i>Another way of saying precious promises: is 'costly assurances.'<br />
To be a partaker is: to be a sharer, a companion, a partner in/of God's very nature.<br />
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Our modernistic, easy-believism approach to Christ's Gospel misses the mark entirely, and offers only false comfort if one can find comfort in lies. There is no such thing as a free-ride. [2Timothy 3:12 <i>Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution</i>.]<br />
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Jesus said in John 17:21 <i>That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.</i><br />
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To be one with Christ is the prize, the goal, the whole purpose of our Christian walk. We cannot be one with Christ, and still remain friends of the world. We cannot partake of the divine nature, and still cater to the corruption that is in the world through lust. If we are hoping to gain material wealth and prestige in this life, then we are deceiving ourselves and not following Christ.<br />
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What are some of the other things that Paul and the Apostle's wanted believers to know, (comprehend/ understand) and not be ignorant of ... And do we fully understand what they are saying to us and why? There is a lot to take in, as the following scriptures demonstrate.<br />
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Romans 1:13<i> Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.</i><br />
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Romans 10:3<i> For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.</i><br />
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1 Corinthians 10:1-15 <i>Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.</i><br />
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1 Corinthians 12:1<i> Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:</i><br />
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2 Corinthians 1:8 <i>For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:</i><br />
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2 Corinthians 2:11 <i>Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.</i><br />
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1 Thessalonians 4:13<i> But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.</i><br />
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2 Peter 3:8<i> But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.</i><br />
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A little something to chew on...<br />
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Ignorance is not going to be an excuse when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ...<br />
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May we seriously examine our own hearts...<br />
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and prepare for HIS coming.<br />
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Amen<br />
<i>Cathy Morris</i></span></span></center>
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</span></span>don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-42021946933831620742013-09-09T05:21:00.000-07:002013-09-09T05:21:11.596-07:00Overcoming the Natural Man by the Cross<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth"</b></i> Colossians 3:2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 2:14.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:18.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">The natural man cannot see beyond the natural plane of life. He relates everything to the here and now. The gospel message sounds foolish to him because it speaks of dying to this world in order to receive life from above through the power of God. These spiritual truths will sound like a foreign language to his thought processes.</left></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Everyone who is born of the Spirit<b> overcomes the world"</b></i> 1 John 5:4. They know that God is real and He is able to work supernaturally within the heart of man. But even these children of faith do not always learn how to walk in the power of the Spirit. Many of them continue to live on a natural plane of life in their own strength.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Galatians are an example of Christians living on the natural plane. After receiving the gift of the Spirit, we find them attempting to work out their Christian life in the strength of the flesh. Their self-sufficient spirit was actually separating them from the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. They simply did not understand Christ's way of the cross ... the way of perfecting God's power through the weakness of dependent faith.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?"</b></i> {Paul revealed before their eyes Christ's way of being raised by the power of God after being crucified in weakness.} <b><i>"... Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect</i></b> {in holy love}<i><b>by the flesh </b></i>{by your own strength}<b><i>? Have you suffered so many things </i></b>{to break your self-sufficient spirit}<i><b> in vain ...if indeed it was in vain?"</b></i> Galatians 3:1-3.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam's lineage, from the day that he lost the Spirit, was depraved of the Presence and power of the Spirit. Fallen man was left on his own to live in his own strength. It became natural for him to live in a self-originated form of life based on earthly wisdom. It is a way of life that has been deeply ingrained into everyone's thought processes. Even earnest Christians, like the Galatians, find themselves naturally going back to their old habit of living by the strength of the flesh.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In contrast, the apostle Paul spoke of revealing before their eyes how to live in the Spirit's power. He displayed the way of Christ crucified, which is the way of the cross. It is the way of dying to the strength of the flesh and perfecting God's power through dependent and trusting faith.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul came with the same message to the Corinthians. He <i><b>"preached Christ crucified"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:23. He wanted these Christians to understand the true meaning of the cross. He sought to reveal before their eyes how the power of the Spirit is perfected through the weakness of dependent faith. When he was no longer living out from himself, but was walking by faith in the Son of God, the Spirit was able to manifest the life and works of Christ through Him.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live </b></i><b>{nothing is done through the fleshly strength of the old man},<i>but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" </i></b>Galatians 2:20.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"And He said to me, <b>My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness</b>"</i> 2 Corinthians 12:9.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way of <i><b>"Christ crucified"</b></i> will not make sense until there has been a very deep change in how we think. It will be necessary to become like dependent little children. <i><b>"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted</b></i> {are changed in how you think}<b><i> and become as </i></b>{dependent and trusting}<b><i> little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven"</i></b> Matthew 18:3. This renewing of the mind turns us away from the way of living by fleshly human strength to the way of receiving life from the Son <i><b>"through faith."</b></i> Only in this way is it possible to put on His heavenly life.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts <b>through faith</b>...that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"</i> Ephesians 3:16-19.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus...<b>be renewed in the spirit of your mind...</b></i>{so you may}<i> put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness"</i> Ephesians 4:21, 23-24.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Wisdom of the Cross and Suffering</b><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">The way of the cross depicts suffering and a slow death. The cross is a spiritual type that helps reveal spiritual principles. The Father led the Son through the cross. The Son then instructed everyone to follow Him. Those who choose to follow Him will know from His example that His way of the cross will entail some suffering. The old independent and self-sufficient form of life does not die easily. Dying to the strength of the natural man can be slow and painful.</left></span></span></left></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin</b></i> {he dies to the old self-originated form of life},<i><b> that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God"</b></i> 1 Peter 4:1-2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natural man lives by his own strength according to his own will and desires. He lives independently of God. And wherever there is independence, there is also self-sufficiency. God does away with the independent life by destroying the self-sufficient spirit. This is what Paul was attempting to communicate to the self-sufficient Galatians when he said, <i><b>"Have you suffered so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain?"</b></i> Galatians 3:3. God cannot permit anyone to live by the strength of the flesh in the heavenly realms. He insists that everyone live through His Spirit so <b><i>"that no flesh should glory in His presence"</i></b> 1 Corinthians 1:29.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Not by</b></i> {fleshly}<b><i> might nor by power, but by My Spirit,</i></b><i> says the Lord of hosts"</i> Zechariah 4:6.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those who truly obey Jesus by choosing to follow Him through the cross can expect to be <i><b>"scourged."</b></i> Most of the strength was taken out of Jesus by the scourging He received before He ever arrived at the cross. The flesh-life does not die easily. God therefore scourges us beforehand, taking away much of our strength, so we are ready to die to the ways of the flesh when we arrive at the cross. We should also note that He only scourges those who have submitted to His way of the cross. These children of faith who respond to His teachings are the ones He loves.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"He who has My commandments and keeps them </b></i>{by taking the way of the cross}, <b><i>it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him"</i></b> John 14:21.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges</b> every son whom He receives</i> {into His heavenly life}...<b><i>for our profit</i></b> {to do away with the old independent and self-sufficient spirit},<b><i> that we may be partakers of His holiness</i></b> {as we live through His Spirit}.<i>Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, <b>afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness </b></i>{the eternal Kingdom-life}<i> to those who have been trained by it"</i> Hebrews 12:6, 10-11.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the kingdom of God is...righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"</b></i> Romans 14:17.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earnest soul who has surrendered his whole being to serve the Lord often wonders why he suddenly finds himself going through deep trials and scourgings. But we must remember that this is exactly what occurred to Jesus after He had chosen to go through the cross. Once He had made His decision in the Garden of Gethsemane, everything was taken out of His hands. The providential hand of His Father then worked out the severe trials, the scourging and the final death on the cross.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God knows that this dying to the flesh-life cannot be worked out through the flesh. No one can nail himself to the cross. And so those who truly choose to follow Christ through the cross can expect to go through some fiery trials and scourging to take away their self-sufficient spirit. When their spirit is broken and they have no strength left in themselves they will be prepared to live through the Son by faith and begin enjoying His life in the heavenly realms.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"</b></i> Matthew 5:3.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As another example, the Lord comes in His holiness as a refiner's fire to do away with the part of the <i><b>"flesh"</b></i> that is contrary to His way of life. Even earnest souls will tend to think they have been abandoned by the Lord during this process. The presence of His holiness overwhelms and consumes everything that is contrary to Him. He comes in a special way as a refiner and purifier. Although the believer may not understand what the Lord is working out, those who hold on will come out of this fiery trial in a purified state, which will then enable the Lord to <i><b>"fill"</b></i> the temple with <b>His <i>"glory."</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple</b></i> {in this strange work as a consuming fire}... <i><b>But who can endure </b></i>{in the flesh} <i><b>the day of His coming? And who can stand</b></i> {with a self-sufficient spirit} <b><i>when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire... He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi</i></b> {representing those who have fully consecrated themselves to His service},<i><b> and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness"</b></i> Malachi 3:1-3.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's suffering</b></i> {while passing through this dark night of the soul},<i><b> that when His glory is revealed</b></i> {when He fills the temple of your body with His glory},<i><b> you may also be glad with exceeding joy"</b></i> 1 Pet. 4:12-13.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"I will come to you.. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you"</b></i> John 14:18, 20.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Teaching Christ Crucified</b><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">We are expected to <i><b>"make disciples of all the nations"</b> by <b>"teaching them to observe all things"</b> that Christ commanded,</i>(Matthew 28:19-20). But this central truth about following Christ through the cross is seldom taught in this day. It is the reason why there are so few Christians who have found His life in the heavenly realms.</left></span></span></left></span></span></left></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of those who are called out by God end up turning back when the Spirit begins to take them through difficult trials. Without anyone to teach them what to expect, and to reveal the heavenly Pearl received on the other side of the cross, they do not endure to the end. What we need is many more witnesses of His resurrection life. Someone needs to show them that this heavenly Pearl is worth the price that must be paid.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you </b></i>{into His heavenly Kingdom-life} <i>in due time... But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, <b>after you have suffered a while</b> </i>{in dying out to the flesh-life},<i> <b>perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you"</b></i> 1 Peter 5:6, 10.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a natural tendency to ask God to relieve people of their suffering. He is often asked to "touch" them so they may feel better. But these prayers are being made without any discernment of God's wisdom-the wisdom of the cross. It reveals how most Christians are still living on the natural plane. They think in terms of improving a person's spiritual life by improving their circumstances. Until Christian leaders can begin to understand the way of <i><b>"Christ crucified,"</b></i> and actually teach these principles of the cross, many will fail to recognize what God is attempting to work out through suffering.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience</b></i>{producing a trusting and dependent faith in God}.<i><b> But let patience have its perfect work</b></i> {through these continuing trials}, <i><b>that you may be perfect and complete </b></i>{learning to live by the Spirit alone},<i><b> lacking nothing"</b></i> James 1:2-4.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord..."</b></i>James 5:10-11.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you begin to see why those who are still living by human wisdom on the natural plane of life have such a difficult time understanding spiritual truths? God has truly turned the ways of this world upside down. The cross will need an opportunity to do a deep work within the heart before the believer will be prepared to live by God's wisdom.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the message of the cross </b></i>{the way of weakness and dependent faith} <i><b>is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved</b></i> {from the independent and self-sufficient form of life}<i><b> it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty...and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, 27-29.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"So the last will be first, and the first last. For <b>many are called, but few chosen</b>"</i> Matthew 20:16.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For he who is least among you all will be great</b> {in the kingdom of God}"</i> Luke 9:48.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are only two basic ways to live in this world. One is self-exalting and one is self-emptying. Because these two different ways are so radically different, they are easily distinguished. Unfortunately, the heart is deceitful above all things. And even God's called-out children can remain blinded to the truth. <b>It is the reason why so "few" of the "many" are being "chosen" by God to be lifted into the Son's life in the heavenly realms</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you see how needful it is to examine the heart? Do you have a new nature that prefers to be the "least" and the "last"? If the old "pride of life" is still residing within your heart and causing you to enjoy being "first" and "great" in the eyes of men, you are in serious trouble. It will lead you, in spite of what you profess, to live by an earthly and demonic wisdom that is unfit for heaven. (James 3:15-16)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who...made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant</b></i> {a slave}...<i><b>He humbled Himself...to the point of death... Therefore God also has highly exalted Him..."</b></i>Philippians 2:5-9.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is the day of salvation. Every called-out child of God needs to come to that place where God may lift them spiritually into the heavenly realms. It will entail following Christ in His downward course through the cross. Simply stated, the way up is down.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will remain alone</b></i> {separated from the life of the Trinity}.<b><i> He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life</i></b> {the old "psuche" life} <b><i>in this world will keep it</i></b>{the soul} <b><i>for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me </i></b>{through the cross};<i><b> and where I am</b></i> {in the heavenly realms}<i><b>there My servant will be also"</b></i> John 12:24-26.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul preached the gospel, but <i><b>"not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect"</b></i> 1 Cor. 1:17. He went on to say, <i>"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, <b>that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God</b>"</i> 1 Corinthians 2:4-5.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there are few today who seem to believe in this same gospel. Much of the preaching consists of wise and persuasive words. It results in a mere "fix-up" religion that can never lift anyone into the heavenly life of God. Very few are ever learning how to follow Christ through the cross and live in the resurrection power of His Spirit.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"For <b>if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,</b> certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection"</i>Romans 6:5.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ultimate triumph of <i>"Christ crucified"</i> was revealed when He was raised to the highest position of power and authority after He had emptied Himself of His own glory, sank to the lowest place of servanthood, and had reached the place of absolute weakness on the cross. He was raised by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit when He was in a state where all strength in the flesh had died. Do you understand this principle? You will need to learn it, because you cannot live on the natural plane in your own strength and also live in the heavenly realms through the power of the Holy Spirit.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, God has graciously provided a means for being reconciled through the Son's shed blood while seeking out His heavenly life. It is also possible to die <i>"in the faith"</i> while in the early stages of light and go to heaven, not having received the fullness of the promise in this world. (Heb. 11:39-40) But those who choose to live on the natural plane in the strength of the flesh are rejecting both Christ's way of the cross and His resurrection power. It will keep their soul separated from the heavenly life of God. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it cannot be raised up with Christ and be honored by the Father. (John 12:24-26)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christians are expected to take this way of the cross. They have the seed of life from heaven planted within their heart. But it cannot be multiplied until the covering of the natural man dies and disintegrates. It must be planted within the ground where everything from the old man is lost before the eternal Kingdom-life of God is able to rise up and begin to multiply itself.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L.E. Maxwell, in his book Born Crucified, has explained why there has been such little growth of the true kingdom of God. In closing this chapter, we ask our readers to seriously pray over these thoughts from a chapter entitled <b>"The Cross and Fruitfulness."</b></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Certainly the great trouble with many of our orthodox churches is that they are like great grain containers, full of unplanted wheat which has become musty, and moldy, and befouled... If only each little grain had been rent asunder from its fellows, cast into the dark, wet earth, buried out of sight, and left alone to endure disintegration and death, what a harvest we would see!...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We appeal to those who are sick of the shallows and the shams, sick of doing dead things, "sick unto death" of a fruitless, barren existence. Oh barren soul, hear the word of the Lord: "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die." Is the reader trying to live the Christian life?-work for Christ?-bear fruit, etc.? You cannot live until you have died. Death precedes life. <b><i>"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone."</i></b> J. Hudson Taylor...once said: "We know how the Lord Jesus became fruitful-not by bearing His cross merely, but by dying on it. Do we know much fellowship with Him in this?... There is only one Christ. Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus to bear much fruit?" Death is still the gateway to life, life from the dead, life multiplied, life manifold.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/6591176/Living-in-the-Heavenly-Realms">Chapter 5 from: "<b>Living in the Heavenly Realm"</b><i> by Steve Bray</i> </a></span></center>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-58962657005173730412013-09-09T05:18:00.002-07:002013-09-09T05:18:51.031-07:00A MESSAGE TO THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT By James F Jarjou<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">JESUS in keeping HIS children in the path of perfection works in two ways:</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HE gives them light which reveals the sin or darkness within and visits them in divine consolation by giving them divine life within, which destroy the darkness within. The light reveals HIS mind to HIS children and the coming of HIS divine life within preserves them in walking in that measure of light. The coming of HIS divine life within destroy the wicked one within, whose purpose is to steal ,kill and destroy (John 10 v 10 ).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the family of CHRIST both in heaven and earth live by the <i>principle of divine life</i>; Including the Angelic host. Everyone in his/ her measure. Christ himself is the book containing divine life (The book of life ).He that is not in HIM who is the BOOK has no life in him but the wrath of God abiding in him (John 3 v 36 ). Divine wisdom Show apostle John in Revelation 5v 1-5, the impossibility of having divine life in none but the BOOK which was sealed with seven seals. The mystery of partaking of this divine life being veiled to him he wept that none was able to open or look into the BOOK. Here John typifies a fallen man in need of a Savior. The seals of the BOOK signify that the salvation through the coming of divine life within is from glory to glory. The opening of a seal to another reveals the different measure of the divine life the children of light can partake of as they desire more light to search them within. The BOOK being sealed seven times signifies the completeness of partaking of the divine life <b>IN CHRIST</b> who <i>is</i> the <b>BOOK</b>; Seven is a type of perfection or rest.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He that turneth without seeking divine life from man or even an angel is in deception. It is good that the children of light of know that they are complete in CHRIST and need none else.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. He that will wait in patience for the coming of the light of Christ to judge and reveal the darkness within him /her will surely receive the coming of Christ divine life within and will live above the measure of that darkness the spirit reveals.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. When Christ's light is about to reveal the hidden works of darkness within, like pride , lust, error, etc. dodge not the judgment within, but invite HIM speedily . In doing this HE will wroth a walk in you by the coming of HIS divine life within and will raise you above your natural 'goodness' in opening of a seal within. <i><b>"But whosoever live by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God"</b></i> (John 3v21 N.I.V).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. He/ She that will receive purity through the work of Christ's divine life within must gladly be a fool to the wisdom of the world and to his own natural understanding (Proverbs 3v5). Christ's Light will lead you in ways you do not know; when praying and listening for HIS voice daily. The five common sense may operate well in the seen and feel but not in the supernatural. The carnal mind is dead and he that is lead by it in any measure is dead in that measure (Romans 8 v6 ). None can be free from misrepresentation of things, prejudice, worries and frustration except when He / She wait with patience the light of Christ to rightly judge the state of things.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. The measure of the light of CHRIST you desire and walk in, in that same measure you will experience the coming of HIS divine life within. The choice is yours (Matthew 5 v6 ).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. He / She that will wish to walk in the light of Christ and is never willing to deny his / her selfish desires with the coming of Christ light within, will never experience the coming of HIS divine life within nor receive further light within. Such folks make a try of the narrow way to LIFE but never receive grace to walk in the divine life of it, for something deep within the heart is crying like "I love CHRIST divine LIFE but I will love to have my own way." Confessing HIM without while denying HIM within.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. Those that truly confess Christ without and within for sure will know the pain of receiving correction by the coming of CHRIST's light within, yet the patience they keep in waiting for the coming of HIS divine LIFE within will never fail them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. The light of CHRIST will let you see the kingdom within in the measure you desire to know about it. The coming of Christ's divine life in the kingdom within will make you a possessor of the kingdom in that same measure you see it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. The light of CHRIST will first judge you within and make you a possessor of that measure by the coming of Christ divine life within, before HE commit to you the words of life to judge a dying world and a corrupt "church" in that same measure you posses it. The measure of authority to judge a dying world and a corrupt "church" through the words of LIFE within will be in proportion to the measure of LIFE you posses. This judgment must be CHRIST directed work in reconciling the world IN HIM. In keeping this spiritual law you will be a blessing to yourself and your neighbor.</span></span></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-29115116615043140422013-09-09T05:16:00.001-07:002013-09-09T05:16:54.055-07:00A CAUTIONARY WORD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="font-size: xx-large; text-align: -webkit-center;"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;">"...You are weighed in the balances and are found wanting"</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: medium; text-align: -webkit-center;"> Daniel 5:7.</span></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" Mark 12:29-31.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" John 15:13.</span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God's love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And if I have prophetic powers (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God's love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God's love in me), I gain nothing. Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded). When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love" 1 Corinthians 13:1-13.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Now about food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature]. If anyone imagines that he has come to know and understand much [of divine things, without love], he does not yet perceive and recognize and understand as strongly and clearly, nor has he become as intimately acquainted with anything as he ought or as is necessary" 1 Corinthians 8:1-2.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also" 1 John 4:19-21.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How much of the time do we actually... <i>'practice what we preach?'</i> How does our daily walk... match up with what we say we believe? It is much easier to <i>'talk the talk'</i> than it is to <i>'walk the walk.'</i> Knowledge in and of itself is only a tool, it is incapable of imparting LIFE. It requires application... implementation on the part of the hearer to effect change. It is not enough simply to 'know'... if we do not grow from what we have learned. When it comes to learning spiritual realities, we discover that in order to implement them into our lives, the death of self is the chief requirement. <i>"Till not I live, but Christ liveth in me..."; "For in him we live, and move, and have our being."</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we would honestly examine our own hearts, we will have to admit that we are in possession of far more knowledge about God, than we are walking in the Power and Spirit of Christ in us. Hence, if we were to be judged this moment, we would be out of balance as the graphic illustrates; our accumulated knowledge about the things of God outweighing the Christ living in and through us.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are not going to be rewarded for how much knowledge we possess. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" Galatians 6:7. Our actions speak louder than our words. Our reward will be in direct correlation to our obedience and the surrender of our will to His. It is the <i>"Christ in you"</i> that makes us acceptable to a Holy God, not our adherence to religious rituals, formulas or beliefs. Our duty is to love him that first loved us, and gave himself for us. As the above verses illustrate, LOVE is the deciding factor. As long as we are living according to the ways of the world and our flesh, we are incapable of loving those who despitefully use us; and we love ourselves more than we love God.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a sobering thing to consider the ramifications of the following..."But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" Romans 8:9. One must honestly deduct from this passage that if the Spirit of God is indwelling us, we can no longer live according to our fleshly desires and carnal thinking. Our flesh is very adept at convincing us that our carnal desires are in fact the Spirit of God. Jesus told us in John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." The two are distinctly separate. They can not be blended any more than oil and water. We are the servants of one or the other. If we are doing what seems right in our own eyes, we are operating from our flesh and not by the Spirit of God, and are in danger of being counted among those who are <i>"none of his."</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" Ephesians 2:8.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May we always be reminded...<i>"Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth."</i> And continue to <i>"... grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever"</i> 2 Peter 3:18.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amen</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cathy Morris</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8/28/2010</span></span><br />
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-59998027338855733822013-09-09T05:14:00.000-07:002013-09-09T05:14:00.307-07:00WHEN ALL MEANS FAIL<br /><div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.6; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k93yH-xYBgYcC-9x0yhYRxXICrLl9wqXHG4R_LZH1SqbGpWmOEDe3puPhX2z3IRFR_dMmflhyXQK2-AfnIhFtXxsZVfVj4UbIqwOMYXLYAdL9gTlY7JfpbrNO6kg5MiJ0axbP-Reikg/s1600/DWpicblog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7k93yH-xYBgYcC-9x0yhYRxXICrLl9wqXHG4R_LZH1SqbGpWmOEDe3puPhX2z3IRFR_dMmflhyXQK2-AfnIhFtXxsZVfVj4UbIqwOMYXLYAdL9gTlY7JfpbrNO6kg5MiJ0axbP-Reikg/s1600/DWpicblog.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;">Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.pt/2011/04/when-all-means-fail.html">http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.pt/2011/04/when-all-means-fail.html</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-68196612647510053182013-08-26T08:03:00.000-07:002013-08-26T08:03:59.953-07:00As A Man Thinketh…<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider: we are in a constant battle between spirit and flesh; faith and reason.<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> “<strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he</strong>: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.”</em> Proverbs 23:7. There is our mind; and there is our heart. It might be enlightening to look up the verses that speak of things <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘in the heart;’</em> as we mortals tend to confuse the two. We have to learn how to discern <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">what</em> is from <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">where</em>. God is interested in our heart condition. It is given that to be made into a <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘new creature in Christ,’</em> requires the complete<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘renewing of our minds.’</em> Isn’t it interesting that it is written that ‘as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.’</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) the heart<br />1a) that organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life<br />1b) denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life<br />2a) the vigour and sense of physical life<br />2b) the centre and seat of spiritual life<br />2b1) the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours<br />2b2) of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence<br />2b3) of the will and character<br />2b4) of the soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions<br />1c) of the middle or central or inmost part of anything, even though inanimate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">KJV – think 1; 1</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) to split open, reason out, calculate, reckon, estimate<br />1a) (Qal) to calculate</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is an inner struggle in the heart of the believer, because the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">new life in Christ</em> in our hearts; is battling for its <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">right</strong> to rule our natural, carnal mind. And all of our efforts to subject our own thoughts are futile. We cannot clean up our own act. We cannot change our nature and character of ourselves. God purposes to perform a miracle, in each and every one of us; that <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">only He can do; <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">if</strong>.</em>.. we will let Him.<br /><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”</strong> Jeremiah 10:23.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can become ‘O, so religious.’ We can clean up the ‘outside of the cup.’ But in our inner man we can still harbor malice, resentments, jealousies, ill-will, criticisms and all manner of bad feelings and attitudes. In short, try as we might, our will is incapable of making us pure, or holy, or righteous. All of mankind have partaken of the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; and we live thereby. Looking at this chart, we can readily identify with how it works: (click on picture to enlarge)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tree_of_the_knowledge_of_good_and_evil_small.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="tree_of_the_knowledge_of_good_and_evil_small" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-3583" height="300" src="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/tree_of_the_knowledge_of_good_and_evil_small-300x300.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0.4em auto 1.625em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a><br />We can spend our lifetime running around and around this tree, from branch to branch, judging ourselves and others, and never achieve our goal. Our flesh is all about <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">me, me, me.</em> While our reborn spirit, is<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> all about God</em>. Only one can reign within. We can only cry with the Psalmist, <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”</em></strong> Psalms 51:10. <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”</em></strong> Philippians 1:6.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must acknowledge…<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.“And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.”</em> 1 Corinthians 8:2. We only see and know <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘in part,’</em> and must not <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘lean to our own understanding.’</em> We must learn how to…<strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”</em></strong>Psalms 46:10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must be willing that HE be exalted in ‘our earth.’ Only then will be set free from the vicious treadmill of our own thoughts (the <a href="http://lovestthoume.com/FeedMySheep/ClamoringVoices.html" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Clamoring Voices</a> in our heads), and our own will. Instead, seeking to please HIM in all things, rejoicing in that…<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:”</strong></em> Ephesians 1:9. <strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">his good pleasure</span>.”</em></strong> Philippians 2:13.</span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: small; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are saved, by faith. But all of our teaching, our doctrines, our beliefs, are contingent upon our personal relationship with HIM Who Is <strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>the Word, the Truth, and the Life… Jesus Christ</i></strong>. He came that we might have life… <i>abundant life!</i> That we might be partakers of His very nature and character. No amount of study and good intent can ever make us partakers of the nature of Christ. This is not achieved from the mind to the heart; but from the heart to the mind. Our minds are renewed as we are still before Him, no longer tossed to and fro by every wind. <i>“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things </i><i><span style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">he might have the preeminence</span></i><i>.”</i> Colossians 1:18.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: small; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,”</i> Hebrews 12:1. Our burdens are heavy. Trying to be spiritual while we are yet carnally minded is a great weight. We are continually thwarted in our efforts to ‘do right,’ because of the conflict that rages within our thoughts, comparing the do’s and the don’ts, this interpretation and that teaching, should I – shouldn’t I. Jesus never told us to try to imagine what he would do. He never told us to shut ourselves away from the world, lest we be contaminated by it, to only associate with people who are like-minded. That is what we do when we are trying to be ‘spiritual’ while still operating from the wrong tree.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: small; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He said, “Go ye into all the world!” “I will be with you!” “Both I and my Father will come to you and make our abode in you!” “Love others as I have loved you!” “Do good to those that persecute you!” “Forgive, and you shall be forgiven!” “I will be with you!” “I will never leave you or forsake you!” What more do we think we need?</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-size: small; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul said,<strong style="border: 0px; font-size: 16px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”</em></strong>Philippians 4:13.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.”</em></strong>Ephesians 6:10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Makes us take a good, long look at our thought life, doesn’t it, and what tree we are feeding from?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cathy Morris – 5/20/2013</span></div>
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<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3582">http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3582</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-39798392994277031822013-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:002013-08-26T08:01:17.524-07:00A FURTHER WORD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">"If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?"</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently I felt compelled to send out an URGENT message warning of an impending great calamity - such that will cause even God's elect to tremble.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One Bishop asked, "Is there no further word: How should the righteous respond to such a word?"</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can only answer by sharing what the Holy Spirit is speaking to my own heart and what I am to do. I shared that I was led in a practical way to lay aside a month's supply of food - because I have witnessed the panic in the wake of terrorism. That has to be a personal word for every individual.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is what I hear the Holy Spirit speaking to my heart concerning my own spiritual response to impending calamity. It is simply this - STAND STILL AND SEE THE SALVATION OF THE LORD.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"And Moses said to the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show you today... The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace"</i>(Exodus 14:13-14).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the attitude of faith in the face of calamity. What could Israel do on the brink of the Red Sea? Pharaoh's army is pressing in, mountains are on both sides, and there is an impossible sea ahead. The flesh cries, "Do something!" The flesh cries hopelessness. Can God's people dry up the sea? Level a mountain? Fight a great army without having weapons? They are in what appears to be a dreadful, frightening situation. God's people tremble - and in this hour of trembling comes a word from God. In essence: "Stand still. Fear not. This is the hour of salvation. You are going to witness the pulling down of the foundations of a world power. But in the same hour, I will fight for you. Hold your peace - be still and see my works."</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beloved, my warning is just one voice among many who are saying the same thing. We may all tremble for a season, but those who truly know God's Word will be quickly comforted by the Holy Spirit. We will be baptized with a great peace - a supernatural quietness - which will be a tremendous witness to the fearful multitudes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Christ,</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3-8-09 David Wilkerson</span></span></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-66302889456242316312013-08-26T07:58:00.001-07:002013-08-26T07:58:24.571-07:00An Urgent Message<center>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following message was sent out by David Wilkerson. I forward it to you for your discernment.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AN URGENT MESSAGE Saturday, March 7, 2009 3:37 AM..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BY DAVE WILKERSON TIMES SQUARE CHURCH IN NEW YORK....</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires - such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting - including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God's wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written,</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(v. 3).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is destroying the secular foundations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with wicked Israel, <i>"God is fashioning a calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back each of you from your evil way, and reform your ways and deeds. But they will say, It's hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart"</i> (Jeremiah 18:11-12).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Psalm 11:6, David warns, <i>"Upon the wicked he will rain snares (coals of fire)...fire...burning wind...will be the portion of their cup."</i> Why? David answered, <i>"Because the Lord is righteous"</i>(v. 7). This is a righteous judgment - just as in the judgments of Sodom and in Noah's generation.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">WHAT SHALL THE RIGHTEOUS DO? WHAT ABOUT GOD'S PEOPLE?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I give you a practical word I received for my own direction. Lay in store a thirty-day supply of food, toiletries and other essentials. In major cities, grocery stores are emptied in an hour at the sign of an impending disaster.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for our spiritual reaction, we have but two options. This is outlined in Psalm 11. We <i>"flee like a bird to a mountain."</i> Or, as David says, <i>"He fixed his eyes on the Lord on his throne in heaven - his eyes beholding, his eyelids testing the sons of men"</i> (v. 4). <i>"In the Lord I take refuge"</i> (v. 1).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will say to my soul: No need to run...no need to hide. This is God's righteous work. I will behold our Lord on his throne, with his eye of tender, loving kindness watching over every step I take - trusting that he will deliver his people even through floods, fires, calamities, tests, trials of all kinds.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God bless and keep you.</span></i></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Christ,</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/Preparation/AnUrgentMessage.html">http://lovestthoume.com/Preparation/AnUrgentMessage.html</a></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-79749055897617276292013-08-26T07:55:00.002-07:002013-08-26T07:55:42.172-07:00Untouchable, Unclean, Unheard<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leprosy is a debilitating and contagious disease. In ancient Israel lepers were the untouchables. It was not unusual for people to run in the opposite direction from any leper who came too close, or even to stone him. A leper was subject to certain religious laws that meant he could not associate at all with his family, must live outside the city and was banned from worshiping at the temple (<i>Leviticus 13 and 14; Leviticus 22:4-9; Numbers 5:1-4</i>).</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the day a leper approached Jesus we can imagine the horrified reaction among the multitudes following Him. We can imagine also the infected man’s sheer desperation. Just by coming within speaking distance of Jesus and others, he was breaking the law. He worships, prostrating himself before the Man he knows is his only hope. “Lord, if you are willing, You can make me clean.” Not: ‘if you would like to think about it, maybe’, or ‘if you are in the mood’, but <i>if You are willing</i>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This man is acknowledging that Jesus has the right to decide whether he lives or dies. He is acknowledging Christ’s absolute sovereignty over his future. Jesus’ response confirms that He is indeed sovereign, but also willing. “I am willing; be cleansed”. I AM is willing, therefore be clean! And then He does the unthinkable. He touches the untouchable: eye to eye, hand to hand, skin to skin. And the leper is no longer a leper. (<i>Matt. 8:1-4</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not long after, a Roman centurion appears on the scene. His valued servant is paralysed and suffering greatly. We know the servant was highly valued because Roman centurions had no problem replacing servants, or slaves if we are to be more accurate, but this centurion desperately wants his servant to live. There is no attempt by Jesus to point out the evils of slavery, or to take the centurion to task over the oppressive policies of the Roman occupying forces. “I will come and heal Him” He says. No! says the centurion. That’s not what I want. Just say the word and I know my servant will be healed. (<i>Matt. 8:5-9</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roman centurions were not the most popular people in Israel. On a scale of one to ten they probably ranked somewhere in the lowest four along with lepers, Samaritans and prostitutes. Not only was their presence a constant reminder to Israel that a foreign power ruled over them, but they were Gentiles. To the Jewish mind in Jesus’ day Gentiles were idol worshipers, and as such they were unclean and beneath contempt. No Jewish rabbi would stoop to enter a Gentile’s house, yet here was Jesus offering to do just that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But a connection takes place between Jesus and this unclean Gentile that amazed even Jesus (<i>Mat. 8:10</i>). This centurion recognizes in Jesus something that had escaped the Jewish leaders: an authority that was not bestowed by any human agency. He knows about authority and he knows that this Man’s authority is greater even than his own. With utmost respect he declines Jesus’ offer to come to his house, no doubt knowing such a visit would not help Jesus’ reputation and not wanting to add to His problems with the Jewish leaders. Jesus commends him for his faith and the servant is healed in that very hour.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A recognition, a request and a response. Something deep and divine has taken place between Jesus and this ‘unclean’ one that very few present could have perceived.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not long after, Jesus, weary and hungry from the day’s activities, enters Peter’s home for some much needed rest. The women of the house are busy preparing food and comfort for their honored guest, but one woman lies listless and still, consumed by a blazing fever. Immediately Jesus approaches her, reaching out to touch her burning flesh. His touch is enough to rebuke the fever and restore her health. She opens her eyes and gazes silently into His. He gently lifts her to her feet and she rises, healed, to serve Him His meal. (<i>Matt. 8:14-15, Mark 1:31-32</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not a word has she uttered. She knows Jewish rabbis do not touch women. And she is an old woman now. The days of her youth are past. These days few notice her, let alone hear the desires of her heart. She is of little value in this society where women are the servers and child bearers, and old women have outlived their purpose. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We don’t know why this woman, mother of Peter’s wife, was living in this house. It is possible she was a widow and had no living sons of her own to take responsibility for her in her old age, as was the custom. Regardless<i>, Jesus</i> knew why she was there. She was there to serve Him, because that was the only thing a woman in her position could do to show Him her devotion. And <i>He</i> knew that was her unspoken prayer. Breaking with all convention, He sought her out, He touched her and then He received from her.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The untouchable, the unclean and the unheard are still among us, often much closer than we realize. They have not gone away. Nor has Jesus ceased seeing, hearing and touching them. These days, though, it is <i>our</i> hands that must touch for Him, <i>our</i> eyes that must meet theirs, and<i> our</i> smile that must show them a different reality. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, as we travelled by car on an interstate trip, I listened to the young man in the back seat behind me worshiping as he sang his heart out to the Lord he loves. The purity of his worship broke my heart, bringing moist tears to my eyes. I know well this young man’s almost impossible journey, because he’s my son. I shared a little about him in the post <a href="http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/challenging-behaviours/" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Challenging Behaviours">Challenging Behaviours</a>. From the beginning his road has been a difficult and lonely one. The combination of autism, mental illness and related issues can leave those like him feeling untouchable, unclean and unheard in this world. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Jesus sees. Jesus hears. Jesus knows. Jesus touches. And Jesus connects. And from that connection comes forth worship in Spirit and truth, and an experience of God at a depth few of us understand or are allowed to witness. And when we do we are left humbled, awed and undone by this mysterious and fearful love of a God who searches for and reaches out to the untouchable, the unclean and the unheard…..and gathers them joyfully into His arms. Thank you Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/">http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-81436391745681810602013-08-21T02:24:00.002-07:002013-08-21T02:24:30.023-07:00The Confused & Misguided Youth<blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is;</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>he confuses it with feeling</b>.” Dr.<b> </b>Thomas Sowell</span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; line-height: 15px;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;</b> who put darkness for light, and light for darkness.... Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!"<b></b>Isaiah 5:20-21</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...And the culprits are the American public education, an ever growing lack of religious education, and the indifferent parenting that does not question what children learn or do not learn in school. Young people in any generation tend to be naïve, idealistic, and gullible; <b>it is easy to sell them anything because they confuse feelings with rational thought</b>. They are told so often and so early in life that they are special that they form a distorted view of themselves.<br /><br />...if you listen to liberals, we are all equally special, talented, and brilliant. Test scores tell a different story though, particularly the latest test results from New York public schools, among the first to implement the new and feel-good-about- wrong- answers<b> <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/common-core/CC-chronology-3.htm">Common Core</a> </b>nationalized education standards. Worse yet, GED, and college entrance exams, SAT and ACT, will be revised in line with Common Core standards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">... public school teachers with personal agendas fail the young minds and society by using their influence and power to <b>inculcate <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/009/socialism.htm">Socialism</a> and revisionist history</b> onto the unchartered and unmapped brains of their students. Such teachers diminish and <b>denigrate our common Christian roots while glorifying Islam</b>....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If young people had known true history and had learned from it, they would have understood that all <b>socialist paradises around the globe were dismal economic failures and tyrannies</b> that suppressed the human spirit, robbed people of their freedoms, and sent many to early graves for their anti-government beliefs. Under socialism/communism people <i>[except the ruling elite]</i> were equal - equally miserable, equally poor, equally hungry, equally cold, equally mistreated, equally deprived, and equally imprisoned or killed for their thoughts....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Young people have been indoctrinated in schools to <b>glorify other cultures</b>, multiculturalism, and other<b> religions </b>to the detriment of their own “inferior” culture and religion. ...<br /><br />It is surprising that <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/glossary/Islam.htm"><b>Sharia</b> Law</a> and <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/011/garner/no-go-zones.htm">Gulen schools</a> are making their way so fast across the United States while the vocal feminists and liberals are so silent. More and more young women and men are buying into the <b>false rhetoric of the</b> <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/Decl_of_Religion.htm">religion of peace</a> ...<br /><br />Young Californians have become so dumbed down and calloused by our education system that are willingly signing street petitions to kill babies two months after they are born and to kill seniors in order to save money on Obamacare. Their faces do not show an ounce of hesitation or rational thought. It is shocking to witness the <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/1-bible-based-conscience.htm">absence of humanity and care</a>.<br /><br />Young people are the easiest <b>swayed in the direction of environmentalism</b> and global warming although science and historical facts suggest strongly that environmentalist predictions of the past were wrong and that<b> <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/News/agenda-21.htm">climate change alarmists have falsified data</a></b><a href="http://www.crossroad.to/News/agenda-21.htm"> in recent years to match their newest claims</a>....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Young people turn into destructive flash mobs in malls and convenience stores because they have nothing better to do, are unemployed, have an evil and destructive streak, or are trying to make a misguided statement, prompted by clever <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/communism/alinsky.htm"><b>Alinskyite manipulators</b> and community organizers</a><b> </b>who want to disrupt the economy and overwhelm the system....<br /><br />Do young people question the out-of-control spending that is destroying their future? Do they object to paying the lion’s share of Obamacare costs while Congress gets 75% subsidies for their premiums, illegal aliens get fully subsidized under the undeserved amnesty plan, and <b>Muslims get free healthcare because it is against their religion to pay monthly premiums?</b> The answer is no. ... Will they get quality health care once the unaffordable Affordable Care Act is fully implemented? No, but that is thinking too far ahead for <i>most</i> young people.<br /><br />Young people keep repeating that we are unfair and discriminate against black Americans yet <b>we have Affirmative Action, a black President, a black Attorney General, hundreds of thousands of black people in prominent positions of power</b>, and almost 18% of the federal workforce is black when the black population represents 12% of the U.S. population.<br /><br />May I remind the lost generation that life is never fair, nothing is equal, and nothing is free, there is an opportunity cost for everything, somebody else is paying for your free lunch? Next time you feel the need to march for a liberal cause that you joined for no apparent reason or logic other than that it is “cool” or popular with your age group, put what you are doing in proper perspective, you might burn a bridge behind you which you may have to cross sometime in the future.</span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<span style="line-height: 16px;">...<b>the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one</b>."</span><span style="line-height: 16px;"><b> </b></span><span style="line-height: 16px;">1 John 5:19</span></span></i></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...<b>do not be conformed to this world</b>, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." <span style="line-height: 19px;">Romans 12:</span></span></i></div>
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<a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/excerpts/8-confused-youth.htm">http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/0013/excerpts/8-confused-youth.htm</a></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-7384921546510825662013-08-14T02:49:00.000-07:002013-08-14T02:49:46.590-07:00SYRIA: REBELS INCREASE ATTACKS<h3 style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Verdana, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22.390625px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 10px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">
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Christians in Syria are reporting increasing attacks from opposition forces and worsening humanitarian conditions, with many displaced Syrians struggling to find food and shelter. But VOM sources also report that they are seeing God’s hand unmistakably at work in the midst of Syria’s bloody civil war.</div>
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A VOM contact reports that members of the opposition Free Syria Army (FSA) have killed a priest and two others in the northern part of the country. The FSA has warned that Christians who stay in Syria will be killed.</div>
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Another VOM contact, “Touma,” reports that rebels have attacked his Christian village and kidnapped his cousin and the cousin’s son. The family is still waiting to hear the kidnappers’ demands.</div>
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Touma says that in the past his family has hosted the rebels’ families when they needed shelter and has provided food and shared the gospel with them. Touma’s family has even supplied some of the rebels with Bibles, which they gratefully received.</div>
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However, in the last month the rebels have begun to attack the village, steal the crops and are now kidnapping the villagers for ransom. Touma says many Christian children in the village are terrified of the rebels, who have tried to break into their homes. Many families have left the village, fearing for their safety.</div>
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But, in the midst of the increased attacks, God is visibly at work in Syria. A source has told VOM that two Christian soldiers fighting on the government side found their lives spared recently.</div>
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“Boutros,” a Christian draftee, was captured by FSA troops after a shootout at a checkpoint. Most of his comrades died in the shootout, but he survived. As the FSA fighter pointed his gun at Boutros’s head and pulled the trigger, the gun jammed. So the FSA fighter pulled the trigger again, and again it jammed.</div>
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Boutros cried out, “Fire and kill me, since I’ll be with my Lord Jesus in heaven. I am not afraid.”</div>
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The FSA fighter replied, “It seems that even your Lord does not want you to be with him there in heaven. Who am I to do anything against his will? Get up and don’t show me your face. Run for your life.”</div>
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BOUTROS CRIED OUT, “FIRE AND KILL ME, SINCE I’LL BE WITH MY LORD JESUS IN HEAVEN. I AM NOT AFRAID.”</div>
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The second Christian soldier is a volunteer with a government unit based in northern Syria. During a street battle, “Yousef” was taken prisoner by a rebel brigade and brought before a local judge and the leader of the brigade.</div>
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Between them, they sentenced Yousef to hang. But as the sentence was being carried out, the rope broke. The brigade leader was very angry, but then said, “If the Share’at al Sama (the law of heaven) is not allowing you to be killed, who am I to press on with our Shariah (law) and kill you?” He ordered Yousef’s release.</div>
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Another VOM source says that during a recent three-day period, dozens of mortars fell around the building where he lives, but his building was not hit. His church is still meeting regularly three times a week, is running a medical clinic and, despite skyrocketing prices, is still providing food and hygienic items to dozens of Syrians displaced by the conflict.</div>
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“Every day more people are begging, more people are searching in rubbish, more people (are) searching for a place to stay, but they haven’t any money,” the source said. VOM supports this church’s ministry.</div>
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Continue to pray for the Christians in Syria. Pray that even Christians fighting on the front lines will continue to be witnesses for him. Pray for the families of Christians who have been killed. Pray that this church will be able to continue its ministry. Pray for those who have been kidnapped, that they will have the grace and strength to continue loving their enemies.</div>
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Sources: VOM Contacts and Sources</div>
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<b>Posted: July 31, 2013</b></div>
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<a href="http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=NTk4&featuredstory_ID=Mzg4&clickfrom=ZmVhdHVyZWRzdG9yaWVz"><span style="color: black;">http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=NTk4&featuredstory_ID=Mzg4&clickfrom=ZmVhdHVyZWRzdG9yaWVz</span></a></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-58298778647375234902013-08-14T02:46:00.002-07:002013-08-14T02:46:43.533-07:00THE MIND OF JESUS<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" dir="ltr" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" </i>Philippians 2:5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind"</i> 1 Peter 4:1</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE MIND OF JESUS! What a study is this! To attain a dim reflection of it, is the ambition of angel — higher they cannot soar.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"To be <i>conformed </i>to the image of His Son!" — this is the design of God in the <i>predestination </i>of His people from all eternity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"We shall be <i>like</i> Him!" — this is the Bible picture of <i>heaven!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a former little volume, we pondered some of the gracious <i>Words </i>which proceeded out of the mouth of Jesus. In the present, we have a few faint lineaments of that holy <i>Character </i>which constituted the living expositor and embodiment of His precepts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But how lofty such a standard! How all creature-perfection shrinks abashed and confounded before a Divine portraiture like this! He is the true "Angel standing in the sun," who alone projects no shadow; so bathed in the glories of Deity, that <i>likeness </i>to Him becomes like the light in which He is shrouded — "no man can approach unto it." May we not, however, seek at least to <i>approximate</i>, though we cannot adequately and fully <i>resemble</i>? It is impossible on earth to associate with a fellow-being without getting in some degree <i>assimilated </i>to him. Just so, the more we study "the Mind of Christ," the more we are in His company — holding converse with Him as our best and dearest friend — catching up His holy looks and holy deeds — the more shall we be "transformed into the same image."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Consider," says the Great Apostle (literally 'gaze on') "Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1.) Study feature by feature, lineament by lineament — of that Peerless Exemplar. <i>"Gaze" </i>on the Sun of Righteousness, until, like gazing long on the natural sun, you carry away with you, on your spiritual vision, dazzling images of His brightness and glory! Though He is the Archetype of all goodness — remember He is no shadowy model — though the Infinite Jehovah — He was "the <i>Man </i>Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must never, indeed, forget that it is not the <i>mind</i>, but the <i>work </i>of Emmanuel which lies at the foundation of a sinner's hope. He must be known as a <i>Savior, </i>before He is studied as an<i>Example. </i>His <i>doing </i>and <i>dying </i>is the center jewel — of which all the <i>virtues </i>of His holy life are merely the setting. But neither must we overlook the Scripture obligation to <i>walk </i>in His footsteps and imbibe His Spirit, for "if any man has not the <i>Spirit of Christ — he is none of His!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, that each individual Christian were more Savior-like! that, in the manifestation of a holy character and heavenly demeanor, it might be said in some feeble measure of the faint and imperfect reflection — "Such was <i>Jesus!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How far short we are of such a criterion — our mournful experience can testify. But it is at least comforting to know that there is a day coming, when, in the full vision and fruition of the<i>Glorious Original</i>, the exhortation of our motto-verse will be needed no more; when we shall be able to say, in the words of an inspired apostle — "We <i>have </i>the MIND OF CHRIST!"</span></div>
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1. COMPASSION.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I have <b>compassion</b> on the multitude." — Mark 8:2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a pattern to His people, the tender <i>compassion </i>of Jesus! He found the world He came to save a <i>moral Bethesda</i> — where crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. The wail of suffering humanity was everywhere borne to His ear. It was His delight — to walk its porches, to pity, relieve, comfort, save! The faintest cry of misery arrested His footsteps — stirred a ripple in this fountain of Infinite Love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was it a <i>leper</i> — that dreaded name which entailed a life-long exile from friendly looks and kindly words? There was <i>One, </i>at least, who had tones and deeds of tenderness for the outcast. "Jesus, being moved with <i>compassion</i>, put forth His hand and <i>touched </i>him."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was it some <i>blind beggars</i> on the Jericho highway, groping in darkness, pleading for help? "Jesus stood still, and had <i>compassion </i>on them, and touched their eyes!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Was it the speechless pleadings of a <i>widow's</i> tears at the gate of Nain, when she followed her earthly pride and prop to the grave? "When the Lord saw her, He had <i>compassion </i>on her, and said, Weep not!" Even when He rebukes — the <i>rainbow of compassion </i>is seen in the cloud, or rather, that cloud, as it passes, dissolves in a rain-shower of mercy! He pronounces Jerusalem <i>"desolate," </i>but the doom is uttered amid a flood of anguished sorrow!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do the compassionate <i>words </i>and <i>deeds </i>of a tender Savior find any feeble echo and transcript in yours? As you traverse in thought, the wastes of human wretchedness — does the spectacle give rise, not to the mere emotional feeling which weeps itself away in sentimental tears — but to an earnest desire to <i>do something </i>to mitigate the suffering of woe-worn humanity? How vast and world-wide, are the claims on your compassion! — now near, now at a distance — the unmet and unanswered cry of perishing millions abroad — the heathendom which lies unsaved at your own door — the public charity languishing — the mission staff dwarfed and crippled from lack of needful funds — a suffering district — a starving family — a poor neighbor — a helpless orphan — it may be, some crowded hovel where misery and vice run riot — or some lonely sick-chamber, where the dim lamp has been wasting for dreary nights — or some desolate home which death has entered, where "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not," and where some sobbing heart, under the tattered garb of poverty, mourns, unsolaced and unpitied, its "loved and lost one."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are there none such within <i>your </i>reach, to whom a trifling pittance would be as an angel of mercy? How it would hallow and enhance all you possess, were you to seek to live as a<i>dispenser of Jehovah's bounties! </i>If He has given you of this world's substance, remember that it is <i>bestowed</i> — and not to be greedily <i>hoarded </i>or lavishly <i>squandered! </i>Property and wealth are <i>talents </i>to be traded on and laid out for the good of others — sacred trusts, not selfishly to be <i>enjoyed</i> — but generously to be <i>employed.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The poor saints are the representatives of Jesus — their needs He considers as His own, and He will recompense accordingly. The feeblest expression of Christian pity and love, though it be but the widow's mite, or the cup of cold water, or the kindly look and word when there is neither mite nor cup to give — yet, if done in <i>His </i>name, it is entered in the "book of life" as a "loan to the Lord;" and in that day when "the books are opened," the loan will be paid back with interest!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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2. RESIGNATION IN TRIAL.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Yet I want Your will to be done — not Mine!" — Luke 22:42.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where was there ever <i>resignation </i>like this? The life of Jesus was<i> one long martyrdom. </i>From Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's cross, there was scarcely one break in the clouds; these gathered more darkly and ominously around Him — until they burst over His devoted head as He uttered His expiring cry! Yet throughout this <i>pilgrimage of sorrow — </i>no murmuring accent escaped His lips. The most suffering of all suffering lives — was one of <i>uncomplaining submission</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Yet I want Your will to be done — not Mine!" was the motto of this wondrous Being! When He came into the world He thus announced His advent, "Lo, I come, I delight to do <i>Your will, </i>O my God!" When He left it, we listen to the same prayer of blended agony and acquiescence, "O My Father, if it is possible — let this cup pass from Me! Yet I want Your will to be done — not Mine!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! is this mind also in <i>you? </i>Ah, what are your trials — compared to His! What are the ripples in your tide of woe — compared to the waves and billows which swept over Him! If He, the spotless Lamb of God, "murmured not," how can <i>you </i>murmur? <i>His </i>were the sufferings of a bosom never once darkened with the passing shadow of guilt or sin. <i>Your </i>severest sufferings are deserved — yes, infinitely <i>less </i>than you deserve! Are you tempted to indulge in hard suspicions, as to God's faithfulness and love, in appointing some peculiar trial? Ask yourself, Would Jesus have complained? Should<i> I</i> seek to pry into "the deep things of God," when <i>He, </i>in the spirit of a weaned child, was satisfied with the solution, <i>"Even so, Father — for so it seems good in Your sight!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Even so, <i>Father!" </i>Afflicted one! "tossed with tempest, and not comforted," take that <i>word </i>on which Your adorable Redeemer pillowed His suffering head, <i>"Father!" — </i>and make it, as He did, the secret of your resignation. "My Father!" my covenant God! the God who <i>spared not Jesus! </i>It may well hush my every repining word.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sick child will take the bitterest medicine from a <i>father's</i> hand. "This cup which You, O God, give me to drink — shall I not drink it? Be it mine to lie passive in the <i>arms of Your chastening love</i>, exulting in the assurance that all Your appointments, though sovereign, are never arbitrary — but that there is a gracious 'need be' in them all."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drinking deep of His sweet spirit of submission, you will be able thus to meet, yes, even to welcome, your sorest cross, saying, "Yes, Lord, all is well, just because it is Your blessed will.<i>Take </i>me, <i>use </i>me, <i>chasten </i>me — as seems good in Your sight. My will is resolved into Yours. This trial is dark; I cannot see the 'why and the wherefore' of it — yet I want Your will to be done — not mine! My <i>gourd </i>is withered; I cannot see the reason of so speedy a dissolution of my beloved earthly shelter; my sense and sight ask in vain why these <i>leaves of earthly refreshment </i>have been doomed so soon to droop in sadness and sorrow. But it is enough.<i> 'The Lord prepared the worm!' </i>I want Your will to be done — not mine!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, how does the stricken soul honor God by thus being <i>silent </i>in the midst of dark and perplexing dealings, recognizing in these, part of the needed <i>discipline </i>and <i>training — </i>for a sorrowless, sinless, deathless world; regarding every trial as a link in the chain — which draws it to heaven, where the whitest robes will be found to be those here baptized with suffering, and bathed in tears!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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3. DEVOTEDNESS TO GOD.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I must be about my Father's business" — Luke 2:49.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"My food and my drink are to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work." That <i>one </i>object brought Jesus from heaven — that <i>one </i>object He pursued with unflinching, undeviating constancy, until He could say, "It is finished!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However short <i>man </i>comes of his 'chief end' — bringing glory to God was the motive, the rule, and exponent of every act of <i>Christ's </i>wondrous life. With us, the magnet of the soul, even when truest, is ever subject to partial oscillations and depressions, trembling at times away from its great attraction-point. But Christ's soul never knew one tremulous wavering from its all glorious center. With Him there were no ebbs and flows, no fits and starts. He could say, in the words of that prophetic psalm which speaks so pre-eminently of Himself, "I have set the Lord always before me!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do you feel that in some feeble measure, this lofty life-motto of the sinless Son of God — is written on your home and heart, regulating your <i>actions</i>, chastening your <i>joys</i>, quickening your <i>hopes</i>, giving energy and direction to your whole being, subordinating all the affections of your nature to their high destiny? With pure and unalloyed motives, with a single eye, and a single aim — can you say, somewhat in the spirit of His brightest follower, "This <i>one </i>thing I do!" Are you ready to regard all you have — rank, name, talents, riches, influence, distinctions — as valuable, only so far as they contribute to promote the glory of Him who is "first and last, and all in all?" Seek to feel that your heavenly Father's glory is <i>the </i>main business of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Whose I am, and whom I serve," — let this be the superscription written on your thoughts and deeds, your employments and enjoyments, your sleeping and waking. Be not, as the fixed stars, cold and distant; but be ever bathing in the sunshine of conscious nearness to Him, who is the sun and center of all happiness and joy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each has some appointed work to perform, some little <i>niche </i>in the spiritual temple to occupy. Yours may be no <i>splendid </i>services, no <i>flaming </i>or <i>brilliant </i>actions to blaze and dazzle in the eye of man. It may be the quiet unobtrusive inner work — the secret prayer, the mortified sin, the forgiven injury, the trifling act of self-sacrifice for God's glory and the good of others, of which no eye but the Eye which sees in secret is cognizant. It matters not how <i>small. </i>Remember, with Him — <i>motive </i>dignifies <i>action</i>. It is not <i>what </i>we do — but <i>how </i>we do it. He can be glorified in <i>little </i>things as well as <i>great </i>things — and by nothing more than the daily walk, the daily life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beware of anything that would interfere with a surrender of heart and soul to His service — worldly entanglements, indulged sin, an uneven walk, a divided heart, nestling in creature comforts, shrinking from the cross. How many hazard, if they do not made shipwreck, of their eternal hopes — by becoming <i>idlers </i>in the vineyard; lingerers, like Lot; world-lovers, like Demas; "do-nothing Christians," like the inhabitants of Meroz! The command is, "Go, work!" <i>Words</i> tell what you <i>should</i> be; <i>deeds</i> tell what you <i>are!</i> Let those around you see there is a<i>reality </i>in walking <i>with </i>God — and working <i>for </i>God!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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4. FORGIVENESS OF INJURIES.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Father, forgive them — for they know not what they do!'' — Luke 23:34.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many a death-struggle has been made — to save a <i>friend</i>. A dying Savior gathers up His expiring breath — to plead for His <i>foes!</i> At the climax of His own woe, and of human ingratitude — forsaken by man, and deserted by God — His faltering voice mingles with the shout of His murderers — "Father, forgive them — for they know not what they do!" Had the faithless Peter been there, could he have wondered at the reply to a former question — "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him — until seven times?" Jesus said unto him, "I say not unto you, until seven times; but, until seventy times seven," (Matthew 18:21, 22).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Superiority to insult and disgrace, with some, proceeds from a callous and indifferent temperament — a cold, phlegmatic, stoical insensibility, alike to kindness or unkindness. It was not so with Jesus. The tender sensibilities of His holy nature rendered Him keenly sensitive to ingratitude and injury, whether this was manifested in the malice of undisguised enmity, or the treachery of trusted friendship. Perhaps to a noble nature — the latter of these is the more deeply wounding. Many are inclined to forgive an open and unmasked antagonist, who are not so willing to forget or forgive heartless faithlessness, or unrequited love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But see, too, in this respect, the conduct of the blessed Redeemer! Mark how He deals with His own disciples who had basely forsaken Him and fled, and that, too, in the hour He most needed their sympathy! No sooner does He rise from the dead than He hastens to disarm their fears and to assure them of an unaltered and unalterable affection. "Go tell <i>my brethren," </i>is the first message He sends; <i>"Peace be unto you," </i>is the salutation at the first meeting; <i>"Children!" </i>is the word with which He first greets them on the shores of Tiberias. Even Joseph, (the Old Testament type and pattern of generous forgiveness,) when he makes himself known to his brethren, recalls the bitter thought, "I am Joseph your brother — <i>whom you sold into Egypt." </i>The true Joseph, when <i>He</i> reveals Himself to His disciples, buries in oblivion the memory of bygone faithlessness. He <i>meets </i>them with a benediction. He <i>leaves </i>them at His ascension with the same — "He lifted up His hands and <i>blessed </i>them!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Father, forgive them!" </i>Reader! follow in all this, the spirit of your Lord and Master. In rising from the study of His holy example, seek to feel that with you there should be no such name, no such word, as <i>enemy!</i> Harbor no resentful thought, indulge in no bitter recrimination. Surrender yourself to no sullen fretfulness. Let "the law of kindness" be always in your heart. Put the <i>best construction </i>on the failings of others. Make no injurious comments on their frailties; no uncharitable insinuations. When disposed at any time to cherish an unforgiving spirit towards a brother, think — if your God had retained His anger forever, where would <i>you </i>have been? If <i>He, </i>the Infinite One, who might have spurned you forever from His presence, has had patience with you, and forgiven you <i>all — </i>will <i>you, </i>on account of some petty grievance which your calmer moments would pronounce unworthy of a thought, indulge in the look of cold estrangement, the unrelenting word, or unforgiving deed? "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."</span></div>
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5. MEEKNESS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I am meek and lowly in heart." — Matthew 11:29.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In great minds, there is often a beautiful blending of majesty and humility, magnanimity and lowliness. <i>The mightiest and holiest of all Beings that ever trod our world — was the meekest of all.</i> The Ancient of Days — was as the "infant of days." He who had listened to nothing but angel-melodies from all eternity, found, while on earth, melody in the lispings of an infant's voice, or in an outcast's tears! No wonder an innocent <i>lamb </i>was His emblem, or that the anointing Spirit came down upon Him in the form of the gentle <i>dove</i>. He had the wealth of worlds at His feet. The hosts of heaven had only to be summoned as His retinue. But all the pageantry of the world, all its dreams of carnal glory, had, for Him — no fascination. The Tempter, from a mountain-summit, showed Him a wide scene of "splendid misery;" but He spurned alike the thought and the adversary away! John and James would call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village; He rebukes the vengeful suggestion! Peter, on the night of the betrayal, cuts off the ear of an assassin; the intended Victim, again, only challenges His disciple, and heals His enemy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arraigned before Pilate's judgment-seat, how meekly He bears nameless wrongs and indignities! Suspended on the cross — the execrations of the multitude are rising around Him — but He hears as though He heard them not; they extract no angry look, no bitter word — "Behold the <i>Lamb </i>of God!" Need we wonder that "meekness" and "poverty of spirit" should stand foremost in His own cluster of beatitudes; that He should select <i>this </i>among all His other qualities for the peculiar study and imitation of His disciples, "Learn of Me, <i>for </i>I am <i>meek;" </i>or that an apostle should exhort "by the <i>meekness </i>and <i>gentleness </i>of Christ!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How different the world's maxims — and His! The <i>world's</i> maxim — "Resent the affront, vindicate honor!" <i>His</i> maxim — "Overcome evil with good!" The <i>world's </i>maxim<i> — </i>"Only let it be when for your <i>faults </i>you are buffeted, that you take it patiently." <i>His</i> maxim — "When you do <i>well </i>and suffer for it, you take it patiently; <i>this </i>is acceptable with God." (1 Pet. 2:20.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! strive to obtain, like your adorable Lord, this "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great price." Be "clothed" with gentleness and humility. Follow not the world's fleeting shadows, which mock you as you grasp them. If always aspiring — ever soaring on the wing — you are likely to become discontented, proud, and selfish! In whatever position of life God has placed you — be satisfied. What! ambitious to be on a pinnacle of the temple — to be in a higher place in the Church, or in the world? — Satan might hurl you down! "Be not high-minded — but fear." And with respect to others, honor their gifts; contemplate their excellences — only to imitate them. Speak kindly, act gently. "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be assured, no happiness is equal to that enjoyed by the<i> "meek Christian."</i> He has within him a perpetual <i>inner sunshine</i>, a perennial well-spring of peace. Never ruffled and fretted by real or imaginary injuries, he puts the best construction on motives and actions, and by a gentle answer to unmerited reproach — often disarms man's anger.</span></div>
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6. THANKFULNESS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I thank You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth." — Matthew 11:25.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A thankful spirit pervaded the entire life of Jesus, and surrounded with a heavenly halo His otherwise darkened path. In moments we least expect to find it, this <i>beauteous ray </i>breaks through the gloom. In instituting the memorial of His <i>death, </i>He <i>"gave thanks!" </i>Even in crossing the Kedron to Gethsemane, "He sang a hymn!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know in seasons of deep sorrow and trial, that everything wears a gloomy aspect. Speechless nature herself to the burdened spirit, seems as if she partook in the hues of sadness. The life of Jesus was one continuous experience of privation and woe — a "Valley of Baca," from first to last; yet, amid accents of plaintive sorrow, there are ever heard subdued undertones of <i>thankfulness </i>and <i>joy!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, if He, the suffering "Man of Sorrows," could, during a life of <i>unparalleled woe</i>, lift up His heart in grateful acknowledgment to His Father in heaven, how ought the lives of those to be one perpetual "hymn of thankfulness," who are from day to day and hour to hour (for all they have, both temporally and spiritually) <i>pensioners on God's bounty and love!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! cultivate this thankful spirit — it will be to you, a perpetual feast. There is, or ought to be, with us no such thing as <i>small </i>mercies; all are <i>great, </i>because the least are<i>undeserved</i>. Indeed, a really thankful heart will extract motive for gratitude from everything, making the most even of scanty blessings. Paul, when in his dungeon at Rome, a prisoner in chains is heard to say, "I have <i>all </i>and abound!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guard, on the other hand, against that spirit of continual <i>fretting </i>and <i>moping </i>over <i>imagined </i>ills; that temptation to exaggerate the real or supposed disadvantages of our condition, magnifying the trifling inconveniences of every-day life into enormous evils. Think rather how much we have to be thankful for. The world in which we live, in spite of all the scars of sin and suffering upon it — is a pleasant world. It is not, as many would morbidly paint it, flooded with tears and strewn with wrecks, plaintive with a perpetual dirge of sorrow. True, the "Everlasting Hills" are in glory — but there are numberless eminences of grace, and love, and mercy below; many green spots in the lower valley<i> — many more than we deserve!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God will reward a thankful spirit. Just as on earth, when a man receives with gratitude what is given we are more disposed to give again, so also, "the <i>Lord </i>loves" a cheerful "receiver," as well as a cheerful "giver."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let ours, moreover, be a <i>Gospel </i>thankfulness. Let the incense of a grateful spirit rise not only to the Great Giver of all good — but to our Covenant God in Christ. Let it be the spirit of the child exulting in the bounty and beneficence of his <i>Father's</i> house and home! "Giving <i>thanks </i>always for all things unto the <i>Father, </i>in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While the sweet melody of <i>gratitude </i>vibrates through every successive moment of our daily being — let love to our adorable Redeemer show for <i>whom </i>and for <i>what </i>it is, that we reserve our notes of loftiest and most fervent praise. Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable Gift!</span></div>
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7. UNSELFISHNESS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"For even Christ did not please Himself." Romans 15:3</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Too legibly are the characters written on the fallen heart and a fallen world — "All seek their own!" <i>Selfishness </i>is the great law of our degenerated nature. When the <i>love of God </i>was dethroned from the soul, SELF vaulted into the vacant seat, and there, in some one of its ever-changing shapes, continues to reign.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus stands out for our imitation, as a grand solitary exception in the midst of a world of selfishness. His entire life was one abnegation of self; a beautiful living embodiment of that love which "seeks not her own." He who for others turned water into wine, and provided a miraculous supply for the fainting thousands in the wilderness — exerted no such miraculous power for His own necessities. During His forty days' temptation, no table did He spread for Himself, no booth did He rear for His unpillowed bead. Twice do we read of Him shedding tears — on neither occasion were they for Himself. The approach of His cross and passion, instead of absorbing Him in His own approaching sufferings, seemed only to elicit new and more gracious promises to His people. When His enemies came to apprehend Him, His only stipulation was for His disciples' release — "Let <i>these </i>go their way." In the very act of departure, with all the boundless glories of eternity in sight — <i>they </i>were still all His care.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, how different is the spirit of the world! With how many is day after day only a new oblation to that idol SELF — pampering their own wishes; envying and grieving at the good of a neighbor; unable to brook the praise of a rival; establishing their own reputation on the ruins of another; thus engendering jealousy, discontent, peevishness, and every kindred unholy passion.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"But you have not so learned Christ!" Reader! have you been sitting at the feet of Him who "pleased not Himself?" Are you "dying daily;" — dying to <i>self </i>as well as to <i>sin? </i>Are you animated with <i>this </i>as the high end and aim of existence — to lay out your time, and talents, and opportunities — for God's glory and the good of your fellow-men; not seeking your own interests — but rather relinquishing these, if, by doing so, another will be made holier, and your Savior honored?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may not have it in your power to manifest this "mind of Jesus" on a great scale, by enduring great sacrifices; nor is this required. His denial of self had about it no repulsive austerity; but you can evince its holy influence and sway, by innumerable little offices of kindness and goodwill; taking a generous interest in the welfare of others, or engaging in schemes for the mitigation of human misery.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Avoid <i>ostentation</i> — which is only another repulsive form of self. Be eager to be in the <i>shadows; </i>sound no <i>trumpet </i>before you. The evangelist Matthew held a great banquet for Jesus at his house; but in his Gospel, he says not one word about it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seek to live more constantly and habitually under the constraining influence of the love of Jesus. <i>Selfishness withers and dies beneath Calvary!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, believer! if Christ had "pleased Himself," where would <i>you </i>have been this day?</span></div>
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8. SUBMISSION TO GOD'S WORD</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus said unto him: It is written!" — Matthew 4:7.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We cannot fail to be struck, in the course of the Savior's public teaching, with His <i>constant appeal to the word of God</i>. While, at times, He utters, in His own name, the authoritative behest, "Truly, truly, <i>I</i> say unto you," He often thus introduces some mighty work, or gives intimation of some impending event in His own momentous life, "These things must come to pass, that <i>the Scriptures be fulfilled, which says . . ." </i>He commands His people to "search the Scriptures;" but He sets the example, by <i>searching </i>and <i>submitting </i>to them Himself. Whether He drives the money-changers from their sacrilegious traffic in the temple, or foils his great adversary on the mount of temptation — he does so with the same weapon, <i>"It is written!"</i>When He rises from the grave, the theme of His first discourse is one impressive tribute to the value and authority of the same sacred oracles. The disciples on the road to Emmaus listen to nothing but <i>a Bible lesson. </i>"He expounded unto them in all <i>the Scriptures — </i>the things concerning Himself."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How momentous the instruction herein conveyed! The necessity of the absolute subjection of the mind to God's written Word — making churches, creeds, ministers, books, religious opinions — all subordinate and subservient to Scripture; rebuking the philosophy, falsely so called, that would distort the plain statements of Revelation, and lay their <i>proud Reason </i>in the dust.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If an infallible Redeemer, "a law to Himself," was submissive in all respects to the <i>"written </i>law," — shall fallible man refuse to sit with the teachableness of a little child, and listen to the Divine message? There may be, there <i>is, </i>in the Bible, what Reason staggers at: "we have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep." But, <i>"Thus says the Lord," </i>is enough. Faith does not first ask what the bread is made of — but <i>eats </i>it. It does not analyze the components of the living stream — but with joy draws the water from "the wells of salvation."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! take that Word as "the lamp to your feet, and the light to your path." In days when <i>false lights </i>are hung out, there is the more need of keeping the eye steadily fixed on the unerring beacon. Make the Bible the <i>arbiter </i>in all difficulties — the ultimate court of appeal. Like Mary, "sit at the feet of Jesus," willing only to learn of Him. How many perplexities it would save you! how many fatal steps in life it would prevent — how many tears! "It is a great matter," says the noblest of modern Christian philosophers, "when the mind dwells on any passage of Scripture, just to think how true it is." <i>(Chalmer's Life).</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In every dubious question, when the foot is trembling on debatable ground, knowing not whether to advance or recede, make this the final criterion, "What says the Scripture?" The world may remonstrate — erring friends may disapprove — Satan may tempt — ingenious arguments may explain away; but, with our finger on the revealed page, let the words of our Great Example be ever a divine formula for our guidance — "This commandment I have received from my Father!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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9. PRAYERFULNESS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He continued all night in prayer to God." — Luke 6:12.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We speak of <i>this </i>Christian and <i>that </i>Christian as "a man of prayer," Jesus was emphatically so. The Spirit was "poured upon Him without measure" — yet He prayed! He was incarnate wisdom, "needing not that any should teach Him" — yet He prayed! He was infinite in His power, and boundless in His resources — yet He prayed! How deeply sacred the prayerful memories that hover around the solitudes of Olivet and the shores of Tiberias! He seemed often to turn night into day to redeem moments for prayer, rather than lose the blessed privilege.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are rarely, indeed, admitted into the solemnities of His inner life. The veil of night is generally between us and the Great High Priest, when He entered "the holiest of all;" but we have enough to reveal the depth of fervor, the tenderness and confidingness of this blissful intercommunion with His heavenly Father. No morning dawns without His fetching <i>fresh manna </i>from the mercy-seat. "He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught," (Isaiah 50:4). Beautiful description! — a praying Redeemer, wakening, as if at early dawn, the ear of His Father, to get fresh supplies for the duties and the trials of the day! All His public acts were consecrated by prayer — His baptism, His transfiguration, His miracles, His agony, His death. He breathed away His spirit in prayer. "His <i>last </i>breath," says Philip Henry, "was <i>praying </i>breath."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How sweet to think, in holding communion with God — that <i>Jesus</i> drank of this very brook! He consecrated the <i>bended knee </i>and the<i> silent chamber</i>. He refreshed His fainting spirit at the same great Fountain-head from which it is life for us to draw, and death to forsake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do you complain of your languid spirit, your drooping faith, your fitful affections, your lukewarm love? May you not trace much of what you deplore — to an unfrequented prayer chamber? The <i>treasures </i>are locked up from you — because you have allowed the <i>key </i>to rust! Your hands hang down — because they have ceased to be uplifted in prayer. Without prayer! — It is the pilgrim without a staff — the seaman without a compass — the soldier going unarmed to battle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beware of encouraging what indisposes to prayer — going to the audience-chamber of God with soiled garments, the din of the world following you, its distracting thoughts hovering unforbidden over your spirit. Can you wonder that the <i>living water </i>refuses to flow through obstructed channels, or the <i>heavenly light </i>to pierce murky vapors?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Among men, fellowship with lofty minds — imparts a certain nobility to the character. Just so, in a far higher sense, by communion with God you will be transformed into His image, and get assimilated to His likeness. Make every event in life — a reason for fresh going to Him. If difficulties in duty, bring them to the test of prayer. If bowed down with anticipated trial, "fearing to enter the cloud," — remember Christ's preparation, "Sit here while I go and <i>pray </i>yonder."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let prayer consecrate everything — your time, your talents, your pursuits, your engagements, your joys, your sorrows, your crosses, your losses. By prayer, rough paths will be made smooth, trials are disarmed of their bitterness, enjoyments are hallowed and refined, the bread of the world turned into angels' food. "It is in the prayer-closet," says Payson, "where the battle is lost or won!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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10. LOVE TO THE BRETHREN</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us!" — Ephesians 5:2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus," says a writer, "came from heaven on the wings of love." Love was the element in which He moved and walked. He sought to baptize the world afresh with it. When we find Him teaching us by love to vanquish an <i>enemy, </i>we need not wonder at the tenderness of His appeals to the <i>brethren </i>to "love one another." Like a fond father impressing his children, how the Divine Teacher lingers over the lesson, "This is <i>My </i>commandment!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If <i>selfishness </i>had guided His actions, we might have expected Him to demand all His people's love for Himself. But He claims no such monopoly. He not only encourages mutual affection — but He makes it the <i>badge </i>of discipleship! He gave them at once its <i>measure </i>and <i>motive</i>. "Love one another — <i>AS</i> I have loved you!" What a love was that! — it reached to the lowliest and humblest — "Inasmuch as you did it to the least of these — you did it unto <i>Me."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah! if such was the Elder Brother's love to His younger brethren — then what should the love of these younger brothers be for one another! How humbling that there should be so much that is sadly and strangely unlike the spirit which our blessed Master sought to inculcate alike by <i>precept </i>and <i>example! </i>Christians, why these bitter estrangements, these censorious words, these harsh judgments, this lack of kind consideration of the feelings and failings of those who may differ from you? Why are your friendships so often like the summer brook, soon dried? You hope, before long, to meet in glory. Doubtless, when you enter on that "sabbath of love," many a greeting will be this, "Alas! my brother, that on earth I did not love you more!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do you see the image of God in a professing believer? It is your duty to love him for the sake of that image. No church, no outward attire, no denominational creed — should prevent your owning and claiming him as a fellow-pilgrim and fellow-heir. It has been said of a portrait, however poor the painting, however unfinished the style, however faulty the touches, however coarse and unseemly the frame — yet if the <i>likeness </i>is faithful, we overlook many subordinate defects. So it is with the Christian: however plain the exterior, however rough the setting, or even manifold the blemishes still found cleaving to a partially sanctified nature — yet if the Redeemer's likeness is feebly and faintly traced there, we should love the <i>blemished copy </i>for the sake of the <i>Divine Original</i>. There may be other bonds of association and communion linking spirit with spirit — family ties, mental congenialities, intellectual tastes, philanthropic pursuits; but that which ought to take the precedence of all, is the love of <i>God's image </i>in the brethren. What will heaven be, but this love perfected — loving Christ, and beloved by those who love Him?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! seek to love <i>Him</i> more — and you will love His <i>people </i>more. <i>John </i>had more love than the other disciples. Why? He drank deepest of the love within that Bosom on which he delighted to lean, every beat of which was love. "Walk," then, "in love!" Let it be the very foot-road you tread; let your way to heaven be paved with it. Soon shall we come to look within the portal. Then shall every jarring and dissonant note be merged into the sublime harmonies of "the new heavens and the new earth," and we shall all "see eye to eye!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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11. SYMPATHY</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus wept!" — John 11:35.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is an affecting thing to see a <i>great</i> man in tears! <i>"Jesus wept!" </i>It was ever His delight to tread in the footsteps of sorrow — to heal the broken-hearted — turning aside from His own path of suffering — to "weep with those who weep."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Bethany!</i> That scene, that <i>word, </i>is a condensed volume of consolation for yearning and desolate hearts. What a majesty was in those tears! He had just before been discoursing on Himself as the Resurrection and the Life — the next moment He is a Weeping Man by a human grave, melted in anguished sorrow at a bereaved one's side!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think of the funeral at the gate of Nain, reading its lesson to dejected myriads — "Let your widows trust in me!" Think of the farewell discourse to His disciples, when, muffling all His own foreseen and anticipated sorrows — He thought only of soothing and mitigating theirs! Think of the affecting pause in that silent procession to Calvary, when He turns around and stills the sobs of those who are tracking His steps with their weeping! Think of that wondrous epitome of human tenderness, just before His eyes closed in their sleep of agony — in the mightiest crisis of all time — when filial love looked down on an anguished mother, and provided her a son and a home!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah, was there ever <i>sympathy </i>like this! Son! Brother! Kinsman! Savior! all in one! The <i>majesty of Godhead</i> almost lost in the <i>tenderness of the Friend</i>. But so it was — and so it now is! The heart of the now enthroned King beats responsive to the humblest of His sorrow-stricken people. "I am poor and needy — yet the Lord <i>carries me on His heart!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us "go and do likewise." Let us be ready, like our Lord — to follow the call of misery — "to deliver the needy when he cries, the poor also, and him that has no helper." <i>Sympathy costs but little. </i>Its recompense and return are great, in the priceless consolation it imparts. Few there are, who undervalue it. Look at Paul — the weary, jaded prisoner — chained to a soldier — recently ship-wrecked, about to stand before Caesar. He reaches Forum dejected and depressed. Brethren come from Rome, a distance of sixty miles, to offer their <i>sympathy. </i>The aged man is cheered! His spirit, like Jacob's, "revived!" "He thanked God — and took courage!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! let "this mind," this holy, Christ-like <i>habit </i>be in you, which was also in your adorable Master. Delight, when opportunity occurs — to frequent the <i>house of mourning</i> — to bind up the widow's heart, and to dry the orphan's tears. If you can do nothing else, you can whisper into the ear of disconsolate sorrow, those majestic solaces, which, rising first in the graveyard of Bethany, have sent their undying echoes through the world, and stirred the depths of ten thousand hearts — <i>"Your brother will rise again!"</i> "Exercise your souls," says Butler, "in a loving sympathy with sorrow in every form. Soothe it, minister to it, support it, revere it. It is the <i>relic of Christ </i>in the world, an <i>image </i>of the Great Sufferer, a <i>shadow </i>of the cross. It is a holy and venerable thing."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus Himself <i>"looked </i>for some to take <i>pity</i> — but there was <i>none;</i> and for comforters — but He found <i>none!" </i>It shows how even He valued sympathy, and that, too, in its commonest form of "pity," though an ungrateful world denied it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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12. FIDELITY IN REBUKE</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Lord turned and <i>looked </i>straight at Peter." — Luke 22:61.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus never spoke one unnecessarily harsh or severe word. He had a <i>divine sympathy </i>for the frailties and infirmities of the tried, the suffering, the tempted. He was <i>forbearing </i>to the ignorant, <i>encouraging </i>to the weak, <i>tender </i>to the penitent, <i>loving </i>to all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yet how faithful was He as "the Reprover of sin!" Silent under wrongs done to Himself — with what burning invective did He lay bare the Pharisees' masked corruption and hypocrisy! When His Father's name and temple were profaned — how did He sweep, with an avenging hand, the mammon-crowd away, replacing the superscription, "Holiness to the Lord," over the defiled altars!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nor was it different with His own disciples. With what fidelity, when rebuke was needed, did He administer it: the withering reprimand conveyed, sometimes by an impressive <i>word</i>(Matthew 16:23); sometimes by a silent <i>look</i> (Luke 22:61). "Faithful always — were the wounds of <i>this </i>Friend!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! are you equally faithful with your Lord in rebuking evil — not with man's anger — but with a holy jealousy for His glory; feeling, with the sensitive honor of "the good soldier of Jesus Christ," that an affront offered to Him — is offered to yourself?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The giving of a wise reproof</i> requires much Christian prudence and delicate discretion. It is not by a rash and inconsiderate exposure of failings, that we must attempt to reclaim an erring brother. But neither, for the sake of a false peace, must we compromise fidelity; for even friendship is too dearly purchased — by winking at sin. Perhaps, when Peter was led to call the Apostle who honestly <i>reproved </i>him, "Our beloved brother Paul," in nothing did he love his rebuker more, than for the honest boldness of his Christian reproof. If Paul had, in that crisis of the Church, with a timidity unworthy of him, evaded the difficult task, what, humanly speaking, might have been the result?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>How often does a seasonable reprimand, a faithful caution — save from a lifetime of sin and sorrow!</i> How many a deathbed has made the disclosure, "That <i>kind warning </i>of my friend put an arrest on my career of sin; it altered my whole being; it brought me to the cross; touched my heart, and, by God's grace, saved my soul!" On the other hand, how many have felt, when death has put his impressive seal on some close earthly intimacy, "I might have spoken a solemn word to my friend; but now he is no more, the opportunity is lost, never to be recalled!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! see that you act not the <i>spiritual coward</i>. When tempted to sit silent when the name of God is slighted or dishonored, think — <i>would Jesus have done so?</i> Would He have allowed the <i>blasphemy </i>to go unrebuked — or the <i>lie </i>to be uttered unchallenged? Where there is a natural shyness which makes you shrink from a more bold and open reproof, remember much may be done to <i>discountenance </i>sin, by the silent holiness of demeanor, which refuses to smile at the unholy allusion or ribald jest. "A word spoken in due season, how good is it!" "Speak gently," yet speak faithfully: "be pitiful — be courteous:" yet "be men of courage, be strong!"</span></div>
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13. GENTLENESS IN REBUKE</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Simon son of John — do you truly love me?" — John 21:15</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No word here of the erring disciple's past faithlessness — his guilty cowardice<i>,</i> his base denial, his oaths and curses, and treacherous desertion — all are <i>unmentioned! </i>The memory of a threefold denial is <i>suggested, </i>and no more, by the threefold question of unutterable tenderness, "Simon son of John — do you truly love me?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Jesus found His disciples sleeping at the gate of Gethsemane, He rebukes them; but how is the rebuke disarmed of its poignancy by the merciful apology which is added — "The spirit indeed is willing — but the flesh is weak!" How different from <i>their </i>unkind insinuation regarding <i>Him,</i> when, in the vessel or Tiberias, "He was asleep" — "Master, don't you <i>care </i>that we perish!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The woman of Samaria is full of worldliness, carnality, sectarianism, sin — yet how gently the Savior speaks to her! How forbearingly — yet faithfully, He directs the arrow of conviction to that seared and hardened conscience, until He lays it bleeding at His feet! Truly, "He will not break the bruised reed — He will not quench the smoking flax." By "the <i>goodness </i>of God," He would lead to repentance. When others are speaking of merciless violence, He can dismiss the most guilty of <i>profligates </i>with the words "Neither do I condemn you — go, and sin no more."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many have an <i>unholy pleasure </i>in discovering a brother's faults — blazing abroad his failings; administering rebuke, not in gentle forbearance and kindly admonition — but with harsh and impatient severity! How beautifully did Jesus unite intense sensibility to sin — along with tenderest compassion for the sinner, showing in this that "He knows our frame!" Many a sinner needs <i>gentleness </i>in chastisement. The reverse would crush a sensitive spirit, or drive it to despair. Jesus tenderly "considers" the case of those He disciplines, "<i>tempering </i>the wind to the shorn lamb." In the picture of the good shepherd bearing home the wandering sheep, He illustrated by parable, what He had often and again taught by His own example. No word of needless harshness or upbraiding uttered to the erring wanderer! Ingratitude is too deeply felt, to need rebuke. In silent love, "He lays it on His shoulders rejoicing."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! seek to mingle <i>gentleness </i>in all your rebukes; bear with the infirmities of others; make allowance for constitutional frailties; never say harsh things, if kind things will do as well; do not unnecessarily lacerate with recalling former delinquencies. In reproving another — let us rather feel how much we need reproof ourselves. "Consider yourself," is a searching Scripture motto for dealing with an erring brother. Remember your Lord's method of silencing fierce accusation — "Let him that is without sin cast the first stone." Moreover, anger and severity are not the successful means of reclaiming the backslider, or of melting the obdurate. Like the <i>smooth </i>stones with which David smote Goliath — <i>gentle rebukes </i>are generally the most powerful. The old fable of the traveler and his <i>cloak </i>has a moral here as in other things. The <i>warm sunshine </i>will effect its removal — sooner than the <i>rough tempest</i>. It was said of Leighton, that "he rebuked faults so mildly, that they were never repeated, not because the admonished were afraid — but ashamed to do so."</span></div>
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14. ENDURANCE OF CONTRADICTION</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself." — Hebrews 12:3.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What endurance was this!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perfect <i>truth</i> — in the midst of error;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perfect <i>love</i> — in the midst of ingratitude and coldness;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perfect <i>rectitude</i> — in the midst of perjury, violence, fraud;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perfect <i>constancy</i> — in the midst of ridicule and desertion;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perfect <i>innocence</i> — confronting every debased form of depravity and guilt;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">perfect <i>patience</i> — encountering every species of gross provocation! "Oppressed and afflicted, He opened not His mouth!" "For my love" (in return for my love,) "they are my adversaries;<i>but" </i>(see His endurance! — the only species of revenge of which His sinless nature was capable) <i>"I give myself unto prayer!" </i>(Psalm 109:4.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus!" The greatest test of an earthly soldier's courage is <i>patient endurance!</i> The noblest trait of the spiritual soldier is the same. "Having done all, to <i>stand," </i>"He <i>endured,</i> as seeing Him who is invisible!" Beware of the angry recrimination, the hasty ebullition of temper. Amid unkind insinuations — when your motives are misrepresented, and reputation assailed; when your good deeds are ridiculed, kind intentions coldly thwarted and repulsed, chilling reproach manifested where you expected nothing but friendship — what a triumph over natural impulse to manifest a spirit of meek endurance! — like a rainbow, radiant with the hues of heaven, resting peacefully amid the storms of derision and "the floods of ungodly men." What an opportunity of magnifying the <i>sustaining grace of God!</i> "It is a small thing for me to be judged of you, or of man's judgment; He who judges me is the Lord." "The Lord is on my side. I will not fear what man can do unto me." "Blessed is the man who <i>endures." </i>"He who <i>endures</i> to the end, the same shall be saved."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If faithful to our God, we must expect to encounter contradiction in the same form which Jesus did — "the contradiction of <i>sinners." </i>It has been well said, "There is no cross of <i>nails </i>and wood erected now for the Christian — but there is one of <i>words </i>and <i>looks </i>which is never taken down!" If believers are set as <i>lights </i>in the earth, lamps in the "city of destruction," we know that "he who does evil <i>hates</i> the light." "Marvel not my brethren, if the world hates you!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weary and faint ones, exposed to the shafts of calumny and scorn because of your fidelity to your God — encountering, it may be, the coldness and estrangement of those dear to you, who cannot, perhaps, sympathize in the holiness of your walk and the loftiness of your aims — "consider <i>Him</i> who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest <i>you </i>be weary and faint in your minds!" What is <i>your </i>"contradiction" compared to <i>His? </i>Soon your cross, whatever it is, will have an end. "The seat of the scorner" has no place in yonder glorious heaven, where all will be peace — no jarring note to disturb its blissful harmonies! Look forward to the great coronation-day of the Church triumphant — the day of your divine Lord's appearing, when motives and aims, now misunderstood, will be vindicated; wrongs redressed, calumnies and aspersions wiped away. Meanwhile, "rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."</span></div>
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15. PLEASING GOD</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I do always those things that please Him." — John 8:29.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a glorious motto for a man — <i>"I live for God!" </i>It is religion's truest definition. It is the essence of angelic bliss — the motive principle of angelic action — "You ministers of His that do His pleasure." The Lord of angels knew no higher, no <i>other </i>motive. It was during His incarnation — the regulator and directory of His daily being. It supported Him amid the depressing sorrows of His woe-worn path. It upheld Him in their dreadful termination in the <i>garden </i>and on the <i>cross</i>. For a moment sinking human nature faltered under the load which His Godhead sustained; but the thought of "pleasing God" nerved and revived Him. "Not my will — but <i>Yours </i>be done."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is only when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart, that this animating desire to "please Him" can exist. In the holy bosom of Jesus, that love reigned paramount, admitting no rival — no competing affection. Though infinitely inferior in degree, it is the same impelling principle which leads His people still to link <i>enjoyment </i>with His <i>service</i>, and which makes consecration to Him of heart and life its own best recompense and reward. Says one, "When love to God is habitually in the ascendant, or occupying the place of will, it gathers round it all the other desires of the soul as satellites, and whirls them along with it in its orbit round the center of attraction." Until the heart, then, is changed, the believer cannot have this "testimony that he <i>pleases God."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <i>world, self, sin</i> — these are the <i>gods </i>of the unregenerate soul. And even <i>when </i>renewed, alas that there should be so many ebbings and flowings in our tide of devotedness! Jesus could say, "I do <i>always </i>these things that please the Father." Glory to God burned within His bosom like a living fire. "Many waters could not quench it." His were no fitful and inconstant frames and feelings — but <i>the persistent habit of a holy life, </i>which had the one end in view, from which it never diverged or deviated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let it be so, in some lowly measure with us. Let God's service not be merely set times and seasons; but, like the alabaster box of ointment, let us <i>always </i>be giving forth the fragrant perfume of holiness. Even when the shadows of trial are falling around us, let us "pass through the cloud" with the sustaining motive — "All my wish, O God, is to please and glorify You! By giving or taking — by smiting or healing — by the sweet cup or the bitter — Father, glorify your name!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I don't want to be weary of God's dealings with me," said Bickersteth, on his death-bed; "I want to glorify Jesus in them, and to find Him more precious." Do I shrink from trials — duties — crosses — because involving hardships and self-denial, or because frowned on by the world? Let the thought of God's approving countenance be enough. Let me dread no censure, if conscious of acting in accordance with <i>His</i> will. Let the Apostle's monitory word determine many a perplexing path — "If I please men — then I am not the servant of Christ."</span></div>
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16. GRIEF AT SIN</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He looked around at them in <i>anger</i> — being deeply <i>grieved </i>at their hardness of their hearts." — Mark 3:5.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On this one occasion only, is the expression used with reference to Jesus — "He looked around at them in <i>anger!" </i>Never did He grieve for Himself. His intensest sorrows were reserved for those who were tampering with their own souls, and dishonoring His God. The continual spectacle of moral evil, thrust on the gaze of spotless purity, made His earthly history one consecutive history of grief, one perpetual "cross and passion."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the tears shed at the grave of Bethany — <i>sympathy</i>, doubtless, for the world's myriad mourners, had its own share (the bereaved could not part with so precious a tribute in their hours of sadness) — but a far more impressive cause was one undiscerned by the weeping sisters and sorrowing crowd — His knowledge of the deep and obdurate impenitence of those who were about to gaze on the mightiest of miracles, only to "despise, and be astonished, and perish!" <i>"Jesus wept!"</i> — but His profoundest anguish was over resisted grace, abused privileges, scorned mercy! It was the <i>Divine Craftsman </i>mourning over His <i>shattered handiwork</i> — the <i>Almighty Creator </i>weeping over His <i>ruined world</i> — God, the God-man, "grieving" over the Temple of the soul — a humiliating wreck of what once was made "after His own image!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can we sympathize in any respect with such<i> exalted tears? </i>Do we mourn for sin, our <i>own </i>sin — the deep insult which it inflicts on God — the ruinous consequences it entails on ourselves? Do we grieve at sin in <i>others? </i>Do we know anything of Lots's grief, "Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day!" — by the stupid hardness and obduracy of the depraved heart, which resists alike the appeals of wrath and love, judgment and mercy? Ah! it is easy, in general terms, to condemn vice, and to utter harsh, severe, and cutting denunciations on the guilty! It is easy to pass uncharitable comments on the inconsistencies or follies of others; but to <i>"grieve" </i>as our Lord did, is a different thing; to mourn over the hardness of heart, and yet to have the burning desire to teach it better things — to hate, as He did, the <i>sin</i> — but, like Him also, to love the <i>sinner!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! look specially to your own spirit. In one respect, the example of Jesus falls short of your case. He had <i>no sin </i>of His own to mourn over. He could only commiserate others. <i>Your</i>intensest grief must begin with <i>yourself.</i> Like the watchful Levite of old, be a guardian at the temple-gates of your own soul. Whatever is your besetting iniquity, your constitutional bias to sin — seek to guard it with wakeful vigilance. Grieve at the thought of incurring one passing shadow of displeasure from so kind and compassionate a Savior. Let this be a holy preservative in your every hour of temptation, "How can I do this great wickedness — and sin against God?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grieve for a perishing world — a groaning creation fettered and chained in unwilling "subjection to vanity." Do what you can, by effort, by prayer — to hasten on the hour of jubilee when its<i> ashy robes of sin and sorrow </i>shall be laid aside, and, attired in the "beauties of holiness," it shall exult in "the glorious liberty of the sons of God!"</span></div>
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17. HUMILITY</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God; so He got up from the meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him!" John 13:3-5</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a matchless picture of humility! At the very moment when His throne was in view — angel-anthems floating in His ear — the hour come "when He was to depart out of this world" — possessing a lofty consciousness of His peerless dignity, that "He came <i>from </i>God and was going <i>to </i>God;" THEN "Jesus took a towel, and girded Himself, and began to wash the disciples' feet!" All heaven was ready at that moment to cast their combined crowns at His feet. But the High and the Lofty One inhabiting eternity is on earth "as one that serves!" "That <i>infinite stoop! </i>it sinks all creature humiliation to nothing, and renders it impossible for a creature to <i>humble </i>himself." — <i>(Evans.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Humility follows Him, from His unhonored birthplace — to His borrowed grave. It throws a subdued splendor over all He did. "The poor in spirit" — the "mourner" — the "meek" — claim His first beatitudes. He was severe only to one class — those who despised others. However He is employed — whether performing His works of miraculous power, or taking little children in His arms — He stands forth as "clothed with humility." No, this humility becomes more conspicuous as He draws nearer glory. Before His death, He calls His disciples <i>"Friends;"</i>subsequently, it is <i>"Brethren," "Children." </i>How sad the contrast between the Master — and His disciples! Two hours had not elapsed after He washed their feet, when "they began to argue among themselves about who would be the greatest among them!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let the image of that lowly Redeemer be ever in our mind's eye. His example may well speak in silent impressiveness, bringing us down from our <i>pedestal of pride</i>. There surely can be no labor of love too humiliating for us — when <i>He</i> stooped so low. Let us be content to take the humblest place — not envious of the success or exaltation of another; not, "like Diotrephes, loving pre-eminence;" but willing to be thought little of; saying with the Baptist, with our eye on our Lord, "<i>He </i>must increase — but <i>I </i>must decrease!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How much we have cause to be humble for! — the constant cleaving of defilement to our souls; and even what is partially good in us — how mixed with imperfection, self-seeking, arrogance, vain-glory! A proud Christian is a contradiction in terms. The Seraphim of old (a type of believers) had six wings — <i>two</i> were for errands of love but "with <i>four</i> he <i>covered</i>himself!" It has been beautifully said, "You lie nearest the River of Life when you <i>bend </i>to it; you cannot drink — but as you <i>stoop." </i>The corn of the field, as it ripens — bows its head; just so, the Christian, as he ripens in the divine life, bends in this lowly grace. Christ speaks of His people as "lilies" — they are "lilies of the <i>Valley," </i>they can only grow in the shade!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I live in a high and holy place — but also with him who is contrite and humble in spirit."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God." "Go" with what Rutherford calls "a low sail." Humility is the demeanor of your blessed Master; the family badge — the family likeness. "I live in a high and holy place — but also with him who is contrite and humble in spirit."<i> </i>Yes! the humble, sanctified heart is God's <i>second Heaven!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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18. PATIENCE</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth." — Isaiah 53:7.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Behold the infinite patience of Jesus!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even among His own disciples, how forbearingly He endured their blindness, their misconceptions and hardness of heart! <i>Philip </i>had been with Him for three years — yet he had "not known Him" — all that time he had remained in strange and culpable ignorance of his Lord's dignity and glory! See how tenderly Jesus bears with him — giving him nothing in reply for his confession of ignorance — but unparalleled promises of grace!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Peter</i>, the honored and trusted disciple — becomes a renegade and a coward. Justly might his dishonored Lord, stung with such <i>unrequited love</i>, have cut the unworthy cumberer down! But He spares him, bears with him, gently rebukes him, and loves him more than ever! See the Divine Sufferer in the terminating scenes of His own ignominy and woe! How patient! "Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth!" In these dreadful moments, <i>outraged Omnipotence </i>might have summoned twelve legions of angels — and put into the hand of each a <i>vial of wrath! </i>But He submits in meek, majestic silence. Truly, in <i>Him</i> "patience had her <i>perfect </i>work!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Think of this same patience with His people — since He ascended to glory. The years upon years He has borne with their perverse resistance of His grace, their treacherous ingratitude, their wayward wanderings, their hardness of heart and contempt of His holy Word. Yet, behold the forbearing love of this Savior God! His <i>hand of mercy </i>is stretched out still!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Child of God! are you not undergoing some bitter trial? The way of your God, it may be, all mystery — no <i>footprints of love </i>traceable in the chequered path; no <i>light </i>in the clouds above; no <i>bright ray </i>in the dark future. <i>Be patient! </i>"The Lord is good to those who <i>wait </i>upon Him." "Those who <i>wait </i>upon the Lord shall renew their strength!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or have you been long tossed on some bed of sickness — days of pain and nights of weariness appointed to you? <i>Be patient! </i>"I trust this groaning," said a suffering saint, "is not murmuring." God, by this very affliction, is nurturing within you this beauteous grace which shone so conspicuously in the character of your dear Lord. With Him it was a lovely habit of the soul. With you, the "tribulation" which works "patience" is <i>needful discipline</i>. "It is <i>good </i>for a man that he should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you suffering some unmerited wrong or unkindness, exposed to harsh and wounding accusations, hard for flesh and blood to bear?<i> Be patient!</i> Beware of hastiness of speech or temper; remember how much evil may be done by a few inconsiderate words "spoken unadvisedly with the lip." Think of Jesus standing before a human tribunal, in the silent submissiveness of conscious innocence and integrity. Leave your cause with God. Let this be the only form of your complaint, "O God, I am oppressed — undertake for me!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In patience," then, "possess you your souls." Let it not be a grace for peculiar seasons, called forth on peculiar exigencies; but a habitable frame manifested in the calm serenity of a daily walk — placidity amid the <i>little fretting annoyances of every-day life</i> — a fixed purpose of the heart to wait upon God, and cast its every burden upon Him!</span></div>
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19. SUBJECTION</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"That the world may know that I <i>love </i>the Father and that I <i>do </i>exactly what my Father has commanded me." John 14:31</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus as God-man, had <i>omnipotence </i>slumbering in His arm. He had the <i>hoarded treasures of eternity </i>in His grasp. He had only to "speak — and it was done." But as an example to His people, His whole life on earth was one impressive act of <i>subordination </i>and <i>dependence</i>. At <i>Nazareth </i>He was "subject to his parents." There He remained in studied obscurity, occupying for thirty years a lowly hut, willing to continue in a state of seclusion, until the Father's summons called Him to His appointed work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At His <i>baptism</i>, sinless Himself, He gives this reason for receiving a sinner's rite at a sinner's hands — "Allow it to be so now, for thus it befits Me to fulfill all righteousness." The same beautiful spirit of filial <i>subjection </i>shines conspicuous amid His acts of stupendous power. Even among His own disciples His language is, "I am among you as He who serves." With an act of submission He closed His pilgrimage and work of love. "Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What an example to us, in all this, is our beloved Lord! Surely, if <i>He, </i>"God only wise" — the Self-existent One, to whom "all power was committed;" — the Sinless One, never liable to err, on whom "the Spirit was poured without measure" — if <i>He </i>manifested such <i>habitual dependence </i>on His heavenly Father — then how earnestly ought <i>we, </i>weak, erring, fallible creatures, to seek to live every hour — every moment — as <i>pensioners on God's grace and love</i>, following His directing hand in all things! As the <i>servant </i>has his eyes on his master, or the <i>child </i>on its parent, "so should our eyes be on the Lord our God." Whatever He speaks, be it ours with all docility to follow the voice, endorsing every utterance of providence, and every precept of Scripture, with our Lord's own words, <i>"This is the Father's will!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beware of <i>self-dependence</i>. The first step in spiritual declension is this — "Let him that <i>thinks he stands!" </i>The secret of real strength is this — <i>"Kept </i>by the <i>power </i>of God!" How it sweetens all our blessings, and alleviates all our sorrows — to regard <i>both </i>as emanations from a loving Father's hand! Even if we should be like the disciples of old,<i> "constrained"</i> to go into the ship; if all should be darkness and tempest — frowning providences — "the wind contrary;" how blessed to feel that in embarking on the unquiet element, that "the Lord has bidden us!" Paul could not speak even of taking an earthly journey, without the parenthesis, ("if the Lord wills.")</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many trials, and sorrows, and sins, would it save us, if the same were the habitual regulator of our daily life! It would lead to calm contentment with our lot, hushing every disquieting suggestion with the thought that our lot, with all that is apparently <i>adverse </i>in it — was <i>ordained </i>for us! It would teach us not to be aspiring after <i>great </i>things — but humbly to wait the will and purposes of a wise Provider; not to go <i>before </i>our Heavenly Guide — but to <i>follow </i>Him, saying, in meek subjection, "Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not concern myself with matters too great or awesome for me. But I have stilled and quieted myself, just as a small child is quiet with its mother. Yes, like a small child is my soul within me!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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20. NOT RETALIATING</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"When they hurled their insults at Him — He did not retaliate; when He suffered — He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly!" — 1 Peter 2:23.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a common dictate of the fallen and unregenerate heart — to resent and recriminate! How alien to natural feeling — to answer cutting taunts, and meet unmerited wrong, with the Divine method the Gospel prescribes, "Overcome evil with good!" It was in the closing scenes of the Savior's humiliation, when silent, and unresenting, He stood "silent before His shearers," that this beautiful feature in his character was most wondrously manifested; but it beams forth also for our imitation in the ordinary and less prominent incidents of His pilgrimage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When He met <i>Nathanael </i>of Cana in Galilee, He found him clinging to an unreasonable prejudice — "Can any good thing come out of <i>Nazareth?"</i> The severe remark is allowed to pass unnoticed. Overlooking the unkind insinuation, the Savior fixes on the favorable feature of his character, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After His resurrection, He appears to His disciples. They were cowering in shame, half afraid to confront the glance of <i>injured goodness</i>. He breathes on them, and says, "Peace be unto you!" — Peter was the one of all the rest who had most reason to dread estranged looks and upbraiding words; but a special message is sent to reassure that trembling disciple, that there was no alienation in the unresentful Heart he had secretly wounded — "Go and tell the disciples — <i>and Peter!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even when <i>Judas </i>first unveiled himself to his Lord as the <i>betrayer</i>, we believe it was not in bitter irony or rebuke — but in the fullness of pitying tenderness, that Jesus addressed him,<i>"Friend</i>, why have you come?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tears and prayers were His only revenge on Jerusalem — the city and scene of His murder. "Beginning at Jerusalem," was the closing illustration of a spirit "not of this world" — a significant parting testimony that in the bosom that uttered it — <i>retaliation </i>had no place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More than one of the disciples seem to have imbibed much of this "mind" of their Lord. "They stoned <i>Stephen</i>. Then he fell on his knees and cried out — <i>Lord, do not hold this sin against them!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take another example — The great Apostle of the Gentiles felt himself under a painful necessity faithfully to rebuke Peter in presence of the whole Church. He had <i>recorded </i>that rebuke, too, in one of his epistles. It was thus to be handed down to every age as a permanent and humiliating evidence of the <i>wavering inconstancy </i>of his fellow-laborer. Peter, doubtless, must have felt acutely the severity of the chastisement. Does he resent it? He, too, puts on record, long after, in one of his own epistles, a sentence regarding his rebuker — but it is this — "Our <i>beloved brother </i>Paul!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! when tempted to utter the harsh word, or give the cutting or hasty answer — seek to check yourself with the question, "Is this the reply my Savior would have given?" If your fellow-men should prove unkind, inconsiderate, ungrateful — be it yours to refer the cause to God. Speak of the faults of others only in <i>prayer;</i> manifesting more sorrow for their sin — than for the evil inflicted by them on yourselves.<i> Retaliate! </i>No such word should have a place in the Christian's vocabulary. <i>Retaliate! </i>If I cherish such a spirit towards my brother — how can I meet that brother in heaven? "But you have not so learned Christ."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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21. BEARING THE CROSS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"And He bearing His cross." — John 19:17.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>When </i>did Jesus bear the cross? Not that moment alone, surely, when the bitter tree was placed on His shoulders, on the way to Golgotha. Its <i>vision </i>may be said to have risen before Him in His infant dreams in Bethlehem's cradle; there, rather, its <i>reality </i>began; and He ceased not to carry it, until his work was finished, and the victory won! A <i>cloud </i>of old, hovered over the mercy-seat in the tabernacle and temple. So it was with the Great Antitype — the living Mercy-seat — He had ever a cloud of woe hanging over Him. "He <i>carried </i>our sorrows."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! dwell much and often under the shadow of your Lord's cross — and it will lead you to think lightly of your own! If <i>He</i> gave utterance to not one murmuring word — how then, can<i>you </i>complain? "If we were deeper students of His bitter anguish — we would think less of the ripplings of <i>our waves</i>, amid His horrible tempest" — <i>(Evans.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The saint's cross assumes many and diverse shapes. Sometimes it is the bitter trial, the crushing pang of bereavement, desolate households, and aching hearts. Sometimes it is the crucifixion of sin, the determined battling with "lusts which war against the soul." Sometimes it is the resistance of the evil <i>maxims </i>and <i>practices </i>of a lying world — vindicating the honor of Christ, in the midst, it may be, of taunt, and ridicule, and shame. And as there are different <i>crosses — </i>so there are different <i>ways </i>of bearing them. To some, God says, "Put your shoulder to the burden; lift it up, and bear it on; work, and toil, and labor!" To others, He says, "Be still, bear it — and <i>suffer!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Believer! <i>your cross </i>may be hard to endure, it may involve deep struggles — tears by day, watchings by night; bear it meekly, patiently justifying God's wisdom in laying it on you. Rejoice in the assurance that He gives not one atom more of earthly trial than He sees to be really needful; not one <i>unnecessary thorn </i>pierces your feet. In the very bearing of the cross for His sake — there are mighty compensations. What new views of your Savior's love, His truth, His promises, His sustaining grace, His sufferings, His glory! What new filial nearness; increased delight in prayer; in inner sunshine when it is darkest without! The <i>waves </i>cover you — but underneath them all, are "the everlasting arms!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do not look out for a situation <i>without </i>crosses. Do not be over-anxious to walk in "smooth paths," — leaving your God, as Orpha did Naomi, just when the cross requires to be carried. Immoderate earthly enjoyments — unbroken earthly prosperity — write upon these <i>"Beware!"</i> You may live to see them become your greatest trials!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember the old saying, "No cross — no crown!" The sun of the saint's life generally struggles through "weeping clouds." One of the loveliest passages of Scripture is that in which the portals of heaven being opened, we overhear this dialogue between two ransomed ones: "Then one of the elders asked me, 'These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?' I answered, 'Sir, you know.' And he said, 'These are they who have come out of the <i>great tribulation!'"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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22. HOLY ZEAL</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Zeal for Your house will consume Me." — John 2:17</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such was the holy heavenly zeal of our Great Exemplar. His were no <i>transient outbursts of ardor </i>which time cooled and difficulties impeded. His life was <i>one indignant protest against sin — </i>and <i>one ceaseless current of undying love </i>for souls which all the malignity of foes and unkindness of friends could not for one moment divert from its course. Even when He rises from the dead, and we imagine His work at an end — His zeal only meditates fresh deeds of love. "Still His heart and His care," says Goodwin, "is upon doing more. Having now dispatched that great work on earth — He sends His disciples word that He is hastening to heaven as fast as He can, to do another" (John 20:17).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do you know anything of this zeal, which "many waters could not quench?" See that, like your Lord's — it is steady, sober, consistent, and undeviating. How many are, like the children of Ephraim, "carrying bows" — all zealous when zeal demands no sacrifice — but "turning their backs to the day of battle!" Others running well for a time — but gradually "hindered," through the benumbing influences of worldliness, selfishness, and sin! Two disciples, apparently equally devoted and zealous, send through Paul, in one of his epistles, a joint Christian salutation — "<i>Luke </i>and <i>Demas</i> greet you." A few years afterwards, thus he writes from his Roman dungeon — "Only <i>Luke</i> is with me." <i>"Demas </i>has <i>forsaken </i>me, having loved this present world!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While zeal is commendable, remember the Apostle's qualification, "It is good to be zealously affected always in a <i>good </i>thing." There is in these days, much base coin current, <i>called</i>"zeal," which bears not the image and superscription of Jesus. There is zeal for church-membership and denominations; zeal for creeds and dogmas; zeal for trifles and nonessentials. "From such turn aside!" Your Lord stamped with His example and approval — no such counterfeits. <i>His</i> zeal was ever brought to bear on two objects, and two objects alone — <i>the glory of God </i>and <i>the good of man</i>. Be it so with you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enter, first of all (as He did the earthly temple), the sanctuary of <i>your own heart, </i>with "the scourge of small cords." Drive out every <i>unhallowed intruder </i>there! Do not allow yourself to be deceived. Others may call such jealous searchings of spirit, "sanctimoniousness" and "wild enthusiasm." But remember, to be <i>almost saved — </i>is to be <i>altogether lost!</i> To be zealous about everything but "the one thing needful" — is an insult to God and your everlasting interests!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have a zeal for <i>others</i>. Dying myriads are around you. As a member of the Christian priesthood, it becomes you to rush in with your censer and incense between the living and the dead, "that the plague may be stopped!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be it yours to say, "Blessed Jesus! I am Yours! — Yours only! — Yours wholly! — Yours forever! I am willing to <i>follow </i>You — and (if need be) to <i>suffer </i>for You. I am ready at Your bidding to leave the homestead in the valley — and to face the cutting blasts of the mountain. Take me — use me for Your glory. Lord, what will You have me to do?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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23. BENEVOLENCE</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He went around doing good." — Acts 10:38.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Christ's great end," says Richard Baxter, "was to save men from their <i>sins; </i>but He delighted to save them from their <i>sorrows."</i> His heart bled for human misery. Benevolence brought Him from heaven; and benevolence followed His steps wherever He went on earth. The journeys of the Divine Philanthropist were marked by tears of thankfulness, and breathings of grateful love. The helpless, the blind, the lame, the desolate — rejoiced at the sound of His footfall. Truly might it be said of Him, "All who heard Me praised Me. All who saw Me spoke well of Me. For I assisted the poor in their need and the orphans who required help. I helped those without hope — and they blessed Me. And I caused the widows' hearts to sing for joy" (Job 29:11-13).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All suffering hearts were a magnet to Jesus. It was not more His prerogative, than His happiness — to turn tears into smiles. One of the few pleasures which on earth gladdened the spirit of the "Man of sorrows" was the pleasure of <i>doing good</i> — soothing grief, and alleviating misery. Next to the joy of the widow of Nain when her son was restored, was the joy in the bosom of the <i>Divine Restorer! </i>He often went out of His way to be kind. A journey was not grudged, even if <i>one </i>aching heart were to be soothed (Mark 5:1; John 4:4, 5). Nor were His kindnesses dispensed through the intervention of others. They were all <i>personal </i>acts. His own <i>hand </i>healed. His own <i>voice </i>spoke. His own <i>footsteps </i>lingered on the threshold of bereavement, or at the precincts of the tomb. Ah! had the princes of this world known the loving tenderness and unselfishness of<i> </i>that wondrous heart, "they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do you know anything of such active benevolence? Have you ever felt the <i>luxury of doing good? </i>Have you ever felt, that in making others happy — you make yourself so? Do you know anything of that great law of your being, enunciated by the Divine Patron and Pattern of Benevolence, "It is more blessed to give — than to receive?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Has God enriched you with this world's goods? Seek to view yourself as a consecrated medium for dispensing them to others. Beware alike of <i>miserly hoarding — </i>and <i>selfish extravagance!</i>How sad the case of those whose lot God has made thus to abound with temporal mercies, who have gone to the grave unconscious of diminishing one drop of human misery, or making one of the world's myriad aching hearts happier! How the example of <i>Jesus </i>rebukes the cold and calculating kindnesses — the <i>mite-like </i>offerings of many even of His own people! "whose libation is not like His, from the <i>brim </i>of an overflowing cup — but from the <i>bottom</i> — from the <i>dregs!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have <i>little </i>to give. Your sphere and means may be alike limited. But remember that God is as much glorified by the <i>trifle </i>bestowed from the <i>earnings of poverty</i> — as by the splendid benefaction from the <i>lap of plenty</i>. "The Lord loves a <i>cheerful </i>giver."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The nobler part of Christian benevolence is not vast donations, or munificent financial sacrifices. "He went about <i>doing good." </i>The merciful visit — the friendly word — the look of sympathy — the cup of cold water — the little unostentatious service — the giving without thought or hope of recompense — the kindly "considering of the poor" — anticipating their needs — considering their comforts — these are what God values and loves! They are "loans" to Himself — tributary streams to "the river of <i>His</i> pleasure". They will be acknowledged at last as such — "I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine — you did for Me!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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24. FIRMNESS IN TEMPTATION</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Jesus said to him — <i>Away from Me, Satan!"</i> — Matthew 4:10.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a dreadful intensity of meaning in the words, as applied to Jesus, "He <i>suffered</i>, being tempted!" Though <i>incapable </i>of sin — there was, in the <i>refined sensibilities </i>of His holy nature, that which made temptation unspeakably appalling. What must it have been to confront the Arch-traitor? — to stand face to face with the foe of His throne, and His universe? But the "prince of this world" came, and found "nothing in Him." Billow after billow of Satanic violence spent their fury, in vain, on the Living Rock!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! you have still the same malignant enemy to contend with; assailing you in a thousand insidious forms; astonishingly adapting his assaults to your circumstances, your temperament, your mental bent, your master passion! There is no place, where "Satan's seat" is not; The whole world lies in the Wicked one. — (1 John 5:19) He has his whispers for the ear of childhood; hoary age is not inaccessible to his wiles. <i>"All this will I give you"</i> — is still his bribe to deny Jesus and to "mind earthly things." He will meet you in the crowd; he will follow you to the solitude; his is a sleepless vigilance!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you bold in repelling him as your Master was? Are you ready with the retort to every foul suggestion,<i> "Away from me, Satan!"</i> Cultivate a tender sensitiveness about sin. The finest barometers are the most <i>sensitive</i>. Whatever your besetting frailty is — whatever bitter or baleful passion you are conscious aspires to the mastery — watch it, crucify it, Nail it to your Lord's cross! <i>You</i> may despise "the day of small things" — the <i>Great Adversary </i>does not<i>. </i>He knows the power of <i>littles</i> — that little by little consumes and eats out the vigor of the soul. And once the downwards movement in the spiritual life begins — who can predict where it may end? — the going on "from weakness to weakness," instead of "from strength to strength."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make no compromises; never join in the ungodly amusement, or venture on the questionable path, with the plea, "It does me no harm." The Israelites, on entering Canaan, instead of obeying the Divine injunction of extirpating their enemies, made a hollow truce with them. — What was the result? Years upon years of tedious warfare. "They were scourges in their sides and thorns in their eyes!" It is quaintly — but truthfully said by an old writer, "Sin indulged, in the conscience, is like Jonah in the ship, which causes such a tempest, that the conscience is like a troubled sea, whose waters cannot rest." — <i>(Thomas Brooks.)</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Keep," then, "your heart with all diligence," or, (as it is in the forcible original Hebrew,) "keep your heart <i>above all keeping,</i> for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Let this ever be our preservative against temptation, "How would <i>Jesus </i>have acted here? Would <i>He </i>not have recoiled, like the sensitive plant, from the remotest contact with sin? Can I think of dishonoring Him by tampering with His enemy — incurring from His own lips the bitter reflection of injured love — <i>'I am wounded in the house of My friends!'"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He tells us <i>the secret of our preservation and safety</i>, "Simon! Simon! Satan has desired to have you, that he might sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for you — that your faith fail not!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><div align="justify">
25. RECEIVING SINNERS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This man receives sinners!" — Luke 15:2.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <i>ironic taunt </i>of proud and censorious Pharisees formed the <i>glory </i>of Him who came, "not to call the righteous — but sinners, to repentance." Publicans and outcasts; those covered with a deeper than any bodily leprosy — laid bare their wounds to the "Great Physician;" and as conscious guilt and timid penitence crept abashed and imploring to His feet — they found nothing but a forgiving and a gracious welcome!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"His ways" were not as "man's ways!" The "watchman," in the Canticles, "smote" the disconsolate one seeking her lost Lord; they tore off her veil, mocking with chilling unkindness her anguished tears. Not so "the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls." "This man <i>receives </i>sinners!" See in Nicodemus, stealing under the shadows of night to elude observation — a type of the thousand thousand who in every age have gone <i>trembling in their night of sin and sorrow </i>to this Heavenly Friend! Does Jesus punish his timidity by shutting His door against him, spurning him from His presence? — "He will not break the bruised reed, He will not quench the smoking flax!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And He is still the same! He who arrested a <i>persecutor </i>in his blasphemies, and turned the lips of an <i>expiring felon </i>with faith and love — is at this hour standing with all the garnered treasures of Redemption in His hand, proclaiming, "whoever comes unto Me, I will never cast out!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are we from this to think lightly of sin? or by example and conduct to palliate and overlook its enormity? Not so! Sin, as sin, can never be sufficiently <i>stamped </i>with the <i>brand </i>of reprobation. But we must seek carefully to distinguish between the <i>offence</i> — and the <i>offender</i>. Nothing should be done on our part by word or deed to mock the penitential sighings of a guilty spirit, or send the trembling outcast away, with the despairing feeling of <i>"No hope."</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"This man receives sinners" — and shall not <i>we?</i> Does <i>He</i> allow the worst dregs of human depravity to crouch unbidden at His feet, and to gaze on His forgiving countenance with the uplifted eye of hope — and shall <i>we</i> dare to deal out harsh, and severe and crushing verdicts on an offending (it may be a <i>deeply</i> offending) brother? Shall we pronounce "crimson" and "scarlet" sins and sinners — beyond the pale of mercy, when <i>Jesus </i>does not? No! Rather, when <i>wretchedness</i>, and <i>depravity</i>, and <i>backsliding </i>cross our path — let it not be with the bitter taunt or the ironical retort that we bid them away. Let us bear — endure — remonstrate — deal tenderly with them; Jesus <i>did </i>so, Jesus <i>does </i>so! Ah! if we had within us His unconquerable love of souls; His yearning desire for the everlasting happiness of sinners — we would be more frequently in earnest admonition and affectionate appeal with those who have hitherto received no other than harsh looks and repulsive words. If this "mind" really was in us, "which was also in Him," we would more frequently ask ourselves, "Have I done all I <i>might </i>have done to pluck this <i>brand </i>from the burning? Have I remembered what grace <i>has </i>wrought, what grace <i>can </i>do?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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26. TRUTHFULNESS</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He committed no sin, and no <i>deceit </i>was found in his mouth." — 1 Peter 2:22.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How rare, and all the more beautiful because of its rarity, is a purely <i>deceitless </i>spirit! A transparent medium through which the light of Heaven comes and goes: open, candid, just, honorable, sincere; scorning every unfair dealing, every hollow pretension, every narrow prejudice. Wherever such characters exist, they are like "apples of gold, in pictures of silver."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such, in all the loveliness of sinless perfection, was the Son of God! His truthfulness and sincerity shining the more conspicuously amid the artful and malignant deceits alike of men and devils. Passing by manifold instances in the course of His ministry, look at its manifestation, as the hour of His death approached. When, on the night of His apprehension, He confronts the assassin band, in meek majesty He puts the question, "Whom do you seek?" They said to Him, "Jesus of Nazareth!" In guileless innocence, He replies, "I am He!" "Are You the King of the Jews?" asks Pilate, a few hours after. An evasive answer might again have purchased immunity from suffering and indignity — but once more the lips which scorned the semblance of evasion reply, "Yes, it is as you say!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How He loved the same spirit in His people! "Behold," said He, of Nathaniel, "an Israelite indeed, in whom is <i>no deceit!" </i>That upright man had, we may suppose, been day after day kneeling in prayer under his fig-tree, with an open and candid spirit —</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Musing on the law he taught,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And waiting for the Lord he loved."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See how the Savior honored him; setting His own divine seal on the loveliness of this same spirit!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Take one other example: when the startling — saddening announcement is made to the disciples, "One of you shall betray Me!" they do not accuse one another; they attempt to throw no suspicion on Judas; each in trembling apprehension suspects only his own treacherous heart, <i>"Lord, is it I?"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How much of a different "mind" is there abroad! In the school of the world (this <i>painted </i>world,) how much is there of what is called "policy," double-dealing! — accomplishing its ends by distorting means; outward artificial polish, often only a cloak for falseness and selfishness! — in the daily interchange of business, one seeking to overreach the other by tricky arts — sacrificing <i>principle </i>for temporal advantage. There is nothing so derogatory to religion as anything allied to such a spirit among Christ's people — any such <i>blots </i>on the "living epistles." "You are the <i>light </i>of the world." That world is a quick observer. It is sharp to detect inconsistencies; and slow to forget them. The true Christian has been likened to an <i>anagram</i> — you ought to be able to read him up and down, every way!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Be all <i>reality</i>, no counterfeit. Do not pass for current coin, what is base alloy. Let transparent honor and sincerity regulate all your dealings! Despise all deceitfulness; avoid the sinister motive — the underhand dealing; aim at that unswerving love of truth that would scorn to stoop to base compliances and unworthy equivocations; live more under the power of the purifying and ennobling influences of the gospel. Take its golden rule as the matchless directory for the daily transactions of life — "So in everything, do unto others — what you would have them do unto you."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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27. ACTIVITY IN DUTY</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day; the night comes, when no man can work." — John 9:4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How constant and unremitting was Jesus in the service of His Heavenly Father! "He rose a great while before day;" — and when His <i>secret </i>communion was over, then His <i>public </i>work began. It mattered not to Him where He was: whether on the bosom of the deep, or a mountain slope — in the desert, or at a well side — the "gracious words" always "proceeded out of His mouth." He redeemed every precious moment!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, how our most unceasing activities pale into nothing, before such an example as this! Would that we could remember that each of us has some great mission to perform for God — that true religion is not a thing of <i>dreamy sentimentalism</i> — but of energetic practical action; moreover, that no trade, no profession, no position, however high or however humble in the scale of society — can disqualify for this life of Christian activity and usefulness! Who were the writers in the Bible? We have among them a king — a lawgiver — a herdsman — a tax collector — a physician! Nor is it to high spheres, or to great services only, that God looks. The <i>widow's mite </i>and Mary's "alabaster box of ointment" are recorded as examples for imitation by the Holy Spirit, while many more munificent deeds are passed by unrecorded. We believe that God says, regarding the attempt of many a humble Christian to serve Him by active duty, "I saw that effort, that <i>feeble </i>effort, to serve and glorify Me; it was the very <i>feebleness </i>of it I loved!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did it ever strike you, that notwithstanding the <i>dignity </i>of Christ, and the <i>activity </i>of Christ — how <i>little success </i>comparatively He met with in His public work? We read of no <i>numerous</i>conversions; no Pentecostal <i>revivals </i>in the course of His ministry. May not this well encourage us — in the absence of great outward results? He sets up no higher standard than this — "She has done what she could." An artist may be great in painting a <i>peasant</i> — as well as a <i>king. </i>Yes, and if laid aside from the <i>activities </i>of the Christian life, we can equally glorify God by <i>passive endurance</i>. "Who am I," said Luther, when he witnessed the patience of a great sufferer, "who am I? a wordy preacher in comparison with this great doer."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! do not forget the motive of our motto verse,<i> "The night comes!" </i>Soon our <i>tale </i>shall be told; our little day is flitting fast — the shadows of night are falling. "Our span length of time," as Rutherford says, "will come to an inch." What if the eleventh hour should strike after having been "<i>idle</i> all the day?" A long lifetime of opportunities allowed to pass unemployed and unimproved — and absolutely <i>nothing </i>done for God! A judgment-day arrived at — our golden moments squandered — our talents untraded on — our work undone — met at the bar of Heaven with the withering repulse, "Inasmuch as you did it <i>not." </i>"The time we have lost," says Richard Baxter, "cannot be recalled; should we not then redeem and improve the <i>little </i>that remains? If a traveler sleeps or trifles most of the day — he must travel so much the faster in the evening, or fall short of his journey's end."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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28. COMMITTING OUR WAY TO GOD</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"He committed himself to Him who judges righteously" — 1 Peter 2:23.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With what perfect and entire confidingness did Jesus commit Himself to His Heavenly Father's guidance! He loved to call Him, <i>"My Father!" </i>There was music in that name, which enabled Him to face the most trying hour, and to drink the most bitter cup. The scoffing taunt arose at the scene of crucifixion, "He trusted in God that He would deliver Him — let Him deliver Him!" It failed to shake, for one moment, His unswerving confidence, even when the sensible tokens of the Divine presence were withdrawn; the realized consciousness of God's abiding love sustained Him still — "My God! my God!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How many a perplexity would we save ourselves, by thus implicitly "committing ourselves," as He did, to God! In seasons of darkness and trouble — when our way is shut up with thorns — to lift the confiding eye of faith to Him, and say, "I am oppressed, undertake for me!" How blessed to feel that He <i>directs </i>all that befalls us; that no <i>contingencies </i>can frustrate His plans; that the way He leads us is not only <i>a</i> "right way," — but, with all its briers and thorns — its tears and trials — it is <i>the</i> right way!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The result of such an habitual staying ourselves on the Lord, will be a deep, abiding <i>peace</i> — any ripple will only be on the surface — no more. It is the <i>bosom </i>of the ocean alone, which the storm ruffles; all beneath is a serene, settled calm. "You will keep him, O God, in perfect peace — whose mind is stayed on <i>You!"</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." I shall be content alike with what he appoints or withholds. I cannot wrong that love with one shadow of suspicion! I have His own plighted promise of unchanging faithfulness, that "all things work together for good to those who love Him!" Often there are earthly sorrows which are hard to bear — the unkind accusation when it was least merited or expected — the estrangement of tried and trusted friends, the failure of cherished hopes, favorite schemes broken up, plans of usefulness demolished, the gourd breeding its own <i>worm </i>and withering. "Commit your cause and your way to God!" We little know what tenderness there is in the blast of the rough wind; what "needs be" are folded under the wings of the storm! "All is well," because <i>all </i>is from <i>Him</i>. "Events are God's," says Rutherford; "let Him sit at His own helm — that moderates all."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian! look back on your chequered path. How wondrously has He threaded you through the mazy way — disappointing your fears, realizing your hopes! Are evils looming through the mists of the future? Do not anticipate the trials of tomorrow, to aggravate those of today. Leave the morrow with Him, who has promised, by "casting all your care on Him, to care for you." No affliction will be sent greater than you can bear. His voice will be heard stealing from the bosom of the threatening cloud, "Be still, and know that I am God!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"My Father!"</i> With such a word, you can stretch out your neck for any yoke! As with Israel of old, He will make those very <i>waves </i>that may now be so threatening, a fenced wall on every side! "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." "In <i>all </i>your ways acknowledge Him — and He shall direct your paths!"</span></div>
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29. LOVE OF UNITY</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"That they all may be one." — John 17:21.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surely there is nothing for which Christian churches have such cause to hang their harps on the willows — as the extent to which the Shibboleth of <i>party </i>is heard in the camp of the faithful — <i>sectarianism</i> rearing its "untempered walls" within the Temple gates!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How different "the mind of Jesus!" Sent "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," He was never found disowning <i>"other </i>sheep not of that fold." "Them also will I bring," was an assertion continually illustrated by His deeds. Take one example: The woman of Samaria revealed what, alas! is too common in the world — a total absence of all real religion; combined with an ardent zeal for her sect. She was living in open sin; yet she was all alive to the petty distinctions between a Jew and a Samaritan — between Mount Gerizim and Mount Zion — "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, who am a woman of Samaria?" Did Jesus sanction or reciprocate her sectarianism? — did He leave her bigotry unrebuked? Hear His reply — "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you, Give me a drink; you would have asked of <i>Him, </i>and <i>He</i> would have given you!" He would have allowed no such narrow-minded exclusiveness to have interfered with the interchange of kindly civilities with a stranger. No, He would have given you better than all, the "living water" which "springs up to everlasting life!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How sad, that when the enemy is "coming in like a flood" — the ranks of Popery and infidelity linked in fatal and formidable confederacy — that the soldiers of Christ are forced to meet the assault with standards soiled, and mutilated by <i>internal</i> feuds! "Uniformity" there <i>may </i>not be — but "unity," in the true sense of the word, there <i>ought </i>to be. We may be clad in different livery — but let us stand side by side, and rank by rank, fighting the battles of our Lord. We may be different branches of the seven golden candlesticks, varying and diversified in outward form and workmanship; but let us combine in "showing forth the praises of Him" who recognizes as the one true "churchmanship," — fidelity in shining for His glory "as lights in the world." How can we read the 13th chapter of 1st Corinthians, and then think of our divisions? "How miserable," says Edward Bickersteth, "would a hospital be, if each patient were to be so offended with his neighbor's disease, as to differ with him on account of it, instead of trying to alleviate it!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ah! if we had more real communion with our Savior — would we not have more real communion with one another? If Christians would dip their arrows more in "the balm of Gilead," would there not be fewer wounds in the body of Christ? "How that word <i>'toleration' </i>is used among us!" said one who drank deeper than most, of his Master's spirit — "how we <i>tolerate </i>one another — Dissenters <i>tolerate </i>Churchmen, and Churchmen <i>tolerate </i>Dissenters! Oh! hateful word! TOLERATE one for whom <i>Jesus </i>died! <i>Tolerate </i>one whom He bears upon His heart!<i>Tolerate </i>a temple of the living God! Oh! there ought to be <i>that </i>in the word which should make us feel <i>ashamed </i>before God!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Arm yourselves likewise with the same mind."</span></div>
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30. NOT OF THE WORLD</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I am not of the world." — John 17:14.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In one sense it was <i>not </i>so. Jesus did not seek to maintain His holiness intact and unspotted — by <i>avoiding contact</i> with the world. He mingled familiarly in its busy crowds. He frowned on none of its innocent enjoyments; He fostered, by His example, no love of seclusion; He gave no warrant or encouragement to mortified pride, or disappointed hopes, to rush from its duties — yet, with all this, what a halo of heavenliness encircled His pathway through it! "I am from above," was breathed in His every look, and word, and action, from the time when He lay in the slumbers of infancy in His Bethlehem cradle, until He said, "I leave the world, and go to My Father!" He had moved <i>uncontaminated</i> through its varied scenes, like the <i>sunbeam</i>, which, whatever it touches, remains as unsullied, as when it issues from its great fountain.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But though Himself in His sinless nature "unconquerable" by temptation — immutably secure from the world's malignant influences, it is all worthy of note, as an example to us, that He never <i>unnecessarily</i> braved these. He knew the seducing spell that same world would exercise on His people, of whom, with touching sympathy, He says, <i>"These</i> are in the world!" He knew the <i>many </i>who would be involved and ensnared in its subtle worship, who, "minding earthly things," would seek to slake their thirst at <i>polluted streams!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! the great problem which you have to solve, Jesus has solved for you — to be <i>"in </i>the world, and yet not <i>of </i>it." To abandon it, would be a dereliction of duty. It would be servants deserting their work — soldiers flying from the battle-field. <i>Live</i> in it, that while you live, the world may feel the better for you. <i>Die, </i>that when you die, the world — the <i>Church</i> — may feel your loss, and cherish your example!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On its cares and duties, its trusts and responsibilities, its employments and enjoyments, inscribe the motto,<i> "The world passes away!"</i> Beware of everything in it that would tend to deaden spirituality of heart; unfitting the mind for serious thought, lowering the standard of Christian duty, and inducing a perilous conformity to its false manners, habits, tastes, and principles. As the best antidote to the love of the world — let the inner vacuum of the heart be filled with the love of God. Seek to feel the nobility of your regenerated nature — that you have a nobler heritage to care for, than the transitory shadows of this world. How can I mix with the potsherds of the earth? Once, "I lay among the pots;" now, I am "like a dove, whose wings are covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold!" "Stranger — pilgrim — sojourner;" — "my <i>citizenship</i> is in heaven!" Why covet tinsel honors and glories? Why be solicitous about the smiles of that which knew not, (no, which frowned on) its Lord?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Live above its corroding cares and anxieties; remembering the description Jesus gives of His own true people, "They are not of the world — even as I am not of the world!"</span></div>
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31. CALMNESS IN DEATH</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Father, into Your hands I commend My spirit." — Luke 23:46.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the death of Jesus, there were elements of fearfulness, which the believer can know nothing of. It was with Him the execution of a penal sentence. The sins of an elect world were bearing Him down! The very voice of His God was heard giving the tremendous summons, "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd!" Yet His was a death of <i>peace,</i> no, of <i>triumph!</i> Before He closed His eyes, light broke through the curtain of thick darkness. In the calm composure of filial confidence He breathed away His soul — "Father, into your hands I commend My spirit!" What was the secret of such tranquility? This is His own key to it — "I have glorified You on the earth, I have <i>finished the work </i>which You gave me to do."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reader! will it be so with <i>you </i>at a dying hour? will <i>your</i> "work" be done? Have you already fled to Jesus? Are you reposing in Him as your only Savior, and following Him as your only pattern? Then — let death overtake you when it may — you will have nothing to do <i>but to die! </i>The grave will be irradiated with His presence and smile. He will be standing there as He did by His own tomb of old, pointing to yours, tenanted with angel forms, no, Himself as the "Precursor," showing you <i>"the path of life!" </i>There can be no true peace until the fear of death is conquered by the sense of sin forgiven, through "the blood of the Cross." "Not until then," as one has said, "will you be able to be a quiet spectator of the open grave at the bottom of the hill which you are soon to descend." The sting of death is sin — but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through the Lord Jesus Christ!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seek now to live in the enjoyment of greater filial nearness to your covenant God; and thus, when the hour of departure <i>does </i>come, you will be able, without irreverence, to take the very words of your dying Lord, and make them your own — "FATHER, into Your hands I commend my spirit!" FATHER! <i>Death!</i> It is only going HOME! — the heart of the child leaping at the thought of the paternal roof, and the paternal welcome! "Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian! can you dread that which your Savior has already vanquished? <i>Death!</i> It is as the angel to Peter breaking the dungeon-doors, and leading to open day — it is going to the world of your birthright, and leaving the one of your exile — "it is the soldier at nightfall lying down in his tent in peace, waiting the morning to receive his laurels." Oh! to be ever living in a state of holy preparation! — the mental eye gazing on the vista — view of an opening Heaven! — feeling that <i>every moment </i>is bringing us nearer and nearer that happy <i>Home!</i> — soon to be within reach of the Heavenly threshold, in sight of the Throne! — soon to be bending in adoring rapture with the Church triumphant — bathing in floods of infinite glory — "LIKE HIM," — seeing HIM <i>as He is, </i>and that <i>forever and Ever!</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"And every man that has this hope in Him purifies himself, even as He is pure!"</span></div>
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<a href="http://gracegems.org/MacDuff/Mind_of_Jesus.htm">http://gracegems.org/MacDuff/Mind_of_Jesus.htm</a><br />
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-65939369831905148672013-08-06T00:48:00.001-07:002013-08-06T00:48:38.479-07:00The Seal of God, Or The Mark of the Beast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgomFywo6S9DE2kIjK3Xc1l2p0afBHvjszAGQoY2evEg9g2N-3y6XNThVKzfI56Tk_hzPK1hPacm8NiEZ1pGpEQwFecAiFz8rIBapF6WwuILogZqBnNfnMrbRbkFHg2eQKyGLlWyWlCCVM/s1600/14498_392859190796699_1448503033_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgomFywo6S9DE2kIjK3Xc1l2p0afBHvjszAGQoY2evEg9g2N-3y6XNThVKzfI56Tk_hzPK1hPacm8NiEZ1pGpEQwFecAiFz8rIBapF6WwuILogZqBnNfnMrbRbkFHg2eQKyGLlWyWlCCVM/s320/14498_392859190796699_1448503033_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A seal in Bible days was a blob of wax into which the particular mark of the person sending a letter or document was impressed. The sealing wax was soft enough to receive the mark, then it hardened so that no other impression could be made on it. In the same manner, our lives are receiving the seal of God, or the mark of the Beast.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The seal of God is the character of the Holy Spirit working in the very human life of the Believer. The seal of God will produce Likeness to Jesus Christ. He perfectly displayed the Life of God in man by perfectly obeying the will of the Father. Don't rely on what someone else has told you about Jesus. Look in the Bible for yourself. Read the Gospels over and over again, until you get rid of all the religious ideas you have believed. Then you will begin to see the real Jesus. We don't know Jesus as He is, because we have been given a substitute and told that it was the real thing.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whatever or whoever controls our lives is our idol. It may be an idea or a philosophy. It may be a person, or an image of the kind of person we want to be. This image controls our behavior and molds us one way or another. The extreme fanatics, those with total dedication to a leader, religion, rock music, rebellion against the established order, or the perpetuation of the established order, have a distinct life-style. They dress a certain way. They adopt certain words and expressions that those outside the group cannot understand. They cling to one another and shun relationships with "outsiders" because they cannot play the same game with them. They don't know the rules of their particular group. There are some in every group who are driven to be leaders, and who must have control of other peoples lives. These leaders must display more loyalty to, and knowledge about their idol than others. They must outgive, outdo, and outstrip the common ones in extreme behavior which proves how faithful they are to the ideals of the group. The greater the sacrifice, the more devoted they appear to be. It is as true of all religious groups as it is of rock music freaks. They become 1ike what is most important to them. The mark, or seal, of what they admire most (worship) begins to be indelibly fixed in their character. God knows that we are like that soft wax. We wi1l take the imprint of what we desire and crave the most. That is why God forbade His people to worship idols of silver, gold, wood or stone. He knew that their character would be stamped with whatever they called "God."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some who come into the group just to have fellowship with the people in the group. They only conform outwardly to the minimum they can. We call them hypocrites because they pretend to be one thing with the group, and can still live a different life-style with others. These are not in as much danger spiritually as the real fanatic. These fanatics are determined to give their "all" to the cause, and will go to extremes to prove their loyalty and devotion. It is these that are the real victims of the false shepherds. Look at what happened in Guyana. One man ordered the deaths of nine hundred people. You think it couldn't happen to you, but many have been ordered into spiritual suicide because they had to obey man, and conform to the standards of some group.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every religion has its own standards and rules which are different from those of every other group. Some speak in tongues, some do not. Some preach salvation through acceptance of theology and baptism. Some require rigid diets, meditation and separation from all those who do not believe as they do. All require that you continue with them, or you are considered "back-slidden" or "in error." They hold the keys to Eternity's Door. If you lose favor with them, you lose your chance to please God and go to Heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God told me that no man can give or withold His blessings to another. Those who tell you that if you give to their ministry, or join their crowd, that God will bless you...are false shepherds. God will bless you if you obey and fo1low His will for your life. Some of those blessings look like curses until the Lord has accomplished His purpose in you. The Lord gives...the Lord takes away...Blessed be the Name of the Lord! It is His prerogative. When any man or woman tells you that they have the power to give God's blessing to you, or to take them away... Beware! They are serving a different god, and you must not have anything to do with spiritual voo-doo and fortune telling. God will be God, and His glory will He not give to another (Isa. 42: 8). Do you remember what caused the nation of Israel to run before the enemy at Ai? (Joshua 7.) It was one man's coveting and taking what God had set aside for Himself. The whole nation suffered because of one man's sin. When we try to do or be what God has reserved for Himself alone, we cause our brothers to stumble, and to look to us instead of directly to Jesus.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hebrews, Chapter 10, describes the difference between the sacrifices under the old covenant, the Law, and the "new and living way" opened up for us by Jesus offering Himself to God, without spot or wrinkle. Because He became our Great High Priest, we do not need, indeed cannot have, any other mediator between us and the Father.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us right now, renounce everyone and everything that we have put between us and the True and Living God, the Creator of all things...our God and King forever. This will include all sacrifices, all good works that we have done trying to earn our salvation. It will also include all the religious services we have attended to please God and insure our place in Heaven, all the money we have given (supposedly to God) to pay our way in, any preacher, teacher, church, group, or spiritual leader that we look to instead of Jesus. Let us turn away from these things, and return to our First Love. Let us recover what we had when we first, came to the Lord - that wonderful, child-like dependence and joy of fellowship with Jesus. Let us once more experience the awareness of His presence and direction each day, in simple terms that we could understand and obey, without anyone else interpreting God to us.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Break off all other yokes, and take the yoke of Jesus. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light (Matt. 11: 28-30). You will have to choose His will for your life, and realize that it is best. You will have to obey Him at all costs. But what He requires, He furnishes. If He tells you to stand up against lies and oppression, He will give you the courage to act and the words to say. You will have to choose to obey, each step of the way. God will not force you or use you like a mindless robot. All domination and manipulation of one person by another is Satanic and demonic. You must not do this to anyone else, even your own children. God will establish your authority where it is proper, as you get right with Him, and do right by others. You cannot pick and choose the ones to whom you want to be nice and tell the truth. God requires truth and right treatment to ALL. When you have allowed God to deal with what is not right in you, then He will use you as an instrument to deal with what is not right in others in their relationship to you. God's judgment begins at the altar. Those closest to Him must go through the fire first. His judgment is His mercy, since what He judges and deals with, you need to be rid of. The greatest thing we can do at this time is to ask for a New Birth of Jesus in us. He came to do the will of the Father, and if we have the life of Christ in us, we will have the desire and ability to become true, obedient sons of God.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which do you choose? Will you choose the seal of God (the character of Jesus formed in you by the Holy Spirit, as you obey God's word to you), or the mark of the Anti-Christ (the surrender of your will to anyone, to anything: persons, creeds, doctrines, philosophies, organizations, your own idea of good and evil, etc., other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself). You will have to choose. Will it be reality or religion? Truth or lies? Freedom in Christ, or bondage to man and doctrines? Do not delay your choice. The Anti-Christ is already sitting in the temple - declaring himself to be God. Jesus said, "Not one stone shall be left upon another" Matt. 24:2. The temple of religious ritual and all the sacrifices we think we have made for God must be counted as dung - if we would see Jesus - and walk in His light - the Truth. There are hidden works of darkness in every religious exercise. We hide behind our own good works (service to the temple) rather than have our darkness brought out in the open, where we can see it, confess it, be cleansed and turn from it. We have misunderstood what the New Birth is. What many have experienced is merely conception. You are not born until you come out of the womb and the cord is cut. You are not born-again until you can come out of your dependence on the church and religious exercises, and learn to walk and choose and grow. You cannot see God as long as you have to be fed by someone else. It is a stage of babyhood, but it is not a full grown son. We must be weaned from the mothers breast, so that we can have a chance to know the Father.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You were living in the house with your father until you were fully grown and responsible for your own behavior. Many hard things you hated as a child, you understood when you became a parent. You see your father in a different light when you feel the responsibility for the safety, provision, training and discipline of your own children. In the same way, we misunderstand the workings of God in our own lives when we are "babes." We want blessings and attention. We would even steal them from our brothers and sisters in the Lord if we could. We often resent it when they are blessed and we are not. We despise the chastening and correction which is so necessary if we are ever to be counted worthy to stand before the Lord in His Kingdom as full grown sons.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must learn what is of God, and what is a counterfeit of the enemy. There is a false repentance - lots of apologies and promises, but no change in behavior. There is a false confession - we think that by admitting that we did wrong, God wipes it out. There is a false cleansing - the blood of Jesus wipes out my sins, even though I go on sinning. There is a false surrender - this is not to God, but to someone or something that is supposed to be God's representative. Everywhere, we encounter the false love - this is manifested by covering up the truth of how I really feel about what is going on, and pretending to approve and accept what I actually hate. Only the grossest behavior will arouse us out of our lethargy. We close our eyes to the evil in them because we don't want it judged in ourselves. This pretense of brotherly love is just like Judas. We draw nigh with our lips, but our hearts are far from one another. True love demands the truth in our relationships, so that we can be cleansed and transformed by the power of God.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Try taking seriously the commandment of Jesus that you love one another as He loved us. This love is cleansing and transforming, not an "I'm O.K., your O.K." acceptance of the status-quo. God cannot change what we do not ask Him to change. We don't ask because we don't see. We don't see because we refuse to hear and act on the truth when it is pointed out. We defend our righteousness, confirming the fact that we have not submitted ourselves to God's righteousness (Rom. 10:3). We refuse to rebuke and admonish one another in the name of Christian love. Our idea of love is corrupt and must be changed by obedience to the whole word of God. God hates sin and injustice. He hates lying, stealing, oppressing others, and exalting ourselves above others. This kind of activity characterizes every church or group I have had opportunity to worship in. The strong oppresses the weak, and rob and use them. Envy and strife is the normal condition, yet they call themselves the Body of Christ. God forgive us, and help us to come out of lies, so that we might be able to walk in the truth.</span><br />
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mary Lois Burns</span></i></center>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-5876499852393692262013-08-06T00:46:00.000-07:002013-08-06T00:46:32.690-07:00The New Creation Rule<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:12-16 NKJV)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And he who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Revelation 21:5 RSVA)</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are in Christ, your involvement with God goes far beyond "becoming a Christian" or "joining a church." You are called to be a new creation. Regardless of color, gender or race, you have been begotten of the Father into one new humanity that is other worldly in nature-old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. If you are in Christ you have been divinely baptized into one body by one Spirit. That body is not governed by man's laws of organization, but by the life and nature of the One who created it. Your hope of righteousness does not rest in personal piety but in the divine nature that has been placed within you. You owe everything you are and everything you ever will be to your Creator. You are His ongoing workmanship. He who began the work in you will finish it to the praise of His glory.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Referring to this New Covenant, the New Testament speaks of a new genesis, a new birth, a new Adam, a new humanity, a new Israel, a new circumcision, a New Jerusalem and more. Such is the heavenly environment you are called and empowered to live in.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God's old covenant with natural Israel was sealed by circumcision in the flesh, which was a sign of a more efficacious circumcision to come. In the old history, natural Jerusalem entered into bondage with all her children. In the new history the Jerusalem that is above is free. She is the mother of us all (Galatians 4:26). The old covenant ended with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (Hebrews 8:13), but the new history ends with the New Jerusalem, coming down from above.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The old humanity in Adam, the earthly man, passed away at the cross. The history of the heavenly Man began when Christ, the Last Adam, rose from the dead. Everything is now heavenly. The new creation, the New Jerusalem, the Zion of God, and our very existence are in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Our citizenship is in heaven, ". . . we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Corinthians 5:1). According to the book of Hebrews, we have already come to the heavenly Jerusalem and to the heavenly assembly, the church of the firstborn (Hebrews 12: 22-24). In this new covenant, circumcision is made without hands (Colossians 2:11) and is of the heart in the Spirit (Romans 2:29), not the flesh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is our earnest prayer that as you read the following pages, the Holy Spirit will make the death of the old humanity in Adam a fact in your life, and that you will be empowered in Christ as never before. We pray that the realities of the new creation will become your guiding rule of life.</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.awildernessvoice.com/NewCreationRule.html">http://www.awildernessvoice.com/NewCreationRule.html</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-49620994228161867632013-08-06T00:42:00.001-07:002013-08-06T00:42:54.688-07:00Overcoming the Natural Man by the Cross<center>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth"</b></i> Colossians 3:2.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 2:14.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:18.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">The natural man cannot see beyond the natural plane of life. He relates everything to the here and now. The gospel message sounds foolish to him because it speaks of dying to this world in order to receive life from above through the power of God. These spiritual truths will sound like a foreign language to his thought processes.</left></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Everyone who is born of the Spirit<b> overcomes the world"</b></i> 1 John 5:4. They know that God is real and He is able to work supernaturally within the heart of man. But even these children of faith do not always learn how to walk in the power of the Spirit. Many of them continue to live on a natural plane of life in their own strength.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Galatians are an example of Christians living on the natural plane. After receiving the gift of the Spirit, we find them attempting to work out their Christian life in the strength of the flesh. Their self-sufficient spirit was actually separating them from the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. They simply did not understand Christ's way of the cross ... the way of perfecting God's power through the weakness of dependent faith.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?"</b></i> {Paul revealed before their eyes Christ's way of being raised by the power of God after being crucified in weakness.} <b><i>"... Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect</i></b> {in holy love}<i><b> by the flesh </b></i>{by your own strength}<b><i>? Have you suffered so many things </i></b>{to break your self-sufficient spirit}<i><b> in vain ...if indeed it was in vain?"</b></i> Galatians 3:1-3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adam's lineage, from the day that he lost the Spirit, was depraved of the Presence and power of the Spirit. Fallen man was left on his own to live in his own strength. It became natural for him to live in a self-originated form of life based on earthly wisdom. It is a way of life that has been deeply ingrained into everyone's thought processes. Even earnest Christians, like the Galatians, find themselves naturally going back to their old habit of living by the strength of the flesh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In contrast, the apostle Paul spoke of revealing before their eyes how to live in the Spirit's power. He displayed the way of Christ crucified, which is the way of the cross. It is the way of dying to the strength of the flesh and perfecting God's power through dependent and trusting faith.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul came with the same message to the Corinthians. He <i><b>"preached Christ crucified"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:23. He wanted these Christians to understand the true meaning of the cross. He sought to reveal before their eyes how the power of the Spirit is perfected through the weakness of dependent faith. When he was no longer living out from himself, but was walking by faith in the Son of God, the Spirit was able to manifest the life and works of Christ through Him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live </b></i><b>{nothing is done through the fleshly strength of the old man},<i> but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" </i></b>Galatians 2:20.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"And He said to me, <b>My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness</b>"</i> 2 Corinthians 12:9.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way of <i><b>"Christ crucified"</b></i> will not make sense until there has been a very deep change in how we think. It will be necessary to become like dependent little children.<i><b>"Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted</b></i> {are changed in how you think}<b><i> and become as </i></b>{dependent and trusting}<b><i> little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven"</i></b> Matthew 18:3. This renewing of the mind turns us away from the way of living by fleshly human strength to the way of receiving life from the Son <i><b>"through faith."</b></i> Only in this way is it possible to put on His heavenly life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts <b>through faith</b>...that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"</i> Ephesians 3:16-19.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"If indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus...<b>be renewed in the spirit of your mind...</b></i>{so you may}<i> put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness"</i> Ephesians 4:21, 23-24.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">The way of the cross depicts suffering and a slow death. The cross is a spiritual type that helps reveal spiritual principles. The Father led the Son through the cross. The Son then instructed everyone to follow Him. Those who choose to follow Him will know from His example that His way of the cross will entail some suffering. The old independent and self-sufficient form of life does not die easily. Dying to the strength of the natural man can be slow and painful.</left></span></span></left></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin</b></i> {he dies to the old self-originated form of life},<i><b> that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lust of men, but for the will of God"</b></i> 1 Peter 4:1-2.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Natural man lives by his own strength according to his own will and desires. He lives independently of God. And wherever there is independence, there is also self-sufficiency. God does away with the independent life by destroying the self-sufficient spirit. This is what Paul was attempting to communicate to the self-sufficient Galatians when he said,<i><b>"Have you suffered so many things in vain - if indeed it was in vain?"</b></i> Galatians 3:3. God cannot permit anyone to live by the strength of the flesh in the heavenly realms. He insists that everyone live through His Spirit so <b><i>"that no flesh should glory in His presence"</i></b> 1 Corinthians 1:29.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Not by</b></i> {fleshly}<b><i> might nor by power, but by My Spirit,</i></b><i> says the Lord of hosts"</i> Zechariah 4:6.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Those who truly obey Jesus by choosing to follow Him through the cross can expect to be <i><b>"scourged."</b></i> Most of the strength was taken out of Jesus by the scourging He received before He ever arrived at the cross. The flesh-life does not die easily. God therefore scourges us beforehand, taking away much of our strength, so we are ready to die to the ways of the flesh when we arrive at the cross. We should also note that He only scourges those who have submitted to His way of the cross. These children of faith who respond to His teachings are the ones He loves.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"He who has My commandments and keeps them </b></i>{by taking the way of the cross}, <b><i>it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him"</i></b> John 14:21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges</b> every son whom He receives</i> {into His heavenly life}...<b><i>for our profit</i></b> {to do away with the old independent and self-sufficient spirit},<b><i> that we may be partakers of His holiness</i></b> {as we live through His Spirit}. <i>Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, <b>afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness </b></i>{the eternal Kingdom-life}<i> to those who have been trained by it"</i> Hebrews 12:6, 10-11.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the kingdom of God is...righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"</b></i> Romans 14:17.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The earnest soul who has surrendered his whole being to serve the Lord often wonders why he suddenly finds himself going through deep trials and scourgings. But we must remember that this is exactly what occurred to Jesus after He had chosen to go through the cross. Once He had made His decision in the Garden of Gethsemane, everything was taken out of His hands. The providential hand of His Father then worked out the severe trials, the scourging and the final death on the cross.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God knows that this dying to the flesh-life cannot be worked out through the flesh. No one can nail himself to the cross. And so those who truly choose to follow Christ through the cross can expect to go through some fiery trials and scourging to take away their self-sufficient spirit. When their spirit is broken and they have no strength left in themselves they will be prepared to live through the Son by faith and begin enjoying His life in the heavenly realms.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"</b></i> Matthew 5:3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As another example, the Lord comes in His holiness as a refiner's fire to do away with the part of the <i><b>"flesh"</b></i> that is contrary to His way of life. Even earnest souls will tend to think they have been abandoned by the Lord during this process. The presence of His holiness overwhelms and consumes everything that is contrary to Him. He comes in a special way as a refiner and purifier. Although the believer may not understand what the Lord is working out, those who hold on will come out of this fiery trial in a purified state, which will then enable the Lord to <i><b>"fill"</b></i> the temple with <b>His <i>"glory."</i></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple</b></i> {in this strange work as a consuming fire}... <i><b>But who can endure </b></i>{in the flesh} <i><b>the day of His coming? And who can stand</b></i> {with a self-sufficient spirit} <b><i>when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire... He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi</i></b> {representing those who have fully consecrated themselves to His service},<i><b> and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness"</b></i> Malachi 3:1-3.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's suffering</b></i> {while passing through this dark night of the soul},<i><b> that when His glory is revealed</b></i> {when He fills the temple of your body with His glory},<i><b> you may also be glad with exceeding joy"</b></i> 1 Pet. 4:12-13.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"I will come to you.. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you"</b></i> John 14:18, 20.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Teaching Christ Crucified</b><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">We are expected to <i><b>"make disciples of all the nations"</b> by <b>"teaching them to observe all things"</b> that Christ commanded,</i> (Matthew 28:19-20). But this central truth about following Christ through the cross is seldom taught in this day. It is the reason why there are so few Christians who have found His life in the heavenly realms.</left></span></span></left></span></span></left></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of those who are called out by God end up turning back when the Spirit begins to take them through difficult trials. Without anyone to teach them what to expect, and to reveal the heavenly Pearl received on the other side of the cross, they do not endure to the end. What we need is many more witnesses of His resurrection life. Someone needs to show them that this heavenly Pearl is worth the price that must be paid.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you </b></i>{into His heavenly Kingdom-life} <i>in due time... But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, <b>after you have suffered a while</b> </i>{in dying out to the flesh-life},<i> <b>perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you"</b></i> 1 Peter 5:6, 10.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a natural tendency to ask God to relieve people of their suffering. He is often asked to "touch" them so they may feel better. But these prayers are being made without any discernment of God's wisdom-the wisdom of the cross. It reveals how most Christians are still living on the natural plane. They think in terms of improving a person's spiritual life by improving their circumstances. Until Christian leaders can begin to understand the way of <i><b>"Christ crucified,"</b></i> and actually teach these principles of the cross, many will fail to recognize what God is attempting to work out through suffering.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience</b></i> {producing a trusting and dependent faith in God}.<i><b> But let patience have its perfect work</b></i> {through these continuing trials}, <i><b>that you may be perfect and complete </b></i>{learning to live by the Spirit alone},<i><b> lacking nothing"</b></i> James 1:2-4.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord..."</b></i> James 5:10-11.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you begin to see why those who are still living by human wisdom on the natural plane of life have such a difficult time understanding spiritual truths? God has truly turned the ways of this world upside down. The cross will need an opportunity to do a deep work within the heart before the believer will be prepared to live by God's wisdom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For the message of the cross </b></i>{the way of weakness and dependent faith} <i><b>is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved</b></i> {from the independent and self-sufficient form of life}<i><b> it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty...and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence"</b></i> 1 Corinthians 1:18-19, 27-29.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"So the last will be first, and the first last. For <b>many are called, but few chosen</b>"</i> Matthew 20:16.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"For he who is least among you all will be great</b> {in the kingdom of God}"</i> Luke 9:48.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are only two basic ways to live in this world. One is self-exalting and one is self-emptying. Because these two different ways are so radically different, they are easily distinguished. Unfortunately, the heart is deceitful above all things. And even God's called-out children can remain blinded to the truth. <b>It is the reason why so "few" of the "many" are being "chosen" by God to be lifted into the Son's life in the heavenly realms</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you see how needful it is to examine the heart? Do you have a new nature that prefers to be the "least" and the "last"? If the old "pride of life" is still residing within your heart and causing you to enjoy being "first" and "great" in the eyes of men, you are in serious trouble. It will lead you, in spite of what you profess, to live by an earthly and demonic wisdom that is unfit for heaven. (James 3:15-16)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who...made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant</b></i> {a slave}...<i><b>He humbled Himself...to the point of death... Therefore God also has highly exalted Him..."</b></i> Philippians 2:5-9.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today is the day of salvation. Every called-out child of God needs to come to that place where God may lift them spiritually into the heavenly realms. It will entail following Christ in His downward course through the cross. Simply stated, the way up is down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will remain alone</b></i> {separated from the life of the Trinity}.<b><i> He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life</i></b> {the old "psuche" life} <b><i>in this world will keep it</i></b> {the soul} <b><i>for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me</i></b>{through the cross};<i><b> and where I am</b></i> {in the heavenly realms}<i><b> there My servant will be also"</b></i> John 12:24-26.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paul preached the gospel, but <i><b>"not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect"</b></i> 1 Cor. 1:17. He went on to say, <i>"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, <b>that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God</b>"</i> 1 Corinthians 2:4-5.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But there are few today who seem to believe in this same gospel. Much of the preaching consists of wise and persuasive words. It results in a mere "fix-up" religion that can never lift anyone into the heavenly life of God. Very few are ever learning how to follow Christ through the cross and live in the resurrection power of His Spirit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"For <b>if we have been united together in the likeness of His death,</b> certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection"</i> Romans 6:5.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ultimate triumph of <i>"Christ crucified"</i> was revealed when He was raised to the highest position of power and authority after He had emptied Himself of His own glory, sank to the lowest place of servanthood, and had reached the place of absolute weakness on the cross. He was raised by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit when He was in a state where all strength in the flesh had died. Do you understand this principle? You will need to learn it, because you cannot live on the natural plane in your own strength and also live in the heavenly realms through the power of the Holy Spirit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, God has graciously provided a means for being reconciled through the Son's shed blood while seeking out His heavenly life. It is also possible to die <i>"in the faith"</i> while in the early stages of light and go to heaven, not having received the fullness of the promise in this world. (Heb. 11:39-40) But those who choose to live on the natural plane in the strength of the flesh are rejecting both Christ's way of the cross and His resurrection power. It will keep their soul separated from the heavenly life of God. Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies it cannot be raised up with Christ and be honored by the Father. (John 12:24-26)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christians are expected to take this way of the cross. They have the seed of life from heaven planted within their heart. But it cannot be multiplied until the covering of the natural man dies and disintegrates. It must be planted within the ground where everything from the old man is lost before the eternal Kingdom-life of God is able to rise up and begin to multiply itself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">L.E. Maxwell, in his book Born Crucified, has explained why there has been such little growth of the true kingdom of God. In closing this chapter, we ask our readers to seriously pray over these thoughts from a chapter entitled <b>"The Cross and Fruitfulness."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Certainly the great trouble with many of our orthodox churches is that they are like great grain containers, full of unplanted wheat which has become musty, and moldy, and befouled... If only each little grain had been rent asunder from its fellows, cast into the dark, wet earth, buried out of sight, and left alone to endure disintegration and death, what a harvest we would see!...</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #b1c0d3; color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><left><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left></left></span></span></left></span></span></left></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We appeal to those who are sick of the shallows and the shams, sick of doing dead things, "sick unto death" of a fruitless, barren existence. Oh barren soul, hear the word of the Lord: "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die." Is the reader trying to live the Christian life?-work for Christ?-bear fruit, etc.? You cannot live until you have died. Death precedes life. <b><i>"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone."</i></b> J. Hudson Taylor...once said: "We know how the Lord Jesus became fruitful-not by bearing His cross merely, but by dying on it. Do we know much fellowship with Him in this?... There is only one Christ. Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus to bear much fruit?" Death is still the gateway to life, life from the dead, life multiplied, life manifold.</span>don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-88538320721461091752013-08-06T00:34:00.000-07:002013-08-06T00:34:33.289-07:00Avoiding The Cross: Unwillingness To Suffer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How can these things be compatible: we want to be Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ, who bore the cross for the whole world and chose to do so voluntarily, and yet we reject our own cross? Jesus says, "He who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matt. 10: 38), and "Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14: 27). One day Jesus will say to those who avoided their crosses, "I do not consider you to be My disciples!" Then the door to His kingdom will be closed.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What severe judgment will come upon us, if we refuse to carry the cross that has been laid upon us and complain about it to God and man! Our complaints are usually accusations. If we bear our suffering by saying "Yes, Father" we will come to great glory one day above, and here on earth we will be led into an intimate fellowship of love with Jesus. But if we avoid the cross, we will experience just the opposite. Here on earth we will become unhappy, because we are separated from Jesus. Only those who are His true followers, who go the way of the cross with Him, will be near Him here, and then above for all eternity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we want to be with Jesus and want our lives to end in the City of God, there is only one way-the way of the cross. Jesus is asking each of us personally "Will you choose My way of the cross?" He is beckoning to us in love, "Come, follow Me; take up your cross!" If we do not follow the call of Him who loves us more than anyone else, if we refuse to take up our cross and even rebel against it, we will have to hear the Lord say to us as He did to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan!" (Matt. 16: 23). For then the tempter has us in his grip. He will bring all those who do not want their crosses into the kingdom of hell. Then they will have to suffer much worse. Satan wants to use every means to deter us from going the way of the cross, because he does not want us to reach the kingdom of eternal joy. There our cross will change to joy, if we carry it for Jesus here. This is a decision which will have far-reaching consequences for all eternity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we want to enter Jesus' kingdom one day and inherit the crown of life, we have to follow the Apostle Paul's advice, "Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 2: 3). We should surrender ourselves to suffering, for instance, if God lays a cross upon us, if we have to suffer unjustly, if people hurt us without reason, scold us and treat us badly, it is then that we must follow in His footsteps. "When He was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he trusted to him who judged justly" (I Pet. 2: 23). If we want to choose the "ways in Christ" (I Cor. 4: 17), we will suffer everything; persecuted and reviled, we will bless; suffering unjustly, we will be "refuse", a doormat for all. Then we are on Jesus' side. Then He will recognize us as His disciples and want to share His glory with us above, giving us thrones and crowns. Those who have suffered with Christ and have patiently borne various types of suffering and afflictions, such as bodily hardships, disappointments, loneliness, the death of dear ones and family troubles, will inherit eternal glory with Jesus (Romans 8: 17). But if we belong to those who complain about every cross and are discouraged and even accuse God with the question, "Why me? Why do I have to suffer?" we could be destroyed by God's verdict. "But as for the cowardly . . . their lot shall be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.. ." (Rev. 21: 8).</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So everything depends upon whether we really bear our crosses. But how can we get free when we are bound by fear of the cross? The first "must" is to recognize the reason for trying to avoid the cross! We need the insight of truth for our unredeemed, sinful nature. We need to repent of this sinful trait, which makes us guilty again and again. Whoever has recognized how contaminated he is with sin, and is really sorry about it and wants to be freed no matter what it costs, will willingly accept discipline and suffering of all sorts from God. For he tells himself soberly, "I need the crosses to purify and transfigure me into the image of Jesus and so reach the goal of heavenly glory." But whoever does not take his sins and the eternal goal seriously will find that every type of suffering is too much for him. He will complain about it and accuse God and man instead of honestly admitting that he needs suffering and chastening, and lamenting about his own weaknesses and sins. So we need to ask for contrition over this blindness. Then our attitude towards the cross will change and we will see His blessing in it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply by suffering in the flesh we stop sinning (I Pet. 4: 1). God allows a cross to enter a sinful area of our lives-so that the sin may be put to death, in this way we become transformed more and more into Jesus' image and one day will be able to see Him face to face. Through discipline we share His holiness (Heb. 12: 10) and without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12: 14). For instance, the cross of losing earthly goods, if willingly accepted, has often freed people from their bondage to things of this world, making them free to live for Jesus and His kingdom. Or the cross of losing a beloved person, to whom we were bound, freed our soul to give Jesus undivided love and brought the greatest happiness into our hearts. The cross brings glory and deep joy even here on earth, because God the Father in His love cannot wait until eternity; He yearns to reward us here also.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second "must" for becoming free from trying to avoid the cross is to look at the Father, whose heart is full of love for His child and who carefully considers how much we can bear and what will be best for us. He gives us the very cross that can bring us to glory. He hides a wonderful treasure in our cross. We are to discover it: wonderful fruit, transfiguration, victory, eternal joy, oneness with Jesus. And we must tell ourselves again and again, "Because God is love, suffering is never the end of the story. God always has a way out of suffering; He always has comfort and aid, for He is my Father." Faith in the Father's love, which has given us this cross, will make difficult things easy and bitter things sweet.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the same time look at Jesus. He was the Crossbearer. Humbly bending beneath the heavy burden, He carried His cross lovingly to Calvary for us. He has gone on before us and levelled the ground for us so that we will not stumble. Now He is bearing our cross with us. He knows what it means to carry the cross, since He bore the sins and suffering of all mankind. He knows how to help and strengthen us. Should we not trust Jesus that we can bear it? Yes, if we bear our cross with Jesus, we will come closer to Him than ever before and experience His joy.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So let us renounce our mistrust and stop thinking that God is not love and that He brings us suffering without comfort and aid. For such thoughts nourish our desire to avoid the cross and turn our cross into an unbearable burden. Then we will really become unhappy. The worst suffering is our own desire to avoid the cross. That is why we want to renounce this sin. In faith we want to praise the power of Jesus' redemption and experience this power in our lives.</span></span><br />
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Lord Jesus,You are called the Crucified Lord and the Crossbearer.<br />
I have chosen You as my Lord, given You my<br />
will and my love, desiring to follow You.<br />
Hear my plea:<br />
<br />
May You never have to say to me: "You are not<br />
worthy of Me; you cannot be My disciple", because I<br />
did not want to carry my cross.<br />
<br />
Grant me the grace to say "Yes Father" to every<br />
cross, trusting that it has been prepared for me personally<br />
and comes from the loving hands of the Father.<br />
It will bring me an abundance of divine blessing.<br />
<br />
Grant me grace to rejoice in my sufferings (Rom. 5: 3),<br />
because they transform me and prepare me for<br />
Your kingdom of joy and glory-and also give me<br />
intimate fellowship with You, my Lord Jesus, here<br />
on earth, and let me taste eternal joy.<br />
<br />
I thank you, my Lord Jesus, for showing us:<br />
In the cross is great fruit<br />
in the cross is glory<br />
in the cross is victory, power and resurrection.<br />
The cross frees my soul from this earth and draws me to heaven.<br />
The cross brings me gain here and above.<br />
<br />
Teach me to love my cross as a precious gift from<br />
Your hand, which I will thank You for in eternity.<br />
Out of love for You, my Lord Jesus,<br />
I wish to follow You.<br />
Make me a true cross-bearer.<br />
</span></i><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Amen.</i> </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/Preparation/AvoidingTheCross.html">http://lovestthoume.com/Preparation/AvoidingTheCross.html</a></center>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-18660184663680948982013-08-06T00:32:00.000-07:002013-08-06T00:32:04.165-07:00And He Came to His Own<div style="border: 0px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 1.615em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chances are if you consider yourself a believing Christian at some time in your life you were invited to ‘receive Jesus’. It’s the common evangelical catch cry for ushering unbelievers into the Kingdom of God. Countless numbers of church goers believe they are going to Heaven because at some time they raised their hand, signed a card, or repeated a prayer that indicated they were “receiving Jesus as their personal Saviour”. This is despite the fact that the Bible endorses none of these methods as evidence that an individual has started following Christ, and the concept of a ‘personal’ Saviour is not even found in scripture. </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some posts I write are easy to prepare. From first conception to their final expression they seem to flow smoothly and without struggle, like milk and honey. This one is not like that. This post has been difficult to bring to birth. It has been more wrestle than flow, more question than answer, more challenge than encouragement, more grief than joy, and, I believe, more “God breathed word” than personal opinion. For that reason I am endeavouring to leave as much of myself out of it and as much of Christ within it as I possibly can. </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the first chapter of the gospel of John we read one of the saddest statements in all of scripture:</span></b></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. John 1:10-11</span></i></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He came to <i>His</i> <i>own</i>, and <i>His own</i> did not receive Him….. </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friends, how long shall we go on deluding ourselves that we have received Jesus, when in so many ways, we have <i>yet </i>to receive Him? Here are just some starting points to clarify that last statement:</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, consciously choose not to deny ourselves in order to indulge our flesh just that one more time, we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, demonstrate greater loyalty to family, tribe, denomination, political party or nation than to His Kingdom, we have <i>not</i>received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, elevate the tradition of our church or denomination as equal to or above His Word, we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, knowingly withhold from Him His rightful Lordship over any and every aspect of our life, we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, seek after the approval of any man or woman more than the approval of the Lord, we have <i>not</i> received Him. </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, judge Him unjust by questioning His fairness, we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, are ashamed of Him before others, we have <i>not</i>received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as individuals, harden our hearts to the cry of the poor, the needy, the brokenhearted, the widows and the orphans, we have <i>not</i>received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what of His church, the corporate Body of Christ, the multi-membered witness of Christ on planet earth? Surely the church has received Him? Consider the following:</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, reject, control, manipulate or quench His gift of the Holy Spirit, then we have <i>not</i> received Him; </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, limit the power of His shed Blood to save, heal, sanctify and restore, to only certain segments of society, then we have <i>not</i>received Him;</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, elevate mere men or women as mediators between God and ourselves, then we have <i>not</i> received Him;</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, seek salvation through our religious acts rather than His holy righteousness, we have <i>not</i> received Him;</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, decide between who is worthy of the Father’s love, and who is not worthy, then we have <i>not</i> received Him;</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, desire signs, wonders and supernatural experience more than Christ Himself, then we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, misuse our stewardship by using the offerings of the poor to build monuments to our own ministries, then we have <i>not</i>received Him;</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, seek to perpetuate our ministries, our influence and our institutions rather than taking up our Cross and following, then we have<i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*When we, as His church, allow the sins of spiritual, sexual and physical abuse to go hidden and undealt with in our midst in order to protect our reputations and our lifestyles, then we have <i>not</i> received Him.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These lists are not exhaustive. I am sure many other valid statements could be added. But they are enough.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brethren, how can it be that in so many ways we, <i>His own</i>, have not received Him? How is it that the Christian church worldwide is not found on its face seeking repentance and forgiveness for the audacity of our nakedness? How is it we are not ashamed? How is it, as His corporate Body, we do not share the Spirit’s grief over the depth of our emptiness? How is it we count ourselves as having received Christ, when again and again we demonstrate that we have not?</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cannot say I have the answers. I can only say I know the Spirit grieves deeply over these things. And when the Spirit grieves, the Father and the Son grieve also. If John were writing to us today might he not confront us with our spiritual nakedness in the follow way:</span></b></div>
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<b><i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was in the church, and the church was made through Him, and the church did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.</span></i></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Receiving Jesus is not a momentary, one off event. He is not a package deal. He does not come wrapped in a tidy little box with hearts and ribbons. Receiving Jesus is a lifestyle. It is an ongoing, ever-expanding phenomenon. Our hearts need continually to be opened wider and dug deeper by the Holy Spirit in order to receive more of His fullness. We did not arrive at our destination the day we signed that card, raised that hand or whispered that initial prayer. We simply began a journey into Christ, a journey in which complacency and pride are our worst enemies.</span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let each of us <i>continually</i> examine our own hearts humbly and openly before Him, allowing His holy fire to burn freely, convicting us, cleansing us, moulding us into the true image of Christ. Not because we need to strive for our salvation. If we have believed, we have that. But He came to do more than save: He came to inhabit. </span></b></div>
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<b style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">May the Lord grant all who are willing the grace to cease playing church, coming before Him in all humility to finally know what it is to truly receive Christ.</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>© Cheryl McGrath, </b><a href="http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/" style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"><b>Bread for the Bride</b></a><b>, 2013</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/">http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-63913799184794588092013-07-23T08:16:00.002-07:002013-07-23T08:16:30.609-07:00Lucifer Rising - Part 1 Light of the World"<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! </b>—Isaiah 14:12</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"LUCIFER, the <i>Light-bearer</i>! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it <i>he</i> who bears the <i>Light</i>…Doubt it not!" —</b>Albert Pike, preeminent Masonic authority, <i>Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry</i>, p. 321</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"A generation would soon be born that had never known a world without Lucifer." Best selling author and world renowned scientist, Arthur C. Clarke, penned these words in his science fiction masterpiece, <i>2010: Odyssey Two</i>–a book/movie sequel to his ground breaking 1968 work, <i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i>. Unknown to those who only watched <i>2010</i>, there was a major difference between the motion picture and the novel. Eerily, the book contained a section titled "Lucifer Rising."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In Clarke’s Lucifer Rising story line, the hydrogen atmosphere on the planet Jupiter is ignited. The ensuing new "little" sun is dubbed "Lucifer" and illuminates the earth with its light. The result: darkness no longer existed. Fear, suspicion, and crimes of the night disappear. Mankind has become illuminated through the light of Lucifer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To occultists and New Agers, the symbology of Arthur C. Clarke’s writing was unmistakable. Lucifer, the "light bearer" shines his knowledge (occult "truth") upon all humanity, chasing away fear and ignorance, and providing mankind with the opportunity to discover his own intellect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Arthur C. Clarke helped to perpetuate the occult view of Lucifer, the source authority on the subject of the fallen angel is the Bible. According to Ezekiel, Lucifer was an anointed cherub created by God, he was gifted with wonderful musical abilities, and was adorned with beautiful gemstones. He was also a creature of intelligence, possessing memory and a will–and pride. Scripture makes it clear that he led an angelic rebellion against God, attempting to become "like the Most High" (Isaiah 14). In response God condemned Lucifer, along with those angels who had chosen to follow him in disobedience, and removed them from their exulted heavenly positions. Lucifer–an eternal being–is now named Satan, the devil, the king of death, and the god of this world. Scripture warns us about Lucifer’s current obsession: to twist God’s word, to lead souls to spiritual death, and to assail his wrath against earth’s inhabitants–those whom Christ died for.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While Christianity views Lucifer as the personification of evil, the esoteric teachings of the occult and the New Age movement embrace him as an agent of intellectual and spiritual freedom.<b> Helena Petrovna Blavatsky</b>, the "mother" of the New Age movement and modern occultism, taught in her <i>Secret Doctrine</i> that Lucifer was "higher and older than Jehovah, and had to be sacrificed to the new dogma" of the Church. She further expressed in her "great work" that Satan, under different god-names, is really an allegory of "Good, and Sacrifice, a God of Wisdom." Blavatsky believed that Satan was the only god of earth, "is one with the Logos," and is the "cosmic reflection of God."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Blavatsky also equated Lucifer with Jesus Christ. This thinking is partially derived from various mystical interpretations of God’s Word. In Revelation 22:16 Jesus is called the "bright and morning star," and in Isaiah Lucifer is referred to as the "son of the morning" (the NIV also says "son of the dawn"). Mystically and astrologically speaking, the bright and morning star is Venus, which, in the teachings of occult schools, is symbolically Lucifer. And in the solar cults, the morning star is frequently referred to as the Sun, or "son" of the morning, and "son of god." According to Blavatsky’s esoteric theology, "Lucifer is divine and terrestrial light, the ‘Holy Ghost’ and ‘Satan,’ at one and the same time…" Her <i>Secret Doctrine</i> further stated,</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the 'Lord of Phosphorus,' and Lucifer, or 'Light-Bearer,' is in us: it is our Mind – our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour from pure animalism."</b> (Vol. 2, p. 513)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully the Bible sets the record straight, and in a very simple and non-confusing manner: 2 Corinthians 11:14 tells us: "for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For a time the Theosophical Society published <i>Lucifer</i> magazine, a monthly periodical which proclaimed the inverted doctrine of Lucifer coming to redeem humanity. In the February, 1917 issue of <i>Theosophy</i>, the publication of the United Lodge of Theosophists in Los Angeles, an article reprinted from an early edition of <i>Lucifer</i> magazine gives a detailed account of Theosophical creation:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"And, when God said: 'Let there be light,' Intelligence was made and light appeared.<br />
"Then, the Intelligence which God had breathed forth, like a planet detached from the Sun, took the form of a splendid Angel and the heavens saluted him with the name Lucifer.<br />
"Intelligence awoke and it fathomed its own depths as it heard this apostrophe of the divine Word, 'Let there be Light.' It felt itself to be free, for God had commanded it so to be, and it answered, raising its head and spreading its wings, 'I will not be Slavery.'…"<br />
"God then unloosed from his bosom the thread of splendour which held back the superb spirit, and as he watched him dive into the night, cutting in it a path of glory, he loved the child of his thought, and smiling with a smile ineffable, he murmured to himself: 'How fair a thing was this Light!'…"</span></b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Perhaps Lucifer, in plunging into the night, drew with him a shower of Stars and Suns <i>by the attraction of his glory?"</i></b><i> </i>(italics in original)</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our present day occult revival is firmly rooted within these teachings. And not unlike today, Theosophy itself sprang up during a surge of occult interest. During the 1800’s, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Mormonism, Hermetic Orders such as the Golden Dawn, the blossoming of reincarnation teachings, and the writings of occultists such as Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley, had cut deep groves into the spiritual fabric of society. Borrowing from these demonic sources, Helena Blavatsky and her organization became fertile ground for spiritual seekers and experimenters. Theosophy, boiling out of this cauldron of mysticism, not only spawned the New Age Movement, but a host of other mystical orders and schools of thought–including Nazism.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once hidden within the occult priesthood of the mystery religions, the New Age Movement has now made the teachings of Lucifer available to the public. Hence, a new period of rejuvenated spiritual experimentation has taken shape. But while this new generation of mysticism is flourishing, its Luciferic doctrines are old–going back to the early days of history when a serpent claimed that mankind could "be like God" (Genesis 3:5). Today, the New Age Movement and the secret doctrines of the occult are attempting to do what Lucifer himself tried, to be "like the Most High." Their claim to the throne: the Satanic "redemption" of man’s intellect.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Bible plainly tells us that Jesus Christ, not Lucifer, is the savior of humanity. Jesus Christ alone offers salvation from Lucifer’s "illumination" of pride, greed, selfishness, hatred, maliciousness, deceit, pain, and death. Unfortunately, mankind has bought the lie of the dark lord, and is willfully being manipulated to build an earthly kingdom for the Destroyer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The question boils down to this: Whom will you serve? Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself–the light of the world–for our spiritual freedom, or Lucifer, the "father of lies" and binder of souls? You need to choose this day.</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #003366; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." —1 John 1:5-7</span></i></blockquote>
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<a href="http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/carl-teichrib/lucifer.htm">http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/2002/carl-teichrib/lucifer.htm</a>don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-10730298737716442912013-07-23T08:15:00.000-07:002013-07-23T08:15:06.738-07:00Schools: The War on Christianity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fifth-grade teacher in a school in Colorado placed a wide assortment of books in his classroom for students to enjoy during daily reading times. When a parent complained that two of the 239 volumes were based on the Bible, the principal told teacher Ken Roberts to remove them. A judge upheld the school’s order to censor the two books from the classroom. In school, the children could legally read books on Buddhism, Indian religions, and Greek mythology—but not on Christianity.1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In San Jose, California, 300 teachers and school employees gathered to “improve education” with workshops and lectures on communication, relaxation, and self-esteem:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"One group sat cross-legged in a darkened classroom, learning how to reduce stress with Yoga. While some felt self-conscious, others happily released their minds to the quieting sounds that flowed from a tape player on the desk. In the next room, another group meditated behind locked doors."2</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the ’90s, an explosion of New Age influence has occurred in North American schools—children from as young as pre-school age are being taught about Mother Earth, Yoga, meditation, and just about every other kind of pagan religion and Eastern practice.</span><br />
<span style="color: #3c1d00; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Masks of the New Age</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New Age, or New Spirituality, is actually ancient occultism with a facelift. It is the “beautiful side of evil,”4 an enticing facade for the kingdom of darkness. Disguised as peace, inner-power, wisdom, and love, this attractive deception pretends to offer everything God promises, yet asks nothing in return—for the moment. Its seductive call to be like God dates back to the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:5).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God told us long ago about deceptions that would lead many to “depart from the faith, giving heed to "seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1). The Bible warns:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> "[T]he time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine....And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today’s most popular myth distorts the character of God and the identity of man. Unwilling to bow to a personal, holy God, multitudes have reshaped their Creator into an image of their own wishful thinking. This imagined god becomes an impersonal power source ready to fulfill the whims of a god-man determined to direct his own destiny....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For all intents and purposes, Satan can counterfeit almost any good thing God gives us. In his hands, even tools for learning can become weapons loaded with distorted messages aimed at young minds. Look at his three major thrusts toward global society:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Replace biblical Christianity with a self-centered blend of all religions joined in spiritual oneness.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Replace Judeo/Christian values with New Age values—anything that frees people to follow the desires of self and create their own reality.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Replace nationalism with a one-world government under a spiritually evolved leadership.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #3c1d00; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">War on Christianity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despising Christianity, the 20th century humanists paved the way for New Age/global education, but most of us didn’t notice. Now we can no longer deny the fact that most -- if not all public schools -- teach goals and values that contradict biblical values. And the humanist-oriented educational establishment promotes its beliefs as aggressively as any other religious group. Listen to their war cry:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The battle for humankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as the proselytizers of a new faith: a religion of humanity....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These teachers must embody the same selfless dedication as the most rabid fundamentalist preachers, for they will be ministers of another sort, utilizing a classroom instead of a pulpit to convey humanist values in whatever subject they teach, regardless of the educational level—preschool, day care, or large state university.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new—the rotting corpse of Christianity...and the new faith of humanism, resplendent in its promise of a world in which the never-realized Christian ideal of ‘love thy neighbor” will finally be achieved."5</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">American philosopher and educator John Dewey kindled the fire of such educational reform. The first president of the American Humanist Association, Dewey was determined to weed out Christian absolutes and reseed our schools with “truths” that could adjust to changing cultures. The Humanist Manifesto, which Dewey signed in 1933, declares the heart of the movement. This is part of its introduction:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"There is great danger of a final, and we believe fatal, identification of the word religion with doctrines and methods which have lost their significance and which are powerless to solve the problem of human living in the Twentieth Century . . . Any religion that can hope to be a synthesizing and dynamic force for today, must be shaped for the needs of this age. To establish such a religion is a major necessity of the present."6</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without the 3.2 million-member National Education Association, considered one of the nation’s most powerful political machines, Dewey’s ideas might have been confined to university campuses. Supported by the NEA, comprised of textbook writers and superintendents as well as professors and public school teachers, Dewey’s vision spread like wildfire. Through its militant leadership, the whole educational system became involved—with or without the personal support of local educators, many of whom didn’t realize what was happening.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Few textbooks have escaped the watchful eye of NEA censors, who have doggedly followed Dewey’s plan to provide a “purified environment for the child.” Historical facts that clashed with "progressive education” have been distorted or erased. The NEA has sought total control of curriculum content, control of teachers’ colleges, and sex education, free from parental interference....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One book, <i>Censorship: Evidence of Bias in Our Children’s Textbooks</i>, unveils some alarming facts. Christianity, family values, and certain political and economic positions have been systematically banished from children’s textbooks. For example, in 670 stories from third-and sixth-grade readers:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"No story features Christian or Jewish religious motivation, although one story does make American Indian religion the central theme in the life of a white girl.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Almost no story features marriage or motherhood as important or positive. . . . But there are many aggressively feminist stories that openly deride manhood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In an original story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, the main character prayed 'to God' and later remarked 'Thank God.' In the story as presented in the sixth-grade reader, the words 'to God' were taken out and the expression 'Thank God' was changed to 'Thank goodness.”'8</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"While some elementary history textbooks still tell about Thanksgiving, they do not explain to whom the Pilgrims gave thanks. Pilgrims were defined as “people who make long trips.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Pueblo Natives “can pray to Mother Earth—but Pilgrims can’t be described as praying to God.”9...</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When children are subjected to such suggestions and pressures year after year, many yield to the hostile forces that oppose their beliefs....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back in 1982, Professor Benjamin Bloom, an internationally known behaviorist, defined “good teaching” as “challenging the students’ fixed beliefs and getting them to discuss issues.”18 He stated:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"[T]he evidence collected so far suggests that a single hour of classroom activity under certain conditions may bring about a major reorganization in cognitive as well as affective [attitudes, values and beliefs] behaviors."19</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Indoctrinating students with diverse beliefs, socialist values, utopian dreams, and idealized love leads to deception, disillusionment, corruption, and chaos. Today’s change agents need chaos and crisis to justify their oppressive action. Not only does it unravel the old social order, it gives an illusion of newfound freedom—from family values as well as moral restraints.23 ...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chapter 4: What Can Parents Do About The War on Christianity?</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that we have glimpsed the conflict, let’s take a look at the invisible war behind the visible facts. Remember that the battle is infinitely greater than any potential conflict between your child and his school. Teachers and principals, many of whom share your values, are not the enemy. Neither are the humanist “new” spirituality missionaries in the NEA. The real enemy is the one who opposed God’s plan from the beginning—Satan, who uses his blinded victims to carry out his hidden agenda.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God is our strength in this struggle against a counterfeit force, and He will accomplish His purposes through us. As we trust Him to give us courage and strength, He will remove any fear we have of contending for the faith and doing what we must to protect our children, even if it sometimes means we are standing alone.</span><br />
<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step One: Be Alert & Always Keep on Praying</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pray! For as Jesus said, “[W]ithout me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5). The battle begins and ends with prayer. Pray for open and trusting communication with your child. Pray for discernment to detect teaching that contradicts God’s truth. Pray for wisdom to know when to speak up and what to say.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Pray for your child. Pray that he learns to discern error on his own and that he will be bold enough to speak truth with courage and to stand alone when all his friends follow after other gods. Pray that pleasing God will be more important to your children than pleasing teachers and peers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Pray together as a family. Put on the “<a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Victory/Armor.htm">whole armor of God</a>” daily. .... It means reading (or hearing) and following the Word, and knowing it well enough to discern error. Read and discuss Ephesians 6:13-17. Memorize the parts of the armor....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Trust God, not yourself.<i><span style="color: #511400;"> “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths”</span></i> (Proverbs 3:5-6).</span><br />
<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step Two: Know What Your Child Is Learning in School</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Talk with your child. Listen for clues that help you spot good as well as questionable teaching. Be objective and model appreciation of schools and teachers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps you have a child who gladly gives detailed accounts of all events from the time he left for school that morning. My boys preferred to answer all my questions with a brief "Good!” or “Okay.” But I discovered that a tasty snack after school could produce at least five minutes of sharing. When my son was fourteen, a sandwich at a local deli boosted our conversations immensely. ...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">●</span> Scan elementary textbooks, take-home papers, and fliers. Check to see if significant facts are deleted or distorted. Consider their effects on your child. Ask yourself the following questions about the above material:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does it censor out important facts about the influences of Christianity in the development of our country? ..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does it emphasize, promote, or give detailed descriptions of other religions, while ignoring Christianity?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does it include a blatant pro-homosexual slant?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does it ask your child not to share information with his parents?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Discuss your findings with your child. Express your appreciation for the good things you see. Explain any area of concern. Teach discernment by pointing out contradictions to God’s truth.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step Three: Know & Exercise Your Privileges as a Parent</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you suspect a problem, you may need to talk with the teacher and, if necessary, ask to see the teacher’s manual and classroom projects.....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Be spiritually and emotionally ready to face resistance, defensiveness, and denial, but don’t expect them. Cyndie Huntington, author of Combat Handbook for Parents with Children in Public Schools, tells about one encounter with school officials:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you reach this step, it is not unusual to be told, “Mrs. Jones, your child doesn’t seem to have the problem, you do. Now what can we do to make YOU feel better?” or “We’re the experts, let us raise your children.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[One parent] was told by the principal to consider counseling for herself. Upon the recommendation . . . she went to a secular counselor for two months of therapy. She stated that she . . . counseled the counselor more than the counselor counseled her. It was then suggested by the school that she take the STEP (Steps to Effective Parenting) course. The school said that this would help her “interact” better with people and her children. So she signed up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At the second session, the instructor made the following statement: “No longer does the biblical principle of the wife being submissive to her husband and the children being submissive to both parents [apply] in society today. We are all equal.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. . . The mother asked the instructor what she should do if her ten-year-old did not want to clean her room. She was told that the room was the private property of the child and she should close the door if it bothered her; she had no right to enter without permission!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She resigned herself to the fact that she did not have the problem, her child did not have the problem, the school system had the problem. She took her child out and put her in a private school.1</span></blockquote>
<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step Four: Enlist the Support of Other Families</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Get together with other parents to discuss issues, compare notes, seek God’s guidance, and plan strategy. Go to the board meetings regularly and speak out! One strong and wise but gracious voice can wield tremendous influence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Show your child you understand the loneliness he may feel in an anti-Christian classroom, and remind him he is not alone.</span><br />
<span style="color: #511400; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Equipping Your Teenage Child to Deal With Deception</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Equip your children to discern evil and resist compromise. “Be not deceived...” (1 Corinthians 15:33).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Listen! Give undivided attention! Be patient. Pray for understanding. Don’t react with shock, dismay, or fear when your teenager shares what’s happening in his world. Respond with gentle wisdom and compassionate love.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Encourage your child to read the Bible each day. He needs to wear God’s armor as much as you do—and that requires regular feeding upon and exposure to truth....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Get in the habit of praying together....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: maroon;">● </span>Be a friend as well as a parent....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Children are a precious gift, an awesome responsibility, and your greatest investment. Training them to follow God challenges your faith, demands your time, drains your energy, forces you to your knees, shows you God’s sufficiency, and delights your heart. Hang in there—and “count it all joy” (James 1:2).</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #480300; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:31</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Note: I intend to eventually post excerpts from most of our 21 chapters. Few will be as long as these two. I trust that God will continue to guide me. May He use this book to encourage and prepare your family for the challenges ahead.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By His grace alone,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Berit</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Books/1-protect-your-child/excerpts/3-schools-war-on-Christianity.htm">http://www.crossroad.to/Books/1-protect-your-child/excerpts/3-schools-war-on-Christianity.htm</a></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-28624993360787001002013-07-23T08:11:00.001-07:002013-07-23T08:11:10.816-07:00The Valley of Decision<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.08in; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“</strong><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”</i></strong> Joel 3:14, KJV.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/peephole5.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="peephole5" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3476" height="186" src="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/peephole5-300x186.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a>In recent months, the Spirit’s dealings have revolved around the renewing of our minds – bringing our thoughts into subjection to the Spirit. Part of us wants to see with heavenly eyesight – but we never quite make it to the mountaintop with the panoramic view – we’re much more apt to be found peeking through a knothole in the long, high fence that our reasoning mind has so painstakingly erected down in the <i>valley of decision</i>. All of our vain imaginings and assumptions weigh us down and distort our vision. We may desire to see more, we may desire to have the mind of Christ, but for our vision to be expanded, we must climb higher up the mountain of God. And we can only ascend to the heights, by leaving all of our baggage behind us, here in the valley. There is not one good thing in us, that is of value to God, except<i>our broken and contrite heart</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It comes as something of a shock, to discover that even those seemingly <i>‘good’</i> things, we have to leave behind. And we have accumulated so many seemingly ‘good’ things while here in the valley. Even things that the Lord Himself has given to us. Things that were a blessing, an encouragement, that sustained us through our trials. We never imagined that He might require them back from us, that they were only given to us for a season. That relationship, that much loved companion, that friend and confidant. We were so close and found such comfort in each other. We were so sure that we were going to walk through this thing together; and suddenly they are snatched away, gone, and we are alone. Our heart is nearly broken, we are in despair. How can this possibly be of God?</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We must make a decision. Will we lift our voice with Job and say, <i>“</i><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Though </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>he </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>slay </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>me</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>, yet will I trust in him.” </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Will we accept whatever God allows to come to us as being for our good, that we may bring </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Him Glory</b></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">? Are we willing to come to the place where from the depths of our heart, we can say, </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Not my will Lord, but thine be done?”</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> How appropriate, that one of the definitions for ‘decision’ is – a </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>threshing instrument</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">If our hearts desire is to </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>‘be like Him; to be found pleasing in His sight; to be conformed to His image,’</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> then there is only one way to bring it to pass. We must be willing to count everything we have worked so hard for and built, all of our knowledge and beliefs, as nothing more than dung. He will not compete with what we know </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>‘about Him.’</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> He will not be content with anything less than <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">all of us</em></span>; everything we are, everything we have, every thought we think, every desire of our heart. He, Who Is Love, desires to bring us into more than our finite minds can ever begin to comprehend. But we have to go through a death, before there can be a resurrection. </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">were baptized into his death</span>?” </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Romans 6:3.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As long as we choose to reside in the valley, we will continue to struggle in our own strength, looking to Him for help with what we can’t handle on our own. We will continue to dream and envision what will be, someday, and miss out on what He desires to work in us right here and now! TODAY is the day of salvation. </span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? </i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>So run, that ye may obtain</b></i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>.”</i></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 1 Corinthians 9:24.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Psalms 96:2. We show forth His salvation, day to day, by how we treat others, by our words and actions. We are called be living epistles…. </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">read of all men</span>:”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 2 Corinthians 3:2.</span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We walk by faith, and not by sight. We can choose to wait around for “Some glad morning when this life is through, and I’ll fly away,” or we can choose to </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>press </i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>toward</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i> the </i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>mark</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i> for the </i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: red; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>prize</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i> of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus,”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> NOW. Jesus did not come to condemn the world. He came that we might have ‘Abundant Life’… </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">after the Spirit</span>.”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Multitudes today are in the valley of decision. What can we offer them?They don’t need more doctrines, or denominations, or religious platitudes. They need to see men and women who have died and rose again, servants of the Most High God… </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and </i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>glorify your Father</b></i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i> which is in heaven.”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Matthew 5:16. </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We may know all about how to ‘do’ Church; but it takes a death and resurrection to ‘be’ the Church.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Our hearts cry must be…. </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Psalms 139:23. </span></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>That I may <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">know him</span>, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">being made conformable unto his death</span>;”</i></span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Philippians 3:10.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">anoint </span></i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see</b></i></span><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Revelation 3:18.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We can see through the eyes of Gehazi, or we can see as Elisha… </span><i>“And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 2 Kings 6:17. Do we want to see with the eyes of the Spirit? Then we have to leave our baggage behind, and climb higher. How far we travel up the Mountain of the Lord, will depend on the object of our adoration.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a </i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>faithful Creator</b></i></span><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 1 Peter 4:19.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We can </span><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Rest</span></strong><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> in His faithfulness. Confident that….</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>“The <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">eyes of your understanding</span> being enlightened; </i><i><b>that <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">ye may know</span></b></i><i> what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Ephesians 1:18.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If there was ever an hour when we need to have spiritual vision, it is now.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Put ye in the sickle, </i><i><b>for <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">the harvest is ripe</span></b></i><i>: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Joel 3:13.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Be not overcome of evil, but </i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>overcome evil with good</b></i></span><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Romans 12:21.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because </i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>as he is, so are we in this world</b></i></span><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> 1 John 4:17.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was </i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><b>our duty to do</b></i></span><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Luke 17:10.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that </i><i><b><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">in all things</span> </b><strong style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">he might have the preeminence</span></strong></i><i>.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Colossians 1:18.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> May we seek Him with our whole heart,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cathy Morris, 6/8/2013</span></div>
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<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3644">http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3644</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-44894029290365268662013-07-19T01:06:00.001-07:002013-07-19T01:06:20.165-07:00Deliver Me From Presumptuous Sins<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #373737; line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0in; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression”</i> Psalms 19:13.<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/brokenman.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="brokenman" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3350" height="198" src="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/brokenman.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px; width: auto;" width="255" /></a></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">KJV</span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> – deal proudly, presumptuously, presume, proud, to boil, boil up, seethe, act proudly, act presumptuously, act rebelliously, be presumptuous, be arrogant, be rebelliously proud.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">– <span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Presume:</span></span></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> take for granted that something exists or is the case; be audacious enough to do something; make unjustified demands; take liberties.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">-Assume:</span> suppose to be the case without proof. (it is reasonable to assume); take or begin to have power or responsibility, seize power or control; take on a specified quality, appearance or extent; take on or adopt a manner or identity, sometimes falsely.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or prove true, that is a word which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him”</i> Deut. 1:22.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>The man who does presumptuously, and will not listen to the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or to the Judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel And all the people shall hear and reverently fear, and not act presumptuously again”</i> Deut. 17:12,13.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die” </i>Deut. 18:20.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous, daring and self-willed and self-loving creatures they scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling”</i>2 Peter 2:10.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>But they presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country; however neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses departed out of the camp”</i> Numbers 14:44. After being told that they would not enter into the promised land, but would all perish in the wilderness because of their murmuring and grumbling against the Lord. They presumed to try and enter the promised land anyway, but were beaten back. (Presumed: be lifted up, to swell, to be bold, be heedless).</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Presumption is part and parcel of our human nature. We are given a little information, and we <i>presume</i> the rest. We are all guilty of making snap-judgments, critical observations, under the assumption that we are <i>right</i> in doing so. How often do we even consider that in God’s eyes, our ‘presumption’ is a sin against Him?</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How so? Our presumptions are a product of our flesh, and we all know that it is written that we are called to walk <i>not</i> after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Walking after the Spirit is not something that ‘just comes naturally’ because we have been born-again.</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”</i> Romans 8:1.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”</i> Romans 8:4.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”</i>Galatians 5:16.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit”</i> Galatians 5:25. Paraphrased:<i>to enjoy real life in the Spirit, (with the emphasis on His disposition and character), then let us proceed to direct our life in order, as a soldier marching in his appointed place, </i><i>possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting. </i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This takes growing up spiritually, and </span><i>not</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> by the power of our reasoning mind.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.”</i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Ephesians 4:15, 16.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have to grow up in the spirit, just as we grow up in the natural. And just as children, we <i>presume that we know</i> at each stage along life’s path, only to learn farther along that we only thought we knew, and we really knew nothing at all.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We attempt to achieve spiritual growth by acquiring knowledge about spiritual things. We presume that the more we learn about spiritual things, the more spiritual we will become, which is a totally natural and reasonable assumption. The danger we run of course, is that of following hard after our <i>presumptions</i>, all the while <i>assuming</i> that we are in the Spirit. Little realizing that we are taking <i>for granted</i> the progression of our spiritual growth being achieved in this way. It never occurs to us that our presumption could ever be considered as a great transgression. We can rightly say, “it’s the accepted practice, everyone does it.” What is great transgression, if not rebellion? It should be sobering to come to the realization of how easily we can convince ourselves that what we are presuming is correct and proper according to scripture, and tradition, and our personal opinion or feeling on the matter, yet we are hard pressed to find anywhere in scripture where we are encouraged to make presumptions. Quite the contrary. If we would truly follow Christ, then we will have to relinquish and lay down all of our presumptions.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way of the cross is set forth here in Hebrews 12:1-15:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”</i></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;” </i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Ephesians 4:23</span><i>. </i><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We must become sensitive to<a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cleanseme.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="cleanseme" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2417" height="231" src="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/cleanseme-300x231.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: right; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-left: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px;" width="300" /></a> the Spirit. The more sensitized we become, the more we will find that what seemed so right and good in our eyes was colored by our feelings, our limited understanding, and yes, our presumptions. Our flesh loves to ride its religious high-horse, and flex its muscles, little comprehending the damage we are inflicting upon the ‘lame along the way.’</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Would that we all take to heart Paul’s admonition to believers: </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” </i></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 Corinthians 10:12.</span></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">And </span></span><i>“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.” </i>Ephesians 4:29.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know </i><i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">even as</span></i><i> (in proportion; to the degree that) also I am</i><i><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">known</span></i><i> (to know accurately; become thoroughly acquainted with).” </i>1 Corinthians 13:12.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For me at least, the following quote from a <a href="http://artkatzministries.org/articles/apostolic-conversion/" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">message given by Art Katz</a> in 1993, succinctly describes how we ignorantly give place to presumption…</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ll say it again. How many of us, in the hearing of the word on these very nights, have taken that word in through the prism of our own subjectivity and fitted it into the existing construct of our life, </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">our categories</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, and found a way in which the Word would be amenable to our view of </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">ourselves</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, of </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">our</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> spirituality, of </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">our</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> call? In a word, what are we doing, even unconsciously, is elevating ourselves </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">above</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> the Word, and ourselves determining how it is to be fitted comfortably into the categories that we approve. Instead of allowing the Word to devastate and demolish our categories, we stand or sit above it as arbiters, carefully moulding it so that it can neatly be taken in and even acknowledged and celebrated </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">as</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> the Word of God, applauding the speaker for having brought it, thinking we have done God’s service!</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Can you see why we need to be converted? This egocentrism is unspeakably deep, and ironically, deepest in the religious and spiritual realm. What greater affront to God, what greater expression of putting our ‘thou’ before His ‘Me’ than the way in which we even hear and conditionally receive the Word? It is an entirely unconscious process, and we have been doing it for years, thereby missing the value and intent of the God who gave it!”</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">…<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.Saul was </span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">the</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> prized student of the Rabbi Gamaliel, and if there is any man who committed religious suicide by the raising of that question and forfeiting an entire career that would have won him a celebration to this day in Jewish orthodoxy, it was Saul. But he forfeited all that, and counted it as dung, as we know, by raising the only question, the right question, that any creature can raise before its Creator, “Lord, what would You have for me to do?” Whatever the consequences, whatever the loss, You are Lord, and if You are not the Lord of that question, then anything I would presume to speak in that name is a mockery and a travesty and a religious exercise that even at best falls short of the glory of God!</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The irony is, and mark my words, if you continue in such an exercise, in the last days you’ll find yourself, not among the persecuted, but among the persecutors! Centrifugal force continues to work, ever bringing us into the one orbit or the other – into that which is apostolic or that which is finally apostate! “For the love of many shall grow cold,” and the last days shall be marked by the great apostasy and falling away of many who could not bring themselves to follow the Lord withersoever He would lead them, but who found themselves in a vortex of a kind less than that which is apostolic and themselves offended by those who are apostolic and ironically opposing and persecuting</span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">them</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">! This is the end of those whose ‘thou’ is yet before His ‘Me.’</span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">We must now ask, with Saul, “</span><em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Who art thou, Lord?</span></em><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">” and receive the answer, “I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.”[end quote]</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is this not an accurate description of acting presumptuously? Are we not committing presumptuous sins when we move in; when we do, what seems good in our own eyes, according to our own understanding?</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/servant.jpg" style="border: 0px; color: #ba262e; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><img alt="servant" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-3074" height="215" src="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/servant.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); display: inline; float: left; height: auto; margin-bottom: 1.625em; margin-right: 1.625em; margin-top: 0.4em; max-width: 97.5%; padding: 6px; width: auto;" width="235" /></a>Our flesh likes to argue, to justify, to be ‘right,’ and have the pre-eminence. All of which are in opposition to the Holy Spirit. It is not enough for us to ‘presume’ that we are righteous. We must be willing to suffer. We must be a willing servant…<span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” </i></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark 9:35. </span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>“And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all.”</i></span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Mark 10:44.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Are we willing?</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">I encourage you to search this matter out for yourself. Presumption and Pride may comfortably walk hand in hand, but there is no place for either one in the Kingdom of God, or in the life of the true believer. If we ask Father to show us where we are being presumptuous, He will. </span><i>“Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless and I shall be innocent and clear of great transgression.”</i></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amen & Amen</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="border: 0px; color: black; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3629">http://lovestthoume.com/wp/?p=3629</a></span></span></span></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-88277611767322822892013-07-19T01:05:00.001-07:002013-07-19T01:05:09.467-07:00A daughters plea for mercy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A filthy rumor has spread in the West that Christians are no longer persecuted in China. This rumor is so convincing that many major Christian organizations have stopped supporting Chinese underground churches, secret Bible printing, and other ministries which are desperately needed but banned by the Chinese government. House Church believers are even sometimes berated for not joining the government-regulated Three Self Church by those who can’t tell the difference. If there have ever been doubts about the Chinese government’s attitude toward the House Church, the story of Huali Gong’s father should suffice to dispel them once and for all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On April 23 of this year, Huali humbly and respectfully petitioned the Chinese President Xi Jingping on behalf of her father, a leader of the South China Church network in Hubei Province who was convicted of false charges in 2002 and has been behind bars ever since. His health has deteriorated drastically and today he appears to be at death’s door due to several serious medical conditions which the prison officials refuse to treat. Part of her petition describes what Pastor Gong has endured in prison for his faith:</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After being jailed, my father was forced to do hard physical labor and followed the prison’s rules. When he was arrested, he suffered many savage tortures. He was imprisoned in a very damp area for the first two years. He was inflicted with rheumatism. His gastroenteritis went from bad to worse. Once his gastroenteritis made him unable to eat for two weeks, and he found blood in his stool and urine. The prison officials were very cruel to him, never giving him any medical care for these last ten years and more. My father was attacked with cerebral infarction [tissue death due to lack of oxygen] and high blood pressure at the end of 2012. Since then, he could neither walk nor speak. Because of the complete absence of minimal medical care, his cerebral and <i style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">cerebellum</i> functions have been severely affected. His life is in serious danger.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pastor Gong has suffered greatly for his commitment to Christ and needs our prayers. When his House Church network was labeled an “evil cult” by the authorities in 2001, he was arrested and sentenced to death for “using an evil cult to undermine the enforcement of the law,” but international pressure prevented his execution. However, in 2002 he was retried and convicted of multiple counts of rape based on the forced testimonies of several female church members who had been arrested and tortured into confessing the accusations. This man of God was given a life sentence in China’s notoriously harsh prison system when his only real “crime” was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He suffers in prison to this day for his faithfulness to his Lord and Savior.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Christian brothers and sisters around the world, let there be no confusion: persecution of Christians has in no way ceased in China and the need for us to stand by the Chinese underground believers is just as crucial now as ever before. Join us in praying for dear servants like Pastor Gong who has sacrificed all for the gospel. May Huali’s petition and prayers be answered for God’s glory.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Brother Zhu</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://backtojerusalem.com/v3/2013/06/a-daughters-plea-for-mercy/">http://backtojerusalem.com/v3/2013/06/a-daughters-plea-for-mercy/</a></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-19892510481972059242013-07-19T01:02:00.001-07:002013-07-19T01:03:06.777-07:00The Real Coalition of the Willing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Mark 1:40-41</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The willingness of God to meet us just where He finds us is absolute. There is no dark place He is not willing to enter with His light and His Life. There is no hidden corner His Love is not willing to penetrate. There is no shame, no hurt, no brokenness He is not willing to heal, no secret sin He is not willing to forgive and no life destroyed He is not willing to restore.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The greatest test of God’s willingness towards man took place in Gethsemane. There the Father proved His willingness to sacrifice His own Son so that humanity might escape the grip of sin and death. There the Son, through blood, sweat and tears, surrendered His human will to agree with the divine will of His Father, for humanity’s sake. There the Holy Spirit ministered unfathomable grace to the Son, enabling Him to emerge victorious from the greatest spiritual battle of His earthly ministry. The battle was all about willingness. (<i>Luke 22:42</i>)</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dumbest question a person can ask is: “God, do you really love me?” The second dumbest question is: “God, are you willing to help me?” These questions are redundant. Seriously, what more could we ask of God than He has already done through the Cross to prove His utter willingness towards us?</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of <i>us</i>, on the other hand, have yet to arrive at a place where God can count us truly willing towards Him. “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” we pray, and then walk straight back into the habit of doing what <i>we</i> want, the way <i>we</i> want it, when <i>we </i>want to. To bring us to a place where our entire will is truly, unconditionally and irreversibly given over to God’s will, the Lord must do some deep and drastic rearranging in our lives that will enable us to be the people we are desperately seeking to be. We are, after all, a Bride being prepared for her Bridegroom. The Spirit of God patiently continues revealing the beauty of Christ to us until He brings us to a place where we truly desire to live in the very centre of God’s will, even though it may be costly. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In <i>Genesis 24</i> a young girl named Rebekah faced a similar situation. A servant from a far country comes to her home, inviting her to forsake all she has ever known to become the bride of his master’s son, Isaac. As was the custom, the servant has brought costly gifts to demonstrate the sincere affection and good intentions of the bridegroom and his father. Rebekah’s family, however, in a possible effort to see what else they might gain from this high ranking servant, try to delay her departure. The servant will have none of it and demands a decision. The final choice is finally left to Rebekah who decisively declares to the servant “Yes, I will go!” </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The beautiful truth here is that Rebekah has absolutely nothing to bring to the relationship with her unseen bridegroom except one thing: her willingness. Rebekah doesn’t know how to get to her bridegroom’s country, let alone his dwelling place. She doesn’t have a camel to ride, she doesn’t have a compass and she hasn’t even heard of a GPS. She has one thing and one thing only going for her, she is willing, and that’s enough. She was not given a bus ticket and told they would be there to meet her when she arrived. In fact the trusty servant ‘<i>took</i> Rebekah and departed’ (<i>v.61</i>). All that she needed for the journey had been provided by the bridegroom and his father and was within the hands of the trusted servant. Her only requirement was to say ‘yes, I am willing’. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I don’t need to spell out the spiritual parallels with our own journey into Christ contained in this beautiful Old Testament narrative. The truth is if <i>we</i> are willing, <i>He</i> is able. The greatest gift we can ever give our God is just our willingness. And let’s face it, there’s nothing else of any value we can bring Him. He doesn’t need our religious rituals, our talents or our good works. And one of the most profound (and hardest) lessons we will learn on this journey is the discovery that, despite our willingness, we don’t even have the power within ourselves to fulfill our commitment to our bridegroom. As has wisely been said, the willing is present, but the doing is not!</span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Rom. 7:18 NASB</span></i></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you’re willing but have found yourself not yet able, don’t sweat and strive about it. Jesus asks only for us just to say yes and mean it. That’s all. He then meets us more than half way, and provides the means for us to fulfill all that our ‘yes’ means.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our Beloved knows full well we are not able to turn ourselves into the Bride He is worthy of, no matter how much we may <i>will</i> to be that bride. That’s why He sent the Holy Spirit. It’s the Spirit’s job to get us where we’re going. It’s OK to admit we simply don’t know how, that we cannot get ourselves to where we so want to be. It’s OK to have tried and failed. It’s OK as long as we are sincere in our willingness and learning to lean on our Beloved through the journey. He can work with that. What He doesn’t work with is counterfeit willingness that pays lip service to God while knowingly indulging the flesh. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There <i>is</i> a coalition of the willing and it was around long before that phrase became a political rallying call. It is simply a God who was absolutely willing to pour Himself out sacrificially for humanity, working with a totally surrendered people who are absolutely willing to say “Yes, I will go!” There is no nation, organization, or political alliance that can outlast this most binding of all coalitions. And there is no power on this earth that can stand before it.</span></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit.<em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then</em> I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Ps. 51:12,13</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/">http://breadforthebride.wordpress.com/category/words-of-grace-and-truth/</a></div>
don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-38403027962744459682013-07-16T14:15:00.002-07:002013-07-16T14:16:32.098-07:00A review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: Harry's Last Battles By Berit Kjos <blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;">"</span>I have been encouraged by my pastor at my CHRISTIAN church to read the Harry Potter books, because even though they have references to magic and sorcery, they can teach us more about the values of Friendship and Bravery than he can.... I am no longer Christian. Somewhere along the way <b>my beliefs changed. I practice Wicca</b>." <i>A young visitor to our website</i><br />
</span><span style="color: black;"></span><span style="color: black;">"Days before the release of the seventh and final novel in the series, youth leaders are being told they could use the popularity of the Potter books and films as a 'launch pad' for exploring Christian themes."[1] </span><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;?xml=/news/2007/07/17/npotter217.xml"><span style="color: blue;">Use Harry Potter to spread Christian message</span></a><br />
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<span style="color: black;">"In its early years, 'Harry Potter' was a litmus test of orthodoxy for some conservative Christians, who expressed concern over its portrayal of witchcraft....The hysteria has largely died down, and not many religious leaders asked their flocks to avoid the final movie....Many Christians have cheered the portrayals of loyalty, courage and love."</span>[2]</span></span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"[They] practiced <b>witchcraft </b>and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord...." 2 Kings 17:17</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had plenty of company last Saturday morning as I hurried into the movie theater to see the final film in the Harry Potter series. Several families with children walked in ahead of me. Others followed. One little girl couldn't be more than three years old! How would she react to this scary movie?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more than two hours, the audience sat immersed in a mystical world filled with frightening shrieks, explosive sounds of death and destruction, and enticing suggestions certain to appeal to power-hungry youth already attuned to the forces of evil.</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are a parent, please don't take your children to see this movie!</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By its end, it had exposed the two sides of today's popular evil. Like the yin-yang symbol, there is an <b>obvious</b> dark side and a more <b>subtle</b> "light" side to occult deceptions. <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/charts/sin&satan.html#resist">To resist</a> their mind-changing allure, we need to understand both. </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Dark Side of Evil</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This last part of the Harry Potter sequence promotes everything God bans in this warning:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"There shall not be found among you anyone who... practices <b>witchcraft</b>, or a <b>soothsayer</b>, or one who <b>interprets omens</b>, or a <b>sorcerer</b>, or one who <b>conjures spells</b>, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who <b>calls up the dead</b>.... For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord..." Deuteronomy 18:10-12</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the last three centuries, Americans have enjoyed relative freedom from the occult forces that have tormented many other parts of the world. From the beginning, the pilgrims and a significant number of other believers trusted God and built this nation on the foundation of His Word. Therefore God protected their land. Few were exposed to words and actions that led to the occult.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But times have changed and God's actual truth is rarely heard in public places. We can no longer shut out the well-marketed forces of evil that press into our lives -- even in churches. That's all the more reason to prepare for the <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/warfare.htm">spiritual warfare</a> ahead. Let's begin by taking a closer look at the occult practices listed in the above verses from Deuteronomy. Each practice is featured in this movie.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1. WITCHCRAFT</b><b>:</b> Trusting the occult spirit world for power to perform all kinds of magical spells and wonders.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Witchcraft was common in Old Testament days. Back then it was already a "normal" part of life in cultures around the world. Finally, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, such practices faded in the West. More recently, that trend has been reversed. The mind-changing fantasies spread by Rowling and her admirers have sparked a rapid revival of interest and delight in occult empowerment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2. SOOTHSAYER:</b> A fortuneteller, diviner or seer in communication with demonic spirits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3. INTERPRETING OMENS: </b> Receiving messages and interpretations -- usually <b><i>ominous </i></b>- from the spirit world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>4. SORCERY: </b>Performing magical feats through occult forces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If witchcraft and sorcery sound like fantasy and fairy tales to teens and children today, the devil must be very pleased. He is constantly on the lookout for those who will follow his ways -- even if "just" in their<b>imaginations</b>. As God warned long ago,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"They...walked in the counsels and in the <b>imagination </b>of their evil heart...." Jeremiah 7:24</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>5. CONJURE SPELLS:</b> Manipulating occult forces according to mental formulas and projecting the spell through a physical object.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">"To cast a spell is to project energy through a symbol," explained </span>Starhawk, the wiccan author of <i>The Spiral Dance</i>. <span style="background-color: white;">"Spells... require the combined faculties of relaxation, <b>visualization</b>, <b>concentration</b>, and [mental] <b>projection</b>."</span>[3]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most spells in the movie were cast through magically empowered wands. The powerful Elder Wand apparently had a mind of its own and could choose whether or not to serve a new master. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horcrux#Deathly_Hallows">Wikipedia</a>explains its bizarre history<b>:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"In the preceding movie, Voldemort...opens Dumbledore's tomb and claims the wand as his own. Assuming incorrectly that Snape is the wand's current master, Voldemort slays Snape, not realizing that the wand's allegiance was to Draco....Harry had subsequently disarmed Draco and taken his wand. ...the Elder Wand's allegiance had since shifted to Harry....Voldemort uses the Elder Wand to <b>cast his final <i>Killing Curse</i> </b>against Harry's <i>Expelliarmus</i> charm. But since the wand's allegiance is to Harry, Voldemort's <b>spell backfires</b> and kills him once and for all."[4]</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spells were also essential to the creation and destruction of the<span style="color: #735a57;"> </span><i>horcruxes</i> used by Voldemort to secure his own immortality. "Invented" by J.K Rowling, they only exist in the imaginations of those who are captivated by her tales and by the additional "information" they inspire. For example, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horcrux#Horcruxes">Wikipedia</a> adds this gruesome description:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...the creation of a Horcrux requires one to commit a murder, which, as the supreme act of evil, 'rips the soul apart.' After the murder, <b>a spell is cast</b> to infuse part of the ripped soul into an object, which becomes the Horcrux....Both inanimate objects and living organisms have been used as Horcruxes, though the latter are considered riskier to use, since an organism can move and think for itself....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"To be destroyed, a Horcrux must suffer damage so severe that repair through magical means would be impossible....Once a Horcrux is irreparably damaged, the fragment of soul within it is destroyed."[5]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These dark fantasies share a common consequence with actual occult realities. Both <b>stir cravings</b> for new and ever darker occult thrills and knowledge. The natural consequences of pursuing such a path is<a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Victory/testimonies/Karen.htm">spiritual bondage and torment</a>. Listen again to God's warning:</span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way,</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And be filled to the full with their own fancies." (Proverbs 1:30-31)</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>6. CALL UP THE DEAD </b>[Necromancy]: Invoking the spirit of a deceased person through occult formulas.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here the story gets more complicated. Harry himself was one of Voldemort's<i> horcruxes</i>, since a piece of Voldemort's soul was hidden inside him. Therefore Harry had to die before Voldemort could be killed. That realization made Harry's life bleak indeed. The months of hiding from Voldemort and his armies had taken their toll. Choosing to face his inevitable death rather than fight it, he walked unarmed into Voldemort's forest camp.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But first Harry wanted to see his dead parents and friends. His magical Resurrection Stone enabled him to <b>call up the spirits of his father and mother </b>as well as Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. They promised to stay with him until he died.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During his brief time in the state of "death," Harry was visited by the spirit of <b>Albus Dumbledore</b> who suggested that he return to life. Since "dying" had freed him from bondage to Voldemort's <i>horcrux,</i> he chose to return.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many have equated Harry's death with the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They are way off track! Any such comparison is a mockery of God's actual Truth.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The </b>"<b>Light</b>"<b> Side of Evil</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surrounded by Hogwarts ash-covered ruins, Harry wins his final battle against Voldemort. Later, as he stands on a high ridge with his best friends, Ron and Hermione, he pulls out his Elder Wand, the most powerful wand known to wizards. He breaks it in two and throws the pieces into the canyon below. Apparently, there's no need for it anymore.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did he really believe that all warfare ended when Voldemort died? Would peace now prevail in the region cleansed of its cruel leader? What about Voldemort's surviving army of ambitious, murderous "death eaters"? Might not some of them fight for his lofty, tyrannical position?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harry doesn't answer those questions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie concludes with a brief glimpse of the three friends nineteen years later. Ron, of course, married Hermione. Harry married Ron's sister Ginny. Now the two couples are standing with their children on the magical railroad Platform 9¾, ready to send their older children off to school on the Hogwarts Express.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Harry's middle son admits his fear of being "sorted" into the Slytherin dorm rather than Gryffindor, his father comforts him: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"<b>Albus</b> <b>Severus</b>, you were named for two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin [<b>Severus</b> Snape] and he was probably the bravest man I ever knew."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>He was?</i> The sour, sullen, ruthless Severus Snape was no friend to Harry during his school years. Nor was any other member of the Slytherin clan. Most of them were deadly enemies. Many joined the Death Eaters. In light of the previous Potter books, this sudden emphasis on peace, harmony and reconciliation makes no sense!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.crossroad.to/Excerpts/books/transformation/orwell.htm">George Orwell</a> would probably agree. His familiar book, <i>1984</i>, sums up such strange contradictions with these words: <span style="color: #111111;"><i>"<b>War is PEACE</b>. <b>Freedom is SLAVERY</b>. <b>Ignorance is STRENGTH.</b>"</i>[6]</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We might add this lie:<b><i> Evil is Good! </i></b>In a world that despises God's Word and moral guidelines, it's not surprising that a series of books based on witchcraft and wizardry has won the hearts of the people. Occult themes, whether in books, movies or computer games, have become one of today's most effective tools for social transformation. Even churches are promoting the change. The "light" side of evil could hardly be more deceptive!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As God's Word tells us, <i><span style="color: #4e1705;">"the whole world lies under the sway of <b>the wicked one</b>." (1 John 5:19) </span></i>That's reality today! But the consequences for those who believe his lies will be severe:</span><br />
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Woe to those who <b>call evil good, and good evil;</b> who put darkness for light, and light for darkness." Isaiah 5:20-21</span></i></blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God's Ultimate Victory</span></b></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's rising world system has called for unbiblical peace and a prescribed form of solidarity that has little tolerance for Christians who refuse to compromise. Yet, if we <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/stand.htm">stand firm</a> in Jesus Christ, our sovereign Lord, He will surely meet all our needs -- and much more! Those who <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/resist-evil.htm">resist</a> the world's tempting lies in His name will be safe in Him -- now and forever!<br />
This world system denies the message of the cross. That's why the <a href="http://www.crossroad.to/News/Persecution/seeds.html">name of Jesus is banned</a> from all kinds of public places. But we cannot be silent! What Jesus prayed to His Father almost 2000 years ago is now His message for us:</span><blockquote>
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<i><span style="color: #4e1705; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“I have given them Your word; and <b>the world has hated them because they are not of the world,</b> just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should <b>keep them from the evil one</b>.... As You sent Me into the world, <b>I also have sent them into the world</b>." John 17:14-19</span></i></div>
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http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/011/harry-deathly-2.htm </article></section></div>
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5758961009319005722.post-19824713375130526892013-07-16T14:12:00.001-07:002013-07-16T14:17:30.900-07:00Chapter 2 - The "Overcomer's" Pathway to the Throne<center style="background-color: #b1c0d3;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><left style="background-color: white;">Hear the following admonitions:</left></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">....The great issue, the all-inclusive issue of the ages for eternity is bound up with this, the reaching on the part of a company to a position of victory and power over the adversary and his hosts. Now that is not done mechanically, we do not reach that position automatically. It is not reached by our recognition of certain doctrinal truths, and adopting certain attitudes and terms. I say that to try and clear the ground of misconceptions, because there are those I fear who think that if they take a certain attitude towards certain doctrinal propositions about victory and employ certain terms and phraseology, they are in the way of being Overcomers, and that they are in a place of authority over the enemy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is not the case. Many who have adopted such attitudes and employed such terms and phraseology have just been the playthings of the enemy, and he has made fun of their phraseology and their terms and their attitudes. It has not worked out. This thing is not realized in that way, beloved: we do not get power over the enemy and his hosts by terminology, phraseology, or by the acceptance of teaching about this thing, or even taking up attitudes. There may be a place for the truth, there is a place for doctrine, teaching, and there is a necessity for attitudes, but these are not sufficient, and we do not attain to the position in that way, but it is a matter of a certain spiritual inwrought work of the Holy Spirit; it is a matter of certain spiritual elements being in the very nature and constitution of the Overcomer. Something has to be put into their very constitution. It is spiritual, not technical....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">....If there is any personal, fleshly - I do not mean gross, I mean natural fleshly - ambition, </span><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.lovestthoume.com/Graphics/narrow%20way.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;" width="160" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">preference, like, will, in any direction, if there is that, you may settle it once and for all that that is the ground of confusion. You will not get clear guidance from the Lord if there is mixture of the will of God with the will of the flesh. The Lord cannot guide us clearly if we have personal desire in the matter; if we have a little bit of personal strength moving; if our soul comes in, whether it be the reasoning or affectional soul or the volitional soul, the choosing soul; it is our soul-life. If that comes in one little bit we have no ground of clear guidance from the Lord. We have to stand back and say, not as I desire, will, or think, but absolutely as God wills. We have to get to the place where, by the grace of God, we can truly occupy the position that it does not matter to us personally so long as the Lord gets what He is after....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">....You see the Overcomer must come to the position where there is wrought into him or her this will of God as a part of their constitution through testing, trials, adversities; where they come to the place where nothing is worth while but the will of God.</span><br />
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<img border="0" height="163" src="http://www.lovestthoume.com/Graphics/Jesusonthecross.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px;" width="309" /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a great thing to find yourself eventually experimentally and positionally where you once were doctrinally, and sometimes it is a long and trying and terrible journey from where we say, "Yes, all the will of God," until you get there. We are not there by saying it, we are there by a thing wrought in us. There must then finally be a letting-go to the Lord. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die, because there is that of this creation which must be cast off. The motive may be good, the sincerity may be all right, but there are personal things bound up with it, desires, ambitions, things which would give us much pleasure. There is this secret mixture of ourselves, and although the Lord is going to save something - there is something very precious for Himself - He has to put the whole thing down into death that in death it shall be stripped of every bit of personal, natural soul interest and raise in resurrection a thing which is wholly of Himself - and then you get the enlargement - <b><i>the Son of Man glorified</i></b>.... [End Quotes]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While God is drawing us to the place of complete surrender of all that we are, to HIM, we go through many changes and challenges. Our willingness to surrender determines our position; we decide how much we overcome; how spiritual we are. As we overcome, we learn to recognize the difference between knowing <u>'about'</u> spiritual things; and <u>'being'</u> spiritual.<i>"For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life."</i> 2 Corinthians 5:4. May we choose LIFE; NOW. <i>"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."</i> 1 John 3:18.</span><br />
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don't let the well run dryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02598065907159170041noreply@blogger.com