January 2012
22 posts
4 tags
Share The Faith
If we truly love the church, as we say that we do; if we are in anyway on the same side as the prophets and martyrs, the apostles and multitudes whose very lives have born witness to this faith, then can we ignore multiplying the seeds which they sowed?
“Go…and make disciples” —Matthew 28:19
5 tags
Be A Doer
What good is the Christian religion if it is read, studied, and kept to oneself? The faith is to be gotten down off of the shelf, taken into the world, and actively lived out each day. Our faith is an experience — an experience of God first, and then others experience Him through us. Therefore, the Christian is not to know God in the heart, and there only; rather God and Christ are to be...
3 tags
Silence Is Golden
Negative things which are said so easily influence — especially when other people are being talked about. Character is called into question, friendships are injured, suspicions are raised. So easily do people believe what is said that there is no telling to what end such words go, what may come of them, or what injury may be the result from them.
Once a word is spoken it can never be...
3 tags
Silent Influence
Whether we intend to or not, we constantly influence those who are around us. Not a single day can be lived without touching some other life. Like footprints on the beach, we leave impressions upon all who see and hear us. This influence then depends more on what we are rather than on what we do. It is only through the constant moment-by-moment of our living each day that we continue to be a...
The Wronging Of Self
“Sin” is a word which we do not hear used much these days, but it is still a good word and brings to mind how we break God’s holy law. But sin is also a person hurting, or transgressing against, his or her own self. To break God’s law is also to violate our own soul — the image of God in which we are made.
Sin always separates a person from his or her true self.
...
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Sin's Three Avenues
Sin comes at the Christian through 3 avenues: the doubt of God, arrogant temptation, and chasing after “vainglory” as the old time preachers used to say.
We doubt God by wondering about His promises, by questioning His care for us, and by working to keep ourselves in control of our lives. This was the sin of Adam and Eve which says that we know what is best for us rather than what...
4 tags
So It Is
When we find in the Word of God, “so it is,” or “so it will be,” why do we find it acceptable to contradict or to negotiate with what it says? Do we really want to come before God with our conceits? Do we really think that it is wise to call God before us that we might examine Him? It must be that we see ourselves as wiser, better, or more able to govern the affairs of...
4 tags
Spirit Filled
Self dies when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus means when He talks about evil spirits filling an empty house. If we seek to only rid ourselves of bad thoughts, unkind attitudes, and ungracious perspectives, then what is there to prevent those same things from returning? Rather, seek to fill yourselves with the Holy Spirit, and the gifts which He brings. Then every room...
5 tags
Pray For Hunger
We are not as good as we might be. We are not as good a Christian, as faithful a disciple, as deep in character, — nor are we as responsible to life as we should be. Why is this? Why do we not hunger for life so deeply that we shutter against the world’s winds? Why is our striving for holiness not able to push aside the mores of society? Why do we allow our souls to starve by...
4 tags
Saving Promises
God gives to us many promises concerning his abiding grace and his perpetual care. He shares with us words of assurance, words of hope, words of comfort, and words of resolution. The Christian must learn to store up these promises during times of joy and peace, so that they may be called upon during the rough and afflicted passages of life.
Dark days will come, just as sure as days of light...
4 tags
Striving To Be Perfect
Some of what distinguishes humanity from the rest of creation is the desire to strive after excellence — to win, to achieve. However, there prevails today a unifying ideology throughout society. Everyone is praised for the degree of success which he or she attains — or lack thereof.
This is not the way of the Christian. When Christ says, “You must be perfect,” He...
5 tags
Sustenance
The Christian life can only be sustained and withstood by the Word of God, and how we live out our life will depend on whether we learn to use God’s word wisely and well. More trouble is brought on the Christian when we seek to use God’s Word for our own desires. We must dedicate ourselves to the service of God’s Word, until what He wants becomes what we want. Only then will...
3 tags
What Really Saves
Those things which the world prizes — art, music, and performance — may bring numbers through the doors of a church, and that is good, but these do no “win souls for Christ,” as the old time preachers would say. Instead, it is faith, love, and humility which do that. Such tools as these, bestowed upon the disciples of Christ, are tools of a holy life. The arts are a good...
3 tags
No Argument For Prayer
“There is no argument for prayer.” — Samuel Johnson.
What is meant is that there is no thoughtful reason, no sane advise, no rational for the act of praying. Praying is as natural to us as breathing, eating, or the need for sleep. It is inborn in our being and natural to our life. We pray because we cannot help it. We pray because we have to reach out and touch the very...
4 tags
The Blessings Of Failure
The Great Teacher constantly sets before us lessons to be learned, and we fail at these as often as not. The hardest subjects which we could ever take in school are easy when compared to what must be learned of love, patience, forgiveness, humility, unselfishness, and contentment. These lessons can be learned, but they very often come slow and at a price.
Yet God honors efforts and yearnings;...
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The Broken Of Heaven
We love awards — the best, the fastest, the smartest, and so forth. We make much of winning and losing; “Winning isn’t everything, it is the only thing,” Henry “Red” Sanders is credited with saying.
But Christ’s kingdom is built for broken lives. Christ takes the unsuccessful and broken, and builds them up into His own beauty and character. There is...
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The Importance Of Prayer
The center of our religion is prayer. The essence of the faith is found in communion with God. What does it mean then if a Christian does not pray? It proves a failure to speak to the One who is the founder of our religion. Failure to pray is to hold God in theory only, because how can God be alive and real if He is never spoken with?
Failure to pray is to lose faith, and ultimately to lose...
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A Christian Life
The world tries to make religion into a science, or at the very least, into a philosophy — something theoretical. If religion involved no more than learning principles and following rules, then this would be true. No doubt, for some people religion is no more than this.
But Christianity is life. Christianity is the constant growth of a human heart into a Christ-like being. It is to live...
4 tags
The End Is Thanks
When the seasons of our years give us a warning that our duration on earth is short, it behooves us to look toward God, and remember by whose hand our life was made. Then, in all humility, it is right and proper to thank God that we have been permitted to partake so long in the wonderment of life. It is God who has endured our incitements against Him; our ugly behavior; and in spite of it all,...
4 tags
Refreshment
All power of spiritual refreshment is from God. It is a mistake to look for renewal, rebirth, or renovation within ourselves, or in books, or even people. One prayer to God is worth a thousand wonderful thoughts. So, be sure not to ask a little of God.
