Verse of the day — 1 Peter 3:9
not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:9(NASB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
Annointing not Imitation
I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel. (Galatians 2:2 NIV)
How important it is that every fresh undertaking in work for God should come by revelation to those chosen for it. Because God has so spoken and given revelation to some chosen instrument and a truly spiritual work has been done, others have taken it as a model and have sought to imitate it in other places. The result has been, and is, that they are called upon to take responsibility for it find the resources of workers, funds and general support. This, in turn, issues in many sad and pathetic, if not evil and worldly, methods and means being employed, and those concerned find themselves in a false position. Conception, not imitation, is the Divine law of reproduction. Anointing, not human selection, is the Divine law of succession. The fact is that the work of God has become a sphere for so many natural elements to find expression and gratification. Man must do something, see something, have something. Ambition, acquisition, achievement, etc., have found their way over to Christian enterprise, and so, very often (let us be quite frank) things have become 'ours' 'our work,' 'our mission,' 'our field,' 'our clientele'; and jealousies, rivalries, bitterness and many other things of the flesh abound.
It is a very difficult thing, a crucifixion indeed, for the natural man to do nothing and have nothing, and especially to know nothing. But in the case of His most greatly used instruments, God has made this a very real part of their training and preparation. The utter emptying of all self-resource is the only way to have "all things of (out from) God" (2 Cor. 5:18). On this basis, even Christ elected to live. We need not remind you of Moses' "I am not eloquent" (Exo. 4:10), and Jeremiah's "I am a child" (Jer. 1:6), and Paul's "that we should not trust in ourselves" (2 Cor. 1:9). These were of a school in which the great lesson of the difference between natural and spiritual was taught experimentally.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
God is my defense.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; the God of my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; my Savior. § The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.
When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. § We may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forever. § Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
For Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me.
Ps. 59:9; 2 Sam. 22:2,3; Ps. 28:7; Isa. 59:19; Heb. 13:6; Ps. 27:1; Ps.125:2; Ps. 63:7; Ps. 31:3
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” § “You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?” And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses. § Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. § You … He has made alive … having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us … He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. § Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Matt. 6:12; Matt. 18:21,22; Matt. 18:32,33; Matt. 18:34,35; Eph. 4:32; Col. 2:13,14; Col.3:13
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Life-giving Crucifixion
Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ hath made us free" (Gal. 5:1).
First, the believer understands that he has a right to be free in the Lord Jesus because of the finished work of the Cross; then he sees that same work of the Cross as his means to be free.
"When we truly hate ourselves, we are prepared to rejoice in the blessed fact that we have been crucified with the Lord Jesus - that sin in the flesh was condemned (not forgiven) when He died unto sin, that our whole history as in the flesh closed before the Father in His Son's death - and that this is our title to be free. I have now a righteous title to have done with myself because I have died unto sin in the Lord Jesus' death.
"To prepare me for this I learn the necessity for death in my own experience, but the death of the Lord Jesus is my title to be free. It is by the appropriation of His death that I reach liberty and newness of life; that death has severed me from all that I was as in fallen Adam. I have been crucified with Christ.' I am free from myself, and free to have the One who is my Christian life before me." -C.A.C.
"The Lord Jesus will make it His business to keep us alive and fruitful, if we will make it our business to rely upon Him. There must be no carnal straining, no natural effort; we do not have to keep ourselves alive. Every fear to go down into daily death, ever clinging to that which belongs to us, every grasp on our own personal position or ministry, will only hinder the manifestation of His life. It is to be life out of death. Even when our trust in Him brings us into the most helpless and impossible situations, we may rest assured that all will be well, for He is indeed the God of resurrection." -H.F.
"For ye died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
The Unique Person of Christ
He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Hebrews 1:3
Unique Nature
The unique nature of the Lord Jesus Christ is a topic requiring deep exploration. Without His pre-existence as God He could never have become incarnate Man. He’s singular among the children of men for His birth was not the start of His origin. He’s unique within the Triune Godhead for He was the ONE Person Who became Human. Jesus Christ was the convergence of time with eternity. Jesus Christ was the harmonising of deity with humanity. Jesus Christ was the convergence of heaven with earth.
Unique Son
He laid aside the glory He had with the Father during the time He walked on earth, yet He retained His pre-existent knowledge – while learning obedience as a Son. He remembers the glory that He shared with the Father before the world was created. He recalled How He was the bread of life that came down from heaven for in Him is life, and that life is a light that shines in the heart of everyone coming into the world.
Unique Priest
He had neither beginning of days nor end of life, but has become High Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek – He is now the eternal High Priest of the Most High God. He came forth from the Father and He returned back to the Father to resume His eternal Sonship, but He returned in the body of a glorified Man : the Man Christ Jesus.
Unique Man
The ancient script of an old Latin inscription displays this timeless truth…
I am what I was – GOD
I was not what I am – MAN
I am now called both – GOD and MAN
Central Crux
Christ is the centre crux that floods the pages of the inerrant God-breathed Scriptures. Christ is the human heart that beats at the hub of history
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
End Time Famine
Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land – not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD”
Amos 8:11
Hear and Obey
The Lord is being systematically removed from school, courtroom, church and home, and God is slowly withdrawing His hand of protection from a Christ-rejecting world. Christ’s return for His bride is fast approaching and we would do well to be ready. The Church would be wise to prepare her heart for Christ’s any day return for His body. How important to be immersed in His will when the Lord returns for His own. How crucial to hear what the Spirit says to the Church and obey His instructions.
False Doctrines
We have all read how the faithful servant is charged to feed God’s people. We have all noticed how often we are warned of false doctrines in these last days. We have witnessed God’s prophesied, unstoppable march towards false doctrine, yet in these days of increasing apostasy, few voices are pointing to Jesus.
Peculiar Famine
There are still a few watchmen on the walls crying 'prepare ye the way of the Lord', but there is one frequently overlooked warning to which we would be wise to heed:- a warning to apostate Israel, but one that can be applied to Church-age apostasy; a forewarning of a time of peculiar famine; a notice of great thirst in the world; a famine of hearing God’s lovely word – a scarcity of listening to God’s pure voice. We read in Psalms: how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” Psalm 119:103 – and yet a time is coming when there will be a severe famine and thirst in the land.
Prophetic Warning
The Word of God is true, vital, and more accessible than at any time in history, yet Amos warns of a time when people just don’t want to know and will not listen – and resistance to hear His voice and reluctance to follow
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