Verse of the day — 2 Thessalonians 2:16
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,
2 Thessalonians 2:16(NASB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
Everlasting Love
I love you with an everlasting love. (Jeremiah 31:3 GW)
"I/i>have borne with you all this time because I love you; anything could have happened to you, but I have not let it, I have shown you infinite longsuffering and patience, and earnest solicitude for your eternal well-being: because I love you, I have kept you alive, and have brought you to this time and to this place; I have not let you go." Oh, that this might come home to us! We may, all unconsciously, be hearing this message now simply because of this infinite love of God which has been preserving us unto this hour to let us know it. You may think it is quite fortuitous that you are hearing it just one of the chance happenings of life; but if you knew the truth it is this infinite love of God which has held you to this time in relation to the infinite purposes of that love to let you know it. There is nothing casual about it, there is sovereign love here. "Because I have so loved, because, self-sufficient as I am, I cannot do without you" oh, mystery of Divine love! "because I so much wanted you I created you, and now at this moment I am drawing you." We cannot take that in, but that is the teaching of the Word of God... God does not want that kind of love that is not love at all because it gets everything that it wants to satiate its own lusts. That is not love. This love of God must make us like itself, it must be after its own kind. And so, strangely enough, many have come to find the love of God through the dark way of suffering to discover that God was not their enemy but their friend, when they thought that He was pursuing with the object of destroying them....
Listen again, whoever you may be. If you know yourself only a little you must be amazed at this statement, but if it does not come to you as the most wonderful thing that ever was or could be, there is something grievously the matter with you; that such a One should say to such as WE, "I have loved THEE, with an everlasting love." May God Himself bring that home to us with something of its implication, something of its meaning and value, its glory, its wonder. If He should graciously do that, we shall be worshipers for the rest of our lives; there will be something about us that is in the nature of awe and wonder and we shall go softly. The realization of it will smite all our pride to the dust. There is no room for pride here. This will remove all those horrible things - pride, avarice, covetousness, self-interest, worldly ambition - and we shall be very humble, very grateful people, full of a great longing somehow to requite that love, somehow to win for that One His rights.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The Lord will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught.
Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself. § The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. § When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning. § I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, and will say, “Destroy!” § Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Prov. 3:26; Ps. 76:10; Prov. 21:1; Prov. 16:7; Ps. 130:5,6; Ps. 34:4; Deut. 33:27; Jer. 17:7; Rom. 8:31
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
Consolation in Christ … comfort of love … fellowship of the Spirit.
Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a shadow and does not continue. § My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
The Father … will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever … The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name. § Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus … And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Phil. 2:1; Job 14:1,2; Ps. 73:26; John 14:16,26; 2 Cor. 1:3,4; 1 Thess. 4:14, 1 Thess. 17:18
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Ministry Of Life
Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain" (Phil. 2:16).
Many Christians are bogged down between the nursery and the schoolroom; between the playpen and the workshop. These resist the weaning period; but the hungry-hearted are eager to have their feelings replaced by faith.
"It is true that the Father does take up those who are spiritually immature and permit them to speak His words years before they fully understand their import; but He does not wish any of us to stop there. We may go on that way for awhile, but is it not true that from the time when He begins in us His work of formation through discipline and chastening, it growingly dawns on us how little in fact we know of the true meaning of what we had been saying?
"Our Lord intends that we should reach the place where we can speak, with or without manifest gifts, because we are that which we share. For in Christian experience the spiritual things of God are less and less outward, that is, of gift, and more and more inward, of life. In the long run it is the depth and inwardness of a work that counts. As the Lord Jesus Himself becomes more and more to us, other things - and this must even include gifts - matter less and less. Then, though we teach the same doctrine, speak the same words, the impact on others is very different, manifesting itself in an increasing depth of the Spirit's work within them also."
"Our Father's hand is on the helm. We are being guided, even when we feel it least. The closed door is as much His Providence as the open, and equally for our good and the accomplishment of His own great ends. And one learns at last it is not what we set ourselves to do that really tells in blessing so much as what He is doing in and through us."
"Thou wilt show me the path of life" (Ps. 16:11).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
An Intimate Ministry
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God? You are not your own…
1 Corinthians 6:19
The Holy Spirit
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the beautiful person of the Holy Spirit. Many cults and false teachings consider Him to be an influence – an ‘IT’ and not a person. They talk of Him as an invisible active force – a kind of energy or a super ‘substance’. But the Holy Spirit is Deity. He is the third Person of the Trinity. He is fully God. And the indwelling Holy Spirit has been given to each believer as a gift from God..
Another Comforter
Christ was the disciples’ Helper, Comforter, Guard, and Guide while He was on earth.. but when He ascended into heaven, to sit on the throne of the Father, He sent us the Holy Spirit to be another Comforter – to be our ever-present Help in time of trouble.
Like Jesus
And the Helper that Christ sent was to be just like Himself – and to be with us forever. The Holy Spirit will be a Helper akin to that which the disciples experienced during Christ’s earthly sojourn – but He’ll remain alongside us all through life and into eternity.
Our Advocate
Jesus was the Paraclete / Paracletos while He was on earth – for His disciples. The Holy Spirit is now the Paraclete / Paracletos – for believers on earth today – and Paraclete means an Advocate – i.e. One that comes alongside – to help.
Christ’s Replacement
Today we have our indwelling Paraclete / Paracletos – to come alongside to help. No wonder Jesus said, It is expedient for you that I go away: because if I do not go away, then the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I do depart, I will send Him unto you.
Inner Ministry
I doubt the disciples could have imagined that Christ, going away as He did, would have resulted in something even better for them– for the Lord Jesus
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
The Great Conflagration
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
2 Peter 3:11
God’s Plan
The earth was cursed when man sinned, and one day it will be destroyed by fire. One day everything in this world will be burned-up, consumed, destroyed – gone. One day there will be a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness reigns. One day, at the end of Christ’s millennial rule, all will be laid before the Father – and today, God’s plans and purpose are working towards that end.
Holy Conduct
But in the light of this sobering thought, Peter asks a very serious question: He asks each of us to carefully consider what kind of people we should be. He asks us to reflect on how we should live in the knowledge of this truth. He advises that we examine and re-examine our hearts in the light of the end. He encourages holy conduct, a virtuous life – a people set apart in purity of heart. He desires that our conversation and inner thoughts reflect godly conversations.
Second Coming
Peter does not spend time giving peculiar details of specific end-time events, but warned us to recognise the approaching season of Christ’s soon return. He knows end-time believers have a greater need than such specific knowledge. He does not fascinate his hearers with exact details of Christ’s second coming.. but he does give one vital warning that we would be wise to consider.
Day of God
He details one final great conflagration – prior to the new heaven and earth.. where fervent heat explodes as both earth and heaven catch aflame – where heaven and earth are burned up and melt away. And in the light of this brief description, this elderly apostle asks each of us: what kind of people should we be and then proceeds to outline the answer: You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the
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