Verse of the day — Psalm 66:1
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth!
Psalm 66:1(HCSB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
Confusion – The Strategy of the Evil One
Some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:7 NIV)
It does not require a great deal of intelligence in order to recognize that, throughout the history of God's work, the master-stroke of the great perverter has been confusion. God is not the God of confusion, but of order. Satan is the god of confusion. To get order out of chaos, God said: "Let there be light." To get chaos out of order, Satan says "Let there be confusion." His it is to confuse issues and elements. To do this, he must as the word suggests fuse (or try to fuse) elements which are constitutionally different and do not belong to each other. Thus there is a constitutional contradiction and inconsistency. It is only when his master-method runs amok that we have utter and unmitigated wickedness. His main work is deception by mixture.
It is just here that the place, meaning, and sovereignty of the Holy Spirit in the life of the child of God has its meaning and importance. He is "The Spirit of Truth." He alone knows where truth ends and falsehood begins. Only as we truly "walk in the Spirit" shall we know the truth and be made free from error. A walk in the Spirit demands a "circumcised heart," a heart in which the severance has been made between flesh and spirit, Christ and self. There has never been a heresy that has not had in it sufficient truth to deceive very good people. Likewise, there has never been anything wholly of God but the strategy of the Evil One has been to fasten on to it some implication, insinuation, interpretation, or suggestion that would make it questionable or "dangerous." He even did this with the Lord Jesus Himself. He did it with Paul all through his life.... A good thing can be made its own enemy, by being either confused, or taken out of its true meaning.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
Who can say, “I have made my heart clean …”?
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. § Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
To will is present with me, but how to preform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will do, I do not do; but the evil I will not do, that I practice. § We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
The Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. § God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Prov. 20:9; Ps. 14:2,3; Rom. 8:8; Rom.7:18,19; Isa. 64:6; Gal. 3:22; 2 Cor. 5:19; 1 John 1:8,9
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The floods have lifted up their voice.
The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the mighty waves of the sea. § O Lord God of hosts, who is mighty like You, O Lord? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, You still them.
“Do you not fear Me?” says the Lord. “Will you not tremble at My presence, Who have placed the sand as the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass beyond it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it.” § When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. § Peter … walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” § Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
Ps. 93:3; Ps. 93:4; Ps. 89:8,9; Jer. 5:22; Isa. 43:2; Matt. 14:29,31; Ps. 56:3
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Indwelt To Be Filled
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you" (Rom. 8:9).
The believer knows that he is indwelt by the Holy Spirit on the testimony of the written Word; others know when the believer is filled with the Holy Spirit by the growing manifestation of the Living Word.
"There are believers who need the reminder that deeper than mind and feeling and will, deeper than the soul, where these have their seat, in the depths of the renewed spirit, there comes, at re-birth, the Holy Spirit to dwell forever. His indwelling is there, first of all, and all through, to be recognized by faith. Even when I cannot see the least evidence of His working, I am quietly and reverently to believe that He dwells in me. In that faith I am restfully and trustfully to count upon His working, and to wait for it. In that faith I must very distinctly deny my own wisdom and strength, and in childlike self-abnegation depend upon Him to work.
"His first workings may be so feeble and hidden that I can hardly recognize them as coming from Him; they may appear to be nothing more than the voice of conscience, or the familiar sound of some Bible truth. Here is the time for faith to hold fast the Master's promise and the Father's gift, and to trust that the Holy Spirit is within and will guide. Out of the hidden depths His power will move and take possession of mind and will, and the indwelling in the hidden recesses of the spirit will grow into a being filled with His fulness." -A.M.
"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His" (Rom. 8:9).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
God, My Anchor (All I Need-1)
STUDY - God, All I Need
Lay hold on the hope set before us: which we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into that within the veil.
Hebrews 6:19-20
Secured in Christ
Christ and His coming kingdom is the hope set before us. God is the anchor of the heart of the soul that is one with Christ. What a source of comfort and strength for the lost, weary, hurting traveller. What words of reassurance to the one that feels their little barque is adrift. What a picture of strength and power, when you feel alone in the world. An anchor-less ship is in danger of drifting on a sea of trouble. A vessel that has no mainstay would be smashed to pieces on the cruel rocks. Satan seeks to shipwreck the soul who is not securely anchored in Christ – but the Anchor of the soul is indeed sure and steadfast… so we must lay hold on that hope set before us – for our hope is secure in Him.
Storms of Life
"But", you say, "I know my eternal future is secure but I am living now. Storms of life are battering at my door. I’m sinking in a sea of trouble – now. The swirling tides of difficulty are billowing at my feet, now. Swift currents of pain and disappointments are sweeping me into confusion – now?" But look deeper…. He not only died to save you and rose to give you newness of life, (a gift that all who believe on Him receive freely and without cost) but our lives are hid with Christ in God, Who IS that mighty Anchor!
Christ our Anchor
Our sure and steadfast Anchor is He that has entered into the veil. He has taken up His place, for you, within the heavenly holy of holies. His very intercession on your behalf is offered to God to keep you. His prayers for you are to keep you from being overwhelmed by this life. I have prayed for you, (in THIS life)
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
Consider Him
Consider Him….
Hebrews 12:3
Son of the Father
The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand, therefore God also hath highly exalted Him.. not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And you are complete in Him, and of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. Oh, the deep, deep mysteries and mercies of God. Oh, the profound and penetrating wisdom of the Almighty. Oh, the unfathomable and eternal wonders of the Creator. Oh, the depth of the riches of the grace of the Father – for it pleased Him that in Christ, all fullness should dwell. “Consider” the place of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the esteem of the Father. “Consider” the position of the eternal Son of God, Who made Man, for our salvation. “Consider” the responsibility of the perfect Son on Man, Who was made sin for us. For it pleased the Father, that In Him all the fullness should dwell” Colossians 1:19
Consider Jesus
See fullness of God dwelling in Him. See the glories of the Godhead revealed in His body. See the scars of the nail print in hand and foot. See the face of glory disfigured beyond recognition. See the side from which poured blood and water. He Who formed the vastness of the universe.. He Who created the hidden depths of the oceans. He had not where to lay His head. He had not a denarius to pay tribute money to Caesar, yet all things are His, as a gift from the Father to the Son. “My Father and your Father – My God and your God.” And of such fullness, we are made partakers, by the infinite grace of God.. for we are in Him.
God Incarnate
And we are complete in Him. We lack nothing as we dwell and rest in Him. His glories are not confined to the shores of Galilee. These wonders are not restricted to the streets of Jerusalem. The limitations of His thirty-three years are lifted, for His
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