Verse of the day — Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically, as something done for the Lord and not for men,
Colossians 3:23(HCSB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
The Testimony of the Christ
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3 NIV)
The new creation is a company, it is a Body indwelt by the Holy Spirit, actuated by the Holy Spirit, actually made one by the Holy Spirit. i>In one Spirit were we all baptized into one body(1 Cor. 12:13). The oneness is the oneness of the Holy Spirit. i>Giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit(Eph. 4:3), not to make it but to keep it. A new creation.
Well now, of course that is just the key that opens the door to everything when you see what new creation Life means. And with that you introduce the whole matter of the proper order, the proper regulated order of heavenly Life. Heavenly Life is according to heavenly law. It is not lawless. Each member of this body is not a law unto himself or herself. We are bound by this integrating, regulating law, that we are not allowed to be independent. Here the Holy Spirit forbids it. We are not allowed to take the law into our own hands. We are not allowed to act as individuals; the Holy Spirit will not allow it. There is a regulating order with this Life. This Life expresses itself according to its own laws, as life does in every part of the organic creation. It follows its own lines. That part of the creation follows the laws of the life which it possesses, and this is the Life of the Spirit, and you have not to organize or systematize this. Immediately you begin to do it, you bring death in. It is as fatal to try and make a New Testament church after the New Testament pattern as it is to have no pattern at all! It can be deathly to do that. The thing happens if the Life has its way. We have learned this, yet, much as we know about the truth, we are still so much governed by our own natural life, even in our spiritual activities. There is disorder and running before the Spirit. However, we are all in the school, and we are just stating the laws, the principles and the truth that here you have no need to go and organize something on a New Testament basis. It will come about if the Holy Spirit is really having His way in terms of Life.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.
Trusting in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. § If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. § The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men… God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise… that no flesh should glory in His presence.
The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. § Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.
All bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. § No man ever spoke like this Man! § Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God– and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
Prov. 2:6; Prov. 3:5; James 1:5; 1 Cor. 1:25; 1 Cor. 1:27, 29; Ps. 119:130; Ps. 119:11; Luke 4:22; John 7:46; 1 Cor. 1:30
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The year of My redeemed has come.
Consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!
Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is His name.
Isa. 63:4; Lev. 25:10; Isa. 26:19; 1 Thess. 4:16,17; Hos. 13:14; Jer. 50:34
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Not Obligated
The carnal mind is enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7).
Early in the Christian life we naturally feel that it is our obligation to overcome self and become spiritual. We do not yet realize that time and processing are required before we are able to give up self-effort for our growth. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, not our obligation. "God hath chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit" (2 Thess. 2:13). "The self-life is surely our first and most bitter foe, and the believer who will serve God acceptably must learn His way of victory over this subtle and dangerous enemy. The flesh is irrecoverably fallen and you and I make no real progress in the Christian life until we have learned in experience to say with the apostle: For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing' (Rom. 7:18)." -J.C.M. "Paul's great endeavor, in all his great struggle of Romans Seven, was to make ‘the flesh,' his old self-life, consent to do that holy law which his new self approved. Paul had not yet despaired of himself. The fact is, he had not yet realized the absolute distinction between the old and the new creations. And it was through this terrible experience that he found the new or inward' man to be distinct from the old man; that the realm of the spirit' was absolutely separate from that of the flesh', that all of the old self, with its life and energy, was to be despaired of, not sanctified." "For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Rom. 8:7).
Safe Beyond Question Neither give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:27).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
God, My Need (God - All I Need-5)
STUDY - God, All I Need
Your Father knows what things you have need of.
Matthew 6:8My God shall supply all your needs, according to His riches in glory.
Philippians 4:19
Hierarchy of Need
We all have a number of needs in our lives. In 1943 Abraham Maslow proposed his own 'Hierarchy of Needs', in every area of life. Starting with basic physiological needs, he progressed up his graduation ladder:- physiological needs; safety needs – the need to love and be loved and to have a sense of belonging; the need for esteem and self-actualisation. However applaudable and true this gradation on the human 'need' scale is, two of the most important human needs were overlooked or ignored by Maslow – needs that should have been the capstone of his research and pinnacle of man’s hierarchy of need:- 1 My need of God Himself and 2 And my need of the things in life that God alone can supply.
Pinnacle of Need
If I fail to recognise these two fundamental needs, then I am blind to reality, for man’s need fulfilled in any other way, becomes an empty vacuum filled with nothingness. But how many Christians fail to understand the depth of our need for God, and how many believers care little about Him, and take Him so much for granted? How many approach God superficially, with no heart-longing for His presence?
Eternal supply
Intimacy with our Saviour and Lord, is the most precious grace He has given us, for He is the well-spring of our life, both physical and spiritual. He is my alpha; my genesis; my redemption; my sanctification; my glorification; and my omega. He is the source and the finisher of all that I am… forever and for eternity. But this need OF God is circumnavigated by our need of His bountiful supply. All the blessings in life, flow in abundant measure, from His eternal supply. But most people give neither thought nor thanks for His moment-by-moment provision. And yet not one of us could not draw another breath, unless He empowers us so
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
Only Believe
Abraham believed God, and faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
Romans 4:3,9God, gives life to the dead, and calls those things which do not exist as though they did
Romans 4:17
Dare to Trust
Abraham means, 'Father of a multitude of nations'. Abram..tired, old, weary, old Abram, dared to believe God. He dared to believe – while there was no sign of a child. He dared to believe that his tired, old, barren, old Sarah would mother his son. He dared to call himself – Father of a multitude of nations. And Abraham believed God. Genesis 17:5
Trust God’s Word
This is faith.. faith to believe God’s Word. This is faith.. to assert and believe what God has promised. Faith is to step out on the seeming void and rest on the foundational rock beneath. Only believe, and you have what God has promised in His Scriptures. Only believe, and He will make good the guarantee in His word. Only believe, and it becomes God’s 'Yes' and God’s 'Amen'. 2 Corinthians 1:20 Only believe, that human impossibilities are all God’s promised possibilities.
Lamp of Faith
Be willing to live by believing and reckon His word as truth. Be willing to see every light along your pathway extinguished. Be willing to allow every guiding star to be eclipsed. Be willing for sun and moon to be shrouded in black, dark clouds of dark unknowing.. but keep the inner radiance alighted with the steady lamp of faith.
Step Out in Faith
Descend from your perch of distrust; mistrust; lack of trust; dubiety; ambivalence. Stir up your protective nest of seeming securities and superficial safeties. Tumble from the eagle's aerie and stretch your wings of faith.. in His word, and He will bear thee up on eagle's wings. Deuteronomy 32:11 Step out in faith in the word of God on the stormy seas of circumstances, and He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.
God Has Promised
Like the arm of the Lord and the wing of the eagle, the promises of God are not unsubstantial. Hath
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