Verse of the day — Psalm 110:1
The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."
Psalm 110:1(NASB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
The Opened Heaven
Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit! (Luke 23:46)
"Why hast Thou forsaken Me?" I am so glad that the story of the Cross does not end there. The cry, the awful cry, is "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?", but the last words from the Cross are not such. "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit" (Luke 23:46). He is back on the ground of perfect fellowship with the Father and absolute trust. The victory is gained, the work is done, the enemy is defeated, and the ground is secured. Whatever Satan says, as he does in our deep hours of spiritual experience, about the Lord having given us up, departed from us all that sort of thing; whatever he says, it is not true. It may be that you do not feel the full weight of that; but if ever you come, as perhaps some of you have come, to a time, such as many of the most faithful and devoted and greatly-used servants of God have known, when the dark forces spread themselves over, gather around in their hordes, and seek to come between you and your Lord and then begin their whisperings "The Lord has given you up, handed you over," or something to that effect when you come to that place, then I trust you will know that this word is no light word, no unimportant word: for the last depths of Calvary were fathomed in the moment when our Lord cried that bitter cry and gained the answer and came out victorious and into rest. "Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit." That was not for Himself, that was for us for you, for me....
Never, never is it necessary for anyone to know that desolation of God-forsakenness while they put their trust, their faith, upon His taking up this age-long issue as Man for man the issue of "the light of Thy countenance." So let us rejoice that we have an open heaven secured for us by our blessed Lord. We have but stated the truth, the fact, of this thing. There is much more bound up with it, which the Lord may show us as we go on, as to what kind of man it is who enjoys that opened heaven, but that is with the Lord. Let us thank Him for the fact that we may have the heaven opened to us. He has done it. But to a Nathanael He will say, "Ye shall see the heaven opened." God grant that we may all be in that blessed position.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
He arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.
You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. § You who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ … Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.
Luke 15:20; Ps. 103:8,9; Ps.103:10,11; Ps. 103:12,13; Rom. 8:15,16; Eph. 2:13,19
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
Behold, I make all things new.
Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. § If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. § Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump. § The new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name.
Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. § Since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness?
Rev. 21:5; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 5:17; Ezek. 36:26; 1 Cor. 5:7; Eph. 4:24; Isa. 62:2; Isa. 65:17; 2 Peter 3:11
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Treasure Trove "
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 Spirit's ministry is to make Christ all to each.
"We are the objects of the continual care and discipline of our heavenly Father. If we walk after the flesh, instead of after the Spirit, this may call for His loving rebuke and chastening (child training); but that in no way interferes with the precious truth of our continual acceptance and position in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, by whose one offering we have been perfected forever.
"Through grace, we are not in the flesh, but in Christ, yet the flesh is in us; but our part is to reckon it as having been, before God and to faith, judicially put to death in Christ crucified, thus setting us free to be so constantly occupied with the triumphant Son of God, as to find all our resources, all our strength, all our springs, in Him." -H.H.S.
"If we have the Lord Jesus, we have all - without Him, we have nothing. You can be happy without money, without liberty, without parents, and without friends, if He is yours. If you have not Christ, neither money, nor liberty, nor parents, nor friends can make you happy. Christ, with a chain, is liberty; liberty without Christ is a chain. Christ without anything is riches - all things, without Christ, is poverty indeed."
"If children, then heirs - heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ - if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together" (Rom. 8:17).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
Faith Is.. - Once Upon Eternity (4)
STUDY - Once Upon Eternity
So do not cast away your confidence, (your trust is God) which has great reward, for you have need of patient endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.. For yet a little while, He who is coming will come and will not tarry…..the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Now faith, is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews10:35-11:1
One Faith
Do you ever look at mighty men of faith and wish you could reach their heights? Do you ever despair that your faith is so weak that God could never notice you? Do you ever wonder if you truly understand what real faith really is? Faith is simply believing God. Faith is simply trusting God to do what God has said. Faith is acting, walking, or praying on the basis of what God has said about a matter. There may be many so-called “faiths” that unregenerate man follows, but there is only one God in Whom faith can placed, and this is non-negotiable: one Lord, one faith, one baptism into the Lord Jesus, by believing in Him.
One Christ
There is only one realm in which faith can be exercised – through trusting Jesus. Only the born-again believer can function in the sphere of faith. Only a regenerate man has had the breath of life breathed into him by the Spirit of life. Only a believer in Jesus is able to function on the spiritual plane – by faith. Only a new man in Christ, who has passed from darkness to light can act by faith. Faith is simply believing God. Faith is simply trusting God to do what God has said, and faith comes by hearing which comes through the Word of God. Faith comes by hearing the living, powerful, God-breathed Scriptures. Faith is
read more
Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
The Way and Works of Cain
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain.
Jude 1:11
Moral Qualities
Man’s exaggerated assessment of humankind, is that he’s born with moral qualities – qualities that can be worked on and improved, which will be acceptable to God. Religious man’s inflated opinion is that he is intrinsically good and can only improve, and the more he does FOR God, the more acceptable will he be in God’s eyes. Nothing is more important to a believer than to grasp God’s view of fallen man: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Rom.3:23. There is none that doeth good, no, not one… they are all together become filthy. Rom.3:12
Fall of Adam
The fall of Adam, humanity’s federal head, from innocence to death, was cataclysmic. Born in Adam, (the 1st man), the human race inherits sin, disobedience, and death. Born again in Christ, (the 2nd man) -a believer inherits righteousness, obedience, and life. Paul describes the whole human race as comprehended under one of two heads. Either – The federal head of the old creation – Adam, (the 1st man, the first Adam) or – the federal head of the new creation – Christ. (the 2nd Man, the last Adam). Therefore, every human being is either IN Adam or IN Christ. There is no alternative.
Fallen Nature
Every member of the human race is initially under the headship of the first Adam. All humanity starts their life on earth, dead in trespasses and sins. Eph.2:1 Only those born again, of the Spirit, are placed under the headship of the Last Adam. The means whereby we derive our fallen nature from the 1st man, is natural birth. By human parentage, we immediately partake of the former, sinful nature. A new-born baby, incapable of Adam’s initial fall, instantly partakes of his sinful nature. The mode of acquiring a new, redeemed nature from the 2nd man is a spiritual birth. As Jesus told Nicodemus: marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be
read more