Verse of the day — Psalm 23:2
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Psalm 23:2(KJV)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
The Essential Christ
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit fruit that will last. (John 15:16 NIV)
The new creation is in Christ.It is not in you, and not in me, and never will be. All that itwill mean in time, and in eternity will be through our spiritualunion with Christ. All God's fullness is in Christ. We shallreceive all that fullness, and enjoy it in a practicalout-working. But this, while we are yet here in time, will everbe by faith's union. In eternity, where the reception of thatfullness will be unhindered, the work of faith, though not itsfruit, will have passed. But we shall never be absorbed in Christin the sense that we become so many Christs. It will still beHimself as distinct Who is to be glorified. We shall never beglorifying ourselves, neither shall we be glorified by others asthough we were Christ. Christ is not some great widespreadessence, which is going to become the constitution of a greatmultitude, so that that multitude becomes a Christ in essence. Itwill ever be true that Christ remains apart in His Person, thoughmanifested in His glory and in His excellence in the saints, andwe shall still, therefore, be worshiping Him as objective anddistinct in His own Person from ourselves.
Perhaps that hardly needssaying. But it is very important that we should recognize that foreverGod has bound up everything with His Son, and that nothingwill ever be had or enjoyed apart from Christ, while for thispresent life that is only by faith in the Lord Jesus. The objectof this present emphasis is to seek, as the Lord will enable,that there shall be an emancipation from ourselves; for thatoccupation, that consideration, is always taking fromHis glory. Let us ask the Lord to cut us really free fromourselves by an unveiling and presentation of His Son to us, asthe sum total of all that ever God desires and wills.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
You died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? § I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. § He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. §
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. We are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. § As You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us. § You are the body of Christ, and members individually. § Because I live, you will live also. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.
Col. 3:3; Rom. 6:2; Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 John 5:20; John 17:21; 1 Cor. 12:27; John 14:19; Rev. 2:17
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
See how He loved.
He died for all. § Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
He … lives to make intercession for them. § I go to prepare a place for you.
I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. § Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am. § Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
We love Him because He first loved us. § The love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
John 11:36; 2 Cor. 5:15; John 15:13; Heb. 7:25; John 14:2; John 14:3; John 17:24; John 13:1; 1 John 4:19; 2 Cor. 5:14,15; John 15:10
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
Truth Triumphant!
To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth My voice" (John 18:37).
Charismatic Arminianism's experience omits truth. Covenant Calvinism's legality chokes truth. Cross-centered Christianity's Christ-life is Truth!
"Greater zeal for the salvation of sinners, and the amelioration of the condition of mankind, never was more manifested than at present (1850). This is ground of rejoicing to all the friends of the Gospel. But there is one unhappy symptom of the present times, with respect to Christianity. Zeal for the purity of divine truth has not kept pace with zeal for the salvation of sinners." -A.C.
"The semblance of love which does not maintain the truth, but accommodates itself to that which is not the truth, is not love according to God. In the last days the test of truth is the maintenance of the truth.
"God would have us love one another; but the Holy Spirit, by whose power we receive the divine nature, and who pours the love of God into our hearts, is the Spirit of truth, and His office is to glorify Christ.
"Therefore it is impossible that a love which can put up with a doctrine that falsified Christ, or which is indifferent to anything that concerns His glory, can be of the Holy Spirit - still less so, if such indifference be set up as a proof of that love."
"In all things commending ourselves as the ministers of God. . . by the word of truth" (2 Cor. 6:4, 7)
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
God of Great Things - Song of MARY (5)
Song Of MARY - STUDY
For Hs that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear His from generation to generation.
Luke 1:49-50
Holy God
The Holy One; the Mighty God; the Everlasting Father, has done great things to ME. The sublime Creator saw all He fashioned and made and behold it was very good, and yet the federal head fell. And ugly, cancerous sin infected creations beauty.. and it infected me – and it infected you too. No wonder the lowly handmaiden of the Lord rejoiced with thanksgiving. No wonder little Mary began to sing of His wondrous deeds. No wonder the words that dropped from her lips contained such beauty and praise.
Caring God
It seems beyond mortal credibility that the great God of the universe cares. It is past understanding that the Almighty should care for one person – one who has so often grieved His heart and quenched His Spirit. It beggars belief that the eternal One should seek out and love one person – one among the billions of mortal souls.. one so unworthy.. one so besotted with sin.. one floundering in the polluted sea of humanity. Yet Mary recognised this astonishing fact, and the Holy Spirit made sure it was recorded in the Word of God. And this truth is as true for you and for me.. as it was true for her.
Truthful God
And the God-breathed Word cannot lie, for He is Light and He is Life and He is Truth: “and He that is mighty hath done to me great things, and Holy is His name,” Luke 1:49. Can you say with Mary, “He that is mighty hath done great things to ME:… or are you wallowing in your own guilt and shame? Can you accept His Word.. or are you unable to accept His Truth? Can you proclaim the wondrous things that the Lord has done for you.. or are you racked by past actions and attitudes, that sear your soul with self-condemnation?
Merciful God
Can you
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
The Christian Walk
Life Instructions
Are you a Christian? Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour? Are you doing the things that the Lord requires of you? Am I? Christians are given a number of things to do.. ways to live.. instructions to follow, commandments to obey – how to BE.
Instructions To Follow
We are told to abide in Christ, but some choose not to abide in Him. We are called to walk in the light, but some choose to walk in darkness. We are directed to walk in the spirit, but some choose to walk the way of men. We are instructed to walk in truth, but some deny the Lord that bought them. We are commanded to walk in newness of life, but some choose to walk in the old flesh.
Command or Choice
What you notice in each of these things is that we are commanded - not forced. We are told to be filled with the Spirit... in fact, it is a continuous day by day action. Be filled, or go on being filled with the Holy Spirit, as we read in Ephesians 5:8. But even this is a choice for the believer. Paul tells the Colossians the great desire of his heart toward all the believers. Paul longs that all believers are filled to overflowing, "be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." Colossians 1:9,12
Position and Condition
Some believers allow the trials and circumstances of life to shipwreck their faith. They only see the condition of their life instead of accepting their position in Christ. Oh, the trials of life are waxing worse and worse, but faith holds fast to His Word. Some believers consciously, and deliberately, walk away from the spiritual path. They are lured by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and
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