Friday, December 2, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
What Forgiveness Is and Isn't
— Thursday, November 17th, 2011 —
The most difficult math problem in the universe, it turns out, is 70 x 7. Perhaps the hardest thing to do in the Christian life is to forgive someone who has hurt you, often badly. But Jesus says the alternative to forgiving one’s enemies is hell.One of the reasons this is hard for us is because we too often assume forgiving a trespasser means allowing an injustice to stand. This attitude betrays a defective eschatology. At our Lord’s arrest (Matt. 26:47-54), Jesus told Peter to put his sword back into his sheath not because Jesus didn’t believe in punishing evildoers (think Armageddon). Jesus told Peter he could have an armada of angelic warriors at his side (and one day he will). But judgment was not yet, and Peter wasn’t judge.
That’s the point.
When we forgive, we are confessing that vengeance is God’s (Rom. 12:19). We don’t need to exact justice from a fellow believer because justice has already fallen at the cross. We don’t need to exact vengeance from an unbeliever because we know the sin against us will be judged in hell or, more hopefully, when the offender unites himself to the One who is “the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn. 2:2).
A prisoner of war who forgives his captor or a terminated pastor who forgives a predatory congregation, these people are not overlooking sin. Nor are they saying that what happened is “okay” or that the relationships involved are back to “normal” (whatever that is). Instead they are confessing that judgment is coming and they can trust the One who will be seated on that throne.
You don’t have to store up bitterness, and you don’t have to find ways of retaliation for what’s been done to you. You can trust a God who is just. If you won’t forgive, if you refuse to rest in God’s judgment without seeking to retaliate, it doesn’t matter what your evangelistic tracts and prophecy charts say. When it comes to the gospel and the to the end times, you’re just another liberal.
Moore To The Point
Russell D. Moore
Friday, October 28, 2011
One Day as a Thousand Years
October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The Best Safeguard Against False Teaching
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 68, 69.taken from:
J.C. Ryle Quotes
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Meditation in the Morning
October 13, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Pray for Grace to Govern your Tongue
4.4
We must pray for grace to enable us both to govern our tongues well and to use them well.Lord, enable us to guard our ways, that we may not sin with our tongue, and to guard our mouth, as if with a muzzle, Psalm 39:1(ESV) that it may not be hasty to utter a word. Ecclesiastes 5:2(ESV)
Set a guard, O LORD, over our mouth; keep watch over the door of our lips, Psalm 141:3(ESV) that we may not stumble in what we say. James 3:2(ESV)
Let our speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, Colossians 4:6(ESV) and enable us always, out of the good treasure of our heart, to bring forth good. Matthew 12:35(KJV) Let our mouth utter wisdom, and our tongue speak justice; Psalm 37:30(ESV) and let not your words depart out of our mouth, or out of the mouth of our offspring, or our children’s offspring, from this time forth and forevermore. Isaiah 59:21(ESV)
Enable us always to open our mouth with wisdom, and let the teaching of kindness be on our tongue. Proverbs 31:26(ESV) Give us to know what is acceptable, Proverbs 10:32(ESV) that our tongue may be as choice silver, and our lips may feed many. Proverbs 10:20-21(ESV)
What we say about someone speaks more of our character than of theirs.......
In Christ,
Sandy
Saturday, September 17, 2011
So, Brothers and Sisters, if we can say that we love God’s people, as God’s people, because they are God’s people, that is a mark that we have passed from death unto life! Do you love them for Christ’s sake? Do you say to yourself, “That is one of Christ’s people. That is one who bears Christ’s Cross. That is one of the children of God and, therefore, I love him and take delight in his company”? Then that is an evidence that you are not of the world. If you were, you would love the world, but, belonging to Christ, you love those who are Christ’s and you love them for Christ’s sake.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Friday, September 16, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Be On Guard Against False Doctrine
Let us be on our guard against false doctrine. Unsound faith will never be the mother of really sound practice, and in these latter days, departures from the faith abound. See then that your loins be girded about with truth, and be very jealous of receiving anything which cannot be proved by the Bible. Do not think for a moment that false doctrine will meet you face to face, saying, “I am false doctrine, and I want to come into your heart.” Satan does not go to work in that way. He dresses up false doctrine like Jezebel — he paints her face and attires her hair, and tries to make her like truth. Do not think that those who preach error will never preach anything that is true. Error would do little harm if that was the case. No! Error will come before you mingled with much that is sound and scriptural.
J.C. Ryle
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Heaven is for Real.....
Absolutely! And you will ONLY get there by the grace of God through the blood of Christ. Don't put your trust in feel good stories that diminish the Gospel. Read the TRUE story - The Bible. Here are few more thoughts.
Challies and Reformed Baptist Fellowship
In Christ,
Sandy
Challies and Reformed Baptist Fellowship
In Christ,
Sandy
Monday, September 5, 2011
Amen.....
Don’t Glory in Yourself; Glory in Christ
J.C. Ryle
J.C. Ryle Qoutes
J.C. Ryle Qoutes
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Faith, Substance, and Evidence September 3, 2011 |
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Thursday, September 1, 2011
Selfishness
Inordinately Selfish
“The sinner’s ignorance and unconsciousness of his enmity against God are due to the false conceptions which he entertains of His nature and character. If he were better acquainted with the God of Holy Writ, he would be more aware of his hatred of Him. But the God he believes in is merely a creation of his own fancy. The true God is ineffably holy, inflexibly just. His wrath burns against sin and He will by no means clear the guilty. If mankind likes the true God, why is it that they have set up so many false gods? If they admire the truth, why have they invented so many false systems of religion? The contrariety between the carnal mind and God is the contrariety between sin and holiness. The divine law requires man to love God supremely; instead, he loves himself supremely. It requires him to delight in God superlatively; instead, he wholly delights in all that is not of God. It requires him to love his neighbor as himself; instead, his heart is inordinately selfish.”
Taken from “The Doctrine of Man’s Impotence” by A. W. Pink (1886–1952)
Real Men Love Pink
Taken from “The Doctrine of Man’s Impotence” by A. W. Pink (1886–1952)
Real Men Love Pink
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Where are your affections?
It is not that those empty professors who call themselves Christians are all (though many probably are) conscious hypocrites, rather are they deceived souls, and the tragic thing is that in most places there is nothing in the preaching which is at all calculated to un-deceive them; instead, there is only that which bolsters them up in their delusion. There is a large class in Christendom today who are satisfied with a bare profession. They have heard expounded some of the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and have given an intellectual assent thereto, and they mistake that for a saving knowledge of the Truth. Their minds are instructed, but their hearts are not reached, nor their lives transformed. They are still worldly in their affections and ways. There is no real subjection to God, no holiness of walk, no fruit to Christ’s glory. Their “faith” is of no value at all; their profession is vain.” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Christian Duty of Forgiving
There are few Christian duties which are so frequently and strongly dwelt upon in the New Testament as this of forgiveness. It fills a prominent place in the Lord’s prayer. The only profession we make in all that prayer, is that of forgiving “those who trespass against us.” It is a test of being forgiven ourselves. The person who cannot forgive their neighbor the few trifling offences they may have committed against them, can know nothing experimentally of that free and full pardon which is offered to us by Christ. (Matt 18:35; Eph. 4:32)
Not least, it is one leading mark of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in the heart may always be known by the fruits He causes to be brought forth in the life. Those fruits are both active and passive. The person who has not learned to bear and forbear, to put up with much and look over much, is not born of the Spirit. (1 John 3:14; Matt 5:44, 45)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Trials....
The true Christian in the present day must never be surprised to find that they have constant trials to endure. Sinful human nature never changes. So long as they serve the world, and walk in the broad way, little perhaps will be said against them. Once let them take up the cross and follow Christ, and there is no lie too monstrous, and no story too absurd, for some to tell against them, and for others to believe. But let them take comfort in the thought that they are only drinking the cup which their blessed Master drank before them. The lies of their enemies do them no injury in heaven, whatever they may on earth. Let them bear them patiently, and not fret, or lose their temper. When Christ was reviled, “He reviled not again” (1 Peter 2:23). Let the Christian do likewise.
~ J.C. Ryle
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
decluttering.....
We are STILL waiting to move, nearly everything is packed - REALLY! Things just keep coming up to hinder our move. And yesterday Chad and I were both convicted that maybe there is still something left here for us to do? I know that there are things that do not need to be packed up and taken with us. I came across this today and not by chance.......it appears that I still have some "cleaning" to do. With the Lord's help of course:)
Cleaning Out My Closet
I decided today was the day,
To take and cast out some old things.
Things I have kept far too long,
Things that no longer belonged.
To take and cast out some old things.
Things I have kept far too long,
Things that no longer belonged.
I opened the closet door,
With determination inside.
I started to sort through things,
That were left hanging way to long.
With determination inside.
I started to sort through things,
That were left hanging way to long.
First I came upon Bitterness,
Buried deep inside,
So I took it and cast it
Into my box of sin.
Buried deep inside,
So I took it and cast it
Into my box of sin.
Next was envyness,
I needed that no more,
So I took and tossed
That envyness clear out the closet door.
I needed that no more,
So I took and tossed
That envyness clear out the closet door.
Well my closet was looking better,
Yet more needed to go,
So I dug even deeper,
Deeper then ever before.
Yet more needed to go,
So I dug even deeper,
Deeper then ever before.
Hid deep into the middle,
I thought that was long gone,
I found unforgiveness,
It seemed to just hang on.
I thought that was long gone,
I found unforgiveness,
It seemed to just hang on.
So I took that unforgiveness
Along with self-pride,
I took them both,
And cast them both aside.
Along with self-pride,
I took them both,
And cast them both aside.
I looked at my closet,
Looking good I had to admit,
Yet something was left there
Hanging, that needed to be cast.
Looking good I had to admit,
Yet something was left there
Hanging, that needed to be cast.
I grabbed a hold of the hate,
Firmly I gave it a yank,
It was the hardest article,
More stubborn then the rest.
Firmly I gave it a yank,
It was the hardest article,
More stubborn then the rest.
I knew if my closet was to be cleansed,
That this one above all the rest,
Had to be cast deep into the pit.
So with determination, hate was cast aside.
That this one above all the rest,
Had to be cast deep into the pit.
So with determination, hate was cast aside.
Now as I looked into my closet,
I had room for new things.
Like love, and happiness,
That had no room before.
I had room for new things.
Like love, and happiness,
That had no room before.
Now my closet is only filled with
The Holy Spirit, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Isn't it amazing what our closet
Can hold, when we cast away Our sins,
Inviting Our Precious Lord Jesus Christ In
Author Unknown
The Holy Spirit, Our Lord Jesus Christ,
Isn't it amazing what our closet
Can hold, when we cast away Our sins,
Inviting Our Precious Lord Jesus Christ In
Author Unknown
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Waiting.....
“It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:26
A believer may present a right petition in a right way, and yet he may not wait the Lord’s answer in His own time. He may appoint a time, and if the Lord does not answer within that period, he turns away, resigning all expectation of an answer.
There is such a thing as waiting for the Lord. The apostle alludes to and enjoins this holy patience, when he speaks to the Ephesians of “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.” A believer may present his request- may have some degree of nearness in urging it- may press it with fervency- and yet, forgetting the hoping, quiet, waiting patience which ought invariably to mark a praying soul; he may lose the blessing he has sought. There is such a thing as “waiting upon the Lord.”
Oh; how long have we made Him to wait for us! For years, it may be, we kept Him knocking, and standing, and waiting at the door of our hearts, until His own Spirit took the work in His own hands, and unlocked the heart, and the Savior entered. The Lord would now often have us wait His time in answering prayer. And, if the vision tarry, still let us wait, and hope, and expect. Let the delay but stimulate hope, and increase desire, exercise faith, and multiply petitions at the mercy-seat. It will come when the Lord sees best.
A believer may lose the answer to his prayer, by dictating to the Lord the mode, as well as the time, of answering. The Lord has His own mode of blessing His people. We may prescribe the way the Lord should answer, but He may send the blessing to us through an opposite channel, in a way we never thought of, and should never have selected.
Sovereignty sits regent upon the throne, and in no aspect is its exercise more manifestly seen than in selecting the way and the means by which the prayers of the saints of God are answered. Dictate not to the Lord. If you ask a blessing through a certain channel, or in a prescribed way, let it be with the deepest humility of mind, and with perfect submission to the will of God.
Be satisfied to receive the blessing in any way which a good and covenant God may appoint. Be assured, it will be in that way that will most glorify Himself, and secure to you the greatest amount of blessing.
Octavious Winslow
A believer may present a right petition in a right way, and yet he may not wait the Lord’s answer in His own time. He may appoint a time, and if the Lord does not answer within that period, he turns away, resigning all expectation of an answer.
There is such a thing as waiting for the Lord. The apostle alludes to and enjoins this holy patience, when he speaks to the Ephesians of “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance.” A believer may present his request- may have some degree of nearness in urging it- may press it with fervency- and yet, forgetting the hoping, quiet, waiting patience which ought invariably to mark a praying soul; he may lose the blessing he has sought. There is such a thing as “waiting upon the Lord.”
Oh; how long have we made Him to wait for us! For years, it may be, we kept Him knocking, and standing, and waiting at the door of our hearts, until His own Spirit took the work in His own hands, and unlocked the heart, and the Savior entered. The Lord would now often have us wait His time in answering prayer. And, if the vision tarry, still let us wait, and hope, and expect. Let the delay but stimulate hope, and increase desire, exercise faith, and multiply petitions at the mercy-seat. It will come when the Lord sees best.
A believer may lose the answer to his prayer, by dictating to the Lord the mode, as well as the time, of answering. The Lord has His own mode of blessing His people. We may prescribe the way the Lord should answer, but He may send the blessing to us through an opposite channel, in a way we never thought of, and should never have selected.
Sovereignty sits regent upon the throne, and in no aspect is its exercise more manifestly seen than in selecting the way and the means by which the prayers of the saints of God are answered. Dictate not to the Lord. If you ask a blessing through a certain channel, or in a prescribed way, let it be with the deepest humility of mind, and with perfect submission to the will of God.
Be satisfied to receive the blessing in any way which a good and covenant God may appoint. Be assured, it will be in that way that will most glorify Himself, and secure to you the greatest amount of blessing.
Octavious Winslow
Friday, June 3, 2011
Prayer....
"We are not to expect that God will give us everything we choose to ask for. We know that sometimes we ask, and do not receive , because we ask amiss. If we ask for that which is not promised - if we run counter to the spirit which the Lord would have us cultivate - if we ask contrary to His will, or to the decrees of His providence - if we ask merely for the gratification of our own ease, and without an eye to His glory, we must not expect that we shall receive it."
C.H. Spurgeon
C.H. Spurgeon
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
God's Providence.......
"Providence prospers one, and frustrates the desires of another, in the same business and at the same spot, yet The Great Ruler is as good and wise at one time as another.....let us not envy the more successful, nor murmur at our losses as though we are singularly and specially tried."
C.H. Spurgeon
We will do well to accept and be pleased with the providence of God wherever that may take us.........let us always go in obedience to Him and Him alone.
C.H. Spurgeon
We will do well to accept and be pleased with the providence of God wherever that may take us.........let us always go in obedience to Him and Him alone.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
"As I said before, I wish you success in your business. I would propose nothing inconsistent with a due regard to it. But can I bound my desires for you within such narrow limits? Allow me to wish you more lasting riches, greater honours, and better pleasures than this world can afford. Alas! what a poor acquisition to be what is usually called a thriving man for a few years, and then to drop unawares into an unknown eternity. How often do we see that when a man has just compassed his point, made his fortune, and is about to sit down to enjoy all his heart can wish, he is hastily called away! What a contrast between living to-day in affluence and pleasure, regardless of that great God who has made us, and to-morrow perhaps to be summoned away to appear, naked and alone, before his tribunal, to give an account what use we have made of the talents so long entrusted to us! I pray God to impress the thought upon your heart before it is too late. I cannot but think there will be something within you suggesting while you read, that what I hint may possibly be true."
John Newton
The Old Guys
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Enemies.......
The Virtue of Having Enemies It is no compliment to say about a Christian that he has no enemies, for that is the same as saying he has accomplished nothing. The apostle Paul had many bitter enemies, and they finally got him executed. In fact, almost all of the great heroes of the faith, through all the centuries since Satan gained his victory over Adam and Eve, have had to overcome bitter opposition from that wicked one. So instead of resenting our enemies, we should thank God for them, for they enable us to become more like our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Only through such experiences can we learn what it means to say, with Paul: "I am crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20). Only if we have enemies can we learn to obey Christ's difficult command to "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matthew 5:44). The Lord Jesus easily could have called on twelve legions of angels to rout His enemies (Matthew 26:53). Instead, He submitted to their vicious insults and cruel tortures, even praying in His agony on the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). The enemies of Christ killed Him, but had they not done so, He would not have died for our sins, and we would be lost eternally. This is a mystery to ponder, and difficult to comprehend, yet, as the Bible promises, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee" (Psalm 76:10). The enmity of men can thus be a channel of divine grace to the believer, for "tribulation worketh patience" (Romans 5:3), and "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17). HMM |
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Opposition......
The World’s Opposition To Christ’s Work
~ J.C. Ryle
True Christians must make up their minds to trouble in this world. Whether we are ministers or hearers, whether we teach or are taught, it makes little difference. We must carry “a cross.” We must be content to lose even life itself for Christ’s sake. We must submit to the loss of man’s favor, we must endure hardships, we must deny ourselves in many things, or we shall never reach heaven at last. So long as the world, the devil, and our own hearts, are what they are, these things must be so.
Forsaking the World For Christ
~ J.C. Ryle
Friday, March 4, 2011
March 4th. | ||
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself." Acts 20:24 It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis. What do I really count dear? If I have not been gripped by Jesus Christ, I will count service dear, time given to God dear, my life dear unto myself. Paul says he counted his life dear only in order that he might fulfil the ministry he had received; he refused to use his energy for any other thing. Acts 20:24 states Paul's almost sublime annoyance at being asked to consider himself; he was absolutely indifferent to any consideration other than that of fulfilling the ministry he had received. Practical work may be a competitor against abandonment to God, because practical work is based on this argument - Remember how 'useful you are here, or - Think how much value you would be in that particular type of work." That attitude does not put Jesus Christ as the Guide as to where we should go, but our judgment as to where we are of most use. Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His. Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest |
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Privacy......
Someone recently asked me a very personal question and to tell the truth I was very offended by it. The question was, "have you been fixed?" First of all we are not animals regardless of what the evolutionary textbooks would lead us to believe. We are created in the image of God. So therefore, no I have not been "fixed". Secondly, it's no one's business. Period. Regardless of who you are in relationship to me. That is between my husband and me. Period. Our society has degraded the institution of marriage and family to such a degree that there seems to be no place for intimacy between a husband and wife. No respect or reverence for it. It's all so commonplace. And our children are viewed as a burden and not the blessings that God intended them to be. Whether or not my husband and I are blessed with anymore children is up to God. Period.
In Christ,
Sandy
In Christ,
Sandy
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Fulfillment in the Rest of Christ
4 Feb
Be advised, everyone of you who is now seeking rest in the world. Be advised, and come and seek rest in Christ. You have no home, no refuge, no hiding place, no portion. Sickness and death will soon be upon you—and you are unprepared. Be advised, and seek rest in Christ. There is enough in Him and to spare. Who has tried and did not find? A dying Welsh boy said, in broken English, “Jesus Christ is plenty for everybody.” Know your privileges, all you who have come to Christ. You have something solid under foot and something firm under hand. You have a rest even now, and you shall have more abundantly.~ J.C. Ryle
The Christian Race & Other Sermons, “Come Unto Me”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2002], 63.
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