Sydney's Family: Home!!!!!!

Sydney's Family: Home!!!!!!: What a blessed day yesterday was! God is good! We were able to come home yesterday evening! Sydney did great (as usual)! Everything surgery ...

Sydney's Family: Getting ready...

Sydney's Family: Getting ready...: for tomorrow. I can't say that I'm looking forward to tomorrow but I can say that I am peaceful about tomorrow. When I look back on all that...

more craftiness...recycled crayons!

another Pinterest idea! We tried this a few days ago and it worked great! I put the crayons in a zipper bag and smashed them with the rolling pin! Kinda fun and a lot less messy. We baked them @230 for about 15 minutes. I used a star candy mold (on clearance!) Very cute and great for little hands.

The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking: Things Good Moms Do {My thoughts on "mommy-wars"}

 I just found this wonderful Christian mom today and LOVE her blog! I thought I would share this lovely post on "good" moms. Enjoy

The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking: Things Good Moms Do {My thoughts on "mommy-wars"}: Good moms vaccinate their kids.  Good moms don't vaccinate their kids. Good moms breastfeed.  And yes, good moms formula feed. Goo...

Craftiness...

Easy, easy....I simply spray painted an oatmeal container....and added grass cuttings from the vacant lot next door:) Idea from this site.....

Lainey Beth...nuttin'

While playing a game the other day with Lainey she says...
 "I got nuttin'...well...nuttin' but the blood of Jesus of course!"

And that's all we need Lainey Beth:) She's a joy for sure....

Pink

“God is the God of all grace, and salvation is entirely by his grace. “By grace are ye saved” (Ephesians 2:8), and it is “by grace” from beginning to end. Grace planned salvation, grace provided salvation, and grace so works on and in his elect as to overcome the hardness of their hearts, the obstinacy of their wills, and the enmity of their minds, and thus makes them willing to receive salvation. Grace begins, grace continues, and grace consummates our salvation. Salvation by grace – sovereign, irresistible, free grace – is illustrated in the New Testament by example as well as precept.” —A. W. Pink (1886–1952)
Taken from “The Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross” by A. W. Pink (1886-1952)

Real Men Love Pink

Another blessing!

Those adopted children of mine became the proud new parents of a sweet baby boy yesterday! Praising God for all of them! Another blessing indeed:)

Behold,children are a heritage from the Lord,

the fruit of the womb a reward.

Psalm 127:3

ESV

In Christ,

Sandy

I came across this Watson quote at Challies. Love it...

Every time you draw your breath, you suck in mercy. —Thomas Watson

to clarify.....

My DH suggested that I clarify 9 for the masses...I don't think that 2 maybe 3 readers would be considered a "mass" but ok.....Those of you that know me, know that I have 6 kids, yes, they are all mine! I also have a little girl that's 12, that I love as my own, so she's counted. I also have 2 adult children that I love as my own, they call me mom, they are counted as well:) So that brings the number to 9.These 2 adult children are about to make me a "grandmother" for the 1st time! Can I count that one too?

I have been adopted into the family of God by  Christ. So when I say that I  count "them" as my own, I mean it. They are "mine", I love them.They are most importantly brothers and sisters in Christ.  Adoption is a beautiful Gospel picture. And I am grateful to be a part of it:)



In Christ,
Sandy

Thankful.....

for the blessing of being "mom".  Thankful for my 9 kids. Yes 9...all gifts from God. Thankful for the Husband that I share them with. Thankful for a mother that has gone on to be with the Lord, for 2 grandmothers that loved me beyond measure. Thankful for the mothers I have now.Thankful most of all to be a child of God through Christ. Blessed beyond measure indeed.

In Christ,
Sandy

makes me feel better...

"Oddly, it is not real cooks who insist that the finest ingredients are necessary to produce a delicious something...Real cooks take the stale bread and aging onions and make you happy."
Susan Wiegand, Cooking As Courtship
Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader

More from Ian and Larissa...

I'm so very grateful to have taken part in this yesterday...a true blessing on my life. Oh to live fully for Christ alone....

Here's an article from Larissa at Desiring God

Be inspired....

His,
Sandy

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:17

Run...don't walk

I've had a couple of blog posts running around in my head lately and just haven't had taken the time to post them. But I MADE time to post THIS. I came across a video today from Desiring God which led me to the couple's blog. I've only glanced over the blog but I'm already looking forward to reading more and praying for this couple. Truly inspiring... Gospel, God honoring, SO SO MUCH to learn from them. Take the time to visit the blog, watch the video, and pray. Run....don't walk to take part in this.

Humbled to be called His.....
In Him,
Sandy

Resolved: Living with Purpose

Resolved: Living with Purpose

A Prayer for a Lukewarm Heart

A Prayer for a Lukewarm Heart

He Is Risen!

10 Results of the Resurrection from Desiring God

More from the yard:)

A couple of Laineyisms...

Upon hearing something buzz, shes comes running up the yard, "Momma, I heard a stunger!".

While playing in the yard (it is warm today), "Oh, I'm sweaty like a coconut!"

Love that girl:)

In Christ,
Sandy

Pictures from my yard:)

Cole's comic for the day:)

click to view

3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don't Leave the Church: What is it that sets apart the kids who stay in the church?

The Christian Family

The Christian Family in a Modern World

Self-help books are not shy on advice for contemporary marriage. In fact, it is common for present-day culture to advance the presumption that a happy and fulfilling marriage is ultimately defined in terms of our own self-gratification. Likewise, bookstores often dedicate entire sections of books to the topic of parenting, many of which overlook the fundamentals of childhood obedience and respect.
In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul sets forth a prototype for families to model in alignment with God’s desires for family relationships: “Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. Children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord.” This is simple, practical advice that contemporary culture often rebukes.
In the series, The Christian Family, Alistair Begg explores the practical application of these essential instructions. Listen online, on the radio, or on your mobile phone, and share this important teaching on a God-centered family with those you love.

Listen to or download the entire series FREE »

Having Perspective in Light of Eternity

O Christian, what is our light affliction when compared to eternity? Shame on us if we murmur and complain and turn back – with heaven before our eyes! What can this vain and passing world give us better than this? This is the city of our God Himself, when He will dwell among us Himself. The glory of God shall enlighten it, and the Lamb is the light there. Truly we may say, as Mephibosheth did to David, “Let the world take all, since our Lord will come in peace.” Such is the Bible heaven, there is none other; these sayings are faithful and true, not any of them shall fail. Surely, it is worth a little pain, a little laboring, a little toil, if only we may have the lowest place in the kingdom of God.

~ J.C. Ryle

Posted by Erik on March 16, 2012 in Heaven

Praising the Lord for this......

Sydney.....

Prayerfully she'll get out of the halo today and into a minerva! Please pray for her......

In Christ,
Sandy

 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.  And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job 1:18-21
ESV

Fierce Tornadoes and the Fingers of God

Fierce Tornadoes and the Fingers of God

Pastor John Piper

“For there is hope for a tree,
    if it be cut down, that it will sprout again,
    and that its shoots will not cease.
Job 14:7 ESV

More from Luke

 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Luke 24:32
ESV

How often do we read and hear Scripture without seeing Jesus? Do our hearts burn within us? 

In Christ,
Sandy 

Lesson from Luke...

So he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd.
Luke 22:6
ESV

And so it is with us....in the absence of a crowd our true self is manifested. What we do in the dark, what we do when no one is watching, when no one is listening, that is what is revealed in our character. But Someone is watching........


Praise be to God that while He has seen and listened, I am forgiven through Christ.


In Him,
Sandy

To return good for good is human. To return good for evil is divine.
 Alistair Begg

Overwhelmed by the love of family....I am blessed indeed

Sydney's Family: Minerva...

Sydney's Family: Minerva...: This seems to be what Sydney's doctors have in mind for her transitional brace. It's called a Minerva brace. Not sure if this can be fitted...

If you are to share the gospel, you must first know the content of the gospel and you must live out the implications of the gospel.
Tim Challies

just thinking...

about  family members....oh that we would be joined together in Christ....

White washed tombs?

I've had this post  rambling thought in my head for a few weeks now. Today, I guess it became even clearer to me.Now, before I get started, there are people out there that cringe at the beginning of my stories but thankfully for them I talk faster than I type, so this won't be quite as painful;) So this thought came to me one day as I was getting ready(read putting makeup on) and I realized that I don't like for my girls to see me doing that. Why? Well, I want them to focus on the" inner" beauty. I want them to see the value in themselves through the blood of Christ. Not the praise of man.I don't want them to think that that's something that they need to do. I have a couple of friends that don't really wear makeup and they look lovely. And yet I continue to ''get ready", it's a habit I suppose. I've been wearing makeup since I was 12...oh my...that's a long time if you're counting! As a girl of 12 I wanted to look older, as a woman of 40 I want to look younger. And so it goes. But I realized that it goes so much deeper than that. Think of the descriptions for make up....concealer, cover up, full coverage, "spackle" if you will. Some of these could be interchangeable with deceit. Really, that's what it is. But underneath, the wrinkles are still there right along with the age spots. And sometimes the "cover up" actually makes it worse, sometimes we and others can see the flaws and wrinkles all the more clearly. Not what we had hoped for, huh?Now, some of you are thinking, "I don't wear makeup", "I don't fuss with my appearance", "I don't care what others think", "what you see is what you get",well, before you think that this doesn't apply to you, there are more ways than one to make ourselves look better. Vanity and deceit sometimes walk together. We all "wear makeup". What about those "fake" smiles that we plaster on? What about that "little white lie"? What about the gossip, does it make you feel better about yourself? Do others think better of you? We've been doing this since the garden, remember when Adam and Eve tried to cover  themselves? They couldn't cover their sin anymore that you or I can. God made their coverings. It took a sacrifice. We could be here for a while.....I'll move on.

So, today we had an issue of a "cover up". Yes, someone had made a "mess" of things at some point and tried to cover it up. They didn't want to get in trouble but decided to take care of  it themselves(read bigger mess). Well, I was frustrated and disappointed to say the least. So, I sent my beloved a text and ask for prayer. Oh, that we would do this more often. What a blessing to have my husband go to the Lord in prayer for me. I had to confront the issue and at the same time convey a message of love. HARD for me to do. Then my ramblings came together some more. I'm guilty of the same cover ups and so are you. We make a mess of things(read sin) and try to take care of it ourselves and end up with a bigger mess. Sin breeds sin. So, where did this conversation take us? It took us to the Cross. Praise be to God for Christ! For His "covering". Only Him, only Him.

I just realized that I haven't even gotten to the title, maybe my typing skills are improving. I think you can figure out where I was going with that:)


Thankful for Christ....

In Him,
Sandy

My beloved...

My beloved is mine, and I am his...
Song of Solomon 2:16 ESV

How fitting that I should be reading this today! I am indeed blessed by my beloved - my husband, blessed by the man of God he is and will become. Thankful for the gracious and Sovereign hand that saw fit to give him to me.

In Christ,
Sandy

Radishes, Aluminum Foil, and Jesus Christ...

Cole and Haley are studying Science together this year. They're currently working on an ongoing experiment with radishes. They love it! There's an experiment everyday for 4 weeks! The most recent discovery came about yesterday. Of the many experiments this one involved two cups and two seeds. The 1st seed is placed in a clear plastic cup and a damp paper towel. The 2nd is placed in a cup completely covered with aluminum foil. After a waiting period of  a few days(I can't remember exactly), it was time to observe and record the findings. As expected the "clear" cup seed sprouted and was a lovely green. Unexpected to Cole and Haley were the findings in the "aluminum" cup seed. Neither of them expected the seed would grow. But lo and behold, grow it did. Seems good, right? What was different? There was no lovely green color, the stem was weak, the leaves were weak and all of it was very pale indeed. This plant left in the dark will eventually wither and die, it will not bear fruit. Why? Well, they answered correctly, there was no sunlight, plants need the sun for food....for life,the lovely green color of photosynthesis. And here we are....we too need the SON light. We may "sprout and grow" for a while in the dark,but we will be weak, we will not bear any fruit, we will soon fade, only to wither and die. But the Light of the world has come. Praise be to God that He has not left us in the dark. We will only be strong through Him, we will only grow through Him, and we will live only through Him and because of Him. Don't stay in the dark. Come to Christ, the true Light.

In Christ,
Sandy

"One compromise here, another there;soon enough the so-called Christian;the man in the world look the same." 

AW Tozer

Love?

“Love Your Enemies,'You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
Matthew 5:43-45 ESV



   “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same.
Luke 6:32 ESV

Is this the way we love? Is there something that makes us seem different to the world or do we fit in with the world? Do we love our enemies? Let's not kid ourselves and say that we don't have any enemies. So, do we love them? Do we  offer the hand of Christian fellowship? Are we forgiving as we have been forgiven? Or do we find ourselves behaving as sinners?

In Christ,
Sandy

humbled to be adopted as a child of God...through Christ

"Most Christians are satisfied living as common Christians, without an insatiable hunger for the deeper things of God." AW Tozer

A lesson from Ruth...

Lay at the Redeemers feet and be covered by His wings.


"At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet!  He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” Ruth 3:8-9

We Soon Fly Away

by Henry Morris, Ph.D. | Feb. 1, 2012

"For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." (Psalm 90:4)
In this unique psalm, Moses is stressing the brevity of even the longest human life with the everlasting nature of God. In the pre-Flood world, men were able to live many hundreds of years, but no one ever lived as long as 1,000 years. By Moses’ time, the typical lifespan was 70 or 80 years (v. 10), much the same as today. Moses lived to age 120, but he was twice as old as most of his contemporaries when he finally died (note Numbers 14:29, 34; Deuteronomy 34:7).
Moses, therefore, was profoundly impressed with the ephemeral nature of a person’s time on earth. Even if someone had lived a thousand years, this was only a little while in God’s sight, and his life would soon "fly away" (Psalm 90:10) and be forgotten.
There is nothing in this passage, incidentally, or in 2 Peter 3:8 ("one day is with the Lord as a thousand years") to justify the misinterpretation that attributes billions of years to God’s creation week. In context (and one must always be sensitive to the context if he wants to understand any passage of Scripture), neither Moses nor Peter were referring to the creation week at all. Moses was stressing the brevity of human life, even that of the antediluvians, while Peter was rebuking the latter-day uniformitarians who would come denying the catastrophic effects of the great Flood. It is too bad that so many Christians are willing to distort Scripture like this in order to accommodate the imaginary ages of evolution.
The message we should really get from this Mosaic observation is the application He Himself makes. "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12)! HMM

The halo.....

is still on, but overall Sydney's Drs were very pleased with her recovery but there just isn't enough bone regrowth to safely remove the halo at this point. She'll go back in March for a CT scan and follow up - maybe then.

In Christ,
Sandy

Please keep Sydney in your prayers today.  We go back to Cincinnati Children's for her check-up.  Hopefully they will give us an idea about getting the halo off.  She is doing great and has not complained one time about her condition.  I think we could all learn something from her , "Do all things without grumbling or disputing" (Philippians 2:14).  We praise the Lord for her continued improvements and pray He will keep His hand on her.  It's in your hands Lord. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7)

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!

In Christ,

Chad

"...while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

The Stupendous Reality of Being “in Christ Jesus”

The Stupendous Reality of Being “in Christ Jesus”

Noah reading the funnies!

taking a break...

You are as much serving God in looking after your own children,training them up in God’s fear,minding the house,and making your household a church for God,as you would be if you had been called to lead an army

to battle for the Lord of hosts.

 Charles Spurgeon

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

I'll miss you my friend...I hope you knew how very much I loved you...

One Day as a Thousand Years

October 28, 2011

 

"Beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3:8)

 

It is sad that many Christians today are so eager to appear intellectual, they are willing to compromise God's clear revelation to do so. God has made it as clear as plain words could make it, that "in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Exodus 20:11). Yet because evolutionary "science" has alleged that the earth is billions of years old, multitudes of evangelicals have fallen in line, rejecting God's plain statement of fact and then trying to find some interpretive loophole to hide behind.

 

Our text verse is perhaps the key verse of the so-called "progressive creationists" who try to correlate the days of creation in Genesis with the supposed 4.6 billion-year system of evolutionary geological ages, by citing Peter as agreeing that "one day is a thousand years."

 

No, Peter is saying that "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years"! That is, God can do in one day what might, by natural processes, take a thousand years. In context, the apostle is condemning the last-day uniformitarians (those who teach that "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation") as "willingly ignorant" of the tremendous significance of the historical facts of creation and the Flood (2 Peter 3:3-6). Real written records only go back a few thousand years, and to attempt to calculate any date before that requires use of a premise which, in context, the Scriptures have just condemned! God says the uniformitarians are willingly ignorant and then urges those who believe His Word to "be not ignorant."  The only way we can know the date and duration of creation is for God to tell us, and He says He made all of heaven and earth in six days, and not so long ago! HMM

The Best Safeguard Against False Teaching

What is the best safe-guard against false teaching? Beyond all doubt the regular study of the word of God, with prayer for the teaching of the Holy Spirit. The Bible was given to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm. 119:105.) The man who reads it aright will never be allowed greatly to err. It is neglect of the Bible which makes so many a prey to the first false teacher whom they hear. They would have us believe that “they are not learned, and do not pretend to have decided opinions.” The plain truth is that they are lazy and idle about reading the Bible, and do not like the trouble of thinking for themselves. Nothing supplies false prophets with followers so much as spiritual sloth under a cloak of humility.

~ J.C. Ryle

Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 68, 69.

taken from:
J.C. Ryle Quotes

Meditation in the Morning

October 13, 2011

 

"My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." (Psalm 5:3)

 

Bible study, meditation on the Word, and prayer are necessities for a healthy Christian life and are good to practice at any time of the day or night, according to the constraints of time and responsibilities of each individual. Other things being equal, however, the best time of all is in the early morning. A believer who awakens each morning to the voice of the Lord in His Word will, in turn, be ready to speak words of blessing to others through the day (Isaiah 50:4). And as we, in turn, look up to Him each morning in prayer, He will hear and direct our steps through the day.

 

This was the example set by the Lord Jesus Himself: "And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed" (Mark 1:35). If even Jesus Christ needed such a quiet time early in the morning set aside to fellowship with His Father, we also would do well to follow.

 

Note the prayer of David: "Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee" (Psalm 143:8). We urgently need to know the way we should walk each day, for it is so easy to get turned aside into our own ways, and the obvious time to pray for guidance is at the very beginning of every day.

 

One should not make a legalistic ritual of prayer and Bible meditation, of course, for it should come from a heart of love whenever and wherever it can be done, whether morning or evening, whether in a solitary place or a crowded street. However it may work for each person, may God help us to say with the psalmist: "O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97). HMM

Lainey Beth turns 4!

We LOVE you Nubby........You're a blessing from God!

"The greatest kindness we can do to anyone is to speak for them to our Lord Jesus Christ."

  J.C. Ryle

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

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~

The Old Guys

"There are eternal consequences resulting from all our thoughts, words and actions, of which we pay too little attention to."  J.C. Ryle

“Men will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matthew 12:36).

"Many think they repent when it is not the offense but the penalty that troubles them."
Thomas Watson
The One Thing Necessary

"A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot."
Proverbs 14:30
ESV

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

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

"Men will forgive a thousand faults in others, but they will magnify the most trivial offence in the followers of Jesus."

C.H. Spurgeon

Amen.....

Don’t Glory in Yourself; Glory in Christ

Are you a true believer? If you are, you ought to glory in Christ. Glory not in your own faith, your own feelings, your own knowledge, your own prayers, your own amendment, your own diligence. Glory in nothing but Christ. Alas! The best of us know but little of that merciful and mighty Saviour. We do not exalt Him and glory in Him enough. Let us pray that we may see more of the fullness there is in Him.

J.C. Ryle
J.C. Ryle Qoutes

Faith, Substance, and Evidence September 3, 2011   "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)   The eleventh chapter of Hebrews, known as the great Hall of Fame of Faith reciting the faith and resulting action of many Old Testament heroes, begins with a description of what faith is.   First, we see that it is the "substance of things hoped for." Biblically, we know that the Christian "hope" is a hope so real it has substance in the present. None of the people of faith recited in this chapter actually saw the promises made to them come to fruition, but they so believed in them that they lived in the present as if the future were reality.   The word "substance" occurs only two other times in Hebrews. It is used to speak of Christ as the exact representation of God's essence and nature, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person |i.e., substance|" (Hebrews 1:3). It is also translated "confidence," "for we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end" (Hebrews 3:14), and speaks of a deep assurance. Putting this all together, our text could then be rendered, "faith is the essence of our assurance of things yet in the future."   The word "evidence" could be translated "conviction," or even "proof." The word implies a logical, airtight argument. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof |same word as 'evidence'|, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). This sort of evidence is something we know to be true, something about which we have such conviction we act accordingly.   The first half of the verse brings a future truth down into the present; the second half commits our lives to that truth. JDM

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

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)

 “The Doctrine of Justification”

Thus let us endeavor to make the name of God glorious and renowned. If God seeks our good, let us seek His glory. If He makes all things tend to our edification, let us make all things tend to His exaltation.


~Thomas Watson~

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)

~ J.C. Ryle

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

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.

I opened the closet door,
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.

Next was envyness,
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.

Hid deep into the middle,
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.

I looked at my closet,
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.

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.

Now as I looked into my closet,
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

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

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

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.

"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

Enemies.......

The Virtue of Having Enemies "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:26) 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

Opposition......

The World’s Opposition To Christ’s Work

Let all who are attacked by the world for trying to do good, take comfort in the thought that they are only drinking of the cup which Christ drank. Their Master in heaven sympathizes with them. Let them work on patiently, and believe that, if they are faithful, their work will speak for itself. The world’s opposition is sure to attend every really good work. If the servants of Christ are to cease from every movement which the world calls in question, they will soon come to an entire stand-still. If we are to wait until the world approves our plans, and is satisfied with the propriety of our efforts, we shall never do anything on earth.

~ J.C. Ryle

Forsaking the World For Christ

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.

~ J.C. Ryle

March 4th.
	COULD THIS BE TRUE OF ME?
"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

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

"Free will I have often heard of, but I have never seen it. I have always met with will,and plenty of it, but it has either been led captive by sin or held in the blessed bonds of grace." 

C. H. Spurgeon

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.

Introduction and Acknowledgement of the Need for Lowliness before God

Of the Second Part of Prayer, which is Confession of Sin, Complaints Regarding Ourselves, and Humble Professions of Repentance

Having ascribed glory to God, which is his due, Psalm 29:2(ESV) we must next take shame to ourselves, which is our due, and humble ourselves before him in the sense of our own sinfulness and vileness; and herein also we must give glory to him, Joshua 7:19(ESV) as our Judge, by whom we deserve to be condemned, and yet hope, through Christ, to be acquitted and absolved.
In this part of our work,

1

We must acknowledge the great reason we have to lie very low before God and to be ashamed of ourselves when we come into his presence and to be afraid of his wrath, having made ourselves both odious to his holiness and obnoxious to his justice.

O our God, we are ashamed and blush to lift our faces to you, our God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our head, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. Ezra 9:6(ESV)
To us belongs open shame, because we have sinned against you. Daniel 9:8(ESV)
Behold we are of small account, what shall we answer you? We lay our hand on our mouth, Job 40:4(ESV) and put our mouth in the dust, for there may yet be hope, Lamentations 3:29(ESV) crying with the convicted leper under the law, “Unclean, unclean.” Leviticus 13:45(ESV)
You put no trust in your holy ones, and the heavens are not pure in your sight; how much less one who is abominable and corrupt, man who drinks injustice like water! Job 15:15-16(ESV)
When our eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts, we have reason to cry out, “Woe to us, for we are lost!” Isaiah 6:5(ESV)
Dominion and fear are with you; you make peace in your high heaven: Is there any number to your armies? Upon whom does your light not arise? How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? Job 25:2-4(ESV)
But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? Psalm 76:7(ESV) You, our God, are a consuming fire; Hebrews 12:29(ESV) and who considers the power of your anger? Psalm 90:11(ESV)
If we claimed to be in the right, our own mouth would condemn us; if we said, “We are blameless,” you would prove us perverse; Job 9:20(ESV) for if you contend with us, we could not answer you once in a thousand times. Job 9:3(ESV)
If we were not aware of anything against ourselves, yet we are not thereby acquitted, for he who judges us is the Lord, 1 Corinthians 4:4(ESV) who is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 1 John 3:20(ESV) But we ourselves know that we have sinned, Father, against heaven and before you, and are no longer worthy to be called your children. Luke 15:21(ESV)

Motivators?

What are yours? I find myself many times doing things for the wrong reason - truly there should be only one reason. Period. To bring glory to God. Period. What are we doing here? Am I living a life of servant hood to bring glory to God? Am I serving my husband to bring glory to God? Am I raising my children to bring glory to God. The questions are seemingly endless. Whatever is done should be done for the express purpose of bringing glory to God. Let us remain mindful of our motivators.

"...for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1Corinthians 6:20 ESV

Consider your Evil Sins in Light of the Mercies and Warnings of God

8.3

The more mercies we have received from God, the greater has been our sin.

You have reared and brought us up as children, but we have rebelled against you. Isaiah 1:2(ESV)
We have ill repaid you, O LORD, as foolish and senseless people: You are our Father who created us, who made us and established us, yet our mark has not been the mark of your children. Deuteronomy 32:5-6(KJV)
We have not made return according to the benefit done to us. 2 Chronicles 32:25(ESV)

8.4

The fairer warning we have had from the word of God and from our own consciences concerning our danger of sin and danger by sin, the greater is the sin if we go on in it.

We have been often reproved, and yet have stiffened our neck, Proverbs 29:1(ESV) and have gone on backsliding in the way of our own heart. Isaiah 57:17(ESV)
You have sent to us, saying, “Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!” But we have not listened or inclined our ear. Jeremiah 44:4-5(ESV)
The word of God has been to us precept upon precept and line upon line; Isaiah 28:13(ESV) and though we have looked intently at our natural faces in a mirror, yet we have gone away and at once forgotten what we were like. James 1:23-24(ESV)

Let us search ourselves this morning and make our calling and election sure, so that the coming of the Lord may cause no dark forebodings in our mind. O for grace to cast away all hypocrisy, and to be found of Him sincere and without rebuke in the day of His appearing.
 C.H. Spurgeon

Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness, or more hopeful than contrition.

C.H. Sprurgeon

September 27th.
	THE "GO" OF RENUNCIATION
"Lord, I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest." Luke 9:57 Our Lord's attitude to this man is one of severe discouragement because He knew what was in man. We would have said - "Fancy losing the opportunity of winning that man!" Fancy bringing about him a north wind that froze him and "turned him away discouraged!" Never apologize for your Lord. The words of the Lord hurt and offend until there is nothing left to hurt or offend. Jesus Christ has no tenderness whatever toward anything that is ultimately going to ruin a man in the service of God. Our Lord's answers are based not on caprice, but on a knowledge of what is in man. If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you may be sure that there is something He wants to hurt to death. V. 58. These words knock the heart out of serving Jesus Christ because it is pleasing to me. The rigour of rejection leaves nothing but my Lord, and myself, and a forlorn hope. "Let the hundredfold come or go, your lodestar must be your relationship to Me, and I have nowhere to lay My head." v. 59. This man did not want to disappoint Jesus, nor to hurt his father. We put sensitive loyalty to relatives in place of loyalty to Jesus Christ and Jesus has to take the last place. In a conflict of loyalty, obey Jesus Christ at all costs. V. 61. The one who says - "Yes, Lord, but . . ." is the one who is fiercely ready, but never goes. This man had one or two reservations. The exacting call of Jesus Christ has no margin of good-byes, because good-bye, as it is often used, is pagan, not Christian. When once the call of God comes, begin to go and never stop going. Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

'to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Acts 26:18

ESV

"The lives that have been of most blessing to you are those who were unconscious of it."

Oswald Chambers

My Utmost for His Highest

If you are not right with God.......

ARE YOU EVER DISTURBED?

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." John 14:27 There are times when our peace is based upon ignorance, but when we awaken to the facts of life, inner peace is impossible unless it is received from Jesus. When Our Lord speaks peace, He makes peace, His words are ever "spirit and life." Have I ever received what Jesus speaks? "My peace I give unto you" - it is a peace which comes from looking into His face and realizing His undisturbedness. Are you painfully disturbed just now, distracted by the waves and billows of God's providential permission, and having, as it were, turned over the boulders of your belief, are you still finding no well of peace or joy or comfort; is all barren? Then look up and receive the undisturbedness of the Lord Jesus. Reflected peace is the proof that you are right with God because you are at liberty to turn your mind to Him. If you are not right with God, you can never turn your mind anywhere but on yourself. If you allow anything to hide the face of Jesus Christ from you, you are either disturbed or you have a false security. Are you looking unto Jesus now, in the immediate matter that is pressing and receiving from Him peace? If so, He will be a gracious benediction of peace in and through you. But if you try to worry it out, you obliterate Him and deserve all you get. We get disturbed because we have not been considering Him. When one confers with Jesus Christ the perplexity goes, because He has no perplexity, and our only concern is to abide in Him. Lay it all out before Him, and in the face of difficulty, bereavement and sorrow, hear Him say, "Let not your heart be troubled." Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

This Evening's Meditation

C. H. Spurgeon

"And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall."—Nehemiah 3:8.

ITIES well fortified have broad walls, and so had Jerusalem in her glory. The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation from its customs and spirit. The tendency of these days break down the holy barrier, and make the distinction between the church and the world merely nominal. Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical, questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from sinners. It will be an ill day for the church and the world when the proposed amalgamation shall be complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be ushered in. Beloved reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God. The broad wall afforded a pleasant place of resort for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they could command prospects of the surrounding country. This reminds us of the Lord's exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at liberty in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep His precepts. Come, reader, this evening walk with God in His statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God in the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation thou hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the royal burgh, a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.