The gospel is the proclamation of God's free love — the revelation of the boundless charity of God. Nothing less than this will suit our depraved world. Nothing else is so likely to touch the heart, to go down to the lowest depths of depraved humanity, as the assurance that the sinner has been loved — loved by God, loved with a righteous love, loved with a free love that makes no bargain as to merit, or fitness, or goodness.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

 

SCRIPTURE—invariably in the New Testament denotes that definite collection of sacred books, regarded as given by inspiration of God, which we usually call the Old Testament (2 Tim. 3:15, 16; John 20:9; Gal. 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:20). It was God’s purpose thus to perpetuate his revealed will. From time to time he raised up men to commit to writing in an infallible record the revelation he gave. The “Scripture,” or collection of sacred writings, was thus enlarged from time to time as God saw necessary. We have now a completed “Scripture,” consisting of the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament canon in the time of our Lord was precisely the same as that which we now possess under that name. He placed the seal of his own authority on this collection of writings, as all equally given by inspiration (Matt. 5:17; 7:12; 22:40; Luke 16:29, 31).

 

M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dktg_jcLBuY - Hillsong

 

You put Your love on the line

To bear the weight of sin that was mine

Washing my river of wrongs

Into the sea of Your infinite love

 

With arms held high

Lord I give my life

Knowing I'm found in Christ

In Your love forever

With all I am

In Your grace I stand

The greatest of all romance

Love of God my Saviour

 

Mercy roars like hurricane winds

Furious love laid waste to my sin

 

To the one who has rescued my soul

To the one who has welcomed me home

To the one who is Savior of all

I sing forever

I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls. When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls. (David Brainerd)

Having a godly, positive attitude will make all the difference in enjoying happiness, success, and contentment in life. “Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.… When my attitude is right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me” (Charles Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip).

 

1. Loving and serving God must have first priority in our thinking.

 

Deuteronomy 10:12–13 Now, people of Israel, listen to what the LORD your God demands of you: Worship the LORD and do all that he commands. Love him, serve him with all your heart, and obey all his laws. I am giving them to you today for your benefit. (GNT)

Joshua 23:11; 24:14–15; Matthew 22:37

 

2. We must maintain an eternal perspective in our thinking.

 

Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. (ESV)

2 Corinthians 4:18 We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (ESV)

Matthew 16:23–25; Romans 14:7–8

 

3. Our minds must be focused on spiritual things—what God desires for us.

 

Romans 8:5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (NIV)

 

4. We must have transformed, renewed minds and must not think as unbelievers think.

 

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:17–24

 

5. We must think sacrificially, placing others ahead of ourselves.

 

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. (ESV)

Ephesians 4:2; Philippians 2:3–7

 

6. A humble attitude is pleasing to God. Sinful pride he clearly hates.

 

Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. (ESV)

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (ESV)

Proverbs 11:2; 16:18; 18:12; Romans 12:16

 

7. When others have wronged us, an attitude of forgiveness is commanded. Bitterness must be put away.

 

Ephesians 4:30–32 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (ESV) Romans 12:17–21

  

Biblical Narratives

 

• Cain, his bad attitude, Genesis 4:5–7

• Joseph, his good attitude toward his brothers, Genesis

50:15–21

• Jesus, sacrificial thinking, Philippians 2:5–8

• Paul, his attitude of contentment, Philippians 4:10–13

 

Keith R. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 40–42.

He who labors diligently need never despair; for all things are accomplished by diligence and labor.

Menander of Athens

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 278.

What a change it would make if secret prayer were not only asking for knowledge or strength, but the giving of my life into the safekeeping of a faithful God.

 

Andrew Murray and Barbour Publishing, 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour, 2007).

The character as well as the fortunes of the gospel is committed to the preacher. He makes or mars the message from God to man. The preacher is the golden pipe through which the divine oil flows. The pipe must not only be golden, but open and flawless, that the oil may have a full, unhindered, unwasted flow.

 

The man makes the preacher. God must make the man. The messenger is, if possible, more than the message. The preacher is more than the sermon. The preacher makes the sermon. As the life-giving milk from the mother’s bosom is but the mother’s life, so all the preacher says is tinctured, impregnated by what the preacher is. The treasure is in earthen vessels, and the taste of the vessel impregnates and may discolor. The man, the whole man, lies behind the sermon. Preaching is not the performance of an hour. It is the outflow of a life. It takes twenty years to make a sermon, because it takes twenty years to make the man. The true sermon is a thing of life. The sermon grows because the man grows. The sermon is forceful because the man is forceful. The sermon is holy because the man is holy. The sermon is full of the divine unction because the man is full of the divine unction.

 

Paul termed it “My gospel;” not that he had degraded it by his personal eccentricities or diverted it by selfish appropriation, but the gospel was put into the heart and lifeblood of the man Paul, as a personal trust to be executed by his Pauline traits, to be set aflame and empowered by the fiery energy of his fiery soul. Paul’s sermons—what were they? Where are they? Skeletons, scattered fragments, afloat on the sea of inspiration! But the man Paul, greater than his sermons, lives forever, in full form, feature and stature, with his molding hand on the Church. The preaching is but a voice. The voice in silence dies, the text is forgotten, the sermon fades from memory; the preacher lives.

 

The sermon cannot rise in its life-giving forces above the man. Dead men give out dead sermons, and dead sermons kill. Everything depends on the spiritual character of the preacher.

 

Edward M. Bounds, Power through Prayer (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1999).

 

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.

Martin Luther

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 621.

Matthew 4:19–20 (ESV)

19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

 

Spending time with God until I know I desire to serve Him with my whole heart gives me the assurance that God hears my prayer.

 

Andrew Murray and Barbour Publishing, 199 Treasures of Wisdom on Talking with God (Uhrichsville, OH: Barbour, 2007).

Romans 8:13 (ESV)

13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Mortification. An ecclesiastical term used to describe the action of ‘killing’ or ‘deadening’ the lusts of the flesh through spiritual self-denial and the infliction of bodily discomfort. Fasting and abstention from pleasure are among the many means of mortification. It is because Christians have died with Christ in Baptism that they are bidden to mortify the works of the flesh (Rom. 8:13, Col. 3:3–5). Though M. *Luther protested that works were of no avail in putting the old nature to death, both he and other 16th-cent. Reformers insisted on a discipline of mortification as a consequence of the righteousness that comes through faith.

 

F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 1124.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

Henry David Thoreau

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 670.

"All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness--that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.

 

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its stories are true, and its decisions are immutable.

 

Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.

 

It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.

 

It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter.

 

Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed.

 

Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

 

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.

 

Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.

 

It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure.

 

It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

I guess as you get older—I’m getting ever closer to that day when I’ll meet the King—the more you begin to realize that the only thing in life that matters is a relationship with Christ.

Chuck Colson

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 103.

Do Not Be Anxious

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ispan of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, jeven Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Mt 6:25–34.

Belonging to God

 

I am His by purchase and I am His by conquest; I am His by donation and I am His by election; I am His by covenant and I am His by marriage; I am wholly His; I am peculiarly His; I am universally His; I am eternally His.

Thomas Brooks

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 108.

  

Why has God placed us here? What should we want to accomplish in life? What are our goals, dreams, and ambitions? We must understand the biblical answer to why we are here on earth!

 

1. We must first know God as the “root drive” and everything else as simply “file folders” beneath him. He is the great and sovereign Father-God creator.

 

Isaiah 44:6 Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.” (NASB)

Isaiah 42:8 I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images. (NASB)

Isaiah 43:10–13 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?” (NIV)

 

2. Our lives are therefore lived before an audience of One. Our purpose for living must be to bring glory to God as we serve him. All dreams and goals must reflect this.

 

Psalm 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! (ESV)

1 Chronicles 16:24–25, 28–29 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be feared above all gods.… Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength! Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. (ESV)

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. (ESV)

Isaiah 43:7; Haggai 1:8; Ephesians 5:7–8; 6:5–7; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 2 Corinthians 5:9; Hebrews 13:15–16, 20–21; 1 Peter 4:10–11

 

3. God is honored when we purpose to walk closely with him.

 

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (NASB)

Colossians 1:9–10 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. (NASB)

John 15:4–5; Ephesians 5:10

 

4. We bring glory to God when we are conformed to the image of his Son.

 

Romans 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (ESV)

Hebrews 13:20–21 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

 

5. God is honored when we serve others.

 

Philippians 2:3–4 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. (NLT)

Romans 12:10, 13 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; … contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. (NASB)

Galatians 5:13–14

 

6. God is honored when we take him into account as we dream and plan for the future.

 

James 4:13–15 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (NLT)

Proverbs 27:1

 

7. Whatever circumstances in life we endure, if disappointments come, it is good to know that God will be glorified through them.

 

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (ESV)

Ephesians 3:20–21 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

Romans 11:36; 16:27; Philippians 4:19–20; 1 Timothy 1:17; 2 Timothy 4:18; Jude 1:24–25

  

Biblical Narratives

 

• David’s celebration for God’s glory, 1 Chronicles 16

• Paul, who always sought God’s glory, Philippians 1:21, Galatians 2:20

• Jude’s praise, Jude 1:24–25

  

Practical Steps

 

• Pray each morning, “Lord, I give this day back to you!” Get started with your focus on him.

• Look back as you end your day. Evaluate, looking for areas that need improvement. What steps should you take to be more honoring to God—in word, attitude, thinking, actions?

• Always include God in the equation for your dreams and goals. What does he want? What will bring him glory?

  

Keith R. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 247–250.

We have self-worth because we are made in God’s image.

 

Genesis 1:26–27 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” … So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Genesis 2:21–23; 9:6

 

2. Our self-worth is based on God’s love for us.

 

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 2:4–7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (NASB)

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)

Ephesians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:18–20; Jeremiah 31:3

 

3. Our significance is based on our relationship with God, not on any personal qualities or achievements.

 

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (NIV)

James 4:10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (NIV)

Zephaniah 3:17

 

4. Knowing God is what makes life meaningful.

 

Ephesians 1:17–19 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. (NIV)

Ephesians 3:17–20 And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (NIV)

Philippians 3:8–9 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. (NLT)

Jeremiah 9:23–24 Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”

 

5. We are not to fall into a trap of relying on self.

 

2 Corinthians 1:8–9 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10

 

6. Pride must not be allowed to enter into a view of self.

 

Psalm 10:4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (NIV)

Isaiah 2:11–12 The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low.

2 Corinthians 10:12 Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

  

Biblical Narrative

 

• Job, Job 3:11–13; 9:21

  

Practical Steps

 

• What does it mean to be an “image bearer”? Study Scripture and ask knowledgeable Christians about the meaning of the term.

• Memorize Psalm 139:13–16. What does God think about how you are made? Are you useful to him?

• Write the following on a card: Knowing God makes life meaningful. Work on making that statement true in your life.

  

Resources

 

• Changed into His Image. Jim Berg. BJU.

• Christ Esteem: Where the Search for Self-Esteem Ends. Don Matzat. Harvest House.

• Free at Last. Tony Evans. Moody.

• How to Find Selfless Joy in a Me-First World. Leslie Vernick. WaterBrook.

• Jesus Christ: Self Denial or Self Esteem (booklet). David Tyler. Focus.

  

Patricia A. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Women (Updated and Revised.; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 234–237.

Fire transforms all things it touches into its own nature. The wood does not change the fire into itself, but the fire changes the wood into itself. In the same way we are transformed into God.

Meister Eckhart

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 1063.

Measure not God’s love and favor by your own feelings. The sun shines as clearly in the darkest day as it does in the brightest. The difference is not in the sun, but in some clouds which hinder the manifestation of the light thereof.

Richard Sibbes

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 366.

Christ Still Comes to Work the Salvation of Souls

Psalm 74:12; 1 Peter 1:9

 

As He once came visibly in the body to work our salvation in the midst of the earth, so does He come daily invisibly and in spirit to work the salvation of each individual soul.

 

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX (1090–1153)

 

Elliot Ritzema, ed., 300 Quotations and Prayers for Christmas (Pastorum Series; Lexham Press, 2013).

Psalm 119:154 (ESV)

154 Plead my cause and redeem me;

give me life according to your promise!

 

Redeemer, Redemption.

 

English words derived from a Latin root meaning “to buy back,” thus meaning the liberation of any possession, object, or person, usually by payment of a ransom. In Greek the root word means “to loose” and so to free. The term is used of freeing from chains, slavery, or prison. In the theological context, the term “redemption” indicates a freeing from the slavery of sin, the ransom or price paid for freedom. This thought is indicated in the Gospels, which speak of Christ who came “to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45).

 

Old Testament Words.

 

For a full understanding of the concept of redemption, it is necessary to look at the OT. There are three different words used in Hebrew, depending on the particular situation, which convey the idea of redemption. The meaning of these redemptive terms rests on legal, social, and religious customs which are foreign to modern culture. An understanding of the culture is needed for an understanding of the terminology and its use.

 

The first term used for redemption has a legal context. The verb pādāh is used when an animal substitutes (or redeems) a person or another animal. The noun derived from the root means the ransom or price paid. In the Greek language this term is generally translated by the verb luō, which means “to loose.” The noun derived from this term, lutron, is the price paid for loosing or freeing, hence, the ransom.

When a living being, person or animal, requires redemption, the substitution must be made, or price paid, otherwise the being involved is killed (Ex 13:13; 34:20). However, there is evidence that this rule was not always strictly followed (Ex 21:8; Jb 6:23).

 

The concept of redemption had special significance for the firstborn. The firstborn male, both man and beast, belonged to God. In theory the firstborn was sacrificed to him. This was done in the case of many animals, but the human firstborn and some animals were redeemed (Ex 13:13; 34:20; Nm 18:15, 16). In the redemption of the firstborn son, an animal was substituted, although later a sum of money was paid (Nm 18:16). Unclean animals were redeemed by substitutions of a sacrificial animal or put to death (Ex 13:13; 34:20; Nm 18:15).

A special case was the animal or person promised to the Lord. Such a one was sacrificed without exception. The Lord made no allowance for the redemption of persons or animals so dedicated.

 

However, in the case of King Saul and his son an exception was made (1 Sm 14:24–46). Saul had placed a curse on anyone eating on the day of a particular battle. When he learned that his son, Jonathan, had (unknowingly) violated his edict, he still ordered him put to death. The people intervened and redeemed Jonathan by substituting an animal sacrifice in his place.

 

The second term involved is the Hebrew root gā’al, which is used primarily in relation to family rules and obligations, the laws governing family property rights and duties. For example, should a piece of property be lost to a family member, the next-of-kin had both the right and the obligation to redeem this property. This right of redemption protected the family inheritance. The noun derived from this root is equivalent to the English root redemption, and the person who buys back the property is the goel or redeemer.

 

Walter A. Elwell and Barry J. Beitzel, Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1988), 1827.

Praying for Paris!! May the God of comfort extends His grace and mercy to endure the pain and suffering of this tragedy.

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS0KTt5__MY (Hilary Weeks)

 

I believe that everything happens for a reason

We're not just tossed by the wind or left in the hands of fate

But sometimes life sends a storm that's unexpected

And we're forced to face our deepest pain

 

When I feel the heartache begin to pull me under

I dig my heels in deep and I fight to keep my ground

Still at times the hurt inside grows stronger

And there's nothing I can do but let it out

 

Just let me cry

I know it's hard to see

But the pain I feel

Isn't going away today

Just let me cry

Till every tear has fallen

Don't ask when and don't ask why

Just let me cry

 

When I agreed that God could put this heart inside me

I understood that there would be a chance that it would break

But I know He knows exactly how I'm feeling

And I know in time He'll take the pain away

But for now

 

Just let me cry

I know it's hard to see

But the pain I feel

Isn't going away today

Just let me cry

Till every tear has fallen

Don't ask when and don't ask why

Just let me cry

 

I have felt joy the kind that makes my heart want to sing

And so my tears are not a surrender

I know I will feel that way again

But for now

For this moment

 

Just let me cry

I know it's hard to see

But the pain I feel

Isn't going away today

Just let me cry

Till every tear has fallen

Don't ask when and don't ask why

Just let me cry

 

I believe that everything happens for a reason

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God's grace - Jerry Bridges

vimeo.com/130376480

 

Go on up to the mountain of mercy

To the crimson perpetual tide

Kneel down on the shore

Be thirsty no more

Go under and be purified

 

Follow Christ to the Holy mountain

Sinner, sorry and wrecked by the fall

Cleanse your heart and your soul

In the fountain that flows

For you and for me and for all

 

Chorus

At the wonderful tragic mysterious tree

On that beautiful scandalous night you and me

Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white

On that beautiful scandalous night

 

On the hillside you will be delivered

At the foot of the cross, justified

And your spirit restored

By the river that pours

From our blessed Saviour's side

 

- Chorus -

 

Bridge

You carry the sin of mankind on your back

And the sky went black

Go on up to the mountain of mercy

Go the crimson perpetual tide

Kneel down on the shore

Be thirsty no more

Go under and be purified

 

- Chorus (2x) -

On that beautiful scandalous night

Beautiful scandalous

Miraculous night

Isn’t it strange how a $100 "looks" so big when you take it to church, but so small when you take it to the mall. Isn’t it strange how long it takes to serve God for an hour, but how quickly a team plays 60 minutes of basketball. Isn’t it strange how long a couple of hours spent at church are, but how short they are when watching a movie. Isn’t it strange how we can't think of anything to say when we pray, but don't have difficulty thinking of things to talk about to a friend. Isn’t it strange how we get thrilled when a baseball game goes into extra innings, but we complain when a sermon is longer than the regular time. Isn’t it strange how hard it is to read a chapter in the Bible, but how easy it is to read 100 pages of a bestselling novel. Isn’t it strange how people want to get a front seat at any game or concert, but scramble to get a back seat at church services. Isn’t it strange how we need 2 or 3 weeks advance notice to fit a church event into our schedule, but can adjust our schedule for other events at the last moment. Isn’t it strange how hard it is for people to learn a simple gospel well enough to tell others, but how simple it is for the same people to understand and repeat gossip. Isn’t it strange how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, or to think, or to say, or do anything. Isn’t it strange how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Isn’t it strange how we set our clocks to arise at 4:00am or 5:00am to be at the job by 7:30, yet when Sunday comes we can't get to church for 11:00am to praise the one who gave us the jobs! Isn’t it strange how we call God our Father and Jesus our brother, but find it hard to introduce them to our family. Isn’t it strange how small our sins seem, but how big "their" sins are. Isn’t it strange how we demand justice for others, but expect mercy from God. Isn’t it strange how we are so quick to take directions from a total stranger when we are lost, but are hesitant to take God's direction for our lives. Isn’t it strange how so many churchgoers sing "Standing on the Promises" but all they do is sit on the premises. Isn’t it strange how people want God to answer their prayers, but refuse to listen to His counsel. Isn’t it strange how we sing about heaven, but live only for today. Isn’t it strange how people think they are going to Heaven, but don't think there is a Hell. Isn’t it strange how it is okay to blame God for evil and suffering in the world, but it is not necessary to thank Him for what is good and pleasant. Isn’t it strange how when something goes wrong, we cry, "Lord, why me?" but when something goes right, we think, "Hey, it must be me!"

Justification Comes by the Mercy of God

Psalm 111:9; Romans 5:16; 1 Peter 1:18; Revelation 5:9

 

Our justification comes freely by the mere mercy of God, and of so great and free mercy, that whereas all the world was not able of themselves to pay any part towards their ransom, it pleased our heavenly Father of his infinite mercy, without any our desert or deserving, to prepare for us the most precious jewels of Christ’s body and blood, whereby our ransom might be fully paid, the law fulfilled, and his justice fully satisfied.

 

THOMAS CRANMER

  

Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

 

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting—a wayside sacrament. Welcome it in every fair face, in every fair sky, in every flower, and thank God for it as a cup of blessing.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 100.

Grace stands in direct opposition to any supposed worthiness on our part. To say it another way: Grace and works are mutually exclusive. As Paul said in Romans 11:6, “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Our relationship with God is based on either works or grace. There is never a works-plus-grace relationship with Him. (Jerry Bridges)

Count Common Blessings

Psalm 106:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:18; 1 Timothy 6:6–8

 

We prize but little what we share only in common with the rest, or with the generality of our species.… The common benefits of our nature entirely escape us. Yet these are the great things. These constitute what most properly ought to be accounted blessings of Providence; what alone, if we might so speak, are worthy of its care. Nightly rest and daily bread, the ordinary use of our limbs, and senses, and understandings, are gifts which admit of no comparison with any other. Yet, because almost every man we meet with possesses these, we leave them out of our enumeration. They raise no sentiment; they move no gratitude. Now, herein, is our judgment perverted by our selfishness. A blessing ought in truth to be the more satisfactory, the bounty at least of the donor is rendered more conspicuous, by its very diffusion, its commonness, its cheapness; by its falling to the lot, and forming the happiness, of the great bulk and body of our species, as well as of ourselves.… It is in those things which are so common as to be no distinction, that the amplitude of the divine benignity is perceived.

 

WILLIAM PALEY

  

Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

  

1. Our thought life reflects who we are.

 

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. (NASB)

Mark 7:20–23 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” (NKJV)

 

2. We must choose to think biblically.

 

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

 

3. No place or thought is hidden from God.

 

Jeremiah 23:23–24 “Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “and not a God far off? Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?” declares the LORD. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares the LORD. (NASB)

Psalm 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. (NIV)

 

4. We need to change our thinking when our thoughts do not match God’s.

 

Isaiah 55:8–9 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. (NKJV)

Ephesians 4:22–24 Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 2:16

 

5. We should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.

 

Romans 12:3 Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (NLT)

Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

1 Corinthians 10:12

 

6. Our lives must reflect sacrificial thinking.

 

Philippians 2:5–7 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (NASB)

 

7. Mature thinking is an intellectual and spiritual goal.

 

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. (NLT)

1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

Proverbs 22:17

 

8. We must remove worldly thinking.

 

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (NIV)

1 Corinthians 3:18–19 Stop deceiving yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you need to become a fool to be truly wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, “He traps the wise in the snare of their own cleverness.” (NLT)

 

9. Lustful thinking is sinful and to be avoided.

 

Matthew 5:28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (NASB)

1 Thessalonians 4:3–5 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God. (NASB)

  

Practical Steps

 

• Do a concordance study of the hundreds of uses of “mind,” “thinking,” and “thoughts” to understand better how God wants us to think.

• Consider your thought patterns, life situations, or physical locations that trigger wrong thinking. Work on changing these to improve your thought life.

• Replace false thinking with truth from God’s Word.

 

Patricia A. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Women (Updated and Revised.; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013), 284–286.

Seeking Self-Awareness

Job 7:17; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 2 Peter 1:3

 

Every man has forgotten who he is. One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star. You shall love the Lord your God; but you shall not know yourself.

 

G. K. CHESTERTON

  

Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

 

Inspired architecture does not change lives; nor do big buildings impart spiritual power.

Charles Colson

 

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 144.

Wake-Up Call

Proverbs 3:11–12; 15:31

 

In thus arousing us from our slumber, chastisement not merely makes us more energetic, more laborious, but it makes us far more prayerful. Perhaps it is here that the waking up is most sensibly felt.

 

HORATIUS BONAR

  

Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,

O Thou of God and man the Son,

Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,

Thou, my soul’s glory, joy and crown.

 

Beautiful Savior! Lord of all the nations!

Son of God and Son of Man!

Glory and honor, praise, adoration,

Now and forever more be Thine.

 

1442I believe that the hardest-hearted, most cross-grained, and most unlovely Christians in all the world are those who never have had much trouble. And those who are the most sympathizing, loving, and Christlike are generally those that have the most affliction. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to have our path made too smooth, and one of the greatest blessings that ever the Lord gave us was a cross

 

C. H. Spurgeon, 2,200 Quotations: From the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon : Arranged Topically or Textually and Indexed by Subject, Scripture, and People (ed. Tom Carter; Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1995), 210.

Ungrateful Instead of Praising

Deuteronomy 8:11–17; Psalm 139:14; Proverbs 30:8–9; Romans 1:18–32; 2 Timothy 3:2

 

Herein appears the shameful ingratitude of men. Though they have in their own persons a factory where innumerable operations of God are carried on, and a magazine stored with treasures of inestimable value—instead of bursting forth in his praise, as they are bound to do, they, on the contrary, are the more inflated and swelled with pride.

 

JOHN CALVIN

  

Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

Animals, Care of

 

Love animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble their joy, don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent. Man, do not pride yourself on superiority to animals; they are without sin, and you, with your greatness, defile the earth by your appearance on it, and leave the traces of your foulness after you—alas, it is true of almost every one of us!

Fyodor Dostoevsky

  

Mark Water, The New Encyclopedia of Christian Quotations (Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd, 2000), 51.

To be a Christian is not only to believe the teaching of Christ, and to practice it; it is not only to try to follow the pattern and example of Christ; it is to be so vitally related to Christ that His life and His power are working in us. It is to be “in Christ,” it is for Christ to be in us (Martyn Lloyd-Jones)

«The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.»

 

«Le grand secret de la vie est de n'avoir aucune peur.»

 

Buddha

 

(View in large on A day on Earth)

2 Corinthians 3:14–18 (ESV)

14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

 

John 1:12–13 (ESV)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

 

FAITH—Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true (Phil. 1:27; 2 Thess. 2:13). Its primary idea is trust. A thing is true, and therefore worthy of trust. It admits of many degrees up to full assurance of faith, in accordance with the evidence on which it rests.

Faith is the result of teaching (Rom. 10:14–17). Knowledge is an essential element in all faith, and is sometimes spoken of as an equivalent to faith (John 10:38; 1 John 2:3). Yet the two are distinguished in this respect, that faith includes in it assent, which is an act of the will in addition to the act of the understanding. Assent to the truth is of the essence of faith, and the ultimate ground on which our assent to any revealed truth rests is the veracity of God.

Historical faith is the apprehension of and assent to certain statements which are regarded as mere facts of history.

Temporary faith is that state of mind which is awakened in men (e.g., Felix) by the exhibition of the truth and by the influence of religious sympathy, or by what is sometimes styled the common operation of the Holy Spirit.

Saving faith is so called because it has eternal life inseparably connected with it. It cannot be better defined than in the words of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.”

The object of saving faith is the whole revealed Word of God. Faith accepts and believes it as the very truth most sure. But the special act of faith which unites to Christ has as its object the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 7:38; Acts 16:31). This is the specific act of faith by which a sinner is justified before God (Rom. 3:22, 25; Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9; John 3:16–36; Acts 10:43; 16:31). In this act of faith the believer appropriates and rests on Christ alone as Mediator in all his offices.

This assent to or belief in the truth received upon the divine testimony has always associated with it a deep sense of sin, a distinct view of Christ, a consenting will, and a loving heart, together with a reliance on, a trusting in, or resting in Christ. It is that state of mind in which a poor sinner, conscious of his sin, flees from his guilty self to Christ his Saviour, and rolls over the burden of all his sins on him. It consists chiefly, not in the assent given to the testimony of God in his Word, but in embracing with fiducial reliance and trust the one and only Saviour whom God reveals. This trust and reliance is of the essence of faith. By faith the believer directly and immediately appropriates Christ as his own. Faith in its direct act makes Christ ours. It is not a work which God graciously accepts instead of perfect obedience, but is only the hand by which we take hold of the person and work of our Redeemer as the only ground of our salvation.

Saving faith is a moral act, as it proceeds from a renewed will, and a renewed will is necessary to believing assent to the truth of God (1 Cor. 2:14; 2 Cor. 4:4). Faith, therefore, has its seat in the moral part of our nature fully as much as in the intellectual. The mind must first be enlightened by divine teaching (John 6:44; Acts 13:48; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:17, 18) before it can discern the things of the Spirit.

Faith is necessary to our salvation (Mark 16:16), not because there is any merit in it, but simply because it is the sinner’s taking the place assigned him by God, his falling in with what God is doing.

The warrant or ground of faith is the divine testimony, not the reasonableness of what God says, but the simple fact that he says it. Faith rests immediately on, “Thus saith the Lord.” But in order to this faith the veracity, sincerity, and truth of God must be owned and appreciated, together with his unchangeableness. God’s word encourages and emboldens the sinner personally to transact with Christ as God’s gift, to close with him, embrace him, give himself to Christ, and take Christ as his. That word comes with power, for it is the word of God who has revealed himself in his works, and especially in the cross. God is to be believed for his word’s sake, but also for his name’s sake.

Faith in Christ secures for the believer freedom from condemnation, or justification before God; a participation in the life that is in Christ, the divine life (John 14:19; Rom. 6:4–10; Eph. 4:15, 16, etc.); “peace with God” (Rom. 5:1); and sanctification (Acts 26:18; Gal. 5:6; Acts 15:9).

All who thus believe in Christ will certainly be saved (John 6:37, 40; 10:27, 28; Rom. 8:1).

The faith=the gospel (Acts 6:7; Rom. 1:5; Gal. 1:23; 1 Tim. 3:9; Jude 1:3).

  

M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1893).

Genesis 7

 

[1] Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. [2] Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, [3] and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth. [4] For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” [5] And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.

 

[6] Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. [7] And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. [8] Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, [9] two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. [10] And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

 

[11] In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. [12] And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. [13] On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, [14] they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. [15] They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. [16] And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in.

 

[17] The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. [18] The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. [19] And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. [20] The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. [21] And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. [22] Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. [23] He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. [24] And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days. (ESV)

Do Not Neglect to Be Aware of God

Deuteronomy 4:7; Psalm 63:6; 145:18; James 4:8; 1 Peter 2:3–4

 

Think on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions. He is always near you and with you; leave Him not alone. You would think it rude to leave a friend alone, who had come to visit you: why then must God be neglected? Do not then forget Him, think often of Him, adore him unceasingly, live and die with Him: this is the glorious employment of a Christian, in a word, this is our profession; if we do not know it, we must learn it. - BROTHER LAWRENCE

 

Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

The Nature of True Holiness

Ephesians 6:12–18

 

True holiness … is much more than tears, and sighs, and bodily excitement, and a quickened pulse, and a passionate feeling of attachment to our own favorite preachers and our own religious party, and a readiness to quarrel with everyone who does not agree with us.… A holy violence, a conflict, a warfare, a fight, a soldier’s life, a wrestling, are spoken of as characteristic of the true Christian.

 

J. C. RYLE

  

Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Modern Church (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).

  

Staying close to God is the key for success for every man in his actions, relationships, and responsibilities. This closeness requires certain consistent disciplines.

  

Discipline for Time Alone with God

 

1. Meeting with God alone frequently is important (every day, if possible).

 

Psalm 42:1–2 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? (NIV)

Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (NIV)

Psalm 63:1; Habakkuk 2:20

 

2. Waiting on God is a similar concept.

 

Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (ESV)

Isaiah 40:31 They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (ESV)

Psalm 40:1

  

Discipline for Time in God’s Word

 

1. Spending time in Scripture—reading, meditation, study—gives guidance for each day.

 

Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (ESV)

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (ESV)

Psalm 1:2–3; 19:9–11; 119:9–11, 129–30; Isaiah 55:1–2; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; Hebrews 4:12

 

2. Committing God’s Word to memory is a further step.

 

Psalm 119:11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (ESV)

Deuteronomy 6:6–9; Psalm 37:31

  

Discipline for Time to Talk to God

 

1. Spending time daily in prayer is essential.

 

Psalm 5:2–3 Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to You I pray. In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. (NASB)

Psalm 88:13; 119:47; Jeremiah 33:3; Ephesians 6:18; Hebrews 4:16

 

2. Prayer is the Christian’s lifeline. We must pray—consistently and constantly.

 

Psalm 55:17 Evening and morning and at noon I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice. (NKJV)

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing. (NKJV)

Psalm 86:3–6; Matthew 7:7; Luke 18:1

 

3. We must pray in Jesus’s name, that is, according to his holy character and will, not selfishly.

 

John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (ESV)

1 John 5:14–15 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. (ESV)

 

4. Sin can hinder our prayers.

 

Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 59:1–2

 

5. We can pray about anything that concerns us.

 

Philippians 4:6–7 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (NLT)

 

Matthew 7:7–11

  

Discipline for Time to Be with God’s People

 

1. Being a part of a local church and attending with consistency is commanded.

 

Hebrews 10:24–25 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (NLT)

Psalm 42:4; 122:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:11

 

2. In Acts and throughout the Epistles, the existence of the local church and every believer’s involvement in it is assumed.

 

Acts 6:5; 13:1; 14:23; 1 Corinthians 11:18; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; James 5:14

  

Discipline for Giving Back to God

 

1. Giving financially to the Lord’s work is a principle strongly supported in Scripture.

 

2 Corinthians 9:7 You should each give, then, as you have decided, not with regret or out of a sense of duty; for God loves the one who gives gladly. (GNT)

Proverbs 3:9 Honor the LORD by making him an offering from the best of all that your land produces. (GNT)

 

2. While Old Testament tithing is not the law for God’s people under the New Covenant, the laws of tithing do help us understand God’s mind and heart on the question of giving. They represent his thinking on the matter.

 

Leviticus 27:30–33; Malachi 3:8; Romans 6:14–15

  

Discipline to Be the Witness God Wants Us to Be

 

1. Sharing our faith in Jesus is a commanded spiritual discipline.

 

Acts 1:8 But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (GNT)

1 Peter 3:15 But have reverence for Christ in your hearts, and honor him as Lord. Be ready at all times to answer anyone who asks you to explain the hope you have in you. (GNT)

Matthew 5:16

  

Biblical Narratives

 

• Israelites, giving for the tabernacle, Exodus 35:29; 36:4–7

• Ezra, his decision to study, obey, and teach the Word, Ezra 7:10

• Hezekiah, asking for deliverance from the Assyrians, Isaiah 37:14–20

• Daniel, consistent in prayer, Daniel 6:10

• Habakkuk, his time alone waiting on God, Habakkuk 2:1

• Jesus, praying and seeking time alone with the Father, Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35

  

Practical Steps

 

• Set reminders in your cell phone and other devices for taking time in prayer, meditation, solitude, and time in God’s Word.

• If your times with God become mediocre or ineffective, think creatively to enhance those disciplines.

• Get a plan going to study books of the Bible or to read through the Bible in a year.

• For state-of-the-art help in memorizing Scripture, get acquainted with the Navigators.

• Make giving back to God a part of your budget and financial planning. There’s no time like the present to get started.

• Work at keeping Sundays free for local church involvement. Ask your employer to allow you the time to worship with others on that day.

• Ask God for passion to reach out to the lost. Make a list of people to pray to faith.

 

Keith R. Miller, Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Men (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 280–284.

"What is Reformation Day?"

 

Reformation Day is a Protestant religious holiday celebrated on October 31. It recognizes the day German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church in 1517. This act is commemorated as the official starting point of the Protestant Reformation.

 

Officially, Reformation Day has been commemorated since 1567. Exact dates for the holiday varied until after the two hundredth celebration in 1717 when October 31 became the official date of celebration in Germany and later expanded internationally.

 

Within the Lutheran tradition, Reformation Day is considered a lesser holiday and is officially named “The Festival of the Reformation.” Most Lutheran churches (and others who celebrate this day) commemorate it on the Sunday prior to October 31.

 

The impact of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation has been enormous on global Christianity. In contrast to the extra-biblical traditions and works-based practices of Roman Catholicism, Luther called the Church back to the good news of salvation by grace alone through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

 

Luther believed the Word of God was the supreme authority for the Christian faith, rather than tradition or papal decrees. In the process of bringing the Scriptures to the common person, Luther translated the Bible into German, published numerous books and sermons of biblical teachings, and composed numerous hymns based on biblical themes. Many of his hymns are still sung today.

 

Luther was brought to trial before the church, and the court attempted to force him to recant. Luther’s response is often quoted: “I cannot choose but adhere to the Word of God, which has possession of my conscience; nor can I possibly, nor will I even make any recantation, since it is neither safe nor honest to act contrary to conscience! Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God! Amen.”

 

From Germany, the Protestant Reformation expanded through Europe, influencing the work of John Calvin in Geneva, Ulrich Zwingli in Zurich, and John Knox in Scotland. The Reformation Luther led also sparked the Anabaptist (free church) movement and the English Reformation. These movements, in turn, influenced the spread of Christianity to the Americas and throughout the world where European exploration took place. South Africa, India, Australia, and New Zealand all felt the impact of Luther’s hammer in Wittenberg.

 

Robert Rothwell has noted, “Today, Luther’s legacy lives on in the creeds and confessions of Protestant bodies worldwide. As we consider his importance this Reformation Day, let us equip ourselves to be knowledgeable proclaimers and defenders of biblical truth. May we be eager to preach the Gospel of God to the world and thereby spark a new reformation of church and culture.”

 

Reformation Day remains a central rallying point for all of those who choose to follow Christ by faith according to His Word. The holiday commemorates the actions of a man who was willing to stand against the ideas of his day and to present God’s Word as our guide for salvation (John 3:16) and Christian living.

 

Tken form: www.gotquestions.org