God Will Command His Blessing!
I found this amazing verse today in Leviticus 25:21. God is giving instructions to Moses regarding the year of Jubiliee every 50 years, and the year of rest for the land every 7 years.
Here’s the verse:
“And if you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.”
O’ may we live by faith, and live a life of radical obedience, knowing that all things are possible to him who trusts and obeys. For all things are from Him and to Him and through Him–to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
My Preaching Was Not With Wise And Persuasive Words
The Apostle Paul did not try to compete with the Greek orators of his time, and neither should we. The Apostle spoke in dependence on the Spirit of God to show up and convince men of the truth of the gospel (1 Corinthians 2:4). Spurgeon also testified to the danger of preaching too well.
After preaching an awful sermon in his own eyes, he got down on his knees and pleaded with Lord, “Please use that feabile attempt for your glory, for you can make something out of nothing.” The next week Spurgeon was determined to preach a good sermon. And that he did. The story goes that he was very pleased with his efforts. However, Spurgeon also decided to do his best to track the fruitfulness of those two sermons. He said he could trace 41 conversions to the first sermon, and none to his second sermon.
Consider Yourselves Dead To Sin
I often wish God would zap me with a shot of divine love and righteousness, so that I could freely love people without constantly needing to be at war against indwelling sin–such as pride and lust which constantly seek to destroy love, joy, and peace. Unfortunately, I don’t see the “zap” theory a means of grace anywhere in the Bible for sanctification. The day is coming when God will do that, but not until the day of glorification (Romans 8:30).
Rather, the Apostle Paul tells us we should by faith, “Consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God” (Romans 6:11). And that takes tremendous faith to believe when the battle is on! But that is why God doesn’t just zap us, because then we would not have to depend on Him moment by moment for the grace to be holy.
God Did Not Make Us Because He Was Lonely
If God needed man, the whole universe would be in chaos. Instead of creatures bowing down to the Creator, we would seek our own glory, and ask Him to bow down to us. This is exactly what happened to the devil: When the Son of God came into the world, the Scriptures tell us that the devil showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Then the devil said, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:9).
If Jesus had said yes to the devil, the devil would be ruling the universe, and all hell would break loose. But thanks be to God that He does not need man or the heavenly creatures or the devil. God is completely satisfied in Himself, and so much so, He not only creates us out of the abundance of His bounty and joy, but He also dies for sinners and shuns the devil’s temptations.
Chris Tomlin Live – How Great Is Our God
Make War On Sin!
Are you playing games with God? Do you want to get back to living for Him with all your heart? Watch this video. But the key to remember as you watch this video, is we should not try to obey God or pursue Him in our own strength. If we succeed, we will get the glory, not God. If we fail, we may be tempted to despair and give up. So we must learn to depend on God to enable us to conquer sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then God will get the glory, and we will get the joy–and eternal life.
This video is based on Romans 8:13: “If, by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
John Newton’s Testimony
John Newton’s testimony: “I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”
Let Us Not Outrage the Spirit of Grace!
To think that God (who according to Psalm 7:11 feels indignation everyday) has provided a scapegoat for my sins, and has made a way for me to have peace with Him at the cost of His own Son–I dare not insult Him by refusing His offer of amnesty, and refusing to believe His promises!
As it is written in Hebrews 10:28-29:
Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?