Aug 14, 2011
jennjen13
An email and inspired this little video putting the words of the email to pictures that I had taken with the exception of one I was so graciously allowed to borrow from my cousin. The music used for the video is Jennifer’s Song by Hagood Hardy from the album The Homecoming. I hope all who watch this little video will be blessed by it.
If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. —1 John 5:16
If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf. God reveals this truth about others to us not through the sharpness of our minds but through the direct penetration of His Spirit. If we are not attentive, we will be completely unaware of the source of the discernment God has given us, becoming critical of others and forgetting that God says, “…he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.
One of the most subtle and illusive burdens God ever places on us as saints is this burden of discernment concerning others. He gives us discernment so that we may accept the responsibility for those souls before Him and form the mind of Christ about them (see Philippians 2:5). We should intercede in accordance with what God says He will give us, namely, “life for those who commit sin not leading to death.” It is not that we are able to bring God into contact with our minds, but that we awaken ourselves to the point where God is able to convey His mind to us regarding the people for whom we intercede.
Can Jesus Christ see the agony of His soul in us? He can’t unless we are so closely identified with Him that we have His view concerning the people for whom we pray. May we learn to intercede so wholeheartedly that Jesus Christ will be completely and overwhelmingly satisfied with us as intercessors.
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There is no allowance whatever in the New Testament for the man who says he is saved by grace but who does not produce the graceful goods. Jesus Christ by His Redemption can make our actual life in keeping with our religious profession. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, 1465 R
OSWALD CHAMBERS
Psalm 119:33-40
By trusting in Jesus Christ, a person enters into a lifelong relationship with the heavenly Father. As believers, we have a responsibility to keep that connection healthy.
First, we must learn about our new family. An essential and ongoing part of family life involves knowing and being known by the other members. In the Bible, God gave a detailed description of His attributes, values, and thinking. And since Jesus came to earth, we can better understand His Father’s divine character, which was demonstrated in a human life. As we meditate on Scripture, our sense of connectedness to God will continue to grow.
Second, we should stay in close contact with the Lord through prayer and study of His Word—and resist the temptation to put people, work, or pleasures ahead of Him. Remember: Relationships thrive with consistent interaction but wither if they are neglected.
Third, we must respond to what He has communicated to us. He provided instructions for living and explained what pleases Him. In healthy families, people pay attention to each other. We are to heed our Father’s warnings and obey His commands.
Finally, we’re to grow in likeness to God. Relatives can resemble each other in subtle and obvious ways. As we cooperate with the transforming work of the Holy Spirit, we will start to think and act like our heavenly Father.
God the Father provided salvation through His Son, who died so we could become spiritually alive. Jesus set an example for us to follow: a life of loving, obedient service. God’s Spirit is doing His sanctifying work in us (1 Peter 1:2). Are we doing our part to keep the relationship healthy?
“What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.” (Philippians 1:18)
This verse seems to conflict with warnings about false teachers (2 Peter 2:1) and another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). The key is identifying what Paul is allowing on the one hand and condemning on the other.
Some teachers of his day (probably both in Philippi and in Rome) appeared to be taking advantage of Paul’s imprisonment to enhance their own reputations. Indeed, some were trying through their public preaching to “add affliction to [his] bonds” (Philippians 1:16).
Even though some with ungodly motives stood out among those preaching of “good will,” Paul was able to rejoice that “Christ is preached” (today’s text) by both categories, and therein is the source of the “power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16).
The stern denunciation of “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6) exposes the untruth of all hybrid messages, whether human or angelic, that would attempt to preach anything other than “Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).
Here is the message for us. When the full gospel of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection—according to the Scriptures—is preached (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) by whatever means and even under sometimes questionable motives, the “good news” is cause for rejoicing. It is the gospel that has power, not the messenger.
However, when some people attempt to change that gospel to make it seem more attractive to those who wish to continue in sin, or change its message to allow for human works, we are to see such preachers as dangerous and under condemnation. May God keep us from both mistakes. HMM III
Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable. —Psalm 145:3
God is infinite! That’s the hardest thought I will ask you to grasp. You cannot understand what infinite means, but don’t let it bother you—I don’t understand it and I’m trying to explain it! “Infinite” means so much that nobody can grasp it, but reason nevertheless kneels and acknowledges that God is infinite. We mean by infinite that God knows no limits, no bounds and no end. What God is, He is without boundaries. All that God is, He is without bounds or limits.
We’ve got to eliminate all careless speech here. You and I talk about unlimited wealth, but there’s no such thing; you can count it. We talk about boundless energy—which I don’t feel I have at the moment—but there’s no such thing; you can measure a man’s energy. We say an artist takes infinite pains with his picture. But he doesn’t take infinite pains; he just does the best he can and then throws up his hands and says, “It isn’t right yet, but I’ll have to let it go.” That’s what we call infinite pains.
But that is a misuse of the words “boundless,” “unlimited” and “infinite.” These words describe God—they don’t describe anything but God. AOG004
Lord, Your greatness extends beyond the limitations of my human ability to comprehend. You are boundless, unlimited and infinite, and You are greatly to be praised. Amen.
The cross… by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)
Only a person with a perfect knowledge of mankind could have dared to set forth the terms of discipleship that our Lord Jesus Christ expects of His followers.
Only the Lord of men could have risked the effect of such rigorous demands: “Let him deny himself!”
Can the Lord lay down such severe rules at the door of His kingdom? He can—and He does!
If He is to save the man, He must save him from himself. It is the “himself which has enslaved and corrupted the man. Deliverance comes only by denial of that self.
No man in his own strength can shed the chains with which self has bound him, but in the next breath the Lord reveals the source of the power which is to set the soul free:
“Let him take up his cross.”
The cross was an instrument of death—slaying a man was its only function. “Let him take his cross,” said Jesus, and thus he will know deliverance from himself!
Those who have not to work hard, think they will love heaven as a place of service. That is very true. But to the working man, to the man who toils with his brain or with his hands, it must ever be a sweet thought that there is a land where we shall rest. Oh! weary sons and daughters of Adam, ye shall be still, ye shall be quiet, ye shall rest yourselves, for all are rich in heaven, all are happy there, all are peaceful. Toil, trouble, travail, and labor, are words that cannot be spelled in heaven; they have no such things there, for they always rest.
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