Fret buster #53

The God we are trusting to take care of us forever is the same God who can take care of us today.

Fret buster #54

What is the one great, overarching, overriding lesson that God is trying to teach you and me through the scriptural account and the daily events in our lives? Boiled down into its most succinct form, the lesson could be stated in just two words: Trust Me.
-D. James Kennedy

Fret buster #55

Lord, help us to trust Thee lest our ulcers be our badge of unbelief.
-Peter Marshall

Attitudes

Attitudes of the flesh:

Pride asks: “How will it make me look?”
Greed asks: “What can I get out of it?”
Indifference asks:”Why should I bother?”
Selfishness asks: “What about me?”

The Cross of Jesus Christ puts to death the following attitudes:

SPITE “See, I told you so.”
REBELLION “I want my own way.”
IMPATINECE “I want it now!”
CONTEMPT “Who do you think you are!”
PRIDE “You can’t treat me that way!”
REVENGE “I’ll get even.”
DEFIANCE “You can’t tell me what to do.”
SELFISHNESS “I did it my way.”

Heart Attitudes of the Kingdom:

“How may I serve you?’
“I will wait for God’s time.”
“I will not carry a grudge.”
“I am not my own.”
“This job is not beneath me.”
“I extend mercy instead of judgment.”
“I honor you.”
 “Will this please the Lord?”
“By the grace of God I am what I am.”
“Thy will be done.”
“I did it God’s way.”

Fret buster #50

“On My arm they will trust.” Isa. 51:5

Even when you don’t have a leg to stand on,
His arm will always be there to lean upon!

Fret buster #51

Sometimes a Light Surprises

Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, who rises
With healing in His wings:

When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation,
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation,
And find it ever new:
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
E’en let the unknown morrow
Bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing,
But He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing,
Will clothe His people too:
Beneath the spreading heavens,
No creature but is fed;
And He who feeds the ravens
Will give His children bread.

-William Cowper
Christian Book of Mystical Verse, The

Fret buster #52

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small Voice of calm!
-John Greenleaf Whittier

Great Quotes

Obedience is the opener of eyes. –George MacDonald

We may be sure in every disappointment that thou art still loving us;
And in every darkness that thou art still enlightening us;
And in every enforced idleness that thou art still using us.
–Phillips Brooks

Give me the love that leads the way,
The faith that nothing can dismay,
The hope no disappointments tire,
The passion that will burn like fire,
Let me not sink to be a clod:
Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God.
-Amy Carmichael

The Invitation

Take His salvation and RECEIVE HIM.
“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:” John 1:12

Take His call and SEEK HIM.
“When You said, "Seek My face," My heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek." Psalm 27:8

Take His yoke and JOIN HIM.
“My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:30

Take His name and HONOR HIM.
"You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power;” Revelation. 4:11

Take His word and KNOW HIM.
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death…” Philip. 3:10

Take His promises and TRUST HIM.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good;Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”
Psalm 37:3

Take His grace and SERVE HIM.
“God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8

Take His cross and FOLLOW HIM.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24

 

Deepest Longings

Continue to be soft and pliable in the Lord’s hands and out of that relationship will come the things that define you at the deepest level of your heart—revealing to yourself and others what you are really about—what moves you, motivates you, and forms your true longings. These longings come from God’s heart touching yours—resulting in the things that He will work in you and bring to pass through your life. (Based upon Psalm 37:4)

 

 

The Redeeming Work of Christ Is...

 

A flawless work—it is without error or mistake.
Hebrews 10:12 After He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.

 

A final work—it will never need to be repeated.
Hebrews 7:27 This He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
 
A finished work— it needs nothing added to make it complete.
John 19:30 Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
 
A faithful work—it fulfilled our need for reconciliation with God.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.

 

A freeing work—it delivers us from the penalty and the power of sin.
Matthew 1:21 Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.
 
A fruitful work—it brings to us the transforming gift of new life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

 

A fulfilling work—it allows us to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

 A forever work—it brings the salvation that will last forever.
Hebrews 7:25 He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him.

 

 

 

Great Quotes

Thou art coming to a King.

Large petitions with thee bring;

For His grace and pow’r are such

None can ever ask too much.

-John Newton

 

If it can be proved that the great Father ever allows any of His children to cry to Him in vain, or if it can be shown that He leaves any of them to stumble home in the dark as best they can, then Christianity has broken down. But can it? There is no cause for alarm…each child finds a place of his own, and his voice is loved and listened to. It is inconceivable that the Father of fatherhood will overlook one of His children.

-F.W. Boreham

 

Puffed Up or Built Up?

Mere knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature]. 1 Corinthians 8:1 AMP

The Scriptures present to us many contrasts. The Word of God not only unites but it also divides. It separates light from darkness, truth from error, sin from righteousness, flesh from Spirit, the carnal mind from the spiritual mind, the old man from the new man, the world from the Kingdom of God, life from death, idolatry from true worship, a believer from an unbeliever, and Christ from the devil. All of these are examples of how the Word of God separates and divides.

The Scripture in 1 Corinthians 8:1 also makes a clear distinction between what puffs us up and what builds us up. The work and ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives is always to build us up and never to puff us up. The purpose of teaching, preaching, or ministering in the body of Christ is for the purpose of building believers up in Christ, not puffing them up in the flesh.

The natural man (the flesh) loves to be puffed up. It glories in its accomplishments, its knowledge, its status, its position, and its talents. It seeks out and welcomes all forms of recognition, flattery, and applause. The Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 6:14, “But far be it from me to glory [in anything or anyone] except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) through Whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world!”

Why would Paul glory in the cross when it put to death all the glory he could receive from the world and no longer allowed him to be puffed up by the accomplishments of his flesh? Paul gloried in the cross because it brought him into the life that can only be found in Christ. Paul saw, through the work of the cross, how good it was to be delivered from the bondage of promoting himself, to enjoying the freedom of knowing Christ. He sums up this glorious freedom when he writes…

“I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” Galatians 2:20 AMP

Today, it is the will of God for you to be built up in Christ. How does the Holy Spirit build you up? He doesn’t build you up by telling you how great you are. He doesn’t cater to your ego, your pride, or your flesh. He builds you up by pointing you to Jesus, by strengthening your faith, by sanctifying your spirit, by encouraging you to trust in the Lord with all  your heart, by prompting you to take new steps of obedience to the Father’s will, by giving you grace, and by extending new mercies every morning.

He builds you up with love, with hope, with truth, with righteousness, with peace, and with joy. He builds you up with the promises of God, with the resurrection of Christ, with the fellowship of believers, with the power of the kingdom, and with the hope of His calling. He builds you up by assuring you that He is near, by giving you His comfort, by conforming you to the image of Jesus, and by bearing witness to your heart that you belong to the Lord. 

Fret buster #47

God does have a plan and purpose for your life. He is in all the details. It’s those who count on luck and chance that have a good reason to worry.

Fret buster #48

O Thou Who art my quietness, my deep repose,
My rest from strife of tongues, my holy hill,
Fair is Thy pavilion, where I hold me still.
Back let them fall from me, my clamorous foes,
Confusions multiplied;
From crowding things of sense I flee, and in thee hide.
-Amy Carmichael

Fret buster #49

“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31