Day: September 11, 2017

​Lyndia Tate

Lyndia Tate

Hope Continually! Blessed be the Lord, who

daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Our

God is a God of salvation, and to God the

Lord, belong deliverances from death (Psa.

68:19-20). Awesome is God from his

sanctuary; the God of Israel. He is the one

who gives power and strength to his people

(Psa. 68:28). Save me, O God! for the waters

have come up to my neck. I sink in deep

mire, where there is no foothold. I have come

into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over

me (Psa. 69:1-2). Make haste, O God, to

deliver me! O LORD, make haste to help me!

(Psa. 70:1). I will hope continually, and I will

praise You, yet more and more (Psa. 71:14).

In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; never let

me be put to shame! In your righteousness

deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to

me and save me (1-2). Be to me a rock of

refuge, to which I continually come; you have

given the command to save me, for you are

my rock and my fortress (3-4). Rescue me, O

God from the hand of the wicked (4). My

praise is continually of you (6). You are my

strong refuge (7). My mouth is filled with

your praise, and with your glory all the day

(8). Do not cast me off in old age, forsake

me not when my strength is spent (9). O God,

be not far from me; O, my God, make haste

to help me (12). My mouth will tell of your

righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all

the day, for their number is past my

knowledge. With the mighty deeds of the

LORD GOD I will come; I will remind them of

your righteousness, yours alone (15-16). O

God, from my youth you have taught me, and

I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even

to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not

forsake me, until I proclaim your might to

another generation, your power to all those to

come (17-18). Your righteousness, O God,

reaches the high heavens. You who have

done great things, O God, who is like you?

You who have made to see many troubles

and calamities will revive me again, from the

depths of the earth you will bring me up

again. You will increase my greatness and

my comfort me again (19-21). My lips will

shout for joy when I sing praises of you; my

soul also which you have redeemed. And my

tongue will talk of your righteous help all the

day long, for they have been put to shame

and disappointed who sought to do me hurt

(23-24). I am with you always, even to the

end of the world (Matt. 28:20). Blessings all

the way home, Randy.

​Steve Hammer

Steve Hammer

Jn 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say

unto thee, Except a man be born of water and

of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom

of God.

“Except a man be born of water and of the

Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of

God.”This is not an arbitrary decree, but the

enunciation of an abiding principle. Heaven is

a prepared place for a prepared people. And

this is the very nature of the case. An

unregenerate man who has no relish at all for

spiritual things, who is bored by the

conversation of believers, who finds the Bible

dull and dry, who is a stranger to the throne

of grace, would be wretched in heaven. Such

a man could not spend eternity in the

presence of God. Suppose a fish were taken

out of the water, and laid upon a silver of

gold; suppose further that the sweetest of

flowers surrounded it, and that the air was

filled with their fragrance; suppose, too, that

the strains of the most melodious music fell

upon its ears, would that fish be happy as

and contented? Of course not. And why not?

Because it would be out of harmony with its

environment ; because it would be lacking in

capacity to appreciate it’s surroundings. Thus

it would be with an unregenerate soul in

heaven.

​Steve Hammer

Steve Hammer

During World War 2, a soldier was separated

from his unit on an island.

The fighting had been intense, and in the

smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch

with his comrades.

Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy

soldiers coming in his direction.

Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a

high ridge to several small caves in the rock.

Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves.

Although safe for the moment, he realized

that once the enemy soldiers looking for him

swept up the ridge, they would quickly search

all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, “Lord, please spare

my life. Whatever will happen, I love you and

trust you. Amen.”

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the

enemy begin to draw close.

He thought, “Well, I guess the Lord isn’t going

to help me out of this one.”

Then he saw a spider begin to build a web

over the front of his cave.

“Hah” he thought, “What I need is a brick wall

and what the Lord has sent me is a spider

web. God does have a sense of humor.”

As the enemy drew closer he watched from

the darkness of his hide out and could see

them searching one cave after another.

As they came to his, he got ready to make

his last stand, but then he heard the leader of

the soldiers say:

“you may as well ignore looking in this cave

…if he had entered here this web would be

broken!” So they left and he was delivered!

To his amazement, however, after glancing in

the direction of his cave, they moved on.

Suddenly he realized that with the spider web

over the entrance, his cave looked as if no

one had entered for quite a while.

“Lord, forgive me,” he prayed. “I had forgotten

that in you a spider’s web is stronger than a

brick wall. He will use the most foolish things

in this world to confound the wise!

God is your protector, if you believe in him.

Please share it and bless someone.

​J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle

Lessons From God Concerning Sickness

Sickness is meant…

1. To make us think, to remind us that we have a soul as well as a body – an immortal soul, a soul that will live forever in happiness or in misery – and that if this soul is not saved we had better never have been born.

2. To teach us that there is a world beyond the grave, and that the world we now live in is only a training place for another dwelling, where there will be no decay, no sorrow, no tears, no misery, and no sin. 3. To make us look at our past lives honestly, fairly, and conscientiously. Am I ready for my great change if I should not get better? Do I repent truly of my sins? Are my sins forgiven and washed away in Christ’s blood? Am I prepared to meet God? 4. To make us see the emptiness of the world and its utter inability to satisfy the highest and deepest needs of the soul.

5. To send us to our Bibles. That blessed Book, in the days of health, is too often left on the shelf, becomes the safest place in which to put a bank-note, and is never opened from January to December. But sickness often brings it down from the shelf and throws new light on its pages.

6. To make us pray. Too many, I fear, never pray at all, or they only rattle over a few hurried words morning and evening without thinking what they do. But prayer often becomes a reality when the valley of the shadow of death is in sight.

7. To make us repent and break off our sins. If we will not hear the voice of mercies, God sometimes makes us “hear the rod.”

8. To draw us to Christ. Naturally we do not see the full value of that blessed Savior. We secretly imagine that our prayers, good deeds, and sacrament-receiving will save our souls. But when flesh begins to fail, the absolute necessity of a Redeemer, a Mediator, and an Advocate with the Father, stands out before men’s eyes like fire, and makes them understand those words, “Simply to Your cross I cling,” as they never did before. Sickness has done this for many – they have found Christ in the sick room.

9. To make us feeling and sympathizing towards others. By nature we are all far below our blessed Master’s example, who had not only a hand to help all, but a heart to feel for all. None, I suspect, are so unable to sympathize as those who have never had trouble themselves – and none are so able to feel as those who have drunk most deeply the cup of pain and sorrow. Summary: Beware of fretting, murmuring, complaining, and giving way to an impatient spirit. Regard your sickness as a blessing in disguise – a good and not an evil – a friend and not an enemy. No doubt we should all prefer to learn spiritual lessons in the school of ease and not under the rod. But rest assured that God knows better than we do how to teach us. The light of the last day will show you that there was a meaning and a “need be” in all your bodily ailments. The lessons that we learn on a sick-bed, when we are shut out from the world, are often lessons which we should never learn elsewhere. ~ J.C. Ryle

Oswald Chambers 

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Missionary Weapons (2)
September 11, 2017
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. —John 13:14
   
Ministering in Everyday Opportunities.Ministering in everyday opportunities that surround us does not mean that we select our own surroundings— it means being God’s very special choice to be available for use in any of the seemingly random surroundings which He has engineered for us. The very character we exhibit in our present surroundings is an indication of what we will be like in other surroundings.
The things Jesus did were the most menial of everyday tasks, and this is an indication that it takes all of God’s power in me to accomplish even the most common tasks in His way. Can I use a towel as He did? Towels, dishes, sandals, and all the other ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than anything else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.
Jesus said, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). Notice the kind of people that God brings around you, and you will be humiliated once you realize that this is actually His way of revealing to you the kind of person you have been to Him. Now He says we should exhibit to those around us exactly what He has exhibited to us.
Do you find yourself responding by saying, “Oh, I will do all that once I’m out on the mission field”? Talking in this way is like trying to produce the weapons of war while in the trenches of the battlefield— you will be killed while trying to do it.
We have to go the “second mile” with God (see Matthew 5:41). Yet some of us become worn out in the first ten steps. Then we say, “Well, I’ll just wait until I get closer to the next big crisis in my life.” But if we do not steadily minister in everyday opportunities, we will do nothing when the crisis comes.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
When a man’s heart is right with God the mysterious utterances of the Bible are spirit and life to him. Spiritual truth is discernible only to a pure heart, not to a keen intellect. It is not a question of profundity of intellect, but of purity of heart. Bringing Sons Unto Glory, 231 L

​Streams in the Desert – September 11

Streams in the Desert – September 11
2017Sep 11
“And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise” (Heb. 6:15).
Abraham was long tried, but he was richly rewarded. The Lord tried him by delaying to fulfill His promise. Satan tried him by temptation; men tried him by jealousy, distrust, and opposition; Sarah tried him by her peevishness. But he patiently endured. He did not question God’s veracity, nor limit His power, nor doubt His faithfulness, nor grieve His love; but he bowed to Divine Sovereignty, submitted to Infinite Wisdom, and was silent under delays, waiting the Lord’s time. And so, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
God’s promises cannot fail of their accomplishment. Patient waiters cannot be disappointed. Believing expectation shall be realized. Beloved, Abraham’s conduct condemns a hasty spirit, reproves a murmuring one, commends a patient one, and encourages quiet submission to God’s will and way.
Remember, Abraham was tried; he patiently waited; he received the promise, and was satisfied. Imitate his example, and you will share the same blessing.

–Selected

Stephen ThomasEl Elyon = The Most High God

Stephen Thomas

El Elyon = The Most High God

Pronounced: El El-yone

1st occurrence: Genesis 14:8

Meaning: Most High, exalted

Description: This name for God comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to ascend,” “to go up.” It describes that which is highest or uppermost. It focuses on God’s exalted position and is often translated “the Most High” or “God Most High.” This exalted position of El Elyon was the one to which Lucifer aspired in heaven, when in his pride he declared, “I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:14).

In her book, I Want to Know You, Kay Arthur wrote: “If God is not sovereign, . . . if all things are not under His dominion, then He is not the Most High, and you and I are either in the hands of fate (whatever that is), in the hands of man, or in the hands of the devil”