Rejoice In The Lord

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31


                                            "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord."
                                                                                        Philippians  3:1

     The only thing that can bring unfailing joy to the soul is to understand and know God.  This is only plain common sense.  Everything for us depends upon what He is.  He has created us, and put us in our present environment, and we are absolutely in His power.  If He is good and kind, we shall be well cared for and happy; if He is cruel and wicked, we must necessarily be miserable.  Just as the welfare of any possession depends upon the character and temper and knowledge of its owner, so does our welfare depend upon the character and temper and knowledge of God.  The child of a drunken father can never find any lasting joy in its poor little possessions, for at any minute the wicked father may destroy them all.  A good father would be infinitely more to the child than the most costly possessions.  And, similarly, none of our possessions could be of the slightest worth to us, if we were under the dominion of a cruel and wicked God.  Therefore, for us to have any lasting joy, we must come to the place where we understand and know "the Lord which exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth."

     When all else is gone God is still left.  Nothing changes Him.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in Him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.  And the soul that finds its joy in Him alone, can suffer no wavering.

The Bride Awakens

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

  "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on?  I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?"                     Song Of Solomon  5:3

     She does not see what it means to refuse to open the door to Him, for she is so nearly asleep, that her senses and discernment are clouded.  Her own trouble, and what it will mean for her to rise and let Him in, are filling her mind, crowding out the apprehension of the sin she is committing.  Her delay in opening the door does not look so heinous to her, for she knows that she loves Him; she would rejoice if He were within. She really desires to have Him within and longs to enter into that closer communion to which He is inviting and urging her.

     Dear child of God, for what trifles have you and I repulsed our Lord when He has knocked upon our door and called us to rise up to higher ground?  When He has called us to wait upon Him, and we found that it was hard to enter in, how quickly have we left our knees and gone away.  We do not apprehend that He is calling us to get into the place where He can do something for us.

     It only needs a few repulses through some trifle or selfish reason, and sleep will prevail.  In the end, the bride loses what God is offering her and misses the blessing and revelation that He is waiting to bring her.  The best God has for her, she carelessly lets fall from indolent and powerless fingers.

1 Corinthians, 13

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away, with all malice."  Ephesians 4:31


1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

King James Version (KJV)

Drawing Near To God

Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee in the comfort of the Lord:  "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."  Ephesians  4:31

                               " . . . it is good for me to draw near to God."   Psalm  73:28

     In justification God first stoops down to us and draws us with cords of love and the power of His irresistible grace; but in sanctification we must make the initial move and seek to have intimate fellowship with Him.  Asaph in Psalm 73 had experienced the joy and true happiness that results from such nearness to God. James, in his epistle, tells us that if we want to feel God's presence we must first "draw nigh" to Him  (James 4:8).  Too many Christians wait passively for God to fill them with joy, victory, and spiritual zeal they fail to recognize that such intimate blessings are impossible unless they - by Bible study, prayer, witnessing, and fellowship with other Christians - advance into the light and warmth of the Lord's most intimate presence. Because we as Christians often are so blind to this fact, God sometimes has to encourage us to come closer to Him through pressing trial and encumbering need.  How much better if true gratitude and love inspires our hearts to seek His warming embrace!  But whatever the reasons for our drawing near - our slightest movement Godward delights His heart and brings an instantaneous response and increased fellowship.

     You perhaps may recall the story of the little fellow who through fear was prompted to nestle very close to his father as they were riding along on a strange and dark road.  The indulgent father, thinking the child was about to ask for some favor, inquired,  "Out with it, what do you want?"  "Nothing, Father, I just want to be near you,"  said the child with a soulful look.  The father's heart was gladdened, and the fellowship between the two was made more precious.  So, too, the Father in Heaven rejoices when, because of our love, we seek to embrace Him in a warmer fellowship.  Indeed, "The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him . . . in truth"  (Psalm  145:18).

"Bread For Each Day"