DO EVERYTHING IN DEPENDENCE ON ME.....

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

Do everything in dependence on Me.  The desire to act independently - apart from Me - springs from the root of pride.  Self-sufficiency is subtle, insinuating its way into your thoughts and actions without your realizing it.  But apart from Me, you can do nothing; that is, nothing of eternal value.  My deepest desire for you is that you learn to depend on Me in every situation.  I move heaven and earth to accomplish this purpose, but you must collaborate with Me in this training.  Teaching you would be simple if I negated your free will or overwhelmed you with My Power.  However, I love you too much to withdraw the godlike privilege I bestowed on you as My image-bearer.  Use your freedom wisely, by relying on Me constantly.  Thus you enjoy My Presence and My Peace.

"Jesus Calling - Enjoying Peace in His Presence"

I Am Such A Great Sinner!

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

                                            ". . . be clothed with humility."  1 Peter 5:5

     I don't want to be a "hair-slitter," for they are usually chronic critics who overlook all the flowers in a beautiful bouquet and pick on the one faded petal.  But I may seem to be dealing in petty faultfinding when I object to the way some people begin or end their prayers.  So often it begins,  "We humbly come," or ends, "This we humbly ask."  I know folks mean well, but really "humble" folks never mention it.  In fact, no person is humble who admits or thinks he is.  Paul refers to a "show of humility" in Colossians  2:23.  The worst kind of pride is humble pride, which really is proud humility.  A truly humble person will never suspect that he is humble but will be like Moses when he came down from the mountains.  "Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone"  (Exodus  34:29).

     How can we recognize proud humility in ourselves?  Do you like to talk about your own achievements and spiritual knowledge?  Are you one who humbly (?) tells how much time you spend in prayer and studying the Bible?  We hear folks tell us how much time they spend studying the Word, and when they get up to preach - well, we wonder.  You don't need to advertise how early you get up to pray.  If you really spend much time in prayer, people will soon know it without your telling them.

     There is another form of humility we may call false humility.  It consists of constantly depreciating ourselves to others, telling how bad we are and what a failure we've been; but secretly we want them to disagree with us and tell us how great we are.

     A certain preacher became tired of hearing one of the ladies in the congregation constantly testify as to what a great sinner she was and what a wicked woman she was.  One day she said again,  "Pastor, I am such a wicket woman,"  and the pastor replied,  "Yes, so I've been told."  At this she became indignant and screamed at him,  "Who told you I was a wicked woman?"  He answered,  "You did!"

"Bread For Each Day"

Spirits Of Camphor

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

". . . his hands full of sweet incense beaten small . . . And he shall put the incense upon the fire."   Leviticus 16:12, 13

     On the day of atonement, the High Priest was to take sweet incense, ground to powder, and cast a handful of it upon the fire of the altar.  The original word for incense means "to produce fragrance by burning."  A certain herb, odorless until crushed, was beaten small and cast into the fire on the altar, releasing its aromatic fumes in a pungent, fragrant cloud which filled the whole house.  This was a sweet-smelling savor unto the Lord.

     Notice two things:  1) It must be "beaten small," and  2) it must pass through the fire.  So, too, the fragrance of our lives for Christ must be beaten small by the hammer of His Word and pass through the fiery trials of God's chastening to bring out the true fragrance.  (Read Romans 5:3-5.)  I have found the maximum of tender submissive fragrance on those lives which have been beaten in the fire.

     Last winter I was introduced to a new tree in Florida.  It was a stately, spreading tree with shiny, leathery leaves.  Upon inquiry I was told it was a "camphor tree."  Smell the leaves,"  said my friend.  I did - and smelled nothing.  Then - "Crush those leaves between  your palms,"  and as I did so the whole care was filled with an intensely invigorating fragrance of camphor.  It only needed crushing to release its clean odor.  I was told the tree was "disease free."  No bugs, thrips, beetles, or worms would touch it.  Birds and animals left it alone.  Oh, to be a camphor tree for God, repelling and rebuking all the bugs and grubs of selfishness, greed, pride, envy, and defilement.  Oh, to be beaten small by the hammer of the Word and to be purified by God's loving hand.  That is how God makes "spirits of camphor" to revive fainting souls and to stimulate the heart of the faltering.

"Bread For Each Day"

I HAVE PROMISED...

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 PROMISED to meet all your needs according to My glorious riches.  Your deepest, most constant need is for My Peace.  I have planted Peace in the garden of your heart, where I live; but there are weeds growing there too:  pride, worry, selfishness, unbelief.  I am the Gardener, and I am working to rid your heart of those weeds.  I do My work in various ways.  When you sit quietly with Me, I shine the Light of My Presence directly into your heart.  In this heavenly Light, Peace grows abundantly and weeds shrivel up.  I also send trials into your life.  When you trust Me in the midst of trouble, Peace flourishes and weeds die away.  Thank Me for troublesome situations; the Peace they can produce far outweigh the trials you endure.

"Jesus Calling - Finding Peace In His Presence"

The First Sin

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


         "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."   Proverbs 16:18

     So you don't drink, steal, curse, or commit adultery, gamble, smoke, or lie!  Well, that is wonderful; but after all, isn't that what is to be expected of any decent person?  The fact you don't indulge in these things is no more than your duty.  Whenever I hear someone boast of his morality, I know that he is guilty of one sin he has overlooked - pride.  Pride is as great a sin as these others, in fact is at the very root of all of them.  I was surprised to find that pride is more frequently mentioned and condemned in the Word of God than adultery.  The words "pride,"  "proud,"  "proudly"  occur 106 times in the Bible, while the words "adultery,"  "adulterous,"  "adulterer,"  "adulteress"  occur only seventy times.

     The word "pride" in the original is a combination of two words,  huper, and phaino.  Huper means "above,"  and phaino means "to shine."  Pride then is the desire of a person to "shine above" his fellow men.  It is self-exaltation, in direct disregard of God's World. (See Romans 12:3).

     Pride was the first sin of the universe.  It was the sin which caused satan to fall from his high position  (read the Scriptures at the beginning of this article), and this sin satan instilled in the heart of Eve by the words,  "Ye shall be as gods"  (Genesis 3:5).  Pride is deification of self.  It always wants to be in the limelight, wants to attract attention, a conceit of one's superiority. But the Bible says:  "For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself"  (Galatians  6:3).

     So you don't drink, steal, curse, or commit adultery, gamble, smoke, or lie!  Aren't you proud of being such a fine fellow, so much better than others about you?  Don't strut, brother, for it is only God's grace in which you can glory.  Oh, God, forgive us for the subtle, fleshly sin of pride.  Amen.

"Bread For Each Day"