Saturday, November 21, 2015
Romans 8:13
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 from you, with all malice." Ephesians 4:31
Friday, November 20, 2015
This Body Of Death
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
Paul wrote of being afflicted, crushed, perplexed, struck down, and "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies" (2 Corinthians 4:10).
I am carrying around death these days. I carried it to work today. I carried it into the shower and off into bed. I want, with Paul, the moment-by-moment death working in me that allows Jesus' moment-by-moment life to shine.
Death comes in two varieties; take your pick. I'm familiar with the dull, half-conscious subsiding into a miserable fog. Better is the embracing of fresh death served up every moment. Or rather, fresh slaying - because this kind doesn't happen to one but is chosen.
It refuses all self-made refuges and self-anesthetizing (think of giving birth and passing up the epidural) because it desires death's lucidity. It asks, What would happen if this time I didn't weave a cocoon of numbness around myself? Will I die? (An interesting inquiry.) Jesus would have to do something , wouldn't He? This is virgin terrain for me.
What are "the sufferings of Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:5)? I submit, they are any sufferings of any kind that are suffered in Christ and not AWOL from Christ - whether their origin be persecution or personal folly.
Paul Simon sings of "50 ways to leave your lover." Let's posit ways to render a broken heart unprofitable:
Tactic No. 1 is sour grapes; tell yourself you haven't lost much. Diminish the other in spurned petulance. The gain is temporary relief from the unbearable; the casualty is truth. I'm resisting this, since it is not Christ's "carrying around death."
Tactic No. 2 is nursing hope when it is wiser to abandon hope. I choose to carry around death rather than artificial life.
Tactic No. 3 is the bitter satisfaction of getting in the last word. I'm biting my tongue and carrying around death.
Tactic No. 4 is drugs, alcohol, and sleep. Not options for me.
Tactic No. 5 is fantasizing. There is always something they prefer to . . . "reality" (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce). I say no to fantasy (20 times a day) and prefer to carry around death.
Tactic No. 6 is stoicism. Not allowed (Ephesians 4:32) since we are to make the head hard and the heart soft - rather than the other way around. The hard says: "I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame" (Isaiah 50:7). The soft heart refuses to build bulwarks against future relationships.
I'm watching my emotions carefully: Sad is okay; tearfully sentimental is not. By His grace we stay the course and "do not swerve to the right or to the left" (Proverbs 4:27). Constant communion with God avoids all 50 ways of flinching from sanctifying pain.
Carrying around death includes resisting the urge to talk too much. Beware of trying to get from people what you can only get from God. Your momentary indulgence will leave you feeling sullied with your pain unabated. Keep grief clean. Remember too, EVEN THE FRIENDS WHO LIKE YOU BEST SPEND NO MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES A DAY THINKING OF YOU. God thinks of you all the time; talk to Him.
Walking around with a hole in your heart is not something to be alarmed at, or dispatched at all costs. It feels similar to dieting pangs, and both are workable. But suffering is a waste of pituitary secretions unless you suffer with Christ. "We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:9).
I used to be a mystic in hermeneutics. I thought "always carrying in the body of death of Jesus" in 2 Corinthians 4 referred to my static positional status in Christ. I wasn't practicing daily dying but avoiding it like haggis. Now I'll own death, since Christ owned death for me, and we'll just see.
Today I read how Peter's mother-in-law had a high fever and Jesus took her hand and helped her up and she began to wait on Him (Mark 1:31). Jesus, please take me by the hand and heal me too, so that I can get up and serve You again.
Andree Seu
Paul wrote of being afflicted, crushed, perplexed, struck down, and "always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies" (2 Corinthians 4:10).
I am carrying around death these days. I carried it to work today. I carried it into the shower and off into bed. I want, with Paul, the moment-by-moment death working in me that allows Jesus' moment-by-moment life to shine.
Death comes in two varieties; take your pick. I'm familiar with the dull, half-conscious subsiding into a miserable fog. Better is the embracing of fresh death served up every moment. Or rather, fresh slaying - because this kind doesn't happen to one but is chosen.
It refuses all self-made refuges and self-anesthetizing (think of giving birth and passing up the epidural) because it desires death's lucidity. It asks, What would happen if this time I didn't weave a cocoon of numbness around myself? Will I die? (An interesting inquiry.) Jesus would have to do something , wouldn't He? This is virgin terrain for me.
What are "the sufferings of Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:5)? I submit, they are any sufferings of any kind that are suffered in Christ and not AWOL from Christ - whether their origin be persecution or personal folly.
Paul Simon sings of "50 ways to leave your lover." Let's posit ways to render a broken heart unprofitable:
Tactic No. 1 is sour grapes; tell yourself you haven't lost much. Diminish the other in spurned petulance. The gain is temporary relief from the unbearable; the casualty is truth. I'm resisting this, since it is not Christ's "carrying around death."
Tactic No. 2 is nursing hope when it is wiser to abandon hope. I choose to carry around death rather than artificial life.
Tactic No. 3 is the bitter satisfaction of getting in the last word. I'm biting my tongue and carrying around death.
Tactic No. 4 is drugs, alcohol, and sleep. Not options for me.
Tactic No. 5 is fantasizing. There is always something they prefer to . . . "reality" (C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce). I say no to fantasy (20 times a day) and prefer to carry around death.
Tactic No. 6 is stoicism. Not allowed (Ephesians 4:32) since we are to make the head hard and the heart soft - rather than the other way around. The hard says: "I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame" (Isaiah 50:7). The soft heart refuses to build bulwarks against future relationships.
I'm watching my emotions carefully: Sad is okay; tearfully sentimental is not. By His grace we stay the course and "do not swerve to the right or to the left" (Proverbs 4:27). Constant communion with God avoids all 50 ways of flinching from sanctifying pain.
Carrying around death includes resisting the urge to talk too much. Beware of trying to get from people what you can only get from God. Your momentary indulgence will leave you feeling sullied with your pain unabated. Keep grief clean. Remember too, EVEN THE FRIENDS WHO LIKE YOU BEST SPEND NO MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES A DAY THINKING OF YOU. God thinks of you all the time; talk to Him.
Walking around with a hole in your heart is not something to be alarmed at, or dispatched at all costs. It feels similar to dieting pangs, and both are workable. But suffering is a waste of pituitary secretions unless you suffer with Christ. "We felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead" (2 Corinthians 1:9).
I used to be a mystic in hermeneutics. I thought "always carrying in the body of death of Jesus" in 2 Corinthians 4 referred to my static positional status in Christ. I wasn't practicing daily dying but avoiding it like haggis. Now I'll own death, since Christ owned death for me, and we'll just see.
Today I read how Peter's mother-in-law had a high fever and Jesus took her hand and helped her up and she began to wait on Him (Mark 1:31). Jesus, please take me by the hand and heal me too, so that I can get up and serve You again.
Andree Seu
Romans 7:14-25
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
14. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15. For that which I do I allow (understand) not: for what I would (want to do), that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent (agree with) unto the law that it is good.
17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19. For the good that I would (want to do) I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21. I find then a law, that, when I would (want to) do good, evil is present with me.
22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
14. For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15. For that which I do I allow (understand) not: for what I would (want to do), that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16. If then I do that which I would not, I consent (agree with) unto the law that it is good.
17. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19. For the good that I would (want to do) I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21. I find then a law, that, when I would (want to) do good, evil is present with me.
22. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
23. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Waiting On 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
" . . . Their strength is to sit still." Isaiah 30:7
Waiting on God is not stagnation, but the wisest and most productive of all occupations; for it is then that God charges our souls with a super-abundance of His grace to prepare us for greater service! God never places us in any position where we cannot grow in some way. When we are not sending branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. When everything seems to us to be characterized by the word "failure," we may be making the best and the most spiritual kind of progress! While we sit still and patiently wait on God, our souls are imbued with His strength and prepared for greater tasks ahead.
When the pursuing Egyptians trapped the helpless Israelites at the Red Sea, Moses said, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13). When the hosts of the Moabites and Ammonites closed in on Judah, King Jehoshaphat said to the people, Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 20:17). Yes, there are times when waiting is more essential than working, and when trying must give place to trusting! If God has set you aside through sickness or trial, do not be rebellious; it is His way of imparting to you His strength for greater victories ahead.
Luther Burbank often startled the world by the apparent wonders he performed in the realm of fruits and vegetables. What people did not know was that it sometimes took twenty-five years of selection and cross-breeding to make a "spineless cactus" or a "seedless orange." In the light of this should we be surprised or impatient when God takes a little time to work on our immortal soul so that He may perform His wonders? Trustingly resign yourself to His will and "let patience has her perfect work" (James 1:4).
"Bread For Each Day"
" . . . Their strength is to sit still." Isaiah 30:7
Waiting on God is not stagnation, but the wisest and most productive of all occupations; for it is then that God charges our souls with a super-abundance of His grace to prepare us for greater service! God never places us in any position where we cannot grow in some way. When we are not sending branches upward, we may be sending roots downward. When everything seems to us to be characterized by the word "failure," we may be making the best and the most spiritual kind of progress! While we sit still and patiently wait on God, our souls are imbued with His strength and prepared for greater tasks ahead.
When the pursuing Egyptians trapped the helpless Israelites at the Red Sea, Moses said, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13). When the hosts of the Moabites and Ammonites closed in on Judah, King Jehoshaphat said to the people, Stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 20:17). Yes, there are times when waiting is more essential than working, and when trying must give place to trusting! If God has set you aside through sickness or trial, do not be rebellious; it is His way of imparting to you His strength for greater victories ahead.
Luther Burbank often startled the world by the apparent wonders he performed in the realm of fruits and vegetables. What people did not know was that it sometimes took twenty-five years of selection and cross-breeding to make a "spineless cactus" or a "seedless orange." In the light of this should we be surprised or impatient when God takes a little time to work on our immortal soul so that He may perform His wonders? Trustingly resign yourself to His will and "let patience has her perfect work" (James 1:4).
"Bread For Each Day"
What Time Did You Get Up?
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
" . . . in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord." Exodus 16:7
Will you please tell me what time it is? My, oh my, is it that late already and you are just eating your breakfast? What time did you get up this morning? Yes, yes, I know you are late but why are you so late? You have missed the very best part of the day - the morning, when all is still and fresh and sweet, when the dew bejewels the grass and the birds sing their sweetest. I know you were sleepy, and it was hard to get up early, but why didn't you go to bed earlier last night? You sat up to watch a television show and this morning you missed the greatest show of all - the sunrise. You sat up to listen to the "can-can" and the "boop da doop" of modern music (??), and you missed the greatest orchestra in nature - the birds singing their chorus at dawn.
Really it doesn't make sense to stay awake so late by artificial light, that you have to spend three hours of glorious sunshine and daylight lying in bed in the morning. The morning is the best time of the day, when nature awakens refreshed, when your faculties are at their peak. It is the best time for meditation, for prayer, for communion with God. If you begin the day late, all the rest of the day you be will late.
Remember, the manna fell upon the dew in the morning. After the sun grew hot it melted. Morning is the time to sing (Psalm 59:16). Morning is the time to praise (Psalm 92:2). Morning is the time to pray (Mark 1:35). Morning is the time of resurrection and life (Mark 16:2).
What a mixed up world! We have become a flock of bats and owls, instead of larks and canaries. Tomorrow morning, try it - splash cold water in your face, take a deep breath of morning air, behold the majesty of the sunrise and then read a chapter of the Bible, lift your heart in praise and prayer. You'll feel better all day. ". . . in the morning . . . see the glory" (Exodus 16:7). In the morning take time for mediation.
"Bread For Each Day"
" . . . in the morning, then ye shall see the glory of the Lord." Exodus 16:7
Will you please tell me what time it is? My, oh my, is it that late already and you are just eating your breakfast? What time did you get up this morning? Yes, yes, I know you are late but why are you so late? You have missed the very best part of the day - the morning, when all is still and fresh and sweet, when the dew bejewels the grass and the birds sing their sweetest. I know you were sleepy, and it was hard to get up early, but why didn't you go to bed earlier last night? You sat up to watch a television show and this morning you missed the greatest show of all - the sunrise. You sat up to listen to the "can-can" and the "boop da doop" of modern music (??), and you missed the greatest orchestra in nature - the birds singing their chorus at dawn.
Really it doesn't make sense to stay awake so late by artificial light, that you have to spend three hours of glorious sunshine and daylight lying in bed in the morning. The morning is the best time of the day, when nature awakens refreshed, when your faculties are at their peak. It is the best time for meditation, for prayer, for communion with God. If you begin the day late, all the rest of the day you be will late.
Remember, the manna fell upon the dew in the morning. After the sun grew hot it melted. Morning is the time to sing (Psalm 59:16). Morning is the time to praise (Psalm 92:2). Morning is the time to pray (Mark 1:35). Morning is the time of resurrection and life (Mark 16:2).
What a mixed up world! We have become a flock of bats and owls, instead of larks and canaries. Tomorrow morning, try it - splash cold water in your face, take a deep breath of morning air, behold the majesty of the sunrise and then read a chapter of the Bible, lift your heart in praise and prayer. You'll feel better all day. ". . . in the morning . . . see the glory" (Exodus 16:7). In the morning take time for mediation.
"Bread For Each Day"
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Mahanaim - The Angel Bands!
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
" . . . and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim (or "Bands"). Genesis 32:1,2
Jacob, after many trials and a long absence, was finally homeward bound to Canaan. Twenty years before, as he had passed that same way going in the opposite direction, he had seen a wondrous vision of angels ascending and descending upon a heavenly ladder, and had been given some exceedingly great and precious promises. Now as he journeys he receives a new pledge of God's protecting presence and blessing as the angels again meet him and gather in a guardian band around him. He realizes that they have been especially sent to aid and defend him in his hour of coming crisis. What a thrill it must have been to his heart to know that God was still leading and encamping round about him with His protecting angelic hosts.
Alexander McLaren makes a practical application concerning this beautiful event in the life of Jacob as follows: "It is in the path where God has bade us walk that we shall find the angels round us. We may meet them, indeed, on paths of our own choosing, but it will then be the sort of angel that Balaam met, with a sword in his hand, mighty and beautiful, but wrathful too; and we had better not oppose him! But, the friendly helpers, the emissaries of God's love, the apostles of His grace, do not haunt the roads that we make for ourselves." In God's way, however, we can expect angelic protection.
Not only do the angels do service for us in this life, as they did for Jacob (Hebrews 1:14), but they also bear our souls to Glory when our earthly sojourn here comes to an end (Luke 16:22). Christians, therefore, may well call the time of their death, "Mahanaim" - for it is then in a special way that the angels of God meet them!
"Bread For Each Day"
" . . . and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim (or "Bands"). Genesis 32:1,2
Jacob, after many trials and a long absence, was finally homeward bound to Canaan. Twenty years before, as he had passed that same way going in the opposite direction, he had seen a wondrous vision of angels ascending and descending upon a heavenly ladder, and had been given some exceedingly great and precious promises. Now as he journeys he receives a new pledge of God's protecting presence and blessing as the angels again meet him and gather in a guardian band around him. He realizes that they have been especially sent to aid and defend him in his hour of coming crisis. What a thrill it must have been to his heart to know that God was still leading and encamping round about him with His protecting angelic hosts.
Alexander McLaren makes a practical application concerning this beautiful event in the life of Jacob as follows: "It is in the path where God has bade us walk that we shall find the angels round us. We may meet them, indeed, on paths of our own choosing, but it will then be the sort of angel that Balaam met, with a sword in his hand, mighty and beautiful, but wrathful too; and we had better not oppose him! But, the friendly helpers, the emissaries of God's love, the apostles of His grace, do not haunt the roads that we make for ourselves." In God's way, however, we can expect angelic protection.
Not only do the angels do service for us in this life, as they did for Jacob (Hebrews 1:14), but they also bear our souls to Glory when our earthly sojourn here comes to an end (Luke 16:22). Christians, therefore, may well call the time of their death, "Mahanaim" - for it is then in a special way that the angels of God meet them!
"Bread For Each Day"
Soap And Salvation
Come, sit, and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea 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
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46
A strange paradox is evident in our country today; for while statistics show a marked increase in church membership and there is unquestionably a religious awakening in the land, statistics show an even greater increase in crime and wickedness. If the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, this religious resurgence should evidence itself in its impact upon people's lives. A great increase of interest in religion, without a corresponding decrease in sin and wickedness just doesn't add up. Can it be that this religious fervor is only a pretext, caused by fear in this age? A man sneeringly said, "The Gospel has lost its power, for while thousands profess Christ, nothing much is happening as a result." But it is not the fault of the Gospel. It is because people make a profession but have no possession. Coming forward, signing a card, joining a church - this is not salvation, but mere religious gesture. It is not enough to say, "Lord, Lord"; the Gospel must be practically applied, and not merely mentally endorsed. We fear that too many who say "Lord, Lord," have never had His blood applied. It is not the fault of the Gospel.
A preacher and an unconverted manufacturer of soaps met on the street. Sneeringly the soapmaker said, "The Gospel you preach can't be very good for there are still a lot of wicked people." The preacher was silent until they passed a child making mud pies. The tot was smeared with dirt all over. Pointing to the little tot, the preacher said to his friend, "Soapy, your soap can't be very good, for there is still a lot of dirt in the world." "Oh well," said Soapy, "it cleanses only when actually applied." "Exactly!" said the preacher. The man was caught in his own trap.
What is your faith doing in you and to you?
"Bread For Each Day"
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46
A strange paradox is evident in our country today; for while statistics show a marked increase in church membership and there is unquestionably a religious awakening in the land, statistics show an even greater increase in crime and wickedness. If the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, this religious resurgence should evidence itself in its impact upon people's lives. A great increase of interest in religion, without a corresponding decrease in sin and wickedness just doesn't add up. Can it be that this religious fervor is only a pretext, caused by fear in this age? A man sneeringly said, "The Gospel has lost its power, for while thousands profess Christ, nothing much is happening as a result." But it is not the fault of the Gospel. It is because people make a profession but have no possession. Coming forward, signing a card, joining a church - this is not salvation, but mere religious gesture. It is not enough to say, "Lord, Lord"; the Gospel must be practically applied, and not merely mentally endorsed. We fear that too many who say "Lord, Lord," have never had His blood applied. It is not the fault of the Gospel.
A preacher and an unconverted manufacturer of soaps met on the street. Sneeringly the soapmaker said, "The Gospel you preach can't be very good for there are still a lot of wicked people." The preacher was silent until they passed a child making mud pies. The tot was smeared with dirt all over. Pointing to the little tot, the preacher said to his friend, "Soapy, your soap can't be very good, for there is still a lot of dirt in the world." "Oh well," said Soapy, "it cleanses only when actually applied." "Exactly!" said the preacher. The man was caught in his own trap.
What is your faith doing in you and to you?
"Bread For Each Day"
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