It's Me, O Lord, It's 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

                                                    " . . . man by man."   Joshua  7:18

     A great sin had been committed in Israel by one man, but no one knew who he was except he himself.  Achan had taken some spoils in the conquest of Jericho, which had been strictly forbidden.  To find the man, eleven tribes were first eliminated, and the tribe of Judah was taken.  Then all the families of Judah were eliminated except one family.  Then this family was examined man by man.  One by one the members of the family were examined till they found the guilty man - Achan.  After establishing his guilt, he was justly executed.  Achan was found out because they were examined one by one.  It was man by man.  Before God we cannot hide in the crowd.  We can go to Hell with the crowd, but we go to Heaven man by man - one by one.  Salvation comes only when we learn to say,  "It's me, O Lord, It's me."  It is not enough to say,  "We are all sinners,"  but we must confess I ...I ...I, am the guilty one!  It is man by man, and so it will be at the judgment.  Have you ever come personally as a lost sinner to Christ?

     A Christian told a preacher,  "I was saved in your meeting last winter.  It was a stormy day and I was the only one in your audience.  Whenever you said something hard about sinners, I looked around to see who you meant.  But there wasn't anybody else, so I figured you must mean me.  When you said,  'You must be born again,'  I looked around to see who you meant, but there wasn't anyone else, so I said,  'Zeke, he must mean you,' and that did it, and your whole audience got saved that day."  Yes, it's man by man.  You can't be saved with the crowd.

"Bread For Each Day"

                                  

The Thought-Life

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

                       "For as he (a man) thinketh in his heart, so is he."  Proverbs  23:7

     How would you like to have your every thought for the past six months flashed upon a screen for all your acquaintances, neighbors, and church friends to see?  If such a thing were possible, and you knew the showing was to be tomorrow night, I suppose you would take the first train out of town!  If there is one thing which reveals the presence of the old carnal nature, it is the evil imaginations of the heart.  You may fool your preacher, and even your loved ones, but God sees the inner man.  The composite of the thoughts you entertain in your mind make up your true, spiritual portrait!  How guilty and shamefaced we all stand before His holy scrutiny.  Yet, praise God, the Holy Spirit is ever ready to help us bring  "into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"  (2 Corinthians  10:5).

     In Mammoth Cave of Kentucky one can see enormous pillars which have been formed by the steady dropping of water from the roof of the cavern.  This artistry in rock, made by the slow and silent processes of nature, is truly marvelous.  It is said that a single drop of water finds its way from the surface down through the roof of the cavern to deposit its minute sediment on the floor of the cave.  Another drop follows it, and still another, until the "icicle of stone" begins to grow.  Ultimately it forms a tremendous pillar of massive rock.  So, too, a similar process is going on in each of our hearts.  Every thought which sinks into the soul makes its contribution, and the total produces the pillars of our character.  Subtly and inescapably the ideas you hold in your mind help to form the facets of the personality and make up the real "you."

     Take a red pencil and circle Philippians 4:8 in your Bible.  It is God's recipe for your "thought-life."

"Bread For Each Day"

The Foolish Wise Man

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 when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died."    2 Samuel  17:23

     Ahithophel was one of the counselors of the traitor Absalom, son of King David.  The great King David was in dire straits and Absalom was ready to administer the decisive blow.  So he called in his counselors and asked their advice.  First, he called Ahithophel who gave his advice on how to capture David without destroying his army  (2 Samuel  17:1-4).  But before accepting this advice, another counselor (Hushai) was called in.  His advice was accepted and the counsel of Ahithophel was rejected.  This decision was such a blow to the pride of Ahithophel that he decided to commit suicide.

     Ahithophel was a wise man, for he had found a place within the inner circle of the counselors of Absalom. He was also a good businessman.  Before he committed suicide he was careful to leave his business affairs in good order.  He went home to "set his house in order," which, of course, implies that all his business affairs were in proper order.  Moreover this man was methodical, punctual, and deliberate in all his actions.  Having decided to commit suicide he would do it only in a perfectly proper and honorable (?) way.  Instead of killing himself on the spot, he considers first every detail.  He saddles his ass, he arises, he goes home, he goes to the bank and his attorney and takes care of all his business matters, and then goes and hangs himself.

     What is the lesson?  The wisest man on earth is still a fool unless he is on the side of the Lord Jesus.  Ahithophel with all his fine points was on the side of Absalom instead of David.  Until a man has received Jesus Christ as Lord, he is still a fool and a spiritual suicide, no matter how wise, successful, respected, and prosperous he may be in material things.  Your first business today is to renew your allegiance to you King, lest tragedy over take you.

"Bread For Each Day"

Inexhaustible Grace

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

        " . . . the God of all grace . . . hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus."
                                                                                                                              1 Peter 5:10

     "The God of all grace."  This is an exceeding beautiful title applied to our Father in Heaven.  He has justifying grace for all believers, illuminating grace for every seeker, comforting grace for the bereaved, strengthening grace for the weak, sanctifying grace for the unholy, living grace for the pilgrim, and dying grace for the end of the journey.  Bring hither the pitchers of your need - the grace of God will perfectly conform itself to each specially shaped sorrow and trial.

     The ocean is known by several names according to the shores it washes, but all of it is actually just part of one great flood which makes up two-thirds of the surface of our globe.  We speak of the "Seven Seas" but they actually flow into each other.  So it is with the grace of God; though each one in distress discovers and admires its special adaptation to his need, it is all part of His boundless love!  If there be any virtue, help, and sustenance, it is from Him; for He is truly the God of all grace.

     On the Island of Trinidad there is a crater in an extinct volcano which is completely filled with pitch.  This asphalt is hard enough for folk to walk upon, although here and there gas escapes in bubbles from its surface. Men dig great chunks from this tar-like lake and load train cars full of it to pave the roads of the world.  It is said, however, that no matter how large a hole is made in this Pitch Lake, no cavity will remain after 72 hours, for it immediately fills up from down below.  For over 63 years they have been taking shiploads of asphalt out of this crater, yet it never runs empty.  They have gone down as far as 280 feet and still they have found this black, gum-like substance bubbling up.  There seems to be an unlimited supply.  So, too, with God's grace, no matter how great your need, it can't exhaust His love!  Put Him to the test today.  His grace is sufficient!

"Bread For Each Day"

The Need Of Pruning

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

                    " . . . every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it . . . "   John  15:2

     I have several grapevines in my garden and each year I cut out loads and loads of long spindly vines, because I know that unless I remove these, they will take all the strength that should go into fruit.  So also our precious Lord prunes His children.  The knife is sharp and it hurts, but the Father knows best.  No vine can be fully fruitful without "pruning."

     The richest, the fullest, the most fruitful lives are those that have been in the crucible of testing, that have been broken upon the wheel of tribulation.  We have no right to believe that God will do anything with our lives until He has broken us.  There are in this world few entirely unbroken lives that are useful to God. There are few men and women who can fulfill their own hopes and plans without interruptions and disappointments all along the way.  But man's disappointments are ever God's appointments; and what we believe are tragedies are only blessings in disguise, and the very opportunities through which God wishes to exhibit His love and grace.

     There are some lives in which human plans are so completely thwarted that they seem pathetic as we look at them from a merely human standpoint.  Yet if we but study these lives carefully, we see that the lives which have been afflicted are most effective.  Are you, my friend, being broken today?  Has the dearest in life been torn from you?  Have all your dreams faded?  Have all your hopes failed?  Then remember that if you could see the purpose of these thorns in your life from the standpoint of God's wisdom and of eternity, if you could interpret these trials in this aggregate of life's blessings, you would be able to dry your tears and praise the Lord for them all.  He will not withhold any good thing "from them that walk uprightly."

"Bread For Each Day"

Psalm 52:8

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

Spiritual Contamination

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

                       " . . . keep (yourselves) . . . unspotted from the world."  James 1:27

     We hear much today about contamination.  For instance, we are keenly aware of radioactivity and how it can adversely affect our physical being.  We know too of disease germs and viruses that attack us when we come in contact with them; but are we equally conscious of the danger of spiritual contamination?

     Recently the Audubon Society called attention to the senseless slaughter of thousands of Atlantic sea birds due to the needless dumping of oil and other like substances from the ocean-going ships.  The smallest amount of this material on a bird's body mats its feathers.  This interferes with their proper function in flight and in providing insulation.  Tests prove that a spot of oil no larger than a twenty-five cent piece will work its way through the feathers of a sea bird to bring about slow but certain death from exposure and starvation. So too, a Christian may become spotted and contaminated by dabbling in the things of the world. Compromise with evil at first may appear trifling, but if left unchecked, worldliness will permeate the character to such an extent that the testimony of the individual will become wholly ineffective.

     Noah sent out two birds from the ark.  One was a raven - a ceremonially unclean creature; the other, a dove, was typical of the Spirit of God and holiness.  The raven did not return to the ark, even though the waters were still upon the earth.  No doubt it found a place to rest upon the floating body of some dead animal.  The second bird, however - a ceremonially clean creature - returned to Noah, for she could find "no rest for the sole of her foot."  The dove would not alight upon an unclean thing like a corpse!  Someone has said,  "in a world of sin we too have the choice of being a raven or a dove - unclean or clean - spotted or unspotted."

     By the power of grace let us keep ourselves uncontaminated from the things of the world.

"Bread For Each Day"