Madness!!

Man by nature is insane! He suffers from a deep-rooted psychosis called sin! An unseen principle of madness permeates his entire being! Fallen man is a stark raving lunatic whose depravity, rebellion, and malice against God literally knows no limit. 

Thoroughly degraded, man is a weak, tiny, insignificant, little dung-beetle yet, in his senseless audacity and brazen insolence, he daily tempts God to destroy him by stubbornly refusing to obey Him.  If it is madness for maggots on a dunghill to oppose the all-powerful boot of man then we worm of the earth dare not oppose the Highest God, whose invisible boot of omnipotent sovereignty could squash our souls into Hell with unthinkable ease! Such unwarranted impudence is not only futile, but completely and utterly insane! 

[Frank Hall] 

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Numbers 32:23 ...  But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.

Isaiah 13:11 ... And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

Revelation 18:5 ...  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

Romans 1:32 ... Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Proverbs 14:9 ... Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour.❤

"Christmas Day"

Lord, we will extol You, O God, our King. We will bless Your name forever and ever. But especially on this hallowed morn, we desire to pour forth floods of adoring praise. O our souls, bless the Lord. O every faculty within us, magnify His boundless love. We bring our thanks for the gift of gifts. Your only begotten Son is born into this world. He is made bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh. The least gift from heaven to guilty earth exceeds all praise. 

What shall we render unto You for sending Your own dear Son to take upon Him our nature, and truly to be one of the family of man! Utterance cannot express due gratitude. But accept, we beseech You, the breathings of Your Spirit in our hearts. Mark how fervently we love You, and how we strive to testify thanksgiving. "Wonder of wonders! The Son of God comes down from heaven that to heaven we poor sinners may be raised. Our Lord Jesus Christ takes the manhood into God that we may become partakers of the divine nature. He is born one with us that we may be one with Him forever. 

Herein is love, when we could not rise to Him, He flies down on the wings of grace to raise us to Himself. Herein is power, that when Deity and humanity were infinitely apart, God has joined them in indissoluble oneness. He has united infinite opposites in one Christ. Herein is God's wisdom in the highest, that when we were utterly undone by sin, without will to return, without intellect to devise recovery Jesus appears on earth, able as God to save us to the uttermost, and qualified as man to die our death, to shed sin-atoning blood in our stead, and to work out perfect righteousness in our behalf. 

Father, God most merciful, help us to bless You more. In spirit we take our station by the watching shepherds. So, we strive to expand our contracted hearts. We hear, "Fear not, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior who is Christ the Lord!" (Luke 2:10-11)

We hear, we believe, we rejoice, we give thanks, we adore. We bid all fears to flee away. We call upon our consciences to bathe in an ocean of repose. We look up with filial confidence. We see You our reconciled Father. Separation has ceased. We draw near, because You have thus drawn near to us. We love You because we have this proof that You have so loved us. A Redeemer has come! We put all our trust in Him. We believe that we are fully and forever redeemed from sin, and all sin's penalties and woes. You have raised up a horn of salvation for us. We see its all-sufficient might. We embrace it with undoubting faith. We realize that You have saved us. Like Simeon we clasp the new-born Savior to our hearts. 

We exult that He is ours, and we are His. We are one with Him. Therefore, You are our Father because His Father, and His God because our God. Father, again we say, help us to bless You for all the benefits of this wondrous birth. Give us grace, that our lives may praise You better than our lips. Keep our thanksgiving free from every blot. You have given so much for us, that heaven itself could give no more. Here we present ourselves to Your undivided service. Accept us. Preserve us. Rule within us. 

May Your dear Son indeed be born within us. May His continual indwelling sanctify every movement of our minds. May the good tidings of this day have free course and be glorified throughout earth's length and breadth. Wherever man lives, may he rejoice in the Child born, the son given. Hasten the time when He who as at this time came to visit us in great humility, shall come again in His glorious majesty with all His saints. Holy Father, we offer our prayers and praises in the way which You have ordained Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 

[Henry Law]

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Merry Christmas!

The True Meaning of Christmas

... as told by Linus.

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~ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  Luke 2:8-14

Putting Christ Back ...

 Rather than putting Christ back in Christmas, 

I'd settle for putting Christ back in Christians!

[from the Internet]

Matthew 23:13 ...  But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

James 1:26 ...  If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.

Joel 2:13 ...  And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

John 13:35 ...  By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. ❤

The Great Artist's Chisel!

Jesus taught the disciples humility, by His humility. He taught them gentleness, by His gentleness. He did not point out their defects in words. He did not dwell upon their errors, but He rather let them see their own spots by His purity, and their own defects by His perfection. Oh, the marvelous tenderness of Christ, who so paternally pitied those who feared Him! 

Remember that your brethren and sisters in Christ, with whom you find so much fault, are God's elect. And if He chose them, why do you reject them? They are bought with Christ's blood; why do you think so little of them? Recollect too, that with all their badness, there are some good points in them in which they excel you. They do not know so much; but perhaps they act better than you. It may be that they are faultier in pride; but perhaps they excel you in generosity. Or if perhaps one man is a little quick in temper; yet he is more zealous than you. 

Look at the bright side of your brother, and the black side of yourself; instead of reversing the order as many do. The drift of this lesson is this: as your heavenly Father has pity on you, have pity on one another. Jesus, the Compassionate One, covers our sins with the mantle of His love! Be as tender towards those who sin, as the Master was. He remembers that we are dust; remember this of others. I will not find fault with you, my friend, if I can help it, because you will one day be without fault before the throne of God! 

If God will so soon remove your faults, then why should I take note of them? I will not peevishly complain of the 'rough stone'; for I see it is under the Great Artist's chisel, and I will tarry till I see the beauty which He brings out of it. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

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Psalm 103:13-14 ... Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Ephesians 4:32 ...  And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:12 ... Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; ❤

Something In It!!

A stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.

[C. S. Lewis]

Luke 2:11-12 ...  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. ❤

The Source!!

God reminds us how foolish and unwise it is, thus, to forsake the sole source of true happiness. It is a very forcible image that is here employed God is a Fountain, a Well of Life. He is the source and spring of all true life, pleasure, holiness, and hope! In Him is a continual freshness of all that can fill the soul with joy. In Him are inexhaustible streams of mercy, grace, and consolation. But men forsake this Fountain, for cisterns yes, for broken cisterns, from which soon leak out the few drops of water they may contain. 

A traveler in the Holy Land tells us that he found the land riddled with the remains of these broken cisterns. When water was needed, they would just dig one of these little clay cisterns in the ground. It would hold water for a time, but soon, when the sun was hot and weather dry, it would crack and leak and so another and another would be needed. 

Ah, what pains and trouble men take in hewing out broken cisterns like these wealth unsanctified by true riches, the acquisition of knowledge with no end beyond its possession, a position and name that shall dazzle those around, schemes of self-indulgence and pleasure, a comfortable home where God is forgotten, some object of affection which engrosses every thought; how often something of this kind steals the heart from God! But before long there is sure to be a crack, a leak; and the joy and the comfort is dried up and gone! 

So, God in His tender compassion would have us see this and remember that nothing can ever take the place of Himself as our well-spring of joy. 

[George Everard] 

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Jeremiah 2:13 ... For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

John 4:13-14 ...  Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:  But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. ❤

Born to Die!!

 Jesus was born to die ~ so you could live.

www.ChristianPhotoshops.com

Mark 10:45 ... For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 1:21 ... And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.

John 3:16 ... For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ❤

Plank Eye!

Few sins are as subtle yet as destructive, as judging the motives of others. Unlike actions, which can be seen and weighed, motives belong to the secret chambers of the heart territory reserved for God alone. When we presume to know why someone acts in a certain way, we trespass into God's jurisdiction. We are usurping the throne of God, who alone can infallibly search hearts and minds and motives. "There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?" (James 4:12) 

Paul reminds us that the Lord will one day reveal the secret motives of every heart. "Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." (1 Corinthians 4:5) Until then, our call is to love to assume the best, to cover in love, to entrust hidden things to God. The humble heart says, "I am not God, so I dare not judge the secret motives of others." Scripture masterfully summarizes the antidote: "Love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (1 Corinthians 13:7) 

Love gives the benefit of the doubt; it presumes sincerity until clearly proven otherwise. A heart ruled by Christ, errs on the side of grace. Lord, forgive me for the arrogance of assuming that I know the hidden motives of others. Teach me to walk in humility and love. Guard my mind from judging the motives of others, my tongue from slander, and my heart from pride. May I be found faithful in judging my own sin, while leaving the secrets of others to Your perfect wisdom. 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

Matthew 7:3 ... And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

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Delivered For You!!

Who delivered up Jesus to die? 

Not Judas, for money. 

Not Pilate, for fear. 

Not the Jews, for envy. 

But the Father, for love!

[Octavius Winslow]

Romans 8:32 ...  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Romans 4:25 ... Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Luke 9:44 ...  Let these sayings sink down into your ears: for the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men.

Acts 2:23-24 ... Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. ❤

The Half-Converted Cowboy!

There is grief in my spirit when I go into the average church, for we have become a generation rapidly losing all sense of divine sacredness and reverence in our worship. God has been abridged, reduced, modified, edited, changed and amended until He is no longer the high and lifted up God whom Isaiah saw! We've reduced the God of Abraham and Jacob, to a "stuffed God" that can be appealed to by anybody at any time. The religious clown on the radio can break into his fun and say, "Now we will have a minute of prayer." 

In the religious concert, the half-converted cowboy dressed like an idiot will say after he's twanged out some catchy numbers, "Now I'll do a holy number for you." The God of today's Christianity is a weakling a little cheap, palsied God that you can pal around with. He's the "man upstairs." He's the fellow that can help you when you're in difficulty and not bother you too much when you're not. It is a major tragedy in the life of any man, to live in a church from childhood to old age with nothing more than some synthetic God compounded of sentimentality and logic but having no eyes to see, no ears to hear and no heart to love the holy God of Scripture! 

In the majority of our church meetings, there is scarcely a trace of reverence, little sense of the divine Presence, no solemnity, no awe, no holy fear. But so often there is a dull or a breezy song leader full of awkward jokes, in an effort to make everything hold together. The most pressing need just now is that we who call ourselves Christians should frankly acknowledge to each other and to God that we are gone far astray. We should confess that we are worldly, that our moral standards are low, and that we are spiritually cold and lethargic. We need to cease our multitude of unscriptural activities, and cease trying to sanctify carnal and worldly projects by promoting them "in the name of the Lord" and "for the glory of God." 

We need to return to the message, methods and objectives of the New Testament! We need boldly and indignantly to cleanse the church of all who sell cattle in the holy place; and overthrow the tables of the moneychangers! This must be done in our own lives first and then in the churches of whom we are a part. We need men and women who love the Savior, until adoration becomes the music of their soul until they don't have to be fooled with entertainment and amusement! 

[A. W. Tozer] 

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2 Timothy 4:3-4 ... For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Romans 12:1 ... I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Psalm 29:2 ... Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. ❤