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Saturday, December 27, 2008

Command For The Coming Year: "Watch, Stand, Be Brave, Be Strong"

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong."  (1 Cor. 16:13)
 
On this date in 1944, during the Ardennes Offensive, the German Army was still wreaking havoc in the American lines.  Some, in the face of overwhelming odds and firepower, stood their ground.  Some survived.  Many died in the process.  Thousands, however, fled in shear panic.  I have never condemned the latter.  If I would have been in that hellish position, I cannot really be sure what I would have done.  "Stand fast" means to hold your ground, be unmovable, unshakeable.  The NASB translates, "be brave," as, "act like men."  Variations on this were heard all over the battlefield in those horrendous days. 
 
And so, in the desperate war of life, the God-Breathing Word says the same to us.  The Holy Spirit would not have urged Paul to write our text if Believers did not need this kind of exhortation and encouragement.  We all know people who exude the air of perfect spirituality, never show signs of weakness, never fearful, always seemingly on top of things.  I write not for them.  I write for those who find days or moments in the days when we need to hear, "watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong."  There are seasons in this pilgrimage when the enemy throws overwhelming forces at us, and we face the temptation to turn and attempt to outrun the onslaught.  Our text commands us what to do.
 
Someone once said that when the Lord says, "Fear not," He has a reason.  Something is facing you which will cause fear.  But to those who are utterly dependent in Jesus Christ, the, "Fear not," command rules.  Mark this--- There are no impossible commands in the Bible.  If some seem as such, it is only because we try to walk in them apart from total dependency on the Living, Indwelling Christ.  "Watch" in Jesus.  "Stand fast in the faith" in Jesus.  "Be brave" in Jesus.  "Be strong" in Jesus Christ.  And as He says, "Do this and you will live"--------------------------------- and not run.  
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that You are the power of the command.  Amen.             
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Thursday, December 25, 2008

"To All People"

"....Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people."  (Luke 2:"10)
 
This is the "Great Commission," Christmas style.  What you and I are enjoying today is "to all people"------------- not just Christians, religious people.  No one was left out of this angelic decree from Heaven.  "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."  And if you believe that "all have sinned," and that "no one is good but One God," then you realize the universality of the "good tidings of great joy."
 
Remember today that this good news is for the people around you who may not know Jesus Christ.  They are there with you by "Divine Appointment."
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, never let me forget that You are "to all people."  Amen.  
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Let The Pagans Do What They May

"Glory to God in the highest...." (Luke 2:14a)
 
Some church-goers don't celebrate Christmas because they say it is a pagan holiday.  Excuse me?  Why should we allow the pagans to rule the day and rob us of celebrating the birth of Christ, rather than joining the angels and declare, "Glory to God in the highest"?!?  Let the pagans commercialize the day, get drunk, fight at family gatherings.  There is precious little we can do about that.  What we can do is take the day to celebrate the revelation of the Messiah, the Christ, the "Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace," the One "Who loved me and gave Himself for me."  And who cares if it was December 25 or not?  My grandfather Sherwood was born some time near the close of 1882, but was never sure of the exact date.  So, he never had a birthday party?  Of course he did.  What did the date matter?  He was here.  He was with us, and for that we were extremely grateful. 
 
The Bible says, "One greater than the temple is here....One greater than Jonah is here....One greater than Solomon is here."  Jesus, "Emmanuel, God with us," The One in Whom the Godhead dwells bodily----- is here!  He "will never, no never leave you nor forsake you."  He promised, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Now, are you going to let the pagans take that from you, or, are you going to light the tree, cook the turkey, exchange gifts, be festive and merry?  I can think of absolutely no better reason to engage in such merriment. 
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, "Glory to You in the highest!"  Amen. 
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Tuesday, December 23, 2008

What a Savior!

"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."  (Matthew 1:21)
 
The Son, the Baby Jesus in the manger, is Savior.  "He shall save."  You have heard over the years, I am sure, the definition of, "save."  It means, "deliver, protect, heal, preserve," cause you to "do well, make whole."  In Luke 7:50, in the healing of a sick woman, Jesus says, "Go your way.  Your faith has saved you"--- same Greek word as in our text.  Paul said, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners"----- same word.  And when Peter was about to physically drown in the storm, he cried out to Jesus," Lord, save me!"----- same word.  Luke 2:11, "for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."  That's right; same root word!  And did you know that the Hebrew word for, "save," means essentially the same.  In Deuteronomy 20:4, the Living Triune God told the Jews, "For the LORD your God is He who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you."  The psalmist cried, "Save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen!"  The Hebrew words for, "save," here mean the same as the NT Greek word, but more, "to be open wide, free, to succor, defend, avenge." 
 
The god of evangelicalism has over the years deprived humanity of "so great a salvation."  Jesus Christ came to "open wide" the door of Heaven for me, to save me, forgive me, and set me free of my sin, save me from Hell, but also from the enslaving entanglements of sin in this life, to defend me in this life, even avenge me in this life, "to fight for you against your enemies," to save you "from the lion's mouth."  Consider what He did for Daniel!   This is all for you and me!  So when you hear and/or read the great "Christmas" passages this year, remember that there is a whole lot more saving Jesus came to do and be for you and me than we have ever imagined!
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to believe for salvation in areas I have never considered.  Amen. 
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Devotional Archive:            www.apfdevotionals.blogspot.com 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Monday, December 22, 2008

"This Child Is Destined For the Fall And Rising of Many"

"Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 'A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (Matthew 2:17)
 
Yes, this is a part of the Christmas Story.  While the men from the East brought gifts, others brought death.  Simeon prophesied to Mary that Jesus was "destined for the fall and rising of many...." and, "yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul."  History has proven he was a true prophet----- wars, genocide, and as Jesus Himself said later, "Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom."  Jesus' Coming stirred the "pot" of human civilization. 
 
Every Christmas season I think of the horrendous German Ardennes Offensive, more popularly known as "The Battle of the Bulge," which lasted from December 16, 1944 through January 1945.  It was one of the deadliest battles in American history.  At least 19,000 American soldiers were lost.  I still remember the photo of a scraggly Christmas tree in General McAulliffe's headquarters in Bastogne.  One soldier called it, "Christmas in hell."  Patton wrote in his diary on December 25, 1944:  "A clear cold Christmas, lovely weather for killing Germans, which seems a bit[odd] seeing whose birthday it is." 
 
On the other "side" of the battle the suffering and desperation was also heart wrenching.  A schoolmaster who returned from Bastogne after Christmas found this "agonized message" scrawled on a blackboard of his classroom in Champs, Belgium.  "May the world never again live through such a Christmas night!  Nothing is more horrible than meeting one's fate, far from mother, wife and children.  Is it worthy of man's destiny to bereave a mother of her son, a wife of her husband or children of their father?  Life was bequeathed to us in order that we might love and be considerate to one another.  From the ruins out of blood and death shall come forth a brotherly world."  The message was "chalked in German and signed by a German officer."
 
Christmas is not about "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," or just lights and manger scenes.  Jesus did not come into the world so that we could have a "feel good" holiday.  "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword."  This is not in conflict with, "peace on earth."  It is further revelation on,  "this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many...."  The choice for mankind has been always, "peace on earth," or, "a sword."  It all depends on what, who, or Who reigns in our lives. 
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that "from the ruins out of blood and death shall come forth a brotherly," Jesus-Centered, and Jesus Exalting world.  Amen.  
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Thursday, December 18, 2008

"For To You Is Born The Supreme In Authority, The Controller"

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11, KJV) 
 
The word translated, "Lord," means, "supreme in authority, controller."  Our text translates this way-- "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the 'supreme in authority,' Christ, the 'Controller.'"
 
The angelic proclamation which rang over the hills of Bethlehem still rings throughout the earth today--------- "The Supreme in authority, the Controller has come."  In His Birth, His Blood, His Death and Resurrection, the Babe of Bethlehem did, indeed, come as "a Savior" to "seek and to save" this sin sick world.  But while theologians have proclaimed, and man has seemingly been willing to embrace Jesus as Savior, the proclamation and acceptance of Jesus as "Supreme in Authority, Controller" is not popular.  The Bible tells us, though, that some day the nations of the world will see The "Supreme in Authority," The "Controller" manifest in terrible power.  Will you and I "be ready in the day of His power?" 
 
In light of our text, there is a very large question looming over me today.  It seems as though I have embraced Jesus as Savior.  Have I really embraced Him in the accurate definition of "Christ the Lord," my "supreme in authority," my "controller?"  I cannot have "one without the other."  
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, deal with me on the "Supreme in Authority" and "Controller" issue.  Amen. 
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Wednesday, December 17, 2008

"Jesus, to Thee All Glory Be Given"

"No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him," or, "He has revealed Him." (John 1:18-- NASB)   
 
At the birth of Jesus, God was saying to the universe, "Here I am in the way you have never seen."  The Scripture says that there are things even "which angels desire to look into."  Jesus came revealing the nature of the Godhead.  This was new revelation.  
 
When the shepherds went to that dark, cold manger in Bethlehem, their eyes beheld what the angels saw for the first time.  The Son is He which Micah says is "from days of eternity," but this was something new.  Here we see the Blessed Trinity, manifested among men, lying in the arms of a very young girl among the simple animals of the earth, and watched over by a risk-taking, humble Galilean carpenter.
 
He still comes in the most humble ways, to the most humble of people.  The humble sing the songs of Zion this Christmas Season, songs of celebration.  "Yea, Lord we greet Thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to Thee be all glory given; Word of the Father now in flesh appearing, O Come, let us adore Him!" 
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, "to Thee be all glory given...."  Amen.
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Tuesday, December 16, 2008

The Trouble With Jesus

"Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?  For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship HimWhen Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him."
(Matthew 2:2,3)
 
The word translated, "troubled," has to do with fear or "perplexity."  Herod's fear was based on the impending loss of his throne to the Babe in Bethlehem.  "All Jerusalem" was perplexed because the people who should have been eagerly waiting for the Coming One apparently did not take seriously the Word which was read each Sabbath.  Perplexity and fear will always rule in the proud, the ignorant, the unrepentant, the disobedient. 
 
People still fear and reject Jesus Christ because they know that when Jesus comes, a new rule and authority has come.  "Assert yourself" and "lead others" is replaced by "Deny himself" and "follow Me."  Jesus said that in the last days we would see "men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth...." 
But fear and perplexity will not overtake those who obey Jesus.  In That Day, it will be as in our text.  The same Word of God Who "troubled" the hearts of the disobedient, will be "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" for "wise men."
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, I say Your coming is not troubling.  It is healing.  Amen.      
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Monday, December 15, 2008

The Christmas Story--"Christ Came As High Priest of the Good Things to Come"

"Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith...." (Hebrews 10:19-22a, NIV)

So many people lack "
confidence" in their approach to God, yet our text invites such.  The root of the word, "confidence," mentioned in the first part of our text, however, is not impertinence, but the "assurance" spoken of later.  And this "assurance" is based solely on the "Blood of Jesus."  Whereas you and I were timid or uncertain just how, or even if we could approach the Godhead, now the Breath of God, the Holy Spirit says, "Come, come into the Holy of Holies 'by the blood of Jesus.'"  But always remember; the reason has nothing to do with you nor me.  The reason we are invited to "enter the Most Holy Place," to approach "the Throne of Grace....with confidence/boldness," is "the blood of Jesus," and only "the blood of Jesus." 

Our text also tells us that "
the blood of Jesus" and "his body" is "a new and living way opened for us."  The other "ways" were only shadows of what the writer tells us earlier, "the good things to come."  The promises in the First Covenant foreshadowed things concerning "the Coming One," and the "greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is not of this creation."  You'll have to excuse me, but as I am writing this, I find myself smiling, not because of what I am writing, but because of the anointing on the God-Breathing Word,
right now, reading the context of the aforementioned passage-- "
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption."

As the country preacher once said, "This'll preach!"  But, alas, not to "
weary you further," I must close with this word to you.  Just as the angels once announced, "....For behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people," the Holy Spirit, sent from the Father and the Son, Jesus, now says to you today in the word of the Song of Solomon, "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills"--------------- to bring you right into "The Most Holy Place by the Blood of Jesus."

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for coming to me in Jesus.  I want no other gift.  Amen.
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Friday, December 12, 2008

What Has Been "Revealed" To You?

"....There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon....It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (From Luke 2:25 & 26)

Alfred Jodl, representing the German High Command, signed an unconditional surrender at 02:41 on May 7, 1945, in a red brick school house in Rheims, France, just east of Paris.  Part of the document reads, "The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 23:01 hours Central European time on 8 May."  Thus ended nearly 6 years of carnage in Europe.  Roosevelt and Churchill pursued what they called a "Germany First" policy.  It was their belief, as well as Allied Command, that if you knocked Germany out of the war, Italy and Japan would soon follow.  History proves them correct.  You may recall that I believe Germany is
still key to the global destiny.  It is a prophetic "sense" based on Biblical prophecy and the gift of prophecy.  In the final days, just before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, out of the German people group will come the final world government.

In our text, we see that Simeon had a prophetic word "working" in him also.  The Godhead, now revealed before him in the Baby Jesus, had revealed a very specific prophetic word to him.  At what age this revelation came to Simeon we are not told.  The wording can indicate that it was later in his life.  Regardless, when the time came for the fulfillment of the prophetic word, Simeon was not caught by surprise.  He had not given up.  He had two realities going for him, "his" word, and
The Word."  He had read or heard read from the "God-Breathed" Word of "The Coming One," Jesus, so his "personal" prophetic word had strong Biblical, "God-Breathed" revelation as its base.  This is absolutely necessary to the whole prophetic word move today.

What "word" do you have?  I encourage you to be like Simeon, always looking, observing, open to whatever Jesus reveals, but not obsessed with that "word."  Just keep an open eye to what is going on in your life, around you, and in the world.  All of these ingredients will enable you to live a balanced life of hope, anticipation, and joy, knowing that whatever the exact fulfillment of the "word," the Lord Jesus Christ will perform it in His timing.  Our timing brings frustration and depression.  Jesus' timing brings contentment and peace.

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to live in prophetic anticipation.  Amen.  
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Yes, There Is "His Goodness And...His Wonderful Works"

"Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"  (Psalm 107:8)
 
There are times in a person's life when he might respond to the psalmist, "What goodness?"  Have you ever noticed how the badness jumps out at you, and at times you have to search for the "goodness?"  But the "bad" is really relative, isn't it?  Most of us in America endure job termination, sickness, broken relationships, some even due to their commitment to Jesus Christ, loss of a life's savings, depression, while Black People and First Nations people in America have known murder and suffering which no white American has.  Even so, some of the most positive, "give thanks" messages have come from what was once called "Negro Spirituals," from people suffering the pain and humiliation of slavery.  And who could ever begin to describe the suffering of our First Nations people?  Then there are the followers of Jesus Christ in most of the world, suffering the pain of an unspeakable poverty, depravation, watching loved ones carted off to suffering, torture, and death.  While I cannot imagine their suffering, Jesus breathes His Word to them just as He does to me, "Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!"  The God-Breathing Word is universal. 
 
Pope Benedict said in a recent advent message, "For populations worn out by misery and hunger, for throngs of refugees, for those who suffer grave and systematic violations of their rights, the Church is as a sentinel on the mountain of faith and she announces to them: 'Behold your God!  The Lord your God comes in power.'  This prophetic announcement is realized in Jesus Christ.  He, with his preaching and then with his death and resurrection, fulfilled the ancient promises, revealing a deeper and more universal perspective." 
 
If you are in great pain today, "lift your vision higher."  Get out of the "badness" perspective and adopt a "universal perspective."  Then you will see His "goodness, and wonderful...works." 
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to keep that "universal perspective."  Amen. 
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Wednesday, December 10, 2008

"Seeker Friendly?" I Prefer The Friendly Seeker

"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)

"
The Son of Man has come...."---- Glorious Christmas message.  And this message tells us the reason Jesus "has come."  Jesus "has come to seek and to save...."  Now there has been much emphasis that "Jesus saves," but little that Jesus seeks. 

Our text emphasizes that it is Jesus, not us, Who is the initiator in the seeking.  Most of humanity was/is not looking for Him.  They are only seeking help, a way out of the struggle.  The cry is not for His Person, but His solutions, just someone, something, anything which can make the pain go away.  But can't you remember the joy when you discovered that the answer, the solution to your life's quest was not an idea, a philosophy, not some complicated solution, but a Person, Jesus?  Jesus came to you and me, a part of confused, wondering humanity, as the Good Shepherd described in Luke 15, seeking lost, dumb sheep, straying aimlessly to their destruction?  Remember what joy when you realized that our Heavenly Father is the Father seeking and watching for the lost son who knew best, and in demanding and looking for that best found himself in a pigs' sty?  What joy when you realized that Father is our Seeking Father, seeking us, calling us from our misery and pain to Himself? 

This Christmas take great comfort in the promise, "
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart"----
because Jesus sought you and found you when He searched for you with all
His Heart!
 
               "Jesus sought me when a stranger,
               Wandering from the fold of God;
               He, to rescue me from danger,
               Interposed His precious blood;
               How His kindness
yet pursues me
               Mortal tongue can never tell,
               Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
               I cannot proclaim it well."    

Father, in Jesus' Name, I am so thankful that You have come "
to seek and to save" this wretched man.  Amen.  
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I am preaching in the CCE meeting, December 13 & 14
News, Commentary:               www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Acculturation, Assimilation, Absorption

"Examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it.  Test and prove yourselves [not Christ].  Do you not yourselves realize and know [thoroughly by an ever-increasing experience] that Jesus Christ is in you...." (2 Corinthians 13:5--Amplified Bible)
 
So many in today's world "test" Christ and not themselves.  They have allowed acculturation to be "the faith," rather than "the faith of Jesus Christ."  Acculturation has always been the main battle for the Believer.  A synonym for acculturation is "assimilation," defined as "the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another."  This just does not, has never, and will never work for the person who seeks to live under the authority of Jesus Christ.  There is no absorption here, just dead to the one and alive to the other.  To keep ourselves from the three "A" evil, Believers are commanded to "examine your own selves."  Disobediently, so many leave this up to preachers et. al. who are acculturated themselves.  
 
Biblical examination leads to affirmation that I am "holding to [the] faith," or correction if I am not "holding to [the] faith," a correction which leads to repentance, which is the catalyst of change.  Of course I have met many people over the years who have engaged in the process in their "own understanding," and it led to self incrimination.  Crimination is never the result of Biblical examination.  Biblical examination will always lead to conformation to the image of Jesus Christ.  Of course, if a person does not want to be persecuted, or "hated by all" on account of Jesus Christ, then he will continue to attempt living the assimilation life.  But if he desires what the God-Breathing Word describes as the "holiness, without which no one will see the Lord," then he will pursue our text, and find that "having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life."
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, teach me Your "self examination."  Amen.    
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I am preaching this weekend in the CCE gathering
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Monday, December 8, 2008

A Bolshevik Education

"....Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will be no means enter the kingdom of heaven."   Matthew 18:3)
 
Lenin was supposed to have said, "Give us the child for eight years, and it will be a Bolshevik forever."   I remember studying that most character traits are already developed by age three.  Some "experts" say age 5.  Regardless, when we come to Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the God-Breathing Word have a lot of conversion to do.  How old were you when you were born of the Spirit? 
 
Most Christians spent at least twelve years in a "Bolshevik" educational system, and then have the nerve to ask the Lord why they have such a struggle in Kingdom thinking and behaving.  A few verses of the "God-Breathed" Word a day are not enough to win this battle.  They had better get on with Word saturation.  This conversion is our only salvation.
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to continually see the difference between "Bolshevik" and Kingdom training.  Amen. 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Thursday, December 4, 2008

"Rock of Ages Cleft For Me"

"For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede." (Deuteronomy 32:31-- NIV)

I received a prayer request today for a "little Tristan."  It did not say what his condition is, but it sounded serious, some sort of cancer.  How well I remember 39 years ago, when just a few days after Christmas our son, Stephen, was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  The next six months were Hell on earth.  We lived an hour and fifteen minutes away from the hospital, had car trouble, but also faithful church members who helped in that regard.  In those days you could not stay at the hospital.  After about four months, a pastor in Columbus heard of our situation and offered a room at his place.  Sarah took advantage of this act of kindness.  I had dropped out of seminary, but still had to travel the 40 miles one way to take a class I needed which was only offered that semester.  Andrew, our second son, just a few months old, spent months at his grand parents in Johnstown, about six hours away.  Then on that most horrendous day of my life, June 12, 1970, that little boy who was so close to me, who even went to the hospital with me on a pastoral visit while he was suffering, left this life.

It is always painful to think, write, and talk about.  I hear today talk from so many in times of suffering that there is no pain, no fears, doubts, etc.  I cannot say such things.  Of course, I take great comfort, a comfort which helps one keep his sanity, that Stephen departed "
to be with the Lord" Jesus.  But the void, the sorrow, the missing is still with me.  Sarah is different from me.  She rarely speaks of him, or about the whole experience, and I honor that.  But it has been no easier for her.

This may sound depressing.  I didn't mean it to be.  But I can tell you for sure, the word of our text is just as true for me today as it was that very dark June day so long ago.  Many have heard and read my testimony of reading through the God-Breathing Word that summer, how the Breath of God empowered me, how Jesus came to me more clearly than a physical vision, spoke to my heart, got me up--------------and has been sustaining me right to this very moment ("I Need Thee Every Hour").  My advice and encouragement to you today is please do not try to be superspiritual in times of suffering.  Read the Psalms, the prophets, Paul, and you will hear saints of old who were not afraid to admit their frailty, and, oh, how frail are you and I.  The hymn writer expressed it powerfully.
          "Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
          In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
          Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
          Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend."
          (Complete hymn on devotional blog site)

I have said good bye to grandparents and parents whom I love.  When I was 14, my junior high football coach, whom I loved and respected greatly, died suddenly of a heart attack.  And when I was barely 17, a friend of mine was killed in a car accident.  Life is not an easy road.  But I can say with absolute certainty----- There is no defeat to a person who is immersed in The Living Triune God, The Father, The Son Jesus Christ, Who is the Word, the Holy Spirit, Who is the Breath of God.  So many around us are looking to and leaning on a rock which is just a stage prop.  But what Believer cannot say with Moses, "
For their rock is not like our Rock?"  I just pray that this truth, "even our enemies concede," that they abandon their "rock," and embrace "our Rock."

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for writing on my heart, "
Their rock is not like our Rock."  I believe Your Word, and so may it be, "as even our enemies concede."  Amen.
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"
Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Worship Is Not Raised Hands and Singing-- It is Whom I Obey

"There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god."  (Psalm 81:9)

The family of the man who was trampled to death at the entrance of an American retail business is now suing the business, not the barbarians who trampled the man.  This is a culture who has rejected Jesus Christ and embraced a "
foreign god."  Everyone but the perpetrator is guilty.  Look at what has happened to the American judicial system in the last 45 years.  Look at American political correctness.  It has worshipped at the altar of a "foreign god."  When a culture rejects "Immanuel, God with us," Jesus Christ, the "Word of God," it commits cultural suicide.  The God-Breathing Word declares, "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."  You will see this fulfilled more and more in the coming months and years in America.

I have worshipped a "foreign god" in my life time.  It was not made of gold.  It had no form, but it "had" me.  When obedience gives way to emotion, to my own reasoning process, or just out right disobedience, it reveals whom I really worship.  Jesus came to deliver us from "
foreign gods," to save us from the sin which drives us to worship anyone and anything other than the Lord God revealed solely in Jesus Christ.  One of the last commands in the Bible is, "Worship God," not my idea of Him, but the "idea" of Him Who is revealed in the "God-Breathed" Word.

Take a "worship check" today.  Grace is awaiting all those whose worship is the Living Triune God, "
Emmanuel, God with us."  Embrace His grace, by embracing and obeying Jesus Christ, the One Who breathes His Word into you today.

Father, in Jesus' Name, by His Blessed Majesty, Holy Spirit, help me to continually take a worship check.  Amen. 
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I will be preaching in the CCE meetings the weekend of December 13 and 14.
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"
Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Tuesday, December 2, 2008

John Donne, Meditation XVII: No Man Is An Island

 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



"No Man Is An Island"-- (John Donne)

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'-- which means, 'God with us.'"  (Matthew 1:23)

There was a popular song when I was in grammar school which had a line in it, "in my little corner of the world."  There is no such place.  You and I are a part of humanity.  There is no corner where we can hide, can protect, can escape to.  Mankind will find us, call to us.  Jesus, "
God with us," is calling to us in the midst of humanity-- "I am here."  John Dunn once wrote that "no man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."  (I have sent the entire meditation to our blog devotional site.  You should read it---powerful.)

God of Creation is not a created god of man, an isolated god, far from us, praying to Mecca kind of god.  He is "
God with us," right here, right there.  Jesus is "God with us."  He did not stay in the "Ivory Palaces," but "came into the world to save sinners...."  And because of the Blood, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God is not only "with us," but "in" those who receive and obey Him.   He is, indeed, "a very present help."

Your call and my call, the call of the Church, which is "
the household of the faith," is to be the living demonstration in the world of "God with us," not off in "my little corner of the world," or as we saw recently, trampling people to death to fulfill some barbaric, primeval lust.  We are called to manifest what Bohnhoeffer described as "Christ present in the world"--------------------- loving, blessing, deferring, giving. 

Father, in Jesus' Name, I have spent too much time in "my little corner of the world."  Take me to Your "corner."  Amen.
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Wednesday, November 26, 2008

"There is Not in Everyone That Knowledge"

"And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from [among] the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."  (Colossians 1:18)
 
"....that in all things He may have the preeminence," i.e., "in order of importance and rank."  The Amplified says, "in every respect might occupy the chief place [stand first and be preeminent]."  One translation says, "have the supremacy."  In other words, if any name is named, the Name of Jesus should be predominant, the Word of Jesus the governance of our life style, and the Name of Jesus fill our songs and witness.
 
In the summer of 1962 I traveled with a group called "Athletic Ambassadors," representing the Evangelical United Brethren Church.  We were a group of young men from various sports.  We were a part of the national gathering in Minnesota of "The Fellowship of Christian Athletes," where Jesse Owens was one of the featured speakers (Yes, I guess I am pretty old).  Anyway, a prominent major league baseball player was leading a discussion group I was in.  After I shared at one point, he simply said, "We need to be careful that we don't make this a Jesus religion."  I did not want to disturb the gathering, but the thought occurred to me, "What else is it?" 
Even though that was a diplomatic rebuke, I actually felt quite honored.  In that moment, Jesus had "the preeminence" in my life. 
 
The Bible says, "For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as there are many gods and many lords), yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.  However, there is not in everyone that knowledge...."  Most people are only familiar with "so-called gods" and the "many gods and many lords," gods of their imagination.  They don't knowThe God, The Lord.  So you and I have a mission today.  Be sure that all who know us come to "that knowledge...," that the God of Whom we speak is revealed solely in Jesus, the preeminent One.
 
Father, in Jesus' Name, I am most thankful that You cleared up the confusion in the human race as to Who You Are in Jesus Christ.  Amen.     
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News and Commentary:    www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com
 
 
 
"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Breathe Deeply and Exhale Obedience

"Did God really say...?"  (Genesis 3:1)

I heard on the news the other day that eHarmony, an Internet dating service, has been force by a court to now add homosexuals and lesbians to their service.  It has been reported that the founder and CEO is a Christian.  I know there will be some who say this is easy for me to say, but I would have closed the business.  The question is not, "What would Jesus do?"  Rather, and I coin a new phrase today, "What does the God-Breathing Word
command?!?"  I promise you; there will be many "opportunities" in the days and years ahead for Believers in Jesus Christ to make such decisions.  The question of our text is continually before you and me--- "Did God really say," i.e., "Is the Bible really the Breathe of the Godhead, or just some book I pick and choose my way throughout life?"

The Church in America is living in an ever changing America.  For over 100 years, seminaries have been challenging the God-Breathing Word before aspiring pastors with the same question Satan put to Eve--- "
Did God really say?"  Is it any wonder that the post war American generation grew up, looked at what they were handed and said, "I don't like the country you gave me."  Religious leaders had been saying that about the Bible for generations!  The latest eHarmony compromise reveals the answer to Satan of an acculturated church-- "You're right.  God didn't really say that." 

When Satanic forces challenge us do live contrary to the God-Breathing Word, there is only one response--- "God has
indeed said, and in every area of my life, I covenant to hearing and doing His Word."  So breathe deeply today and exhale obedience.  You just may find a new definition of "Fresh Air."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I say with the hymn writer, "Breathe on me Breath of God."  Amen.
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"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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Monday, November 24, 2008

"Looking Unto Jesus" (Theodore Monod)

Looking Unto Jesus 

by Theodore Monod translated from the French by Helen Willis

". . . looking unto Jesus . . ."
Hebrews 12:2

Only these three words,
but in these three words
is the whole secret of life.


LOOKING UNTO JESUS
IN THE SCRIPTURES, to learn there what He is, what He has done, what He gives, what He desires; to find in His character our pattern, in His teachings our instruction, in His precepts our law, in His promises our support, in His person and in His work a full satisfaction provided for every need of our souls. 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
CRUCIFIED, to find in His shed blood our ransom, our pardon, our peace.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
RISEN, to find in Him the righteousness which alone makes us righteous, and permits us, all unworthy as we are, to draw near with boldness, in His name, to Him who is His Father and our Father, His God and our God.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
GLORIFIED, to find in Him our Heavenly Advocate completing by His intercession the work inspired by His lovingkindness for our salvation (1John 2:1); Who even now is appearing for us before the face of God (Heb. 9:24), the kingly Priest, the spotless Victim, continually bearing the iniquity of our holy things (Ex. 28:38).

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
REVEALED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, to find in constant communion with Him the cleansing of our sin-stained hearts, the illumination of our darkened spirits, the transformation of our rebel wills; enabled by Him to triumph over all attacks of the world and of the evil one, resisting their violence by Jesus our Strength, and overcoming their subtlety by Jesus our Wisdom; upheld by the sympathy of Jesus, Who was spared no temptation . . . .Who yielded to none.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
WHO GIVES REPENTANCE as well as forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31), because He gives us the grace to recognize, to deplore, to confess, and to forsake our transgressions.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
TO RECEIVE FROM HIM the task and the cross for each day, with the grace which is sufficient to carry the cross and to accomplish the task; the grace that enables us to be patient with His patience, active with His activity, loving with His love; never asking "What am I able for?" but rather: "What is He not able for?" and waiting for His strength which is make perfect in our weakness (2Cor. 12:9).

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
TO GO FORTH FROM OURSELVES and to forget ourselves; so that our darkness may flee away before the brightness of His face; so that our joys may be holy, and our sorrow restrained; that He may cast us down, and that He may raise us up; that He may afflict us, and that He may comfort us; that He may despoil us, and that He may enrich us; that He may teach us to pray, and that He may answer our prayers; that while leaving us in the world, He may separate us from it, our life being hidden with Him in God, and our behavior bearing witness to Him before men.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
WHO, HAVING RETURNED TO THE FATHER'S HOUSE, is engaged in preparing a place there for us; so that this joyful prospect may make us live in hope, and prepare us to die in peace, when the day shall come for us to meet this last enemy, whom He has overcome for us, whom we shall overcome through Him - so that what was once the king of terrors is today the harbinger of eternal happiness.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
WHOSE CERTAIN RETURN, at an uncertain time, is from age to age the expectation and the hope of the faithful Church, who is encouraged in her patience, watchfulness, and joy by the thought that the Savior is at hand (Phil. 4: 4-5; 1Thes. 5:23).

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER OF OUR FAITH: that is to say, He Who is its pattern and its source, even as He is its object; and Who from the first step even to the last marches at the head of the believers; so that by Him our faith may be inspired, encouraged, sustained, and led on to its supreme consummation.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
AND AT NOTHING ELSE, as our text expresses it in one untranslatable word (aphoroontes), which at the same time directs us to fix our gaze upon Him, and to turn it away from everything else.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OURSELVES, our thoughts, our reasonings, our imaginings, our inclinations, our wishes, our plans;

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE WORLD, its customs, its example, its rules, its judgments;

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT SATAN, though he seek to terrify us by his fury, or to entice us by his flatteries. Oh! from how many useless questions we would save ourselves, from how many disturbing scruples, from how much loss of time, dangerous dallyings with evil, waste of energy, empty dreams, bitter disappointments, sorrowful struggles, and distressing falls, by looking steadily unto Jesus, and by following Him wherever He may lead us. Then we shall be too much occupied with not losing sight of the path which He marks out for us, to waste even a glance on those in which He does not think it suitable to lead us.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR CREEDS, no matter how evangelical they may be. The faith which saves, which sanctifies, and which comforts, is not giving assent to the doctrine of salvation; it is being united to the
person of the Savior. "It is not enough," said Adolphe Monod, "to know about Jesus Christ, it is necessary to have Jesus Christ." To this one may add that no one truly knows Him, if he does not first possess Him. According to the profound saying of the beloved disciple, it is in the Life there is Light, and it is in Jesus there is Life (John 1:4).

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR MEDITATIONS AND OUR PRAYERS, our pious conversations and our profitable reading, the holy meetings that we attend, nor even to our taking part in the supper of the Lord.

Let us faithfully use all these means of grace, but without confusing them with grace itself; and without turning our gaze away from Him Who alone makes them effectual, when, by their means, He reveals Himself to us.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT TO OUR POSITION IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, to the family to which we belong, to our baptism, to the education which we have received, to the doctrine which we profess, to the opinion which others have formed of our piety, or to the opinion which we have formed of it ourselves. Some of those who have prophesied in the Name of the Lord Jesus will one day hear Him say: "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:22-23); but He will confess before His Father and before His angels even the most humble of those who have looked unto Him.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT TO OUR BRETHREN, not even to the best among them and the most beloved. In following a man we run the risk of losing our way; in following Jesus we are sure of never losing our way. Besides, in putting a man between Jesus and ourselves, it will come to pass that insensibly the man will increase and Jesus will decrease; soon we no longer know how to find Jesus when we cannot find the man, and if he fails us, all fails. On the contrary, if Jesus is kept between us and our closest friend, our attachment to the person will be at the same time less enthralling and more deep; less passionate and more tender; less necessary and more useful; an instrument of rich blessing in the hands of God when He is pleased to make use of him; and whose absence will be a further blessing, when it may please God to dispense with him, to draw us even nearer to the only Friend who can be separated from us by "neither death nor life" (Rom. 8:38-39).

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT HIS ENEMIES OR AT OUR OWN. In place of 
hating them and fearing them, we shall then know how to love them and to overcome them.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE OBSTACLES which meet us in our path. As soon as we stop to consider them, they amaze us, they confuse us, they overwhelm us, incapable as we are of understanding either the reason why they are permitted, or the means by which we may overcome them. The apostle began to sink as soon as he turned to look at the waves tossed by the storm; it was while he was looking at Jesus that he walked on the waters as on a rock. The more difficult our task, the more terrifying our temptation, the more essential it is that we look only at Jesus.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR TROUBLES, to count up their number, to reckon their weight, to find perhaps a certain strange satisfaction in tasting their bitterness. apart from Jesus trouble does not sanctify, it hardens or it crushes. It produces not patience, but rebellion; not sympathy, but selfishness; not hope (Rom. 5:3) but despair. It is only under the shadow of the cross that we can appreciate the true weight of our own cross, and accept it each day from His hand, to carry it with love, with gratitude, with joy; and find in it for ourselves and for others a source of blessings.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE DEAREST, THE MOST LEGITIMATE OF OUR EARTHLY JOYS, lest we be so engrossed in them that they deprive us of the sight of the very One Who gives them to us. If we are looking at Him first of all, then it is from Him we receive these good things, made a thousand times more precious because we possess them as gifts from His loving hand, which we entrust to His keeping, to enjoy them in communion with Him, and to use them for His glory.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE INSTRUMENTS, whatever they may be which He employs to form the path which He has appointed for us. Looking beyond man, beyond circumstances, beyond the thousand causes so rightly called secondary, let us ascend as far as the first cause - His will: let us ascend even to the source of this very will - His love. Then our gratitude, without being less lively towards those who do us good, will not stop at them; then in the testing day, under the most unexpected blow, the most inexplicable, the most overwhelming, we can say with the Psalmist: "I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because thou didst it" (Ps. 39:9). And in the silence of our dumb sorrow the heavenly voice will gently reply: "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7).

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE INTERESTS OF OUR CAUSE, Of OUR PARTY, OF OUR CHURCH - still less at our personal interests. The single object of our life is the glory of God; if we do not make it the supreme goal of our efforts, we must deprive ourselves of His help, for His grace is only at the service of His glory. If, on the contrary, it is His glory that we seek above all, we can always count on His grace.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE SINCERITY OF OUR INTENTIONS, AND AT THE STRENGTH OF OUR RESOLUTIONS. Alas! how often the most excellent intentions have only prepared the way for the most humiliating falls. Let us stay ourselves, not on our intentions, but on His love; not on our resolutions, but on His promise.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR STRENGTH. Our strength is good only to glorify ourselves; to glorify God one must have the strength of God.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR WEAKNESS. By lamenting our weakness have we ever become more strong? Let us look to Jesus, and His strength will communicate itself to our hearts, His praise will break forth from our lips.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR SINS, neither at the source from which they come (Matt. 15:19) nor the chastisement which they deserve. Let us look at ourselves, only to recognize how much need we have of looking to Him; and looking to Him, certainly not as if we were sinless; but on the contrary, because we are sinners, measuring the very greatness of the offense by the greatness of the sacrifice which has atoned for it, and of the grace which pardons it. "For one look that we turn on ourselves," said an eminent servant of God (McCheyne) "let us turn ten upon Jesus." "If it is very sure," said Vinet, "that one will not lose sight of his wretched state by looking at Jesus Christ crucified - because this wretched state is, as it were, graven upon the cross - it is also very sure that in looking at one's wretchedness one can lose sight of Jesus Christ; because the cross is not naturally graven upon the image of one's wretchedness." And he adds, "Look at yourselves, but only in the presence of the cross, only through Jesus Christ." Looking at the sin only gives death; looking at Jesus gives life. That which healed the Israelite in the wilderness was not considering his wounds, but raising his eyes to the serpent of brass (Num. 21:9).

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT - DO WE NEED TO SAY IT? - AT OUR PRETENSE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. Ill above all who are ill is he who believes himself in health; blind above the blind he who thinks that he sees (John 9:41). If it is dangerous to look long at our wretchedness which is, alas! too real; it is much more dangerous to rest complacently on imaginary merits.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE LAW. The law gives commands, and gives no strength to carry them out; the law always condemns, and never pardons. If we put ourselves back under the law, we take ourselves away from grace. In so far as we make our obedience the means of our salvation, we lose our peace, our joy, our strength; for we have forgotten that Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth (Rom. 10:4). As soon as the law has constrained us to seek in Him our only Savior, then also to Him only belongs the right to command our obedience; an obedience which includes nothing less than our whole heart, and our most secret thoughts, but which has ceased from being an iron yoke, and an insupportable burden, to become an easy yoke and a light burden (Matt. 11:30). It is an obedience which He makes as delightful as it is binding, an obedience which He inspires, at the same time as He requires it, and which in very truth, is less a consequence of our salvation than it is a part of this very salvation - and, like all the rest, a free gift.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT WHAT WE ARE DOING FOR HIM. Too much occupied with our work, we can forget our Master - it is possible to have the hands full and the heart empty. When occupied with our Master, we cannot forget our work; if the heart is filled with His love, how can the hands fail to be active in His service?

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT TO THE APPARENT SUCCESS OF OUR EFFORTS. The apparent success is not the measure of the real success; and besides, God has not told us to succeed, but to work; it is of our work that He requires an account, and not of our success - why then concern ourselves with it? It is for us to scatter the seed, for God to gather the fruit; if not today, then it will be tomorrow; if He does not employ us to gather it, then He will employ others. Even when success is granted to us, it is always dangerous to fix our attention on it: on the one hand we are tempted to take some of the credit of it to ourselves; on the other hand we thus accustom ourselves to abate our zeal when we cease to perceive its result, that is to say, at the very time when we should redouble our energy. To look at the success is to walk by sight; to look at Jesus, and to persevere in following Him and serving Him, inspite of all discouragements, is to walk by faith.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT TO THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS which we have already received, or which we are now receiving from Him. As to yesterday's grace, it has passed with yesterday's work; we can no longer make use of it, we should no longer linger over it. As to today's grace given for today's work, it is entrusted to us, not to be looked at, but to be used. We are not to gloat over it as a treasure, counting up our riches, but to spend it immediately, and remain poor, "Looking unto Jesus."

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE AMOUNT OF SORROW that our sins make us experience, or the amount of humiliation which they produce in us. If only we are humiliated by them enough to make us no longer complacent with ourselves; if only we are troubled by them enough to make us look to Jesus, so that He may deliver us from them, that is all that He asks from us; and it is also this look which more than anything else will make our tears spring and our pride fall. And when it is given to us as to Peter to weep bitterly (Luke 22:62), oh! then may our tear-dimmed eyes remain more than ever directed unto Jesus; for even our repentance will become a snare to us, if we think to blot out in some measure by our tears those sins which nothing can blot out, except the blood of the Lamb of God.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE BRIGHTNESS OF OUR JOY, the strength of our assurance, or the warmth of our love. Otherwise, when for a little time this love seems to have grown cold, this assurance to have vanished, this joy to have failed us - either as the result of our own faithlessness, or for the trial of our faith - immediately, having lost our feelings, we think that we have lost our strength, and we allow ourselves to fall into an abyss of sorrow, even into cowardly idleness, or perhaps sinful complaints. Ah! rather let us remember that if the feelings with their sweetness, are absent, the faith with its strength remains with us. To be able always to be "abounding in the work of the Lord" (1Cor. 15:58) let us look steadily, not at our ever changeful hearts, but at Jesus, who is always the same.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT THE HEIGHTS OF HOLINESS to which we attained. If no one may believe himself a child of God so long as he still finds stains in his heart, and stumblings in his life, who could taste the joy of salvation? But this joy is not bought with a price. Holiness is the fruit, not the root of our redemption. It is the work of Jesus Christ for us which reconciles us unto God; it is the work of the Holy Spirit in us which renews us in His likeness. The shortcomings of a faith which is true, but not yet fully established, and bearing but little fruit, in no way lessens the fullness of the perfect work of the Savior, nor the certainty of His unchanging promise, guaranteeing life eternal unto whomsoever trusts in Him. And so to rest in the Redeemer is the true way to obey Him; and it is only when enjoying the peace of forgiveness that the soul is strong for the conflict.
If there are any who abuse this blessed truth by giving themselves over unscrupulously to spiritual idleness, imagining that they can let the faith which they think they have take the place of the holiness which they have not, they should remember this solemn warning of the Apostle Paul: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and the lusts" (Gal. 5:24); and that of the Apostle John: "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1John 2:4); and that of the Lord Jesus Himself, "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matt. 7:19).

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR DEFEATS OR VICTORIES. If we look at our defeats we shall be cast down; if we look at our victories we shall be puffed up. And neither will help us to fight the good fight of faith (1Tim. 6:12). Like all our blessings, the victory, with the faith which wins it, it the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 15:57), and to Him is all the glory.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR DOUBTS. The more we look at them the larger they appear, until they can swallow up all our faith, our strength, and our joy. But if we look away from them to our Lord Jesus, Who is the Truth (John 14:6), the doubts will scatter in the light of His presence like clouds before the sun.

UNTO JESUS
AND NOT AT OUR FAITH. The last device of the adversary, when he cannot make us look elsewhere, is to turn our eyes from the Savior to our faith, and thus to discourage us if it is weak, to fill us with pride if it is strong: and either way to weaken us. For power does not come from the faith, but from the Savior by faith. It is not looking at our look, it is "looking unto Jesus,"

UNTO JESUS
AND IT IS FROM HIM AND IN HIM that we learn to know (not only without danger, but for the well-being of our souls) what it is good for us to know about the world and about ourselves, our sorrows and our dangers, our resources and our victories: seeing everything in its true light, because it is He Who shows them to us, and that only at the time and in the proportion in which this knowledge will produce in us the fruits of humility and wisdom, gratitude and courage, watchfulness and prayer. All that it is desirable for us to know, the Lord Jesus will teach us; all that we do not learn from Him, it is better for us not to know.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS
AS LONG AS WE REMAIN ON THE EARTH - unto Jesus from moment to moment, without allowing ourselves to be distracted by memories of a past which we should leave behind us, nor by occupation with a future of which we know nothing

UNTO JESUS NOW
IF WE HAVE NEVER LOOKED UNTO HIM --

UNTO JESUS AFRESH,
IF WE HAVE CEASED DOING SO --

UNTO JESUS ONLY,

UNTO JESUS STILL,

UNTO JESUS ALWAYS --
WITH A GAZE MORE AND MORE CONSTANT, more and more confident, "changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2Cor. 3:18). Thus we await the hour when He will call us to pass from earth to Heaven, and from time to eternity --
The promised hour,
the blessed hour
when at last "we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1John 3:2).



"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



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