"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" Hebrews 4:12
"Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,
shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil 4:6-7
NO care, but all prayer. No anxiety, but much joyful communion with God. Carry your desires to the Lord of your life, the guardian of your soul. Go to Him with two portions of prayer and one of fragrant praise. Do not pray doubtfully, but thankfully.
Consider that you have your petitions, and therefore thank God for His grace. He is giving you grace; give Him thanks. Hide nothing. Allow no want to lie rankling in your bosom; “make known your requests.” Run not to man.
Go only to your God, the Father of Jesus, who loves you in Him. This shall bring you God’s own peace. You shall not be able to understand the peace which you shall enjoy. It will enfold you in its infinite embrace. Heart and mind through Christ Jesus shall be steeped in a sea of rest.
Come life or death, poverty, pain, slander, you shall dwell in Jesus above every ruffling wind or darkening cloud. Will you not obey this dear command?
Yes, Lord, I do believe thee; but, I beseech thee help mine unbelief.
"What a friend we have in Jesus" is one of my favorite hymns. It was written by Joseph Scriven who came to believe in Jesus Christ after losing his bride-to-be on the eye of their marriage. She was drowned a couple of hours before she became his bride. We can never imagine his pain and anguish. But isn't it amazing that he found true peace and rest in the arms of His Savior Jesus Christ. Please read the lyrics of this song keeping in mind Joseph who lost his beloved!!
What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.
Gracious and loving Heavenly Father, I bless Your Holy Name and rejoice in You. Your works are great, studied by those who delight in them. You do all things in accordance to Your will and it gives You perfect pleasure.
It was Your will to send Your Only Son to this world as the Messiah, the Savior of mankind. Through Him, You offered pardon, forgiveness, cleansing, redemption and reconciliation. What a great mystery You have unveiled before my eyes, things which angels long to look into.
Truly, no one, absolutely no one can know You except through Your Son. I thank You Jesus for revealing God the Father. I bless You and rejoice that my eyes has 'seen' wonderful and marvelous things.
I worship You, LORD Jesus, for You are the Anointed One, the Righteous Judge. All things belong to You and in all things, You are the Preeminent One.
Thank You, O God the Spirit for opening my eyes to behold wondrous things out of Your law. I rejoice and my heart is glad. I have tasted and seen that the LORD is good.
Truly, salvation belongs to Our God.
Worthy are You, O God to receive honor, glory and power. All things come from You and of Your own do we give unto You. Amen.
Unmask to me sin's deformity,that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it...Let me never forget that heinousness of sinlies not so much in the nature of the sin committed,as in the greatness of the person sinned against.
A good prayer by the puritans which clearly brings out the seriousness of sin and how much it offends our Holy God! It torments me to think how lightly I view sin. It is my sin that put Christ on the cross. A violent bloody death.
Help me dear God to have your perspective on sin and abhor it greatly!
Grant me never to lose sight ofthe exceeding sinfulness of sin,the exceeding righteousness of salvation,the exceeding glory of Christ,the exceeding beauty of holiness,the exceeding wonder of grace.
As soldiers of Christ, we must constantly remember, we are up against a lot of things. We are waging a war against the assaults of the flesh on our souls. "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul." 1 Peter 2:11
Then, there are the onslaughts of the Enemy, the temptations, the various trials. As pilgrims, we get weary and tired. At times, discouraged! We need to remember that this is a good fight. The good fight of faith!
Jesus is the Captain of our salvation(Heb.2:10b) and the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb.12:2a). We must look to JESUS, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame. We must run the race that is set before us with endurance. We must lay ASIDE every WEIGHT and the SIN which clings so CLOSELY. (Heb.12:1-2)
Let us with the apostle together say, "But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13b-14
In my morning devotions, while reading through the prayer of Hannah, some verses were directly pointing to God's character. (1 Samuel 2: 1-10) v2 There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides You; there is no rock like our God.
Think about it, our God ALONE is holy and there is no one in this universe or the entire galaxy who is like our God! And He is our God through Jesus Christ! What a great possession we have.
As His children, we are ..."heirs of God and fellow heirs, with Christ"Romans 8:17a. Hence, we can cry out with the prophet, "The LORD is my portion," says my soul "therefore I will hope in him." Lam.3:24
The following post is a devotion by Charles Spurgeon. Read and be blessed.
"The unsearchable riches of Christ." Ephesians 3:8
My Master has riches beyond the count of arithmetic, the measurement of reason, the dream of imagination, or the eloquence of words. They are unsearchable! You may look, and study, and weigh, but Jesus is a greater Saviour than you think him to be when your thoughts are at the greatest.
My Lord is more ready to pardon than you to sin, more able to forgive than you to transgress. My Master is more willing to supply your wants than you are to confess them. Never tolerate low thoughts of my Lord Jesus. When you put the crown on his head, you will only crown him with silver when he deserves gold.
My Master has riches of happiness to bestow upon you now. He can make you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside still waters. There is no music like the music of his pipe, when he is the Shepherd and you are the sheep, and you lie down at his feet. There is no love like his, neither earth nor heaven can match it.
To know Christ and to be found in him-oh! this is life, this is joy, this is marrow and fatness, wine on the lees well refined. My Master does not treat His servants churlishly; He gives to them as a king giveth to a king; He gives them two heavens-a heaven below in serving Him here, and a heaven above in delighting in Him for ever.
His unsearchable riches will be best known in eternity. He will give you on the way to heaven all you need; your place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, your bread shall be given you, and your waters shall be sure; but it is there, THERE, where you shall hear the song of them that triumph, the shout of them that feast, and shall have a face-to-face view of the glorious and beloved One.
The unsearchable riches of Christ! This is the tune for the minstrels of earth, and the song for the harpers of heaven. Lord, teach us more and more of Jesus, and we will tell out the good news to others.
What is one of the toughest thing to do?? For me, it is biting my tongue....Ouch!!Yeah! I'm talking about the taming of our tongues!! My tongue is a dangerous piece of muscle lying in my mouth, capable of extensive activity. This activity brings more disaster than good!
My biggest activity is talking....words, words words!!!!!! And guess what?? My words are a clear and strong indicator of the condition of my heart!! :(
"For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."Matthew 12:34b.
So, in order to control my tongue, I need to understand the workings of my heart! Ok...The root cause is my heart!! Gotcha...
What does God's word have to say about the human heart? "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?"Jeremiah 17:9 (Emphasis mine) Whoa! That's a terrible verdict, a fairly bad diagnosis. But, take a look what it says further....... "I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways according to the fruit of his deeds."verse 10
Only God knows and completely understands the workings of our sinful hearts!!
This was psalmist's genuine heart cry to God who sees it all! "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting!"Psalm 139:23-24
One of the best ways to keep a diligent watch on our deceptive hearts is by obeying and continuously delighting in God's word alone!! "Moreover, by them is your servant warned, in keeping them there is great reward."Psalm 19:11
Therefore, we can humbly ask Jesus Our LORD and Savior and seek His divine help in the taming of our vile tongues. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. " Psalm 19:14
Before I answer to the title of this post let me just give you some scripture verses:
Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Ephesians 2:1-2And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.
Romans 8:6-8For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 3:10as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands;no one seeks for God.
After reading these verses the three things that come out are, First-Man is sinful, Second: He does not seek God (in other words, he loves evil) Third: Man is dead in his sin.Therefore to revive a dead person and give him new life there has to be an external source. That external source is our great Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of His death on the cross and His victory over sin that today we are no more slaves to sin.
Ephesians 2:4-9 gives us a clear idea of Christ's work on the cross.
4 ButGod, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
He has revived us, redeemed us and made us alive. Praise Be His name!!!!
Heavenly Father, I thank You for You are good and You do good! Your loving kindness is better than life. I rejoice in You and surely, my soul delights in You alone! Your promises are true and an anchor to my soul. Your goodness, who can compare and who is as tender as You are?
Thank you LORD, for the trial that You put me in. What comfort to my heart to know that in much love and wisdom you placed me in the fire. Your promise, "I will never leave You or forsake You", keeps me from fainting! Your grace is sufficient for me. For in my weakness, You are strong.
Even though, I walk through fire, You promised that I will not be burned or consumed. Your word is sufficient and it is good that I am being afflicted coz I will learn much from Your Word!!
Thank you for Your dear Son, Jesus Christ.... He is my Sympathetic High Priest and He knows my every weakness!! Your grace is sufficient!
My prayer is that I will glorify Your Holy Name during this time of affliction and that my faith is made perfect. In Christ's Name. Amen.
I have been thinking about my salvation a lot lately. To remember what God saved me from, my eternal standing was changed the day He turned my heart of stone to a heart of flesh. There is not one day that I can go by without thanking Him for this beautiful gift of salvation. To be known as His heir. What a privilege. Praise God for adopting us as His children.(Ephesians 1:5: He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ,according to the purpose of His will.)
Have been going through the book of Hosea in my reading time. We know the story of Hosea, where God tells him to marry a women who would later be unfaithful and leave him for some other man (Hosea 1:2). Something that struck me hard was that I was like Gomer, before God saved me from my sin, running after the world and the pleasures of the world. Yet He was merciful and bought me back. Praise God our great shepherd who will bring His scattered sheep back into the fold. In the analogy Hosea depicts God and Gomer, us .
We see Hosea's unconditional love displayed to Gomer. This is the same love that our God has shown on us. What manner of love has God bestowed on us that He gave His own son to die on the cross for our sins.( John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His own Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life").
So let us not take our salvation for granted and remember the work of Christ and what He had to go through to give us this new life. To come down on earth in the form of man, humble Himself to the point of death, to save miserable creatures like us from damnation. Praise Him for His unconditional love.
Something that I have to be constantly reminding myself is that, when I am going through a difficult time all I need to do is to go to the Lord and cast my burden on Him.. Most of the time its a matter of pride that we don't go to Him, because we think we can deal with it on our own. We have to accept our weakness and go to Him in humility...This song portrays those same emotions...
I will cast my cares on you..
Jesus, I'm frail, I'm so very weak My faithfulness fails, my courage will flee But You are my rock, my shelter and shade When I'm burdened down, You'll carry the weight
So I will cast my cares on You Yes, I will cast my cares on You I will rest within Your arms Knowing I am safe from harm I will cast my cares on You
When I'm overwhelmed and I cannot stand You hear every cry and You lift my head I'm desperate for grace and mercy anew I must have Your strength, Oh I must have You
This is a devotion by Charles Spurgeon on the humility of Christ. So much to understand what true humility is...an example set forth by Our Lord!!
"He humbled himself." -- Philippians 2:8
Jesus is the great teacher of lowliness of heart. We need daily to learn of him. See the Master taking a towel and washing his disciples' feet! Follower of Christ, wilt thou not humble thyself? See him as the Servant of servants, and surely thou canst not be proud! Is not this sentence the compendium of his biography, "He humbled himself"? Was he not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honor and the another, till, naked, he was fastened to the cross, and there did he not empty out his inmost self, pouring out his life-blood, giving up for all of us, till they laid him penniless in a borrowed grave?
How low was our dear Redeemer brought! How then can we be proud? Stand at the foot of the cross, and count the purple drops by which you have been cleansed; see the thorn-crown; mark his scourged shoulders, still gushing with encrimsoned rills; see hands and feet given up to the rough iron, and his whole self to mockery and scorn; see the bitterness, and the pangs, and the throes of inward grief, showing themselves in his outward frame; hear the thrilling shriek, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
And if you do not lie prostrate on the ground before that cross, you have never seen it: if you are not humbled in the presence of Jesus, you do not know him. You were so lost that nothing could save you but the sacrifice of God's only begotten.Think of that, and as Jesus stooped for you, bow yourself in lowliness sat his feet. A sense of Christ's amazing love to us has a greater tendency to humble us than even a consciousness of our own guilt.
May the Lord bring us in contemplation to Calvary, then our position will no longer be that of the pompous man of pride, but we shall take the humble place of one who loves much because much has been forgiven him. Pride cannot live beneath the cross. Let us sit there and learn ourlesson, and then rise and carry it into practice.
I think I have made the above statement a lot lately and I am not proud of it. I should be thankful for what the Lord has given me instead of being prideful and arrogant. The way things have been going at my workplace many a times I tend to think, this is not what I deserve, I am qualified to do more. God has been very patient and gracious with me. I was reading 12 Ordinary men by John MacArthur, and one of the incident that was mentioned in the book was about Jesus washing the disciples feet (John 13:1-20). Even as I was going through the context I realized that what Jesus did (by washing the disciples feet) was a very menial job. Yet He did it, without complaining & grumbling. Let us not forget who we are talking of; He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, creator of the heavens and the earth. It is such a privilege to worship a God who is perfect and Holy and the best example we can follow. Reading that passage made me think, that God being so great went down to the level of a servant and washed the disciples feet, and thus set an example of humility and genuine love. So every time you feel that you are being told to do something (which in your own eyes, seems low) look unto Christ “who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8
Today is Sunday morning and instead of being at church I am at my office desk. I was quite sad in the morning even as I left for work, as I knew I would miss corporate worship and fellowship today. But then i realized that i can worship God anywhere. Why sulk and be a bad testimony amongst my unbelieving friends, when I can be thankful and give Him praise for everything that he has done for me. So i opened my bible and turned to 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 David's Song of Thanks. Will share a few verses from the passage:
8Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 9 Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! 10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! 11 Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually! 12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgments he uttered,
Just reading the first few lines made me thank Him even more for everything that He has done in my life. His wondrous works! I love verse 10"let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!" I then realized that i should not be a sulky Christian. He has blessed me with every spiritual blessing (Eph 1:3"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places")
After reading the passage i knew that I had to focus on Christ, and not myself. Never to forget that He is a great God: Sovereign,Wonderful, Just, Holy, Compassionate and Lovely. And these are just some of His attributes.
Will just end with a few verses from the passage:
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.(vs 25) Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;(vs 29 b) Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!(vs 34)
Like the morning dew on the petal Your word captivates my heart Just as the bud begins to unfold My heart begins to grasp The glories of my Master For what He rendered for my soul.
You are precious to me my Saviour Much more than diamonds or pearl, Your glory shines far brighter Than the glaze of the rays of sun You are my real treasure You are my only hope.
I love this song and have been singing it a lot lately. Just to focus on His attributes and remember what Christ had to go through so that we have eternal life.
How Deep
You were broken that I might be healed
You were cast off that I might draw near
You were thirsty that I might come drink
Cried out in anguish that I might sing
How deep is Your love
How high and how wide is Your mercy
How deep is Your grace
Our hearts overflow with praise To You
You knew darkness that I might know light
Wept great tears that mine might be dried
Stripped of glory that I might be clothed
Crushed by Your Father to call me Your own
Words and music by Stephen Altrogge
As recorded on Valley of Vision
A weak attempt in writing a few lines to express my Saviour's sufficiency.
Oh to live in the light of His Glory, To breathe the air of His grace, Eat of the bread of His life-giving word, Health to my bones and strength to my heart, Tis presence a shade from the scorching heat' This is how my soul gets refreshed.
Are you burdened and in turmoil? I give thee a sweet suggestion, O go to Him weary spirit, Carry no burden that is heavy Leave it there at His feet, For it is Jesus who will refresh thee.
What does treasure actually mean? It means something that is very dear to you. In the dictionary meaning as a noun treasure means: anything or person greatly valued or highly prized. As a verb it means:to retain carefully or keep in store, as in the mind/to regard or treat as precious; cherish.
Keep theabovemeanings in mind, as a Christian what are the things we treasure? Our car, home, music collection our intellect.. the list can go on.. We need to evaluate our lives constantly and keep our mind in check and see what are the things we treasure. Is Christ our treasure? Do we cherish Him more than anything else? There are a lot of things in this world that distract us and change our focus from Christ to other perishable things. The main reason we cherish other things more than Christ is because we don't value Him enough over the other things and He is not of great importance in our lives.
So we know our problem so what is the solution. How do i make Christ my all in all in my daily living.
1. Spend time Meditating on Scripture.
Focus on His Attributes
His work on the Cross
2.Spend time in prayer.
Praising God
Giving Thanks
3. Memorize Scripture.
Scripture memorization should ultimately result in application in our daily living.
People around us should see that every decision we make, our lifestyle, is centered around Christ.
So let us evaluate our lives and see who or what is our real treasure. I will end with Psalm 145
145:1 I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,and all your saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to make known to the children of man your [2] mighty deeds,
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.]
[3]14 The Lord upholds all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand;
you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
