"The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
1 Peter 4:7-11
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
It was Costly
Read a good Psalm this morning - Chapter 49
Key Verses - "No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him-- For the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever-- " Psalm 49:7-8
As we intentionally focus on the Easter season coming up, let us remember that, if you are a true believer, your salvation came at a great cost!
I am reminded of Psalm 24 which says -
"Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior."
This passage is reflecting and speaking to Jesus, who as perfect God and perfect Man lived a life on this earth in perfect Holiness and upon His death and resurrection, He MAY stand in the most Holy place with clean hands and a pure heart. We may NOT. Our sinful nature is our damnation, fracturing our 'hands and heart' for eternity........Except.....
The beauty of the Grace of God the Father sending Jesus, His Son, to earth to live a life as perfectly divine and perfectly man, is that the death Jesus died on the cross absorbed the Father's damning punishment of our souls (Those whose faith and trust are in Him) and in turn He gave us Jesus' righteousness, so that one day we too may bow before the presence of most Holy One because we have been clothed with the clean hands and the pure heart of a merciful Saviour.
Father, thank you for your Grace and Mercy. May your Spirit quicken my soul to savor the amazing love you have for me and may I in turn give you my life -
Humbly
Matt
Matthew 13:44-46
Key Verses - "No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him-- For the redemption of his soul is costly, and he should cease trying forever-- " Psalm 49:7-8
As we intentionally focus on the Easter season coming up, let us remember that, if you are a true believer, your salvation came at a great cost!
I am reminded of Psalm 24 which says -
"Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior."
This passage is reflecting and speaking to Jesus, who as perfect God and perfect Man lived a life on this earth in perfect Holiness and upon His death and resurrection, He MAY stand in the most Holy place with clean hands and a pure heart. We may NOT. Our sinful nature is our damnation, fracturing our 'hands and heart' for eternity........Except.....
The beauty of the Grace of God the Father sending Jesus, His Son, to earth to live a life as perfectly divine and perfectly man, is that the death Jesus died on the cross absorbed the Father's damning punishment of our souls (Those whose faith and trust are in Him) and in turn He gave us Jesus' righteousness, so that one day we too may bow before the presence of most Holy One because we have been clothed with the clean hands and the pure heart of a merciful Saviour.
Father, thank you for your Grace and Mercy. May your Spirit quicken my soul to savor the amazing love you have for me and may I in turn give you my life -
Humbly
Matt
Matthew 13:44-46
Monday, February 21, 2011
Do Not Revel In Past Sin
"Our sins must be put to death with every circumstance of shame and self-humiliation.
I must confess I am shocked with some people whom I know, who glibly rehearse their past lives up to the time of their supposed conversion, and talk of their sins, which they hope have been forgiven them, with a sort of smack of the lips, as if there was something fine in having been so atrocious an offender. I hate to hear a man speak of his experience in sin as a Greenwich pensioner might talk of Trafalgar and the Nile.
The best thing to do with our past sin, if it be indeed forgiven, is to bury it; yes, and let us bury it as they used to bury suicides. Let us drive a stake through it, in horror and contempt, and never set up a monument to its memory.
If you ever do tell anybody about your youthful wrongdoing, let it be with blushes and tears, with shame and confusion of face; and always speak of it to the honor of the infinite mercy which forgave you. Never let the devil stand behind you and pat you on the back and say, "You did me a good turn in those days."
Oh, it is a shameful thing to have sinned, a degrading thing to have lived in sin, and it is not to be wrapped up into a telling story and told out as an exploit as some do.
"The old man is crucified with him." Who boasts of being related to the crucified felon? If any member of your family had been hanged, you would tremble to hear anyone mention the gallows; you would not run about crying, "Do you know a brother of mine was hanged at Newgate?"
Your old man of sin is hanged; do not talk about him, but thank God it is so; and as he blots out the remembrance of it, do you the same, except so far as it may make you humble and grateful." -- Charles Spurgeon
Lord, thank you for your infinite Grace from which I have but tasted the first drop!
Matt
I must confess I am shocked with some people whom I know, who glibly rehearse their past lives up to the time of their supposed conversion, and talk of their sins, which they hope have been forgiven them, with a sort of smack of the lips, as if there was something fine in having been so atrocious an offender. I hate to hear a man speak of his experience in sin as a Greenwich pensioner might talk of Trafalgar and the Nile.
The best thing to do with our past sin, if it be indeed forgiven, is to bury it; yes, and let us bury it as they used to bury suicides. Let us drive a stake through it, in horror and contempt, and never set up a monument to its memory.
If you ever do tell anybody about your youthful wrongdoing, let it be with blushes and tears, with shame and confusion of face; and always speak of it to the honor of the infinite mercy which forgave you. Never let the devil stand behind you and pat you on the back and say, "You did me a good turn in those days."
Oh, it is a shameful thing to have sinned, a degrading thing to have lived in sin, and it is not to be wrapped up into a telling story and told out as an exploit as some do.
"The old man is crucified with him." Who boasts of being related to the crucified felon? If any member of your family had been hanged, you would tremble to hear anyone mention the gallows; you would not run about crying, "Do you know a brother of mine was hanged at Newgate?"
Your old man of sin is hanged; do not talk about him, but thank God it is so; and as he blots out the remembrance of it, do you the same, except so far as it may make you humble and grateful." -- Charles Spurgeon
Lord, thank you for your infinite Grace from which I have but tasted the first drop!
Matt
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Treasuring Christ
"The debate does not begin at the point of expression but at the point of understanding or worldview. If the worldview is the Holiness & Glory of God than the expression will follow within the bounds of His Holiness & Glory"
Matthew 13:44-46 :
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. "
Do I see & treasure Christ as all Supreme, all glorious and all satisfying? And in so doing, does every step I take & every resource I possess & every desire of my heart directed and governed by a worldview that is shaped and molded by the Holiness and Glory of God?
Am I willing to "Sell" the entirety myself and my will completely to the will of God if but to obtain what Christ has already obtained for me? (Philippians 3:12-16)
When the fire of judgement comes and the "smoke" clears what "treasure" what "pearl" will you be holding?
Matthew 13:44-46 :
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. "
Do I see & treasure Christ as all Supreme, all glorious and all satisfying? And in so doing, does every step I take & every resource I possess & every desire of my heart directed and governed by a worldview that is shaped and molded by the Holiness and Glory of God?
Am I willing to "Sell" the entirety myself and my will completely to the will of God if but to obtain what Christ has already obtained for me? (Philippians 3:12-16)
When the fire of judgement comes and the "smoke" clears what "treasure" what "pearl" will you be holding?
Monday, February 7, 2011
I Am Not My Own
Charles Spurgeon:
I am asked sometimes to read an heretical book: well, if I believed my reading it would help its refutation, and might be an assistance to others in keeping them out of error, I might do it as a hard matter of duty, but I shall not do it unless I see some good will come from it. I am not going to drag my spirit through a ditch for the sake of having it washed afterwards, for it is not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
It may be that good medicine would restore me if I poisoned myself with putrid meat, but I am not going to try it: I dare not experiment on a mind which no longer belongs to me.
There is a mother and a child, and the child has a book to play with, and a blacklead pencil. It is making drawings and marks upon the book, and the mother takes no notice. It lays down one book and snatches another from the table, and at once the mother rises from her seat, and hurriedly takes the book away, saying: "No, my dear, you must not mark that, for it is not ours."
So with my mind, intellect, and spirit; if it belonged to me I might or might not play tomfool with it, and go to hear Socinians, Ritualists, Universalists, and such like preach, but as it is not my own, I will preserve it from such fooleries, and the pure word shall not be mingled with the errors of men.
I am asked sometimes to read an heretical book: well, if I believed my reading it would help its refutation, and might be an assistance to others in keeping them out of error, I might do it as a hard matter of duty, but I shall not do it unless I see some good will come from it. I am not going to drag my spirit through a ditch for the sake of having it washed afterwards, for it is not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
It may be that good medicine would restore me if I poisoned myself with putrid meat, but I am not going to try it: I dare not experiment on a mind which no longer belongs to me.
There is a mother and a child, and the child has a book to play with, and a blacklead pencil. It is making drawings and marks upon the book, and the mother takes no notice. It lays down one book and snatches another from the table, and at once the mother rises from her seat, and hurriedly takes the book away, saying: "No, my dear, you must not mark that, for it is not ours."
So with my mind, intellect, and spirit; if it belonged to me I might or might not play tomfool with it, and go to hear Socinians, Ritualists, Universalists, and such like preach, but as it is not my own, I will preserve it from such fooleries, and the pure word shall not be mingled with the errors of men.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The "Mark" of Truth
The mark of truth / the mark of a 'true' man or woman is God Exaltation at the expense of self-humiliation.
"I must decrease....He must increase"
Matt
"I must decrease....He must increase"
Matt
Thursday, February 3, 2011
A Brief Thought
"Our Lord never lays down the conditions of discipleship as the conditions of salvation.....We are condemned to salvation through the cross of Jesus Christ. Discipleship has an option with it - "If any man...."
Oswald Chambers
His Grace
Matt
Oswald Chambers
His Grace
Matt
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Men....Man UP!
My charge to you men of God, husbands & fathers:
Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. "Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' - 1 Kings 2:2-4
May He break us that we might be humbled before Him!
His Grace
Matt
Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. "Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, 'If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' - 1 Kings 2:2-4
May He break us that we might be humbled before Him!
His Grace
Matt
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Verse for Today
Proverbs 4:23-27
Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth
And put devious speech far from you.
Let your eyes look directly ahead
And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
Watch the path of your feet
And all your ways will be established.
Do not turn to the right nor to the left;
Turn your foot from evil.
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