F.B. Meyer - Our Cherith (Christian devotional)

THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | BILLY GRAHAM

I am my Beloved's — and my Beloved is mine!

I am my Beloved's — and my Beloved is mine! (Archibald Brown, "This God Our God!")

 "I am my Beloved's — and my Beloved is mine!" Song of Songs 6:3

 There are two passages in the Scripture which ought never to be separated.

 One is "The LORD's portion is His people." Deuteronomy 32:9. That is God's side. And the other passage is this: "The LORD is my portion." Lamentations 3:24

 God and I possess each other. God finds His portion in His people — and His people find their portion in God.

 His heart is mine — for He loves me. His ear is mine — for I may pour into it all my tales of sorrow and all my songs of joy. His eyes are mine — for they watch me from morning until night.

His hand is mine — for it is stretched out to uphold me.

This God is mine — in all His glorious perfections! Oh, He is a God of infinite glory.

Abased in the very dust, and half bewildered by the thought, I yet dare to look up, and say, "This God is my God forever and ever! He will be my guide even until death!" Psalm 48:14

"I am alive forevermore" (Rev. i. 18).

Days of Heaven Upon Earth

      "I am alive forevermore" (Rev. i. 18).
     
      Here is the message of the Christ of the cross and the still more glorious and precious Christ of the resurrection.
     
      It is beautiful and inspiring to note the touch of light and glory with which these simple words invest the cross. It is not said I am He that was dead and liveth, but "I am He that liveth and was dead, but am alive forevermore." Life is mentioned before the death. There are two ways of looking at the cross.
     
      One is from the death side and the other from the life side. One is the Ecce Homo and the other is the glorified Jesus with only the marks of the nails and the spear. It is thus we are to look at the cross. We are not to carry about with us the mould of the sepulchre, but the glory of the resurrection. It is not the Ecce Homo, but the Living Christ.
     
      And so our crucifixion is to be so complete that it shall be lost in our resurrection and we shall even forget our sorrow and carry with us the light and glory of the eternal morning. 

So let us live the death-born life, ever new and full of a life that can never die, because it is "dead and alive forevermore."

Pithy quotes from A.W. Tozer #2

Pithy quotes from A.W. Tozer #2

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 I would rather stand alone and have everybody as my enemy—than to go along with the crowd to Hell!
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 Everywhere among professors we find people who are Bible-taught, but not Spirit-taught. They grasp the truth with the mind, not the heart.
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Many professing Christians are caught up with the toys of contemporary society. They may be going to Hell, but it is going to be a comfortable ride for them.
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 Christians don't tell lies—they just go to church and sing them!
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Saving faith is irrevocable, total commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself!
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Most Christians would be better pleased, if the Lord did not inquire into their personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, keep them happy and take them to Heaven at last—but not to be too inquisitive about their desires or daily conduct. ~ ~ ~ ~

 The church has failed, by living too much like the world!
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 The difficulty we modern Christians face, is not misunderstanding the Bible—but persuading our worldly hearts to accept its plain instructions!
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We must do something about the cross, and only one of two things we can do—flee it or die upon it.
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Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard.
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Worldliness is an accepted part of our way of life. ~ ~ ~ ~ We are not producing saints. ~ ~ ~ ~

 Our models are successful businessmen, celebrated athletes and theatrical personalities.
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 The true follower of Christ will not ask, "If I embrace this truth, what will it cost me?" Rather he will say, "This is truth. God help me to walk in it, let come what may!"
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 It is possible to have some kind of external religious experience that immunizes you to the new birth, and puts you where you will never be born again, because you think you are already born again.

Some ministers appear offended if their authority is questioned!

Some ministers appear offended if their authority is questioned!

(John Quincy Adams, "Baptists, The Only Thorough Religious Reformers" 1876)


"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." Acts 17:11

The Bible should be the test of all preaching. That man who desires to make himself the umpire and final standard of appeal to the congregation, involves himself in a fearful responsibility and virtually claims for himself infallibility.

Yet some ministers appear offended if their authority is questioned, or if their preaching is tested by the Word of God. Paul did not do so.

Though inspired, he commended the course of those, who, instead of taking his word for it, examined the Scriptures for themselves, to see whether those things which he taught them were so.

 To adopt a contrary course, and blindly follow a minister or priest, is downright Romanism! And, if pursued universally, this would . . . arrest the progress of the Gospel, and clog the wheels of truth, and stamp error with immutability.

 No, my brethren, your minister is not to be the umpire or standard. There is but one who could say, "Follow Me!" and that was Christ! We point you to Him.

We direct you to His Word as the standard of your beliefs, and to His example as the pattern of your lives.

 "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20

Praise God!

Praise God!

From Spurgeon's, DAVID'S DYING PRAYER
"All your works praise you, O God"

The stars still sing their Maker's praise; no sin has stopped their voice, no discord has made a jarring note among the harmonies of the spheres.

The earth itself still praises its Maker, the exhalations,
as they arise with morn, are still a pure offering, acceptable to their Maker.

The lowing of the cattle, the singing of the birds, the leaping of the fishes, and the delights of animal creation, are still acceptable as votive offerings to the Most High.

The mountains still bring righteousness; on their hoary summits God's holy feet might tread, for they are yet pure and spotless.

Still do the green valleys, laughing with their verdure
send up their shouts to the Most High.

The praise of God is sung by every wind it is howled forth in dread majesty by the voice of the tempest, the winds resound it, and the waves, with their thousand hands, clap, keeping chorus in the great march of God.

The whole earth is still a great orchestra for God's praise,
and his creatures still take up various parts in the eternal song, which, ever swelling and ever increasing, shall by-and-by mount to its climax in the  consummation of all things.