Division is one of Satan’s weapons. Confession is the weapon used to overcome Satan’s weapon. You will note that Jesus did not say 'if you have something against your brother...', He said 'if you remember your brother has something against you go and be reconciled to your brother'. What would keep a person from doing this? The answer is a one-word answer-“pride”- and this was a problem in the church in Corinth and in the twenty-first century church. The Corinthian were letting pride rob them of the gift of peace, and the members in the twenty-first church are letting pride rob them of the gift of peace. ("There is nothing new under the sun")
The gospel that saves is the gospel that humbles, and that humbling gospel is the basis for Christian unity and harmony.
http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/users/kensch/faith/life/divisions.htm
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Annie J. Flint
This is a song that the Holy Spirit has impressed upon my heart during these few days... Truly, the more you know God and His Word, the more you yearn to know more! "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" James 4:8a
And what a joyous time of prayer it has been. Truly, He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater!
He Giveth More Grace
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
-Annie J. Flint
So, i searched the author's name and discovered another poem written by her: What God Hath Promised.
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
Refrain
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
Refrain
And what a joyous time of prayer it has been. Truly, He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater!
He Giveth More Grace
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
-Annie J. Flint
So, i searched the author's name and discovered another poem written by her: What God Hath Promised.
What God Hath Promised
God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
Refrain
But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.
God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.
God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.
Refrain
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
'Life's Treasure Book' -H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
I've learned that...
...I've never regretted the nice things i've said about people.
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." Rom 12:10
...Children need loving the most when they are the hardest to love.
...If you let your integrity slip just a little, it can have lasting consequences.
...A happy person is not a person with a cetain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Rom 8:28
...Never ignore evil.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Eph 6:11
...The older i get, the more i appreciate the times my parents said no.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Eph 6:1
...A torch loses no heat by lighting a thousand torches.
"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." Matt 5:15
...People will remember how you treated them long after they have forgotten what you were wearing.
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matt 6:25
...I don't need more to be thankful for; I need to be thankful more.
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess 5:18
...If you want your children to be good readers, let them see you read.
"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." John 13:15
_______________________________
Get your priorities straight. No one ever said on his deathbed, "Gee, if I'd only spent more time at the office."
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiently, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty.
I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character- not wealth or power or position- is of supreme worth.
I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.
-Excerpts from The Rockfeller Creed
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men!
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work will be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.
-Phillip Brooks
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor...
Rejoice in your hope,
Be patient in tribulation,
Be constant in prayer.
-Rom 12:9-12 (RSV)
Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quiet your modesty, or incline you to any practice which will not bear the light or look the world in the face.
-Marcus Aurelius
Love people more than things.
Remember that when you take inventory of the things in life you treasure most, you'll find that none of them was purchased with money.
Do not care overly much for wealth or power or fame, or one day you will meet someone who cares for none of these things, and you will realise how poor you have become.
-Rudyard Kipling
Many of the things you can count, don't count.
Many of the things you can't count, really count.
-Albert Einstein
Cherish your children for what they are, not for what you want them to be.
If we discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer tha they loved them.
-Christopher Morley
Let life be your sermon.
A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.
-Henrik Ibsen
A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.
-Ernest Bramah
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an art but a habit.
-Aristotle
We- all of us, but especially the young- need around us individuals who possess a certain nobility, a language of soul, and qualities of human excellence worth imitating and striving for. Every person knows this, which is why parents are concerned with both the company their children keep and th rold models they choose. Children watch what we do as well as what we say, and if we expect them to take morality seriously, they must see adults taking it seriously.
-William J. Bennett
Remember that no situation is so bad that losing your temper won't make it worse.
Apply this simple rule to your conversations: If you wouldn't write it down and sign it, don't say it.
Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, tolerant with the weak, and forgiving with the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.
-Lloyd Shearer
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heros, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
-Helen Keller
Last:
Don't forget that what you are thinking about,
you are becoming.
...I've never regretted the nice things i've said about people.
"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." Rom 12:10
...Children need loving the most when they are the hardest to love.
...If you let your integrity slip just a little, it can have lasting consequences.
...A happy person is not a person with a cetain set of circumstances but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes.
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." Rom 8:28
...Never ignore evil.
"Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." Eph 6:11
...The older i get, the more i appreciate the times my parents said no.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." Eph 6:1
...A torch loses no heat by lighting a thousand torches.
"Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." Matt 5:15
...People will remember how you treated them long after they have forgotten what you were wearing.
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?" Matt 6:25
...I don't need more to be thankful for; I need to be thankful more.
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thess 5:18
...If you want your children to be good readers, let them see you read.
"For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you." John 13:15
_______________________________
Get your priorities straight. No one ever said on his deathbed, "Gee, if I'd only spent more time at the office."
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiently, who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt
Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.
Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
-Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity an obligation; every possession a duty.
I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man's word should be as good as his bond; that character- not wealth or power or position- is of supreme worth.
I believe that love is the greatest thing in the world; that it alone can overcome hate; that right can and will triumph over might.
-Excerpts from The Rockfeller Creed
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men!
Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work will be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle.
-Phillip Brooks
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor...
Rejoice in your hope,
Be patient in tribulation,
Be constant in prayer.
-Rom 12:9-12 (RSV)
Do not consider anything for your interest which makes you break your word, quiet your modesty, or incline you to any practice which will not bear the light or look the world in the face.
-Marcus Aurelius
Love people more than things.
Remember that when you take inventory of the things in life you treasure most, you'll find that none of them was purchased with money.
Do not care overly much for wealth or power or fame, or one day you will meet someone who cares for none of these things, and you will realise how poor you have become.
-Rudyard Kipling
Many of the things you can count, don't count.
Many of the things you can't count, really count.
-Albert Einstein
Cherish your children for what they are, not for what you want them to be.
If we discovered that we had only five minutes left to say all that we wanted to say, every telephone booth would be occupied by people calling other people to stammer tha they loved them.
-Christopher Morley
Let life be your sermon.
A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed.
-Henrik Ibsen
A reputation for a thousand years may depend upon the conduct of a single moment.
-Ernest Bramah
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an art but a habit.
-Aristotle
We- all of us, but especially the young- need around us individuals who possess a certain nobility, a language of soul, and qualities of human excellence worth imitating and striving for. Every person knows this, which is why parents are concerned with both the company their children keep and th rold models they choose. Children watch what we do as well as what we say, and if we expect them to take morality seriously, they must see adults taking it seriously.
-William J. Bennett
Remember that no situation is so bad that losing your temper won't make it worse.
Apply this simple rule to your conversations: If you wouldn't write it down and sign it, don't say it.
Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, tolerant with the weak, and forgiving with the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.
-Lloyd Shearer
I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heros, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker.
-Helen Keller
Last:
Don't forget that what you are thinking about,
you are becoming.
Email Thread: God Exists
A man went to a barbershop to have his hair cut and his beard trimmed.
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'
'Why do you say that ?' asked the customer. 'Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?
Would there be abandoned children?
If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain...
I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.'
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'
'How can you say that?' asked the surprised barber.
'I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you !'
'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.'
'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me.'
'Exactly !' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist !
That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.'
As the barber began to work, they began to have a good conversation.
They talked about so many things and various subjects.
When they eventually touched on the subject of God, the barber said: 'I don't believe that God exists.'
'Why do you say that ?' asked the customer. 'Well, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist.
Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?
Would there be abandoned children?
If God existed, there would be neither suffering nor pain...
I can't imagine a loving God who would allow all of these things.'
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond because he didn't want to start an argument.
The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.
Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long, stringy, dirty hair and an untrimmed beard.
He looked dirty and unkempt. The customer turned back and entered the barber shop again and he said to the barber:
'You know what? Barbers do not exist.'
'How can you say that?' asked the surprised barber.
'I am here, and I am a barber. And I just worked on you !'
'No!' the customer exclaimed. 'Barbers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with dirty long hair and untrimmed beards, like that man outside.'
'Ah, but barbers DO exist! That's what happens when people do not come to me.'
'Exactly !' affirmed the customer. 'That's the point! God, too, DOES exist !
That's what happens when people do not go to Him and don't look to Him for help. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world.'
Monday, October 20, 2008
Strife
"...Our conscience accusing or else excusing us.." is a verse that the Lord has used to prick me greatly concerning my own conscience. Truly, as the conscience accuses, it can as well excuse! How many times have i sat down and held the remote, all the while struggling with myself whether to watch tv or read God's Word, and finally given in and pressed the "on" button? And, fact is, it gets easier and easier to excuse ourselves if we keep on resisting the Holy Spirit! O Lord, keep me close to You, i pray.
It is truly a time of trial for the Church when strife and contention takes place between her members. Can we imagine what would happen if the members of our own body were to disagree? Even if just the 2 legs disagree, we would never get to the place we wanted to go. Truly, instead of the Church being united against the common enemy- the devil- , her members are now pointing their guns at each other! And the devil is left freely stalking about
"like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
O, that we would realise that we
"do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"!]
And how does one see that another is being led by the Spirit, yielded to the Spirit? God's Word tells us how! "For the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."
The Law of Liberty (Rom 14:1-12)
"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way."
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled."(Heb 12:14-15)
Concluding Religious Directions
"Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct."
"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."(Heb 13:7, 17)
1 Corinthians 3
Sectarianism Is Carnal
"1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building."
At a time when strife occurs, let us be prepared for it with the Word of God, lest we are swayed from side to side as indignation, frustration, incredulity mounting to anger -all stemming from carnality- causes us to yield to the flesh instead of the Spirit! For "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."(2 Tim 3)
It is truly a time of trial for the Church when strife and contention takes place between her members. Can we imagine what would happen if the members of our own body were to disagree? Even if just the 2 legs disagree, we would never get to the place we wanted to go. Truly, instead of the Church being united against the common enemy- the devil- , her members are now pointing their guns at each other! And the devil is left freely stalking about
"like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."
O, that we would realise that we
"do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places"!]
And how does one see that another is being led by the Spirit, yielded to the Spirit? God's Word tells us how! "For the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..."
The Law of Liberty (Rom 14:1-12)
"Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way."
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled."(Heb 12:14-15)
Concluding Religious Directions
"Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct."
"Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you."(Heb 13:7, 17)
1 Corinthians 3
Sectarianism Is Carnal
"1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building."
At a time when strife occurs, let us be prepared for it with the Word of God, lest we are swayed from side to side as indignation, frustration, incredulity mounting to anger -all stemming from carnality- causes us to yield to the flesh instead of the Spirit! For "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."(2 Tim 3)
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