The Right Motive, the Wrong Method
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Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. 1 Chronicles 15:2
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here is no more important symbol in the Old Testament than the Ark of the Covenant. It represented the glory of God among His people, His gracious and merciful presence, and His powerful and favorable blessing. It was lost to the Philistines during the priesthood of Eli, who trembled, fell backward and broke his neck, upon hearing the news. The top priority in the new government of David was to bring the ark into Jerusalem. It was the secret behind the success that followed, which made Israel a powerhouse among the nations of the world in that day. So, in the presence of the priests, with the backing of the leadership and in the company of all the people, David intends to set the ark in its proper place. It was the right thing to do (1 Chron. 13:4), and the people rejoiced in the fulfillment of the act (13:8).
June 29 - July 5 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
June 29
Psalms 57
1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.
2. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me.
3. He shall send from heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth his mercy and his truth.
4. My soul is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
5. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth.
6. They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
7. My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.
8. Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself will awake early.
9. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.
10. For thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds.
11. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let thy glory be above
all the earth.
David has made a decision and casts himself upon the mercy of God. It is a recommitment to a life of trust in God, but there are many adversaries. Though all earth is against him, all heaven is working on his behalf. God is his refuge and is performing His will for David. Selah – once again, meditate on this and relate it to your life. Jesus sent us out as sheep among wolves and David said he walked among lions. Unless our faith is tried, how will we know the extent of God’s mercy to us and the overcoming power of His truth?
Notice the repetition of the refrain of verse five in verse eleven. It states the purpose of David’s existence, that is, to give glory to God and it also reveals the reason for his multiplied troubles. He is an instrument through whom God is glorified and therefore, all hell is against him. He, as Paul and Silas in prison, will not be silenced. From the darkness of a cave, he sings and gives praise, stirs up his soul above the circumstances and determines that if there are no other among the nations to praise the Lord, he, at least, will do so. He sings of mercy and truth in the midst of cruelty and deceit. God still has His people to give testimony and manifest his grace to the earth.
June 22 - 28 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
June 22
Psalms 54:1-5
1. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.
2. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
3. For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
4. Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.
5. He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: cut them off in thy truth.
Thou shalt call His name Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins.” God has given One, who is a mighty Savior by His very nature, a Savior and Deliverer from start to finish. We call upon Him for salvation and He cannot do other than respond. He would be untrue to his name, if he did not answer.
As the plaintiff and defendant come before the judge, so David appears and presents his adversary, asking for the Lord to pronounce judgment. God’s part in the matter is not only to state a verbal decree, but to actually carry out the punishment against the guilty and in favor of the innocent. “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you.” He rains down retribution and often it comes before the final, end-time judgment.
This is a prayer and prayer moves heaven. It is the means used to touch God. It causes Him to open his hall of judgment and implores Him to action. David begs God’s ear, in a desperate cry, and gets it.
Harvest Convictions
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young
man found himself in a cornfield with a few other workers. Each had a bag
strapped over his shoulder and they were walking down the rows, picking corn
ear by ear and putting them into the bags.
By
and by, they heard a powerful engine and turning saw a giant reaper charging
through the field, gobbling up rows of corn. The driver, as he passed, nodded
condescendingly towards our humble pickers. They, in turn, bowed sheepishly,
embarrassed by their puny efforts and the minuscule results of their
handpicking.
The reaper encircled the field several times,
but meanwhile a decided change took place in the atmosphere. A north wind began
to blow. The air chilled and our workers, to keep warm, walked and picked
faster. Snowflakes fell, then sheets of snow, and soon the ground was covered.
An inch collected, and then two and now, they noticed, in the wide path of the
reaper, it left stalks behind and mangled the ears.
The storm worsened, but the pickers continued
faithfully down their rows and presently came upon the great reaper, no longer
able to function, stalled in the snow. At this, the workers looked up and saw,
scattered throughout the field, many, many pickers, each with his individual
bag. In strategic places, a bonfire was lit and from time to time a number of
workers would gather around the bonfire to converse and warm themselves. Then,
back they would go to the rows, gathering the harvest ear by ear…
Desert Places
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“My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.” Psalm 63:1, 2
There is little thirst for God these days, because there are too many substitute supplies and numerous diversions to keep men from arriving at their goal. It doesn’t require a profound search to find God in the sanctuary. Among the congregation with songs and instruments, the soul easily rises to ecstasy. To touch the depth of the soul, awaken the innermost longings and inspire a more perfect search, God takes His individual into desert areas. No one can know Him with a perfect heart, until he has been there. To the satisfaction of God’s heart, the wilderness experiences extract the spiritual potential that He has placed within. There are no distractions in the wilderness and no other resources. There is no water and so the soul thirsts for God.
Any time that God ordains a fresh moving of His Spirit and a new chapter in the unfolding of His plan, He will take an individual into the desert. That person must come away from the popular trends, the prominent voices and the clamor of the majority. Abraham left the most civilized area of his day, not knowing where he was going, and wandered in a strange land. Jacob found a stairway to heaven and the house of God in the wilderness. Years later, he became Israel, when he wrestled alone with God by Jabbok. Moses spent forty years in the Sinai desert and then led two million people to wander for forty years more. Elijah was there and was fed by ravens. David spent much time there in his youth. When he fled from the palace of Saul, he lived in a cave. As king, he was driven from his throne to spend time in the wilderness.
June 15 - 21 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
We have finished the series of personal letters from Leonard Ravenhill, and now we will continue with a new series... This will be a daily devotional, which you may want to use along with your Bible and prayer time for a year, or for that matter, any number of years. I thought Psalms 51, David´s Psalm of repentance, in the middle of June, would be a good place to start. I only hope that this can be of some value to you in your Christian walk.
June 15
Psalms 51:1-5
1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
God uses David’s fall to show us the corruption in the Adamic nature and demonstrate the proper reaction to sin. His sin was hideous, deceitful and treacherous. Evil potential lies in the heart of every human being and the apostle Paul confesses in Romans 7, “O wretched man that I am.” It was Paul’s firm conviction that “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.” We must learn this terrible lesson.
Sin is exceedingly sinful and we will bear its scars for the duration of our time in this vile body. Its consequences will follow and haunt us until our dying breath. Though the penalty has been removed and the pardon served, our forgiveness and acceptance with God assured, yet the memories remain and the effects plague us. David paid dearly, though his spirit was cleansed. Paul never forgot his persecution of the church. The scriptures recorded it in order to breed within us a lifelong enmity and hatred against iniquity. We should pledge a battle to the death.
Of Bricks and Stones
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I recently did this article on the Spanish blogspot and now wanted to share it in English. I have had a bookmark for a few years that keeps reminding me: "Wisdom is gained, not through study or experience alone, but by seeing the world through the eyes of God." That is impossible without the help of the Great Teacher, the Holy Spirit. The ways of God are logical and rational, but they are far beyond the logic and rationale of mere humans. You do not approach the Word of God, nor the work of God, by simply exercising your mental faculties. There must be an enlightening, which can only come through the Spirit of God. So read here about the ways of man and the ways of God... two very different views and means.
When someone lives only for God, loves people and wants them to have God’s best, idealism can sometimes become a hang-up. We have a video about Robert Sheffey, whose ministry centered on camp meetings, wonderfully used of God and forerunners of today’s family camp. Near the end of his life, he saw that it was sin to try to demand the continuance of his camps, when people in general were rejecting them. If God does not force His people to do His will, we certainly cannot. “So I gave them up...and they walked in their own counsels” (Psalms 81:12).
Still, it is hard to keep from losing sleep or to overcome the sadness inside, when God has given a taste for what they are missing. “Oh that my people would listen…I would feed them with the finest of the wheat” (vs. 13, 16). Paul admonished in Phil. 1:10 (amp.): “That you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value – recognizing the highest and the best.” Modern Christians are satisfied with far less than God’s best.
The Bridegroom
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Important messages
This is a chapter taken from the book "The Christ of the Apocalypse".
CHAPTER 19
THE BRIDEGROOM
Suppose we were attending a wedding ceremony and heard the preacher ask the bride to make this statement: “Repeat after me, I take this man to be my bread winner and to do odd jobs around the house.” Then, he would turn to the groom for the following resolution: “I take this woman as my personal cook and maid.” It is a ludicrous supposition, I know, but not really any more absurd than what we might overhear at a church altar after a ‘revival’ meeting. A seeker is asked to repeat the prayer, “I receive Christ into my life as my personal Savior.” A marriage based on such a limited commitment would be headed for serious complications.
Christ is not a commodity to be divided up into parts that we receive or reject, according to our needs or whims. He is a complete personality and when he is invited to be Savior, he must also be Lord. A total involvement with Christ is difficult only because we are loath to give up our independence.
Jesus Christ is the joy of heaven and everything there is vitally connected to him. He is a sweet aroma in the throne room of God. Heaven would not be heaven without him. A revelation of heaven is a revelation of Christ. He is the most pleasant of all companions, and the most winsome of character. It is his infinite goodness and wisdom in all his dealings with us, which makes our reservations so sinful.
What You Were Never Told About "Raising Support"
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One of the proofs of the degradation of Christianity in our day is clearly seen in preparation for mission work. George Mueller is probably the best-known example for basing a ministry on faith in God. Hudson Taylor is another. Our generation lauds these men of faith, then, in all practicality, turns from their example to man-made methods of missionary support, somehow finding excuses to justify these means. It's hypocrisy! We are not advancing the world-wide cause of Christ in this way, we are simply increasing numerical statistics.
Our grandson, John, and his wife, Clare, have already experienced the frustration of modern mission organizations' schemes in enlisting workers into their ranks. John writes about it in the article below. Please read it and may God awaken many to the deception and low level of practical Christian living in these last days. If we have turned away from a life of faith, what have we left to recommend ourselves before God? If we cannot believe God to support us through our life on earth, how can we say that we believe He will take us to heaven?
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