March 12 - 18 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
March 12
Psalms 22:1-16
1.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from
helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2.
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night
season, and am not silent.
3.
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5.
They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were
not confounded.
6.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the
people.
7.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying,
8.
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him,
seeing he delighted in him.
9.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope
when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's
belly.
11.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart
is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my
jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me:
they pierced my hands and my feet.
Seeking the King of the Kingdom, chapter three
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Important messages
3. THE CHRIST WHO TEACHES US TO PRAY
“Then the angel of
God said to me in the dream, ‘Jacob,’ and I said, ‘Here I am’… ‘I am the God of
Bethel, where you anointed a pillar, where you made a vow to Me’”. Genesis
31:11, 13
THE
GOD OF BETHEL
Here again, we
specifically have the Angel of God. He appeared to Jacob in the place that he
called Bethel, which means The House of God. He is the Messenger of God
or the one who is the Word of God in person. We will turn to Genesis 28 to
study the story and, as we do so, we will remind ourselves that the principle
purpose that we have in mind is to see this Person revealed.
In spite of having taken
place thousands of years ago, what God revealed to Jacob, He has preserved,
because He wants to show it to many more people. We have something of top
importance before us, if we are people awake to the things of God and are
seeking the treasures of heaven and eternity. If we want to have a part in
them, this portion of Scripture will reveal to us the way that we can have it.
We will consider the connection – the only connection – between earth and
heaven. We ought to be happy to know that God has given us this word, which
shows us that He has provided the way and it is within our reach.
THE PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE PROTEST
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Important messages
THE
PRINCIPLE BEHIND THE PROTEST
against the miniseries and the new movie, Son of
God
A. W. Tozer
said that the first step towards the downfall of the Christian Church is “a
wrong answer to the
question, ‘What is God like?’ and goes on from there.
Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her
adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and
that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind.”
 | |||
| Author of "The Knowledge of the Holy\" |
“It is my
opinion that the Christian conception of God… is so decadent as to be utterly
beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for
professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.”
The movie is
said to be an evangelistic tool. However, it is essential in evangelism that God
be presented rightly: “The multiple burdens of time may be lifted from (a man,
but) the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him
with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon
another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant
and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him
perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring
conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from
childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the
inner pressure of self-accusation may become too heavy to bear. UNLESS THE
WEIGHT OF THE BURDEN IS FELT THE GOSPEL CAN MEAN NOTHING TO THE MAN; AND UNTIL
HE SEES A VISION OF GOD HIGH AND LIFTED UP, THERE WILL BE NO WOE AND NO BURDEN.
LOW VIEWS OF GOD DESTROY THE GOSPEL FOR ALL WHO HOLD THEM.
March 5 - 11 Daily Meditations in the Psalms
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Daily Meditations
March 5
Psalms 19:11-14
11.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is
great reward.
12.
Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have
dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the
great transgression.
14.
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable
in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
The Bible, on the one hand,
carefully warns and illuminates us concerning every possible pitfall and
danger. On the other hand, it inspires and motivates us to great reward. It
invokes prayer, because we see that we need God, in order to be preserved or
rewarded. We do not know the deceit in our own heart. What we might think
totally justifiable, can be an abomination to Him and condemn our soul. We need
to open the scriptures in faith and trust God. Let Him reveal the unknown
faults and also give us the strength to overcome known sins, for from Him alone
comes the enabling. Only in His spotlight can I be upright, blameless and
innocent.
The Psalm in the last verse expresses the
noblest desire of the human heart. It states: let me be acceptable, not before
men, but before God; not only in actions, but also in words; not only in words,
but also in thoughts and motives. Let me be totally right before you, Lord. Let
me make You smile, but not by my own strength or self-righteousness. Bring the
two graces of strength and redemption into my life. You are the source of my
strength. You are my Redeemer, who bought my soul, cleansed and renewed it, and
brought me into fellowship with You.
A New Movie Called, "The Son of God"
Labels:
Important messages
When I was a teenager, my older brother told me about something he had
seen concerning advertisers, who would display their product for less than a
split second and a person would not be conscious that he had seen anything. Yet,
an impression was made on his subconscious mind that effected him positively
towards the product.
Movies
that are well-produced, with a good story, appealing background music, good
writing, good acting, etc., creates a powerful impression through the
eye-gate (as John Bunyan termed it) into the human soul. While you are taken in by this creation, some even
overwhelmed by it, you are positively impressed by the main character.
All of this is fine, if we are talking about secular entertainment, but when we are taking into account a movie, such as the recent production, titled "The Son of God", then we must be very careful of characteristics that are subtilely introduced into the story, to leave you with something
less than the biblical revelation of the main person in the film, namely Christ, especially when it concerns his divinity... i.e. the Son of God. In that case, a misinterpretation can mean blasphemy.
Someone directed me to a critical review of the film, written by Sunny Shell. Before I took her review into account, I went to her website and was very impressed with her doctrinal
statement and also the presentation of salvation, which was offered. It was better than most. Sunny Shell is
an Asian-American, a professional writer and editor. Early in her review, she stated: "Last year
I was contacted by a media group for The History Channel. They emailed me,
requesting my help in promoting their upcoming 10-episode mini-series called
'The Bible'." She wrote a review after watching the entire series and they never
contacted her again. I was impressed by that kind of personal conviction.
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