Daily Devotional & Other Inspirations

[Vine Abider]

Gotta post this one from TA Sparks for today. This really captured my attention regarding he who "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he can devour": The peril or snare will be cunningly and ingeniously adapted to the 'prey.' What would capture some would make no appeal to others. The most spiritual will be presented with what appears to be most spiritual.

DAILY OPEN WINDOWS

March 21   Since the promise of entering His rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. (Hebrews 4:1 NIV) For those who, like the New Testament writers, have a real burden and sense of responsibility for the spiritual life of God's people, one of the most heart-breaking things is the way in which so many who gave promise of going right on with the Lord are caught in some side-track and turn to something other or less than He meant for them. Not necessarily to sin or to the world, but to something which, while it brings them a great deal of gratification for a time, eventually proves to be a diversion resulting in arrested spiritual growth, and they are found in a backwater, a cul-de-sac, occupied with an alternative to "the whole counsel of God." Their "new discovery," or "light," or "guidance," as they speak of it, by reason of the let-up of some tension, solution to some problems, promise of release into self-realization, and escape from pressure, when the novelty and glamor have worn off is found to have been "deceitful waters," producing Jericho's fruits which fall before they are ripe.... The peril or snare will be cunningly and ingeniously adapted to the 'prey.' What would capture some would make no appeal to others. The most spiritual will be presented with what appears to be most spiritual. Our particular temperament will be our peculiar danger. We shall have to, ever and always, be governed by principle, and not by feelings, preferences, arguments, or natural appeal. Intellectual palliatives, emotional ecstasies, activity-gratifications must be suspected or challenged. The one question must be paramount – Where does this lead? Does it essentially and intrinsically relate to the one supreme purpose of God? By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Danger of Coming Short

Edited March 21, 2023 by Vine Abider

[Vine Abider]

Interesting that today, 3 devotionals I read were all saying basically the same thing about the cross - that even this is not from ourselves . . . only His Spirit in us can do this! 

Here's the devotional from T. Austin Sparks.

Daily Open Windows - March 25   Without Me, you can do nothing. (John 15:5) The Cross simply says that an order, though it be religious, well-motivated, or good-intentioned, but nevertheless proceeding from man in his natural state (not necessarily in defiance of God or in conscious rebellion against Him, but just the expression of man's natural state as he is), the Cross says that this entire order is set aside. God has judicially judged it and put a ban upon it. In the Cross of the Lord Jesus God has said finally: 'You in your natural state cannot serve Me, and cannot bear any fruit to My glory! It is possible to go out and work, labor, and die of the strain of trying to serve Me and yet it still remains true that you cannot, out from yourself, by any natural resources whatever, bear fruit unto Me.' The only thing that can ever get through to God's end, and that can be in Life – eternal, Divine, heavenly Life – is that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit. How sweeping that is! How that analyzes and dissects everything! Of the things we say, for example, it continually presents the interrogation: 'Was that spoken in the Holy Spirit?' It is not enough to ask ourselves: 'Did I mean it well? Did I intend it for the Lord?' but: 'Was it said, was it done, in the Holy Spirit, or did I do it?' It is not a question of motive or of intention, but of the source from which we did it. We have daily to recognize that our lives must be subject to the Holy Spirit, and when we are aware that there has been something of our own will, we have to be faithful before God about it. By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Battle For Life - Chapter 3

[Alive]

2 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

Interesting that today, 3 devotionals I read were all saying basically the same thing about the cross - that even this is not from ourselves . . . only His Spirit in us can do this! 

Here's the devotional from T. Austin Sparks.

Daily Open Windows - March 25   Without Me, you can do nothing. (John 15:5) The Cross simply says that an order, though it be religious, well-motivated, or good-intentioned, but nevertheless proceeding from man in his natural state (not necessarily in defiance of God or in conscious rebellion against Him, but just the expression of man's natural state as he is), the Cross says that this entire order is set aside. God has judicially judged it and put a ban upon it. In the Cross of the Lord Jesus God has said finally: 'You in your natural state cannot serve Me, and cannot bear any fruit to My glory! It is possible to go out and work, labor, and die of the strain of trying to serve Me and yet it still remains true that you cannot, out from yourself, by any natural resources whatever, bear fruit unto Me.' The only thing that can ever get through to God's end, and that can be in Life – eternal, Divine, heavenly Life – is that which proceeds from the Holy Spirit. How sweeping that is! How that analyzes and dissects everything! Of the things we say, for example, it continually presents the interrogation: 'Was that spoken in the Holy Spirit?' It is not enough to ask ourselves: 'Did I mean it well? Did I intend it for the Lord?' but: 'Was it said, was it done, in the Holy Spirit, or did I do it?' It is not a question of motive or of intention, but of the source from which we did it. We have daily to recognize that our lives must be subject to the Holy Spirit, and when we are aware that there has been something of our own will, we have to be faithful before God about it. By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Battle For Life - Chapter 3

Sparks is one of my favorites. His book, the Centrality of Christ is excellent.

[Vine Abider]

Here a great one from the T. Austin Sparks devotional.  Check it out!

April 1   God... has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6) The Letter to the Galatians really can be summed up in this way: a Christian is not one who does this and that and another thing which is prescribed to be done; a Christian is not one who refrains from doing this and that and another thing because they are forbidden; a Christian is not one at all who is governed by the externalities of a way of life, an order, a legalistic system which says, "You must," and "You must not," a Christian is comprehended in this saying, "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me" (Gal. 1:15-16). That is only another way of saying, "He opened my eyes to see Jesus," for the two things are the same. The Damascus road is the place. "Who art Thou, Lord?" "I am Jesus of Nazareth." "It pleased God to reveal His Son in me." That is one and the same thing. Seeing in an inward way: that makes a Christian. "God... hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). "In our hearts": Christ, so imparted and revealed within, is what makes a Christian, and a Christian will do or not do certain things, not at the dictates of any Christian law, any more than Jewish, but as led by the Spirit inwardly, by Christ in the heart. It is that that makes a Christian, and in that the foundation is laid for all the rest, right on to the consummation, because it is just going to be that growingly. So the foundation must be according to the superstructure; they are all of a piece. It is seeing, and it is seeing Christ.   By T. Austin-Sparks from: Spiritual Sight - Chapter 2

[Vine Abider]

Have to post this one from today.  I’ve had some realization about this – that is, so much of my life and energies are all about solving problems, and I have lists of lists of problems I’m either solving or attempting to prevent! (“The lists you shall always have with you” as one bro likes to say)

 Anyway, I’ll let the below speak for itself in that regard . . . 😉

 

April 13th

Solving problems or experiencing Christ?

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

To understand the spiritual nature of the New Testament, we need to ask a question: Did Paul solve problems or did he lead people into experiencing Christ? Where in the New Testament letters did Paul solve problems? What problem did he solve as an you." April 13th Solving problems or experiencing Christ "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21 To understand the spiritual nature of the New Testament, we need to ask a question: Did Paul solve problems or did he lead people into experiencing Christ? Where in the New Testament letters did Paul solve problems? What problem did he solve as an end in itself? What issue did Paul get involved in to solve? Have you ever considered this question? We all should go back to reread the New Testament and ask, What problems did Peter, John, Paul, and the other apostles solve? Did they solve people's problems or lead people to experience Christ? Of course, we know there were many problems among the Corinthians, but when we investigate how Paul solved the problems, we discover that he did one thing--he led them to experience Christ.

In our natural life we are prone to solve problems. We are looking for answers. We are seeking solutions. We want things to be cleared up and go away. We want to "right" what is "wrong." We are hoping for our environments to change for the better. We live in our imagined expectations. We want situations to be such that our soul would be at ease and find relief. Our souls are enmeshed in solving problems in many things in our daily life. In our natural life we are in the realm of solving problems. But with the supply of the Spirit in our spirit, we are in the realm of thinking the one thing--to experience Christ.

Paul's burden with the Philippians was not merely to solve their problem of disharmony, but to lead them to be supplied to think the one thing, Christ. To think the one thing is our greatest need. The way we can tell we are a supplied person is that we relate to matters and environments not by merely solving problems, but by experiencing a deeper, richer Christ.

[Vine Abider]

Thought to share this one from Daily Light.  I added the underlined verse as I thought it fits so well! He has called us into His marvelous light, but then also says that WE are light!  In fact, that verse I added is a clear reference to the new Jerusalem, where we are so intrinsically one with Him, that His light will emanate from us there!  What God in Christ is doing in us is a marvelous work!!!!

EVENING  APRIL 13

There shall be no night there. The LORD will be

your everlasting light, and your God your glory.

The city had no need of the sun or of the moon
to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it.
The Lamb is its light. They need no lamp nor
1ight of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light.

You are the light of the world – a city set on a hill

Cannot be hidden. (Matt 15:14)  

You are. a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,

a holy nation, His own special people, that
you may proclaim the praises of Him who called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light. to

give thanks to the Father who has qualified us
to be partakers of the. inheritance 'of the saints in
the light. He has delivered us from the power of
darkness and- conveyed us into the kingdom of
the Son of His love. For you were once darkness
but now you are light in the Lord. Walk-as children
of light.

 We are not of the night nor of darkness.

 The path of the just is like the shining sun,
at shines ever brighter unto, the perfect day.

Rev 21:25; Isa. 60:19; Rev. 21:23; Rev, 22:5; 1 Pet. 2:9;

Col 1:12-13;Eph. 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:5;Prov. 4:18

[Vine Abider]

This is from a Sparks devotional from last week (I wasn't able to post due to a computer glitch). As he says, "there is no difference between that and the Old Testament 'Thou shalt... thou shalt not!' Christianity has fallen into that peril, and is continually doing it"

April 19

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How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? (Galatians 3:3 NLT)

You know all that the Letter to the Galatians is about, and you know the two prominent words – Liberty – "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 4:1 – A.V.) – and sonship. Not servanthood, nor slavery, but sonship; the liberty of sons. They are the two great words of that Letter, but what are the grave bands there in Galatia? They are the grave bands of tradition, of legalism, and all such things. You know, dear friends, it is very easy to get tied up with these grave clothes!

The persistent peril through the ages of Christianity is to crystallize itself into something set, something fixed. You have some light, some revelation, something of the immensity of truth, just a fragment of it, and it is not long before you begin to form that into a set system and make it the limit, saying that this is what people must believe, they must come within this horizon, and they must behave like this. It becomes a system again: 'You must... you must not!', and there is no difference between that and the Old Testament 'Thou shalt... thou shalt not!' Christianity has fallen into that peril, and is continually doing it, circumscribing the great revelation, making Christ smaller than He is, crystallizing truth into something fixed and set: 'This is how...' and the meaning of that is: 'This is the ultimate.' Now you notice that when the Spirit did come, as we have the record in the Book of the Acts, the one thing that these old Jewish disciples experienced was a marvelous emancipation from that bondage of Judaism; and how the Holy Spirit was working all along against any fixed barriers!

[farouk]

32 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

This is from a Sparks devotional from last week (I wasn't able to post due to a computer glitch). As he says, "there is no difference between that and the Old Testament 'Thou shalt... thou shalt not!' Christianity has fallen into that peril, and is continually doing it"

April 19

---

 

How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? (Galatians 3:3 NLT)

You know all that the Letter to the Galatians is about, and you know the two prominent words – Liberty – "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 4:1 – A.V.) – and sonship. Not servanthood, nor slavery, but sonship; the liberty of sons. They are the two great words of that Letter, but what are the grave bands there in Galatia? They are the grave bands of tradition, of legalism, and all such things. You know, dear friends, it is very easy to get tied up with these grave clothes!

The persistent peril through the ages of Christianity is to crystallize itself into something set, something fixed. You have some light, some revelation, something of the immensity of truth, just a fragment of it, and it is not long before you begin to form that into a set system and make it the limit, saying that this is what people must believe, they must come within this horizon, and they must behave like this. It becomes a system again: 'You must... you must not!', and there is no difference between that and the Old Testament 'Thou shalt... thou shalt not!' Christianity has fallen into that peril, and is continually doing it, circumscribing the great revelation, making Christ smaller than He is, crystallizing truth into something fixed and set: 'This is how...' and the meaning of that is: 'This is the ultimate.' Now you notice that when the Spirit did come, as we have the record in the Book of the Acts, the one thing that these old Jewish disciples experienced was a marvelous emancipation from that bondage of Judaism; and how the Holy Spirit was working all along against any fixed barriers!

Galatians was Luther's favorite Epistle....

While systematic theology can be very helpful at times in that it provides at least a commentary on so many areas of truth, yet one must watch that one does not read logic into Scripture rather than the other way round.

[Vine Abider]

I really enjoyed this one from yesterday's "God is Enough" devotional by Hannah W. Smith.  It very simply lays out the difference between the old and new covenants. God is now, through His indwelling Spirit in believers, providing us with His favored supply (grace) to live this Christian life!

(Sorry this is a little choppy, but it's how my OCR software converted it.)

APRIL 27  WOOING NOT DEMANDING

The law says, This do and you will liv~.

The gospel says, Live, and then you will do.
The law says, Pay me what you owe me.   

The gospel says, I freely forgive you everything.                  . .

The law says. Make yourself a new heart and a new 
The gospel says, A new heart will give you, and a new Spirit will I

 put within you.

The law says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your

heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

The gospel says Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His son to be the propitiation for. our sins.
The law says. Cursed is every one who doesn't continue In a
things written .in the book of the law to do them.

The gospel says. Blessed is the man whose iniquities are

forgiven and whose sins are covered.

The law says The wages of sin is death.

The gospel says, The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus

               Christ our Lord.

[Vine Abider]

On 3/2/2023 at 9:57 AM, farouk said:

Hi @Vine Abider There's a similar book - with the title, The Unshakable Kingdom, by David Gooding - which is a commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.

FYI - enjoying the David Gooding book on Hebrews. Really good insights!

Thanks again!