Daily Devotional & Other Inspirations

[Vine Abider]

In my Christian life, nothing has helped me so much as when I began to realize that it's all about love!  When God started showing me that His primary motivation was about His great love for mankind, then scripture started opening to me like never before.  Previously I'd seen He was a God of purpose, but what I didn't see was how much this purpose was related to His love for us.  He reminds me frequently that it's about His love - that He loves me, and regardless of what happens, I can be assured that His love is for my ultimate good!

Below from TA Sparks, Daily Open Windows, which exemplifies this point.

January 17   Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT) You can have all the gifts and be very immature. Spiritual increase is not by knowing all these things, the way of growth is not by faith's power externally manifested, but more by inward endurance. Do you want to know the way of the increase of God? It is by love. What the Lord needs is an open, pure spirit towards Himself, and love toward all saints; the Lord will bring into His greater fullness where there is a genuine love one to the other - in Him.... The Ephesian letter in which there is the fullest unveiling of heavenly truth in the deepest teaching concerning the Church, the Body of Christ, there is from start to finish the golden thread of love running all through; this is significant when you consider what the letter contains. 1 Corinthians 13 is the great chapter on love, and is put over beside all the "gifts". Love is the real spirituality that is spirituality. Love is the most difficult and the greatest of all gifts.  The measure of our spiritual life is no greater than our heart; the knowledge that is in the head is not the measure of spirituality, the way for your release, emancipation, increase, abundance is the way of the heart. Spirituality is not mental agreement on things stated in the Word, it is the melting of one heart to another – to all saints. True spirituality is the measure of love of God shed abroad in the heart, all the spirituals rest upon and have their rise out of love. Not power, or knowledge, or different gifts, these are not the first things, the first thing is love. That leads to the increase of God. By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Increase of God

[Vine Abider]

Really liked this one from The Supplied Life today.  I had never heard it explained in such a clear way - we are dead to ourselves and all our individual concerns!  This goes far beyond forgiveness of sins, and is about how we now - as those forgiven - live in and to Christ (who is in us).  I'm just beginning to see that Christ is my relationship with everything (since I have been crucified with Him) and that includes my relationship with myself. This is part of the "much more" talked about in Romans 5:17! Lord help me see this more clearly!

Christ - our relationship to ourselves      January 19th

"If One died for all then all died; and He died for all, that those
who live should live no longer to themselves, but to Him who died for
them and rose again." 2 CORINTHIANS 5:14-15

It is wonderful to discover that once we have received Christ, He
becomes our relationship to ourselves. Paul makes this clear in

the above verses. When he says, "One died for all," according to our
understanding, we probably would continue the sentence by saying,
"then all are forgiven." Of course, this truth is found in other
passages of Scripture - when Christ died for all, He died to forgive

all. But here in these verses Paul is stressing another. aspect of
Christ's death. The statement "If One died for all, then all died"
reveals a crucial fact about our relationship to ourselves. In verse 15
Paul opens up what the issue should be of our having died in Christ's
death - "that those who live should live no longer to themselves, but

to Him." In other words, our relating to ourselves has ceased. Christ
is now our true relationship to ourselves. We do not live to ourselves any

longer. We live to Him.                            .' .

The death of Christ is not only for our forgiveness: It is also for

our termination. The terminating of the self is very positive because
it has one goal in view - the release of Christ living in us.  We no longer

live to ourselves, we are no longer our point of reference in our daily life and affairs.  Our point of reference is no longer the self, but Christ.  To live for Him is to live to Him.

[Vine Abider]

 

This entry, from Daily Light, touched me. "The multitude of anxieties" - does this not describe me way too much!?  But He is here.  He knows me and my anxieties, and it matters to Him concerning me! I am exhorted and encouraged to cast all my burdens on Him.  He is the one who comforts and sustains.  As it says, His grace is sufficient. Grace here is a supply of strength, as I saw the next part of the verse indicates, "My strength is sufficient for you." Grace here = strength. To me this shows, yet again, that His grace is not just "unmerited favor," but rather a supply to me - a supply of His strength.  Grace = His favored supply. Grace is actually just Christ in me!

EVENING  JANUARY 22

In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.

When my heart is overwhelmed; lead me the
rock that is higher than I.

o LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me! 
Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sus-
tain you.

I am a little child; I do not know how to go out
or come in. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God,  and it will be given to him.

Who is sufficient for these things?  I know
that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good
dwells. My grace is sufficient for you, for My
strength is made perfect in weakness.

Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven
you. . . . Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith
has made you well.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and
fatness .... When I remember You on my bed, I
meditate on You in the night watches.

PS. 94:19; Ps. 61:2; Isa. 38:14; Ps. 55:22; 1 Kings 3:7;
James 1:5; 2 Cor. 2:16; Rom. 7:18; 2 Cor. 12:9;

Matt. 9:2, 22; Ps. 63:5-6

[Sower]

10 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

Grace here is a supply of strength, as I saw the next part of the verse indicates, "My strength is sufficient for you." Grace here = strength. To me this shows, yet again, that His grace is not just "unmerited favor," but rather a supply to me - a supply of His strength.  Grace = His favored supply. Grace is actually just Christ in me!

    "the verse indicates "My strength is sufficient for you."

"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower"
Psalm 18:2

                       "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

[Vine Abider]

I appreciated this one in The Supplied Life:

The Word divides  January 28th

"Par the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." HEBREWS 4: 12

A believer's greatest need is to get into the Word of God
regularly and to go to the Lord day by day, especially in the
mornings. Open up to the Lord and begin to pray over the verses.
Reading the Bible must be more to us than a routine or academic
pursuit. We need to actually contact God while we are in the Word.
By getting into the Word in this way, we find it is "living and
powerful." It begins to operate; it begins to speak. A word will stand
out, a verse will stand out, or a phrase will stand out, and then you
begin to pray with what touches you. That word entering into your
heart clears you up inwardly. "The entrance of Your words gives
light" (Psa. 119:130). You begin to see that you have been in your
self; in your emotions, in your reactions, in your pride and
hardness. You have been in your hurt feelings or in your reasoning
mind about someone. You have chosen your own will.

 

And I would add that by being in the word in this living, prayerful way, the light begins to shine in me regarding that word. And my heart gets softened as it is illuminated.  It may show me where you've sinned, or it may give me great hope and encouragement. In this way the living word begins to divide soul and spirit - dividing me and my thinking/feelings from the divine (what is true).  Without starting my day with His dividing word, I certainly sense a big lack and void in my life!

[Vine Abider]

Another good one in The Supplied Life today.  This life of the Son, who as Jesus was always pressing into the Father, is now in us!  "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts crying out, Abba! Father!" (Gal 4:6)  What an unspeaking love the Father has for us, that He would send His Son to die, to bring us into this kind of intimate fellowship!  Lord, cause us to realize Your great love and experience this in our daily lives more and more!

Spend time cultivating                            February 1st

"And He was saying, Abba, Father, all things are possible for
You." MARK 14:36

It takes time to cultivate a love relationship with the Lord. This
was demonstrated by the Lord's own earthly life. He repeatedly
spent time with the Father, enjoying the Father's love (Luke 5:16).
In Mark 14:36 we find Him in the garden of Gethsemane, where it
was His habit to go and be with the Father (Luke 22:39). Here He
is once again pressing into the bosom of the Father while facing the
critical hour of crucifixion. Mark records that the Lord was saying
repeatedly, "Abba, Father." This means that even when He became
obedient unto death, the death of the cross, He did it by enjoying the
Father's love. To say "Abba" is to call upon the Father in the most
sweet and intimate way.

Now we must see that this same "Abba, Father" love-life has
been sent into our hearts. Paul declares, "And because you are sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out,
, Abba, Father!" (Gal. 4:6). What a joy! What a hope! The very

prayer life of God's Son is in our hearts. The intimate love-life
between the Father arid the Son has been put into us. We have it! It
is not a matter of trying to find it or longing to possess it. We have
the Triune God's love-life within us. And by virtue of our being a
born-again Christian, we are entitled to merge in our hearts-with the
love flowing between the Father and the Son in the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 13:14).

The Lord's love-life with. the Father simply needs to be culti-
vated and released in us. That life is in us twenty-four hours a day.
The same life that cried "Abba, Father," the same life that withdrew

into the wilderness to pray, the same life that wanted so many times to be with the Father alone.  

[Vine Abider]

Here's one I enjoyed today from the T. Austin Sparks devotional, Daily Open Windows.  This is so true, that nothing the Lord gives has ever made me miserable - He is the God of all encouragement, not discouragement!  Whenever I am downcast, it is a sure sign that I'm looking at myself or to myself to do something (or something I didn't do) - "I am so short; I am so unworthy; I don't love God enough; I am this way or that . . ." but when I look away to Jesus, all that vanishes!

                                                   

                                                      February 7

My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:30) Dear friends, if any truth has the effect of turning you in upon yourself, making you introspective, self-occupied in a spiritual way, that truth has been wrongly apprehended. You may assume the position of the most spiritual, but you are all wrong in your apprehension. This great work which Christ did in His Cross was never intended to make anybody miserable. Of course, that goes without saying; yet there are multitudes who are miserable after trusting the Lord, miserable over the sin question in their lives; and the number, I am afraid, is increasing. Always keep a very distinct and broad line between fuller revelation, deeper truth (whatever you may term it – all that going-on-to-full-growth realm of things) and this whole matter of introspection. Some people seem to think that to become more spiritual we must become more intense and tied-up and occupied with this whole matter of the spiritual life, and really they are the most unbearable people, the joy has gone out of them. I am certain of this, that nothing will ever come to you, however deep, however mighty, however tremendous, by revelation of the Holy Spirit, that will make you miserable. The revelation of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit – and there is no other revelation – will never make a soul miserable. There is something wrong if a Christian is miserable on spiritual matters, and it is either failure to apprehend the one great, absolute reality that the victory was God’s and that He won it in Christ, fully and finally, and we are not called to share at all in that battle; or the truth which has come subsequently has been misapprehended and has become something that is a burden grievous to be borne. The Lord Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Battle Which is Not Yours

[Vine Abider]

This devotional today is a good reminder that head knowledge does not equate to true spirituality.  We can have the biblical knowledge and still be "dead as a door nail." Only that knowledge which is sourced in the Spirit of God, and not man's flesh, is of any real use to the kingdom of God. "Apart from Me you can do nothing!" 

http://www.austin-sparks.net/images/dowemail.jpg February 12   That which is born of the flesh is flesh. (John 3:6) It is possible for a man to be marked by an analytical mind, so that he wants to argue out everything, reason out everything and subject everything to the microscope of his own brain, his own reason, and just see the whole thing right through in that way – not accept it until he can understand it like that. And so he becomes very analytical, very investigating in his mind over the thing, and until he can have the very best answer to all his questions from every side, he is not going to accept it. That man will make very slow progress. The same will apply to one who thinks that by getting a mighty wave of religious emotion he is going to enter into the things of God. That is one of the great snares of the devil today. Religious emotion is no criterion; it is no ground of true spirituality. Our knowledge of the Lord, the very remotest bit of it and the very first ray of it, depends upon our spirit being awakened and illumined by the Holy Spirit. Progress in the things of God is simply the growth of our inner man and not the acknowledgment of our intellectual capacity to grasp truth. We may have an increasing capacity, by reason of association and familiarity with truth, for grasping ideas and grasping truth and teaching. And that capacity may expand and expand until there is very little that is available to be grasped, and yet with such there may be the very smallest measure of real spirituality.... The child of God is one whose spirit has been renewed and who has, at the center of their being, a union and a communion with God which is not the possession of any man by nature, and which cannot come in any other realm but in the renewed spirit. By T. Austin-Sparks from: Filled Unto All the Fullness of God - Chapter 9

[Vine Abider]

I liked this devotional from TA Sparks today.  The focus of what God is doing with man is completely in Christ.  And Christ should be our focus too in all our pursuit and walk with God - nothing is outside the Son.  Our relationship with the Father is in the Son.  And Christ should be our relationship with everything we handle, including ourselves!  All things are to be headed up in Christ.  So we have to ask, is our source in anything other than Him?  Even if our source is in our good, religious nature, trying to follow God outwardly, this falls short.  All God is doing now is in His Son, and that's where our true and real life flows from.  If we source our following of God in anything other than the Son's Spirit indwelling us, this effort will come to nothing.

March 2 God... Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9 ESV) The Lord Jesus did not come in just as a rescuer of man and of man’s lot. We should almost be led to believe by certain emphases that redemption is the greatest thing in the universe, and that all God’s interest is in redemption, and that we should be occupied solely with redemption. Redemption is a great thing. We can never, never exaggerate, and I doubt whether we shall ever know what a great thing redemption is; and yet, great as redemption is in its scope, in its depth, in its cost, redemption is only incidental to the eternal purpose. Christ came into time to rescue His own inheritance. In that, of course, man is rescued, but it is something very much bigger than that. It relates to the Son primarily, and until the Lord’s people get the right attitude, the right point of view, that is, that all things in God’s full and final concern are centered in God’s Son, they have not come into line with all God’s resource. While the direction is toward ourselves – redemption, sanctification, glorification, and so on – or toward anything less than the Son Himself, we have not got God’s dynamic for accomplishing His work, and therefore it becomes necessary, as the sufficient, the adequate basis of the Holy Spirit’s operation, that there should be a revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart, for it is in relation to Him and what God has purposed concerning Him that all the energies of God are released and made active. By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Chapter 6

[farouk]

27 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

I liked this devotional from TA Sparks today.  The focus of what God is doing with man is completely in Christ.  And Christ should be our focus too in all our pursuit and walk with God - nothing is outside the Son.  Our relationship with the Father is in the Son.  And Christ should be our relationship with everything we handle, including ourselves!  All things are to be headed up in Christ.  So we have to ask, is our source in anything other than Him?  Even if our source is in our good, religious nature, trying to follow God outwardly, this falls short.  All God is doing now is in His Son, and that's where our true and real life flows from.  If we source our following of God in anything other than the Son's Spirit indwelling us, this effort will come to nothing.

March 2 God... Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of His own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9 ESV) The Lord Jesus did not come in just as a rescuer of man and of man’s lot. We should almost be led to believe by certain emphases that redemption is the greatest thing in the universe, and that all God’s interest is in redemption, and that we should be occupied solely with redemption. Redemption is a great thing. We can never, never exaggerate, and I doubt whether we shall ever know what a great thing redemption is; and yet, great as redemption is in its scope, in its depth, in its cost, redemption is only incidental to the eternal purpose. Christ came into time to rescue His own inheritance. In that, of course, man is rescued, but it is something very much bigger than that. It relates to the Son primarily, and until the Lord’s people get the right attitude, the right point of view, that is, that all things in God’s full and final concern are centered in God’s Son, they have not come into line with all God’s resource. While the direction is toward ourselves – redemption, sanctification, glorification, and so on – or toward anything less than the Son Himself, we have not got God’s dynamic for accomplishing His work, and therefore it becomes necessary, as the sufficient, the adequate basis of the Holy Spirit’s operation, that there should be a revelation of Jesus Christ in the heart, for it is in relation to Him and what God has purposed concerning Him that all the energies of God are released and made active. By T. Austin-Sparks from: The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken - Chapter 6

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.