Have You Died?

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green in Baptist Bread

"Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin..." (Rom. 6:11a)

While preaching in Spain in 2010, the good missionary I was with told me of reading George Mueller's secret of success. Mueller was questioned as to why he had such unusual spiritual success. His profound reply was, "There was a day I died." And as he spoke he bent lower and lower until he almost touched the floor, "I died to George Mueller; his opinions, his preferences, his tastes, and will. I died to the world, its approval or censure, died to the approval or blame even of my brethren and friends, and since then I have studied only to show myself approved to God." My father has often said that he got a divorce from public opinion! The truth of the matter is, that ultimately we only must answer to God. The approval of men is based on bias at best and lack of experience at worst. The approval of our heavenly Father is based solely on holiness. Besides, He is the only One that knows the true motives, secret faults, and He distributes talents as He will. God is the One we must deal with, and He is the One who deals with us.

I am sure that if you picked up one of the thousands of self-help books, or secrets to success tomes that litter our libraries these days, you would be hard pressed to find any that espouse Mueller's plan of success. However, in this case I think I'll side with Mueller. See you at the cemetery!

Remember, "...whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27)

Have You Died?

Written and sung by Abigail Miller

There are so many Christians who name the name of Christ,
Who are washed in Jesus' blood, and are partakers of new life,
But deep inside they struggle with strong, besetting sin,
And they wonder if they'll ever learn the victory to win.

Have you died? Have you signed the warrant for your own execution?
Have you come to the end of self, and all your resolution?
When we finally fail in trying, we will find success in dying,
Have you died that you might live in Christ anew?

Lord Jesus, when You came to earth to give Your life for me,
You faced every strong temptation, but from sin Your life was free.
And if my perfect Savior had to die a cruel death
To obtain my freedom, how can I escape by doing less?

Have you died? Have you signed the warrant for your own execution?
Have you come to the end of self, and all your resolution?
When we finally fail in trying, we will find success in dying,
Have you died that you might live in Christ anew?

The only way to victory is not through strong resolve,
It is not through anything that I can do.
I must learn to see myself upon the cross in Jesus Christ,
And in Him I've resurrected to a pure and holy life.

I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live,
Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh,
I live by the faith of the Son of God
Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.

Have you died? Have you signed the warrant for your own execution?
Have you come to the end of self, and all your resolution?
When we finally fail in trying, we will find success in dying,
Have you died that you might live in Christ anew?

When we finally fail in trying, we will find success in dying,
Have you died that you might live in Christ anew?

In the photo: Tundra foliage

Where Is Peace?

It was a very simple secret she found out: only this, that it was possible to obey God's command contained in these words, "Be careful for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God"; and that, in obeying it, the result would inevitably be, according to the promise, that "the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Hannah Whittal Smith
The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

There is a vast difference between happiness and blessedness. Paul had imprisonments and pains, sacrifice and suffering up to the very limit; but in the midst of it all, he was blessed. All the beatitudes came into his heart and life in the midst of those very conditions.

Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one.

He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul.

It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.

If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.

Charles Francis Richardson 

In the photo: The view from a window during January's blizzard. I can attest to the fact that "the wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty." And I also know it is true in the unseen storms that we face!

They Are His Mountains

"And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted." (Isa. 49:11)

God will make obstacles serve His purpose. We all have mountains in our lives. There are people and things that threaten to bar our progress in the Divine life. Those heavy claims, that uncongenial occupation, that thorn in the flesh, that daily cross -- we think that if only these were removed we might live purer, tenderer, holier lives; and often we pray for their removal.

"Oh, fools, and slow of heart!" These are the very conditions of achievement; they have been put into our lives as the means to the very graces and virtues for which we have been praying so long. Thou hast prayed for patience through long years, but there is something that tries thee beyond endurance; thou hast fled from it, evaded it, accounted it an unsurmountable obstacle to the desired attainment, and supposed that its removal would secure thy immediate deliverance and victory.

Not so! Thou wouldest gain only the cessation of temptations to impatience. But this would not be patience. Patience can be acquired only through just such trials as now seem unbearable. Go back; submit thyself. Claim to be a partaker in the patience of Jesus. Meet thy trials in Him. There is nothing in life which harasses and annoys that may not become subservient to the highest ends. They are His mountains. He puts them there. We know that God will not fail to keep His promise. "God understandeth the way thereof and knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven"; and when we come to the foot of the mountains, we shall find the way. 

F.B. Meyer

Christ in Isaiah 

"The oak is not only tested by the storms, but toughened by them." 

Unknown

Believe in Order to See

"Then believed they his words; they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works; they waited not for his counsel; but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Ps. 106:12-15)

We read of Moses, that "he endured, as seeing him who is invisible." Exactly the opposite was true of the children of Israel in this record. They endured only when the circumstances were favorable; they were largely governed by the things that appealed to their senses, in place of resting in the invisible and eternal God.

In the present day there are those who live intermittent Christian lives because they have become occupied with the outward, and center in circumstances, in place of centering in God. God wants us more and more to see Him in everything, and to call nothing small if it bears us His message.

Here we read of the children of Israel, "Then they believed his words." They did not believe till after they saw -- when they saw Him work, then they believed. They really doubted God when they came to the Red Sea; but when God opened the way and led them across and they saw Pharaoh and his host drowned -- "then they believed."

Keep Your Hands Off

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

"Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are, upon thee." (2 Chron. 20:12)

A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God. They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way; but they touched God's work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless. Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.

If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it; and He will guard it for us better than we can help Him. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass."

Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we; and He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time. There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things, and there is nothing so hurtful as restless working, for God has undertaken to work His sovereign will.

A. B. Simpson

Being perplexed, I say,

"Lord, make it right!

Night is as day to Thee,

Darkness as light.

I am afraid to touch

Things that involve so much;

My trembling hand may shake,

My skilless hand may break;

Thine can make no mistake."

Being in doubt I say,

"Lord, make it plain;

Which is the true, safe way?

Which would be gain?

I am not wise to know,

Nor sure of foot to go;

What is so clear to Thee,

Lord, make it clear to me!"

Anna B. Warner

It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands

...and leave them there.

The LORD Is My Strength

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Psalm 68:28 Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us. 

The Lord imparts unto us that primary strength of character which makes everything in life work with intensity and decision. We are "strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man." And the strength is continuous; reserves of power come to us which we cannot exhaust.

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be" -- strength of will, strength of affection, strength of judgment, strength of ideals and achievement.

"The Lord is my strength" to go on. He gives us power to tread the dead level, to walk the long lane that seems never to have a turning, to go through those long reaches of life which afford no pleasant surprise, and which depress the spirits in the sameness of a terrible drudgery.

"The Lord is my strength" to go up. He is to me the power by which I can climb the Hill Difficulty and not be afraid.

"The Lord is my strength" to go down. It is when we leave the bracing heights, where the wind and the sun have been about us, and when we begin to come down the hill into closer and more sultry spheres, that the heart is apt to grow faint.

I heard a man say the other day concerning his growing physical frailty, "It is the coming down that tires me!"

"The Lord is my strength" to sit still. And how difficult is the attainment! Do we not often say to one another, in seasons when we are compelled to be quiet, "If only I could do something!"

When the child is ill, and the mother stands by in comparative impotence, how severe is the test! But to do nothing, just to sit still and wait, requires tremendous strength. 

"The Lord is my strength!"

"Our sufficiency is of God."

You must remember that John was in the Isle of Patmos, a lone, rocky, inhospitable prison, for the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. And yet to him, under such circumstances, separated from all the loved ones of Ephesus; debarred from the worship of the Church; condemned to the companionship of uncongenial fellow-captives, were vouchsafed these visions. For him, also, a door was opened.

We are reminded of Jacob, exiled from his father's house, who laid himself down in a desert place to sleep, and in his dreams beheld a ladder which united Heaven with earth, and at the top stood God.

Not to these only, but to many more, doors have been opened into Heaven, when, so far as the world was concerned, it seemed as though their circumstances were altogether unlikely for such revelations.

To prisoners and captives; to constant sufferers, bound by iron chains of pain to sick couches; to lonely pilgrims and wanderers; to women detained from the Lord's house by the demands of home, how often has the door been opened to Heaven.

But there are conditions. You must know what it is to be in the Spirit; you must be pure in heart and obedient in faith; you must be willing to count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ; then when God is all in all to us, when we live, move and have our being in His favor, to us also will the door be opened. -- Daily Devotional Commentary

God hath His mountains bleak and bare,

Where He doth bid us rest awhile;

Crags where we breathe a purer air,

Lone peaks that catch the day's first smile.

God hath His deserts broad and brown--

A solitude -- a sea of sand,

Where He doth let heaven's curtain down,

Unknit by His Almighty hand.

Show Love

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Colossians 3:12 Put on as the elect of God, kindness.

There is a story of an old man who carried a little can of oil with him everywhere he went, and if he passed through a door that squeaked, he poured a little oil on the hinges. If a gate was hard to open, he oiled the latch. And thus he passed through life lubricating all hard places and making it easier for those who came after him. 

People called him eccentric, queer, and cranky; but the old man went steadily on refilling his can of oil when it became empty, and oiled the hard places he found. 

There are many lives that creak and grate harshly as they live day by day. Nothing goes right with them. They need lubricating with the oil of gladness, gentleness, or thoughtfulness. Have you your own can of oil with you? Be ready with your oil of helpfulness in the early morning to the one nearest you. It may lubricate the whole day for him. The oil of good cheer to the downhearted one--Oh, how much it may mean! The word of courage to the despairing. Speak it. 

Our lives touch others but once, perhaps, on the road of life; and then, mayhap, our ways diverge, never to meet again. The oil of kindness has worn the sharp, hard edges off of many a sin-hardened life and left it soft and pliable and ready for the redeeming grace of the Saviour. 

A word spoken pleasantly is a large spot of sunshine on a sad heart. Therefore, "Give others the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest." 

We cannot know the grief 

That men may borrow; 

We cannot see the souls 

Storm-swept by sorrow; 

But love can shine upon the way 

Today, tomorrow; 

Let us be kind. 

Upon the wheel of pain
So many weary lives are broken, 

We live in vain
Who give no tender token. 

Let us be kind.

Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.

This meant a lot to me this morning. It was convicting because I am a life that creaks and grates harshly as I live day by day.

Loving others is one of the hardest things for us to do. Love is not a feeling but a choice. It means choosing to show love when it means making a sacrifice. It means choosing to show love even when it is not reciprocated. Love is not produced in the heart as one might think: it is produced by the Spirit of God ("the fruit of the spirit is love"). Love is not something that we can do! Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to show love to the unlovely.

Jesus said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Jesus' love for we unlovely sinners was the greatest sacrificial love of all, but daily we can lay down our lives -- our wants, our plans, our time, this thing called self -- for those in our lives whom God has called us to love. By showing love to others, we lose sight of self, and we find J-O-Y in its stead. By "oiling" some other life with the oil of gladness, we get "oiled" ourselves. When we show Jesus' love to others, Jesus shows His love to us!

There is no way to measure the worth of making the pathway of life a little easier for someone else. Choosing to show love is priceless.

Can Thine Heart Endure?

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Romans 8:26 We know not what we should pray for as we ought.

Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience."

We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the things we suffer."

We pray for unselfishness, and God gives us opportunities to sacrifice ourselves by thinking on the things of others, and by laying down our lives for the brethren.

We pray for strength and humility, and some messenger of Satan torments us until we lie in the dust crying for its removal.

We pray, "Lord, increase our faith," and money takes wings; or the children are alarmingly ill; or a servant comes who is careless, extravagant, untidy or slow, or some hitherto unknown trial calls for an increase of faith along a line where we have not needed to exercise much faith before.

We pray for the Lamb-life, and are given a portion of lowly service, or we are injured and must seek no redress; for "he was led as a lamb to the slaughter and... opened not his mouth."

We pray for gentleness, and there comes a perfect storm of temptation to harshness and irritability. We pray for quietness, and every nerve is strung to the utmost tension, so that looking to Him we may learn that when He giveth quietness, no one can make trouble.

We pray for love, and God sends peculiar suffering and puts us with apparently unlovely people, and lets them say things which rasp the nerves and lacerate the heart; for love suffereth long and is kind, love is not impolite, love is not provoked. LOVE BEARETH ALL THINGS, believeth, hopeth and endureth, love never faileth. We pray for likeness to Jesus, and the answer is, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong?" "Are ye able?"

The way to peace and victory is to accept every circumstance, every trial, straight from the hand of a loving Father; and to live up in the heavenly places, above the clouds, in the very presence of the Throne, and to look down from the Glory upon our environment as lovingly and divinely appointed.  -- Selected

Can thine heart endure, 

or can thine hands be strong, 

in the days that I shall deal with thee? 

I the LORD have spoken it, and will do it.

{ Ezekiel 22:14 }

I prayed for strength, and then I lost awhile
All sense of nearness, human and divine;
The love I leaned on failed and pierced my heart,
The hands I clung to loosed themselves from mine;

But while I swayed, weak, trembling, and alone,
The everlasting arms upheld my own.

I prayed for light; the sun went down in clouds,
The moon was darkened by a misty doubt,
The stars of heaven were dimmed by earthly fears,
And all my little candle flames burned out;

But while I sat in shadow, wrapped in night,
The face of Christ made all the darkness bright.

I prayed for peace, and dreamed of restful ease,
A slumber drugged from pain, a hushed repose;
Above my head the skies were black with storm,
And fiercer grew the onslaught of my foes;

But while the battle raged, and wild winds blew,
I heard His voice and perfect peace I knew.

I thank Thee, Lord, Thou wert too wise to heed
My feeble prayers, and answer as I sought,
Since these rich gifts Thy bounty has bestowed
Have brought me more than all I asked or thought;

Giver of good, so answer each request
With Thine own giving, better than my best.

{ Annie Johnson Flint }

Fresh Touch with God

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

Genesis 41:4, 7 And the ill favored and lean-fleshed kine did eat up the seven well favored and fat kine... and the thin ears swallowed up the seven rank and full ears. 

There is a warning for us in that dream, just as it stands: It is possible for the best years of our life, the best experiences, the best victories won, the best service rendered, to be swallowed up by times of failure, defeat, dishonor, uselessness in the kingdom. Some men's lives of rare promise and rare achievement have ended so. It is awful to think of, but it is true. Yet it is never necessary. 

S. D. Gordon has said that the only assurance of safety against this tragedy is "fresh touch with God," daily, hourly. The blessed, fruitful, victorious experiences of yesterday are not only of no value to me today, but they will actually be eaten up or reversed by today's failures, unless they serve as incentives to still better, richer experiences today.

Amen! How, how true! We so NEED God to anoint us with the "fresh oil" (Ps. 92:10) of the sweet Holy Spirit, day by day and hour by hour. We have never "arrived" -- we need to attain new and greater victories TODAY!

Getting Ready to Move

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

II Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The owner of the tenement which I have occupied for many years has given notice that he will furnish but little or nothing more for repairs. I am advised to be ready to move.

At first this was not a very welcome notice. The surroundings here are in many respects very pleasant, and were it not for the evidence of decay, I should consider the house good enough. But even a light wind causes it to tremble and totter, and all the braces are not sufficient to make it secure. So I am getting ready to move.

It is strange how quickly one's interest is transferred to the prospective home. I have been consulting maps of the new country and reading descriptions of its inhabitants. One who visited it has returned, and from him I learn that it is beautiful beyond description; language breaks down in attempting to tell of what he heard while there. He says that, in order to make an investment there, he has suffered the loss of all things that he owned here, and even rejoices in what others would call making a sacrifice. Another, whose love to me has been proven by the greatest possible test, is now there. He has sent me several clusters of the most delicious fruits. After tasting them, all food here seems insipid.

Two or three times I have been down by the border of the river that forms the boundary, and have wished myself among the company of those who were singing praises to the King on the other side. Many of my friends have moved there. Before leaving they spoke of my coming later. I have seen the smile upon their faces as they passed out of sight. Often I am asked to make some new investments here, but my answer in every case is, "I am getting ready to move." --Selected

Bless my soul! Doesn't that make you want to go -- right now?! I can't wait to see my Homeland, and I really can't wait to behold my King! The more I read of Heaven, the more I realize that what I call "life" really isn't life at all. Real living doesn't begin till we step inside the gates of pearl. This devotional continues...

The words often on Jesus' lips in His last days express vividly the idea, "going to the Father." We, too, who are Christ's people, have vision of something beyond the difficulties and disappointments of this life. We are journeying towards fulfillment, completion, expansion of life. We, too, are "going to the Father." Much is dim concerning our home-country, but two things are clear. It is home, "the Father's House." It is the nearer presence of the Lord. We are all wayfarers, but the believer knows it and accepts it. He is a traveller, not a settler. --R. C. Gillie 

The little birds trust God, for they go singing
From northern woods where autumn winds have blown,
With joyous faith their trackless pathway winging
To summer-lands of song, afar, unknown.

Let us go singing, then, and not go sighing:
Since we are sure our times are in His hand,
Why should we weep, and fear, and call it dying?
'Tis only flitting to a Summer-land. 

--Selected

Be Sure of His Promises

From Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman

"Do as thou hast said, that thy name may be magnified forever." (1 Chron. 17:23-24)

This is a most blessed phrase of true prayer. Many a time we ask for things which are not absolutely promised. We are not sure therefore until we have persevered for some time whether our petitions are in the line of God's purpose or no. There are other occasions, and in the life of David this was one, when we are fully persuaded that what we ask is according to God's will. We feel led to take up and plead some promise from the page of Scripture, under the special impression that it contains a message for us. At such times, in confident faith, we say, "Do as Thou hast said." There is hardly any position more utterly beautiful, strong, or safe, than to put the finger upon some promise of the Divine word, and claim it. There need be no anguish, or struggle, or wrestling; we simply present the check and ask for cash, produce the promise, and claim its fulfillment; nor can there be any doubt as to the issue. It would give much interest to prayer, if we were more definite. It is far better to claim a few things specifically than a score vaguely.  --F. B. Meyer

Every promise of Scripture is a writing of God, which may be pleaded before Him with this reasonable request: "Do as Thou hast said." The Creator will not cheat His creature who depends upon His truth; and far more, the Heavenly Father will not break His word to His own child.

Remember the word unto thy servant, on which thou hast caused me to hope," is most prevalent pleading. It is a double argument: it is Thy Word. Wilt Thou not keep it? Why hast thou spoken of it, if Thou wilt not make it good. Thou hast caused me to hope in it, wilt Thou disappoint the hope which Thou has Thyself begotten in me?  --C. H. Spurgeon

"Being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform." (Rom. 4:21)

It is the everlasting faithfulness of God that makes a Bible promise "exceeding great and precious." Human promises are often worthless. Many a broken promise has left a broken heart. But since the world was made, God has never broken a single promise made to one of His trusting children.

Oh, it is sad for a poor Christian to stand at the door of the promise, in the dark night of affliction, afraid to draw the latch, whereas he should then come boldly for shelter as a child into his father's house.  --Gurnal

Every promise is built upon four pillars: God's justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive; His grace or goodness, which will not suffer Him to forget; His truth, which will not suffer Him to change, which makes Him able to accomplish.  --Selected

81 Cents

Devotional by Mrs. Molly Audiss

(From Christian Womanhood's weekly evotions)

Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

My  oldest son recently turned seven, and he received money from several relatives. All together he had $65, which I made a big deal about as we headed to Toys R Us to choose a toy. He was mildly excited about the cash but was very excited about something else. You see, in his class at school, they are learning the names and values of different coins. Though not impressed with his paper money, he was thrilled with the change. "Mom, I have 81 cents!" Isn't it funny the way little kids think? But, I would not see it as funny in ten years if he still had that mentality; I would be alarmed. As much as I enjoy having small children, I look forward to the time when they get old enough to talk with me on a more adult level. I want to someday have a relationship with my sons that is on a more even level than that of an adult and a young child. I would be very sad if our relationship never progressed past what we have now.

Ladies, God created us to bring Him pleasure. He wants a relationship with us. He wants us to get to know Him more and more through the years as we fellowship with Him. When I get to Heaven and see spiritual things more clearly (I Corinthians 13:12), I cringe to think I may look at my life on earth, realizing that I never grew spiritually to maturity. All I ever gave Christ was the mentality of a young child. I don't want that! I want to grow in Christ, not mainly for my own sake but for His. Doesn't He deserve to fellowship with Christians on a more and more mature level as they grow in spiritual knowledge? I fear that too many of us aren't worried about our Christianity much after we get saved. Once we have "fire insurance," many of us don't worry about growing in the Lord. It goes without saying that, even if we have a billion years to grow in wisdom and knowledge, we will never get close to understanding our God. He is so far above us that we cannot even fathom all that He is, but shouldn't we try to gain the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), for His sake? If He created us to fellowship with Him, He must want us to learn about Him. The Christian life is a journey of discovering through God's Word how He thinks, what He likes, what He dislikes -- Who He is. I have been saved for nearly 30 years; surely God expects that I will commune with Him on the level of a 30-year-old spiritually.

That is the tragedy of backsliding and leaving God's will for a season. You get behind in spiritual maturity. Our Heavenly Father deserves to have children who grow steadily, always gaining more wisdom and knowledge in their level of fellowship with God.

To reach maturity spiritually, we must realize what things God thinks are important and what things He feels are less important. The Bible teaches us that, as an Eternal Being, the Lord is most interested in things that are eternal, and the Lord is very concerned about each and every person. This should be something that is high on our list of priorities.

Too often I think that God reminds us that we have $65, but we are more concerned about our 81 cents. Let me explain.

My family and I just moved last week to a new home (new to me). I am thrilled with our little corner of the world. Our house is a cottage-type home in the middle of a wooded acre with a pond. The property is completely bordered by trees, so when the trees have leaves, we have total privacy from the road and from other houses. It is just what I have always wanted. I love having a big stone fireplace and being a homemaker; my house is very important to me. But, on the grand scheme of things, I must remember that my house is just that -- a house, a wonderful gift from God. It is special but not eternal. I could easily close myself in and get lost in decorating and organizing my home and forget about the world around me. (That sounds perfect to me!) Regularly I need to remind myself that my home is a shiny quarter in my change jar, but it is not true riches. So today I met my soul-winning partner, and we went out knocking on doors, telling others about Christ. I must keep my priorities straight. Would I rather knock on doors or shop for items for my new home? Did you have to ask that? Honestly, I am just an average Christian. I would rather be at home, but I want to grow up spiritually and make what is important to God important to me.

Do you want to look back at your life on earth and see all the times when you got excited about your 81 cents, when your pockets were stuffed full of the riches of God? I want to grow up. Think about it, ladies. As Christians, a member of the Trinity lives inside our bodies! He is always with us, guiding us, comforting us, telling the Father what we need! That is true riches! We have a copy (or many copies) of the only eternal Book ever written, the very words of God. Our Bibles are true riches! Our loving God has given us the ability to bring an eternal life into the world, rear it, train it to love Him and serve Him -- our children are our eternal riches! Wives, the Lord ordained only one relationship on earth to "act out" the relationship that Christ has with the church. Wow -- our marriage is true riches!

Let's get a little less excited about our 81 cents. Our houses, our cars, our clothes, our jewelry, our titles and positions, our salary. These things are pretty, shiny pennies, that are fun to have and special to us. But they don't make us rich.

For the Lord's sake, let's grow up spiritually, so that we can reach the potential He has given us. Let's strive to be mature friends of God, fulfilling the reason He created us. I wrote a phrase on a piece of paper, and I put it on the wall by the head of my bunk bed in college. Each night before I went to sleep I looked at it and thought about it. Maybe you could write out this same question, and look at it each evening before you go to sleep:

Lord, was the way I acted today in accordance to the vision You had of what I would be when You created me to fulfill Your purpose?

Recall What God Remembers

 Devotional by Oswald Chambers; from My Utmost for His Highest

Jeremiah 2:2 "I remember... the kindness of thy youth."

Am I as spontaneously kind to God as I used to be, or am I only expecting God to be kind to me? Am I full of the little things that cheer His heart over me, or am I whimpering because things are going hardly with me? There is no joy in the soul that has forgotten what God prizes. It is a great thing to think that Jesus Christ has need of me--"Give Me to drink." How much kindness have I shown Him this past week? Have I been kind to His reputation in my life?

God is saying to His people--You are not in love with Me now, but I remember the time when you were. "I remember... the love of thine espousals." Am I as full of the extravagance of love to Jesus Christ as I was in the beginning, when I went out of my way to prove my devotion to Him? Does He find me recalling the time when I did not care for anything but Himself? Am I there now, or have I become wise over loving Him? Am I so in love with Him that I take no account of where I go? or am I watching for the respect due to me; weighing how much service I ought to give?

If, as I recall what God remembers about me, I find He is not what He used to be to me, let it produce shame and humiliation, because that shame will bring the godly sorrow that works repentance.

~ ~ ~

God really spoke to my heart this morning with this devotional. My love for my Savior grows cold so easily. The cares of the day avert my gaze from His lovely face so quickly. "Tell me the story often, For I forget so soon. The early dew of morning Has passed away at noon..." This sinful, weak-willed flesh must be put down continually or the Holy Spirit can never have His way in me. Sober vigilance is the only way to fight this battle! I am resolved to renew my devotion to Him daily. Help my weakness, Lord! "Without Me ye can do nothing."

I Am a Scripturalist

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green

II Tim. 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

"A what?" Don't worry; you read it right. I am a scripturalist. No, I am not starting a new denomination or fellowship. We have a plethora of those already.

"What is a scripturalist?" It's what I want to be. It's the inner urging of my redeemed soul and transformed mind. (My flesh isn't too interested.) A scripturalist, according to Webster's 1828 dictionary, is "one who adheres literally to the Scriptures and makes them the foundation of all philosophy." That's it! I want--I intend--to adhere to "thus saith the LORD." The King James Bible, the one I hold in my hand, will be the Book that forms the bedrock of my belief, the touchstone of my thinking, the foundation of my faith and the cornerstone of my convictions. I long to live a life consistent with God's written Word. Yes, I am a scripturalist!

I trust that all of us will abide by the Bible and earnestly endeavor to live our lives according to God's Book. This old world doesn't deserve it (Heb. 11:36-38), but instead of being dim, flickering lights all but out in this dark world, may we be blazing torches in a blackened sky to help lead the blind to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

America

Devotional by Pastor Willard Thomas; from Baptist Bread

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen...

Much more exciting than a fireworks display is the untold story of the Christian influence on the Declaration of Independence and the Fourth of July. In 1773, a growing feeling about British domination erupted so that, as the news was being celebrated, in the colonies they began to proclaim, "Death is better than slavery! A freeborn people are not required by the religion of Jesus Christ to submit to tyranny," and the word went up and down the colonies, "No king but Jesus!" "No book but the Bible!"

In 1776, the Continental Congress was in the greatest debate of all about the rise of this new nation. The representative from Pennsylvania stood to speak against independence. John Adams sat in silence until the representative finished; then he rose and said, "Before God, I believe the hour has come. My judgment approves this measure, and my whole heart is in it. All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I am now ready here to stake upon it. And I leave off as I began, that live or die, survive or perish, I am for the Declaration. It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now, and Independence forever!"

Leviticus 25:10a And ye shall... proclaim liberty thoughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof:...

Let's Continue On

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green; from Baptist Bread

Hebrews 6:1b & 19 ...let us go on unto perfection... Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Lots of folks quit way too soon--let's keep on keeping on! Let us go on in spite of the spirit of the age and even our own faults and failures. There is great nobility in getting up and going on after you have been flattened by circumstances and conditions. It is great to have the illuminating attitude of I won't quit! Dr. Tom Malone once said, "If preachers wouldn't quit, U-Haul would go out of business!" I think too, that it would be ridiculous to quit due to others' discouraging displays or outright defections. Let's continue on! So what if resources have dried up, material blessings have been besieged, or physical health decimated--who cares! What you have in Christ, you have in spite of all the diversions and defeats the devil can throw your way. What you have at hand is sufficient for the day. Think about it, all Moses had was a rod. All David had was a sling. All Samson had was an ass' jawbone (think about what he could have done with a 30.06!). Hey, even Paul's thorn became a long-range positive in his life. What you have is what God has supplied you at this point in your life--use it! Let's continue on! Our hope is in the Lord, and He can do with our widow's mites, handfuls of meal in barrels, and poured-out lives.

Remember: "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (I John 3:3).

No Need to Pack

Devotional by Bro. Mike Goerlich; from Baptist Bread

Isaiah 52:11 Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.

In the eighth century B.C., the nation of Assyria invaded the northern tribes of Israel; and in the sixth century B.C., Babylonianish armies did the same to the remaining tribes in Judah, destroying Jerusalem as well. After seventy years in Babylon, the captives of Judah were allowed to return to rebuild Jerusalem. Prophesying that return, the prophet Isaiah warned Judah not to bring "Babylon" back to Jerusalem--to "go out of the midst of her... [and]... be clean..." (vs. 11).

The apostle Paul picked up on Isaiah's words and applied them to Christians. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you" (II Cor. 6:17). We aren't leaving captivity in Babylon, but we are leaving the captivity of sin. The temptation when leaving spiritual Babylon and returning to Christ is to bring that lifestyle with us--the lifestyle of the world. But Paul says to separate ourselves from the world--its lifestyle, its priorities, its values, and its methods.

Did you pack your bags when leaving the world and coming to Christ? If not, it may be time to divest yourself of that baggage. All Jesus needs is you. You cannot take the extended hand of Christ if your hands are filled with that which you have brought from the world. C.H. Spurgeon said, "Hold everything earthly with a loose hand."

Brother Barzillai

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green

II Samuel 19:32, 35 Now Barzillai was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim; for he was a very great man. ... I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king?

Brother Barzillai is a wonderful man mentioned briefly in the Bible. The aged saint ministered to King David and stayed loyal to him throughout David's absence from the throne. Brother Barzillai also recognizes his frailty and limited future and desires to help another (v. 37). This helpful consideration was a lifestyle and pattern for this senior saint.

Sometimes, if not careful, younger folk take for granted or overlook the older folk about us. To look at one's wrinkles and not realize that they are roadmaps of righteousness is foolishness. The faltering step is really the walk of faith patiently following our dear Lord. The dimness of eye is diminished interest in the sorry sights of this old world. Their weakened strength is the disguise that teaches the truth that "all flesh is as grass."

God help us to realize the immense value of those among us who have reached a superior age and also recognize that if God tarries and our health holds up, one day, and that all too soon, we shall be the Barzillais at our churches or in our families.

Invisible Blessings

Devotional by Elisabeth Elliot

II Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

Being very much of the earth--earthy--we always want tangible, visible things--proofs, demonstrations, something to latch onto. If we always had them, of course, faith would be "struck blind." When Jesus hung on a cross, the challenge was flung at Him: Come down! He stayed nailed, not so that spectators would be satisfied (that miracle, His coming down, would have been a great crowd-pleaser), but that the world might be saved.

Many of our prayers are directed toward the quick and easy solution. Long-suffering is sometimes the only means by which the greater glory of God will be served, and this is, for the moment, invisible. We must persist in faith. God has a splendid purpose. Believe in order to see it.

Don't Let the Fire Go Out

Devotional by Evangelist Tim Green

Leviticus 6:13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar: it shall never go out.

In the 1930s the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began buying up property in order to flood vast areas of land by damming up rivers, thus creating hydroelectric power to energize the South. The story is told of one elderly man who would not sell his family property. Agent after agent came to the gentleman, who obstinately refused to relinquish his holdings.

Finally, the assistant to the president of the TVA came. "Why won't you sell? Is the price too low?" the man queried. The elderly gent, with the spirit of Naboth, responded, "No, the price you are offering is four times its worth." He continued, "This old log cabin we live in, my granddad built. That fireplace there provides heat in winter and a cookstove year round. My father on his deathbed charged me with the words, 'Son, don't ever let this fire go out.' And I never have and I never will."

The wise agent quickly responded, "What if we build you a cabin on higher ground? We'll take the fire from this fireplace and move it up the mountain with you and the family." The elderly man agreed, and the deed was done.

Child of God, never let the fire of the fullness of the Holy Spirit go out in your life, home or ministry. Let it "ever be burning"; for we are going higher up the mountain, and that, very soon. Hallelujah!