TEMPTATIONS

Temptations are everywhere, and so is the grace of God.----Anonymous.

 

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it (I Corinthians 10:13).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: O Jesus, I Have Promised (John Bode, 1868).

GROUNDS

If there be ground for you to trust in your own righteousness, then, all that Christ did to purchase salvation, and all that God did to prepare the way for it is in vain. ---- Jonathan Edwards

 

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, who has saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which were given us in Christ Jesus before the world began (II Timothy 1:1, 9).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Robert Robinson, 1758).

REBIRTH

One thing is very clear; I cannot accomplish the new birth myself. It is not in me to make this mighty change in myself. I may change my sins, but I cannot change my heart. I may fashion a new way, but not a new nature. I may make considerable reforms and alterations. I may lay aside many outward bad habits, and begin many outward duties. But I cannot create a new principle within me. I cannot bring something out of nothing, life out of death. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots; no more can we put life into our own souls. I must be born again (pgs, after J. C. Ryle).

 

Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil (Jeremiah 13:23).

 

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: I Sought the Lord, and Afterward I Knew. Anonymous,1878.

FOR US

The fire of God's wrath must fall on the sinner or on the substitute. ---- pgs.

Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:4).

 ....but God shows His love for us, in that while we were still  sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been  justified by His blood, much more we shall be saved by Him from  the wrath of God. For if, while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son; much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. (Romans 5:8-10).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Ah, Holy Jesus, How Hast Thou Offended, Johann Heermann (1630).

STUDY

Bible Study It was not easy for Mr. Taylor, in his changeful life, to make time for prayer and Bible study but he knows that it was vital. Well do the writers remember traveling with him month after month in northern China, by cart and wheelbarrow with the poorest of inns at night. Often with only one large room for coolies and travelers alike, they would screen off a corner for their father and mother for themselves, with curtains of some sort, and then, after sleep at last had brought a measure of quiet, they would hear a match struck and see the flicker of candlelight which told that Mr. Taylor, however weary, was poring over the little Bible in two volumes always at hand. From two to four A.M. was the time he usually gave to prayer; the time he could be most sure of being undisturbed to wait upon God (quoted from John Piper).

 

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Psalm 1:2).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Thy Word Have  Hid in My Heart (E. O. Sellers, 1908).  

RESTING

No man can quench his thirst with sand, or with water from the Dead Sea; so no man can find rest from his own character, however good, or from his own acts, however religious. ---- Horatius Bonar Scottish pastor-theologian (1808-1889.

 

None is righteous no, not one...all have turned aside, together they have become worthless...no one does good, not even one...the way of peace they have not known (Romans 3:10, 12b, 17b, 18)

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: God, Be Merciful to Me (The Psalter, 1912).

GRACE

The essence of Christian theology is grace . The essence of Christian ethics is gratitude. ---- Georgia Settle*

 

For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not  your own doing,  it is the gift of God(Ephesians 2:8-9).

 

 O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good; because His mercy endures forever. Let them now that fear the LORD say, that His mercy endures forever (Psalm 118:1, 4).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Savior, like a Shepherd Lead Us.Dorothy Ann Thrupp, 1836.

 

*On this day in 1956, Georgia and I were married (57 years ago!). Today's hymn was sung at our wedding.

TRUTH

Christianity knows no truth which is not the child of love and the parent of duty (Phillips Brooks, 1835-1893.)

 

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; steadfast love and truth go before You (Psalm 89:14).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Before Jehovah's Awesome Throne,Isaac Watts (1705).

SELF-DENIAL

The first lesson in Christ's school is self-denial. Matthew Henry (English pastor. 1662-1714).

....put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. (Proverbs 23:2).

"All things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me", but I must not be enslaved by anything (I Corinthians 6:12).

See also John 12:15.

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken. (Henry F. Lite, 1824)

ALIVE

All that I was, my sin, my guilt,

   My death, was all my own;

All that I am I owe to Thee,

   My gracious God, alone. ---- Horatio Bonar

 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked...and were by nature the children of wrath....  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ ---- by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:1, 3, 5, 8-9).

 

For you are a people holy to the LORD our God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession...  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your father... (Deuteronomy 9:6-8a).

GOSPEL

The gospel is not a human plan for reaching up to God, but a divine plan for reaching down to man. ---- John Blanchard

 

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:9-10).

COVENANT

As we are under the covenant of grace, we are secured against departing from the living God by the sure declaration of the covenant. ---- Charles Spurgeon

 

And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. I will be their God (Genesis 17:7-8).

 

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Hebrews 8:10).  

 

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater that all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one (John 10:27-30).

 

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:20-21).

GIVING

Seeking empties a life; giving fills it. ---- Anonymous

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. As it is written, "He has distributed freely, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." (II Corinthians 9:6-9).

CRUCIFIXION

God was the master of ceremonies at the cross. ---- Ernest Reisinger

 

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through Him in our midst, as you yourselves know --- this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (Acts 2:23).

 

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:10).

FOLLOW

As the soldier follows his general, as the servant follows his master, as the scholar follows his teacher, as the sheep follows its shepherd, just so ought the professing Christian to follow Christ. ---- J. C. Ryle

 

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me....and the sheep follow [me] for they know [my] voice (John 10:14, 4).

UNBELIEF

All unbelief is the belief of a lie. Horatius Bonar (Scottish pastor, 1808-1889).

Therefore God sends them a strong delusion so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness (I Thessalonians 2:11).

 A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: O Wherefore  Do the Nations Rage(Psalm 2).

TRUST

Trust God where you cannot trace Him. Do not try to penetrate the cloud He brings over you; rather look to the bow that is in it. The mystery is God's; the promise is yours. -- John Macduff, Scottish pastor, 1818-1895.

 

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns (Psalm 46:1-5).  

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Christ, of All My Hopes the Ground,Ralph Wardlaw, 1817)

TRIALS

It was a beautiful and striking reply, given by one in affliction, who, when asked how it was that he bore it so well, replied, "It lightens the stroke, I find, to draw near to Him who handles the rod."  Tryon Edwards, 1809-1894 (American theologian and editor; grandson of Jonathan Edwards.)

 

In the world you will have tribulation. But take heed; I have overcome the world (John 12:15).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: Jesus Christ is Risen Today (Anonymous)

PREACHING

Preaching is the chariot that carries Christ up and down the world ---- Richard Sibbes, Puritan minister.

 

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe (I Corinthians 1:21

 

As you go, preach this message (Matthew 10:7).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God:Ye Christian Heralds, Go Proclaim. Bourne H. Draper, 1803.   

FAITHFULNESS

God's faithfulness. God's promises are the cork to keep faith from sinking in prayer ---- Thomas Watson, Puritan Minister.

 

Hear,  LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer! You have said, "Seek my face," My heart says to You, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." Hide not your face from me, turn not Your servant away in anger, O You who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in(Psalm 27:7-10).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Take Me, O My Father, Take Me.

Take me, O my Father, take me; take me, save me, through Thy Son; ...let Thy will in me be done....thorny proved the way I trod; weary come I now, and praying, take me to Thy love, my God." (Ray Palmer, 1864)

FAITH

Faith. Where reason cannot wade, there faith may swim. --- Thomas Watson

 

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

 

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle to the glory of God: By Faith I Am an Heir of Heaven. "By grace! These precious words remember when sorely by your sins oppressed, when Satan comes to vex your spirit, when troubled conscience sighs for rest; what reason cannot comprehend, God does to you by grace extend" (3rd. stanza). Christian L. Scheidt, 1742.

INTEGRITY

Integrity. A real Christian is the one who can give his pet parrot to the town gossip ---- Billy Graham.

For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man (II Corinthians 8:21).

A hymn to read, sing, hum, or whistle, to the glory of God: Lord, I Want to Be a Christian.