Praying Pint

 

Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell asleep before the coming of our Lord! It matters nothing how else they died, whether of old age, or by violent means; this one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of record, “they all died in faith.” In faith they lived-it was their comfort, their guide, their motive and their support; and in the same spiritual grace they died, ending their life-song in the sweet strain in which they had so long continued. They did not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments; they made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but held to the way of faith to the end. Faith is as precious to die by as to live by.

Dying in faith has distinct reference to the past. They believed the promises which had gone before, and were assured that their sins were blotted out through the mercy of God. Dying in faith has to do with the present. These saints were confident of their acceptance with God, they enjoyed the beams of his love, and rested in his faithfulness. Dying in faith looks into the future. They fell asleep, affirming that the Messiah would surely come, and that when he would in the last days appear upon the earth, they would rise from their graves to behold him. To them the pains of death were but the birth-pangs of a better state. Take courage, my soul, as thou readest this epitaph. Thy course, through grace, is one of faith, and sight seldom cheers thee; this has also been the pathway of the brightest and the best. Faith was the orbit in which these stars of the first magnitude moved all the time of their shining here; and happy art thou that it is thine. Look anew to-night to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith, and thank him for giving thee like precious faith with souls now in glory. (Spurgeon)

 

2Corinthians 8:9  For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

God has revealed so many glorious contradictions in the lives and conduct of genuine Christian believers that it is small wonder that we are such an amazement to this world. The Christian is dead and yet he lives forever. He died to himself and yet he lives in Christ. The Christian saves his own life by losing it and he is in danger of losing it by trying to save it. It is strange but true that the Christian is strongest when he is weakest and weakest when he is strongest. When he gets down on his knees thinking he is weak, he is always strong. The Christian is in least danger when he is fearful and trusting God and in the most danger when he feels the most self-confident. He is most sinless when he feels the most sinful and he is the most sinful when he feels the most sinless. The Christian actually has the most when he is giving away the most; and in all of these ways, the Christian is simply putting into daily practice the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, his Savior and Lord! (Tozer)

 

Matthew 6:24  “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

1 Timothy 6:9-10  But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

When you read the word materialism, what images come to mind? Maybe you think of billionaires vacationing on the French Riviera or lounging around in their New York City penthouses. Or maybe you think of somebody who has no interest in spiritual things–they’re too busy making money or spending money to have time for God.   We tend to think of materialism as the opposite of spirituality. In fact, materialism is defined as “a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things.” But I would argue that materialistic people are not unspiritual. We all have a spiritual hunger inside us. Materialistic people simply satisfy that hunger in a different way–instead of pursuing God, they pursue money and possessions.   That’s why the apostle Paul said greed “amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Idolatry is worshiping anything or anyone other than the true God. When we look to money rather than God to satisfy our needs, money becomes our god. Jesus made the same point in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”   One reason God hates idolatry is that chasing after false gods can lead us to harm. That’s certainly true of materialism. One writer said, “Humans have a particularly strong and, at times, irrational obsession with possessions. Every year, car owners are killed or seriously injured in their attempts to stop the theft of their vehicles–a choice that few would make in the cold light of day. It’s as if there is a demon in our minds that compels us to fret over the stuff we own, and make risky lifestyle choices in the pursuit of material wealth. I think we are possessed.”   Whether we have a lot or a little, many of us are possessed by our possessions–and the result can be disaster. Materialism robs us of the abundant life God wants us to experience both now and in eternity. Discover how to conquer the mountain of materialism by putting money in its proper perspective and learning to be content. (Jeffress)

 

 

 

Romans 12:2    And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Mark 12:28  And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”  Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

When Jesus was asked which of the commandments was the greatest, He quoted from Deuteronomy 6: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (verse 5). But to heart, soul, and strength He added “mind”—encompassing the totality of the human being. How do we love God with our mind? When we are born again, our mind needs to be renewed, or transformed, from its focus on the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of God. The New Living Translation of Romans 12:2 is helpful: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Renewing our mind means to think like God thinks about everything, thus showing our love for Him.
Meditating on and memorizing the Word of God is the best way to renew your mind daily. (Dr. Jeremiah)

 

Job 14:14  If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.

A little stay on earth will make heaven more heavenly. Nothing makes rest so sweet as toil; nothing renders security so pleasant as exposure to alarms. The bitter quassia cups of earth will give a relish to the new wine which sparkles in the golden bowls of glory. Our battered armour and scarred countenances will render more illustrious our victory above, when we are welcomed to the seats of those who have overcome the world. We should not have full fellowship with Christ if we did not for awhile sojourn below, for he was baptized with a baptism of suffering among men, and we must be baptized with the same if we would share his kingdom. Fellowship with Christ is so honourable that the sorest sorrow is a light price by which to procure it. Another reason for our lingering here is for the good of others. We would not wish to enter heaven till our work is done, and it may be that we are yet ordained to minister light to souls benighted in the wilderness of sin. Our prolonged stay here is doubtless for God’s glory. A tried saint, like a well-cut diamond, glitters much in the King’s crown. Nothing reflects so much honour on a workman as a protracted and severe trial of his work, and its triumphant endurance of the ordeal without giving way in any part. We are God’s workmanship, in whom he will be glorified by our afflictions. It is for the honour of Jesus that we endure the trial of our faith with sacred joy. Let each man surrender his own longings to the glory of Jesus, and feel, “If my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of earth. If to live on earth for ever would make my Lord more glorious, it should be my heaven to be shut out of heaven. ” Our time is fixed and settled by eternal decree. Let us not be anxious about it, but wait with patience till the gates of pearl shall open. (Spurgeon)

 

Psalms 11:7  For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

In the midst of all the confusions of our day, it is important that we find out that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all righteousness and the Lord of all wisdom. Righteousness is not a word easily acceptable to lost men and women in a lost world. Outside of the Word of God, there is no book or treatise that can give us a satisfying answer about righteousness, because the only One who is Lord of all righteousness is our Lord Jesus Christ, Himself. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His kingdom. He is the only One in all the universe who perfectly loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Our great High Priest and Mediator is the righteous and holy One-Jesus Christ, our risen Lord. He is not only righteous, He is the Lord of all righteousness! Then, there is His wisdom. The sum total of the deep and eternal wisdom of the ages lies in Jesus Christ as a treasure hidden away. All the deep purposes of God reside in Him because His perfect wisdom enables Him to plan far ahead! Thus history itself becomes the slow development of His purposes.(Tozer)

 

Revelation 2:3-5  I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

 

The church must claim again her ancient dowry of everlastingness. She must begin again to deal with ages and millenniums rather then with days and years. She must not count numbers but test foundations. She must work for permanence rather than for appearance. Her children must seek those enduring things that have been touched with immortality. The shallow brook of popular religion chatters on its nervous way and thinks the ocean too quiet and dull because it lies deep in its mighty bed and is unaffected by the latest shower. Faith in one of its aspects moves mountains; in another it gives patience to see the promises afar off and to wait quietly for their fulfillment. Insistence upon an immediate answer to every request of the soul is an evidence of religious infantilism. It takes God longer to grow an oak than to grow an ear of popcorn. It will cost something to walk slow in the parade of the ages while excited men of time rush about confusing motion with progress. But it will pay in the long run–and the true Christian is not much interested in anything short of that. (Tozer)

 

Isaiah 48:10    “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”

Job 23:10  But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Psalms 66:10  For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried.

Proverbs 17:3  The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts.

This has long been the motto fixed before our eye upon the wall of our bedroom, and in many ways it has also been written on our heart. It is no mean thing to be chosen of God. God’s choice makes chosen men choice men. Better to be the elect of God than the elect of a whole nation. So eminent is this privilege, that whatever drawback may be joined to it we very joyfully accept it, even as the Jew ate the bitter herbs for the sake of the Paschal Lamb. We choose the furnace, since God chooses us in it.

We are chosen as an afflicted people and not as a prosperous people, chosen not in the palace but in the furnace. In the furnace beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed, and yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice. So has it been in our case. In times of severest trial God has made to us our calling and election plain, and we have made it sure: then have we chosen the LORD to be our God, and He has shown that we are assuredly His chosen. Therefore, if today the furnace be heated seven times hotter, we will not dread it, for the glorious Son of God will walk with us amid the glowing coals.

 

Proverbs 22:9    He who has a generous eye will be blessed, for he gives of his bread to the poor.

Proverbs 11:25  Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.

Proverbs 19:17  Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

Proverbs 21:13  Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. 1

Peter 4:9  Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Are you a puddle or a pipeline? When water collects in a puddle, it becomes stagnant and brackish; it has no outlet or circulation. A pipeline, on the other hand, is filled with water; its job is to convey refreshing liquid to the spigot for the benefit of others. What flows in is meant to flow out.

Proverbs reminds us that God blesses those who live according to His will. But His blessings are never intended for selfish consumption. From the beginning, God told His people they would be blessed to become a blessing to others.

Think how God has blessed you—your time, resources, and opportunities. Are those blessings collecting like stagnant puddles, or are they flowing like life-giving streams? The healthiest Christian life is one marked by both receiving and releasing. Ask the Lord today to make you a channel of living water. As you bless others, you’ll discover something wonderful: God keeps the pipeline full. (Dr. Jeremiah)

God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.

 

Song of Solomon 5:8   “I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love.”

 

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from him they lose their peace. The nearer to him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life, and vigour, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us.

What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveller in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not consciously one with him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, “I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell him that I am sick of love.” This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: “Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness”; and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pining in emptiness and eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones “shall be filled” with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after himself, he will certainly satisfy those longings; and when he does come to us, as come he will, oh, how sweet it will be! (Spurgeon)