Good Morning,
Jesus told us, as well as the lawyer, the two greatest commandments. 1. "And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God." "Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation." 2. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. here is none other commandment greater than these." "Love worketh no ill to his neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." "Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." May God bless you today, as you love Him and love your neighbor, and by so doing, fulfill His law. "That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:4 Henry
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Good morning,
We remember a movie from the 1960's, where this young couple needed a family car. The husband came home with his new purchase; an older Cadillac, which was a retired hearse. The young wife would have nothing to do with it, would not ride in it, and wanted it out of the driveway and returned to the dealer. He kept insisting it was not what it use to be. He said: "If you haul coal in the trunk of a Thunderbird, that doesn't make it a coal truck." What you use to be is not what you are today either. "And such were some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God" (I Cor. 6:11). Just before our verse for today, the scripture contain a long list of vile sins and vices into which men have fallen, and the Apostle adds: "And such were some of you." God's Church is not made up of "good people" who have never fallen into sin. It is rather made up of sinners, saved by grace, through the infinite payment made for sin by Christ on Calvary's cross, and brought out of that life style. "And such were some of you." Had the Apostle included the more "refined" sins, such as pride, self-righteousness, etc., he would have had to say: "And such were all of you." Now, here is our key thought for today: "And such were some of you." Thank God, he goes on to say of those who had been thus stained with sin: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." How beautiful these three phrases: "But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified"! The word "but" appearing before each phrase indicates that each should be considered separately. Such vile creatures were some of you, "but ye are washed," cleansed from the sins that contaminated you. "But ye are sanctified." Having been cleansed you are now set apart as sacred for His glory. "But ye are justified." When God justifies us, who can condemn? "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; who is he that condemneth?" If one has truly been cleansed and set apart for His glory, one must no longer condemn himself, and see himself as a good-for-nothing, rotten, vile sinner. "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him,...." Hebrews 7:25a Henry Hello,
The individual who has received Christ as Savior has been united to Christ, but he is traveling through a world that has an ungodly, hostile atmosphere. Therefore, the believer needs a spiritual atmosphere in which to breathe. Just as astronauts and the deep-sea divers, have to take along their own atmosphere when they go into outer space, or into the ocean, the believer needs spiritual atmosphere to sustain his spiritual life while on earth. The believer needs spiritual food, spiritual companions, spiritual exercise, spiritual strength and spiritual weapons. God has blessed believers with "all" spiritual blessings: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Ephesians 1:3. God has withheld nothing in providing benefits for the believer--all spiritual blessings are available. God has not just given out of His riches, but He has provided for the believer "according to" His riches. There is not a single benefit that God wants to provide for the believer that He is unable to provide. Every blessing that is needed for the spirit, soul and body; every blessing that is needed for past, present and future; every blessing that is needed for salvation, sanctification and service; and every blessing that is needed for time and eternity has been provided in Christ for the believer. As is seen from 2 Corinthians 9:8, God is able to make His grace overflow to the believer so that the believer has everything he needs to meet any spiritual problem. "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" Yes, it is an unfriendly world, but my, what friendship we have the our Lord in our hidden life, and He meets our external needs as well. Not in a small way, He does this with our fellowship and friendship with other believers. It was good yesterday morning to see folks at the alter praying to the Lord about needs in their life, and several fellow Christians praying with them. Then we also have our "Small Groups", and phone calls, emails or cards of encouragement, and just godly conversation to help meet our basic needs for spiritual food, spiritual companionship, spiritual exercise, spiritual strength and spiritual weapons. No need for us to be spiritually malnourished. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness" 2 Peter 1:3 My the Lord bless you Monday, and may He go with us every step today. Never forget that you are loved!!! Henry |
Henry DeatonHenry D. is from Southern Indiana and writes these wonderful daily devotionals to encourage those at the Dogwood Community Church located in Paoli, Indiana. Henry has graciously agreed to share these wonderful devotionals here at Without Excuse Ministries to encourage you our valued guest! Archives
January 2013
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