Christianity Oasis Forum

[Netchaplain]

6-20. SELF-ABANDONMENT

"Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin" (Romans 6:11a).

All of the cults, from TM to ST to SDA, are simply self-improvement aberrations. The Cross alone provides death to self and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. "God forbid that I should glory, except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world" (Galatians 6:14).

"What becomes us now is to have the Lord Jesus before us, and not the correction of the old man. The snare of trying to improve oneself is very common, and it is important to see, that however well-meaning it may be, it is really a denial that our old man has been crucified, and a revival of that which has been judged in the death of the Cross.

"It is plain that if you are clear of the domination of the old man you can have no man before you but the Lord Jesus, and the more sensible you are of how ready the flesh is to intrude."

"God never means me to be able, with the Pharisee, to thank Him for the goodness that I find in myself. If I will be at it, He leaves me to find in this irreparable flesh, which cannot be mended, what I may break my heart over, but never alter.

"It is a quicksand which spoils all my building--a morass impracticable to cultivation; and God uses this, in His sovereignty over evil, to wean me from self-confidence and self-complacency, and to cast me upon Himself."

"Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be. . . alive unto God through Jesus Christ, our Lord" (Romans 6:11b).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

As believers, we could not be in better hands. Regardless of what occurs or what our old minds may think up, our Father never turns us over to anything but His own training of love-chastening. Nothing ever negative comes from God’s care for us, even when there may be times when something may start as a negative, God works it out as a positive for our good and not a moment of time is wasted.

When we become too self-centered, any negativity from self can be enhanced, even beyond necessity and the carnal imagination can take flight, attempting to discourage but even this, along with whatever transpires is the believer’s life, will be used as an advantage.

For the “household of God”, all is blood-covered, so “casting all your care on Him” (1 Pet 5:7) is the instruction of the day and there is no greater exercise of faith than to realize He already knows everything we will think and do and yet, He wants us to understand and believe “He made us accepted in the Beloved” (Eph 1:6). -NC

6-23. LOVE'S LEGACY

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God" (Philippians 4:6).

Ignorance insures insecurity; scriptural knowledge secures strength. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).

"In mechanics, wobbling is weakness. Power issues from God's restfulness. Are we resting in the Lord? Can we wait patiently for Him to act? Anxiety reduces spiritual energy. Lack of rest of heart is one of the most serious hindrances to Christians.

"Fret of soul when wronged, or fuss over financial or other concerns, is a depletion of power, a dissipation of energy. From the rock basis of rest in Him we can put forth the whole of our energies. Perfect peace is our promised portion."

"Martha gets instruction; we all get that, for our Lord neglects none of us; but she did not get His company; company is what gives rest to the heart."

"Nothing can separate the believer from the love of God, and under no circumstances whatever can he come under the infliction of wrath from God. He may have to correct His saints for their sins, and where there has been no failure He may chasten (child train) them for their profit, that they may become partakers of His holiness; but all this is in love, not in wrath. Every action of God toward His saints is in grace and blessing; it is ever the outcome of His love."

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:7).

WithChrist.org/MJS

[realtmg]

Thanks Net.
I was wondering where you were.
Good to see ya back.
GBU

Real

[Netchaplain]

Thanks Net.
I was wondering where you were.
Good to see ya back.
GBU
Real

Thanks for the welcome-back Real and God's blessings to your Family!


6-24. GRATUITOUS GRACE

"Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law but under grace" (Romans 6:14).

Grace forsaken is freedom forfeited.

"In considering the whole testimony of the Bible, it is almost as important for the believer who would do the will of God to recognize that which does not concern him as it is for him to recognize that which does concern him.

"It is obvious that, apart from the knowledge of dispensational truth, the believer will not be intelligently adjusted to the present purpose and will of God in the world. Such knowledge alone will save him from assuming the hopeless legality of the dispensation that is past or from undertaking the impossible world transforming program belonging to the dispensation which is to come." -W.S.C.

"The Law of Moses is interrelated and wholly dependent on the sacrifices and ritual provided for Israel in the land. The laws of the kingdom (Sermon on the Mount) are only related to the future kingdom conditions which shall be in the earth under the power and presence of the King when Satan is bound, creation delivered, and all shall know the Lord from the least unto the greatest.

"All harmony of truth is shattered when there is the slightest commingling of the principles of law and grace. Grace alone now reigns through Christ to the glory of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

"By the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

WithChrist.org/MJS

[Netchaplain]

6-25. PLUS, OR MINUS?

"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love" (Galatians 5:6).

Grace + Law = Death. Grace - Law = Life!

"Covenant theology, which has molded the major theological conceptions for many generations, recognizes no distinctions as to ages, therefore can allow for no distinctions between law and grace. This dominating attitude of Covenantism must account for the utter neglect of life truth (growth) in all their works of theology.

"No more representative theological dictum from the Covenant viewpoint has been formed than the Westminster Confession of Faith, which valuable and important document recognizes life truth only to the point of imposing the Ten Commandments on Christians as their sole obligation, and in spite of the teachings of the New Testament which asserts that the Law was never given to Gentile or Christian."-L.S.C.

"While freeing believers from the bondage of Rome, the Protestant Reformation brought them back, in large measure, under the bondage of Sinai. The Reformation took away one set of bindings, but bound the believers with another--and this has atrophied the spiritual life of multitudes." -D.G.B.

"Not a single cluster of living fruit ever was, or ever will be, culled from the tree of legality. Law can only produce 'dead works,' from which we need to have conscience purged just as much as from 'wicked works.'" -C.H.M.

"Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty with which Christ hath made us free" (Galatians 5:1 ).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-26. EDIFYING EQUILIBRIUM

"That ye may be blameless and harmless, children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Philippians 2:15).

There should be neither undergrowth, nor overgrowth, but balanced growth. Spiritual equilibrium alone will bring forth much fruit both in us and in others.

"A popular notion that the first obligation of the Church is to spread the Gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth is false. The first obligation is to be spiritually worthy to spread it. . . to spread an effete (worn out) and degenerate brand of Christianity to pagan lands is not to fulfill the Great Commission."

"We were created for more than our own spiritual development; reproduction, not mere development, is the goal to mature being--reproduction in other lives. There is a tendency in some characters, running parallel to the high cultivation that spends its whole energy on the production of bloom at the expense of seed.

"The flowers that are bent on perfecting themselves, by becoming double, end in barrenness, and a like barrenness comes to the soul whose interests are all concentrated upon its own spiritual well-being, heedless of the needs around. The true, ideal flower, is the one that uses its gifts as means to an end; the brightness and sweetness are not for its own glory; they are but to attract the bees and butterflies that will fertilize and make it fruitful." -L.T.

"Holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain" (Philippians 2:16).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-27. TRUTH, OR CONSEQUENCES

"I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you" (1 John 2:14).

Experience may ratify, or it may repudiate, truth. The Word alone, to faith, is truth unalterable.

"If I allow the thought that what I am toward God will in some way or other affect what God is toward me, I shall be filled with the spectre of bondage. But when I see that what God is toward me is altogether the outcome of what He is, and that He is this though knowing perfectly what I am, it puts my heart in the right direction for liberty." -C.A.C.

"God speaks to us according to His estimate of our standing, our position: it may not be our heart's experience. There is a distinctness between the operation of the Spirit of God in bringing me unto the Lord Jesus, bearing witness to me of God's love, and of the efficacy of what Christ has done--and His operation in my soul to produce the image of His Son.

"That which is the subject of experience is what is produced in my soul, whereas that which gives me peace is His testimony to the work and life of Christ. A Christian who doubts the Father's love to him, and who looks for peace to that which passes in his own heart, is doubting God's truth. The Word is the revelation God has given of Himself; it displays the love of God toward us, and what is in His heart. I can trust the declaration of what is in God's heart, and not what I think of myself." -J.N.D.

"If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine" (1 Timothy 4:6).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-28. THE TREE OF LIFE

"Not I, but Christ" (Galatians 2:20).

It is not a matter of what fruit, but of which tree!

"What salvation has done is not merely forgiving me my sins; forgiveness, cleansing, justifying, applies to my responsibility and guilty condition in the first Adam; but salvation applies to my standing in the Last Adam. It is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

"What would you do if you wanted to make something of a crab tree? Not nurture, and prune, and dig about it. That God has done with His fig tree (Israel). If you know anything about it, you will cut it down and graft it. Until you find out that the old man is utterly bad, and that there is no mending it, you will not give it up. If you cultivate the old crab tree you will have fair blossoms but only bigger and more sour crab apples." -J.N.D.

"Before we were saved, worldly objects and affairs usurped the place of Christ; but after being saved, spiritual objects and affairs now tend to occupy His place. Earlier God took from us the things of this world; presently He is taking away our spiritual thing or things. He removes our personal patience, love, power, gentleness, humility.

"Indeed, He removes all, that we may not live by these good things but live by a Person instead. We are patient not because we have received a power to be so, but because we have got a patient Person. So it is with humility and the rest: not a power but a Person." The fruit of the Spirit is the life of Christ.

"For to me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:27).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-29. APPLICABLE APPLICATION

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort" (2 Corinthians 1:3).

We have all cringed at the sad spectacle of the "nouveau riche." And yet many of us as believers present the same failure--flaunting and mishandling our spiritual riches in Christ Jesus.

"The Lord deals with us in order that we might be able to minister in an apt way. His stewards are to be men of understanding, who can touch the various needs, who can reach the heart, so that the Lord's children are saying: That just fits me! That touches my case! That person must know! That one must have been through it! Yes, the Lord knows, and He would take you and me through experiences such as will make us sharers in a living way--and that is what He is doing." -T. A-S.

"It is a new day to your soul when you realize that Christ is the Source of everything, and that it is from Himself you must draw, and not from ministry about Him. Many can explain Scripture and even apply it, who are not under the effect of it themselves. They have not come from Him, and are not themselves imbued with that which they are trying to convey.
"There is much wise counsel and good teaching which is not applicable to the moment and to the need. It does not effect what is the Lord's desire as the end of the ministry, which is to lead the soul to Himself, because it is not spoken in communion with Himself. You must first get to where He is, and then you are brought into harmony with the scene where He is."

"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them who are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Corinthians 1:4).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-30. NO CROSS, NO CHRIST!

"Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:27).

One hears much today about "body life," with its emphasis upon New Testament gathering, rather than Christ-centered growth. The Body is meant to manifest the Head, and that necessitates spiritual members.

"Where there is no Cross there is no life, and no ministry of life. The object of suffering is that there may be a full and abundant ministry. . . . We are not to invite trouble, nor by austerity to ill-treat our bodies. The Holy Spirit Himself takes responsibility for our experience, leading us in paths where we encounter, in body, heart, or spirit, that measure of 'the dying of Jesus' that will mean enrichment of our ministry."

"There are many today who seem to think that it is all or largely a matter of the order, technique, and form, and if we are to return to the 'New Testament' form or order of churches all would be well. The fact is that, while certain things characterize the N.T. churches, the Word does not give us a complete pattern according to which churches are to be formed!

"There is no blueprint for churches in the N.T., and to try to form such churches is only to create another system which may be as legal, sectarian and dead as others. Churches, like the Church, are organisms which spring out of life, which life itself springs out of the Cross of Christ wrought into the very being of believers. Unless believers are crucified people, there can be no true expression of the Church." -T. A-S.

"God forbid that I should glory, except in the Cross" (Galatians 6:14).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

6-31. MANUALLY CONTROLLED

"Having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them" (Colossians 2:15).

"For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:15-17). Amen!

"The sovereignty of God is what alone gives rest to the Christian heart in view of a world full of evil, which is gone astray from Him. To know that after all, in spite of the rebellion of the creature, things are as absolutely in His hand as ever they were--this brings, and alone brings, full relief. Still He rules over all, and where evil cannot be turned to good, limits and forbids it: He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath (what would go beyond this) He restrains (Psalm 76:10)." -F.W.G.

"People may quarrel with the sovereignty of God, but I love it, because I know enough about my natural bent and will to be sure that if left to myself I should have gone straight to perdition. Some believers talk about man's free will when they are on their feet, but all are firm believers in God's sovereignty when they get on their knees." -C.A.C.

"Human history is not in the grip of fate, but in the hands of Him Who was pierced for us on Calvary." -W.G.S.

"Now thanks be unto God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:14).

WithChrist.org

[Netchaplain]

7-2. PERSONAL APPRECIATION

"As ye have, therefore, received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him " (Colossians 2 7).

We appreciate His benefits toward us, but are we appreciative do we express to Him our appreciation? "Let us be very watchful that the inner life, communion with the Lord Jesus, be the true source of our activities. "

The Lord Jesus longs for fellowship with us. He does not want patronage. It does not meet the desire of His heart to be followed, or admired, or gazed at, because of what He can do or give. He delights in a heart taught of the Spirit to appreciate His Person, for this glorifies and gratifies the Father. He retires from the gaze of an excited and tumultuous throng who would fain make Him a king, because they had eaten of the loaves and were filled; but He could turn with touching earnestness to the little band of disciples who still remained, and challenge their hearts with the question, 'Will ye also go away?'

"Love could never be too near to its object. Nearness to the Lord Jesus is the instinct of divine life, as we see in the first question of the two disciples who followed Him, 'Where dwellest Thou?' Why is not this the first question now? Because there is not simple devotedness of heart to the Lord Jesus Christ."
There is nothing in all the world so precious to the Father as a heart that, in any measure, appreciates His Son. "

"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and l will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

WithChrist.org