Daily Dose of Spurgeon

Morning and Evening: July 30 PM

John 6:37 - Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.


No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last. But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; He will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow"; "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them."

"Once in Christ, in Christ for ever, Nothing from His love can sever."

"I give unto My sheep," saith He, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but He will receive thee and make thee His bride, and thou shalt be His for ever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out."

C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Hendrickson Publishers, 1997

my life feels like one continual line of neutrality

(almost midnight last night; yes, after I wrote the previous post on Trust)

I'm sorry to doubt. I'm sorry to worry. I'm sorry to expect. I'm sorry.

It just gets so old; feeling invisible like this. Just for once I would like to be proven wrong.

I'm tired of being taken for granted. I'm tired of not feeling good enough. I'm tired of being forgettable. I'm tired.

I hate that I get down like this, but I can't see living life - every-single-second - like nothing is ever wrong. That I don't hope. That I don't have any unfulfilled desires. Because I do.

And I feel as though nothing will ever change. My life feels like one continual line of neutrality.

Although I do have something new coming up. I'm moving. In with Christians who are following Jesus, who are walking in the Light, who are living for the Lord. God has blessed me with this opportunity - and really opened my eyes to my need for this.

Baby steps, baby steps, I need to learn more about patience.

*Yep, that lasted about two hours...*

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So, this morning, I read Spurgeon, and it kinda addressed why I was so down last night, Numbers 2:31 - "They shall go hindmost with their standards. But I know the real problem with my "Debbie Downer" moment; I was frustrated with my circumstances. I felt as though there was no way I could get out of them; that I was stuck. And of course, God quickly and gently reminded me that He has provided the way, but I will have to be patient for just a little while longer.

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Also, I just read a devotional, Ephesians 6:18 - I Hate to Burden You, which brought to mind something I wanted to write about a few months ago, but never really went anywhere with. This simple fact: if you are friends with a Christian - even just a co-worker - they more than likely pray for you. Pretty powerful, don't you think? The author has another great post about this, The Power of a Praying Friend.

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Finally, I want to throw a quote in here. It's by Tony Snow, Cancer's Unexpected Blessings:

"God relishes surprise. We want lives of simple, predictable ease—smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see—but God likes to go off-road. He provokes us with twists and turns. He places us in predicaments that seem to defy our endurance and comprehension—and yet don't. By his love and grace, we persevere. The challenges that make our hearts leap and stomachs churn invariably strengthen our faith and grant measures of wisdom and joy we would not experience otherwise."

when my imagination runs wild with possibility

Trust.

Easier said than done, the whole TRUST thing. Now let's go a bit further. Trusting GOD. How would you characterize your trust in God. Seriously, ask yourself this. Do you trust that He exists? Do you trust that He provides? Do you trust in His SOVEREIGNTY? Now, I'm well aware that there may be people who read this who are asking themselves - "She wants me to trust in someone/thing/entity that I can't see, I can't just call up? She must be crazy." Well, I may be crazy, but that is a whole other topic. What I want to write about is trusting God.

I can look back on my life and pinpoint specific instances where I haven't trust God. And I mean SPECIFIC. Word-for-word phrases that have gone through my mind or out of my mouth. I can even take myself back to the 'scene of the crime' in some instances. For example, I can remember sitting poolside, in the Arkansas heat and humidity, having a thought that quite literally changed my life - and not for the better. I'm not going to rehash all of that - it's beside the point. You see, the point is --- I wasn't trusting God.

Anyway, my pastor just finished a series on Job. All 3 of my avid readers ;) will be aware of this, because I've been posting links to the sermons. Well, I understand if you don't have time to listen to each hour long sermon, so I will tell you one of the main things I've taken from it. Job didn't trust God. That was Job's sin. He didn't trust God - he misunderstood Him.

Job, you may ask, of all people? Well, who can blame him, after what he went through? Easy answer here, God can. God, his creator, who made him in His image - yes, He can be angry at Job's mistrust. And guess what? When we, you and I, can't trust in God, it makes Him mad - and rightly so. As fallen beings, we are quick to forget His blessings and focus on our sufferings; which in the end are just as temporal as anything else in this world.

I'm not going to go on much more about Job, I would rather leave it to the professionals. Check out these sermons when you have time, I promise you it will be worth it. Job's Trials, Job's Questions, Job's Friends, and Job's God. Also, I listened to a sermon yesterday, The Surprise - The Message of Ruth, another great sermon on trusting God's plans for you.

So, I've been hyper-aware lately. I have been paying attention to the struggle that other people go through. In believers and non-believers. In drug addicts and alcoholics and the painfully shy and just plain sad people (sometimes temporary, sometimes seemingly permanent), even in television show characters! And the effect of those struggles - sin. Now don't worry, I see it in myself, too. Everyone is affected; this is not mutually exclusive to one's faith (or lack thereof). Mistrust in God leads to struggle. And if you really want to break free of those chains, you must turn to Him.

Now, how am I putting this into action? Goooood question. I had a thought yesterday on the way home from work. When my imagination runs wild with possibility, and I suddenly dismiss it as never-going-to-happen-for-me, as I'm wont to do - I have to remind myself - with God all things are possible. Now does this give me free reign to fantasize about a dream life? It most certainly does not. But I have to be able to trust that God can give me a better life than I could ever dream of (which is an effective way to stop silly daydreaming). He gives me glimpses of it every once in awhile - which I think is His way of telling me 'all in good time.'

(thought of one my way home from work yesterday, written when I got home)

Quiet Time : Thank You

I have taken on the task of reading my Bible straight through, from beginning to end. I'm up to II Chronicles right now. I feel as though God wants me to do it in this way. And I know that people suggest reading it differently; but you see, I can't. I've tried. My dear friend Brooke suggested I read I Corinthians and when I tried ... it's almost like I'm being prodded - nope, back to the OT for you!

So I've decided to start sharing verses that jump out at me. Sometimes I will give an explanation, other times I will simply type in the verse. I plan on linking to the chapter that contains the verse, so that those who feel moved to can go read it in context.

Here we go...

II Chronicles 18:31

"... Therefore they compassed about him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; and God moved them to depart from him." (emphasis mine)

Thank You.

and you think You have problems (part 4 - final sermon)

Here is the fourth and final sermon in the series of Job from my church: Job's God - Job 38-42. Pastor Mark did a great job.

Also, here is an article written by Tony Snow, Cancer's Unexpected Blessings. In case you don't know who he is, Mr. Snow was a Fox News commentator, and was Press Secretary for President Bush. He passed away last Saturday of colon cancer. Mark quotes from this article in the sermon. I was fortunate to have met him twice - he spoke at a fundraiser put on by my boss, and I met him during a West Wing tour in his office. He was a great Christian man, and will be missed by many.

Oh yeah, and here are some notes I took during the sermon. I really hope you take the time to listen to the sermon from the link above.

*God displays Job's powerlessness.

*God mocked Job for "educational purposes," revealing something of His mystery and of His mercy.

*God is under obligation to no one - His goodness is His mercy.

*God speaks to Job BEFORE Job has repented of his sin. God took iniative while he was being opposed/slandered.

*We deserve wrath, He gives us love.

*Job's friends accused him of sin, but when he repents he is not confessing any sin imagined by them. He confessed the sin of misunderstanding God.

*"Closer knowledge of God brings us to fear God more and trust God more."

*Continual repentence marks the Christian life. We learn to mistrust our own self-protection.

*Job's friend's ONLY explanation for suffering was sin. A restricted notion of God. Thinking this way inhibits belief in the Gospel - Jesus was the only one, true innocent sufferer. Job is a great example of innocent suffering.

*Job based his trust not on why but on who. Not on specific events, but on God.

Mark goes on to preach about Job's restoration and has a GREAT conclusion. If you haven't been listening to the sermons I've been posting, I highly recommend you listen to this one! :)

yet another follow up - Who am I?

Here comes another one: BANG! ZOOM!

Everyday Disciples, Mark 4:35-41

Check out the last paragraph, "Who am I Lord, to be chosen for this task?" Now, I'm not saying that I've been chosen for any particular task, but it helps to think of the writer's answer to this question when faced with what I am to do for others.

Daily Dose of Spurgeon

Morning and Evening, July 9 PM

Genesis 1:4

And God divided the light from the darkness.

A believer has two principles at work within him. In his natural estate he was subject to one principle only, which was darkness; now light has entered, and the two principles disagree. Mark the apostle Paul's words in the seventh chapter of Romans: "I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." How is this state of things occasioned? "The Lord divided the light from the darkness." Darkness, by itself, is quiet and undisturbed, but when the Lord sends in light, there is a conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other: a conflict which will never cease till the believer is altogether light in the Lord. If there be a division within the individual Christian, there is certain to be a division without. So soon as the Lord gives to any man light, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness around; he secedes from a merely worldly religion of outward ceremonial, for nothing short of the gospel of Christ will now satisfy him, and he withdraws himself from worldly society and frivolous amusements, and seeks the company of the saints, for "We know we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." The light gathers to itself, and the darkness to itself. What God has divided, let us never try to unite, but as Christ went without the camp, bearing His reproach, so let us come out from the ungodly, and be a peculiar people. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; and, as He was, so we are to be nonconformists to the world, dissenting from all sin, and distinguished from the rest of mankind by our likeness to our Master.

C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.

Follow up to yesterday - Who am I?

I just read a great article, thought I'd share it:

Why We're Here: The Call to Serve excerpt from So Close I Can Feel God's Breath, by Dr. Beverly Rose.

It really aids me in my questions from yesterday's post: why me, what about them, what is my role?

God is so good!

Who am I?

7.7.08 11:27 pm

Who am I?
II Chronicles 17:16-27 (prayer of David)

floating somewhere between being a sinner
and covered by grace.
why me?
what about them?
what is my role?
Teach me, show me, I AM YOURS.

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"May the truth that saved you always be the dearest truth of your life."
C.J. Mahaney - A Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing

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You've taken away my pain; that which I held on to tightly for so long.
You've given it back to me, to use as a tool.
I want to help.
I want to be useful.
I want to be a LIGHT.
And all I know to do is gaze upon the wonderous cross.
That is enough.

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I've bought some t-shirts lately. Okay, let me back up.

I've been purging my closet of unnecessary clothes. Too tight, too old; what have you... I'm getting rid of a lot of stuff.

Also, I've bought new t-shirts - from To Write Love On Her Arms and You Are Loved. I also have my eye on one or two from Mercy Ministries.

You see, I want to HELP girls who are in desperate need. Girls who are blinded to their worth. I've been there before...and I want to help.

Gotta start somewhere, eh? So I've bought some t-shirts. I started volunteering for Young Lives DC at my church, right before their summer break (ah, just a little too late, will have to wait until the fall). Oh yeah, when I bought the You Are Loved t-shirt, I had an option to donate a percentage to different charities, Young Lives was one of them. Click here to check it out.

So... watching babies and buying t-shirts...* not sure where to go from here, but it's a start. The beginning of a journey, and I can't wait to see what lies ahead of me.

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Crush?

Yeah. I've got one. I feel ridiculous. Really, ridiculous. Feel as though God is showing me that YES! there are Christian men in this world that I can actually LIKE. Weird thing is ... I just don't see it happening...

I've prayed and prayed about this - asking God - "okay, so is this to show me Truth about you, and it could either end up good (he likes me, too!) or bad (he's like, no thanks!), but that with either outcome my faith is to rest solely on You."

Whoa. Pretty much sums up everything.

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* Today (7.8.2008) I registered for the To Write Love On Her Arms Street Team. I'm pretty jazzed!

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Who Am I (lyrics)

and you think YOU have problems (parts 2 and 3)

Part 2: Job's Questions
Click here to listen.

Part 3: Job's Friends
Click here to listen.

Both so so good!

Guarding My Heart

This is the right way to do it:

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well spring of life."

The wrong way? That would be the way I do it.

I have learned a big lesson lately. It's about fear of man. Whoa, sounds a little intimidating, doesn't it? FEAR OF MAN. But it's not just basic fear. It's not being scared of people. It is putting people above God. It is putting my fear of other's reactions above God's will. It is in every way not fearing the Lord as I should.

Fear of God. I think to a non-Christian that must sound like nonsense. Scare tactic. Uneducated masses of people who want an explanation for natural disasters, death, illness, any-bad-thing. But that is not the case. As I understand it, to fear the Lord it to know that His wrath is just. It's to know that I am a sinner, and that I deserve death; total separation from Him and His Love. It is the realization that as a Christian, a believer in the Gospel, I in no way deserve God's Grace, but HE GIVES IT TO ME ANYWAY. Fear of God is healthy. It is not being scared all of the time. It is a reverential treatment of Him; of His Power, Glory, and Grace. Respecting what He has done, is doing, and will be doing for me. Daily and always.

Just thought I'd attempt to clear that up.

So, back to fear of man, and guarding my heart in the wrong way. My preacher is half way done with a 4 part series on Job. In the first sermon, he said two things that struck me.

1. Do you try to live your life to avoid suffering?

2. Fear of man is a waste of time and an insult to God.

These two statements really narrowed in on something specific I have been battling with for years, and have recently been working on - seeking counsel on - praying about earnestly. Relationships... with men. I have come to realize in the past few months that I just don't trust men. I think that all men are the same, and that there aren't any out there that can see past the exterior; and the one's that are out there - the good ones - wouldn't want anything to do with me.

Now, there are things in my past - relationship, etc., where one might think, "well, I don't blame you for being afraid of being hurt." Actually, people have told me that same thing. The thing is, if I am trusting God, really trusting in His Sovereignty, then I have nothing to fear. Not one thing. Even if it is obvious that something bad will happen to me, I have no room for fear. That is how Christians are called to live.

So, thank God! I have a new mindset when it comes to men and marriage. There will be someone for me if God wills it. Everything is possible with God - even there being a man out there who can deal with my insecurities, my weirdness, my past, my mind, my heart. It is possible, and if I keep trying to guard my heart in the wrong way - I may just miss out one what He has in store for me.

Lessons learned my friends, lessons learned.

CHECK OUT THIS COMMENTARY Scroll down to B - God describes His dealing with His disobedient people.

Isaiah 57:10-12 (NIV)

10 You were wearied by all your ways,
but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.'
You found renewal of your strength,
and so you did not faint.

11 "Whom have you so dreaded and feared
that you have been false to me,
and have neither remembered me
nor pondered this in your hearts?
Is it not because I have long been silent
that you do not fear me?

12 I will expose your righteousness and your works,
and they will not benefit you.

Psalm 2:11 (NIV)

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Hebrews 12:28 (NIV)

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Exodus 20:20 (NIV)

Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning."

Psalm 89:7 (NIV)

In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him.


CHECK OUT THIS BOOK, WE’RE READING IT IN SMALL GROUP