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A Jealous God

Posted in Dependence, Trials and Suffering, Trust on September 12, 2009 by Harry

THE LORD IS A JEALOUS AND AVENGING GOD. – NAHUM 1:2

Believer, your Lord is very jealous of your love. Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did He buy you with His own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that He would not remain in heaven without you; He would sooner die than have you perish, and He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and Himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in yourself. He cannot stand the thought of you hewing out broken cisterns and neglecting the overflowing fountain that is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad; but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom or the wisdom of a friend—worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own—He is displeased and will chasten us, that He may bring us to Himself. He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To remain in Him alone, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient satisfaction in our earthly comforts, to even prefer the company of our fellow Christians to secret fellowship with Him, this grieves our jealous Lord. He longs to have us abide in Him and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; and many of the trials that He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from created things and fixing them more closely on Him who created everything. Let this jealousy that would keep us near to Christ also be a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us and will protect us from all our enemies. May we have grace today to keep our hearts in holy purity for Christ alone, with sacred jealousy closing our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

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Spurgeon on Dependence

Posted in Atonement, Dependence on August 27, 2009 by Harry

NEVERTHELESS, I AM CONTINUALLY WITH YOU. – PSALM 73:23

Nevertheless”—as if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance that David has just been confessing to God, not one atom was it less true and certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being constantly in God’s presence was undoubtedly his. Fully conscious of his own lost estate and of the deceitfulness and vileness of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings, “Nevertheless, I am continually with you.” Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph’s confession and acknowledgment; endeavor in like spirit to say “nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am continually with God!” By this is meant continually upon His mind—He is always thinking of me for my good. Continually before His eye—the eye of the Lord never sleeps but is perpetually watching over my welfare. Continually in His hand, so that none shall be able to pluck me away. Continually on His heart, worn there as a memorial, even as the high priest bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his heart forever. You always think of me, 0 God. The tender mercies of Your love continually yearn toward me. You are always making providence work for my good. You have set me as a signet upon Your arm; Your love is strong as death, and many waters cannot quench it; neither can the floods drown it. Surprising grace! You see me in Christ, and though in myself disapproved, You behold me as wearing Christ’s garments and washed in His blood, and so I stand accepted in Your presence. I am therefore continually in Your favor—”continually with you.” Here is comfort for the tried and afflicted soul; vexed with the tempest within, look at the calm without. “Nevertheless”-0 say it in your heart, and take the peace it gives. “Nevertheless, I am continually with you.”

Morning and Evening, July 29th a.m. entry

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Spurgeon on Backsliding

Posted in Dependence, Lifestyle, Worldly Pursuits on July 3, 2009 by Harry

“The ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows.”
–Genesis 41:4

Pharaoh’s dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of laziness have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous endeavor; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the worms of worldliness, and the snares of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made. The only way in which all my days can be as the “fat cows,” is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?–I am nearer the celestial hills, I have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, “My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me!” but may I be well-fed and nourished in Thy house, that I may praise Thy name.

From Morning and Evening, July 3rd a.m. entry

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Spurgeon on Jesus

Posted in Dependence, Evil, Holy Spirit, Total Depravity, Trust on June 28, 2009 by Harry

LOOKING TO JESUS. – HEBREWS 12:2

It is always the Holy Spirit’s work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus. But Satan’s work is just the opposite; he is constantly trying to make us look at ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, “Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you do not have the joy of His children; you have such a wavering hold on Jesus.” All these are thoughts about self, and we will never find comfort or assurance by looking within. But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: He tells us that we are nothing, but that Christ is everything. Remember, therefore, it is not your bold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, although that is the instrument—it is Christ’s blood and merits. Therefore, do not look so much to your hand with which you are grasping Christ as to Christ; do not look to your hope but to Jesus, the source of your hope; do not look to your faith, but to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith. We will never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our deeds, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we are to overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by “looking to Jesus.” Keep your eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession be fresh upon your mind. When you waken in the morning look to Him; when you lie down at night look to Him. Do not let your hopes or fears come between you and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail you.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

- Morning and Evening June 28th a.m.

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Posted in Dependence, Salvation with tags Legalism on May 23, 2009 by Harry

THE LORD WILL FULFILL HIS PURPOSE FOR ME. – PSALM 138:8

It is clear that the confidence that the psalmist expresses is a divine confidence. He did not say, “I have enough grace to perfect that which concerns me—my faith is so steady that it will not falter—my love is so warm that it will never grow cold—my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it.” No, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we display a confidence that is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our confidence is worse than a dream; it will fall upon us and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. The psalmist was wise; he rested on nothing less than the Lord’s work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is He who has carried it on; and if He does not finish it, it never will be completed. If there is one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness that we must insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence—what the Lord begins, He completes. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates: “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart—you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you—you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” True, we would certainly perish if left to our own strength. If by ourselves we navigate the most frail vessels of our lives over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but thanks be to God, He will complete that which concerns us and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in Him alone, and never too eager to have such a trust.

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Matthew 18:3

Posted in Dependence, Matthew, Trust on May 21, 2009 by Harry

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

ESV Study Bible notes:

The humility of a child consists of childlike trust, vulnerability, and the inability to advance his or her own cause apart from the help, direction, and resources of a parent.

Reformation Study Bible notes:

Not because children are innocent, but because they are dependent and make no pre-tense of being otherwise

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Manna: "The God Who Sees"

Posted in Dependence, Giving, Will - Our with tags Submission on February 3, 2008 by Harry

1. Looking for the right things in the wrong places
“fallen people” can only provide “faltering” advice

2. Looking for the right things in the wrong ways
Help does not come from God – help is “in” God
There is nothing in us or what we do that can save us
We can’t use God to give us strength whenever we need it
Everything we need is in God but we have to give up our independence
We can never learn or study enough to be unplugged from God
Paul: God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness
But we do not want to be weak, we do not want to give up our independence
A mature Christian lives at the end of the rope – completely dependent on God

3. Looking for the right things in the only right place
Psalm 121:1-8
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Look to the hills . . .
help will not come from the hills, we need to go to the hills and there he will take care of us