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Devotionals

PRESUMPTUOUS MISHANDLING OF GOD’S WORD PREPARES FOR SPIRITUALISM

July 22, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

PRESUMPTUOUS MISHANDLING OF GOD’S WORD PREPARES FOR SPIRITUALISM

“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples. . . . And when they say to you, Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter, should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead in behalf of the living? To the law and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light (of truth) in them.”

Isa. 8:18,19,20, NKJV.

“In the days of Christ the leaders and teachers of Israel [the Jewish nation] were powerless to resist the work of Satan. They were neglecting the ONLY means by which they could have withstood EVIL SPIRITS. It was by the Word of God that Christ overcame the wicked one.”

“The leaders of Israel professed to be the expositors of God’s Word BUT they had studied it only to SUSTAIN their traditions, and enforce their man-made observances. By their interpretations they made it express sentiments that God has NEVER given.”

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Devotionals

NOT A GREAT CITY NOR A GRAND CATHEDRAL OR TEMPLE BUT A HUMBLE MOUNTAIN

July 21, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

NOT A GREAT CITY NOR A GRAND CATHEDRAL OR TEMPLE BUT A HUMBLE MOUNTAIN

“And when He has spoken these things, while they yet beheld, He was taken up: and a cloud received Him out of their sight.”

Acts 1: 9, A.V. (Read verses 10-12).

“At the place of His ascension, Jesus chose the spot so often hallowed by His presence while He dwelt among men.”

“Not Mount Zion, the place of David’s city, not Mount Moriah, the temple site, was to be thus honored. There [in these man-honored places] Christ has been mocked and rejected. There the waves of mercy, still returning in a stronger tide of love, had been beaten back by hearts as hard as rock. Thence Jesus, weary and heart-burdened, had gone forth to find REST IN THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.”

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Devotionals

CHRIST’S CROWNING AND GREATEST GIFT TO MANKIND

July 20, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

CHRIST’S CROWNING AND GREATEST GIFT TO MANKIND

“And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He May abide with you for ever.”

John 14:16, A.V.

“Christ declared that, after His ascension, that He would send to His church, as His crowning gift, the Comforter, who was to take His place. This Comforter is the HOLY SPIRIT—THE SOUL OF HIS LIFE, the efficacy of His church, THE LIGHT AND THE LIFE of the world. With His Spirit, Christ sends a reconciling influence and a power to take away sins.”

“God has instructed me to tell you and all His people to be VERY CAREFUL not to resist the working of the Holy Spirit—the Comforter that Christ sends. FEAR TO TAKE THE FIRST PRESUMPTUOUS STEP OF RESISTANCE.”

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Devotionals

HOW TO BE NEVER ALONE

July 19, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HOW TO BE NEVER ALONE

“And the Lord, He it is that goeth before thee; He will be with thee, He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not neither be dismayed.”

Deut. 31:8, Authorized Version.

By now, as this overwhelming, overlapping crisis has shown even to the most hardened of hearts:

“There is nothing in this world, no earthly favors or enjoyments, can take the place of the presence and favor of God. Without Him as our Friend and Portion we are INDEED ALONE. We may have many other friends, but they can never be to us what Christ is!”

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Devotionals

THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER’S GIRDLE OF TRUTH

July 17, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIER’S GIRDLE OF TRUTH

“Stand therefore, having your loins [of the mind] girt about with truth.” 

Eph. 6:14, A.V. (See verses 10-18).

“There is absolutely no safeguard against evil but truth. No man can stand firm for right in whose heart the truth does not abide. There is only one power that can make and keep us steadfast [in the truth]—the power of God, imparted to us by the grace of Christ [through the Holy Spirit.

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Devotionals

THE FUNCTION OF GRACE IN THE LAW THAT GOVERNS HIS KINGDOM

July 16, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE FUNCTION OF GRACE IN THE LAW THAT GOVERNS HIS KINGDOM

“Receive, I pray thee, the Law of His mouth, and lay up His words in thine heart.”

Job 22:22, A.V.

“Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam, to the worlds in high, is under law. And upon obedience to these laws the order and harmony the natural world depend.

“So there are great principles of righteousness to control the life of INTELLIGENT beings, upon CONFORMITY to these principles the WELL-BEING of the universe depends.

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Devotionals

CHRIST PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT: WHAT FOR?

July 15, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

CHRIST PROMISED THE HOLY SPIRIT: WHAT FOR?

“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever: even the Spirit of truth.”

John 14: 16,17, A.V.

“Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the MOST ESSENTIAL AND COMPLETE GIFT to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring within their reach THE BOUNDLESS RESOURCES OF GRACE.[John 14:16-18 quoted].

“Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption He has been moving upon men’s hearts. But while Christ [the incarnated Creator] was in earth, the disciples desired no other Helper. Not until they were deprived of His presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.

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Devotionals

FROM SLAVE TO SIN, TO A PRINCE OF GOD

July 14, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

FROM SLAVE TO SIN, TO A PRINCE OF GOD

“And He (Christ) said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince has thou power with God and with men, and has prevailed.”

Gen. 33: 28, Authorized Version.

“Because of the deception practiced to secure his father’s blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his brother’s deadly threats. After remaining for many years as an exile, he had set out, at God’s command, to return with his wives and children…to his native country. On reaching the borders of the land, he was filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s approach as the head of warriors, doubtless bent on revenge. Having sent his family away, that they may not witness his distress, Jacob remains alone to INTERCEDE with God.” GC 616.