Be Looking Foward
Category: Uncategorized
Be Like A Tree
Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.
~ Psalm 1:1-3 (NKJV)
Being duly affected with the malignant and dangerous nature of sin, the transcendent excellencies of the divine law, and the power and efficacy of God’s grace, from which our fruit is found, we must teach and admonish ourselves, and one another, to watch against sin and all approaches towards it, to converse much with the word of God, and abound in the fruit of righteousness and, in praying over them, we must seek to God for his grace both to fortify us against every evil word and work and to furnish us for every good word and work.
~ Matthew Henry, Commentary on Psalm 1:1-3
Who Am I?
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
~ Matthew 16:15-16 (NKJV)
This, beloved, is the only answer that will suffice in the eyes of God the Father. Jesus, you are the Christ, the promised Messiah, and not only this You are God’s own dear begotten Son. Peter’s confession is short, but it embraces all that is contained in our salvation. Jesus is not only the Son of Man, but Son of God, the living God in contrast to false gods and dead idols – Jesus is the only begotten Son of the one true and living God. It is in Jesus alone the sinner is loved, forgiven, justified, and reconciled to God the Father.
~ apl
A Complete Savior
The Plan of Salvation
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
~ Romans 5:1 (NKJV)
The plan of salvation by Christ reveals God as willing to be reconciled. He is ready to pardon, and to be at peace. If the sinner repents and believes, God can now consistently forgive him, and admit him to favor. It is therefore a plan by which the mind of God and of the sinner can become reconciled, or united in feeling and in purpose. The obstacles on the part of God to reconciliation, arising from his justice and Law, have been removed, and he is now willing to be at peace. The obstacles on the part of man, arising from his sin, his rebellion, and his conscious guilt, may be taken away, and he can now regard God as his friend.
~ Albert Barnes, Notes on the Whole Bible
True Prayer
True prayer is measured by weight, not by length. A single groan before God may have more fullness of prayer in it than a fine oration of great length.
~ Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Path To Godliness
The word discipline has disappeared from our minds, our mouths, our pulpits, and our culture. We hardly know what discipline means in modern American society. And yet, there is no other way to attain godliness; discipline is the path to godliness.
~ Jay Adams (1929 – )
Ascension Follows Resurrection
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
~ Colossians 3:1 (NKJV)
Ascension follows resurrection: hence, if we are the members of Christ we must ascend into heaven, because he, on being raised up from the dead, was received up into heaven, that he might draw us up with him. Now, we seek those things which are above, when in our minds we are truly sojourners in this world, and are not bound to it… Let us therefore bear in mind that that is a true and holy thinking as to Christ, which forthwith bears us up into heaven, that we may there adore him, and that our minds may dwell with him.
~ John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Colossians
In or Out
Made Naked & Bare
In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ…
~ Colossians 2:11 (NKJV)
Which [circumcision] is of the heart, in the spirit; every man… is uncircumcised in heart, until he is circumcised by Christ and his Spirit; which is done, when he is pricked to the heart, and thoroughly convinced of sin, and the exceeding sinfulness of it; when the callousness and hardness of his heart is taken off and removed, and the iniquity of it is laid open, the plague and corruption in it discerned, and all made naked and bare to the sinner’s view; when he is in pain on account of it, is broken and groans under a sense of it, and is filled with shame for it.
~ John Gill, Exposition of the Whole Bible
A Prayer Life 