Tag: Grace

His Path Alone

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“You will show me the path of life” – Psalm 16:11a

In Robert Frost’s famous poem The Road Not Taken, he describes one path that eventually diverges into two deep in the woods. This individual spends the greater portion of the poem contemplating which road to take. Yet, unable to take them both, and having to decide, the traveler chooses the one that looks less worn, less used. And his conclusion upon taking “the one less traveled by” is that it made all the difference in his life.

When it comes to our spiritual path, our soul’s life journey, only the path God shows us is the path of life. Though other paths might entice us with the lure of worldly treasures and temptations, ultimately they lead to death. Jesus would put it this way, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If He has not done so already, pray God would show you the path of life. For in His path alone, lays all true difference.

The Best Weapon

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“Prayer is the mightiest weapon that God has placed in our hands. It is the best weapon to use in every difficulty, and the surest remedy in every trouble. It is the key that unlocks the treasury of promises, and the hand that draws forth grace and help in time of need. It is the silver trumpet that God commands us to sound in all our necessity; it is the cry He has promised always to listen to.”

~ John Charles Ryle

Refreshing The Congregation

~ A Prayer Life ~ 1 Comment

“We are the nurses of Christ’s little ones. If we keep from taking food ourselves, we will famish them; it will soon be visible in their leanness, and in the dull discharge of their several duties. If we let our love decline, we are not likely to raise theirs. If we abate our holy care and fear, it will appear in our preaching: if the matter does not show it, the manner will. If we feed on unwholesome food, whether errors or fruitless controversies, our hearers are likely to fare the worse for it. Whereas, if we would abound in faith, and love, and zeal, it would overflow to the refreshment of our congregations, and it would appear in the increase of those same graces in them!”

~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

Preach To Yourselves

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“Do not content yourselves with being in a state of grace, but also be careful that your graces are kept in vigorous and lively exercise, and that you preach to yourselves the sermons which you study, and do so before you preach them to others. If you did this for your own sakes, it would not be lost labor; but I am speaking to you for the public’s sake, so that you would do it for the sake of the Church. When your minds are in a holy, heavenly frame, your people are likely to partake of its fruits. Your prayers, and praises, and doctrine will be sweet and heavenly to them. They will likely sense when you have been with God extensively: what is most on your heart, is likely to be most in their ears.”

~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Puritan

Take Heed To Yourself

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“See that the work of saving grace is thoroughly wrought in your own souls. Take heed to yourselves, lest you be void of that saving grace of God which you offer to others, and be strangers to the effectual working of that gospel which you preach; and lest, while you proclaim to the world the necessity of a Savior, your own hearts neglect him, and you miss an interest in him and his saving benefits. Take heed to yourselves, lest you perish, while you call upon others to take heed of perishing”

~ Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor

Simple Faith

~ A Prayer Life ~ 2 Comments 
                                                         Simple faith, desires to please;
                                                          Bows its head, bends its knees.
                                                     Longs for grace, to see God's face.
                                                 Sustains the weak, stops our stumble.
                                                 In the eyes of Christ, such faith is dear;
                                                     It's free to all, who will draw near.

~ apl

Face & Overcome

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“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.”

~ 1 Corinthians 16:13

“True holiness does not make a Christian evade difficulties, but face and overcome them. Christ would have His people show that His grace is not a mere hothouse plant, which can only thrive under shelter, but a strong, hardy thing which can flourish in every relation of life.”

~ J.C. Ryle

Keep Your Soul

~ A Prayer Life ~ 1 Comment

“He who keeps the commandment keeps his soul”

~ Proverbs 19:16a

There is something spiritually healthy about keeping God’s commands near and dear to our heart and mind. The Word of the Lord, His Law, His principles and precepts, the wisdom of God, are all divine nourishment to the soul. They bring vitality and strength to the faithful. By keeping the commands, one keeps, nurtures and renews their very soul.

The application of this verse isn’t to be understood in a legalistic manner where we believe we obtain greater grace or spiritual position simply because we adhere to the Lord’s Word. Rather, believers should come to understand keeping God’s commands is a privilege and spiritual benefit. God’s Word is sustenance. Therefore, let us keep the command as we keep our soul.

~ apl

Without Rain

~ A Prayer Life ~ 1 Comment

“Like clouds and wind without rain is one who boasts of gifts never given”.

~ Proverbs 25:14

It is not for the Christian to speak loosely with empty words and vain promises. Those who talk themselves up in order to look more intelligent, more favorable or more popular in the eyes of others may have a form of those things, but lack the true substance. Let the words of the believer always speak with grace, as seasoned with salt. Let your nay be your nay, and your yea, your yea in the eyes of the Lord. Amen.

~ apl

Christ, Our Door

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“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture”

~ John 10:9

Jesus Christ is the door, the only door by which we will ever see God. I am the door, Jesus declares, if anyone enter by Me, he will be saved. Jesus Christ is truly the exclusive way, the only way, into God’s presence. Christ is the Door. “I am the door.” Consider this with me, there was only one door into the ark in which Noah and his family found shelter from the flood. There was only one door into the Tabernacle, which was Yahweh’s dwelling-place.

So today there is only one “door” into the presence of the Father – “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). And again, “I am the way,” said Christ. “No man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6). The Lord Jesus is the true door that allows sinners entrance into the presence and grace of God the Father and find His pasture (Ps. 23:2).

~ apl