• Consecration and Breaking

    by Published on 07-23-2011 10:09 AM     Number of Views: 1625 
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    Lay thou thy treasure in the dust, . . . and the Almighty will be thy treasure. Job 22.24, 25.

    Generally speaking, believers seem to have financial difficulties. This is due either to their inability to continue on with whatever improper occupations they had engaged in before or to some spiritual reason for which God is dealing with them specifically. God sometimes takes our wealth away so as to induce us to seek after Christ that He might have the preeminence in all things. It is not impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, it is just difficult for them to do so.

    God dealt with the children of Israel in the wilderness by depriving them of earthly supplies of food and clothing so that they might recognize the abundance of God. As the supplies on earth ceased, the supplies from heaven came. Material difficulties drive us to seek after the Lord, to learn the lesson of faith, and know Christ as the first in all things.

    Because the Lord is impacting Christians because they have the Holy Spirit God influences their financial lives in ways the world is not affected by since the worldly don't have a conscience in Christ to be be touched by the Lord. Hence, this explains why Christians generally have financial difficulties. That's a good thing, not a bad thing, even though it may not feel like it at first.
    by Published on 07-07-2011 09:08 AM     Number of Views: 1227 
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    The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear him; and he will show them his covenant. Psalm 25.14.


    What kind of person may receive God’s direction? They who fear God; because "the secret of Jehovah is with them that fear him, that he may make known his covenant to them" (same verse, Darby’s translation). What is the meaning of "fear God"? To fear Him is to hallow His name—that is, to exalt Him. They who seek God’s will with singleness of heart and obey Him absolutely are those who fear Him. To such as these will He tell His secret and show His covenant.
    by Published on 04-30-2011 11:39 AM     Number of Views: 1216 
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    We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Romans 3.28.
    The concepts towards the law in today’s church are of two opposite kinds:

    (1) People are saved by grace and not by keeping the law; but to attain sanctification we must keep the law.

    (2) Again, people are saved by grace and not by keeping the law; and hence we need not keep the law after we are saved, though we do keep the commandment of grace.

    The latter concept is correct. The gist of the Letter to the Romans is that no sinner can be justified by the works of the law; while the theme of the Letter to the Galatians is that no saved person can be sanctified by the works of the law.

    These two letters have sufficiently proven that neither justification nor sanctification comes by the works of the law. ...
    by Published on 03-31-2011 08:04 AM     Number of Views: 1402 
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    The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace . . . Galatians 5.22

    In examining the fruits of the Holy Spirit—which express Christian witness—we shall readily see that they are none other than selfless acts. What is love? Love is loving others without thinking of self. What is joy? It is looking at God in spite of self. Patience is despising one’s own hardship. Peace is disregarding one’s loss. Gentleness is overlooking one’s rights. Humility is forgetting one’s merits. Temperance is the self under control. And faithfulness is self-restraint. As we examine every Christian virtue, we will discern that other than being delivered from self or being forgetful of self, a believer has no other virtue. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is determined by one principle alone: the losing of self totally.

    I have been a Nazirite unto God from my mother’s womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man. Judges 16.17

    Samson was a man who was full of power. The source of his power was in his hair. And as soon as his hair was shaved, Samson’s power was lost. What was there about his hair to make him powerful? This hair of Samson’s, we must remember, was the hair of a Nazirite. And a Nazirite in Bible times was one who was fully consecrated to God. And hence all real spiritual powers derived from the measure of one’s consecration to the Lord. If our consecration is superficial, we shall be like a paralyzed person who has no power. But if our consecration to God is absolute, we will find the power. Therefore, no matter how and where we seek, we must be mindful continually that power is conditional upon man’s consecration.

    But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4.7

    Do not think that there is very little in the earthen vessel, which metaphor Paul uses to refer to our physical body. We learn from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian believers that there is a tremendous treasure in our earthen vessels. But do we actually believe it? God’s children ought to know what they have obtained at the moment of new birth. It may have taken only a minute to have received the Lord and been born again but it will need thirty or forty years beyond that moment to discover what each received in that one precious moment. No child of God can fully know on earth the extent of what God has given him at the moment of regeneration. Nevertheless, blessed are those who know somewhat more.
    by Published on 02-21-2011 10:36 AM     Number of Views: 1451 
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    He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. Matthew 14.19.
    If the loaves are not in the Lord’s hands, He cannot bless. After blessing, there must be the breaking. How people love the blessing but abhor the breaking. How can the 5,000 men be filled if there is no breaking? And how can the Lord break the loaves if they are not given over to His hand? The Lord always takes our consecration for real, and so He starts to break us. Sometimes after consecration there will come extraordinary things, such as the losing of someone you love or the losing of wealth. This is an indication of breaking, for breaking will not occur until you are consecrated.
    For thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1.11.
    Immediately after the Great War in Europe, a great celebration was held in London. The war had just been concluded, and the soldiers had returned home for a triumphant march. As the soldiers marched on, the sound waves of applause and praise flowed incessantly. Rank after rank had passed by until suddenly the air was explosive with the tremendous waves of even greater applause and praise. Many who watched were moved to tears. And at one point the nobility saluted and the king removed his crown. And why? Because immediately behind the marching ranks came carrier after carrier of soldiers who had lost their limbs or had been terribly wounded in body!

    Those who have suffered on earth and have forsaken something for the sake of Christ, they shall receive much on that day just as had the wounded soldiers received much during that triumphal march; louder applause, higher praise, and greater glory.
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