The Missionary Watching
By Pastor Bob | September 5, 2008
September 5-The Missionary Watching {Quick Study: #Eze 33:1-36:38}
“Watch with me.” {#Mt 26:40}
“Watch with me”—with no private point of view of your own at all, but watch entirely with me. In the early stages we do not watch with Jesus, we watch for him. We do not watch with him through the revelation of the Bible; in the circumstances of our lives. Our Lord is trying to introduce us to identification with himself in a particular Gethsemane, and we will not go; we say—”No, Lord, I cannot see the meaning of this, it is bitter.” How can we possibly watch with someone who is inscrutable? How are we going to understand Jesus sufficiently to watch with him in his Gethsemane, when we do not know even what his suffering is for? We do not know how to watch with him; we are only used to the idea of Jesus watching with us.
The disciples loved Jesus Christ to the limit of their natural capacity, but they did not understand what he was after. In the Garden of Gethsemane they slept for their own sorrow, and at the end of three years of the closest intimacy they “all forsook him and fled.”
“They were all filled with the Holy Ghost”—the same “they,” but something wonderful has happened in between—our Lord’s death and resurrection and ascension; and the disciples have been invaded by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord had said—”Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,” and this meant that they learned to watch with him all the rest of their lives.
Topics: My Utmost For His Highest | No Comments »
Spurgeon’s Morning Devotion For 5 September
By Pastor Bob | September 5, 2008
September 5-Morning {Daily Reading: #Eze 17:1-19:14} {Quick Study: #Eze 33:1-36:38}
“Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.” {#Ps 120:5}
As a Christian you have to live in the midst of an ungodly world, and it is of little use for you to cry “Woe is me.” Jesus did not pray that you should be taken out of the world, and what he did not pray for, you need not desire. Better far in the Lord’s strength to meet the difficulty, and glorify him in it. The enemy is ever on the watch to detect inconsistency in your conduct; be therefore very holy. Remember that the eyes of all are upon you, and that more is expected from you than from other men. Strive to give no occasion for blame. Let your goodness be the only fault they can discover in you. Like Daniel, compel them to say of you, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” Seek to be useful as well as consistent. Perhaps you think, “If I were in a more favourable position I might serve the Lord’s cause, but I cannot do any good where I am”; but the worse the people are among whom you live, the more need have they of your exertions; if they be crooked, the more necessity that you should set them straight; and if they be perverse, the more need have you to turn their proud hearts to the truth. Where should the physician be but where there are many sick? Where is honour to be won by the soldier but in the hottest fire of the battle? And when weary of the strife and sin that meets you on every hand, consider that all the saints have endured the same trial. They were not carried on beds of down to heaven, and you must not expect to travel more easily than they. They had to hazard their lives unto the death in the high places of the field, and you will not be crowned till you also have endured hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Therefore, “stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.”
Topics: Morning Devotions | No Comments »
Good News … Bad News
By Pastor Bob | September 5, 2008
Good News … Bad News
Good News:—You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad News: —You lost two of them in the swift current.
Good News: —The Women’s Guild voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad News:—The vote passed by 31-30.
Good News: —The Elder Board accepted your job description the way you wrote it.
Bad News: —They were so inspired by it, they also formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.
Good News:—You finally found a choir director who approaches things exactly the same way you do.
Bad News:—The choir mutinied.
Good News:—Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.
Bad News:—Mrs. Jones is also wild about the “Gong Show,” “Beavis and Butthead” and “Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
Good News:—Your women’s softball team finally won a game.
Bad News:—They beat your men’s softball team.
Good News:—The trustee’s finally voted to add more church parking.
Bad News:—They are going to blacktop the front lawn of your parsonage.
Good News:—Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.
Bad News:—You were on vacation.
Good News:—Your deacons want to send you to the Holy Land.
Bad News:—They are stalling until the next war.
Good News:—Your biggest critic just left your church.
Bad News:—He has been appointed the Head Bishop of your denomination.
Topics: On the Lighter Side | No Comments »
Ice Cream
By Pastor Bob | September 5, 2008
Ice Cream
Last week I took my children to a restaurant. My six-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As we bowed our heads he said, “God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would thank you even more if Mom gets us Ice Cream for dessert. And liberty and justice for all! Amen!”
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby, I heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for Ice Cream! Why, I never!” Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Inspirationals | No Comments »
Spurgeon’s Evening Devotion For 4 September
By Pastor Bob | September 4, 2008
September 4-Evening
“Just balances, just weights, a just ephah, and a just hin, shall ye have.” {#Le 19:36}
Weights, and scales, and measures were to be all according to the standard of justice. Surely no Christian man will need to be reminded of this in his business, for if righteousness were banished from all the world beside, it should find a shelter in believing hearts. There are, however, other balances which weigh moral and spiritual things, and these often need examining. We will call in the officer tonight.
The balances in which we weigh our own and other men’s characters, are they quite accurate? Do we not turn our own ounces of goodness into pounds, and other persons’ bushels of excellence into pecks? See to weights and measures here, Christian. The scales in which we measure our trials and troubles, are they according to standard? Paul, who had more to suffer than we have, called his afflictions light, and yet we often consider ours to be heavy—surely something must be amiss with the weights! We must see to this matter, lest we get reported to the court above for unjust dealing. Those weights with which we measure our doctrinal belief, are they quite fair? The doctrines of grace should have the same weight with us as the precepts of the word, no more and no less; but it is to be feared that with many one scale or the other is unfairly weighted. It is a grand matter to give just measure in truth. Christian, be careful here. Those measures in which we estimate our obligations and responsibilities look rather small. When a rich man gives no more to the cause of God than the poor contribute, is that a just ephah and a just hin? When ministers are half starved, is that honest dealing? When the poor are despised, while ungodly rich men are held in admiration, is that a just balance? Reader, we might lengthen the list, but we prefer to leave it as your evening’s work to find out and destroy all unrighteous balances, weights, and measures.
Topics: Evening Devotions | No Comments »
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