“It is a strange thing that when men talk about the love of God, they show by every word that they utter that they have no conception at all of the depths of God’s love.

If you want to find an instance of true gratitude for the infinite grace of God, do not go to those who think of God’s love as something that cost nothing, but go rather to those who in agony of soul have faced the awful fact of the guilt of sin, and then have come to know with a trembling wonder that the miracle of all miracles has been accomplished, and that the eternal Son has died in their stead.”

—J. Gresham Machen, “What the Bible Teaches About Jesus,” in Selected Shorter Writings, ed. D.G. Hart. (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 2004), 32

If I am afraid to speak the truth lest I lose affection, or lest the one
concerned should say, “You do not understand”, or because I fear to lose
my reputation for kindness; if I put my own good name before the other’s
highest good, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

Amy Carmichael

Home is the one place in all this world where hearts are sure of each other. It is the place of confidence. It is the place where we tear off that mask of guarded and suspicious coldness which the world forces us to wear in self-defense, and where we pour out the unreserved communications of full and confiding hearts. It is the spot where expressions of tenderness gush out without any sensation of awkwardness and without any dread of ridicule.

~Frederick W. Robertson

Focused on Christ & His Cross

“Focus on Christ will always result in focus on the cross. You cannot be Christ-centered without becoming cross-centered. The crucified Christ is to be the center of everything I know about myself and my world. You cannot have any real hope for flawed people in a fallen world unless there is a Redeemer to rescue us from the evil that resides both inside and outside of us. Real restoration to God’s created design requires the cross. It is the cross of Christ that alone will restore my allegiance to Christ and his rightful place at the center of everything in  my life.”

- Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2007), 104.

 

Psalm 27:4, “One
thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”

 

David
longed for the “House of the Lord.” It was his favorite place to be.
But David could not be in the house of the Lord continually, as much as
he longed to. He was king of a nation. He had battles to fight;
administration to attend to. But dear mother, we have the opportunity
to live David’s longing. Let me explain.

 

The
house of the Lord is no longer one temple as it was in David’s day. It
is not even a church building where we attend on Sundays or Saturdays
today. The house of the Lord speaks of His presence. God wants your
home to be His house where His presence dwells; a place where you abide
in Him and He abides in you. The house of the Lord is abiding
fellowship with Christ. The house of the Lord is your kitchen where you
prepare the meals; the house of the Lord is your dining table where you
feed your family and make every meal a love affair; the house of the
Lord is any room in the home where you are working or interacting with
your children.

 

In
your home you can behold the beauty of the Lord. As you abide in Him
and look to Him, He will impart His grace to you in your time of need.
He will show you that He is the God who is Enough for every challenge
and every situation. He is with you, in your home, and will never leave
you or forsake you. No, not even when everything seems overwhelming and
you feel like tearing your hair out! You are still in the house of the
Lord at this moment. Instead of despairing about the situation, stop
for a moment and realize that God is with you. He has promised that He
will not fail you. Thank Him that He is with you. Thank Him that He
cannot fail you.

 

In
your home you can inquire in His temple. David had to go God’s temple
to inquire of the Lord. He faced battles, enemies and challenges; He
needed God’s discernment, wisdom and strength. You also long for God’s
wisdom. You are desperate to know what to do. You cannot go on without
His strength. Praise the Lord, you don’t have to get into your car and
rush off to a church building. You are in the house of the Lord right
now. You can inquire in His temple right now. He will give you His
wisdom. He has promised, remember.

 

All
you have to do is abide–that literally means to live in His presence.
It means to acknowledge that Christ is living within you and that you
are in Him. You are inseparable. You are one. He is your life source.
You can’t live without Him (well, I can’t anyway!). Your own strength
wains; you need His. Your wisdom is human; you need His divine wisdom.
Your love runs out the door; you need His agape love. You are depressed
and down in the dumps; His joy does not depend on how you feel. You
feel your life is worthless; you can only bear fruit to bless your
family and touch other lives as you abide.

 

John 15:4-5 says, “Abide
in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except
it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the
vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the
same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me can do nothing.” There it is. The secret to living in the house of the Lord all the days of your life.

 

How
I love those words… “all the days of my life.” It doesn’t matter what
my day is like, God is with me. It doesn’t matter whether I think God
has left me; He is bigger than my thoughts. My thoughts deceive but God
doesn’t change.

 

See your home in a new light. It is the house of the Lord. You can live in it all the days of your life.

 

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL

 

PRAYER:

 

“Thank
you, Lord, for showing me that my home is the house of the Lord. Help
me to enjoy my home in a new way. Thank you that I don’t have to visit
the house of the Lord. I live in it! Amen.”

 

AFFIRMATION:

 

I am not a visitor but a dweller in the house of the Lord.

 

SCRIPTURES REFERRED TO IN THIS DEVOTION:

Look up Isaiah 41: 10, 13; Hebrews 13:5-6; James 1:5-8.

    John Wesley’s Holy Club
Questions    

These are 22 questions the members of John Wesley’s Holy Club asked themselves every day in their private devotions over 200 years ago.

   1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I relly am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?

   2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

   3. Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?

   4. Can I be trusted?

   5. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?

   6. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

   7. Did the Bible live in me today?

   8. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?

   9. Am I enjoying prayer?

  10. When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?

  11. Do I pray about the money I spend?

  12. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

  13. Do I disobey God in anything?

  14. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

  15. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

  16. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?

  17. How do I spend my spare time?

  18. Am I proud?

  19. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?

  20. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?

  21. Do I grumble or complain constantly?

  22. Is Christ real to me?

I went back and looked for a number six….so I just copied the whole thing over again…..thanks ladies for your keen eyes…….

“The happiness promised us in Christ does not consist in outward advantages—such as leading a joyous and peaceful life, having rich possessions, being safe from all harm, and abounding with delights such as the flesh commonly longs after. No, our happiness belongs to the heavenly life.

Christ enriches his people with all things necessary for the eternal salvation of souls and fortifies them with courage to stand unconquerable against all the assaults of spiritual enemies. From this we infer that he rules—inwardly and outwardly—more for our own sake than his.

Thus it is that we may patiently pass through this life with its misery, hunger, cold, contempt, reproaches, and other troubles—content with this one thing: that our King will never leave us destitute, but will provide for our needs until, our warfare ended, we are called to triumph.”

—John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.15.4

Hula-hoop stuntman swingin’ like monkey