Yesterday I was reading this first devotional and was so blessed by reading it, I knew God wanted me to share with someone. See being obedient means doing what is asked of you. As what happens sometimes is I ran out of minutes in the day and I didn't get to posting and commenting on what the devotional meant to me and what God was speaking to me through it.
Today as I read another of A. B. Simpson's devotional, which I also added to this posting, I am in awe how I am so touched by someone else words and then realize God was speaking to them and that is what brings me to the devotionals. The common thread between both is "God!"
January 30 [A devotional by A. B. Simpson]
"Cast down but not destroyed" (II. Corinthians iv. 9).
[How did God bring about the miracle of the Red Sea? By shutting His people in on every side, so that there was no way out but the divine way. The Egyptians were behind them, the sea was in front of them, the mountains were on every side of them. There was no escape but from above.
Some one has said that the devil can wall us in, but he cannot roof us over. We can always get out at the top. Our difficulties are but God's challenges, and He makes them so hard, often, that we must go under or get above them.
In such an hour, if there is a divine element, it brings out the highest possibilities of faith and we are pushed by the very emergency into God's best.
Beloved, this is God's hour. If you will rise to meet it you will get such a hold upon Him that you will never be in extremities again, or if you are, you will learn to call them not extremities, but opportunities, and like Jacob, you will go forth from that night at Peniel, no longer Jacob, but victorious Israel. Let us bring to Him our need and prove Him true.]
As I read that devotional I thought of in my life the many times I almost went under. The Red Sea and Egyptians were represented by daily problems, work, family, friends, financial and constant sin that surrounded me. When I looked up and cried out, I was embraced in "God's hour"!
January 31 [A devotional by A. B. Simpson]
"Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" (I. Corinthians i. 30).
[More and more we are coming to see the supreme importance of getting the right conception of sanctification, not as a blessing, but as a personal union with the personal Saviour and the indwelling Holy Spirit. Thousands of people get stranded after they have embarked on the great voyage of holiness.
They find themselves failing and falling, and are astonished and perplexed, and they conclude that they must have been mistaken in their experience, and so they make a new attempt at the same thing and again fall, until at last, worn out with the experiment, they conclude that the experience is a delusion, or, at least, that it was never intended for them, and so they fall back into the old way, and their last state is worse than their first.
What people need to-day to satisfy their deep hunger and to give them a permanent and Divine experience is to know, not sanctification as a state, but Christ as a living Person, who is waiting to enter the heart that is willing to receive Him.]
My friends, today's post is "Two for", two blessing for you from God. Even in today's times as back when A. B. Simpson was writing down these devotionals people were failing, falling, perplexed, worn out, delusion-ed and why? Not knowing Christ as a living Person. See at my lowest point I cried out, reached up, grabbed hold and never let go. Jesus will not let go, why would any of us want to let go of Him?
Grab Hold
I started to fall
and didn’t know why.
I needed help
and started to cry.
I looked around
for someone to see.
I started to yell,
please someone help me.
I looked to my left
and then to my right,
my worst fear was known
there was no one in sight.
No one to my back
or to my front,
I couldn’t walk
and I couldn’t run.
I cried out to the Lord,
where are You to behold?
He said, “Lookup My child,
and just grab hold”!
E. P. Shagott
1/31/10
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
If Only You Will See
[Mrs. Charles Cowman Devotional - Streams in the Desert]
Like the Cedars of Lebanon
"What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7).
[We have only a partial view here of God's dealings, His half-completed, half-developed plan; but all will stand out in fair and graceful proportions in the great finished Temple of Eternity! Go, in the reign of Israel's greatest king, to the heights of Lebanon. See that noble cedar, the pride of its compeers, an old wrestler with northern blasts! Summer loves to smile upon it, night spangles its feathery foliage with dewdrops, the birds nestle on its branches, the weary pilgrim or wandering shepherd reposes under its shadows from the midday heat or from the furious storm; but all at once it is marked out to fall; The aged denizen of the forest is doomed to succumb to the woodman's stroke!
As we see the axe making its first gash on its gnarled trunk, then the noble limbs stripped of their branches, and at last the "Tree of God," as was its distinctive epithet, coming with a crash to the ground, we exclaim against the wanton destruction, the demolition of this proud pillar in the temple of nature. We are tempted to cry with the prophet, as if inviting the sympathy of every lowlier stem--invoking inanimate things to resent the affront--"Howl, fir tree; for the cedar has fallen!"
But wait a little. Follow that gigantic trunk as the workmen of Hiram launch it down the mountain side; thence conveyed in rafts along the blue waters of the Mediterranean; and last of all, behold it set a glorious polished beam in the Temple of God. As you see its destination, placed in the very Holy of Holies, in the diadem of the Great King--say, can you grudge that "the crown of Lebanon" was despoiled, in order that this jewel might have so noble a setting?
That cedar stood as a stately prop in Nature's sanctuary, but "the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former!"
How many of our souls are like these cedars of old! God's axes of trial have stripped and bared them. We see no reason for dealings so dark and mysterious, but He has a noble end and object in view; to set them as everlasting pillars and rafters in His Heavenly Zion; to make them a "crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God." --Macduff
"I do not ask my cross to understand, My way to see-- Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand, And follow Thee."]
If Only You Will See
If only you will see,
how the Lord cares for you and me.
If you can take the time to understand
the workings of His mighty hands.
If only you will see,
from this world you can be free.
Free from sin, pain, doubt and fear,
free to reach out to someone else this year.
If only you will see,
the true life He has for you and me.
A life that He created just because of His love,
a life that was created to bring praise to Him above.
If only you will see,
just what you were really meant to be.
His Word was left for you and me,
if only you will see.
1/29/10
E. P. Shagott
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Like the Cedars of Lebanon
"What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7).
[We have only a partial view here of God's dealings, His half-completed, half-developed plan; but all will stand out in fair and graceful proportions in the great finished Temple of Eternity! Go, in the reign of Israel's greatest king, to the heights of Lebanon. See that noble cedar, the pride of its compeers, an old wrestler with northern blasts! Summer loves to smile upon it, night spangles its feathery foliage with dewdrops, the birds nestle on its branches, the weary pilgrim or wandering shepherd reposes under its shadows from the midday heat or from the furious storm; but all at once it is marked out to fall; The aged denizen of the forest is doomed to succumb to the woodman's stroke!
As we see the axe making its first gash on its gnarled trunk, then the noble limbs stripped of their branches, and at last the "Tree of God," as was its distinctive epithet, coming with a crash to the ground, we exclaim against the wanton destruction, the demolition of this proud pillar in the temple of nature. We are tempted to cry with the prophet, as if inviting the sympathy of every lowlier stem--invoking inanimate things to resent the affront--"Howl, fir tree; for the cedar has fallen!"
But wait a little. Follow that gigantic trunk as the workmen of Hiram launch it down the mountain side; thence conveyed in rafts along the blue waters of the Mediterranean; and last of all, behold it set a glorious polished beam in the Temple of God. As you see its destination, placed in the very Holy of Holies, in the diadem of the Great King--say, can you grudge that "the crown of Lebanon" was despoiled, in order that this jewel might have so noble a setting?
That cedar stood as a stately prop in Nature's sanctuary, but "the glory of the latter house was greater than the glory of the former!"
How many of our souls are like these cedars of old! God's axes of trial have stripped and bared them. We see no reason for dealings so dark and mysterious, but He has a noble end and object in view; to set them as everlasting pillars and rafters in His Heavenly Zion; to make them a "crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God." --Macduff
"I do not ask my cross to understand, My way to see-- Better in darkness just to feel Thy hand, And follow Thee."]
If Only You Will See
If only you will see,
how the Lord cares for you and me.
If you can take the time to understand
the workings of His mighty hands.
If only you will see,
from this world you can be free.
Free from sin, pain, doubt and fear,
free to reach out to someone else this year.
If only you will see,
the true life He has for you and me.
A life that He created just because of His love,
a life that was created to bring praise to Him above.
If only you will see,
just what you were really meant to be.
His Word was left for you and me,
if only you will see.
1/29/10
E. P. Shagott
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Do you understand?
Here are two great Spurgeon devotionals from yesterday. January 26th, 2010. The first was from the morning and the second was the evening one. If you understand and agree to the first, then you definitely will with the second. I can add nothing more for Charles Spurgeon said it all so well, so many years ago.
“Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?”
- Matthew 6:26
God’s people are doubly his children, they are his offspring by creation, and they are his sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call him, “Our Father which art in heaven.” Father! Oh, what precious word is that. Here is authority: “If I be a Father, where is mine honour?” If ye be sons, where is your obedience? Here is affection mingled with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion; an obedience demanded which is most cheerfully rendered-which would not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which God’s children yield to him must be loving obedience. Do not go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmaster’s toil, but run in the way of his commands because it is your Father’s way. Yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is your Father’s will, and his will should be the will of his child. Father!-Here is a kingly attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the King’s crown is forgotten in the King’s face, and his sceptre becomes, not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy-the sceptre indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of him who wields it. Father!-Here is honour and love. How great is a Father’s love to his children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a father’s heart and hand must do for his sons. They are his offspring, he must bless them; they are his children, he must show himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word-Father! There is all I can ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say, “Father.”
“And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds.”
- Luke 2:18
We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as “the Wonderful.” That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should himself undertake to be man’s Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvellous! But to each believer redemption is most marvellous as he views it in relation to himself. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of his dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour? Dear reader, it may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard, but you can, at least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the throne, by wondering at what God has done.
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
“Behold the birds of the heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much more value then they?”
- Matthew 6:26
God’s people are doubly his children, they are his offspring by creation, and they are his sons by adoption in Christ. Hence they are privileged to call him, “Our Father which art in heaven.” Father! Oh, what precious word is that. Here is authority: “If I be a Father, where is mine honour?” If ye be sons, where is your obedience? Here is affection mingled with authority; an authority which does not provoke rebellion; an obedience demanded which is most cheerfully rendered-which would not be withheld even if it might. The obedience which God’s children yield to him must be loving obedience. Do not go about the service of God as slaves to their taskmaster’s toil, but run in the way of his commands because it is your Father’s way. Yield your bodies as instruments of righteousness, because righteousness is your Father’s will, and his will should be the will of his child. Father!-Here is a kingly attribute so sweetly veiled in love, that the King’s crown is forgotten in the King’s face, and his sceptre becomes, not a rod of iron, but a silver sceptre of mercy-the sceptre indeed seems to be forgotten in the tender hand of him who wields it. Father!-Here is honour and love. How great is a Father’s love to his children! That which friendship cannot do, and mere benevolence will not attempt, a father’s heart and hand must do for his sons. They are his offspring, he must bless them; they are his children, he must show himself strong in their defence. If an earthly father watches over his children with unceasing love and care, how much more does our heavenly Father? Abba, Father! He who can say this, hath uttered better music than cherubim or seraphim can reach. There is heaven in the depth of that word-Father! There is all I can ask; all my necessities can demand; all my wishes can desire. I have all in all to all eternity when I can say, “Father.”
“And all that heard it wondered at the things which were spoken unto them by the shepherds.”
- Luke 2:18
We must not cease to wonder at the great marvels of our God. It would be very difficult to draw a line between holy wonder and real worship; for when the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God’s glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as “the Wonderful.” That God should consider his fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should himself undertake to be man’s Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvellous! But to each believer redemption is most marvellous as he views it in relation to himself. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of his dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvellous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Saviour? Dear reader, it may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told what they had seen and heard, but you can, at least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the throne, by wondering at what God has done.
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Fogiveness
After reading this devotional by Adrian Rogers from yesterday I got to where he spoke of “Gospel dynamite”. I said, “that I want to read and understand”. But for me to fully understand I had to go back a few verses. Also when I read verse 20 below my mind thought back to Genesis 6:6 And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was angry to His heart. Just think, God’s greatest creation, and He was angry that He made man. What was He angry about, “sin.” Man turned from God whom he was created to have a relationship with, and became an evil doer. But thank you Noah for as you read in Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.
I encourage you just as Adrian Rogers does in this devotional “forgive before it is too late!” I will always remember that my father and his brother passed on never forgiving each other for something that was said 40 years prior. My neighbor up the street told me the other day that she and her brother never got along and she has done everything she could. Has she?
JANUARY 25
The Ultimate Act of Forgiveness
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18 (MKJV)
Suppose someone were to punch you in the nose? And suppose in an act of compassion you were to say to that person who punched you, "I forgive you." And suppose they responded, "There's no need for you to forgive me. I've already forgiven myself." You'd feel a little cheated. Only the one who was punched can forgive the hitter.
Sin is a clenched fist in the face of God, and only God can forgive sin. There's enough Gospel dynamite in 1 Peter 3:18 to blow the sin, the hatred, the sorrow, and the sickness out of anybody's life, but that dynamite must be ignited by the spark of faith.
Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Maybe someone from whom you need to ask forgiveness? Go do it now. Tomorrow may never come.
1Peter 3:8 And finally, all be of one mind, having compassion on one another, loving the brothers, tenderhearted, friendly.
1 Peter 3:9 Never give back evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, giving blessing, knowing that you are called to this so that you might inherit blessing.
1 Peter 3:10 For he that wants to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile.
1 Peter 3:11 Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord's face is against those who do evil.
1 Peter 3:13 And who is the one who will harm you if you become imitators of the good?
1 Peter 3:14 But if you also suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. And do not fear their fear, nor be troubled,
1 Peter 3:15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear;
1 Peter 3:16 having a good conscience, that while they speak against you as evildoers they may be shamed, those falsely accusing your good behavior in Christ.
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God wills it, to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
1 Peter 3:19 in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1 Peter 3:20 to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared (in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water);
1 Peter 3:21 which figure now also saves us, baptism; not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 3:22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into Heaven, where the angels and authorities and powers are being subjected to Him.
“Forgive Me”
For every word that is said
Off every tongue when they depart
Regardless how well they are spoken
Given time they will impact the heart
It could be in a very good way
Very bad is likely too
Especially when spoken
No one is really thinking of you
Every time we go to speak
Stopping to think is very smart
Sensitive knowing it will somehow, affect that person’s heart!
E. P. Shagott
From God’s heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
I encourage you just as Adrian Rogers does in this devotional “forgive before it is too late!” I will always remember that my father and his brother passed on never forgiving each other for something that was said 40 years prior. My neighbor up the street told me the other day that she and her brother never got along and she has done everything she could. Has she?
JANUARY 25
The Ultimate Act of Forgiveness
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." 1 Peter 3:18 (MKJV)
Suppose someone were to punch you in the nose? And suppose in an act of compassion you were to say to that person who punched you, "I forgive you." And suppose they responded, "There's no need for you to forgive me. I've already forgiven myself." You'd feel a little cheated. Only the one who was punched can forgive the hitter.
Sin is a clenched fist in the face of God, and only God can forgive sin. There's enough Gospel dynamite in 1 Peter 3:18 to blow the sin, the hatred, the sorrow, and the sickness out of anybody's life, but that dynamite must be ignited by the spark of faith.
Is there someone in your life you need to forgive? Maybe someone from whom you need to ask forgiveness? Go do it now. Tomorrow may never come.
1Peter 3:8 And finally, all be of one mind, having compassion on one another, loving the brothers, tenderhearted, friendly.
1 Peter 3:9 Never give back evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, giving blessing, knowing that you are called to this so that you might inherit blessing.
1 Peter 3:10 For he that wants to love life and to see good days, let him restrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile.
1 Peter 3:11 Let him turn aside from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers. But the Lord's face is against those who do evil.
1 Peter 3:13 And who is the one who will harm you if you become imitators of the good?
1 Peter 3:14 But if you also suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. And do not fear their fear, nor be troubled,
1 Peter 3:15 but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear;
1 Peter 3:16 having a good conscience, that while they speak against you as evildoers they may be shamed, those falsely accusing your good behavior in Christ.
1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God wills it, to suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing. 1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, indeed being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
1 Peter 3:19 in which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1 Peter 3:20 to disobeying ones, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared (in which a few, that is, eight souls were saved through water);
1 Peter 3:21 which figure now also saves us, baptism; not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
1 Peter 3:22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into Heaven, where the angels and authorities and powers are being subjected to Him.
“Forgive Me”
For every word that is said
Off every tongue when they depart
Regardless how well they are spoken
Given time they will impact the heart
It could be in a very good way
Very bad is likely too
Especially when spoken
No one is really thinking of you
Every time we go to speak
Stopping to think is very smart
Sensitive knowing it will somehow, affect that person’s heart!
E. P. Shagott
From God’s heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Monday, January 25, 2010
God's Gift
All I added was the poem. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
- Romans 3:31
[Charles Spurgeon devotional]
[When the believer is adopted into the Lord’s family, his relationship to old Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule, and a new covenant. Believer, you are God’s child; it is your first duty to obey your heavenly Father. A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: you are not a slave, but a child; and now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are bound to obey your Father’s faintest wish, the least intimation of his will. Does he bid you fulfil a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does he command you to seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so? Does Jesus tell you, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”? Then not because the law commands, but because your Saviour enjoins, you will labour to be perfect in holiness. Does he bid his saints love one another? Do it, not because the law says, “Love thy neighbour,” but because Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments;” and this is the commandment that he has given unto you, “that ye love one another.” Are you told to distribute to the poor? Do it, not because charity is a burden which you dare not shirk, but because Jesus teaches, “Give to him that asketh of thee.” Does the Word say, “Love God with all your heart”? Look at the commandment and reply, “Ah! commandment, Christ hath fulfilled thee already-I have no need, therefore, to fulfil thee for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to thee because God is my Father now and he has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute.” May the Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christ’s love, that your prayer may be, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin.]
[F. B. Meyers devotional]
[F. B. Meyers said this of God’s Grace. His Joy is unspeakable, His Peace passeth understanding, His Love is beyond knowledge! Get great thoughts of God, who holds the ocean depths as a drop in the hollow of his hand, and weighs the mountains as grains of dust in His scales. Lie upon that bank of flowers, and consider their multitude; sweep the skies with a telescope and see if you can tell the stars; number the sand-grains upon the shore, and count the shells strewn along the strand; and when you have considered the gifts of His hand, ascend to the wealth of His heart. Study the infinite map of God's nature; compare it with the need of your little life, and then remember that the Father loves you infinitely, so much so that for your salvation and mine He gave His Only-Begotten Son. He has set His love upon you, and will certainly deliver you! He will set you on high because you have known His Name. All the resources of eternity and infinity are at His disposal, and He can make all grace abound toward you, that always having all sufficiency in all things, you may abound to every good work.
This is a very wonderful text! Count the number of universals in it. All Grace Always! All Sufficiency! All things! God abounding to us that we may abound. The word translated abound might be rendered literally "to flow or pour over." "My cup runneth over." Our Lord said: "I am come that they might have life, and have it overflowingly"; "Where sin overflows, grace much more overflows" (Joh_10:10; Rom_5:20).
Let us remember that God does not pour in unless we pour out. If we are filled with the Presence and Grace of Christ in our hearts, we must give ourselves out to others.
PRAYER
Give me grace, O Lord, to see the beauty lying at my feet in the commonplaces of life; and to feel that Thou art as near, and that life is as wonderful today, as when men beheld Thee in the days of Thy flesh. AMEN.]
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God’s Gift
Think of all the wonderful gifts
that you have already received.
How can anyone of them compare
to God’s gift, once you first believed?
It will never be out dated,
nor decay as the years pass by.
The gift of salvation is for you and me,
just because of God’s love, we didn’t even have to try.
A gift to last forever,
just because we are His.
A gift that was paid in full,
Oh, what a special gift it is.
So remember to say “thank You”,
every morning, noon, and night.
The only person to give a gift like this,
is Jesus, because He definitely has the right!
E. P. Shagott
1/25/10
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
“Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
- Romans 3:31
[Charles Spurgeon devotional]
[When the believer is adopted into the Lord’s family, his relationship to old Adam and the law ceases at once; but then he is under a new rule, and a new covenant. Believer, you are God’s child; it is your first duty to obey your heavenly Father. A servile spirit you have nothing to do with: you are not a slave, but a child; and now, inasmuch as you are a beloved child, you are bound to obey your Father’s faintest wish, the least intimation of his will. Does he bid you fulfil a sacred ordinance? It is at your peril that you neglect it, for you will be disobeying your Father. Does he command you to seek the image of Jesus? Is it not your joy to do so? Does Jesus tell you, “Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”? Then not because the law commands, but because your Saviour enjoins, you will labour to be perfect in holiness. Does he bid his saints love one another? Do it, not because the law says, “Love thy neighbour,” but because Jesus says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments;” and this is the commandment that he has given unto you, “that ye love one another.” Are you told to distribute to the poor? Do it, not because charity is a burden which you dare not shirk, but because Jesus teaches, “Give to him that asketh of thee.” Does the Word say, “Love God with all your heart”? Look at the commandment and reply, “Ah! commandment, Christ hath fulfilled thee already-I have no need, therefore, to fulfil thee for my salvation, but I rejoice to yield obedience to thee because God is my Father now and he has a claim upon me, which I would not dispute.” May the Holy Ghost make your heart obedient to the constraining power of Christ’s love, that your prayer may be, “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.” Grace is the mother and nurse of holiness, and not the apologist of sin.]
[F. B. Meyers devotional]
[F. B. Meyers said this of God’s Grace. His Joy is unspeakable, His Peace passeth understanding, His Love is beyond knowledge! Get great thoughts of God, who holds the ocean depths as a drop in the hollow of his hand, and weighs the mountains as grains of dust in His scales. Lie upon that bank of flowers, and consider their multitude; sweep the skies with a telescope and see if you can tell the stars; number the sand-grains upon the shore, and count the shells strewn along the strand; and when you have considered the gifts of His hand, ascend to the wealth of His heart. Study the infinite map of God's nature; compare it with the need of your little life, and then remember that the Father loves you infinitely, so much so that for your salvation and mine He gave His Only-Begotten Son. He has set His love upon you, and will certainly deliver you! He will set you on high because you have known His Name. All the resources of eternity and infinity are at His disposal, and He can make all grace abound toward you, that always having all sufficiency in all things, you may abound to every good work.
This is a very wonderful text! Count the number of universals in it. All Grace Always! All Sufficiency! All things! God abounding to us that we may abound. The word translated abound might be rendered literally "to flow or pour over." "My cup runneth over." Our Lord said: "I am come that they might have life, and have it overflowingly"; "Where sin overflows, grace much more overflows" (Joh_10:10; Rom_5:20).
Let us remember that God does not pour in unless we pour out. If we are filled with the Presence and Grace of Christ in our hearts, we must give ourselves out to others.
PRAYER
Give me grace, O Lord, to see the beauty lying at my feet in the commonplaces of life; and to feel that Thou art as near, and that life is as wonderful today, as when men beheld Thee in the days of Thy flesh. AMEN.]
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God’s Gift
Think of all the wonderful gifts
that you have already received.
How can anyone of them compare
to God’s gift, once you first believed?
It will never be out dated,
nor decay as the years pass by.
The gift of salvation is for you and me,
just because of God’s love, we didn’t even have to try.
A gift to last forever,
just because we are His.
A gift that was paid in full,
Oh, what a special gift it is.
So remember to say “thank You”,
every morning, noon, and night.
The only person to give a gift like this,
is Jesus, because He definitely has the right!
E. P. Shagott
1/25/10
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Saturday, January 23, 2010
In Christ
A few years back I got a call from a friend, my ex-pastor in Texas. Since I live in New York we keep in touch sometimes monthly to check on each other. On this day all he said was, “Eddy, I want you to go and buy a book titled “Who I Am in Christ” by Neil T. Anderson. That was the end of our conversation. It was quick and to the point. Well, I did just as my friend asked and what a blessing it was. As I read the book it was like a missing link in my walk with Christ.
As I read today’s devotional by A. B. Simpson he talks about this, “being in Christ”. My friends I lost “one’s self” as he puts it, back in 1997. I am totally free. As you read this devotional ask yourself, “Do I want this freedom?” I pray you will answer truthfully, “yes!” This world we live in is encased with trouble and burdens. Some it seems experience more than others. What I have found in Christ my self-consciousness is now dropped and I am focused on others. When a burden comes into my life, I look up and Jesus says to me, “I got it Ed, keep doing my will and care for those that don’t know or understand!”
[A devotional by A. B. Simpson]
"I know a man in Christ" (II. Corinthians. xii. 2).
[It is a great deliverance to lose one's self. There is no heavier millstone that one can be compelled to carry than self-consciousness. It is so easy to get introverted and coiled round one's self in our spiritual consciousness. There is nothing that is so easy to fasten on as our misery; there is nothing that is more apt to produce self-consciousness than suffering, until it becomes almost a settled habit to hold on to our burden, and pray it unceasingly into the very face of God, until our very prayer saturates us with our own misery, instead of asking for power to drop ourselves altogether, and leave ourselves in His loving hands and know that we are free, and then rise into the blessed liberty of His higher thoughts and will, and His love and care for others.
The very act of letting go of ourselves really lifts us into a higher plane, and relieves us from the thing that is hurting. This habit of prayer for others, and especially for the world, brings its own recompense, and leaves upon our hearts a blessing like the fertility which the Nile deposits upon the soil of Egypt, as it flows through to its distant goal.]
New Through Christ
Ever since the day I was born
my life was not my own.
It had a purpose to fulfill
until He calls me home.
But what is always most troubling
as each day I strive to live,
is understanding it is not about me
but to all the others that I must give.
It is not about my accomplishments,
but instead what Christ has done for me.
I am no longer of myself,
because Jesus set me free.
He freed me from this worldly sin,
which is upon us day and night.
As His sinless body hung nailed to the Cross,
that made me special in the Father’s sight.
My days are all for Him now,
my burdens are oh so few.
I am this righteous child of God
through Christ I am brand new.
E. P. Shagott
1/23/10
From God’s heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
As I read today’s devotional by A. B. Simpson he talks about this, “being in Christ”. My friends I lost “one’s self” as he puts it, back in 1997. I am totally free. As you read this devotional ask yourself, “Do I want this freedom?” I pray you will answer truthfully, “yes!” This world we live in is encased with trouble and burdens. Some it seems experience more than others. What I have found in Christ my self-consciousness is now dropped and I am focused on others. When a burden comes into my life, I look up and Jesus says to me, “I got it Ed, keep doing my will and care for those that don’t know or understand!”
[A devotional by A. B. Simpson]
"I know a man in Christ" (II. Corinthians. xii. 2).
[It is a great deliverance to lose one's self. There is no heavier millstone that one can be compelled to carry than self-consciousness. It is so easy to get introverted and coiled round one's self in our spiritual consciousness. There is nothing that is so easy to fasten on as our misery; there is nothing that is more apt to produce self-consciousness than suffering, until it becomes almost a settled habit to hold on to our burden, and pray it unceasingly into the very face of God, until our very prayer saturates us with our own misery, instead of asking for power to drop ourselves altogether, and leave ourselves in His loving hands and know that we are free, and then rise into the blessed liberty of His higher thoughts and will, and His love and care for others.
The very act of letting go of ourselves really lifts us into a higher plane, and relieves us from the thing that is hurting. This habit of prayer for others, and especially for the world, brings its own recompense, and leaves upon our hearts a blessing like the fertility which the Nile deposits upon the soil of Egypt, as it flows through to its distant goal.]
New Through Christ
Ever since the day I was born
my life was not my own.
It had a purpose to fulfill
until He calls me home.
But what is always most troubling
as each day I strive to live,
is understanding it is not about me
but to all the others that I must give.
It is not about my accomplishments,
but instead what Christ has done for me.
I am no longer of myself,
because Jesus set me free.
He freed me from this worldly sin,
which is upon us day and night.
As His sinless body hung nailed to the Cross,
that made me special in the Father’s sight.
My days are all for Him now,
my burdens are oh so few.
I am this righteous child of God
through Christ I am brand new.
E. P. Shagott
1/23/10
From God’s heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
Friday, January 22, 2010
God Is Looking
"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him"
(2 Chronicles 16:9).
This is a very inspiring devotional that I read this morning and wanted to share. In my own life now I find myself asking God, "show me more of Yourself". I love in the 2nd part of this devotional when it was describing George Mueller how he was listing all that he loved now being lost. I now can relate to his words that were spoken so long ago. This is an awesome statement that he made, "God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else." My friends each day of my life now, this is my goal.
[A devotional Mrs. Charles Cowman Devotional - Streams in the Desert]
[God is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. God is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour.
"The world is waiting yet to see what God can do through a consecrated soul." Not the world alone, but God Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God's own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let God do exploits. --C. H. P.
"There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory."
In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!' --Selected
I pray to God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian. --Whitefield.]
Another awesome statement from today's devotional is "There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory." That is the fine line of ministry. See, as God is working in and through us we see His wonders and it is with us that He is accomplishing these wonders but we can not, not for one second think it is ourselves, for if we do then the glory can not be on God, and it must! God is always looking for good men and women. Are you ready or have you already said, "Here I am Lord!"
I‘m Talking To You
Why are you so down?
What can it be?
I raised my eyes above and asked
“God, are You talking to me?”
He said, “Everything that is,
and all you see,
was made just for you
and it all comes from Me!
The blood I shed,
the tears I cry,
is all for you
and still you doubt, why?
All I ask,
since you don’t seem to see,
is that someday you will choose
to believe in Me!
My Word was left
so you would know,
I am always here
and love you so!
So don’t be so down
and to My name always be true,
Yes, my child
I’m talking to You!”
E. P. Shagott
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
(2 Chronicles 16:9).
This is a very inspiring devotional that I read this morning and wanted to share. In my own life now I find myself asking God, "show me more of Yourself". I love in the 2nd part of this devotional when it was describing George Mueller how he was listing all that he loved now being lost. I now can relate to his words that were spoken so long ago. This is an awesome statement that he made, "God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else." My friends each day of my life now, this is my goal.
[A devotional Mrs. Charles Cowman Devotional - Streams in the Desert]
[God is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. God is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour.
"The world is waiting yet to see what God can do through a consecrated soul." Not the world alone, but God Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God's own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let God do exploits. --C. H. P.
"There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory."
In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!' --Selected
I pray to God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian. --Whitefield.]
Another awesome statement from today's devotional is "There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory." That is the fine line of ministry. See, as God is working in and through us we see His wonders and it is with us that He is accomplishing these wonders but we can not, not for one second think it is ourselves, for if we do then the glory can not be on God, and it must! God is always looking for good men and women. Are you ready or have you already said, "Here I am Lord!"
I‘m Talking To You
Why are you so down?
What can it be?
I raised my eyes above and asked
“God, are You talking to me?”
He said, “Everything that is,
and all you see,
was made just for you
and it all comes from Me!
The blood I shed,
the tears I cry,
is all for you
and still you doubt, why?
All I ask,
since you don’t seem to see,
is that someday you will choose
to believe in Me!
My Word was left
so you would know,
I am always here
and love you so!
So don’t be so down
and to My name always be true,
Yes, my child
I’m talking to You!”
E. P. Shagott
From God's heart, to mine, to yours,
Ed Shagott
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