ONE OF MY FAVORITE QUOTES BY J.C. RYLE

We must be holy, because this is the most likely way to do good to others. We cannot live to ourselves only in this world. Our lives will always be doing either good or harm to those who see them. They are a silent sermon, which all can read. It is sad indeed when they are a sermon for the devil's cause, and not for God's. I believe that far more is done for Christ's kingdom by the holy living of believers than we are all aware of. There is a reality of such living that makes men feel, and obliges them to think. It carries a weight and influence with it that nothing else can give. It makes religion beautiful, and draws men to consider it, like a lighthouse seen a far off. The day of judgement will prove that many besides husbands have been won "without the word" by a holy life (1 Peter 3:1). You may talk to persons about the doctrines of the Gospels, and few will listen, and still fewer understand. But your life is an argument that none can escape. There is a meaning about holiness that not even the unlearned can help taking in. They may not understand justification, but they can understand love. -J.C. Ryle

TO BECOME FOR US THE PLACE WHERE WE MEET GOD (JOHN PIPER)

Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking about the temple of His body. John 2:19-21

"Kill me, and I will become the global meeting place with God." That's the way I would paraphrase John 2:19-21. They thought Jesus was referring to the temple in Jerusalem: "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." But He was referring to His body.

Why did Jesus draw the connection between the Jewish temple and His own body? Because He came to take the place of the temple as the meeting place with God. With the coming of the Son of God in human flesh, ritual and worship would undergo profound change. Christ, Himself, would become the final Passover lamb, the final priest, the final temple. They would all pass away, and He would remain.

What remained would be infinitely better. Referring to Himself, Jesus said, "I tell you something greater than the temple is here" (Matt.12:6). The temple became the dwelling place of God at rare times when the glory of God filled the holy place. But of Christ the Bible says, "In Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9). The presence of God does not come and go on Jesus. He is God. Where we meet Him, we meet God.

God met the people in the temple through many imperfect human mediators. But now it is said of Christ, "There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5). If we would meet God in worship, there is only one place we must go, to Jesus Christ. Christianity has no geographical center like Islam and Judaism.

Once when Jesus confronted a woman with her adultery, she changed the subject and said, "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship." Jesus followed her on the detour: "Woman,...the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" (John 4:20-23).

Jesus changes the categories entirely. Not in this mountain or in that city, but in spirit and in truth. He came in to the world to explode geographical limitation. There is no temple now. Jerusalem is not the center. Christ is. Do we want to see God? Jesus says, "Whosoever has seen Me has seen the Father" (John 14:9). Do we want to receive God? Jesus says, "Whosoever receives Me receives HIm who sent Me" (Matthew 10:40). Do we want to have the presence of God in worship? The Bible says, "Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also" (1 John 2:23). Do we want to honor the Father? Jesus says, "Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him" (John 5:23).

When Christ died and rose again, the old temple was replaced by the globally accessible Christ. You may come to Him without moving a muscle. He is as close as faith.

~JOHN PIPER - 50 REASONS WHY JESUS CAME TO DIE

-I really found this so profound. I hope that it encourages and challenges your thinking like it did for me:)

THREE SIGNIFICANT POINTS ON HOLINESS (J.C. RYLE)

A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ. He will not only live the life of faith in Him, and draw from Him all his daily peace and strength, but he will also labor to have the mind that was in Him, and to be "conformed to his image" (Rom.8:29). It will be his aim to bear with and forgive others, even as Christ forgave us--to be unselfish, even as Christ pleased not Himself--to walk in love, even as Christ loved us--to be lowly minded and humble, even as Christ made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself. He will remember that Christ was a faithful witness for the truth--that He came not to do His own will--that it was His meat and drink to do His Father's will--that He would continually deny Himself in order to minister to others--that He was meek and patient under undeserved insults--that He thought more of godly poor men then of kings--that He was full of love and compassion to sinners--that He was bold and uncompromising in denouncing sin--that He sought not the praise of men, when He might have had it--that He went about doing good--that He was separate from worldly people--that He continued instant in prayer--that He would not let even His nearest relations stand in His way when God's work was to be done. These things a holy man will try to remember. By them he will endeavor to shape his course in life. He will lay to heart the saying of John, "He that saith he abideth in Christ ought himself to walk, even as He walked" (1 John 2:6); and the saying of Peter, that "Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow in His steps" (1 Peter 2:21). Happy is he who has learned to make Christ his "all," both for salvation and example! Much time would be saved, and much sin prevented if men would oftener ask themselves the question, "What would Christ have said and done, if He were in my place?"

A holy man will follow after purity of heart. He will dread all filthiness and uncleanness of spirit, and seek to avoid all things that might draw him into it. He knows his own heart is like tinder, and will diligently keep clear of the sparks of temptation. Who shall dare talk of strength when David can fall? There is many a hint to be gleaned from the ceremonial law. Under it, the man who touched a bone, or a dead body, or a grave, or a diseased person, became at once unclean in the sight of God. And these things were emblems and figures. Few Christians are ever too watchful and too particular about this point.

A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life. He will try, not merely to fill his place as well as others who take no thought for their souls, but even better, because he has higher motives, and more help than they. Those words of Paul should never be forgotten, "Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord." Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord" (Col.3:23; Rom.12:11). Holy persons should aim at doing everything well, and should be ashamed of doing anything ill, if they can help it. Like Daniel, they should seek to give no "occasion" against themselves, except "concerning the law of their God" (Dan.6:5). They should strive to be good husbands and wives, good parents and good children, good masters and good servants, good neighbors, good friends, good subjects, good in private and good in public, good in their place of business and good by their firesides. Holiness is worth little indeed, if it does not bear this kind of fruit. The Lord Jesus puts a searching question to His people, when He says, "What do ye more than others?" (Matt.5:47).

*This is just three of twelves points that really stood out to me.* I truly felt convicted over these as I read them and pray that God would continue to complete His perfect work in me. I see how He has brought me so far from what I used to be yet, I see that I still have so far to go. I know full well that I stand before Him without excuse as I examine how lacking I still am in this area of holiness. 

"Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." (Phil.3:12-21-ESV)

HOLINESS IN APPLICATION (J.C. RYLE)

J. C. Ryle

*I know this is longer in content but it is well worth reading. I have been so encouraged by this and I know that you will be too. <3 *

For one thing, let me ask everyone who may read these pages, Are you holy? Listen, I pray you, to the question I put before you this day. Do you know anything of the holiness of which I have been speaking?

I do not ask whether you attend your church regularly--whether you have been baptized, and received the Lord's Supper--whether you have the name of Christian--I ask something more than all this: Are you holy, or are you not?

I do not ask whether you approve of holiness in others--whether you like to read the lives of holy people, and to talk of holy things, and to have on your table holy books--whether you mean to be holy, and hope you will be someday--I ask something further: Are you yourself holy on this very day, or are you not?

And why do I ask so straitly, and press the question so strongly? I do it because the scripture says, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." It is written, it is not in my fancy--it is in the Bible, not my private opinion--it is the word of God, not of man--"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Heb.12:14).

Alas, what searching, sifting words are these! What thoughts come across my mind, as I write them down! I look at the world and see the greater part of it lying in wickedness. I look at professing Christians, and see the vast majority having nothing of Christianity but the name. I turn to the Bible, and I hear the Spirit saying, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

Surely it is a text that ought to make us consider our ways, and search our hearts. Surely it should raise within us solemn thoughts, and send us to prayer.

You may try to put me off by saying you "feel much, and think much about these things: far more than many suppose." I answer, "This is not the point. The poor lost souls in hell do as much as this. The great question is not what you think, and what you feel, but what you do."

You may say, "It was never meant that all Christians should be holy, and that holiness," such as I have described, "is only for great saints, and people of uncommon gifts." I answer, "I cannot see that in Scripture. I read that every man who hath hope in Christ purifieth himself" (1 John3:3)."Without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

You may says, "It is impossible to be so holy and to do our duty in this life at the same time; the thing cannot be done." I answer, "You are mistaken. It can be done. With Christ on your side nothing is impossible. It has been done by many. David, and Obadiah, and Daniel, and the servant's of Nero's household, are all examples that go to prove it."

You may say, "If I were so holy I would be unlike other people." I answer, "I know it well. It is just what you ought to be. Christ's true servant's were unlike the world around them--a separate nation, a peculiar people; and you must be too, if you would be saved!"

You may say, "At this rate very few will be saved." I answer, "I know it. It is precisely what we are told in the Sermon on the Mount." The Lord Jesus said 2,000 years ago. "Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matt.7:14). Few will be saved, because few will take the trouble to seek salvation. Men will not deny themselves the pleasures of sin and their own way for a little season. They turn their backs on an "inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." "Ye will not come unto Me," says Jesus, "that ye might have life" (John 5:40).

You may say, "These are hard sayings: the way is very narrow." I answer, "I know it. So says the Sermon on the Mount." The Lord Jesus said so 2,000 years ago. He always said that men must take up the cross daily, and that they be ready to cut off hand or foot, if they would be His disciples. It is in religion as it is in other things, "there are no gains without pains." That which costs nothing is worth nothing.

Whatever we may think fIt to say, we must be holy, if we would see the Lord. Where is our Christianity if we are not? We must not merely have a Christian name, and Christian knowledge, we must have a Christian character also. We must be saints on earth, if we mean to be saints in heaven. God has said it, and He will not go back: "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "The Pope's calendar," says Jenkyn, "only makes saints of the dead, but Scripture requires sanctity in the living." "Let not men deceive themselves," says Owen, "sanctification is a qualification indispensably necessary unto those who will be under the conduct of the Lord Christ unto salvation. He leads none to heaven but whom He sanctifies on the earth. This living Head will not admit dead members."

Surely we need not wonder that Scripture says, "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Surely it is clear as noonday that many professing Christians need a complete change--new hearts, new natures--if ever they are to be saved. Old things must pass away; they must become new creatures. "Without holiness no man," be he who he may, "shall see the Lord."

Let me, for another thing, speak a little to believers. I ask you this question, "Do you think you feel the importance of holiness as much as you should?"

I own I fear the temper of the times about this subject. I doubt exceedingly whether it holds that place it deserves in the thoughts and attention of some of the Lord's people. I would humbly suggest that we are apt to overlook the doctrine of growth in grace, and that we do not sufficiently consider how very far a person may go in profession of religion, and yet have no grace, and be dead in God's sight after all. I believe that Judas Iscariot seemed very like the other apostles. When the Lord warned them that one would betray Him, no one said, "Is it Judas?" We had better think more about the churches of Sardis and Laodicea then we do.

I have no desire to make an idol of holiness. I do not wish to dethrone Christ and put holiness in His place. But I must candidly say, I wish sanctification was more thought of in this day than it seems to be, and I therefore take occasion to press the subject on all believers into whose hands these pages may fall. I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married justification and sanctification. They are distinct and different things, beyond question, but one is never found without the other. All justified people are sanctified, and all sanctified are justified. What God has joined together let no man dare to put asunder. Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ's work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit's work in you. Think not that Christ and the Spirit have ever been divided. I doubt not that many believers know these things, but I think it good for us to be put in remembrance of them. Let us prove that we know them by our lives. Let us try to keep them in view this text more continually: "Follow holiness, without which no shall see the Lord."

I must frankly say that I wish there wasn't such an excessive sensitiveness on the subject of holiness as I sometimes perceive in the minds of believers. A man might really think it is a dangerous subject to handle, so cautiously is it touched! Yet surely when we have exalted Christ as  "the way, the truth, and the life," we cannot err in speaking strongly about what should be the character of His people. Well says Rutherford, "The way that crieth down duties and sanctification, is not the way of grace. Believing and doing are blood-friends."

I would say it with all reverence, but say it I must--I sometimes fear if Christ were on earth now, there are not a few who would think His preaching legal; and if Paul were writing his Epistles, there are those who would think he had better not write the latter part of most of them as he did. But let us remember that the Lord Jesus did speak the Sermon on the Mount, and that the Epistle to the Ephesians contains six chapters and not four. I grieve to feel obligated to speak in this way, but I am sure there is a cause.

That great divine, John Owen, the dean of Christ Church, used to say more than two hundred years ago, that there were people whose whole religion seemed to consist in going about complaining of their own corruption, and telling everyone they could nothing of themselves. I am afraid that after two centuries the same thing might be said with truth of Christ's professing people in this day. I know there are texts in Scripture that warrant such complaints. I do not object to them when they come from men who walk in the steps of the Apostle Paul, and fight a good fight, as he did, against sin, the devil, and the world. But I never like such complaints when see grounds for suspecting, as I often do, that they are only a cloak to cover spiritual laziness, and excuse for spiritual sloth. If we say with Paul, "O wretched man that I am," let us also be able to say with him, "I press toward the mark." Let us not quote his example in one thing, while we do not follow him in another (Rom.7:24; Phil.3:14).

I do not set up myself to be better than other people, and if anyone asks, "What are you, that you write in this way?" I answer, "I am a very poor creature indeed." But I say that I cannot read the Bible without desiring to see many believers more spiritual, more holy, more single-eyed, more heavenly minded, more whole-hearted than they are today. I want to see among believers more of a pilgrim spirit, a more decided separation from the world, a conversation more evidently in heaven, a closer walk with God--and therefore I have written as I have.

Is it not true that we need a higher standard of personal holiness in this day? Where is our patience? Where is our zeal? Where is our love? Where are our works? Where is the power of religion to be seen, as it was in times gone by? Where is the unmistakable tone that used to distinguish the saints of old, and shake the world? Verily our silver has become dross, our wine mixed with water, and our salt has very little savor. We are all more than half asleep. The night is far spent, and the day is at hand. Let us awake, and sleep no more. Let us open our eyes more widely than we have done hitherto. "Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us." "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and perfect holiness in the fear of God" (Heb.12:1; 2 Cor.7:1). "Did Christ die," says Owen, "and sin shall live? Was He crucified in the world, and shall our affections to the world be quick and lively? Oh, where is the spirit of Him, who by the cross of Christ was crucified to the world, and the world to him!"

~J.C. Ryle - Holiness~

~An excerpt from J.C. Ryle's book 'Holiness' 


A scriptural view of sin will prove an admirable antidote to the low views of personal holiness, which are so painfully prevalent in these last days of the church. This is a very painful and delicate subject, I know; but I dare not turn away from it. It has long been my sorrowful conviction that the standard of daily life among professing Christians in this country has been gradually falling. I am afraid that Christ-like love, kindness, good-temper, unselfishness, meekness, gentleness, good-nature, self-denial, zeal to do good, and separation from the world are far less appreciated than they ought to be, and than they used to be in the days of our fathers.


Into the cause of this state of things, I cannot pretend to enter fully, and can only suggest conjectures for consideration. It may be that a certain profession of religion has become so fashionable and comparatively easy in the present age, that the streams that were once narrow and deep have become wide and shallow, and what we have gained in outward show we have lost in quality. It may be that the vast increase of wealth in the last twenty-five years  has insensibly introduced a plague of worldliness, and self-indulgence, and love of ease into social life. What were once called luxuries are not comforts and necessaries, and self-denial and "enduring hardness" are consequently little known. It may be that the enormous amount of controversy that marks this age has insensibly dried up our spiritual life. We have too often been content with zeal for orthodoxy, and have neglected the sober realities of daily practical godliness. Be the causes what they may, I must declare my own belief that the result remains. There has been of late years a lower standard of personal holiness among believers than there used to be in the days of our fathers. The whole result is that the spirit is grieved! And the matter calls for much humiliation and searching of heart.


As to the best remedy for the state of things I have mentioned, I shall venture to give an opinion. Other schools of thought in the churches must judge for themselves. The cure for evangelical churchmen, I am convinced, is to be found in clearer apprehension of the nature and sinfulness of sin. We need not go back to Egypt and borrow semi-Romish practices in order to revive our spiritual life. We need not restore the confessional, or return to monasticism or asceticism. Nothing of the kind! We must simply repent and do our first works. We must return to first principles. We must go back to "the old paths." We must sit down humbly in the presence of God, look the whole subject in the face, examine clearly what the Lord Jesus calls sin, and what the Lord Jesus calls "doing His will." We must then try to realize that it is terribly possible to live a careless, easy-going, half-worldly life, and yet at the same time to maintain evangelical principles and call ourselves evangelical people! Once let us see that sin is far viler, and far nearer to us, and sticks more closely to us than we supposed, and we shall be led, I trust and believe to get nearer to Christ. Once drawn nearer to Christ, we shall drink more deeply out of His fullness, and learn more thoroughly to "live the life of faith" in Him, as St. Paul did. Once taught to live the life of faith in Jesus, and abiding in Him, we shall bear more fruit, shall find ourselves more strong for duty, more patient in trial, more watchful over our poor weak hearts, and more like our Master in all our little daily ways. Just in proportion as we realize how much Christ has done for us, shall we labor to do much for Christ. Much forgiven, we shall love much. In short, as the apostle says, "with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Cor.3:18). ~J.C. Ryle

A Way in the Wilderness by Chip Brogden

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).

“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness… and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee” (Lk 4:1, 14).

The Cross does not eliminate weakness, it brings strength out of weakness. With less of me there is more of the Lord. So these wilderness experiences are designed to teach us something about weakness. When you are weak, when you have no strength, then Christ is revealed. You become conscious of a supernatural strength rising up from within. If you’re fasting you’re still hungry. The hunger doesn’t magically go away. If you’ve got a thorn in the flesh God doesn’t wave His magic wand and just take it away. What does He say? “I’ll not take the thorn away, but I will give you more grace, and you will learn by experience that My grace is sufficient.”

See, you don’t learn the sufficiency of Grace until you have experienced the insufficiency of Self. The sooner you give up the better. I go back to my original statement: we spend too much time crying and praying and asking God to take us out of whatever we’re in, and the thing we’re trying to get out of is the very thing God intends to use to teach you something of Himself. You say, “That’s a hard way to learn!” Well, who said it would be easy?

The only people who say it will be easy are the ones who have never walked in the wilderness before. They sound like they have great faith, but that faith has never been tested. They have no depth of experience. They haven’t walked with God through the valley of the shadow of death. They’re doing everything they can to walk around it, and they think that’s faith. They think victory means elimination of problems. Actually, victory means living independently of your circumstances. I still have the thorns, I still have the weaknesses, I still have the problems. My wife and I have been through enough to fill up three lifetimes. Now I’m doing what Paul did: I’m boasting in my weaknesses. I won’t bore you with all the details of all the things we’ve endured, I don’t want to make this teaching all about me. I’m saying this to encourage you.

THE WILDERNESS WALK

What is your heart’s desire? Is it to know God? To walk with Him? To grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus? Then let me tell you something: the depth of your revelation can be measured by the depth of your suffering. Little suffering means little revelation. Much suffering means much revelation.

You don’t become intimate with God by studying books, reading books, or listening to other people teach. Enoch walked with God. Abraham walked with God. David walked with God. Paul walked with God. They were on a journey together. They were walking it out, and working it out, together. It was a marriage, no question about it. If I want a relationship with my wife I don’t go around and interview all her friends and relatives and ask them to tell me about my wife. I don’t type her name into Google and see what comes up. If I want a relationship with my wife it takes more than a marriage certificate! It takes more than a wedding ceremony! That might be enough to satisfy the legal requirements of marriage, but if that’s as far as you go then it won’t last. I think that’s the problem with some people in their spiritual walk. They fulfilled all the “legal” requirements of “getting saved”, they had a ceremony, and they hung their marriage certificate on the wall and said, “Well, I can cross that off my list, now I’m saved.” Well, that should be the beginning of the relationship, not the end of it.

I’m just speaking plainly. It’s time to go on to maturity. Let’s get serious about our spiritual life. I tell you, when you experience some pain or weakness or sickness in your body, you get concerned. You seek relief. You seek medical attention. You seek the prayers of the saints. You seek healing and deliverance. If we were as concerned for our spiritual life as we are for our physical life, we would know God.

Or look at your financial situation. If you can’t make ends meet, or you lose your job, or something unexpected comes up that you don’t have the money to pay for, you get concerned. You pray. You ask for help. You do whatever it takes to get out from under that financial difficulty. If we were as concerned for our spiritual situation as we are for our financial situation, then we would know God. Oh, there’s no question about it. Absolutely. And often God can’t get our attention unless He permits, unless He allows, something to happen to us in our body or in our finances. Sometimes it takes something drastic to get us to pay attention to our spiritual life.

“LED BY THE SPIRIT… INTO THE WILDERNESS!”

Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted, to be tested. Now that’s one purpose of the desert; that’s one reason why God leads us into the wilderness. We want to cover up our weakness, and God wants to expose our weakness. Hypocrites want to hide their true condition and make themselves appear to be better than they really are. They get so good at hiding their true condition that they actually begin to believe they are better than they really are. Then they start trying to fix everybody else: pointing out their weaknesses and shortcomings. Well, they just haven’t spent any time in the desert. They’ve never been confronted with their weaknesses. They don’t know what hunger is. They don’t know what thirst is. They don’t know what isolation is. They don’t know what it is to be stripped down to nothing. They’ve never been broken, never been humbled, never taken up the Cross, never died to anything. So they’ve got plenty of time on their hands, and they spend their time looking for specks in other people’s eyes while ignoring the log in their own.
I’m telling you, the Narrow Path that leads to Life takes you through the Spiritual Desert. If you haven’t experienced it yet then you will if you stay on the Path. People are still looking for a way around it, a way over it, a way under it, but God’s Way is through it. A lot of people turn back! They say, “Let’s go back to Egypt. It’s hot out here, it’s dry, it’s lonely. Oh, I need fellowship. Oh, I need something for the kids. I need teaching.” And pretty soon they go right back into a place that they said not too long ago God had called them out of. They were led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, but before that Spirit can teach them anything they’re trying to get out of there.

In the wilderness you don’t follow your feelings. It says the children of Israel were led by a column of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night. When the cloud moved, then they moved. When the cloud stayed still then they stayed still. I mean, it’s really as simple as that. Walk in the Spirit. If you begin to be led by your feelings then you’ll make the wrong decision every time. Most of the time, the right decision doesn’t feel good. Doing the right thing is usually difficult. The easiest thing to do is to quit, to give up, to go back to Egypt. But I’m telling you: get to a place where going back is no longer an option; then going back is no longer a temptation.

This article is based on an audio series titled The Spiritual Desert: How God’s Purposes Are Fulfilled In Your Wilderness Experiences.

Truth vs. Love --Really?

I am continually thankful that I am "accepted" by God because HE chose ME (Ephesians 1:3-5). That He is at work in me and will finish what He has started (Phil.1:6). I can't deny that I get frustrated with the 'battle for the truth' and how unloving and outright mean that 'Christians' are to one another, as well as unbelievers. How we can be self-righteous in the name of Jesus Christ....is this even possible? It is a battle that rages from one side of the spectrum to the other. Do we remember that we are only able to see because HE opened our eyes? Do we remember that we understand because GOD gave us this understanding? Do we realize that we could be this one or that one that is self-righteously titled by us "the blind leading the blind"? How can we sit up on our high horses looking down on others when we are supposedly so humble? Doesn't this seem like a contradiction? 

If we look at scripture, Truth is important, but love is equally as important. "If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love,"(1 Cor.13:2)....what am I? NOTHING. I am not speaking for the heretic. I am not speaking for the false prophet. I am speaking for the God who saved me in HIS mercy and grace and I am called to be like HIM. I have not come across any scriptures that excuse me from being loving or gentle or merciful. I have come across many that have called me to stand up for truth....contend for the faith...fight the good fight, etc. but never, never with a mean or haughty or unkind, unloving, etc., spirit. I believe the statement applies, if you can't say it in a nice way, a gentle and kind way, then don't say it at all. It is better to walk away, or log out then 'ruin the hearers' (2 Tim.2:14). 

If we are not displaying the Fruit of the Spirit when speaking our Lord's own words...this is the most ludicrous thing!! Can we really argue this? I have heard the whole gamut of arguments for actual rudeness and so on when speaking to the atheist, Wiccan, etc. I cannot believe that we would even open our mouths and argue against being kind, gentle and loving towards anyone. There is never an exception, NEVER! Yes, truth is important, yes, we should be studying to show ourselves approved and not ashamed...correctly dividing the word of truth but we are also to exhibit, at all times, the Fruit of the Spirit. The Word of God is offensive without our haughty and self-righteous attitude. I have asked myself so many times, "would I like someone to speak to me in this way?" Well, would you? Don't tell me that you would appreciate it! Truth can and should be spoken in love, and telling someone there head is screwed on crooked is not loving....and has nothing to do with the Word of God. That is your own self-righteous opinion. I have seen 'Christians' say all kinds of crude, rude and mean things, calling names and belittling, all in Jesus Christ's holy name!! Please listen.  Read those verses that speak of love and the Fruits of the Spirit...also what is says about being above reproach and God judging every idle word..... 

I have seen many seem to glory over 'unfriending' but I would rather err on the side of loving someone in spite of our differences in theology than to unfriend them. I have hidden different ones because I do not want to see/read what they post but I pray that God would continue to use me to speak into their lives. I have been forced to unfriend because of someone going to extreme measures to belittle me and right-fight on other's walls....making demeaning comments on my posts and so on....I unfriended them with much agony. It would not have been my first choice but with the advice of godly council, I severed all contact with him....this person happened to be a personal friend and it was a loss of him and his entire family....it was a loss for my kids as well as they were friends with his kids. I have also unfriended someone for calling a solid preacher a heretic while defending a known false preacher. When I commented to them about this with scripture and evidence of said preacher's denial of Christ, they deleted comments. I felt this was a case of this person choosing to not hear and felt it best for both our sakes to unfriend her. Even then, it was not an easy decision.

I know my views on this may not agree with yours. I have prayed about this, agonized over this and spoken to others about this and I always come away with the same views: we should always be loving and never offensive with our attitude. There is Christ's holy name to be considered and we need to walk our lives out in the Fruit of the Spirit at all times, we will be above reproach....as the scriptures say 'against such things there is NO law'. No one is able to question you for being gentle, loving, kind, patient, but they can question you for being un-Christlike. Please consider all this. 

~In love~

Everlasting God

One of my most favorite songs :)

Beck's Turkey Burgers

"...whoever listens to Me will dwell secure

   and will be at ease, without dread of disaster." 

Proverbs 1:33

~~~~~

These burgers are great bbq'd on a hot summers day or broiled in the oven in the cold of winter. You can substitute the turkey for chicken or you can do 1/2 turkey/chicken and half extra lean ground beef. I've done it all ways and it just depends on if you want to go healthier or not. Add a salad or veggies and dip on the side or, another favorite of ours, chips and salsa:)

~~~~~

Beck's Turkey Burgers
Ingredients:
1lb lean ground turkey
1/2 medium onion 
1 pepper--any color (or 1/2 each of two different ones)
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach
1 egg
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp olive oil 
1/2 cup hickory smoke bbq sauce (optional)
pinch of salt
~~~~~
1. Chop all veggies really fine--I use the food processor
2. Put meat and all ingredients into a big mixing bowl and knead together with your hands until thoroughly mixed.
3. Form into patties and bbq. I usually do them at 400 on the bbq cooking each side for about 6 minutes. 350 in the oven for about 1-1.5 hours on a broiler pan.


~Enjoy:)

Faith and Obedience

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. John 14:15

~~~~~

We should not obey the Lord just because we ought to but because we believe Him. Because we believe that He really wants us to have "life to the full." Because we believe that His will is perfect and that His Word will not return void in our lives. Obeying God is about belief and unbelief, not about 'do's' and 'don'ts'. You do not have faith in God if you don't obey His Word. Faith says, "I believe in the unseen God--the Living God--that He had my best interest in mind when He spoke these commands and precepts and therefore I will obey them and in doing so, love and obey Him." Otherwise, "there is a way that seems right to a man and it leads to death." (Prov.14:12) Disobedience is following your own thoughts and opinions on any given subject, not weighing things out against God's word and truly seeking His will on the issue--this leads to death. 

~Think about it.

Beck's French Toast

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; 

whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever 

believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35

~~~~~

This is another favorite of ours! I know, I know...I say that with them all, but it's true! We had french toast for breakfast this morning with bacon, eggs, fresh fruit, coffee and orange juice. We also have the treat of Grandma's homemade cranberry syrup on top! Yummy!

~~~~~

Beck's French Toast
Ingredients:
1 loaf of bread (bread recipe)
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Cinnamon
Olive Oil
~~~~
1. Warm electric frying pan to 350 or stove top pan to medium heat with small amount of olive oil spread around in it.
2. Mix eggs, milk and vanilla up in a bigger shallow bowl.
3. Dip bread slices into egg mixture, covering both sides and place in pan, sprinkle cinnamon on top.
4. Flip the toast when bottom is a nicely browned--you don't need to sprinkle cinnamon on this side.
5. Repeat until loaf of bread is finished or until you run out of egg mixture.
6. Eat and enjoy:)

Importunity in Prayer - Paul Washer from HeartCry Missionary Society on Vimeo.

The True Pride of Life!

I woke up this morning thinking about this beautiful sacrifice that was made on my behalf. I wondered how I could even go on living...doing all the 'normal' stuff with the knowledge of what God has done for me through His sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, and the wrath He poured out on Him that I deserve. Here is what I wrote:

~~~~~

Thinking of this greatly indescribable thing that You have done for me...for us...sacrificing Your Son for the remission of sin. This is truly the most incredible thing to think about! How can life go on as before? How can so many receive Jesus Christ and then keep on living just as before? Father, what about me....how can I 'eat, live and be merry' when I know the tremendous sacrifice that was made on my behalf so that I escape Your wrath? How can I not be urgently in prayer for souls or calling out to them to listen! Father, please never let this leave my mind, heart and life. Don't let me grow complacent with this holy, awesome, incredible plan that You have had since the beginning of time. Cause me to be enraptured by this. Cause it to always be in my thoughts and let everything I learn be centered around it. Keep me here, LORD. I need You...Your power on my life each and every moment. My righteousness is only through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross...for the wrath He endured has saved me from it! To think that I would even dare offer anything of my own like it is worthy of You! That I would 'do' anything thinking it would win me favor or something! How ludicrous! It is absolutely the most preposterous thing to think that anything I do could save me from Your wrath! Truly, it is shocking that I can even think that in light of what Christ endured!

~~~~~

Father, why are we so distracted by everything when we have the amazing Living God Who paid our un-payable debt? Why are our affections so easily drawn away in light of what You have done for us, such a worthless people? Father, thank You! What do I have to prove? What have I to have pride in but this Christ and His cross?! What You have done for me is the most incredible thing that ever was or ever will be!

~~~~~

To think, I moan over this or have 'pride' in that yet Jesus endured a life of rejection, learning from His trials, 'knowing' what was to come...JESUS CHRIST KNEW what He would have to endure! Your wrath, O God! Forgive me for my wayward heart! Forgive me for thinking that anything I know is worth anything! Forgive me for wanting to 'be something' and focusing on vain pursuits. You are everything...all I need! You are the only pride of life! You are the only food I need! Your's is the only bloodline I want to be part of. Help us, O God, to see the true value of this sacrifice. Remove all obstacles that are in our minds and hearts, speculations erected against Your power and Your Sovereignty. Cause us to run to Your Word each day and draw us to our knees. May we ever seek You...seek to know You, our God and King!