Micah 6:6-8

With what shall I come before

the Lord,

and bow myself before God

on high?

Shall I come before him with

burnt offerings,

with calves a year old?

Will the Lord be pleased with

thousands of rams,

with ten thousands of rivers of oil?

Shall I give my firstborn for my

transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of

my soul?

He has told you, O mortal, what

is good;

and what does the Lord require of

you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with

your God?

Romans 10:8 - 15 ESV

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

As Paul writes, saving Grace comes through the hearing of the gospel and the believing in the works of Christ. For how can one believe in someone they have never heard of? As the Christian church, it is not our duty to "save souls", rather to preach the good news. God alone saves. Thus, Some are to be sent forth to preach while the rest are to be sending (financing, praying for, etc). ALL of us are called to be witnesses and to proclaim the good news in our own lives. Imagine an American church that only came together to worship God, pray, and fund missionary work. Would this be too difficult? What if every Sunday involved missionary reports and/or the interaction with them (via Skype, FaceTime, etc). What if the majority of our giving went directly to such work? What might our churches look like? Would such a church survive in modern America?

Enjoying God

By T.M. Moore

Daniel’s prayer in chapter 9 of his prophecy is one of most poignant and moving passages in the Old Testament. It brings me to tears every time I read it. In it he confesses the sins of Israel and calls on God to forgive and return His favor to His people, and to carry out His promises on their behalf.

Now we recall that Daniel was a godly man, a man the likes of whom rarely appears anywhere in Scripture. He is the “Daniel” we “dare” to be when courage, purity, and forthrightness are required. Yet in this prayer we see what might seem to be a very different Daniel – a man weeping for sin, desperate for forgiveness, terrified of judgment, and urgently pleading with God for mercy.

In fact, it is just these qualities, rarely glimpsed in the private, devotional life of Daniel, that made this Old Testament prophet the great and fearless servant of God he was. Daniel was fully engaged with God in all aspects of his being, life, and times. And when Daniel read the Word of God – as we see him doing in chapter 9 – he was fully engaged with Scripture as well.

In his book, On Christian Doctrine, Augustine taught that we will love to read and meditate in Scripture when we have learned to enjoy God Whom we meet there. The greater our enjoyment of God, as He reveals Himself in glory in His Word, the more we will enjoy reading His Word and love to immerse ourselves in it.

But this will only happen when we are “all-in” toward God – when we have learned to love Him and to come before Him with every aspect of our being. Augustine explains, “This is the divinely instituted rule of love: ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,’ He said, and, ‘Thou shalt love God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.’ Thus all your thoughts and all your understanding should be turned toward Him from whom you receive these powers.”

Enjoying God is not merely an intellectual exercise, as Augustine explains elsewhere. If we approach the Word of God merely with our minds, that is, to learn some new truth, enlarge our understanding, or gain some new insight, while we may fulfill that intellectual quest, it’s doubtless this will lead us to the enjoyment of God which Scripture provides. Augustine continues, “[God] did not leave any part of life which should be free and find itself room to desire the enjoyment of something else.” We love God when we love Him all-in, when we are fully engaged in our hearts, minds, priorities, words, and deeds with the great adventure of reading Scripture to meet God in His glory. If we do not bring our entire selves to meet with God in Scripture, then we are distracted from Him in at least some part of our being. And, frankly, if He does not command our entire being, He will not be likely to engage us with His.

But let us not be mistaken about what we mean by “enjoying God.” In his prayer in Daniel 9, Daniel reveals a wide range of powerful emotions. He is deeply sorrowful, to the point of fasting in prayer and ashes (v. 3). He is lifted up in worship, envisioning God in all His greatness, power, and severity (vv. 4-9). He confesses his sin and that of the nation (v. 5).  Daniel is overcome with humiliation and shame (vv. 6, 7), clings to hope in God alone (vv. 9, 13, 2tc.), surveys the sad state of the people of God in his day (v. 11), remembers both God’s faithfulness and Israel’s disobedience (vv. 11-13), dreads the judgment of God (v. 14), and urgently pleads for mercy, forgiveness, and the favor of the Lord (vv. 17-19).

Here is a man who was thoroughly enjoying the presence of God. Enjoyment, you see, should not be equated with “fun.” Fun is cheap, easy, and fleeting; enjoyment is hard work, and only comes when joy in the Lord is deeply embedded in every sector of the soul, and persistent, regardless of circumstances. Daniel enjoyed his prayer to the Lord because he was enjoying the presence of God, the sense of His looming, weighty glory and unchangeable righteousness, His unfailing promises and deeply penetrating Word. Daniel wept and pled with God as only one can who truly knows how to enjoy His presence and lean on His love.

And how was this possible? How was Daniel so able to enjoy God like this – “all-in” – when most of us rarely if ever know an encounter with God that even remotely compares with what we see here?

Because Daniel was “all-in” – heart, soul, mind, and strength – with his reading of Jeremiah 25:11, 12. He brought himself, entirely engaged, to reading and meditating on that text, and, after 70 years of being a captive in Babylon, Jeremiah’s words uncorked Daniel’s memory, ignited his affections, summoned his values and priorities, and commanded the next steps he sought from the Lord for that day’s service. When we come to the Scripture “all-in” like this, God will meet us “all-in”, and we will know the joy of His presence, and love the time we have with Him in His Word.

for more by T.M. Moore, please visit ColsonCenter.org

Duty or Delight

- by T.M. Moore

I want to insist that you are reading the Scriptures wrong if you’re not reading them daily and comprehensively. You need a plan to help you develop the discipline of setting aside time each day to read, meditate in, and study the Word of God, and to do so in a way that takes you through the whole of Scripture, over and over again.

Perhaps this sounds a bit “legalistic” to you? I’ve been told as much by pastors and church leaders who believe that, if they “wed” themselves to such a “rigid discipline”, as they see it, they’ll just become like the Pharisees of old, doing their duty and checking off their list of good works to prove their righteousness.

Is daily, comprehensive reading of the life-giving, glory-revealing, power-wielding Word of God a mere duty? Are we being “legalistic” by insisting that we’re only reading Scripture right when we read it this way?

It depends… Certainly, Bible reading can become a work of legalism by which we try to prove our “righteousness” and flaunt our “piety.” But just because it can be this doesn’t mean that it must or that God intends it should. What if, rather than being a mere duty, daily and comprehensive reading of God’s Word could become a great delight? This, after all, was how the prophet Jeremiah saw his time in the Scriptures. He wrote, “Your words were found and I did eat them, and Your Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart!” (Jer. 15:16). Job, the greatest man of his day, said that he valued his time in the Word of God more than the meals he took three times a day (Job 23:12). Jesus acknowledged that depending on Scripture is more important than our bodily nutritional needs, as important as these truly are (Matt. 4:4); at any rate, He seems to have taken great delight in all the counsel of God in Scripture.

So it depends on how we approach reading, meditating in, and studying the Word of God. If we approach it as a duty, something we “have” to do, then that’s what it will be. And as a “duty” our discipline of reading will not yield the fruit of transforming grace God intends. Instead, it will only make us smug and self-righteous.

On the other hand, if we learn to delight in the Word and to cherish the time we have to read it, we’re likely to find, like Jeremiah and Job and Jesus, that these moments in the Word of God are the most important, most enjoyable moments of our day.

So how do we get to that mindset?

Seek the Lord!

God is the Lord of the heart; He is able to shape our attitudes and affections when it comes to daily reading in His Word. If we will seek the Lord daily as we come to the Scriptures, looking to Him to help us delight in His Word, we can expect that He will do so, for this is His will for every one of us.

for more by T.M. Moore, visit ColsonCenter.org

Eat and Drink Life

Wisdom has built her house;

she has hewn her seven pillars.

She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

She has sent out her young women to call

from the highest places in the town,

“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

 To him who lacks sense she says,

“Come, eat of my bread

and drink of the wine I have mixed.

Leave your simple ways, and live,

and walk in the way of insight.”

  - Proverbs 9: 1-6

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 

So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat. ’” 

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

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. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

...No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God. ’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

  - John 6: 25-40, 44-59

And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. 

And the Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God. ’”

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. 

And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded:‘Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent. ’”

And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less. But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

...Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 

Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded:‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt. ’” 

And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” 

As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan.

  - Leviticus 16: 10-18, 31-35

Once Saved, Always Saved?

First of all, slogans like "Once Saved, Always Saved" are always regrettable because they polarize an issue, causing them to be touted or denounced vehemently not on the basis of truth as truth is, but only as it is represented in the stark world of sloganeering.

Take for instance, the present slogan—Once Saved, Always Saved. This is based upon the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, but skews the doctrine by only representing a portion of its teaching. In fact, the slogan doesn't give us enough information to properly judge its merits. As well, the slogan is tautological in its simplicity, so that in being inherently true on its face, it is unable to say anything of value. One might as well say, "Once one has eternal life, he shall always have eternal life." This is obvious by the very definition of eternal life; and so, the slogan teaches us nothing of value. It is likely that this slogan (like most slogans) was created for a very particular purpose, but has long since (again, like most slogans) outgrown that purpose.

Instead, let's look at the doctrine to which the slogan makes reference.

When we speak of the perseverance of the saints, we are, in the first place, speaking not of any power within the grasp or intention of men who believe but rather of the strength of God's own redemptive and recreative work. Because men are saved by grace and not works, the sinful works of men are no great obstacle if God wishes to recreate a man into the image of his Son. The effect of Christ's blood in redemption is complete. So powerful is the blood of Christ that all sins of those that God ordains it to cover are washed in their entirety. As well, when God deems to recreate a man in the image of Christ, he begins the creative work and is faithful to complete it in his time despite the work's potential inclinations to the opposite.

When we speak of perseverance, we are really speaking of God's faithfulness rather than man's. As well, we are not speaking of any statement or decision a man could make. Part of the flaw in the slogan's respect is the preponderance of the contemporary understanding of being "saved." While salvation is a very biblical notion and Scripture does point out that man must be saved, believers too often view this as an effect of a profession of faith rather than the result of God's work of grace. The distinction is palpable. Obviously, anyone can make a profession of faith and live for a time with external evidence of the work of redemption in their lives and yet still be without the work of grace. Though, we might refer to them in our ignorance as the saved, they are anything but. Their profession and life are counterfeits of the life of the honestly saved. The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints declares that those who are of this kind were never recipients of the persevering work of God's grace, were not sealed by the Holy Spirit, and did not receive at anytime the cleansing, redemptive, and recreative work of Christ.

The doctrine of the perseverance of the saints maintains that those who overcome the world—those who abide in Christ—until they die and are taken up to heaven are the saved. They are the ones who persevere. Any who do not persevere simply were not saved for they did not experience the saving grace of God, were not conformed to the image of Christ, and were not forgiven of their sins. Therefore, it stands to reason that they as well never possessed eternal life—for eternal life is eternal.

The plain fact is that Scripture encourages believers to work in righteousness as they reflect the glory of their Lord. And Scripture offers security for those who have this work of grace alive in them. Those who claim belief but do not live righteously are persuaded to fear for their place and are invited to pursue God with all their hearts, minds, and souls that they might rest in the security of God's grace.

In light of 1 John 1:9's admonition to confess sin for faithful and just forgiveness, the question is often asked whether a true believer, unconfessed, might not be in danger of perdition. Yet, while confession of sin before God is integral to the obedient Christian life and no true Christian will go for too long in aggressive rebellion against the confession of sin, believers are always going some duration without confessing their sin. Even if it is only the time period between the sin and one's immediate regret for and confession of that sin, there is still a period of unconfessed sin. We do not believe that this unconfessed sin can keep the true child of God from receiving that which God has claimed is his inheritance and has sealed in him with the Holy Spirit. We do believe that unconfessed sin will forge a breach in one's earthly experience of the joys of heavenly life, but not that unconfessed sin can mar the surpassing grace of God. If this were so then every believer would be in danger of perdition at the time of his death for even as Christians, we recognize that we sin constantly in thought and deed.

Contributed by blueletterbible.org

Luke 4:16-30

Luke 4:16-22:

   And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up:and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. 22 And all bore him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth...

Isaiah 61:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to bring good news to the poor;

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,

 and the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

 to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

 the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

 that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

4 They shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

5 Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

 you shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

8 For I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;

 I will faithfully give them their recompense,

 and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

 for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,

 and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

Psalm 146:

21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,

and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 146

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

1 Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord, O my soul!

2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;

 I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

3 Put not your trust in princes,

 in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;

on that very day his plans perish.

5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord his God,

6 who made heaven and earth,

the sea, and all that is in them,

 who keeps faith forever;

7 who executes justice for the oppressed,

 who gives food to the hungry.

 The Lord sets the prisoners free;

8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.

 The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;

 the Lord loves the righteous.

9 The Lord watches over the sojourners;

 he upholds the widow and the fatherless,

but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

10 The Lord will reign forever,

your God, O Zion, to all generations.

 Praise the Lord!

Isaiah 42:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

 I have put my Spirit upon him;

 he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3 a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

 he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4 He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

5 Thus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

 who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

 a light for the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

 from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 I am the Lord; that is my name;

 my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

 and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

Luke 4:22-30:

And they said, Is not this Joseph's son? 23 And he said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. 24 And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; 26 But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. 27 And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them were cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. 28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, 29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. 30 But he passing through the midst of them went his way...

John 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

Psalm 139:23 - 24

Search me, Oh God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my thoughts.
See if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Galatians 2:17 - 3:9

But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain...

He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 2:17 - 3:29

17 But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. 18 For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. 19 For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 20 I am crucified with Christ:nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God:for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse:for it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident:for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith:but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.

13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith...

21 ...Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid:for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female:for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise

Colossians 4:5-6

Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Merry Christmas!!!

Flame Thrower

By T. M. Moore | Published Date: December 16, 2013 Tired of Christmas goofiness? If you’re like me, you quickly tire of the goofy sentimentalism that attaches to Christmas. And especially to Jesus. Walking home from dropping my daughter’s car off for an oil change, I passed a nativity scene on a neighbor’s lawn. There was little baby Jesus, His little head laid in that crude manger, looking all peaceful and serene. Wouldn’t hurt a flea. The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay. Sleep, baby Jesus, in heavenly peace. Right. There is an aspect to the Incarnation that is easily overlooked amid all this gush and nostalgia. Jesus’ coming to the earth was not as depicted in the hymn, “The Snow Lay All Around”: “The snow lay all around;/the stars shone bright,/when Christ our Lord was born/on Christmas night.” We don't know whether that was the case or not, but the sweetness and placidness of the setting reflects the feelings many prefer to indulge at Christmas time. All peace and comfort and abundance and joy. Fire on the earth  The fact is, Jesus’ coming brought violence of the most radical kind. He declared (Lk. 12:5), “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!” He intended to do some serious harm to someone, or, at least, to inflict some serious pain. Robert Southwell, the 17th century priest and poet, captured some of the essence of this aspect of Jesus’ coming in his poem, “New Heaven, New War.” Benjamin Britten set part of this poem to a staccato Christmas carol which I doubt many of us have ever heard: “This little babe, so few days old,/has come to rifle Satan’s fold./All hell doth at His presence quake,/Though He Himself for cold do shake;/For in this weak unarmèd wise/The gates of hell He will surprise.” Now there’s a carol you can sing with fire in your eyes! A century after Southwell, John Milton composed his “Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity,” in which, as Steven Wright reminded us recently, the coming of Jesus at Christmas sends every false deity, vain philosophy, and empty religion fleeing for the high ground, while Satan paces nervously in the depths of hell: “Our Babe, to show His Godhead true,/can in His swaddling clothes control the damnèd crew!” Righteousness and judgment Jesus came to earth to throw some flames around. He came to ignite the flames of righteousness and judgment, which consume like a forest fire all the dead wood of human sin and rebellion (Ps. 83:13, 14). And He came like a refiner’s fire to try and purify the hearts of human beings, that He might capture us for Himself and take us, glorified, to be forever with Him in heaven (Mal. 3:2, 3). That little Babe is throwing flames around, and we’re not going to be able to escape. Pray that His fire will enter your soul not for judgment, but for sanctification. “He comes to make His blessings flow/far as the curse is found.” And when the curse of sin meets the fire of holy Jesus, there can be no doubt concerning which will be the last standing. So the next time you drive or walk past a gentle nativity scene, pause for a moment. Smile sweetly – to reflect the mood of the times. Then offer this prayer to that little Babe, so few days old: “Torch us, Lord!” For more by T.M. Moore, visit ColsonCenter.org

Psalm 143:6

I stretch my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

(referring to the parable of the sower) The second group receives the Word with joy when they hear it, but then they have no root. They have an emotional response, they are quick to tell everyone that they believe, but their emotional response is based on what they thought they might get from Jesus, what He can do for them. It is a superficial response, an instant bloom then a fade.

- ALISTAIR BEGG

To truly seek God, to commune with the Most High, to receive that precious gift from God the Father to the world, one must thirst for righteousness. This is not a "good feeling" but quite the opposite: it is a desperate yearning for that alone which can satisfy our despondent condition - the fountain of everlasting, Jesus Christ.

Habakkuk 1:5

Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.

Reading this invokes a feeling of awe and of expectation. While this was addressed to the Jews at the time of their exile in Babylon to give them hope that God had not forsaken them, I can't help but smile as I look through the pages of History and see His fingerprints everywhere. No doubt this verse can be applied to every generation. Even today, if we look at the nations and watch closely, God is up to something that we couldn't even believe.

Similarly, this can be applied to the individual. The important part of this is to "watch - and be utterly amazed". It's easy to dismiss events as "just life" and continue on the best we can. While this may be our only option, it is important that one does not forget to look for, or to seek, God. In this process He reveals Himself and does not cease to amaze.

Proud To Be Virtuous

By T. M. Moore

The less we are filled with pride, the more we advance in virtue, for this more than anything else is virtue, to hold ourselves in check. Just as the sharper our sight is, the more fully do we realize how far we are from the sky, so the more we advance in virtue, so much more do we learn the difference between God and ourselves. This is no small part of wisdom, to be able to know our own worth; for he knows himself best who accounts himself to be nothing. - John Chrysostom on Isaiah 14:13

Jesus told a parable about a righteous man who knew he was righteous, and so turned out to be not righteous at all (Lk. 18:9-14). The Pharisee was proud of his “virtue”, and boasted of it before the Lord as he compared himself favorably with a tax collector.

We recognize such “righteousness” as “self-righteousness”, and we agree with Jesus that there is no true virtue in such self-vaunting.

But in a day when so much immorality is to be seen on every hand, we can easily fall to thinking we’re somehow “better” than others who aren’t as “righteous” or as “virtuous” as we.

The remedy for this, Chrysostom explained, is to look to Jesus and not to the people around us. Compared with Jesus, we have a long way to go, and nothing about which to boast. Indeed, even the virtue we are able to demonstrate is not our own; it comes from and by our Lord Jesus, as He lives His life through us in the power of His Spirit.

We should, of course, strive every day to increase in virtue, studying God’s Word to discover new ways that we may increase in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But we must at the same time study humility, trust, and self-denial. Otherwise we may end up prideful about our “virtuous” attainments, forgetting that any progress we make in becoming upright in virtue is only the work of God within us, willing and doing of His good pleasure (Phil. 2:12, 13).

How can we “hold ourselves in check” in this matter? First, by giving thanks to God for His work of sanctification within us. He alone must receive honor and praise for any good or any virtue which is seen in us. God makes us fruitful for virtuous living; we have no ability to do this of our own.

Second, rather than look down on others whose lives fall short of God’s virtuous standards, let us pray for them, try to get to know them, and show them the love of Christ in every way we can. Of course we will observe areas of others’ live that we know to be displeasing to the Lord. But we must judge with righteous judgment, and that does not include condemning others (Jn. 7:24; Matt. 7:1).

Finally, always remember that we will have barely begun to become truly virtuous even after many years of striving and growth. The standard set by our Lord Jesus Christ will always be far beyond our reach in this life. Only in the life to come, when we see Jesus as He is, will we truly be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2). This being so, let us, rather than rest on our laurels and become content in our attainments, press on to become more like Jesus everyday of our lives (1 Jn. 3:3).

Grow in virtue, beloved, but don’t let pride or self-vaunting spoil your attainments. Virtue with humility: this is the goal we seek.

For more by T.M. Moore, please visit Breakpoint.org.

Seek The Lord

“You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the LORD…” Jeremiah 29:13, 14

Foundational to the life of seeking, which is the calling of all who believe in Jesus Christ, is the responsibility and privilege of seeking the Lord. Before we seek anything else, we must learn to seek the Lord.

As God asserted through the prophet Jeremiah, He intends for us to find Him, on condition that we seek Him with all our hearts. The psalmist understood this most important objective, and he devoted himself to seeking the Lord early and earnestly (Ps. 63:1). In Psalm 105:4 the specifics of what we are to seek concerning the Lord are briefly stated: His presence and His strength. The teaching of the New Testament is along these same lines.

The true seeker is the one who seeks the presence and glory of God, to partake of Him in such a way that His strength comes to expression as glory and love in the seeker’s own life. Eternal life, which all have “found” who believe in Jesus Christ, is summed up by Jesus Christ as “knowing” the Lord (Jn. 17:3). What we seek in knowing the Lord is to encounter His glory, to enter into it, and, in the strength of the Lord, to show His glory to the world around us (Hab. 2:14).

But we must seek the Lord with all our heart, as He Himself instructs. This is the indispensable condition for seeking and knowing the Lord. We must be serious about seeking Him, daily and continuously devoted to the task, and careful to keep out of our lives anything that hinders our quest to know the Lord.

God is pleased to reveal Himself and His glory to us in the pages of Scripture (2 Cor. 3:12-18) and in the created world around us (Ps. 19:1-4; Ps. 66:18). It is the glory of God to conceal Himself and His glory in the Scriptures and the creation; our duty, as His appointed priests and rulers (1 Pt. 2:9, 10), is to seek out the glory of God in each of these places, so that we might enter into His presence and be transformed by His glory (Prov. 25:2).

Thus, we are seeking the Lord when through reading Scripture, meditating on it and studying God’s Word, and by prayer and other disciplines, together with the study of God’s works in creation, we are daily and faithfully engaged in ferreting out His glory.

To seek God with all our heart is to be enthusiastic about meeting the Lord wherever He may be pleased to reveal Himself, and to devote ourselves to the task of seeking the Lord in His Word and creation according to the ways He Himself has provided.

God commands us to seek Him, and He promises that, if we will, if we will seek Him with all our hearts, then we shall surely find Him and the promise of full and abundant life which is to be known in Him alone.

Seeking the Lord takes time, discipline, and good habits of study and prayer. It must be a daily, consistent, and even conscious endeavor on our parts, seeking God as our greatest longing, highest desire, and most determined activity, every day of our lives. If we will seek the Lord in the ways He has provided, through Scripture and creation, then we shall certainly be able to fulfill the most fundamental obligation of those who have found the gift of eternal life.

For more by T.M. Moore, please visit Breakpoint.org

...So I began to examine the life and the teachings of these people, and the closer I looked, the more I was convinced that theirs was the true faith, that their faith was indispensable to them and that this faith alone provided them with the meaning and possibility of life.  Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where life was possible without faith and scarcely one in a thousand was a believer, among these people there was scarcely one in a thousand who was not a believer.  Contrary to what I saw among the people of our class, where a lifetime is passed in idleness, amusement, and dissatisfaction with life, these people spent their lives at hard labor and were less dissatisfied with life than the wealthy.  Contrary to the people of our class who resist and are unhappy with the hardship and suffering of their lot, these people endure sickness and tribulation without question or resistance - peacefully, and in the firm conviction that this is as it should be, cannot be otherwise, and is good.  Contrary to the fact that the greater our intellect, the less we understand the meaning of life and the more we see some kind of evil joke in our suffering and death, these people live, suffer, and draw near to death peacefully and, more often than not, joyfully.  Contrary to peaceful death - death without horror and despair, which is the rarest exception in our class - it is the tormenting, unyielding, and sorrowful death that is the rarest exception among the people.  And these people, who are deprived of everything that for Solomon and [I] constituted the only good in life, yet who nonetheless enjoy the greatest happiness, form the overwhelming majority of mankind.  I looked further still around myself.  I examined the lives of the great masses of people who have lived in the past and live today.  Among those who have understood the meaning of life, who know how to live and die, I saw not two or three or ten but hundreds, thousands, millions.  And all of them, infinitely varied in their customs, intellects, educations, and positions and in complete contrast to my ignorance, knew the meaning of life and death, labored in peace, endured suffering and hardship, lived and died, and saw in this not vanity but good.

I grew to love these people.  The more I learned about the lives of those living and dead about whom I had read and heard, the more I loved them and the easier it became for me to live.  I lived this way for about two years, and a profound transformation came over me, one that had been brewing in me for a long time and whose elements had always been a part of me.  The life of our class, of the wealthy and the learned, was not only repulsive to me but had lost all meaning.  The sum of our action and thinking, of our science and art, all of it struck me as the overindulgences of a spoiled child.  I realized that meaning was not to be sought here.  The actions of the laboring people, of those who create life, began to appear to me as the one true way.  I realized that the meaning provided by this life was truth, and I embraced it.

But at that point I took a closer look at myself and at what had been happening within me; and I remembered the hundreds of times I had gone through these deaths and revivals.  I remembered that I had lived only when I believed in God.  Then, as now, I said to myself, "As long as I know God, I live; when I forget, when I do not believe in him, I die."  What are these deaths and revivals?  It is clear that I do not live whenever I lose my faith in the existence of God, and I would have killed myself long ago if I did not have some vague hope of finding God.  I truly live only whenever I am conscious of him and seek him.  "What, then, do I seek?" a voice cried out within me.  "He is there, the one without whom there could be no life."  To know God and to live come to one and the same thing.  God is life.

"Live, seeking God, for there can be no life without God."  And more powerfully than ever a light shone within me and all around me, and this light has not abandoned me since.


-  from "My Confession" by Leo Tolstoy

Proverbs 25

1 These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied.

2 It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. 3 As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the heart of kings is unsearchable. 4 Take away the dross from the silver, and the smith has material for a vessel; 5 take away the wicked from the presence of the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness. 6 Do not put yourself forward in the king's presence or stand in the place of the great, 7 for it is better to be told, "Come up here," than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.

What your eyes have seen 8 do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? 9 Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another's secret, 10 lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.

11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. 12 Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. 13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters. 14 Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give.

15 With patience a ruler may be persuaded, and a soft tongue will break a bone. 16 If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. 17 Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. 18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. 19 Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips. 20 Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. 21 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, 22 for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. 23 The north wind brings forth rain, and a backbiting tongue, angry looks. 24 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. 25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. 26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27 It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one's own glory. 28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.

Proverbs 24

1 Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them, 2 for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.

3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; 4 by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. 5 A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, 6 for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. 7 Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.

8 Whoever plans to do evil will be called a schemer. 9 The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

10 If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. 11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 12 If you say, "Behold, we did not know this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?

13 My son, eat honey, for it is good, and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste. 14 Know that wisdom is such to your soul; if you find it, there will be a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

15 Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; 16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, 18 lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

19 Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, 20 for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

21 My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise, 22 for disaster will arise suddenly from them, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

23 These also are sayings of the wise.

Partiality in judging is not good. 24 Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, 25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. 26 Whoever gives an honest answer kisses the lips.

27 Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.

28 Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips. 29 Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done."

30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, 31 and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. 32 Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, 34 and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.