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Tue, Nov 8th - 12:55PM

What It Means To Have Faith

E-mail message ============================================== C.H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening Devotional Tuesday November 8, 2005 http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ============================================== Morning "As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord."-Colossians 2:6 The life of faith is represented as receiving- an act which implies the very opposite of anything like merit. It is simply the acceptance of a gift. As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty vessels into which God pours His salvation. The idea of receiving implies a sense of realization, making the matter a reality. One cannot very well receive a shadow; we receive that which is substantial: so is it in the life of faith, Christ becomes real to us. While we are without faith, Jesus is a mere name to us-a person who lived a long while ago, so long ago that His life is only a history to us now! By an act of faith Jesus becomes a real person in the consciousness of our heart. But receiving also means grasping or getting possession of. The! thing which I receive becomes my own: I appropriate to myself that which is given. When I receive Jesus, He becomes my Saviour, so mine that neither life nor death shall be able to rob me of Him. All this is to receive Christ-to take Him as God's free gift; to realize Him in my heart, and to appropriate Him as mine. Salvation may be described as the blind receiving sight, the deaf receiving hearing, the dead receiving life; but we have not only received these blessings, we have received CHRIST JESUS Himself. It is true that He gave us life from the dead. He gave us pardon of sin; He gave us imputed righteousness. These are all precious things, but we are not content with them; we have received Christ Himself. The Son of God has been poured into us, and we have received Him, and appropriated Him. What a heartful Jesus must be, for heaven itself cannot contain Him! /--------------------------------

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Tue, Nov 8th - 12:46PM

Why God Allows Bad Things To Happen

E-mail message ============================================== Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon Tuesday November 8, 2005 http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ============================================== The Magnitude of Grace My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) Our weakness should be prized as making room for divine strength. We might never have known the power of grace if we had not felt the weakness of nature. Blessed be the Lord for the thorn in the flesh, and the messenger of Satan, when they drive us to the strength of God. This is a precious word from our Lord's own lip. It has made the writer laugh for joy. God's grace enough for me! I should think it is. Is not the sky enough for the bird and the ocean enough for the fish? The All-Sufficient is sufficient for my largest want. He who is sufficient for earth and heaven is certainly able to meet the case of one poor worm like me. Let us, then, fall back upon our God and His grace. If He does not remove our grief, He will enable us to bear it. His strength shall be poured into us till the worm shall thresh the mountains, and a nothing shall be victor over all the high and mighty ones. It is better for us to have God's strength than our own; for if we were a thousand times as strong as we are, it would amount to nothing in the face of the enemy; and if we could be weaker than we are, which is scarcely possible, yet we could do all things through Christ. /--------------------------------------- I need to expand on this. A friend of mine once asked me why God allows bad things to happen to people. I made a comment like this: Let's pretend you have a life where everything is handed to you on a silver platter. You have enough money to buy anything you want and am satisfied with what you have. You have no problems in your life. You life is great from day one. But there is a problem, if you have a life like this, you will not realize that you have a need for God and Jesus. That's why you get these little hardships thrown at you to realize your need for Jesus and God. God throws these hardships at you to make you realize that you need him and to make you stronger in faith. However, he knows how much hardship you can endure and he will not push you past your limits. Hope this makes sense.

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Mon, Nov 7th - 9:18AM

Something To Hope For

E-mail message ============================================== Daily Light on the Daily Path Devotional Sunday November 6, 2005 http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ============================================== Morning When Christ, [who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.--God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. wherefore comfort one another with these words.--When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.-- It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, [there] ye may be also. Col 3:4 Joh 11:25 1Jo 5:11,12 1Th 4:16-18 1Jo 3:2 1Co 15:43 Joh 14:3 ==============================================

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Mon, Nov 7th - 8:59AM

E-mail message ============================================== Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon Sunday November 6, 2005 http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ============================================== Delight and Desires Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm37:4) Delight in God has a transforming power and lifts a man above the gross desire of our fallen nature. Delight in Jehovah is not only sweet in itself, but it sweetens the whole soul, till the longings of the heart become such that the Lord can safely promise to fulfill them. Is not that a grand delight which molds our desires till they are like the desires of God? Our foolish way is to desire and then set to work to compass what we desire. We do not go to work in God's way, which is to seek Him first and then expect all things to be added unto us. If we will let our heart be filled with God till it runs over with delight, then the Lord Himself will take care that we shall not want any good thing. Instead of going abroad for joys let us stay at home with God and drink waters out of our own fountain. He can do for us far more than all our friends. It is better to be content with God alone than to go about fretting and pining for the paltry trifles of time and sense. For a while we may have disappointments; but if these bring us nearer to the Lord, they are things to be prized exceedingly, for they will in the end secure to us the fulfillment of all our right desires. /--------------------------------------- Be sure to check out our other devotionals http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml \--------------------------------------- This too I need reminding with. I am always desiring earthly possessions. Even though I don't worship other gods in a way I am. Computers, dvd players, cell phones, books and so on can be considered idold as well as actors and actresses.

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Thu, Nov 3rd - 4:45PM

God's Timing Is Not My Timing

I received this in my email devotional today and I so totally agree with it. E-mail message ============================================== Faith's Checkbook by C.H. Spurgeon Thursday November 3, 2005 http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ============================================== In God's Time For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Habakkuk 2:3) Mercy may seem slow, but it is sure. The Lord in unfailing wisdom has appointed a time for the outgoing of His gracious power, and God's time is the best time. We are in a hurry; the vision of the blessings excites our desire and hastens our longings; but the Lord will keep His appointments. He never is before His time; He never is behind. God's word is here spoken of as a living thing which will speak and will come. It is never a dead letter, as we are tempted to fear when we have long watched for its fulfillment. The living word is on the way from the living God, and though it may seem to linger, it is not in reality doing so. God's train is not behind time. It is only a matter of patience, and we shall soon see for ourselves the faithfulness of the Lord. No promise of His shall fail; "it will not lie." No promise of His will be lost in silence; "it shall speak." What comfort it will speak to the believing ear! No promise of His shall need to be renewed like a bill which could not be paid on the day in which it fell due-"it will not tarry." Come, my soul, canst thou not wait for thy God? Rest in Him and be still in unutterable peacefulness. /--------------------------------------- Be sure to check out our other devotionals http://bible.christiansunite.com/devotionals.shtml ****************************** I can totally relate to this. God does answer prayers but it might not be right away. He waits until it is most beneficial to us. He was a set time when he will come through for us. It might not be today but it might be a year from now. We need to be patient for God to do his will and be understanding if our prayers are not answered right away. And sometimes our prayers might not be answered in the way we want or expect them to be answered.

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Wed, Nov 2nd - 9:32AM

A Song Filled My Ears

A song filled my ears,

Â And I looked to find the music.

Though I searched and searched,

\All I could see was desolate beach.

In my fear, I turned to flee.

I ran till I could no more.

Sinking to sand, I allowed it to fill me.

This tune which I had so feared,

Affected me in ways I don't know.

The sand it changed,

To diamonds gleaming;

The sea to pure enchantment;

And to my mind,

A new sensation added Serenity.

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Tue, Nov 1st - 4:33PM

For You My Friend

This is to a very good friend of mine who is helping me get through some rough times:

For you, my friend,

I send you a smile,

For just being there,

By my side when I'm down,

And showing that you care.

I send you love,

For caring for me,

When I was sick or hurt,

Or wanted company.

I send you a rainbow,

Just for being my friend.

I didn't write this today I found this in one of my notebooks from high school and I had written a handful of poems, probably in Chemistry Class when I should have been paying attention. Some of them a little corny. But I feel this suits my friend perfectly.

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Tue, Nov 1st - 9:31AM

I am stronger

Because of many hardships I faced while growing up I am a stronger person. The old me was afraid of her own shadow. The old me would not stand up and fight. The old me would cower in fear. The old me let people bully her. The old me would stand in front of her class too afraid to read a book report aloud. The old me was the last to be picked for teams. The old me was shy and withdrawn. The old me started to change. It did not happen overnight. It was a steady but slow progress. The old me changed into a new me. The new me is not afraid and likes a challenge. The new me speaks up. The new me will fight for what is right. The new me is not shy. The new me is outgoing. The new me looks the world right in the eye.

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About Me

Name: Lois Ryan
ChristiansUnite ID: loisryan
Member Since: 2005-10-23
Location: Binghamton, New York, United States
Denomination: Christian
About Me: Not much to say. Want to keep a blog to help my Christian faith. Busy schedule in my life

Nov. 2005