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[McWilliams]

What should move God to love us?

(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")

The free favor and love of God, the good will and pleasure
of God--is the true ground and cause of God's bestowing of
Himself as a portion upon His people. There was no cause,
nor loveliness, nor desirableness in them--which could
move God to bestow Himself upon them.

God, for the glory of His own free grace and love, has bestowed
Himself as a portion upon those who have deserved to have their
portion among devils and damned spirits--in those torments
which are endless, ceaseless, and remediless.

But what should move God to love us, who were so unworthy,
so filthy, so empty, so beggarly? The question may be resolved
in these words--He loves us because He loves us. The root
of all divine love to us, lies only in the bosom of God.

 

[McWilliams]

He awoke with everlasting flames about his ears!

(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")

Earthly riches commonly load the soul with a multitude of
cares, fears, griefs, and vexations--which mightily disturb
the soul, distract the soul; yes, often rack, torture, and
torment the soul.

Earthly riches, for the most part, do a world of mischief
and hurt to their owners. Oh the souls which earthly riches
have pierced through and through with many sorrows!
Oh the minds which earthly riches have blinded!
Oh the hearts which earthly riches have hardened!
Oh the consciences which earthly riches have benumbed!
Oh the wills which earthly riches have perverted!
Oh the affections which earthly riches have disordered!
Oh the lives which earthly riches have corrupted!

Oh the time, the thoughts, the strength, the energy--which
rich men spend and consume upon their riches--while their
precious souls lie a-bleeding to death, and an eternity of
misery is hastening upon them!

Dives was so taken up with his riches, pomp, state, and
with his royal apparel, royal attendance, and royal fare--
that he never minded heaven, nor ever dreaded hell--until
he awoke with everlasting flames about his ears!

When the bodies of the wicked are rotting in their graves,
and their souls are roaring in hell, none of their worldly
greatness, pomp, state, glory, gallantry, riches, houses,
or revenues, shall descend after them to administer one
drop of comfort to them! Therefore never envy their
outward prosperity or worldly glory.

 

[edie19]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]The Observatory
by Max Lucado
A few mornings back I was jogging through my neighborhood, and even I could not miss the significance of that day. It was the first day of school.
It was no surprise to me, then, to see a pretty little girl step out of her house wearing new clothes and a backpack. “Have a great first day of school,” I greeted as I jogged past.
She stopped and looked at me as if I’d pulled a rabbit out of a hat. “How did you know?!”
She was stunned. Somehow I had miraculously discerned why she was up so early and where she was going. And she was impressed.
“Oh, I just know those kind of things,” I shouted back to her. (No need to burst her bubble.)
You, on the other hand, are not so easily impressed. You understand the difference between a child and a grownup. Take the difference between the girl and me, amplify it a million times over, and we begin to see the contrast between us and our Father.
We ask for grace, only to find forgiveness already offered. (How did you know I would sin?)
We ask for food, only to find provision already made. (How did you know I would be hungry?)
We ask for guidance, only to find answers in God’s ancient story. (How did you know what I would ask?)
God dwells in a different realm. “The foolishness of God is higher than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor. 1:25). He occupies another dimension. “My thoughts are not like your thoughts. Your ways are not like my ways. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).
[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[McWilliams]

That white devil!

(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)

While the disciples were healing diseases and casting
out demons, the proud white devil was a-stirring in
their own souls; as is evident by that gentle rebuke
which our Savior gives them in Luke 10:20, "Don't
rejoice that the spirits submit to you."

There is no pious duty which a Christian performs, but
one white devil or another--one lust or another--will be
still dogging and following of him to that duty. There is
no public duty, there is no family duty, there is no private
duty which a Christian performs--but either that white
devil pride, or that white devil hypocrisy, or that white
devil vainglory; or else some one or another white devil
will follow the soul, near at heel to it.

 

[McWilliams]

Feeding Sheep or Entertaining Goats? C.H. Spurgeon
The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into His mission, He would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear Him say, "Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!" Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel amusement. Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her and bring us back to apostolic methods.

 

[McWilliams]

The constant cry of the rod

(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)

One lesson that you are to learn by the rod of affliction,
is to get more weaned and more mortified affections to
all worldly comforts, contentments, and enjoyments.

A man never comes to experience so much of . . .
the emptiness,
the nothingness,
the uselessness,
the vanity,
the mutability,
the impotency,
the insufficiency,
the uncertainty
of all worldly comforts and enjoyments--as when he falls
under the rod of affliction. The constant cry of the rod
is, "Be dead to the profits, pleasures, honors, and applauses
of the world! Be dead to everything below a living Jesus

 

[McWilliams]

It would make him pull his hat over his eyes!

(Thomas Brooks, "The Privy Key of Heaven" 1665)

All Christians have their secret sins. Secret not only
from other men--but from himself! It is but natural for
every man to err, and then to be ignorant of his errors.
Every man's sins are beyond his understanding. There
is not the best, the wisest, nor the holiest man in the
world--who can give a full and entire list of his sins.

"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from
secret faults." Psalm 19:12

"Who can understand his errors?" This interrogation has
the force of an affirmation: "Who can?" No man! No, not
the most perfect and innocent man in the world!

O friends! who can reckon up . . .
the secret sinful imaginations,
the secret sinful inclinations,
the secret pride,
the secret blasphemies,
the secret hypocrisies,
the secret atheistical risings,
the secret murmurings,
the secret repinings,
the secret discontents,
the secret insolencies,
the secret filthinesses,
the secret unbelievings,
which God might every day charge upon his soul?

Should the best and holiest man on earth have but
his secret sins written on his forehead, it would not
only put him to a crimson blush--but it would
make him pull his hat over his eyes, or cover
his face with a double scarf!

"Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from
secret faults." Psalm 19:12

 

[McWilliams]

Lessons When You Least Expect Them

Denial. One way to escape from a conflict is to pretend that it does not exist. Or, if we cannot deny that the problem exists, we simply refuse to do what should be done to resolve a conflict properly. These responses bring only temporary relief and usually make matters worse (see Gen. 16:1-6; 1 Sam. 2:22-25).​

Taken from The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
by Ken Sande, Updated Edition (Grand Rapids, Baker Books, 2003) p. 23.Food for Thought
One afternoon I sat in my car at a red light--one of those lights that seemingly takes forever to turn green. As I waited, I began to grow quite impatient. "There is no other traffic," I thought, "and I need to get to the store!" But about that time, a little boy who appeared to be 5 or 6 years old began to cross the street. He was using an electric wheelchair and his adult companion walked beside him. By the way he fumbled with the controls, I could tell the wheelchair was new to him--the chair jerked dramatically as he moved the control back and forth. Every once in a while the woman with him would reach over, put her hand on his, and show him what to do. He stopped right in front of me, looked over at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen and then waved. I waved back, and he continued up the sidewalk (with a brief detour in the grass). He looked back at me with that same smile and waved once more. He was so proud of his accomplishment, and as I watched him roll down the street, the tears ran down my face. The light was no longer important; my rush to get to the store was gone. In an ironic twist, the light had turned green, and I missed it.
I was suddenly gripped with the thought that this little boy could not deny his circumstances. While I don't know how he ended up needing the wheelchair, there he was, and he wasn't in denial about it. He was using every available resource to live as full a life as possible. The situation may not have been in his control, but his response was, and he seemed to handle it well.

We can draw huge spiritual truths from my encounter with this little boy, and one of them deals with conflict. While conflict may come to us in ways we cannot control, our response is always something we can control. If you are in the midst of a conflict, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to deny it exists and further complicate the situation? Or are you going to use every available resource to respond to the conflict in a God-glorifying manner? As Ken states, the relief that comes with denial is temporary; the problem will rise to the top again and bring "friends" with it. God gives us the resources we need to deal with conflict, and He guides us as we walk through it. We are called to be good stewards and employ the resources He provides.

 

[McWilliams]

All the hell that you shall ever have!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

Consider Christian, that all your . . .
trials and troubles,
calamities and miseries,
crosses and losses,
which you meet with in this world--is
all the hell that you shall ever have!

Here and now you have your hell.
Hereafter you shall have your heaven!

This is the worst of your condition;
the best is yet to come!

Lazarus had his hell first, his heaven last; but
Dives had his heaven first, and his hell at last.

You have all your pangs, and pains, and throes
here--that ever you shall have! Your ease, and
rest, and pleasure--is yet to come!

Here you have all your bitters;
your sweets are yet to come!

Here you have your sorrows;
your joys are yet to come!

Here you have all your winter nights;
your summer days are yet to come!

Here you have your evil things;
your good things are yet to come!

Death will put an end to all your sins
--and to all your sufferings!

Death will be an inlet to those joys, delights,
and comforts--which shall never have an end!

Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not
be silent under God's most smarting rod?

 

[edie19]

As one who has trouble shutting my mind off at night I appreciate this one:

Psalm 127:2
It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

Rodney couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, thinking of the bills yet to pay, the braces needed for the children's teeth, the pressures at work, the promises made but not yet fulfilled. Each time he pushed one demon thought from his mind, another popped in. His health was beginning to be affected by his lack of sleep. That added just one more thing to his list of worries.Worry is the last thing that will help our problems. In fact, worry can immobilize us from being able to take any kind of positive steps toward solutions. The only purpose for worry is to indicate to us that we need to turn our problems over to God. Once we enlist the help of our Lord, then we can rest easy. God will carry us through any situation, and He will grant us peace of mind and peace of heart.
​

 

[Bernergirl]

God has been impressing upon me that holding onto joy in Him and living out my faith is more important than having all the answers and perfect theology to guide a searching and analytical (very much like myself) father and a mother who has questions. Through my obedience will my parents be affected by my faith, not through my ability to answer every question like a search engine.

Praise be to God always!

 

[McWilliams]

Sin, and our responding to temptations, begins in our thought life, submitting to the wiles of Satan to entice us away from our Lord!
C.S. Spurgeon wrote:
The Scripture says, "He that committeth sin is of the devil." Abiding under the power of any known sin is a mark of our being the servants of sin, for "his servants ye are to whom ye obey." Idle are the boasts of a man who harbours within himself the love of any transgression. He may feel what he likes, and believe what he likes, he is still in the gall of bitterness and the bonds of iniquity while a single sin rules his heart and life. True regeneration implants a hatred of all evil; and where one sin is delighted in, the evidence is fatal to a sound hope. A man need not take a dozen poisons to destroy his life, one is quite sufficient! There must be a harmony between the life and the profession. A Christian professes to renounce sin; and if he does not do so , his very name is an imposture!!
(from The Soul Winner)

 

[McWilliams]

UPON THE BARREN FIG-TREE IN GOD'S VINEYARD​

hat, barren here! in this so good a soil?
The sight of this doth make God's heart recoil
From giving thee his blessing; barren tree,
Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be!
Art thou not planted by the water-side?
Know'st not thy Lord by fruit is glorified?
The sentence is, Cut down the barren tree:
Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be.
Hast thou been digg'd about and dunged too,
Will neither patience nor yet dressing do?
The executioner is come, O tree,
Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be!
He that about thy roots takes pains to dig,
Would, if on thee were found but one good fig,
Preserve thee from the axe: but, barren tree,
Bear fruit, or else thy end will cursed be!
The utmost end of patience is at hand,
'Tis much if thou much longer here doth stand.
O cumber-ground, thou art a barren tree.
Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be!
Thy standing nor they name will help at all;
When fruitful trees are spared, thou must fall.
The axe is laid unto thy roots, O tree!
Bear fruit, or else thine end will cursed be​