The Task

The LORD has given each of us a charge and it is but up to us to obey that charge or not. Does the way seem just too hard does the task seem too much to bear. No No Our Father tells us He will not give us more than we can bear. He will not give us a task we cannot complete.. for it is The Holy Spirit~ His Power~ His Strength that does the work...we just are to obey His instructions. Amen and Amen!!!

Spiritual Strength And Courage For Spiritual Warfare

                                                     
Spiritual strength and courage are needed for our spiritual warfare and suffering. Those who would prove themselves to have true grace, must aim at all grace; and put on the whole armour of God, which he prepares and bestows.

The Christian armour is made to be worn; and there is no putting off our armour till we have done our warfare, and finished our course. The combat is not against human enemies, nor against our own corrupt nature only; we have to do with an enemy who has a thousand ways of beguiling unstable souls.

The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armour, we give him advantage.

The different parts of the armour of heavy-armed soldiers, who had to sustain the fiercest assaults of the enemy, are here described. There is none for the back; nothing to defend those who turn back in the Christian warfare. Truth, or sincerity, is the girdle. This girds on all the other pieces of our armour, and is first mentioned. There can be no religion without sincerity. 

The righteousness of Christ, imputed to us, is a breastplate against the arrows of Divine wrath. The righteousness of Christ implanted in us, fortifies the heart against the attacks of Satan.

Resolution must be as armour to our legs; and to stand their ground or to march forward in rugged paths, the feet must be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Motives to obedience, amidst trials, must be drawn from a clear knowledge of the gospel.

Faith is all in all in an hour of temptation. Faith, as relying on unseen objects, receiving Christ and the benefits of redemption, and so deriving grace from him, is like a shield, a defense every way. The devil is the wicked one. Violent temptations, by which the soul is set on fire of hell, are darts Satan shoots at us. Also, hard thoughts of God, and as to ourselves. Faith applying the word of God and the grace of Christ, quenches the darts of temptation.

Salvation must be our helmet. A good hope of salvation, a Scriptural expectation of victory, will purify the soul, and keep it from being defiled by Satan.

To the Christian armed for defense in battle, the apostle recommends only one weapon of attack; but it is enough, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. It subdues and mortifies evil desires and blasphemous thoughts as they rise within; and answers unbelief and error as they assault from without. A single text, well understood, and rightly applied, at once destroys a temptation or an objection, and subdues the most formidable adversary.

Prayer must fasten all the other parts of our Christian armour. There are other duties of religion, and of our stations in the world, but we must keep up times of prayer. Though set and solemn prayer may not be seasonable when other duties are to be done, yet short pious prayers darted out, always are so. We must use holy thoughts in our ordinary course. A vain heart will be vain in prayer.

We must pray with all kinds of prayer, public, private, and secret; social and solitary; solemn and sudden: with all the parts of prayer; confession of sin, petition for mercy, and thanksgiving for favours received. And we must do it by the grace of God the Holy Spirit, in dependence on, and according to, his teaching. We must preserve in particular requests, notwithstanding discouragements. We must pray, not for ourselves only, but for all saints.

Our enemies are mighty, and we are without strength, but our Redeemer is almighty, and in the power of his might we may overcome. Wherefore we must stir up ourselves. Have not we, when God has called, often neglected to answer? Let us think upon these things, and continue our prayers with patience.

POWER OVER SATAN

                                      
There is ONE THING that is the Playground of the devil~it is unbelief~and if there is one thing that the devil is always seeking to promote and maintain~it is Unfaith.

The hallmark of the devil's work from the Garden to the end is unbelief~doubt of God~to question about God and God's ways~and God's motives.

That is where the devil is coming all the time~ with an 'if'. If this and if that. If God were what He says He is~then this would not be. You know the thousands of 'ifs' and 'buts' of the devil.

The only POWER of VICTORY over the devil is FAITH in God. We can use the language of Victory and Power over satan and it counts for nothing. We must have a new position of power over the enemy.

The KEY is FAITH~it may be Faith in the Blood~ or in the Name~or in the LORD~but it is Faith. 

~T. Austin Sparks~

SIN

                                                                                   
If someone is to be brought under conviction, those of us who are Christians need to understand something about sin.
Are people in trouble spiritually because they inherit some spiritual defect from their parents or grandparents? No. They are in trouble because when they reach the age of accountability they deliberately turn their own way - they commit their will to the principle and practice of pleasing themselves as the end of their being. That is sin.

Here is the essence of sin: Mere man has determined he's going the defy the only One in the universe who is Wise enough, Big enough, and Good enough to Govern and Rule men's lives. Man has climbed onto the throne of his own heart - a place only God can be. And there he sits as a sinner, determined to do only what he wants to do. But all the while, he is utterly dependent upon God for his very life and breath.

When God made us He gave us many different appetites... But God looked at the being He made and to whom He had given all these appetites and urges and said,It is good!

Now temptation is not sin. Temptation is the proposition presented to the mind that you can satisfy a good appetite in a forbidden way. Temptation leads to sin.

Sin is the decision of the will. It is not the gratifying of an appetite. Sin is the decision to do it. He that hates his brother is already a murderer, says Jesus (see Matthew 5:22). Hatred is the intention to hurt and harm. The one who hates has decided to hurt.

In the same way, the one who has the mind to commit adultery is already guilty. The decision to do it - even before the act is complete, and before the opportunity has been presented - constitutes the essence of sin. Again, sin is the decision to gratify a good appetite in a bad way.

Now remember, sin is a crime. It is the committal of the will to the principle and practice of governing one's life to please one's self. In other words, when the Scripture says~all have sinned~it is saying that upon reaching the age of accountability, every individual has chosen to govern and control his life to please himself... We know that upon reaching the age of accountability, each of us chose as the principle by which we would live: I am going to govern and control my own life.

~Paris Reidhead~

LYING Tongue Abomination To GOD!!!

 

ALL Unrepentant LIARS Will Have Their Part In The Lake Of FIRE!!!