“WHAT IF?…. IS GOD ENOUGH?”

December 15, 2016 By Pastor David Stone

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” – Habakkuk 3:17-18

Is God enough for you? So many times we say, “Oh, I love the Lord because He has given me a wonderful family.” Or, “I love the Lord because of the beautiful day He has given.” I call this “because” kind of love. And that kind of love can be threatening.

What if a woman told her husband, “Honey, I love you because you’re so rich.” Then he loses his health and ability to earn an income for the family.

What if a husband told his wife, “I love you because you’re such a great cook.” And she loses her ability to cook.

These would be threats to the future of their love for one another. They could say, “Well, since I can no longer do this, I have lost his/her love.”

A lot of people love God this way. They love Him as long as He is blessing them. But what if His blessings were taken away? Would you still love Him?–Adrian Rogers

God’s love never changes–although, due to His wisdom, He must sometimes change the way He deals with us. You can’t measure God’s love by your circumstances. The proof of His love is Calvary! Deserving nothing we should be satisfied with whatever God does. With our focused fixed on the cross we can be content regardless of circumstances.–HDS

OUR RULE AND MOTIVE

December 13, 2016 By Pastor David Stone

“If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” – John 14:15

Here is the Christian’s grand RULE of action, the commandments of his dear Saviour. Jesus commands us because He loves us; because He desires our present welfare; because He will prove the sincerity of our profession; and because He approves of the obedience of faith.

He commands us to imitate Himself; He is our great pattern and example; and we should endeavour to imitate Him in His Spirit, and design, and actions. He commands us to believe Him, profess Him, obey Him, and continue in His love. Here we have the Christian’s grand MOTIVE and spring of action–LOVE. Spiritual love is always loyal to the King of Zion; jealous for the glory of the Lord of Hosts; and determined in the cause of the Prince of peace. The obedience of love is easy–hearty–and thorough.

Love is the strongest incentive to obedience; it conquers fear–furnishes with zeal–equips with courage–devises the means–surmounts difficulties–and triumphs over opposition. Let us inquire from what does our obedience spring? By what is it regulated? Is our motive and rule, holy love? (James Smith)

Love is the fountain whence
All true obedience flows;
The Christian serves the God he loves,
And loves the God he knows :
May love o’er every power preside,

A QUIET HEART

December 12, 2016 By Pastor David Stone

“In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

It is always weakness to be fretting and worrying, questioning and mis-trusting. What can we do if we wear ourselves to skin and bone? Can we gain anything by fearing and fuming? Do we not unfit ourselves for action and unhinge our minds for wise decision? We are sinking by our struggles when we might float by faith.

Oh, for grace to be quiet! Why run from house to house to repeat the weary story which makes us more and more heart-sick as we tell it? Why even stay at home to cry out in agony because of wretched forebodings which may never be fulfilled? It would be well to keep a quiet tongue, but it would be far better if we had a quiet heart. Oh, to be still and know that Jehovah is God!

Oh, for grace to be confident in God! The holy One of Israel must defend and deliver His own. He cannot run back from His solemn declarations. We may make sure that every word of His will stand though the mountains should depart. He deserves to be confided in; and if we would display confidence and consequent quietness, we might be as happy as the spirits before the throne.

Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus.– Charles Spurgeon

THE DISCIPLE’S DUTY

December 11, 2016 By Pastor David Stone

“…lovest thou me?… Feed my sheep.”— John 21:16

Jesus did not say – Make converts to your way of thinking, but look after My sheep, see that they get nourished in the knowledge of Me. We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. Discipleship is based on devotion to Jesus Christ, not on adherence to a belief or a creed. “If any man come to Me and hate not…, he cannot be My disciple.” There is no argument and no compulsion, but simply – If you would be My disciple, you must be devoted to Me. A man touched by the Spirit of God suddenly says – “Now I see Who Jesus is,” and that is the source of devotion.

To-day we have substituted credal belief for personal belief, and that is why so many are devoted to causes and so few devoted to Jesus Christ. People do not want to be devoted to Jesus, but only to the cause He started. Jesus Christ is a source of deep offence to the educated mind of to-day that does not want Him in any other way than as a Comrade. Our Lord’s first obedience was to the will of His Father, not to the needs of men; the saving of men was the natural outcome of His obedience to the Father. If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat. The secret of a disciple’s life is devotion to Jesus Christ, and the characteristic of the life is its unobtrusiveness. It is like a corn of wheat, which falls into the ground and dies, but presently it will spring up and alter the whole landscape (John 12:24). — Oswald Chambers

QUARRELING WITH PROVIDENCE

December 11, 2016 By Pastor David Stone

“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”—Luke 22:42

James Alexander wrote in 1852, “The true recipe for miserable existence is this: Quarrel with Providence“. That is, to complain about what God causes, or refusing to accept what God allows. And I suspect that at times we are all guilty of such folly. Seldom do we honestly say “not my will“–that’s the opposite of how most folks feel. And, even when we say, “Thy will be done” we generally have some limitations in mind.

Although we know that God acts out of love, with wisdom, and in our best interest we tend to complain about certain things. Even knowing that God can use it for His glory and our good doesn’t always persuade us to accept some things. We seem to always have an excuse to justify our stubborn refusal to submit to the situation. It seems more reasonable to us that we be allowed to escape our troubles and trials rather than endure them.

We are familiar with the stories of Job, Joseph, and others who submitted to their suffering and refused to complain about their circumstances, but we don’t care about following their examples. Instead, we argue against what God allows into our lives. Knowing we can’t change it or control it we complain anyway– we continue fighting a losing battle. The only solution to this situation is submission, yielding ourselves to providence–even though God gives no explanation as to why things are as they are. But,when you truly trust God submitting to Him is no problem. You know that in yielding yourself to God you are in good hands—you couldn’t be in a safer place.

Don’t be one of those who say. “Thy will be done” and then complain because it is. Don’t argue when what God allows doesn’t meet with your approval. We say He does all things well, then act as though we have a better idea. We claim we deserve nothing, but act as though we deserve better. That is so unlike Christ that we ought to be embarrassed. The only path to peace is to trust God, as we’re told in Isa. 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” —HDS

“WHAT IF?…. IS GOD ENOUGH?”

OUR RULE AND MOTIVE

A QUIET HEART

THE DISCIPLE’S DUTY

QUARRELING WITH PROVIDENCE

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