“He shall glorify Me: for He shall receive of Mine, and shall shew it unto you”–John 16:14

The Holy Ghost Himself cannot better glorify the LORD Jesus than by showing to us Christ’s own things. Jesus is His own best commendation. There is no adorning Him except with his own gold. The Comforter shows us that which He has received of our LORD Jesus. We never see anything aright till He reveals it. He has a way of opening our minds and of opening the Scriptures, and by this double process He sets forth our LORD to us. There is much art in setting forth a matter, and that art belongs in the highest degree to the Spirit of truth. He shows us the things themselves. This is a great privilege, as those know who have enjoyed the hallowed vision. Let us seek the illumination of the Spirit; not to gratify our curiosity, nor even to bring us personal comfort, so much as to glorify the LORD Jesus. Oh, to have worthy ideas of Him! Groveling notions dishonor our precious LORD. Oh, to have such vivid impressions of His person, and work, and glory that we may with heart and soul cry out to His praise! Where there is a heart enriched by the Holy Ghost’s teaching there will be a Savior glorified beyond expression. Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly light, and show us Jesus our LORD!–Faith’s Checkbook

Fight the good fight of faith.– 1 Timothy 6:12

True Christianity! Let us mind that word “true.” There is a vast quantity of religion current in the world which is not true, genuine Christianity. There are thousands of men and women who go to churches and chapels every Sunday and call themselves Christians. They make a “profession” of faith in Christ. Their names are in the baptismal register. They are reckoned Christians while they live. They are married with a Christian marriage service. They mean to be buried as Christians when they die. But you never see any “fight” about their religion! Of spiritual strife and exertion and conflict and self-denial and watching and warring — they know literally nothing at all. Such Christianity may satisfy man, and those who say anything against it may be thought very hard and uncharitable; but it certainly is not the Christianity of the Bible. It is not the religion which the Lord Jesus founded, and His apostles preached. It is not the religion which produces real holiness. True Christianity is “a fight!”

The principal fight of the Christian is with . . .
  the world,
  the flesh, and
  the devil.
These are his never-dying foes! These are the three chief enemies against whom he must wage war.—- To be at peace with the world, the flesh and the devil — is to be at enmity with God and in the broad way that leads to destruction! We have no choice or option.—-

It is a fight of universal necessity. No rank or class or age can plead exemption, or escape the battle — all alike must carry arms and go to war.
All have by nature a heart full of pride, unbelief, sloth, worldliness and sin!
All are living in a world beset with snares, traps and pitfalls for the soul.
All have near them a busy, restless, malicious devil.
All, from the queen in her palace down to the pauper in the workhouse — all must fight—

We may take comfort about our souls, if we know anything of an inward fight and conflict. It is the invariable companion of genuine Christian holiness.

The saddest symptom about many so-called Christians, is the utter absence of anything like conflict and fight in their Christianity. They eat, they drink, they dress, they work, they amuse themselves, they get money, they spend money, they go through a scanty round of formal religious services once or twice every week. But of the great spiritual warfare — its watchings and strugglings, its agonies and anxieties, its battles and contests — of all this they appear to know nothing at all.–J. C. Ryle

Since we all need help it comes as no surprise that people often ask,”What will help me?”. Give them credit, at least they recognize their need of help and are seeking it. That puts them miles ahead of those who don’t. They truly want help, and there’s usually no shortage of suggestions.

A spiritual minded friend might suggest prayer, and that’s good. A recovering drug addict might say,”A twelve- step program”. Others might suggest a good book, a respected counselor, a clinic,or a number of other things. But I’ve got another suggestion. Instead of asking,”What” will help me?, how about asking,Who” can help me? That might seem like splitting-hairs, but there is actually an importance difference. As someone said, “Too many have joined the movement of Christianity rather than surrendered to the Man of Christianity”.

As strange as it might seem, we Christians sometimes forget that it is Christ Himself who is our Helper. That’s a serious mistake. We end up trusting religion rather than the Redeemer. The truth is that our greatest help is found in a person, not a plan or program. That person is Christ. It is He and nothing else or no one else that enables us to “do all things”(Phil. 4:13) and supplies “all your need”(Phil. 4:19). Sometimes we pray for power as though it was something other than Christ.Fact is, He is our power–that’s the way we should look at it. Whether we need power, provisions, peace, or whatever they are all found in Him. It is for this reason that we must keep “looking unto Jesus”(Heb. 12:2). We need to see Him as our need–the One who supplies all our other needs. The One who indwells us enables us. As we yield ourselves to His Lordship and depend upon Him all our needs are met. Even in Christian service, it is what He does in us and through us that matters, not what we do for Him. There is a big difference between the two.

If we make it all about what we do rather than what He does we will wear ourselves out– in short order everything becomes a burden rather than a blessing. When we depend on Christ, not only does He get the job done, He gets the glory. Never underestimate the power of Christ. We can do nothing without Him and all things through Him. Bible study and prayer are important, but strictly speaking it’s not prayer that changes things, but Christ. And while the Bible is true, giving us good direction, Jesus is the “Truth”, — the One who takes us where we should go rather than just telling us. Look to Him for all your needs. He can help!

“Christ who is our life”–Col. 3:4

Paul knew how to say much in a few words and he knew where we could best focus our attention. For him to live was Christ. For him to preach was the cross. And whether learning or teaching it was all about Christ and Him crucified! For Paul everything revolved around his dear Savior, the one near and dear to his heart, the one at the heart and center of his world.

Paul knew from experience and wrote by inspiration as he penned these ever so important words, “Christ, who is our life”. Having been saved by the grace of God, enlightened by the Word of God, quickened by the Spirit of God, the believer receives life in Christ–life which is Christ! So, now as a child of God he walks in newness of life. In light of these glorious truths Spurgeon wrote:

Christ is now the substance of our spiritual life. It is by His life that we live; He is in us, the hope glory, the spring of our actions, the central thought which moves every other thought.

Christ is the sustenance of our life. What can the Christian feed upon but Jesus? O wayworn pilgrims in this wilderness of sin, you never get a morsel to satisfy the hunger
of your spirits, except you find it in Him!

Christ is the solace of our life. All our true joys come from Him; and in times of trouble, His presence is our consolation. There is nothing worth living for but Him; and His lovingkindness is better than life!

That indeed is true and it makes a world of difference as to how we live in this world. The One who is our life has set an example for us and as we walk with Him we become like Him. In His footsteps we walk the road to victory. In His fellowship we find confidence, comfort and courage to face the roughest roads, fight the fiercest enemies, and endure the most troublesome trails. So let us ever press on until we get home and enjoy eternal life with the One who is our life!

If we look at the offices of Christ it endears Him to our heart–

He is a PROPHET, to . . .
  instruct the ignorant,
  lead the blind, and
  make the foolish, wise.
He . . .
  unfolds the Father’s mind,
  opens the everlasting covenant,
  and teaches all His people to profit.

He is a PRIEST, to . . .
  atone for the guilty,
  reconcile those who are enemies, and
  intercede on behalf of transgressors.
He . . .
  satisfies justice,
  magnifies mercy, and
  brings a holy God and polluted sinners into an honorable union.

He is a KING, and as such He . . .
  receives the discontented,
  rules over innumerable penitent criminals,
  and defends all His subjects from danger.
His power is omnipotent,
His resources are boundless,
His government is peaceful, and
all the statutes of His kingdom are wise, merciful, and just.

He is also our husband — who loves, cherishes, and honors His beloved blood-bought bride. He . . .
  loves her as He loves Himself,
  treats her with unutterable kindness, and
  will allow nothing to separate her from His love.

This causes us to sing:
“Jesus my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
  My Prophet, Priest, and King,
  My Lord, my life, my way, my end,
  Accept the praise I bring!”  — James Smith

Have you brought Him praise today? Spend a few minutes thinking about the Lord’s many
offices and how they affect you– think deeply, and you will praise Him easily. Considering
who He is, what He has done, what He is doing, and what He yet will do, how can you not
praise Him!