Text 969, 79 rader
Skriven 2006-03-19 22:19:54 av Bob Hoffman (8:8/2)
Ärende: Divine Provision
========================
Divine Provision
Faith's Checkbook

March 20
Divine Provision "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field,
which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more
clothe you, O ye of little faith?" (Matthew 6:30) Clothes are expensive,
and poor believers may be led into anxiety as to where their next suit will
come from. The soles are thin; how shall we get new shoes? See how our
thoughtful LORD has provided against this care. Our heavenly Father clothes the
grass of the field with a splendor such as Solomon could not equal: will He not
clothe His own children? We are sure He will. There may be many a patch and a
darn, but raiment we shall have. A poor minister found his clothes nearly
threadbare, and so far gone that they would hardly hold together; but as a
servant of the LORD he expected his Master to find him his livery. It so
happened that the writer on a visit to a friend had the loan of the good man's
pulpit, and it came into his mind to make a collection for him, and there was
his suit. Many other cases we have seen in which those who had served the LORD
have found Him considerate of their wardrobe. He who made man so that when he
had sinned he needed garments, also in mercy supplied him with them; and those
which the LORD gave to our first parents were far better than those they made
for themselves.
======================================================================
=========
Happiness hunters! (Cornelius Tyree, "The Moral Power of a Pious
Life") A higher degree of personal piety, will promote a higher degree of
personal happiness. "Sin and sorrow are bound together by adamantine
chains." Hence man increases in misery--as he increases in sin. It is upon
this principle that the devil is the most miserable being in the
universe--because he is the most depraved. So, on the other hand, there is an
inseparable connection between holiness and happiness. God is the most happy
being in the universe--because He is the most holy. And the happiness of His
people is just in proportion as they resemble Him in righteousness and true
holiness. Heaven is a world of supreme happiness, because it is a world of
supreme holiness. Hell is a world of supreme misery, because sin is there fully
developed. God has so ordered it, that our comfort and happiness in this world
can only be found in a pious life. For the last six thousand years mankind have
been happiness hunters. In all ages and lands the eager query has been,
"Who will show us any good?" But every device has been a failure! The
recorded and unrecorded experience of all has been, "All is vanity and
vexation of spirit!" We can no more expect to find happiness in the
pursuits and objects of this world--than we may expect to find luscious grapes
growing at the icy North Pole. But in the likeness and service of Christ, is
found a happiness which is pure, elevating, perennial, inexhaustible--a
happiness that will go with us in all conditions, all lands, and all worlds!
The great cause of all the sadness and depression in the followers of Christ,
is the small degree of their piety. The only reason why they are disconsolate,
is because they
"follow the Lord afar off." One single uncrucified,
unbemoaned sin--will not only destroy all pious enjoyment--but open the soul to
the devil, with his whole black train of guilt and misery. It matters not what
this sin is. Any one sin habitually indulged in, whether it is pride, malice,
backbiting, covetousness, filling the mind with unholy images, or murmuring
under adverse providences--will exclude from the soul all pious enjoyment.
After all, the great secret of being happy, is to be holy. He who grows in
practical piety has opened a thousand sources of true bliss. The
"golden fruit of happiness" grows only on the "tree
of holiness". If happiness is sought in any other way than by being
holy--it is sought in vain.
======================================================================
=========

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith's Checkbook is powered by InJesus.com.

See up-to-the-minute Christian communication and start your own ministry group
at http://www.InJesus.com/


SUBSCRIBE to Faith's Checkbook by clicking here:
   http://Faith-s-Checkbook.InJesus.com/Join/

If you do not have access to the web, send a blank email to:
   Faith-s-Checkbook-unsubscribe@MyInJesus.com
      --- or ---
   Faith-s-Checkbook-subscribe@MyInJesus.com

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5
 * Origin: FamilyNet Sponsored by http://www.christian-wellness.net (8:8/2)