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Bible Verse Reflections
Mar 26, 2012 by Editor
Eph 1:7, Eph 2:7, Eph 3:8,
In Him we have our redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace . . . that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus . . . To me, who am less than the least of all saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable (unfathomable) riches of Christ.
What about Today’s Verse…
What are the dimensions of the grace of God? How extensive are the resources of His grace? So often we drastically underestimate the measure of God’s supply of grace for our lives.
God is rich in grace. When He forgave our sins, He did so “according to the riches of His grace.” Think of the bountiful measure of grace that was bestowed to remove our guilt and shame. God generously poured out His grace in order to wash away our iniquities. Yet, in doing this He did not deplete the treasures of His grace.
In Eph 2:7, God speaks of the “exceeding riches of His grace.” The Lord’s grace is far beyond any richness that we have ever yet comprehended or experienced. God’s storehouse of grace is so abundantly full that He will be pouring it out upon us for the “ages to come.” Yes, it will take eternity for the Lord to fully demonstrate His grace toward us. This everlasting demonstration of His grace will involve showing His kindness toward all of us who are in Christ Jesus. Think of it — the dimensions of God’s grace are sufficient for Him to make us the objects of His kindness forever and ever!
One could liken the riches of God’s grace to an infinitely vast ocean. Think of the immensity of the oceans of the world. Although they are magnificent in scope, every ocean can be searched out or fathomed. Every ocean has a bottom that can be reached. Though vast, they are finite.
Paul testified that the Lord gave him grace to go forth and proclaim the “unsearchable (unfathomable) riches of Christ.” There is more grace available in the heart of God for us than there is water in all of the oceans of the world! Truly, no matter how much grace we have already discovered in Christ, we have only begun to search out the riches of His grace toward us.
Let us Pray:
Heavenly Father, we are awe struck at the vast dimensions of Your grace. Forgive us for underestimating that grace so often. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we might know the richness of Your grace. May the immeasurable ocean of Your grace be our daily supply for life in Christ, in His name we pray. Amen.
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Mar 25, 2012 by Editor
Eph 4:22-24
“Put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”
Rom 13:14
“Put you on the Lord Jesus Christ.”
What about Today’s Verse…
We can all start afresh! However far we have ascended, there is something higher; and however far we have fallen, it is always possible to make a fresh start. We need to take our place in the School of Christ and be taught by Him (Eph_4:20-21).
“The old man” which we must “put off” is clearly our former manner of life. If we have not put it entirely away, let us do so now by an immediate act of faith in the living Spirit. It does not take long for a beggar to put off his rags and take instead a new suit of clothes, and it need not take a moment longer to put away habits and thoughts, ways of speech and life which are unworthy of the children of God. Do it now and look up to the Holy Spirit to keep renewing you in the spirit of your mind.
But more than this, let us “put on the new man,” which is the life of Jesus Christ, that ideal which is in the likeness of God, and which the Lord created for us by His blessed life and death and resurrection. But to enable us to live this life we need the daily help of the Holy Spirit. He entered our hearts at the moment of regeneration, and has been with us ever since. We may not have realised His entry, but we believe it because of the assurance of (1Cor 6:19; Rom 8:9; Eph 3:16). For my part, I like to begin every day, before lifting my head from the pillow, by saying, “Thou art within, O Spirit of Christ, though I feel Thee not.”
If the Holy Spirit be ungrieved He will witness to our sonship; He will enthrone Christ as King of our life; will keep the self-life in the place of death; will give us a hunger for the things of God; He will give power in witness-bearing. In order to have a strong and blessed Christian experience, the one thing is to see that we do not grieve the Spirit. I do not think that we can grieve Him away, but we may greatly limit and restrain His gracious work by insincerity of speech, the nursing of an unforgiving spirit, any kind of over-reaching or fraudulent dealing, impurity of speech, or failure in love. We may be bound, so as not to be able to move our arms, by a number of cotton threads, quite as tightly as by a strong rope-thong. Let us take care not to grieve Him by such inconsistencies.
Let us Pray:
Fulfil in me, O God, those desires of goodness which Thou hast created in my heart, and perfect the work of faith, that Jesus Christ may be glorified in me. Amen.
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Mar 24, 2012 by Editor
Rom 6:4
“Just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.”
What about Today’s Verse…
The keynote of this inspiring paragraph is life in union with the Risen Christ. Behind us lies the Death of our Lord, which severed for His people their fellowship with the world. As the voice of praise or blame cannot reach the dead, but are arrested at the fast-closed ears, so it is intended that the murmur of the world should not affect us, but that we should be set only on the Will of God.
It is not wise, however, to dwell always on the negations of the Christian life. It is true that they are always present, but to dwell on them is to miss the power by which self-sacrifice and self-denial become easy. Do not live on the dying but the risen side of the Saviour’s work. Behold Him as He goes forth upon His upward way to the Throne of Glory. Seek to experience union with Him in the likeness of His resurrection (Phi_3:10).
There ought to be finality in our experience. It is good for us to recognize the break with our past life. It must be clearly defined; we must have done with it forever. It is possible that we may be tempted, and come temporarily beneath the dominion of old sins; but in principle, like the Israelites, we have passed from Egypt, never to return to it, and the Red Sea of Christ’s redemption severs us from our former condition. We do not reckon ourselves to be dead to sin in the sense that our nature is henceforth incapable of sinning. If we think thus, we shall soon be disillusioned, and find that tendencies and strivings are within us which prove the contrary. But we must reckon that we have died to sin, and whenever temptation comes, that it has no claim upon us. Nelson turned his blind eye to the signal to retreat from action, and we are to turn blind eyes and deaf ears to the tempter.
The Apostle says that we are to present our members as instruments of righteousness to God. Do not look at the tempter, but at Christ; yield the eyes, ears, heart, and mind to Him, that He may make the best possible use of them; and that which becomes the habitual practice of the outward life will inevitably affect the soul and spirit.
Let us Pray:
Constrained by Thy love, O Lord, we would here present ourselves, spirit, soul, and body, not to live unto ourselves, but unto Thee who didst die, and rise again. Amen.
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Mar 23, 2012 by Editor
Mat 12:28
“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
What about Today’s Verse…
Jesus was a man, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil — because God was with Him. He made it clear that He only did what He saw His Father doing. On one particular occasion it was casting a demon out of a wretch of a man.
Jesus healed him, giving him back his sight and hearing. The people who saw it were duly impressed, to say the least. “This has to be the Son of David!” they proclaimed. But the Pharisees, when they heard the report, were cynical. “It’s nothing more than black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.”
Jesus confronted their slander with piercing wisdom — “A judge who gives opposite verdicts on the same person cancels himself out; a family that’s in a constant squabble disintegrates; so if Satan banishes Satan, is there any Satan left?” They couldn’t answer Him — but He wasn’t finished: “If you’re slinging mud at Me, calling Me a devil kicking out devils, doesn’t the same mud stick to your own exorcists? “ And then Jesus delivers the final blow against their ignorance — “But if it’s by God’s power that I am sending the evil spirits packing, then God’s kingdom is here for sure.” (from the Message).
Jesus came with a specific purpose to render the devil of no effect, and to undo the works which the devil had wrought. He succeeded with overwhelming effectiveness. The Bible tells us “He exposed principalities as shattered, empty and defeated” (Colossians 2:15, Phillips NT). And, having done all this for our sake, He now has brought us into the victory of His great accomplishment; delivering us from the power of darkness, and translating us into the Kingdom of God.
Though it is finished, the full evidence of it will not be seen until the Day of the Lord — when Christ returns. Until then, we are caught in the tension of two opposing kingdoms, experiencing the conflict of the ages.
Yet we are not victims, but victors. We are not helpless, but hopeful. We are not defenceless, but clothed in the armour of light. We are not powerless, but filled with the Holy Spirit. And we are not alone, but surrounded with a mighty host — a band of brothers and sisters on earth, and armies of flaming angels in heaven above.
The Kingdom of God has come, and the devil is on the run!
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Mar 22, 2012 by Editor
Mic 6:8
“What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”
What of Today’s Verse…
Micah was a man of the people, and a true patriot. In his day, the political outlook was dark in the extreme, and the prophet felt that one thing only could save his country, and that was a deep and widespread revival of religion. To the inquiry of the people as to whether Jehovah desired the sacrifice of animals, or little children, who were immolated by the heathen people around in order to rid their consciences from sin, the answer came that God required something more spiritual and searching: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good, etc.”
Let us make this threefold message our own. To do justly, and giving not a fraction less than can be rightly claimed from us. Every one of us must acknowledge the righteous claims of our home-circle, and of our neighbours, and we must adjust these claims, giving each his due.
Let us love mercy. There are some who have perhaps forfeited all claims on our mercy–the prisoner, the fallen, the helpless, our enemies–we must help all these not grudgingly, but cheerfully and willingly. Do not try to love mercy till you begin to show it. Dare to step out into a life of unselfish beneficence, and as you do so, you will come to love it. St. James insists that pure religion as much consists in visiting the widow and fatherless in their affliction as in keeping oneself unspotted from the world.
Let us also walk humbly with God, not lagging behind, nor running before, but walking with Him, hand in hand. All down the ages, from Enoch onward, there have been those who walked with God in unstained robes. It is not in sacrifices, or rites, or church-going, or alms-giving, though these will follow afterwards, but in holy and humble living, that the heart of true religion is realized.
Is that all? No! What is to be done for those who have tried and failed, who are conscious of guilt and sin? In the closing verses of this book is the answer. There we learn that God will not only forgive, but will subdue our iniquities. He will turn again and have compassion upon us, and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. He delighted in mercy! Who is a God like unto Thee?
Let us Pray:
O Lord, may Thy all-powerful grace make me as perfect as Thou hast commanded me to be. Amen.
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Mar 21, 2012 by Editor
2Cor 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
What about Today’s Verse…
Everyone who is “in Christ,” through faith in His name, is a “new creation.” We are new people. We are no longer who we were before we put our trust in the Lord Jesus. We are not the old person reformed or improved; we are a “new creation.” Yes, we have the same body, but that is a mere tent in which we dwell. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2Co_5:1). Some day in glory, we will trade this temporal, earthly tent for an eternal heavenly one. Meanwhile, though we live in the same old tent we had in Adam, we are new tenants, a “new creation.” We may have the same old physical brain, but we are learning to think an entirely new way. “We have the mind of Christ… be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom_12:2 and 1Co_2:16). Christ lives in us, and His Spirit also dwells in us. His Spirit takes the word of God and unfolds the thinking of our Lord for us. As we embrace God’s way of thinking more and more, we are transformed to walk in the newness that is ours in “in Christ.”
In all the ways that matter before God, “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The old guilt is replaced by new forgiveness. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus… in whom we have… the forgiveness of sins” (Rom_8:1 and Col_1:14).
The old foolishness is replaced by new wisdom. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God… But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God” (1Co_3:19 and 1Co_1:30). The old unrighteousness is replaced with new righteousness. “All our righteousness’s are like filthy rags… For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (Isa_64:6 and 2Co_5:21). The old hope of changing (self-help) is replaced by new hope of changing (sanctification, God changing us). “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength… You are in Christ Jesus, who became for us… sanctification” (Jer_17:5 and 1Co_1:30). This is grace upon grace.
Let us Pray:
O Lord, my hope, I thank You for making me a new person in Christ. Please strengthen my heart to spend time in Your word that I might hear more of these grand truths. Lord, I yearn to walk in more of this rich newness of life, in Jesus name. Amen.
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