Charles Spurgeon explains Prevailing Faith

"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table."—Matthew 15:27

This woman gained comfort in her misery by thinking GREAT THOUGHTS OF CHRIST. The Master had talked about the children’s bread: "Now," she argued, "since You are the Master of the table of Grace, I know that You are a generous housekeeper and there is sure to be abundance of bread on Your table. There will be such an abundance for the children that there will be crumbs to throw on the floor for the dogs, and the children will fare none the worse because the dogs are fed."

She thought Him one who kept so good a table that all that she needed would only be a crumb in comparison! But remember, what she wanted was to have the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said, "It is nothing to Him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give." This is the royal road to comfort. Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair—but great thoughts of Christ will pilot you into the haven of peace. "My sins are many, but oh, it is nothing to Jesus to take them all away. The weight of my guilt presses me down as a giant’s foot would crush a worm, but it is no more than a grain of dust to Him, because He has already borne its curse in His own body on the tree. It will be but a small thing for Him to give me full remission, although it will be an infinite blessing for me to receive it."

The woman opens her soul’s mouth very wide, expecting great things of Jesus, and He fills it with His love. Dear Reader, do the same! She confessed what Christ laid at her door, but she laid fast hold upon Him and drew arguments even out of His hard words! She believed great things of Him, and she thus overcame Him. SHE WON THE VICTORY BY BELIEVING IN HIM. Her case is an instance of prevailing faith—and if we would conquer like her—we must imitate her tactics.

Good advice from Martin Luther

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to an all-knowing God."

Be Ye Glad

And in these days of confused situations
And in these nights of a restless remorse
When the heart and the soul of a nation
Lay wounded and cold as a corpse
From the grave of the innocent Adam
Comes a song bringing joy to the sad
All your cries have been heard and the ransom
Has been paid up in full, be ye glad

Oh be ye glad, oh, be ye glad
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad

From the dungeon a rumor is stirring
We have heard it again and again
But this time the cell keys are turning
And outside there are faces of friends
And though your body lay weary from wasting
And your eyes show the sorrow they've had
The love that your heart is now tasting
Has opened the gates, be ye glad

Oh be ye glad, oh, be ye glad
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad

So be like lights on the rim of the water
Giving hope in a storm sea of night
Be a refuge amidst the slaughter
For these fugitives in their flight
For you are timeless and part of a puzzle
And you are winsome and young as a lad
And there is no disease or no struggle
That can pull you from God, be ye glad

Oh be ye glad, oh, be ye glad
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord
Be ye glad, be ye glad, be ye glad

~ By Michael Blanchard

Listen Be Ye Glad by Glad

John Piper - What does it mean to get saved?

Psalm 43.3 - Is this your prayer?

"I embrace the same sex marriage ban." ~ Tony Dungee

AMEN!

"IFI (Indiana Family Institute) is saying what the Lord says," Dungy said. "You can take that and make your decision on which way you want to be. I'm on the Lord's side."

"We're not anti- anything else. We're not trying to downgrade anyone else. But we're trying to promote the family -- family values the Lord's way."


"Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth... and serve ye the LORD. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." ~ Josh 24:14-15

Sin: The Ultimate Outrage of the Universe

What makes sin sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and the ultimate outrage in the universe.

The glory of God is not honored.

The holiness of God is not reverenced.

The greatness of God is not admired.

The power of God is not praised.

The truth of God is not sought.

The wisdom of God is not esteemed.

The beauty of God is not treasured.

The goodness of God is not savored.

The faithfulness of God is not trusted.

The promises of God are not relied upon.

The commandments of God are not obeyed.

The justice of God is not respected.

The wrath of God is not feared.

The grace of God is not cherished.

The presence of God is not prized.

The person of God is not loved.

The infinite, all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist (Rom. 11:36) – who holds every person’s life in being at every moment (Acts 17:25) – is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed, and dishonored by everybody in the world. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe. ~ John Piper

Can God have new thoughts? - ABSOLUTELY NOT!

“To say that God is infinite is to say that he is measureless. We cannot speak of measure or amount or size or weight and at the same time be speaking of God, for these tell of degrees and there are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more or large or small. He is what He is in Himself, without qualifying thought or word. He is simply God.” ~ A.W. Tozer

Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. ~ Psalm 147:5

What does it mean to be crucified - A.W. Tozer

There are three marks of one who is crucified:

1. He is facing in only one direction.

2. He can never turn back.

3. He no longer has any plans of his own.




"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." ~ Gal 2:20

The Promises of the Covenant of Grace

In vain we lavish out our lives
To gather empty wind;
The choicest blessings earth can yield
Will starve a hungry mind.

Come, and the Lord shall feed our souls
With more substantial meat,
With such as saints in glory love,
With such as angels eat.

Our God will every want supply,
And fill our hearts with peace;
He gives by cov’nant and by oath
The riches of his grace.

Come, and he’ll cleanse our spotted souls,
And wash away our stains
In the dear fountain that his Son
Poured from his dying veins.

[Our guilt shall vanish all away,
Though black as hell before;
Our sins shall sink beneath the sea,
And shall be found no more.

And, lest pollution should o’erspread
Our inward powers again,
His Spirit shall bedew our souls,
Like purifying rain.]

Our heart, that flinty, stubborn thing,
That terrors cannot move,
That fears no threat’nings of his wrath,
Shall be dissolved by love.

Or he can take the flint away
That would not be refined;
And from the treasures of his grace
Bestow a softer mind.

There shall his sacred Spirit dwell,
And deep engrave his law,
And every motion of our souls
To swift obedience draw.

Thus will he pour salvation down,
And we shall render praise;
We the dear people of his love,
And he our God of grace.

~ Isaac Watts

If you love Christ then you'll love Doctrine

Philippians 4:6-7

Psalm 119:36 - A Good Daily Prayer

Are you Hot, Cold, or Lukewarm?

"We are nothing if we are not in ernest about our faith, and if our wills and inclinations are not intensely exercised. The religous life contains things too great for us to be lukewarm." ~ Jonathan Edwards

"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." - Rev 3:15-22

Stay the Course General Pace

Bravo Zulu!

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday he considers homosexuality to be immoral and the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Marine Gen. Peter Pace likened homosexuality to adultery, which he said was also immoral, the newspaper reported on its Web site.

"I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way," Pace told the newspaper in a wide-ranging interview.

Pace, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, said he based his views on his upbringing.

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." ~ 1 Co 6:9-10

Quoteworthy from Adrian Rodgers

"Salvation is not a reward for the righteous; it's a gift for the guilty."

Win or Loose - The Right Way to End the Day

My friend Wes Yerkes sent me this picture and comment ~ "This is in the locker room after the Colts won the Superbowl. Notice the trophy and the guys ready to catch flights, but notice that everyone is on bended knee and listening to Tony Dungee lead them in a prayer of thanksgiving for their victory. One of the most watched Super Bowl games in history and what a way to end the day."


"Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." ~ 1 Th 5:17-18



A Great Christian Movie (must see) teaching this principle is Facing the Giants.

Patriotic Praise

Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,

For the bliss Thy love bestows,

For the pardoning grace that saves me,

And the peace that from it flows;

Help, O God, my weak endeavor;

This dull soul to rapture raise;

Thou must light the flame,

Or never Can my love be warmed to praise.”

~ Francis Scott Key

Are you in the arena, striving valiantly for a worthy cause?

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat." ~ Theodore Roosevelt

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." ~ 1 Cor 15:57-58

Why shall ye return to sin and bondage?

"Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already? Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once, and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler-be free, and let the remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again!" ~ Charles Spurgeon

"...For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire." ~ 2 Pe 2:19-22

Resolved to Run - To Win!

"Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." ~ 1 Cor 9:24-27

"No one attains remarkable eminence or success without a resolute and habitual self-denial in subordinating every secondary point to the primary object." ~ Charles Bridges

"Greatness is never achieved nor dreams realized apart from great discipline." ~ Kay Arthur

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin." ~ Heb 12:1-4

Are you drifting?

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord."

"We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated."

~ D.A. Carson

God's Patience Abused

Presume not upon God’s patience. The exercise of it is not eternal; you are at present under His patience, yet while you are unconverted you are also under His anger: (Ps 7:11) “God is angry with the wicked every day.” You know not how soon His anger may turn His patience aside, and step before it. It may be His sword is drawn out of the scabbard, His arrows may be settled in His bow, and perhaps there is but a little time before you may feel the edge of the one or the point of the other, and then there will be no more time for patience in God to us, or petition from us to Him. If we die without repentance, He will have no longer mercy to pardon, nor patience to bear.

Sinner, won’t you come to the Saviour? Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Who knows when your soul will be required of you. The Lord is calling to all the earth, “come now, and let us reason together. . .though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool.” Do you not have strength? He tells you that you are to take hold of his strength. “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” The call goes forth “turn ye turn ye for why will ye die?” Call upon the name of the Lord and thou shalt be saved.

~ Stephen Charnock

Sinners in The Hands of an Angry God

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." ~ James 4:4-10