seekest though... what?!? Presumest thou, more like.

And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord... -Jeremiah 45:5a

  

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. -Psalm 139

 

One of the old German devotional philosophers took the position that God loves to forgive big sins more than He does little sins because the bigger the sin, the more glory accrues to Him for his forgiveness. I remember the writer went on to say that not only does God forgive sins and enjoy doing it, but as soon as He has forgiven them, He forgets them and trusts the person just as if he or she had never sinned. -AW Tozer

Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--Speak evil of no man. -Charles Spurgeon

When others are flying hither and thither as if their wits had failed them, the believer shall be quiet, calm, and deliberate, and so shall be able to act wisely in the hour of trial. He shall not haste in his expectations, craving his good things at once and on the spot, but he will wait God's time. Some are in a desperate hurry to have the bird in the hand, for they regard the LORD's promise as a bird in the bush, not likely to be theirs. Believers know how to wait. . He shall not haste by plunging into wrong or questionable action.  -Charles Spurgeon 

All the glory belongs to God, all the praise.

Monday, November 28, 2022

Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. -1 Chronicles 16

Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass: when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon which a man's inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed proceeding from him. -Charles Spurgeon

I do not know all of the Savior's reasons for choosing the woman at the well. I know that His revelation of Himself to her constituted an everlasting rebuke to human self-righteousness. I know that every smug woman who walks down the street in pride and status ought to be ashamed of herself. I know that every self-righteous man who looks into his mirror each morning to shave what he believes to be an honest face ought to be ashamed of himself....

Jesus was able to see potential in the woman at the well that we could never have sensed. -AW Tozer

If we obey the LORD our God He will bless that which He gives us. Riches are no curse when blessed of the LORD. When men have more than they require for their immediate need and begin to lay up in storehouses, the dry rot of covetousness or the blight of hard-heartedness is apt to follow the accumulation; but with God's blessing it is not so. Prudence arranges the saving, liberality directs the spending, gratitude maintains consecration, and praise sweetens enjoyment. -Charles Spurgeon

The clear, pure light of the morning made me long for the truth in my heart, which alone could make me pure and clear as the morning, tune me up to the concert-pitch of the nature around me. And the wind that blew from the sunrise made me hope in the God who had first breathed into my nostrils the breath of life; that He would at length so fill me with His breath, His mind, His Spirit, that I should think only His thoughts, and live His life, finding therein my own life, only glorified infinitely. -George Macdonald

Give to the site if you so choose.

Cashapp: $origen1979

Abundant blessings from the Father.

To God, all the praise, all the glory.

Sunday, November 27, 2022

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. -Colossians 3

 

 I present what I have before the messenger, the angel of the covenant, the Lord Jesus; and through him my prayers find acceptance wrapped up in his prayers; my praises become sweet as they are bound up with bundles of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia from Christ's own garden. -Charles Spurgeon

Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word "forgiveness," when it sounds in a guilty sinner's ear, like the silver notes of jubilee to the captive Israelite? Blessed, forever blessed be that dear star of pardon which shines into the condemned cell, and gives the perishing a gleam of hope amid the midnight of despair! -Charles Spurgeon

To God be all the glory and praise.

Nature sings His song.

Saturday, November 26, 2022 daily quote selections....

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear... -Hebrews 12

Eternal life is divine life with a special function--to know God and Christ. Every life has its function. The function of a dog's life is barking, the function of a bird's life is flying... The function of the divine life is to know God. God and Christ are divine. To know the divine Person we need the divine life, Since the believers are born with the divine life, they know God and Christ. -Witness Lee

One good deed is more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we "find to do" day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present. Then do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God. -Charles Spurgeon

God knows that sin is a terrible thing-and the devil knows it, too. So he follows us around and as long as we will permit it, he will taunt us about our past sins. -AW Tozer

If we have loads of sorrow, then the LORD's power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavor of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it. Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy.  -Charles Spurgeon

There are springs that flow in the low places of life, in the hard places, in the desert places, in the lone places, in the common places, and no matter what may be our situation, we can always find these upper springs. Abraham found them amid the hills of Canaan. Moses found them among the rocks of Midian. -LB Cowman

give to the site if you'd like. 

 Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation.

 
 

Spurgeon on Psalm 9c.

"Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:

That I might shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation."  -Psalm 9:13,14

"The Lord is known by the judgement which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands."  -Psalm 9:16

One would think that men would not grow so vain as to think themselves anything but men, but it appears to be a lesson only a divine schoolmaster can teach to some proud spirits....  -Charles Spurgeon

"..the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.  Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.  Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men."  -Psalm 9:19,20

Mercy is ready to her work as bit as much as justice can be.  Needy souls fear that their are forgotten; if it be so, let them rejoice that they shall not be always so.  -Charles Spurgeon

The needy and the poor are mentioned here, those that require mercy, of course, and not the very richest amongst us, though some know real blessings of increase.  Indeed, in America, we stand as each one of the kings or queens of the land, having a say in the ruling hands.

May we all be equal to not forgetting, not taking for granted, and not becoming complacent, but having a fire of faith and hope, and remember the call of God to our hearts, into our lives.

In the shadowy doldrum between USA Thanksgiving and Christmas, let us not forget the needy and down-trodden, let us appreciate those who need an advocate, and show mercy to those that could surely be done a good turn by at least one person in their lives; let love reign, or as Paul said, "let brotherly love continue...".

Give to the site, if you so wish.

Cashtag $origen1979

Friday, November 8, 2022

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. -Colossans 3

Certainly His kingdom can never be realized in my life until my own selfish kingdom is deposed. It is when I resign, when I am no longer king of my domain that Jesus Christ will become king of my life. -AW Tozer

When the time comes and we have finished our course for God, let us face death like men.  Let us look it in the eye.  Let us not rebel against the cutting of the cords that loose us from the mooring of these earthly shores; but, rather, unfurl the sails and take that blessed journey to a better country! -Bayless Conley

At this hour a mountain of difficulty, distress, or necessity may be in our way, and natural reason sees no path over it, or through it, or round it. Let faith come in, and straightway the mountain disappears and becomes a plain. But faith must first hear the word of the LORD--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." This grand truth is a prime necessity for meeting the insurmountable trials of life. I see that I can do nothing and that all reliance on man is vanity. "Not by might." I see that no visible means can be relied on, but the force is in the invisible Spirit. -Charles Spurgeon

Give to the site, if you'd like.

Cashtag $origen1979

-Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation.

On actual Thanksgiving 2020.

He will chide sometimes, or He would not be a wise Father for such poor, erring children as we are. His chiding is very painful to those who are true, because they feel how sadly they deserve it and how wrong it is on their part to grieve Him. We know what this chiding means, and we bow before the LORD, mourning that we should cause Him to be angry with us. But what a comfort we find in these lines! "Not always" will He chide. If we repent and turn to Him with hearts broken for sin and broken from sin, He will smile upon us at once. It is no pleasure to Him to turn a frowning face toward those whom He loves with all His heart: it is His joy that our joy should be full. Come, let us seek His face.  -Charles Spurgeon

My soul thirsteth to drink deep of the cup which is reserved for those who reach the mountain's brow, and bathe their brows in heaven. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun; they eat dust like the serpent when they might taste the ambrosial meat of angels; they are content to wear the miner's garb when they might put on king's robes; tears mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. -Charles Spurgeon

It was with a tinge of mercy that Spurgeon once commented that he didn't begrudge working people a holiday in the form of Christmas; he seemed to think they could use the rest, and no better way, celebrating the Lord and their own familiars.

On Thanksgiving 2020, let us celebrate and enjoy each other, and count some of our blessings.  Here's the rub though, we'll miss a few--not that we're not grateful, but neigh, friends, so abundantly blessed that we can't simply count-off all our blessings from memory.  There will be blessings large and small that we miss, that we took for granted, probably something from each and every day of the year.

donate to the site if you'd like

The God of All Consolation

Is Still In Charge of All;

We Are All In His Merciful Hands.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 23, 2022 verse of the day and devotional selections.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. -Psalm 100

Many Christians have an unusual number of problems. If these were merely outward problems, they would not be that important. But many of these problems point to inward darkness and to the lack of spiritual clarity; one should not treat this lightly. Some situations are necessary for a Christian in the course of spiritual progress. However, a Christian should not allow himself to remain indefinitely in darkness and unclearness. It is not God's will that we should constantly have problems; God does not wish to see us remain in darkness. -Witness Lee

We are not to expect to win victories for the LORD Jesus by a single blow. Evil principles and practices die hard. In some places it takes years of labor to drive out even one of the many vices which defile the inhabitants. We must carry on the war with all our might, even when favored with little manifest success. Our business in this world is to conquer it for Jesus. We are not to make compromises but to exterminate evils. We are not to seek popularity but to wage unceasing war with iniquity. -Charles Spurgeon

Psalm 100(KJV):

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

Psalm 92:1-It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High

give to the site if you'd like.

Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation. 

chain of blessings: on Thanksgiving 2022

Walking through the store, I saw a big beautiful turkey.  Immediately I thought of the joy of having enough turkey for the entire extended family.  I decided to purchase it, no matter what it cost.

So I was going to bless my family.

But the store blessed me first with a deal.  By spending so much money in addition to the bird, I was eligible for a discount, and got the bird for a much cheaper price than otherwise.

So the store blessed me.

Mind, my family are already a blessing on me, such as it is, for being in my life, active in my life, despite being busy in their own individual worlds.

When we look at chains of scripture like Ephesians, we are assured of blessings, as Paul says, "abundant", as if we were always to get more from a God that owns everything in existence.

Paul is of course thankful so much for his church family, in every epistle letter he spends a lot of time being thankful for them, and he wants them to know how glad he is to have brotherhood with them.

May we all be so mindful of our own blessings in daily life.

Give to the site if you want.

Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation.

Spurgeon on gratitude and the gifts bestowed by the Holy Spirit.

All that the believer has must come from Christ, but it comes solely through the channel of the Spirit of grace. Moreover, as all blessings thus flow to you through the Holy Spirit, so also no good thing can come out of you in holy thought, devout worship, or gracious act, apart from the sanctifying operation of the same Spirit. Even if the good seed be sown in you, yet it lies dormant except he worketh in you to will and to do of his own good pleasure.

He is to be imitated. It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed. We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by his life we live--can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember him at his table, where he deigns to feast with his brethren?

-Charles Spurgeon, From "Morning and Evening".

On gratitude and thanksgiving.

With the American Thanksgiving Holiday coming, we should all be cognizant of being thankful, and for what?

For whatever there is, around in each of our own lives, but also Christ, God and the Holy Spirit, binding us all together in one galactic daydream that is life.

When we sit for turkey, we should be thankful for the time and the circumstance, we should be thankful for just a moment to breath, and further, we should show our thanks by imparting a blessing on someone else: from volunteering to serve or cooking, buying supplies or shuttling diners back and forth to the meal, something to let the world know our gratitude, something to shine a light for all the believers, something to for once honor the meek, something to give blessed mercy to everyone else.

Shunning the light to abide in the darkness.....

May we receive grace beyond, abounding far beyond what we deserve; in fact, I'm inclined to think, based on Jesus's stripes, that we get some of His grace.

Doesn't it seem so often that we shun the light when we abide in the darkness?  What I mean is that once we are in that foul mood, once the beast has taken our thoughts, is it not comfortable?  Do we not feel that our indignation, our anger and our fear are righteous?  Justified?

We would sit in sin and sulk like angry children, as if to hold our breath until God notices, but truth be told, God has already noticed and forgiven you!

While we revel in the negative, actually seeming to enjoy feeling bad, we are so far from God, as if ignoring him, even if we are actively calling out to him.

Spugeon: "here is a glass in which we may see the unborn years."

It is a spring shut up: just as there were springs in the East, over which an edifice was built, so that none could reach them save those who knew the secret entrance; so is the heart of a believer when it is renewed by grace: there is a mysterious life within which no human skill can touch. It is a secret which no other man knoweth; nay, which the very man who is the possessor of it cannot tell to his neighbour.  

Future things are hidden from us. Yet here is a glass in which we may see the unborn years. The LORD says, "From this day will I bless you." It is worthwhile to note the day which is referred to in this promise. There had been failure of crops, blasting, and mildew, and all because of the people's sin. Now, the LORD saw these chastened ones commencing to obey His word and build His temple, and therefore He says, "From the day that the foundation of the LORD's temple was laid, consider. From this day will I bless you." 

"here is a glass in which we may see the unborn years."  We may look ahead in hope and faith towards the blessing of the future, and the continued love of our Lord.  Remember faith is 

*the evidence of things not seen

*the substance of things believed

In part therefore, God lives in us, even the people that don't like God, as James notes that even devils believe in God, but we have that hope that they don't, and that hope separates us from the unbeliever and the devils.

But as Spurgeon so beautifully says of both scripture and faith, "here is a glass in which we may see...."

Give to the site if you like.

Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation.

Why do the heathen rage? Why do the people imagine a vain thing?

I was reading along the lines of one popular evangelist's enumeration of "faith fundamentals", and came across Romans 10:19.

"..Moses saith, I WILL PROVOKE YOU TO JEALOUSY BY THEM THAT ARE NO PEOPLE, AND BY A FOOLISH NATION I WILL ANGER YOU."

We are so often provoked to jealousy, and that after we're told our salvation pushes us towards repentence, that repenting is the "works" of faith, the residue, or as Paul and Peter say, the "sweet savour", one could see the righteous by their conduct, not by their own stripes, of which theirs are hidden, but by the stripes given the Lord.

The Kardashians had wrangled in so many people, and others, wrangling, even Taylor Swift announcements glutting web servers so full that websites crash in overload.

We are bidden to come to the trough, as the dog returns to his vomit.

"..the people imagine a vain thing..."

And yet further we are encouraged to reach for celebrity, to put ourselves on a pedestal, to garner fame, glory and of course, all the money that comes with it.

As for being brought down by insignificance and pettiness, a constant of the human condition, a constant multiplied by itself, as in Einstein's equation, and acted upon by the world-at-large, each clamoring and jumping over one another for his own benefit.

"I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid..."

"God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew..."

Blessings from

and Praise to

the God of All Consolation.

Give a monetary gift to the site, if so inclined. 

Wednesday Nov 16, 2022 verse of the day.

Thomas Nelson Publish/Bible Gateway Verse of the Day, 11/16/22:

Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Isaiah, and when you're in it up to your neck.

The old testament YHWH assured Isaiah of a great many things, and used Isaiah's child's birth to mark a few events, too.  Isaiah is said to have married a Prophetess.

He was assuring Isaiah a wrong would be righted, just after the birth of the child, a wrong to a nation would be restored, the fat of that particular nation's land, though God had no covenant with that particular nation in question, he righted a wrong, foretold their restoration.

same chapter:

"Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks:

And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel."

There was another more vulgar proverb of the man being "in it up to his neck", and that acting, not to perturb him or make him vomit, but as a protective shell from yet worse things, like the mouse that the cow plopped into a pile of poop.  It was protective, and a small curse turned out to be a big blessing in the long run.

Blessings from 

and Praise to 

the God of All Consolation. 

Give to the site if you'd like.

a word on the Psalms, from Psalm 1.

The book of Psalms is a dichotomy, reflecting often two contrasting states, usually Good and Evil. This is called Hebrew Parallelism. A in contrast to B. Describe A, describe the contrasting B.

 

According to Psalm 1, the faithful are trees. The unfaithful are chaff, given no water, taken no roots and shifting around with whatever wind that bows.

 

David assures us that:

 

The Lord knows us.

 

Our way is the way of life.

 

The contrast is the wicked way of death. (so the faithful way is life, then)

 

The wicked way doesn't accept judgement. (so the faithful accept judgement)

 

Jeremiah later assures us further that the Lord knows the desires of our hearts! Not just our thoughts, but much deeper; indeed, the Lord knows it about us even when we don't.

 

The Lord heard your naysayers rumors about you, but still listens to YOU! The Lord knows the truth, even when we don't.

 

-Posted also on the Internet Missionary Facebook Page and the in the Underground Sunday School Facebook Group.

a self-reflective collective mind of all the believers...

"We are trees and flowers, sun and stars, and blades of grass all gathered into a beating heart and a self-reflective mind." -Ilia Delio, Politics and the Power of Love.

Spurgeon from todays Morning and Evening.

How are they his? By his own sovereign choice. He chose them, and set his love upon them. This he did altogether apart from any goodness in them at the time, or any goodness which he foresaw in them. He had mercy on whom he would have mercy, and ordained a chosen company unto eternal life; thus, therefore, are they his by his unconstrained election.

They are not only his by choice, but by purchase. He has bought and paid for them to the utmost farthing, hence about his title there can be no dispute. Not with corruptible things, as with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord's portion has been fully redeemed. There is no mortgage on his estate; no suits can be raised by opposing claimants, the price was paid in open court, and the Church is the Lord's freehold forever.  Spurgeon referencing "election", see also Ephesians 1.

It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God continually to strengthen that which he has wrought in us.  Spurgeon referencing "sanctification".

City on the Hill, the believers.

Jesus had told the believers of his earthly time that they were "the light of the world."  Later he instructed them not to hide their light, but let it shine.  There is also the metaphor of the city on the hill, the corporate church, the body of believers is an ensample, an example.

We hope to continue on in our brotherhood with believers and non-believers alike, though we are conditional about the non-believers, lest we ourselves are led astray.

Jesus even broke bread with the sinners, and as legalists remind us, this did not cause him to partake in sin, but he kept his righteousness all the while, and acted as that example for the others, in the simple act of just being there.

Just being there, and they look up from the doldrums of pavement haze in the city, look up to the hill, and that "city on the hill".

We affect the condition of being ambassadors for Christ to the "wayward Gentiles", and like Paul, we continue the ministry efforts, spreading the light across an otherwise sin-darkened world.

Platonic Pastoral: Monday November 14, 2022

Impromptu "yard-chat" with LD Oneal this morning, rather uplifting, and couldn't help feel that I was the worldly kind of seedy one in the chat, and Oneal was certainly the more up standing, right standing.  LD Oneal proves it both by his faith and his works.

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit... 1 Peter 3

I was thinking of Plato's formal and informal universes.  It occurs that God, God and heaven are the formal, perfect universe.  From that there is a paltry facsimile, made in some similarity, but paltry by comparison, and that is our world: an informal world of broken choices.

As they say in the church, "a lost and dying world."  We strive to be the light, in that sin-drenched world of man, that informal, imperfect world, and we look to the next, kind of a "The Republic" of the soulish realm, Heaven itself.

To say there is a perfect place with a perfect house, a mansion, for each of us, awaiting, that is the formal universe, that if there was a government, it is wholly righteous, if there is a food, it is perfect manna, if there is a past time, it gives glory to God.

Just as some strive to realize heaven on earth, still yet some of us contemplate the master of heaven.

Give to the site if you so choose.

We also congratulate Charles Stanley and In Touch for 45 years of service.

*Pray for the addict who still suffers.

Saturday, November 12, 2022

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding... Colossians 1

Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. -Charles Spurgeon

No one whose senses have been exercised to know good and evil but must grieve over the sight of zealous souls seeking to be filled with the Holy Spirit while they are yet living in a state of moral carelessness or borderline sin. Such a thing is a moral contradiction. Whoever would be filled and indwelt by the Spirit should first judge his life for any hidden iniquities; he should courageously expel from his heart everything which is out of accord with the character of God as revealed by the Holy Scriptures. -AW Tozer

Anywhere and everywhere we may dwell "with the king for his work." We may be in a very unlikely and unfavorable place for this; it may be in a literal country life, with little enough to be seen of the "goings" of the King around us; it may be among the hedges of all sorts, hindrances in all directions; it may be furthermore, with our hands full of all manner of pottery for our daily task. -Francis Havergal

Very few of the sons of men are ever satisfied, let their lot be what it may; they have swallowed the horse-leech, and it continually cries, "Give! give!" Only sanctified souls are satisfied souls. God Himself must both convert us and content us. -Charles Spurgeon

Give to the site, if you'd like.

 

Saved by doing nothing.

Just as the disciple's feet were cleansed, perfecting them in a way, and washing away the minutia of earth, so too do we learn or become aware by putting our mind to the thing's of heaven:  the more we become aware of God, and His plan, it is just like already knowing the plan, and taking peace in it.

In that same way, as in Eastern thought, as we become aware of things by admitting our ignorance, so too can we sometimes be saved by NOT doing, perhaps in prayer, but no earthly man-activity, relying on no methods of earth, but simply by waiting on God.

Getting saved by doing nothing; being righteousness, by doing nothing.  Especially if the alternative, if doing is to be in error or to commit sin; we had certainly better stop and do nothing.

Jesus insulated and blessed his disciples at their feet.

Be insulated, be blessed, and let righteousness be bestowed on you, as some say using the verb "to claim", claim your salvation by doing nothing: that is the rest of God, God's own rest and mental security, being neither anxious or angry with none in the world, but just being in rest.

11/11/2022 Verse of the Day.

 

November 11, 2008

Thomas Nelson Verse of the Day:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. -1 John 2

SELECTIONS:

...it is often the rich ones who are not proud. It is a pity that many of God's children go around in circles and never advance. The sole reason that they suffer loss is because they think that they have something. -Witness Lee

God--the eternal God--is himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation. Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet "underneath" thee "are everlasting arms." Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ's great atonement is still under all. -Charles Spurgeon

The voice of God indeed daily calls to us; calls to the world to abandon sins and seek the Kingdom of God wholeheartedly. O that we may all hear the call of the Father and, sometime, at last be converted to the Lord.... -CS Lewis

Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. -Charles Spurgeon

Someday the church can relax her guard, call her watchmen down from the wall and live in safety and peace; but not yet, not yet.... -AW Tozer

Living faithfully means we must accept and name this struggle. Scripture continually gives voice to the difficult places of our lives. Christian faith is not a spiritual escapism. Faithfulness is rooted in a life that can be tragic, hard, difficult, or even unfair. We are never asked to gloss over these truths. -Kyle Norman

...in human life we make a brave show, before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, the sickle of death. There is no method of obtaining a velvety lawn but by repeated mowings; and there is no way of developing tenderness, evenness, sympathy, but by the passing of God's scythes.  How constantly the Word of God compares man to grass, and His glory to its flower! But when grass is mown, and all the tender shoots are bleeding, and desolation reigns where flowers were bursting, it is the most acceptable time for showers of rain falling soft and warm. -FB Meyer

Give to the site if you want.

 

servant's heart: remarks given on veterans day

In washing the disciple's feet, Jesus became a servant, but a shepherd always tends to his flock.  Remember that Jesus was the good shepherd.

Consider also that we are called to deny the world for His sake.  Part of cleansing their feet may have been to purify their connection to the earth: their feet.

Consider also that anointing the Lord's feet, may have also been a way of petitioning for more of His divinity, instead of the earthbound.  Surely the sinless Christ did not need anointing, but yet it was done anyway with pricey perfumes.

Truly the connection to God and the connection to earth-the feet-were worth the trouble.

 

We are but powerless to be but ever mindful of our connection to both heaven, above, and earth, below.  Without a doubt, we belong to God, but we are commanded to love our neighbor too, which is a bond to the earth, the earthly life and the sons of Adam, the first man, who was constructed from the dust of the earth.

 

The ceremony of wiping over the Lord's feet with one's hair, too, is emblematic of having the Lord on one's mind.  Connecting the head to the Lord is but one ceremonial dedication of one's thoughts on the things divine.

Verse of the day: Isaiah 55:1 KJV

 Give to the site if you'd like.

Thursday November 10, 2022

God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength.  -Job 37

It is a very ill omen to hear a wicked world clap its hands and shout "Well done" to the Christian man. He may begin to look to his character, and wonder whether he has not been doing wrong, when the unrighteous give him their approbation. Let us be true to our Master, and have no friendship with a blind and base world which scorns and rejects him. Far be it from us to seek a crown of honour where our Lord found a coronet of thorns. -Charles Spurgeon

It did not take Moses long to lead the children of Israel out through the Red Sea to deliverance and freedom; but his fittedness to lead them out was the result of years of hard discipline. It took David only a few minutes to dispose of Goliath; but he had beaten the giant long before in the person of the lion and the bear.... -AW Tozer

I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. I should never say, “Lord, this causes me such heartache.” To talk that way makes me a stumbling block. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He can crush me, exalt me, or do anything else He chooses. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. -Oswald Chambers

If the LORD will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. How greatly would they rejoice if they could give us a disgraceful fall, drive us from our position, and bury us out of memory! They could do this to their heart's content were it not for one hindrance, and only one: the LORD will not suffer it; and if He does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it. The way of life is like traveling among the Alps. Along the mountain path one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide; there are spots which are smooth as glass and others that are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude. -Charles Spurgeon

God has a plan for your life—but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make plans too. He doesn’t want you to drift along, letting circumstances determine the direction of your life. He wants you to be intentional about the path you choose. -Rick Warren

O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. -LB Cowman

Give to the site if you wish.

Verse of the day: 11/09/22

 

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. -Isaiah 1

Give to the site if you want. 

You must keep on praying for light: and, of course, even in the hall, you must begin trying to obey the rules which are common to the whole house. -CS Lewis

How many Christians think that in the morning and evening they ought to come into the company of Jesus, and may then give their hearts to the world all the day: but this is poor living; we should always be with him, treading in his steps and doing his will. Walking also implies habit. When we speak of a man's walk and conversation, we mean his habits, the constant tenor of his life. Now, if we sometimes enjoy Christ, and then forget him; sometimes call him ours, and anon lose our hold, that is not a habit; we do not walk in him. -Charles Spurgeon

If Satan opposes the new convert he opposes still more bitterly the Christian who is pressing on toward a higher life in Christ. The Spirit-filled life is not, as many suppose, a life of peace and quiet pleasure. It is likely to be something quite the opposite. -AW Tozer

Full many there be who have been tried and sore vexed till at last they have been driven in sheer desperation to exercise faith in God, and the moment of their faith has been the instant of their deliverance; they have seen whether God would keep his promise or not.  -Charles Spurgeon

Not only does Jesus see your struggle, but he also cares about your struggle. And not only does he care, but he also does something about it. -Rick Warren

We need the Lord. There should be nothing else we want to do but to love Him with all that we are and to serve Him with all of our lives. As we continue to walk with Him, we better understand that His purpose for us is best for us. We are called to endure these trials of life as we are becoming more like Christ, and being transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. -Daily Disciples Ministries

 

verse of the day: nov 8, 2022

 

Wellness and even Buddhists talk about mental presence and awareness.  Christ is his earthly bound-days had something that brought sort of a peak mental awareness; imagine him fasting and spending hours in prayer.

I like to think Christ and God are not just love, but also an awareness: a generosity, but a mental presence that feels all those interconnections.  I apologize for sounding mystic, but I remind that, as in the book of Philippians, I am equal to much, because my faith in Christ strengthens me.

Tuesday Nov 8, 2022

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. -Joshua 24

give to the site if you want

 
As the earth drinks in the rain, as the sea receives the streams, as night accepts light from the stars, so we, giving nothing, partake freely of the grace of God. The saints are not, by nature, wells, or streams, they are but cisterns into which the living water flows; they are empty vessels into which God pours his salvation. -Charles Spurgeon

"...no gift is more important than the other."  -Charles Stanley

"As we move farther on and mount higher up in the Christian life we may expect to encounter greater difficulties in the way and meet increased hostility from the enemy of our souls...." -AW Tozer

As we move farther on and mount higher up in the Christian life we may expect to encounter greater difficulties in the way and meet increased hostility from the enemy of our souls.... -Charles Spurgeon

Worship is one way to set your sail so that the winds of life drive you in the direction you want to go—toward Jesus. Stormy winds can push you off course and threaten to drown you. Instead, let winds of pain, trauma, and stress drive you to focus on God and set your sail toward him. -from Christianity.com

Monday November 7, 2022. A quiet and peaceable life.....

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. -1 Timothy 2

Give to the site, if you want. 

Selections:

In order to learn how to discharge your duty as a witness for Christ, look at his example. He is always witnessing: by the well of Samaria, or in the Temple of Jerusalem: by the lake of Gennesaret, or on the mountain's brow. He is witnessing night and day; his mighty prayers are as vocal to God as his daily services. He witnesses under all circumstances; Scribes and Pharisees cannot shut his mouth; even before Pilate he witnesses a good confession. He witnesses so clearly, and distinctly that there is no mistake in him.  -Charles Spurgeon

An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God—that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying—the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him which is pushing him on—the motive power. -CS Lewis

The sad thing is that most believers wait until the disaster hits before they start trying to establish themselves on the Word. They wait until their back is against the wall. Then, suddenly, they get real spiritual and start fasting and praying...and all too often they find they've started too late.  -Kenneth Copeland

There are a lot of people trying to get away with the old man. What do I mean by the old man? I mean your pride, your bossiness, your nastiness, your temper, your mean disposition, your lustfulness and your quarrelsomeness. -AW Tozer

His daily conduct should be such that the unbelieving world can clearly tell he is a child of God. -from Christianity.com

We have a better covenant; we have better promises.  And Jesus is the One who makes it sure.  He is the guarantee. He has personally pledged Himself to make it good.  As far as I am concerned, that takes away all reason for doubt, all reason for stressing out.  Jesus, Himself, is the pledge, the guarantee that this covenant we have called the New Testament will be good and will be fulfilled in our lives.  And He is not only the guarantee, He is the Mediator.  He is the go-between to what is truly a better covenant, established upon better promises. -Bayless Conley

The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, “I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that.” All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. -Oswald Chambers

We shall be exalted by the LORD if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The LORD will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification.  -Charles Spurgeon

we are his hope; he is our hope.

I struggle with this idea....

first.  We are His hope in glory.

second.  He is our hope.

But our hopes, so often, as even the Bible says, that the understanding is darkened and there is inequity in the heart.

Yet we are His hope.

Like the faith that moves mountains, can we harness this to achieve the best of our desires?  The most providential?

I come down on the side of that, if it fits God's plan, if it doesn't destroy another maybe, that we could be granted something.....  but such parameters are so vague and foggy.

I'm inclined to think my faith is a powerful tool, as per Word of Faith pastors.

What we are not given is a set of parameters or conditions; Christ says the mountain will move, if one's faith is set on it.

Dare we think parabolically, a kind of circles-in-on-itself way that we can remove, by mindset, various lapses in judgement, dignity, personality flaws, all by will, and the will the tip of the spear of the believer's own faith?

We could pray for a million, or we could already have the effect, the happiness of the "million" of popular thinking.

We could have that feeling, and that feeling is pretty much as good as having the million dollars, and that accomplished by will, like we moved a mountain inside our own minds.....

We are His hope.

He is OUR HOPES.

Paul orients this towards the endpoint of our earthly existence, to keep our eternity in focus.  Eternity matters so much more than arguing with the people next door, anyway, but what indeed of the everyday minutia?

We have various interpretations, mystical things, like feeling the feeling of victory irrespective of the reality, contemplating victory, speaking it out to make it happen, or just settling back like lambs waiting, lambs waiting but all the while, petitioning the Shepherd for the outcome.

Or those that force contentment, and that no false peace from the inner perspective, but very real, all the while, trying to ignore the world, trying to think not on the things of man.

At time of writing, Eagle Mtn church is airing basically a political rally hosted by a dubious politically-oriented pastor.

At time of writing, the Catholic church is throwing weight behind what is politically offensive for some.

At time of writing, my good friend and compatriot LD Oneal takes unto himself mostly, for days at a time, and keeps a circle of believers at his little country church.  He stays inside himself, but in frequent prayer, and then also interacts with that tight-grained, tight-knit church family, advising and encouraging, guiding, and staying on the look-out for God's will and purpose.

I'd say this, of God being my hopes manifested: not all my hopes are just or good, and God's plan, and God himself, is always just and good.  Therefore I suppose God is the most just and good of our hopes.

*God is the most just and good of our hopes.

He is our hopes, and we are His hopes.  We loved him, because He first loved us.

If God is the most just and good of our hopes, as believers, all we can hope is that our own private hopes are as just and good as God himself, that there is nothing that God has to overlook, or at least not much, not much to bypass or ignore in His love for us.

Let us be just in our hopes, and as Paul says, Let brotherly love continue.

Pray for the addict that still suffers, pray that the poor are fed, and the meek in spirit are lifted up.

This looks like a mainstream publishing of a KJV Thomspon Chain....

Some suppliers around had old stocks of small-publisher KJV Thomspon Chain bibles, but there had been a pretty good little hole in the market for these things on a larger scale.....

I could come up with a Thompson Chain paperback, standard size, and its a really good reference Bible, but Zondervan's new offering looks pretty promising, and with various trim levels and extra study helps....

Randy from Biblebuyerguide posts an unpaid review of the material, along with a lot of pictures, and even a video....

https://biblebuyingguide.com/kjv-comfort-print-thompson-chain-reference-bible-review-part-2-cover-and-size-comparisons/

November 6, 2022: according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed himself....

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him  -Ephesians 2

Donate to the site if you like.

When a believer has fallen into a low, sad state of feeling, he often tries to lift himself out of it by chastening himself with dark and doleful fears. Such is not the way to rise from the dust, but to continue in it. As well chain the eagle's wing to make it mount, as doubt in order to increase our grace. It is not the law, but the gospel which saves the seeking soul at first; and it is not a legal bondage, but gospel liberty which can restore the fainting believer afterwards.  -Charles Spurgeon

Though there are 7.9 billion people on earth, the Lord knows all of them intimately. And He speaks to His children on an individual basis, according to each one’s needs and experiences. -Charles Stanley

When we rise to contemplate the blood of the Son of God, our awe is yet more increased, and we shudder as we think of the guilt of sin, and the terrible penalty which the Sin-bearer endured. Blood, always precious, is priceless when it streams from Immanuel's side. The blood of Jesus seals the covenant of grace, and makes it forever sure. Covenants of old were made by sacrifice, and the everlasting covenant was ratified in the same manner. Oh, the delight of being saved upon the sure foundation of divine engagements which cannot be dishonoured! -Charles Spurgeon

The true Christian is a saint in embryo. The heavenly genes are in him and the Holy Spirit is working to bring him on into a spiritual development that accords with the nature of the Heavenly Father from whom he received the deposit of divine life. Yet he is here in this mortal body subject to weakness and temptation, and his warfare with the flesh sometimes leads him to do extreme things. -AW Tozer

Paul is telling us, "If you become so preoccupied with angels that you let go of the head, Jesus Christ, you are off the rails!"  In fact, if you are preoccupied with angels in such a way that it takes you away from Jesus Christ, I'm telling you, you are in error.  The body grows; the body is nourished; we get our life and direction from the head, Jesus Christ.

If God wants to have an angel intervene in my life, that is wonderful.  But I don't need to contact my angel because I have constant communion with the Son of God, who, as we learned yesterday, is superior to angels! -Bayless Conley

Delight in God has a transforming power and lifts a man above the gross desire of our fallen nature. Delight in Jehovah is not only sweet in itself, but it sweetens the whole soul, till the longings of the heart become such that the LORD can safely promise to fulfill them. Is not that a grand delight which molds our desires till they are like the desires of God? -Charles Spurgeon

Is the Lord dealing with you in the same way? Is Jesus teaching you to have a personal intimacy with Himself? Allow Him to drive His question home to you— “Do you believe this ?” Are you facing an area of doubt in your life? Have you come, like Martha, to a crossroads of overwhelming circumstances where your theology is about to become a very personal belief? This happens only when a personal problem brings the awareness of our personal need.  -Oswald Chambers

The Christian's view of life's values should be far different from that of the worldly minded. To truly gain the most out of life, it will be helpful to sincerely examine not only our attitudes, but our objectives and motives. By answering these questions perhaps you will have a clearer understanding of yourself. Is most of my time and thought occupied with others to better myself? To outdo others? To be recognized or praised? Or am I living to love the unlovely, to serve the undeserving, and to permit others to see Christ through my actions? These motives direct the path on which our life is traveling. We are either going in the direction God is directing or we are going our own way. -from Christianity.com

What need have we then to hide our faces? If David could say, “They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed” (Psa. 34:5), how much more should this be said of us! We know, or should know, more of Him than those of David’s day, and those Scriptures specially addressed to us send us forth, not to proclaim God’s righteous demands, but to proclaim Christ, the righteous One, who met these demands at Calvary and offers justification and life to all.  -Cornelius Stam

A preliminary remark on mindset and Psalms 1 and 2.

When you have every reason to submit to life's timult and live in despair....

but don't.....

you wouldn't let go of your joy.

That my friends, is the presence of Christ in your heart.

When assailed by enemies,

you may not trust, but yet you will not hate, you forsake killing.....

God is in your soul, Christ is in your heart.

Such as Psalms 1 and 2, when the wicked are portrayed as destroying themselves, what's really happening is that the redeeming spirit of Christ and the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, the helper, "Cletus", has no purchase in their souls, and they wither in hatred and self-destruction.

Think of how the indolent unconscious tree grows, the instinct driven yard dog, even the yard dog can show familiarity and love, the tree can flourish even in inconvenient spots, for they know not wickedness, only a hard natural arc.

"how much more then" if God clothes the grass of the field, "how much more then" will God care and provide for his own children?

Saturday, November 5, 2022

For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. -Romans 13

God's own plan is everything, and God's own plan happens in his own time, at his command, and not ours.  That next big thing in your life, or the happy conclusion of something else, may be an object of our prayer; the believer sometimes has to be patient and wait on God.

And then the hopes of his heart are his.

Give to the site to help with ministry costs, if you want.

SELECTIONS:

I think the thrill of the Pagan stories and of romance may be due to the fact that they are mere beginnings—the first, faint whisper of the wind from beyond the world—while Christianity is the thing itself: and no thing, when you have really started on it, can have for you then and there just the same thrill as the first hint. For example, the experience of being married and bringing up a family cannot have the old bittersweet of first falling in love. But it is futile (and, I think, wicked) to go on trying to get the old thrill again: you must go forward and not backward. Any real advance will in its turn be ushered in by a new thrill, different from the old: doomed in its turn to disappear and to become in its turn a temptation to retrogression. -CS Lewis

Thou hast made this nation the home of the gospel; and when the foe has risen against her, thou hast shielded her. Help us to offer repeated songs for repeated deliverances. Grant us more and more a hatred of Antichrist, and hasten on the day of her entire extinction. Till then and ever, we believe the promise, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper." -Charles Spurgeon

If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all. They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others. -Oswald Chambers

We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding. Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— “God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!” -Oswald Chambers

The LORD loves His chosen too well to be always angry with them. If He were to deal with us always as He does sometimes, we should faint outright and go down hopelessly to the gates of death. Courage, dear heart! The LORD will soon end His chiding. Bear up, for the LORD will bear you up and bear you through. He who made you knows how frail you are and how little you can bear. He will handle tenderly that which He has fashioned so delicately. Therefore, be not afraid because of the painful present, for it hastens to a happy future. He that smote you will heal you; His little wrath shall be followed by great mercies.  -Charles Spurgeon

November 4, 2022

Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. -2 Corinthians 3

Give to the site if you want.

No one will believe this who has not lived long and looked hard, so that he knows how suddenly a passion for which has for years been wrapped round the whole of the heart will dry up and wither. Perhaps in the soul, as in the soil, those growths that show the brightest colours and put forth the most overpowering smell have not always the deepest root. Or perhaps it’s age that does it. -CS Lewis

Those who serve God must serve him in his own way, and in his strength, or he will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth he casteth away; he will only reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love. -Charles Spurgeon

Let me ask you this: Can one demonic person change a nation for the worse? Definitely. Hitler did it in Germany, didn't he?

Then if the devil's power resting on a man can change a nation for the worse, you can be sure that a group of men and women with God's power resting on them can change a nation for the better.  -Kenneth Copeland

When a truth of God is brought home to your soul, never allow it to pass without acting on it internally in your will, not necessarily externally in your physical life. Record it with ink and with blood— work it into your life. The weakest saint who transacts business with Jesus Christ is liberated the second he acts and God’s almighty power is available on his behalf. -Oswald Chambers

Although the LORD may not appear for us in the way we expect, or desire, or suppose, yet He will in some way or other provide for us. It is a great blessing for us to be raised above looking to secondary causes so that we may gaze into the face of the great First Cause. Have we this day grace enough to make trenches into which the divine blessing may flow?  -Charles Spurgeon

If you would see the sun, would you gather together the common means of illumination, and seek in that way to behold the orb of day? No, the wise man knoweth that the sun must reveal itself, and only by its own blaze can that mighty lamp be seen. It is so with Christ. -Charles Spurgeon