JUDGEMENT AND THE LOVE OF GOD
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest



(1Pe 4:17) For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? --NASB



[ Are you saved? Do you sin? Is your burden heavy on your heart? Read with me the beautiful and powerful words of Oswald Chambers as he guides us to the very foot of the cross-- Brother Gary ]



The Christian servant must never forget that salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has an unfathomable depth. Salvation is the great thought of God, not an experience. Experience is simply the door through which salvation comes into the conscious level of our life so that we are aware of what has taken place on a much deeper level. Never preach the experience— preach the great thought of God behind the experience. When we preach, we are not simply proclaiming how people can be saved from hell and be made moral and pure; we are conveying good news about God.
In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out— it is the sign of the love of God. Never sympathize with someone who finds it difficult to get to God; God is not to blame. It is not for us to figure out the reason for the difficulty, but only to present the truth of God so that the Spirit of God will reveal what is wrong. The greatest test of the quality of our preaching is whether or not it brings everyone to judgment. When the truth is preached, the Spirit of God brings each person face to face with God Himself.
If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account. Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God. The moment we recognize our complete weakness and our dependence upon Him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit His power.



HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

JUDGEMENT AND THE LOVE OF GOD
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest



(1Pe 4:17) For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? --NASB



[ Are you saved? Do you sin? Is your burden heavy on your heart? Read with me the beautiful and powerful words of Oswald Chambers as he guides us to the very foot of the cross-- Brother Gary ]



The Christian servant must never forget that salvation is God’s idea, not man’s; therefore, it has an unfathomable depth. Salvation is the great thought of God, not an experience. Experience is simply the door through which salvation comes into the conscious level of our life so that we are aware of what has taken place on a much deeper level. Never preach the experience— preach the great thought of God behind the experience. When we preach, we are not simply proclaiming how people can be saved from hell and be made moral and pure; we are conveying good news about God.
In the teachings of Jesus Christ the element of judgment is always brought out— it is the sign of the love of God. Never sympathize with someone who finds it difficult to get to God; God is not to blame. It is not for us to figure out the reason for the difficulty, but only to present the truth of God so that the Spirit of God will reveal what is wrong. The greatest test of the quality of our preaching is whether or not it brings everyone to judgment. When the truth is preached, the Spirit of God brings each person face to face with God Himself.
If Jesus ever commanded us to do something that He was unable to equip us to accomplish, He would be a liar. And if we make our own inability a stumbling block or an excuse not to be obedient, it means that we are telling God that there is something which He has not yet taken into account. Every element of our own self-reliance must be put to death by the power of God. The moment we recognize our complete weakness and our dependence upon Him will be the very moment that the Spirit of God will exhibit His power.



HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

ATTENDING CHURCH DAILY

A WEEKLY Christian is a WEAKLY Christian. I don't know who it was that coined that phrase but I certainly agree and here is why:

In Acts 2: 46-47, Luke paints us a picture of what church life was like on a daily basis in the days and years following the ascension of our Christ;

(Act 2:46) Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

(Act 2:47) praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I talk with many in our own congregation who exclaim how wonderful it is to be in the church Sunday morning to “Re-charge their Spiritual Batteries”. For me, if I waited for an entire week to to “Recharge the Spiritual batteries”, Satan would have a field day messing with me!!

God designed us to be a “Daily” church. He made us to operate on the daily clock, so-to-speak. [I'm sure you have noticed that our Almighty Father does not wear a wrist watch.....] Humans are the slaves to the clock, and by our own design we have carved out the following template that governs how and what we do. Observe: we have eight hours for sleep, eight hours for our regular professions and eight hours for rest and relaxation. [I know.....I can hear some of you saying “I Wish that were so!]

We are daily by design. The sun comes up, we go. The sun goes down, we stop. Calendars for weeks and months and years, well that we can only blame on ourselves. In this context lies the issue.

If we only get “Churched” one time a week, what happens on the 6 other days? Do we become “Unchurched?” We are taught by scripture to ENCOURAGE each other every day. To PRAY every day, to FORGIVE every day, and to WITNESS to others every day. If we wait until Sunday each week, who do we end up witnessing to? Mostly, ourselves.

Sunday worship and fellowship, Wednesday fellowship, small group gatherings are vital. This is how we grow, and how we remain accountable not only to each other, but to He who made us. We NEED collective fellowship!

(Heb 4:7) He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."

The author in Hebrews points to where we should be in our expected walk with our Lord and Savior. He also tells us on which day this should be occurring, TODAY!

Each and every day we must strive to attend church. Where ever we are, we are (or should be) the very reflection of the Christ Jesus. In school, at Wally World, over at Lowes, at the Tom Thumb, we have a constant flow of precious souls who need to be ENCOURAGED. Who can receive great benefit from PRAYER. The individual who is so in need of being FORGIVEN. Whether we do so verbally or through our actions, we are His WITNESS, His reflection and so often, we become the only Bible many of these souls will ever see. YOU!

(Heb 3:13) But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

If you simply carved out five minutes from each of the 16 hours that are not devoted to sleep, just FIVE minutes each hour to ENCOURAGE, PRAY, FORGIVE or WITNESS, WOW! Thats one hour and twenty minutes. How long does it take for you to say to someone, “Thank-you, I appreciate what you are doing”. How difficult would it be to offer, “May I pray for you today?” Oh, and “I forgive you”.

Go ahead, time yourself uttering each of these examples. I'll bet that if you spoke all three examples the time it would take would be less than one minute out of the five minutes you could devote to your Lord each hour. That leaves four minutes for a WITNESS, or the reaction to your WITNESS. How beautiful is that?

Lets all be in church every day, just as God designed us to be! Not just on Sundays.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

ATTENDING CHURCH DAILY

A WEEKLY Christian is a WEAKLY Christian. I don't know who it was that coined that phrase but I certainly agree and here is why:

In Acts 2: 46-47, Luke paints us a picture of what church life was like on a daily basis in the days and years following the ascension of our Christ;

(Act 2:46) Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,

(Act 2:47) praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

I talk with many in our own congregation who exclaim how wonderful it is to be in the church Sunday morning to “Re-charge their Spiritual Batteries”. For me, if I waited for an entire week to to “Recharge the Spiritual batteries”, Satan would have a field day messing with me!!

God designed us to be a “Daily” church. He made us to operate on the daily clock, so-to-speak. [I'm sure you have noticed that our Almighty Father does not wear a wrist watch.....] Humans are the slaves to the clock, and by our own design we have carved out the following template that governs how and what we do. Observe: we have eight hours for sleep, eight hours for our regular professions and eight hours for rest and relaxation. [I know.....I can hear some of you saying “I Wish that were so!]

We are daily by design. The sun comes up, we go. The sun goes down, we stop. Calendars for weeks and months and years, well that we can only blame on ourselves. In this context lies the issue.

If we only get “Churched” one time a week, what happens on the 6 other days? Do we become “Unchurched?” We are taught by scripture to ENCOURAGE each other every day. To PRAY every day, to FORGIVE every day, and to WITNESS to others every day. If we wait until Sunday each week, who do we end up witnessing to? Mostly, ourselves.

Sunday worship and fellowship, Wednesday fellowship, small group gatherings are vital. This is how we grow, and how we remain accountable not only to each other, but to He who made us. We NEED collective fellowship!

(Heb 4:7) He again fixes a certain day, "Today," saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS."

The author in Hebrews points to where we should be in our expected walk with our Lord and Savior. He also tells us on which day this should be occurring, TODAY!

Each and every day we must strive to attend church. Where ever we are, we are (or should be) the very reflection of the Christ Jesus. In school, at Wally World, over at Lowes, at the Tom Thumb, we have a constant flow of precious souls who need to be ENCOURAGED. Who can receive great benefit from PRAYER. The individual who is so in need of being FORGIVEN. Whether we do so verbally or through our actions, we are His WITNESS, His reflection and so often, we become the only Bible many of these souls will ever see. YOU!

(Heb 3:13) But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

If you simply carved out five minutes from each of the 16 hours that are not devoted to sleep, just FIVE minutes each hour to ENCOURAGE, PRAY, FORGIVE or WITNESS, WOW! Thats one hour and twenty minutes. How long does it take for you to say to someone, “Thank-you, I appreciate what you are doing”. How difficult would it be to offer, “May I pray for you today?” Oh, and “I forgive you”.

Go ahead, time yourself uttering each of these examples. I'll bet that if you spoke all three examples the time it would take would be less than one minute out of the five minutes you could devote to your Lord each hour. That leaves four minutes for a WITNESS, or the reaction to your WITNESS. How beautiful is that?

Lets all be in church every day, just as God designed us to be! Not just on Sundays.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

Love the Lord your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-12, NASB

Circa 1451 BC

It was a bitter-sweet time for Moses. The time to be gathered to his fathers was rapidly approaching. He would never set foot in the Land of Milk & Honey. The land that God promised. The land to which Moses had led the “chosen people” from their exit from slavery in Egypt.

For forty years, Moses would teach, preach, beseech, but not reach the promised land himself. Only from a mountain top would God permit Moses to see the land, so rich, so beautiful, just beyond the river. Read now his rallying words of encouragement and of warning to the Jews to obey God and prosper. Savor his message, meditate on it's power and beauty:

(Deu 6:1) "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,

(Deu 6:2) so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

(Deu 6:3) "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

(Deu 6:4) "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

(Deu 6:5) "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

(Deu 6:6) "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

(Deu 6:7) "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

(Deu 6:8) "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

(Deu 6:9) "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

(Deu 6:10) "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,

(Deu 6:11) and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,

(Deu 6:12) then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

Love the Lord your God

Deuteronomy 6:1-12, NASB

Circa 1451 BC

It was a bitter-sweet time for Moses. The time to be gathered to his fathers was rapidly approaching. He would never set foot in the Land of Milk & Honey. The land that God promised. The land to which Moses had led the “chosen people” from their exit from slavery in Egypt.

For forty years, Moses would teach, preach, beseech, but not reach the promised land himself. Only from a mountain top would God permit Moses to see the land, so rich, so beautiful, just beyond the river. Read now his rallying words of encouragement and of warning to the Jews to obey God and prosper. Savor his message, meditate on it's power and beauty:

(Deu 6:1) "Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it,

(Deu 6:2) so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

(Deu 6:3) "O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

(Deu 6:4) "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!

(Deu 6:5) "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

(Deu 6:6) "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

(Deu 6:7) "You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

(Deu 6:8) "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

(Deu 6:9) "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

(Deu 6:10) "Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build,

(Deu 6:11) and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied,

(Deu 6:12) then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?

An Expert Searcher

Charles H. Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook

(Eze 34:11) For thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.

This He does at the first when His elect are like wandering sheep that know not the Shepherd or the fold. How wonderfully doth the LORD find out His chosen! Jesus is great as a seeking Shepherd as well as a saving Shepherd. Though many of those His Father gave Him have gone as near to hell-gate as they well can, yet the LORD by searching and seeking discovers them and draws nigh to them in grace. He has sought out us: let us have good hope for those who are laid upon our hearts in prayer, for He will find them out also.

The LORD repeats this process when any of His flock stray from the pastures of truth and holiness. They may fall into gross error, sad sin, and grievous hardness; but yet the LORD, who has become a surety for them to His Father, will not suffer one of them to go so far as to perish. He will by providence and grace pursue them into foreign lands, into abodes of poverty, into dens of obscurity, into depths of despair; He will not lose one of all that the Father has given Him. It is a point of honor with Jesus to seek and to save all the flock, without a single exception. What a promise to plead, if at this hour I am compelled to cry, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep!"

HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY??