The Tyranny Of Things

A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth – Luke 12:15

Before the Lord God made man upon the earth, He first prepared for him a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight. In the Genesis account of creation, these are simple “things.” They were made for man’s use, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him. In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come. Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him. But sin has introduced complications and had made those very gifts of God a potential source of ruin to the soul.

Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and ‘things’ were allowed to enter. Within the human heart ‘things’ have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk, stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.

Idolatry is not only the adoration of images … but also trust in one’s own righteousness, works and merits, and putting confidence in riches and power – Martin Luther.

This is not a mere metaphor, but an accurate analysis of our real spiritual trouble. There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess. It covets things with a deep and fierce passion. The pronouns ‘my’ and ‘mine’ look innocent enough in print, but their constant and universal use is significant. They express the real nature of the old Adamic man better than a thousand volumes of theology could do.

They are verbal symptoms of our deep disease. The roots of our hearts have grown down into things, and we dare not pull up one rootlet lest we die. Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. God’s gifts now take the place of God and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.

Our Lord referred to this tyranny of things when He said to His disciples. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 16:24-25).

Breaking this truth into fragments for our better understanding, it would seem that there is within each of us an enemy which we tolerate at our peril. Jesus called it “life” and “self”, or as we would say, the self-life. Its chief characteristics is its possessiveness; the words ‘gain’ and ‘profits’ suggest this.

To allow this enemy to live is, in the end, to lose everything. To repudiate it and give up all for Christ’s sake is to lose nothing at all, but to preserve everything unto life eternal. And possibly also a hint is given here as to the only effective way to destroy this foe: It is by the cross. “Let him take up his cross, and follow me.”

“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity … but let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 1:2; 12:13).

Hold loosely all that is not eternal – Agnes Maude Royden.

===Written by A.W. Tozer; culled from The Pursuit of God.===

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Give Of Your Best To The Master

Give of your best to the Master;

Give of the strength of your youth;

Throw your soul’s fresh, glowing ardor

Into the battle for truth.

Jesus has set the example;

Dauntless was He, young and brave;

Give Him your loyal devotion,

Give Him the best that you have.

Give of your best to the Master;

Give of the strength of your youth;

Clad in salvation’s full armour,

Join in the battle for truth.

Give of your best to the Master;

Give Him first place in your heart;

Give Him first place in your service,

Consecrate every part.

Give, and to you shall be given

God His beloved Son gave;

Gratefully seeking to serve Him,

Give Him the best that you have.

Give of your best to the Master;

Naught else is worthy His love;

He gave Himself for your ransom,

Gave up His glory above:

Laid down His life without murmur,

You from sin’s ruin to save;

Give Him your heart’s adoration,

Give Him the best that you have.

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Nothing Else Works

“…Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea…” (John 21:1)

The disciples, experienced fishermen, fished all night and caught nothing. We all know what that feels like, right? Next morning Jesus appeared on the shore and said, ‘…Cast the net on the right side of the boat…’ (John 21:6). When they did, they caught so many fishes their net broke. This story teaches us three things about Jesus:

•  Usually, you find Him at the end of your struggle:

As long as you think you can do it on your own, He will let you try. And as long as what worked for you before is still working, you won’t reach out to Him for help. It’s only when you run out of answers that you discover it’s ‘…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit saith the Lord…’ (Zechariah 4:6).

• He never takes His eyes off you:

‘…When the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; and yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus’ (John 21:4). They couldn’t see Him, but He could see them. In spite of your emotional upheaval, your disappointment in those you trusted, and the futility of your own efforts, you’re never beyond His care or His reach.

• He invites you to come and dine:

Only after He fed them and had fellowship with them, did they recognize Him. At that point their doubts dissolved, their faith was renewed and they were empowered to go out and do His work. It’s back to basics! The answers you seek and the strength you need can be found only by feeding on God’s Word and fellowshipping with Him in prayer. Simply stated: nothing else works.

===Culled from The Word for Today: May-July, 2009.===

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Have You Any Room For Jesus?

Have you any room for Jesus,

He who bore your load of sin?

As He knocks and asks admission,

Sinners, will you let Him in?

Room for Jesus, King of glory,

Hasten now, His word obey,

Swing the heart’s door widely open,

Bid Him enter while you may.

Room for pleasure, room for business,

But for Christ the crucified;

Not a place that He can enter,

In your heart for which He died?

Have you any time for Jesus,

As in grace He calls again?

O today is time accepted,

Tomorrow you may call in vain.

Room and time now give to Jesus,

Soon will pass God’s day of grace;

Soon thy heart left cold and silent,

And thy Saviour’s pleading cease.

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When God Fights For You

TEXT: JOSHUA 10:1-11

There is so much truth in the saying that “if God is all you have, then you have got all you need.” This is because if we allow God have full control of our lives, He will manifest His power in every area of our needs.

Israel, on their way to the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua, encountered many hostile nations. But they prevailed against all. News of their incredible victories made kings to panic. Indeed, Gibeon, a great city of mighty men, found it expedient to submit to the superior power of Israel even under tough terms. Adonizedec, king of Jerusalem, feared Israel and was incensed with Gibeon for submitting and signing a pact with them. Panic-stricken, he arranged a confederacy with four neighbouring kings against Gibeon. Gibeon handed the battle to Israel who routed the confederacy of five Amorite kingdoms.

Notice how the event was captured in verse 10: “And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah.”

This string of victories did not come to Israel by dint of hard work or military might; God fought for them. As long as Israel was in good standing with Him, the Lord of hosts remained their Banner.

God still fights for His people. For those who through repentance and faith in Christ have submitted their lives to God, He is the Source of their victories. When God fights for you, no confederacy of demons or men can withstand you.

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The Miser Of Marseilles

There is a legend about how, years ago, there was an old man who used to walk the streets of that seaport town that they called, “The Miser of Marseilles.” He was an object of derision throughout the whole city and even throughout the south of France, for everybody seemed to know him. Apparently, he loved nothing and had no other object than to hoard every bit of money he got hold of; for what purpose, none knew.

He was hated whenever he appeared on the streets. When he died, he was so despised that only a single person attended his funeral. Then his will was read, and these were its strange terms:

“From my infancy I noticed that the poor people of Marseilles had great difficulty in getting water. I noticed that water, the gift of God, was very dear and difficult to obtain. And when they could get that water, it was not as pure and clean as God intended it to be. Therefore, I vowed before God that I would live but for one purpose, for one end. I would save money, money, money; that I might give it to the city on one condition: that an aqueduct be built to bring fresh, pure water from yonder lake in the hills to Marseilles. That I now make possible by leaving all my hoarded wealth to this city. This is my last will and testament.”

Travelers in Marseilles today hear the poor people say as they drink the pure, sweet water from the lake in the hills, “Ah, when the miser died, we misunderstood him, but he did it all for us! We called him the miser of Marseilles, but he was more than that; he was the savior of Marseilles.”

If we human beings could but learn the one inescapable meaning of that parable, we would know the secret of how to get the most out of life which is to give the most to life. Just as they knew of the miser’s giving, so should the world know of Christ’s selflessness and love that He gave himself to the Cross for us to be saved.

=== Culled from Christian Women Mirror ===

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Ye Are Not Your Own

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20

By creation, all beings and all things, living or non-living, belong to God (Psalm 24:1). By redemption or the new birth, all believers belong to God. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Having been bought with a price, you are not your own. You belong to the Lord.

Before our redemption, we were slaves and servants of sin and Satan. But now though free from sin and Satan, we are bondmen or prisoners of the Lord who bought us with His precious blood which He shed on the Cross at Calvary. We are not to serve sin and Satan any more but the Lord and that in holiness.

The believer is the Lord’s property; hence, his soul, spirit and all parts of his body must be yielded to Him in righteousness. We cannot do what we like, say what we like, go where we like, or gaze at anything we like because we are God’s. We are to yield all our members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

No one can live the yielded or the surrendered life without first being born again. The salvation experience must be followed by holiness experience (sanctification). The Spirit of God cannot live in a body or heart that is defiled with sin, hence, our need of sanctification experience.

To maintain our Christian experiences and live a life that glorifies God, we must not be conformed to this present world. We must have our minds renewed day by day by the truth and of course live a prayerful life.

The grace of God is available for us to live for Him – who loved us and gave His life for us. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may receive help in time of need.

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Victory In Jesus

I heard an old, old story,

How a savior came from glory,

How he gave His life on Calvary

To save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning,

Of His precious blood atoning,

Then I repented of my sins

And won the victory.

O victory in Jesus, my savior, forever,

He sought me and bought me

With His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him,

And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory

Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing,

Of His cleansing power revealing,

How He made the lame to walk again,

And cause the blind to see;

And then I cried, “dear Jesus

Come and heal my broken spirit,”

And somehow Jesus came and brought

To me the victory.

I hear about a mansion

He has built for me in glory,

And I heard about the streets of gold

Beyond the crystal sea;

About the angel singing

And the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there

The song of victory.

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Walking On Life's Stormy Sea

TEXT: MATTHEW 14:23-33; 1 JOHN 5:4

Life’s sea is not always calm. There are seasons that the sea becomes stormy, boisterous and turbulent. As pilgrims, we must always travel on the sea of life. Walking on the sea ordinarily contradicts the natural law of gravity. To walk on the stormy sea is another unthinkable venture to the rational and natural man. But Jesus walked on the stormy sea. Peter too dared to step his feet on the turbulent sea. We can walk on the stormy sea of this life. The secret is our faith in Jesus Christ.

The victory that overcomes the world is faith (1 John 5:4). As mortals, seas of troubles are cast before us in our sojourning in this life. They confront our sensibilities and cause us to tremble. They shatter our imaginations and cause us to wander; such was the case of Israel with the impassable Red Sea before them and the pursuing Egyptian’s warlords behind them (Exodus 14:9-15).

The situation was not in any way different when the hearts of the Israelites melted before the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17:4-11). It was their own stormy sea when Judah was to confront the confederacy of three nations stronger than they (2 Chronicles 20:1-4). A great host from Syria was sent to Israel to capture Elisha. That was a great challenge to his faith (2 Kings 6:14-30).

Stormy seas are uphill, difficulty, impossible situations, hostilities – that challenge our faith. But when we manifest daring, conquering faith, our Red Seas are dried up, our Goliaths are slain.

Moses by faith dared the Red Sea, David confronted and conquered Goliath by faith, Jehoshaphat triumphed over the enemies of Judah with songs of faith. The chains of prisoners fell apart when Paul and Silas sang praises in faith.

By faith, we can walk on our life’s stormy sea. Always remember, when on life’s stormy seas to look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. Don’t meditate on your mountain. Don’t gaze at it. Look unto Jesus and His accomplished work on the Cross. Store up the promises of God in your heart and constantly confess them boldly when thoughts of failure, defeat and fear bombard your heart.

Never murmur, complain or confess anything negative about your situation or circumstances. When the problems seem to abundantly overwhelm you like sea waves, go to the Lord in agonizing desire and He will see you through.

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Welcome To June!

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Month!!!

It’s best to serve the Lord in June,

For His coming is very soon;

While you plead the Lord’s call to wait,

Tomorrow might just be too late

Be mindful of the life you live,

The creed you hold, the words you give;

For when the trump shall sound on high,

The soul in sin will have to die

The time to wake truly is now,

And at the Cross contritely bow.

The Lord Jesus bids you to come;

Giving your all and not just some

Welcome to June:

A month of grace,

A month to spend and then be spent

Urging lost souls to please repent

=== Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ===

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