Welcome To September: Vanity

Reference Text: Isaiah 55:6-7; Ecclesiastes 1:2-14

From The Truth Media family,

Happy New Month!

The fleet astronomer can bore

And thread the spheres with his quick-piercing mind:

He views their stations, walks from door to door

Surveys, as if he had designed

To make a purchase there: he sees their dances

And knoweth long before

Both their full-eyed aspects, and secret glances

The nimble diver with his side

Cuts through the working waves that he may fetch

His dearly-earned pearl, which God did hide

On purpose from the ventrous wretch

That he might save his life, and also hers

Who with excessive pride

Her own destruction and his danger wears

The subtle chymick can devest

And strip the creature naked, till he find

The callow principles within their nest:

There he imparts to them his mind

Admitted to their bed-chamber, before

They appear trim and drest

To ordinary suitors at the door

What hath not man sought out and found

But his dear God? Who yet His glorious law

Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground

With showers and frosts, with love and awe

So that we need not say, where is this command?

Poor man, thou searchest round

To find out death, but missest life at hand.

*** Written by George Herbert ***

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The Mercy Seat

From every stormy wind that blows,

From every swell-ing tide of woes;

There is a calm, a sure retreat;

It is found beneath the mercy seat.

There is a place where Jesus sheds

The oil of gladness on our heads;

A place than all beside more sweet;

It is the blood-stained mercy seat.

There is a scene where spirits blend,

And friend holds fellowship with friend;

Though sundered far, by faith we meet;

Around one common mercy seat.

There, there on eagle's wings we soar,

And time and sense seem all no more;

And heaven comes down our souls to greet;

And glory crowns the mercy seat.

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Till Death Do Us Apart

Text: Genesis 23:1-6

Key Verse: "Then Abraham rose from beside his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites. He said, I am an alien and a stranger among you" (Genesis 23:3-44).

I love the phrase Abraham rose from beside his dead wife. That signified squaring his shoulder, lifting up his eye, firming his step, and facing life again, and it is followed by a wonderful confession of faith: I am an alien and a stranger among you This is the word of a man who looks beyond all that earth has to offer and once more sees the city that has foundations whose builder and maker is God. Although Abraham has been weeping in the valley of the shadow of death, he somehow senses there can be no shadow without a light somewhere.

Have you learned that? When shadows come into your life, it is a sign that there must be light somewhere. Of course, if we turn our back on the light, then we ourselves are the ones who cause the shadow. I think people today are living in a constant shadow because their back is turned toward the light, and they themselves cast a pall upon their own existence. But if we face the light, looking at that light streaming from the city whose builder and maker is God, then the only shadow comes temporarily when some object obscures the light for a moment.

After all, that is what death is; it is simply a temporary obscuring of the light. But the man of faith lifts his eyes and looks beyond the shadow and sees the light still shining, and he says to these people, I am an alien and a stranger among you. Nothing satisfies me down here. I can never settle down among you. The whole land had been given to him by the promise of God, but the dead body of his wife before him reminds him that it is not yet God's time. His faith is not weakened by Sarah's death; rather, it is strengthened by it.

If Abraham had not remembered that he was a pilgrim and a stranger, his heart would have been crushed to despair by the death of his beloved life's companion. But Abraham lifts his eyes beyond this to the light from the city beyond. He remembers that nothing in this life was ever intended to fully meet the needs of the heart of the pilgrim stranger passing through.

Dr. Barnhouse told of a young woman whose husband had been killed in action during the war. When the telegram came, this Christian woman read it through and then said to her mother, I am going up to my room, and please don't disturb me. Her mother called her father at work and told him what had happened, and he came hurrying home and immediately went up to the room. His daughter didn't hear him come in, and he saw her kneeling beside her bed. The telegram was spread open on the bed before her. She was bowed over it. And as he stood there, he heard her say, Oh, my Father, my heavenly Father, The man turned around and went back down the stairs and said to his wife, She is in better hands than mine.

This is what faith does in the hour of grief. The very strength of Abraham's faith in the midst of anguish is that he is an alien and a stranger, a pilgrim passing through to that city that can alone satisfy the human heart.

***Culled from Ray Stedman's Ministry | www.raystedman.org

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So Send I You

So send I you - to labour unrewarded,
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown,
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing
So send I you - to toil for Me alone

"As the Father hath sent Me,

So send I you"

So send I you - to bind the bruised and broken,
O'er wand'ring souls to work, to weep, to wake,
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary
So send I you - to suffer for My sake

So send I you - to loneliness and longing,
With heart a-hung'ring for the loved and known,
Forsaking home and kindred, friend and dear one,
So send I you - to know My love alone

So send I you - to leave your life's ambition,
To die to dear desire, self-will resign,
To labour long and love where men revile you,
So send I you - to lose your life in Mine

So send I you - to hearts made hard by hatred,
To eyes made blind because they will not see,
To spend, tho' it be blood to spend and spare not
So send I you - to taste of Calvary.

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We Must Love All Mankind

Those who work the work of the Lord must not only love the brethren but also love all mankind. “Whoever mocks the poor,” said Solomon, “reproaches his Maker” (Prov. 17:5a). All men are created by God; therefore all are to be loved. If a worker does not have sufficient love for the brethren, or if he has the love of the brethren but no love for mankind in general, he is not qualified to serve God. For loving men or showing love to men is an essential quality to have in God’s service.

All who view people with annoyance and despise them are definitely unfit to be the Lord’s servants. We ought to see that though all men have fallen, they are nonetheless the object of the redemption of our Lord Jesus inasmuch as they were all created by God. In spite of their hardness of heart, the Holy Spirit still convicts them. The Lord Jesus came to this earth; He came to be a man. Like the rest of mankind, He grew up gradually from birth to maturity. For God intends to set up on earth a Model Man, a Representative Man – one upon whom rests all the purposes of God. After the ascension of the Lord Jesus, the church came into being, and yet the church is but the formation of a new man. The whole plan of redemption is to exalt and glorify men.

One day when we come to a deeper understanding of the word of God, we shall find the term “man” more palatable than even the term “children of God.” For we shall realize that God’s preordained plan and election is to obtain a glorious man. As we gradually perceive the place of man in God’s plan as constituting the focus of His counsel, and when we truly see God humbling Himself to be a man, we shall be impressed with the preciousness of man.

While our Lord Jesus was on earth He declared that “the Son of man also came not to be ministered to, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for man” (Mk. 10:45). The word the Lord says here is so plain; the Son of man comes to serve men. The Son of God becomes the Son of man on earth in order to serve men. Thus are we shown the attitude of the Lord Jesus towards mankind.

Many who work for God have a serious deficiency, which is, that they are totally lacking in the love of humanity. They lack the proper respect towards men, and they lack as well a knowledge of the value of man in God’s sight. Today we feel elated because we seem to have learned a little love for the brethren. Formerly, we loved no one; now, we can show our love towards the brethren by doing something for them.

No wonder we are high-spirited. Yet this is far from sufficient. We need to be so enlarged by God that we come to see that all people are to be loved and valued. Whether or not you are successful in your future work for God depends chiefly on your attitude towards the value of man. The depth of your work is to be measured by your interest and feeling towards men. By this we do not mean your interest in one or two clever or special persons. We simply mean your interest in “man” per se. This is a very significant issue.

The primary sense of Jesus’ phrase “the Son of man came” lies in the Lord’s tremendous interest in man—so much so as to become a man Himself. Such is His interest in man; but how about you? Many people do not meet your eyes; many people do not arouse your sympathetic feeling. Let us inquire, however, what the Lord’s attitude towards them is. He asserts that “the Son of man came.” Which means that He takes the place of a son of man among men. He is interested in man, He feels for man, and He values man. His interest in people is so great that He verily stands on the human level in serving mankind.

How strange that many brothers and sisters have no interest in man. Should this not arouse our righteous anger? Let us ask ourselves if we really understood what this word “The Son of man came” truly signifies. As we are in the presence of God we ought to see that this word of our Lord Jesus reveals His enormous interest in man. How can we ever think or say that we have no interest in the people we are with? Such an attitude is really preposterous.

Hence in the life of a workman of God there is another basic element in his character formation, which is, that he has an interest in all people. This, however, is not to suggest that he can choose whom among men he will be interested in—that he will only consider a particular person or persons whom he deems as interesting and lovable. No, he must be interested in man per se. For let us observe the characteristic of the Lord Jesus, that He had a keen interest in all of mankind.

There was such a love in Him towards all of humanity that He could say, “the son of Man came.” Suppose we go to a certain place to work for God. If we can say that we come to that place not to be served by the people there but to serve them, then our attitude is proper, our way is correct and our position is right. We shall be like Jesus, the Son of Man.

We should always have in mind that as the servants of God we must not withhold our love in a place until some Christian brethren arrive on the scene. All who hold this misconception—namely, that their love is to be reserved for the brethren only—are unable to do the work of God. Let it be known and unequivocally declared that the love of the brethren comes afterwards, and that it is a totally different proposition.

You need to have a love for the generality of mankind and compassion towards them. For John 3:16 makes plain that “God so loved the world.” What is “the world” here? It refers to all the people in the world, including the unsaved and ignorant. Those whom God loves are the people of the entire world. He loves everyone on the earth. If you are not interested in a person whom God loves, and furthermore, if you will love him only after he becomes a Christian brother, your disposition is quite different from the Lord’s; and therefore, you cannot serve God. Your heart will need to be expanded to such a degree that you feel that all people are to be loved. As long as this one or that one is a person, you love him. And only then shall you be qualified to serve God.

Taken from The Character of God’s Workman, by Watchman Nee; pp. 19-23; Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc.; New York; 1988.

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The Agony

Philosophers have measured mountains,

Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,

Walk’d with a staff to heaven, and traced fountains

But there are two vast, spacious things,

The which to measure it doth more behove:

Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love.

Who would know Sin, let him repair

Unto Mount Olivet; there shall he see

A man, so wrung with pains, that all his hair,

His skin, his garments, bloody be.

Sin is that Press and Vice, which forceth pain

To hunt his cruel food through every vein.

Who knows not Love, let him assay,

And taste that juice, which on the cross a pike

Did set again abroach; then let him say

If ever he did taste the like.

Love is that liquor sweet and most divine,

Which my God feels as blood; but I, as wine.

*** Written by George Herbert ***

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Carest Thou Not That We Perish?

TEXT: MARK: 4:35-41

You call it a question of unbelief? Of course, it is what it is, a question of unbelief born out of fear. The Disciples of Christ while sailing to the Gadarenes developed a spirit of fear; unaware of the nature, power and personality of whom they had as Master and Lord.

In the above text, it was shocking to see the disciples who had dined and wined and seen all that the Master was capable of develop such a thing as fear in their bowels even when Jesus was with them.

“And there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full… and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?” Sometimes and often times, all we ask the Saviour originates from these same words of the disciples. A little challenge comes our way and we ask: Lord, carest thou not that we perish?

God expects us to get to a point in our walk with Him where fear, panic and anxiety no longer wield control over our lives. He wants to be the captain of our ship, to be the anchor of our lives and declare: “Peace, be still” every time the devil strikes to weigh us down. But without faith this is impossible.

Hebrews 11:6 says “But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Without faith it is impossible for God to intervene in your battles and calm the storm of your life. That was why Jesus had to rebuke the disciples, “And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

How is it that you have no faith in God to fix your home and marriage? How is it that you have no faith in God to provide your needs, wipe your tears and bring joy your way? How is it that you have no faith that God can bless your womb, provide a suitable helpmate and give you the desired job you want? For it is written “that whosoever cometh to God must believe that He is… able, capable and abundantly able to deliver and to save.

As believers we must know that “God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. According to His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promise: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Timothy 1:7; 2 Peter 1:3-4).

Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? God can still your storm and bring peace into your life. I was unemployed in March, 2015, at the end of my contract job with a multinational firm; I became fatherless in May, 2015, to have lost my dad to illness; my mum, a full housewife, had no business of her own; and I have three siblings in the university and two in primary school. Being the first child, responsibility pressed so hard on me as a hammer to a nail and at a point, I questioned my faith. Really, I did. Little assistance came from friends and relatives but could solve nothing.

I had to put my kneels to use, called on the Lord to prove to me that I wasn’t serving Him in vain and guess what He showed me: “Psalm 100:1-5.” Reading this Bible passage totally calmed my soul and brought life and unexplainable vigor to my heart that people around me did not understand. They didn’t understand the secret was God; it was Jesus Christ that blessed me with peace as a river and told me not to fear what tomorrow holds. He said to me: have faith and that was all.

With all these challenges beckoning, it wasn’t easy to strengthen my mum and encourage my siblings to go on living with God’s grace but then, my kneels and mouth weren’t dormant. I kept pleading with heaven and through it all, God responded with a job offer in August, 2015, where I am currently. Although, there are still tons of responsibilities to cater for but I just want to believe and keep believing that God is able.

My testimonies leave me no room to ask God: carest thou not that I perish because I know He cares (1 Peter 5:7). If God doesn’t really care, you won’t be reading this piece right now. I would be dead or somewhere unimaginable, unable to write and share this living and continuous testimonies with you.

Consider carefully what God told me in the book of Psalms, my experience, the disposition of the disciples on their way to Gadarenes and the aftermath, and measure these things with what you are going through presently. Then answer the Lord: “why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?”

Remember He said “…whatever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it…I will not leave you comfortless…Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:13-14, 18, 27).

“And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41). He is called “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus Christ is his name.

Whenever you are tempted to ask again: ‘carest thou not that I perish’, bring to thoughts His loving responses: ‘Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’…‘cast all your care upon me, for I care about you’…‘and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’

*** Written by Jacobs Adewale (Admin) ***

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Committed To Him?

When we’re truly betrothed to Him,

We can’t help, but divinely succeed;

Christ’s not a Man that He should lie

And He’s promised to meet our needs.

Are we, not more important than birds

Found about the land, trees and air?

Are we better clothed than flowers?

Are we committed to Him and His care?

Are we not made after God’s image?

As His Children, are we responsible,

For applying The Word to our lives?

Are we spiritually irresponsible?

We’re accountable for understanding

How to divinely develop and grow.

Spiritual progression doesn’t allow

Us to blindly accept the status quo!

The Day of Judgment is still coming.

Will you be seen as a goat or sheep?

Are you joined to the True Vine or

Will your soul burn on Hell’s heap?

Author Notes

Inspired by:

Num 23:19; Prov 16:3; Matt 6:25-34, 25:31-46

Learn more about me and my poetry at: http://amzn.to/1ffo9YZ

By Joseph J. Breunig 3rd, © 2014, All rights reserved.

--------Joseph Breunig, Author/poet

Reaching Towards His Unbounded Glory

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Waiting And Watching

TEXT: MATTHEW 24:29-31, 36-44

Nothing else should be of greater importance to all believers than the imminent second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The first phase of His coming is the rapture of saints which will be heralded by Christ’s appearance in the air and the catching up of prepared saints. At the second coming, His feet will rest on Mount Olivet and this event will usher in His millennial reign of righteousness and peace on earth.

The second coming of Christ is the blessed hope of all the believers. Christ will come again literally and visibly – this is the promise given by Christ Himself before His ascension to heaven. Angels and the Apostles confirmed it (Acts 1:10; 2 Peter 3:10). Today, believers look forward with great eagerness to the day of Christ’s coming when all our sorrows will be wiped away and a new dawn of joy and peace will come from heaven.

As we expect His appearing, the word of God enjoins us to be watchful since He will come at a time we are not expecting. Watchfulness is a great pan of believers’ preparation. Failure to wait and watch will lead to serious disappointment and sorrow on that day. Waiting entails sobriety in all things. We must be on our guard always. Frivolity is unbecoming of a watchful heaven-bound believer because “…they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.” So, “…be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Thessalonians 5:7; 1 Peter 4:7).

The Apostle Paul enjoins us to watch and stand fast in the faith (1 Corinthians 16:13). The duty of watching is of paramount obligation aimed at all believers. We must watch out life, conversation, relationship with God and with men. We must give ourselves to fervent prayers and daily seek to do His will.

As we wait for His coming, our duty as believers is to reach out with the gospel to the millions of unsaved and careless souls around us. Knowing the terror of the Lord, we need to persuade men to come to Christ and receive eternal life before it is too late. “And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.”

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When Not To Run Away

Text: Nehemiah 6:10-14

Key Verse: Should a man like me run away? Or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go! (Nehemiah 6:11).

Once again the enemy switches his tactics, reverting again to subterfuge. A word comes in the form of a prophecy, but this man is a false prophet. He claims to have hidden knowledge that men are coming to kill Nehemiah and advises him to go into the temple to save his life. This false prophet may be involved in the occult, because that is what is suggested here by the explanation that he was shut in at his home (Nehemiah 6:10). Being shut in suggests that for some religious reason he was secluding himself.

What he says sounds logical. Some people are out to get you. They are going to kill you, he charges. Nehemiah certainly knows that! The man suggests, Come on up here, and we will go into the temple and shut the doors. They will not dare attack you there. That sounds good, but immediately Nehemiah detects something wrong. He knows that as a layman, he is not permitted to go into the temple, for only priests could enter the temple. It was simply not right for him to enter the temple.

He realizes that a prophet who was really from the Lord wouldn't say anything that was not in line with the commands of God. There was an altar of asylum in the temple courtyard to which people who were under threat could flee and be safe, but this man is proposing they actually go into the temple and shut the doors.

Nehemiah says it was all part of a plan to discourage the people from following his lead. Fueled by jealousy and ambition, these enemies slandered him and tried to trick him into yielding to their demands. We must be aware of this kind of attack on our lives in these days. Do not take people's advice just because they are friendly to you. It may be completely wrong advice.

Nothing substitutes for a knowledge of the Word of God. That is how you can detect error and tell what is wrong. The best response to such an approach is what Nehemiah uses here--a deep sense of his true identity as a believer. Should a man like me run and hide and try to save his life by wrong approaches and unlawful practices? He falls back upon his clear consciousness of who he is. He is a believer in the living God, and thus he need not resort to trickery to save his life.

This is exactly what the New Testament calls us to as well. Writing to the Thessalonians, faced with the normal pressures and problems of life, the apostle Paul's word is, live lives worthy of God (1 Thessalonians 2:12). We are called to walk with God. You are a child of His. You belong to Him. You are therefore living at a different level from those around you. If you remember who you are, you will not go along with the wrong things that people are being pressured into today.

Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden Pond, “If I seem not to keep step with others, it is because I am listening to another drumbeat. Christians also listen to another drumbeat. They are following their Lord, not the voices they hear around them. Nothing will free us more from the subtle pressures and temptations of today than to remember who we are.

Culled from Ray Stedman's Ministry | www.raystedman.org

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