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"If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free...So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed!" (John 8:31-32,36)

Fresh as the Sunrise

October 24, 2017 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble” (Psalm 59:16).
“Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift up my soul to You” (Psalm 143:8).

The poet J. E. Raneim wrote:

Are you weary, are you heavy hearted?
Are you grieving over joys departed?
Do the tears flow down your cheeks unbidden?
Have you sins that to men’s eyes are hidden?
Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow?
Are you anxious what shall be tomorrow?
Are you troubled at the thought of dying?
For Christ’s coming Kingdom are you sighing?
Tell it to Jesus,
Tell it to Jesus,
He is a friend that’s well known.
You’ve no other such a friend or brother,
Tell it to Jesus alone.

We would do well, when we rise in the morning and look into the mirror, to ask ourselves, “In whom is my trust this morning?”

If we look within, we’ll be distressed. If we look back, we’ll be defeated. If we look around, we’ll be distracted. We would do well to have a higher view of life. To be dismayed, we should look before. To be delivered, we should look to Christ. To be delighted, we should look up… up to the Face of our Lord Jesus Christ for:

  1. Salvation from our sins: “Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else (Isaiah 45:22).
  2. Forgiveness for our many offenses: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
  3. Knowledge of God’s working in us: “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
  4. Assurance of God’s presence with us: “For He Himself said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
  5. The supply of everything we need: “And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
  6. Protection until Christ returns: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thessalonians 5:23).
  7. Receiving us to Himself and our home in Heaven: “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Let each of us, every morning, say with our whole heart;
 
When the sun rises over the hills, I will look to You (Matthew 28:20).
When my spirit seems void Your presence, I will speak to You (John 16:24).
When my prayers seem unheard, I will know You are listening (Jeremiah 33:3).
When temptations try to lure me, I will seek Your aid to resist (James 4:7-8).
When bad memories persist, I will know You can cleanse my memory (Heb. 9:14).
When my faith seems weaker, I will ask You for stronger faith (Luke 17:5).
When my weakness plagues my efforts, I will ask for Your grace (2 Cor. 12:9).
When I feel alone, I will know You are with me (John 14:18).
When I seem defeated, You will give me victory (Philippians 4:13).

The old German hymn, if we let it, will cause us to praise like this:

When morning guilds the skies, my heart awaking cries,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Alike at work and prayer… to Jesus I repair …
May Jesus Christ be praised.
When sleep her balm denies, my silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
When evil thoughts molest…with this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Does sadness fill my mind, a solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Or fades my earthly bliss, my comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
In heaven’s eternal bliss, the loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
The powers of darkness fear, when this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised.
Be this the eternal song, through all the ages on,
May Jesus Christ be praised.

Will we ever learn to rise in the morning and look beyond our mirror to see the living Christ of the Universe waiting for us to come to Him in prayer? Will we lift our spirits to the presence of the Father where Christ is waiting as our intercessor—our attorney—to plead our cause and give to us the mercy and grace to bountifully supply for us our deepest needs?

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews. 4:15-16).

To Ponder:

  1. Are you struggling to find God’s help with trials that seem to surround you?
  2. Do you lack the spiritual strength to rise above and beyond your trials?
  3. Are you searching in God’s Word to gain the strength you need from Him?
  4. Are you memorizing and trusting His promises to you?
  5. Will you commit to being totally yielded to His will for every hour of your life?

To Pray:

Father in Heaven, every morning please convict me, give me the grace to repent and turn from my many weaknesses and sins; please cleanse me, fill me, and by Your Spirit’s grace and power use me today to reach others with Your wonderful Gospel of salvation. I ask this for Your glory in Jesus’ Name.

To Remember:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37).

Belief, Christian Witness, Christianity, Condemnation, Courage, Discipline, Faith, forgiveness, Grace, Life Struggles, Prayer, Repentance, Spiritual Growth, Worship Tagged: Christianity, condemnation, courage, faith, forgiveness, grace, prayer, salvation

Listening To Jesus

September 26, 2017 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“If anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him;
for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects
Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke
is what will judge him at the last day.” (John 12:47-48)

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions
and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He
appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” (Hebrews 1: 1-2)

Have you ever imagined what it would have been like to be sitting on the hillside where Jesus was teaching His “Sermon on the Mount?” Or what would it have been like to be the third person walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus, hearing Him explain His mission to this world after He rose from the dead? I have. There is no greater source of information relating to Jesus Christ than the very words of Jesus Himself. If you want to know what Christianity is, go to it’s source: Jesus Christ, as recorded in the pages of Scripture.

As I look back over my life, I wish I could have known my mother’s father. Grandpa Clemens Thomas Diete was a graduate of both Berlin and Hanover Universities in Germany. He was a veterinarian surgeon, world traveler and, having joined Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders,” was a veteran of the Spanish-American War. He immigrated to America some time in the 1890s. Although he died two years before I was born, somehow I was bequeathed his medical bag and journal. It’s written in German. I don’t read German. And I never heard my grandfather speak. I hold his journal in my hands; but I cannot understand it.

The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that God spoke to man in times past through His selected prophets; but in the Gospel age in which we live, God has spoken to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. But how am I to hear Him? Is His voice still audible? Can I count on Him to speak comfort, wisdom, guidance, and encouragement to me today? In over sixty-five years of following the Savior, I have found the answer to those questions a positive “Yes.” All I have to do was read with my eyes and hear with my spirit.

In their little volume “Jesus Said,” Ron Philpchalk and Phil Wiebe said, “No other individual has so affected the course of history. Yet He wrote no books, cut no records, produced no videos or music. The closest tangible link we have with Him is a few hundred words recounted by His close companions.”[1] Just what did Jesus say to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that I can still hear and see with very own eyes? How does Jesus speak to me?

First of all we need to feast our eyes on every word He uttered recorded in sacred Scripture. It’s right there, if we would just take the time to read it. In His high priestly prayer, recorded in John chapter 17, Jesus prayed to the Father saying,

“I manifested Thy name to the men whom Thou gavest Me out of the world; Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to Me, and they have kept Thy Word. Now they have come to know that everything Thou hast given Me is from Thee; for the words which Thou gavest Me I have given to them.
(John 17: 6-8a)

Jesus said all that He needed to say. We have everything we need from His very voice to guide us in this world. The big question is, are we listening to Him?

Secondly, to go beyond the words of Jesus is simply to listen to Him speak through His apostles. Again, Jesus prayed to His Father,

“As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world….I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word.”(John 17:18,20)

Jesus continued to speak through His apostles. And His words flow right off the pages of Scripture, right there in front of us. If we neglect to read and study the Epistles, we do so at our own peril. Such riches await our looking, our listening, our devoted study.

Perhaps the greatest tragedy in the Church of Jesus Christ today is the apathy of professed believers who have never shared the words of Jesus with another individual. The vast majority of professing followers of Christ have never developed an effective witness for Jesus. Rather than courageously witnessing for Him, they would rather hide their witness, except when they gather with other believers. Alas, the world sleeps in the darkness, while the church sleeps in the light.

My mother had always wondered whether her father, a Roman Catholic, had ever come to personal faith in Jesus Christ. When I was home from college one summer, staying with my parents, my mother gave me permission to search through my grandfather’s large, leather travel trunk. It had carried his personal things to China, the Philippines, and other foreign places. In it I found an amazing piece of paper, a Gospel tract, printed by the Gospel Track Society in Oakland, California. It bore a clear message of salvation and provided a line at the end for someone to sign their name signifying that they has accepted Christ as their Savior. On that line, in a familiar hand, was the name Thomas Clemens Diete.

Today people are searching for truth in many places: nature, science, psychology, world religions, focus groups and personal gurus. My life is being continually transformed as I listen to Jesus as He speaks through His recorded words. How I wish others could come to know Him. I think the time could never be more opportune to know what He said and to share it with people who are in darkness and need His life giving words.

To Ponder:

 1.  Do you know what Jesus said?

2.  Do you perceive the value of the words of Jesus and His apostles?

3.  Do you have a desire to know and follow His precepts?

4.  Are you teaching your children what Jesus said?

5.  Are you desirous of sharing Jesus’ words with others?

To Pray:

Lord, speak to me, that I may speak
in living echoes of Thy tone;
as Thou hast sought, so let me seek
thy erring children lost and lone
O teach me, Lord, that I may teach
the precious things Thou dost impart;
and wing my words, that they may reach
the hidden depths of many a heart.
O fill me with Thy fullness, Lord,
until my very heart o’er-flow
in kindling thought and glowing word,
Thy love to tell, Thy praise to show.
O use me, Lord, use even me,
just as Thou wilt, and when, and where;
until Thy blessed face I see,
Thy rest, Thy joy, Thy glory share.[2]

[1] Philipchalk & Wiebe, Jesus Said (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1995), preface.

[2] “Lord Speak to Me,” by Frances R. Havergal

Faith, Grace, Learning, Life Struggles, Love, Trials, Truth, Worship Tagged: eternity, faith, forgiveness, prayer, revival, Spiritual Truth, trials, vision

Is Suffering Necessary for Christians?

August 13, 2015 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him,
but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict
which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

(Philippians 1:29-30)

The mission of Jesus Christ in His incarnation was to bear witness to the truth of the Triune God, bear the penalty of the sins of many, to die in their place, to rise from the dead and ascend to His Father’s throne in Heaven. He came to redeem His people. As He suffered, so did His disciples. With the exception of John, Christ’s main followers all died as martyrs.

In a recent interview on NRB network, Ravi Zacharias was asked, “Is suffering necessary for Christians?” He provided an answer that bears repeating. He referred to suffering as “the fine tuning of one’s own life” and gave four truths we would do well to embrace: [Read more…]

Christian Witness, Courage, Eternity, Faith, Holiness, Life Struggles, Mercy, Pain, Sovereignty, Spiritual Growth, Suffering, Trials, Worship Tagged: courage, faith, life struggles, mercy, pain, sovereignty, spiritual growth, suffering, trials

A Frightening Prospect

June 2, 2015 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“For whosoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
(Mark 8:38 ASV)

John MacArthur begins each of the broadcasts we see on the NRB network with this statement:

“What in the world makes us so embarrassed about the Gospel?”

There are some good answers to this question. It would do us well to look at them briefly.

Statistics tell us that less than six percent of professing evangelicals honor God by tithing. Some have convinced themselves that the first ten percent of their income is theirs – not God’s. It’s no wonder many evangelicals meet in warehouses or other rented buildings. Our churches are filled with tithe thieves. But that isn’t the statistic that really disturbs me.

Less than five percent of professing evangelicals have ever witnessed to another individual who needs Jesus Christ as savior. For various reasons they have totally missed the New Testament teaching on evangelism. Many professing Christians would say, “Witnessing must be someone else’s responsibility…not mine.” [Read more…]

Culture, Evangelical Church, Sovereignty, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Truth, Theology, Worldview, Worship Tagged: Christianity, culture, doctrine, Evangelical Church, Holy Spirit, sovereignty, theology

Things That Go “Thump” In The Night – Part I

December 14, 2012 by Beryl Smith Leave a Comment

“The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8)

As a herdsman in Judah, Amos knew the roar of a lion. Many of us have heard on nature programs what the sound of a lion is, grunting his magnificent, guttural sounds in the darkness of an arid night.If I were a herdsman in the land where lions roared, I, too, would be filled with fear, especially if I had no rifle at my side. But my nights are different.

Since retiring several years ago my sleep habits have changed. I often take an afternoon nap or doze in the evening to catch up on sleep I missed the night before.

Then I waken in the early hours of the morning and shuffle to my study. I’ve found that my best hours to read, study, pray, think and write are in those hours before the sun comes up. I’m told I’m not alone in this practice. It was even recorded of our Lord that, “Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35) [Read more…]

Christian Vocation, Christian Witness, Emergent Church, Evangelical Church, Salvation, Spiritual Truth, Theology, Witnessing, Worldview, Worship Tagged: culture, Evangelical Church, Judgement, mission, Old Testament Prophets, Postmodern Christianity, revival, theology, witnessing

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Beryl Smith

AvatarBeryl has a great love for studying the Bible and Christian theology. Beryl is a 12th generation descendant of Ralph Blaisdell, an English Puritan who came to America from Bristol, England in August, 1635 on the sailing ship “The Angel Gabriel.”
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