THE SOUL’S MEAT AND DRINK

 

THE SOUL’S MEAT AND DRINK Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me… the one who eats this bread will live forever. John 6:57-58 But I have to speak to you concerning knowledge which is satisfying, concerning truth which does fulfill the spirit; and, in doing so, I must draw a clear, hard and fast line. No one knows the flavor or effect of meat and drink who has not tasted them. It is no use for me to speak to anyone about meat which he has never seen or tasted; if he is to appreciate my testimony concerning it, he must have partaken of it. Or if my testimony be concerning a certain drink, he must at least have sipped of it; otherwise, let me, speak as earnestly as I may, he will be unable to comprehend what I am saying. Now, my Lord Jesus is meat indeed, but the soul must feed upon him if it is to know how Christ nourishes it. Our Lord is drink indeed, but unless this drink enters into the soul, it will be a stranger to the spiritual power which Jesus always imparts when he is received into the heart by faith. If you have really received Christ Jesus the Lord, if he is “in you the hope of glory,” then he is the spiritual food of your soul; and you can, from your own experience, confirm our Lord's declaration, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” O Christian! If you want to be strong to live a Christian life, you must feed upon Jesus! It is only in the strength of Christ Himself that one can, in these days, live an honest and upright life. And fervent love is produced by this same spiritual meat and drink! If Christ is to you merely some historic personage who once appeared upon the earth, and now is gone forever, your love for him will be very faint if it exists at all; but if he is your own personal Savior, your ever-present Friend, your living Brother, your Surety and Substitute who bore your sins in his own body on the tree, then your love goes out to him in a vehement flame. I do not wonder that Mary Magdalene was among the holy women who were last at the cross, and first at the tomb, for Christ had done so much for her that she loved him much; and in proportion as you realize what his life, death and resurrection have done for you, your love for Jesus will become stronger even than death itself. There is no other joy that is even for a moment worthy to be compared with the joy which comes to us through Jesus Christ, and the man or woman who has once had a sip from that well wants to lie down beside it, and drink it dry. We know it's not possible to do that, but oh that our soul could be so enlarged that we could take in all the love of our incarnate God; the wondrous heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths of that love which will forever surpass our knowledge. Excerpts from The Soul’s Meat and Drink: A sermon by C. H. Spurgeon Updated for modern language.

THE MIRACLE OF HEARING

 

THE MIRACLE OF HEARING For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:10 The smallest bone in your body is so tiny that it is smaller than a grain of rice. Called the stapes, this delicate, stirrup-shaped bone measures only about 3 millimeters and is located deep inside your middle ear. Yet without it functioning properly, your ability to hear could be severely diminished. When sound waves enter your ear, they cause the eardrum to vibrate. Those vibrations are passed through three precisely arranged bones called the malleus, incus, and stapes. The stapes then presses against the oval window, transferring those vibrations into the fluid-filled cochlea of the inner ear. Inside the cochlea, thousands of microscopic hair cells convert that movement into electrical signals that the brain interprets as voices, music, laughter, and every other sound you recognize. Think about the coordination required. The eardrum, three tiny bones, oval window, cochlear fluid, sensory hair cells, auditory nerve, and brain must all be present, correctly positioned, and working together. The stapes is tiny, but it is part of an incredibly sophisticated system that receives vibrations from the air and turns them into meaningful information in your mind. This is not what blind accidents (such as evolution) produce. From the smallest bone to the brain that understands the sounds it helps transmit, the human ear displays extraordinary engineering and purposeful design. We hear because God created an astonishing system designed to hear. Biblical Creation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/1mill.creationist Used with Permission

THE REWARDS FOR CHRISTIANS

 

THE REWARDS FOR CHRISTIANS Study of Revelation Continued REVELATION 22.12 “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, to repay to each person according to their work.” What reward is Jesus is bringing with him? It seems that Jesus is eager to give rewards as soon as he returns! I PETER 1:13 Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. – WEB Bible This verse indicates that Grace might be one of the rewards! Think about it: we’re so accustomed to living by faith that we truly think we already have salvation and grace and the blessings that God has promised (which we do.) But Peter is telling us that we’re only getting a taste of what’s to come. The full revelation isn’t here yet! The Apostle Peter encourages us to set our hope on that glorious day of Christ’s appearing when all that we have believed and hoped for will be revealed. The Book of Revelation mentions many other rewards as well: crowns and gems, Life and living water and a future that is too glorious to comprehend. We will walk with Jesus, in person, in a beautiful new garden of Eden. We have so much to look forward to! This study of Revelation continues next Thursday! IMAGE CREDITS: The image of the Rewards is generated by SeaArt.ai and edited by C.A. Stevens.

THE SAFEST SHELTER

 

THE SAFEST SHELTER Behold, a King will reign in righteousness; He will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. Isaiah 32:1-3 We all know who this Man is. Who else could He be but the Lord from Heaven, the Man of sorrows, the Son of Man? What a hiding place He has been for His people! He takes on the full force of the storm and shelters those who hide in Him. We have escaped God’s wrath through Him, and we will also escape the anger of people, the troubles of this life, and the fear of death. Why do we stand in the wind when we can easily and securely take refuge behind our Lord? Let us run to Him today and be at peace. Often, the ordinary winds of trouble increase in strength and become raging storms, sweeping everything away. Things that seemed firm and secure are shaken, and many of our worldly confidences fall. But our Lord Jesus, the glorious Man, is a shelter that will never be blown down. In Him, we see the storm passing by, but we ourselves rest in perfect peace. Today, let’s hide ourselves in our shelter and rest in the safety He provides. Blessed Jesus! Blessed Jesus! How we love You! And rightly so, for You are our shelter in the time of storm. By Charles H. Spurgeon

THE BIBLE's VISUAL ARC

 

THE BIBLE's VISUAL ARC  A few years back Lutheran pastor Christoph Römhild wondered if an infographic could capture cross-references like these for the purpose of visualizing the tapestry of Scripture. He contacted Chris Harrison, and together they created this Tapestry of Scripture: This striking graphic by Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild visualizes 63,779 cross-references in the Bible. The black and white vertical bars along the bottom represent every chapter of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, with Psalm 119 visible as the longer spike near the center. The colorful arches spanning above connect chapters that reference one another, with the color of each arc indicating the distance between the two referenced passages. The result is this Visual Arc, which represents all the cross-references in the Bible: an extraordinary 63,779 links connecting its 66 books into one seamless story. Written over an incredible 1,500 years by around 40 different authors from completely different geographic locations... and yet the Bible's intricate themes and prophecies align with stunning accuracy. For example, the Old Testament contains over 300 prophecies about the Messiah, all fulfilled centuries later in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Scholars agree-there is nothing else like it. No other book in history comes close to its harmony, consistency, or global impact. Which is why the BIBLE is the best-selling book of all time.