WEAPONS DOOMED TO FAIL

 

WEAPONS DOOMED TO FAIL No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD. Isaiah 54:17 The enemy’s forges are busy, and the sounds of their labor are clear. They are crafting weapons designed to harm the saints. Yet, even their efforts are under God’s control. Let them labor as they may, for on every weapon they forge is written: It shall not prosper. But now comes another noise: the strife of tongues. Words can be sharper than any sword. Slander, lies, insinuations, and ridicule cut deeper and spread further than any weapon. How do we stand against such assaults? The Lord has promised that though we may not always be able to silence such vicious tongues, we will not be ruined by them. In the end, the mouths that speak lies will be silenced, and their falsehoods will bring honor to those they tried to destroy. It is our responsibility to trust Jesus in all these things, and He will work for our good even when it doesn’t seem possible. By Charles H. Spurgeon

THE LORD IS MY DELIGHT

THE LORD IS MY DELIGHT Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 In Psalm 37, there is a beautiful promise: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” This can also be understood as God not only fulfilling our desires but also inspiring them in the first place; breathing His own thoughts and will into us. As a result, our prayers align with His purposes. Teach me Your thoughts, O God! Think Your thoughts in me. Then I will always think Of following after Thee. Teach me Your ways, O Lord! Reveal Your plan divine. Save me from my own ideas, And lead me into Thine. By A.B. Simpson

 

 

NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE Then they will know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,’ declares the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 34:30 To be the Lord’s people is a great blessing, but to know that we are His is an even greater comfort. It’s one thing to hope that God is with us, but it’s another thing entirely to be assured of His presence. Faith saves us, but assurance satisfies us. We take God to be our God when we believe in Him, but we find joy when we know that He is ours and we are His. No believer should be content with merely hoping for salvation. We should seek the Lord for full assurance so that hope becomes certainty. Let us always focus on the grace of God. Assurance of faith cannot come from our good works but is a free gift without any strings attached. Let us not look inward for confidence, but always look to the Lord. As we see Jesus, we see our salvation. Lord, flood our hearts with Your love so that we are washed beyond the reach of doubt and fear. By Charles H. Spurgeon

What Cannot Be Uttered

 

What Cannot Be Uttered In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. Romans 8:26 Have you prayed and prayed... and prayed for someone, or a situation? And now, you've run out of words: after all these months and years, there are no more words to say, and yet the longing is still there. The intercessory burden is as great as it has ever been. The mountain has not moved, the situation has not changed, and the souls you claim for God are STILL not saved.  This isn't a failure of faith: we know that what we long for can only be accomplished in prayer! Therefore, we don't dare cease our praying, and yet... the words have run dry. This is when the Spirit steps up and prays on our behalf: converting that great, consuming burden into deeply spiritual intercession that only God Himself understands. "Oh God, oh God, oh GOD!" is a prayer that our loving Heavenly Father understands completely. He knows what you're praying about, He knows how much it matters to you, and He is listening intently. He understands every detail and nuance in those groans. It is good to pray in words. But it is also good, when we run out of words, to throw ourselves on God so that our whole being becomes a prayer. Sometimes we don’t understand, but we know that God is praying in us and through us.

THE CROSS UNDER THE LEAVES

 

THE CROSS UNDER THE LEAVES By Terry Wilson As I came across this cross lying in the dirt, behind our pond, a cross that once stood tall and proud, but is now lying in the dirt where I placed it earlier in the spring because I had to do some maintenance on the pond where that cross once stood. It is now nearly covered by fallen leaves. As I looked at it, I couldn’t help but think about how easily this can happen in our own lives. Sometimes, in the name of maintaining our lives, managing our responsibilities, dealing with our hardships, and navigating the storms and changing seasons, we slowly move the cross from its rightful place. Not necessarily intentionally, and certainly not always out of rebellion, but simply because life gets busy, burdens become heavy, and other things begin demanding our attention. And before we even realize it, the very thing that should remain at the center of our lives has been pushed to the side and nearly covered by everything else. But here’s what struck me: Even though the cross was nearly covered, it hadn’t moved. It was still there! Sometimes we need to stop, clear away the things that have accumulated in our lives, and bring our eyes back to the cross. Because the circumstances around us may change, the seasons may come and go, and the storms may leave us feeling buried, but Christ remains the same. God doesn’t move, we do. Ya see, I think the danger is that we can become so focused on maintaining everything around us that we neglect the very foundation upon which everything should be built. The leaves didn’t move the cross, it stayed put. The leaves simply accumulated around it, one at a time. And perhaps that’s how it happens with us, too. One disappointment, one hardship, one distraction, one compromise, and one busy season at a time. Maybe it’s time to clear away some leaves. Maybe it’s time to put the cross back where it belongs. Hebrews 12:2 tells us to be “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” Perhaps we all need to be careful that in our efforts to maintain our life, we don’t remove the very thing that gives our life its meaning. Because the cross should never become something we set aside while we tend to everything else. It must remain at the center of it all. Terry Wilson on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/terry.wilson.33671# Used with Permission