Tag: Charles Spurgeon

You Renew me

you_meYou Renew me

At this hour we rest in the promises of our faithful God, knowing that his words are full of truth and power; we rest in the doctrines of his word, which are consolation itself; we rest in the covenant of his grace, which is a haven of delight. The person of Jesus is the quiet resting-place of his people; and when we draw near to him in the breaking of bread, in the hearing of the word, the searching of the Scriptures, prayer, or praise, we find any form of approach to him to be the return of peace to our spirits. The God of Peace gives perfect peace to those whose hearts are stayed upon him. – Charles Spurgeon

Renew – An instance of resuming an activity or state after an interruption.

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~Renewal of the Spirit

Isaiah 40:31

”  but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.”

~Renewal of the Mind

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your
mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and
acceptable and perfect.” –Romans 12:2

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Without rest, how can one be renewed?

Rest – “Cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.”

“In your rest I find the peace that I need, the hope of You that encourages me.”

Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Rest is a good thing. With our busy lives getting ever so hectic it grieves my spirit when I hear others around me telling me how busy life for them it is, and because of that they can’t wait for the next time to get drunk. As you all know the Bible clearly states forbidden of any type of alcohol.

Ephesians 5:18 ”  And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
(Ephesians 5:18 ESV)

Check out  – “lose the booze” blog

That is why Christ came so that we can give our heavy burdens to Him. He wants to be so involved in our life. It’s only when and how much you allow Him to be.

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Without being renewed, how can one be restored?

Without having the right state of mind, one cannot be restored. We must have a mind of Christ in able to receive restoration, He is the foundation.

 Restore – Bring back; reinstate.

Psalm 51:12

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”

When was the last time you had that moment with Christ that changed your life in a way that you never thought possible, the time that you encounter Him in the car, not just at church; but a renewing spirit that is within you everywhere you go.

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Revive in me a longing for your beauty,
Ignite in me a hunger for your name,
Here at your throne, I am made whole.

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You Sustain me

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You sustain me

It is our wisdom, as well as our necessity, to beseech God continually to strengthen that which he has brought in us. We often forget that the Author of our faith must be the Preserver of it also. The lamp which was burning in the temple was never allowed to go out, but it had to be daily replenished with fresh oil; in like manner, our faith can only live by being sustained with the oil of grace, and we can only obtain this from God himself. Let us, then, day by day, go to our Lord for the grace and strength we need. We have a strong argument to plead, for it is his own work of grace which we ask him to strengthen. Only let your faith take hold of his strength. – Charles Spurgeon

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From the instant that we ask Christ to be Lord of our lives we are no longer sustained by our own ability. We rest fully in His Grace, by putting our faith in Him. For Him to be Captain, not the co-captain, the driver, not the passenger. For Him to be in control. He is the source that we need. Whenever you buy a car, the tank will be full, or at least close to it, but when your almost out we know where to go. If you were not to fill the car up obviously you could not go anywhere, like the Christian, trading things of God for the cares of this World. Who’s complacency of not being filled becomes distant from God Overtime without communion with God, our “tank” gets lower and lower until we hit rock bottom.

~ Wisdom is better than strength ~

“Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own.”  – Henry Ward Beecher

The sinner who lives on their own strength cannot have victory in the trials that they are in. Like the wise man who was surrounded by a great and mighty army inside the walls of a little city, with his wisdom; delivered the city.

” There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.”
(Ecclesiastes 9:14-16 ESV)

Having victory in your life is not done by outsmart the enemy, it is using the wisdom of God through Jesus Christ who has already won the victory. Through Him we will be sustained by His Grace.

“Cast your burden on the Lord,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.” – Psalm 55:22

Are you sustained by God?

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The Hour Has Come

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires”. – Romans 13:11-14

The hour has come to Awake

“I am compelled to tell you the urgency of how close His coming is, time and time again during my prayer I hear the spirit over and over tell me “Prepare yourself, be not afraid for I am nearer than you think” instances like these awaken my spirit to the reality of His coming, and how close He is.”

“Come to reality, awake from where you are, if you are in a place of uncertainty then come away with me, and you will see what I can bring to you.”

When is the Christian most liable to sleep? Is it not when his temporal circumstances are prosperous? Have you not found it so? When you had daily troubles to take to the throne of grace, were you not more wakeful than you are now? Another dangerous time is when all goes pleasantly in spiritual matters. There is no temptation half so dangerous as not being tempted. The distressed soul does not sleep; it is after we enter into peaceful confidence and full assurance that we are in danger of slumbering. The disciples fell asleep after they had seen Jesus transfigured on the mountain top. Take heed, joyous Christian; be as happy as you will, only be watchful. – Charles Spurgeon

The hour has come to Prepare

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The hour has come to Realize

James 5:1  “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.” -(James 5:1-6 ESV)

“Nothing is worth missing His coming. The indulgence of the World has become a way of life for so many. The luxury, the fame, the treasure that we have here on earth cannot compare to His riches and Glory.”

“There is power in poverty that breaks principalities, brings the authorities down to their knees. There is a brewing frustration in the ageless temptation to fight for control by manipulation.

The God of the kingdoms & God of creation, the God of the nations had sent this Revelation through the homeless Jesus, the Son; the poor will inherit the kingdom to come.

And where will we turn when the World falls apart & all of the treasures that we store in our barns won’t buy the kingdom of God.

And who will we praise when were praised all of our lives, man who build kingdoms, man who build fame, but Heaven does not know their names?

And what are we going to fear when all that remains is a God on the Throne with a child in His arms and love in His eyes and the sound of His heart cry.” – Jason Upton

The hour has come to Respond

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Turn it All Around

At this moment, dear reader, whatever thy sinfulness, Christ has power to pardon, power to pardon thee, and millions such as thou art. A word will speak it. He has nothing more to do to win thy pardon; all the atoning work is done. He can, in answer to thy tears, forgive thy sins today, and make thee know it. He can breathe into thy soul at this very moment a peace with God. which passeth all understanding, which shall spring from perfect remission of thy manifold iniquities. Dost thou believe that? I trust thou believest it. Mayst thou experience now the power of Jesus to forgive sin! – Charles Spurgeon

Colossians 1:13-14

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

“He will make everything beautiful just in time, don’t give up, He will see you through.”

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Weeping for Jerusalem

Luke 19:41-44

“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

Who can behold the holy Jesus, looking forward to the miseries that awaited his murderers, weeping over the city where his precious blood was about to be shed, without seeing that the likeness of God in the believer, consists much in good-will and compassion? Surely those cannot be right who take up any doctrines of truth, so as to be hardened towards their fellow-sinners. But let every one remember, that though Jesus wept over Jerusalem, he executed awful vengeance upon it. Though he delights not in the death of a sinner, yet he will surely bring to pass his awful threatenings on those who neglect his salvation. The Son of God did not weep vain and causeless tears, nor for a light matter, nor for himself. He knows the value of souls, the weight of guilt, and how low it will press and sink mankind. May he then come and cleanse our hearts by his Spirit, from all that defiles. May sinners, on every side, become attentive to the words of truth and salvation. – Charles Spurgeon

Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.

From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) That is clear enough So it would have been if He had added, “and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.” No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him.

Then again, “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers … for the work of the ministry” (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt” (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy—something the world will spit out not swallow. He was in awful earnestness.

Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, “Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow.” Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.

In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, “Come out, keep out…!” Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, “Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.”

If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only difference! Lord, clear the church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to the Bible.

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God’s link in the chain of the conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire. – Charles Spurgeon