Day by Day on Pilgrim's Path

PLEASE READ::

2005-11-30T14:35:00.000-08:00

THIS IS THE LAST POST FOR THIS BLOG - SEE BELOW

Effective December 1, 2005 all posts will cease at this site (OLD Blog Site, 'Day By Day On Pilgrim's Path'), and will commence at the NEW Blog Site , 'Pilgrim's Path Daily' -- http://pilgrimspathdaily.blogspot.com --

PLEASE RE-SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW SITE -- THANKS!

The OLD Blog will remain (and be linked to) as an archive only. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this was necessary for technical reasons.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-30T11:28:00.000-08:00

We are as Deep, spiritually, as our Roots!
Deeper Life in Christ is not about great wisdom or massive humility or scholarly Bible-knowledge. The depth of a person's spirituality is about maturity in Jesus Christ. That is - not that you KNOW Him, but how WELL you Know Him - Really! It may be one thing to live next door to a celebrity - say a well known author. But it is quite another thing to know that person, personally (intimately). If they gave a party, and you were not invited - would you be welcomed 'crashing the door' -anyway? Many are convinced they know Jesus Christ because they read His Book. Try that on your famous neighbor! Yet Jesus tells us this is exactly what will happen in Heaven. There will be many who will attempt to 'storm heaven' and 'crash the gates'. Indeed, when met by Jesus Himself, they will claim they know Him (to His face!), even though He will make it clear - He never knew them! In Mt13:5,6 Jesus Says, "Some (seed) fell upon stony places, where they had **not much earth**: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no **deepness of earth**: And when the sun was up, they were **scorched**; and because they **had no root**, they **withered away**." - (see also "Plow your hearts!" Jer 4:3,4 Ezek 36:9 Hos10:12+) NO DEPTH means SPIRITUAL DEATH! That's what Jesus means by "scorched" and "withered away". Please understand, "dead" means "no Life". Every soul is dead to God because of sin, until Resurrected to Life in Christ. But then there is that "Abiding" thingee! If we are to Grow and Prosper spiritually - mature to the point of being Able to Bear Spiritually as BornAgain - then we must have Roots In The True Vine Himself. Col 2:7 "Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving." Eph 3:17-19 "That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Now THAT'S Deep!!

"The Spirit cannot Fill whom He cannot Sanctify!" --AWTozer
This statement is made in one of the two audio-devotional podcasts I have chosen for this date. Here we see one of the many reasons why the lukewarm have no Real Power - that is, that the Grace of Jesus Christ is wasted on them! Christ should not have shed His Blood in vain (for nothing). He was "MADE SIN FOR US" for only one Purpose - "That we might be MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!". Either His Blood is ABLE to actually DO this - (and this is Literally taking place!) - or His Life was Given for no reason, His Grace is Powerless, God's Promise was a Lie from the Begining, and we are Forever doomed to remain sinners! But Jesus meant it when He said, "Go and STOP SINNING!". Either we CAN, Now because of the Resurrection Power of His Blood - or we make Him out to be a liar by claiming His Name in vain, and living a life dedicated to deceit! But God CAN Fill us with His Own Spirit. Christ CAN save us to the uttermost! And the Holy Spirit CAN Sanctify us and Make us Holy - even as our Heavenly Father Is Holy! If this is not all True, then the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a lie. But if we CAN be Sanctified, Filled and Saved - ARE we? Is this FACT, or merely fancy in our life? We can fool each other. We can even deceive ourselves! But no soul cons God! Ever! It is Written that God KNOWS His Own! (2Tim 2:19) "The Spirit cannot Fill whom He cannot Sanctify!" Will we HEAR this??

NOTE: Please go to the NEW BLOG SITE to hear this text - and for all the rest of today's blog. Today is the LAST day for this site. THANKS!

PLEASE READ::

2005-11-29T17:15:00.000-08:00

Effective December 1, 2005 all posts will cease at this site (OLD Blog Site, 'Day By Day On Pilgrim's Path'), and will commence at the NEW Blog Site , 'Pilgrim's Path Daily' -- http://pilgrimspathdaily.blogspot.com --

PLEASE RE-SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW SITE -- THANKS!

The OLD Blog will remain (and be linked to) as an archive only. Sorry for the inconvenience, but this was necessary for technical reasons.

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-29T14:12:00.000-08:00

Labor2Enter (Rest) is TrialOfFaith (Precious2God)
Jesus Says, "Come unto Me!". What a labor this is! But until we do, He cannot "Give us Rest!". It is a trial and a test for Faith to just Trust and Obey - just like that. So simple. So foreign. So Vital! Oswald Chambers said that it takes all the Power of the Holy Spirit just to get one Saint to do that simple thing - COME UNTO HIM. God Speaks and Promises only to Faith. Just as Faith Responds only to God. So Faith's Test is HOW and under what circumstances it Responds to God. Christ's Blood Guarantees us God's Jubilee (Rest). But there are ALWAYS 'strings-attatched'! (All Provision is Conditional) That is - every Gift is also a Test. And the Test is always Stewardship. So Rest and Faith are both Gifts and Tests. There is spiritual Labor involved in Coming unto Christ. Just as there is a Cross in it to Swap Natures with God! If Christ is to Be Formed in us - if we are to decrease, so He Increases in us - if we are to 'press into' and 'press on' as Paul exhorts - if even the Righteous are but 'scarcely Saved', as Peter solemnly advises - then there will be some diligence required from Disciples. But The Work of Faith is the Work of God - Believing Jesus Christ! To DO this, we must Obey Him - and Come UNTO Him. We Work the Works of Faith as Led by The Spirit - as Written in God's Word. That this tries and tests us - that we are vexed and harried by Doing Righteousness in this world of rebellion, is a small thing. That we must Labor spiritually to enter That Rest available only IN-Christ, is the privilege and prerogative of NewCreatures whom God Calls - "The Sons of God!". (Jn1:12)

Because a Gift is Conditional does not make it less a Gift!
If a man has a Rolls-Royce (which I could never afford), and agrees to give me that automobile for mowing his lawn, will I then assume that I have earned it? That it was not gift, but that I had earned the full value of it with my own sweat and labor? If my Aunt Patootie dies and leaves me her fortune on the condition that I name my firstborn girl after her - will I actually believe, then, that my meeting her condition has EARNED me the fortune it took her a lifetime to amass? O my! What Jesus Christ Bequeaths us by His Death-for-us (Which we only Receive by His Resurrection IN us) no mortal could ever earn. "Earn" means to be worthy of by one's own effort. In winning a lottery, there are (I am sure) certain conditions under which the money is to be dispersed (acquired). What fool would think he had "earned" his winnings because he had complied with the lottery stipulations? What Christ Earned by His Death/Resurrection was so far beyond man's capabilities it was the subject of what is called Christ's 'Sermon on the Mount'. However, having said that - and that 'The Lamb of God takes away the sins of the world!' (Jn1:29) - There is a Biblical Answer to the question, "what must I DO to be Saved?". There are Conditions and Stipulations that apply - to ALL. Even the "whosoever" of Jn3:16 must CHOOSE! That this is being denied as fundamental is grave error, indeed! "Imputed Righteousness" does not mean that Christ's Blood then Blinds God to sin - and that, even if we do sin, God 'CANNOT SEE IT (because He Sees us through Christ's Atoning Blood!) - as it is being taught today. Sin is sin. And God is never Blind to sin. A sinner must still Confess, Repent and be Washed of it, for God Forgiveness. Any unrepented sin CANNOT be Forgiven by a Holy God! Does Repentance then mean we have EARNED God's Forgiveness? God forbid!

PLEASE READ::

2005-11-28T11:51:00.000-08:00

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-26T14:09:00.001-08:00

** God put His Cross where His Mouth Was - all along! ** Today's Bible Promise is ... "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Pr 3:25-26

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical) - by Dennis Rideout

2005-11-26T14:09:00.000-08:00

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical) - by Dennis Rideout:

COMMENT (DECEPTION, SELF)

'Self-deception keeps it's own council; is its own 'idol'. When one is in denial he cannot admit truth; will not see reality. Jesus Says that such a one is in 'great inner darkness'. Not even God can forgive a sin denied. Be not deceived, ALL un-repented sin is Damned!'

WARNING!! Any eye-speck examination of others ought to be preceded by sincere foot-washing! And any who would wash must first have BEEN Washed by the Lord Himself! (Gal 6:1-3)'

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-26T14:05:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

AARON NEVILLE sings..... "THE STAR CAROL"

Christian Poems (THY HIDDEN ONES)

2005-11-26T14:03:00.000-08:00

Christian Poems of "THY HIDDEN ONES"
(Various authors)

"THY HIDDEN ONES"

Psal 83:3 (KJV) They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones.

Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth, happy springtime hath called them forth; first faint promise of summer bloom breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume, under the leaves.

Lift them! what marvelous beauty lies hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes! Mayflowers, rosy or purest white, lift their cups to the sudden light, under the leaves.

Are there no lives whose holy deeds -- seen by no eye save Him who reads motive and action -- in silence grow into rare beauty, and bud and blow under the leaves?

Fair white flowers of faith and trust, springing from spirits bruised and crushed; blossoms of love, rose-tinted and bright, touched and painted with Heaven's own light under the leaves.

Full fresh clusters of duty borne, fairest of all in that shadow grown; wondrous the fragrance that sweet and rare comes from the flower-cups hidden there under the leaves.

Though unseen by our vision dim, bud and blossom are known to Him; wait we content for His heavenly ray -- wait till our Master Hiself one day lifteth the leaves!

--Anonymous (h2-24)

"Brave little woman, trudging along patiently, day after day -- weaving a garment of shining light out of the clouds of gray; bearing the burdens of vexing cares, like one of the saints of old -- making the best of a dull, hard life with its miseries all untold!

"Long have I watched her with wondering eyes -- faithful and sweet and strong -- doing the work that the Master sends, making of sorrow, song; questioning never the Wisdom that asks self-abnegation complete, willingly treading the pathway of thorns that leads to the Master's feet.

"Sometime a fair, sweet morn shall dawn, with a smile of infinite grace; somewhere, oh somewhere, fruition shall be, when the Angel shall find her a place close to the Father, and she hears Him say, as He tenderly bids her to come, 'Out of the valley of darkness and toil, My child, thou art welcome - Home!"

--Stanley J. Davis

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONAL

2005-11-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONALS (THE CROSS!)

(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

Don't HAVE or WANT RealAudio Player? Try the FREE RealAudioALTERNATIVE player - CLICK HERE.

SOUL FOOD - by GD Watson - Chapter 1

2005-11-26T13:55:00.000-08:00

"SOUL FOOD"
A Book By G. D. Watson - A 19th Century Deeper-Life Author
CHAPTER 1: "SOUL FOOD"

The soul has its appropriate food, and its mystical way of eating and digesting, just as the body. The soul feeds on truth and love, and the Divine personalities. It feeds on truth through the intellect; it feeds on love through the affections; and it feeds on Divine personalities through the choices and appropriations of the will.

1- THE CONDITIONS OF SOUL-FEEDING:
These are, first, life; second, health; third, zest. In regeneration, the Christ-life is imparted to the soul. This life, like all other kinds, is known by its characteristics. All life is invisible and inscrutable. We may search all living substances, but no microscope has ever yet found what life is. It is a fathomless mystery, whether in vegetable, animal or spirit, and known only to God.

But we know that Christ can and does impart His life to the penitent, believing soul; and we know that this Christ-life can feed and grow and manifest itself similar to other kinds of life. It is not only needful to have this life, but to have it in a state of good soul-health. This implies the being cleansed from all moral disease, from all evil tempers and evil desires, from all self-will, and every principal of the carnal mind. Until the spiritual nature is thoroughly sanctified, its appetite is poor, its digestion is weak, and it craves a very light diet of religious food, made up largely of human intellectuality. For the soul to feed well, it not only needs life and health, but a lively zest of the faculties. This zest is acquired by practice, and by the quality of the food the soul takes in.

2-THE MANNER OF SOUL-FEEDING:
In the mystical process of feeding the soul, perception of truth corresponds to eating, by which truth is taken into the mind. The more rapidly and clearly we apprehend all kinds of spiritual truth, the more largely do we eat; for just what taking food in the mouth and chewing it is to the body, the clear analysis and vivid apprehension of truth is to the soul; so that our perceptions are the mouth of the spirit. Faith is the digestive organ of the soul. It is by faith that the truth is dissolved and prepared to make living substance. A spiritual dyspeptic is one who has large perceptions of truth, but no adequate faith to digest it and turn it into experience. Just as the stomach of the body is often ruined by alcohol, tobacco and other poisons and stimulants, until its digestive organs are ruined, so the stomach of the soul is often ruined by mental stimulants, such as novels, philosophy, and false doctrines, until the digestive power of faith is well-nigh destroyed.

Love is the blood of the spiritual life. When the food in the stomach has been digested, it resembles milk; then it is conveyed into the lungs, where it is cooked by the oxygen of the air, and becomes beautiful red blood; it is then poured into the heart, and the heart, like a steam-pump, throws it all over the body, to build up the wasted organs.

The same process is carried on in the soul. Truth is perceived by the intellect, digested by faith, and through the constant in-breathing of the Divine Spirit this digested truth is turned into love, which constitutes the very life and substance of the spiritual man. Every atom of the body is made out of blood. In like manner, the very body of the true Christian is made of love!

There is one more step in this analogy, and that is as to what is termed the stored-up substance of the body. The human body will subsist for some weeks on its stored-up substance, which is mysteriously concealed in the flesh. When the body goes without food, the heart and brain, which are vital centers, will consume the reserved forces of the body and draw the substance out of the flesh until the body becomes a skeleton. Many persons have wondered where the flesh went when people have no food. The answer is the flesh gradually turned back into blood again, and flows back to the heart and brain.

Memory is that power in the soul which corresponds to this stored-up substance. Hence, when a good, healthy soul cannot attend good, religious meetings, or hear spiritual instruction, or have deep, spiritual reading, it has to live by memory on the stored-up nourishment which it has previously received.

You may ask, "Does not such a soul still have access to God in prayer?" I answer, Yes. Prayer is the very breath of the spiritual life, and breath is more essential to life than anything else; but as the body lives on three things - air, water, food - so the soul lives on three things - namely, prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the periodic feeding on freshly-apprehended spiritual truth. And though the body can live a good while on air and water, yet, if denied food, it will die. In like manner the soul of the believer may live on prayer and the Holy Spirit, but if it is cut off from the understanding of appropriate spiritual truth, it will pine, and the life be greatly weakened. For this reason, the best Christian people need the help of good, religious meetings, of Bible instruction, and of spiritual reading.

3-ITS A LAW:
It is a law of all life to lay hold on foreign substances and turn them into itself. It is enough to make us stand in awe to watch the strange power which even the life of a plant has. The roots of every kind of plant or tree will seize upon the same gases and juices in the earth and transmute them into their several lives. The oak turns everything into oak, and out of the same substances the deadly nightshade turns everything into nightshade. The lamb converts the grass into lamb, and from the identical substances the wild ass builds up his life. The Omnipotent mechanism which intervenes between the one result and the other is simply a difference in the kind of life. This law holds true in spiritual life. The soul in which Satan reigns turns everything it eats into selfishness, and the soul which has been washed in Jesus' Blood and filled with the Christ-life will convert all that it eats into Christ-life. The same trials, bereavements, losses and sorrows which make one kind of life grow in fretting or in melancholy, or bitter and open rebellion, will make another kind of life grow in meekness and patient perseverance, and an inexpressible charity and sweetness of spirit. Everything depends on whether the self-life or the Christ-life has possession of us. There is a point in the Christian life where the whole being is so crucified and pervaded by the Holy Spirit, in spirit, soul, and body, that everything it comes in contact with, and every experience of joy and sorrow, and every treatment it receives from men or devils, becomes a means of Grace, and is turned into a mystical nourishment. There is such a thing as feeding on odors and outward bathings of milk and oil. It has been found that hungry persons get nourished by the smell of cooked food. Some winters ago the poor, hungry tramps of Chicago used to hang around the restaurants in such crowds that the police drove them away. Many of them testified that they desired to smell the odor of the cooked food, as it seemed to appease their hunger.

There is something analogous to this in the spiritual life. To a hungry soul there is an indescribable flavor and a mystical nourishment in good, spiritual singing, in being in the presence of good people, and even in looking in the face of a Spirit-filled person. A Christ- possessed soul has a mysterious, heavenly atmosphere around it, and this very atmosphere is electrified with a heavenly vigor.

The inner spirit of a perfect believer gets a nourishment out of the odors of Paradise; out of the majestic beauties of nature; out of the tender memories of the past; out of the flights of pure poetry; out of dreams and bright mental visions; out of storms and tempests, as sea- birds feed on the foam which the tempest churns out from the sea; out of the affinities of friendship; and even out of the antagonism of foes.

Oh, blessed be God for that all-devouring vortex of love which grinds grist from life OR death, from nature, grace, or glory, into that fine flour out of which angel's food is cooked! A soul in such a state will not only find food for itself out of every opening flower of grace and providence, but it will be a food-bearer to other hungry souls!

Modern-Day Proverbs -by- Dennis Rideout

2005-11-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

The PROOF of all Faith and Promise is RESURRECTION In us!

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

PEEKABOO! - I SEE YOU!

Making The BIG EYES at another is usually thought to be the province of children. And it is. That is, of child-likeness, anyway.

Many animals do this quite naturally. And it is as adorable in them as it is in a human child.

But as God's Kids, we can also make the Big Eyes at HIM. When we do this, we must open wide. And doing this lets more Light in - donchaknow?!

The game of 'peek-a-boo!' is a bonding ritual. That it is also fun and precious does not - in any way - detract from its importance in Identification.

When our Father in Heaven Bonds with us - He Identifies us as His Own. He Claims us, and we also Claim Him! This is all part of the Spiritual 'Abba!', or 'Da-Da!'.

Discerning is using faculties for identification and discrimination. But Light is Required for Discernment. It is one thing to have Eyes2See and Ears2Hear - and quite another thing to have Learned how to USE them! This is where 'making the Big Eyes' comes in.

Today, you are supposed to 'Hear the Voice of the Lord' - (and are exhorted not to harden your heart against it, when you do!). Faith may come by Hearing, but Choice is only possible with LIGHT. Won't you take some time out today, to get quiet before the Lord and to MAKE THE BIG EYES at your Heavenly Father?

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-26T12:51:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

Dishonesty for a Christian is a living purgatory!
Sin unconfessed, makes a Christian more miserable than a pagan! When a soul has been spiritually Circumcised by Jesus Christ (Ro15:8), that changed heart has been 'Smitten' with Conviction (Humbled). The New Creature in Christ has a New Nature as well - one that WANTS to do Right by God. Having been Justified or Reconciled by Christ's Death (Ro5:10, Col1:21,22), we then are Identified with His Life In Resurrection. It is only Natural, then, for such a Creature to seek those things that are from Above (Heavenly), and to put off those things which are from below (of the flesh). The Power for this Growth in Spirit is Christ's Resurrection Life Alive in us. If we sin, we can Confess and Repent - and we are Forgiven, and Renewed as 'Fellows and Joint-Heirs with Christ'. However, if we sin and will not Confess, Repent and be Cleansed of all unrighteousness - then we are AT-ODDS with God. Such doublemindedness (a house-divided) has no Fellowship with God (Jas1:8 & 4:8), and the Relationship of NewBirth now becomes our 'flesh-thorn'! Conviction is always of sin-guilt. There are those who claim that a BornAgain, NewCreature in-Christ CANNOT sin. This astonishing error - again - comes from twisting the Scriptures into a spiritual abortion which swallows souls whole! However, the loss of such Relationship-Fellowship and Union with Father God in-Christ because of sin, grieves not only the Holy Spirit, but that errant soul - deeply. Thank God for this! So Christ Exhorts The Church (and by extension, all Its Members) to become "Zealous Repenters!". (Rv3:19) Having Tasted Heaven in-Christ, and true Fellowship with Father God in Agape Love, sin-guilt is a purgatory of painful consequence to any true Son of God!

We have but to resist, ignore, defy or contradict The Holy Spirit to blaspheme Him!
In Mk3:28,29, Jesus makes it clear there are some sins which are not Forgivable - that even a Merciful God, Who has shed His Own Blood to Reconcile and Pay the Ransom and create the Remedy for all sin (Repentance), is incapable of Forgiving! This is elaborated by the Writer to the Hebrew Christians in Heb 6:4-6. Here the term is used, "Impossible to Renew unto Repentance!". But few folks know what this means. It means that Repentance is THE Gift of God Purchased for man at the Eternal Expense of Jesus Christ's Blood. And that the Gift of the Holy Spirit is the ONLY Means of Salvation we Own in-Christ. To Blaspheme Him is to repudiate - to nullify - to eradicate (to pull up by the roots) - all that Was Accomplished by such Spiritual Circumcision as was Performed in NewBirth! This is "Apostasy", or Spiritual Divorce. To do away with Jesus Christ in a life is to commit Eternal Suicide! But to war against The Holy Spirit - to resist and defy His every Move to Sanctify and Make us The Righteousness of God in-Christ (as it is Written), is to do just this! When The Spirit brings us to The Voice of The Lord every day - when we Hear His Voice in some Leading or Guidance - and will not Hear Him?! Then we harden our hearts - as they did in the wilderness - in unbelief! And it is Written (paraphrased from Heb2:3), "How shall we escape, if we neglect such a greater Salvation as their's - when they did not?!" The devastating answer is - we will not! There is no ONE "unforgivable sin" (this is a manmade myth) - there are many! Simple non-cooperation with The Holy Spirit - resisting or neglecting our Salvation cannot be Tolerated by God without doing damage to Christ's Own Righteous Blood! This ought to sober us! I hope it surely will!

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-25T12:47:00.000-08:00

Today's Bible Promise is ... "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Jn 4:14

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts

2005-11-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts:

ON BLASPHEMY:

'All things exult in and acknowledge God - EXCEPT MAN! All obey His slightest command implicitly - except man! All live in beauty - except man! All bow before Him, existing only in Him - except man!

Man was the outlaw, the rebel, the distorted shape that scarred the earth, the voice that silenced the music of eden, the hand that raised up obscenities and blasphemies.

Man was the pariah-dog, the moral leper in this translucent mirror of Heaven. He was the muddier of crystal waters, the despoiler of forests, the murderer of the innocent, the challenger against God.

He was the assassin of the saints and the prophets, for they spoke of what he WOULD NOT HEAR, In the darkness of his spirit!'

--Taylor Caldwell [current] American Novelist

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-25T12:41:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'ST PHILIPS BOY'S CHOIR' sings..... "ADORAMUS TE"

Christian Poems of MEEKNESS (various authors)

2005-11-25T12:40:00.000-08:00

Christian Poems of MEEKNESS (various authors):

Christian Poems of MEEKNESS - (Various authors)

'The day when Jesus stood alone and felt the hearts of men like stone,

'and knew He came but to Atone --

'that day 'He held His peace.'

'They witnessed falsely to His word,

'they bound Him with a cruel cord, and mockingly called Him 'Lord';

''but Jesus held His peace.'

'They spat upon Him in the face, they dragged Him on from place to place,

'they heaped upon Him all disgrace;

''but Jesus held His peace.'

'My friend, have you for far much less, with rage, which you called righteousness,

'resented slights with great distress?

'Your Saviour 'held His peace!''

--L.S.P.

'Let me be a little sweeter -- Make my life a bit completer,

'by doing what I should do every minute of the day.

'Let me toil without complaining, not a humble task disdaining.'

--Anonymous

Modern-Day Proverbs -by- Dennis Rideout

2005-11-25T12:34:00.000-08:00

The beneficiary of all revelation is the "Overcomer" - Rv 21:7

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONALS

2005-11-25T12:31:00.000-08:00

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONALS (1 - PREACH THE CROSS!)

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONALS (2 - ON SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY)

(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

Don't HAVE or WANT RealAudio Player? Try the FREE RealAudioALTERNATIVE player - CLICK HERE.

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

SCRAM!

This time of year, wild birds flock, swarm and migrate hundreds and in some cases, thousands of miles. These yearly sojourns are part of their feeding and mating habits.

As sheep, we too are part of a 'flock' - just a different kind. For birds (and even fish), following the flock, swarm or 'school' is a matter of life and death - survival, itself!

But for those sheep of Christ's Flock, Learning to Follow The Shepherd ONLY, is Life - only. For us to 'follow the flock', would mean ignoring The Shepherd. And that would be spiritual suicide!

Birds and caribou and fish are no more social than we humans. And it seems that there is a great 'flocking' instinct in us as well. But this must be resisted, or removed, if it ever competes for that "ONE THING" Jesus reminds us is "FORMOST" - "Seeking FIRST God's Kingdom (Government-within), and His Righteousness (Heavenly-Citizenship)!".

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-25T11:49:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Preach the Cross (Repentance&Forgiveness) Lk 24:47
In Lk 24:47 Jesus Says, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Repentance and Remission - The Cross of Jesus Christ! If there were such a thing as the so-called "Great Commission" (a man-made slogan, not found in Scripture, and profoundly perverted by that evangelical zeal Jesus Scathes in Mt23:15) - this would be it. That the Cross is NOT being preached is manifestly evident by the absence of that Effect caused when and where it is! The Effect of Christ's Cross being properly preached is spiritual Conviction, which inevitably results in Repentance/Remission/Conversion (genuine NewBirth). When the Cross of Christ is either not truly preached as Christ Commanded, or is watered-down, or mingled with worldly philosophy, or personal bias - the effect caused is that of lukewarmness at best - apathy, discouragement and unbelief at worst! When this occurs, this is NOT The Church of Christ, but rather 'The Synagogue of Satan', Jesus Calls it! The product of such illicit union with iniquity, is
deceit. Christ must be LIFTED UP - to 'draw all men unto Him' - as He Said. The Body of Christ (His Church) has two spiritual Functions: 1 - Holding 'fast' the Head (Christ), and 2 - Feeding His sheep! To hold His Head it must lift Him UP - and then HOLD Him up to a world in darkness. It is by doing this we are (as He Said) The Light of this world! But we cannot do this if we will not PREACH THE CROSS! And to think we have anything Upon Which to Feed His sheep (His Body and Blood) when we are not Serving The Head, is the error over which most are stumbling in these last daZe!

'Vain babblings' (2TIm2:16) 'No Foolish talk!' (Eph5:3&4) 'Idle words' (Mt12:36,37). (SPIRITUAL SOBRIETY)
Paul says in 2 Tim 2:14-16, "Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they --> strive not about words to no profit, but to the --> subverting of the hearers (to ruin, pervert, corrupt or undermine). Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But --> shun profane and vain babblings: for they will --> increase unto more ungodliness." Please note the two verses on either side of the well know verse 15 (on 'study'). Both have to do with a substitute or bypass to that proper diligence - both deal with 'verbal diarrhea', or a runaway tongue. Note the effects of this grave error! Here is what Paul continues to say in Eph 5:3&4, "But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient (silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting-RSV): but rather giving of thanks." Notice the emphatic requirement for genuine sincerity (honesty) where the Truth of God is to be Learned? But all holds are barred when Jesus Speaks of this, Himself, in Mt 12:36.37, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Suddenly, we are brought face to Face with The Truth Himself - and the spiritual jar is abrupt! Woah, and WOE!! Say WHAT? Our own words are THAT Important, Eternally?? O My!

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

Today's Bible Promise is ... "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Php 4:13

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts

2005-11-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts:

ON FAITH:

'What is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see?'

--Augustine

'Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win - by fearing to attempt!'

--Shakespear

'Without divine assistance I cannot succeed; with it I cannot fail!'

--Abraham Lincoln

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-24T12:29:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR' sings..... "SIMPLE GIFTS"

Christian Poems (VICTORY!)

2005-11-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

Christian Poems of VICTORY!

(Various authors)

"One in His death on the tree, one as He rose from the dead! - I from the curse am set free, E'en as my glorious Head! - One in His merits I stand, one as I pray in His Name!
"All that His worth can demand, I may with confidence claim!
"All that He has shall be mine, all that He is I shall be! - Robed in His glory divine, I shall be even as He!" -AB Simpson (DOHOE 12/1)
(See 1Jn 4:17)

"'I will be still!,' my bruised heart faintly murmured, as o're me rolled a crushing load of woe; The cry, the call, e'en the low moan was stifled - I pressed my lips, I barred the teadrops flow!
"I will be still, although I cannot see it - the love that bares a soul and fans pain's fire; That takes away the last sweet drop of solace, breaks the lone harp string, hides Thy precious lyre!
"But God is love. So I will 'bide me, 'bide me -- We'll doubt not, soul, we will be very still; We'll wait till after while, when He shall lift us -- Yes, after while, when it shall be His will!
"And I did listen to my heart's brave promise; And I did quiver, struggling to be still; And I did lift my tearless eyes to heaven, repeating over, 'Yea, Christ, have Thy will!'
"But soon my heart upspake from 'neath our burden, reproved my tight-drawn lips, my visage sad; 'We can do more than this, O soul,' it whispered. 'We can be more than still, we can be GLAD!'
"And now my heart and I sweetly singing -- Singing without the sound of tuneful strings; Drinking abundant waters in the desert; Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle's wings!" --S.P.W.

"Keep up the song of faith, however dark the night; and as you praise, the Lord will work to change your faith to sight!"
"Keep up the song of faith, and let your heart be strong, for God delights when faith can praise though dark the night and long.
"Keep up the song of faith, the foe will hear and flee; oh, let not Satan hush your song - for praise is victory!
"Keep up the song of faith, the dawn will break ere long, and we shall go to meet the Lord, and join the endless Song!" --M.E.Barber

Modern-Day Proverbs -by- Dennis Rideout

2005-11-24T12:13:00.000-08:00

Modern-Day Proverbs -by- Dennis Rideout:

"Don't want God's Judgment NOW? Boy, you'll get it, LATER!"

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-24T11:35:00.000-08:00

JUBILEE!!

Webster's says 'Jubilee' is: often capitalized : a year of emancipation and restoration provided by ancient Hebrew law to be kept every 50 years by the emancipation of Hebrew slaves, restoration of alienated lands to their former owners, and omission of all cultivation of the land.

But Jubilee is a Harvest Term - just as 'Tribulation' and 'Winnowing' are. Fall is harvest time for many crops. And so we celebrate Thanksgiving at this jubilant time of year.

Jesus Is 'Lord Of The Harvest' - and Is God's Own 'Jubilee'. But He Is also The Vine - as we are His Branches if - if we Abide (remain, continue, endure IN Him and in His Words of Life).

No one on earth has more to be grateful for - to be genuinely, humbly honored by - than we 'Sons of God' - true Christ-ians! Having been Gifted by God with His Son - and ALL THAT IS HIS, we are Inheritors of all Gifts and The Giver Himself.

This Joy - this Jubilee, ought to Show! But it can never be feigned (faked, or counterfeited). If there is anything the world and it's denizens of deceit can sniff out, its a fraud!

Pilgrim - how glad is your heart today - really? All lip-serving man-pleasing aside - inside, where it counts - how's yer heart?? It is my Prayer for you today, that The 'Day Star' (2Pt1:19) will rise in your heart - from Now, till He Comes Again!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-24T11:24:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

If you are proud of your 'better, clearer understanding of the Bible', your pride is 'Pharisee leaven'.
No denomination or group has a 'corner' on God. Teach your own slant or bias of the Bible, and Jesus says you will only make your pupils 'twice the child of Hell - YOU ARE!'. (Mt23:15) God does not give Light to one, only to have it used against another! Nor are we allowed to 'lord it over' one another - in 'one-upmanship' (envious competition, etc). The more of Christ one has of God, the more will be expected. God does not Speak to hear His head rattle! What God Says He MEANS. And He expects to be obeyed, or complied with (accordingly) when He gives Light or Revelation! What God gives, He Tests! The Test is always the same - STEWARDSHIP! What have we DONE-WITH what He has given us? If we use our gifts from God for selfish or evil purposes - the next time we go back to God for "more", we will find the cupboard BARE! And may find the Lord there with Conviction in His Eye! In a moment like this, we had better Repent! Where there is trouble in the Household of God (within us - between us and the Lord), there is only ONE WAY of Reconcilliation - REPENTANCE!

It was God Who hardened the hearts of His people - and Jesus Marvelled at their unbelief! (Isa63:7, Mk 6:6)
Here is a curious thing. Clearly, it was God Who hardened the hearts and necks of His Own people in three separate moves; 1 - He Divorces Israel, Nationally (Jer 3:8 Isa 50:1), 2 - He Divorces His Own Priesthhod (Malachai), 3 - He turns His back on His people entirely (for over 400 years - from the Restoration to the Birth of Christ). The Effect of this was a people not-prepared for the Coming of their Lord! In spite of John The Baptist's cry, "PREPARE YE!", they would not. Jesus Comments on this by explaining this as the Reason or Purpose of His Speaking to the people only in "Dark Sentances", "Riddles", or "Parables" - as was Prophesied. (Nu12:8, Ps49:4, Ps78:2, Mt13:10-16) It was GOD Who had hardened their stubborn, stiff necks against their own Messiah-Savior and His Salvation. Yet when Jesus encounters the true depth of the 'Mystery of iniquity', and the astonishing power of unbelief to blind, enslave and addict souls (Hebrews speaks of the 'deceitfulness of sin') - The Creator Himself - Jesus Christ MARVELS at this! How come? Did God not KNOW this - in advance? Was this not His Own Doing? It was for the same reason Jesus Wept - or was Hungry. God Was Now Man - limited by mortality. And apparently this was somewhat of a surprise even for God! "My God!, My God! - WHY?!". Jesus Knew Why. It had been Foretold of Him for many centuries. There are those who dismiss His Words here as simply Verbalizing what was Prophesied - merely for the purpose of fulfilling Prophesy. I doubt this! The Agony of God-in-Man was Real! And the Astonishment of Christ at the power of those hardened, unbelieving hearts of His Own townsfolk (not to mention His Marvelling at the Faith of the Centurion in Mt8:10) stands as Proof of His Humanity - as there were many such Proofs of His Divinity! That this is Divine Paradox, and a Spiritual Mystery, is The Imprimatur of Christ's Godhood, as Son!

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

Today's Bible Promise is ... "And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee." Ps 9:10

Christian Poems (THE CROSS)

2005-11-23T17:46:00.000-08:00

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical):

POEM, CROSS

'I know thy sorrow, child; I know it well, thou needst not try with broken voice to tell. Just let me lay thy head here on My breast, and find here sweetest comfort, perfect rest; Thou needst not bear the burden, child, thyself, I yearn to take it all upon Myself; Then trust it all to me today -- tomorrow, yes, e'en forever; for I know thy sorrow.

'Long years ago I planned it all for thee; prepared it that thou mightst find need of Me. Without it, child, thou wouldst not come to find this place of comfort in this Love of Mine. Hadst thou no cross like this for Me to bear, thou wouldst not feel the need of My strong care; But in thy weakness thou didst come to Me, and through this plan I have won thee!

'I know thy sorrow and I love thee more, because for such as thee I came and bore the wrong, the shame, the pain of Calvary, that I might comfort give to such as thee. So, resting here, My child, thy hand in Mine, thy sorrow to My care today resign; Dread not that some new care will come tomorrow -- What does it matter? I know all thy sorrow!

'And I will gladly take it all for thee, if only thou wilt trust it all to Me, thou needest not stir, but in My love lie still, and learn the sweetness of they Father's will -- That will has only planned for the best; So, knowing this, lie still and sweetly rest. Trust Me. The future shall not bring to thee but what will bring thee closer still to Me!'

--Anonomous

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-23T17:41:00.001-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'MICHAEL FEINSTEIN' sings..... "COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS INSTEAD OF SHEEP"

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts

2005-11-23T17:41:00.000-08:00

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts:

ON PRAYER:

'Prayer is not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness!'

...Trench, Richard C. [1807-1886], An English Clergy.

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONAL

2005-11-23T17:21:00.000-08:00

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONAL (ON STUPOR)
(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

Don't HAVE or WANT RealAudio Player? Try the FREE RealAudioALTERNATIVE player - CLICK HERE.

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-23T15:30:00.000-08:00

LET'S GET AWAY FROM IT ALL!

Boy, are there some places that have - what is that French werd? - 'ambiance! I guess that means they inspire all sorts of fancy fantasies. PHUNNN!

Ever wanna just run away? Chuck the job, all your responsibilities, those current circumstances that are threatening to strangle the life right out of you?

Sometimes God has Engineered all that. One way to find out is to go to Him and check it out! When we go to God in Prayer, we can expect to transact with God. That is, to do business with Him.

God can either Change our circumstances - or, what is more likely - He can Change us. When He makes it all right with us (regardless of our lack of understanding), we GROW!

That place in the photo there makes my mouth water, just a bit. It is what we call 'idyllic' - what fantasies and dreams are all about. I'd like to go there - to BE there. But what I want more than that is all that God wants for me!

God can make us grateful for what we have. In this, we find the real meaning of Thanksgiving!

2005-11-23T15:25:00.000-08:00

2005-11-23T15:20:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-23T15:06:00.000-08:00

Self defense doesn't Trust God!
Man! What a statement! Why, we are taught that any soul that will not stand up for itself is a coward - plain & simple! After all, there are just SOME times, when ... There we go again. Excusing in self what we would lambaste in any others. Self-serving is (literally) 'anti-Christ'! There is what I call our, 'yeah, BUT!'. This expression is used in any self-defense felt necessary, when justifying what we want (lust). When we take our own security into our own hands, we must first yank it out of God's hands. And, as we have just rushed to our own rescue, we have also just become our own savior! That this is sad and a very great loss, OUGHT to go without saying - but that it cannot, is a devastating observation of our depravity before a God Who Loves us enough to have Died for the privilege of that Title - Savior! If we whine that this is often an involuntary, knee-jerk response - that there is rarely anything premeditated about it - that it just simply occurs when self is threatened - and that, after all, it is only HUMAN... if this is our only defense for denying God the Lordship of our Outcome - then we deserve to be bereft of His Grace in all such matters - and will surely drink the dregs of such carnal defiance! Jesus Commands "ALL" - and in this, there are NO EXCEPTIONS - to LAY DOWN if they wish to TAKE UP - and to do this DAILY - by SELF-DENIAL. (Lk9:23) This is HIS Definition of what HE Means by "Follow Me!". He Calls this "Crucifixion". And any who attempt to actually DO THIS know that it is, indeed. death to self. Those who will not, or do not, Jesus Condemns as "NOT WORTHY TO BE MY DISCIPLES"! (Lk14:27) Self-defense will not TRUST God - even in self-death!

LET our Christian Brothers & Sisters STEAL from us, & WRONG us? (1Cor 6:7)
Webster's Dictionary says, "DEFRAUD: to deprive of something by deception or fraud (synonym: CHEAT)." Now here is what Paul says in 1Cor6:7, "Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer (allow) yourselves to be defrauded?" Paul is telling these argumentative, combative, pugilistic, contentious, strife-riddled Corinthians that they are 'tearing the Body of Christ Limb from Limb - and doing it in public!'. ("Is Christ Divided?", in 1Cor1:13, is better translated as I have said.) For the sake of Jesus Christ - Whom they CLAIM to Love and Serve - rather than to make a complete mockery of His Bride on earth - the Very Church for Which He Bled and Died to purify - would it not be better that they pay the relatively small price of the death of their pride, humiliation of their reputation, and possibly the loss of some material goods? He suggests they ALLOW other Christians to abuse them, mistreat and malign them (publically), and even steal from them! And all so as not to drag the Name of Christ through the pagan mud & muck of such worldly contempt! How wicked must we become to so enrage an Apostle to this extent? And how much must we Hurt The One we Love the most before this dawns on us? What level of unbelief will be enough to disgust and shame us into the spiritual Submission of Surrendering SELF and all that it lays claim to - NOT TO SHAME OUR LORD? We CAN Honor God in-Christ. But not by doing it OUR way - but HIS. His way is always the cross - OUR'S - every day!

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-22T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today's Bible Promise is ... "And that he would shew thee the secrets of wisdom, that [they are] double to that which is! Know therefore that God exacteth of thee [less] than thine iniquity [deserveth]" Job 11:6

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical)

2005-11-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical):

(SWEETNESS)

'A cup, filled to the brim with sweetness, cannot spill even the tiniest drop of bitteness, even when suddenly jarred!'

--Amy Charmichael {'IF'}

[See 1 Cor 13:4-7]

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-22T15:32:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'HYMNS' ........ "DOXOLOGY"

Christian Poems (THE CROSS)

2005-11-22T15:31:00.000-08:00

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical):

POEM, CROSS

'Twas by a path of sorrows drear, Christ entered into Rest; and shall I look for roses here, or think that earth is blessed? Heaven's whitest lilies blow from earth's sharp crown of woe: who here his cross can meekly bear, shall wear the kingly purple there.'

--Anonymous

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONAL

2005-11-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONAL
(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

Don't HAVE or WANT RealAudio Player? Try the FREE RealAudioALTERNATIVE player - CLICK HERE.

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-22T15:02:00.000-08:00

NOW, THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT!

At one point, God got so fed up with His Own people in the wilderness He said, "You turn things UPSIDE DOWN!". Welp, this fella seems to have done just that!

But it is one thing to twist and contort the body, and quite another thing to do so with the Spirit. God's Word Is His Will - just as any earthly king's word is the law of the land. But God's Word is also Spirit. That is, it is ALIVE with His Very Own Life.

Contortionists have been entertaining us with the abnormal, unusual and unexpected for centuries. And for just as long, souls have been being divided & devoured by man's distortion of God's Intentions.

If you can read English - there is really no excuse for not knowing what God has Said, Done and Decreed - from the Begining.

God never twists or distorts anything. He Tells it like it IS! When we choose to get Honest2God and let Him get Real with us, He makes a Believer out of us - every time! And THAT'S JUST RIGHT!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-22T14:34:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-22T14:23:00.000-08:00

SeekWhileYeMayFind - Isa 55:6 "Seek ye the LORD WHILE he may be found, call ye upon him WHILE he is near:"
When God Says, "while"... its a bit like when Jesus Says, "if". Are we really LISTENING to God? Let's prove that. Could God SAY anything that could SURPRISE you? If not - you are not truly HEARING Him (giving Him a Hearing). Both the words"while" and "if" are qualifiers - conditions. In the statement in Isaiah,we are informed by God that there will be a time WHEN the Lord will be NEAR and can be FOUND. And, conversely, (apparently) that time will come to an END. We call this a 'window of opportunity'. A limited condition in which action must be taken - or else (that's an ultimatum) any further hope of such action will be lost. "WHILE!" Quite a word, from God! Remember, His Home and Perspective is Eternity. For and Endless, Forever God to place a time-limit is - well, let's just say it is highly significant. But Jesus did this too! "Then Jesus said unto them, Yet A LITTLE WHILE is the light with you. Walk WHILE ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you (ultimatum): for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. WHILE ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light." (Jn12:35,36) I'm not sure how much clearer Jesus could have said this. But it is because of His utter clarity here that we begin to see just how hard His Words are for most to Hear. Act NOW, or else! So many souls think they can put off getting their heart RIGHT WITH GOD - either in obeying the Gospel (as in Baptism), or in simple Repentance. "For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." (2Cor6:2)

If Grace is not more than just Salvation, then there is no "HIGH CALLING IN CHRIST!" (Php3:14 see also "Heavenly Calling" Heb3:1)
To peddle Grace without obedience is error. But to teach nothing but Grace - that being Born Again is the END and not just the begining - that there is no need to "press on" as Paul teaches, to "win Christ!" - to slice & dice the Scriptures, to pick & choose what will or won't be taught or obeyed - is diabolical blasphemy! In Christ's Day, the rulers of the people were twisting and perverting God's Word so as to bind and control the people. So it is today. Most folks who take the Name of Jesus Christ and claim they are "Saved-ANYWAY!" have hardened hearts of rebellion - because they think they are "home-free", safe in their "eternal security". They have become oblivious to the fact that they have no apetite for the Truth of God in his Written Word-Will (The Bible), and no real POWER to Change or Repent, no genuine Growth or Life, and are completely with any Hope at all. They live in a self-deluded bubble - a fantasy-fabrication of carnal emotion backed by a social club-membership. But they "belong"! Happy and content in their "M.A.D." way ("Mutually Assured Destruction"), they pretend they know God by continuous lip-service - that is, ritualistic gossip ABOUT God - rather than Honest2God Conversation WITH Him. There is a Calling in Christ to Maturity and to spiritual Fertility (Fruit-Bearing) - or Holiness. After all, to have Union with God Who Is Holy, we must be MADE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD. Paul pressed ON! Should we?

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "The LORD will perfect [that which] concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, [endureth] for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands." Ps 138:8

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-21T12:31:00.001-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'AFRICAN CHILDREN'S CHOIR' sings... "BECAUSE HE LIVES!"

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts

2005-11-21T12:31:00.000-08:00

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts:

ON SILENCE:

'There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and passions is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit.

But the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts, because that is essential to internal recollection, and because it lays a foundation for a proper reputation and for silence in other respects.'

...Madam Guyon, [1648-1717], French, Christian 'Mystic'

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONAL

2005-11-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-21T12:03:00.000-08:00

The story is told of a mother who found her young son with his feet buried in the ground next to a fully-grown sunfower twice his height. When asked what he was up to, he replied he wanted to sprout up like this flower. His mother told him that that was not how little boys grew - but that they had but to eat and play and sleep, to get big.

Harry's mother was right. Like the lilies of the field, little boys grow up without trying to - just like that! Just by being little boys. We could take a lesson from little Harry - and remember that He Who has BEGUN a GOOD WORK in us, is Faithful, Able and Willing to SEE US THROUGH to the End!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-21T11:33:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-21T11:28:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

2 Pet 3:18 "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
GROW in Grace! Boy!, I wish folks would HEAR that. It is not the Grace of God which encourages what I like to call the 'Peter-Pan-Syndrome' - 'I'll never grow up, NEVER GROW UP!'. If God's Grace does not Grow us UP - that is, spiritually Mature us in-Christ, and enable us to endure those 'fiery trials' that try our Faith, etc - then His Grace is NOT SUFFICIENT for us! But it was for Paul. Even when God allowed every manner of torture, ridicule, threat, and even physical death - (Paul was stoned & left for death twice) - to come upon His Servant - Christ's Grace WAS sufficient for him! Did God allow Paul to remain immature (spiritually barren)? Or Peter? Or ANY of His other Apostles? O my no! Did THEY Grow in Grace - and also in the KNOWLEDGE of Christ? And was this all to His Glory? We know that they did, and it was! How about us? Are WE Growing in the Grace of Christ and the Knowledge of our Lord? Peter wanted this for us - badly! Do we?

Eph 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."
In this Text, Paul dashes to pieces the astonishing efforts - the blatantly bold and arrogant perversion of his other words (elsewhere) about "predestination". Here he makes it absolutely clear - leaving no doubt of his meaning - that the pre-Ordination of God (His Purpose, Plan, Intent) for His Creation (His Workmanship) was those "GOOD WORKS" of Living Faith. That these are today misconstrued as the "works of the Law of Moses", is typical of these last daZe! There is no way to pervert these words into the grotesque distortion which many now preach as "Predestination of The Elect". As a result, you will not hear this Verse from those lips! But for all who prefer the Bible from man - rather than from The Inspiration of The Holy Spirit Himself - and by diligent, personal Bible study - God's Truths will remain hidden from them. Our PURPOSE is to DO those "good works" Planned and Ordained for us when we were Created (The Workmanship of His Hands!). FAITH! We are to LIVE by, WALK IN, and DO THE WORKS of Faith in God - as Ordained and LED by God.

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-20T17:10:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves [with him]." Ps 126:6

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-20T17:09:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'CHRISTIAN PRAISE' sings... "NO GREATER LOVE!"

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical) - by Dennis Rideout

2005-11-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

COMMENT (ENVY)

Pride, tho attested to be THE great sin of Satan, is not even mentioned in the Decalogue (10 Commandments) - but ENVY is! ("Thou shalt not COVET!") Is one CO-mission, and the other O-mmission? And we must remember that the soul that sins by O-mmission dies as surely as by CO-mmission! ... is it worse TO envy, or to SEEK envy?

It is Written that the Angles were Damned for ENVY - not for pride ("they left their First Habitations!") And Jesus nails Peter with His, "What is that (he) to thee? - You follow ME!" (Jn 20:21,22)

Notice all the flatteing 'flesh-baiting' going on in these last daZe? It is Written that Anti-Christ will "obtain the Kingdom, and corrupt {many} by flattery" (Dan 11:21, 32) The desire to BE envied by others is Detailed by Christ as a PRIMARY source of unbelief! (Jn 5:44)

Man-pleasing is rampant in an apostate "church". Paul says that we cannot be servants of God AND a man-pleaser! (Gal 1:10) It's a bit like trying to be world-lovers without warring against God - this is "double-mindedness" (a "house-divided").

How bout YOU? Can you say you are not tempted (baited) by such flattery as would seek YOUR "council" in Godly matters? WHAT?? Is God's Mighty Arm broken? Has He gone out of the Prayer-Answering Business??

Deny envy your TONGUE (expression), and you hobble it. Better yet, commit your whole mouth to the Lord, and He will open your EYES as well! You CAN Believe if ........ if you will stop seeking from MAN (creature) what comes ONLY from God (Creator)!

No man can do another man's wisdom! Oswald Chambers says, "You can never give another person that which you have found - but you can make him homesick for what you have!" (MUFHH 6/10)

The best we can be for one another is to be Light unto Salt for them! But envy lusts after what another has - and, as with all lusts, envy wants it NOW - by any means. But God has Decreed: "Each to his own as he's earned!"; or, as we SOW, we REAP! And God will not be mocked!

DAILY AUDIO DEVOTIONAL

2005-11-20T17:01:00.000-08:00

Christian Poems (PERSPECTIVE)

2005-11-20T16:58:00.000-08:00

"They cannot from their outlook see, the perfect grace it hath for me.

For there the flower, whose fringes through the frosty breath of Autumn blew,
Turns from without its face of gloom, to the warm tropic of my room!

As fair as when beside its brook, the hue of bending skies it took,
But deeper meanings come to me, my half-Immortal flower from Thee.

Man judges from a partial view. Never even yet, his Brother knew!

The Eternal Eye that Sees the whole may better read the darkened soul,
And find to outward sense denied, the flower, upon its inmost side."

--E.R.V.

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-20T16:37:00.000-08:00

THIS IS NOT A MOONSCAPE!

Welcome to one of the many fascinating faces of Ireland. The basalt formations were the creation of volcanoes long long ago. They remind us what an awsome place we are so privileged to inhabit.

God does GOOD work! From a fragile butterfly to a granite mountain - even great icebergs are magnificent.

But The Crown of God's Achievements is man. God says so. But imagine a creature stupid enough to defy, resist and even mock the Very Creator from which its Existance (that last breath of life) is derived - yet capable of being God's "FRIEND"?

To Walk with God is to Walk with Mystery. And to Commune with Him is to Marvel at His Majesty! Over and over again, we must be reminded WHO HE IS - and just Whose it is HE SAYS we Are in-Christ!

Next time you enjoy any of God's handiwork - try and remember HIM in it!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-20T16:33:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

THE Object of Faith is Holiness! (Mt 5:48)
To See the Object of a thing, we must know what that thing IS. That would seen obvious, except when that 'thing' is something all assume they understand - but do not. It is a simple question: 'WHAT IS FAITH?". At this point, most folks will quite confidently begin quoting what they are convinced is THE ANSWER to this question - Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.". THERE! ALL DONE!! No - not by a long shot. First of all, upon closer inspection - very few of those who quote this Text have any idea what it says and actually MEANS! And Secondly - it is not THE definition of Faith - but one of them! Faith is quite simply That NewCreature Relationship between a soul and God as its Father, Received when it is spiritually Circumcised by God and BornAgain! This Relationship IS Living Faith. And it Feeds on Spiritual Food and Performs Spiritual Works Which were Predestinated by God FOR it to Walk in. (Eph 2:10) But Living Faith CAN die. That's right - we CAN DIVORCE CHRIST! This is called 'Apostasy'. But Living Faith LIVES only to OBEY God and to FULFILL His Will - Holiness! This was Christ's "Meat" (Work, as in Jn 4:32-34), as it is all those who are IN-Christ! But all Life GROWS or DIES. This is a LAW OF LIFE. Jesus Warns that any Living Branch that will not Grow & Mature & Bear as Born - will be CUT OFF. God Means Business with Faith. Will we ever get with HIS Program, and Bear the Fruit of Righteousness - Holiness??

Choices form attitudes, as attitudes dictate choice. Today's attitude is the sum of our choices!
Attitudes can be described as lenses for volition. Some lenses are clear, others tinted - some magnify, others minimize. And attitude can be 'adopted' as quickly and easily as a thought or concept is received and digested. Or an attitude can be 'formed' - over a period of time. This does not, however mean that an attitude must have been chosen consciously. Indeed, as a soul comes to The Light of God's Conviction and Word-Will, many such subliminal moods or postures (attitudes) will be exposed. Accounting to God is Facing His Truth honestly - and ALLOWING it The Sovereignty to Convict us unto Repentance (Spiritual Change within). This is a SuperNatural Act of The Dominion of God as Father and Creator of that soul. Ever try stopping a pout when you are in the middle of one? Or ever try changing your own attitude when you have just been wronged unfairly by another? Repentance is a GIFT! And we are Instructed that it CAN and sometimes IS Refused by God! (Heb 6:4-6) When a soul Repents, God RE-MAKES it - in Christ's Own Image! And Christ is FORMED in us! This is what is meant by "Conformed to His Image" (Rom 8:29). We ARE our Choices - and will 'WEAR' them forever, apparently! God HELP us! And He DOES, at the Cross. That's where we Swap our nastiness for God's Holiness - daily! (Lk9:23) Next time you find yourself in an attitude you KNOW is not of Christ - try this: REPENT! -- Just like that!

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-19T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." Ps 121:4

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts (ON OVERCOMING)

2005-11-19T16:17:00.000-08:00

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts:
ON OVERCOMING:

'I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God!'
--Helen Keller

(While being taught words for the very first time, and when exposed to the Name 'Jesus', Helen Keller exclaimed, 'So THAT'S His Name!!')

'There is always another chance. This thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down - but the STAYING down!'
--Mary Pickford

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-19T16:14:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'THE ST. PHILIPS BOYS CHOIR' sings... "PIE JESU"

Christian Poems (DEATH - LOSS - GRIEF - 2)

2005-11-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

"How well he fell asleep! Like some proud river, widening toward the sea;
"Calmly and grandly, silently and deep - life joined eternity!"
--Samuel T. Coleridge

"If this were my last day I'm almost sure I'd spend it working in my garden. I would dig about my little plants, and try to make them happy, so they would endure long after me.
"Then I would hide secure where my green arbor shades me from the sky, and watch how bird and bee and butterfly came hovering to every flower lure.
"Then, as I rested, perhaps a friend or two, lovers of flowers would come, and we would walk about my little garden paths and talk of peaceful times when all the world seemed true.
"This may be my last day, for all I know; what a temptation to spend it so!"
--Anne Higginson Spicer

"Thou knowest that through our tears of hasty, selfish weeping
"comes surer sin, and for our petty fears of loss Thou hast in keeping
"a greater gain than all of which we dreamed; Thou knowest that in grasping
"the bright possessions which so precious seemed we lose them; but if, clasping
"Thy faithful hand, we tread with steadfast feet the path of Thy appointing,
"there waits for us a treasury of sweet delight, royal anointing -
"with oil of gladness - and of strength."
--Helen Hunt Jackson

(A STORY ABOUT DEATH)
'He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass.' Ps 72:6 "Amos speaks of the King's mowings. Our King has many scythes, and is perpetually mowing His lawns. The musical tinkle of the whetstone on the scythe portends the cutting down of myriads of green blades, daisies, and other flowers. Beautiful as they were in the morning, within an hour or two they lie in long, faded rows.
"Thus in human life we make a brave show, before the scythe of pain, the shears of disappointment, the sickle of death. There is no method of obtaining a velvety lawn but by repeated mowings; and there is no way of developing tenderness, evenness, sympathy, but by the passing of God's scythes.
"How constantly the Word of God compares man to grass, and his glory to its flower! But when grass is mown, and all the tender shoots are bleeding, and desolation reigns where flowers were bursting, it is the most acceptable time for showers of rain falling soft and warm.
"O soul, thou hast been mown! Time after time the King has come to thee with His sharp scythe. Do not dread the scythe -- it is sure to be followed by the shower!"
--F.B. Meyer

(A STORY ABOUT DEATH)
"A few days before his death, Dr. F.B. Meyer (famed Deeper-life author) wrote a very dear friend these words: "I have just heard, to my great surprise, that I have but a few days to live. It may be that before this reaches you, I shall have entered the Palace. Don't trouble to write. We shall meet in the morning!"

(A STORY ABOUT DEATH)
"I had dropped in upon an old friend of my boyhood days. She was one of God's own saints. Rich in experience, she was ripe for the coming glory. She had gone so far in life's pilgrimage that her mind was slightly beclouded, and her memory affected.
As I rose to go home she arose also and said, "I want to go home."
"But mother," said her daughter, "you are home now." At that she looked a bit dazed. Then looking at me with a tender smile she said with a profound touch of pathos in her voice, "I want to go home before its dark."
"I opened the door and started homeward. The twilight sky was still aglow with the vanishing glory of the sunset. Beyond it lay the glory of the Father's House.
My soul was tingling with the spiritual message my dear friend's words had brought me. What an unspeakable blessing for God's children to reach Home before it gets dark!
Before the darkness of broken body and failing health; of dimmed senses and clouded faculties; of physical sufferings and infirmaties; of vanished faces, voices, and fellowships -- before all these come, how blessed it is to reach Home before it gets dark.
"Sometimes we deplore the passing of those of God's own who die young. The young girl in the bloom of her sweet maidenhood; the lad in the flush of his strong youth;
...how premature it seems, and what a grievous mistake. But, is it not we who are mistaken in this? They have only reached Home before it got dark.
They have entered the Homeland; they have found "a place to stay;" they are "forever with the Lord;" they see His face and walk in the unfailing splendor of His glory.
It is only because we look through tear-blinded eyes, "see through a glass darkly," and so fail to measure eternal values as God measures them, that we ever lament as premature the passing of the young into the Homeland.
The Father's House is thronged with children.
And we may be sure He made no mistake in taking them there. After all, when we enter into a Homeland whose time-units are centuries and ages, instead of seconds and minutes, then the mere human distinctions of age and years shall count as nought."
-- James McConkey

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-19T15:16:00.000-08:00

LONELINESS! - Let's talk about it.

Isn't that a great photo? Looks just like a painting. Massive, foreboding clouds. Just a streak of rain - but promising a deluge, soon. Gloomy.

Personally, I like what I call 'grey-lady' days. Like 'em in the mountains, on the beach, just about anywhere but in the city. I can think of no more lonely place to be than in a city choked with hurried, harried crowds of empty souls.

I am personally persuaded, after chewing on this for some years now (before the Lord), that there may be - ultimately - no sin greater (in light of Christ's Blood) than lonleiness! After all, that is what He Died and Rose for - Honest2God Real-ationship!

In this shot, notice the abandonment of this ship without it's water. As though its mother had gone off somewhere and left it stranded there - all alone, to fend for its pathetic self. I mean, ships were made for water - to be in the water.

Jesus touches on this a bit, when He says, "Apart from Me, you can do - nothing!". And Paul uses exactly the same Greek words to the Galatians, but it is translated, "You are severed from Chirst!". The thought in both cases is that we creatures were Made to be WITH Creator - and that we are pathetic, helpless, abandoned without Him!

In what has been called the shortest Verse in the Bible (all the kids know this one), it is Written, "Jesus WEPT!". What would make even GOD CRY? Jerusalem! Jesus Saw The Holy City (and all within) as sheep without their Shepherd (Promised Messiah, or Savior). Abandoned to their own way.

But none of this need be! We are NOT LEFT ABANDONED! And to wallow in self-pity (loneliness) as if we were is simply unbelief and blasphemy!

The only souls I know of that ever came from the womb together (Essau & Jacob), did so because they were (apparently) fighting! That is, one twin had hold of the other. Souls are born alone - that is, unattached. Soul-attachment is simply not Biblical. And as souls are born alone they also die alone. And in the meantime ...

Jesus Christ Sent us THE PARACLETE - the Holy Spirit. God WANTS to Live inside us. Tell me - could we say that any soul Inhabited by God was alone? When a soul is spiritually Circumcised by God at NewBirth - that soul becomes a NEW Creature in-Christ (Spiritually).

If you can convince me a soul can be (remain) lonely without wallowing in self-pity, then I will concede it might not be the horrendous sin that I see it to be. Jesus Christ Is ALIVE and WITH us - now, and even unto the END. THANK GOD!

THE GREAT JOURNEY - CHAPTER 10

2005-11-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

CHAPTER 10: A Pilgrimage through the Valley
of Tears to Mount Zion, the city
of the living God

By John MacDuff, 1855.

"He spoke many things unto them in parables."
Matthew 13:3

("A Pilgrimage through the Valley of Tears
to Mount Zion, the city of the living God."
A 50 page allegory similar to Bunyan's
"Pilgrim's Progress")

CHAPTER 10

Now I saw in my dream that Pilgrim had approached near to the walls of the Celestial City; but there still intervened a dark valley, which formed the only access to its gates. This valley was called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, similar in name and appearance to that which he formerly traversed. As he found himself about to enter it, he stood trembling with terror.

"Be you faithful unto death," said a voice behind him, "and the Lord Immanuel will give you the crown of life!"

"Welcome! welcome!" replied Pilgrim, beholding by his side the Embassador of the Lord Immanuel, who had so often appeared to him by the way; "welcome, you man of God! much do I need your salutary counsel and companionship in so dreadful an hour."

"A mightier than earthly counselor is with you," was the reply. "Though unseen, the only Friend that can avail you is by your side. He himself has trodden this very valley before you: never yet has one of his travelers found him to fail. A few brief moments more, and sorrow and sighing will forever have fled, and you shall be in the uncreated presence of the Great King."

"True! true!" replied the other; "the brief sufferings of this present hour are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed. One moment in yonder bright world will make me forget them all." And with this he sung to himself one of the sweet strains which he had heard in the Palace of the Psalmist of Israel: "Yes, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

"Yes," said Faithful; "no tear need bedim your eye. This hour which terminates your wanderings in a world of sorrow, is the commencement of a tearless immortality."

"Amen! even so!" exclaimed Pilgrim, as he seemed oppressed with the increasing gloom, and longing for the closing scene--"'Even so! come, Lord Jesus! come quickly! Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"

Now I saw that they had arrived by the brink of a dark and turgid stream, which terminated the valley. A dense mist hovered all around, so as to obscure from their view, for a while, the glories of the Celestial City.

"I feel a haze gathering round my eyes," said Pilgrim; "tell me, can this be death?"

"Your warfare is just closing," said Faithful. "The gloom prevents you seeing the portals of glory, though you are on their very threshold. The passage through this river will be quickly over. Before you plunge in, let your eye rest, for the last time, on the shield of faith, and read there the promise of the Omnipotent One who will bear you through: 'When you pass through the waters I will be with you.'"

"The darkness yet grows deeper," said the other; "but though I cannot see, methinks I feel the support of arms underneath me. Is it so?"

"These," said Faithful, "are the Everlasting Arms, with which the Lord Immanuel upholds his own covenant people in their last struggle through the billows of death, so that to sink were impossible."

"But, hark!" said Pilgrim; "though mine eyes are failing, and mine ears can do no more than catch up the sound of your voice, methinks, hard by me, I hear the notes of celestial minstrelsy--the cadence of unearthly voices is falling on my spirit!"

"It is that of the angels of God," replied Faithful, "who are waiting on the other side of the river to carry you into the presence of the Great King; it is the signal that the Lord Immanuel's last intercessory prayer on your behalf has ascended and been heard: 'Father, I will that they also whom you have given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory'; and that your name is now registered among the citizens of Zion!"

"Farewell, then! farewell!" said Pilgrim; the last faltering words of earth escaping from his tongue, and embracing in his arms the servant of his Lord--"Farewell! we shall meet in yonder bright world, where the Master you serve will not suffer you to lose your reward. Farewell, earth! farewell, sorrow! farewell, tears! Welcome, death!--Jesus!--heaven!--glory!--victory!" With these words he plunged in, and the Embassador of the Lord Immanuel saw his face in the Valley of Tears no more.

Now I saw that angels were waiting on the opposite side of the river to conduct him into the heavenly City. For a time he was lost sight of in the deep waters. Billow after billow swept over his head: at last he was borne in safety through, and thus welcomed by the angelic band: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter you into the joy of your Lord!"

Pilgrim found himself walking by the margin of a "river, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb." The golden palaces of Zion were reflected in its still waters; and trees, waving with eternal verdure, and distilling immortal fragrance, lined its banks. It was called the River of the Water of Life. Aged travelers and once toilworn warriors reclined on its margin, and drank its crystal streams. Many of these had been covered with dust, others with blood; but in this placid river every vestige of pollution was taken away; and having washed their wounds, and bathed their temples, they hastened to ascend the Hill of Zion. Death-divided relatives were seen crowding to meet them, wearing blood-bought crowns and harps of gold. Joyous were the reunions!

Pilgrim had now arrived in front of the entrance. The gate itself was of solid gold. The pillars which supported it were composed of jasper and onyx, and all manner of precious stones, which shone with a brightness dazzling to behold. On presenting the Charter, sprinkled with the blood of Immanuel, which he had received at the Narrow way Gate, they opened to him the everlasting portals, exclaiming: "You shall walk with the Lord Immanuel in white; for you are worthy!" On being admitted, Pilgrim was overwhelmed by the blaze of glory which surrounded him. As he stood entranced in amazement, another retinue of angels came rushing down from the throne, singing hallelujahs, bearing in their hands a crown of pure gold, which they placed on his head, saying: "You are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, to the Heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born, which are written in heaven, to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect!"

Now I saw that he was borne away to the Third heavens, in company with these angels and saints, with shoutings and rejoicings. He passed along through prostrate ranks of angel and archangel, cherubim and seraphim. As he got nearer and nearer the eternal throne, their ascriptions of praise waxed louder and louder. When he first entered the gates of glory, it seemed as the sound "of much people;" as he ascended, it became "as the voice of a great multitude;" higher still, "as the noise of many waters;" until, at last, as the glory brightened, it became "as the voice of mighty thunderings"; and so loud were the deepening anthem-peals, that it awoke me from MY DREAM!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-19T15:01:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-19T14:46:00.000-08:00

Our Choice was never Predetermined by God! (see 'Manna', Ex 16:4 & 'NOW I Know!' Gn 22:12 & 'Trial of your Faith' Jas1:3 & 'Fiery Trial' 1Pt4:12, etc)
Could a God Capable of Knowing the End from the Begining, and Who "knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him!" (Mt6:8) - could such a God NOT KNOW what we will Choose in advance? Could God really Create creatures with FREE WILL, or VOLITION - who could even choose other-than God's WILL? Creatures that could turn on God? - rebel against Him? - War against Heaven? But (sputter, sputter), but how can this BE?!? God SAYS so. Its no use railing at what we cannot comprehend. Shouting down the darkness never worked for pagans, and it certainly will not help a true Believer! No - if we have a question, we need to ASK GOD - never man! But God ALWAYS and ONLY Answers FAITH! In the meantime, is it OKAY with us that God yet has a few Mysteries He has not found fit to share with us? God is a fool to TEST if or when or what He Knows in advance! Yet God TESTS us. God PROVES us. He TRIES us in and with His fires of adversity. He Perfects us with His Longsuffering - that is, He makes us WAIT - even when we are mortal and He is not! Our time is limited, and so is our patience. Is God merely Sadistic? If He already Knows in advance what we will choose (and we are so FIXED, there can be no possibility for change - NO HOPE!) - then all His Tests, Trials, and Examinations are simply Divine Tortures! There can only be HOPE if there can yet be CHANGE. It is Written, "We are SAVED-BY Hope!" (Rom8:24). No, God is far more Marvelous a Creator than we can imagine or understand. And, yes - He DID Make us with a Choice ('free will'). And Expects us to USE it FOR Him. Our VOTE is our ETERNITY!

Religion is a 'conga line' - somebody following somebody else, that AIN'T GOD!
God TRIED Religion with man - remember that? Didn't work! A monumental failure, all around. Nearly drove God NUTS, trying to get man to get it Right - that is, GOD'S WAY! Man simply had no stomach for it - couldn't stay focused long enough - lost interest! God had Foreseen this. In His Blood-Oath Covenant with Abraham, God made it clear that His SPIRITUAL AGREEMENT with man (New Covenant) Was a One-Way-Vow! That is, if either party violated the Terms of this Agreement, then GOD ALONE would Pay with His OWN Blood! Even if God was Faithful, but man violated - then God would Pay the Penalty for such sin! He Did. And from that time to this, we Worship in Spirit and in Truth - not in religion! 'The (Mosaic) Law is THE POWER (strength, KJV) of sin', Paul tells us. (1Cor15:56) The ONLY 'Conga Line' that is NOT RELIGION is the One behind the Man Who IS GOD - Jesus Christ! The only Following that Leads Home to Father is OF THE SON! And He EARNED this by Losing His Blood - to WIN us His Eternal Life. Today, many souls are being lost by following some 'flock' - and not The GOOD Shepherd. These ways appear to be correct - they have a good 'LOOK-GOOD', as the addicts say. But they offer such fun-along-the-way. Feel-good-about-self has all but replaced genuine, Holy Spirit CONVICTION of sin-guilt. And it SELLS! Unfortunately, the price is in souls. God calls this 'trafficking in souls'. (Ezek22:25-27, 28:18) BIG business!!

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONAL
(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

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DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, [even] as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2Cor 3:18

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical) - by Dennis Rideout

2005-11-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

Quick Quotes/Comments/Poems (topical) - by Dennis Rideout: COMMENT (DENOMENATIONS)

'De-nomin-ate' means to SEPARATE (or discriminate) by labeling. (A $5.00 bill is a different denomination than a $10.00 bill) But this is not of-God - but of man! Before you ask my 'denomination', please tell me - what denomination is GOD? Which denomination did Jesus DIE for? And what denomination will all in Heaven be?

Christ is The HEAD where He is being FED! {Bethlehem means 'feed-lot', and Christ is Born in a 'feed-trough', or manger!} A 'church' which is not actively, aggressively teaching God's whole Word is 'Head-less'; and a member who is not hungry & thirsty for such teaching is spiritually dead!"

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-18T16:15:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'4 HIM' sings... "WHERE THERE IS FAITH!"

Christian Poems (DEATH - LOSS - GRIEF)

2005-11-18T15:56:00.000-08:00

TWO LITTLE FEET

"Two little feet went pattering by - years ago. They wandered off to the sunny sky - years ago. They crept not back to the love they left, they climbed nevermore to the arms bereft - long ago.

"Again I shall hear those two little feet pattering by; their music a thousand times more sweet in the sky; I joy to think that the Father's care will hold them safe till I meet them there - by and by."
--Anonymous

TITLE: "SEED CORN INTO GRAIN":

"We are too stupid about death. We will not learn how it is wages paid to those who earn; How it is the gift for which on earth we yearn -- To be set free from bondage to the flesh; how it is turning seed corn into grain, how it is wining Heaven's eternal gain, how it means freedom evermore from pain, how it untangles every mortal mesh.

We are so selfish about death. We count our grief far more than we consider their relief, when the great reaper gathers in the sheaf, no more to know the season's constant change; And we forget that it means only Life -- Life with all Joy, Peace and Rest and Glory rife, the Victory won, and ended all the strife, and Heaven no longer far away and strange!" --The Watchman Examiner (a 19th Century Christian magazine)

"Afraid? Of what? To feel the spirit's glad release? To pass from pain to perfect peace, the strife and strain of life to cease? Afraid of what? --- Afraid? Of what? Afraid to see the Saviour's face, to hear His welcome, and to trace the Glory-Gleam from wounds of Grace? Afraid of that??

Afraid? Of what? A flash - a crash - a pierced heart; darkness - light - O Heaven's art! A wound of His counterpart! Afraid of that? --- Afraid? Of what? To enter Heaven's Rest, and yet to serve the Master blest, from service good to service best? Afraid of that??

Afraid? Of what? To do by death what life could not -- Baptize with death a stony plot, till souls shall blossom from that spot? Afraid of that??" -- E.H. Hamilton

"Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round? On Jesus' bosom nought but calm is found. -- Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown? Jesus we know, and He is on the Throne!

"Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours? Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers. -- It is enough: earth's struggles soon shall cease, and Jesus call us to Heaven's perfect peace!"
--E.H.Bickersteth

IN MEMORY

"What mean you by this weeping to break my very heart? We both are in Christ's keeping, and therefore cannot part.

"You there, I here, though parted, we still at heart are one; I only just in sunshine, the shadow scarcely gone.

"What though the clouds surround you, you can the brightness see, tis only a little way, that leads from you to me.

"I was so very weary, surely you would not mourn, that I a little sooner should lay my burden down.

"Then weep not, weep not, Darling, God wipes away all tears; tis only a little way, though you may call it years."
--Anonymous

"Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, when I put out to sea;

"But such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam, when that which drew from out the boundless deep turns home again.

"Twighlight and evening bell, and after that the dark! and may there be no sadness of farewell, when I embark;

"For though from out our bourne of Time and Place the flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar!"
--Tennyson

THE GREAT JOURNEY - CHAPTER 9

2005-11-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

CHAPTER 9: A Pilgrimage through the Valley
of Tears to Mount Zion, the city
of the living God

By John MacDuff, 1855.

"He spoke many things unto them in parables."
Matthew 13:3

("A Pilgrimage through the Valley of Tears
to Mount Zion, the city of the living God."
A 50 page allegory similar to Bunyan's
"Pilgrim's Progress")

CHAPTER 9

Now I saw in my dream that the Narrow way conducted straight through the City of Carnality; for the Prince of Darkness, who, from the extent of his territories, was called the God of this World, had built many cities and villages close by, for the purpose, if possible, of enticing Zionward travelers. And this, at the time of Pilgrim's journey, he could accomplish the more easily, as the walls which were used, in former times, to separate the Broad from the Narrow-way-men, had been in great part demolished. For long there had existed between there a deadly enmity. But the Prince of Darkness's viceregent, Fashion, had interposed as mediator between the contending parties. It was now counted no disgrace, as in former times, for a Broad-way-man to be ostensibly enlisted in Immanuel's ranks. But the others suffered by their guilty compromise; for their communion with the Broad way travelers had led them to imbibe many carnal maxims and principles, and to conform to the practices of a "world lying in wickedness."

Now I saw that the Prince of Darkness had erected his metropolis near the extremity of the Valley of Tears; and many who had given fair promise of making the journey to Zion, and that, too, with their faces there, were entangled by the snares laid for them in this city, and never advanced a step nearer the Celestial Gates.

The shadows of evening were beginning to fall as Pilgrim and his companion approached its walls. Even from the twilight glimpse they obtained, they were awed by its dimensions and magnificence. In the center, crowning the heights, they beheld a palace, with a royal banner waving from its towers, and many lights gleaming from the windows of its banqueting halls. This, as Pilgrim afterward learned, was the residence of Freethinker, a powerful vassal of the King of the Broad way, who had been rewarded with ample honors for the service he had rendered to his lord. It was kept by a porter called Mammon, who made it his business to exact as large a revenue as he could for the Prince of Darkness, whose servant he was. The two travelers trembled as they stood in the presence of this man, who was of a harsh and repulsive countenance. On attempting to pass, he rudely approached them, and, with rough voice, demanded payment of tribute for the King's Highway.

"We are travelers to Mount Zion," answered Theophilus; "and the Lord Immanuel, to secure our admittance there, has already paid costlier tribute-money than we have to offer. We have not been redeemed, and the Celestial City is not to be purchased, 'with corruptible things such as silver and gold.'"

If you have no tribute-money," replied the other, it will be at least needful to leave behind you, in pledge, some part of your armor, which, during your adjourn in the city, will only encumber you; and it will be restored to you on your return."

"Return we cannot--we dare not," said Pilgrim, "we have our faces Zionward; and woe be to us if we turn back."

Now Theophilus seemed inclined to further and useless disputation; but I saw that a mild and modest messenger beckoned Pilgrim to turn aside and follow her without delay. It was evident that they were about to enter the city by the wrong avenue.

Pilgrim, therefore, at once retraced a few of his steps, and went along, by a narrow path, to a lodge by the side of the city wall. He was conducted within by his guide, (whose name was Piety,) and who there resided with her sister Devotion. They assisted him in brightening his armor, wiped the dust from his sandals, and replenished his bag with some simple food. After which, being warned of the imminent dangers with which he would be beset, and exhorted to "consider Him" who, himself once a pilgrim in that same city, "had endured such contradiction of sinners against himself", they directed him up the street, named Watch and Pray, to the residence of the Christian Graces, at the opposite gate, where he would be again refreshed, and receive further directions regarding his journey.

Now I saw that Pilgrim proceeded boldly into the heart of the town; and had penetrated a considerable way before he encountered any serious molestation.

Before long, however, the citizens began to be attracted by the peculiarity of his traveling attire. A crowd followed: some mocking, some deriding; some even lifting the mud and filth off the streets, and besmearing his armor. He tried first to remonstrate with them; then to rebuke and threaten. With the Sword of the Spirit grasped firmly in his hand he succeeded in parrying off many of the blows aimed at him; their stones and missiles rebounded from the Shield of Faith, with which he covered his head; and he felt it no small encouragement when his eye fell on one of the verses inscribed underneath: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

I saw in my dream, that before he had been able to proceed half way through the city, night overtook him. He began to despair of being able to reach the mansion where he had been directed at the lodge, and which he had intended making his resting-place for the night. Besides, the broad and open street which he had been pursuing was now involved in devious windings, and frequently became so narrow as to create in his mind serious apprehensions that he must have missed his way. When he ventured to make inquiry of the citizens, and solicit their assistance in regaining it, he was treated with rudeness and incivility; for the Christian Graces, and their residence, were, with them, hated names, and their visitors invariably treated with discourtesy.

Now I observed that the Lord Immanuel had appointed spiritual Watchmen, with the Lamp of Truth in their hands, to guide the feet of his people in the way of peace, and to direct erring travelers who had "gone out of the way." Some of these Watchmen, indeed, were found unfaithful; some had no oil of grace in themselves; consequently, their lamps burned with a feeble and sickly luster, and the trumpet which hung at their side gave forth an uncertain sound. Others (during the age in which Pilgrim passed) had so covered their lanterns with painted glass and tinsel ornament, as greatly to obscure the pure light of truth. Others, however, were distinguished for their vigilant watchfulness; ever faithful at their posts, "holding not their peace day nor night." Their lamps, being liable to be dimmed by the smoke of the city, they kept constantly rubbing with the Prayer-polish; and when any of the Zionward travelers, through weariness, or exhaustion, or sleep, fell down on the street, these faithful embassadors of the Lord Immanuel were heard sounding their trumpet of alarm, and exclaiming, "It is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is your salvation nearer than when you believed." As they met the Narrow-way-men, hurrying up the streets, sometimes they would accompany them for a little, to whisper words of encouragement in their ears if they saw them faint-hearted; at other times they allowed them to proceed, with the passing watchword, "ALL IS WELL!"

Now I saw that Pilgrim observed an individual with a haggard look running quickly up to one of these, and asking in great anxiety of mind: "Watchman! what of the night? Watchman! what of the night?" His name was Anxious Inquirer; he had been awakened from a slumber of self-security by the Trumpet of the Law, sounded by a watchman whose name was Boanerges. From that moment he had been hurrying, in a state of agitation, from street to street, and from watchman to watchman, with the question, "What shall I do to be saved?"

"Have you found no one, poor man," inquired the individual he now so importunately addressed; "have you found no one to soothe your troubled breast, and direct you to the Narrow way that leads unto life?''

"None! none!" was the reply; "the unfaithful watchmen that go about the city found me; they smote me, they wounded me. They tried to heal my hurt slightly, saying, 'Peace! peace! when there was no peace.' If you have any pity for a lost soul, tell me what time of night it is; for I am beginning to fear that 'the night is too far spent!' Methought, in hurrying along, I heard the tolling of the midnight bell, which seemed to say, as if with a living voice: 'Too late! too late!' and the gloomy warders who met me exchanged the same dismal watchword. Tell me, O, tell me, have I yet space to repent? Watchman! what of the night? Watchman! what of the night?"

"The morning comes!" was the answer. "It is not yet come, but it comes fast. Though you are at the eleventh hour, yet see you how the star of Hope still twinkles in the sky? But, haste you, and follow me. Truly the night is far spent! Yonder bell will before long peal its last, proclaiming that 'time shall be no longer,' and that the hour of repentance is fled!"

So I saw that Inquirer, under the guidance of this devoted embassador, hurried through the crowd in the direction of the gate of the Narrow way. The eye of Pilgrim followed them until they were out of sight. The promises on his shield reminded him of the glorious recompense awaiting such faithful watchmen as he to whose guidance Inquirer had intrusted himself. "Those who turn many unto righteousness shall shine as the stars in the skies, forever and ever.

By this time Pilgrim had arrived at the termination of a narrow lane, which diverged into two different paths; and it became matter of perplexity to know which to select. As he stood in indecision, he observed an individual coming up to him with a lamp at his side, similar to those he had seen in the hands of the Watchmen. It emitted a feeble light; sufficient, however, to show that the stranger was attired in armor, which appeared similar to his own; and the manner of his address gave him reason to suppose that he was once more to be cheered by the company of a Zionward traveler. But he was mistaken. This man had only a name to live.

His name was Professor; he had the Lamp of Profession in his hand, but no oil of grace to feed it; he had just enough of light to distinguish him from his fellow-citizens, but not enough to let him see the way to the Celestial City. Though he had never entered by the Narrow-way Gate, he had contrived, at one time, to traverse, like many others, a considerable part of the way, with his face Zionward; but he had never got further than the town of Carnality, where he had taken up a permanent residence, ofttimes inviting passing travelers to the Celestial City to visit him, and thus had acquired a name for his hospitality. He was one of those whom Pilgrim had already frequently met in his journey, for whom he felt deep commiseration, whose pretended love for the Narrow-way-men, and partiality for their King, made them hated by the Broad way travelers; while they themselves had neither part nor lot with the subjects of Immanuel, either in their present privileges, or in their future glorious reward.

Pilgrim, after listening to his conversation, availed himself of his proffered invitation; and deferring his journey to the extremity of the city until morning, accompanied him to his residence to spend the night.

On arriving at the house of his new entertainer, Pilgrim found two guests seated at his table; and who, like himself, professed to be travelers to Immanuel's land. The name of the one was Antinomian, and of the other, Lukewarm. Antinomian had not so much as a shred of armor; no, he seemed even to glory in his state of fancied freedom from the self-imposed burdens (as he called them) to which his fellow-travelers unnecessarily subjected themselves. Lukewarm, again, was arrayed in the semblance of armor; but it hung so loosely upon him, and he talked so coldly of the Lord of the Way, and so slightingly of his blood-bought privileges, that it seemed matter of indifference to him whether he entered the gates of the New Jerusalem or no.

Supper was concluded; and Pilgrim, being fatigued with the exertions of the day, retired to rest. He arose as soon as morning began to break; and though urged by Professor to prolong his stay, he dreaded remaining longer in the company of those whose sentiments so little accorded with his own. Bidding his entertainer farewell, and whispering in his ear, before they parted, some serious counsel about his imminent danger, and that of his guests, he hastened once more to run with patience the race set before him.

Now I saw that, in prosecuting the remainder of his journey through the city, he passed immediately under the walls of Freethinker's palace, which he had observed particularly on entering. He hurried by as quickly as he could. Above the massive archway which formed the entrance, he saw the words emblazoned: "No soul,"--"No judgment"--"No immortality"--"Death an eternal sleep"--"Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." He shuddered on listening to the voices of the scoffers in the banqueting hall within. They were blaspheming the name of the Lord of the Way, and saving, "Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation!"

The porter, whose name was Ridicule, stood at the gate, as he was used, heaping derisions on all the travelers who passed. He called after Pilgrim, and invited him to partake of Freethinker's hospitality, denouncing all the promises inscribed on his shield as "cunningly devised fables"--the Celestial City, with its fancied glories, as a dream--and recommended him to return without delay, and resume his communion with the Broad-way-men. But Pilgrim only hastened his footsteps, and hurried more quickly past, replying to his solicitation: "Truly, if I had been mindful of the country whence I came out, I might have had opportunity to have returned; but now I desire a better country, that is, a heavenly."

Walking boldly onward, he at last attained the outer wall of the city, and, with joyful heart, left its din and bustle behind him. On proceeding a little further, he found himself standing in front of a gateway leading to an elevated mansion in the suburbs whereon he read the inscription: "here abides these three--Faith, Hope, and Charity." This was the place to which he had been directed at the lodge, by Piety and Devotion. It was the residence of the Christian Graces, who made it their delight to receive toil-worn travelers after their passage through the city--to wash their stripes, bind up their wounds, and supply them with necessary refreshment for completing their journey.

Sweet were the hours of converse which Pilgrim enjoyed in this sacred resting-place. Sometimes their conversation turned on the Lord of the Way himself --sometimes on the experience of travelers who had now entered into their rest--sometimes on the glories of the Celestial City, whose shining gates, from the elevated situation which the mansion occupied, were full in view. On the top of the house was a balcony, where he often resorted in company with Faith and Hope, who directed his eye through telescopes, provided for the purpose, to the battlements of the New Jerusalem.

Being replenished, after a temporary sojourn, with what was needful for his journey, and having his shield and armor anew burnished with the Prayer-polish, which caused them to shine with dazzling brightness in the reflected beams from the Celestial Gate, Pilgrim once more found himself alone, a solitary traveler, hastening along the Narrow way, with his back to the City of Carnality, and his face to the City of Zion.

I saw that he continued to run with alacrity and joy the race which was still set before him, his path being like the "shining light, which shines more and more unto the perfect day." The season of trial and vicissitude, indeed, was not yet over. Difficulties and temptations, sorrows and discouragements, were still there, to remind him that the valley which he trod was, to the last, a Valley of Tears. But these only made him long more ardently for the day when every tear would be wiped away, every pang forgotten, every sorrow ended; when the weapons of earthly warfare would be exchanged for robes of glory; faith swallowed up in sight, hope in fruition, and death itself in eternal victory!

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

PSSSSSSSSSTT! .... OVER HERE, KEEP THIS UNDER YER, ER, 'HAT'!

Sometimes its just best to remain confidential about certain things (which such remain unmentioned, if you know what I mean?!). I mean, there are a few things that just don't need the broad light of day, if you catch my drift?!

Hmmm... Wonder what has them so private and all - so secret and reclusive? You don't spoze they know something we OUGHT to, do you? Something, maybe, about US?? WELL!!

Gossip is usually about envy. And envy is ALWAYS about coveting. And Coveting was the only sin God mentioned TWICE (for emphasis) in the 'Decalog', or '1o Commandments'. Pretty evil stuff, envious coveting! Tell me, if it's SO very evil, how much actual thought and personal consideration have you given it?

Actually, most folks can be up to their eyeballs in it and not even know it. Our self-awareness level (when it comes to honest examination) is almost nil.

What God has Provided and or has Allowed in my life is either met with Acceptance or Disgust. When the latter, it usually turns to resentment and covetous envy.

I have a tiny 'proverb' - it can only be applied to genuine, Pilgrim Saints: 'When its not OKAY with you - (whatever) - you have a problem with God!'.

Welp, Pilgrim - how's God been TREATING you lately??

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-18T15:00:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-18T14:45:00.000-08:00

Are our expectations getting in God's way? If so, His Expectations will OFFEND us!
... And we were expecting - WHAT?? Disappointment occurs when reality does not meet our expectations. It might surprise many to learn that most folks are very disappointed with God! God simply has not Lived up to their expectations. They had in mind an entirely different God than what they have experienced so far. Few actually Believe their prayers enough to wait expectantly for God's Response - and WATCH for it. Even fewer actively Commune with God - that is, Fellowship with Him in regular Conversation. And we are all painfully aware how loathsome diligent, daily, personal Bible study has become. Most gave up on the Bible as a 'lost cause' long ago - conceding in utter disbelief that the Bible was simply not comprehensible for them. Apparently, God spoke in such a way that only certain 'men of God' - those Gifted and specifically Chosen by God - and certainly those that have spent exhaustive years in agonizing, laborious research, were capable of such spiritual enlightenment! Balderdash! God Is just WHO He Says He Is! And He has PROVEN and DEMONSTRATED every Word He ever Spoke - as He said He would! But to actually KNOW Him means the utter dismantling of our preassumptions. Jesus Warns that He WILL OFFEND many - as was Prophesied of Him (1Pet2:8, Isa8:14), when He says we are Blessed if we are not offended in or by Him (Mt11:6, Lk7:21). God Expects the impossible from Real, Living Faith (Mk10:27). After all, Faith is Spiritual, not mortal - and WITH God all things are possible. But, see - we have to TRULY Believe that! What CAN we expect from our Faith??

What we 'hold out' on God, we will soon 'hold against' Him! (Clinched fists are soon raised at God!)
God 'holds out' on no one. And Jesus Christ simply could not be more GIVEN than He Is. To the criminal - the pagan - the God-hater - to the pervert - the most evil person imaginable - CHRIST IS GIVEN! His Bloodshed Is a Fact. But without Repentance, It was in vain - that is, for nothing! The 'malefactor' who Repented and was Received into Heaven WITH Jesus at THEIR Death, was most likely a murderer (mere thieves were not crucified by Romans). No, to WHOMSOEVER WANTS & CHOOSES Him (Repents) - His Blood Saves (Jn3:16). God held back nothing! But we do. When we try to cling to a thing, we make a fist. (The old 'how-to-catch-a-monkey' routine; cut a hole in a coconut, tie it to a tree, put some trinkets inside - when the monkey grabs them inside & makes a fist, he's caught in the monkey trap!) Unfortunately, when we do this spiritually, sooner or later, we will end up lifting that fist to Heaven and against God! Why? Jesus tried to tell us - that if we cling to mortal life, we will LOSE OUR SOULS - FOREVER! Over and Over again, (and in many different ways) He said this! We hold out on God. We want to live out our lives our own way. We resent God's Messing with us and our circumstances - until we need Him. But God's Correction (Rebuke, Discipline) *IS* our Salvation. So, like the monkey, our greed and stubborn, willful pride is our undoing! Learning how to let go, turn loose and LET GOD have what we promised Him - is 9/10 of spiritual Maturity!

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONAL
(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

Don't HAVE or WANT RealAudio Player? Try the FREE RealAudioALTERNATIVE player - CLICK HERE.

DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, [who is] the health of my countenance, and my God." Ps 42:11

How About A Poem? -- 'BUT THEY SAID, NO!' -- by Dennis Rideout

2005-11-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

BUT THEY SAID, 'NO!'

A poignant remider of Christ's rejection!

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU", SAID THE MASTER CONCEIVER,
"I COME AS A BABY, TO YOU AS BELIEVER?"
     BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - NOT ON YOUR LIFE!
     MESSIAH IS RULER, AND SHOULD BRING A KNIFE!"
SO THE SLAUGHTER OF BABES BY THE CARNAL DECEIVER
PULLED THE FLESH 'ORE THE EYES OF INTENDED RECEIVER.

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU", ASKED THE ANCIENT OF OLD,
"MY HUMBLE DEMEANOR REFLECTS WHAT WAS TOLD?"
   BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - TRADITION PROHIBITS!
   AN EYE FOR AN EYE IS WHAT TORAH EXHIBITS!"
THAT MEEKNESS SHOULD CONQUER ROME'S IRON, SO BOLD;
SO PROUDFULLY BOUNDLESS?;  SO... "CHOSEN" WAS SOLD!

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU IF THE KINGDOM IS PEACE?;
THAT THE WAR OVER ISSUES, THIS "ISSUE" WILL CEASE?"
   BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - OUR LAW DISALLOWS!
   OUR PEDIGREE ISSUE DETERMINES OUR VOWS!
ROME MUST BE DISMANTLED, PIECE BY PIECE;
OUR KING WOULD GRANT US THIS BLOODY RELEASE!"

GOD ASKS OUR PERMISSION TO MANIFEST THROUGH US???
AND CHRIST'S WILLING SPIRIT'S A GIFT? - IT'S MIRACULOUS!
 BUT WILLING MEANS OPEN, AND OPEN MEANS LOVE;
 AND LOVE THINKS BENEATH IT SHOULD BE AS ABOVE!
SO "SUFFERING", AND "LETTING GOD CHOOSE ALL" (OUR CHOICES),
ALLOWS US TO KNOW GOD THROUGH ALL OF HIS VOICES.

BUT THAT WHICH HE CHOOSES IS PERFECTLY CLEAR;
HE CHOOSES THE CHOOSER, AND THEN DRAWS HIM NEAR!
 POSSESSING IS ALWAYS THE OWNER'S DISCRETION;
 IF GOD OWNS THE CHOOSER, THEN WHOSE CHOICE, POSSESSION?
WHEN GOD ASKS THE BLESSING, THE BLESSING'S HIS WILL!
THE GIVER'S THE MARVEL OF HIS BLESSINGS STILL!

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU IF MY MESSAGE IS SPIRIT?
FOR ANY WHO NEED ME, AND HOPE - WHO MIGHT HEAR IT?"
 BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - THOSE HAVE NO WORTH!
THEY ARE NOT "OF US", AND YOU'RE OF THIS EARTH!
OUR LAW IS OUR MESSAGE, WE'RE NOT WONT TO SHARE IT;
THE SPIRIT'S A BURDEN! WHO NEEDS IT? ...CAN BEAR IT?"

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU, IF I DO IT ALL FOR YOU? -
PERFORM THE IMPOSSIBLE, AND CLEAR UP THE VIEW?"
  BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - NO WAY WILL YOU DO,
  WHAT NO OTHER HUMAN, REGARDLESS OF WHO,
HAS EVER BEEN ABLE! - AND NEITHER WILL YOU!
WE'D RATHER OUR OLD WAY, THAN SOMETHING THAT'S NEW."

"THEN MAYBE IT'S BETTER TO GIVE YOU YOUR WAY -
I'LL 'OPE NOT MY MOUTH WHILE YOU HAVE YOUR SAY."
   BUT THEY SAID, "NOW! - WE HAVE HIM FOR SURE!
   TO THINK THAT HE THOUGHT THAT WE'D FALL FOR HIS LURE!
IT'S BUSINESS AS USUAL AT TEMPLE TODAY -
HE WANTED OUR CUSTOM! WELL, WE'LL MAKE HIM PAY!"

"DO YOU MIND?", SAYS THE MASTER;  "DO YOU MIND VERY MUCH?
IF I DIE FOR WHAT AILS YOU, AND ALLOW YOU TO TOUCH
   ALL THE PASSION WITHIN ME THAT'S LONELY FOR YOU?
   DO YOU MIND? ...NEVER MIND, IT'S THE MOST I COULD DO!"

"DO YOU MIND, REALLY MIND, THAT THE SCORN OF MY MITER,
WAS NOT AS YOU THOUGHT IT, THE THORNS OF THE SPITER?:
   DESPISING THE PAIN OF THAT CURSE AS A CROWN,
   WITH SHAME I HUNG WRETCHEDLY, DAMNED AND CAST DOWN."

BUT "VICTORY'S" FAILURE WAS SOON TO BE SEEN,
AND "VICIOUS" MET 'GRACIOUS', SO, 'GLORY' IS KING!
   AS 'DEATH' "SWALLOWED' 'LIFE' (A STUMBLE RENOWN!),
   THE THORNS HAVE BORN FRUIT NOW, AND BLOSSOMED A CROWN!
   
"DO YOU MIND, IN YOUR HEART, IF I REACH OUT FROM HERE?
I CAME AS YOUR OFFERING;  MY HEART! - + - DO YOU HEAR?
   IF YOU'LL LISTEN AND LET ME, I'LL GIVE YOU WHAT'S MINE;
   BUT MY CROSS IS YOUR LIFE NOW - DO YOU MIND?"

"IS IT ALL RIGHT WITH YOU IF MY DEATH SEEMS TO PROVE,
TO ALL THOSE AROUND YOU WHOSE LOVE WOULD NOT MOVE,
   THAT I WAS A FAILURE, A FRAUD, AS THEY THOUGHT?
   AND THAT NOTHING WAS PURCHASED BY THAT WHICH WAS BOUGHT!"

BUT THEY SAID, "NO! - NO!, IT WAS NOT!"
SO AFTER THE CARNAGE, THEN WHAT?
DISCIPLES DISCOURAGED AND FRAUGHT,
RETURNED TO A LIFE NOW GONE LIFELESS, IT SEEMS -
'CAUSE ALL OF THE DREAM HAD GONE OUT OF THEIR DREAMS!

THEN SAY IT..., I'LL SAY IT! WHATEVER YOU WISH LORD!
YOUR LIFE IS OUR LOVE NOW - IT'S OUR "SILVER CORD".
     WE'RE YOURS TO DISPOSE OF, AS DEEM YOU SEE FIT.
     IT'S ALL RIGHT WITH US, NOW, WE DON'T CARE A BIT.
YOU PURCHASED AND TAUGHT US, WHAT MONEY WON'T BUY;
HOWEVER YOU LEAD US WE'LL GLADLY COMPLY.

OUR WILL IS MADE YOURS NOW, WHATEVER YOU SAY
IS OUR NEW COMMANDMENT - "SO-BE-IT"!;  YOUR WAY!
    YOU'VE TOLD IT AND SHOWN IT, AND NOW DONE IT FOR US!
    YOU'VE HELD TO YOUR PROMISE MADE REAL IN THE TORUS,
SINCE LONG BEFORE TIME WAS YOU'VE SPOKEN TO MAN,
IT'S TIME NOW MAN'S PROMISE IS, "YES, LORD", AMEN!

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-17T11:01:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'WALTER BRENNAN' narrates... "THE TEN COMMANDMENTS"

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts (ON THE BIBLE part 4)

2005-11-17T10:58:00.000-08:00

ON THE BIBLE:

'Of the Bible Garibaldi says, 'This is the cannon that will make Italy free!'

'Sink the Bible to the bottom of the ocean, and still man's obligations to God would be unchanged. He would have the same path to tread, only his lamp and guide would be gone; the same voyage to make, but his chart and compass would be overboard!'
--H.W.Beecher

'They who are not induced to believe and live as they ought by those discoveries which God hath made in Scripture, would stand out against ANY evidence whatsoever; even that of a messenger sent express from the other world!'
--Atterbury

'The most learned, acute, and diligent student cannot, in the longest life, obtain an entire knowledge of this one Volume. The more deeply he works the Mine, the richer and more abundant he finds the Ore!; new Light continually beams from this Source of Heavenly knowledge, to direct the conduct, and illustrate the work of God and the ways of men; and he will at last leave the Work confessing, that the more he studied the Scriptures, the fuller conviction he has of his own ignorance, and of their inestimable value!'
--Walter Scott

'One Monarch to obey, one Creed to own; that Monarch God; that Creed His word alone!

'If there is any one fact or doctrine, or command, or promise in the Bible which has produced no practical effect on your temper, or heart, or conduct, be assured you do not truly believe it!'
--Payson

'It is impossible to mentally or socially enslave a Bible-reading people!'
--Horace Greeley"

THE GREAT JOURNEY - CHAPTER 8

2005-11-17T10:52:00.000-08:00

CHAPTER 8: A Pilgrimage through the Valley
of Tears to Mount Zion, the city
of the living God

By John MacDuff, 1855.

"He spoke many things unto them in parables."
Matthew 13:3

("A Pilgrimage through the Valley of Tears
to Mount Zion, the city of the living God."
A 50 page allegory similar to Bunyan's
"Pilgrim's Progress")

CHAPTER 8

Now I saw in my dream that Pilgrim was conducted by Faithful into an ante-chamber. "This," said his guide, "is a room appropriated for aged and infirm travelers, who, on account of their years, are able to prosecute their journey no further."

On entering the apartment, he beheld an individual whose locks were whitened with age. The armor, too, which the veteran warrior had still girded on, though bearing the marks of many hard encounters, had lost none of its brightness. His sword, though exhibiting a blunted edge, yet gleamed with a brilliancy as dazzling as on the day when it was unsheathed in the armory at the Narrow Gate. Pilgrim just approached as the last tear he had to shed was standing in his eye. "It is enough!" said he. "Now, Lord, let you your servant depart in peace." A placid smile suffused his countenance--his eye was fixed on the gates of the Celestial City. While other objects around him were growing dim, this glorious vision seemed to be brightening. "Go on," said he addressing the stranger, "go on this Narrow way that leads unto life, and take the assurance of one who has trod it long, that it is a way of pleasantness, and a path of peace. 'I have fought a good fight,'" continued the departing saint, raising himself once more, and the last glow of life beaming on his face, '"I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day.' We shall meet no more until we meet within the gates of yonder Celestial City. Farewell! farewell!" He muttered one parting groan, and next moment was sleeping sweetly in Jesus.

Now I saw that angels were waiting with a chariot ready to carry him to the gates of Mount Zion. Pilgrim followed the bright retinue until the last of the train was lost in the glories which encompassed the New Jerusalem.

Returning again to the chamber they had just left, Pilgrim and his conductor approached a patient whose name was Sorrow. She was arrayed in a sable mantle, with a tear on her cheek. At her side sat Resignation, the same benevolent and pious female whom Pilgrim met in passing through the Fiery Furnace. She had a book in her hand, from whose pages she was endeavoring to soothe her companion, who sat brooding, in silent dejection, over the wreck of some treasured joys.

"This is one," said Faithful, "who dwelt, not long since, in an arbor near the City of Carnality. It was once trellised and adorned with some of the loveliest plants which the Valley could supply. Shady gourds combined with flowers of various tints and fragrance to spread a covering over her head, and to form a defense from the noonday sun. But, in an unexpected moment, a canker worm preyed on the roots. One bud alone survived when the rest had perished; but this, too, has just been plucked by the hand of Death, and now, as you see, lies blighted and withered at her feet. Her earthly flowers having perished, she has come here seeking the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley, and to have her bosom soothed with the Balm of Gilead, which, she has heard, the Great Physician applies to bleeding hearts."

Now I saw that when Pilgrim approached, he heard Resignation singing, in plaintive strains, the following lines to her companion--
"Why weep for the beautiful flower,
As if premature plucked away?
Survived had its blossoms that hour,
Would have lived, but have lived to decay!

"But now it has left this cold scene
To blossom in regions above,
Where no storm, where no clouds intervene
To darken the sunshine of love!

"O happy, thrice happy, the time,
When again you shall meet, never to sever,
With that flower, in that happier clime,
To bask in bright sunshine forever!"

"Yes," said Resignation, dwelling on the last words she had uttered; "wait until that day of cloudless sunshine, and in 'God's light you will see light.' Then will you be brought to confess that he was 'righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.'"

"'His way,' indeed, seems to be 'in the sea,'" replied the other, "'and his path in the deep waters, and his judgments unsearchable.' But I know 'the Lord of the Way does all things well.'"

"Yes," said Resignation; "he will himself be a richer portion than any earthly one. The Living Fountain will supply the broken cistern."

"I have found it! I have found it!" said the weeping mourner, rejoicing through her tears. "The Great Physician has cheered my solitary hours with his own blessed presence, and lighted up this heart with untold joy. I never knew the tenderness of his dealings until now. He seems to be 'touched with a feeling of all my infirmities.'"

"And methinks you can bear testimony," said Pilgrim, "that you did obtain no cordial to heal your aching breast until you received it from Him."

"None! none!" said the other: "every other earthly joy seemed but a mockery. Earthly refuges were refuges of lies. Earthly comforters in vain sought to soothe my woes. But when I came seeking the balm in Gilead, and the Physician there, he said to me, 'I will not leave you comfortless. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives.'"

"What else said he unto you?" continued Pilgrim.

"He told me," replied the other, "what his own precious name once was: THE MAN OF SORROWS'; that there was not a pang I could feel but his own holy bosom had been rent with the same; that 'in all my afflictions he had been afflicted.' And when I spoke to him of my crosses and losses, he answered me in tones of tender rebuke, 'Was there any sorrow like unto my sorrow?'"

I see you feel," said Pilgrim, "as all his suffering people have felt, that the Lord of the Way makes up for the loss of earthly blessings."

"I do." said the other. "'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.' Many have been my trials; this Valley of Tears seems every day truer to its own name; but, God be thanked, amid the wreck of earthly blessings, I have still left the better Friend--Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."

"'Who the Lord loves,'" continued Resignation, reading still from the volume she held in her hands, "'he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.' 'He afflicts not willingly, nor grieves the children of men.' 'We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.' 'What I do you know not now, but you shall know hereafter.'"

"Even so!" replied the submissive sufferer, clasping her hands--"'even so, Father; for so it seems good in your sight.' 'I will be dumb; I will open not my mouth, because you did it.' 'Not as I will, but as you will.' 'The Lord gave, and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord.'"

Having been refreshed and strengthened, before departing, by the Lord of the Way, and again warned of the dangers he would have to encounter in the city which had been pointed out to him from the Mount of Communion, Pilgrim commenced, with renewed ardor, the journey which yet remained, cheered with the prospect of the glorious crown which the Lord of the Way held out as the covenanted reward of the "faithful unto death."

Now I saw in my dream that, before he had advanced far, he was overtaken by a fellow-traveler, girded from head to foot with the Christian armor, whose eye was steadily directed to the gate of the Celestial City. So eagerly, indeed, did he pursue his way, that he would have passed Pilgrim unobserved, had not his attention been arrested by one of the Songs of Zion, with which the latter was cheering himself in a solitary part of the road.

"Where are you bound, my good traveler?" inquired the stranger, addressing Pilgrim. "Methinks, from your attire, as well as your song, you are a brother journeying to Immanuel's land."

"You have conjectured right," said Pilgrim; "and I was even now comforting myself with the thought, that so much of the wilderness is over, and that the time is so near at hand when these weapons of warfare will be needed no more. I am enfeebled with many wounds; but one hour within yonder gates will make me forget them all; therefore, 'though faint, I am still pursuing', and have the assurance of my heavenly Lord and Master that final victory will at length be mine."

"You speak well," replied the other, "and as if love to the Lord of the Way really burned in your bosom. So crowded is this Narrow way now-a-days with false professors, (ever since a powerful potentate, called Fashion, took down the wall of separation which formerly divided it from the Broad way,) that I cannot but regard with suspicion its reputed travelers, lest they should be Broad-way-men in disguise. But," continued he, "I am persuaded better things of you, and things which accompany salvation, though I thus speak. Perhaps, if we pursue our journey together, we may prove, by the blessing of our common King, comforters in each other's sorrows, and helpers of each other's joys."

"Gladly," replied Pilgrim, "will I accept of your proffered friendship; for truly my spirit quails for fear as I behold the smoke of yonder City of Carnality darkening the plain, and when I think of the evils that may likely befall me there."

"Never fear," replied the stranger, "you have a stronger arm than that of a fellow-traveler to lean upon, and to conduct you safe through its dangers. But come, meanwhile, and as we pursue our journey let us recount our experiences of the Lord's kindness, that so we may be the better prepared for the trials which may there await us. Tell me, I pray you," continued he, "your history and fortunes--when it was the Lord of the Way in mercy first snatched you from destruction, and arrayed you in your present attire?"

Here Pilgrim minutely related the marvelous interposition of the Lord Immanuel, as well as the other manifestations of grace he had subsequently experienced. The stranger, at intervals, could not repress his feelings. Pilgrim felt his own gratitude heightened and increased in calling afresh to his recollection the wondrous things the King of the Way had done for him.

"Be pleased, kind friend," said Pilgrim, after he had concluded his own narration, "to recount to me, in turn, the adventures which have befallen you in your journey. What is your name? and what first induced you to turn your face Zionward?"

"My name," answered the other, "was once Neglecter; but it has been changed by the King of the Way into Theophilus, which, by interpretation, is Lover of God. The place of my birth was adjoining your own, in a village hard by the Broad road. I was the familiar friend and companion of those very men you met with on the way, Formality, Church-goer, and Almost-persuaded, and induced, like yourself, to adopt their creed. I thought my own religion, on an average, far above my neighbors'; for I was not a despiser, as most of them were, but only a Forgetter. I was not an Enemy to salvation, but only neglected it; and hence my name."

"But were there none of your own household," said Pilgrim, "to remind you of your danger, and the consequences of such neglect?"

"Alas!" said Theophilus, "it was in my case too true that a man's foes are those of his own household. My awakened convictions would often have roused me from my sloth had they not been overborne by those who professed most to love me. They told me that I was as good as others; that I had apologies which other men had not, from press of business, for postponing the question; and that, if I would only have patience, the time was coming when they would all join me, and seek it in good earnest."

"And how, then," inquired Pilgrim, "were you at last roused to a sense of your dreadful danger?"

"Ah!" replied the other, "the Lord Immanuel would not suffer me to get rest by day, nor sleep by night, by reason of his loud and earnest remonstrances. The mingled severity and sweetness of his entreaties is still sounding in my ears."

"How did he speak with you?" said Pilgrim.

"So great was his love," answered the other, "and so resolved was he to effect my rescue, that he sent messenger after messenger to my door to plead for admission. He knocked by Providence, by Affliction, by Bereavement, by Prosperity, by Adversity; and each one of these, in a voice louder than the rest, sounded the question in my ears: 'How shall you escape if you neglect such great salvation?' That question allowed me no peace. It followed me in my solitary walks; it crowded my waking hours by day, and disturbed my dreams by night. I tried to drown it in the cup of intemperance, and chase it away amid scenes of mirth; but if I succeeded in hushing it at night, it was sure to return upon me louder than ever in the morning!"

"And what said your family all this while?" said Pilgrim. "Did they observe your anxiety of mind, and make no effort to minister alleviation?"

"Miserable comforters they were", replied the other; "they called me madman and fool, laughed at my childish anxieties, and only invited new guests to banish what they called the fit of frenzy away."

"But I have only interrupted you. I long to hear the result."

"Well," continued Theophilus, "as I lay one night stretched on my couch, a messenger was once more sent by the Lord Immanuel to renew his accustomed knockings. Never before were they so long nor so loud: so much so, indeed, that even some of my own family were startled from their slumbers. Now, it so happened that I had two servants in the house; the name of the one was Conscience, and the name of the other was Will; both of whom were roused by the knockings, and ran to the door to inquire the errand of the stranger. Conscience no sooner listened to his words of tenderness and kind admonition, than she was desirous to grant him admittance; but Will, who was naturally of a depraved and obstinate disposition, stoutly remonstrated, and, being the stronger of the two, she put her back to the door, secured the lock, and refused to open."

"Well do I understand the struggle you describe," said Pilgrim. "But say on."

"You are acquainted, I presume," continued the other, "with one of the Lord Immanuel's servants in the Narrow way Hospital called Faithful."

"I am," was the reply; "and, methinks, you would find him as faithful by nature as he is by name."

"Faithful indeed," proceeded Theophilus; "for no sooner was he acquainted with my case, and the strange conflict in my bosom, than he came to assist Affliction in her knockings. With a large hammer, called the hammer of the word, which he wielded in his hand, he broke open the door, stood by my couch with his hands and his lips full of messages of mercy from the Master he served, and never left me until he had brought me to the Narrow-way Gate."

"But," said Pilgrim, "were you suffered to leave without an effort being made for, your rescue?"

"Not so," replied Theophilus; "my companions, and neighbors, and friends, came running after me with imploring voice: some entreating me to return, some using threatening, others ridicule, others bribes. My wife and children, with tears in their eyes, upbraided me for my cruel desertion, and employed every persuasive to induce me to return. But the Lord of the Way sent his messenger to whisper in my ear: 'Whoever leaves father, and mother, and wife, and children, and houses, and lands, for my name's sake, and the gospel's, shall receive in this life a hundred-fold, and in the world to come, life everlasting.' 'But whoever loves father and mother, or wife and children, more than me, is not worthy of me.'"

"And had you long to wait at the entrance-gate?" inquired Pilgrim.

"No," replied the other; "Free Grace, the keeper, was in readiness for my reception. Only one other traveler was at the moment soliciting admission; for the crowd were all flocking down the opposite way to Destruction. The traveler's name was Waverer; he was a native of the border-country, lying between King Immanuel's territories and those of the Prince of Darkness. He had a bundle on his back, containing heart-lusts, heart-sins, and heart-idols, which he too much valued to be induced to part with, and yet he seemed equally reluctant to abandon the way of life. He would willingly have entered, provided he could have retained his bundle; but it was too large, the gate was too strait and narrow to admit it. So he turned down the Broad road, and I saw his face no more."

"Wretched man!" said Pilgrim; "I remember him well; and I verily think him more to be pitied than any of his fellow-Broad-way-men; for he knows just enough of the Narrow way to make him miserable, but not enough to give him peace. Let us learn from his sad fate the danger of trifling with besetting sins."

"And you can, doubtless, add your experience to mine," said Pilgrim, "concerning the Lord of the Way, since the first hour you were enrolled in his service, that, however faithless you may have been to him, he has never been unfaithful to you."

"It is true, it is true," answered the other, the tear again starting to his eye; "often, often have I wounded His loving heart. Often have I fainted and been weary of him; but never has he fainted or been weary of me. It is my consolation, when called to mourn the fickleness of my own heart, that his heart changes never!"

Now I saw in my dream that, as the two fellow-travelers thus continued to encourage one another with mutual experiences of the Lord's past kindness to them, they gradually approached the walls of the Great Metropolis, whose smoke had been pointed out to Pilgrim from the Mount of Ordinances. It seemed to cast a temporary gloom over their spirits, as they thought how speedily their converse was to be interrupted by the din and bustle of a city of abounding iniquity. But with their eyes uplifted to the Everlasting Hills, whose summits were crowned with the glittering battlements of Zion, and with a confidence in the Lord of the Way, they boldly approached its walls.

FOTO, TOTO??

2005-11-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

FIGHT!! FIGHT!!

Birds of a feather sometimes FIGHT together! You know, we assume too much. We think that just because two or more are alike in one way, they must see eye-to-eye in every other way. O my no!

The whole notion of any two souls ever being or remaining totally compatible is silly. God INVENTED diversity - and then Celebrated it in His Creation!

God does not expect us to agree on everything. This notion is not from God. And let's set the Record straight once and for all - where it is Written that "for Two to walk together, they must AGREE" - One of those Two was GOD! (Amos 3:3)

We are Commanded to Love one another - even when we CANNOT agree! But, see?, this takes humility, sincerity, honesty, maturity, forgiveness, and all those other things folks are far too busy avoiding. Actually, none of us CAN do this without Christ and self-Repentance.

If the Members of Christ's Own Body cannot stoop to wash one another's feet in selfless-reconcilliation - how could they suppose to serve the Godless lost with Christ's Resurrection-Salvation? Muddied mirrors are poor Reflectors.

Eagles not only scrap and fight, they also soar. CALLING ALL HUMANS - TAKE NOTE!!

Daily Audio BLog

2005-11-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

AUDIO POST - TODAY'S DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

2005-11-17T10:06:00.000-08:00

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR TODAY

2005-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Predestination is as any arrow shot towards it's intended mark!
No marksman lets an arrow fly towards a target and does not watch to see it's outcome. An intention is just that - it is not a foregone conclusion, or a 'done-deal'. I am well aware just how loathsome it may be to the limited (often crippled) theologies of man, the apparent Paradoxes of God in Scripture. Nevertheless, we have but what God Provides of Himself. And what He Conceals, remains Hidden. The very carnal temptation to 'fill in the blanks', or 'connect the dots', is simply a form of speculation and presumption. History is clear about the consequences of such errant logic - i.e., the Talmud, or even Gnostic literature! No - if God Wishes, He can Reveal what is Hidden. But speculative assumptions always deceive. What God Intended was His Plan BEFORE He Created - what He 'had in-Mind'. That sin occurred despite God's Purpose, He makes quite clear. But that God had always an Alternative Plan (1Cor2:7) is also Revealed. That God also Changes His Mind (from time to time) is clear as well - two glaringly clear examples would be the Rainbow, and God's Anointed King, Saul! Man's attempt to 'get to the bottom' of God by use of his own carnal efforts have proved disastrous for centuries. What we SEE Manifest in Jesus Christ Was always God's Intention - this much is Clear. He Was Predestinated (Planned) all along - and all those Saints He would bring to Glory WITH (IN) Him. It is our Aim to End IN Jesus Christ - even as we Now Abide! And this Was God's Idea all along!

Coercion is attempted conversion by social pressure. ('peer-pressure')
I was surprised how few were familiar with this word. It has a very limited meaning (apparently, it has neither synonym nor antonym). But there are two meanings; 1 - the act of compelling by force of authority, 2 - compulsion, coercion -- (using force to cause something; "though pressed into rugby under compulsion I began to enjoy the game"; "they didn`t have to use coercion"). This is no small thing. All humans are raised socially. I am told a human infant cannot survive in total isolation. But it was man's society that Damned Babylon, Sodom and even Jerusalem (see all of Ezekiel 16). Envy is only possible, socially. And it is my observation that envy is the mother of pride (of ALL sin). In Jn 5:44 Jesus nails this down rather bluntly. He States that it is not possible to Believe God while seeking Wisdom from man! This escapes notice by most because of the way it is translated. Take a close look for yourself! It was for this reason God tells us He killed His Own anointed King Saul (1Chr10:13,14). When we allow our most precious Gift from God - our volition liberty, or free will - to be hijacked, derailed or diverted by social coercion - as a soul, we blaspheme our Maker! That this is done so often and so easily is simply a part of our upbringing in an apostate generation. But this ought not to be! And we DO have a Choice. Coercion is a form of man-pleasing, and man-pleasing never pleases God! It is Written that loving this world (man's society) is WAR (enmity) against God! We can Learn to Follow the Shepherd and not the flock - if we will!

TODAY'S AUDIO-DEVOTIONAL
(Audio-devotional links are viable (available) only in current month) - for two month's audio-devotional listings CLICK HERE. For a complete listing (by topic) of ALL the Deeper-Life audio-devotionals at Pilgrim's Path's Website (over 2000 audios) CLICK HERE

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DAILY BIBLE PROMISE

2005-11-16T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Bbile Promise is ... "Thy word [is] true [from] the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments [endureth] for ever." Ps 119:160

Notable Quotes On Deeper Thoughts (ON THE BIBLE part 3)

2005-11-16T16:59:00.000-08:00

ON THE BIBLE

"'It has been truly said that any translation of the masterpiece (the Bible) must be a failure!'
--Dr E.J.Goodspeed

'(Now there's one to chew on - from a mighty man of God! -- God wants to Teach us His Writen Word-Will Personally!)

'The morality of the Bible is - after all - the safety of society!' --F.C.Monfort

(And the lack of it, its demise!)

'That the truths of the Bible have the power of awakening an intense moral feeling in every human being; that they make bad men good, and send a pulse of healthful feeling through all the domestic, civil, and social relations; that they teach men to love right, and hate wrong, and seek each other's welfare as children of a common Parent; that they control the baleful passions of the heart, and thus make men proficient in self-government; and finally that they teach man to aspire after conformity to a Being of infinite Holiness, and fill him with hopes more purifying, exalted, and suited to his nature than any other book the world has ever known -- these are FACTS as incontrovertible as the laws of philosophy, or the demonstrations of mathematics!'
--F.Wayland

'The Bible is the only source of all Christian Truth; -- the only rule for the Christian life; -- the only Book that unfolds to us the realities of eternity. There is no Book like the Bible for excellent wisdom and use.'
--Sir Matthew Hale, [1609-1676], An English Jurist.

'The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity.'
--Dwight, Timothy [1752-1817], American Clergy.

'We count the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy. I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever!'
--Isaac Newton

PSALMS & HYMNS & SPIRITUAL SONGS Col 3:16

2005-11-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

NOW HEAR THIS (MUSIC):

'St. PHILLIP'S BOYS CHOIR' sings... "YOU ARE THE NEW DAY!"