Attentive to Instruction

They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.Nehemiah 8:8

The Lord God Almighty instructs individuals from His Word the Bible. His gift of an instruction manual for living is necessary to know how to live life purposefully. If we wonder what is the wise thing to do, we look into the pages of Scripture and learn from those who made smart and foolish decisions. Yes, people who already experienced what we have not experienced can show us what to do and what not to do. The Bible is full of practical teachings that demand our keen attention.

However, it takes our intentionality to be instructed well. The education process in eternal matters engages our heart and mind. So we learn, not to impress with our newfound information, but to humbly apply insights for living. We are not just moved by emotion, but we are moved to make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. We grow intensely attentive to the Holy Spirit’s work the more we grow in understanding of Scripture. Instruction frees us from ignorant assumptions.

"Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:9-10).

Moreover, wise are we to learn from those who study and give clear meaning to the inspired written word of the Lord. Seek to sit under those who rightly divide the word of truth. Find those absent of pretense in their presentation and who instruct out of weakness from their own struggles. Clear teaching comes from one who is clear about their own propensity to sin. Yes, those who instruct well in the ways of God, walk in the ways of God. Learn from a humble heart.

We know we are attentive to instruction from God’s Word, if we read and apply Holy Scripture. We gain insight, as we read books that give fresh meaning to ancient writings. We are preceptive when we discuss the life principles we are learning with other honest individuals who help us refine our thinking. Regular attendance at a church that gives practical understanding of the Bible is an indicator of our attentiveness. Most of all, humbly learn from the Spirit’s instruction. 

"You gave your good Spirit to instruct them" (Nehemiah 9:20).

~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~

Some Principles of the House of God # 4

The Glory of Man Abased (continued)

The Lord does that all the time. Oh, the horrible display of human flesh in the realm of Divine things! Oh, the reputations made in the realm of what is of God! Oh, the delight to have a place in the Church! Oh, how often this flesh is active for its own pleasure and gratification! The Lord is hitting it hard all the time, driving hard blows to ensure that His house is on the right foundation, not on anything that is of ourselves. It does come home to us.

"Lord, remember for David all his humiliations" (Psalm 132:1). That last word is more accurate than the one used in our translation. "Afflictions" is the word in the text, but that does not convey the true meaning unless you add other words and say, "The afflictions with which he afflicted himself. He is saying, "How I humiliated myself! I would not allow my eyes to have sleep, I would not allow my bed to entice me, I would not enjoy my own house; I humiliated myself, deprived myself, in order to find a place for the Lord". And the Lord does require that humiliation. He brings about this breaking down of man in order that the house should be rightly based. That explains His dealings with us. He will not let us be anything.

If we are really to be the dwelling place of God, then we are to be nothing in ourselves. Do not look for reputation, do not try to make an impression, do not stand on your own dignity, do not do any of those things in any way whatever which will give you prominence with the people and make them think something of you. It will not pass with the Lord.

So let us get rid of it, every bit of it, and recognize what we are in God's sight. He is going to bring that about; so if we try to make people think we are other than we are in order to get an advantage, we are contradicting the principle of the house of God. All self-importance must go, and all desire for recognition. All that sort of thing has to be wiped out. The house of God is not founded on that. God will not have it. Man is abased, and all the other is the devil's work. It comes from him in whose heart pride was found.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 5 -"The Meeting of Mercy and Judgment")

The Throne of Grace

Hebrews 4:14-16

Almighty God is righteous and just. Romans 3:23 tells us that all people have sinned and are inadequate to be in His presence. As a result of His wrath against sin, we were doomed to eternal separation from Him.

But thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. In His love and mercy, God sent His Son to walk among us. Jesus experienced the hardship and temptation common to all people, yet He never sinned. The Savior chose to die a gruesome death in our place, paying the penalty for our wrongs.

There is no deeper love, Scripture tells us, than a man who gives up his life for a friend (John 15:13). Jesus went even farther—dying for us while we were still His enemies (Rom. 5:10). In fact, He would have sacrificed Himself even if you were the only person ever to exist.

Promising forgiveness and eternal life, Christ asks sinful man to believe and follow Him. When we trust in Jesus, we are adopted as God’s children and receive His indwelling Spirit, who blesses abundantly with joy, peace, and guidance. Always welcome before the Throne of Grace, believers have access to converse with the Father at any time. He promises to hear and respond to our seeking, repentant hearts. And Jesus intercedes for us, praying on our behalf.

We don’t deserve the Lord’s invitation to have an intimate relationship with Him. Yet in His grace, He is loving and compassionate toward us. What a privilege to be able to approach the King’s throne, knowing He listens, understands, and cares. Rest in God’s love, and enjoy sweet fellowship with Him.

~Charles Stanley~

Some Principles of the House of God # 3

Fellowship with God in His Sacrificial Love

Alongside of that there is that factor of perfect fellowship with God in His sacrificial love. We have often made that point when speaking of Abraham's great step into the heart of the One Who withheld not His Son, His well-beloved, but freely gave Him up for us all. It was indeed a movement right into fellowship with the sacrificial nature, the giving unto cost, of the love of God. That is the only way in which the house of God is established. There has to be a giving unto cost because of love. It is quite evident that Abraham loved God more than he loved Isaac, dear and important thought Isaac was. Abraham saw that to obey was of greater importance than even to keep this tremendous treasure; and that is love. That is what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord - that element of fear in love.

I am sure you know what that means. If there is someone of great account to you, and whose love you esteem very highly, you are always very sensitive about causing that one disappointment. That is the nature of the fear of the Lord. Abraham feared God. The house of God is built upon that kind of fear. It is of very practical and everyday meaning - the love of God in our hearts leading to costliness in our sacrifice, our giving.

The Glory of Man Abased

Then passing from Abraham to David; this threshing floor of Ornan, the site of the temple, represented and stood for the undercutting of satan's man-glorifying work and the deep abasement of man himself. You remember that satan incited David to number Israel - a thing which even a carnal man like Joab could see through, for he said, "The Lord make His people a hundred times as many as they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why doth my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of guilt unto Israel? (1 Chron. 21:3). "The Lord has done very much, and will do more, but do not begin to count heads, to take account of how big your resource are and to glory in the greatness of your kingdom."

Joab was a carnal man, but it seems that some carnal men sometimes see more than Christians do as to principles. But David set aside Divine wisdom and good human wisdom, and insisted on the numbering of Israel. You know the result. All came from satan's prompting of David to do something which would glorify man and make much of his resources and achievements. The Lord came out and smote it, and that satanic work of glorifying man was undercut and man was deeply abased. David was a sorry picture when he came to the threshing floor of Ornan. Oh, that man is now humbled to the dust!

This has to be done before there can be any building of God's house. satan's work to make much of man has to be completely undercut. The glory of man, and man's desire for any kind of glory for himself, have to be abased. This is a house for the name of the Lord and for no other name in heaven, in earth, or in hell. "My glory", says the Lord, "will I not give to another" (Isaiah 42:8)

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 4)

Awake Out of Sleep

And [do] this, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation [is] nearer than when we [first] believed. - Romans 13:11

We are living in perilous times as Christians. Our freedoms are being threatened in more ways than any of us can fully grasp. The enemy is roaming about, seeking whom he may devour, and we are definitely his targets. But, his schemes are not always so blatant and clearly discerned. The greatest threat to us from the enemy is allowing ourselves to become complacent and operating on auto-pilot. We lose our passions to witness, our urgency for the lost to be saved, and even our first love, as Jesus talks about in Revelation chapter 3. But, it is not too late to wake up.

Today, our salvation is nearer than we first believed. Today is a day closer to the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Today could be the last day for us here on earth. Do we live with such a sense of urgency? Or, do we act as they did in the days of Noah? Noah preached for over 100 years as he built the ark. He warned the people of the day that was coming, a day of total destruction. But, the people did not listen and they carried on with their lives, even up until the rain started to fall and the door of the ark was shut. At what point did they wake up? It was too late. Let us not wait until it is too late. Let us look to the Lord today and ask Him to stir us like never before and to give us a sense of urgency and passion.

Let’s pray this prayer together: Heavenly Father, I confess that I have allowed complacency into my life as a Christian. I have allowed life’s comforts a place of priority, even over helping others. I know that I need to be awakened and stirred to see things through Your eyes and to have Your heart in these last days. Please fill me with Your Spirit this day and jolt my heart with a new awareness of the reality of these days I am living in. Please, Lord, make the rest of my days here on earth count for the kingdom of God. In Jesus name, Amen.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

Some Principles of The House of God # 2

The Laying Down of Life

A related principle is the continuous laying down of its own soul by the Church, letting go of its own life in obedience and in faith, when all is dark, when all seems hopeless beyond. Some course of obedience is required, calling for us to do that which seems to be without prospect or hope, and which involves, therefore, the laying down of our lives, of our souls. It is the way of building. It has ever been like that.

When young men and women have given up all the prospects of this world and laid their treasures in the dust and gone forth at the command of the Lord, they have laid everything in ashes so far as this world's hopes and prospects are concerned. The Church has been built in that way. Even when it is not like that in great acts of life's vocation, it is a daily thing, a letting go of our own interests in obedience to the Lord, in faith in the Lord. It is thus the building goes on. I could work that down to very fine points and show how often the house of God is delayed and arrested in its progress by the withholding of something on which the Lord has laid His finger and said, "I want that".

However, there is the general principle, the triumph of faith through obedience when all is in the dust. Abraham believed God, and that great triumph provided God with the site for His temple, the great example and type of that spiritual house which is central to the fulfillment of all His purposes. God dwells in that sort of thing. But that central thing has to go through the depths. That which is the very heart of God's presence, to which He commits Himself, has to know stripping more than others. This involves a deep work where faith is brought to perfection through very deep testing.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 3 - "Fellowship with God In His Sacrificial Love")

Little By Little

Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land. - Exodus 23:30

In Chapter 23, God grants the Israelites various promises, including utterly overthrowing and completely cutting off their enemies. The Lord further states that He will bless their bread and water and take their sicknesses away. With the Lord on their side, the Israelites cannot lose.  But in verse 30, the Lord says that He will fulfill His promises by driving out their enemies little by little. Why? Why doesn't God just wipe their enemies out like He did the Egyptians as they entered the Red Sea? What benefit is there to do it little by little?

Exodus 23:29 says "I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beast of the field become too numerous for you." In other words, a place of instant abundance and blessings would be harmful for the Israelites. Blessings are not true blessings unless they come when we are able to handle them. Think of areas in your life that you would love to see the Lord work in you today. Maybe you need deliverance from sin that seems to have trapped you or maybe it is your finances. The list can go on and on. God wants to deliver you and bless you, but He will only give you what you can handle. God knows what is best for us. Even the blessings can become curses if we do not have the wisdom, maturity and honesty to handle them.

The Lord's timing is never too late nor too slow. He is patient and kind, assessing the whole situation, so that when He fulfills His promises in you, you will be able to receive them in peace. We want the quick fix or the instant gratification. We want the immediate and the miraculous. However, God's ways are not our ways and He desires to give us a future life in His promises. Little by little, complete victory will be yours by having faith and patience day by day.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~