Yea, Trust in Him

God... calleth those things which be not as though they were (Romans 4:17).

What does that mean? Why Abraham did this thing: he dared to believe God. It seemed an impossibility at his age that Abraham should become the father of a child; it looked incredible; and yet God called him a "father of many nations" before there was a sign of a child; and so Abraham called himself "father" because God called him so. That is faith; it is to believe and assert what God says. "Faith steps on seeming void, and finds the rock beneath."

Only say you have what God says you have, and He will make good to you all you believe. Only it must be real faith, all there is in you must go over in that act of faith to God.
--Crumbs

Be willing to live by believing and neither think nor desire to live in any other way. Be willing to see every outward light extinguished, to see the eclipse of every star in the blue heavens, leaving nothing but darkness and perils around, if God will only leave in thy soul the inner radiance, the pure bright lamp which faith has kindled.
--Thomas C. Upham

The moment has come when you must get off the perch of distrust, out of the nest of seeming safety, and onto the wings of faith; just such a time as comes to the bird when it must begin to try the air. It may seem as though you must drop to the earth; so it may seem to the fledgling. It, too, may feel very like falling; but it does not fall -- it's pinions give it support, or, if they fail, the parent birds sweeps under and bears it upon its wings.

Even so will God bear you. Only trust Him; "thou shalt be holden up." "Well, but," you say, "am I to cast myself upon nothing?" That is what the bird seems to have to do; but we know the air is there, and the air is not so unsubstantial as it seems. And you know the promises of God are there, and they are not unsubstantial at all. "But it seems an unlikely thing to come about that my poor weak soul should be girded with such strength." Has God said it shall? "That my tempted, yielding nature shall be victor in the strife." Has God said it shall? "That my timorous, trembling heart shall find peace?" Has God said it shall?

For, if He has, you surely do not mean to give Him the lie! Hath he spoken, and shall He not do it? If you have gotten a word -- "a sure word" of promise -- take it implicitly, trust it absolutely. And this sure word you have; nay, you have more -- you have Him who speaks the word confidently.

"Yea, I say unto you," trust Him.

~L. B. Cowman~

War In Your Heart # 47

Two Thrones At War (continued)

The First Sinner - in Heaven (continued)

lucifer's exalted position implies that he possessed the capacity for government to an extraordinary degree and that he was given great power. From other portions of Scripture we can reasonably infer that myriads of angelic beings must have been directly subject to his command, for when he revolted against God they followed him in that revolt (Jude 6). Also he is seen in the great warefare passage in Ephesians 6:10-18 to be the head of a great hierarchy of evil, including principalities and powers. He evidently was a sovereign under the Sovereign, ruling over angelic hosts in heaven.

Did his power extend to earth? Had God enlarged the sphere of rule of this mighty chief of angels and entrusted to him sovereignty over the earth also? The very fact that the earth came under the judgment of God, becoming waste and void," necessitating a complete restoration, would seem to imply this.

From what we have studied regarding the person of lucifer we have seen that he was the prince of the celestial beings: in God's original creation he was the greatest in wisdom, in beauty, in glory. In position and in power he was no doubt next to the Son of God Himself. For God had given to lucifer all He could ever give short of an absolute equality with Himself. But this was something inherently impossible, for if any creature of God could ever become "equal" with God, he would thereby become God Himself.

Would lucifer be willing to remain what God meant him to be by creation? It would seem that such excellence of personality and such exaltation in position surely would be sufficient to satisfy the deepest desire and the loftiest ambition of this greatest of God's creatures. But did lucifer remain loyal to God, satisfied with this God-given power? It would seem not (Ezekiel 28:15; 28:16).

"Perfect"; "from-till"; "till iniquity was found in thee." lucifer has become a sinner, the first and the chief sinner in God's universe. God discovers and exposes him as such. But how could such a thing be? And what was the "iniquity found in him?

The First Sin in God's Universe

lucifer's sin was "pride." His heart was lifted up because of what he was in himself (Ezekiel 28:17).

"Thine heart was lifted up." lucifer became proud! (1 Timothy 3:6).

God defines pride as sin.

Proverbs 21:4: An high look, and proud heart ... is sin. "Because of thy beauty." lucifer lost sight of the fact that all his beauty was the workmanship of the Creator, the outright gift of God for which he could claim no merit; also that it had been given purely for the glory of God. He fell in love with himself and his pride of person is what God calls (1 John 2:16) "the pride of life." lucifer became full of self-esteem and self-glorying, puffed up with a sense of his own greatness.

"Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom of thy brightness." Pride of person was accompanied by pride of intellect. "Full of wisdom" he became full of pride in the wisdom, which thus became utterly corrupt and perverted. The brilliant brightness was turned into dense darkness and he became the greatest enemy of light in all God's universe (2 Corinthians 4:4). Through pride he "abode not in the truth" and became the greatest opponent of the truth in all God's universe. satan is the first and greatest apostate.

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 48)

Amid the Storms - God Is With You

He hath acquainted himself with my beaten path. When he hath searched me out, I shall come out shining (Job 23:10, ).

"Faith grows amid storms" -- just four words, but oh, how full of import to the soul who has been in the storms!

Faith is that God-given faculty which, when exercised, brings the unseen into plain view, and by which the impossible things are made possible. It deals with supernaturals. But it "grows amid storms"; that is, where there are disturbances in the spiritual atmosphere. Storms are caused by the conflicts of elements; and the storms of the spiritual world are conflicts with hostile elements. In such an atmosphere faith finds its most productive soil; in such an element it comes more quickly to full fruition.

The staunchest tree is not found in the shelter of the forest, but out in the open where the winds from every quarter beat upon it, and bend and twist it until it becomes a giant in stature this is the tree which the mechanic wants his tools made of, and the wagon-maker seeks.

So in the spiritual world, when you see a giant, remember the road you must travel to come up to his side is not along the sunny lane where wild flowers ever bloom; but a steep, rocky, narrow pathway where the blasts of hell will almost blow you off your feet; where the sharp rocks cut the flesh, where the projecting thorns scratch the brow, and the venomous beasts hiss on every side.

It is a pathway of sorrow and joy, of suffering and healing balm, of tears and smiles, of trials and victories, of conflicts and triumphs, of hardships and perils and buffetings, of persecutions and misunderstandings, of troubles and distress; through all of which we are made more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

"Amid storms." Right in the midst where it is fiercest. You may shrink back from the ordeal of a fierce storm of trial…but go in! God is there to meet you in the center of all your trials, and to whisper His secrets which will make you come forth with a shining face and an indomitable faith that all the demons of hell shall never afterwards cause to waver.

~L. B. Cowman~

War In Your Heart # 46

Two Thrones At War (continued)

Perfect in thy ways." This can only mean that lucifer was the model of obedience to God and dependence upon Him, for obedience to the will of God, as we have seen, is the absolutely primary principle of life in God's kingdom. And dependence upon God is the unquestioned corollary of obedience.

Thus we see that in God's workmanship lucifer was His masterpiece in the heavenly realm, excelling all other creatures in wisdom, in beauty, in gory and in loyalty to God. In pristine glory he was the sum of perfection. Yet two things must be observed. First, this excellence of wisdom, of beauty, of glory, was not of his own creating or attaining. He was not self-made: he was still only a creature. All he possessed was the outright gift of God, the gracious, beneficent bestowal of the Creator. As his wisdom, beauty and glory was from God, so it was for God. This gave no standing room even for self to act.

Secondly, lucifer's great possessions - wisdom, beauty, and glory were only those of a created being. While on the plane of the created they were unexcelled and unsurpassable, yet they were still separated by an unbridgedable gulf from the perfection of the wisdom, beauty and glory of the uncreated God. Thus it was an impossibility for any created being, however great or glorious, to ever be on an equality with God, the Creator. The wisdom, beauty and glory of the Creator is inherent, while that of the creature is imparted.

lucifer was of the very highest rank. Jude 9 undoubtedly places him in the rank of the archangels of the greatest dignity and majesty. Even Michael the archangel, when contending with him, dare not himself bring against him a railing accusation, but called upon the Lord to do so. God had honored him with the position of highest eminence at His disposal. No other of God's creatures had such a title as he.

Ezekiel 28:14, 16: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set there so ... O covering cherub.

"The Anointed cherub." This was his appointed service, the most sacred of all, that of protector of the very throne of God. "I have set thee so." Had God given lucifer the place nearest to Himself and to His Throne of holiness and glory, thus sharing with this created one the authority and power of the Creator, up to the highest possible limit? Could it be that God the Sovereign had said to lucifer the subject what Pharaoh ruler of Egypt and to Joseph: "Only in the throne will I be greater than thou" (Genesis 41:40)?

Ezekiel 28:14: Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

lucifer's abode was in heaven, the home of God; the place of His immediate, manifest Presence; the seat of God's government. In heaven the throne of God and God upon the throne held the place of absolute preeminence.

Revelation 4:2: Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

In such an abode lucifer dwelled. In such a  place he walked up and down with perfect liberty in the midst of the splendor of such holiness and glory.

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 47)

How Will Believers Be Judged?

Scripture reveals that Jesus Christ will judge every person who has ever lived (Acts 10:42). Those who refuse His offer of salvation face the white throne judgment—the unbelievers’ last stop before an eternity of exile from God’s presence. Believers will also stand before Jesus, at which time they’ll finally come to full comprehension of His extravagant grace.

In 1 Corinthians 4:5, Paul asserts that Jesus will disclose the motives hidden in believers’ hearts. Some people have gotten the misguided idea that all their sins will be displayed for everyone to see, but the Bible in no way supports that notion.

Jesus will reveal the true nature of a believer’s heart to him or her. Every rebellious act, wrong attitude, and cutting word will be reviewed. When the Bible says that Jesus will wipe the tears from our eyes, it is referring to this time (Isaiah 25:8). We’ll be standing in the holy Savior’s presence, grieving over how undeserving we are of His sacrifice. But the sorrow will last only a moment. On its heels comes the tremendous joy of having received forgiveness and lived a life pleasing to Him. Christ’s judgment is not a punishment; it is a reminder that we are pardoned. At last, we will fully realize the depth and breadth of His grace.

Believers need not cower or hang their heads during the judgment. Nor are we to repent—the time for that is past. We will stand before the Lord, clothed in Christ’s righteousness and forgiven of every single sin. And we will at last comprehend how great is the love of our God for us.

~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~

War In Your Heart # 45

Two Thrones At War (continued)

A. A Cataclysmic Change (continued)

Scripture reveals these implacable enemies waging a warfare which must result in the full and final defeat of the one and the complete and culminating victory of the Other. Every celestial being in heaven and every human being on earth will in the end of time have gone down in eternal defeat into hell with satan, or will have gone up in eternal victory into heaven with God.

Then to know the pathway of victory we must find in Scripture the cause of this "cosmic clash." Whence came the devil? Where, when and how was "an alien will" pitted against the will of God and a rebel government set up in opposition to the real government of God? What injected the first discordant note into God's primeval "Hallelujah Chorus"? (Job 38:7). What necessitated so awful a place as hell, the eternal life of fire? (Revelation 20:10-14).

The First Sinner - in Heaven

In God's original creation there was no devil and there was no hell. God created a celestial being of matchless beauty and glory, who by his own sin made himself the devil. God planned heaven to be the home of this celestial being, but by his sin, God was compelled to prepare a place called hell for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). 

Does the Word shed light on this imperative question, Who was the first sinner in God's universe and what was his sin? The God who is light does not let us walk in darkness here. Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15, when taken in connection with the entire teaching of Scripture, especially in respect to warfare between God and satan, give a very consistent and convincing answer to our question. While these two passages refer primarily to earthly rulers, they most certainly shadow forth that great enemy of God who is "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2) and "the prince of this world" (John 12:31), the real though invisible commander-in-chief of  "the principalities and powers, and world rulers of this darkness and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies" (Ephesians 6:12) against whom the people of God have wrestled on down through the centuries. Both passages tell of a created, celestial being who was in heaven but was cast out of heaven and down to hell by God because of sin. Who was he in God's original creation? He was "lucifer, the son of the morning" (Isaiah 14;12), the shining one, "the anointed cherub that covereth" (Ezekiel 28:14), an archangel of glorious person, of exalted position, of highest place and of surpassing power.

His Person

Ezekiel 28:12: Thus saith the Lord God; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

"Thou sealest up the sum." Here are words indicating that in the creation of lucifer God had done the superlative; that the perfection of his person measured according to God's own standard was unexcelled.

"Full of Wisdom." Lucifer's was a master-mind filled with the wisdom that only an archangel possessed. But wisdom about what? Does John 8:44 give us any clue? Christ says he "abode not in the truth." "The truth" throughout God's Word refers to the revealed purpose and will of God. It is related to the eternal purpose and will of God. It is related to the eternal purpose, which He purposed in His Son in whom all the counsels of His will centered, and through whom they were to be fulfilled. lucifer, greatest in intellect in all God's celestial creation, surely must have known "the truth." More than that, God is both Truth and Light. Lucifer had fellowship with God so he must have walked in the truth and in the light. This must have meant a knowledge of God's purpose and plan in His Son and of the intimate relationship between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son. Did he know that the Father had appointed the Son heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2) and given Him a throne before which all the angels of God would worship Him (Hebrews 1:6, 8)?

"Perfect in beauty." He was not only the wisest but also the noblest, the most beautiful of all God's creation. Here again he measured up to God's unalterable standard of perfection.

"Every precious stone was thy covering." What great splendor and matchless glory!  "Choice gems from the heart of God's earth - glittering gems of magnificent beauty graciously attached to this crown-prince of splendor - covered this creature, exquisite in charm, glorious in array."

~Ruth Paxson~

(continued with # 46)

Have You Dug A Pit for Others?

In order to get out of the pits, you need to make sure you haven't dug any pits for others.  Psalms 7:14-16 tells us,

Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood.  He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made.  His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.

Then there is Psalm 9:15-16,

The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; in the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.  The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

Finally, Psalm 57:6,

They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down; they have dug a pit before me; into the midst of it they themselves have fallen.

When people dig a pit for somebody else, they end up falling into it themselves.  In fact, Proverbs 26:27 says it most directly,

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.

Pretty plain, isn't it?  If you are asking God to get you out of a pit, you need to take time to consider if it is a pit of your own construction.  If you have done something to get someone else in trouble—even if you think you are justified in doing it because that person has hurt you—you need to repent.  Until there is repentance, God will not intervene.

God is not going to get you out of your pit while you have a shovel in your hand. 

~Bayless Conley~