Cheryl Inglett's Blog – June 2012 Archive (43)

C. H. Spurgeon's Morning and Evening: Daily Readins

:Morning

"Get thee up into the high mountain." --Isaiah 40:9 Our knowledge of Christ is somewhat like climbing one of our Welsh mountains. When you are at the base you see but little: the mountain itself appears to be but one-half as high as it really is. Confined in a little valley, you discover scarcely anything but the rippling brooks as they descend into the stream at the foot of the mountain. Climb the first rising knoll,…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Promises Based on the Will of God

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Promises to God Based on Promises from God

He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Another acceptable category of promises to God involves those based on His promises to us. God has already promised to be with us every step of our pilgrimage here on earth. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Consequently,…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Permissible Promises Made to God

I will love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. (Psalm 18:1-3)

The scriptures are quite clear. The work of God in our lives depends upon His promises to us, not our…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

The Inability of God to Lie

Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us . . . In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began. (Hebrews 6:17-18; Titus…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Man's Promises or God's Promises

Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the LORD commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." (Exodus 19:7-8)

The promises of the old covenant of law depend upon the performance of man. "You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them"…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Better Promises under Grace

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)

In every way, the new covenant of grace is a better covenant than the old covenant of law. "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant." Some of the better aspects of living under grace…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

More on Substance, not Shadows, under Grace

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come . . . Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Hebrews 10:1; Colossians 2:16-17)

Just as an approaching shadow points to the arrival of the person casting the shadow, so the law pointed to the coming of the…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Substance, not Shadows, under Grace

For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect . . . Therefore let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. (Hebrews 10:1;…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

A Greater Intimacy under Grace

Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All . . . Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

A Better Sacrifice under Grace

For such a High Priest was fitting for us . . . who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices . . . for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself . . . Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 7:26-27; 9:12)

Another better aspect of the new covenant of grace is…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

A Better High Priest under Grace

"You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" . . . by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant . . . Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:21-22,25)

One of the better aspects of the new covenant of grace is Jesus, our High Priest. The priests under the law…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

The Better Aspects of the New Covenant of Grace

He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

More Reflections on Obedience by God's Grace

Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? . . . Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God. (Galatians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 3:5)

Once again, let's reflect on previously studied passages that show how obedience to God is related to His grace. Galatians 3:3 fits in this…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Reflections on Obedience by God's Grace

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace . . . that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 6:14; 8:4)

Before we leave this vital subject of obedience, let's reflect upon how it is related to God's grace. Various key passages that we have examined previously…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

God Glorified by Working Obedience in Us

Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Let's make one more visit to these tremendous words in Hebrews 13:20-21. When the Lord works in us unto obedience ("what is well pleasing in His sight"), He Himself is the one who…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

God Working in Us What Pleases Him

Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Once again, our attention is focused upon Hebrews 13:20-21. In the two previous devotionals, we saw that the God of peace makes obedience…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

God Equipping Us to Do His Will

Now may the God of peace . . . make you complete in every good work to do His will. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Again, our devotional study is from Hebrews 13:20-21. In our previous meditation, we saw that the God of peace makes obedience available through the shed blood of the crucified, risen Christ. That shed blood forgives our sins, making friends out of formerly disobedient enemies. Furthermore, that shed…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

The God of Peace Making Obedience Available to Us

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

These powerful verses continue our inquiry concerning a life of obedience. They conclude with what results when God is allowed to do His work in our lives. We become…

Day By Day By Grace - Bob Hoekstra

God Working in Us Both to Will and to Do

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Again, our meditation is from Philippians 2:12-13. Yesterday, we saw that God must be allowed to work within our hearts, if we are to walk in obedience. "It is God who works in you . . . for His good pleasure." Today, we will consider the extent…