GUEST DEVOTIONS

SHERRY COOK

NEEDLESS SUFFERING

I just saw a post on Facebook from someone who said they don't ask God to make things easier, they just ask Him for the strength to get through the things that come.
GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN!!! You wonder why some Christians have things so much easier than others do! The battle is ALL in the mind. The way we think has such a huge effect on how our lives go.

James 4:2 & 6-10 (AMP)

2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask.
6 But He gives us more and more grace (power of the Holy Spirit, to meet this evil tendency and all others fully). That is why He says, God sets Himself against the proud and haughty, but gives grace [continually] to the lowly (those who are humble enough to receive it).
7 So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.
8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. [Recognize that you are] sinners, get your soiled hands clean; [realize that you have been disloyal] wavering individuals with divided interests, and purify your hearts [of your spiritual adultery].
9 [As you draw near to God] be deeply penitent and grieve, even weep [over your disloyalty]. Let your laughter be turned to grief and your mirth to dejection and heartfelt shame [for your sins].
10 Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].

Pride comes in many ways in the Body of Christ. It's a kind of pride to say, “I'm not going to ask God to make things easier, I'm just going to ask for strength to go through.” This is putting the accomplishment on oneself instead of on God. It's saying we are STRONG and can take what's thrown at us. On the other hand, to go to God and ASK Him to make things easier and to lift our burden instead of just helping us to man up and carry it, is humbling ourselves and lifting up God. I know people who God would have healed even of cancer if they had been willing to humble themselves enough to go to the ministers in their church publicly for prayer, but they would not. I know that because God told me that.
Galatians 6:1-3(NKJV)

6 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
How can we get help in carrying our burdens if we won't tell anyone we HAVE the burdens? We actually rob others of a spiritual work they could be doing if we refuse to give them the opportunity to pray for us and hold us up before God. Christ bore ALL of our burdens and love IS bearing the burdens of others.

Psalm 81:5-7 (NKJV)

5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah.Selah

God is a DELIVERER of burdens. He wants to DELIVER you, not just encourage you to keep carrying on. Now I'm not saying we never have to go through a thing. I'm just saying that we go through a LOT of things we don't have to go through. We HAVE not because we ASK not. I'm astonished, frankly, at the numbers of Christians that when they get in a group of believers will begin to talk all about their problems and discuss them from stem to stern, leaving out no detail, instead of just asking the rest of the group to lay hands on them and pray for them about their issue! It's like the very idea of praying about a problem doesn't even occur to them and I just don't GET that. On day one, the very first day I got saved, I had a some little things come up during that day and the two days following that one. Each time, I'd think about the problem for a minute or two, then I'd say, God, this is something I can ask YOU for, isn't it? One of those things was, I needed to clean up my house and just wasn't FEELING it if you know what I mean! I said, “Lord, would You please give me the energy and WANT to to clean up my house?” A couple of hours later, as I was finishing up and my house was sparkling clean, I stopped in awe and said, “God, YOU did this, didn't You?” I got an awesome witness from the Lord. It was just one of MANY things I asked for in those two or three days, but God answered every one of the things I asked for and I learned on day one, two and three, that I could ask God for ANYTHING I wanted or needed. Then teachers in my church kind of reinforced that by teaching that instead of talking about our problems we ought to pray about them. I GOT it early on, and my life has been a good and blessed one thanks in large part to that early revelation to my spirit that I could go to God for ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING at ANY TIME and get an answer.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NKJV)

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That about says it all, doesn't it? God WANTS to hear from you. Come BOLDLY to the throne of grace that God, our Father who loves us, sits upon and find the mercy and grace you need, not just to empower you to come through your storm, but many many times, to remove the storm and stop the winds and waves in your life. All God wants is to HEAR from you.

DAVID WILKERSON

A PLACE OF REPENTANCE
by David Wilkerson
Jesus declares, “My church is a place of shameless, open repentance.” Indeed, the apostle Paul attests: “The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 10:8-11).
Simply put, we are brought to salvation through our open confession of repentance. Jesus states, “I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). And, He says, repentance is how we are healed and restored: “They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32).
Beloved, this is good news! Jesus is telling us, “In My Church, everyone is healed through repentance. It doesn’t matter who you are—the physically broken, the mentally ill, the spiritually sick. Everyone must come to Me the same way. And all find healing through repentance.”
So, what is the central message of Christ’s gospel? He makes it plain throughout Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. In these four gospels, He tells us, “Here is what I preach in My church. This is My message to all sinners.”
First of all, “Jesus came . . . . preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15). What was Jesus’ first message? He preached repentance.
To some Christians, this may sound like strong language. They may respond, “Okay, but how strongly did Jesus preach repentance?” Luke answers that Jesus told His listeners, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5).
You may think Christ’s gospel of repentance sounds like a downer. But Paul says otherwise. A repentant heart brings true life: “Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of” (2 Corinthians 7:10).

WILLIE WHITE

Nehemiah 1:9

But if ye turn unto Me, and keep my commandments, and do to them; though there were of you cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

Today's discussion is taken from this month's devotional which talks about humanity preparing for God's harvest.
What is God's harvest? It is God gathering all humanity before Him for the great separation. All in Christ will be gathered in God's garner-heaven and the unsaved will be cast in the lake of fire for eternal separation from our creator and sustainer.
How do we prepare for God's harvest? First, we accept God's Son Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, and then commit ourselves to walking in the light of Christ. He is the truth and the light. Jesus stated that no man come to the Father unless they come through Him, because He died for the sins of this world, which makes Him the doorway into heaven.
Second, we walk in the ways of God while obeying His commandments as we live in union with our Savior Jesus Christ. We as believers are instruments of righteousness and as a child of God we wear His righteous garment of salvation. Wearing God's garment of salvation we walk in harmony with God. This is accomplished by making our house one of prayer, making intercessory prayers for self and others and making them effective by being honest in our prayers while praying from the heart.
Third, we humble ourselves before a holy God by communicating with Him through daily prayer, Bible reading and meditating on the Word while allowing God's Word direct our footsteps. Having a spirit of humility we have a right view of God, self and others.
Fourth, we witness Christ the world over as we obey the Great Commission given by Christ Himself as He is with us through His Spirit the Holy Spirit. With the abiding Holy Spirit we witness Christ with boldness and power.
Fifth, believers are to remain faithful and unwavering in our faith because during the harvest all will have to give an account of his or her stewardship.
The harvest is coming. God is going to separaTE
the wheat from the tare; therefore, prepare. Wheat or tare?

CHARLES SPURGEON

True Repentance!

From Spurgeon's sermon, "APART"

True repentance is always accompanied by sorrow.

Repentance is a deep, radical, fundamental, lasting change;
and you will find that, whenever you meet with it in Scripture,
it is always accompanied with sorrow for past sin.

And rest assured of this fact-- that the repentance which has
no tear in its eye, and no mourning for sin in its heart,
is a repentance which needs to be repented of.

In such false repentance, there is no evidence of conversion,
and no sign of the existence of the grace of God.

The man who knows that his sin is forgiven,
does not cease to mourn for it.
No, brethren, his mourning becomes deeper as
his knowledge of his guilt becomes greater.
His hatred of sin grows in proportion as he understands
that love of Christ by which his sin is put away.

In true believers, mourning for sin is chastened and sweetened,
and, in one sense, the fang of bitterness is taken out.

But, in another sense, the more we realize
our indebtedness to God's grace, and the more we see of
the sufferings of Christ in order to effect our redemption,
the more do we hate sin, and the more do we lament
that we ever fell into it.

The man who has led the purest life, when he is brought
before God by the humbling influence of the Holy Spirit,
is the man who almost invariably considers himself
to have been viler than anybody else.

"Repentance is to leave
The sin we loved before,
And show that we in earnest grieve
By doing so no more."