Yearly archives: 2020

The Snares of Death

July 1, 2020 jakin7

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield

and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;

 

the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.    Psalm 18: 1-7

“What then can a thundering legion of such praying souls do? It was said of Luther, iste vir potuit cum Deo quicquid voluit, That man could have of God what he would; his enemies felt the weight of his prayers; and the church of God reaped the benefits thereof.

The Queen of Scots professed she was more afraid of the prayers of Mr. Knox, than of an army of ten thousand men. These were mighty wrestlers with God, however {contemned} and vilified among their enemies.

There will a time come when God will hear the prayers of people who are continually crying in his ears, “How long, Lord, how long?”

John Flavel (1627-1691)

The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)

by Charles H Spurgeon page 254

Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.    Psalm 18: 8-10

When God comes to punish his foes and rescue his people, nothing has ever surprised his friends or foes more than the admirable swiftness with which he moves and acts: He flies “upon the wings of the wind.”
William S. Plumer (1802-1880)

  The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)

by Charles H Spurgeon page 256.

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.    Psalm 18:11-13

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies,
great bolts of lightning and routed them.    Psalm 18:14

-“Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them,” etc. O that you who are now strangers to God would but consider these things! O that you would but think what the battle may be, where the combatants are so unequal! Stand still, O sun, in the valley of Ajalon, till the Lord have avenged him of his enemies! Muster yourselves, O ye stars, and fight in your courses against those miserable sinners that have waged war against their Maker; plant your mighty cannons, shoot down huge hailstones, arrows of fire, and hot thunderbolts! Oh, how do the wounded fall ! How many are the slain of the Lord, multitudes in the Valley of Decision, for the day of the Lord is terrible.

James Janeway (1636-1674)

The Treasury of David (Classic Reflections on the Wisdom of the Psalms)

by Charles H Spurgeon page 257

   The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.


He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.   Psalm 18:15-19

 

 

Modern Man

June 22, 2020 jakin7

 

Man has increased in scientific, medical, historical, educational, psychological, and technological knowledge to an astounding degree. But he has not changed his own basic nature and he has not improved society.

Man’s knowledge has greatly improved, but his morals have progressively degenerated. His confidence has increased, but his peace of mind has diminished. His accomplishments have increased, but his sense of purpose and meaning have all but disappeared.

Instead of improving the moral and spiritual quality of his life, man’s discoveries and accomplishments have simply provided ways for him to express and promote his depravity faster and more destructively.

Modern man has simply invented more ways to corrupt and destroy himself.

Man’s knowledge is increasing by quantum leaps, but his increased knowledge is mechanical knowledge, inanimate knowledge, lifeless knowledge, knowledge that has no bearing on the inner man (cf. 2Tim. 3:7). His knowledge does not retard his corruption but rather is used to intensify and defend it.

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary by John MacArthur

Matthew 1-7 Page 238

As God’s children and as the temples of His Holy Spirit, Christians represent God’s presence in the earth. We are the salt that prevents the entire earth from degenerating even faster than it is.

The MacArthur New Testament Commentary by John MacArthur

Matthew 1-7 Page 243

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

Matthew 5:13

 

Paths to the Spirits of the Dead

June 7, 2020 jakin7


Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways,

who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways.


It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words, who has left the partner of her youth and ignored the covenant she made before God.

For her house leads down to death and her paths to the spirits of the dead. None who go to her return or attain the paths of life.

Proverbs 2:12-19

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meaningless Life

June 6, 2020 jakin7


In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—

why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—

why die before your time?

          It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.

The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

Ecclesiastes 7:15-18

Woe To Those

June 5, 2020 jakin7

Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit,
and wickedness as with cart ropes,

to those who say, “Let God hurry,
let him hasten his work
so we may see it.

Let it approach,
let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come,
let it approach, let it come,
so we may know it.”

Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,

 

 

who put bitter for sweet

                                                           and sweet for bitter.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.

Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine
and champions at mixing drinks,

      who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
but deny justice to the innocent.

Isaiah 5:18-23

 

Except A Little Oil

May 31, 2020 jakin7

The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”

Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few.

Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.

When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

2 Kings 4:1-7

Tears In Your Bottle

May 28, 2020 jakin7

You keep track of all my sorrows.
    

You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    

 

You have recorded each one in your book.

Psalm 56:8 (NLT)

Before The Creation of the World

May 19, 2020 jakin7

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory,

 

 

the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

John 17:24

Before The World Began

May 3, 2020 jakin7

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you,

the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
John 17: 3-5

The Betrothed

April 13, 2020 jakin7

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:1,2

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

John 5:24

…Thus, then, is it evident that both sin and the law are utterly powerless to condemn a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

…No legal obedience – no personal merit or worthiness of the sinner whatever – is taken into the account of his discharge from condemnation.

…God will pardon sin, and justify the sinner, but it must be by a process supremely glorifying to himself.

…the case, strange and difficult though it is, is met, fully, adequately met, by the satisfaction of Jesus. The Son of God became the Son of Man. He presents himself to the Father in the character of the church’s substitute.

… It is the simple belief of this fact that brings instant peace to the bosom. A present discharge from condemnation must produce a present joy.

“Christ has made atonement, and with it God is satisfied; and if so, well may you be satisfied – delighting yourselves greatly in the abundance of peace, and going forth even now in the light and liberty of your present enlargement.”…

As all the nations of the world were federally and mystically in Adam when he fell: so the “holy nation,” the Church of God, was federally and mystically in the Second Adam, ” the Lord of heaven,”…

In Christ they were chosen – to Christ they were betrothed – with Christ they were united –

by Christ they are saved , – and, sitting with Christ on his throne, they shall reign with him for ever and ever.

From No Condemnation In Christ by Octavius Winslow (1808-1878) pp 6 -9 First Published 1853 First Banner of Truth Edition 1991