TFTD - April 2015

[Resource Manager]

01 April 2015

 

"A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work." Proverbs 11:11 

 

"His standards have been embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was able to say: "I am the Truth". If we want to measure ourselves, let it be in his scales. For here we see single-minded devotion to God’s will, courage, honesty, a man without sham and without duplicity, "a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure" (Deuteronomy 25:15). 

 

- L.W. Richardson

Divine Weights and Measures (1971)

[Resource Manager]

02 April 2015

 

"The word faith is sometimes defined as taking God at His word. It is all that: it is taking Him at His word even when as in Abraham’s case the promise of a seed appeared humanly impossible. Disregarding his own years and Sarah’s age, Abram believed God that he should have a son. Faith is accepting the divine work when it touches what is impossible for man. Salvation is exactly such: and faith in this connexion must be given its full significance of accepting fully in trust what God has done in Christ Jesus. Salvation is of God: only He could raise up the redeemer of the seed of Abraham; and when the redeemer had died in obedience to God, only God could raise him up from death. "He was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). We must "believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

 

- John Carter

Delight in God’s Law

[Resource Manager]

03 April 2015 
 
"The time is fast approaching when God will visit the vine of Israel and be gracious to them; they will not go back from Him. He will cause His face to shine upon them, and they will be saved (Psalm 8:18,19). Thus the final time to favour Zion will come, and Jerusalem, having received from the Lord double for all her sins, will be elevated to that pre-eminent position in the world which is foreshadowed in her numerous God-given names."

- Spencer Hale
The Set Time to Favour Zion (1988)

[Resource Manager]

04 April 2015

 

"Things that are true, pure, noble, just, lovely, of good report, virtuous and praiseworthy are found in abundance in the Word and in all our service to the Lord. If we fill our minds with these things then the order of our lives will reflect the glory of Him who has called us, the God of peace."

 

- Michael Lewis

Let your requests be made known unto God (1993)

[Resource Manager]

05 April 2015

 

"Golgotha was not the last scene in the life of Jesus. There followed that glad awakening on the third day: then forty days later the Ascension to the right hand of the Father: and from that exalted throne has come his stirring message to you, to me, and to all who will hear:

 

"I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18)."

 

- F.W. Turner

Meditations (1941)

[Resource Manager]

06 April 2015

 

"What profound significance lies in the fact that the final petition of the New Testament, indeed of the whole of Scripture, is "Even so, come, Lord Jesus". There is no doubt that the Apostle John, having written of the judgement and tribulation he had seen in vision, penned those words with heartfelt longing, and that the Amen which preceded them was an expression of confidence in him who had made the promise, "Behold, I come quickly", and in whom all the promises of God are Yea and Amen."

 

- Alfred Nicholls

Until He Come (1976)

[Resource Manager]

07 April 2015

 

"There are a great many things in this life which are beyond our comprehension. But they are all the work of God and He knows what He is doing. We have simply to trust Him: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28)."

 

- Maurice Beale

Cast thy Bread upon the Waters (1993)

[Resource Manager]

08 April 2015

 

"... Paul might well say, "Great is the mystery of godliness". That "mystery" is still at work amongst men. The mystery of godliness still achieves what men may well term miracles in changing the minds and dispositions of men and women. This statement is based on knowledge, not hearsay. It has been written of Jesus: "The simple record of his three short years of active life has done more to regenerate and soften mankind than all the disquisitions of philosophers, and than all the exhortations of moralists". If it be asked why that is the case, the answer is supplied in the record of those three years, expanded by the words of the Apostles’ creed: "I believe . . . in Jesus Christ . . . who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He rose again the third day—and he ever liveth to make intercession for us."

 

- W.H. Boulton

 Mystery and Mysteries in the New Testament (1957)

[Resource Manager]

09 April 2015

 

"The man who would set forth the word of life must be its servant. The Book must be his guide and teacher. It is not simply a phrasebook which helps to express our own thoughts in a religous way. The Bible is the revelation of the mind of God. The preacher must learn to worship in the temple of the word of God. Without the book there is no message, no Christ, no future."

 

- Harry Tennant

The Bible is Master (1963)

[Resource Manager]

10 April 2015

 

"The true motive for getting things into the right perspective is not fear or dread of blind compulsion. It is the master principle of love. People give the Truth top priority because they love it. Any other motive will fail and eventually the disciple becomes disgruntled and half-hearted ... Loyal for love’s sake: this is the true perspective."

 

- Dennis Gillett

The Genius of Discipleship

[Resource Manager]

11 April 2015 

 

"In Matthew 3, John said that the words, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight” (taken from Isaiah 40:3), had been fulfilled in his work of preaching. Those words need to be fulfilled in our work too. What was “the Voice’s” cry? It was that all flesh is grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field, but the word of the Lord abides for ever. On this true assessment of flesh, John told the Pharisees and Sadducees: “Now also the axe is laid to the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.” We must never shrink from our responsibility, of telling men what the flesh is heir to. We are indeed “voices crying in the wilderness”, in the preaching of this vital Bible doctrine."

 

- Graham Smith

Forerunners of Jesus (1969)

[Resource Manager]

12 April 2015

 

"In the pure and perfect manhood of our Saviour, “grace” is favour, lovingkindness; “truth” is not simply veracity, but holiness in general. Christ was full of grace and truth, not that he might keep them to himself, but that he might bestow them upon others."

 

- Claud Lamb

Unsearchable Riches (1991)

[Resource Manager]

13 April 2015

 

"True worship implies a vivid sense of the Father’s reality—we do not worship an abstraction, but a glorious Personality, “who dwelling in light that no man can approach unto,” and we are told that the Lord Jesus is “the express image of His person.” Christ said, in addressing the Father in that beautiful prayer in John 17, “This is life eternal, that they might know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” [John 17:3] How are we to know Him? Only by finding Him where He has revealed Himself, in His Holy Word, and He graciously says, “you shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.” [Jeremiah 29:13]

 

- E. Firth

True Worship (1939)

[Resource Manager]

14 April 2015            

 

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing?" he asked his disciples. "Yet", he added, "one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father." "But", he went on, "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." The hyperbole of this statement was no mere rhetorical extravagance, but a device essential to Jesus if he was to bring effectively home to the apostles the astounding absoluteness of God’s love for the repentant sinner. In the strength of that love the Christian can see beyond death. Nay, more: he can rid himself of the very dread of it. "Fear you not therefore", added Jesus, consolingly, "you are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven."

 

- W.F. Barling

Being a Christian (1955)

[Resource Manager]

15 April 2015

 

"A word in season, a helping hand, a show of affection, perhaps a bit of advice, a sharing of spiritual food. Whether we wish to or not, we influence our fellow pilgrims for good or for ill. Let it always be for eternal good. We are a family in Christ, so let us think of ways in which we can serve one another, in the Lord. "Let your light shine", said Jesus, and this can apply to the ways in which we help one another as well as trying to enlighten the stranger about the glorious gospel."

 

- John V. Collyer

Show Me Thy Faith By Thy Works (1991)

[Resource Manager]

16 April 2015 

 

"We need to remind ourselves more often than we do, that in the coming day all the skills, the talents, the achievements, and the successes of this life; however clever we are, or however rich we may have become, however brilliant our intellect, however worldly wise we may be; all will have gone, and the only thing that will remain will be that new man which has been developed in us by sitting at the feet of Jesus, and listening to him, when he says, "I say unto you."

 

- Philip Hinde

Jesus in the First Gospel (1980)

[Resource Manager]

17 April 2015 

 

"Men down the ages have been noted for their special excellence: Abraham for faith, Moses for meekness, Joshua for courage, David for devotion, Job for patience, Daniel for fearlessness, Peter for fervour, Paul for zeal: we can learn much from their lives and example, but there is only one life that is worth imitating in every detail—Jesus our redeemer."

 

- Anthony Higginson

Transformed by Beholding (1977)

[Resource Manager]

18 April 2015

 

"If God is the Saviour there cannot be failure: He has given His only begotten Son and with the greatest gift will also freely give all other things necessary. We are assured of God’s faithfulness in the redeeming love revealed in the sacrifice of a beloved son. When doubt assails or trials seem near to overwhelming us, we can remember the "wondrous act" of God. The abstract quality of faithfulness may seem too remote to assure our hearts, but the revelation of that faithfulness in one of ourselves, in one who partook of our nature, can give us faith and courage. We may feel the attainment of the Kingdom beyond our power, but the remembrance that God’s faithfulness was shown in Christ assures us of victory. "I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you in Christ Jesus", wrote Paul to the Corinthians, and God, who had confirmed in them the testimony of Christ, "shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." (1 Corinthians 1:3-9)."

 

- John Carter

The Faithful God (1950)  

[Resource Manager]

19 April 2015

 

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." (Matthew 5:9) Jesus himself was primarily the peacemaker. He made peace, which we share; his is our peace, and those who go forth in his name go to proclaim the Gospel of peace. And those who do this, who see the need for bringing the message of peace—the gospel of the grace of God—to those who are in need, have the high privilege of being described as sons of God."

 

- P.B. Hinde

Jesus in the First Gospel

[Resource Manager]

20 April 2015

 

"Who am I that I should have been brought into the company of those who hope to share in the great redemption made possible by the decision of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane? The question may well lead us to reflect, and reflect again, on the love of God in giving His only begotten Son, and on that of Jesus in laying down his life for his sheep."

 

- W.H. Boulton

Reflections (1956)

[Resource Manager]

21 April 2015

 

"The Lord Jesus reflected the balance and priorities of God. Warm hearted, sensitive, compassionate—the Father and the Son are all these and more. But they see with longer vision than is sometimes true of ourselves; they are working for a greater good. Their first concern is our spiritual welfare, for they seek to have us join with them for ever in the bonds of eternal fellowship."

 

- Don Styles

Christ's First Concern—Our Spiritual Welfare (1983)

[Resource Manager]

22 April 2015

 

"For us the Bible is our listening book. The Lord speaks to us from His word every day: do any words fall to the ground unnoticed? In response we speak to the Lord. Our prayers must be related to what the Lord is saying as we converse and open our hearts to Him. It should be easy to ‘keep in touch’! God is always there, day and night, and never on a journey."

 

- Philip Vyse

Practical Living (1990) 

[Resource Manager]

23 April 2015

 

"In the everyday things of life we live at a very low level among the clouds; when we meet in the house of God we can rejoice in the sunshine and pure air of the mountain top. The love of God’s house is a sure mark of God’s people, for true worship should be a well of delight, gladdening all our life. A single day spent in worship and service should outweigh in true joy all the time spent in mere worldly business or pleasure."

 

- Anthony Higginson

Keep Thy Foot ... (1981)

[Resource Manager]

24 April 2015

 

"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision: but faith which worketh by love." Abraham’s circumcision followed his acceptance; Paul’s preceded it: but in neither case did circumcision contribute anything to faith. A cutting off of flesh did not motivate life, and men "in Christ" knew it: by experience they knew the power of faith to promote love and to express itself in love, both to God and man. Here we might observe a corrective to a modern wrong emphasis. Faith today is discounted and love is extolled. The divine way makes faith the basis—a faith which is not passive but which expresses itself in love. Love is the instrument and at the same time the end of faith: "The end of the commandment is love out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned" (1 Timothy 1:5)."

 

-  John Carter

Epistle to the Galatians

[Resource Manager]

25 April 2015

 

"Measured by the meekness of Christ, humility is not the assumption of a shrinking attitude, pretending that things are not what they are. It is not a prudent calculation to be lowly. It is a love-mastered inclination to serve in small things or great, without thought to renown. Humility is unconscious meekness, too committed to worry about reputation. Of the man who humbled himself it is written: "He took the form of the servant." (Philippians 2:6-8) Love vaunteth not itself. Meekness is love’s quality. Let this mind be in you."

 

- Dennis Gillett

The Genius of Discipleship