TFTD - June 2014

[Resource Manager]

01 June 2014

"When Jesus compared Solomon with the flowers on the hillside at Galilee, he was comparing the beauty of Solomon with the beauty of God. The Bible says that the created things declare the glory of God, and giving glory to God is an essential feature of true worship. There is a sense, therefore, in which the created things worship God by their beauty. And how do they worship? By being true to the law which God has implanted in them. They worship God in the uprising of their blossom, and fruit, and form. They are what God intended them to be, and being that, they give Him glory and He is worshipped in them."

- Dennis Gillett
Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness

[Resource Manager]

02 June 2014

"Fortification by the Word is much more than the useful exercise of learning a number of proof texts by heart. It involves the assimilation of divine principles from the Word. A mind that has received instruction from the Scriptures understands the ways of God, and learns to trust God implicitly."

- Peter Watkins
The Inspired Scriptures—Our Sure Foundation (1962)

[Resource Manager]

03 June 2014

"Since Christ is the image of the unseen those who would learn more of the invisible God whom he manifested must study the image. Those who know most of Christ must be the nearest to seeing the invisible God. “Shew us the Father and it sufficeth us,” said Philip, and Christ said “Have I been so long with you, Philip, and yet you do not understand that as far as it is possible for men to see the Father, he is visible in me?” We cannot look upon the face of Christ as Philip did, but we have to make the same first steps toward the sight of the invisible. We must know Christ, study the record of his life, take example by his words and actions, marking his way of dealing with his fellow men, his patience in the presence of injustice, his humility, his selflessness, his longsuffering, his calmness, his gentle reasonableness, the balance of his life, the absence of fanaticism and self-glorification. Studying him thus as a pattern as far as is fitting and possible for us, our little lives are brought into that atmosphere in which visibility of the unseen is clearest, and we may proceed to gather from the knowledge of Christ that we have attained some vision of the unseen quite unattainable apart from the Christ life. The vision will grow clearer the nearer we grow to the stature and fulness of Christ."

- C.A. Ladson
Exhortation (1929)

[Resource Manager]

04 June 2014

"We cannot, as some did 1,800 years ago, recline on the greensward, and listen to the mellifluous words that flowed from his mouth, who spake as never man spake; but, thank God, we can ponder that great portion of His words which have been rescued from the dead past, and written down. We have them here in our hands, and what shall we say of ourselves if we are not wise enough to appreciate the pearls that are contained therein. The exhortation to everybody is, "Get wisdom; do not be foolish; wisdom is the principal thing. Search for her as for hid treasure; embrace her, and she will bring thee to honour. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold of her. She is more precious than rubies, and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her; length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and honour." (Proverbs 3:13-18)"

- Robert Roberts
Past, Present, and Future

[Resource Manager]

05 June 2014

"Remember what Jesus said of the publican and the Pharisee. The Pharisee said in a very complacent tone that he had not done this and he had done the other, and brought reproach upon him in the words of Jesus our Lord. There is no room for boasting, there is no room for pride, among those who are called to be the servants of the Lord and the guests around his table. We are called to the highest possible virtue, the most exalted thing that God has given to mankind to cultivate, and that is the virtue of humility. So few are equal to these attainments: so few can rise to such heights, and yet it is the outstanding quality in presenting our supplications before the Most High."

- G. Folwell
Breaking of Bread and Prayers (1937)

[Resource Manager]

06 June 2014

“WHEREFORE seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:12).
 
"We may suffer doubts at times, wondering perhaps if our confidence has been misplaced. The lesson from the cloud of witnesses is to check this doubt before it becomes a landslide in our faith: if we have fallen, to rise again. We may never be called upon to make a long and tedious journey to a land that we know not; to offer up—or at least show our willingness to offer—an only son; to build a ship many miles inland. But we are called upon to take the lessons from the cloud of witnesses, and to cast on one side anything that may hinder our running of the race, and having done so, to run with faith and patience. This is the example set by the cloud, and set supremely by him who is the “author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.

- Norman Rodgers
Cloud of Witnesses (1964)

[Resource Manager]

07 June 2014

"MOSES looked down. He had forgotten his sheep and had been fingering nervously or gripping tightly the shepherd's rod in his hand. He cast it to the ground and ran from the serpent to which it was transformed, until at God's behest he took it by the tail and it lay still in his hand with its familiar feel. Yes, God can change the ordinary things, the things we use every day, to purposes beyond our imagination: if we trust Him. Have we learned the lesson? It is oft repeated. “How many loaves have ye?”

Even man himself can be changed. The leprous hand which Moses drew from his bosom depicted not only his own inner weakness and need of healing, but the power that lies around us and within if we trust the Lord. We may have but a rod, the everyday token of our normal life, but the Lord can work wonders with it. Nothing is ordinary when the Lord is around, neither the thorn bush in the wilderness, nor the shepherd's staff, nor the shepherd's hand."

- Harry Tennant
Moses My Servant

[Resource Manager]

08 June 2014

 

"Being justified we have peace with God.” “Peace” is a constant element in all Paul's salutations. When the gospel is truly and earnestly believed, although there is no audible expression on God's part of His favour, there is an attainment of peace. It is sin that separates from God. This was literally illustrated in the exile of Adam and Eve from Eden, and is not less actually so in the state of all their children. Justification—the forgiveness of sins—brings peace. Increasingly valuable then becomes the designation of God as the God of peace. This peace, stilling troubled thoughts, and making conscience quiet, is fully experienced in fellowship with God. “In everything,” says Paul to the Philippians, “by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus ... These things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.” (Philippians 4:6-9)

 

- John Carter 

Paul's Letter to the Romans

[Resource Manager]

09 June 2014

"Abiding in Christ, accepting the fruits of his victory, the vanities of the world will lose their appeal, not so much deliberately as inevitably. We shall delight in the things that he delights in, we shall find satisfaction in the things that give him pleasure; and although our failures will always keep us humble, the passing years will show that our victories are becoming more complete, and our failures fewer. The true and deep spirit of the Son who sanctified himself that his disciples might be brought near to God is the greatest possible incentive to personal dedication. It is the source of our holiest aspirations, the motive that inspires our purest victories, the light that illumines our darkest hours. It is the birthplace of a love which calls in utter sincerity, "Even so come, Lord Jesus".

- M. Purkis
Our Spiritual Heritage (1955)

[Resource Manager]

10 June 2014

"Throughout the ages the gospel message has been preached. For those who accept the call of salvation there is a sense of joy that can remain untainted from the effects of the world. Joy is a constant and active force in the disciple’s life. It is, however, but a pale foretaste of the jubilation there will be when Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom."

- Steven Thaw
Joy (1996)

[Resource Manager]

11 June 2014

"Everyone must have a positive aim in life, and ours must surely be to live for ever in the Kingdom. Jesus says in John 6: “He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” and again, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day”. With such a wonderful prospect in view, maybe just today ... our minds will wander a little less."

- Antony P. Turner
Suddenly–Alone with our Thoughts (1982)

[Resource Manager]

12 June 2014

"What is the truth? How can one find a way through this maze of speculation? As in everything else, there is only one sure way, and that is to let the Bible do the teaching and guiding, and to submit humbly to the discipline of this instruction."

- Harry Tennant
The Christadelphians - What they Believe and Preach

[Resource Manager]

13 June 2014

"God is a source of strength very accessible to each one of us, so that, whatever the circumstances in which we need help, be they the ordinary stresses and strains which most of us have to face, or the more acute problems of mind and body with which some are confronted, be they the problems of worldly contacts or those of being in isolation, whatever the need for God’s help, that help is readily available if we seek it as the Father’s obedient children. And this blessing is ours because we have been brought near to Him."

- Spencer L. Hale
A People Near to God (1977)

[Resource Manager]

14 June 2014

"Jesus’ challenge is directed straight to the individual’s heart. His challenge is personal. How anyone else reacts to his call is not the point. The message is directed towards us personally. We have to decide whether we are willing to accept his challenge. Supremely the Lord Jesus Christ challenges us both collectively and individually to examine ourselves and be transformed into “the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29)."

- Peter Forbes
The Millennium Challenge

[Resource Manager]

15 June 2014

"Without patience we cannot “rest in the Lord.” We must wait, there is no virtue in that. The emphasis is upon the quality of the waiting. Wait patiently. There is the divine example. The God of love is a God of patience (Romans 15:5). The apostle prays that the brethren and sisters may be like-minded. “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded,” and John speaks of the “patience of Jesus Christ” that we must show while waiting for his Kingdom (Revelation 1:9). Enduring tribulation in patience, in hope of the Kingdom. This was Christ’s own attitude, and it was this he commended in nearly all of the seven churches."

- C.A. Ladson
Fret Not Thyself (1932)

[Resource Manager]

16 June 2014

"He was gentle. Compassion was his middle name. “Grace was poured into his lips”, and common people loved the man. He did not want to break the bruised reed, but rather to mend it, and use it. He would not crush out the smoking wick, but rather pour in the oil of his spirit to make it come alight again. His was not a contentious disposition, though he had sometimes to contend. He was a man of peaceable and gentle inclinations, who was happier in the quiet home at Bethany than when disputing in the Temple Courts. But he never shrank from duty because it was unpleasant; he never courted popularity; and "he loved the praise of God more than the praise of men". (See John 12:43)"

- L.W. Richardson
Sir, We Would See Jesus (1964)

[Resource Manager]

17 June 2014

"... the greatest gift of all came in the form of a sinless man, wherein we see the wonder of creation in its highest, purest, noblest, and most complete form. It is only in and through that highly exalted one that we can enjoy earth’s blessings and God’s great gifts to the full. We see, indeed, not yet all things put under him, but we do see Jesus, crowned with glory and honour; and in him, and only in him, can we look to see the blessings and great gifts of God in all their glory and completion."

- Cyril Cooper
This is the Gift of God (1961)

[Resource Manager]

18 June 2014

"A Saviour whose work is to deliver us from death not only had to die, but had to be raised from death also. A dead Saviour would be no saviour at all: death would still be conqueror. To say then that he died for our sins is not the whole of the truth. It would declare why he had to die, but it would leave unsaid that he was the conqueror of death in himself."

- John Carter
Delight in God’s Law

[Resource Manager]

19 June 2014

"Living the truth means that everything that we do is accepted as an opportunity of serving God and it is done as unto the Lord. What a thought that is! And here we have the yardstick to apply to all our ways, for what cannot be done unto the Lord ought not to be done at all. Thus it does not matter what our circumstances are, how menial the daily tasks appear; in the diligence with which we apply ourselves to them we show the measure of our devotion to God. It is in the tensions and frustrations of the day as much as in the great things of life that God tests and develops our characters."

- Dudley Fifield
Who Then Is Willing to Consecrate His Service? (1978)

[Resource Manager]

20 June 2014

"Not everything written is profitable; not everything is needful. The writings of God are ample and adequate to make us wise unto salvation. It was the wise man who said that there was no end to the making of books, and John quaintly ends up his gospel with these words about writing: “There are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that should be written” (John 21:25)"

- D.N. Wood
So I write ... (1954)

[Resource Manager]

21 June 2014

"Without the word of God firmly implanted within us we have no weapon, no defence. Without it the Christian ideal is something we cannot reach. Not only would we fall to the outward temptations and adversaries, but we are unable to meet and understand the intents and desires of our own hearts. Too truly does the writer to the Hebrews describe it: "The word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)"

- W. Bury
The Risen Christ (1959)

[Resource Manager]

22 June 2014

"The garment that our Lord Jesus so willingly and lovingly has provided for us, the garment that covers our sins, the white linen robe for his saints, is so easily soiled. But it can be kept clean and spotless, as He wants us to do, if we are honest to confess our faults to our heavenly Father day by day. He will forgive us for Jesus’ sake, and the stains on this robe will be erased. This can only be if we humbly seek forgiveness, and equally humbly forgive."

- John V. Collyer
The Bride’s Trousseau (1984)

[Resource Manager]

23 June 2014

"Life in the truth must be contemplative. This does not mean that we must become either philosophers or monks, but if we are to develop character we must do some thinking and studying. The outstanding characteristic of the godly man is that "his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night." (Psalm 1:2)"

- Elwyn Humphreys
Meditation and Study (1951)
  

[Resource Manager]

24 June 2014

"Surely there has been in human experience no reunion like that which will take place when all Christ’s servants are brought together and the Lord will show so movingly his appreciation of what his followers have done for him. Shall we be there? As this is the desire of our heart, let us ponder the meaning for us of Christ’s great resolve to worship God and to serve him alone. Let us think about him washing the disciples’ feet in the upper room and surrendering his life for others in the garden. This will put us in a fitting frame of mind to understand the amazing love which led God’s Suffering Servant to bear our sins in his own body on the tree."

- T.J. Barling
An All-Embracing Fellowship (1979)

[Resource Manager]

25 June 2014

"The Truth calls men and women to express its ideals in all walks of life and conditions of environment. The apostle therefore lays down the rule that believers should look upon their environment chiefly as a means of perfecting character, and not be so anxious about changing it as using it to His glory who called them (1 Corinthians 7:17-28). “Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.” The slave was the Lord’s “free-man”, and the master was the Lord’s slave; but what did it matter to either so long as they were heirs of everlasting life? The call of the gospel is a revolution not of circumstances but of outlook. “Nevertheless”, he says, “if thou mayest be made free, use it rather” (1 Corinthians 7:21). And again we have a word of wisdom for today."

- L.W. Richardson
The Time is Short (1954)