The Cost Of A Soul Romans 3:23 Romans 6:23 2 Corinthians 5:21 Isaiah 53:6-7 Isaiah 53:3-5 Isaiah 53:10-11 Matthew 27:27-31 Matthew 27:36-44 Matthew 28:1-10 Philippians 2:5-11 2 Corinthians 6:1-2 2 Corinthians 5:20 03.30.18

THE COST OF A SOUL

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²³ For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23 (NIV)

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23 (NIV)

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷ He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  Isaiah 53:6-7 (NIV)

³ He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV)

¹⁰ Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. ¹¹ After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Isaiah 53:10-11 (NIV)

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. ²⁸ They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,
²⁹ and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said.
³⁰ They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.
³¹ After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.  Matthew 27:27-31 (NIV)

³⁶ And sitting down, they kept watch over him there. ³⁷ Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. ³⁸ Two robbers were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.  Matthew 27:36-44 (NIV)

¹ After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ² There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. ⁷ Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”  ⁸ So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”  Matthew 28:1-10

⁵ Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷ but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)

¹ As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain. ² For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.  2 Corinthians 6:1-2 (NIV)

²⁰ We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV)

BUTTER

“I simply argue that the Cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles; but on a cross between two thieves; on the towns’ garbage heap; at a crossroad, so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Hebrew and Latin and Greek... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died about. So, that is where church-men ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about.”  Rev. Dr. George McLeod, Minister, Church of Scotland, 1895-1991

“Faith in Jesus crucified is the way of peace to the sinner; so faith in Jesus risen is the way of daily salvation to the saint.”  Hudson Taylor

“To have one foot on the land of truth, and another on the sea of falsehood, will involve a terrible fall and a total ruin.  Christ will be all or nothing.  God fills the whole universe, and hence there is no room for another god; if, then, He reigns in my heart, there will be no space for another reigning power.  Do I rest alone on Jesus crucified, and live alone for Him?  Is it my desire to do so?  Is my heart set upon so doing?  If so, blessed be the mighty grace which has led me to salvation; and if not so, O Lord, pardon my sad offence, and unite my heart to fear Thy Name.”  C. H. Spurgeon

“God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son at a place three days distant. The word ‘love’ appears for the first time in the Bible in that command. Of course He didn’t allow him to go through with it. On the third day Abraham retained his son alive.  Two thousand years later on the day Israel celebrated the sparing of sons Jesus of Nazareth was executed by slow torture.  Maybe God wanted Abraham to exhibit a pattern. Maybe He wanted to teach a principle. Or maybe God wanted Abraham to know what it felt like to be God. Instead of slaying his son Abraham sacrificed a ram. He was able to catch the animal because his horns were entangled in the thicket.  CAUGHT BY A CROWN OF THORNS. There were lots of startling coincidences like that.  It's almost as if the thing were planned…”  Ronnie Stevens

 
“I became a Christian once for all upon the basis of the finished work of Christ through faith; that is justification.  The Christian life, sanctification, operates on the same basis, but moment by moment.   There is the same base (Christ’s work) and the same instrument (faith); the only difference is that one is once for all and the other is moment by moment…If we try to live the Christian life in our own strength we will have sorrow, but if we live in this way, we will not only serve the Lord, but in place of sorrow, He will be our song.  That is the difference.   The ‘how’ of the Christian life is the power of the crucified and risen Lord, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by faith moment by moment.”    Francis Schaeffer

“The resurrection of Jesus was a hidden event. Jesus didn’t rise from the grave to baffle his opponents, to make a victory statement, or to prove to those who crucified him that he was right after all. Jesus rose as a sign to those who had loved him and followed him that God’s divine love is stronger than death. To the women and men who had committed themselves to him, he revealed that his mission had been fulfilled. To those who shared in his ministry, he gave the sacred task to call all people into the new life with him.  The world didn’t take notice. Only those whom he called by name, with whom he broke bread, and to whom he spoke words of peace were aware of what happened. Still, it was this hidden event that freed humanity from the shackles of death.”   Henri Nouwen

“The necessary ingredients for a work of salvation are a dead sinner, a loving Father, a crucified and risen Saviour, a life-giving Spirit, and last, but by no means least, the faithful communication of the Gospel. Without it how shall people hear, believe in the Lord and call on him (Romans 10:14)? Remember the God-ordained route to saving faith (Romans 10:17).”   Charles H. Spurgeon

“Why was Job born? He was born for the same reason Adam was created. He was born for the same reason the earth was created. He was born, in part, for the same reason Christ was born and suffered and was crucified. We all exist to glorify God. On the Day of Judgement, when the mangled, burned, corrupted, and crucified limbs of God’s faithful are resurrected and made new, and when voices that died crying in pain are restored singing in praise, even Satan himself will bow in submission to the Lord who deserves all praise.  This life is no simple matter of little lives living private dramas. We are, since Eden’s loss, united in celestial warfare with eternal consequences. We were born to stand; we are armed to fight.  The good news is just that, through faith in Christ, we were born to win.”    Frances Poston Bennett 

HEART SAVOR

·         I am a sinner in need of a Savior and thank God I have One.

·         My attitude is to be the same of Christ Jesus - selfless.

·         Believers are all called to be Christ’s ambassadors as though God were making His appeal through us.

The Cancer Of Complaint Exodus 15:22-24 Exodus 16:1-3 Numbers 14:1-3 Numbers 14:26-33 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 Philippians 2:14-15 James 5:7-9 Jeremiah 29:11-14 03.28.18

THE CANCER OF COMPLAINT

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²² Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) ²⁴ So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Exodus 15:22-24 (NIV)

¹ The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. ² In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
³ The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”  Exodus 16:1-3 (NIV)

¹ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ² All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! ³ Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?”   Numbers 14:1-3 (NIV)

²⁶ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²⁷ “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹ In this desert your bodies will fall--every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.  ³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. ³² But you--your bodies will fall in this desert. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.’”  Numbers 14:26-33 (NIV)

¹ For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. ² They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. ³ They all ate the same spiritual food ⁴ and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. ⁵ Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered over the desert. ⁶ Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.  ⁷ Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry.”  ⁸ We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did--and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died. ⁹ We should not test the Lord, as some of them did--and were killed by snakes. ¹⁰ And do not grumble, as some of them did--and were killed by the destroying angel.  ¹¹ These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.  1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (NIV)

¹⁴ Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.  Philippians 2:14-15 (NIV)

⁷ Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. ⁸ You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. ⁹ Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!  James 5:7-9 (NIV)

¹¹ “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”   Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NIV)

BUTTER

“You will see at once from reading the text (Philippians 4:11), upon the very surface, that contentment in all states is not a natural propensity of man. Ill weeds grow apace; covetousness, discontent, and murmuring, are as natural to man as thorns are to the soil. You have no need to sow thistles and brambles; they come up naturally enough, because they are indigenous to earth, upon which rests the curse; so you have no need to teach men to complain, they complain fast enough without any education. But the precious things of the earth must be cultivated. If we would have wheat, we must plough and sow; if we want flowers, there must be the garden, and all the gardener’s care. Now, contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated.”    Charles H. Spurgeon

“God promises victory to those who endure, so He gives us enough strength – usually just enough so faith is still required – to keep us going.  He wants us to succeed and not give up.  In the walk of faith, we can’t afford to doubt, worry, fear, or complain – the very symptoms that kept a generation of Israelites out of their Promised Land.  All of these attitudes severely undermine God’s work on our behalf, not because He can’t do whatever He wants but because He has chosen to relate to us on the basis of our faith.  Negative attitudes and words undermine faith.  They devalue the very currency we have to use in God’s Kingdom.  Wherever God’s voice and your faith are leading you, do not be afraid or dismayed.”   Chris Tiegreen

“The Scripture tells us in Ecclesiastes, ‘For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.’ And for that time, God has purposes. No matter what season you are in, God wants you to offer the sacrifices of praise and rejoice in that season. I know, I know…easier said than done. But if you shift your focus OFF of your circumstances, and onto God instead, you'll find praising Him is much easier. You can't help but celebrate who HE is.  If we can understand and recognize the season we are in, and make the most of our time within that season, we will pursue with purpose the plan that God has for us. Don’t give up. Keep your eyes on His goodness. Remember who you are. Remember WHOSE you are. He'll never, ever lead you astray.”   Cathe Laurie

“Stop resisting Him.  Stop resenting Him.  Stop complaining.  Stop feeling sorry for yourself.  Stop demanding what you want.  Stop focusing on the outer wrappings of yourself and your circumstances.  Adjust your attitude.  Change your mind about things, about yourself, about others and about Him.  Relax in total trust.  He knows what He’s doing.  Unwrap the package!  Let go and look up!  Let Him open the eyes of your heart.  Open your eyes!”   Anne Graham Lotz

“Grumbling is the luxury of self-absorption at someone else's expense.”   Dr. Harry Reeder

“If you anoint yourself a fault-finder, you find yourself at fault in the end.  When complaining and blaming is a way of life — we can’t complain that there’s no one else to blame when we can’t find the way to the abundant life.”   Ann Voskamp

“Complainers are usually contentious instead of content, tear down instead of building, and wear others out emotionally. A complainer’s lack of contentment is often caused by a tendency to compare themselves to others. Complainers are often people who relive ugly situations and perceived injustices over and over in their minds. They are unwilling or unable to let past events or hurts go. Complainers keep reloading their minds with negative thoughts and often live in depression, despair, or darkness.  Pastor Harry Reeder puts it like this, ‘Selfish, self-absorbed, self-centered people are despairing, despondent, and depressed.’”  Donna Evans

“Christian thanksgiving is the life of Christ in the heart — transforming the disposition and the whole character.  Thanksgiving must be wrought into the life as a habit—before it can become a fixed and permanent quality.  An occasional burst of praise, in the midst of years of complaining, is not what is required. Songs on rare, sunshiny days; and no songs when skies are cloudy—will not make a life of gratitude. The heart must learn to sing always.  This lesson is learned only when it becomes a habit which nothing can weaken.  We must persist in being thankful.  When we can see no reason for praise—we must believe in the divine love and goodness, and sing in the darkness.  Thanksgiving has attained its rightful place in us, only when it is part of all our days and dominates all our experiences.”   J. R. Miller

“The person who serves selflessly, lovingly, without complaint, and without seeking recognition is highly regarded in the kingdom of God. The world will estimate your importance by the number of people serving you. God is more concerned with the number of people you are serving.”   Henry Blackaby, Richard Blackaby

“Brave joy is the magnet for everything you need, not boorish complaining.  Brave joy will draw people in, will attract the help you need, will surround you with love — in a way that boorish complaining never can.”   Ann Voskamp 

“The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. When we are able to take the next step with the trust that we will have enough light for the step that follows, we can walk through life with joy and be surprised at how far we go. Let's rejoice in the little light we carry and not ask for the great beam that would take all shadows away.”   Henri Nouwen

“Whenever you react with praise and thanksgiving for an opportunity to grow more like Jesus in your way of reacting to things, instead of grumbling or feeling self-pity, you will find that that whole situation will be changed into a great blessing.”    Hannah Hurnard

HEART SAVOR

·       God desires for my heart to be joyful in hope not consumed in complaint.

·       God has a plan for my life that is good and perfect and pleasing.  I am never to kick against His best by my grousing grumbling.

·       Praise is the antidote to complaint.  

 

The Lavish Love Of The Lord 1 John 3:1-3 Galatians 4:4-7 Ephesians 1:3-8 John 3:16 2 Corinthians 5:21 Romans 8:31-39 Jeremiah 31:3 John 15:13 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 03.26.18

THE LAVISH LOVE OF THE LORD

BREAD

¹ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. ² Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. ³ Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.  1 John 3:1-3 (NIV)

⁴ But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law,
⁵ to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. ⁶ Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” ⁷ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.  Galatians 4:4-7 (NIV)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸ that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.  Ephesians 1:3-8 (NIV)

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 (NIV)

²¹ God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39 (NIV)

³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.   Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV)

¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  John 15:13 (NIV)

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

BUTTER

“In Me you are not wrecked. You are rescued.  In Me you aren’t a mess. You are made new.  In Me you aren’t ever a loser – you are lavished with love.”   Ann Voskamp

“God’s love is always supernatural, always a miracle, always the last thing we deserve.”   Robert Horn

“Many people have difficulty believing God is a God of love….If you really want to know the reality of God’s love, look at the Cross….It was love that restrained Him when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and led to Golgotha to die with common thieves.  He raised not a hand against His enemies.  It was love that kept Him from calling legions of angels to come to His defense.  It was love that made Him, in a moment of agonizing pain, pause and give hope to a repentant sinner who cried, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42)….Does God love us?  Yes….and the proof is the Cross.”   Billy Graham 

  

“The principle of sacrifice is that we choose to do or to suffer what apart from our love we should not choose to do or suffer.”   William Temple 

“Love Him totally who gave Himself totally for your love.”  Claire of Assisi 

“Amazing love!  How can it be, that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?”   Charles Wesley

“Love seeks one thing only:  the good of the one loved.”   Thomas Merton

“God loves you as though you are the only person in the world, and He loves everyone the way He loves you.”     Augustine

“To love God, to serve Him because we love Him, is…our highest happiness…Love makes all labor light.  We serve with enthusiasm where we love with sincerity.”   Hannah More

“For the love of God is broader than the measures of man’s mind; and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.”   Frederick William Faber

“We need to keep our heart full of a sense of the love of God. This is the greatest perspective available to us against the power of temptation in the world...Fill your heart with a sense of the love of God in Christ, and apply the eternal design of grace and shed blood to yourselves. Accept all the privileges of adoption, justification, and acceptance with God. Fill your heart with thoughts of the beauty of holiness...then in the ordinary course of walking with God, you will experience great peace and security from temptation.” John Owen

“God’s desire to communicate happiness to the creature entails a willingness to experience loss to the sake of the beloved.  It is exceeding congruous for God, a being of infinite goodness and love, to give to the creature the highest sort of expression of love—which is expensed for the beloved.  Therefore through the mission of the Son, God reveals a love that suffers in behalf of the beloved.  Now I can clearly and distinctly conceive how the giving of Christ is the perfect expression of love, as the greatest expense in a lover.  For the incarnation expresses the love of God in a way that is exceedingly noble and excellent and agreeable to the glorious perfections of God.”         Jonathan Edwards 

“There is something contagious about a heart of love. People who are selfless with their love can make giant waves in this world where those who cling to selfish desires cause only ripples. In fact, those who have hearts of love view the people around them as being most important. A heart that bears the marks of God’s intimate love is not a selfish heart. When we look directly into God’s heart of love, we are transformed forever. The selfish desires that once dominated our heart’s landscapes vanish in an instant, replaced by a desire to lavish love on others. As God begins to transform our hearts through His grace and kindness, we become vessels willing to reciprocate this type of love. Something happens inside of us. We begin to realize the twofold effect of loving God and loving others - not just friends and family, but others who cross our paths every day. Hardened hearts begin to melt beneath the warmth of Christ’s love overflowing from our lives. People who we never thought would let the name of Jesus roll off their lips suddenly praise Him because we have taken the time to love them the way God has commanded us to love. Once we learn how to abide in His love, our feelings of jealousy, greed, and anger die a quick death. A true champion extends grace and kindness because he knows the transformation that has taken place in his own heart, and he realizes those who receive God’s love and grace have no other course of action but to give God’s love away.”   Michael Youssef

HEART SAVOR

·         Christ demonstrated His love for us in dying for us.

·         We loved because He first loved us.

·         Christ-like love is self-less; it shows action -  not merely words.  It is not the tinsel town Hollywood type rather it is the denial of self for the beloved type.  Christ-like love never fails.

Keep Watch Matthew 26:38 Matthew 24:42-44 Mark 13:35-37 Matthew 7:15-17 Matthew 26:40-41 1 Timothy 4:16 2 Peter 3:10-14 Psalms 27:14 Micah 7:7 03.23.18

KEEP WATCH

BREAD

³⁸ Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”   Matthew 26:38 (NIV)

⁴² “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
⁴³ But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
⁴⁴ So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”  Matthew 24:42-44 (NIV)

³⁵ “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back--whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.
³⁶ If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷ What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”   Mark 13:35-37 (NIV)

¹⁵ “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”  Matthew 7:15-17 (NIV)

⁴⁰ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.  “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. ⁴¹ “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”  Matthew 26:40-41 (NIV)
  

¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.  1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. ¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.   2 Peter 3:10-14 (NIV)

¹⁴ Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.   Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

⁷ But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.  Micah 7:7 (NIV)

BUTTER

“Oh, study your hearts, watch your hearts, keep your hearts!”   John Flavel

“Oh that I may be roused out of my slumber, and be watchful and ready against the coming of my Bridegroom...Even the wise virgins fell asleep.  Let this be a warning to me, O Lord.  Set thou a guard before my eyes, ears, and other faculties, lest the world again should enter through these avenues of the heart; if the spark be not speedily extinguished, it will soon break out into a flame:  thus sin is of a progressive nature, and its venom spreads very quickly and very wide, unless it be stopped and opposed in time.  Watch, therefore, over this unsteady heart of mine, O Thou Keeper of Israel; that as soon as it begins to wander from Thee, I may be alarmed to flee from sin as from a serpent.  Give me grace to look upon every hour as my last; so that being ever wisely upon my guard I may meet Thee with joy when my time is run out, whenever it shall please Thee to call me hence.”   K. H. Von Bogatzky

“There are narrow limits to our knowledge.  There is a great breadth to our conceit.”  C. H. Spurgeon

“When we understand our great need for God and the unthinkable price Jesus paid for our freedom, there is only one appropriate response: an offering. So we offer ourselves as a ‘living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1). And by God’s grace, we have received His Spirit that we might live in a way that pleases the lover of our soul (see Romans 8:5-11).”   Michael Youssef

“Only God can enable, but only we can yield. Only God can guide, but only we can follow. Only God can convict us of our sins, but only we can repent of them. God won’t step over the boundary of our free will and make us do what He wants us to do. If He did, then we would be nothing more than robots. But because He wants us to act out of our own free will, He initiates, and we must respond to what He is doing.”  Greg Laurie

“Take heed that you do not glory in your graces, but let all your glorying and confidence be in Christ and His strength, for this is the only way you can be kept from falling.  Pray more often.  Spend longer periods of time in holy adoration.  Read the Scriptures more earnestly and constantly.  Watch your lives more carefully.  Live nearer to God.  Take the best examples for your pattern.  Let your conversation emit the fragrance of heaven.  Let your hearts be perfumed with affection for the souls of others.  So live that others may recognize that you have been with Jesus, and have learned of Him…On, Christian, with care and caution!  On, with holy fear and trembling!  On, with faith and confidence in Jesus alone, and let your constant petition be, ‘Sustain me according to your promise.’  He, and He alone, is able ‘to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.’”  Charles H. Spurgeon  

“Let us watch jealously over our hearts, and beware of giving way in the beginnings of sin. Happy is he who feareth always, and walks humbly with his God. The strongest Christian is the one who feels his weakness most, and cries most frequently, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’” John Ryle

“The beginning of any change in me begins with Him being my beginning.  The beginning of my everyday, my every thought, my every plan, my every conversation, my every step forward. If, in the beginning of anything, there is something different than the Word, the ending will be different than you hoped.”   Ann Voskamp

“The purest robes, unless their purity be preserved by divine grace, will be defiled by the most sinful stains.  Experienced Christian, do not boast in your experience; you will trip in spite of this if you look away from Him who is able to keep you from falling.  You whose love is fervent, whose faith is constant, whose hopes are bright, do not say, ‘We shall never sin,’ but rather cry, ‘Lead us not into temptation.’  There is enough tinder in the heart of the best of us to light a fire that shall burn to the lowest hell, unless God quenches the sparks as they fall.”   Charles H. Spurgeon   

“If the wheat must be winnowed, how certainly will the chaff be destroyed?  If the gold must pass through the fire, how assuredly will the dross be consumed?  If there is a great fire in a city and a massive stone structure with iron girders can only be saved by the firemen with great difficulty, what will be the fate of a wooden house, covered with tar and full of oil?”  C. H. Spurgeon

  

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”  Jim Eliot

HEART SAVOR

• ·        Believers are pilgrim’s – sojourners through this dusty earth - awaiting our Lord’s certain return.  May we all be found faithful to the finish.
• ·        Christians know the Truth and we should not be afraid to share it – because it is True Truth.
• ·        Our lives will speak louder than our words.