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The “The Voice Of The |
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You Were Asked To Pray For: |
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A Thought From C. H. Spurgeon:
"And ye shall go forth, and grow up as
calves of the stall" Malachi 4:2. Yes, when the sun shines, the sick quit their chambers and walk
abroad to breathe the fresh air. When the sun brings spring and summer, the
cattle quit their stalls and seek pasture on the
higher To "go forth" and to "grow up" is a double
promise. O my soul, be thou eager to enjoy both
blessings! Why shouldst thou be a prisoner? Arise,
and walk at liberty. Jesus saith that His sheep
shall go in and out and find pasture; go forth, then, and feed in the rich
meadows of boundless love. Why remain a babe in grace? Grow up. Young calves grow fast,
especially if they are stall fed; and thou hast the choice care of thy
Redeemer. Grow, then, in grace and in knowledge of thy LORD and Savior, Be
neither straitened nor stunted. The Sun of Righteousness has risen upon thee.
Answer to His beams as the buds to the natural sun. Open thine
heart; expand and grow up into Him in all things. |
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A Thought For The Week: 288 opinions about the way to
happiness In what does happiness consist? Millions of people mistake both the nature of
happiness, and the way there. Some of the learned have noted 288 opinions
about the way to happiness—and all have shot wide of the mark! How do men thirst after the world—as if the pearl
of happiness hung upon an earthly crown! "Oh," says one, "if I
had but such an estate—then I would be happy! Had I but such a comfort—then I
would sit down satisfied!" Well, God gives him that comfort and lets him
suck the very juice out of it—but, alas, it falls short of his expectation.
It cannot fill the emptiness and longing of his soul! Happiness does not lie in the acquisition of
worldly things. Happiness cannot by any chemistry—be extracted from the
world. Christ does not say, 'Happy are the rich,' or 'Happy are the noble.'
Yet too many idolize these things. How ready is man to terminate his
happiness in external worldly things! If they have but worldly
accommodations, they are ready to say with that brutish fool in the gospel,
"Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years, take your ease—eat,
drink and be merry!" But alas! The tree of happiness does not grow in
an earthly paradise. Has not God 'cursed the ground' because of sin? Yet many
are digging for happiness here—as if they would fetch a blessing out of a
curse! A man may as well think to extract oil out of a stone, or fire out of
water—as happiness out of earthly things! King Solomon had more worldly things than any man.
His crown was hung full of jewels. He had treasuries of gold. He had the
flower and quintessence of all delights—sumptuous fare, stately edifices,
vineyards, lands, all sorts of music to enchant and ravish the senses with
joy. If there were any rarity—it was present in king Solomon's court. Thus
did he bathe in the perfumed waters of pleasure. Never did the world cast a more smiling aspect
upon any man! Yet when he comes to give his impartial verdict, he tells us
that the world has 'vanity' written upon its frontispiece; and all those
golden delights he enjoyed, were but a painted felicity—a glorious misery!
"Behold! All was vanity!" Happiness is too noble and delicate a
plant, to grow in this world's soil. Worldly joys are but sugared
lies—pleasant deceits—which have not one grain of true happiness! Nothing on
earth can satisfy the soul's desires! "The world passes away!" (1 John 2:17).
Worldly delights are winged. They may be compared to a flock of birds in the
garden—which stay a little while—but when you come near to them—they take
their flight and are gone! Just so, "riches make themselves wings; they
fly away like an eagle toward heaven!" They are like a meteor which
blazes—but soon burns out. They are like a castle made of snow—lying under
the fiery beams of the sun. Worldly comforts are like tennis balls—which are
bandied up and down from one to another. They are like a bouquet of
flowers—which withers while you are smelling it.
They are like ice—which melts away while it is in your hand. Those things which do more vex than comfort—cannot
make a man truly happy. As riches are compared to wind—to show their vanity;
so they are compared to thorns—to show their vexation. Thorns are not more
apt to tear our garments—than riches to tear our hearts! They are thorns in
the gathering—and they prick with anxious care. They pierce the head with
care of getting, so they wound the heart with fear of losing. Happiness is
not to be fetched out of the earth! Worldly comforts cannot make you happy.
You might live rich—and die cursed! You might treasure up an estate—and God
might treasure up wrath! By: (Thomas
Watson, "The Beatitudes" 1660) |
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" SATISFIED " If the speaker knows his heart at all,
there are two things with which he is eminently and forever satisfied. One is
that he is satisfied with his salvation, which he has through faith in
Christ. He is satisfied with WHAT JESUS CHRIST DID AT CALVARY when He put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He is so satisfied that he would not
add so much as the lift of his finger to what Jesus Christ did at And I am glad, and I am glad; If other hands should hold the key, or if He trusted it to me, I might be sad, I might be sad.
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Happy Birthday: Gina February 9th |