Jul. 21, 2008 - Great REad!!
Where the world reigns in the heart (J. C. Ryle, "Faith") "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." 1 John 5:4 He who truly believes on Christ, overcomes the world. A true believer is not ruled by the world's standards of right or wrong, of truth or error. He is independent of the world's opinion. He cares little for the world's praise. He is not moved by the world's blame. He does not seek for the world's pleasures. He is not ambitious of the world's rewards. He looks at things unseen. He sees an invisible Savior, a coming judgment, and a crown of glory which never fades away. The sight of these objects makes him think comparatively little of this glittering world. Where the world reigns in the heart, there is no saving faith. A man who is habitually conformed to the world, has no right to regard himself as a believer! "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith." 1 John 5:4 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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Jul. 19, 2008 - The danger of Sin
If this cockatrice is not crushed in the egg! ("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod" or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes" by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.) "See how terrible sin really is." Romans 7:13 There is infinitely more evil in the least sinthan there is in the greatest miseries and afflictions that can possibly come upon you! Yes, there is more evil in the least sinthan there is in all the troubles that ever come upon the world; yes, than there is in all the miseries and torments of hell! The least sin . . . is an offense to the great God; is a wrong to the immortal soul; is a breach of God's righteous law; cannot be washed away but by the blood of Jesus; will shut the soul out of heaven, and shut the soul up as a prisoner in hell forever and ever! The least sin is rather to be avoided and prevented than the greatest sufferings. If this cockatrice is not crushed in the eggit will soon become a serpent! Sin, if but thought on and pondered will break out into action action into custom custom into habitand then, both body and soul are eternally and irrecoverably lost! If the serpent can but wriggle in his tail by an evil thought, he will soon make a surprise of the soulas you see in that sad instance of Adam and Eve. The least sin is very dangerous! Caesar was stabbed to death with a small needle. Herod was eaten up by small worms. Pope Adrian was choked with a gnat. A scorpion is little, yet is able to sting a lion to death. The least spark, may consume the greatest house. The least leak, may sink the greatest ship. A whole arm has been gangrened, by a pick of the little finger. A little opened door, may betray the greatest city. A pinch of poison diffuses itself into all parts, until it strangles the vital spirits, and turns out the soul from the body. The least sin is very dangerous!
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Jul. 12, 2008 - All the afflictions of God's people
All the afflictions of God's people By John Fawcett "We also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope." Romans 5:3-4 The chastisements of Christ are precious to those who believe. The believer's love to Jesus Christ, not only continues under the rod of correctionbut is quickened and increased by it! Thus it is distinguished from that pretended love, which exists only in times of prosperity. The afflicted Christian is enabled to consider--that whom the Lord loves--He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives; and that He only afflicts us for our profit--to make us partakers of His holiness. The Lord can so manifest Himself to His afflicted people--that the season of affliction shall be to them a season of great consolation. He is to them--a fountain of life, of strength, of grace and comfort in the afflictive hour--and of His fullness they receive, as their necessities require. The Lord Jesus Christ is a sun to enlighten and cheer His afflicted followers, and a shield to defend them. He is a hiding-place from the storm, a covert from the tempest, and as the shadow of a great rock in a dry and weary land. All the afflictions of God's people are designed, under His gracious management--to test, to make manifest, and to exercise, those graces and virtues which He has implanted in them. Though afflictions in themselves are not joyous but grievous, nevertheless they yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness in those who are exercised thereby. Afflictions serve to quicken the spirit of devotion in us; and to rouse us from that formality and indifference which frequently attend a long course of ease and prosperity. We are constrained to seek God with sincerity and fervor, when His chastening hand is upon us, since we then feel our absolute need of that help and deliverance, which He alone can give us. When the loss of any temporal enjoyment casts us into excessive despondency and dejection--it is evident that what we have lost, was the object of our inordinate love. The most innocent attachments cease to be innocent, when they press too strongly upon us! To cleave to any created object, and to look for happiness from it--is to make an idol of it--and set it up in God's place. Should this object be a friend, a brother, a wife, or a child--the idolatry is still odious in the eyes of that God, to whom we owe our chief affection. Our warmest passions, our most fervent love, desires, hopes, and confidences--should always have God for their object. It is His desire that our happiness should not center in any of the good things of this life. Losses and disappointments--are the trials of our faith, our patience, and our obedience. When we are in the midst of prosperity, it is difficult to know whether we have a love for the Benefactor--or only for His benefits. It is in the midst of adversity--that our piety is put to the trial. Afflictions serve most effectually--to convince us of the vanity of all that this world can afford--to remind us that this is not our rest--and to stir up desires and hopes for our everlasting home. They produce in us a spirit of sympathy towards our companions in tribulation. They give occasion for the exercise of patience, meekness, submission, and resignation. Were it not for the wholesome and necessary discipline of affliction--these excellent virtues would lie dormant. Afflictions serve to convince us more deeply of our own weakness and insufficiency, and to endear the person, the grace, the promises, and the salvation of our Redeemer, more and more to our hearts. Thus we are taught to esteem His very chastisements as precious--on account of the benefits we derive from them. Afflictions are not to punish--but to purify the believing soul. They are not in wrath--but in mercy. Amidst the distresses and miseries of life--it is a felicity to belong to Christ, without whose permission and appointment, no evil can befall us! He always sends afflictions for our good; and knows by experience, what it is to suffer them. His kind hand will speedily put a end to all the pains we feel--when we have derived from them all the good which He intends to do for us, by them. How many, how suitable, how sovereign are the supports our heavenly Father affords to His afflicted children! They make the affliction, which in itself would seem heavy and tedious--appear to be light, and but for a moment. It is happier to be in the furnace of affliction with these supports--than to be in the highest prosperity without them! Blessed with the hopes and comforts of Christ--the true Christian would prefer the lot of Lazarus, with all the poverty and distress which he endured--to the lot of the rich man, who, amidst all the splendor and affluence which this world could afford--lived a life of alienation from God, and destitute of the sovereign supports which can only be enjoyed, by those who love and fear Him. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Compliments of Grace Gems! A treasury of ageless sovereign grace devotional writings
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Jun. 26, 2008 - "My Sheep"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
My sheep
(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of John")
"My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and
they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they
shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of
My hand." John 10:27,28
Christ calls His people, "My sheep."
The word "sheep," no doubt, points to something
in the character and ways of true Christians. It
would be easy to show that weakness, helplessness,
harmlessness, usefulness—are all points of resemblance
between the sheep and the believer. But the leading
idea in our Lord's mind was the entire dependence
of the sheep upon its Shepherd.
Just as sheep hear the voice of their own shepherd,
and follow him—so do believers follow Christ. By faith
they listen to His call. By faith they submit themselves
to His guidance. By faith they lean on Him, and commit
their souls implicitly to His direction.
The expression, "My sheep," also points to the close
connection which exists between Christ and believers.
They are His by gift from the Father, His by purchase,
His by election and effectual calling, and His by their
own consent and heart submission.
In the highest sense they are Christ's property; and
just as a man feels a special interest in that which he
has bought at a great price and made his own—so does
the Lord Jesus feel a peculiar interest in His people.
We should notice the vast privileges which the Lord
Jesus Christ bestows on true Christians. He uses
words about them, of singular richness and strength.
Christ "knows" His people with a special knowledge of
interest and affection. By the world around them they
are comparatively unknown, uncared for, or despised.
But they are never forgotten or overlooked by Christ.
Christ "gives" His people "eternal life." He freely bestows
on them—a right and title to heaven, pardoning their many
sins, and clothing them with a perfect righteousness.
Money, and health, and worldly prosperity He often
wisely withholds from them. But He never fails to
give them grace, peace, and glory.
Christ declares that His people "shall never perish."
Weak as they are—they shall all be saved. Not one of
them shall be lost and cast away; not one of them shall
miss heaven. If they err—they shall be brought back; if
they fall—they shall be raised. The enemies of their souls
may be strong and mighty—but their Savior is mightier;
and none shall pluck them out of their Savior's hands!
"My sheep shall never perish; no one can snatch them
out of My hand."
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Jun. 14, 2008 - Quick Note
I was told this blog would be deleted if I didn't post on it, so for the sake of keeping it and all of my past entries, I am going to be posting little things here and there.
Don't forget my main blog now is: http://www.besidethebrook.blogspot.com/
Absolutely and without question
(J. R. Miller 1882)
"If you love Me, you will obey what I command." John 14:15
God is our Father and we are His children. We are to obey Him absolutely and without question. Yet it is no blind obedience. We know that He loves us with a deep, tender, unchanging love. We know that He is wiser than we, infinitely wiser, and can never err. We know that when He denies a request—that the granting of it would be unkindness. We know that when He leads us in another path than the one we had marked out—that His is the right way. We know that when He chastens or corrects—that there is love in His chastisement or correction. We know that in all His government and discipline—that He is seeking only our highest good. Our whole duty therefore as God's children, is to yield ourselves to His will.
"If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." John 14:23
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Jun. 2, 2008 - I have moved!
I have a new blog and I hope you will stop by. The link is:
http://www.besidethebrook.blogspot.com/
God bless, and please visit!
Sincerely,
Brooke.
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Mar. 25, 2008 - Announcement and Intelligent Quiz
I have been meaning to announce, and I am now finally getting to it, that my good friend, Jocelyn, is continuing the feminine challenge. The challenge (to wear a skirt for an entire week) is issued every last week of each month. She also has a blogroll so you can post your link and share with others. So if you haven't done it yet, I encourage you to try it out! Jocelyn is doing a great job, and I am delighted that she is keeping it going. Thank you Jocelyn!! (click on the icon above to see her page.)
Jocelyn is also hosting creative, different feminine challenges each month. This month is a challenge in feminine handwriting. It really is a lovely idea! I would love to try to improve my calligraphy...Click here to participate.
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For fun, I thought I'd post a "Intelligence Test." To take the quiz, you must answer the questions as fast as possible. Set a timer or look at the clock, and try to answer the questions in at least 1 or 2 minutes...Don't cheat! It won't be fun if you don't take it in a short amount of time. You will probably ace it, since it's really supposed to be audible. I quizzed someone and it was funny...
Intelligence Test
1) How many of each animal did Moses take into the ark?
2) What is the name of the raised print that deaf people use?
3) It is possible to end a sentence with the word "the"? (yes or no?)
4) Spell the word "shop." What do you do when you come to a green light?
5) It is noon. You look at the clock. The big hand is on three. The little hand is on five. What time is it?
6) Spell the word "silk." What do cows drink?
7) Listen carefully. You are the driver of a train. There are 30 people on board. At the first stop ten people get off. At the next stop five people get on. Now for the question: What is the name of the train driver?
And now a riddle:
1) A lady read a book, turned the light out and went to sleep. In the morning, when she saw in the newspaper that a ship had sunk drowning all on board, she committed suicide. Why?
Give me your answers and I will give you the correct answers in a few days. :-)
Have a blessed week.
****Edit---The answers
1. None. It was Noah.
2. Deaf people don't use raised print.
3. The question is an example of one.
4. Go
5. Noon
6. Water
7. You are the driver of the train
Riddle: She was a lighthouse keeper
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Mar. 16, 2008 - God is perfect
Today officially marks the first day in March 2008. Wow do these months pass by quickly. I praise God for another day. I am so thankful to Him and for all that He does---for who He is, for health and safety, and just another day to live.
Oh, I know I have so much more to learn on this journey of life. I know I am not perfect, but sometimes I overwhelm myself in attempts to be close to it. I want to please my Maker, but I am nothing more than dirty rags. I hate my sin, and how I long to be completely free from it when I leave this earth one day. But God is faithful to forgive me. Oh, there is none like Him. I want to please my Maker, I want to do good, but in my selfishness I fail and I fall, and sometimes I feel overwhelmed. I wish I could freely serve the Lord without sin, but I am quickly reminded of my imperfections: not one is righteous, no not one. (Romans 3:10). I am not perfect! At the same time that does not give a reason to dwell in my sin. God forbid (Romans 6:1-2.) But with God's help, I can over-come bad habits and selfishness. Only God can change my heart.
But oh! He is perfect!! God is completely perfect in all of His ways. Have you ever stopped to think that there is no one like God? Who can compare to our all-powerful God? Studying His attributes in our Bible study has immensely blessed me.
It's important to understand that one can't fully trust or love someone that they don't really know much about. That is pretty obvious in human relationships, but the same exact thing occurs in our relationship with the Lord. How can we trust Him with all of our hearts and love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength if we don't truly know about Him and who He truly is?
God's wonderful Word is where we look into the depths of who He is. That is why it is ever so vital to be reading it on a daily basis.
I've always known some of His attributes, but I've never really studied some of them in depth. It also never occurred to me that they all link together. Have you ever realized what God would be like if He was missing one of His attributes? You can't have one without the other.
All of God's attributes tie in together. He can't have His love without His mercy. He can't have His faithfulness without His power, and so forth. If God was only holy, He would be constantly pounding us down because of our sin and mercy would be far from reach. If He was only love, He would let us get away with many things. His attributes all work together and all balance out, because He is only completely perfect.
Here's a simple summery of some of God's attributes that I quickly took from each chapter in our Bible study book from points that I personally really liked...
- God is a God of love
-Because He loves me, I can rest because He wants the very best for me.
-"The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine forever."
- God is a God of mercy
-Because God is merciful and has rescued me from my most miserable condition (being out of fellowship with Him), my soul can rest.
- God is a God of faithfulness
-Because God is faithful, unchangeable, and always keeps His promises~~my soul can rest. He will always forgive my sins and He will never leave me.
- God is a God of power
-"Power is that which gives life and action to all the perfections of God's diving nature....Without power His mercy would be but feeble pity, His promises empty sound, His threatenings a mere scarecrow." -Stephen Charnock
-"He is able."
-Because of God's power, all the attributes of God are a comfort to my soul because He has the ability to preform what He said He will do and whatever He will do.
- God is a God of wisdom
-God's knowledge is infinite.
-Psalm 147:5--"Great is the Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite."
-My soul can rest because of God's divine wisdom. Because He knows everything and desires and knows the very best for me, I can rest because He is in control and knows what's best for me beyond I do.
My personal summary of some of the attributes (or perfections) of God:God is holy, perfect, all wise, all powerful, patient, kind....God is so good. God is perfect and wonderful in all of His ways.
Without God's wisdom, He wouldn't know my very best.
Without God's love, He wouldn't desire my very best.
Without God's mercy, He wouldn't give me the very best.
Without God's faithfulness, He wouldn't be trustworthy to continue to give
me the very best.
And without God's power, he wouldn't be capable to do the very best for me.
~~I do not lack anything. God is more than more than enough for me~~
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Mar. 8, 2008 - Ahh nuts
Ahhh-it's been longer than one month since I've last updated. Nuts :-P Anyway, just wanted to write a quick note explaining my departure for the moment. On the first of March I sat down at the lap-top to publish a new post, but the lap-top all of the sudden went dead even though it was plugged up (I lost some of my entry, but nothing big). Come to find out that the cord has a short in it. Dad has ordered a new one and should be here soon...So, until then I obviously won't be on the computer. Dad has graciously let me type this entry from his lap-top for the moment. I guess you could say my month long departure from the blog world was an unexpected break; A good one but long enough :-) I'm ready to begin blogging regularly again.
Anyhoo, life is good. The family is doing well. God is faithful.
Thank you everyone for all of the comments. I will be replying soon :-)
God bless, ~~Brooke
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Jan. 31, 2008 - Resolutions check up; Going to a woman's conference
As this is the last day of January, I been looking back to see how I did according to my new year resolutions (I told you I had a lot, remember?). I think I am a very goal oriented person. I am always setting goals for myself and things I want to accomplish. While I think that is a good thing, sometimes I can be hard on myself if I don't get done what I meant to get done. Know what I mean? Not all the time: but lots. Anyway, I know I am going to have to really work on my goals for 2008. I know I won't perfectly complete them, and some will take all year to sculpt. But I gonna keep on trying and do the best I can in the process ;-)
January has passed by pretty fast. It was a good month.
Holly and I just realized today that we will be leaving for a woman's conference tomorrow. How fast February the 1st crept upon us!!!
It is called the "New Desire's 16th Annual Fabulous Faith Women's Conference" entitled "Time In the Garden." I went by myself last year and I was very blessed! I am so glad Holly will be able to come with me this year...
We will be car-pooling with a group of ladies from our previous church we went to. We will leave tomorrow to Alabama and will be coming back Saturday. I am so excited!! "New Desire" is also the name of their southern gospel group. They sure have some beautiful songs. They sing several songs during the conference, and I bought their CD last year and have listened to it many times, that even though Holly didn't go last year, she about knows all the songs as well ;-) So I am excited for her to actually get to see New Desire in person and watch them sing.
So, we won't be back until Saturday. Sorry I don't have time to comment! I will also have to reply to comments when we get back, because there's much to do today. Holly and I have to go babysitting tonight for a family hosting a class in their home, and there's other things that have to be done before tomorrow.
Keep sharing your photos! I have loved seeing all of your outfits. The ones I got to see today were all darling! I will link all your pages when we get back and plus share our experience of the "fearlessly feminine and female challenge. "
God bless!
~~Brooke~~
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