And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. Revelation 5:13.
On the isle of Patmos John saw the things which God desired him to give to the people. Here is a theme worthy of our contemplation. Here are large and comprehensive lessons, which all the angelic hosts are now seeking to communicate. Infinite wisdom, infinite love, infinite justice, infinite mercy–depths, heights, lengths, breadths! Numberless pens have been employed to represent the life and character and mediatorial work of Christ, and yet to every mind through whom the Holy Spirit works these themes are presented fresh and new, just in accordance with the mind and spirit of the human agent. The Lord Jesus promised that the Spirit He would send would recall His words to the minds of those prepared to receive them. After His resurrection He opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures. Up to that time the disciples had not comprehended them, for the rubbish of rabbinical lore had hidden the truth from their view.
The truth, if received, is capable of constant expansion and new developments. It will increase in brightness as we behold it, and grow in height and depth as we aspire to grasp it. Thus it will elevate us to the standard of perfection, and give us faith and trust in God as our strength for the work before us. We need the truth as it is in Jesus. . . . As His representatives and witnesses we need to come to a full understanding of the saving truth which we must know by an experimental knowledge.
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). This is the great practical truth which must be stamped upon the soul. It is of the greatest importance that all should comprehend the greatness and power of the truth to those who receive it. “In him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
That I May Know Him p. 340
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Prayer Requests
—–My wife’s father is in the hospital after suffering from a large subdural bleed in his head. I ask for prayers for him and his family. BB
—– T’s sister in law his late brother’s widow passed away this early morning ,she called her son who lives down the road from her an told him that she did not feel well could he come up .he got dressed and went up., she was not responding, she had a heart attack. Please keep the family in prayer. Also T is supposed to have surgery Wednesday but has a bad cold. Pray for that too. M
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Dear Friends,
All of my life, I have sneezed and itched because of allergies. My grandmother had never heard of allergies and thought I had a continual cold. She gave me cold medicine all of the time which caused me to lie around a lot because it made me so sleepy. Living in a house full of adults who didn’t communicate well with one another, complicated matters. Sometimes I was given more than one dose.
The older I got, the worse my allergies became until by the time I was in my 40’s, I went to an allergist to get tested to see what I was allergic to. The test results showed that I was allergic to nearly everything. I was so desperate to feel better, that I was willing to take four shots twice a week even though I hate needles. Unfortunately, I had such an allergic reaction to the shots, that they had to be stopped. I was so disappointed.
When we moved here, my allergies became even worse. They were so bad, that we considered moving away from this area even though we had bought a mobile home and would have difficulty selling it. Seeing my misery, a lady at our church suggested that I stop using all dairy products (two of the things I was especially allergic to on the tests) and see if that would help. Now that was not easy, as a good share of our diet consisted of milk, cheese, and eggs. I wasn’t sure that I could cook without them, but I was willing to try anything.
That plan really helped but sometimes I could feel my throat swell and I would get an allergy attack for no apparent reason. After keeping track of possible causes I found that if I ate anything that had even a component of milk, such as sodium casinate, that little bit was enough to cause big trouble.
Just a little bit of dairy acts as a catalyst which makes me react to everything else that I am allergic to. Even so, this was a struggle for me, but I was so miserable with my allergies, that I was willing to do it. Soon my allergies were so much better that I lost my desire for the food that I had formerly loved.
Sin is like those allergens that make me so miserable. Paul likens sin’s working to yeast. “Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” 1 Cor 5:6 Hanging on to just a little bit of sin affects our entire life. Allowing just a little bit of sin to remain in our lives affects our judgment. Toying with sin affects not only our life but the lives of those around us.
Our Dear Saviour pleads, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” Eze 33:11 Turning completely away from sin is the only solution to be rid of the “sin allergen.” Yet we cannot do this in our own strength. Sin has left us weak and unable to do our Father’s Commandments. Yet He Who bids us turn from sin has provided the Way! “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” 1 John 2:1 Think of it! Our Dear Saviour left the glories of Heaven and the worship of all the unfallen beings throughout the universe to come down to this sinful planet and live a perfect life despite all of the poverty, all of the hatred that the devil could heap upon Him, and finally pour out His life upon the cross (the cruelest form of execution). What love! What wondrous love!
Paul explains, “After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4-7 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Rom 6:1-4
May we come to Jesus today and receive the cleansing from sin that we so desperately need. May we shun sin even more earnestly than I avoid dairy products which make it so difficult to breathe. May we daily walk with our Redeemer along the pathway that leads to His Heavenly Kingdom is my prayer.
Rose