God’s Moral Looking Glass
But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. James 1:25.
At Dusseldorf we changed cars, [WRITTEN DURING A JOURNEY IN EUROPE.] and were obliged to wait two hours in the depot. Here we had an opportunity to study human nature. The ladies came in, changed their outer wraps, and then surveyed themselves on every side, to see that their dress was faultless. Then extra touches of powder must be put upon their faces. Long they lingered before the mirror in order to arrange their outward apparel to their satisfaction for the purpose of appearing their best when looked upon by human eyes. I thought of the law of God, the great moral looking glass into which the sinner is to look to discover the defects of his character. If all would study the law of God–the moral standard of character–as diligently and critically as many do their outward appearance by means of the looking glass, with a purpose to correct and reform every defect of character, what transformations would most assuredly take place in them. “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was” (James 1:23, 24)….
There are many who view themselves as defective in character when they look into God’s moral mirror, His law, but they have heard so much of “All you have to do is to believe” … that after venturing to look into the mirror they straightway go from it retaining all their defects, with the words on their lips, “Jesus has done it all.” These are represented by the figure that James has marked out–the man beholding himself and going away and forgetting what manner of man he was…. Faith and works are the two oars that must be used to urge the bark against the current of worldliness, pride, and vanity; and if these are not used, the boat will drift with the current downward to perdition. God help us to take care of the inward adorning, to set the heart in order as carefully as we arrange the outward apparel.
That I May Know Him p. 295
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Prayer Requests
—– Prayers are uplifted for the Muskegon and Fremont Churches with Pr. Kameron Devasher, as well as their community center and other various ministries. Michigan Conference
—–update—-Brian and Esther made it safely to his parents’ house. Thank you for your prayers for safe travel. Also Terri, a former neighbor of ours, had a bad spell that mimicked a stroke. She has MS and the doctors think that it was either it was a reaction to medicine or her MS acting up. She’s fine now but please pray that she will not have a repeat incident. Rose
—–Please pray for T who is on a downward spiral because of something traumatic that happened years ago. A
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Dear Friends,
A few years ago, our pastor asked if anyone knew the significance of October 31. A few did. I only thought about it’s being celebrated as Halloween and wondered why he had asked. Didn’t everyone know that? Then he told us that it was on this date that Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of his church in Wittenburg. That one act, kindled a light that would grow in brightness and spread around the world until Jesuscomes.
From the moment he ascended upon his knees “Pilate’s staircase,” till his death from unwise cooking, Luther’s life was filled with an unceasing activity to bring to the people the truth that “The just shall live by faith.” Rom. 1:17 He was looked down upon as a heretic by many and loved and admired by others for his stand. As he studied, more truth was impressed upon his mind. Some of these he immediately shared with his followers, some he kept to himself, others were kept in the background until a later time, following Jesus’ example when He said to His disciples, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. John 16:12 Truly Luther was one of the greatest of the Reformers. One to whom our Saviour will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful…enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” Matt 25:21
May we stand firm for the truth as did Martin Luther. May we faithfully spread God’s message as he did. May we live all that God reveals to us from His Holy Word is my prayer.
Rose