Jesus

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Christ’s New Commandment

Posted by The Bible In Your Hand on May 15, 2019
Posted in: Christian, Christianity, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , .

17-1-1-greatest-commandmentChrist’s New Commandment

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34.

Do you in your words, in your spirit, in your actions, resemble Christ? If in word and spirit you represent the character of Christ, then you are Christians; for to be a Christian is to be Christlike. The tongue will testify of the principles that characterize the life; it is the sure test of what power controls the heart. We may judge our own spirit and principles by the words that proceed from our lips. The tongue is always to be under the control of the Holy Spirit.

When poor, wounded, bruised souls come to you for words of hope, you are to speak to them the words of Christ. Do you refuse to give them pleasant, courteous, kind words? Those who speak as Christ spoke will never plant bitter words like barbed arrows in the wounded soul. “The Lord hearkened, and heard.” Will you bear in mind that the Lord hears the words we speak, and is acquainted with the spirit that prompts our action? Christ is the defense of all that are hidden in Him.

Bear in mind that every unkind word, every ruthless thrust, is recorded in the books of heaven as given to Christ in the person of His suffering ones. Is it not Christlike to speak kind words, comforting words, even though you feel inclined to do otherwise? Is it not Christlike to help lift the burdens when they press heavily upon souls whom God has valued so highly as to give His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life?

“Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” You are just as dependent upon Christ for all that you receive as is the weakest, poorest, and humblest soul. “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” A mere speculative belief amounts to nothing. Do you believe on the Son of God as your personal Saviour? Then if you believe with all your heart, God dwells in the soul, and the soul in God. You represent Jesus. Those who are in positions of trust are on test and trial, to see if they will be wise men in positions of trust, to reveal whether Christ is working in and through them, so that He can represent His character and express Himself in their words and actions toward His heritage, for whom He has given His own precious life.

Just in proportion as the human agent is a partaker of the divine nature, he will be in sympathy with Christ. Jesus says, “A new commandment I give unto you [That ye tolerate one another? No], That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

No Other Gods

Posted by The Bible In Your Hand on May 9, 2019
Posted in: Christian, Christianity, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , .

Easter_generals_message_image_cropped_637x333No Other Gods


Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3.

Christ gave His life that all who would might be freed from sin and reinstated in the favor of the Creator.

It was the anticipation of a redeemed, holy universe that prompted Christ to make this great sacrifice…. Are we followers of God as dear children, or are we servants of the prince of darkness? Are we worshipers of Jehovah, or of Baal? of the living God, or of idols?

No outward shrines may be visible, there may be no image for the eye to rest upon, yet we may be practicing idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false conception of God and His attributes. They are as verily serving a false god as were the servants of Baal. Are we worshiping the true God as He is revealed in His Word, in Christ, in nature, or are we adoring some philosophical idol enshrined in His place? God is a God of truth. Justice and mercy are the attributes of His throne. He is a God of love, of pity and tender compassion. Thus He is represented in His Son, our Saviour. He is a God of patience and long-suffering. If such is the being whom we adore and to whose character we are seeking to assimilate, we are worshiping the true God.

If we are following Christ, His merits, imputed to us, come up before the Father as sweet odor. And the graces of our Saviour’s character, implanted in our hearts, will shed around us a precious fragrance. The spirit of love, meekness, and forbearing pervading our life will have power to soften and subdue hard hearts and win to Christ bitter opposers of the faith.

“Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others”.

Vainglory, selfish ambition, is the rock upon which many souls have been wrecked and many churches rendered powerless. Those who know least of devotion, who are least connected with God, are the ones who will most eagerly seek the highest place. They have no sense of their weakness and their deficiencies of character…. The soul that is constantly looking unto Jesus will see His self-denying love and deep humility, and will copy His example. Pride, ambition, deceit, hatred, selfishness, must be cleansed from the heart. With many these evil traits are partially subdued, but not thoroughly uprooted from the heart. Under favorable circumstances they spring up anew and ripen into rebellion against God. Here lies a terrible danger. To spare any sin is to cherish a foe that only awaits an unguarded moment to cause our ruin…. Divine grace is our only hope.

Results from Eating the Bread of Life

Posted by The Bible In Your Hand on April 30, 2019
Posted in: Christian, Christianity, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , .

INSP-Jno6-35-odjResults from Eating the Bread of Life


So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13, RSV.

We have an abundance of sermonizing. What is most needed is love for perishing souls, that love which comes in rich currents from the throne of God. True Christianity diffuses love through the whole being. It touches every vital part, the brain, the heart, the helping hands, the feet, enabling men to stand firmly where God requires them to stand, so that they will not make crooked paths for their feet, lest the lame be turned out of the way. The burning, consuming love of Christ for perishing souls is the life of the whole system of Christianity.

What is the Bible interpretation of God? “God is love.” By giving Christ to our world, God manifested His love for mankind. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Yes, “everlasting life.” This is the love which is the fulfilling of the law. Only he whose heart is filled with compassion for fallen man, who loves to a purpose, showing his love by the performance of Christlike deeds, will be able to endure the seeing of Him who is invisible. He only who loves his fellowmen to a purpose can know God. He who loves not those for whom the Father has done so much know not God. This is the reason there is so little genuine vitality in our churches. Theology is valueless unless it is saturated with the love of Christ.

God is supreme. His love in the human heart will lead to the doing of work that will bear fruit after the similitude of the character of God.

“Charity [love] suffers long, and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth.” O blessed leaves of the tree of life! “And now abide faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name,” because our Guidebook is so very plain and definite. Others may not follow the plain “It is written,” which Christ used on every occasion to meet the fallen foe, but let us follow the Saviour’s example. The less we give expression to our own human opinions, the purer and more marked with grace will be our conversation. The Lord calls for sanctified speech, because it is a savor of life unto life.