“Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:24-26) Therefore does Christ declare the blessed name of the righteous Father, in order that it may come home to you with an unconquerable power that the Father loves you and loves you beyond conception, seeing that not even His dear Son was so loved as to be spared, but He must die that you might live and that the justice of God might be satisfied on your account! … Now, if you fully know the righteous fatherhood of God, as Christ would have you know it, you will learn that God loved you as He loved His Son. … If He had not loved you as He loved His Son, He would have said to His Son, “Son, you will never leave heaven for that polluted planet. You will never descend to poverty and suffering. You will never have Your hands and feet pierced. You will never be despised and spit upon and put to a cruel death.” But because He loved us as He loved His Son, He gave His Son! “ Charles Spurgeon
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 “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands, and that he had come from God and would go to God. He got up from the meal, removed his outer garments, took a towel and tied it around himself. Then he put water into the basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples and dry them with the towel around his waist.” (John 13:3-5) As Judas watched Jesus wash the disciples' feet he must have thought, “Surely, he can’t be the King of the Jews if he would stoop so low as to wash our feet.” Remember he had already been offended by the use of precious oil a woman used to wash Jesus’ feet. Yet, not only did Jesus take the position of a servant leader as he washed the disciples’ feet but it is possible that he also washed the feet of the man who had set in place his betrayal, “and you are clean, but not all of you.” (John 13:10) “In the culture, the washing of guests’ feet was a customary gesture of hospitality and friendship. However, the host would never do the action himself; that was the work of servants. Jesus’ gesture was disconcerting.” Often, we tell the Lord what we can do and what we are not willing to do through our actions. This story reminds us of how humble and merciful our Lord Jesus Christ is. How many of us are willing to wash the feet of those who have caused us the most pain? “I have set for you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:15) GiGi❤️ 
“I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.” (Psalm 119:59) The power of pausing before we respond or react can offer us the discipline we need to do so in a Godly manner. “Pausing gives us a chance to collect ourselves, take a breath, and get a handle on what’s happening inside us. Are we feeling angry, afraid, sad, or hurt? Pausing gives us a chance to notice these feelings—and become mindful” so that we can submit those emotions and feelings to God. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “Repentance originates in thinking upon our ways; it proceeds to compare them with God’s precepts, and faith prompts us to revert to the way of God’s testimonies…Surely it is time for a change. There may be some few saints among you who do not need much changing, who have gone on so well that you may pray to continue as you are; but I am not one of such myself. I am afraid that there are few who are. I pine for something better, I pant to rise higher, to climb nearer my God, to love him more, to serve him better, and to be more fully consecrated to him.” Our prayer is that the Lord will strengthen us as we strive to be better, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Colossians 4:6) GiGi❤️  Wake Up!
“Do this, knowing that this is a critical time. It is already the hour for you to awaken from your sleep [of spiritual complacency]; for our salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed [in Christ].” (Romans 13:11) Pastor Paul  “They marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13b) Too often others are unable to identify Christians in the crowd because our behavior is so similar to that of the world. We fear rejection and the ridicule of others so we would rather blend in. When it comes to love we often allow our past hurt and pain to interfere with our ability to allow the love of God to manifest in our treatment of others. When we allow our pain from the past and society to dictate what we should look like, be like, possess, or succeed at, then we look more like the world than we do Christ. Yet, we should each strive to be imitators of Christ. What would it profit us to take on the attributes of the world and lose our own souls? How we treat others will always be one of the major factors in which others determine if we are followers of Christ. “As God is love, so Christ is love. Oh, ye Christians, be ye loving also. Let your love and your beneficence beam out on all men…Speak kind words, do kind actions; live out Christ again in the kindness of your life. If there is one virtue which most commends Christians, it is that of kindness; it is to love the people of God, to love the church, to love the world, to love all.” Spurgeon GiGi❤️ 
“That, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” (Romans 13:11) The Lord has saved us— saved us from death — saved us from the sleep which is the first cousin to death — saved us from indifference— saved us from unbelief — saved us from hardheartedness— saved us from carelessness. Well, now, if the Lord has done this for us, what business have we to be in a sleepy state? Child of God, thou art expecting Christ soon to come, and he may come to night, or he may, if he pleases, delay his coming, but why, oh why, dost thou think of sleeping? You are saved— we are not going to question that; and your glorious salvation is nearer than when you believed. But what have you done during these many years? You have been eating the fat and drinking the sweet, but have you fed the hungry? Have you brought in the wandering? You have enjoyed the means of grace, you tell me. And is this all you were created for…If you are going to do something it must be done very soon, young man. You are not a child now. Your sun has not quite reached its zenith, but it is rising high. It may go down ere, it is noon. If something is to be accomplished before you die, get at it, man, get at it, or your life will be a failure. And you of middle life. Well, you are in the very strength and prime of your days. If God is to be glorified by you, and souls brought to Christ by you, I urge you, in the name of all that is reasonable, get at it, and lay to, for if you do not work now, when will you? “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12) Charles Spurgeon This entry was posted in Metropolitan Tabernacle - Vol 7 and tagged Amos 6, hear spurgeon, Scourge for Slumbering Souls, Sermon 417 
“If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7) Are we praying without ceasing? Are we asking? But just as important, are we abiding. Abiding in Christ means to stay connected, to rest, to spend time with Him. No one can tell us how and what that should look like, although Daniels’s example of praying three times a day can provide some insight. Effective prayer requires us to abide. It is not a hit or miss, when we want to or just when we need to. Abiding in Christ is our yielding to Him and trusting Him. We realize we can do nothing without Him. “One of the first results, then, of our abiding union with Christ will be the certain exercise of prayer: “Ye shall ask.” If others neither seek, nor knock, nor ask, you at any rate, shall do so. Those who keep away from Jesus do not pray. Those in whom communion with Christ is suspended feel as if they could not pray; but Jesus says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask.” Prayer comes spontaneously from those who abide in Jesus.” Charles Spurgeon GiGi❤️  ”Yes, he is altogether lovely.” (Song of Solomon 5:16) Little by little, bit by bit, each day is sweeter than the day before as we grow closer to Christ. For each mistake we make, each time we fall short, it is a God opportunity to make us stronger and draw us closer. 🎶I love Him more and more; Jesus saves and keeps me, He's the one that I adore; Ev'ryday is sweeter, Sweeter than the day before.🎶 “There are these degrees of attainment among believers, and the Saviour here incites us to reach a high position by mentioning a certain privilege which is not for all who say that they are in Christ, but for those only who are abiders in him. Every believer should be an abider, but many have hardly earned the name as yet. Jesus says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” You have to live with Christ to know him, and the longer you live with him the more will you admire and adore him; yes, and the more will you receive from him, even grace for grace. Truly he is a blessed Christ to one who is but a month old in grace; but these babes can hardly tell what a precious Jesus he is to those whose acquaintance with him covers well-nigh half a century! Jesus, in the esteem of abiding believers, grows sweeter and dearer, fairer and more lovely, day by day. Not that he improves in himself, for he is perfect; but that as we increase in our knowledge of him, we appreciate more thoroughly his matchless excellences…, ‘Yes, he is altogether lovely’”! GiGi❤️ 
”The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." (Nahum 1:3) We are so grateful that our God is slow to anger. For, if he were not, surely we would have been consumed. Certainly, we can learn something from this character trait. For instance, pushing the pause button and thinking, contemplating, and reasoning before we respond and react can be most beneficial. Even when the Lord has every reason to pass judgment, he is slow to anger. He sends warning after warning through different mediums. What a merciful God we serve. “He will not smite the city without warning; Sodom shall not perish, until Lot hath been within her. The world shall not be drowned, until eight prophets have been preaching in it, and Noah, the eighth, comes to prophesy of the coming of the Lord. He will not smite Nineveh until he hath sent a Jonah. He will not crush Babylon till his prophets have cried through its streets. He will not slay a man until he has given many warnings, by sicknesses, by the pulpit, by providences, and by consequences. He smites not with a heavy blow at once; he warns first. He does not in grace, as in nature, send lightning first and thunder afterward; but he sends the thunder of his law first, and the lightning of execution follows it. The lictor of divine justice carries his axe bound up in a bundle of rods, for he will not cut off men, until he has reproved them, that they may repent. He is "slow to anger." Charles Spurgeon “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 1:18-20) GiGi❤️  “Fear not.” (Revelation 1:17) “FEAR not” is a plant which grows very plentifully in God’s garden. If you look through the lily beds of Scripture you will continually find by the side of other flowers the sweet “Fear nots” peering out from among doctrines and precepts, even as violets look up from their hidingplaces of green leaves. “Fear nots” bloomed in the old time, at the feet of Abraham, when he returned from fighting with the kings. Melchisedek blessed him, and the Lord comforted him. “Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” A “Fear not” was spoken to Isaac when he had dug wells, and the Philistines strove for them, and he, like the meek soul that he was, gave them up one by one to avoid a conflict. At last he settled down at Beersheba, and there the Lord appeared unto him, and said, “Fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee.” The Israelites at the Red Sea were afraid of Pharaoh, and then the Lord said to them, “Fear not, stand still and see the salvation of God.” If you are brought to a pass today, and know not what to do, take the advice of Holy Scripture, and “Fear not”; but “stand still and see the salvation of God.” GiGi❤️ Retrieved from Charles Haddon Spurgeon March 9, 1880, Revelation 1:17, From: Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Volume 26 |
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