Recharged - 31 Days - Prayer, Fasting, Personal Devotion

Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Pontus Pilate asked Jesus at His trial. The power in Jesus’ day resided in Rome. Everyone knew it. Their empirical rule reached across the known world. The power was evident in their army. Their outposts of culture. Their massive building programs. Their roads. And, of course, their ruler. He was Pontifex Maximus. The Jews in Jesus day had little power. They were subjugated by Rome and their rulers. When the Sanhedrin Court found Jesus guilty of treason, they had no power to sentence Him. Or to execute Him. So when Jesus was brought to the Roman Governor, Pilate, it seemed strange to him that Jesus did not respond to his interrogation. After all, Pilate possessed the power of life and death by a simple stroke of his pen. Power. Leaders lust for it. People are impressed by it. Others are dominated by it. Military might. Political position. Economic Status. Physical strength. All ar...

"This man receiveth sinners." Luke 15:2 Observe the condescension of this fact. This Man, who towers above all other men, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners--this Man receiveth sinners. This Man, who is no other than the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces--this Man receiveth sinners. It needs an angel's tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love. That any of us should be willing to seek after the lost is nothing wonderful--they are of our own race; but that he, the offended God, against whom the transgression has been committed, should take upon himself the form of a servant, and bear the sin of many, and should then be willing to receive the vilest of the vile, this is marvellous. "This Man receiveth sinners"; not, however, that they may remain sinners, but he receives them that he may pardon their sins, justify their persons, cleanse their hearts by his purifying word, preserve their souls by the i...

'Faith, That's Through the Roof' "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay." Mark 2:4 Faith is full of inventions. The house was full, a crowd blocked up the door, but faith found a way of getting at the Lord and placing the palsied man before him. If we cannot get sinners where Jesus is by ordinary methods we must use extraordinary ones. It seems, according to Luke 5:19, that a tiling had to be removed, which would make dust and cause a measure of danger to those below, but where the case is very urgent we must not mind running some risks and shocking some proprieties. Jesus was there to heal, and therefore fall what might, faith ventured all so that her poor paralysed charge might have his sins forgiven. O that we had more daring faith among us! Cannot we, dear reader, seek it this morning for our...

'HABITS' A wise old man was once taking a stroll through a forest with a shiftless young fellow by his side. Seeking to teach him an important lesson he stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was just beginning to peep above the ground, the second was a little larger with some roots, the third was a small shrub, while the fourth had grown into a small tree. The tutor said to his young companion, “Pull up the first plant.” The boy did so eagerly, using only his fingers. ‘Now pull up the second.’ The youth obeyed but found the task more difficult. ‘Do the same with the third,” he urged. The boy had to use all his strength to uproot it. ‘Now,’ said the instructor, “try your hand with the fourth.” The pupil put his hands around the young sapling and pulled with all his might, but couldn’t budge it. “I can’t do it,” he said. “This, my son, is what happens with our habits. When they are small and young, we can easily remove them. ...

"Don't Get Discouraged!"   Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 . After the passing of the time in 1844, a number of brethren and sisters were assembled in a meeting. All were very sad, for the disappointment had been sore. Presently a man came in, crying, “Courage in the Lord, brethren; courage in the Lord!” This he repeated again and again, till every face was aglow, and every voice lifted in praise to God. Today I say to every worker for the Master, “Courage in the Lord!” Some look always at the objectionable and discouraging features, and therefore discouragement overtakes them. They forget that the heavenly universe is waiting to make them agencies of blessing to the world; and that the Lord Jesus is a never-failing storehouse from which human beings may draw strength and courage .  There is no n...

It's Friday but Sunday's Coming: An Exhortation from Gethsemane It was the beginning of 3 days that these 3 men would never forget. Never. The hour was late. Much had happened. The last supper. Prideful posturing. Washing feet. Judas’ departure. And the ensuing walk across the Kedron valley with Jesus teaching. Encouraging. Comforting. Promising. Peter, James, and John are invited to walk a little farther, as Jesus entered into prayer to the Father. Struggle. Sorrow. Supplication. These words describe Jesus’ emotions in Gethsemane’s garden as Thursday turned into Friday. And what words describe the disciples? Weariness. Slumbering. Sleeping. Jesus simply asked them, “Stay here and keep watch with me.” But while the Savior prayed. The disciples slept. You can hear the disappointment in Jesus’ voice as he asked “What? “Could you not watch with me one hour?” Then he issued this heart-felt exhortation. “ Watch and pray, lest you enter into tem...

   "God is Jealous" Nahum 1:2 Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer. Did he choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did he buy you with his own blood? He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish, and he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and himself. He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh. He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you. When we lean upon him, he is glad, but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend--worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to himself. He is also very...

Sanctification a Work of a Lifetime   And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:19 . The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven. Many commit the error of trying to define minutely the fine points of distinction between justification and sanctification. Into the definitions of these two terms they often bring their own ideas and speculations. Why try to be more minute than is Inspiration on the vital question of righteousness by faith? As the penitent sinner, contrite before God, discerns Christ's atonement in his behalf, and accepts this atonement as his only hope in this life and the future life, his sins are pardoned. This is justification by faith. Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not gained by...

Tale of a Forgetful King "For many are called, but few are chosen." Matthew 22:14 Once upon a time there was a very sick king. So deathly ill was he that his friend, the prophet, made a bedside visit with the dire pronouncement that it was time for the king to draw up his personal will and put his house in order since death would be the next visitor knocking at the royal door. No sooner had the prophet left than the good-hearted king turned his face to the wall and burst into tears in a sobbing plea to God. And God, who can be more tenderhearted than the one who delivers the medical prognosis, stopped the prophet before he was out of the palace. "Go back and tell My friend that I'm going to extend his life by 15 more years." And as confirmation (because some medical reversals need empirical evidence), the shadow on the sun dial went backwards 10 degrees! As happy as a death row inmate with a presidential pardon, King Hezekiah set out to live his e...

Self-righteousness Insufficient For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 . The greatest deception of the human mind in Christ's day was that a mere assent to the truth constitutes righteousness. In all human experience a theoretical knowledge of the truth has been proved to be insufficient for the saving of the soul. It does not bring forth the fruits of righteousness.... The Pharisees claimed to be children of Abraham, and boasted of their possession of the oracles of God; yet these advantages did not preserve them from selfishness, malignity, greed for gain, and the basest hypocrisy.... The same danger still exists. Many take it for granted that they are Christians, simply because they subscribe to certain theological tenets. But they have not brought the truth into practical life. They have not believed and loved...

  'It’s Friday but Sunday's Coming' - He was dead. Now He’s Alive!     After six grueling hours of vicious taunts, mental torture and physical torment, Jesus cried with a loud voice, breathed his last breath and “yielded His Spirit.”  The centurion  guards standing by saw he was dead. Later solders came to break the legs of Jesus and the two criminals, but they said “He is dead.” The women standing at the foot of the cross,  including Mary and Mary Magdalene, said, “He is dead.’ The crowd by now had dispersed.  No doubt, wagging their heads, saying, “He’s dead.” Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy and prominent council member said, “He is  dead.”  So he came to claim the body for burial. Pilate’s surprised reaction was, “Is He already dead?” By now the report must have arrived to the Pharisees who had schemed to have Jesus executed. I can imagine a Messenger saying, “He’s dead.”  And a smug smil...