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Daily ProclaimerC

Men are free to decide their own moral choices, but they are also under the necessity to account to God for those choices.A. W. Tozer

Devotionals from my daily reading, Study showing your self approved, a worker not ashamed of God, having rightly divided the word of truth. To be removed reply with “REMOVE” in subject – to add send email with “ADD Daily ProclaimerC” in subject.

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Clips from e-sword daily devotionals. Hoekstra, Meyer, Morrison, Spurgeon and Word.

May 23

An Action Carried Out toward Earthen Vessels
For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (2Co_4:11)
The treasure who lives within us (Jesus) is to get glory and honor as we trust Him to live in, and be manifested through, the vessels of our humanity. "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" (2Co_4:7). Our previous meditation reminded us that we are to embrace an attitude of "death to self" that facilitates this plan: "Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2Co_4:10). In addition, there is an action carried out toward earthen vessels that also advances this great purpose of God. This matter is also about dying in order to live.
This action is taken toward earthen vessels: "we who live." We who have found new life in Christ are the ones who are "delivered to death." Our God places us into (or allows us to be put in) situations that are far more than we can handle. Even the Apostle Paul had to undergo this action taken toward him. "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: that we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves" (2Co_1:8-9). This was not an isolated incident. Paul was frequently in such impossibilities. "From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep" (2Co_11:24-25).
Since we are earthen vessels, this is the way life unfolds. Clay pots are characteristically inadequate and vulnerable. Consequently, the situations that our all-loving and all-wise God leads us into are consistently like being "delivered to death." However, this action toward us is "for Jesus' sake." In our continual impossibilities, Jesus has repeated opportunities to manifest Himself. Our heavenly Father places us in circumstances we cannot handle by our own resources. We cry out to the Lord, putting our hope and trust in Him. He faithfully goes to work in us. The result is "that the life of Jesus [is] manifested in our mortal flesh."
Dear heavenly Father, forgive me for the many times I resist Your delivering me over to death. You know that I prefer it when I can handle the events that come my way. Remind me to view my impossibilities as Jesus' opportunities to manifest Himself in and through the vessel of my life. This I humbly ask, in Jesus name, Amen.

THE SLEEPLESS WATCHER
"He that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper."-- Psa_121:3-5.

THIS PSALM has been called the Traveller's Psalm. When the pilgrims started forth from their distant homes to go up to the Temple, not one of them could forecast his experiences before he reached home again. There were perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils in the wilderness, perils in travel from wild beasts. It was well, therefore, that they should commit themselves and their dear ones to the care of One who neither slumbered nor slept. It is not enough for the body to be kept; we need the soul to be kept from all evil, as we go out into the world with its microbes of temptation, or come back to the luxury and comfort of our dwelling. There is temptation everywhere; not for one moment are we absolutely immune.
There is a difference between slumbering and sleeping. The mother or nurse watching the child may sometimes get a few moments of slumber; it is not very restful, yet there is a brief pause of unconsciousness. But this never comes to God. Not for one moment does He slumber, or ceases His watchful care of us. God keeps us by besetting us behind and before, and lays His hand upon us (Psa_139:5). As a sentry goes to and fro before the palace given to his charge, so God's peace, like a sentinel, keeps watch and ward around the soul. We speak of the castle-keeper, the inner circle of defence; so God's Presence is our Keep. We think also of the safe, around which the fire may play, but cannot touch its contents; so the child of God may walk in the midst of peril and temptation, but God is round about him; he is inside the secret place of the Most High, and no weapons formed against him can reach that inner sanctuary. Let us hand over the keeping of our souls to Him as to a faithful Creator (1Pe_4:19).
The closing words of this Psalm remind us of Joh_14:1-6. There will be one last going out and coming in, when the house of our life shall be left vacant, and we shall go forth to the Father, to the House of many mansions, to the great company which awaits us on the other side. Then in the transition between this world and the next, and amid all the mysteries that shall crowd upon us, we need fear no evil, for whatever Eternity may bring to us, we shall always be sheltered and kept by Almighty care.

PRAYER
Almighty God! Thou knowest that I have no power of myself to keep myself. Keep me outwardly in my body and inwardly in my soul, that I may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul. AMEN.

The Angels and the Babe
And, Lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them; and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid— Luk_2:9
God Speaks Your language
One of the messages of this beautiful story is that God speaks in ways we understand. That is part of His fatherly compassion. The wise men from the East had spent their nights observing the stars, it was no chance, then, that it was by a star that they were led to the feet of the Redeemer. But the shepherds, devout and humble Jews, had been familiar since childhood with the angels, and it was through angels that God drew near to them. I believe that the divine voice has a different accent for every differing heart. His voice is as the sound of many waters. There are things He says to every separate child which probably no one else could under-stand—His secret is with them that fear Him. That was so with the voice of the Good Shepherd. in what different ways He spoke to different people. He never dealt upon the scale of thousands; He always dealt upon the scale of one. And today He is on the throne, the very same Jesus, still touched with a feeling of our infirmities.
Vision Comes Along the Line of Duty
Another lesson of this story is that vision comes along the line of duty. it was when they were busy in their lowly toil that the shepherds heard the music of the skies. I wonder if any of them had stayed at home, leaving the work to be done by someone else. I wonder if any of them had slipped away to spend an hour in the tavern of the village. Then for such there was no music, nor any glorious singing of angels. That was given on the line of duty. There is an old story of a monastic porter, who in his cell had a vision of the Lord. Then came the clanging of the monastery bell. Must he leave the vision to go in answer? He went, and returning, the vision was still there, saying, "Hadst thou remained, I should have vanished; but thou wert faithful, and lo! I am still here." We are all tempted to flee away sometimes. We crave for liberty from common drudgery. We seem to be missing so much in the routine. We long for a larger life. But the angel music never comes that way. Heaven has never a song for those who shirk. It was on men who were faithful to their appointed task that there broke the glory of the Lord.
What Interests Heaven, Earth Disregards
One notes, too, that what interested heaven was something which all the village disregarded, it is a strange contrast to pass from the hillside to the crowded caravansary of Bethlehem. There were men from every neighboring village, and some who had traveled from long distances. One subject alone was on their lips; they were all talking of Caesar and his tax. But I do not think that the sharpest shepherd's ear, listening to the singing of the angels, caught a single whisper of the topic which was absorbing the travelers in the inn. The theme which was agitating everybody was not the theme which agitated heaven. Nobody gave a thought to Jesus' birth, and heaven that night thought of nothing else. So are we taught, that what the world makes much of may be insignificant in heaven, and what the world neglects may be supreme. To grasp that is one secret of fine living, it helps us to readjust our scale of values. The relative magnitude of things is altered when we live under the aspect of eternity. Some unnoticed and interior victory may be like the birth in Bethlehem, and set the angels singing in their courses.
Angels May Go but Jesus Remains
And then this exquisite story teaches us that angels may go, but Jesus Christ remains, in a little while the hillside was all dark again, but the Baby was still lying in the manger. The angels went, but Jesus did not go. The glory departed, but the Lord remained. He grew in wisdom, and lived within their borders, and toiled as the Carpenter of Nazareth. The vision of the angels was a memory, but the Babe they heralded was more than that—He was a living power in their midst. Now, for many, Christmas is a sad time. it is a season when memories awaken. We cannot help thinking of those angel faces that we have loved long since and lost awhile. But for us, as for the shepherds, Christ remains, a living presence, a Savior and a friend, the same yesterday, today, forever. He offers us His peace. He wants us to be sharers in His joy. He is here to break the tyranny of things, and in life and death to make us more than conquerors. With such a Savior, pardoning and powerful, who will never leave us nor forsake us, cannot we all enjoy a happy Christmas?

Morning
“The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.”
- Psa_138:8
Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, “I have grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me-my faith is so steady that it will not stagger-my love is so warm that it will never grow cold-my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow and confusion. All that Nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion of all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the Lord’s work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates- “You will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” Ah! yes, we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in despair; but, thanks be to God, he will perfect that which concerneth us, and bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust.

Evening
“Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money.”
- Isa_43:24
Worshippers at the temple were wont to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be burned upon the altar of God: but Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became ungenerous, and made but few votive offerings to her Lord: this was an evidence of coldness of heart towards God and his house. Reader, does this never occur with you? Might not the complaint of the text be occasionally, if not frequently, brought against you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted none the less because their gifts are small; but, poor reader, do you give in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow’s mite kept back from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the talent entrusted to him, but should not forget his large responsibility, for where much is given much will be required; but, rich reader, are you mindful of your obligations, and rendering to the Lord according to the benefit received? Jesus gave his blood for us, what shall we give to him? We are his, and all that we have, for he has purchased us unto himself -can we act as if we were our own? O for more consecration! and to this end, O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good it is of thee to accept our sweet cane bought with money! nothing is too costly as a tribute to thine unrivalled love, and yet thou dost receive with favour the smallest sincere token of affection! Thou dost receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild flowers which the child brings to its mother. Never may we grow niggardly towards thee, and from this hour never may we hear thee complain of us again for withholding the gifts of our love. We will give thee the first fruits of our increase, and pay thee tithes of all, and then we will confess “of thine own have we given thee.”


Forgiveness
Mat_18:21-35

There is a background to this question. Among the debates of the time was the question of how often to forgive. Many prominent rabbis said three times was the limit—an early version of our three strikes laws. Peter no doubt thought himself generous by saying seven. Our Lord, in hyperbole, sets no limit.
To make the point clear, he tells him a story. It's a familiar one to most Christians, but read it again. There are perhaps some points in here that you missed.
· Do you see that the king "began" to settle his accounts? He did what we would do. He started with the biggest debt first. So indeed the servant represents the very worst of sinners.
· See the difference: the servant asks only a little more time to make the payment. The king grants him forgiveness of his debt. We as sinners dare not ask for more than a little respite, but the mercy of God is greater than our courage.
· "But when the servant went out" - in other words, on his way out the door he finds the second servant. There has been no time to forget the mercy shown. Is this not the hardness of the human heart?
· "Fellow servants" - the passage is set in the context of a discussion of church discipline. Perhaps this might even be applied for refusing to forgive!
· The king calls him "wicked" - but only after his refusal to forgive. Not his debts, but his heart is shown.
· The king has tried kindness; now he must resort to punishment. God wills that we learn forgiveness from his example to us. But if we will not, then comes punishment.
· That punishment is eternal; for how is this debtor to pay when he is in jail being tortured? So one may see a picture of hell.
We are to show our brothers mercy "from the heart." This is not a command to forgive a certain number of times, keeping careful record. Nor is it a ritual of forgiveness, but the pure mercy of God flowing through the human heart. The primary duty of man is the imitation of God, whose mercy endures forever.
Is there one this day for whom you have no forgiveness? Read this again. The words are plain, the truth simple. If you will not forgive, you will not be forgiven—forever.


If lead by the Holy Spirit, and with a commitment to pray for, I am seeking venture capitol to change my dba to a LLC. Muncie Indiana is on the Top Five List of Cities in the Nation of its Size. With all my skill sets, and my surrender to the call to Sing for Christ. ChasW.org LLC is a very good investment.

When The God of all creation through fellow believers provides me the funding I need to do his will, the first things he wants is for me to record a CD with multiple parts with only my voice. The Voice He gave me and Anointed. Because of nearness of the end of days, He wants ChasW.org LLC to operate, as a Profit Organization giving ChasW.org LLC more freedom to do His will without interference.

With confidence in the Abundance that the Lord will bless ChasW.org LLC, and the assistance of the CPA my footsteps were lead to meet. Here are the terms and a sketch of my Business Plan.


It does not take great men to do great things; it only takes consecrated men. Phillips Brooks