52508

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.

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

May 25

Outer Man Perishing, Inner Man Renewed
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. (2Co_4:16)
Those who learn to live by the grace of God are increasingly protected from discouragement. "Therefore we do not lose heart." This truth was touched upon in an earlier verse from this fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians. "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart" (2Co_4:1). The protection from discouragement there involved mercy and grace. Since we serve the Lord by mercy and grace (and not by our merit or by our resources), we have a built-in supply of heavenly encouragement available to us daily.
In our present verse, encouragement comes from the contrast between what is happening to the "outward man" and to the "inward man." The "outward man" is the physical person, which can be observed by human sight. This is generally the object of attention among the unredeemed (as well as among believers who are walking according to the flesh). This man is "perishing" because sin has impacted all of us. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Rom_5:12). Man began from dust. "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" (Gen_2:7). Due to sin, the outer, physical man is headed back toward that initial starting point. "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return" (Gen_3:19). For those who do not know the Lord, this is a discouraging fact. They often strive desperately to prevent this inevitable process.
On the other hand, servants of new covenant grace are not discouraged by this fact. "Therefore we do not lose heart." It is true that our outer man is also perishing. Yet, we see a bigger picture than that. "Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day." As our outer man is deteriorating, we are still encouraged, because our inner man can be in the process of renewal: "And have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him" (Col_3:10). As we are humbly seeking the Lord in His word, we are being changed, brought more and more into the newness of Christ: "Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2Co_3:18).
O Lord, as my outer man deteriorates, remind me of the encouraging reality that my inner man can be renewed. Help me to desire inner spiritual progress, rather than outer physical prowess. This I pray through Christ, my Lord, Amen.


DAYS OF GLADNESS
"All the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. And there was very great gladness. Also day by day, from the first day unto the last day, he read in the book of the law of God. And they kept the feast seven days."-- Neh_8:12, Neh_8:17, Neh_8:18.

GLADNESS IS health. If you can get a patient to look on the bright side of things, you have done a great deal to bring back the tides of life.
Whenever we are optimistic and glad we are looking at things from the divine side, and imbibing some of God's eternal gladness. And cherishing this temperament, we shall know what Nehemiah and Ezra meant when they said: "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh_8:10).
If you have some secret sorrow, tell it to God, but do not impose it needlessly upon men. Anoint your head and wash your face, that you appear not to men to fast, and He who sees the secret tears will comfort you openly (Mat_6:17-18). The pain and sorrow of the world is undeniable, even worse than many of us realise, but this is largely due to the intrusion of sin and selfishness which can only be expelled by Love. But even this gives opportunity for that unselfish ministry and devotion which are the keys of the blessed life. In so far as we dedicate our lives to help Christ in His redeeming work of delivering souls out of the power of darkness and translating them into the Kingdom of Life and Light, we share in His perennial blessedness.
It must have been a time of unusual joy when the returned exiles reviewed the finished wall which now engirded the city. There was the consciousness of a finished work. It is always delightful when we have done to the very best of our ability a piece of work that needed doing. One of the elements of a thoroughly enjoyable holiday is to be able to look back on a bit of good construction, a piece of brick or stone work which will endure in the edifice of our own lives or of other people's.
In addition, there was the Book of the Law of God, in which they read from day to day. Let us take the Bible with us on our holidays! We shall find that it will yield new meaning as we study it by lake or mountain; as we ponder it in country lanes, or by the seashore, One like the Son of Man will walk beside us, and apply its teaching till our hearts burn within us, and we are no more sad.

PRAYER
We thank Thee for eyes that see, and hearts that love, and natures that can enjoy Thy good and perfect gifts. O Father, in Whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. AMEN.
Where to Go at Christmas
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem— Luk_2:15
Bethlehem Did Not Know What God Was Doing in Its Midst
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, that we may see the unobtrusiveness of God. How little the great world knew that night of all that was happening at the inn! The inn itself was crowded; every corner of it housed a traveler. Men were talking excitedly and eagerly on a hundred subjects of the hour. And the great subject of eternity—the birth that was to alter all the future—unobserved, was at their very hand. Nobody was discussing that. The innkeeper would wish to keep it quiet. A few might wonder what was going on in the manger, but they would give to it only a passing thought. And it was thus that the Redeemer came, for the King is really the Kingdom, and cometh not with observation. The old Greeks used to say that the gods come to us on feet of wool. It was thus that God came when His Son was born, in the greatest moment of all history. Men were trafficking, and little children playing, and women gossiping beside the well—and lo! the kingdom of heaven was among them.
No One Expected Christ to Be Born in a Manger
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, that we may see the unexpectedness of God. Here was the heavenly purpose of the ages, fulfilled in a Babe lying in a manger, it was a common dream that the Christ would come in power, breaking into the world of time magnificently. Even if born (as prophecy had hinted), there would be visible splendor at His birth. The last thing that anyone expected, was that the Christ would be a manger-child, unable to find housing in an inn. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Isa_55:8). The manger is forever preaching that, and we are forever slow to take it in. When we are tempted to dictate to heaven, and to "limit the Holy One of Israel," let us instantly turn our steps to Bethlehem.
They all were looking for a King
To slay their foes and lift them high:
Thou cam'st, a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
In Their Obedience the Shepherds Found God to Be Faithful
Let us now go again even unto Bethlehem, that we may see the faithfulness of God. That was what the shepherds found that night. When the shining angels went away, everything would be darker on the hill. Often in life the very darkest hours follow hard on the splendor of the vision. And one pictures the shepherds, in that enfolding darkness, no longer "chatting in a rustic row," but wondering if it all had been a dream. It is characteristic of these honest souls that they put things to the proof at once. They did not discuss the vision; they obeyed it. And so obeying, when everything was dark, and when the night had swallowed up the glory, they discovered the faithfulness of God. Was there a scoffer, I wonder, in their company? Did he warn them that they were self-deceived? Did he bid them "tarry by the sheep-folds," for that they would go to the city and find nothing? Then, with a wisdom that learning cannot give, they disregarded him, and made for Bethlehem, and found their proof of the faithfulness of God. That is how we always find it. It is not enough to have the hour of vision. Visions unacted on and unobeyed never authenticate high heaven, it is when the vision goes, and through the following darkness we carry on, though with a sinking heart, that we find He is always better than His word. To act instantly on what has been revealed to us, though there be nothing round us but the familiar pastures; to obey, when the voices of heaven are all silenced, and we hear only the bleating of the sheep, that, for us, as for these simple shepherds, is the way to discover the faithfulness of God in the unspeakable gift of the Lord Jesus.
God Uses Human Hands to Dispense His Higher Gifts
Let us now go yet again even unto Bethlehem, that we may see how God needs human service. The shepherds came to the Baby in the manger—and Joseph and Mary were both there. When God sends rain, man cannot interfere. It is the unaided ministry of heaven. When God sends sunshine, He does not ask our help. It comes quite independently of man. But one mark of all the higher gifts of God is that something is always left for man to do, and he is summoned to be a fellow-worker. The gift of the corn demands the farmer's aid. The gift of the olive-trees demands the gardener. The precious gift of the little crying infant demands the love and watching of the mother. And the Babe at Bethlehem, the greatest gift of all, was not alone when the shepherds reached the manger—even for that gift, human hands were needed. The infant Christ demanded loving service. Without that service He could not have lived. May I not say that He demands it now as imperiously as He ever did at Bethlehem? All which does not decry the great word gift, for always, the nobler be God's gift, the more it claims the toil of human hands.
God's Gifts Reveal His Thoughtfulness and Understanding
Let us now go once more even unto Bethlehem, that we may see the thoughtfulness of God. For that gift, though few might have known it then, was exactly what all the world was needing. Sometimes, even at Christmas, we get gifts which do not speak of thoughtfulness. We feel that the giver has never really known us, or he would never have given us a thing like that. But love and thoughtfulness and perfect understanding (which is always one of the sweetest fruits of love) are mingled in that Christmas gift at Bethlehem. "Thou, O Christ, art all I want, More than all in Thee I find." The cultured Roman and the savage African were all to agree that this was true. I think as years roll on, and hours of triumph reach us, and shadows fall, and days of heartbreak come, one of the most wonderful of life's discoveries is the all-sufficiency of Christ.

Morning
“Forsake me not, O Lord.”
- Psa_38:21
Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation, but we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. There is no moment of our life, however holy, in which we can do without his constant upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in temptation, we alike need the prayer, “Forsake me not, O Lord.” “Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” A little child, while learning to walk, always needs the nurse’s aid. The ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We cannot do without continued aid from above; let it then be your prayer to-day, “Forsake me not. Father, forsake not thy child, lest he fall by the hand of the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety of the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake not thy plant, lest it wither and die. ‘Forsake me not, O Lord,’ now; and forsake me not at any moment of my life. Forsake me not in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in my sorrows, lest I murmur against thee. Forsake me not in the day of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into despair; and forsake me not in the day of my strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. Forsake me not, for without thee I am weak, but with thee I am strong. Forsake me not, for my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot do without thy guidance. The hen forsakes not her brood, do thou then evermore cover me with thy feathers, and permit me under thy wings to find my refuge. ‘Be not far from me, O Lord, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.’ ‘Leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!’“
“O ever in our cleansed breast,
Bid thine Eternal Spirit rest;
And make our secret soul to be
A temple pure and worthy thee.”

Evening
“And they rose up the same hour, and returned Jerusalem ... and they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them.”
- Luk_24:33,Luk_24:35
When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were refreshing themselves at the evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them upon the road, took bread and brake it, made himself known to them, and then vanished out of their sight. They had constrained him to abide with them, because the day was far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp to their feet, yea, wings also; they forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone, and forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell the gladsome news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by the way. They reached the Christians in Jerusalem, and were received by a burst of joyful news before they could tell their own tale. These early Christians were all on fire to speak of Christ’s resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the Lord; they made common property of their experiences. This evening let their example impress us deeply. We too must bear our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account of the sepulchre needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from which nothing can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts and special manifestations; but the one object God has in view is the perfecting of the whole body of Christ. We must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them at the apostle’s feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has given to us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know, and testify what you have seen. Let not the toil or darkness, or possible unbelief of your friends, weigh one moment in the scale. Up, and be marching to the place of duty, and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.

Fire From Heaven
Luk_9:51-56

Background
To understand this passage we need a little background first.
· In this culture, to refuse hospitality was considered a rude insult. There were no hotels; travelers stayed with whom they could. It was considered an honor for the traveler to choose your home.
· But these were Samaritans, and the racial hatred between them and the Jews was intense.
This account occurs only in Luke's Gospel. Luke wrote specifically to the Gentiles, which is why we see it here.
The Apostle of Love
If you ask most Christians about the Apostle John, and what he wrote, you will find two answers. One is Revelation; the other is love, for John is known as the Apostle of Love. Why, then, does he propose to bring down fire from heaven?
· He is zealous for the Lord. Perhaps he remembers that it was very near this town that Elijah called down fire from heaven upon the messengers of the King of Israel.
· Perhaps this is nothing but a beginner's mistake. He is zealous, but like many beginners he has trouble balancing his thoughts, knowing when to condemn and when to be patient.
· Most likely, however, we are seeing the difference the Resurrection makes in the life of the true Christian. Before the Resurrection, the thunder of the Old Testament is heard. After the Resurrection, the sweet song of grace.
Reaction of Christ
Some older versions carry the phrase, "You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." It is probably not in the original, but it expresses Christ's view clearly. He did not come to pass judgment on the world, but to save the world from its sins. Therefore, he will bring fire down on no one.
The key is found in one word: "steadfastly." Jesus had a mission to perform. He had to go to Jerusalem, to suffer and die for the sins of the world, and be raised from the dead, first fruits of the resurrection to come. All he did was for that end. Thus he will not condemn to the fire those for whom he is about to die. We are the recipients—and ambassadors—of that grace.


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