Bible – Endless Spiritual Insight

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Deuteronomy 11:18-22, “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth. For if you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, . . .”

2 Timothy 3:14-17, You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

It Never Grows Old

The poet Wallace Stevens was inspired to write thirty-three meditations on The Man with a Blue Guitar, each a different interpretation of the painting.

General George Custer spoke in awe of the seemingly endless central plains, echoing the feelings of numerous travelers as far back as Coronado’s explorations: The plains were a series of undulating hills, like stationary waves of a vast sea; they rolled in endless procession to infinity.

All who study the Bible experience a similar wonder. The Word seems so simple, but it has the deceptive depth of clear water. Its apparent message to us, while very true, is soon multiplied by other messages, just as true and complementing the first. God gave us a book that has never changed since written, yet it continues to yield new insights as we mature spiritually.

Even if you study all your life through every book of the Bible, whey you finish you will say with Joseph Parker (after twenty-five years of preaching from every text of the Bible) that you are essentially at the first chapter, the first verse of Genesis – you have yet to begin.

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Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley copyright © 1995 by Word, Incorporated. Used by permission.
*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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The Battle Is Mine!


the battle is the lord's

Do you understand
who you are to ME?
I have now dispatched
forth MY great army.

I have watched you forge
through the pain and tears
And you kept the faith
all these very years.

Like “The Dreamer”
And like “The Poet King
You pushed past your fears
And you chose to sing.

You have stood your ground
And held up your sword
Now this Battle’s MINE
For I AM THE LORD!!

Yes . . . you are in ME
as I AM in you
Now look past the storm
For I bring you through!

I have promised never
To leave your side
You are “ABBA’s Own”
And called “Heaven’s Bride!”

You gave HIM your heart
HE gave you HIS SON
Now! Stand back and watch!
For THE BATTLE’S WON!!

Joseph . . . The Dreamer
David . . . The Poet King

Monika Langguth
February 18th, 2022©
TGBTG (To God Be The Glory)
Monika Langguth | Facebook

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 3/01/2022

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For 3-01-2022:

Jesus said, “I will take the cup of salvation;” and he did take it—the cup of our deliverance. Bitter were its drops; gall lay in its depths; there were groans, and sighs, and tears, within the red mixture; but he took it all, and drank it to its dregs, and swallowed all the awful draught. All was gone. He drank the cup of salvation, and he ate the bread of affliction.

Mark 13:34-36, Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

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C. H. Spurgeon and Terence Peter Crosby, 365 Days with Spurgeon (Volume 1) (Leominster, UK: Day One Publications, 1998).
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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/28/2022

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For 2-28-2022:

Glory in the paradoxes of Christ—seen as old, yet young; God and man; A.D. yet B.C.; David’s Son, yet David’s Lord; a Shepherd, yet a Lamb; the Master, yet a Servant; the Great High Priest, yet the Sacrifice; the Immortal who died and rose again!

Revelation 1:17-18, And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/27/2022

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For 2-27-2022:

We should expect to be among wolves in the world, but beware of them when they are in the church, undetected and unconverted.

Matthew 7:15-16, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/25/2022

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For 2-25-2022:

A small percentage of Christians would be regarded as great in worldly terms—only a tiny fraction of preachers would be so described. Are your preachers suitably honoured and supported by your church?

1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; . . .”

1 Timothy 5:17, ” Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/24/2022

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For 2-24-2022:

He who reads the Bible with the eye of faith, desiring to discover its hidden secrets, sees something more in the Saviour’s death than Roman cruelty or Jewish malice: he sees the solemn decree of God fulfilled by men, who were the ignorant, but guilty instruments of its accomplishment. So the question is, Who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son?

Isaiah 53:10, “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/23/2022

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For 2-23-2022:

Are there Christians—missionaries perhaps—to whom you look up in the wrong way? These deserve your respect, but they need your prayers, not your pedestals. They surely feel their own weakness and very probably look up to their own Christian heroes! The apostles knew their own and one another’s weaknesses and pointed away from themselves to God.

Acts 14:15, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, . . .”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/22/2022

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For 2-22-2022:

Paul always looked back with amazement when he recalled God’s grace to him, the chief of sinners, who so persecuted the Church. Our gratitude and love to God can sadly be limited by our failure to realize how sinful we really are and how much he has forgiven us.

Ephesians 1:7-8, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, . . .”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/21/2022

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For 2-21-2022:

Salvation is all of God—the work is all done by him. And yet he grants to believers the privilege of being co-opted as his fellow-workers to advertise the gospel on his behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20, “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/20/2022

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For 2-20-2022:

Commonsense should tell us that when something clean and something unclean brush against one another, the unclean object is not improved but the clean object is changed for the worse.

2 Corinthians 6:14-15, “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever?”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/18/2022

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For 2-18-2022:

Not think about him, and dream about him; but we shall positively “see him as he is.” How different that sight of him will be from that which we have here. For here we see him by reflection. Now, I have told you before, we see Christ “through a glass darkly;” then we shall see him face to face.

1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/17/2022

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For 2-17-2022:

Unless there be a true and hearty confession of our sins to God, we have no promise that we shall find mercy through the blood of the Redeemer. “Whoso confesseth (his sins) and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Romans 3:23-24, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, . . .”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/16/2022

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For 2-16-2022:

A grain of truth is a diamond, and a grain of error may be of serious consequence to us, to our injury and hurt.

James 3:1-2, “My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many things. If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/15/2022

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For 2-15-2022:

How observant are you? The world around us is always teaching us lessons and underlining the truths of God’s Word.

Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, . . .”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/14/2022

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For 2-14-2022:

Does your heart condemn you before God? The Lord Jesus Christ is your defence lawyer, but only if you are trusting in him as your Saviour, and he can silence even the condemnation coming from your own heart.

1 John 2:1-2, “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”

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God Will Provide!

anecdotal stories

Pastor’s Note: With the turmoil in the world today and especially in the Nation of the U.S. it is often the topic of conversation among Christians about the hard times that appear to be about to face us. Yet God, in His graciousness and mercy has shown us through His Scripture in story AND examples that He will ALWAYS care for His children and especially when it comes to their needs. Here is an example that was sent via email many years ago as a way to encourage believers during the Y2K threat that so many were fearful of. God took care of His children then; He certainly won’t forget them just because it is a new era. God’s plans WILL unfold, and His children will be the beneficiaries of His perfect will being accomplished. So be encouraged and be blessed by this true story.

“The word of the Lord came to him, (Elijah) saying, ‘Go away from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.  And it shall be that you shall drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.’  So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and lived by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.  The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.” – 1 Kings 17:2-6 (NASB).

Herman Brown went into business in 1909, building roads in the Texas Hill Country.  He worked hard and faithfully, becoming a foreman and then a contractor.  Political patronage and legal connections brought him a road-building contract.  Having borrowed to the limit to finance a project, he found himself broke when rains made further work impossible.  He couldn’t even afford feed for his mules.  At that point a local merchant gave him feed on credit.  Years later when Brown was a successful contractor, he heard that the merchant had gone broke in the Depression and lived in poverty.  Within a few days the old man received a check in the mail big enough to erase money worries for the rest of his life.  His kindness had been remembered.

We never know when a kindness shown will become a kindness returned.  Given the seemingly irrational circumstances of life, any of us could someday be the object, not the origin, of the generosity we now express.  Those who faithfully help others in their distress seldom lack help in their own.  We need to remember that when we give as unto the Lord, not expecting return, He becomes our source; and His supply is limitless.  God Bless!

From an email circulation years ago. Author Unknown.

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 2/13/2022

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For 2-13-2022:

The unbeliever needs to hear in order to believe; the believer needs to believe in order to hear.

Romans 10:14, “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 1/18/2022

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For 1-18-2022:

Getting to know Christ now is the process by which the Christian will become like Christ in the future. We may say “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it,” but the image of Christ in the believer is no more impossible to God than the conception of Christ in a virgin.

Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.”

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Thought of the Day – C.H. Spurgeon – 1/17/2022

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For 1-17-2022:

The Christian’s sufficiency is not his own but comes from God.

2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, . . .”

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