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He is to be Imitated...

From Spurgeon's Morning & Evening -

"Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him."
- John 12:2

He is to be envied.

It was well to be Martha and serve, but better to be Lazarus and commune.

There are times for each purpose, and each is comely in its season, but none of the trees of the garden yield such clusters as the vine of fellowship. To sit with Jesus, to hear His words, to mark His acts, and receive His smiles, was such a favor as must have made Lazarus as happy as the angels. When it has been our happy lot to feast with our Beloved in His banqueting-hall, we would not have given half a sigh for all the kingdoms of the world, if so much breath could have bought them.

He is to be imitated.

It would have been a strange thing if Lazarus had not been at the table where Jesus was, for he had been dead, and Jesus had raised him. For the risen one to be absent when the Lord who gave him life was at his house, would have been ungrateful indeed.

We too were once dead, yea, and like Lazarus stinking in the grave of sin; Jesus raised us, and by His life we live-can we be content to live at a distance from him? Do we omit to remember Him at His table, where He deigns to feast with His brethren? Oh, this is cruel! It behoves us to repent, and do as He has bidden us, for His least wish should be law to us. To have lived without constant intercourse with one of whom the Jews said, "Behold how He loved him," would have been disgraceful to Lazarus, is it excusable in us whom Jesus has loved with an everlasting love? To have been cold to Him who wept over his lifeless corpse, would have argued great brutishness in Lazarus. What does it argue in us over whom the Savior has not only wept, but bled? Come, brethren, who read this portion, let us return unto our heavenly Bridegroom, and ask for His Spirit that we may be on terms of closer intimacy with Him, and henceforth sit at the table with Him.

Feast with the Lord today, and every day!

If we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we may go in faith to the Lord of the house!

O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah. Behold our shield, O God, and look upon the face of Your anointed. For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You!
(Psalms 84:8-12 NASB)

(From Matthew Henry's Commentary) In all our addresses to God, we must desire that He would look on Christ, His Anointed One, and accept us for His sake: we must look to Him with faith, and then God will with favor look upon the face of the Anointed: we, without Him, dare not show our faces.
Let us account one day in God's courts better than a thousand spent elsewhere; and deem the meanest place in his service preferable to the highest earthly preferment. We are here in darkness, but if God be our God, He will be to us a Sun, to enlighten and enliven us, to guide and direct us. We are here in danger, but He will be to us a Shield, to secure us from the fiery darts that fly thick about us. Through He has not promised to give riches and dignities, He has promised to give grace and glory to all that seek them in His appointed way. And what is grace, but heaven begun below, in the knowledge, love, and service of God? What is glory, but the completion of this happiness, in being made like to Him, and in fully enjoying Him forever? Let it be our care to walk uprightly, and then let us trust God to give us every thing that is good for us. If we cannot go to the house of the Lord, we may go by faith to the Lord of the house; in Him we shall be happy, and may be easy. That man is really happy, whatever his outward circumstances may be, who trusts in the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob.

Today is my favorite day!

I am happy in the Lord Jesus today. He has redeemed me and His mercy is forever surrounding me. Like refreshing raindrops replenishing a parched and dusty land, God's grace falls upon me continuously. I praise God because He first loved me. I am deeply grateful for the blessings God repeatedly showers upon me. It is all for His glory and praise.

I can only imagine what eternity will be like with no more sin to spoil the simple joys. I cannot wait to find a voice to match the joy bursting within my heart when I sing praises to my God and Savior! I cannot wait for this earthly struggle to be over. And, if my job in heaven will be to scrub the thresh-hold to God's throne room…that will be pure bliss compared to anything of value or reputation here on this earth. In the Spirit, I can sit at the feet of my Savior now…but, oh, what limitless joy when the old is burned away and the transformed me will find rest eternally face to face. None of this is because of anything I have done or earned, but only because of what Christ has done for me, to me and through me.

Today is definitely my favorite day!

Happy Thanksgiving week to you and your beloved.

Living for Whom or What?

[From Spurgeon's Morning & Evening] Christ is EVERLASTING. Of Him we may sing with David, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." Rejoice, believer, in Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. Jesus always was. The Babe born in Bethlehem was united to the Word, which was in the beginning, by Whom all things were made. The title by which Christ revealed Himself to John in Patmos was, "Him which is, and which was, and which is to come." (Psalms 93:1-5 NASB)

I met Frank when I was either 30 or 31 years of age (shocking, I know). I thought I was a pretty "modern" female and embraced change gracefully (that there is an adverb), even exuberantly (another adverb). I wander. Oh yes….Frank….was like this live-wire from another galaxy, far, far away. He was so ALIVE. As our relationship progressed, I was constantly surprised and delighted to find a soul mate. In the genesis of our relationship, I confessed to Frank my concern (okay, honestly it was fear) he would eventually find me dull and boring. He locked his gaze upon me and looked out at me through those wicked green windows (some call eyes) and smiled that impossibly adorable impish smile, which would remind most of you of someone who has a secret to tell, but will not. At this point in our relationship, he warned me HE was the "calm" one in his family. He believed I would find him dull and boring long before he found me dull and boring. I began to hope and eventually believe he knew what he was talking about (that he wouldn't find me dull and boring). With the huge exception, I have yet to find Frank dull or boring. He still fascinates me…causes butterflies in my stomach….and is still so ALIVE. I've discovered he is not from a galaxy, far, far away…the one he's from is much closer by about 1-2 hundred thousand light years! Because of Frank, I have a better understanding of God's unconditional love for me…a deeper relationship with God…and a greater desire to care more about what God thinks of me, rather than people. It is hard to fathom, but I am more in-love with Frank today, than I was when I first married him. And, I believe the same is true of him for me.

Before you think I'm getting all mushy and romantical on you, read on my devoted following of two. Can you fathom, can you get your heart around the fact our God never changes and is everlasting? Do you rest in the significance that our Lord and Savior is the same "yesterday, today & forever?

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?" Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
(Hebrews 13:5-9 NASB)

It is interesting to notice as we fall in love with God and search to know Him, it SEEMS He changes. The reality is, it is us who is changing and by God's work via the Holy Spirit, He is conforming us more and more to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Who are your friends? What are the influences in your life? Are they encouraging you to grow in your relationship with Christ? Are they cheering you on to fall in-love, more and more with Him? Chances are, if you find your friends, your activities, your interests more ALIVE and worth your time than pursuing Christ, you are just living in the moment.

Are you living in the moment or living in Christ?