Do We See God's True Handiwork?

 by RVD at the Christian Pundit

"We love going through these houses and marveling at how men have taken raw materials from creation, used their gifts to cut, carve, shape and paint, and make something that brings delight: a porch with intricate stone work framing a lovely view; a Durer etching in exactly the right alcove; cut glass that takes sunlight and turns it into thousands of rainbows on a tile floor.

But how often do I take the time to delight in the Lord’s work in the souls of His people? When do I see the Creator’s handiwork in the life of a saint and wonder? Does evidence of sanctification in another believer cause me to marvel as much as Chippendale furniture does?"

Go to the Christian Pundit and read the entire article.
 

Forgiven AND Born Again

"Justification, says Wesley, is a doctrine “relating to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins,” while regeneration relates to “the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature.” Justification is for us, regeneration in us."

This was an excerpt from an article by Fred Sanders at The Scriptorium Daily.  Go to The Scriptorium Daily to read the article in its entirety. It is well written and easy to understand the difference of forgiven and born again. (I never knew there was a difference.)

Have You Fortified Your Walls

by Charles H. Spurgeon

"And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall." Nehemiah 3:8

Cities well fortified have broad walls, and so had Jerusalem in her glory. The New Jerusalem must, in like manner, be surrounded and preserved by a broad wall of nonconformity to the world, and separation from its customs and spirit. The tendency of these days break down the holy barrier, and make the distinction between the church and the world merely nominal. Professors are no longer strict and Puritanical, questionable literature is read on all hands, frivolous pastimes are currently indulged, and a general laxity threatens to deprive the Lord's peculiar people of those sacred singularities which separate them from sinners. It will be an ill day for the church and the world when the proposed amalgamation shall be complete, and the sons of God and the daughters of men shall be as one: then shall another deluge of wrath be ushered in. Beloved reader, be it your aim in heart, in word, in dress, in action to maintain the broad wall, remembering that the friendship of this world is enmity against God.

The broad wall afforded a pleasant place of resort for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, from which they could command prospects of the surrounding bycountry. This reminds us of the Lord's exceeding broad commandments, in which we walk at liberty in communion with Jesus, overlooking the scenes of earth, and looking out towards the glories of heaven. Separated from the world, and denying ourselves all ungodliness and fleshly lusts, we are nevertheless not in prison, nor restricted within narrow bounds; nay, we walk at liberty, because we keep His precepts. Come, reader, this evening walk with God in His statutes. As friend met friend upon the city wall, so meet thou thy God in the way of holy prayer and meditation. The bulwarks of salvation thou hast a right to traverse, for thou art a freeman of the royal burgh, a citizen of the metropolis of the universe.
—Morning and Evening, originally published in 1896