Edition 69.  14th January 2011

In this edition:

●Wise words of old (part three)

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Wise words of old (part three)

●This edition is aimed more at your heart than your head. You can know many things and still have a rotten heart. You can have a heart after God and be in ignorance of much truth. Both a soft heart and a head of wisdom are needed. Please also see: "Wise Words of Old" parts one and two. They are: edition 17 and edition 40.

This is the third in the "Wise Words" editions. I've divided it into two sections. The first is a collection of some of my favourite words, from God. These are living words that have become a part of my life. They are more important than any words that have ever come from the mouth of any human being ever.

The second section is a collection of quotes from one of my favourite men of God. These are men who've been influential in moulding the foundations of my life. They're old-school disciples, who are long gone, but with a living, deep message. If these words were relevant back then, they are much more so for the neglected hearts of today's superficial, self-centred believers.

*** Please be aware that many of these quotes are from memory as the original books are long gone. Therefore they may not be word for word. It's the message that counts.

Wise words from God:

Job 34:29 "When He gives quietness, who then can make trouble? And when He hides His face, who then can see Him, whether it is against a nation or a man alone?"

Job42:5-6 "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my (spiritual) eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."

Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more."

Psalm 18:32 "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect."

Psalm 25:4-5 "Show me Your ways O lord and teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation, on You I wait all the day."

Psalm 27:4-5 "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He will hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me and set me high upon a rock."

Psalm 30:10-12 "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, to the end that my glory shall sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God I will give thanks to You forever."

Psalm 42:7 "Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all your waves and billows have gone over me."

Psalm 119:11 "Your word I have hidden in my heart." Verse 133 "Direct my steps by Your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me."

Psalm 119:63 "I am a companion of those who fear You and those who keep your precepts."

Psalm 119"104-105 "Through Your precept I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Psalm 119:165 "Great peace have they that love Your word and nothing causes them to stumble."

Proverbs 3:5-7 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil."

Isaiah 33:6 "Wisdom and knowledge (of God) will be the stability of your times, and strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord is His treasure."

Jeremiah 10:23 "O Lord, I know the way of a man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps."

Jeremiah 15:16 "Your words were found and I ate them and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

Jeremiah 17:5 "Cursed is the man who trust in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord.'

Jeremiah 17:7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is in the Lord, for he shall be like a tree planted by the waters."

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty which you do not know."

Wise words from men of God:

A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)

●"If I see aright, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament. It is rather, a new, bright ornament on the bosom of a self-assured and carnal Christian. The old cross slew men, the new cross entertains them. The old cross condemned; the new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh; the new cross encourages it."

●"The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the church is famished for want of His presence."

●"As sunlight falls on an open field, so the knowledge of the holy God is a free gift to men who are open to receive it. But this knowledge is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them."

●"These quasi Christians follow a quasi Christ. They want His help, but not His interference. They will flatter Him but never obey Him."

●"To be Bible taught and not Spirit taught is a great error."

●"The Pharisees looked straight at the light of the world for three years and not a single ray of light reached their inner beings. The gospel is light but only the Spirit gives sight."

●"Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can only be removed by spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. There must be a destructive work of God in us before we are free. We must invite the cross to do it's deadly work within us."

●"The man who takes up his cross will soon find that he is moving away from the grave. Death is behind him now and a joyous increasing life is before him."

●"Because the world is whitewashed, blind people posing as believers can't see it at all.

●"A whole new generation of believers has arisen believing that it is possible to accept Christ without forsaking the world."

●"To accept Christ means that we are to accept His friends as ours, His enemies as ours, His ways as ours, His rejection as ours, His cross as ours and His future as ours."

●" When we are too glib in our prayers we are speaking to ourselves."

●"We can prove the quality of our truth by its effect on our self-life God must have our full consent to kill and displace our self-life with Person of Christ. Another certain test is this: What is its effects on our relationship to the world. A further test of the genuineness of our spiritual experience is its effects on sin and our desire for holiness."

●"Our Lord cannot fully bless and use a person until He has fully conquered him."

●" You can and must make your thoughts a clean sanctuary. Our thoughts are the decorations inside the sanctuary where we live. Your thoughts pretty much decide the mood and climate of your heart."

●"Be hard on yourself, easy on others. Bear your own cross, but don't lay one on another's back."

●"Compromise will take the pressure off. Satan will not bother a person who has quit fighting. The cost of quitting will be a life of peaceful stagnation...a cost we cannot afford."

●"Satan cares little whether we go astray in false doctrine or become stagnant. Either way he wins."

●"It would be near impossible today to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God and a cross of death to be taken up."

●"Grace saves, but it doesn't save you and your idols."

●"If your life does not worship God, your lips do not worship God either."

●"It doesn't matter how many times you've been through the Bible. It's how many times its been through you.".

●"Refuse to be average, let your heart soar as high as it will and your roots be grounded in God. This is the way to an abundant, fruitful life."

 Derek Prince (1915-2003):

●"Islam has 99 names for God, none of then - Father"

●"When God promises to bring Israel back to their land at the close of the age, He still calls it "your own land". In God's sight the ownership of the land has never changed or never will."

●"The Bible never reveals it's secrets to the casual enquirer, the curious or the irreverent sceptic. To them its foolishness."

●"When you fear God you fear nothing else".

●"We must push alone into God's glorious divine presence. Moses was branded by God as he sought Him alone. Jacob wrestled alone with God before becoming Israel. Paul sought the Lord alone in the desert for 14 years before his ministry really began. Daniel had dramatic celestial encounters alone with God. Jesus fasted alone in the desert for 40 days. John saw into the future alone on Patmos".

●"The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today."

●"The Bible is the prison window of this world through which we can see the glories of eternity. If you have the Bible deeply embedded in your heart you are truly free from the world's prison."

●"A single sentence from the mouth of God has more wisdom than all the books of the world."

●"All roads but one lead to Rome and eternal judgement. Only the road lit by God's word leads to eternal glory."

●"We need to understand that God doesn't just tolerate us, His favour is upon us! He is passionately committed to us. We don't have any reason to doubt our access to Him."

●"I'm convinced from the scriptures, that poverty is a curse. If not, why do you work so hard to get rid of it? If it's a blessing, why not pursue it."

●"Satan makes slaves, God makes sons."

●"Our basic problem is that we don't realise how valuable we are."

●"The key to happiness is not being loved, but having someone to love."

●"God is concerned with the restoration of two peoples to whom He's related by covenant, which He has declared He will never break. The first is Israel and the second is the church."

Summary:
It's only with a heart and soul surrendered to our Lord and His word that we're really able to soar like an eagle and break free from the chains of bondage, depression, stress and everything else that comes with the territory of this world.

It takes time and diligence and denial of self to break into this glorious liberty, but, it's worth every little bit.

we are fast entering what the Bible calls "perilous times". This will seen on every front and will cause many to fall away and become spiritually shipwrecked. This tragic time will deter many from their God-given calling and place in our Lord's body.

This is the time to strengthen your foundation and everything that's been built upon it by God. The storms are coming!

In the midst of spiritual anarchy, chaos on every front, and terrible times, God has a plan of victory for those that will walk in His ways. Please don't neglect your heart. Cleanse it and fill it with our wonderful Messiah's word and ways.

The most important thing of life, with eternal consequences is to know God and be known by Him. How do we get Him to know us? 1Corinthians 8:3 "If anyone loves God, this one is known by Him". Here is the amplification of the original words used. "If anyone loves God truly, with affectionate reverence, prompt obedience and grateful recognition of His blessing...he is known by God."

The frightening opposite to this is recorded in a number of verses relating to professing Christians standing before God in judgement- "Depart from me, I never knew you."

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Jeremiah 5:22 "Do you not fear Me, says the Lord, will you not tremble at My presence."

Daniel 2:22 "He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him."

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Heaven or hell:

Old man, you've been blessed with a very long life. What did you do with it? Did you live for yourself or did you live for our Lord? Did you take the trouble to know God? Did you prepare yourself for eternity. Did you simply follow the traditions of your people or did you break free into God's plan for your life? Once you step over the line into eternity, it's too late to make any changes!

Old lady you.ve also been blessed with a long life. What did you do with it? What a tragedy to be given a long life and waste it all. What a tragedy to have many years of potential growth in the grace of Gods will and to miss it all and be cast out into an eternal hell. Very soon you will know whether you've made the biggest mistake anyone can ever make or not!

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Here is a painting representing the Apostle Paul by Rembrandt.

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Kind regards and many blessings...Shalom and grow in grace!

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