Word of Encouragement (11/12/2020)
“20. Never forget that God will answer your prayers on the grounds of His covenant (Zech. 13:9). By grace, God will give, give, and never leave off giving, for His covenant does not allow it. He has promised Himself to you, and He is the infinite, eternal God of bottomless and shoreless bounty; all that has been given to you in Christ is yours to enjoy for the asking! [What a glorious reminder! If we do not see His divine generosity, it is because we are focusing on what we want at the moment and not see the myriads of blessings that we experience in the present and are coming!]
“21. Regarding the ordinances of the Lord’s Day, meditate on these wise words: God’s ordinances are channels and conduits designed for grace to run in, and to convey and dispense the precision blessing of a new and spiritual life to those upon whom He is pleased to bestow it. Those who contemptuously turn their backs on the preaching of the Word and other external means of grace will come to a sad and fruitless end. [Resist the lie that these means of grace are useless and do not work. If we think that way, it is because we expect them to come to us like a special feast rather than a regular meal. This is not to say that God does not give us special, spectacular feasts from time to time. God does! But we have to keep in mind that they are “special” feasts; as such, they are not meant to be an everyday affair. And as we apply ourselves to these means of grace faithfully and diligently, we will grow stronger.]
“22. Weigh the truth established in Isaiah 58:13-14: the promise of delighting ourselves in the Lord is confined to or conditioned upon the duty of delighting in the holy exercise of rightly observing the Lord’s Day.” We reap what we sow. Disappointment and emptiness will be what we reap if we sow worldly pleasures with mindless entertainment. But full and lasting joy will be what we reap if we sow godly joy with “holy exercise of rightly observing the Lord’s Day,” using the means of grace.
Have a blessed day!