“My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith.” -Philippians 1:23-25

“If you live gladly to make others glad in God, your life will be hard, your risks will be high, and your joy will be full.” -John Piper via Desiring God’s Twitter

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” -Philippians 3:8

I pray that we will be a people who refuse to gorge our spiritual stomachs on the entertaining pleasures of this world, because we have chosen to find our satisfaction in the eternal treasure of His Word. -David Platt in Radical

He will keep the feet of His saints. -1 Samuel 2:9

The way is slippery and our feet are feeble, but the Lord will keep our feet. If we give ourselves up by obedient faith to be His holy ones, He will Himself be our guardian. Not only will He charge His angels to keep us, but He Himself will preserve our goings.

He will keep our feet from falling so that we do not defile our garments, wound our souls, and cause the enemy to blaspheme.

He will keep our feet from wandering so that we do not go into paths of error, or ways of folly, or courses of the world’s custom.

He will keep our feet from swelling through weariness, or blistering because of the roughness and length of the way.

He will keep our feet from wounding: our shoes shall be iron and brass so that even though we tread on the edge of the sword, or on deadly serpents, we shall not bleed or be poisoned.

He will also pluck our feet out of the net. We shall not be entangled by the deceit of our malicious and crafty foes.

With such a promise as this, let us run without weariness and walk without fear. He who keeps our feet will do it effectually.

[from Faith's Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Luke 3:1-4 | Sunday Morning | Pastor Steve Wainright | AUDIO

The voice of John the Baptist was crying out in the wilderness…a message of forgiveness. To understand your need for forgiveness, you must see how sinful you are.

God is willing to forgive, but repentance is a requirement. Repentance is not a work that you do to receive salvation. It is not a work of the flesh. It is a work of the Spirit.

Repentance and faith always go hand-in-hand. They’re inseparable graces. Repent = turn from old sin/Faith = turn to God [1 Thessalonians 1:9; Acts 5:31] It is God who gives repentance. The Spirit works in us to give us. [2 Timothy 2:24-25]

You can be sorry and stop doing certain things, but it is fleeting if it is in the flesh. But with godly sorrow, our hearts our turned towards God and you don’t want to sin. You have a zeal for the glory of God and a zeal to hate the things He hates. [2 Corinthians 7:9-11]

“For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” -2 Corinthians 5:21

One reason we give up in our efforts to obey is because we obsess more over our performance for Jesus than we do Jesus’ performance for us. -Tullian Tchividjian

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” -Ephesians 5:20

Gratitude ought to be, and I believe it is, in the heart the most powerful force in human motive. – C.H. Spurgeon

And He said, “Certainly I will be with thee.” -Exodus 3:12

Of course, if the Lord sent Moses on an errand, He would not let him go alone. The tremendous risk which it would involve and the great power it would require would render it ridiculous for God to send a poor lone Hebrew to confront the mightiest king in all the world and then leave him to himself. It could not be imagined that a wise God would match poor Moses with Pharaoh and the enormous forces of Egypt. Hence He says, “Certainly I will be with thee,” as if it were out of the question that He would send him alone.

In my case, also, the same rule will hold good. If I go upon the Lord’s errand with a simple reliance upon His power and a single eye to His glory, it is certain that He will be with me. His sending me binds Him to back me up. Is not this enough? What more can I want? If all the angels and arch- angels were with me. I might fail; but if He is with me, I must succeed. Only let me take care that I act worthily toward this promise. Let me not go timidly, halfheartedly, carelessly, presumptuously. What manner of person ought he to be who has God with him! In such company it behoveth me to play the man and, like Moses, go in unto Pharaoh without fear.

[from Faith's Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Bro. Anthony Vance brought forth two encouraging and challenging messages on Sunday, both of which were from James 1:1-12.
You can listen to the morning sermon audio here. The evening audio will be posted sometime soon.  

The Fact of Trials:
-Trials exist, there’s a divine purpose behind all of them, and He’s working all of them together for our good!
-Trials come to test our faith…to prove something…to demonstrate something.
-If there’s a test, there’s a Tester with a purpose for the test.
-Our faith is the focus of the test. It is being tested to purify and grow it. Through testing, the substance and sincerity of our faith will be revealed.
-A trial can be defined as any time you have the opportunity to either believe God or doubt Him.
-What He says is always better than what we see.
-Joy is found in looking at God, not your trials.

The Believer’s Mindset & Attitude in Trials
1.) We aren’t to be surprised by our trials. (James 1:2- “when” not “if”)
2.) We aren’t to respond to them artificially.
-True Christianity is not an act. Don’t fake it, faith it to experience His grace in these trials.
-You NEED trials so you can mature and grow…to test the genuineness of your faith. (1 Peter 1:3-7)
3.) Respond to trials with obedience.
4.) Respond to these trials in faith.
-You can trust and obey because you KNOW (vs. 3). Rejoice in a trial with knowledge that God is up to something good.
-Stay in the storm. Rely on His grace. It works patience, strengthens our prayer life, and makes us more grateful.
-Be convinced that the love of God is behind your situation.
5.) We aren’t to respond to trials with anything but truth.
-Wonder what He’s up to? Ask Him. Search the Scriptures in faith. There is a purpose. (vs. 5)
vs. 12- Do you have a Biblical view of and response to your trials? Purpose in your heart that you will obey Him in advance.

Believe Him in every trial you will face.