[b]March 11th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Have you ever thought about the strange way in which God is calling a people out of a people already called? The word ecclesia, or church, means called out, but God is calling out a still more select body from the church to be His bride-those especially prepared for His coming. We see an illustration of this in the story of Gideon. When first he sounded the trumpet of Abiezer there resorted to him more than thirty thousand men; however, he was instructed by God to reduce the number. A first test was applied, appealing to their courage, and all but ten thousand returned home. But there needed to be an additional elimination, and so a second test was applied appealing to their prudence, caution and singleness of purpose, and all but three hundred were refused. With this small but select band, Gideon raised the standard against the Midianites. Through the power of God he won his glorious victory. So in this present day the Master is choosing His three hundred, and by them He will yet win the world for Himself. Let us be sure that we belong to the "out and out" people.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 12th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
All who fight the Lord's battles must be content to die to the favorable opinions of men and the flattery of human praise. We cannot make an exception even in favor of the good opinions of the children of God. It is very easy for the insidious adversary to make this also an appeal to the flesh. It is all right when God sends us the approval of our fellow men; however, we must never make that approval a motive in our life. All such motives are poison and deprive us of the strength with which we are to give glory to God. Rather, we must be content with the solitary way and the lonely wilderness. The man of God must walk alone with God. He must be content in the realization that God knows all things. it is such a relief to the natural man within us to fall back upon human countenances and human thoughts and sympathy that we often deceive ourselves and think it "brotherly love, when, in fact, we are just resting in the earthly sympathy of some fellow worm!

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 13th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Some time ago, I was enjoying a beautiful sunset. The western skies seemed like a great archipelago of golden islands, the masses in the distance rising up into vast mountains of glory. The hue of the sky was so gorgeous that it seemed to reflect itself upon the whole atmosphere as I looked back from the west to the eastern horizon. The whole earth was radiant with glory. The fields had changed to strange red richness, and the earth seemed bathed with the dews of heaven. So it is when the love of God shines through all our celestial sky; it covers everything below, and life becomes radiant with its light. Things that were hard become easy. Things that were biting become sweet. Labor loses its burden, and sorrow becomes silver-lined with hope and gladness. There are two ways of living in God's love: one is constant trust; the other is constant obedience. God's own Word gives the message for both. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love John 15:10).

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 14th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Some time ago, I was enjoying a beautiful sunset. The western skies seemed like a great archipelago of golden islands, the masses in the distance rising up into vast mountains of glory. The hue of the sky was so gorgeous that it seemed to reflect itself upon the whole atmosphere as I looked back from the west to the eastern horizon. The whole earth was radiant with glory. The fields had changed to strange red richness, and the earth seemed bathed with the dews of heaven. So it is when the love of God shines through all our celestial sky; it covers everything below, and life becomes radiant with its light. Things that were hard become easy. Things that were biting become sweet. Labor loses its burden, and sorrow becomes silver-lined with hope and gladness. There are two ways of living in God's love: one is constant trust; the other is constant obedience. God's own Word gives the message for both. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love John 15:10).

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 15th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
There are many different atmospheres in which one may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, their minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their concepts of truth, their tastes and aesthetic nature. Other people live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or worse. Still others live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their lives is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life. Admittedly, in the latter there is a rectitude, an uprightness, a strictness of purpose and of conduct which cannot be ignored or questioned. But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love. As my Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. In the original it is, live in my love. Love is the atmosphere in which He would have us constantly live-that is, believing that He ever loves us and claiming His divine approval and tender regard. This is the life of love.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 16th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
This word glory is a very difficult one to translate, define or explain. But there is something in the spiritual consciousness of the quickened Christian that interprets it. it is the overflow of grace; it is the wine of life; it is the foretaste of heaven; it is a flash from the Throne and an inspiration from the heart of God which we may have and in which we may live. The glory which thou gavest me I have given them (John 17:22), the Master prayed for us. Let us take it and live in it. David used to say, Wake up my glory. Ask God to wake up your glory and enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to dwell on high and sit with Christ in heavenly places. Mounting up with wings as eagles, Waiting on the Lord we rise, Strength exchanging, life renewing, How our spirit heavenward flies. Then our springing feet returning, Tread the pathway of the saint, We shall run and not be weary, We shall walk and never faint.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 17th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
As long as we struggle under law-that is, by our own effort-sin shall have dominion over us. But the moment we step from under the shadow of Sinai and throw ourselves upon the simple grace of Christ and His free and absolute gift of righteousness, the struggle is practically over. We take Him to be to us what He has pledged Himself to be-our righteousness of thought and feeling-and ask Him to keep us, in spite of everything that ever can be against us, in His perfect will and peace. Do we really know and believe that this is the very promise of the gospel, the very essence of the new covenant? Do we believe Christ pledges Himself to put His law in our hearts, to cause us to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments and do them? Do we know that this is the oath which He swore unto Abraham-that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life? (Luke 1:74-75). He has sworn to do this for us, and He is faithful that promised. Let us trust Him.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 18th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
We know what it is to be fireproof or to be waterproof. But it is a greater thing to be sin proof. it is possible to be so filled with the Spirit of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor. It is possible to so know the presence of Jesus that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes. All the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk with a charmed life even through the valley of the shadow of death. The red-hot iron repels the water that touches it and the fingers that would toy with it. If we have been set aflame by the Holy Spirit, Satan will keep his fingers off us, and the cold water that he pours over us will roll off and leave us unharmed. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not (1 John 5:18). Before going into a malarial region, it is well to fortify the system with nourishing food. So we should be fed and filled daily by the life of Christ in such a way that evil cannot invade our lives.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 19th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Many difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian lives might best be settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have, leaving the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have. As we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide. Launch out into the deep with a bold plunge, and Christ will settle for you all the questions that you are now debating. More probably, He will show you their insignificance and let you see that the only way to settle them is to leap over them. They are Satan's petty snares to waste your time and keep you halting when you should be marching on. The mercy of God is an ocean divine, A boundless and fathomless flood; Launch out in the deep, cut away the shoreline, And be lost in the fullness of God.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 20th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
God's people sometimes fight tremendous battles to attain to righteousness in trying circumstances. Perhaps they feel guilt because temptation has been allowed to overcome them or, at least, to turn them aside from their singleness of purpose toward God. The resulting conflict is a terrible one as they seek to adjust and be right with God. They find themselves baffled by spiritual foes, and they are helpless and perplexed. How dark and dreary the struggle! At such times how helpless and ineffectual we seem to be! We are almost sure to strive in the spirit of the law; such striving will always result in condemnation and failure. Every disobedience is met by a blow of wrath and discouragement, and we are close to despair. If the tempted and struggling one could only understand, or remember what perhaps he has learned before, that Christ is our righteousness, and that it is not by law but by grace alone that we conquer. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). That is the secret of the battle.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon