[b]March 21th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
There are some things that God will not tolerate in us. We must leave them. Nehemiah would not talk with Sanballat about his charges and fears. He simply refused to have anything to do with the matter-even to take refuge in the temple to pray about it. How very few things we really have to do with in life. If we would only drop all the needless things and simply do the things that absolutely require our attention from morning till night, we would find what a small slender thread life is. But we string upon it a thousand imaginary beads and burden ourselves with cares and flurries that-if we had trusted more-would never have needed to preoccupy us. Wise indeed was the testimony of the dear old saint who said, in review of her past life, "I have had a great many troubles in my life, especially those that never came." Trust and rest with heart abiding, Like a birdling in its nest, Underneath His feathers hiding, Fold thy wings and trust and rest. Trust and rest, trust and rest, God is working for the best.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 22nd - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
The attitude of faith is simple trust. It is Elijah saying to Ahab, There is a sound of abundance of rain (1 Kings 18:41). But then there comes usually a deeper experience in which the prayer is inwrought. It is Elijah on the mount, with his face between his knees, travailing, as it were, in birth for the promised blessing. He has believed for it and now he must take it. The first is Joash shooting the arrow out of the window, but the second is Joash smiting on the ground and following up his faith by perseverance and victorious testing (2 Kings 13:14-25). It is in this latter place that many of us fall short. We ask much from God, and when God proceeds to give it to us we are not found equal to His expectation. We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end (Hebrews 3:14), and trust Him through it all. Fainting soldier of the Lord, Hear His sweet inspiring word, "I have conquered all thy foes. I have suffered all thy woes; Struggling soldier, trust in Me, I have overcome for thee."

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 23rd - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Resurrected, not raised. There is so much in this distinction. The teaching of human philosophy is that we are to raise humanity to a higher plane. But this is not the gospel. On the contrary, the teaching of the cross is that humanity must die and sink out of sight and then be resurrected, not raised. Resurrection is not an improvement, not elevation; it is a new supernatural life lifting us from nothingness into God and making us partakers of the divine nature. It is a new creation. It is an infinite elevation above the highest plane. Let us refuse anything less than resurrection life. I am crucified with Jesus, And the cross has set me free; I have ris'n again with Jesus, And He lives and reigns in me. This the story of the Master, Through the cross He reached the throne, And like Him our path to glory, Ever leads through death alone,

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 24th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you found the first dose ineffectual. Keep on with your medicine, and when you cannot feel any joy, when there is no wellspring and no seeming comfort and encouragement, still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into temptations, reckon the circumstance joy and delight, and God will make your reckoning good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then cooly stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? Never! The Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance and fill your heart with gladness and praise. You will experience an exhilaration and refreshing because of the fullness of His Spirit within. Lord, teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to rejoice evermore. The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people, The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom; The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow, And sheds o'er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 25th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Someone remarked once that he did not know more disagreeable people than sanctified Christians. He probably meant people who only professed sanctification. There is an angular, hard, unlovely type of Christian character that has little relation to true holiness-at least, not the highest type of holiness. It is the skeleton without the flesh to cover it; it is the naked rock without the vines and foliage that cushion its rugged sides. Jesus was not only virtuous and pure, but He was also beautiful and full of the warm attractivenesss of love. We read of different kinds of graces: Whatsoever things are just, . . . whatsoever things are lovely, . . . [and] of good report (Philippians 4:8). There are a thousand little graces in the Christian life that we cannot afford to ignore. In fact, the last stages in any work of art are always the finishing touches. So let us not wonder if God seems to spend a great deal of time in teaching us the little things that many might consider insignificant. God would have His Bride without spot or even wrinkle.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 26th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Add to your faith, do not add to yourself. This is where we make the mistake. We must not only enter the Christian life by faith, but we must advance by faith each step of the way. At every new stage we shall find ourselves as incompetent and unequal for the pressure as before, and we must take the grace and the victory simply by faith. Is it courage you need? You must claim it by faith. Is it love? You must seek to possess His love, and He will give it. Is it faith itself? You must have the faith of God, and Christ in you will be the spirit of faith as well as the blessing that faith claims. So your whole life, from beginning to end, is but Christ in you-in the exceeding riches of His grace. Thus your everlasting song will be: not I; but Christ who liveth in me. 'Tis so sweet to walk with Jesus, Step by step and day by day; Stepping in His very footprints, Walking with Him all the way.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 27th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
I shall never forget a remark George Mueller once made in answer to a gentleman who asked him the best way to have strong faith. "The only way to learn strong faith," replied the patriarch of faith, 16 is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm in severe testing. What Mr. Mueller said is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails. If we could only realize the value of our present opportunity. Even while we are passing through these great afflictions, we are being held in the very soul of the strongest faith. If we will only let go, He will teach us in these hours the mightiest hold upon this throne which we can ever know. Be not afraid, only believe. If you are afraid, just look up and say, What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee, and you will yet thank God for the school of sorrow which was to you the school of faith. 0 brother, give heed to the warning, And obey His voice today. The Spirit to thee is calling, Oh, do not grieve Him away.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 28th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit. Goodness is just "Godness." it is being like God. And godlike goodness has special reference to the active benevolence of God. The apostle Paul gave us the difference between goodness and righteousness in Romans 5:7: Scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. The righteous man is the man of stiff, inflexible uprightness, but he may be as hard as a granite mountainside. The good man is that mountainside covered with velvet moss and flowers and flowing with cascades and springs. Goodness respects "whatsoever things are lovely." It is kindness, affection, benevolence, sympathy, rejoicing with those who rejoice, and weeping with those who weep. Lord, fill us with Thyself, and let us be God-persons and good persons and so represent Thy goodness. There are lonely hearts to cherish, While the days are going by; There are weary souls who perish, While the days are going by.

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 29th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
Perils as well as privileges attend the higher Christian life. The nearer we come to God, the thicker the hosts of darkness in heavenly places. The safe place lies in obedience to God's Word, singleness of heart and holy vigilance. When Christians speak of standing in a place where they do not need to watch, they are in great danger. Let us walk in intimate and holy confidence, yet with holy, humble watchfulness, and He will keep the feet of his saints. Now unto him [who] is able to keep [us] from falling, and to present [us] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen (Jude 24-25). What to do we often wonder, As we seek some watchword true, Lo, the answer God has given, What would Jesus do? When the shafts of fierce temptation, With their fiery darts pursue, This will be your heavenly armor, What would Jesus do?

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

[b]March 30th - Days of Heaven on Earth[/b]
In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof is no death (Proverbs 12:28). That is the secret of healing. Be right with God. Live in the consciousness of it and nothing can hurt you. All the fiery darts of the devil will glance off the breastplate of righteousness, and faith will be stronger for every fierce assault. How true it is, Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? (1 Peter 3:13). And how true also: Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck (1 Timothy 1:19). And yet again: If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt . . . keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26). There's a question God is asking Every conscience in His sight, L et it search thine inmost being, Is it right with God, all right?

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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon