Spiritual beauty

Today's Scripture Audio Devotional:

Psalm 51   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

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Spiritual beauty

(J. R. Miller, "Strength and Beauty")

"Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness; tremble before Him, all the earth!" Psalm 96:9

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." Psalm 90:17

Paul enjoins that, "whatsoever things are lovely" shall be in the vision of life, into which we aim to fashion our character.

We are to follow in the footsteps of our Master. Jesus Himself was, "Altogether lovely!" Song of Songs 5:16

Humanity was made to be beautiful. God's ideal for man was spotless loveliness--man was made at first, in God's image. But sin has left its foul trail everywhere! We see something of its debasement, wherever we go. What ruins sin has wrought!

All of Christ's work of grace--is towards the restoration of beauty of the Lord in His people.

Spiritual beauty is holiness. Nothing unclean is lovely. Character is Christ-like, only when it is beautiful.

All the precepts of the Bible are towards the fashioning of beauty in every redeemed life. We are to put away . . .
  all that is sinful,
  all marring,
  every blot and blemish,
  every unholy desire, feeling and affection,
  everything that would defile--
and put on whatsoever is lovely and Christ-like.

The one great work of Christ in Christian lives--is the fashioning of holiness in them. We are to grow away from . . .
  our deformities,
  our faults,
  our infirmities,
  our poor dwarfed stunted life
--into spiritual beauty!

The mark set before us is the likeness of Christ, which, at last, we shall attain! "We know that when He appears--we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is! And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself--just as He is pure." 1 John 3:2-3

God is One Prayer

God is One

 

The One and Only God,

Creator and Sustainer of the vast universe, we acknowledge that You alone are God and there is none other beside You.

What hope and assurance this provides for us, Your simple creation.

Your knowledge of us is complete and perfect. Your understanding of our needs and desires is clearer than even our own understanding of ourselves.

You provide perfection in care every moment of every day. There is no mistakes or lapses in Your tender care.

Nothing happens of which You were not, are not, nor will not be aware. You are the builder and painter creating a masterpiece.

There is none who provide counsel to You but You alone.

None other can over power You

None can usurp Your authority

None other can override Your will or purpose.

None other can demand our allegiance or service.

None other can define truth.

None other can do what You do.

None other can be what You are.

You alone are God and upon this truth, we place our entire hope, faith, love, and purpose.

One and Only God, our allegiance we give to you for none other has the right or power to claim it. We give it willingly and joyously!

It took the baby out of the young mother's arms the other night!

Today's Scripture Audio Devotional:

Psalm 42   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

It took the baby out of the young mother's arms the other night!

(J. R. Miller, "Afterward You Will Understand" 1909)

He came to Simon Peter, who asked Him, "Lord, are You going to wash my feet?"
Jesus answered him, "What I am doing--you do not understand now; but afterward you will understand." John 13:7

We are assured that God has a plan for each individual life of His redeemed children. Jesus had a purpose in washing the feet of his disciples that night. It was not an idle thing that He was doing. He meant to teach these men a great lesson.

He has a purpose in every smallest thing, in each event in our lives. His plans run on through all the years, and are woven of the threads of the common events of our lives. We do not know the meaning of the small things in our everyday experiences--but the least of them is in some way connected with the great divine plan.

God's plan for each life includes the smallest affairs of that life. The things that come into our experience are not mere chance. 'Chance' is not a good word; at least we may not use it to mean something that broke into our life independently of God. Nothing ever comes into our experience by chance, in the sense that it is outside of God's purpose for our life, and beyond God's control.

Suppose someone wrongs you, treats you unkindly, even cruelly. If you are God's child, your Father takes the evil into His hands, and it becomes thenceforth, a secret of blessing; it will be overruled so as to be among the "all things" that work together for your good.

The purpose of God for His children--is always good, always love. It could not be otherwise, for God is love. This does not mean that His plan for us never involves suffering. Ofttimes it does. It brings death to a mother--and pain and grief to her family. It took the baby out of the young mother's arms the other night! It leaves the young widow broken-hearted, with little children to provide for. It permits loss of property to come, leaving a family to suffer pinching poverty and hard struggle. It allows a man to lose his work in the time of financial depression, and to endure experience of sore need. It brings sickness with its pain and cost. It lets us have bitter days of suffering. Godly people ofttimes have to endure bitter things, which are hard and most trying. Nevertheless, the plan of God for our lives is good. It is a plan of love. "What I am doing"--it is the Master who says this, and what He does must be good.

Is affliction good? Can it be good to endure bereavement, to suffer injustice, to bear pain? Some day we shall know that many of the best things in life--are the fruit of these very bitter experiences. Our redemption--comes from the sorrow and suffering of Jesus Christ. Just so, the best blessings and the holiest beauties of God's saints--are the harvest of pain.

We must not forget that the things which are painful, are also parts of Christ's chosen way for us, and that they are always good. In all our life Christ is making us--making godly people of us, fashioning Christian character, transforming us into His beautiful image.

Let not life's pains and trials dismay you. Submit to God, accept the providences that come as part of His discipline, and take the lessons, the enrichings which He sends. Some day you will know that you have learned many of your sweetest songs--in the darkness.

A glance into heavenly bliss

Today's Scripture Audio Devotional:

Psalm 32   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

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A glance into heavenly bliss

("Solitude Sweetened" by James Meikle, 1730-1799)

All at once I find myself in an unbounded flood of bliss, a spacious sea of glory; lost in wonder amidst ineffable delights, and transported with the raptures of seraphic harmony! While all His saints rejoice in His excellent glory--what ardor glows in every soul--what rapture swells in every song! O the adorable displays of His perfections--the manifestations of His goodness--the outlettings of His love!

Here we received out of His fullness--grace upon grace and glory upon glory. Our possession is worthy of our liberal Giver. We have . . .
  a kingdom which cannot be moved,
  an undefiled inheritance, which does not fade away,
  a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God,
  garments of glory,
  a crown of righteousness,
  the tree of life to feed upon,
  the fountain of life to drink of,
  the garden of God to walk in,
  life above the reach of death,
  health secured from sickness,
  pleasure without pain.

Our bodies are immortal,
our souls immaculate,
our senses sanctified,
our conceptions spiritualized,
our faculties enlarged, and
our whole soul replenished by divinity.

Our past bliss is with us in the sweet remembrance, our present bliss entrances in the enjoyment, and our future bliss is present with us in the full assurance of our eternal felicity.

Thus we are forever blessed to the highest degree.

We are above all fear, beyond anxiety and doubt, and fixed above all change.

Our service is sincere,
our adorations ardent,
our knowledge profound and satisfying.

Rapture rushes in at every part!

Our eyes are ravished with seeing the King in His beauty;
our ears are ravished with hearing the songs of the inner temple;
our nostrils are ravished with the fragrance of the Rose of Sharon, the plant of renown;
our feet are ravished with standing in His holy place;
our hands are ravished with handling of the word of life; and
our mouths are ravished with the wine of our Beloved, which goes down sweetly, causing our souls to shout aloud, and the lips to sing, and never cease.

Our experience of His fullness, our vision of His perfections and glory--constitute our most exalted bliss, and are the heaven of heavens!

O what torrents of eternal love teem from the throne into our souls!

O the pleasure that is in His presence!

O the exuberant rivers of joy that flow at His right hand!

O love! never to be forgotten--which has brought me safely through so many winding labyrinths and crooked paths, in sight of so many enemies--in spite of . . .
  a tempting devil,
  the accusations of my sins,
  the rebellion of my lusts,
  the carnality of my affections, and
  the weakness of all my graces--
to dwell at last forever in heavenly bliss!

O eternity! once the comfort of our longing expectations--now the transport of our enlarged souls! For we are . . .
  forever with the Lord,
  seeing His unclouded face,
  wearing His divine name,
  drinking at the streams of His pleasures,
  eating of His hidden manna,
  sitting beneath the Tree of life,
  basking under the beams of the Sun of righteousness,
  singing hallelujahs to Him who loved us, who washed us from our sins in His blood, and brought us here to be with Him forever!

O state of complete happiness and consummate bliss!

Ugly corners made beautiful

Today's Scripture Audio Devotional:

Psalm 23   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Ugly corners made beautiful

(J. R. Miller, "Christian Manliness" 1909)

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely . . ." Philippians 4:8

Beauty is another quality of true manliness. It is not enough for a man to be true, to live honorably, to be just, to be pure and clean--he must also have in his life, whatever is lovely.

All God's works are beautiful. He never made anything that was not beautiful. It is sin which spoils everything!

There are many lives that are not lovely in every feature. You see things in others which you cannot admire--things which are not beautiful.

Fretting is not beautiful.

Bad temper is unlovely.

Discontent, jealousy, irritability, unkindness, selfishness are unattractive.

It is the work of God's grace--to make lives beautiful. All that grace does in us--is toward the fashioning of beautiful Christian character in us.

On a florist's signboard are the words, "Ugly corners made beautiful". The florist had reference to what he could do to beautify an ugly spot or a piece of landscape. He would trim out the weeds, plant flowers and shrubs, and transform a wilderness into a garden.

That is what grace can do in our lives. Some men seem to think that the fine and graceful things are only for women, not for men. But Christ was a man--a perfect, complete man--and there was not a single unlovely thing in His life.
  He was strong--but also gentle.
  He was just--but kindly.
  He was firm--but patient.
  He was righteous, and his indignation burned like fire against all hypocrisy and injustice--but his tenderness never failed.

Fine manliness is beautiful, like Christ. "Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend!" Song of Songs 5:16

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We have posted J. R. Miller's insightful article, "Christian Manliness".

Their photograph flatters them!

Today's Scripture Audio Devotional:

Psalm 22   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Their photograph flatters them!

(J. R. Miller, "What God Thinks of Us" 1909)

One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves, is what God thinks of us.

One has pointed out that in every man, there are four different men:

the man whom the neighbors see,

the man whom one's family sees,

the man whom the person himself sees,

and the man whom God sees.

The community knows us only in a general way, superficially. What people think of us, we sometimes call 'reputation'--what we are reputed to be. It is a composite made up of all that people know about us, gathered from our conduct, our acts, our dispositions, our words, the impressions of ourselves we give to others.

The knowledge the community has of a man, is only superficial. It is evident that the world's opinion about people is not infallible, is not complete, is not final.

A person may be better than his reputation; his external manner may do him injustice. Some men, by reason of their shyness, their awkwardness, or some limitation in power of expression, fail to appear at their true value. The world knows only a man's outward life, and there may be good things in him which it does not know.

Then some people, on the other hand, are worse than their reputation. Their photograph flatters them! What they pretend to be--exceeds the reality. They practice tricks which give a glamour to their lives, so that they pass in public for more than they are. They wear veils, which hide defects and faults in them, and thus they seem better than they are.

Hence we cannot accept the judgment of the community, regarding anyone--as absolutely true, fair, and final.

But there is another man in us--the man GOD sees. And this is most important of all. We do not even know all the secret things of our own hearts. There is an Eye that sees deeper than ours! It is pleasant to have people commend us, when we have tried to do our duty. It gives us great joy to have the approval of our own hearts. But if we do not have the commendation of the Master, human praise and self-approval amount to nothing! "What does God think of me?" is always the final question.

Men are cruel. They judge often harshly. They know only part of the truth concerning us. They are not patient with our infirmities. But we are safe in the hands of God. He knows the worst in us--but He also knows the best. We may trust our lives, therefore, to God's judgment, even if they are full of defects and flaws. He knows all, and will bring to light all the hidden things.

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We have posted J. R. Miller's insightful article, "What God Thinks of Us"

Look at the King in His beauty!

Today's Puritan Audio Devotional:

Psalm 1   Play Audio!   Download MP3
Pure Scripture, read in a meditative way--with
beautiful background music. Perfect for devotions!

  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Look at the King in His beauty!

(David Harsha, "Wanderings of a Pilgrim")

"Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and view a land that stretches afar." Isaiah 33:17

Contemplate your blessed Redeemer, seated on His great white throne, encircled with heavenly glory!

Look at the King in His beauty!

It is the sight of a glorified Savior--that will make the heaven of the believer.

Endeavor now, by the eye of faith, to behold the Lord Jesus in all His matchless beauty and excellence.

Contemplate . . .
  His glorious character;
  His infinite mercy;
  His unparalleled condescension,
  and His boundless love!

There is enough in Jesus to employ the soul in rapturous meditation through a vast eternity!

His excellence, His goodness, and His love--can never be fathomed!

O keep your eye fixed on this adorable Savior, while you sojourn in this valley of tears; and in a little while you shall see Him as He is; face to face, and ascribe to Him unceasing praise!

"In a loud voice they sang: Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Revelation 5:12