Author: BTP

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19).

“As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith” (Colossians 2:6-7).

A tree must have roots in order to be able to withstand strong winds and storms. Probably the largest trees in the world today are the giant redwood trees that grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the U.S.A. They can grow up to 350 feet tall (about 107 meters) and can have a circumference of 30 feet (about 9 meters) or more.

Like other trees, when they are not under tremendous stress from conditions such as drought or fire, they channel all their energy into fortifying themselves. They take in nutrients that enable them to put down new, deeper roots and help them branch out in search of sunlight. This helps to ensure that they are strong and better prepared to withstand any adverse conditions that may lie ahead, from wind and rain, to drought, wildfires and more.

What is surprising is that their root systems rarely go down more than 6-12 feet (2-4 meters). But the redwood trees rarely fall over. The reason for this is that their root systems are intertwined with the roots of other redwood trees, so that they hold each other up. They grow very close together, and help each other to survive. They also share nutrients with one another.

These trees teach us a lesson too. We need to be well rooted in the love of Christ, and in the truth of God’s Word, in order not to be knocked over by storms in our lives. But we also need to support one another, like the redwood trees. If we see someone else who seems to be having difficulties, let us support them, so that they can continue on in the Christian pathway. Perhaps at another time, they will be able to be a help to us!

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth [struggles] in pain together until now” (Romans 8:22).

We live in a world of suffering. It has been that way ever since Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, and brought sin into this world. Suffering and eventual death come to everything that lives in this world, whether man, animals, or plants. Sometimes people ask why it has to be this way, and why God allows such suffering. Does He not care? Those who do not want to believe in God may use suffering to dare to criticize God. They ask, “If He is truly God, why does He not do something about the suffering in this world?” Maybe you have heard this question, and do not know how to answer it.

It is true that God did not have to allow sin to enter this world. He could have kept Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If God had done this, you and I would be enjoying the Garden of Eden today. But we would never have known the depths of love in the heart of God, and that He loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. We would never have been able to spend eternity in the Father’s house; we would be living for all eternity here on earth. We would never have been brought into a relationship with God as our Father, or be the bride of Christ. We know all this, and enjoy all this, because the love of God has been shown out when sin entered this world.

Also, God has in His purposes to exalt and glorify His beloved Son. In His counsels in a past eternity, He purposed to have the Lord Jesus be Head over all things, both on earth and in heaven. God has been more glorified, and we have been far more blessed, than if sin had never entered this world.

Yes, there is still suffering here, and sometimes severe suffering. However, the suffering is temporary, and it will soon cease. When the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place, and the judgment is over, all tears will be wiped away. Then the joy and blessing will be eternal.

We cannot totally understand all this, for it is a plan of God. But we can accept what God has decided to do, accept Christ as our Savior, and enjoy all that He has given us.

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established” (Proverbs 4:26).

“Every way of man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth the hearts” (Proverbs 21:2).

The English word “ponder” means to consider well, to think about. It comes from the Latin word “pondus,” which means “weight.” Sometimes we speak in English of “weighing something carefully,” and that is what the word ponder means. We think about it from every point of view, and do not act hastily.

In our verses today, we are told to ponder the path of our feet. This means that we do not act in a hurry, or make a sudden decision based on impulse and emotion. Rather we think about the matter carefully, and pray about it, asking the Lord for guidance. Then, when we do act, our ways are established, for we can have the confidence that we are going forward in the way the Lord wants us to go.

Of course, there are some things that we do not have to ponder, and should not pray about. If we have a definite scripture on which to act, we do not need to hesitate. For example, suppose a Christian young man was considering marrying a young woman who was not saved. Should he ponder that, and pray about it? No, because God is quite clear in His Word that we are not to be “unequally yoked together with believers” (2 Corinthians 6:14). To pray about something like that is really asking God to change His Word. Rather we should immediately act on God’s Word and break off that relationship. But in many things the pathway may not be clear to us, and then we need to “ponder the path” of our feet.

Then we learn that every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts. We may decide on our own to go a certain way, but then the Lord Himself does some pondering. He looks at our hearts and sees what is going on there. If we want to go our own way, our hearts are wrong, for we are wanting our own will instead of the Lord’s will. Then the Lord may have to bring difficulties into our life, in order to draw us back to Himself.

Let us make sure to consider carefully what we are about to do and ask the Lord for His help!

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“God, who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

“That Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is more than simply “another Comforter,” although this is a very important part of His work in us. But He is also a “seal,” and “the earnest of our inheritance.” What does this mean?

When something is sealed, it carries authority. Maybe you have seen a document that has a special seal or a stamp on it, perhaps from a lawyer’s office, or a government official. This means that what is in the document is true and real, for it has been stamped by someone with authority. God does this with us too, by sending down His Holy Spirit to live in us. We now belong to Him!

But what does the word “earnest” mean? When people buy something large, like a house, they usually make an offer to buy it for a certain amount of money. When they sign their offer, they give the seller some “earnest money” (down payment money), to show that they really want that house, and that they are willing to pay the amount of money on the paper. If the seller accepts the offer, but the buyer decides that he does not want the house, then the seller keeps the “earnest money.”

But the Lord wants us so badly that He has given something as a down payment that is worth more than we are! He has sent His Holy Spirit to live in us! What are we worth, compared to the Spirit of God? Yet God sends down His Holy Spirit, to assure us that He will complete His purchase. When will that happen?

It will happen when the Lord Jesus comes back to take us home, and we get our glorified bodies. Then God will complete His purchase of us, although the price has already been paid at Calvary’s cross. But God wants us to be completely convinced that He will keep His promise, so He has sent down His Holy Spirit to live in us. This is so wonderful. We sometimes do not realize how much God wants us for Himself!

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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16-17).

Several times we have mentioned the Holy Spirit, and how He dwells in every true believer. I would like to explain this a little more. When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, He looked after all the needs of His disciples, and showed them where to go and what to do. But after His work on the cross He was going back to heaven. His disciples were very sad to hear this, but the Lord Jesus pointed out that when He went back to heaven, He would send down “another Comforter,” who would remain with them forever. He was referring to the Holy Spirit, and here He is called the Spirit of truth.

In our second verse the Lord Jesus says that “He (the Holy Spirit) dwelleth with you,” That means that He was in the Lord Jesus, for all His activities were done in the power of the Spirit of God. The disciples had seen the power of the Holy Spirit in all that the Lord Jesus did here in this world. But then the Lord Jesus said, “[He] shall be in you.” That means that when the Holy Spirit came down, He would live in each true believer, and be their Guide and Comforter instead of the Lord Jesus.

The Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost, after the Lord Jesus had ascended back up to heaven; you can read about it in Acts 2:1-11. At that time the Holy Spirit came upon each believer in that room, and from that time on they were indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Now, after each new believer accepts the Lord Jesus as Savior, they are also indwelt with the Holy Spirit. A true Christian is one who has accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior, and who is then indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

He will never leave us, for the Lord Jesus says, “That He may abide with you for ever.” He is always with us, and when the Lord Jesus comes back to take us home to be with Him, the Holy Spirit leaves this world too. He will depart with us when the Lord comes for us, and will be with us for all eternity! What a wonderful thing it is, to have an actual Person of the Godhead — one of the Trinity, living in us! How careful we should be in our behavior, in view of this “divine Guest” who is in us.

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“The Midianites came up … and destroyed the increase of the earth … and left no sustenance (food) for Israel, neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass” (Judges 6:3-4).

“Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11).

The Midianites are mentioned a number of times in the Old Testament. They were actually related to the children of Israel, as they were the children of Midian, who was a son of Abraham by his second wife Keturah. However, they ended up being a real enemy of Israel, and in the time of Gideon they ruled over the children of Israel for seven years. They not only took all the good food that the Israelites grew on their land, but they took the animals too, so that there was nothing left for the people to eat. The Amalekites were also involved in all this, and it seems as if the Midianites and the Amalekites worked together to make as much trouble for Israel as possible. The Lord had allowed them to do this because the children of Israel “did evil in the sight of the Lord.”

However, we read that a young man named Gideon actually had some wheat, and was threshing it by a winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. A winepress is a very large container where grapes are pressed to make juice, which is then turned into wine. It was large enough to hide behind. But where did Gideon get the wheat, if the Midianites were taking it all? I am not sure, but he was going to have food in spite of the Midianites, and the Lord allowed him to get some. He was threshing the wheat to get rid of the chaff, and then probably he was going to grind the wheat into flour and use it to make bread.

The wheat here is a picture of the Lord Jesus, and if we really want to have spiritual food for our souls, we can get it. Sometimes as young people we may feel that we do not get much food out of going to meetings or reading the Word of God, but if we really want to know more about the Lord Jesus, the Lord will make it possible. The Midianites and the Amalekites are like the world, and like our old sinful nature — they combine to try and take away our spiritual food. It takes spiritual energy to overcome all this, but let us be like Gideon, who was energetic enough to get some wheat and get it ready to make food for himself. He was getting natural food, but as I have said, for us it is a picture of spiritual food, which every Christian needs.

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“And He … calleth unto Him whom He would … And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:13-14).

At the beginning of His public service for God His Father, we find that the Lord Jesus had many followers. For some of them the Lord had a special place, and here in our verses today we find that He specially chose the twelve disciples. The others could follow Him too, and also be referred to as His disciples, but the twelve He chose were to be extra close to Him.

But notice carefully the things that are said about these twelve disciples, and the order in which the things are said about them. There were two important things for them to do.

First of all, it says that “they should be with Him.” The Lord Jesus valued their company, and He values our company too. If they were going to be any use to Him, they needed to spend time with Him, and to enjoy His companionship. The twelve disciples happily did this, and they all gave up their jobs in order to spend their time with the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus does not ask us necessarily to give up our jobs, but He does want us to enjoy being with Him. Of course, we cannot actually see and touch the Lord Jesus the way that these disciples did, for He is not here on earth now. But by faith we can be in His company, because every true believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit. It is more important to spend time with the Lord Jesus, than to go out and do something for Him.

But then, the second thing the Lord Jesus wanted was to “send them forth to preach.” When we are young we like activity, and perhaps we really want to do something for the Lord. This is good, and the Lord appreciates our service for Him. We are not all preachers, but it is important to do what He wants us to do, and to do it when He wishes. We will not know this unless we have spent time with Him. In His company we learn more about Him and become more like Him. Then we are better able to serve Him!

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“And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you” (1 Corinthians 12:21).

“But God hath tempered [carefully arranged] the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked” (1 Corinthians 12:24).

Here the Apostle Paul talks about a problem that is opposite to the one about which we spoke yesterday. As we saw yesterday, sometimes there are those in the body of Christ who think they are so little and unimportant that they are no use to the body at all. But here in today’s verse we see how one part of the body can think that it is so important that it does not need the others.

The eye is a very complicated part of the body, and a very important one. Without sight, it is very difficult to lead a normal life. Many blind people do manage to lead very useful lives, and to have jobs that enable them to support themselves. I even knew of a medical doctor who was blind, and yet he saw patients, examined them, prescribed medication, and acted just the way any other doctor would. But of course there were some things he could not do without sight.

However, our second verse shows us that while some parts of the body are not seen, and are not so prominent, yet these parts of the body are absolutely essential. For example, we could live without our eyes, or our hearing, or even with only one arm or one leg. In fact, I have known people who lost both arms, or both legs, and yet survived. But we could not live without our liver, or our heart, or our lungs. No, if we were missing any one of these, our body would die. They are not seen, but they are necessary.

It is like this in the body of Christ. Sometimes those who do not seem so important are actually more necessary than those who are well-known. For this reason it is a big mistake for someone with a lot of knowledge of the Bible, or someone who has a real gift in doing something, to think that he is so important that he does not need the other members of the body. Every member is important, and every member is needed. We need to respect how that the Lord has “set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him” (1 Corinthians 12:18).

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“For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? (1 Corinthians 12:14-16).

Perhaps you have heard from the Bible that believers in the New Testament now form what is called the church, or the assembly. This did not exist in the Old Testament, but was formed on the day of Pentecost, as we read in Acts 2. But those who form the church are also called the body of Christ. He is the Head of the body, and He is up in heaven, while we are the body here on earth.

We can understand how a body works, for we all have bodies. They enable us to walk, to do things with our hands, to see, to speak, to smell, and to hear. Our bodies also do many things for us that we do not see. Our heart pumps blood, our lungs breathe for us, our stomach and bowels digest food, and our kidneys get rid of waste. But all this goes on inside us, where we cannot see it.

All these parts of our body are important, and so is every part of the body of Christ. In our verses today, it supposes that perhaps the foot might not feel very important, because it is not the hand. Or the ear might wish it were the eye. This happens in the body of Christ too, for some people wish they had something that others have. One believer may be a good preacher, and others may wish they could preach like him. But someone else may have more money and seem to be able to do more for the Lord by giving. We might wish for more money too.

But the Lord knows how to put His body together, and He knows what each one must do. Just as our human body has some parts that are hidden, so the body of Christ has those who do things privately — things that everyone does not know about. Yet they are very important. So let us not think that we are any less important than some others, for every part of the body is necessary. Let us be content to do what the Lord has fitted us for.

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“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).

“Enjoin [emphasize] on those rich in the present age … to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal in distributing … laying by for themselves a good foundation for the future, that they may lay hold of what is really life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19 JND).

There is a difference between “laying hold on eternal life,” and laying hold “of what is really life.” If we are truly saved, we know that we already have eternal life, because we have believed on the Lord Jesus. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). In our first verse today, Paul is writing to Timothy, who was certainly a true believer, so that Paul is not speaking to him about being saved.

Paul is telling Timothy to enjoy the fact that he has eternal life, and to allow that new life he had in Christ to show itself in the way he lived. We can have something, yet not enjoy it. I remember reading about a man who bought a new car back in the 1930’s. That is more than ninety years ago! Yet when he became an old man and died, they found the car in his barn, and it had never been driven! Those who found it said that it still smelled like a new car. That man spent his money on a car, but never enjoyed it. But the Lord wants us to enjoy our new life in Him, and this will take energy, for we are told to “fight the good fight of faith.” Satan will try to bring many difficulties into our lives and tempt us to give up. But to enjoy eternal life we must not allow this to happen; we must use spiritual energy to live for the Lord Jesus.

On the other hand, to “lay hold on what is really life” means that instead of thinking of ourselves, we use our time and extra money to serve the Lord Jesus, and to help others. Then we will find true happiness. This will happen even to people who are not saved. Those who are selfish and always wanting more for themselves are usually not happy, and do not enjoy life. They find fault with others and are always looking for ways to make themselves richer, often at other people’s expense. But those who help others find pleasure in it and enjoy their lives.

But how much more is this true of Christians! If we use our money and other possessions for the Lord, and to help others, we will find real joy in it, for it is like the heart of God. God is a giving God, and He wants us, as His children, to be like Him.

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