Joy from Christ, not your performance

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THE BOOK OF PROVERBS FOR THE BELIEVER

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  Over the course of many weeks, we will be taking sometime in the Book of Proverbs.   Why? Proverbs is a teaching manual; it might be called “Truth for youth” since it speaks as if a father is addressing his son.  This indicates the closeness of the relationship between a teacher and his pupil.  Proverbs are pieces of wisdom and it instructs truth for life; you could say, “it’s a training manual.”  The word “proverb” typically refers to a short, clever saying that offers wisdom in some way.  For example, “The only way out is through.” It’s about acknowledging that tough times are part of life and that trying to avoid or circumvent them usually only leads to more problems.  The book of Proverbs is full of wisdom that is so valuable it exposes and emphasis on folly.  It exposes… the ways of folly, the consequences of folly and the way to avoid foolish thinking and behaviours.  Proverbs, major theme is the acquiring the ways of wis...
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DESPAIR IS SATAN’S MASTERPIECE

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Job 6:1-30 I titled my sermon after a statement that the late great reformer Thomas Brooks said “Despair is Satan's masterpiece; it carries men headlong to hell as the devils did the herd of swine into the deep.”  I also came across a fictitious story that Steve Lawson mentions in a commentary, which speaks about, this word despair.  “One day the devil decided to have a garage sale. Taking all his finest tools of destruction: hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lust, lying, and pride. He priced each one according to its value and placed them on the driveway. But the most worn tool was set apart from the other instruments. A curious customer saw and picked up the worn tool, looked it over, and noted that it carried the highest price. He asked , “Why is this tool higher than the others?”  The devil laughed and said , “That’s the tool called ‘discouragement.’ It is more powerful than any other tool I have. When I use this tool on a person’s heart, I can pry it open ...
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Names of God's Children

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If you are a child of the living God, you are no longer called a sinner; "For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls" 1Peter 2:25. We are still a sinners but God looks at us not as sinners, but as His precious children. Why? Because of what Jesus did on the Cross for you and me, sinners saved by sovereign grace. Jesus, is the Overseer and Lover of our souls, as the Good Shepherd. Jesus said in John's Gospel "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep." John 10:14-15. The Bible has many names for God's children, sinners who are saved by His wondrous grace and mercy. You are the: Beloved of God (Rom 1:7) Beloved Brethren (James 2:5) Children of God (John 1:12) Sons of the Living God (Rom 9:26) Sons of the Most High (Luke 6:35) Children of the Promise (Rom 9:8) Dear Children ( Eph 5:1...
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