THE CROSS

“IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE WRATH OF GOD WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE CROSS OF CALVARY’S HILL, IT IS VERY CERTAIN THAT YOU DO NOT SEE THE LOVE OF GOD EITHER.” – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Just give me Jesus”

“hit the books,” it says in the “bite” magazine, Monday, October 6, 2014.

Three hot-off-the-shelf cookbooks are advertised.

What an encouragement to hit the books. I like that.

Cookbooks are relating to the body. But there are also books that relate to the spirit, the mind and the soul, spiritual books. I like to hit spiritual books.

Here are some of my favourites:

1. “JUST GIVE ME JESUS,” by Anne Graham Lotz

Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award

2. “Spiritual Depression,” by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Its Causes and Cure

3. “Morning and Evening,” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon, DAILY READINGS

That is the book I am reading at the present time in the morning.

4. “SOMETHING MORE,” by Catherine Marshall

The Cross

I like especially the first chapter called “Yes, God is in Everything.”

5. “One Hundred Bible Lessons” by Alban Douglas

Cookbooks are important, but books that relate to our soul and our spirit are more important.

The Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross to save our souls. From what? From the terrors of hell.

I am glad that it is not only my experience and that it is quite normal. What is now this normal thing that is happening. I will tell you.

Have you also noticed that more of your day or almost all of your day is on automatic pilot?

The daily duties, like getting out of bed in the morning, getting dressed, getting breakfast, making yourself a cup of coffee or tea, going to work, coming back from work, doing the dishes … Is the list endless?

That is quite normal as we get older. We retain less, the experts tell us. For one thing that are everyday old experiences. Also we know them well. We should pay closer attention, but we don’t.

Less than $NZ 110.00 I paid for the books I bought second-hand about thirty years ago in Whangarei, namely seven volumes on Romans by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

Seven Volumes on ROMANS

But only recently I began to read the first volume seriously and I have almost come to the end of the book of 394 pages. It is an exposition of ROMANS chapter 1, the Gospel of God.

I find those expositions on Paul’s letter to the ROMANS most exciting. At the end of the volume I am reading at the present time D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is pointing out the biblical motive for preaching the Gospel, for evangelising.

What would you answer if I would ask you, “What is the biblical motive for preaching the Gospel?” I can almost hear you answering, “The Love of God!”

The biblical answer for preaching the Gospel is the wrath of God.” (Romans 1:18)

Wondering if the books are still available and curious how much the cost of the books is at the present time, I did not only discover yesterday on the internet that the volumes are still for sale, but also that the total cost of the seven books is now $NZ 227.05.

That means that I saved more than $NZ 117.05. At least one person is thankful for second-hand shops.

MEMORIES

“MEMORIES ARE THE KEY NOT TO THE PAST, BUT TO THE FUTURE.” – Corrie Ten Boom

ROMANS

The next book I am going to read is:

ROMANS by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Exposition  of chapters 3:20 to 4:25 ATONEMENT AND JUSTIFICATION

In the Preface D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says:

 “The greatest need today is a return to expository preaching.”

“What’s my driving like?” I remember reading on the back of a big lorry not long ago here in Kaitaia. And I  hope I got the words right. A Call Free number was also given.

Thinking about that question reminds me of followers of the Lord Jesus and their walking with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Followers of the Lord don’t need to ask others, but they should ask themselves on a regular basis, “What is my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ like?”

If you are a follower of the Lord, ask yourself these three questions:

1.  What is my reading of the Bible like?

LAMP

Remember Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”

2.  What is my praying like?

Remember James 4:2: “You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

3.  What is my witnessing like?

Remember Acts 1:8: “‘And you will be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'”

Some time ago I read this: “Watch your steps carefully, everyone else does.”

FOOTSTEPS

In every dish he created and every decision he made, he was living the lessons his grandmother and his father taught him, I am reading about a man born in Ethiopia in the October 2014 Reader’s Digest. (His grandmother showed him the possibilities of food.)

Already for a long time I have been thinking about the lessons I have been taught. Am I living the lessons I have been taught?

I am reminded again of what the Lord Jesus Christ says about the wise builder and the foolish builder.

The wise builder:

“‘Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon the rock.'” (Matthew 7:24).

The foolish builder:

“‘But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.'” ( Matthew 7:26 ).

I really believe that the chef who was born in Ethiopia and brought up in Sweden lived the lessons he had been taught, because in 2003 he won the title of best chef in New York. (2003 James Beard Foundation Awards in New York.)