God's Arithmetic 4/1 Monday Meditation

"Is you cruse of comfort failing? Rise and share it with another."


"Scanty fare for one is a royal feast for two," is God's arithmetic. When you find yourself growing comfortless, go quickly and share what you have left with some one who has less than you, and you shall return with your own cup running over.



-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Why Is Good Friday So Good? 3/29 Friday Faith

ordinarypastor.com




Why is Good Friday so Good?

Erik Raymond — April 10, 2009

What follows are some meditations as to why Good Friday is good. The topic is truly infinite. Hopefully this serves to stir your heart as a believer and aid conversations with unbelievers today.

Good Friday is ‘good’ because…

…Jesus was my substitute there upon that blood-stained tree

…Jesus wore the crown of thorns that I might wear the crown of life

…Jesus was scourged that I might be healed

…Jesus was condemned that I might be pardoned

…Jesus was abandoned that I might be accepted

…Jesus was made to be sin that I might be declared and ultimately made righteous

…Jesus pleased the Father whom I had angered

…Jesus tasted death that I may never taste it

…Jesus drank wrath that I might drink the waters of life

…Jesus died that I may live

…Jesus was shamed for my shameful sin

…Jesus was showered with judgment he did not deserve that I might be showered with the grace that I do not deserve

…Jesus distinguished himself as the exclusive basis for divine forgiveness

…Jesus purchased eternal redemption through his eternal sacrifice to pay my eternal debt

…Jesus crushed the serpent’s head (he defeated the devil)

…Jesus pleased the Father

…Jesus vindicated the glory of God

…Jesus put the attributes of God on full display singing in beautiful harmony (justice, love, wrath, forgiveness, holiness, mercy…)

…Good Friday is good because I am so bad

….and Good Friday is only good because the Savior, our Lord Jesus is so good

Comfort of the Holy Ghost 3/28 Thursday Thoughts

(continued from Wednesday): Dear ones, if you really desire the comfort of the Holy Ghost, and communion with the Father, in order that you may use it as Jesus used it, it is for you, and those that seek shall find, but if you get this heavenly comfort, it will cause you to reach out in all directions to comfort others with the same comfort wherewith you have been comforted. You will not wait for opportunities, you will go where the opportunities are, among the halt and lame, the sick and the blind, as Jesus did, and you will learn this remarkable fact, that as you impart your comfort, it increases. The law of giving differs from all other mathematics. The more you spend, the more you have. Gifts of grace multiply by division.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Comforted of God 3/27 Wednesday Wisdom

I find so many people seeking for comfort. They say it is the comfort of the Holy Ghost they want, yet many of them are seeking it for selfish purposes. They desire to be comforted of God -- not that they may become ministers of comfort in their turn, but so that they may have a good time, and be free from pain and trouble, and be at ease in Zion. (to be continued)


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Passover Overview 3/26 Tuesday Truth

Since Christians need to understand their connection to their Jewish roots in the Old Testament, I usually give a teaching for every Jewish holy day. Passover begins this year at sundown, Monday, March 25. This comes from the Lent Devotionals on christianbook.com:




The Passover feast was established to celebrate Israel's deliverance from Egypt and to remind the people of how God had delivered them from the plagues and slavery. From this point on in history, the Hebrew people would clearly understand that for them to be spared from death, an innocent life had to be sacrificed in their place. The unblemished lamb, now called the Paschal lamb, is a type of the true Lamb, Jesus Christ. The Crucifixion story, showing the justice of God's passing over and sparing those who are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, parallels the Passover.





The Passover was observed in the month of Abib, which corresponds to late March and early April on our calendar. A year old male lamb without blemish was selected and killed at dusk. Christ, perfect and without sin, died in the late afternoon hours (Luke 23:44-45). Caution was made to not break the bones of the lamb. So it was with Christ's body (John 19:31-37). The Passover occurred before the law was established in the Old Testament showing that it was the blood of the lamb that delivered mankind out of bondage, not the law. The lamb was a sacrifice, a substitute for the person who would have died in the plague. Christ is our substitute over the penalty of death. The lamb's death signified freedom to Israel. Christ's death redeems us.

At the Passover, it was not enough that the blood of the lamb was shed. It had to be applied to the door by the believer. The blood was to be sprinkled with a hyssop branch upon the sides and top of the door as an outwardly sign of accepting the blood's atonement. The hyssop represents faith in accepting the promise of God's protection. When we profess our faith in the blood of Christ, we will openly do our best to live and love for Him.

Royal Bounty 3/25 Monday Meditation

And as "King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, besides that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty" (1 Kings 10:13), so a "greater than Solomon" is our King, and His "royal bounty" shall so far exceed what we ask or think as to make us constantly amazed and delighted with His goodness.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Joy in Trial 3/22 Friday Faith

In fact, there is joy and wonderful glory in a trial of faith when we have the perfect confidence that we are already more than conquerors, and we are able to smile at Satan's vain attempts to overthrow our faith.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

God's Order in Prayer 3/21 Thursday Thoughts

I John 5:14, 15: "If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us. And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." Notice again, God's order in prayer: first, emptied of all our own desires, then filled with Christ's desire, thus being filled with boldness to claim the fulfillment of these Spirit-born desires, and to "know that we have the petitions we desired" by an assurance of faith before we see or feel the answer. This is solid ground in prayer, and, we shall be thus kept from wavering during any trial of faith which may follow.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Brought to a Place 3/20 Wednesday Wisdom

Have you been brought to a place of lowliness and submission, where "Thy will be done" seems the only desirable expression of prayer? Then press on to have that will made clear, that you may know what Christ is longing for, and His own longing shall take possession of your heart. Then there will be new meaning to the words, "What thing soever ye desire when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them." Having no longer any doubt about the will of God in each matter of prayer, you will be able to press your claim boldly, and to "believe that you take" (literal translation) whatsoever things you desire.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Nature of Great Faith 3/19 Tuesday Truth

Little faith is full of suspense and anxiety in regard to temporal as well as spiritual things. Great faith is always perfectly restful, dropping all anxious care "because He careth." Great faith seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in every thought and move, and therefore it finds all necessary things added. It is a delight to watch the sweet providence of God in directing and shaping our temporal affairs while we are occupied with the matters pertaining to His kingdom.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

One Supreme Reason 3/18 Monday Meditation

In Matthew 16:8, Jesus says to His disciples, "O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves?" Here we see that another accompaniment of little faith is reason. Great faith does not reason things out. It blindly follows the Lord; that is, it obeys God without regard to consequences. Perfect faith does not judge after the sight of the eyes nor the hearing of the ears. It fears not, doubts not, and reasons not. It has, however, one supreme reason for its course of action: that is, God has spoken.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Little Faith Becomes Great Faith 3/15 Friday Faith

If some of these quotes sound like recent ones, I think it's because Montgomery may have preached similar sermons at different times in different places.


Oh, how dull of spiritual vision are we who, like Peter, apprehend the power of surrounding circumstances more than we do the power of the Son of God! But the day came at last when, by the infilling of the Holy Spirit, Peter's "little faith" was changed into "great faith," and he could bid the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to arise and walk in the name of Him whose strong upholding he had experienced in the tossing wave.

--Carrie Judd Montgomery

Believed to See 3/14 Thursday Thoughts

The Psalmist says, "I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). Many people are trying to see in order to believe. This is reversing God's order, and will cause them to faint and lose heart. But the Psalmist gives, as a reason for not fainting, that he "believed to see," that is, he believes first and expects to see afterwards.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Teaching You to Fly 3/13 Wednesday Wisdom

Is this the way that God has been dealing with you? Has He been tearing up you nest, breaking up that reposeful place which you had made for yourself, and in which you expected to stay all your life? He wants to force you out of that poor, narrow nest which was cramping your wings, that He may teach you to fly... Fear not to venture on God, for the Everlasting Arms are underneath you, and He shall bear you up as on eagle's pinions.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

How Can We Doubt? 3/12 Tuesday Truth

How can we doubt His love? He is watching us in the hard places. He will not allow a trial too many; He will only let the dross be consumed, and then He will come gloriously to our help. Even now your cry has entered into His ears, and He is preparing to deliver you. His compassion longs to set you free. His love will delight in your deliverance, for He is more tender than any earthly parent.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Waiting Upon God 3/11 Monday Meditation

You have been waiting upon God, dear troubled one, during long nights and weary days, and have perhaps feared you were forgotten. Nay, lift up your head, and begin to praise Him even now for the deliverance which is on its way to you.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

How Can We Doubt? 3/8 Friday Faith

How can we doubt His love? He is watching us in the hard places. He will not allow a trial too many; He will only let the dross be consumed, and then He will come gloriously to our help. Even now your cry has entered into His ears, and He is preparing to deliver you. His compassion longs to set you free; His love will delight in your deliverance, for He is more tender than any earthly parent.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Believed to See 3/7 Thursday Thoughts

I received this testimony from a regular reader in the Facebook group in response to the recent healing quotes: I prayed and believed that my eyes were healed and stopped wearing my glasses - haven't gotten any headaches - I AM HEALED IN JESUS NAME!


The Psalmist says, "I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13). He did not see as yet the Lord's answer to his prayers, but "he believed to see," and this kept him from fainting.

If we have the faith the believes to see, it will keep us, likewise, from growing faint and discouraged. We shall "laugh at impossibilities," we shall watch with delight, to see how God is going to open up a path through the Red Sea when there is no human way out of our difficulties."



-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

True Faith 3/6 Wednesday Wisdom

True faith counts on God, and believes before it sees. In Mark 11:24 we are commanded to believe that we receive when we pray. Naturally we want to have some evidence that our petition is granted before we believe, but when we walk by faith we need no other evidence than God's Word. He has spoken, and according to our faith it shall be done unto us. We shall see because we have believed, and this faith sustains us in the most trying places, when everything around us seems to contradict God's Word.


-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Keep Yourselves . . . 3/5 Tuesday Truth

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols." That is, keep yourselves from everything and from everyone that you could possibly love or prefer before God. Let Jesus have the first place. Let Him reign in your will and affections and you will know His holiness. You will know what it is to sweetly abide in Him, to have His continual comfort and blessing, and to be yourself a blessing to everyone around you.




-- Carrie Judd Montgomery

Stumbling 3/4 Monday Meditation

Received another testimony last week from a regular reader. Thank you for encouraging me.




[A relative] is going through cancer treatments for the 4th time. Each time she has stood on faith for healing and each time she has been healed. She is again standing on faith but these [quotes] are very encouraging to her also. I pass each one on to her. . . Thanks for the encouragement.



So many have been stumbled because they have seen the inconsistent walk of those who call themselves by the name of Christ. . . It does not glorify God for you to give a sweet testimony in a prayer meeting and then go home and be disagreeable and irritable to those around you. Unbelievers would soon say, "I would not like to be such a Christian as you. I would rather be none at all."



-- Carrie Judd Montgomery