#47/ 06 May 2002

          P O S I T I V E     W O R D S
               Editor: Peter Wade

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 ... the realities of Christ in you and you in Christ!
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NEW ARTICLES!
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THRONE LIFE by Norman Grubb will inspire you to take your place as
kings unto God. Commenting on Exodus, the author writes "In other
words, Moses had said to God, "You do it;" but God answered Moses,
"No, you do it." 
< http://www.peterwade.com/articles/other/thronelife.shtml >

THINGS SEEN IN ONE QUIET CORNER is chapter two of "In the Quiet
Corner" by S.D. Gordon, being extracts from the book of the same
name first published in 1932. his devotional study of Ezekiel's
quiet time with God will get you thinking.
> http://www.peterwade.com/articles/sdgord/corner00.shtml >

IN CHRIST RADIO.NET
We have completed our upgrade of Radio-on-Demand, and now all the
teachings are available in a much higher quality than before.
Check it out at < http://www.inchristradio.net/ >

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INSIGHTS FROM MY WRITING
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                   WALKING ON THE WORD OF GOD

"If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are
above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set
your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you
died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Colossians 
3:1-3).

Renewing the mind is a present tense, continuous action of walking
on the Word of God. When I do, I will test by actual experience,
in reality, that the will of God is good, pleasing and perfect.
In the verse above I am commanded to concentrate on spiritual
matters, for earthly things are of little interest to those who
have died. In verse 10 in the same passage I am told to put on the
new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him
who created him. Here the renewal of my mind is to revelation
knowledge from God, not to sense knowledge or the reason of man.
  Verse 16 says to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another. The renewing of
my mind is to fill it with what God says in His Word, so that the
Word does dwell in me richly. Now I can walk and act upon it, and
live the great life that God has made available for me.
   In the foundational scripture, Romans 12:2, the Word is clear: 
"Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God." The pattern of "this world,"
this age, the times in which I live, comes to me through the five
senses. The media, my family and friends, the people with whom I
work and live, present and defend a pattern that they expect me to
follow. The positive action I must take is to "be transformed by
the renewing of your mind…" I am told to renew the mind I have,
not that I received a new mind at the new birth.  
   Watchman Nee wisely observed: "How many of God's children,
although hitherto saved and possessed of a new life, still carry
about them an old head.  Nothing of their former theories, thought
processes, or prejudices has been altered: only a Christian casing
has been added." (From "Renewing Your Mind", Chapter 1, by Peter
Wade, adapted by Hildy Matthews.)
   AFFIRMATION: I am obeying God's command to renew my mind by
walking on His Word and bringing my mind back to the state of
newness that God intended. 

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INSIGHTS FROM MY READING
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               IF YOU WANT TO BE OF USE FOR GOD
"Behold the fowls of the air... Consider the lilies of the field"
(Matthew 6:26,28).

Consider the lilies of the field, how, they grow; they simply ARE!
Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars and the moon--all
these ARE, and what a ministration they exert. So often we mar
God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort
to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way
to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. "Do
not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me"--pay
attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living
water. We cannot get at the springs of our natural life by common
sense, and Jesus is teaching that growth in spiritual life does
not depend on our watching it, but on concentration on our Father
in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows the circumstances we are in,
and if we keep concentrated on Him we will grow spiritually as the
lilies. 
   The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole
us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars
in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and
unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold us.
   If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus
Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you
live. -- Oswald Chambers.

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THE NEXT B-I-G EVENT ...
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The 2003 International Bible Conference, January 3-9, at Halls
Gap, Victoria, Australia -- follow the link from our Home Page.
Peter Wade and Norman Campbell are the confirmed speakers at this
time. The teaching will be HUGE and expanding! But you won't have
to line up early to find a seat in a 2,000-seat auditorium. This
conference is deliberately SMALL and intimate -- the speakers are
not hidden away but mingle with you every day. You will grow up in
Christ as you rub shoulders with other like-minded believers. This
will be six days that you will remember all your life!

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INSIGHTS FROM EVERY BOOK OF THE BIBLE (G. Campbell Morgan)
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G. Campbell Morgan was a well-known preacher and writer of over
60 books from the first half of the 20th century. In each issue 
he gives a comment from one verse in every chapter of the Bible.
We continue with Paul's second letter to the Corinthians.

"Lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his
overmuch sorrow" (II Corinthians 2:7).

It is generally agreed that here Paul was referring to the man
whom he had charged the Corinthian church in his former letter to
exclude from its fellowship, in order that his spirit might be
saved. It would seem that they had acted in accordance with his
directions, and that the punishment had produced in him a true
sense of his sin, and genuine sorrow for the same. In such an hour
as this, that man was open to a new and strange device of Satan,
that of the suggestion that for such as he there could be no
mercy. Therefore the duty of the church was clear. They were to
forgive him, and comfort him. 
   If discipline is largely lacking in the Church of today, so
also is the grace of forgiving and comforting those who, having
done wrong, are truly repentant. How often, alas! souls have been
indeed swallowed up with overmuch sorrow because of the harshness
and suspicion of Christian people toward them in view of some
wrong which they have done. It is true that there should be no
toleration of evil out of a false charity; but it is equally true
that there should be ungrudgingness and delight in forgiveness.
Love never slights holiness; but holiness never slays love. 
   Notice, moreover, Paul charged them not to forgive only, but
also to comfort. There may be a judicial forgiveness which is
hard, and leaves the soul always conscious of the past. Comfort
takes the soul to the heart, and forgets. That is how God
forgives, and so should we who are His children.

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INSIGHTS FROM BIBLE STUDY (F.E. Marsh)
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PAUL'S CONFIDENCE -- II Tim. i.12
"I know Him whom I have believed" (R.V.). Christ to Paul was a
personal Saviour and Friend. He had more than the knowledge of
perception; he had the knowledge of experience. To know by seeing
that oranges are oranges is good, but to taste the lusciousness of
the orange by eating it is to know it is sweet. What do we know of
Christ?
1. Is He our Saviour to save?--Luke i. 47. 
2. Our Power to keep?--I Peter i. 5.
3. Our Victor to overcome?--Rev. xii. 11. 
4. Our Satisfier to fill?--Deut. xxxiii. 23. 
5. Our Holiness to sanctify?--I Peter i. 16. 
6. Our Lord to govern?--I Peter iii. 15, R.V. 
7. Our Hope to attract?--Titus ii. 13.

PAUL'S DEPOSIT -- II Tim. i. 12
"He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him." He says
He can keep us, for He is our Keeper--Psa. cxxi. 5-8. But if He is
to keep us we must deposit ourselves with Him, for the meaning of
the word "committed" is "deposited." To deposit ourselves with the
Lord is like placing money in the bank on deposit for the bank to
keep it.
Paul committed to the Lord:
1. The Reputation of his character--I Cor. iv. 13.
2. The Temple of His body--II Cor. iv. 10, 11. 
3. The Life of his service--Acts xx. 24.
4. The Work of his labour--I Cor. xv. 10. 
5. The Trial of his infirmity--II Cor. xii. 
6. The Consecration of his being--Gal. ii. 20.
7. The Success of his service--Eph. iii. 7, 8.

PAUL'S EXHORTATIONS AND TESTIMONY -- Philippians 4
1. The "I beseech" of exhortation (v.2). 
2. The "I entreat" of affection (3). 
3. The "I say" of exalting  (4).
4. The "I rejoiced" of appreciation (I0).
5. The "I speak," "I have," and "I am," of contentment (11). 
6. The "I know," the "I know," and the "I am" of initiation 
   (12, R. V.).
7. The "I can" of ability (13).
8. The "I departed" of itineration (15). 
9. The "I desire" of fruitfulness (17).
10. The "I have" and the "I am" of sufficiency (18).

From the book, "1,000 Bible Study Outlines" by F.E. Marsh.

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(c) 2002 Peter Wade
http://www.peterwade.com/
http://www.inChristRadio.net/