text:
"Drunkenness is the devil's back door to Hell and everything that is hellish. For he who once gives away his brains to drink is ready to be caught by Satan for anything!"
Charles Spurgeon
Some benefits of sickness and affliction
(J.C. Ryle)
Sickness helps . . .
to remind men of death,
to make men think seriously of God, and their souls, and the world to come,
to soften men's hearts, and teach them wisdom,
to abase and humble us,
to try men's religion, of what sort it is.
The storms of winter often bring out the defects in a man's dwelling. In the same way, sickness often exposes the gracelessness of a man's soul. Surely anything that makes us find out the real character of our faith, is a good thing.
Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments–seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual-minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine; and the refiner's furnace to the gold.
There is no commentary that opens up the Bible, so much as sickness and sorrow!
There are no lessons so useful–as those learned in the school of affliction.
By affliction, God . . .
shows us our emptiness and weakness,
draws us to the throne of grace,
purifies our affections,
weans us from the world,
and makes us long for Heaven!
A splendid sum in addition!
to your faith, virtue;
to virtue, knowledge;
to knowledge, self-control;
to self-control, perseverance;
to perseverance, godliness;
to godliness, brotherly kindness; and
to brotherly kindness, love. 2 Peter 1:5-7
Our verses presents us with a splendid sum in addition! These graces are to be added one to another.
Faith comes first. But faith cannot stand-alone, so we add to our faith, virtue–that is, conformity of one's life and conduct to the highest moral and ethical principles.
Next we are to add knowledge. Knowledge, of course, of the true kind–wisdom for life, spiritual knowledge, knowledge of God, and of God's will as found in His Word.
Self-control comes next–this is the key of all noble life. No matter how strong we are, or how much we know–if we have not self-control, then something is lacking. He who can rule himself is strong–while he who lacks self-mastery, no matter what other gifts he may have, is pitiably weak.
Self-control produces another element–perseverance, perseverance in all Christian duties.
Another quality to be added to patience is Godliness–Godlikeness, Christlikeness.
Then comes brotherly kindness–affectionateness and forbearance to those among whom we mingle.
Last of all–love, the crowning gift and blessing!
These elements of character make up Christian maturity.
'Tom Thumbs' in grace!
(Charles Spurgeon, "Flowers from a Puritan's Garden" 1883)
"Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!" Hebrews 5:12
"An infant, if he should continue an infant always, would be a monster!"
However pleased the parents had been with the little one when it was a babe, they would soon be deeply distressed if year after year it still remained a tiny thing. Indeed, they would consider it a great calamity to be the parents of a dwarf.
What, then, shall we say of those professors who never grow? They are no more holy after fifty years! They are infants at sixty years of age!
I have in my house, pictures of my twin sons, taken on their birthdays for twenty-one years. They begin in the cradle, and end as full-grown young men.
But, alas, I have spiritual children whom I wheeled about in the stroller twenty years ago–and they are babies still, needing as much care as ever, and are not able to walk alone! Ah me, that so many who ought to be warriors, are weaklings; that those who should be men of six feet tall, are so stunted as to be mere 'Tom Thumbs' in grace!
O for grace to grow in grace, and especially in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God save us from a life which does not grow, and from a growth which is not healthy!
"For this very reason, make every effort to add . . .
to your faith, goodness;
and to goodness, knowledge;
and to knowledge, self-control;
and to self-control, perseverance;
and to perseverance, godliness." 2 Peter 1:5-6
"Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation!" 1 Peter 2:2
A New Year's Resolution
(Matthew Henry)
"My times are in Your hand!" Psalm 31:15
Firmly believing that my times are in God's hand, I here submit myself and all my affairs for the ensuing year, to the wise and gracious disposal of God's divine providence. Whether God appoints for me . . . .
health or sickness,
peace or trouble,
comforts or crosses,
life or death–
may His holy will be done!
All my time, strength, and service, I devote to the honor of the Lord Jesus–and even my common actions. It is my earnest expectation, hope, and desire, my constant aim and endeavor–that Jesus Christ may be magnified in me.
In everything I have to do–my entire dependence is upon Jesus Christ for strength. And whatever I do in word or deed, I desire to do all in His name, to make Him my Alpha and Omega. I have all from Him–and I would use all for Him.
If this should prove a year of affliction, a sorrowful year to me–I will fetch all my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself upon Him, His everlasting consolations, and the good hope I have in Him through grace.
And if it should be my dying year–then my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble reliance upon His mediation, I would venture into the eternal world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living–Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and advantage to me.
Oh, that the grace of God may be sufficient for me, to keep me always a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly, and infirmity–together with a humble dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for both righteousness and strength.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Remember that your life is short, your duties are many, your assistance is great, and your reward is sure. Therefore faint not, persevere in ways of holiness–and Heaven shall make amends for all!" Thomas Brooks
Are we Christians–or are we worldlings?
(Horatius Bonar, "Self-Denial Christianity")
"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1
What do we say to . . .
our self-indulgence,
our spiritual sloth,
our love of ease,
our avoidance of hardship,
our luxury,
our pampering of the body,
our costly feasts,
our silken couches,
our brilliant furniture,
our gay attire,
our expensive jewelry,
our idle mirth,
our voluptuous music,
our jovial tables, loaded with every variety of rich viands?
Are we Christians–or are we worldlings?
Where is the self-denial of the New Testament days?
Where is the separation from a self-pleasing luxurious world? Where is the cross, the true badge of discipleship, to be seen–except in useless religious ornaments for the body, or worse than useless decorations for the sanctuary?
"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Is not this the description of multitudes who name the name of Christ? They may not be "living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." But even where these are absent, there is 'high living'–luxury of the table or the wardrobe–in conformity to this present evil world.
"At ease in Zion!" Yes! there is the shrinking . . .
from hard service;
from spending and being spent;
from toil and burden-bearing and conflict;
from self-sacrifice and noble service;
for the Master's sake.
There is conformity to the world, instead of conformity to Christ!
There is a laying down of the cross, instead of a taking up of the cross.
Or there is a lining of the cross with velvet, lest it should gall our shoulders as we carry it!
Or there is an adorning of the cross, that it may suite the taste and the manners of our refined and intellectual age.
Anything but the bare, rugged and simple cross!
We think that we can make the strait gate wider, and the narrow way broader–so as to be able to walk more comfortably to the heavenly kingdom. We try to prove that modern enlightenment has so refined 'the world and its pleasures', that we may safely drink the poisoned cup, and give ourselves up to the inebriation of the siren song.
"At ease in Zion!" Even when the walls of our city are besieged, and the citadel is being stormed!
Instead of grasping our weapons, we lie down upon our couches!
Instead of the armor, we put on the silken robe!
We are cowards, when we should be brave!
We are faint-hearted, when we should be bold!
We are lukewarm, when we should be fervent!
We are cold, when we should be full of zeal!
We compromise and shuffle and make excuses–when we should lift up our voice like a trumpet! We pare down truth, or palliate error, or extenuate sin–in order to placate the world, or suit the spirit of the age, or 'unify' the Church.
Learn self-denying Christianity. Not the form or name, but the living thing.
Let us renounce the lazy, luxurious, self-pleasing, fashionable religion of the present day!
A self-indulgent religion has nothing in common with the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; or with that cross of ours which He has commanded us to take up and carry after Him–renouncing ease and denying self.
Our time,
our abilities,
our money,
our strength–
are all to be laid upon the altar.
"Woe to those who are at ease in Zion!" Amos 6:1
The greatest sinner that you know!
(William Law, "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life")
"This is a true saying, and worthy of all acceptance: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'–and I am the worst of them all." 1 Timothy 1:15
You may truly look upon yourself to be the greatest sinner that you know in the world. For though you may know many people to be guilty of some gross sins with which you cannot charge yourself–yet you may justly condemn yourself as the greatest sinner that you know, because you know more of the folly of your own heart, than you do of other people's hearts. You can charge yourself with various sins, that only you know of yourself, and cannot be sure that others are guilty of them.
So that as you know more of the folly, the degradation, the pride, the deceitfulness and vileness of your own heart, than you do of any one's else–so you have just reason to consider yourself as the greatest sinner that you know; because you know more of the greatness of your own sins, than you do of other people's sins.
God Almighty knows greater sinners than you are; because He sees and knows the circumstances of all men's sins. But your own heart, if it is faithful to you, can discover no guilt so great as your own.
Perhaps that person who appears so odious in your eyes, would have been much better than you are–had he been altogether in your circumstances, and received all the same favors and graces from God that you have. And therefore the greatest sinner that you know, must be yourself.
This is a very humbling thought.
A serious and frequent reflection upon this will mightily tend to . . .
humble us in our own eyes,
make us very sensible of the greatness of our own guilt,
and very tender in censuring and condemning other people.
I cannot think little of sin, when . . .
(J.C. Ryle)
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46
Would I know how exceedingly sinful and abominable sin is in the sight of God? Where shall I see sin most fully brought out?
Shall I turn to the history of the flood, and read how sin drowned the world?
Shall I go to the shore of the Dead Sea, and mark what sin brought on Sodom and Gomorrah?
No! I can find a clearer proof still! I look at the cross of Christ!
There I see that sin is so filthy and damnable, that nothing but the blood of God's own Son can wash it away!
There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker, that all the angels in Heaven could never have made peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us, short of the death of Christ.
If I listened to the wretched talk of proud people, I might sometimes imagine that sin was not so very sinful! But I cannot think little of sin, when I look at the cross of Christ!
"A bleeding Savior I have viewed–and now I hate my sin!" John Newton
You will soon end your tedious, tiresome journey!
(James Smith, "The Believer's Companion in Seasons of Affliction and Trouble" 1842)
"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth!" Hebrews 11:13
Every believer is a pilgrim. He is traveling to his Father's house! He is presently a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by temptations, trials, and foes. His journey lies through a great and terrible wilderness. Therefore he must not expect a very smooth path, or many comfortable accommodations. He will have much to grieve and distress him. His heart will be often burdened with grief, and filled with sorrow — tears are common to the Christian. He feels the unsuitableness of the things of time to his spirit, profession, and aim. And therefore he confesses, "I am a stranger and a pilgrim — as all my fathers were!" Psalm 39:12
Weariness and painfulness are his portion now — but a rest remains for him! It is a glorious rest. It embraces and includes all that the believer has prayed for — or can desire!
It waits for him at the end of his journey,
it was prepared for him from the foundation of the world,
it is now promised to him in the faithful word, and
it will be bestowed upon him when he has fought the good fight, and finished his course.
Everything at present may appear gloomy and distressing; but ahead of you, believer, everything is glorious, magnificent, and blessed! Press on then — fight the good fight of faith. Travel on in the strength of Jesus! You are going home — and you have a glorious home to go to!
The minute after you have entered your rest — you will forget all the fatigue, all the dangers, and all the difficulties of the way! You will perhaps be filled with wonder, that you should ever have allowed such trifles to vex you, or such little trials to discourage you — with such a glorious end before you.
Fellow-pilgrim, expect trouble — but also expect mercy to help you in time of need! Expect to feel your circumstances to be trying — but also expect your Savior's strength to be perfected in your weakness! You will soon end your tedious, tiresome journey — and enter into the joy of your Lord!
Never forget you are now a pilgrim — a stranger — only a sojourner here in this poor world. Here you have no continuing city — but you seek for one to come.
Nothing can make this poor world your rest — it will always be a wilderness to you. Be content then, to wait until you get home! There you shall enjoy — and always enjoy, all your desires! There will not be one unfulfilled want, wish, or desire there! All will be satisfied — all will be full. In a little while — you will see the portal of your Father's house, and hear Him say, "Come in, you who are blessed of the Lord, tarry no longer outside! Come, dwell forever with Me!"
In that hand which was once nailed to the cross for your redemption!
(James Smith, "The Believer's Companion in Seasons of Affliction and Trouble" 1842)
"The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes every one He accepts as a son." Hebrews 12:6
Afflicted Christian, you are perhaps tempted to think that God cannot love you — or He would not so deeply try you. But the reverse is the case — if He did not love you, He might perhaps refuse to try you. But because He loves you, and is a Father to you — therefore He corrects you.
All of the Lord's children need correction! Many of them will not grow without very severe discipline — consequently your heavenly Father says, "I will melt them, and try them." "I will turn My hand upon you — and will purge away your dross."
Look to the generations of old, and see if the Lord's people in every age have not been an afflicted people. Look at Job, at the prophets, at Lazarus; God tenderly loved them — and yet how severely He tried them. He has commanded an earthly parent to chasten his son, and not to let his soul spare for his crying — and by this rule He also proceeds. He chastens us — that He may not destroy us. There is infinite mercy in your present trial — as dreadful as it may appear to you. There was an absolute necessity for it — for He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve His redeemed children.
He takes pleasure in the spiritual prosperity of His people — and therefore He uses means to promote it. He has received you as a son, and He is now . . .
using His paternal authority;
manifesting His infinite wisdom;
fulfilling His gracious covenant;
making good His precious promises;
and displaying His unutterable love!
Every one who is . . .
adopted into His family;
quickened by His grace;
and united to Jesus —
is made to pass under the rod, and prove the truth of the Scripture which says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous — but the Lord delivers him out of them all."
He chastens you, not for His own pleasure or gratification, but for your profit — that you might be a partaker of His holiness. What a gracious design is this — every way worthy of God. It affords full proof of His infinite wisdom, care, and love!
Think within yourself:
I could not do without this affliction;
it is sent in love;
it is intended to do me good;
it is a proof that I am a child of God
— and you will then think rightly.
Do not despise the chastening of the Lord, by thinking that you could have done as well without it; or that there was no necessity for it. Depend upon it, you must either be . . .
pained — or ruined;
tried — or injured;
corrected — or lost.
Do not faint when the Lord rebukes you. He has promised you, that as your day is — so shall your strength be. He says to you, "Do not fear — for I am with you; do not be afraid — for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand!" Isaiah 41:10. Precious promise of a faithful God! He made it in love. He has not forgotten it — no, He intends to make it good. Yes, He is now making it good to you — as tried and afflicted as you are.
The rod which afflicts you, is in the hand of Jesus! In that hand which was once nailed to the cross for your redemption! In the hand of that Friend who loves at all times; and who is a Brother born for adversity. Will Jesus who suffered, bled, and died to redeem you — ever hurt you? Surely not! His heart is too tender! His love is too great! "He will not break the bruised reed — and He will not quench the smoking flax!" He will bind up the broken heart, and comfort the sorrowful spirit.
You say, "He is sorely trying me!" True — but He is only making you fit to partake of the inheritance of the saints in light. They are . . .
loving strokes,
valuable trials,
blessed afflictions!
As sharp they may be — short they must be.
Humble yourself then under the mighty hand of God;
mourn before Him;
surrender all to Him;
plead with Him;
justify Him — and . . .
the rod will soon fall from His hand,
the scourging will soon be over, and
peaceable fruits of righteousness will make their appearance.
Look up to your God, and say:
Submissive to Your will, my God,
I all to you resign;
I bow before Your chastening rod,
And mourn, but not repine!
Why should my foolish heart complain,
When wisdom, truth, and love,
Direct the stroke, inflict the pain,
And point to joys above?
How short are all my sufferings here!
How needful every cross!
Away then, my unbelieving fear,
Nor call my gain, my loss.
A most influential sermon!
(James Smith, "Good News for All" 1860)
"You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life,
and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my
patience, my love, and my endurance." 2 Timothy 3:10
A holy life is a most influential sermon!
"You ought to live holy and godly lives!" 2 Peter 3:11
Yay…..It's Our 11th Wedding anniversary!!
Hi all…..Today is a really long post as it's a special day for Sarah & i. I really hope you read through to the end and be blessed!
Ephesians 5:25-27 The Voice (VOICE)
Husbands, you must love your wives so deeply, purely, and sacrificially that we can understand it only when we compare it to the love the Anointed One has for His bride, the church. We know He gave Himself up completely to make her His own, washing her clean of all her impurity with water and the powerful presence of His word. He has given Himself so that He can present the church as His radiant bride, unstained, unwrinkled, and unblemished—completely free from all impurity—holy and innocent before Him.
My Thoughts…
Each time our wedding anniversary comes round, i can't believe how much our marriage has grown more and more fruitful. Our love keeps blossoming through every season and i thank God for Sarah who is not only my best friend, but my amazing wife! 🙂
I thank God for sustaining our marriage in Purity and Truth.
I thank God for not leaving us alone to figure out what to do, but for giving us, teaching, correction, training and a perfect Holy example to follow through the Holy Spirit…to reflect the personal and intimate union between Christ and His Church. The mystery of marriage is its reflection of the oneness of Christ, the Husband, and His Church, the Bride of Christ.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Amplified Bible
Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].
Love never fails…
The Marriage Altar—and After
J. R. Miller, 1880
preparations are all at last made. The bridal dress is completed. The day has been fixed. The invitations have been sent out. The hour comes. Two young hearts are throbbing with love and joy. A brilliant company, music, flowers, a solemn hush—as the happy pair approach the altar, the repetition of the sacred words of the marriage ceremony, the clasping of hands, the mutual covenants and promises, the giving and receiving of the ring, the final "Whom God has joined together—let not man put asunder," the prayer and blessing—and the twain are one flesh. There are tears and congratulations, hurried good-byes, and a new bark puts out upon the sea, freighted with high hopes. God grant it may never be dashed upon any hidden rock and wrecked!
Marriage is very like the bringing together of two instruments of music. The first thing, is to get them keyed to the same pitch. Before a concert begins you hear the musicians striking chords and keying their instruments, until at length they all perfectly accord. Then they come out and play some rare piece of music, without a discord or a jar in any of its parts.
No two lives, however thorough their former acquaintance may have been, however long they may have moved together in society or mingled in the closer and more intimate relations of a ripening friendship, ever find themselves perfectly in harmony on their marriage-day. It is only when that mysterious blending begins after marriage, which no language can explain—that each finds so much in the other that was never discovered before. There are beauties and excellences that were never disclosed, even to love's partial eye, in all the days of familiar intimacy. There are peculiarities and blemishes which were never seen to exist—until they began to make themselves manifest within the veil of the matrimonial temple. There are incompatibilities that were never dreamed of—until they were revealed in the abrasions of domestic life. There are faults which neither even suspected, in the temper and habits of the other!
Before marriage young people are on their good behavior. They do not exhibit their infirmities. Selfishness is hidden under garments of courtesy and gallantry. Each forgets SELF—in romantic devotion to the other. The voice is softened and made tender, and even tremulous, by love. The music flows with a holy rhythm mellowed by affection's gentleness. Everything that would make an unfavorable impression, is scrupulously put under lock and key. So there is harmony of no ordinary sweetness made by the two young lives, unvexed by one discordant note.
Marriage is a great mystery. "The twain shall be one flesh" is no mere figure of speech. Years of closest, most familiar, most unrestrained intimacy, bring lives very close together—but there is still a separating wall which marriage breaks down. The two lives become one. Each opens every nook, every chamber, every cranny, to the other. There is a mutual interflow, life pouring into life.
There may have been no intention on the part of either, to deceive the other in the smallest matter, or to cloak the smallest infirmity. But the disclosure could not, in the very nature of things, have been any more perfect. Each stood in the porch of a house, or at the most sat in its parlor, never entering any of the inner rooms. Now the whole house is thrown open, and many hitherto unsuspected things are seen!
Too often the restraint seems to fall off, when the matrimonial chain is riveted. No effort is longer made to curb the bad tempers and evil propensities. The delicate robe of politeness is torn away, and many a rudeness appears. It seems to be considered no longer necessary, to continue the old thoughtfulness. Selfishness begins to assert itself. The sweet amenities of the wooing-days are laid aside—and the result is unhappiness! Many a young bride cries herself sick half a dozen times, before she has been a month a bride, and wishes she were back in the bright, happy home of her youth! Oftentimes both the newly-wedded pair become discouraged, and think in their hearts that they have made a mistake!
And yet there is really no reason for discouragement. The marriage may yet be made happy. There is need only for large and wise patience. The two lives require only to be brought into harmony, and love's sweetest music will flow from two hearts in tender unison. But there are several rules which must always be remembered and observed.
Why, for instance, should either party, after the wedding-day, cease to observe all the sweet courtesies, little refinements and charming amenities of the courtship-days? Why should a man be polite all day to everyone he meets—even to the porter in his store, and the bootblack or newsboy on the street—and then less polite to her who meets him at his door with yearning heart hungry for expressions of love? If things have gone wrong with him all day, why should he carry his gloom to his home to darken the joy of his wife's tender heart? Or why should the woman who used to be all smiles and beauty and adornment and perfume when her lover came, meet her husband now with disheveled hair, soiled dress, slovenly manner and face all frowns? Why should there not be a resolute continuance of the old politeness and mutual desire to please—which made the wooing-days so sunny?
Then love must be lifted up out of the realm of the passions and senses—and be spiritualized. There should be converse on the higher themes of life. Many people are wedded only at one or two points. Their natures know but the lower forms of pleasure and fellowship. They never commune on any topic, but the most earthy. Their intellectual parts have no fellowship. They never read nor converse together on elevated themes. There is no commingling of mind with mind; they are dead to each other, in that higher region.
Then still fewer are wedded in their highest, their spiritual natures. The number is small, of those who commune together concerning the things of God, the soul's holiest interests and the realities of eternity. No marriage is complete—which does not unite and blend the wedded lives at every point. Husband and wife should be wedded along their whole nature.
This implies that they should read and study together, having the same line of thought, helping each other toward higher mental culture. It implies also that they should worship together, communing with one another upon the holiest themes of life and hope. Together they should bow in prayer, and together work in anticipation of the same blessed home beyond this life of toil and care. I can conceive of no true and perfect marriage, whose deepest joy does not lie forward in the life to come.
Perfect mutual confidence is an element of every complete marriage. Husband and wife should live but one life, sharing all of each other's cares, joys, sorrows and hopes. There should not be a corner in the nature and occupation of either—which is not open to the other. The moment a man has to begin to shut his wife out from any chapters of his daily life he is in peril; and in like manner her whole life should be open to him. There should be a flowing together of heart and soul in close communion and perfect confidence. No discord can end in harm—while there is such mutual inter-sphering of lives and such inter-flowing of souls.
Once more, no third party should ever be taken into this holy of holies. No matter who it is—the sweetest, gentlest, dearest, wisest mother; the purest, truest, tenderest sister; the best, the loyalest friend—no one but God should ever be permitted to know anything of the secret, sacred married life, that they twain are living. This is one of those relations with which no stranger, though he be the closest bosom friend, should intermeddle. Any alien touch is sure to leave a blight.
There are certain influences that bring out all the warmth and tenderness needed to make any marriage very happy. When one is sick, how gentle and thoughtful it makes the other! Not a want or wish is left unsupplied. All the heart's affections—long slumbering, perhaps—are awakened and become intent on most kindly ministry. No service is thought a hardship now, or done with any show of reluctance. There is not a breath or look of impatience. Love flows out in tone and look and word and act. There is an inexpressible tenderness in all the bearing. Even the coldest natures become gentle in the sick-room, and the rudest, harshest manners become soft and warm at the touch of suffering in the beloved one.
Or let death come to either, and what an awakening there is of all that is holiest and tenderest and sweetest in the heart of the other! If the dead could be recalled and the wedded life resumed, would it not be a thousand times more loving than ever it was before? Would there be any more the old impatience, the old selfishness? Would there not be the fullest sympathy, the largest forbearance, the warmest outflow of the heart's most kindly feelings?
And why may not married life be lived day by day, under the power of this wondrous influence? Why wait for suffering in the one we love—to thaw out the heart's tenderness, to melt the icy chill of neglect and indifference, and to produce in us the summer fruits of affection? Why wait for death to come—to reveal the beauty of the plain life that moves by our side, and disclose the value of the blessings it enfolds for us? Why should we only learn to appreciate and prize love's splendors and its sweetness—as it vanishes out of our sight?
Why should the empty chair—be the first revealer of the real worth of those who have walked so close to us? Why should sorrow over our loss—be the first influence to draw from our hearts, the tenderness and the wealth of kindly ministries that lie pent up in them all the while? Surely, wedded life should call out all that is richest, truest, tenderest, most inspiring and most helpful in the life of each. This is the true ideal of Christian marriage. Its love is to be like that of Christ and his Church. It should not wait for the agony of suffering or the pang of separation to draw out its tenderness—but should fill all its days and nights with unvexed sweetness!
There are many such marriages. Few more beautiful pictures of wedded love were ever unveiled, than that which was lived out in the home of Charles Kingsley. His wife closes her loving memoir with these words, "The outside world must judge him as an author, a preacher, a member of society—but those only who lived with him in the intimacy of every-day life at home—can tell what he was as a man. Over the real romance of his life, and over the tenderest, loveliest passages in his private letters—a veil must be thrown—but it will not be lifting it too far to say that if in the highest, closest of earthly relationships, a love that never failed—pure, patient, passionate—for thirty-six years—a love which never stooped from its own lofty level—to a hasty word, an impatient gesture or a selfish act, in sickness or in health, in sunshine or in storm, by day or by night, could prove that the age of chivalry has not passed away forever—then Charles Kingsley fulfilled the ideal of a 'most true and perfect knight' to the one woman blessed with that love in time, and to eternity. To eternity, for such love is eternal, and he is not dead. He himself, the man, the lover, husband, father, friend—he still lives in God, who is not the God of the dead—but of the living."
And why should, not every marriage in Christ, realize all that lies in this picture? It is possible, and yet only noble manhood and womanhood, with truest views of marriage and inspired by the holiest love, can realize it.
True beauty is not of the face–but of the soul!
(Mabel Hale, "Beautiful Girlhood" 1922)
"Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears the LORD shall be praised!" Proverbs 31:30
Every girl is a lover of beauty. Beautiful homes, beautiful furnishings, beautiful flowers, beautiful clothes, beautiful faces–anything wherein beauty is found, there will be found girls to admire it. From the time her little hands can reach up, and her baby lips can lisp the words, she is admiring "pretty things." And when a little of that beauty is her own–her pleasure is unbounded.
Every girl longs to be beautiful. There is in woman a nature, as deep as humanity, which compels her to strive for good looks. There is no more forlorn sorrow for a young girl, than for her to be convinced that she is hopelessly ugly and undesirable. Oh, the bitter tears that have been shed over freckles, or blemishedskin–and the energy that has been expended in painting and powdering and waving and curling herself into beauty!
A desire to be beautiful is not unwomanly. But, mark it: true beauty is not of the face–but of the soul! There is a beauty so deep and lasting, that it will shine out of the homeliest face and make it lovely! This is the beauty to be first sought and admired. It is a quality of the mind and heart–and is manifested in word and deed.
A happy heart,
a smiling face,
loving words and deeds, and
a desire to be of service–
will make any girl beautiful!
A beautiful soul shining out of a homely face–is far more attractive than a beautiful face out of which looks a soul full of selfishness and pride!
Let your chief charm be of heart and mind–not of face and form.
Seek the true beauty which lasts even into old age!
Solomon, in one of his wise sayings, plainly expressed the evil that comes to a woman who is beautiful of face, but lacks the true beauty of soul: "Like a gold ring in a swine's snout–is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion!" Proverbs 11:22. As the swine would plunge the golden jewel into the filth and the mire as he dug in the dirt–so will a pretty woman who is not godly, drag her beauty down to the very lowest.
There are many peculiar temptations to those who are only lovely of face. Without true beauty of soul–a pretty face is a dangerous gift!
"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight!" 1 Peter 3:3-4
Like a concealed worm at the root of a flower
It may be that your hindrances to a more rapid
growth in grace, arise from some specific cause,
some sin indulged, some corruption cherished. Is
there not some sacrifice which you are unwilling
to make, or something which you are unwilling to
surrender? You must give up the forbidden thing,
or your growth in grace is impossible! That one sin
will, like a concealed worm at the root of a
flower–eat out the very life of your piety, and
cause it to droop, wither, and decay.
Carnal, careless, and covetous
One must judge of his own state by the fruit he bears.
When our fruit is unto holiness, we know that the end
shall be everlasting life. Everyone who hopes that he is
converted to God, should examine himself and prove his
own fruit. In judging of piety, there is no substitute for
a holy life. We are Christ's disciples—if we do whatever
He commands us. We are the servants of the wicked
one—if we do the works of the flesh. We may boast of
discoveries, of raptures, and ecstasies—but all is in vain
if a consistent life is not the result. A godly life is the
infallible evidence of conversion.
Many professors of religion are carnal, careless,
and covetous. In them no change of life appears
to prove a change of heart. They are much like their
worldly neighbors, except that they attend church.
They are spots and blemishes in Christian feasts.
They are a grief and a shame to godly people. The
church has their names, but the world has their
hearts. The number of such is painfully large.
Who are you, O man, to talk back to God?
(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I
will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or
effort, but on God's mercy." Romans 9:15-16
God has a sovereign right and authority over man.
He can do with His creatures as He pleases. Who shall
dispute with God? Who shall ask Him a reason of His
doings? "Who are you, O man, to talk back to
God? Shall what is formed say to him who formed
it—Why did you make me like this?" Romans 9:20
"Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."
Psalm 115:3
"The Lord does whatever He pleases in heaven and
on earth, in the seas and all the depths." Psalm 135:6
God sits as judge in the highest court, and is not bound
to give a reason for His proceedings. "He puts down one,
and raises up another." He has salvation and damnation
in His power. He has the key of justice in His hand, to
lock up whomever he will, in the fiery prison of hell! And
He has the key of mercy in His hand, to open heaven's
gate to whomever He pleases! The name engraved upon
His vesture is, "King of kings, and Lord of lords!" He sits
Lord paramount, and who can call Him to account? The
world is God's house, and shall not He do what He
desires in His own house?
"My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please!"
Isaiah 46:10
"Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!"
Revelation 19:6
Why Christ offends men
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"Unbelievers stumbling; Believers rejoicing"
There are some who stumble at Christ because of his holiness.
He is too strict for them; they would like to be Christians,
but they cannot renounce their sensual pleasures; they
would like to be washed in his blood, but they desire still
to roll in the mire of sin.
Willing enough the mass of men would be to receive Christ,
if, after receiving him, they might continue in their drunkenness,
their wantonness, and self-indulgence. But Christ lays the axe
at the root of the tree; he tells them that these things must be
given up, for "because of these things the wrath of God comes
upon the children of disobedience," and "without holiness no
man can see the Lord."
Human nature kicks at this.
"What! May I not enjoy one darling lust? May I not indulge
myself at least now and then in these things? Must I altogether
forsake my old habits and my old ways? Must I be made a
new creature in Christ Jesus?"
These are terms too hard, conditions too severe, and so the
human heart goes back to the flesh pots of Egypt, and clings
to the garlic and the onions of the old estate of bondage, and
will not be set free even though a greater than Moses lifts up
the rod to part the sea, and promises to give to them a Canaan
flowing with milk and honey.
Christ offends men because his gospel is intolerant of sin.
Avenge his death!
The following is from Spurgeon's sermon,
"For Christ's Sake." No. 614 Eph. 4:32.
One of the first things which every Christian should feel
bound to do "for Christ's sake" is to avenge his death.
"Avenge his death," says one, "upon whom?"
Upon his murderers. And who were they? Our sins! Our sins?
"Each of our sins became a nail, and unbelief the spear."
The very thought of sin having put Jesus to death should
make the Christian hate it with a terrible hatred. When I
recollect that my sins tore my Savior's body on the tree,
took the crown from his head, and the comfort from his
heart, and sent him down into the shades of death, I vow
revenge against them.
"O sin! Happy shall he be who takes your little
ones and dashes them against a stone!"
Yes, doubly blessed is he who, like Samuel, shall hew
the Agag of his sins in pieces before the Lord, and not
spare so much as one single fault, or folly, or vice,
because it slew the Savior.
Be holy, be pure, be just, be separate
from sinners for Christ's sake.
"See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did ever such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads over his body on the tree;
Then am I dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."
Giddily gliding along the broad road that leads to destruction!
(Arthur Pink, "Laughter")
There is a natural laughter, which is innocent and harmless.
There is a spiritual laughter, which is God-pleasing and beneficial.
There is a carnal laughter, which is sinful and injurious.
"Woe unto you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep!" (Luke 6:25). The laughter which Christ here denounced, was a state of heart which lived only for the present, and had no serious concern for the future. It was His censure of those who are giddily gliding along the broad road that leads to destruction! In the light of the immediate context, the reference is to those who rejoiced in the abundance of their worldly possessions, and found their delight in making gods of their bellies.
"I said of laughter, 'It is madness,' and of pleasure, 'What does it accomplish?'" (Ecclesiastes 2:2). Those were the words of one who was granted the opportunity and afforded the means, of gratifying every carnal desire and of obtaining every object which the natural heart and eye can covet — only to prove from experience, that all were but "vanity and vexation of spirit." There is no real or lasting happiness in anything which money can purchase. The void within the human heart cannot be filled by the objects of time and sense. For one to pursue the shadows — and miss the substance; to devote himself to the things which perish with the using — yet be indifferent to those which are eternal; to seek his delight in gratifying the lusts of the flesh — and neglect the welfare of his soul, is nothing but a species of insanity! "For as the crackling of thorns under a pot [noisy, but of brief duration] — so is the laughter of the fool!" (Ecclesiastes 7:6).
"All who see Me, laugh Me to scorn!" (Psalm 22:7). So far were they from pitying Him, they added to His afflictions with their ribaldry, making jest of His very sufferings! Horrid humanity! Fearful impiety! None should ever doubt the total depravity of man, as they see here to what unspeakable depths of iniquity man sinks, when the restraining hand of God is removed from him! The spectators of the dying Redeemer's agonies, exerted the utmost of the venom of their hearts upon Him! This was a Diabolical laughter!
There is also a divine laughter, which is dreadful and disastrous. To such David referred: "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh" (Psalm 2:4), which is the laughter of derision against those who think to defy Him with impunity.
And again God says, "I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear comes!" (Proverbs 1:26), which is the laughter of divine retribution. He has "called" — by His Word, His providences, His ministers, and their own consciences — but they "refused" to heed Him. They were neither melted by the abundance of His mercies— nor awed by the dreadfulness of His threats. They did not respect His Law — and had no heart for His Gospel. But though He bears the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction with much long-suffering, He has appointed a day when they shall be made to reap as they have sown. As they scorned His messengers when they warned of the wrath to come — so shall He turn a deaf ear then to their cries for mercy, and righteously laugh at their calamity! Oh, that none our readers may ever be the objects of this laugh!
She is a common sewer!
(Thomas Watson, "The Ten Commandments".
This selection is longer, but it is needful in our immoral society. Though it particularly addresses adultery, it easily applies to any kind of immorality. This is the best article I have ever read, on how to deal with lust. Every man struggles with lust—so please forward this on.)
"You shall not commit adultery." Exodus 20:14
This commandment is set up as a hedge to keep out impurity; and those who break this hedge—a serpent shall bite them! The fountain of this sin is lust. God is a pure, holy being, and has an infinite antipathy against all impurity. We must take heed of running on the rock of impurity, and so making shipwreck of our chastity. The meaning of the commandment is not only that we should not stain our bodies with immorality—but that we should keep our souls pure. To have a chaste body—but an unclean soul, is like a beautiful face with a cancerous heart. "Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:16.
There is a mental adultery. "Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart." Matthew 5:28. As a man may die of an inward bleeding—so he may be damned for the inward boilings of lust, if it is not mortified. That I may deter you from the sin of adultery, let me show you the great evil of it.
(1) Adultery is a thievish sin. It is the highest sort of theft. The adulterer steals from his neighbor, that which is more than his goods and estate; he steals away his wife from him!
(2) Adultery debases a person. It makes him resemble the beasts; therefore the adulterer is described like a horse neighing. "Everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife." Jeremiah 5:8. It is worse than brutish; for some creatures which are void of reason—yet by the instinct of nature, observe some decorum and chastity. The turtle-dove is a chaste creature, and keeps to its mate. And the stork, wherever he flies, comes into no nest but his own. Naturalists write that if a stork, leaving his own mate, joins with any other, all the rest of the storks fall upon it, and pull its feathers from it. Adultery is worse than brutish, it degrades a person of his honor.
(3) Adultery pollutes. The devil is called an unclean spirit. Luke 11:24. The adulterer is the devil's first-born; he is unclean; he is a moving quagmire. He is all over ulcerated with sin; his eyes sparkle with lust; his mouth foams out filth; his heart burns like mount Etna, in unclean desires. He is so filthy, that if he dies in this sin, all the flames of hell will never purge away his immorality! And, as for the adulteress, who can paint her black enough? The Scripture calls her a deep ditch. Proverbs 23:27. She is a common sewer! The body of a harlot is a walking dung-hill, and her soul a lesser hell!
(4) Adultery is destructive to the body. "Afterward you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body." Proverbs 5:11. Immorality turns the body into a hospital, it brings foul diseases, and eats the beauty of the face. As the flame wastes the candle, so the fire of lust consumes the body. The adulterer hastens his own death. "So she seduced him with her pretty speech. With her flattery she enticed him. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter or like a trapped stag, awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life!" Proverbs 7:21-23.
(5.) Adultery is a drain upon the purse; it wastes not the body only—but the estate. "Keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life!" Proverbs 6:24-26. Whores are the devil's horse-leeches, sponges that suck in money. The prodigal son spent his inheritance, when he fell among harlots. Luke 15:30. The concubine of King Edward III, when he was dying, got all she could from him, and even plucked the rings off his fingers.
(6) Adultery destroys reputation. "But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys his own soul. Wounds and constant disgrace are his lot. His shame will never be erased!" Proverbs 6:32, 33. Wounds of reputation—no physician can heal. When the adulterer dies, his shame lives. When his body rots underground, his name rots above ground. His bastard children are living monuments of his shame.
(7) Adultery impairs the mind. It steals away the understanding; it stupefies the heart. "Whoredom and wine take away the heart." Hosea 4:11. It eats all purity out of the heart. Solomon besotted himself with women, and they enticed him to idolatry.
(8) Adultery incurs temporal judgments. The Mosaic law made the penalty for adultery, to be death. "The adulterer and adulteress shall surely be put to death;" and the usual death was stoning. Lev 20:10; Deut. 22:24. The Salons commanded people guilty of this sin, to be burnt. The Romans caused their heads to be stricken off. Like a scorpion—this sin carries a sting in its tail. "For jealousy arouses a husband's fury, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge!" Proverbs 6:34. The adulterer is often killed in the act of his sin. "Lust's practice is to make a joyful entrance—but she leaves in misery." I have read of two in London, who, having defiled themselves with adultery, were immediately struck dead with lightening from heaven. If all who are now guilty of this sin were to be punished in this manner, it would rain fire again, as on Sodom.
(9) Adultery, without repentance, damns the soul. "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexual offenders . . . will inherit the kingdom of God!" 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. The fire of lust, brings to the fire of hell. "God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral!" Hebrews 13:4. Though men may neglect to judge them—yet God will judge them! He will judge them assuredly; they shall not escape the hand of justice; and He will punish them severely. The harlot's breasts keeps from Abraham's bosom! "The delight lasts a moment—the torment an eternity!" Who for a cup of pleasure—would drink a sea of wrath! "Her guests are in the depths of hell." Proverbs 9:18. The harlot is perfumed with powders, and lovely to look on—but poisonous and damnable to the soul! "She has cast down many wounded, yes, many strong men have been slain by her." Proverbs 7:26.
(10) The adulterer does all he can, to destroy the soul of another—and so kills two at once! He is worse than the thief; for, suppose a thief robs a man, yes, and also takes away his life— the man's soul may be happy; he may go to heaven as well as if he had died in his bed. But he who commits adultery, endangers the soul of another, and does all he can, to deprive her of salvation. What a fearful thing it is—to be an instrument to draw another to hell!
(11) The adulterer is abhorred of God. "The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is abhorred by the Lord, will fall into it." Proverbs 22:14. What can be worse than to be abhorred by God? God may be angry with His own children; but for God to abhor a man—is the highest degree of hatred! The immoral person stands upon the threshold of hell; and when death gives him a push—he tumbles in!
All this should sound a warning in our ears, and call us off from the pursuit of so damnable a sin as immorality. Hear what the Scriptures say: "Her house is the way to hell." Proverbs 7:27.
I shall give some directions, by way of antidote, to keep from the infection of this sin.
(1) Do not come into the company of a whorish woman; avoid her house, as a seaman does a rock. "Run from her! Don't go near the door of her house!" Proverbs 5:8. He who would not have the plague, must not come near infected houses; every whore-house has the plague in it. Not to avoid the occasion of sin, and yet pray, "Lead us not into temptation," is, as if one should put his finger into the candle, and yet pray that it may not be burnt!
(2) Look to your eyes. Much sin comes in by the eye. "Having eyes full of adultery." 2 Pet 2:14. The eye tempts the imagination, and the imagination works upon the heart. A lustful amorous eye, may usher in sin. Eve first saw the tree of knowledge—and then she took. Gen 3:6. First she looked—and then she loved. The eye often sets the heart on fire; therefore Job laid a law upon his eyes. "I made a covenant with my eyes—not to look with lust upon a young woman." Job 31:1.
(3) Look to your lips. Take heed of any unclean word which may enkindle unclean thoughts in yourselves or others. "Evil communications corrupt good manners." 1 Cor. 15:33. Impure discourse, is the bellows to blow up the fire of lust. Much evil is conveyed to the heart by the tongue. "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth!" Psalm 141:3.
(4) Look in a special manner to your heart. "Guard your heart with all diligence." Proverbs 4:23. Every person has a tempter in his own bosom! "Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, adultery, all other sexual immorality." Matthew 15:19. Thinking of sin, makes way for the act of sin. Suppress the first risings of sin in your heart. As the serpent, when danger is near—guards his head, so keep your heart, which is the spring from whence all lustful motions proceed.
(5) Look to your attire. We read of the attire of a harlot. Proverbs 7:10. A wanton dress is a provocation to lust. A painted face, and half-naked breasts, are allurements to immorality. Where the sign is hung out—people will go in and taste the liquor. Jerome says, "those who by their lascivious attire endeavor to draw others to lust, though no evil follows—are tempters—and shall be punished, because they offered the poison to others, even though they would not drink."
(6) Take heed of evil company. Sin is a very contagious disease; one person tempts another to sin, and hardens him in it. There are three cords which draw men to immorality:
the inclination of the heart,
the persuasion of evil company, and
the embraces of the harlot. This threefold cord is not easily broken. "A fire was kindled in their company." Psalm 106:18. The fire of lust is kindled in bad company.
(7) Beware of going to theaters and plays. A play-house is often a preface to a whorehouse. "Plays furnish the seeds of wickedness." We are bid to avoid all appearance of evil; and are not plays the appearance of evil? Such sights are there, which are not fit to be beheld with chaste eyes. A learned divine observes, that many have on their death-beds confessed, with tears, that the pollution of their bodies has been occasioned by going to plays.
(8) Take heed of lascivious books and pictures, which provoke to lust. As the reading of the Scripture stirs up love to God, so reading vile books stirs up the mind to wickedness. To lascivious books I may add lascivious pictures, which bewitch the eye, and are incendiaries to lust! They secretly convey poison to the heart.
(9) Take heed of excess in diet. When gluttony and drunkenness lead the van, immorality and wantonness bring up the rear. "Wine inflames lust." "Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and gluttony." Ezekiel 16:49. The foulest weeds grow out of the fattest soil. Immorality proceeds from excess. "When I had fed them to the full, everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife." Jer. 5:8. Get the "golden bridle of temperance." God allows the refreshment of nature, and what may fit us the better for his service; but beware of surfeit. Excess in temporal things—clouds the mind, chokes good affections, and provokes lust. "I discipline my body and bring it under strict control." 1 Cor. 9:27. The flesh pampered—is liable to immorality.
(10) Take heed of idleness. When a man is idle, he is ready to receive any temptation. The devil sows most of his seeds of temptation in fallow ground. Idleness is the cause of sodomy and immorality. "Sodom's sins were pride, laziness, and gluttony." Ezekiel 16:49. When David was idle on the top of his house, he espied Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her. 2 Samuel 11:4. Jerome gave his friend counsel to be always well employed in God's vineyard, that when the devil came, he might have no leisure to listen to temptation.
(11) To avoid fornication and adultery, let every man have a chaste, entire love to his own wife. Ezekiel's wife was the desire of his eyes. Ezekiel 24:16. When Solomon had dissuaded from immoral women, he prescribed a remedy against it. "Rejoice with the wife of your youth." Proverbs 5:18. It is not having a wife—but loving a wife— which makes a man live chastely. He who loves his wife, whom Solomon calls his fountain, will not go abroad to drink of muddy, poisoned waters. Pure marital love is a gift of God, and comes from heaven; but, like the vestal fire, it must be nourished, so that it does not go out. He who does not love his wife, is the likeliest person to embrace the bosom of a harlot.
(12) Labor to get the fear of God into your hearts. "By the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil." Proverbs 16:6. As the embankment keeps out the water, so the fear of the Lord keeps out immorality. Such as lack the fear of God, lack the bridle which should check them from sin! How did Joseph keep from his mistress' temptation? The fear of God pulled him back! "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God!" Genesis 39:9. Bernard calls holy fear, "the door-keeper of the soul." As a nobleman's porter stands at the door, and keeps out vagrants, so the fear of God stands and keeps out all sinful temptations from entering.
(13) Take delight in the Word of God. "How sweet are your words unto my taste." Psalm 119:103. Chrysostom compares God's Word to a garden. If we walk in this garden, and suck sweetness from the flowers of the promises, we shall never care to pluck the "forbidden fruit." "Let the Scriptures be my pure pleasure," says Augustine. The reason why people seek after unchaste, sinful pleasures—is because they have nothing better. Caesar riding through a city, and seeing the women play with dogs and parrots, said, "Surely, they have no children." So those who sport with harlots, have no better pleasures. He who has once tasted Christ in a promise, is ravished with delight; and he would scorn a temptation to sin! Job said, that the Word was his "appointed food." Job 23:12. No wonder then, that he made a "covenant with his eyes."
(14) If you would abstain from adultery, use serious consideration.
[1] Consider that God sees you in the act of sin! He sees all your curtain wickedness. He is totus oculus—"all eye." The clouds are no canopy, the night is no curtain—to hide you from God's eye! Whenever you sin—your Judge looks on! "I have seen your detestable acts—your adulteries and your neighings." Jer. 13:27. "They have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives. I know it and am a witness to it! declares the Lord." Jer. 29:23.
[2] Consider that few who are entangled in the sin of adultery, ever recover from the snare. "None that go to her return again." Proverbs 2:19. This made some of the ancients conclude that adultery was an unpardonable sin; but it is not so. David repented. Mary Magdalene was a weeping penitent; upon her amorous eyes which sparkled with lust, she sought to be revenged, by washing Christ's feet with her tears! Some, therefore have recovered from this snare. "None that go to her return," that is, "very few." It is rare to hear of any who are enchanted and bewitched with the sin of immorality, who recover from it. "I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare." Eccl. 7:26. Her "heart is a trap," that is, she is subtle to deceive those who come to her; and "her hands are chains," that is her embraces are powerful to hold and entangle her lovers. This consideration should make all fearful of this sin. Soft pleasures, harden the heart.
[3] Consider what Scripture says, which may lay a barricade in the way to this sin. "I will be a swift witness against the adulterers." Malachi 3:5. It is good when God is a witness "for us", when He witnesses to our sincerity, as He did to Job's; but it is sad to have God as a "witness against us." "I," says God, "will be a swift witness against the adulterer." And who shall disprove God's witness? He is both witness and judge! "God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery." Hebrews 13:4.
[4] Consider the sad farewell, which the sin of adultery leaves. It leaves a hell in the conscience. "The lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But the result is as bitter as poison, sharp as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to hell." Proverbs 5:3-5. The goddess Diana was so artfully drawn, that she seemed to smile upon those who came into her temple—but frown on those who went out. So the harlot smiles on her lovers as they come to her—but at last, they come to the frown and the sting! "Until an arrow pierces his liver." Proverbs 7:23. "Her end is bitter."
When a man has been virtuous, the labor is gone—but the comfort remains; but when he has been wicked and immoral, the pleasure is gone—but the sting remains. "He gains momentary pleasure—but after that, eternal torment," says Jerome. When the senses have been feasted with unchaste pleasures, the soul is left to pay the reckoning. Stolen waters are sweet; but, as poison, though sweet in the mouth, it torments the conscience. Sin always ends in tragedy! Sad is that which Fincelius reports of a priest in Flanders, who enticed a young girl to immorality. When she objected how vile a sin it was, he told her that by authority from the Pope, he could commit any sin; so at last he drew her to his wicked purpose. But when they had been together a while, in came the devil, and took away the harlot from the priest's side, and, notwithstanding all her crying out, carried her away! If the devil should come and carry away all who are guilty of immorality in this nation—I fear more would be carried away, than would be left behind!
(16) Pray against this sin. Luther gave a lady this advice, that when any lust began to rise in her heart, she should go to prayer. Prayer is the best armor against sin; it quenches the wild fire of lust. If prayer will "cast out the devil," it will certainly cast out those lusts which come from the devil.
O let us labor for soul purity! To keep the soul pure—have recourse to the blood of Christ, which is the "fountain open, to cleanse from sin and impurity." Zech. 13:1. A soul steeped in the briny tears of repentance, and bathed in the blood of Christ—is made pure! Say, "Lord, my soul is defiled! I pollute all I touch! O purge me with hyssop—let Christ's blood sprinkle me, let the Holy Spirit anoint me. O make me pure, that I may be taken to heaven—where I shall be as holy as You would have me to be—and ashappy as I can desire to be!"
The Delilah in the bosom!
(Thomas Watson, "The Lord's Prayer")
If you would not come short of the kingdom of heaven,
take heed of indulging any sin. One millstone will drown,
as well as more. One sin lived in will damn, as well as more.
If any one sin reigns—it will keep you from reigning in the
kingdom of heaven.
Especially keep from sins of your natural constitution;
your darling sin. "I kept myself from my iniquity"—that
sin which my heart would soonest decoy and flatter me
into. As in the hive there is one master bee—so in the
heart there is one master-sin. Oh, take heed of this!
How may this darling-sin be known?
1. That sin for which a man cannot endure the arrow of
a reproof, is the bosom-sin. Men can be content to have
other sins declaimed against; but if a minister puts his
finger upon the sore, and touches upon that one special
sin—then their eyes flash with fire, they are enraged,
and spit the venom of malice!
2. That sin which a man's heart runs out most to, and he
is most easily captivated by—is the Delilah in the bosom!
One man is overcome with wantonness, another by worldliness.
It is a sad thing for a man to be so bewitched by a beloved sin
that he will part with the whole kingdom of heaven—to gratify
that lust!
3. That sin which a man is least inclined to part with, is the
endeared sin. Of all his sons, Jacob could most hardly part with
Benjamin. "Will you take Benjamin away!" Gen 42:35. So says
the sinner, "This and that sin I have left—but must Benjamin go
too? Must I part with this delightful sin? That goes to my heart!"
Take heed especially of this master-sin. The strength of sin
lies in the beloved sin, which, like a cancer striking at the
heart, brings death.
I have read of a monarch, who being pursued by the enemy,
threw away the crown of gold on his head—that he might run
the faster. Just so, the sin which you wore as a crown of gold
must be thrown away—that you may run the faster to the
kingdom of heaven.
Oh, if you would not lose glory, mortify the beloved sin! Set it,
as Uriah—in the forefront of the battle to be slain. By plucking
out this right eye—you will see the better to go to heaven!
The Trojan horse
(Thomas Watson, "The Lord's Prayer")
"Deliver us from evil." Matthew 6:13
In this petition, we pray to be delivered from the
evil of our heart, that it may not entice us to sin.
The heart is the poisoned fountain, from whence
all actual sins flow. "For from within, out of the heart
of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft,
murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit,
sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness."
Mark 7:21-22.
The cause of all evil lies in a man's own bosom—all
sin begins at the heart. Lust is first conceived in the
heart—and then it is midwifed into the world. Whence
comes rash anger? The heart sets the tongue on fire.
The heart is the shop where all sin is contrived and
hammered out.
The heart is the greatest seducer "Each one is
tempted when he is carried away and enticed by
his own lust." James 1:14. The devil could not hurt
us—if our own hearts did not give consent. All that
he can do is to lay the bait—but it is our fault to
swallow it! How needful, therefore, is this prayer,
"Deliver us from the evil of our hearts!"
It was Augustine's prayer, "Lord, deliver me from
that evil man—myself!"
Beware of the bosom traitor—the flesh. The heart
of a man is the Trojan horse—out of which comes
a whole army of lusts! O let us pray to be delivered
from the lusts and deceits of our own heart!
Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD."
Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt, the son born to you will die." 2 Samuel 12:13-14
David's experience is very instructive to us. While it teaches us that God can and will forgive us, if we repent of our great and gross sins—yet it also teaches us that sin is an evil and a bitter thing; and that, though the guilt of it may be removed, the evil consequences of it will cling to us and be a subject of sorrow to us—until God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes!
Charles H Spurgeon
(John Angell James, "Christian Fellowship" 1822)
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5
Christians should excel in the manifestation of Christ's character. The mind which was in Jesus, should be in them. They should consider His character as a model of their own; and be conspicuous for their . . .
poverty of spirit,
and love.
It is matter of surprise and regret, that many people seem to think that Christianity has nothing to do with character! And that provided they are free from gross sins, and have lively feelings in devotional exercises, they may be as petulant, irritable, and implacable as they please! This is a dreadful error, and has done great mischief to the cause of God!
A sour, ill-natured Christian, is like a lamb with a wolf's head! Or like a dove with a vulture's beak!
If there be any one word which above all others should describe a Christian's character, it is that which represents his divine Father; and as it is said, that 'God is love', so should it be also affirmed, that a Christian is love–love embodied, an incarnation of love! His words, his conduct, his very looks–should be so many expressions of love!
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us!" Ephesians 4:32-5:2
He sees the nails and spear in every iniquity!
The heart of Christ became like a reservoir in the midst of the mountains. All the tributary streams of iniquity, and every drop of the sins of His people–ran down and gathered into one vast lake–as deep as Hell and as shoreless as eternity. All these met, as it were, in Christ's heart–and He endured them all!
Sin is horrible to a believer–because it crucified his Savior! He sees the nails and spear in every iniquity!
We cannot bear sin. When it is near us, we feel like a wretch chained to a rotting carcass–we groan to be free from the hateful thing.
A very little sin, as the world calls it–is a very great sin to a true Christian!
Everybody is going to be saved–and nobody is going to be lost!
(J.C. Ryle, 1884)
One great danger of the church today, consists in the rise and progress of a spirit of indifference to all doctrines and opinions in religion. A wave of latitudinarianism about theology, appears to be passing over the land. The minds of many seem utterly incapable of discerning any difference between . . .
one belief–and another belief,
one creed–and another creed,
one tenet–and another tenet,
one opinion–and another opinion,
one thought–and another thought,
however diverse and mutually contrary they may be!
Everything is true–and nothing is false.
Everything is right–and nothing is wrong.
Everything is good–and nothing is bad–if only it comes to us under the garb and name of religion. Most think that it is kind and liberal, to maintain that we have no right to think that anyone is wrong, who is in earnest about his creed.
We are not allowed to ask what is God's truth–but what is liberal, and generous, and charitable.
Most professing Christians make cleverness and earnestness the only tests of orthodoxy in religion. Thousands nowadays seem utterly unable to distinguish things that differ. If a preacher is only clever and eloquent and earnest–they think that he is all right, however strange and heterodox his sermons may be.
Popery–or Protestantism,
an atonement–or no atonement,
a personal Holy Spirit–or no Holy Spirit,
future punishment–or no future punishment
–they swallow all! Carried away by an imagined liberality and charity, they seem to regard doctrine as a matter of no importance, and to think that everybody is going to be saved–and nobody is going to be lost! They dislike distinctness, and think that all decided views are very wrong!
These people live in a kind of mist or fog! They see nothing clearly, and do not know what they believe. They have not made up their minds about any great point in the Gospel, and seem content to be honorary members of all schools of thought. For their lives–they could not tell you what they think is truth about . . .
forgiveness of sins,
or justification,
or regeneration,
or sanctification,
or saving faith,
or conversion,
or inspiration,
or the future state.
They are eaten up with a morbid dread of doctrine. And so they live on undecided, and too often undecided they drift down to the grave, on the broad way which leads to eternal destruction.
They are content to shovel aside all disputed points as rubbish, and will tell you, "I do not pretend to understand doctrine. I dare say that it is all the same in the long run." They are for a general policy of universal toleration and forbearance of every doctrine. Every school of false teaching, however extreme, is to be tolerated. They desire the Church to be a kind of Noah's Ark, within which every kind of opinion and creed shall dwell safely and undisturbed, and the only terms of admittance are a willingness to come inside, and let your neighbor alone. Nothing is too absurd to concede and allow into the church, in the present mania for complete freedom of thought, and absolute liberty of opinion.
The explanation of this boneless, nerveless condition of soul, is perhaps not difficult to find. The heart of man is naturally in the dark about religion–has no intuitive sense of truth–and really needs divine instruction and illumination. Besides this, the natural heart in most men hates exertion in religion. Above all, the natural heart generally likes the praise of others, shrinks from collision, and loves to be thought charitable and liberal. The whole result is that a kind of broad religious anythingism just suits an immense number of professors.
Ignorance, I am compelled to say, is one of the grand dangers of professors of religion in the present day.
Who does not know that such people swarm and abound everywhere? And who does not know that anyone who denounces this state of things, and insists that we should be loyal to Scripture truth–is regarded as a narrow, bigoted, intolerant person, quite unsuited to our times?
When there is no creed or standard of doctrine, there can be no church, but a Babel. Let me venture to advise all true Christians to never to be ashamed of holding Evangelical views. Those views, I am quite aware, are not fashionable nowadays. They are ridiculed as old-fashioned, narrow, defective, and out of date–and those who hold them, are regarded as illiberal, impracticable old fossils!
What the final result of the present state of things will be, I do not pretend to predict.
"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths!" 2 Timothy 4:2-4
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 New King James Version (NKJV)
6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. 7 For we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
Meet Stephen…
This post is to celebrate the life of "Brother in Christ" Stephen Salmon (aged 33). His funeral is today so could you please pray for family and friends and all who are affected by his passing.
First i'd like you to meet Stephen as he describes in this video testimony how God pulled him from the streets of Tenerife. Stephen was homeless, addicted to all kinds of drugs and alcohol, and yet God showed him a glimpse of heaven and his new eternal home with Jesus.
I saw Stephen's testimony for the first time whilst looking through the Epsom Baptist Church's Facebook page which Stephen (and his lovely wife Claire) posted on regularly. Afterwards i shouted Sarah to come and watch as his was the first proper northern accent i'd heard since becoming a Christian, and after moving down to Surrey his voice was like a breath of fresh air, and he somehow made God so personal!
Sarah and i were invited by Ben (our close Brother in Christ, after Ben had visited our church where Sarah & i played in the evening service. We got chatting and he mentioned they were needing a drummer for the morning Worship band. I said we weren't currently attending a morning service, but i also play the drums…so if you can use me then i'll come !
The Spirit within…
I still remember the first time i met Stephen, it was at a Sunday morning service and once i heard his accent i nudged Sarah and said "Sarah, that's the man from the testimony video". I can't accurately describe the warmth oozing from him, but the Spirit within him just made you smile. 🙂
The term "Full of beans" always springs to mind when thinking of his character. This brother was "Full On" for God and his hunger for the Word, passion and empathy for the homeless touched so many lives including my own.
As i write this (and thinking of his age) the Metallica lyric "The brightest flame burns quickest" just popped into my head.
Also (like all of us) this brother was not perfect. We all struggle to mortify the flesh as our body of sin makes war against the Holy Spirit in our journey of Sanctification. I thank God for saving Stephen and giving him the blessed hope we in Christ all look forward to. And i thank God that i got to meet Stephen who not only inspired me…but he encouraged me too. 🙂
Last year i posted one of Stephen's quotes on iChristian and i'd like to share it again…
Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossiper, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sarah was impatient, Elijah was depressed, Moses stuttered, Zaccheus was short, Abraham was old, and Lazarus was dead …..
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED|
Like, Comment or Reblog this if you know you are NOT perfect, but that God is working in your life anyway…
Stephen Salmon (Brother in Christ)
I'd like to finish with a message taken from his Facebook timeline…
Amanda McCrea: See you heaven Stephen. You touched so many lives in life and on Facebook. You used social media as a means to inspire and uplift others. A brother in Christ and a wonderful testimony to how God can transform a life. A true servant heart. My condolences to your loved ones. May God comfort you all at this sad time. Love and prayers. Amanda.
"When God brings us to salvation, the most remarkable thing we see is that he transforms our hungers. He changes not just what we do but what we want to do. This is the work of the Holy Spirit within us — "for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13)."
Ravi Zacharias, The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives
"Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community
Interpret the theme humanity.
For this weeks photo challenge, I asked Sarah to take a photo of a tattoo i have on the lower half of my left leg. I had this done aged 21, unsaved yet fully sighted and thought it would add to my seriously bad attitude and reputation as i played football at the local 5 a side arena (where i'm band for life for being too aggressive, fighting etc, but that's another story).
Little did i know that it was an image of my very own nature that was separating me from God. I had no idea that God would now use this tattoo as a conversation starter for me to share a little of how God saved me, and is now working through me in my new life….
All of humanity has a sin nature. This is a nature that is disobedient to God. At the same time, we do have a free choice to be good or bad. God gave all humans free will. We can choose to be good. We can choose to follow the Holy Spirit. We can choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. He gave us choice. We are not just driven by our instincts or our environment. Neither are we puppets of God. We choose to be either servants of God or servants of sin.
Sin Nature…
Humans have a sin nature. A sin nature is basically a nature that is disobedient to God. We were all born with a sin nature that can be traced back through our ancestors all the way back to Adam and Eve. This tendency for us to disobey God, our sin nature, continues today in that it was passed down from our forefathers.
Romans 5:12 advises us how sin has entered into all of mankind.
The Holy Spirit In Us…
Our human nature does not need to end in corruption and death that sin brings to our lives. If we choose to follow the spirit of God, we can have eternal life and not live in sin.
Galatians 6:8advises us that we can choose the Holy Spirit over our flesh.
Our human nature at it's best is set aside for God. This is where we put God first. This is where we are willing vessels that purify ourselves to be set aside for God's purpose.
1 John 3:3 and 2 Peter 1:6 advises us that humans can be pure and take on God's divine nature.
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Teen diapers stories. diapers for jessica
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- Exhausted from an extensive argument with her mother over her traveling attire up to the first summer at their cottage, Jessica had been forced to accept defeat and could do nothing but cry; feeling even more embarrassed about her babyish situation.
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Storiex years ago I began having episodes of fecal incontinence at night while asleep. Sometimes every few diapeds or multiple times a week. I chalked it up to the frequent diarrhea I had been having since my gastric bypass in Then I began diapes minor spotting accidents during the day. I began taking dialers clothes to work just in case and lived in fear of a "big one at Frankee fhm photos I couldn't hide.
Eventually, it got to the point that if I didn't make it to the bathroom at the first Tsen I had to go, I would mess myself either a little a sometimes a lot.
When I started having accidents in bed, I bought a good mattress protector. However, I was exhausting the next day when I'd have an accident because I would have to change all my bedding and clean myself up. This might mean a full shower if my accident was bad enough. Try going back to sleep after a midnight shower. I rarely could. I was often exhausted from lack of a sleep the next day and this was affecting my work. I know many don't like to say this, but I began wearing adult diapers to bed every night because I never knew when I was going to have an accident or how bad.
I was bed wetter until my early teens so the choice to wear diapers at night was not as hard for me as it might be for some since I had been in diapers for my bedwetting until my mid teens. Granted, back then the only option was cloth and plastic pants, not what I would choose for fecal incontinence. Even with my prior experience, I was very humiliated and felt a lot of guilt at first because I was an adult and adults shouldn't be wearing diapers.
I must be lazy or less of a person because of my problem. It took me a long time to get over this type of conditioning and accept this was a disease and I did not ask for it, but I had to deal storiex. I was letting social norms dictate how I should feel and Watch lesbian movie. I was still too embarrassed to go to my doctor so I handled it on my own.
It took much trial and error to find the brand and style of diaper that worked best for me. Thank god for so many reputable companies and their helpful staff. I know most just wanted to sell a product, but many seemed genuinely concerned and listened to my Teen diapers stories story with a sympathetic Teen diapers stories. However, when I realized I no longer had to worry about a mess spread all over the bed in case of a night Sugoi allegra slim strap accident and have it neatly contained yes neatly be a relative termI could actually get a good nights sleep.
My work improved and I had more energy during the day. My day daytime accidents were the same though. I never knew when, where or how bad they were going to be only that they were going happen sooner or later. I was still reluctant to wear a diaper in public for fear of discovery. I finally had a fiapers accident in a public place Wal-Mart that was blatantly obvious and totally humiliating.
I decided never again. Someone may or may not notice you are wearing a diaper, but a really bad accident in public will definitely be noticed. I chalk that up as one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. Anyone whose been there will understand.
It did Flipping condom over chance pregnancy happen overnight, but I gradually began wearing diapers all the time and I have Teen diapers stories wearing them in one form or another for sttories 3 years.
I have gotten to the point I can call them what they are, diapers. Not pads or fitted briefs or other euphemisms, I don't even say adult diapers anymore. I found that being matter of fact about what they are helped me get over the social stigma mostly. When I started wearing them all the time, it was very difficult to accept and get used to.
Wearing them at night was one thing, but in public and especially to work, quite another. I was always afraid someone would notice and say something. However, I learned that with proper a wardrobe, I could even hide my very thick nighttime diapers I had to wear during the daytime when my incontinence was at its worst. The hardest part was wearing them at work, but I even got used to that after sometime.
I eventually found that as I got used to them I stopped constantly worrying about them being noticed. Mean nasty signs also realized that even if I had a major accident, I could get to the bathroom and change before anyone noticed. When Stlries realized dispers these things, I was able to gradually relax and focus on what I was doing, be it work shopping or what ever.
I think this is about the time I realized I was in control, not my illness. This also helped my work performance and attendance. I did notify HR of my medical condition in case I had to leave work Teen diapers stories a really bad accident, but fortunately I did not have to provide details. I just had advise them I had a management strategy and my condition would not place an undue hardship upon them.
I realize most would choose diapers to manage this condition, but when you know it is a matter of when not if you are going to have a bowel accident, you do what you have to do and this works for me. I have since been to several doctors.
Besides chronic diarrhea I have been diagnosed with mal-absorption syndrome and take vitamin shots on a weekly basis. This has greatly helped my fatigue Teen diapers stories well, but done nothing for my incontinence. My doctor is still searching for a cause, but offers no answers so far. He has warned me I should be prepared to deal with this long term.
I'm hopeful, but I think he was trying to tell there may be no easy answers or cure. I will not undergo invasive surgery nor will I live with a colostomy bag.
The drugs I have tried may have reduced my incontinence but since they have not eliminated it, I will still always wear a diaper. Since the vitamin shots and sleeping through the night, I feel better than I have in years. I will never willing Jesse owens statue the Russell e train wife experience I had messing myself in public.
Yes diapers are not what I want to wear everyday and it might not be the right choice for everyone, but they are non invasive and have few side dkapers. If a treatment is found, they can be easily removed, unlike most surgical treatments. They can be worn discreetly and with the internet, ordered discreetly. I find it helps to Rue du sexe things in perspective.
Diapwrs I Corine bohrer nude started having this issue, I was terrified I had colon cancer, as cancer runs in my family. I was so relieved it wasn't cancer, I found I didn't care so much about my incontinence even as no cause could be found despite numerous tests.
I look at some of the illnesses and diseases some of my friends and family have been forced to endure and some passed away from and I remind myself how lucky I really am. Even after all these years I am still embarrassed getting up in the morning in a messy diaper.
I know I have to put a fresh one on ever morning or or risk having public accident at work or wherever I am that day. But it is just a style of underwear that allows me to keep my dignity. I mean it is just plastic and absorbent material, nothing more. I still hope for a cure because I would love to go swimming, wear shorts in the summer or do any number of other things I used to do.
Ten never realized how hot even the thinnest diapers are. But I will not wallow in self pity, be a shut in or let my incontinence control me. If I have to wear diapers for the rest of my life so be it. I will control stores life not Tsen underwear or my illness. I urge everyone to remember this, is not an easy hand you have been dealt, but you can Risti tagor sexy it and persevere.
However you handle your disease don't quit, don't give in, don't despair. I am using diapers to manage my illness. Don't let society and the stigma stop you from using them if they might be your best alternative. If it is not for you then there diapeds an answer don't quit looking. You will find it and you you will over come. If you take anything at all from my story, that is it.
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Remember Me. February 11, Fecal Incontinence.
Find the hottest diapers stories you'll love. Read hot and popular stories about diapers on Wattpad. Find the hottest diapergirl stories you'll love. Read hot and popular stories about diapergirl on Wattpad. Jun 17, · The Diaper Story Archive. Your Source for the best Diaper and Regression Stories on the net. I'm what some might call a TBDL which is an acronym for Teen Baby Diaper Lover. One thought on "The TBDL, the bedwetter and the sleepover" Marcus says: June 6, at
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At that exact moment. A Britney Spears video was just ending and they were about to cut to commercial. Rooming will be provided in a nursery-style facility with two girls to a room. Roberts noticing. That's what makes you cool. But, she supposed, that was the purpose of this whole mess. Static Items. Now that she was wearing a fresh diaper, Jessica could go back to her car and go home. Reviewing Help - Fiction Do you struggle with reviewing? She was dressed in a short pink dress that did nothing to hide her diaper underneath it. She's going through something that she needs to deal with herself when she's ready, we feel. Suddenly, she did realise her own need to pee again. You've had a really solid relationship, much better than I would have expected among siblings.
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Spirogyra Control Removal in Goshen California
Spirogyra in Goshen, CA can be a real problem for municipal and home owners ponds and lakes as well as golf course ponds throughout the State of California. Now there is help with controlling and removing Spirogyra in Goshen. Check out our aquamogs at DK Environmental.
Water plants are plants that have adapted to surviving in marine conditions (salt water as well as freshwater). These are called hydrophytes or macrophytes. These kinds of plants need to have particular variations for existing submerged in water, and / or at the water's surface. The most frequent adaptation is aerenchyma, but floating foliage and finely dissected leaves are also popular. Water plants are only able to flourish in water or in dirt which is permanently soaked with water. They're subsequently a regular component of wetlands.
Aquatic plants are most of the time an advantageous element of the water body, be it a lake or even a fish-pond. The water vegetation is a supply of nutrition, cover and oxygen to the wildlife dwelling in water-feature or lake. However left uncontrolled most of these water plants can certainly spread out fast and decrease the activities within the pond and / or lake. That is when these types of water plants become water weeds.
A fairly simple explanation of an aquatic weed is a plant that grows (commonly too densely) in a area in ways that it effects the value or enjoyment of the particular area. Several prevalent kinds of water plants which can turn into unwanted weeds are water milfoil, duck weed, pondweed, hydrilla, water hyacinth, cattail, bulrush, ludwigia, and numerous others. They can flourish in fish ponds, lakes, streams, canals, navigation channels, storm water basins and channels, wetlands and lagoons. The particular growth may perhaps be due to a number of components which include an excessive amount nutrients in the water or even the intro of rapidly-growing exotic varieties. The issues caused by aquatic unwanted weeds are numerous, ranging from unpleasant growth and nuisance smells to constricting of waterways, flood damage, watercraft damage, and perhaps drowning and impairment of water quality.
In many instances it is extremely effective plus affordable to utilize an expert water weed control enterprise to get rid of and control your water weed situations. For California by far the most professional firm is DK Environmental. DK Environmental is located in the San Francisco Bay area but works water weed removals everywhere in the State of California. The machines that DK Environmental uses is extremely unique to the western Unites States. Having its fleet of Aquamogs DK can access virtually any water body.
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Fisker hearing postponed
The sale hearing in bankruptcy court for Fisker Automotive's assets has been postponed, according to a filing with the court by Fisker's lawyers on Friday morning.
The hearing will be rescheduled for a date to be determined on Tuesday, according to the filing.
That's after an auction was held for Fisker's assets on Wednesday in a New York law firm, behind closed doors.
Wilmington, the site of the bankruptcy hearing, was the site of a snowstorm on Thursday.
Although Fisker is required to publicly announce the winner of the auction 24 hours after its conclusion, this has not happened yet. It is unclear whether the auction was actually concluded.
Contact Aaron Nathans at (302) 324-2786 or email@example.com.
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