Faith On The Line - Stress, Stress Go Away Vol 19 | Page 19

which keepeth covenant and mercy with them
that love him and keep his commandments to a
thousand generations” (Deut. 7:6-9).
Again the Lord declares through the
prophet Isaiah:
“Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be
broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in
pieces; ... Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;
speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. For
the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed
me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say
ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall
say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.
Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear,
and let him be your dread” (Isa. 8:9-13).
There are those who question whether it is right for Christians
to belong to the Free Masons and other secret societies. Let all
such consider the scriptures just quoted. If we are Christians at
all, we must be Christians everywhere, and must consider and
heed the counsel given to make us Christians according to the
standard of God’s Word.

Cooperation With Divine Agencies
The people of God on earth are the human agents that are to
cooperate with divine agencies for the salvation of men. To the
souls that have joined themselves to Him, Christ says, “You
are one with Me, ‘labourers together with God’” (1 Cor. 3:9).
God is the great and unperceived actor; man is the humble
and seen agent, and it is only in cooperation with the heavenly
agencies that he can do anything good. It is only as the mind
is enlightened by the Holy Spirit that men discern the divine
agency. And hence Satan is constantly seeking to divert minds
from the divine to the human, that man may not cooperate
with Heaven. He directs the attention to human inventions,
leading men to trust in man, to make flesh their arm, so that
their faith does not take hold upon God.

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body
shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil,
thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If
therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matt.
6:22, 23).
And when our light becomes darkness, how
shall we be a light to the world?
The work of our personal salvation also depends upon our
cooperation with the divine agencies. God has imparted to us
moral powers and religious susceptibilities. He has given His
Son as a propitiation for our sins, that we might be reconciled
to God. Jesus lived a life of self-denial and sacrifice, that we
might follow His example. He has given the Holy Spirit to
be in Christ’s stead in every place where help is needed. He
employs the heavenly intelligences to bring divine power to
combine with our human efforts. But we must accept the gift
of God, we must repent, and believe in Christ. We must watch,
we must pray, we must obey the requirements of God. We
must practice self-denial and self-sacrifice for Christ’s sake. We
must grow up into Christ by constant connection with Him.
Whatever turns the mind away from God to trust in man, or
conform to a human standard, will prevent us from cooperating with God in the work of our own salvation. This is why the
Lord forbade His people to form any alliance with the heathen,
“lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee” (Ex. 34:12). He said,
“They will turn away thy son from following me” (Deut. 7:4).
And the same principle applies to the association of Christians
with the ungodly.

In Covenant Relation
When we accepted Christ as our Redeemer, we accepted the
condition of becoming laborers together with God. We made
a covenant with Him to be wholly for the Lord; as faithful
stewards of the grace of Christ, to labor for the upbuilding
of His kingdom in the world. Every follower of Christ stands
pledged to dedicate all his powers of mind and soul and body
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ETERNAL AIRLIFT....Continued from page 16

2. By faith, choose to hide His Word in your heart
through reading and memorizing. Scripture is
the key tool to use against the enemy’s tempting suggestions to disobey God (see 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 and Psalms 17:4).

3. By faith, choose each day to walk in Jesus’
footsteps by responding to life’s situations according to His will, not your own (see 1 John 2:6
and Luke 22:42).

Let’s go to the throne of grace, to the entrance of the
Eternal Airlift Gospel Shoe Company, and ask for a free pair of
shoes of the gospel of the grace of God, and put both shoes
on, so we don’t have to struggle with a lopsided, shaky walk
with Jesus.
About the Author: After 25 years of full-time ministry and a Masters degree in Christian
Counseling, Dan Gabbert is focusing his energies upon helping others understand and apply
the principles of mental and spiritual restoration found in the world’s #1 best-selling book,
the Bible.
Dan and his wife Patsy, are currently practicing Biblical Response Therapy® as mental/
spiritual health coaches for the Black Hills Health and Education Center.

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