DISCIPLE

by Donald Norbie (taken from the October issue of Milk & Honey)   http://www.stw1982.com/2015.html “Take heed unto thyself and to the doctrine.” 1 Tim. 4:16, KJV       Our words reveal our thinking. Accurate, clear thinking will be evidenced by a careful use of terms and language.     We cannot think without words. If one should say, “Red China is a democracy,” we would say he reveals careless thinking. Either he does not know what the word democracy connotes or else he is ignorant of the true condition of mainland China. In either case his thinking is in error, and his words reveal that.     Today in some areas sloppy thinking is coming into assemblies. It is revealed in the terms we use. Some may say, “Let’s not be picky about words!” But words reveal our thinking, our concepts. The accurate use of words reveals our thinking, our concepts. The accurate use of words is important in the definition and teaching of ...

A Saint "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb ... and he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword" (Isaiah 49:1-2). A saint is made by God, 'He made me.' Then do not tell God He is a bungling workman. We do that whenever we say 'I can't.' To say 'I can't' literally means we are too strong in ourselves to depend on God. 'I can't pray in public; I can't talk in the open air.' Substitute 'I won't', and it will be nearer the truth. The thing that makes us say 'I can't is that we forget that we must rely entirely on the creative purpose of God and on this characteristic of perfect finish for God. Much of our difficulty comes because we choose our own work – 'Oh well, this is what I am fitted for.' Remember that Jesus took a fisherman and turned him into a shepherd. That is symbolic of what He does all the time. The idea that we have to cons...