Jeremiah 13
Jeremiah buys a linen girdle verse 1- 2
Thus says the LORD to me
Go and get you a linen girdle
and put it upon your loins
and put it not in water
So I got a girdle according to the word of the LORD
and put it on my loins
Jeremiah buries the linen girdle verse 3- 5
And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time
saying
Take the girdle that you have got – which is upon your loins
and arise – go to the Euphrates
and hide it there in a hole of the rock
So I went and hid it by the Euphrates
as the LORD commanded me
Linen girdle good for nothing verse 6- 7
And it came to pass after many days – that the LORD said to me
Arise – go to the Euphrates – and take the girdle from thence
which I commanded you to hide there
THEN I went to Euphrates – and digged
and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it
and – BEHOLD – the girdle was marred
it was profitable for nothing
Object listen given to Jeremiah regarding Judah verse 8- 11
THEN the word of the LORD came to me – saying
Thus says the LORD
After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah
and the great pride of Jerusalem
This evil people – which refuse to hear MY words
which walk in the imagination of their heart
and walk after other gods – to serve them
to worship them – shall even be as this girdle
which is GOOD for NOTHING
For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man
so have I caused to cleave to ME the whole house of Israel
and the whole house of Judah – says the LORD
That they might be unto ME for a people – for a name – for a praise
and for a glory – BUT they would not hear
Jeremiah sent to Judah to give object lesson verse 12- 14
THEREFORE you shall speak to them this word
Thus says the LORD God of Israel
Every bottle shall be filled with wine
and they shall say unto you
Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be
filled with wine?
Then shall you say unto them – Thus says the LORD
BEHOLD – I will fill all the inhabitants of this land
even the kings that sit upon David’s throne
and the priests – prophets
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
with drunkenness
AND I will dash them one against another
even the fathers and the sons together – says the LORD
I will not pity – nor spare – nor have mercy
BUT destroy them
LORD asks Judah to listen or face judgment verse 15- 17
Hear you – and give ear
be not proud – for the LORD hath spoken
Give glory to the LORD your God – BEFORE HE cause darkness
and BEFORE your feet stumble upon the dark mountain
and while you look for LIGHT
HE turn it into the SHADOW OF DEATH
and make it gross darkness
BUT if you will NOT hear it
my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride
and mine eye shall weep sore – and run down with tears
BECAUSE the LORD’S flock is carried away captive
LORD describes judgment verse 18- 19
Say unto the king and to the queen – Humble yourselves – sit down
for your principalities shall come down
even the crown of your glory
The cities of the south shall be shut up – and none shall open them
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it
it shall be wholly carried away captive
LORD wants Judah to open their eyes verse 20- 21
Lift up your eyes – and BEHOLD them that come from the north
Where is the flock that was given you – your beautiful flock?
What will you say when HE shall punish you?
for you have taught them to be captains
and as chief over you
shall not sorrows take you
as a woman in travail?
Judah has forgotten God verse 22- 27
And if you say in your heart
Wherefore come these things upon me?
For the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts discovered
and your heels made bare
Can the Ethiopian change his skin – OR the leopard his spots?
then may you also do good – that are accustomed to do evil
THEREFORE will I scatter them as the stubble that passes away by the
wind of the wilderness
This is your lot – the portion of your measures from ME – says the LORD
BECAUSE you have forgotten ME – and trusted in falsehood
THEREFORE will I discover your skirts upon your face
that your shame may appear
I have seen your adulteries – and your neighings
the lewdness of your whoredom
and your abominations on the hills in the fields
WOE unto you – O Jerusalem
Wilt you not be made clean? When shall it once be?
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. (7843 “marred” [shachath] means to decay, ruin, corrupt, spoiler, or waste.
DEVOTION: We have heard of people who have wasted lives. This chapter introduces us to why Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet. He had a burden for the children of Israel. His burden was so great that he was willing to cry for them.
He was given an object lesson of the linen girdle to tell Judah that they were worthless. He was instructed to buy a linen girdle and wear it without washing it. Then he was told to take it to the Euphrates River and hide it in a hole of the rock. Finally, he was to collect the wholly girdle to represent Judah. They were good for nothing because they continued to love their sin and worship their false gods.
The LORD wanted them to humble themselves. But they would not humble themselves even when they saw the enemy coming. Here is where it is recorded about an Ethiopian’s skin and the leopard’s spots. They can’t change. Neither could the children of Judah.
We know individuals who have been given an opportunity to hear the gospel but will not change. Here we find Jeremiah telling the people of God that they are profitable for nothing.
We read that some Christians just sit, soak and sour. Hopefully, no one receiving these devotions is wasting their lives. One of the traits of a spiritual Christian is that they use their gift or gifts in the local church to see the glory of God manifested through them. Every follower of Christ is given at least one gift at the point of salvation. PTL.
Another trait of the spiritual Christian is that they are filled with the Holy Spirit. The three signs of the filling of the Holy Spirit are: a singing heart, a thankful spirit and a submissive soul. If these are present in our lives, we will not waste our life for the LORD.
If we have made wrong choices in the past – leave them there and move on. Our God is willing to forgive, if we are willing to confess our sin and humble ourselves and move into a proper relationship with HIM.
There are no sins in our past that the blood of Christ cannot cover. We need to pray for one another that we will be clean in God’s sight. We don’t want to be worthless in the sight of the LORD.
Sin is part of the life of every believer. The LORD wants us to deal with our sin with confession. IF we refuse, HE will deal with us in a different manner. IF we confess, HE will restore fellowship. HE always gives hope to sinners.
CHALLENGE: Confession is necessary for restoration. Keep short accounts with the LORD. Lead an examined life.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
:15 Hear and give ear: Do not be proud, For the LORD has spoken. The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982).
DEVOTION: The people of Israel had always been a proud people! It has been said that pride hides a man’s faults to himself and magnifies them to everyone else. God states in His word that he hates certain things and pride is one of those items (Proverbs 6:17).
May we learn the following:
1. What little light is left in the prideful heart can be turned off at any time. “Give glory to the LORD your God Before He causes darkness” (v. 16). Whenever God chooses, He can flick the switch. “and while you are looking for light, He turns it into the shadow of death And makes it dense darkness” (v. 16). Then He says to Judah that she will be left puzzled and wondering “Why have these things come upon me?” (v. 22).
2. It grieves the heart of God and those of the Godly. Another cameo is given of the private agony of prophet and God. “My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears” (v. 17).
3. When present in its leaders, pride can cause a whole nation to fall. Verses 18 and 19 lament the brief reign of Jehoiachin who came to the throne at the age of eighteen. He and his mother, Nehushta, refused what little light was left to them. The golden crown fell and the stark humiliation of defeat pressed in upon Judah. Both they and all the skilled artisans of the nation were led captive to Babylon. “Therefore I will scatter them like stubble that passes away by the wind of the wilderness” (v. 24).
4. Pride can intensify to the point of becoming irreversible. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil” (v. 23). Jeremiah has become famous in this Western culture for this saying. The chapter ends on this striking note, “Woe to you, O Jerusalem! Will you still not be made clean?” (v. 27).
5. All that pride hides will one day be exposed. “Therefore I will uncover your skirts over your face, that your shame may appear” (v. 26). “Your skirts have been uncovered, your heels made bare” (v. 22).
6. Pride is under the constant scrutiny of God. “I have seen your adulteries and your lustful neighings, the lewdness of your harlotry, your abominations on the hills in the fields” (v. 27). In the light of all of this pride, some kind of fall is in the wings. The wicked prosper no longer. [John Guest and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Jeremiah, Lamentations, vol. 19, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1988), 110.]
CHALLENGE: Pride is a dangerous attitude to have and many times we mistake it for confidence or ability. God knows our heart better than we do as we are deceived and blinded by our sins. Find a friend or relative that will speak truth to you and ask them if there is a prideful attitude present in your life. Listen and watch their reactions. How they respond or what they do not say may say more than their words. Be careful of pride, like a heart attack it is a silent killer! (Dr. Brian Miller – board member)
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. (3928 “accustomed” [limmuwd] means taught, disciple, learner, expert, or practiced.
DEVOTION: Object lessons and illustrations are part of the way the LORD communicates with HIS people. Here we have an illustration of something that will never change.
The first illustration is an individual from Ethiopia that has dark skin. There is no way that he can get rid of his skin color. We have had individuals try to use chemicals to change their appearance. They have gone to tanning booths to turn light skin into dark skin but not the other way around. The LORD is stating a fact that those with a dark skin can’t change their color. God has allowed there to be many different skin colors in our world. They are unique to a culture. It is thought that this was done at the tower of Babel when the LORD changed the language of the people. This was the first illustration.
The second dealt with the animal kingdom. There are many types of cats in the world. Each has its own unique skin characteristics. The leopard has spots. He can’t change this type of skin characteristic no matter how hard he tries.
The children of Judah were in the same condition according to the LORD. HE has offered them hope if they would change. HE had told Jeremiah that HE could stop the invasion if the people would change. HE told Jeremiah things would be different in the future.
However, we are dealing with the present condition of the children of Judah and Jerusalem. It was far from the LORD. It didn’t want anything to do with the LORD. God made this statement because HE knew that even with hope given to them they would not change.
The sad fact is that today there are nations that have been blessed by the LORD for many years that are in the same condition. Our nation has sent many missionaries out to reach other nations for the LORD. Our nation had Biblical standards in their laws. Was our nation a Christian nation? NO!! It was a nation that had many or a majority of people who wanted to serve the LORD at one time. This condition has changed in the last number of years. There are many nations who are now sending missionaries to America because we have moved away from Biblical principles.
Believers have to stay the course even when the rest of the nation is heading in the wrong direction. Change is possible only when we want to live a life that is pleasing to the LORD.
CHALLENGE: Our lives are supposed to mature as we age in the LORD. Pray for maturity. With maturity comes change.
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: 25 This is your lot, the portion of your measures from Me, says the LORD: because you have forgotten ME, and trusted in falsehood. (8267 “falsehood” [sheqer] means lying, deceit, liar, fraudulent, a misleading falsehood, deception, what is wrong, unreal, or vanity.)
DEVOTION: All of us have to ask the question “WHO do we trust in?” Are we truthing in our own judgment? Are we trusting in the jugdment of others? Or are we trusting in the LORD alone?
These questions need to be asked and answered on a regular basis in our lives because it seems that it is easy for us to stray from the right path and find our own path instead of the path the LORD has given us in HIS WORD the Bible.
The children of Israel had times when the LORD spoke to them directly. They had times when they were sent leaders and prophets to tell them what the LORD was saying they should do. We have the Bible to read and ask the Holy Spirit to lead us in the right direction.
However, we find that even with all this available those who claim to be followers of Christ are going in the wrong direction. Yes, we are human and it is human to sin but the LORD has given us the power through the Holy Spirit to have strength to resist the devil and the Bible says “He will flee from us”.
It is easier to follow our own way which leads us more into sin than into righteousness. Yet, we don’t have to because with a daily time of fellowship with the LORD where we read and confess, HE is willing to give us the strength to fight another day against the world, the flesh and the devil.
We fail at times and need to confess our sins and HE is faithful and just to forgive us. The children of Israel had the same choices but most of the time most of them chose sin.
CHALLENGE: Each day we make a choice regarding who we will follow after we have made a personal commitment to the LORD. Who are you following TODAY!!!
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DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
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DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORD verse 2, 3, 8
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal) verse 1- 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11- 17, 25
Word of the LORD: Linen garment verse 2- 11
God – Elohim (Creator, Sovereign) verse 12, 16
LORD God of Israel verse 12
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy
but destroy verse 14
LORD your God verse 16
LORD’S flock verse 17
I will scatter them as the stubble that passes
away by the wind of the wilderness verse 24
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead –God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Euphrates verse 4- 7
Them that come from the north verse 20
Ethiopian verse 23
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Pride verse 9, 15, 17
Evil verse 10, 23
Refuse to hear verse 10, 11, 17
Walk in the imagination of their heart verse 10
Walk after other gods verse 10
Serve other gods verse 10
Worship other gods verse 10
Would not hear the LORD verse 11
Drunkenness verse 13
Proud verse 15
Iniquity verse 22
Forgotten God verse 25
Trusted in falsehood verse 25
Adulteries verse 27
Neighings verse 27
Lewdness of your whoredom verse 27
Abominations verse 27
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Commanded verse 5, 6
Mercy verse 14
Hear the LORD verse 15
Give glory to the LORD verse 16
Humble verse 18
Made clean verse 27
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Jeremiah verse 1- 27
Linen girdle illustration
told to put it in the Euphrates
told to go back and dig up
linen girdle which had
become marred
profitable for nothing
lesson regarding pride of Israel
good for nothing
Inhabitants of land will be filled with
Drunkenness
My eyes shall weep sore because the
LORD’S flock is carried away
captive
Because they have forgotten the LORD
and trusted in falsehood
Shame will appear
Final question: Wilt you not be made clean
Judah verse 9, 11, 19
shall be carried away captive
wholly carried away captive
Jerusalem verse 9, 13, 27
Whole house of Israel and Judah verse 11, 12
A people verse 11
A name verse 11
A praise verse 11
A glory verse 11
Would not hear the LORD verse 11
Kings that sit on David’s throne verse 13
Priests verse 13
Prophets verse 13
Give glory to the LORD before HE cause
darkness verse 16
Jeremiah given a message to king and queen of
Judah verse 18
Humble yourselves
Sit down for your principalities shall
come down even the crown of
your glory
Cities of the south shall be shut up verse 19
Shall you not sorrow as a woman in travail verse 21
Question “Why” reason for the greatness of
your iniquity verse 22
Accustomed to do evil verse 23
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
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13:8–11 As in the other symbolic acts, the Lord then gave the interpretation. The linen undergarment represented Judah. Like a garment worn next to the body, it symbolized God clothing himself with Judah. He intended for them to cling to him as his people, but instead they clung to Baal. Because of their idolatry, they now were as useless to God as the rotted garment. Therefore God determined to spoil the pride (the temple?) of Judah and Jerusalem. Interpretations that link Jeremiah’s trips to the Euphrates as a symbol of Judah’s exile in Babylon read more into the symbolic act than is justified. Judah’s exile was not intended to show the nation was then worthless to God. It served as a time of purging and cleansing in anticipation of future restoration (see Jer 24). God intended Judah to be a people for his renown, praise, and honor; but they did not listen. Punishment was inevitable for the rebellious people. The spiritual life is like the loin cloth; left unattended it “rots.” (Huey, F. B. (1993). Jeremiah, Lamentations (Vol. 16, p. 144). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.)
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13:8–11. God interpreted Jeremiah’s symbolic actions. The message was one of judgment on the wicked people who refused to listen to God’s words. The belt bound around Jeremiah’s waist represented Israel and Judah. As long as it remained around his waist it occupied a position of renown and praise and honor. However, when it was removed from his waist and buried it became completely useless. So Israel and Judah had become ruined by departing from their God to serve false gods. (Dyer, C. H. (1985). Jeremiah. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 1146). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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The marred waistcloth (vv. 1–11). This was one of Jeremiah’s “action sermons.” The waistcloth was a thigh-length undergarment worn next to the skin. God had brought the nation close to Himself, but they had defiled themselves with idols and become “good for nothing.” When the people saw Jeremiah bury his new garment under a rock in the muddy river, they knew it would ruin the garment, but they didn’t realize they were passing judgment on themselves. God would one day take Judah to Babylon, and there He would humble the Judahites and cure them of their idolatry. The city and temple that they were proud of would be ruined, just as the prophet’s garment had been ruined.
But something else was involved in this “action sermon.” For years, the leaders of Judah had turned to Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon for help, instead of turning to the Lord, and this “help” had only defiled them and made them “good for nothing” in God’s sight. Jeremiah was showing them that their “flirting” with the pagan nations was only alienating them further from the Lord and that it would ultimately end in national ruin. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). Be Decisive (p. 64). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
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Ver. 10. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, &c.] Sent by the prophets, to whom they turned a deaf ear; and though they pressed them, and importunately desired them to give them a hearing, they refused it; and this shewed them to be a bad people, very degenerate and wicked; and which further appears by what follows: which walk in the imagination of their heart; which was evil, stubborn, and rebellious, see ch. 7:24 and 9:14: and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them; went to Egypt and Assyria to pay their adoration to those who were not by nature gods; and this was the cause of their ruin and destruction: shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing; as they were corrupt in their practices, and were become useless and unserviceable to God; so they would be carried captive into a foreign country, where they would be inglorious, and unprofitable, uncomfortable in themselves, and of no use to one another. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 5, p. 474). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
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FROM MY READING:
JOY
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. John 17:13
How in practice do we have this joy? The first thing is to avoid concentrating on our own feelings. Many Christian people spend the whole of their lives looking at their own feelings and always taking their own spiritual pulse, their own spiritual temperature. Of course, they never find it satisfactory, and because of that they are miserable and unhappy, moaning and groaning.
The secret of joy is the practice of meditation—that is the way to have this joy of the Lord. We must meditate upon Him, upon what He is, what He has done, His love to us, and God’s care for us who are His people.
And obviously—this almost goes without saying—we must avoid everything that tends to break our fellowship with God. The moment that is broken, we become miserable. We cannot help it; whether we want it to or not, our conscience will see to that. It will accuse us and condemn anything that breaks our fellowship with God and His Son. The joy of the world always drives out the other joy, as does any dependence on the world; so we must avoid sin in every shape and form. Let us stop looking to the world, even at its best, for true joy and for true happiness. But above all, we must look at “these things” (John 17:13) that He speaks of, these truths that He unfolded. Let us meditate upon them, contemplate them, dwell upon them, revel in them, and I will guarantee that as we do so, either in our own personal meditation or in reading books about them, we will find ourselves experiencing a joy we have never known before. It is inevitable; it follows as the night the day.
A Thought to Ponder: Let us stop looking to the world. We must meditate upon Him, upon what He is, what He has done. (From Safe in the World, pp. 116-118, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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Messages from the Messiah’s Life: The Man Born Blind
“And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:1-2)
The wrong theology the disciples embraced still impacts our thinking today. There is a tendency to assign blame to others or look for circumstances that can give a rational explanation for misfortune. Sometimes, as in this case, the suffering had nothing to do with such conditions, but was so “that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3).
The same was true for the awful suffering of the great patriarch Job. All of the tragedies in his life were allowed by God to teach Satan a lesson. By God’s own evaluation, Job was a “perfect and an upright man” (Job 1:8), yet he patiently endured more suffering and sorrow than perhaps any man in history (James 5:11). Lazarus, too, was allowed to die because “this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4).
Once again, the Lord Jesus, the Creator of heaven and Earth, produced new matter where there was none before. In this case, it was not mere bread and meat or the mysterious power over gravity, wind, water, or distance, but the complex tissues, membranes, vessels, and nerves of new eyes.
Why did Jesus do this? Two results are obvious. The hardened Pharisees refused to accept the reality of what they knew had happened, revealing their evil heart. And the man who had been healed simply said, “Lord, I believe! And he worshipped him” (John 9:38). HMM III
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Jesus teaches His followers concerning the need to follow the Lord fully in everything.
INSIGHT
Love is the basis of all that God asks of us. Jesus says, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12). This teaching goes hand in hand with what Jesus urges later in Luke 10:27, that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.
We want to be appreciated, loved, treated with dignity, and esteemed. This, then, is the way we ought to treat others. The double benefit is that when we treat others that way, they begin to treat us the same, and our relationships are characterized by depth and meaning.
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Margin for Error
Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the LORD will stand. PROVERBS 19:21
As a particular three-month period of time approached, Barbara and I already knew it would be busier than usual. We had overcommitted and underestimated, which we’ve had a tendency to do. Everything would need to fall just right if we were to squeeze it all in without anybody suffering.
How was I to know, though, that in the months leading up to this intense season of travel, our family would undergo one of the biggest personal challenges we’d ever faced? How could I have known that Bill Bright, my beloved friend, mentor and boss, would call me up from his death bed, asking me to come to Orlando to meet with him one last time? How could I have known that my mom would fall gravely ill and die—and that four days later our son Samuel’s first child would be born?
I couldn’t. That’s just life. As C. S. Lewis so aptly put it, “We must stop regarding unpleasant or unexpected things as interruptions of real life. The truth is that interruptions are real life.” That’s why it’s essential to build some margin into your schedule—the wiggle room necessary to accommodate immediate needs while allowing for unexpected demands and disruptions. It means framing your obligations in larger time blocks than they really require, just in case traffic is exceptionally bad or you’re delayed leaving the house. It means agreeing on the number of evenings or weekends you will tie up each month with outside activities. It means talking together about possible commitments before you say yes, to keep yourselves from living too close
to the edge. You can’t prepare for some things, no matter how well you plan. But most schedule shocks can be absorbed by building in a margin, leaving space for surprises. (Moments with You Couples Devotional by Dennis and Barbara Rainey)
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He that eateth me, even he shall live by me John 6:57
To feed on Christ is to get His strength into us to be our strength. You feed on the cornfield, and the strength of the cornfield comes into you, and is your strength. You feed on Christ, and then go and live your life; and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battles, and that wins the crown.
(Phillips Brooks (Hardman, S. G., & Moody, D. L. (1997). Thoughts for the quiet hour. Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing.)
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