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Thursday 31 January 2013

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. (Genesis 28:15)


And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. (Genesis 28:15)

Do we need journeying mercies? Here are choice ones--God's presence and preservation. In all places we need both of these, and in all places we shall have them if we go at the call of duty, and not merely according to our own fancy. Why should we look upon removal to another country as a sorrowful necessity when it is laid upon us by the divine will? In all lands the believer is equally a pilgrim and a stranger; and yet in every region the Lord is His dwelling place, even as He has been to His saints in all generations. We may miss the protection of an earthly monarch, but when God says, "I will keep thee," we are in no real danger. This is a blessed passport for a traveler and a heavenly escort for an emigrant.

Jacob had never left his father's room before; he had been a mother's boy and not an adventurer tike his brother. Yet he went abroad, and God went with him. He had little luggage and no attendants; yet no prince ever journeyed with a nobler bodyguard. Even while he slept in the open field, angels watched over him, and the Lord God spoke to him. If the Lord bids us go, let us say with our Lord Jesus, "Arise, let us go hence."

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Observe and hear all these words, which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, (Deuteronomy 12:28)


Observe and hear all these words, which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 12:28)

Though salvation is not by the works of the law, yet the blessings which are promised to obedience are not denied to the faithful servants of God. The curses our Lord took away when He was made a curse for us, but no clause of blessing has been abrogated.

We are to note and listen to the revealed will of the Lord, giving our attention not to portions of it but to "all these words." There must be no picking and choosing but an impartial respect to all that God has commanded. This is the road of blessedness for the Father and for His children. The Lord's blessing is upon His chosen to the third and fourth generation. If they walk uprightly before Him, He will make all men know that they are a seed which the Lord has blessed. No blessing can come to us or ours through dishonesty or double dealing. The ways of worldly conformity and unholiness cannot bring good to us or ours. It will go well with us when we go well before God. If integrity does not make us prosper, knavery will not. That which gives pleasure to God will bring pleasure to us.

Tuesday 29 January 2013

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)


And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)

Yes, we shall come to this if we are believers. Sorrow shalt cease, and tears shall be wiped away. This is the world of weeping, but it passes away. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth, so says the first verse of this chapter; and therefore there will be nothing to weep over concerning the fall and its consequent miseries. Read the second verse and note how it speaks of the bride and her marriage. The Lamb's wedding is a time for boundless pleasure, and tears would be out of place. The third verse says that God Himself will dwell among men; and surely at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore, and tears can no longer flow.

What will our state be when there will be no more sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain? This will be more glorious than we can as yet imagine. O eyes that are red with weeping, cease your scalding flow, for in a little while ye shall know no more tears! None can wipe tears away like the God of love, but He is coming to do it. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Come, Lord, and tarry not; for now both men and women must weep!

Monday 28 January 2013

Those whom God blessed, devils cannot curse.


Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. (Numbers 23:23)

How this should cut up root and branch all silly, superstitious fears! Even if there were any truth in witchcraft and omens, they could not affect the people of the Lord. Those whom God blessed, devils cannot curse.

Ungodly men, like Balaam, may cunningly plot the overthrow of the Lord's Israel; but with all their secrecy and policy they are doomed to fail. Their powder is damp; the edge of their sword is blunted. They gather together; but as the Lord is not with them, they gather together in vain. We may sit still and let them weave their nets, for we shall not be taken in them. Though they call in the aid of Beelzebub and employ all his serpentine craft, it will avail them nothing: the spells will not work, the divination will deceive them. What a blessing this is! How it quiets the heart! God's Jacobs wrestle with God, but none shall wrestle with them and prevail. God's Israels have to prevail against them. We need not fear the fiend himself, nor any of those secret enemies whose words are full of deceit and whose plans are deep and unfathomable. They cannot hurt those who trust in the living God. We defy the devil and all his legions.

Friday 25 January 2013

"He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty-He knows them all, for He has felt all.


"I have exalted one chosen out of the people."-Psalm 89:19

Why was Christ chosen out of the people?  Speak, my heart, for heart-thoughts are best. Was it not that He might be able to be our brother, in the blest tie of kindred blood? Oh, what relationship there is between Christ and the believer! The believer can say, "I have a Brother in heaven; I may be poor, but I have a Brother who is rich, and is a King, and will He suffer me to want while He is on His throne? Oh, no! He loves me; He is my Brother." Believer, wear this blessed thought, like a necklace of diamonds, around the neck of thy memory; put it, as a golden ring, on the finger of recollection, and use it as the King's own seal, stamping the petitions of thy faith with confidence of success. He is a brother born for adversity, treat Him as such.
Christ was also chosen out of the people that He might know our wants and sympathize with us. "He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." In all our sorrows we have His sympathy. Temptation, pain, disappointment, weakness, weariness, poverty-He knows them all, for He has felt all. Remember this, Christian, and let it comfort thee. However difficult and painful thy road, it is marked by the footsteps of thy Saviour; and even when thou reachest the dark valley of the shadow of death, and the deep waters of the swelling Jordan, thou wilt find His footprints there. In all places whithersoever we go, He has been our forerunner; each burden we have to carry, has once been laid on the shoulders of Immanuel.

"His way was much rougher and darker than mine Did Christ, my Lord, suffer, and shall I repine?"

Take courage! Royal feet have left a blood-red track upon the road, and consecrated the thorny path for ever.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Some quarrel with the great truth of substitution; but as for us, it is our hope, our joy, our boast, our all.

And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering: and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. (Leviticus 1:4)

If by that laying on of his hand the bullock became the offerer's sacrifice, how much more shall Jesus become ours by the laying on of the hand of faith?

My faith doth lay her hand on that dear head of Thine, while like a penitent I stand, and there confess my sin.

If a bullock could be accepted for him to make atonement for him, how much more shall the Lord Jesus be our full and all-sufficient propitiation? Some quarrel with the great truth of substitution; but as for us, it is our hope, our joy, our boast, our all. Jesus is accepted for us to make atonement for us, and we are "accepted in the beloved." Let the reader take care at once to lay his hand on the Lord's completed sacrifice, that by accepting it he may obtain the benefit of it. If he has done so once, let him do it again. If he has never done so, let him put out his hand without a moment's delay. Jesus is yours now if you will have Him. Lean on Him--lean hard on Him--and He is yours beyond all question; you are reconciled to God, your sins are blotted out, and you are the Lord's.

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. (Psalm 41:1)


Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. (Psalm 41:1)

To think about the poor and let them lie on our hearts is a Christian man's duty; for Jesus put them with us and near us when He said, "The poor ye have always with you."

Many give their money to the poor in a hurry, without thought; and many more give nothing at all. This precious promise belongs to those who "consider" the poor, look into their case, devise plans for their benefit, and considerately carry them out. We can do more by care than by cash, and most with two together. To those who consider the poor, the Lord promises His own consideration in times of distress. He will bring us out of trouble if we help others when they are in trouble. We shall receive very singular providential help if the Lord sees that we try to provide for others. We shall have a time of trouble, however generous we may be; but if we are charitable, we may put in a claim for peculiar deliverance, and the Lord will not deny His own word and bond. Miserly curmudgeons may help themselves, but considerate and generous believers the Lord will help. As you have done unto others, so will the Lord do unto you. Empty your pockets.

Tuesday 22 January 2013

A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ.

A noble all-round character is not inherited. It does not come to us by
accident. A noble character is earned by individual effort through the
merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the
mind; we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with
self. Conflict after conflict must be waged against hereditary
tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not
one unfavorable trait to remain uncorrected.

By the life we live through the grace of Christ the character is formed.
The original loveliness begins to be restored to the soul. The
attributes of the character of Christ are imparted, and the image of the
Divine begins to shine forth. The faces of men and women who walk and
work with God express the peace of heaven. They are surrounded with the
atmosphere of heaven. For these souls the kingdom of God has begun.
They have Christ's joy, the joy of being a blessing to humanity. They
have the honor of being accepted for the Master's use; they are trusted
to do His work in His name.

-- God's Amazing Grace, page 112

Monday 21 January 2013

The Christian church is divided into many denominations and sects, but all would agree on one statement: the Gospel is Good News.


The Christian church is divided into many denominations and sects, but all would agree on one statement: the Gospel is Good News. The angels at Bethlehem said so: it's "good tidings of great joy ... to ALL people" (Luke 2:10). But how good? There's where we split off into contentions and conflicts.
A writer of great acclaim once penned a little book, Steps to Christ. She blew the lid off of legalism; speaking on one page several times about what the cross of Christ means, she said: "The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; ... to the foot of the cross in repentance for his sins" (p. 27).
Can the Good News be that good--that you have to "resist" Christ, reject Him, in order to be lost? There's the "Armageddon" battlefield over the teachings of righteousness by faith. "No way!" some contend; to say that you have to resist Him in order to be lost will open the gates of the New Jerusalem and admit hordes who don't deserve to get in. So let's go to the Bible, trusting we can settle the question there:
"I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you" (Jer. 31:3). Speaking of what Paul meant when he said, "I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2), the Lord Jesus said: "I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself" (John 12:32; that's the Loud Cry!). Yes, there's a huge "IF" there, preachers! No superficial preaching will "draw" people to repentance. They'll go home Sabbath after Sabbath from your services in hard-hearted lukewarmness, otherwise.
"God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Cor. 5:19), but instead "He has borne our ... transgressions, ... was bruised for our iniquities; ... the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all" (Isa. 53:4-6). The Father "imputed" our guilt onto Him so that Christ who "knew no sin" was "made to be sin for us" (that's everybody! 2 Cor. 5:21). In that act on His cross, Christ died "the second death" of "every man" in the world (Heb. 2:9). He did it before any of us were even born, for He is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8).
The logic follows as day follows night: if He has already died your second death, paid the penalty for your sin, the only way you can be lost therefore is to veto what He has done for you.
And there's the mountain-high problem: your "carnal mind" is "enmity against God" (Rom. 8:7). Hang on to it, and you are wearing out your life in re-crucifying Christ "afresh," and in your blind selfishness you are putting Him "to open shame" before the world and before the universe (Heb. 6:6, KJV). What you are doing is so "hard" you are "kicking against the goads," forcing yourself into premature old age, disabilities and death (Acts 26:14), demonstrating for the final Judgment what you really choose: eternal death.
The "hardest" thing in the world for anyone to do is to resist the seeking love of Christ.

Friday 18 January 2013

The fear of the unpardonable sin has distressed many sincere people.


The fear of the unpardonable sin has distressed many sincere people. It discourages some and keeps them away from the joyous eternal life that the Lord wants them to experience.
They are told repeatedly that the unpardonable sin is continued, persistent sinning, to the point that they can no longer hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit. But almost everybody in the world can realize that he or she has indeed sinned in one way or another, persistently, continually.
We must look again at the context of what Jesus Himself said about the unpardonable sin; it's in Matthew 12:22-37: Jesus healed someone demon-possessed. "All the multitudes were amazed" and wondered positively if Jesus might be the long-awaited Messiah (as we today wonder if our long-awaited "Elijah" may have already begun his work of "turning hearts"). But "the Pharisees ... said, 'This fellow ... casts out demons ... by the ruler of the demons," Satan himself. They reacted negatively to the nth degree.
This had already happened earlier, in Matthew 9:34; these leaders of the one true church of that day had already attributed the work of Jesus to Satan (which is the unpardonable sin) but now Jesus has given them another chance to repent; but they have repeated that awful sin. Jesus then goes on to tell the Pharisees that "if I cast out devils by the [Holy] Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you" and you didn't know it, or recognize the blessing!
These church leaders went on and on in their way until they felt driven to cry out in Pilate's presence "Crucify Him"! (It makes one want to hesitate before accepting any job as church pastor or leader--it's a frightfully dangerous place to be in unless we walk "softly" as King Ahab did when he repented, 1 Kings 21:27-29.)
The way Matthew (chapter 12) and Luke (chapter 11) tell the story about the Pharisees, the people would have been willing to believe the truth and repent, but their church leaders hindered them and "in a great degree" blocked the way.
This action of the Pharisees was the Unpardonable Sin. Let's not repeat it. But if you fear and tremble, there's hope! Thank God.

Thursday 17 January 2013

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shalt be delivered. (Joel 12:32)


And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shalt be delivered. (Joel 12:32)

Why do I not call on His name? Why do I run to this neighbor and that when God is so near and will hear my faintest call? Why do I sit down and devise schemes and invent plans! Why not at once roll my self and my burden upon the Lord? Straightforward is the best runner--why do I not run at once to the living God? In vain shall I look for deliverance anywhere else; but with God I shall find it; for here I have His royal "shall" to make it sure.

I need not ask whether I may call on Him or not, for that word whosoever is a very wide and comprehensive one. Whosoever means me, for it means anybody and everybody who calls upon God. I will therefore follow the leading of the text and at once call upon the glorious Lord who had made so large a promise.

My case is urgent, and I do not see how I am to be delivered; but this is no business of mine. He who makes the promise will find out ways and means of keeping it. It is mine to obey His commands; it is not mine to direct His counsels. I am His servant, not His solicitor. I call upon Him, and He will deliver me.

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Should one be worried about whether he is "born again"? The answer is No.


Should one be worried about whether he is "born again"? The answer is No. But should one be seriously concerned about whether he is truly converted? The answer is Yes. Right up to the moment when the Sanhedrim condemned Jesus to death, the apostle Peter was dead sure he was well converted. When Jesus told him Thursday night that he was not, he became upset, and loudly protested his being thoroughly "born again." In his conscious understanding, he sincerely believed he was already "converted," but when a mere lass (probably an attractive one) challenged his identity with Christ, his unconscious motivations took over and he denied Christ with vile cursing and swearing (Matt. 26:74). Peter did not know himself! One can be very highly educated and know a lot of things--yet not know that.
And who is "Peter"? Anyone who belongs to the seventh church of world history, "the church of the Laodiceans" (Rev. 3:14-21; well, more particularly, anyone who is part of "the angel of the church," its leadership). Jesus tells us frankly that "Peter" is indeed our patron "saint": "You say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy [by some assumed historical enrichment!], and have need of nothing,'--and do not know that you are [the one of all the seven, Greek, ho] wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked," strutting around on the stage of the universe and of the world--"naked."
Poor Peter made a fool of himself, thinking he was "rich" in his born-again experience and knowledge. He even argued with the all-knowing Lord, contradicting Him as if to say, "Lord, You don't know me! Give me a chance, and I'll prove to You that I am the most devoted follower You have! I've been (a) baptized, (b) ordained to the ministry, (c) have cast out devils in Your name, (d) finished my 3-1/2 years Seminary training with cum laude under You as Teacher, (d) have my doctoral diploma, (e) I really understand Your gospel and I teach it powerfully. Lord, do You think I need to go back to the spiritual kindergarten and start over and get 'born again' again?!! You're wrong, Lord!" Sadly, the Lord had to tell him honestly, "When you are converted, strengthen your brethren" (Luke 22:32).
Why should we be "concerned" about our true conversion? Not because of craven fear lest we won't make it into the kingdom, but for a more important reason: lest in our unconscious selfishness we bring shame on Him in these closing hours of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The best Laodicean in the world can well pray that prayer, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (Luke 18:13). Edward R. Sill probably had an even better idea in his heart-wrenching poem: "O Lord, be merciful to me, a fool!"

Tuesday 15 January 2013

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew I 1:28)


Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew I 1:28)

We who are saved find rest in Jesus. Those who are not saved will receive rest if they come to Him, for here He promises to "give" it. Nothing can be freer than a gift; let us gladly accept what He gladly gives. You are not to buy it, nor to borrow it, but to receive it as a gift. You labor under the lash of ambition, covetousness, lust, or anxiety: He will set you free from this iron bondage and give you rest. You are "laden," yes, "heavy laden" with sin, fear, care, remorse, fear of death; but if you come to Him He will unload you. He carried the crushing mass of our sin that we might no longer carry it. He made Himself the great Burden-bearer, that every laden one might cease from bowing down under the enormous pressure.

Jesus gives rest. It is so. Will you believe it? Will you put it to the test? Will you do so at once? Come to Jesus by quitting every other hope, by thinking of Him, believing God's testimony about Him, and trusting everything with Him. If you thus come to Him the rest which He wilt give you will be deep, safe, holy, and everlasting. He gives a rest which develops into heaven, and He gives it this day to all who come to Him.

Monday 14 January 2013

Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)


Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)

Is there any instance of our Lord's casting out a coming one? If there be so, we would like to know of it; but there has been none, and there never will be. Among the lost souls in hell there is not one that can say, "I went to Jesus, and He refused me." It is not possible that you or I should be the first to whom Jesus shall break His word. Let us not entertain so dark a suspicion.

Suppose we go to Jesus now about the evils of today. Oh, this we may be sure--He will not refuse us audience or cast us out. Those of us who have often been and those who have never gone before--let us go together, and we shall see that He will not shut the door of His grace in the face of any one of us.

"This man receiveth sinners," but He repulses none. We come to Him in weakness and sin, with trembling faith, and small knowledge, and slender hope; but He does not cast us out. We come by prayer, and that prayer broken; with confession, and that confession faulty; with praise, and that praise far short of His merits; but yet He receives us. We come diseased, polluted, worn out, and worthless; but He doth in no wise cast us out. Let us come again today to Him who never casts us out.

Friday 11 January 2013

Have you ever had the problem of keeping the Sabbath


Have you ever had the problem of keeping the Sabbath in your mind? The Lord (in mercy to our souls) asks us to "call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; … not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words" (Isa. 58:13). Those are all "doings." What about when the mind keeps on "working" at worldly, mundane things on the Sabbath? Like planning, inventing, purposing? When the sun goes down to usher in God's holy day at Sabbath eve, and your mind goes racing on with worldly worries or ideas, what can you "do"?
Sabbath-keeping is a matter of the heart; that is, you can outwardly "do" everything right while inwardly you are breaking the Sabbath. It's the same sort of problem (in principle) that Jesus spoke of when He said that lust mentally indulged is adultery already (Matt. 5:27-30). Letting the mind have its way in worldly thinking--isn't that also Sabbath-breaking?
It follows that the solution is (in principle) the same as for lustful fantasizing--"crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24). That's what Jesus said is the solution to the inward, mental sexual lust: "pluck out [the adulterous eye] and cast it from you" or "cut off [the adulterous] right hand and cast it from you" (Matt. 5:29, 30). It's the mental heart-choice to die rather than yield to the sinful temptation and crucify Christ afresh (cf. Heb. 6:6). What the issue resolves itself to be (ultimately) is: (a) crucify Christ "afresh" or (b) let self be "crucified with Christ" (Gal. 2:20).
It all begins in the mind. "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). The thoughts cherished will eventually govern the conduct outwardly. Deep in the thoughts is where the battle is decided, where we "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Tim. 6:12). It's the fight to believe when every ounce of your being seems to push you the other way. It's "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Cor. 10:5). Choose; stamp your mental foot, and demand that self yield to Christ. You will overcome.

Thursday 10 January 2013

Come, weary one, use thy Lord's words as thy pillows. Lie down in peace. Dream only of Him.


The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it. (Genesis 28:13)

No promise is of private interpretation: it belongs not to one saint but to all believers. If, my brother, thou canst in faith lie down upon a promise and take thy rest thereon, it is thine. Where Jacob "lighted" and tarried and rested, there he took possession. Stretching his weary length upon the ground, with the stones of that place for his pillows, he little fancied that he was thus entering into ownership of the land; yet so it was. He saw in his dream that wondrous ladder which for all true believers unites earth and heaven, and surely where the foot of the ladder stood he must have a right to the soil, for other wise he could not reach the divine stairway. All the promises of God are "Yea" and "Amen" in Christ Jesus, and as He is ours, every promise is ours if we will but lie down upon it in restful faith.

Come, weary one, use thy Lord's words as thy pillows. Lie down in peace. Dream only of Him. Jesus is thy ladder of light. See the angels coming and going upon Him between thy soul and thy God, and be sure that the promise is thine own God-given portion and that it will not be robbery for thee to take it to thyself, as spoken specially to thee.



Wednesday 9 January 2013

Finally, it will be said: “The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more.


There have been no new worlds or planets created in the universe since God kept that first Sabbath. “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them,” says Genesis 2:1.
What has kept God busy since then? The answer: a work of reconciling heaven and earth, because “there was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels” (Rev. 12:7).
The great controversy has involved the universe as well as this fallen planet, for verse 12 says that because of the victory won in this reconciliation, “Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.” Finally, it will be said: “The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation.”* This blessed harmony will be the result of God’s work on His cosmic Day of Atonement, which means simply, His Day of Reconciliation, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the ending of alienation.
Is your human heart reconciled to God? Are you alert to realize that your natural human heart “is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:7) except through the atonement of Christ? Do you still wrestle with a lingering sense that somehow you must make yourself good before He can be reconciled to you, and before He can really accept you and respect you? Do you have that nagging feeling that He cannot truly be your Friend until you are worthy? While you are sitting in the pigsty, do you wish you had a Father who would forgive and accept the prodigal?
If so, you need to know about the Day of Atonement. As never before in history the world’s attention is directed now to the atoning sacrifice of Christ where “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. ... [We] beseech you … in Christ’s stead, be YE reconciled to God”! (2 Cor. 5:19, 20). But you CAN’T “be” unless you first believe He is reconciled to you! So, “spend a thoughtful hour” contemplating the cross where that reconciliation was accomplished.

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Thou shalt see greater than these. (John 1:50)


Thou shalt see greater than these. (John 1:50)

This is spoken to a childlike believer, who was ready to accept Jesus as the Son of God, the King of Israel, upon one convincing piece of argument. Those who are willing to see shall see; it is because we shut our eyes that we become so sadly blind.

We have seen much already. Great things and unsearchable has the Lord showed unto us, for which we praise His name; but there are greater truths in His Word, greater depths of experience, greater heights of fellowship, greater works of usefulness, greater discoveries of power, and love, and wisdom. These we are yet to see if we are willing to believe our Lord. The faculty of inventing false doctrine is ruinous, but power to see the truth is a blessing. Heaven shall be opened to us, the way thither shall be made clear to us in the Son of Man, and the angelic commerce which goes on between the upper and the lower kingdoms shall be made more manifest to us. Let us keep our eyes open toward spiritual objects and expect to see more and more. Let us believe that our lives will not drivel down into nothing but that we shall be always on the growing hand, seeing greater and still greater things, till we behold the great God Himself and never again lose the sight of Him.

Monday 7 January 2013

I will strengthen thee. (Isaiah 41:10)


I will strengthen thee. (Isaiah 41:10)

When called to serve or to suffer, we take stock of our strength, and we find it to be less than we thought and less than we need. But let not our heart sink within us while we have such a word as this to fall back upon, for it guarantees us all that we can possibly need. God has strength omnipotent; that strength He can communicate to us; and His promise is that He will do so. He will be the food of our souls and the health of our hearts; and thus He will give us strength. There is no telling how much power God can put into a man. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no more a hindrance.

Do we not remember seasons of labor and trial in which we received such special strength that we wondered at ourselves? In the midst of danger we were calm, under bereavement we were resigned, in slander we were self-contained, and in sickness we were patient. The fact is that God gives unexpected strength when unusual trials come upon us, We rise out of our feeble selves. Cowards play the man, foolish ones have wisdom given them, and the silent receive in the selfsame hour what they shall speak. My own weakness makes me shrink, but God's promise makes me brave. Lord, strengthen me "according to thy word."