Light In Darkness

                                                        
2Sa 22:29  For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.

Am I in the light? Then Thou, O LORD, art my lamp. 

Take Thee away and my joy would be gone; but as long as Thou art with me, I can do without the torches of time and the candles of created comfort. 

What a Light the Presence of God casts on all things! 

We heard of a lighthouse which could be seen for twenty miles, but our Jehovah is not only a God at hand, but far off is He seen, even in the enemy's country. 

O LORD, I am as happy as an angel when Thy love fills my heart. Thou art all my desire. 

Am I in the dark? Then thou, O LORD, wilt Lighten my darkness. 

Before long things Will Change

Affairs may grow more and more dreary and cloud may be piled upon cloud...

But if it grow so dark that I cannot see my own hand, still I Shall See the Hand of the LORD. 

When I cannot find a light within me, or among my friends, or in the whole world, the LORD, who said, "Let there be light," and there was light, can say the same again. 

He will Speak me into the Sunshine yet. I shall not die but live. 

The day is already breaking. 

This sweet text shines like a morning star. I shall clap my hands for joy ere many hours are passed.

~Charles Spurgeon

The LIVING GOD!

Dan 6:20  And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
      
How many times we find this expression in the Scriptures, and yet it is just this Very Thing that we are so Prone To Lose Sight Of.

We know it is written "The Living GOD"...

But in our daily life there is scarcely anything we practically So Much Lose Sight Of as the fact that GOD is the Living GOD...

That He is now whatever He was three or four thousand years since...

That He has the Same Sovereign Power, the Same Saving Love towards those who love and serve Him as ever He had...

And that He will do for them now what He did for others two, three, four thousand years ago, simply because He is the Living GOD, the Unchanging One.

Oh, how therefore we should Confide in Him, and in our darkest moments never lose sight of the fact that He is still and ever will be the Living GOD!

Be assured, If you Walk with Him and Look to Him and Expect Help from Him, He will Never Fail You.

An older brother who has known the Lord for forty-four years, who writes this, says to you for your Encouragement that He has Never Failed Him.

In the Greatest Difficulties, in the Heaviest Trials, in the Deepest Poverty and Necessities, He has Never Failed Me...

But because I was Enabled by His Grace to Trust Him He has Always appeared for My Help.

I delight in speaking well of His name.

~George Mueller

Luther was once found at a moment of Peril and Fear, when he had need to grasp Unseen Strength, sitting in an abstracted mood tracing on the table with his finger the words, "Vivit! vivit!" ("He lives! He lives!").

It is Our Hope for ourselves, and for His truth, and for Mankind.

Men come and go; leaders, teachers, thinkers speak and work for a season, and then fall silent and impotent.

He abides.

They die, but He Lives.

They are Lights Kindled, and, therefore, sooner or later quenched...

But He is the True Light from which they Draw All Their Brightness, and He Shines For Evermore.

~Alexander Maclaren

One day I came to know Dr. John Douglas Adam, writes C. G. Trumbull.

I learned from him that what he counted his Greatest Spiritual Asset was his unvarying consciousness of the Actual Presence of Jesus.

Nothing bore him up so, he said, as the Realization that Jesus was Always With Him In Actual Presence...

And that this was so independent of his own feelings, independent of his deserts, and independent of his own notions as to how Jesus would manifest His presence.

Moreover, he said that Christ was the Home Of His Thoughts.

Whenever his mind was free from other matters it would turn to Christ; and he would talk aloud to Christ when he was alone, on the street, anywhere, as easily and naturally as to a human friend.

So real to him was Jesus' Actual Presence.

Gaining By Giving

Proverbs 11:25  The Liberal soul shall be made Fat: and he that Watereth shall be Watered also himself.

If I desire to Flourish in soul, I Must Not Hoard Up my stores but Must Distribute to the poor. 

To be Closed and Stingy is the World's Way to Prosperity, but it is Not God's Way, for He saith, "There is that Scattereth, and yet Increaseth; and there is that Withholdeth more than is meet, and it Tendeth to Poverty." 

Faith's Way Of Gaining Is Giving.

I must try this again and again, and I may expect that as much of Prosperity as will be Good for me will Come to me as a Gracious Reward for a Liberal Course of Action. 

Of course, I may not be sure of growing rich. I shall be fat but not too fat. 

Too great riches might make me as unwieldy as corpulent persons usually are and cause me the dyspepsia of worldliness, and perhaps bring on a fatty Degeneration of the heart. 

No, if I am fat enough to be healthy, I may well be satisfied; and if the LORD grants me a competence, I may be thoroughly content. 

But there is a Mental and Spiritual fatness which I would greatly covet, and this comes as the Result of Generous thoughts toward my God, His church, and my fellow men. 

Let me not stint, lest I starve my heart. 

Let me be Bountiful and Liberal, for so shall I be like my LORD. 

He gave Himself for me...

Shall I grudge Him anything?

~Charles Spurgeon

We Dare Not Doubt!

I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron" (Isaiah 45:2).

This was for Cyrus; but it is evermore the heritage of all the LORD'S own spiritual servants.

Only let us go forward by faith, and our way will be cleared for us.

Crooks and turns of human craft and satanic subtlety shall be straightened for us; we shall not need to track their devious windings.

The gates of brass shall be broken, and the iron bars which fastened them shall be cut asunder.

We shall not need the battering ram nor the crowbar: the LORD Himself will do the impossible for us, and the Unexpected shall be a fact.

Let us not sit down in coward fear.

Let us press onward in the path of duty, for the LORD hath said it: "I will go before thee."

Ours not to reason why; ours but to dare and dash forward.

It is the LORD's work, and He will enable us to do it: all impediments must yield before Him.

Hath He not said, "I will break in pieces the gates of brass"!

What can hinder His purpose or balk His decrees?

Those who serve God have infinite resources.

The way is clear to faith though barred to human strength.

When Jehovah says, "I will," as He does twice in this promise, we dare not doubt.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Blessed Are They That Have Not Seen Yet Have Believed!

When my little son was about ten years of age, his grandmother promised him a stamp album for Christmas.

Christmas came, but no stamp album, and no word from grandmother.

The matter, however, was not mentioned; but when his playmates came to see his Christmas presents, I was astonished, after he had named over this and that as gifts received, to hear him add, And a stamp album from grandmother.

I had heard it several times, when I called him to me, and said, But, Georgie, you did not get an album from your grandmother. Why do you say so?

There was a wondering look on his face, as if he thought it strange that I should ask such a question, and he replied, Well,  mamma, grandma said, so it is the same as.

I could not say a word to check his faith.

A month went by, and nothing was heard from the album.

Finally, one day, I said, to test his faith, and really wondering in my heart why the album had not been sent, Well, Georgie, I think grandma has forgotten her promise.

Oh, no, mamma, he quickly and firmly said, she hasn't.

I watched the dear, trusting face, which, for a while, looked very sober, as if debating the possibilities I had suggested.

Finally a bright light passed over it, and he said, Mamma, do you think it would do any good if I should write to her thanking her for the album?

I do not know, I said, but you might try it.

A rich spiritual truth began to dawn upon me.

In a few minutes a letter was prepared and committed to the mail, and he went off whistling his confidence in his grandma.

In just a short time a letter came, saying:

My dear Georgie: I have not forgotten my promise to you, of an album.

I tried to get such a book as you desired, but could not get the sort you wanted; so I sent on to New York.

It did not get here till after Christmas, and it was still not right, so I sent for another, and as it has not come as yet, I send you three dollars to get one in Chicago. Your loving grandma.

As he read the letter, his face was the face of a victor.

Now, mamma, didn't I tell you? came from the depths of a heart that never doubted, that, against hope, believed in hope that the stamp album would come.

While he was trusting, grandma was working, and in due season faith became sight.

It is so human to want sight when we step out on the promises of God, but our Savior said to Thomas, and to the long roll of doubters who have ever since followed him: Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.

-Mrs. Rounds

Sit Still, Just Sit Calmly Still

Isa 52:2  Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

I do not believe that we have begun to understand the marvelous power there is in stillness.

We are in such a hurry-we must be doing-so that we are in danger of not giving God a chance to work.

You may depend upon it, God never says to us, "Stand still," or "Sit still," or "Be still," unless He is going to do something.

This is our trouble in regard to our Christian life; we want to do something to be Christians when we need to let Him work in us.

Do you know how still you have to be when your likeness is being taken?

Now God has one eternal purpose concerning us, and that is that we should be like His Son; and in order that this may be so, we must be passive.

We hear so much about activity, may be we need to know what it is to be quiet.

~Crumbs

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still! Nor deem these days--these waiting days--as ill!

The One who loves thee best, who plans thy way, Hath not forgotten thy great need today!

And, if He waits, 'tis sure He waits to prove To thee, His tender child, His heart's deep love.

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

Thou longest much to know thy dear Lord's will!

While anxious thoughts would almost steal their way Corrodingly within, because of His delay

Persuade thyself in simple faith to rest

That He, who knows and loves, will do the best.

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

Nor move one step, not even one, until His way hath opened. Then, ah then, how sweet!

How glad thy heart, and then how swift thy feet

Thy inner being then, ah then, how strong!

And waiting days not counted then too long.

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

What higher service could'st thou for Him fill?

'Tis hard! ah yes! But choicest things must cost!

For lack of losing all how much is lost!

'Tis hard, 'tis true!

But then--He giveth grace To count the hardest spot the sweetest place.

~J. D. Smith

Go Forward!

Joshua 3:13  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap.

The people were Not To Wait in their camps Until The Way Was Opened, they were to Walk By Faith. 

They were to break camp, pack up their goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks before the river would be opened. 

If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. 

They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off. 

We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight on in duty, although we see no way in which we can go forward. 

The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is that we expect to see them removed before we try to pass through them.

If we would move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. 

We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles.

~Evening Thoughts

What a lesson Columbus gave to the world of perseverance in the face of tremendous difficulties!

Behind him lay the gray Azores, Behind the gates of Hercules;

Before him not the ghost of shores, Before him only shoreless seas.

The good Mate said: Now we must pray, For lo! the very stars are gone.

Brave Admiral, speak, what shall I say?

Why, say, 'Sail on! sail on! and on!

My men grow mutinous day by day; My men grow ghastly wan and weak!

The stout Mate thought of home; a spray Of salt wave washed his swarthy cheek.

What shall I say, brave Admiral, say, If we sight naught but seas at dawn?

Why, you shall say at break of day, 'Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!

They sailed. They sailed. Then spake the Mate: This mad sea shows its teeth tonight.

He curls his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite!

Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?

The words leapt like a leaping sword: Sail on! sail on! sail on! and on!

Then, pale and worn, he kept his deck And peered through darkness. 

Ah! that night Of all dark nights! 

And then a speck--A light! A light! A light! A light!

It grew, a starlit flag unfurled! It grew to be Time's burst of dawn.

He gained a world; he gave that world Its grandest lesson: 

On! sail on!

~Joaquin Miller

Faith That Goes Forward Triumphs.

Expect Him On The Ordinary Road

Exodus 3:1  Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

Exodus 3:2  And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

The vision came in the midst of common toil, and that is where the Lord delights to give His revelations. 

He seeks a man who is on the ordinary road, and the Divine fire leaps out at his feet. 

The mystic ladder can rise from the market place to Heaven. 

It can connect the realm of drudgery with the realms of grace.

My Father God, help me to expect Thee on the ordinary road. 

I do not ask for sensational happenings. 

Commune with me through ordinary work and duty. 

Be my Companion when I take the common journey. 

Let the humble life be transfigured by Thy presence.

Some Christians think they must be always up to mounts of extraordinary joy and revelation; this is not after God's method. 

Those spiritual visits to high places, and that wonderful communion with the unseen world, are not in the promises; the daily life of communion is. 

And it is enough. We shall have the exceptional revelation IF it be right for us.

There were but three disciples Allowed To See The Transfiguration, and those three Entered The Gloom Of Gethsemane. 

No one can stay on the mount of privilege. 

There are duties in the valley. 

Christ found His life-work, not in the glory, but in the valley and was there truly and fully the Messiah.

The value of the vision and glory is but their gift of fitness for work and endurance. 

~Selected

HE Giveth Quietness

Job 34:29  When he giveth quietness, who then can make trouble? and when he hideth his face, who then can behold him? whether it be done against a nation, or against a man only:

He giveth quietness.

He gives quietness in the midst of the raging storm. 

As we sail the lake with Him, reaching deep water and far from land, suddenly, under the midnight sky, a mighty storm sweeps down.

Earth and hell seem mobilized against us, and each wave threatens to overwhelm our boat. 

Then He rises from His sleep and Rebukes the wind and the waves. 

He waves His hand, signaling the End of the raging tempest and the Beginning of the restful calm. 

His voice is heard above the screaming of the wind through the ropes and rigging, and over the thrashing of the waves. 

Quiet! Be still! 

Mark 4:39  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Can you not hear it? 

And instantly there is a Great Calm.

He giveth quietness...

Quietness even in the midst of losing our inner strength and comforts...

Sometimes He removes these because we make too much of them.

We are tempted to look at our joys, pleasures, passions, or our dreams, with too much self-satisfaction.

Then through His gracious love He withdraws them, leading us to distinguish between them and Himself. 

He draws near and whispers the assurance of His presence, bringing an infinite calm to keep our hearts and minds.

He giveth quietness...

He giveth quietness. O Elder Brother, Whose homeless feet have pressed our path of pain...

Whose hands have borne the burden of our sorrow, That in our losses we might find our gain.

Of all Your gifts and infinite consolations, I ask but this...

In every troubled hour To hear Your voice through all the tumults stealing, And rest serene beneath its tranquil power.

Cares cannot fret me if my soul be dwelling In the still air of faith’s untroubled day...

Grief cannot shake me if I walk beside You, My hand in Yours along the darkening way.

Content to know there comes a radiant morning When from all shadows I will find Release...

Serene to wait its dawning...

Who can make trouble when You send me peace?

Sanctified Troubles

Sanctified Troubles Are Some Of Our Greatest Blessings... 

And one of their blessed fruits is that they keep us from settling on our lees and being at ease in Zion. 

Careless, Worldly-minded, Proud, Covetous Professors, sunk in Carnality and Death...

 

Where Is There Ever A Cry In Their Soul?

 

They may have a formal prayer-a morning prayer, an evening prayer, a family prayer, and all as round as a ball, and as cold as ice. 

 

Stiff and frozen in Carnality they are ice themselves, and they bring their ice with them wherever they come.

 

But God does not allow his people to go on in this cold, lifeless, frozen, icy way, with mere formal devotion, lip service...

 

And prayers worn out like an old shoe with long and continual treading.

 

He sends Afflictions, Trials, and Troubles upon them...

 

Takes them Into The Wilderness...

 

Exercises them well in the Path Of Tribulation...

 

And Supporting them under it, raises up a Cry which He Is Sure To Hear.

 

~J. C. Philpot~

Sit Still

Isa 52:12  For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.

I do not believe that we have begun to understand the marvelous power there is in stillness. 

We are in such a hurry-we must be doing-so that we are in danger of not giving God a chance to work. 

You may depend upon it, God never says to us, "Stand still," or "Sit still," or "Be still," unless He is going to do something.

This is our trouble in regard to our Christian life; we want to do something to be Christians when we need to let Him work in us. 

Do you know how still you have to be when your likeness is being taken?

Now God has one eternal purpose concerning us, and that is that we should be like His Son...

And in order that this may be so, we must be passive. 

We hear so much about activity, maybe we need to know what it is to be quiet.

~Crumbs

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

Nor deem these days-these waiting days-as ill!

The One who loves thee best, who plans thy way, Hath not forgotten thy great need today!

And, if He waits, 'tis sure He waits to prove To thee, His tender child, His heart's deep love.

Sit still, my daughter! 

Just sit calmly still!

Thou longest much to know thy dear Lord's will!

While anxious thoughts would almost steal their way Corrodingly within, because of His delay

Persuade thyself in simple faith to rest That He, who knows and loves, will do the best.

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

Nor move one step, not even one, until His way hath opened. 

Then, ah then, how sweet!

How glad thy heart, and then how swift thy feet 

Thy inner being then, ah then, how strong!

And waiting days not counted then too long.

Sit still, my daughter! Just sit calmly still!

What higher service could'st thou for Him fill?

Tis hard! ah yes! 

But choicest things must cost!

For lack of losing all how much is lost!

Tis hard, tis true! 

But then-He giveth grace To count the hardest spot the sweetest place.

~J. D. Smith

He Worketh

Psa 37:5  Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

The translation that we find in Young of "Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass," reads: "Roll upon Jehovah thy way; trust upon him: and he worketh." 

It calls our attention to the immediate action of God when we truly commit, or roll out of our hands into His, the burden of whatever kind it may be; a way of sorrow, of difficulty, of physical need, or of anxiety for the conversion of some dear one.

"He worketh." When? Now. 

We are so in danger of postponing our expectation of His acceptance of the trust, and His undertaking to accomplish what we ask Him to do, instead of saying as we commit, "He worketh." "He worketh" even now; and praise Him that it is so.

The very Expectancy Enables the Holy Spirit to do the very thing we have rolled upon Him. 

It is out of our reach. 

We are not trying to do it any more. 

"He worketh!" 

Let us take the comfort out of it and not put our hands on it again. 

Oh, what a relief it brings! He is really working on the difficulty.

But someone may say, "I see no results." Never mind.

"He worketh," if you have rolled it over and are looking to Jesus to do it. 

Faith may be tested, but "He worketh"; the Word is sure! 

~V. H. F.

Psa 57:2  I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. 

The beautiful old translation says, "He shall perform the cause which I have in hand."

Does not that make it very real to us today?

Just the very thing that "I have in hand"--my own particular bit of work today...

This cause that I cannot manage...

This thing that I undertook in miscalculation of my own power...

This is what I may ask Him to do for me, and rest assured that He Will perform it.

"The wise and their works are in the hands of God."

~ Havergal

The Lord will go through with His covenant engagements. 

Whatever He takes in hand He will accomplish...

Hence past mercies are guarantees for the future and admirable reasons for continuing to cry unto Him. 

~C. H. Spurgeon