Jer 31:12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for
wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and
their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any
more at all.
Oh, to have one's soul under heavenly cultivation; no longer a
wilderness but a garden of the LORD!
Enclosed from the waste, walled
around by grace, planted by instruction, visited by love, weeded by
heavenly discipline, and guarded by divine power, one's favored soul is
prepared to yield fruit unto the LORD.
But a garden may become parched
for want of water, and then all its herbs decline and are ready to die.
O
my soul, how soon would this be the case were the LORD to leave thee!
In the East, a garden without water soon ceases to be a garden at all:
nothing can come to perfection, grow, or even live.
When irrigation is
kept up, the result is charming.
Oh, to have one's soul watered by the
Holy Spirit uniformly... every part of the garden having its own stream;
Plentifully a sufficient refreshment coming to every tree and herb,
however thirsty by nature it may be;
Continually each hour bringing
not only its heat, but its refreshment; wisely - each plant receiving
just what it needs.
In a garden you can see by the verdure where the
water flows, and you can soon perceive when the Spirit of God comes.
O
LORD, water me this day and cause me to yield Thee a full reward for
Jesus' sake. Amen.
~Charles Spurgeon~
This verse is a threatening so far as the worldly wise are concerned,
but to the simple believer it is a promise.
The professedly learned are
forever trying to bring to nothing the faith of the humble believer,
but they fail in their attempts.
Their arguments break down, their
theories fall under their own weight, their deep-laid plots discover
themselves before their purpose is accomplished.
The old gospel is not
extinct yet, nor will it be while the LORD liveth.
If it could have been
exterminated, it would have perished from off the earth long ago.
We
cannot destroy the wisdom of the wise, nor need we attempt it, for the
work is in far better hands.
The LORD Himself says, "I will," and He
never resolves in vain.
Twice does He in this verse declare His purpose,
and we may rest assured that He will not turn aside from it.
What clean
work the LORD makes of philosophy and "modern thought" when He puts His
hand to it!
He brings the fine appearance down to nothing;
He utterly
destroys the wood, hay, and stubble.
It is written that so it shall be,
and so shall it be. LORD, make short work of it.
Amen, and amen.
~Charles Spurgeon~
Horses and chariots and a great host shut up the prophet in Dothan.
His young servant was alarmed.
How could they escape from such a body of
armed men?
But the prophet had eyes which his servant had not, and he
could see a greater host with far superior weapons guarding him from all
harm.
Horses of fire are mightier than horses of flesh, and chariots of
fire are far preferable to chariots of iron.
Even so is it at this
hour.
The adversaries of truth are many, influential, learned, and
crafty; and truth fares ill at their hands; and yet the man of God has
no cause for fearing.
Agencies, seen and unseen, of the most potent
kind, are on the side of righteousness.
God has armies in ambush which
will reveal themselves in the hour of need.
The forces which are on the
side of the good and the true far outweigh the powers of evil.
Therefore, let us keep our spirits up, and walk with the gait of men who
possess a cheering secret, which has lifted them above all fear.
We are
on the winning side.
The battle may be sharp, but we know how it will
end.
Faith, having God with her, is in a clear majority: "They that be
with us are more than they that be with them."
~Charles Spurgeon~
Isa 65:24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
Quick work this! The LORD hears us before we call and often answers
us in the same speedy manner.
Foreseeing our needs and our prayers, He
so arranges providence that before the need actually arises He has
supplied it...
Before the trial assails us He has armed us against it.
This is the promptitude of omniscience, and we have often seen it
exercised.
Before we dreamed of the affliction which was coming, the
strong consolation which was to sustain us under it had arrived.
What a
prayer-answering God we have!
The second clause suggests the telephone.
Though God be in heaven and we upon earth, yet He makes our word, like
His own word, to travel very swiftly,
When we pray aright we speak into
the ear of God.
Our gracious Mediator presents our petitions at once,
and the great Father hears them and smiles upon them.
Grand praying
this! Who would not be much in prayer when he knows that he has the ear
of the King of kings?
This day I will pray in faith, not only believing
that I shall be heard, but that I am heard...
Not only that I shall be
answered, but that I have the answer already.
Holy Spirit, help me in
this!
~Charles Spurgeon~
Gen 42:36 And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
It did seem so indeed. Joseph, his best and dearest son, had long been lost.
Simeon was kept behind in Egypt.
And now they wanted to take Benjamin away...Benjamin, his youngest son, the child of his old age, and next to Joseph, his best beloved son.
Yet by the very things that looked so dark - God was about to bring him peace and comfort in his latter days.
All things were even now working together for his good.
Simeon was to be restored to him.
Benjamin must indeed go away but he would come safe back.
And Joseph, the long-lost Joseph, would be found again...happy and prosperous, a great man in Egypt, but the same in heart as ever, his dutiful and loving son.
Little did Jacob know what all that was taking place, meant.
Little did he know the goodness of God toward him, when he said in his despondency, "All these things are against me!"
We too are sometimes disposed to say the same.
There are times when all things seem against us.
One trouble comes upon another.
We can see no help and no hope.
Nothing but trouble seems around us...
Nothing but trouble seems before us...
We feel quite broken-hearted.
All these things are against me! exactly expresses the state of our minds.
But is it the truth?
It was not the truth in Jacob's case.
All things seemed against him but they were not really against him.
So it is in many other cases.
Things are not so bad as they seem.
Nay, perhaps when all seems as bad as can be - at that very time a happy change may be just about to come...and by means of the very things that look so dark!
When Jacob had found his long-lost son and was happily settled in the land of Egypt and lived there in peace and plenty and honor, free from anxiety and with all his children round him...then perhaps then he remembered his own desponding words, "All these things are against me!"
If so, what must he have thought of them then?
If we look at things with no eye to God then we shall often be ready to say, "All these things are against me!"
But if we remember God then surely we cannot say so...at least if we have any knowledge of Him, any faith in Him, any love to Him.
Put aside the thought of God, and forget for a moment the end of Jacob's history, and how dark do his circumstances appear at the time of his using these words!
On the other hand, remember God...see His hand in all that had happened from the first sad loss of Joseph, all through the ups and downs of Joseph's life in Egypt...
And all through the famine in the land of Canaan, up to the very moment when Jacob's heart failed him, but when God was just about to make him happy.
See all in this light and how different does it look!
We who know the history to its end, and how God was ordering all for good, and how soon the happy discovery was to be made...can hardly bear to hear Jacob say, "All these things are against me!"
We do indeed feel for the aged man in his distress and despondency...but we know that all is on the point of turning out happily.
A little more waiting in anxious fear, and Jacob will feel and speak very differently:
Joseph my son is yet alive! I will go and see him before I die."
Oh! How different it is, to see and to believe.
Jacob was full of comfort when the happy end was come and we can think of him with pleasure all through his troubles because we know the end that was to be.
But this is sight, not faith.
If we walked by faith and not by sight, and if our faith were strong...then we would find comfort and encouragement even before deliverance came.
For we know that without our Father, not a sparrow falls to the ground.
And have we no words of His to encourage us, no promises, sure and steadfast?
Why do we not believe, even when we cannot see?
Why are we so downcast, when circumstances seem against us, though all the while we profess to believe in God as ordering all things and as hearing prayer?
How weak is our faith, and how prone to fail!
How apt are we to let dark appearances obscure all the light of God's Word!
If we could see then we would believe.
True faith believes even when it cannot see.
There is a sentence in the Book of God which alone should keep the believer from ever feeling as Jacob did.
It is this: Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
One of the most striking instances of the truth of these words was the very man who said, "All these things are against me!"
The words themselves seem to show that often the things do not seem as if they were for good.
We know...as if it were said, notwithstanding all appearances to the contrary...yet we know.
And again, "that God causes all things to work together for good"...as if many of the things seemed in themselves to be working for evil, but were, nevertheless, joining in with other things and making up with them the whole design of God, and thus would turn to good in the end.
Thus, even in this most comforting verse there is room for faith.
Indeed, without some measure of faith.. we cannot get comfort from the Word of God at all.
It is the believer's happy privilege to know that, even when all things seem against him...they are not so really.
For he has committed himself and all his concerns into his Father's hands and He is all-wise, all-powerful, all-loving, and has promised that He will never fail those who trust in Him.
He will surely keep His word.
He will...never forget them, never overlook them, and never cease to care for them.
He will...watch over them for good, preserve them from all real evil, and bless them continually.
Things may look dark at times, but it is only the outside of things that we can see.
However things may look, the same unchanging God and Father is still ordering all...
Nothing can happen without Him, and He does all things well!
Let us keep fast hold of this truth, and we shall never say, "All these things are against me!"
Rather, in the darkest trouble we shall see some light, some tokens of the hand of love that is doing all, some gracious sign that God has not forsaken us.
And we shall gratefully join in the words of the Psalmist, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me."
Christian! When all things seem against you, believe that God is thus dealing with you in order to humble you and lead you to Himself.
He pities you even while you are far off from Him.
He would bring you near.
Perhaps these very troubles are God's appointed means to restore you.
Seek Him from the very midst of them, from the very depth of pain, sorrow, anxiety, and fear.
Seek Him in earnest prayer.
Seek His mercy, His pardon, His grace.
Plead the Name of Jesus.
Approach the mercy-seat through Him.
Ask that His blood may take away your guilt.
Cast yourself upon the mercy of God in Christ and then beseech Him to help you in every trouble.
Will He refuse your prayer?
Surely not!
All His Word says that He will hear and answer and bless His redeemed people.
If trouble is thus the means of bringing you to God...then it will prove your greatest blessing.
Then you will never say, All these things are against me, but rather, Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept Your word!
It is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn Your statutes."
Francis Bourdillon, 1864
Worldliness is an undue attachment to this world.
It is living for this world...its riches, its honor, its joys and its cares.
It is living by the principles of this world: greed, covetousness, deceit and lust.
Nothing is more dangerous to the souls of men than the love of the world.
Nothing more effectually chokes out the influence of the gospel in a man's heart than the cares of this world.
Nothing is more difficult to avoid than an undue attachment to this world.
Therefore, John sets these four words up as a beacon.
They stand in blazing letters to warn us of great danger: "LOVE NOT THE WORLD!"
Beloved, this world and all that it offers, is no more than a bubble that soon must burst!
Your money, your farms, your houses, your influence, your families...everything here is temporary.
It will all vanish away!
We laugh at the small child who cries when the bubbles he is playing with burst.
But, for a rational man to be so attached to a bubble, is a most irrational thing!
What fools they are who love and seek this world!
I cannot warn you enough of the danger of worldliness...of loving, seeking, and living for this world!
Are you God's child?
Are you risen with Christ?
Do you live in the hope of eternal glory?
Then count this world to be a dead thing.
Live no longer for this world.
Set your heart on things above.
Live above this pile of rubbish that must soon burn!
Live to do the will of God, seek the glory of Christ, further the gospel of the grace of God, and serve the people of God.
Quit seeking those things for which unbelieving men live...
And seek those things which are above...life, immortality, and glory.
~Don Fortner~
It came to pass, after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.
Week after week, with unfaltering and steadfast spirit, Elijah watched that dwindling brook;
Often tempted to stagger through unbelief, but refusing to allow his circumstances to come between himself and God.
Unbelief sees God through circumstances, as we sometimes see the sun shorn of his rays through the smoky air;
But faith puts God between itself and circumstances, and looks at them through Him.
And so the dwindling brook became a silver thread;
And the silver thread stood presently in pools at the foot of the largest boulders;
And then the pools shrank.
The birds fled; the wild creatures of field and forest came no more to drink; the brook was dry.
Only then, to his patient and unwavering spirit, "the word of the Lord came, saying."
Arise, get thee to Zarephath.
Most of us would have got anxious and worn with planning long before that.
We should have ceased our songs as soon as the streamlet caroled less musically over its rocky bed;
And with harps swinging on the willows we should have paced to and fro upon the withering grass, lost in pensive thought.
And probably, long ere the brook was dry, we should have devised some plan, and asking God's blessing on it, would have started off elsewhere.
Alas! we are all too full of our own schemes, and plans, and contrivings.
And if Samuel does not come just when we expect, we force ourselves, and offer the burnt-offering (i Sam. xiii.12).
This is the source of untold misery.
We sketch out our programme, and rush into it;
And only when we are met by insuperable obstacles do we begin to reflect whether it was God's will, or to appeal to Him.
He does often extricate us, because His mercy endureth forever;
But if we had only waited first to see the unfolding of His plans, we should never have found ourselves landed in such an inextricable labyrinth;
And we should never have been compelled to retrace our steps with so many tears of shame.
One of the formative words for all human lives, and especially for God's servants, was given by God to Moses, when He said: See that thou make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount (Heb. viii. 5).
Moses was eager to do God's work, and the best skill amongst the people was at his command; but he must not make a single bell, or pomegranate, or tassel, or fringe, or curtain, or vessel, except on God's pattern, and after God's ideal.
And so he was taken up into the mount, and God opened the door into his own mind, where the tabernacle stood complete as an ideal;
And Moses was permitted to see the thing as it lived in the thought and heart of God.
Forty days of reverent study passed by; and when he returned to the mountain-foot, he had only to transfer into the region of actual fact that which had been already shown to him, in pattern, on the mount.
Surely some such thought as this must have been in the mind of our blessed Lord, when He said: "The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do" (John v. 19).
So utterly had He emptied Himself that He had abandoned even His own schemes and plans;
He lived a planless life, accepting each moment the plan which His Father unfolded before Him;
And being confident that that plan would lead Him on to greater and ever greater works, until the world should marvel at the splendor of the results—rising from Gethsemane and Calvary, through the broken grave, to the Ascension Mount, and the glory of His second Advent.
Oh, mystery of humiliation, that He who planned all things should will to live a life of such absolute dependence!
And yet, if He lived such a life, how much more will it become us;
How much anxiety it will save us; and to what lengths of usefulness and heights of glory will it bring us!
Would that we were content to wait for God to unveil His plan, so that our life might be simply the working out of His thought, the exemplification of His ideal!
Let this be the cry of our hearts: Lord, show me Thy way; teach me to do Thy will:
Show me the way wherein I should walk, for unto Thee do I lift up my soul.
~F. B. Meyer~
