Will NOT Be MOVED!

Psalm 46:5  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
 
Will not be moved...what an inspiring declaration!

Is it possible for us who are so easily moved by earthly things to come to a point where nothing can upset us or disturb our peace? 

The answer is yes, and the apostle Paul knew it.

When he was on his way to Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit warned him that “prison and hardships” awaited him.

Yet he could triumphantly say,“But none of these things move me”.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
 
Everything in Paul’s life and experience that could be disturbed had already been shaken...

And he no longer considered his life or any of his possessions as having any earthly value.

And if we will only let God have His way with us, we can come to the same point.

Then, like Paul, neither the stress and strain of little things...

Nor the great and heavy trials of life will have enough power to move us from “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”.

Act 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

God declares this peace to be the inheritance of those who have learned to rest only on Him.

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. 

Never again will he leave it.

Rev 3:12  Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 

Becoming as immovable as a pillar in the house of God is such a worthy objective that we would gladly endure all the necessary trials that take us there!

~Hannah Whitall Smith~
 
When God is the center of a kingdom or a city, He makes it strong “like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken”.

Psa 125:1 They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
 
And when God is the center of a soul, although disasters may crowd in on all sides and roar like the waves of the sea, there is a constant calm within.

The world can neither give nor take away this kind of peace.

What is it that causes people to shake like leaves today at the first hint of danger?

It is simply the lack of God living in their soul, and having the world in their hearts instead. 

~R. Leighton~

Psa 125:1 They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.

There is an old Scottish version of this psalm that strengthens our blood like iron...
 
Who clings to God in constant trust As Zion’s mount he stands full just...
 
And who moves not, nor yet does reel...
 
But stands forever strong as steel!

I Perceive That Your Heavenly Father Has Again Put You Into The Furnace!

I perceive that your heavenly Father has again put you into the furnace...

And I trust that He will divinely impress upon your heart, that there is a Needs Be For It 

And that the outcome of your present trial shall surely end in good to your soul.

His Word tells us that Trials are Absolutely Necessary, and why they are so-as He would not afflict those whom He loves, But For Their Real Profit. 

So He chooses those afflictions for us, and appoints them for us at such seasons, and attended with such circumstances-as He sees will be (all things considered) Most For Our Spiritual Advantage. 

The afflictions and trials of His people are always sent, either to Cure or to Prevent something still worse.

Satan is compared to a fowler, and we sometimes are as little upon our guard as a thoughtless bird-the danger is close to us, but we are not aware of it.

But, as a sudden noise affrights the bird, and makes it take wing and escape the snare-so the Lord often disappoints the devices of the enemy, by sending a seasonable trial to His dear children, which arouses them, and makes them flee to Him for safety.

I have often thought that if David had fallen and broke his leg when he was going up to the housetop-he would have missed the sight of Bathsheba, and that long train of evils which made him cry out of broken bones in a still more painful sense.

Just so, we do not know how things might have been with us-if such or such a painful dispensation had not happened. 

A course of continual prosperity might have lulled us to sleep. 

We must admit this, when we find ourselves still apt to be drowsy-even though the Lord is pleased to put thorns into our pillow.

Notwithstanding the feeling proofs we have of the vanity of the present state, our spirits are still too apt to cleave to the dust. 

What then might have been the case-had our path been always smooth?

He is a good master to serve-I have found Him to be so for thirty years.

Cheer up, the Lord does all things well! 

Do not be afraid of storms-for you have an infallible Pilot who will guide you with His eye, uphold you with His arm, and is every minute bringing you nearer to the harbor of eternal rest and peace!

We have just began harvest in these parts. 

The grain has passed through a variety of weather. Frosts and winds, rains and heat, each of which, singly, would have destroyed it--have each in their places (through the blessing of the Lord's overruling providence) concurred to bring it to its present maturity. 

The farmers here, as well as elsewhere, have had different fears and complaints at different times; they have thought sometimes the weather too cold or too hot, too wet or too dry, by turns.

But their fears were groundless and vain-the crop is ripe, the stalks are loaded, and bend under the weight of the grain.

Is not this an emblem of the spiritual life? 

What changes of weather have we passed through, since the seeds of grace were first sown in our hearts!

How often have we been ready to murmur at the appointments of the Heavenly Gardener! 

How hardly could we be persuaded that the afflictions, temptations, and trials which we have been exercised with-have, in their places, been no less subservient to our growth, than the more pleasing sunshine we have been sometimes favored with?

Yet, I trust, we are still growing and getting forward. 

Neither frost or floods have been able to destroy us; and Oh, (may our hearts rejoice at the thought!) the harvest is approaching!

When He sees that we are fully ripe-when all that He has designed to do for us, in us, and by us, is completed-then He will separate us from these clods of earth, and remove us into His dwelling place, where we shall be done with fears and trials forever!

We shall not then live this poor dying life-neither shall we have to complain of an evil heart of unbelief. 

We shall not complain of a cold and careless heart-because we shall be at the fountain-head of all our best wishes and desires! 

We shall be enjoying, through eternal ages, that ineffable bliss which is prepared for all who love God, and who have been called by divine grace, out of the service of sin, Satan, and the world-to love and serve Him who is the Rock of eternal ages. 

Yes, we shall, with unspeakable delight-see Jesus as He is, and be completely like Him! 

Let us, then, not be weary in well doing; for, in due season, we shall reap, if we fail not.
 
~John Newton~

The Overcomer

Rev 2:7  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

No man may turn his back in the day of battle or refuse to go to the holy war. 

We must fight if we would reign...

And we must carry on the warfare till we overcome every enemy...

Or else this promise is not for us, since it is only for "him that overcometh."

We are to overcome the false prophets who have come into the world and all the evils which accompany their teaching. 

We are to overcome our own faintness of heart and tendency to decline from our first love.

Read the whole of the Spirit's word to the church at Ephesus.

If by grace we win the day, as we shall if we truly follow our conquering Leader...

Then we shall be admitted to the very center of the paradise of God and shall be permitted to pass by the cherub and his flaming sword...

And come to that guarded tree, whereof if a man eat, he shall live forever. 

We shall thus escape that endless death which is the doom of sin...

And gain that everlasting life which is the seal of innocence, the outgrowth of immortal principles of Godlike holiness. 

Come, my heart, pluck up courage! 

To flee the conflict will be to lose the joys of the new and better Eden...

To fight unto victory is to walk with God in paradise.

Charles Spurgeon~

Behold A Smoking Furnace, And A Burning Lamp

Gen 15:17  And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Fire is the chosen emblem of God...

And as these fire-emblems passed slowly between the divided carcases it was as though God accommodated Himself to the methods of human oath-taking, and solemnly bound Himself. 

But in all His dealings with us He is prepared to be both a furnace and a torch.

God as a Furnace. - Take up a piece of iron ore, and see how the metal is scattered amid commoner substances. 

How can it be disintegrated? 

The chisel cannot do it, but fire will. 

Plunge it now into the fire; let it fall in the heart of the glowing furnace, and presently the stream of liquid metal will issue forth, pure and beautiful.

It is thus that God deals with human hearts...

The blood makes propitiation, but the fire cleanses. 

The love of God, the purity of God, the spirituality of God brought home to us by the Holy Ghost... 

Search and try us to the innermost fiber of our being...

And burn out of us the evils which had long held empire.

Refining Fire, go through my heart...
 
Illuminate my soul...
 
Scatter thy life through every part...
 
And sanctify the whole.

God as a flaming Torch. - The torch guides the footsteps through the dark...

And God's Spirit waits to shed light on many dark and hidden things, and to guide us into all the truth. 

It is one thing to comprehend by the intellect...

It is altogether another to apprehend by the heart.

There is no such teacher as God...

And the mistake of our modern religious life is to receive so much from man, instead of waiting in silence until God Himself communicates His truth to us. 

The conditions are purity of desire, cleanness of heart, and willingness to obey.

~F. B. Meyer~

Keep Your Hands Off

2Ch 20:12  O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

A life was lost in Israel because a pair of human hands were laid unbidden upon the ark of God.

They were placed upon it with the best intent, to steady it when trembling and shaking as the oxen drew it along the rough way...

But they touched God's work presumptuously, and they fell paralyzed and lifeless.

Much of the life of faith consists in letting things alone.

If we wholly trust an interest to God, we must keep our hands off it...

And He will guard it for us better than we can help Him.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Things may seem to be going all wrong, but He knows as well as we...

And He will arise in the right moment if we are really trusting Him so fully as to let Him work in His own way and time.

There is nothing so masterly as inactivity in some things...

And there is nothing so hurtful as restless working...

For God has undertaken to work His sovereign will.

~A. B. Simpson~

Being perplexed, I say, 'Lord, make it right!

Night is as day to Thee, Darkness as light.

I am afraid to touch Things that involve so much...

My trembling hand may shake, My skilless hand may break; 

Thine can make no mistake.
     
Being in doubt I say, 'Lord, make it plain...

Which is the true, safe way? 

Which would be gain? 

I am not wise to know, Nor sure of foot to go...

What is so clear to Thee, Lord, make it clear to me!
     
It is such a comfort to drop the tangles of life into God's hands and leave them there.

Purity Of Heart And Life

Matthew 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

James 4:8  Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Purity, even purity of heart, is the main thing to be aimed at.

We need to be made clean within through the Spirit and the Word...

And then we shall be clean without by consecration and obedience.

There is a close connection between the affections and the understanding: 

If we love evil we cannot understand that which is good.

If the heart is foul, the eye will be dim.

How can those men see a holy God who love unholy things?

What a privilege it is to see God here! 

A glimpse of Him is heaven below! 

In Christ Jesus the pure in heart behold the Father. 

We see Him, His truth, His love, His purpose, His sovereignty, His covenant character...

Yea, we see Himself in Christ. 

But this is only apprehended as sin is kept out of the heart. 

Only those who aim at godliness can cry, "Mine eyes are ever towards the LORD." 

The desire of Moses, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory," can only be fulfilled in us as we purify ourselves from all iniquity. 

We shall "see him as he is,"...

And "every one that hath this hope in him purifieth himself."

The enjoyment of present fellowship and the hope of the beatific vision are urgent motives for purity of heart and life. 

LORD, make us pure in heart that we may see Thee!

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Book ForThe Afflicted

                                                         
Psa 119:67  Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
 
The Bible is the book for the afflicted. 

We fly to it in times of adversity.

It is then that we...

Read it more attentively...

Counsel with it more closely...

Understand it more clearly...

Relish it more sweetly...

And receive it into the heart more experimentally, as the engrafted Word.

Affliction illuminates the Bible as though a new book had been composed...

Or another constellation in the spiritual hemisphere had burst upon the telescope of faith!

We know more of the Lord Jesus through one sanctified affliction-than by all the treatises the human pen ever wrote!

Welcome whatever makes you more acquainted with God!

Despise nothing that will deepen your intimacy with Jesus.

Welcome the cross-though it may be heavy!

Welcome the cup-though it may be bitter. 

Receive it as an blessing sent to you from your Father-receive it as a heavenly message to your soul.

~Octavius Winslow~