Loved To Perfection

John 13:1  Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

This fact is essentially a promise; for what our LORD was He is...

And what He was to those with whom He lived on earth, He will be to all His beloved so long as the moon endureth. 

Having loved: here was the wonder! 

That He should ever have loved men at all is the marvel. 

What was there in His poor disciples that He should love them? 

What is there in me? 

But when He has once begun to love, it is His nature to continue to do so. 

Love made the saints "his own" what a choice title! 

He purchased them with blood, and they became His treasure. 

Being His own, He will not lose them. 

Being His beloved, He will not cease to love them. 

My soul, He will not cease to love thee! 

The text is well as it stands: "to the end." 

Even till His death the ruling passion of love to His own reigned in His sacred bosom. 

It means also to the uttermost. 

He could not love them more: He gave Himself for them. 

Some read it, to perfection. 

Truly He lavished upon them a perfect love, in which there was no flaw nor failure, no unwisdom, no unfaithfulness. 

Such is the love of Jesus to each one of His people. 

Let us sing to our Well-beloved a song.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Immediately Present

                                                 
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 

 A help that is not present when we need it is of small value. 

The anchor which is left at home is of no use to the seaman in the hour of storm...

The money which he used to have is of no worth to the debtor when a writ is out against him. 

Very few earthly helps could be called "very present"...

They are usually far in the seeking, far in the using, and farther still when once used. 

But as for the LORD our God, He is present when we seek Him,...

Present when we need Him...

And present when we have already enjoyed His aid. 

He is more than "present," He is very present. 

More present than the nearest friend can be, for He is in us in our trouble...

More present than we are to ourselves, for sometimes we lack presence of mind. 

He is always present, effectually present, sympathetically present, altogether present. 

He is present now if this is a gloomy season. 

Let us rest ourselves upon Him. 

He is our refuge, let us hide in Him...

He is our strength, let us array ourselves with Him...

He is our help, let us lean upon Him...

He is our very present help, let us repose in Him now. 

We need not have a moment's care or an instant's fear...

The LORD of hosts is with us...

The God of Jacob is our refuge.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Forgive And Forget!

Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and He shall save thee (Proverbs 20:22).

Let anger cool down. 

Say nothing and do nothing to avenge yourself.

You will be sure to act unwisely if you take up the weapon and fight your own battles...

And, certainly, you will not show the Spirit of the LORD Jesus.

It is nobler to forgive and let the offense pass. 

To let an injury fester in your bosom and to meditate revenge is to keep old wounds open and to make new ones.

Better forget and forgive.

Peradventure, you say that you must do something or be a great loser;...

Then do what this morning's promise advises: "Wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee."

This advice will not cost you money but is worth far more, Be calm and quiet.

Wait upon the LORD...

Tell Him your grievance...

Spread Rabshakeh's letter before the LORD, and this of itself will be an ease to your burdened mind.

Besides, there is the promise "He shall save thee." 

God will find a way of deliverance for you.

How He will do it neither you nor I can guess, but do it He will...

If the LORD saves you, this will be a deal better than getting into petty quarrels and covering yourself with filth by wrestling with the unclean.

Be no more angry.

Leave your suit with the Judge of all.

~Charles Spurgeon~

If We Knew What Would Happen Tomorrow~We Would Lose Alertness

The next thing that we should lose would be the spirit of vigorous alertness.

And of that we have a kind of parable in what we see in the animals.

Suppose, for instance, that you catch a bird and take it into the safety of your home. 

And every day you tend it and feed it until at length it learns that food is certain.

Do you know what happens, although you might not guess it?

Do you know what every naturalist knows?

Every instinct of that little captive is silently but surely being dulled.

Once it was wild and everything was dark. 

The bird was at its best when things were dark.

Once it didn't know where its breakfast was when it awoke at dawn and was hungry. 

But now it knows - you are its little providence, and you have taught it what will come.

And it is very sweet to have that certainty, but something better than sweetness is departing.

And that is what would happen to you and me could we see the content of tomorrow.

It might be sweet, but what man cares for that if something better than sweetness were to go.

I want a life responsive and alert. 

I want to be quick to see and to hear and to seize upon the will of God.

And what I say is, that this fine alertness, which is the mark of progress and of victory, would be more difficult a thousand times were we always certain of tomorrow.

Many of you here have been to London. Well, what happened when you went to London?

Didn't you cover more ground in one day than many a Londoner does in half a year? He knows it all, every street of it, every park of it and every palace.

You are alert because it is unknown.

Or to put it another way, here is a man who has to sail for India in six months. He is home on furlough - he has six months to rest - and he gets so fat that you would hardly know him.

But here is another man, a soldier, who any hour may get his call to active duty, and I tell you that is the man who is alert.

No wandering very far from where his home is. 

No laying long plans for a fine summer. 

He knows that sooner or later he must go, perhaps tonight. 

That man may lose a little as anyone does when he chooses to live the soldier's life. 

But he is always fit and always ready, and it is the uncertainty that makes him so. 

So is it with the uncertainty of death. 

So with the uncertainty of trial. 

And it is just the darkness of it all, the feeling that we don't know what may come, that helps us to be watchful every day.

~George Morrison~
     

At Wit's End

                                                  

Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner" Christian, with troubled brow?

Are you thinking of what is before you, And all you are bearing now?
      
Does all the world seem against you, And you in the battle alone?

Remember...at "Wit's End Corner" Is just where God's power is shown.

Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner," Blinded with wearying pain...
 
Feeling you cannot endure it, You cannot bear the strain...

Bruised through the constant suffering, Dizzy, and dazed, and numb?

Remember...at "Wit's End Corner" Is where Jesus loves to come.

Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?
      
Your work before you spread, unfinished, And pressing on heart and head...

Longing for strength to do it, Stretching out trembling hands?

Remember...at "Wit's End Corner" The Burden-bearer stands. 

Are you standing at "Wit's End Corner"?

Then you're just in the very spot...

To learn the wondrous resources Of Him who faileth not:

No doubt to a brighter pathway Your footsteps will soon be moved...

But only at "Wit's End Corner" Is the "God who is able" proved.

~Antoinette Wilson~

Do not get discouraged; it may be the last key in the bunch that opens the door.

~Stansifer~

Desires Of The Soul.

What do you desire, O my soul? 

With what imaginable excellency would you clothe yourself! 

What desirable object would you pitch upon? 

Is it beauty? 

The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. 

So shall they be forever with the Lord.

Is it riches? 

Wealth and riches are the portion of all God's children...

Every one in His family shall have a rich, a glorious, an incorruptible, and eternal inheritance among the saints!

Is it honor? 

What honor can compare to this...

To be a friend and favorite of God...

And a spouse of Christ...

To have a crown of righteousness, of life, and of glory! 

Nay more, a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory set upon your head!

Is it pleasure? 

The just shall enter into their Master's joy...

And there are rivers of pleasure at God's right hand for evermore!

In a word, what would you have, O my soul? 

A merging of all the glorious things of eternity?

If heaven, and the holiness thereof are what you seek...

Then heaven and the excellencies thereof you shall find!

Lord, make me holy...then I shall be happy!

Psa 73:25  Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
 

Psa 73:26  My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 

~Thomas Sherman~

HE Hath Triumphed Gloriously

Exodus 15:1  Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.     

Beloved, God calls us to Victory. 

Have any of you given up the conflict?

Have you surrendered? 

Have you said, "This thing is too much"? 

Have you said, "I can give up anything else but this"? 

If you have, you are not in the land of promise.

God means you should accept every difficult thing that comes in your life. 

He has started with you, knowing every difficulty. 

And if you dare to let Him, He will carry you through not only to be conquerors, but "more than conquerors."

Are you looking for all the victory?

God gives His children strength for the battle and watches over them with a fond enthusiasm.

He longs to fold you to His arms and say to you, "I have seen thy conflict, I have watched thy trials, I have rejoiced in thy victory; thou hast honored Me."

You know He told Joshua at the beginning, "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life; as I was with Moses, so shall I be with thee: 

I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

And again, He says to us, "Fear thou not, for I am with thee."

~A. B. Simpson~

GOD'S Threshing

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

The word tribulation is very suggestive. 

It comes from a root which means 'a flail'.

The thresher uses the flail to beat the wheat sheaves, that he may separate the golden wheat from the chaff and straw.

Tribulation is God's threshing... 

Not to destroy us, but to get what is good, heavenly, and spiritual in us separated from what is wrong, earthly, and fleshly.

Nothing less than blows of pain will do this. 

The golden wheat of goodness in us, is so closely wrapped up in the strong chaff of sin that only the heavy flail of suffering can produce the separation!

Many of us would never enter the gates of pearl were it not for this unwelcome messenger, pain! 

We must go through many troubles to enter the kingdom of God!

Act 14:22  Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
~J. R. Miller~

Hindrances In The Realm Of The Mind

Firstly, there are hindrances in the realm of the mind. 

We have been told that man is quite unable to cope mentally with the spiritual and heavenly things of God. 

For this reason God has provided the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth, of revelation and of spiritual knowledge. 

So there will obviously be hindrances to the free flow of the Spirit if we try to reason things out for ourselves instead of heeding the Spirit-inspired Scriptures. 

If we try to think things through ourselves, we become involved in all sorts of problems and questions. 

We are specifically told that: But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1Co 2:14...

A fact which needs to be accepted and remembered by Christians for themselves, as well as for the world around.

There will always arise moments of crisis or experiences full of perplexity and seeming contradiction, for which the only answer is that we must trust God. 

If we resolve that we will reason the matter out, or if we turn to other men for their explanations, we will never understand the ways of God.

His Word is our only source of light. 

It will, at times, be hard to understand.

It will, perhaps, be difficult or even impossible to explain. 

But if we heed its message we will be delivered from man's foolish reasoning...

And we will have lifted off a load of rubbish which was blocking up the well within.

There are bound to be matters which defy analysis or argument, for the ways of God are past finding out. 

The real test is whether we will trust God when we cannot fathom His ways...

Whether we will deliberately and positively take up a position of faith reliance on His faithfulness. 

Even that may not provide us with an answer which satisfies our minds and solves all our intellectual problems...

But it will bring us that blessed peace which is promised to those whose minds are stayed on the Lord. 

This is just the opposite of the mind of the man who is stayed on himself and his difficulty.

Isa 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

It does not say that his heart will be at peace because he knows the answers to all the questions. No! 

The basic thing is a faith attitude towards God's faithfulness. 

To act in this way is to remove a big stone, and I venture to say that it will clear the way for a new joy, and new peace and a new strength. 

The Holy Spirit has been pent up, blocked, hindered, arrested, by incessant reasonings of the natural mind. 

He is released by the simple exercise of a faith which feeds on God's Word and relies on His faithfulness.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Love Prepares A Welcome

No one was more ready than Jesus to detect the anxieties of those He loved. 

We picture Him, as He taught the twelve, watching intently the expression on their faces to learn how far His words were understood. 

Jesus had noted, then, tokens of heart distress.

John 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

The disciples felt His departure like a torture. 

And it was then that He consoled them with such simple and glorious speech that all Christendom is the debtor to their agony. 

They thought that His death was an unforeseen calamity.

Christ taught them it was the path of His own planning. 

They thought that heaven was very far away. 

Christ taught them it was but another room in the great home of whose many mansions this beautiful world was one. 

He was not stepping out into the dark. 

He was passing from one room to another in the house. 

But the mightiest encouragement of all came when He told them, "I go to prepare a place for you." 

This, then, was the purpose of His going, that love might have all things ready when they arrived. 

When a child is born here, love has all things ready for it.

It will be the same when we awaken in eternity. 

When a boy or girl comes home from the boarding-school, has not some heart at home been busy in preparation? 

There is someone at the station, and the bedroom is arranged, and the lights are lit, and the table is spread, and all day there has been happy excitement in the home because James or Mary is coming home tonight

So Jesus says, I go to prepare a place for you. 

I go to have all things ready for your coming.

And though there are depths in these words we cannot fathom and mysteries we cannot understand, they mean at least that love is getting ready to give the children a real welcome home.

~George H. Morrison~     

Our Arabian Wilderness

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,

Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: 

Gal 1:17Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.

Paul went away from all human contact for several years, in order to spend time alone with God in the Arabian wilderness.

The newborn soul needs solitude, that, apart from the strife of tongues and the din of the world, it may meditate on those marvelous things which God has done for it. 

That it may frame a larger, deeper, more adequate conception of what salvation really is. 

That its gratitude may become more precise and more profound. 

That, with nothing and no one to distract, it may dedicate itself quietly and fully to its Lord.

The Bible teacher needs solitude, that he may apprehend the breadth and length and depth and height of that great, majestic, illimitable book he is to proclaim. 

That he may seize hold of the truth of God and that the truth of God may seize hold of him. 

That the truths of Scripture may become, more than ever, his own possession and exceeding joy. 

And then, out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth will speak.

Every saint needs solitude, that he may shake off the dust and grime of worldliness and sin. 

That, waiting on the Lord, he may renew his strength. 

That a fresh unction from the Holy One may make him spiritually wise and strong.

In Arabia, as he came forth from the cloud, the face of Moses shone. 

In Arabia, the soul of Paul duly took and strongly kept the print of Heaven.

Ah, there are none of us who can venture to dispense with our Arabian wilderness!

Mar 6:31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

Is it my custom and my delight to go by myself to a quiet place, and rest awhile with Jesus?

~Alexander Smellie~

Will The Gates Of Pearl Be Opened To Let In Dogs And Swine?

There is no Heaven without holiness; for "without holiness no man shall see the LORD," Hebrews 12:14.

Will the gates of pearl be opened to let in dogs and swine?

NO! their place is outside, Rev 22:15  For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

Will GOD take the children of the devil, and permit them to sit with Him in His throne?

Or, will He bring the unclean into the city, whose street is pure gold?

Be not deceived; grace and glory are but two links of one chain which GOD has joined, which no man shall put asunder.

None are transplanted into the paradise of glory above but out of the nursery of grace below.

If you are unholy while in this world, you will be forever miserable in the world to come!

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

~Thomas Boston~

Continue In Prayer

Luke 2:36  And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;
 
Luke 2:37  And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
 
No doubt by praying we learn to pray, and the more we pray the oftener we can pray, and the better we can pray. 

He who prays in fits and starts is never likely to attain to that effectual, fervent prayer which availeth much.

Great power in prayer is within our reach, but we must go to work to obtain it. 

Let us never imagine that Abraham could have interceded so successfully for Sodom if he had not been all his lifetime in the practice of communion with God.

Jacob's all-night at Peniel was not the first occasion upon which he had met his God. 

We may even look upon our Lord's most choice and wonderful prayer with his disciples before His Passion as the flower and fruit of His many nights of devotion, and of His often rising up a great while before day to pray.

If a man dreams that he can become mighty in prayer just as he pleases, he labors under a great mistake. 

The prayer of Elias which shut up heaven and afterwards opened its floodgates, was one of long series of mighty prevailings with God. 

Oh, that Christian men would remember this! 

Perseverance in prayer is necessary to prevalence in prayer.

Those great intercessors, who are not so often mentioned as they ought to be in connection with confessors and martyrs, were nevertheless the grandest benefactors of the Church...

But it was only by abiding at the mercy-seat that they attained to be such channels of mercy to men. 

We must pray to pray, and continue in prayer that our prayers may continue. 

~C. H. Spurgeon~

Perfect Purity

Rev 3:5  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Warrior of the cross, fight on! 

Never rest till thy victory is complete, for thine eternal reward will prove worthy of a life of warfare.

See, here is perfect purity for thee! 

A few in Sardis kept their garments undefiled, and their recompense is to be spotless.

Perfect holiness is the prize of our high calling; let us not miss it.

See, here is joy! 

Thou shalt wear holiday robes, such as men put on at wedding feasts; thou shalt be clothed with gladness and be made bright with rejoicing.

Painful struggles shall end in peace of conscience and joy in the LORD.

See, here is victory! 

Thou shalt have thy triumph. 

Palm, and crown, and white robe shall be thy reward; thou shalt be treated as a conqueror and owned as such by the LORD Himself.

See, here is priestly array! 

Thou shalt stand before the LORD in such raiment as the sons of Aaron wore...

Thou shalt offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving and draw near unto the LORD with the incense of praise.

Who would not fight for a LORD who gives such large honors to the very least of His faithful servants?

Who would not be clothed in a fool's coat for Christ's sake, seeing He will robe us with glory?
 
~Charles Spurgeon~

He Was Afraid And Began To Sink

Mat 14:30  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 

John Bunyan said that Peter did have a little faith, even in the midst of his doubts.

In spite of crying out in fear, it was by getting out of the boat and walking that he got to Jesus.

In this passage of Scripture, we see that Peter’s sight was actually a hindrance.
 

Once he had stepped out of the boat, the waves were none of his business.

His only concern should have been the path of light shining across the darkness from Christ Himself.

Even the glow of a kingdom ten times brighter than that of ancient Egypt should not have diverted Peter’s eyes.

When the Lord calls you to come across the water, step out with confidence and joy.
 
And never glance away from Him for even a moment.

You will not prevail by measuring the waves...

Or grow strong by gauging the wind.

Attempting to survey the danger may actually cause you to fall before it.

Pausing at the difficulties will result in the waves breaking over your head.

Lift up [your] eyes to the hills and go forward.

Psalm 121:1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.

There is no other way.

Do you fear to launch away?

Faith lets go to swim!

Never will He let you go;

It’s by trusting you will know Fellowship with Him.

We Have Need To Use This Prayer At All Times!

Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and temptation...

But we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all times. 

There is no moment of our life, however holy in which we can do without His constant upholding. 

Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in temptation...we alike need the prayer, "Do not forsake me, O Lord!" "Hold me up and I shall be safe!"

A little child, while learning to walk always needs the parent's aid.
 
The ship left by the navigator drifts at once from her course. 

We cannot do without continuous aid from God!

Let this be your prayer every day:
Do not forsake me, O Lord! 

Do not be far from me, O my God!
 
Father, do not forsake Your child...lest he fall by the hand of the enemy.
 
Shepherd, do not forsake Your lamb...lest he wander from the safety of the fold.
 
Great Gardener, do not forsake Your tender plant...lest it wither and die!
 
Do not forsake me now, O Lord! 

And do not forsake me at any moment of my life.
 
Do not forsake me in my joys...lest they absorb my heart.
 
Do not forsake me in my sorrows...lest I murmur against You.
 
Do not forsake me...for without You I am weak, but with You I am strong.
 
Do not forsake me...for my path is dangerous and full of snares.
 
Do not forsake me...for I cannot travel without Your guidance.
 
The hen does not forsake her chicks. 

O Lord, give me refuge under Your wings.
 
Do not be far from me, O Lord, for trouble is near and there is none to help.
 
Do not forsake me, O Lord! 

Do not be far from me, O God of my salvation! 

~Charles Spurgeon~

If The War Be Of GOD The Victory Is Sure!

1Ch 5:22  For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.

Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with holy joy...

For as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God the victory is sure. 

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh could barely muster five and forty thousand fighting men...

And yet in their war with the Hagarites, they slew "men, an hundred thousand," for they cried to God in the battle...

And He was entreated of them, because they put their trust in Him.

The Lord saveth not by many nor by few...

It is ours to go forth in Jehovah's name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us for our Captain. 

They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow, neither did they place their trust in these weapons...

We must use all fitting means, but our confidence must rest in the Lord alone, for He is the sword and the shield of His people. 

The great reason of their extraordinary success lay in the fact that "the war was of God."

Beloved, in fighting with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with devils and the devil's allies, you are waging Jehovah's war... 

And unless He himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.

Fear not before superior numbers...

Shrink not from difficulties or impossibilities...

Flinch not at wounds or death...

Smite with the two-edged sword of the Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps. 

The battle is the Lord's and He will deliver His enemies into our hands. 

With steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, and the hosts of evil shall fly like chaff before the gale.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus! The strife will not be long;
 
One day the noise of battle, The next the victor's song:
 
To him that overcometh, A crown of life shall be;
 
He with the King of glory Shall reign eternally.

~Charles Spurgeon~

He Humbled Himself

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  

One of the hardest things for a lofty and superior nature is to be under authority...

To renounce his own will...

And to take a place of subjection. 

But Christ took upon Him the form of a servant...

Gave up His independence...

His right to please Himself...

His liberty of choice...

And after having from eternal ages known only to command...

Gave Himself up only to obey...

I have seen occasionally the man who was once a wealthy employer a clerk in the same store. 

It was not an easy or graceful position, I assure you.

But Jesus was such a perfect servant that His Father said: "Behold, My Servant in whom My soul is well pleased." 

All His life His watchword was, "The Son of Man came to minister."

I am among you as He that doth serve.

I can do nothing of Myself.

Not My will, but Thine, be done.

Have you, beloved, learned the servant's place?

And once more, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

His life was all a dying, and at last He gave all up to death, and also shame, the death of crucifixion. 

This last was the consummation of His love.

~A. B. Simpson~

We Dare Not Doubt

Isa 45:2  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: 

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~ 

The Power That Protects Us

Ephesians 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 

The armor of the ancients was of two different kinds, and both kinds were absolutely necessary. 

It was partly armor for attack and partly armor for protection. 
 
Now very generally, in the New Testament, faith is one of the weapons of attack .
 
1John 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
 
We see that magnificently illustrated in the pageant of Hebrews 11.

But here, and it may be only here, Paul looks on faith in quite another light, for he sets it among the armor of protection. 
 
Faith is not here the power that leads to victory; it is the power that protects us in the battle.
 
It keeps us unembittered and serene amid the mysteries and buffetings of life.
 
To believe that love is on the throne and that through everything there runs a loving purpose, is in the deepest of all senses to be shielded.
 
How effectual that shielding is, is shown by the apostle's choice of words.
 
There are two words in the Greek tongue for shield; the one is common and the other rare.
 
The one notes a little shield or target; the other a frame that covered the whole man.
 
Faith is not a partial protection; it casts its defense over the whole of life.
 
It is a means of safety for the intellect, as surely as for the passions of the heart.
 
It guards the feet when they are prone to wander, and the hands when they are growing weary, and the eyes when they are drawn to what is wrong.
 
The shield of faith is an all-embracing shelter.
 
Faith in God through our Lord Jesus Christ is nothing less than a universal safeguard.
 
All was choicely shown to the Ephesians by the word which the apostle used when he bade them take up the shield of faith.

~George H. Morrison~

Impressions

Num 10:33  And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.

God does give us impressions, but not that we should act on them as impressions.

If the impression be from God, He will Himself give sufficient evidence to establish it beyond the possibility of a doubt.

How beautiful is the story of Jeremiah, of the impression that came to him respecting the purchase of the field of Anathoth.

But Jeremiah did not act upon this impression until after the following day, when his uncle's son came to him and brought him external evidence by making a proposal for the purchase.

Then Jeremiah said: "I knew this was the word of the Lord."

He waited until God seconded the impression by a providence, and then he acted in full view of the open facts, which could bring conviction unto others as well as to himself.

God wants us to act according to His mind. 

We are not to ignore the Shepherd's personal voice but, like Paul and his companions at Troas, we are to listen to all the voices that speak and "gather" from all the circumstances, as they did, the full mind of the Lord. 

~Dr. Simpson~

Where God's finger points, there God's hand will make the way.

Do not say in thine heart what thou wilt or wilt not do, but wait upon God until He makes known His way. 

So long as that way is hidden it is clear that there is no need of action, and that He accounts Himself responsible for all the results of keeping thee where thou art. 

~Selected~

For God through ways we have not known, Will lead His own.