Blessed Are They That Have Not Seen, And Yet Have Believed!

John 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
 
How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! 

If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. 

If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. 

But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground, it will make poor work of flying.
 
God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. 

He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work...

And when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform.
 
That is what God is teaching us, and He has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them...

And then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.
 
~A. B. Simpson
 
I do not ask that He must prove His Word is true to me...
 
And that before I can believe He first must let me see.
 
It is enough for me to know Tis true because He says 'tis so...
 
On His unchanging Word I'll stand And trust till I can understand.
 
~E. M. Winter

All That He Has, And All That He Is, Is Theirs

Jer 31:33  But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Child of God, let me urge you to make use of your God. 

Make use of him in prayer; I beseech you, go to Him often, because He is your God. 

He has made Himself over to you, and He has become the property of all His children, so that all that He has, and all that He is, is theirs. 

O child of God, will you let your treasury lie idle, when you need it?

No! go and draw from it by prayer.

Fly to Him, tell Him all your needs. 

Use Him constantly by faith, at all times.

Oh! I beseech you, if some dark providence has come over you-use your God as a sun, for He is a sun.

If some strong enemy has come out against you-use your God for a shield, for He is a shield to protect you.

If you have lost your way in the mazes of life-use Him for a guide, for the great Jehovah will direct you.

If you are in storms-use Him, for He is the God who stills the raging of the sea, and says unto the waves, "Be still."

If you are a poor thing, knowing not which way to turn-use Him for a shepherd, for the Lord is your Shepherd, and you shall not want.

Whatever you are, and wherever you are, remember that God is just what you need.

I beseech you, then, make use of your God!

~Charles Spurgeon

"Try Thanksgiving"

John 11:41  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. 

This is a very strange and unusual order. 

Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. 

I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again. 

But Jesus gives thanks for what He is about to receive. 

The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. 

The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. 

It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. 

It is thanksgiving before the miracle!

Who thinks of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? 

Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received?

And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order. 

Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. 

Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. 

Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith.
 
~Dr. Jowett
 
PRAISE CHANGES THINGS

Nothing so pleases God in connection with our prayer as our praise, and nothing so blesses the man who prays as the praise which he offers. 

I got a great blessing once in China in this connection. 

I had received bad and sad news from home, and deep shadows had covered my soul. 

I prayed, but the darkness did not vanish. 

I summoned myself to endure, but the darkness only deepened. 

Just then I went to an inland station and saw on the wall of the mission home these words: "Try Thanksgiving." 

I did, and in a moment every shadow was gone, not to return. 

Yes, the Psalmist was right, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord."
 
~Rev. Henry W. Frost