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

Oh The Preciousness Of This Truth!

GOD is Infinite In Power, and therefore it is Impossible for any to Withstand His Will, or Resist the outworking of His Decrees! 

Such a statement as that is well calculated to fill the lost sinner with alarm; but from the believer, it evokes nothing but praise.

Let us add a word, and see what a difference it makes: "My GOD is Infinite In Power, and therefore it is Impossible for any to Withstand His Will, or Resist the outworking of His Decrees!" 

My GOD is Infinite In Power! Then "I Will Not Fear What Man Can Do Unto Me!"

My GOD is Infinite In Power! Then "Whenever I Am Afraid, I Will Trust In Him!"

My GOD is Infinite In Power! Then "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep-for You alone Lord, make me dwell in safety!" Psalm 4:8

Psa 4:8  I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. 

There is No One like the GOD of Israel. 

Deu 33:26  There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.

Deu 33:27  The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

Oh The Preciousness Of This Truth! 

Here I am-a poor, helpless, senseless 'sheep,' yet I am secure in the hand of Christ! 

And why am I secure there? 

None can pluck me thence-because the Hand that Holds Me is that of the Son of GOD, and all Power in heaven and earth is His!

I have no strength of my own-the world, the flesh, and the Devil, are arrayed against me...

So I Commit Myself into the Care and Keeping of my LORD JESUS. 

And what is the ground of my confidence?

How do I know that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him? 

I know it because He is GOD Almighty-the King of kings and LORD of lords!

~Arthur Pink~

Foreign Elements

The destroying, or the nullifying of the testimony of life will therefore be pursued along the line of Corrupting it. 

It is perfectly clear, with the most hasty glance through the Word of God right from Genesis onwards, that that has been the way by which the adversary has always sought to Nullify God's Testimony in this universe...

By corrupting it and introducing elements which counter its utter transparency, its perfection of purity, bringing in other foreign elements and features. 

In some way the enemy must get a link between what is of God as light, and what is of his own kingdom as darkness, if he is going to nullify God's testimony of life.

In our last meditation we were engaged with those chapters in the second book of the Chronicles from chapter 29 to 32, and there we saw that the Lord's testimony had been nullified. 

It had been set aside, the House of God was closed. 

The lamp in the House of God was extinguished, the altar was not functioning, the priesthood was polluted and defiled; everything was out of action. 

It was in death. 

Hezekiah's movement was to bring it all back into life. 

It was a matter of recovering a living testimony, a testimony in life out of the grip and power of death. 

It is perfectly clear as you read what leads up to that time, that the nullifying was along the line of corrupting...

And Hezekiah's activity was to get rid of the corruption, to cleanse, to purge...

To get rid of all the foreign elements that had come in, and by being in, had nullified.

Then we saw that after all this faithfulness, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came against Jerusalem and Judah. 

As the margin says, "to break them up", to break up the testimony. 

The Enemy's Method of breaking up has always been by Corrupting, by introducing foreign elements.

So you find whenever the Lord reacts to a situation like that, there is always a great place given to Purging...

And the instrument used for the recovering of the testimony in life is always one who has peculiar insight to Discern, to Detect where the corruption is, and to Deal with it.

~T. Austin Sparks