Plead His Own Promise

2Sa 7:29  Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee: for thou, O Lord GOD, hast spoken it: and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.

This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us.

Anything which the LORD God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

Oh, how sweet to quote what our own God has spoken!

How precious to use a "therefore," which the promise suggests, as David does in this verse!

We do not pray because we doubt but because we believe.

To pray unbelievingly is unbecoming in the LORD's children. No, LORD, we cannot doubt Thee:

We are persuaded that every word of Thine is a sure foundation for the boldest expectation.

We come to Thee and say, "Do as Thou hast said." Bless Thy servant's house. Heal our sick; save our hesitating ones; restore those who wander; confirm those who live in Thy fear.

LORD, give us food and raiment according to Thy Word.

Prosper our undertakings; especially succeed our endeavors to make known Thy gospel in our neighborhood.

Make our servants Thy servants, our children Thy children.

Let the blessing flow on to future generations, and as long as any of our race remains on earth may they remain true to Thee.

O LORD God, "let the house of thy servant be blessed."

~Charles Spurgeon~

It Is I!

Mark 6:49  But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

Mark 6:50  For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.

Listen, then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm! 

It is I who raised the tempest in your soul and will control it.

It is I who sent your affliction and will be with you in it.

It is I who kindled the furnace and will watch the flames, and bring you through it.

It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross and who will strengthen you to bear it.

It is I who mixed your cup of grief and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your Father's will.

It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child. 

It is I who has done it ALL!

I make the clouds My chariot, and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment.

The night hour is My time of coming, and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk.

Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid. 

It is I your Friend, your Brother, your Savior!

I am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good. 

It is I who permitted the enemy to assail you, the slander to blast you, the unkindness to wound you, the need to press you!

Your affliction did not spring out of the ground, but came down from above a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light, clad in a robe of ebony.

I have sent all in love!

This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God.

This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. 

It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all!

In every stormy wind, in every darksome night, in every lonesome hour, in every rising fear, the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage!

It is I! Do not be afraid." 

~Octavius Winslow~

Do Not Be Surprised My Brothers

                                                                                  
You will be much despised and cast out for Christ's sake, and nothing will offend more than separating yourselves as much as possible from carnal people.

It is 'the life' which condemns the professing world.

When the world sees you unmoved by the riches and the pleasures which it so much adores; when  you are led by the Spirit "to count all things but rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ"; when you have a single eye to God's glory, you must expect then to bear reproaches from the Hagar race. 

~William Tiptaft~

The Never-Failing Fountain Of blessing!

James 4:6  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
 
Come, then, my soul, to Him as an empty vessel to be filled.

A supply is waiting for you in Christ Jesus.

It has pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell.

He is the never-failing Fountain of blessing! 

Out of His fullness, you may receive grace upon grace.

Whatever you need come to God in Christ for it.

Is your faith weak? He can strengthen it.

Is your hope dull? He can enliven it.

Is your love cold? He can warm it.

Is your patience failing? He can sustain it.

Is your zeal languishing? He can invigorate it.

And observe, the Lord gives not only a new supply of grace, but He also gives it in a larger measure: "He gives more grace!"

He came not only that we might have life but that we might have it "more abundantly."

Come, then, to Him with enlarged desires.
 
He can fill you with joy and peace in believing.
 
He can enable you to bear much fruit to the glory of the Father.
 
He can bless you, and make you a blessing to many.

O Lord, enlarge my desires, raise my expectations, and help me to receive, not only constant supplies of grace but increased supplies out of Your fullness!

For You give "more grace!"

Psalm 81:10  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

~Unknown Author-1872~

The Immutability Of GOD

Psalm 102:27  But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. 

(Definition of Immutability: Unchanging over time or unable to be changed.)

What a fountain of comfort is to be found in the Immutability of God!

Not one ripple can disturb the calm of His unchanging nature. Were it so, He would no longer be a perfect Being-He would undeify Himself- He would cease to be God!

Change is our portion here. "They shall perish," is the brief chronicle regarding everything on this side heaven.

The firmament above us, the earth beneath us, the elements around us– "all these things shall be dissolved."

Scenes of hallowed endearment-they have fled! Friends who sweetened our pilgrimage with their presence-they are gone! 

But here is a sure and safe anchorage amid the world's heaving ocean of vicissitude–"You are the same."

All is changing but the Unchanging One.

The earthly scaffolding may give way, but the living Temple remains.

The reed may bend to the blast, but the living Rock spurns and outlives the storm!
 
How blessed, especially, to contemplate the unchangeableness of our Great High Priest, "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever!"

True, He is, in one sense, "changed." No longer the Man of sorrows- the homeless wanderer.

He is enthroned amid the glories of heaven. Seraphs praise Him- Saints adore Him.

But His Heart knows no change. His ascension glories have not obliterated His tender human sympathies.

We can think of Him receiving an outcast sinner, or stilling the storm, or standing at the gate of Nain, or weeping tears of pity over a lost city, or tears of sympathy over a buried friend, and write over all these, "You are the same!"

The name which He bequeathed by angels to His Church until He comes again is- "that same Jesus!"

His own Patmos title is His memorial for all time- "I AM He that lives!"

Believer! has He ever seemed to change towards you?

Are you even now mourning over the withdrawal of that countenance whose smile is heaven?

Are you saying in the bitterness of your spirit, "Has the Lord forgotten to be gracious?" 

The change is with yourself, not with your God.

Behind the clouds of your own departure, the Sun of His love shines brightly as ever. "He faints not, neither is weary."
 
Or, it may be, you are laboring under other trials. The hand of your God may be heavy upon you.

The secret thought may be harbored that some tear might have been spared; that your chastisement might have been less severe- that your bereavement, with its dark accompaniment, might have been mitigated or averted.

Look upwards and take the Psalmist's antidote as your own, "I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High." 

Think that the same Hand which was for you nailed to the Cross, is now pleading for you on the Throne; ordering and controlling every trial; and over every dark providence writing the unanswerable challenge, "He who spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"
 
Oh! thus pillowing your head on the Immutability of Jesus, amid the rude buffetings of a changing world, you will be able, night after night, to say, until the dawn of a morning breaks on you, which knows neither night nor vicissitude...  

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

~John Macduff~

Troubles Try Our Faith

Num 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
 
Our heavenly Father sends us frequent troubles to try our faith. If our faith be worth anything, it will stand the test.

Gilt is afraid of fire, but gold is not: the paste gem dreads to be touched by the diamond, but the true jewel fears no test.

It is a poor faith which can only trust God when friends are true, the body full of health, and the business profitable;

But that is true faith which holds by the Lord’s faithfulness when friends are gone, when the body is sick, when spirits are depressed, and the light of our Father’s countenance is hidden.

A faith which can say, in the direst trouble, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him,” is heavenborn faith.

The Lord afflicts his servants to glorify himself, for he is greatly glorified in the graces of his people, which are his own handiwork.

When “tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope,” the Lord is honoured by these growing virtues.

We should never know the music of the harp if the strings were left untouched; nor enjoy the juice of the grape if it were not trodden in the winepress; nor discover the sweet perfume of cinnamon if it were not pressed and beaten; nor feel the warmth of fire if the coals were not utterly consumed.

The wisdom and power of the great Workman are discovered by the trials through which his vessels of mercy are permitted to pass.

Present afflictions tend also to heighten future joy.

There must be shades in the picture to bring out the beauty of the lights.

Could we be so supremely blessed in heaven, if we had not known the curse of sin and the sorrow of earth?

Will not peace be sweeter after conflict, and rest more welcome after toil?

Will not the recollection of past sufferings enhance the bliss of the glorified?
 
There are many other comfortable answers to the question with which we opened our brief meditation, let us muse upon it all day long.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Medicine For The Soul!

Isa 43:1  But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
 
Isa 43:2  When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
 
Isa 43:3  For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.

The people of God are not promised exemption from trial-but support under it!

The Lord does not engage to lead His children by a smooth path-but to furnish them with shoes of iron and brass, that they may safely walk the rugged and thorny road.

He does not promise to bridge over the waters of sorrow and the rivers of tribulation but assures them of His presence as they pass through them.

I will be with you! He says, "When you go through rivers of difficulty you will not drown. 

When you walk through the fire of oppression you will not be burned up.

Christian pilgrim will not this suffice?

Support in trial, will suit you better than exemption from it.

Affliction and sorrow, in the hands of the great Physician are medicine for the soul!

The wounds He inflicts are for the healing of the spirit!

The fire He may lead you through will not burn but only purify and brighten you!

~Author Unknown~1872

My whole Creed And Duty

John 15:15  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

For myself, after all my years of teaching and helping others, and all my experiences as a Christian, my whole creed is summed up into one little sentence, "Christ and I are friends!" 

No friend in all the world is so near to me as He is. I trust Him, I love Him, I take everything to Him, I lay every burden upon Him.

I go to Him for wisdom, for help, for the love I need in my own heart.

He is everything to me as Friend.

Christ is my personal Friend. He is my dearest, truest, strongest and best Friend! 

Then for myself, my whole duty is summed up in being a friend of Christ's. He says, "You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you." This includes all Scripture commands. 

In telling you this, I want to help you to understand that the essential thing in the Christian life is knowing Christ, trusting Him, loving Him, following Him, having Christ for your Friend-and being His friend. 

Yes, He is altogether lovely! This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend! 

~J. R. Miller~

"Be Thou In The Fear Of The Lord All The Day Long"

Pro 23:17  Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
 
Pro 23:18  For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

The Lord is here addressing himself to a soul laboring under temptation, and passing through peculiar exercises;

And this is the exhortation that he gives it: "Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long;" watching his hand, submitting to his will, committing everything into his care and keeping;

Not hardening your heart against him, but looking up to him, and worshipping him with godly fear; "for surely there is an end."

You may be tempted, exercised, and surrounded with difficulties, and see no outlet; but "surely there is an end;"

And, when the end comes, it will make all plain and clear. 

This quiet submission, this watching and waiting, a man can never be brought to unless he has seen an end to all perfection; an end of his own strength, wisdom, and righteousness.

To sit still is the hardest thing a man can do.

To lie passive at God's footstool when all things seem to be against us;

To have a rough path to walk in, to be surrounded with difficulties, and yet to be in the fear of the Lord all the day long, watching his hand, desiring to submit to his will,

Seeking only that wisdom which cometh from above, and trusting that he will make the way straight;

Not putting our hand to the work, but leaving it all to the Lord-how strange, how mysterious a path!

And yet it is the only one that brings solid peace to a Christian; "for surely there is an end."

Whatever sorrows and troubles a man may have to wade through, there will surely be an end of them. 

If we try to get ourselves out of perplexities, we are like a person trying to unravel a tangled skein of silk by pulling it forcibly; the more it is pulled, the more entangled it gets, and the faster the knots become.

So if we are plunged into any trial, providential or spiritual, and we attempt to extricate ourselves by main force, by kicking and rebelling, we only get more entangled.

The Lord, then, to encourage us to wait patiently upon him till he shall appear, says, "Surely there is an end." 

This is the universal testimony of the Scripture, that the Lord appears and delivers, when there is none shut up or left;

And the experience of the saints agrees with the testimony of the written word: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."

~J. C. Philpot~

"And They Follow Me"

John 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

We should follow our Lord as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for he has a right to lead us wherever he pleases.

We are not our own, we are bought with a price...let us recognize the rights of the redeeming blood. 

The soldier follows his captain, the servant obeys his master, much more must we follow our Redeemer, to whom we are a purchased possession.

We are not true to our profession of being Christians, if we question the bidding of our Leader and Commander.

Submission is our duty, caviling is our folly.

Often might our Lord say to us as to Peter, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.”

Wherever Jesus may lead us, he goes before us.

If we know not where we go, we know with whom we go. 

With such a companion, who will dread the perils of the road?

The journey may be long, but his everlasting arms will carry us to the end.

The presence of Jesus is the assurance of eternal salvation, because he lives, we shall live also.

We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which he leads us all end in glory and immortality.

It is true they may not be smooth paths-they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant.

Let us put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, his purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy.

We shall find it sweet to go up the bleak side of the hill with Christ;

And when rain and snow blow into our faces, his dear love will make us far more blest than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire.

To the top of Amana, to the dens of lions, or to the hills of leopards, we will follow our Beloved. 

Precious Jesus, draw us, and we will run after thee.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Nothing Is Too Hard

Gen 18:14  Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Here is God's loving challenge to you and to me today.

He wants us to think of the deepest, highest, worthiest desire and longing of our hearts, something which perhaps was our desire for ourselves or for someone dear to us, yet which has been so long unfulfilled that we have looked upon it as only a lost desire, that which might have been but now cannot be, and so have given up hope of seeing it fulfilled in this life.

That thing, if it is in line with what we know to be His expressed will (as a son to Abraham and Sarah was), God intends to do for us, even if we know that it is of such utter impossibility that we only laugh at the absurdity of anyone's supposing it could ever now come to pass.

That thing God intends to do for us, if we will let Him.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Not when we believe in Him enough to go forward and do His will, and let Him do the impossible for us.

Even Abraham and Sarah could have blocked God's plan if they had continued to disbelieve.

The only thing too hard for Jehovah is deliberate, continued disbelief in His love and power, and our final rejection of His plans for us.

Nothing is too hard for Jehovah to do for them that trust Him. 

~Messages for the Morning Watch~

GOD Is Jealous

Nahum 1:2  God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.

Your Lord is very jealous of your love, O believer.

Did he choose you?

He cannot bear that you should choose another. 

Did he buy you with his own blood?

He cannot endure that you should think that you are your own, or that you belong to this world.

He loved you with such a love that he would not stop in heaven without you; he would sooner die than you should perish...

And he cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and himself.

He is very jealous of your trust.

He will not permit you to trust in an arm of flesh.

He cannot bear that you should hew out broken cisterns, when the overflowing fountain is always free to you.

When we lean upon him, he is glad...

But when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom, or the wisdom of a friend...

Worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own, he is displeased, and will chasten us that he may bring us to himself. 

He is also very jealous of our company.

There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. 

To abide in him only, this is true love;

But to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret communion with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord.

He would fain have us abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship with himself;

And many of the trials which he sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon himself.

Let this jealousy which would keep us near to Christ be also a comfort to us...

For if he loves us so much as to care thus about our love we may be sure that he will suffer nothing to harm us, and will protect us from all our enemies.

Oh that we may have grace this day to keep our hearts in sacred chastity for our Beloved alone, with sacred jealousy shutting our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Secret Of Joy

Hab 3:18  Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

The secret of joy is not to wait until you feel happy, but to rise, by an act of faith, out of the depression which is dragging you down, and begin to praise God as an act of choice. 

This is the meaning of such passages as these: "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice"; "I do rejoice; yes, and I will rejoice."

Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. In all these cases there is an evident struggle with sadness and then the triumphs of faith and praise.

Now, this is what is meant in part, at least by the sacrifice of praise. A sacrifice is that which costs us something.

And when a man or woman has some cherished grudge or wrong and is harboring it, nursing it, dwelling on it, rolling it as a sweet morsel under the tongue, and quite determined to enjoy a miserable time in selfish morbidness and grumbling,...

It costs us no little sacrifice to throw off the morbid spell, to refuse the suggestions of injury, neglect and the remembrance of unkindness, to rise out of the mood of self-commiseration in wholesome and holy determination, and say, "I will rejoice in the Lord"; I will "count it all joy."

~A. B. Simpson~

Victory Without Battle

Hosea 1:7  But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.

Precious Word. Jehovah Himself will deliver His people in the greatness of His mercy, but He will not do it by the ordinary means...

Men are slow to render to God the glory due unto His name.

If they go to battle with sword and bow and win the victory, they ought to praise their God; yet they do not, but begin to magnify their own right arm and glory in their horses and horsemen.

For this reason our Jehovah often determines to save His people without second means, that all the honor may be to Himself alone.

Look, then, my heart, to the LORD alone and not to man. 

Expect to see God all the more clearly when there is no one else to look to. 

If I have no friend, no adviser, no one at my back, let me be none the less confident if I can feel that the LORD Himself is on my side;

Yea, let me be glad if He gives victory without battle, as the text seems to imply.

Why do I ask for horses and horsemen if Jehovah Himself has mercy upon me and lifts up His arm for my defense!

Why need I bow or sword if God will save?

Let me trust and not be afraid from this day forth and for evermore. Amen.

~Charles Spurgeon~