《Morning By Morning》June 9

“The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.”— Psalm 126:3

Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them.

Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them.

But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, “I will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad.”

Such an abstract of experience as this is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion.

In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond, and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has brought us “out into a wealthy place.”

The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life’s song, “He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.”

《Evening by Evening》June 9

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”— John 5:39

The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in earnest after game.

We must not rest content with having given a superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires searching–much of it can only be learned by careful study.

There is milk for babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say that a mountain of matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of Scripture. Tertullian exclaims, “I adore the fulness of the Scriptures.”

No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid treasure. The door of the word only opens to the key of diligence.

The Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur–who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises them despises the God who wrote them.

God forbid that any of us should leave our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account. The word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn–we have but to open the granary door and find it.

Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with splendour of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems.

No merchandise is like the merchandise of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: “They are they which testify of me.” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 9

The Next Best Thing To Do

For every one that asketh receiveth. — Luke 11:10

Ask if you have not Received. There is nothing more difficult than to ask. We will long and desire and crave and suffer, but not until we are at the extreme limit will we ask. A sense of unreality makes us ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of moral poverty? “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . but be sure that you do lack wisdom. You cannot bring yourself up against Reality when you like. The next best thing to do if you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit on the word of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the One Who makes real in you all that Jesus did for you.

“For every one that asketh receiveth.” This does not mean you will not get if you do not ask (cf. Matt. 5:45), but until you get to the point of asking you won’t receive from God. To receive means you have come into the relationship of a child of God, and now you perceive with intelligent and moral appreciation and spiritual understanding that these things come from God.

“If any of you lack wisdom . . .” If you realize you are lacking, it is because you have come in contact with spiritual reality; do not put your reasonable blinkers on again. People say – Preach us the simple gospel: don’t tell us we have to be holy, because that produces a sense of abject poverty, and it is not nice to feel abjectly poor. “Ask” means beg. Some people are poor enough to be interested in their poverty, and some of us are like that spiritually. We will never receive if we ask with an end in view; if we ask, not out of our poverty but out of our lust. A pauper does not ask from any other reason than the abject panging condition of his poverty, he is not ashamed to beg.

– Blessed are the paupers in spirit.

《Faith's check book》June 9

A Trustworthy Name

I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people, and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence. — Zeph 3:12 

When true religion is ready to die out among the wealthy it finds a home among the poor of this world, rich in faith. The Lord has even now His faithful remnant. Am I one of them?

Perhaps it is because men are afflicted and poor that they learn to trust in the name of the Lord. He that hath no money must try what he can do on trust. He whose own name is good for nothing in his own esteem, acts wisely to rest in another name, even that best of names, the name of Jehovah. God will always have a trusting people, and these will be an afflicted and poor people. Little as the world thinks of them, their being left in the midst of a nation is the channel of untold blessings to it. Here we have the conserving salt which keeps in check the corruption which is in the world through lust.

Again the question comes home to each one of us. Am I one of them? Am I afflicted by the sin within me and around me? Am I poor in spirit, poor spiritually in my own judgment? Do I trust in the Lord? This is the main business. Jesus reveals the name, the character, the person of God; am I trusting in Him? If so, I am left in this world for a purpose. Lord, help me to fulfill it.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 9

ove to Our Neighbor

But if you fulfill the royal law as expressed in this scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. — Jas 2:8 

Love lays its own advantage by

To seek its neighbour’s good;

So God’s own Son came down to die,

And bought our lives with blood.

Love is the grace that keeps its power

In all the realms above;

There faith and hope are known no more

But saints for ever love. 

《Streams In The Desert》June 9

The Eagle That Soars

Trust in the Lord and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity!—Ps 37:3 

I once met a poor colored woman, who earned a precarious living by hard daily labor; but who was a joyous triumphant Christian. “Ah, Nancy,” said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, "it is well enough to be happy now; but I should think the thoughts of your future would sober you.

“Only suppose, for instance, you should have a spell of sickness, and be unable to work; or suppose your present employers should move away, and no one else should give you anything to do; or suppose—”

“Stop!” cried Nancy, “I never supposes. De Lord is my Shepherd, and I knows I shall not want. And, Honey,” she added, to her gloomy friend, “it’s all dem supposes as is makin’ you so mis’able. You’d better give dem all up, and just trust de Lord.”

There is one text that will take all the “supposes” out of a believer’s life, if it be received and acted on in childlike faith; it is Hebrews 13:5, 6: “Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” —H. W. S.“

There’s a stream of trouble across my path;

It is black and deep and wide.

Bitter the hour the future hath

When I cross its swelling tide.

But I smile and sing and say:

’I will hope and trust alway;

I’ll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,

But I’ll borrow none today.’

“Tomorrow’s bridge is a dangerous thing;

I dare not cross it now.

I can see its timbers sway and swing,

And its arches reel and bow.

O heart, you must hope alway;

You must sing and trust and say:’

I’ll bear the sorrow that comes tomorrow,

But I’ll borrow none today.”’

The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself as to how it is to cross rivers. —Selected

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 9

For you will forget your trouble; you will remember it like water that has flowed away. — Job 11:16 

Reflect upon your present blessings of which every man has many; not upon your past misfortunes, of which all have some.

— Charles Dickens.

’Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,

Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home!

A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,

Which, sought through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.

Home! home! sweet, sweet home!

There’s no place like home!

— John Howard Payne.

Prayer

Lord God, my soul fills with gratitude for the blessings which I have received and enjoyed. Help me to conform to thy will concerning my duties. May I not try to resist thy providence. I pray that thou wilt bless my daily life, and make my home a place to dispense kindness and cheerfulness. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 10

"We live unto the Lord."Romans 14:8

If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should tarry here.

It is possible for a man to be taken to heaven, and to be found meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light, though he has but just believed in Jesus. It is true that our sanctification is a long and continued process, and we shall not be perfected till we lay aside our bodies and enter within the veil; but nevertheless, had the Lord so willed it, he might have changed us from imperfection to perfection, and have taken us to heaven at once.

Why then are we here? Would God keep his children out of paradise a single moment longer than was necessary? Why is the army of the living God still on the battle-field when one charge might give them the victory?

Why are his children still wandering hither and thither through a maze, when a solitary word from his lips would bring them into the centre of their hopes in heaven? The answer is--they are here that they may "live unto the Lord," and may bring others to know his love.

We remain on earth as sowers to scatter good seed; as ploughmen to break up the fallow ground; as heralds publishing salvation.

We are here as the "salt of the earth," to be a blessing to the world.

We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life.

We are here as workers for him, and as "workers together with him."

Let us see that our life answereth its end.

Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to "the praise of the glory of his grace."

Meanwhile we long to be with him, and daily sing--

"My heart is with him on his throne,

And ill can brook delay;

Each moment listening for the voice,

Rise up, and come away.'"

《Evening by Evening》June 10

"They are they which testify of me."John 5:39

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He is the constant theme of its sacred pages; from first to last they testify of him.

At the creation we at once discern him as one of the sacred Trinity; we catch a glimpse of him in the promise of the woman's seed; we see him typified in the ark of Noah; we walk with Abraham, as he sees Messiah's day; we dwell in the tents of Isaac and Jacob, feeding upon the gracious promise; we hear the venerable Israel talking of Shiloh; and in the numerous types of the law, we find the Redeemer abundantly foreshadowed.

Prophets and kings, priests and preachers, all look one way--they all stand as the cherubs did over the ark, desiring to look within, and to read the mystery of God's great propitiation.

Still more manifestly in the New Testament we find our Lord the one pervading subject. It is not an ingot here and there, or dust of gold thinly scattered, but here you stand upon a solid floor of gold; for the whole substance of the New Testament is Jesus crucified, and even its closing sentence is bejewelled with the Redeemer's name.

We should always read Scripture in this light; we should consider the word to be as a mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and then we, looking into it, see his face reflected as in a glass--darkly, it is true, but still in such a way as to be a blessed preparation for seeing him as we shall see him face to face.

This volume contains Jesus Christ's letters to us, perfumed by his love. These pages are the garments of our King, and they all smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia. Scripture is the royal chariot in which Jesus rides, and it is paved with love for the daughters of Jerusalem.

The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the holy child Jesus; unroll them and you find your Saviour. The quintessence of the word of God is Christ.

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 10

The Next Best Thing to Do

Seek , and ye shall find —Luke 11:9

Seek if you have not Found. “Ye ask, and receive not , because ye ask amiss.” If you ask for things from life instead of from God, you ask amiss, i.e., you ask from a desire for self-realization. The more you realize yourself the less will you seek God. “Seek, and ye shall find.” Get to work, narrow your interests to this one. Have you ever sought God with you whole heart, or have you only given a languid cry to Him after a twinge of moral neuralgia? Seek, concentrate, and you will find.

“Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,” Are you thirsty, or smugly indifferent – so satisfied with your experience that you want nothing more of God? Experience is a gateway, not an end. Beware of building your faith on experience, the metallic note will come in at once, the censorious not. You can never give another person that which you have found, but you can make him homesick for what you have.

“Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” “Draw nigh unto God.” Knock – the door is closed, and you suffer from palpitation as you knock. “Cleanse your hands” – knock a bit louder, you begin to find you are dirty. “Purify your heart” – this is more personal still, you are desperately in earnest now – you will do anything. “Be afflicted” – have you ever been afflicted before God at the state of your inner life? There is no strand of self-pity left, but a heartbreaking affliction of amazement to find you are the kind of person that you are. “Humble yourself” – it is a humbling business to knock at God’s door – you have to knock with the crucified thief. “To him that knocketh, it shall be opened.”

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 10

A Shepherd Secures Them

The Israelites who remain will not act deceitfully. They will not lie, and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouth. Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep and lie down; no one will terrify them.” — Zeph 3:13 NET

Yesterday we thought of the afflicted and poor people whom the Lord left to be a living seed in a dead world. The prophet says of such that they shall not work iniquity nor speak lies. So that while they had neither rank nor riches to guard them, they were also quite unable to use those weapons in which the wicked place so much reliance: they could neither defend themselves by sin nor by subtlety.

What then? Would they be destroyed? By no means! They should both feed and rest and be not merely free from danger but even quiet from fear of evil. Sheep are very feeble creatures, and wolves are terrible enemies; yet at this hour sheep are more numerous than wolves, and the cause of the sheep is always winning, while the cause of the wolves is always declining. One day flocks of sheep will cover the plains, and not a wolf will be left. The fact is that sheep have a Shepherd, and this gives them provender, protection, and peace. “None” — which means not one, whether in human or diabolical form — “shall make them afraid.” Who shall terrify the Lord’s flock when He is near? We lie down in green pastures, for Jesus Himself is food and rest to our souls.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 10

Seek the Edification of Our Neighbour

Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up. — Rom 15:2 

May I from every act abstain,

That hurts or gives another pain:

Still may I feel my heart inclin’d

To be the friend of all mankind.

《Streams In The Desert》June 10

God Meant It Unto Good

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,—Rom 8:28 

How wide is this assertion of the Apostle Paul! He does not say, “We know that some things,” or “most things,” or “joyous things,” but “ALL things.” From the minutest to the most momentous; from the humblest event in daily providence to the great crisis hours in grace.

And all things "work’—they are working; not all things have worked, or shall work; but it is a present operation.

Athis very moment, when some voice may be saying, “Thy judgments are a great deep,” the angels above, who are watching the development of the great plan, are with folded wings exclaiming, “The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.” (Ps. 145:17)

And then all things “work together.” It is a beautiful blending. Many different colors, in themselves raw and unsightly, are required in order to weave the harmonious pattern.

Many separate tones and notes of music, even discords and dissonances, are required to make up the harmonious anthem.

Many separate wheels and joints are required to make the piece of machinery. Take a thread separately, or a note separately, or a wheel or a tooth of a wheel separately, and there may be neither use nor beauty discernible.

But complete the web, combine the notes, put together the separate parts of steel and iron, and you see how perfect and symmetrical is the result. Here is the lesson for faith: “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” —Macduff

In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer’s good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside. —George Mueller

“GOD MEANT IT UNTO GOOD” (Gen. 50:20).

“God meant it unto good”—O blest assurance,

Falling like sunshine all across life’s way,

Touching with Heaven’s gold earth’s darkest storm clouds,

Bringing fresh peace and comfort day by day.

’Twas not by chance the hands of faithless brethren

Sold Joseph captive to a foreign land;

Nor was it chance which, after years of suffering,

Brought him before the monarch’s throne to stand.

One Eye all-seeing saw the need of thousands,

And planned to meet it through that one lone soul;

And through the weary days of prison bondage

Was working towards the great and glorious goal.

As yet the end was hidden from the captive,

The iron entered even to his soul;

His eye could scan the present path of sorrow,

Not yet his gaze might rest upon the whole.

Faith failed not through those long, dark days of waiting,

His trust in God was recompensed at last,

The moment came when God led forth his servant

To succour many, all his sufferings past.

“It was not you but God, that sent me hither,”

Witnessed triumphant faith in after days;

“God meant it unto good,” no “second causes”

Mingled their discord with his song of praise.

“God means it unto good” for thee, beloved,

The God of Joseph is the same today;

His love permits afflictions strange and bitter,

His hand is guiding through the unknown way.

Thy Lord, who sees the end from the beginning,

Hath purposes for thee of love untold.

Then place thy hand in His and follow fearless,

Till thou the riches of His grace behold.

There, when thou standest in the Home of Glory,

And all life’s path lies open to thy gaze,

Thine eyes shall see the hand which now thou trustest,

And magnify His love through endless days.

—Freda Hanbury Allen

Daily Prayer Guide》June 10

who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. — 2 Cor 1:4 

What have you done with your soul, my friend?

Where is the ray you were wont to send,

Glancing bright through the outer night,

Touching with hope what was dark before,

Glimmering on to the further shore?

— Arthur C. Benson.

God suffers the light to know eclipse,

Dashes the cup from the eager lips;

You perchance would have drunk too deep.

— Arthur C. Benson.

Lift where you stand.

— Edward Everett Hale.

A friend is the first person who comes in when the whole world has gone out.

— Unknown.

Prayer

Almighty God, help me to correct my mistakes, and to be more careful of what I take in my life. May I always stretch out a hand of love to inspire others with confidence to care more for themselves and more for thee. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 11

“We love him, because he first loved us.”— 1 John 4:19

There is no light in the planet but that which proceedeth from the sun; and there is no true love to Jesus in the heart but that which cometh from the Lord Jesus himself.

From this overflowing fountain of the infinite love of God, all our love to God must spring. This must ever be a great and certain truth, that we love him for no other reason than because he first loved us.

Our love to him is the fair offspring of his love to us. Cold admiration, when studying the works of God, anyone may have, but the warmth of love can only be kindled in the heart by God’s Spirit.

How great the wonder that such as we should ever have been brought to love Jesus at all! How marvellous that when we had rebelled against him, he should, by a display of such amazing love, seek to draw us back.

No! never should we have had a grain of love towards God unless it had been sown in us by the sweet seed of his love to us. Love, then, has for its parent the love of God shed abroad in the heart: but after it is thus divinely born, it must be divinely nourished.

Love is an exotic; it is not a plant which will flourish naturally in human soil, it must be watered from above. Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature, and if it received no nourishment but that which could be drawn from the rock of our hearts it would soon wither.

As love comes from heaven, so it must feed on heavenly bread. It cannot exist in the wilderness unless it be fed by manna from on high. Love must feed on love.

The very soul and life of our love to God is his love to us.

“I love thee, Lord, but with no love of mine,

For I have none to give;

I love thee, Lord; but all the love is thine,

For by thy love I live.

I am as nothing, and rejoice to be

Emptied, and lost, and swallowed up in thee.”

《Evening by Evening》June 11

“There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle. Selah.”— Psalm 76:3

Our Redeemer’s glorious cry of “It is finished,” was the death-knell of all the adversaries of his people, the breaking of “the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle.

”Behold the hero of Golgotha using his cross as an anvil, and his woes as a hammer, dashing to shivers bundle after bundle of our sins, those poisoned “arrows of the bow;” trampling on every indictment, and destroying every accusation.

What glorious blows the mighty Breaker gives with a hammer far more ponderous than the fabled weapon of Thor! How the diabolical darts fly to fragments, and the infernal bucklers are broken like potters’ vessels!

Behold, he draws from its sheath of hellish workmanship the dread sword of Satanic power! He snaps it across his knee, as a man breaks the dry wood of a fagot, and casts it into the fire.

Beloved, no sin of a believer can now be an arrow mortally to wound him, no condemnation can now be a sword to kill him, for the punishment of our sin was borne by Christ, a full atonement was made for all our iniquities by our blessed Substitute and Surety.Who now accuseth?

Who now condemneth?

Christ hath died, yea rather, hath risen again. Jesus has emptied the quivers of hell, has quenched every fiery dart, and broken off the head of every arrow of wrath; the ground is strewn with the splinters and relics of the weapons of hell’s warfare, which are only visible to us to remind us of our former danger, and of our great deliverance.

Sin hath no more dominion over us. Jesus has made an end of it, and put it away forever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end.

Talk ye of all the wondrous works of the Lord, ye who make mention of his name, keep not silence, neither by day, nor when the sun goeth to his rest. Bless the Lord, O my soul.

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 11

Getting There

Come unto Me. — Matthew 11:28

Where the sin and the sorrow cease, and the song and the saint commence. Do I want to get there? I can now. The questions that matter in life are remarkably few, and they are all answered by the words – “Come unto Me.” Not – Do this, or don’t do that; but – “Come unto Me.” If I will come to Jesus my actual life will be brought into accordance with my real desires; I will actually cease from sin, and actually find the song of the Lord begin.

Have you ever come to Jesus? Watch the stubbornness of your heart, you will do anything rather than the one simple childlike thing – “Come unto Me.” If you want the actual experience of ceasing from sin, you must come to Jesus.

Jesus Christ makes Himself the touchstone. Watch how He used the word “Come.” At the most unexpected moments there is the whisper of the Lord – “Come unto Me,” and you are drawn immediately. Personal contact with Jesus alters everything. Be stupid enough to come and commit yourself to what He says. The attitude of coming is that the will resolutely lets go of everything and deliberately commits all to Him.

“. . . and I will give you rest,” i.e., I will stay you. Not – I will put you to bed and hold your hand and sing you to sleep; but – I will get you out of bed, out of the languor and exhaustion, out of the state of being half dead while you are alive; I will imbue you with the spirit of life, and you will be stayed by the perfection of vital activity. We get pathetic and talk about “suffering the will of the Lord!” Where is the majestic vitality and might of the Son of God about that?

《Faith's check book》June 11

No Cause to Blush

Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame! Don’t be intimidated, for you will not be humiliated! You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth; you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. — Isa 54:4 

We shall not be ashamed of our faith. Carping critics may assail the Scriptures upon which we ground our belief, but every year the Lord will make it more and more clear that in His Book there is no error, no excess, and no omission. It is no discredit to be a simple believer; the faith which looks alone to Jesus is a crown of honor on any man’s head and better than a star on his breast.

We shall not be ashamed of our hope. It shall be even as the Lord has said. We shall be fed, led, blest, and rested. Our Lord will come, and then the days of our mourning shall be ended. How we shall glory in the Lord who first gave us lively hope and then gave us that which we hoped for!

We shall not be ashamed of our love. Jesus is to us the altogether lovely, and never, never, shall we have to blush because we have yielded our hearts to Him. The sight of our glorious Well-beloved will justify the most enthusiastic attachment to Him. None will blame the martyrs for dying for Him. When the enemies of Christ are clothed with everlasting contempt, the lovers of Jesus shall find themselves honored by all holy beings, because they chose the reproach of Christ rather than the treasures of Egypt.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 11

Love to All Men

And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we do for you, — 1 Thess 3:12 

May love, that shining grace,

O’er all my powers preside;

Direct my thoughts, suggest my words,

And every action guide.

《Streams In The Desert》June 11

Gentleness of Spirit

And the Lord’s slave must not engage in heated disputes but be kind toward all, an apt teacher, patient,—2 Tim 2:24 

When God conquers us and takes all the flint out of our nature, and we get deep visions into the Spirit of Jesus, we then see as never before the great rarity of gentleness of spirit in this dark and unheavenly world.

The graces of the Spirit do not settle themselves down upon us by chance, and if we do not discern certain states of grace, and choose them, and in our thoughts nourish them, they never become fastened in our nature or behavior.

Every advance step in grace must be preceded by first apprehending it, and then a prayerful resolve to have it.

So few are willing to undergo the suffering out of which thorough gentleness comes. We must die before we are turned into gentleness, and crucifixion involves suffering; it is a real breaking and crushing of self, which wrings the heart and conquers the mind.

There is a good deal of mere mental and logical sanctification nowadays, which is only a religious fiction. It consists of mentally putting one’s self on the altar, and then mentally saying the altar sanctifies the gift, and then logically concluding therefore one is sanctified; and such an one goes forth with a gay, flippant, theological prattle about the deep things of God.

But the natural heartstrings have not been snapped, and the Adamic flint has not been ground to powder, and the bosom has not throbbed with the lonely, surging sighs of Gethsemane; and not having the real death marks of Calvary, there cannot be that soft, sweet, gentle, floating, victorious, overflowing, triumphant life that flows like a spring morning from an empty tomb. —G. D. W.

“And great grace was upon them all” (Acts 4:33).

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 11

You must actively help the hungry and feed the oppressed. Then your light will dispel the darkness, and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. — Isa 58:10 

Exceeding gifts from God are not blessings, they are duties. They do not always increase a man’s happiness; they always increase his responsibilities.

— Charles Kingsley.

Make a rule and pray for help to keep it. Once a day spare room for a thought that will pursue a strong purpose. Help in some way the progress of a weary soul who cannot repay you.

— M. B. S.

There is no true potency, remember, but that of help; nor true ambition, but ambition to save.

— John Ruskin.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, when I think of how little I have given away my heart burns with shame, as I recall what thou hast given to me. May I from this day be more thoughtful of thy tender compassion by being less selfish with what I have. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 12

“TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”— Daniel 5:27

It is well frequently to weigh ourselves in the scale of God’s Word.

You will find it a holy exercise to read some psalm of David, and, as you meditate upon each verse, to ask yourself, “Can I say this? Have I felt as David felt? Has my heart ever been broken on account of sin, as his was when he penned his penitential psalms? Has my soul been full of true confidence in the hour of difficulty as his was when he sang of God’s mercies in the cave of Adullam, or in the holds of Engedi? Do I take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord?”

Then turn to the life of Christ, and as you read, ask yourselves how far you are conformed to his likeness. Endeavour to discover whether you have the meekness, the humility, the lovely spirit which he constantly inculcated and displayed.

Take, then, the epistles, and see whether you can go with the apostle in what he said of his experience.

Have you ever cried out as he did–“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Have you ever felt his self-abasement?

Have you seemed to yourself the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints? Have you known anything of his devotion? Could you join with him and say, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”?

If we thus read God’s Word as a test of our spiritual condition, we shall have good reason to stop many a time and say, “Lord, I feel I have never yet been here, O bring me here! give me true penitence, such as this I read of. Give me real faith; give me warmer zeal; inflame me with more fervent love; grant me the grace of meekness; make me more like Jesus. Let me no longer be found wanting,’ when weighed in the balances of the sanctuary, lest I be found wanting in the scales of judgment.”

“Judge yourselves that ye be not judged.”

《Evening by Evening》June 12

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, ”— 2 Timothy 1:9

The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, “Who hath saved us.”

Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved.

Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now.

The Christian is perfectly saved in God’s purpose; God has ordained him unto salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the price which has been paid for him: “It is finished” was the cry of the Saviour ere he died.

The believer is also perfectly saved in his covenant head, for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ. This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling.

Those whom the Saviour saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavour to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted in sin.

God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but he called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them. The excellencies which we see in a believer are as much the work of God as the atonement itself.

Thus is brought out very sweetly the fulness of the grace of God. Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the author of it: and what motive but grace could move him to save the guilty?

Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is forever excluded. Such is the believer’s privilege–a present salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it–a holy life.

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 12

Getting There

Master, where dwellest Thou? . . Come and see. "Come with Me." — John 1:39

Where the self-interest sleeps and the real interest awakens. “They abode with Him that day.” That is about all some of us ever do, then we wake up to actualities, self-interest arises and the abiding is passed. There is no condition of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.

“Thou art Simon, thou shalt be called Cephas.” God writes the new name on those places only in our lives where He has erased the pride and self-sufficiency and self-interest. Some of us have the new name in spots only, like spiritual measles. In sections we look all right. When we have our best spiritual mood on, you would think we were very high-toned saints; but don’t look at us when we are not in that mood. The disciple is one who has the new name written all over him; self-interest and pride and self-sufficiency have been completely erased.

Pride is the deification of self, and this to-day in some of us is not of the order of the Pharisee, but of the publican. To say “Oh, I’m no saint,” is acceptable to human pride, but it is unconscious blasphemy against God. It literally means that you defy God to make you a saint, “I am much too weak and hopeless, I am outside the reach of the Atonement.” Humility before men may be unconscious blasphemy before God. Why are you not a saint? It is either that you do not want to be a saint, or that you do not believe God can make you one. It would be all right, you say, if God saved you and took you straight to heaven. That is just what He will do! “We will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” Make no conditions, let Jesus be everything, and He will take you home with Him not only for a day, but for ever.

《Faith's check book》June 12

Dwelling Safely Apart

Israel lives in safety, the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, its heavens rain down dew. — Deut 33:28 

The more we dwell alone, the more safe shall we be. God would have His people separate from sinners, His call to them is, “Come ye out from among them.”…A worldly Christian is spiritually diseased. Those who compromise with Christ’s enemies may be reckoned with them.

Our safety lies, not in making terms with the enemy, but in dwelling alone with our Best Friend. If we do this, we shall dwell in safety despite the sarcasms, the slanders, and the sneers of the world. We shall be safe from the baleful influence of its unbelief, its pride, its vanity, its filthiness.

God also will make us dwell in safety alone in that day when sin shall be visited on the nations by wars and famines. The Lord brought Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, but Abram stopped halfway. He had no blessing till, having set out to go to the land of Canaan, to the land of Canaan he came, He was safe alone even in the midst of foes. Lot was not safe in Sodom though in a circle of friends. Our safety is in dwelling apart with God.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 12

To Seek the Salvation of Others

he should know that the one who turns a sinner back from his wandering path will save that person’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. — Jas 5:20

My God, I feel the mournful scene;

My bowels yearn o’er dying men;

And fain my pity would reclaim,

And snatch the firebrands from the flame.

《Streams In The Desert》June 12

Sweetness of the Storm

For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge –—1 Cor 1:5 

Have you ever seen men and women whom some disaster drove to a great act of prayer, and by and by the disaster was forgotten, but the sweetness of religion remained and warmed their souls?

So have I seen a storm in later spring; and all was black, save where the lightning tore the cloud with thundering rent.

The winds blew and the rains fell, as though heaven had opened its windows. What a devastation there was! Not a spider’s web that was out of doors escaped the storm, which tore up even the strong-branched oak.

But ere long the lightning had gone by, the thunder was spent and silent, the rain was over, the western wind came up with its sweet breath, the clouds were chased away, and the retreating storm threw a scarf of rainbows over her fair shoulders and resplendent neck, and looked back and smiled, and so withdrew and passed out of sight.

But for weeks long the fields held up their bands full of ambrosial flowers, and all the summer through the grass was greener, the brooks were fuller, and the trees cast a more umbrageous shade, because the storm passed by—though all the rest of the earth had long ago forgotten the storm, its rainbows and its rain. —Theodore Parker

God may not give us an easy journey to the Promised Land, but He will give us a safe one. —Bonar

It was a storm that occasioned the discovery of the gold mines of India. Hath not a storm driven some to the discovery of the richer mines of the love of God in Christ?

Is it raining, little flower?

Be glad of rain;

Too much sun would wither thee;

’Twill shine again.

The clouds are very black, ’tis true;

But just behind them shines the blue.

Art thou weary, tender heart?

Be glad of pain:

In sorrow sweetest virtues grow,

As flowers in rain.

God watches, and thou wilt have sun,

When clouds their perfect work have done.

—Lucy Larcom

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 12

All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. — Jas 1:17 

Do to-day’s duty, fight to-day’s temptation, and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking-forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.

— Charles Kingsley.

Genuine religion has its roots deep down in the heart of humanity…. The actions of the Deity make no appeal to any special sense. We are deaf and blind, therefore, to the imminent grandeur around us unless we have insight enough to appreciate the whole and to recognize the woven fabric of existence flowing steadily from the loom of an infinite progress toward perfection.

— Sir Oliver Lodge.

Prayer

Gracious Father, forbid that I should make thee regret thy gifts to me; and if I have failed to appreciate them, look upon me with pity, for I have cheated myself more than I have thee. Give me a deeper appreciation, that I may be strengthened day by day in the veriest duties of life. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 13

“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”— Revelation 22:17

Jesus says, “take freely.” He wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions.

If you have no good feelings, if you be but willing, you are invited; therefore come! You have no belief and no repentance,–come to him, and he will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take “Freely,” without money and without price. He gives himself to needy ones.

The drinking fountains at the corners of our streets are valuable institutions; and we can hardly imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his purse, when he stands before one of them, and to cry, “I cannot drink because I have not five pounds in my pocket.”

However poor the man is, there is the fountain, and just as he is he may drink of it. Thirsty passengers, as they go by, whether they are dressed in fustian or in broadcloth, do not look for any warrant for drinking; its being there is their warrant for taking its water freely.

The liberality of some good friends has put the refreshing crystal there and we take it, and ask no questions.

Perhaps the only persons who need go thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain, are the fine ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages.

They are very thirsty, but cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them, they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with parched lips.

Oh, how many there are who are rich in their own good works and cannot therefore come to Christ! “I will not be saved,” they say, “in the same way as the harlot or the swearer.” What! go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep.

Is there no pathway to glory but the path which led the thief there? I will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without the living water; but, “Whosoever will, let him TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY.”

《Evening by Evening》June 13

"Remove far from me vanity and lies."Proverbs 30:8"

O my God, be not far from me."--Psalm 38:21

Here we have two great lessons--what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state.

As there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity--he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God.

The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I?

Let them have their fill.

That is all they have to enjoy.

A converted wife who despaired of her husband was always very kind to him, for she said, "I fear that this is the only world in which he will be happy, and therefore I have made up my mind to make him as happy as I can in it."

Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls.

We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down.

Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him.

Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God.

It is when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour.

He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 13

Getting There

Come ye after Me. — Mark 1:17

Where the selective affinity dies and the sanctified abandon lives. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of temperament. We make our temperament and our natural affinities barriers to coming to Jesus. The first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatever to our natural affinities. We have the notion that we can consecrate our gifts to God. You cannot consecrate what is not yours; there is only one thing you can consecrate to God, and that is your right to yourself (Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you. God’s experiments always succeed. The one mark of a saint is the moral originality which springs from abandonment to Jesus Christ. In the life of a saint there is this amazing wellspring of original life all the time; the Spirit of God is a well of water springing up, perennially fresh. The saint realizes that it is God Who engineers circumstances, consequently there is no whine, but a reckless abandon to Jesus. Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.

If you abandon to Jesus, and come when He says “Come,” He will continue to say “Come” through you; you will go out into life reproducing the echo of Christ’s “Come.” That is the result in every soul who has abandoned and come to Jesus.

Have I come to Jesus? Will I come now?

《Faith's check book》June 13

Divine Cultivation

I, the Lord, protect it; I water it regularly. I guard it night and day, so no one can harm it. — Isa 27:3 

When the Lord Himself speaks in His own proper person rather than through a prophet, the word has a peculiar weight to believing minds. It is Jehovah Himself who is the keeper of His own vineyard; He does not trust it to any other, but He makes it His own personal care. Are they not well kept whom God Himself keeps?

We are to receive gracious watering, not only every day and every hour “but every moment.” How we ought to grow! How fresh and fruitful every plant should be! What rich clusters the vines should bear!But disturbers come; little foxes and the boar. Therefore, the Lord Himself is our Guardian, and that at all hours, both “night and day.” What, then, can harm us? Why are we afraid! He tends, He waters, He guards; what more do we need?

Twice in this verse the Lord says, “I will.” What truth, what power, what love, what immutability we find in the great “I will” of Jehovah! Who can resist His will? If He says “I will,” what room is there for doubt? With an “I will” of God we can face all the hosts of sin, death, and hell. O Lord, since Thou sayest, “I will keep thee,” I reply, “I will praise Thee!”

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 13

Give Due Honour to All

Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due. — Rom 13:7 

Our sovereign with thy favour bless;

Stablish the throne in righteousness,

Let wisdom hold the helm;

The counsels of our senate guide,

Let justice in our courts preside,

Rule thou, and bless the realm.

《Streams In The Desert》June 13

Picture of Rest

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be distressed or lacking in courage.—John 14:27 

Two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains.

The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam; and at the fork of the branch, almost wet with the cataract’s spray, sat a robin on its nest.

The first was only stagnation; the last was rest.

Christ’s life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there.

At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, “My peace.”

Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over us in church; it is the repose of a heart set deep in God. —Drummond

My peace I give in times of deepest grief,

Imparting calm and trust and My relief.

My peace I give when prayer seems lost, unheard;

Know that My promises are ever in My Word.

My peace I give when thou art left alone—

The nightingale at night has sweetest tone.

My peace I give in time of utter loss,

The way of glory leads right to the cross.

My peace I give when enemies will blame,

Thy fellowship is sweet through cruel shame.

My peace I give in agony and sweat,

For mine own brow with bloody drops was wet.

My peace I give when nearest friend betrays

Peace that is merged in love, and for them prays.

My peace I give when there’s but death for thee

The gateway is the cross to get to Me.

—L. S. P.

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 13

Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor. For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up. — Eccl 4:9-10 

Beyond all wealth, honor, or even health, is the attachment we form to noble souls, because to become one with the good, generous, and true is to become, in a measure, good, generous, and true ourselves.

— Thomas Arnold.

Open thy bosom, set thy wishes wide, and let in manhood—let in happiness; admit the boundless theater of thought from nothing up to God … which makes a man.

— Thomas Young.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I thank thee for good friends, and for the delight that dwells in fellowship. Give me the power to apprehend love, and guard me against the ways to lose it. May I look to my friends to help me to be pure, and to help me live my truest life. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 14

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”— Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth.

The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight.

If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may gain thereby, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men, that no two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.”

But believers who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace.

Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving him from custom, they would follow him though all the world cast out his name as evil.

We fear not God because of any compulsion; our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste thy love,

Our joys divinely grow,

Unspeakable like those above,

And heaven begins below.”

《Evening by Evening》June 14

"O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face ... because we have sinned against thee."Daniel 9:8

A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be so.

Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion.

Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past

As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet wehavesinned against light and against love--light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced. 

Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul!

An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's own elect ones, who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus' bosom.

Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession!

Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp!

We have erred: let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence. Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter's denying his Master.

Remember, it is written, "He wept bitterly." Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears?

Alas! these sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning.

My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God.

Admire the grace which saves thee--

the mercy which spares thee--

the love which pardons thee!

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 14

Get A Move On

Abide in Me. — John 15:4

In the Matter of Determination. The Spirit of Jesus is put into me by the Atonement, then I have to construct with patience the way of thinking that is exactly in accordance with my Lord. God will not make me think like Jesus, I have to do it myself; I have to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. “Abide in Me” – in intellectual matters, in money matters, in every one of the matters that make human life what it is. It is not a bandbox life.

Am I preventing God from doing things in my circumstances because I say it will hinder my communion with Him? That is an impertinence. It does not matter what my circumstances are, I can be as sure of abiding in Jesus in them as in a prayer meeting. I have not to change and arrange my circumstances myself. With Our Lord the inner abiding was unsullied; He was at home with God wherever His body was placed. He never chose His own circumstances, but was meek towards His Father’s dispensations for Him. Think of the amazing leisure of Our Lord’s life! We keep God at excitement point, there is none of the serenity of the life hid with Christ in God about us.

Think of the things that take you out of abiding in Christ – Yes, Lord, just a minute, I have got this to do; Yes, I will abide when once this is finished; when this week is over, it will be all right, I will abide then. Get a move on; begin to abide now. In the initial stages it is a continual effort until it becomes so much the law of life that you abide in Him unconsciously. Determine to abide in Jesus wherever you are placed.

《Faith's check book》June 14

He Constantly Abides

The Lord will not abandon his people because he wants to uphold his great reputation. The Lord was pleased to make you his own people. — 1 Sam 12:22 

God’s choice of His people is the reason for His abiding by them and not forsaking them. He chose them for His love, and He loves them for His choice. His own good pleasure is the source of their election, and His election is the reason for the continuance of His pleasure in them. It would dishonor His great name for Him to forsake them, since it would either show that He made an error in His choice or that He was fickle in His love. God’s love has this glory, that it never changes, and this glory He will never tarnish.

By all the memories of the Lord’s former lovingkindnesses let us rest assured that He will not forsake us. He who has gone so far as to make us His people will not undo the creation of His grace. He has not wrought such wonders for us that He might leave us after all. His Son Jesus has died for us, and we may be sure that He has not died in vain. Can He forsake those for whom He shed His blood? Because He has hitherto taken pleasure in choosing and in saving us, it will be His pleasure still to bless us. Our Lord Jesus is no changeable lover. Having loved His own, He loves them to the end.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 14

Consistency

so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world — Phil 2:15 

That wisdom, Lord, on us bestow

From every evil to depart,

To stop the mouth of every foe,

While upright both in life and heart,

The proof of godly fear we give,

And show them how the Christians live.

《Streams In The Desert》June 14

Watch Well Thy Faith

but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”—Luke 22:32 

Christian, take good care of thy faith, for recollect that faith is the only means whereby thou canst obtain blessings. Prayer cannot draw down answers from God’s throne except it be the earnest prayer of the man who believes.

Faith is the telegraphic wire which links earth to Heaven, on which God’s messages of love fly so fast that before we call He answers, and while we are yet speaking He hears us. But if that telegraphic wire of faith be snapped, how can we obtain the promise?

Am I in trouble? I can obtain help for trouble by faith. Am I beaten about by the enemy? My soul on her dear Refuge leans by faith.

But take faith away, then in vain I call to God. There is no other road betwixt my soul and Heaven. Blockade the road, and how can I communicate with the Great King?

Faith links me with Divinity. Faith clothes me with the power of Jehovah. Faith insures every attribute of God in my defense. It helps me to defy the hosts of hell. It makes me march triumphant over the necks of my enemies. But without faith how can I receive anything from the Lord?

Oh, then, Christian, watch well thy faith. “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” —C. H. Spurgeon

We boast of being so practical a people that we want to have a surer thing than faith. But did not Paul say that the promise was, by FAITH that it might be SURE? (Romans 4:16) —Dan Crawford.Faith honors God; God honors faith.

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 14

And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. — Heb 10:23 

When you get into a tight place, and everything goes against you till it seems as if you couldn’t hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that’s just the time and place that the tide will turn.

— Harriet Beecher Stowe.

I cannot do it alone,

The waves run fast and high,

And the fogs close chill around,

And the light goes out in the sky;

But I know that we two

Shall win in the end—

God and I.

— Unknown.

Prayer

Almighty God, I pray that thou wilt sustain me when I may be enduring for a purpose, and to accomplish it seems beyond my strength. Renew me with courage, and give me unceasing hope, and faith that is able to hold out to the end. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 15

“And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.”— Genesis 21:6

It was far above the power of nature, and even contrary to its laws, that the aged Sarah should be honoured with a son; and even so it is beyond all ordinary rules that I, a poor, helpless, undone sinner, should find grace to bear about in my soul the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus.

I, who once despaired, as well I might, for my nature was as dry, and withered, and barren, and accursed as a howling wilderness, even I have been made to bring forth fruit unto holiness. Well may my mouth be filled with joyous laughter, because of the singular, surprising grace which I have received of the Lord, for I have found Jesus, the promised seed, and he is mine forever.

This day will I lift up psalms of triumph unto the Lord who has remembered my low estate, for “my heart rejoiceth in the Lord; mine horn is exalted in the Lord; my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation.”

I would have all those that hear of my great deliverance from hell, and my most blessed visitation from on high, laugh for joy with me. I would surprise my family with my abundant peace; I would delight my friends with my ever-increasing happiness; I would edify the Church with my grateful confessions; and even impress the world with the cheerfulness of my daily conversation.

Bunyan tells us that Mercy laughed in her sleep, and no wonder when she dreamed of Jesus; my joy shall not stop short of hers while my Beloved is the theme of my daily thoughts.

The Lord Jesus is a deep sea of joy: my soul shall dive therein, shall be swallowed up in the delights of his society. Sarah looked on her Isaac, and laughed with excess of rapture, and all her friends laughed with her; and thou, my soul, look on thy Jesus, and bid heaven and earth unite in thy joy unspeakable.

《Evening by Evening》June 15

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;”— Revelation 3:7

Jesus is the keeper of the gates of paradise and before every believing soul he setteth an open door, which no man or devil shall be able to close against it.

What joy it will be to find that faith in him is the golden key to the everlasting doors.

My soul, dost thou carry this key in thy bosom, or art thou trusting to some deceitful pick-lock, which will fail thee at last? Hear this parable of the preacher, and remember it.

The great King has made a banquet, and he has proclaimed to all the world that none shall enter but those who bring with them the fairest flower that blooms.

The spirits of men advance to the gate by thousands, and they bring each one the flower which he esteems the queen of the garden; but in crowds they are driven from the royal presence, and enter not into the festive halls.

Some bear in their hand the deadly nightshade of superstition, or the flaunting poppies of Rome, or the hemlock of self- righteousness, but these are not dear to the King, the bearers are shut out of the pearly gates.

My soul, hast thou gathered the rose of Sharon? Dost thou wear the lily of the valley in thy bosom constantly? If so, when thou comest up to the gates of heaven thou wilt know its value, for thou hast only to show this choicest of flowers, and the Porter will open: not for a moment will he deny thee admission, for to that rose the Porter openeth ever.

Thou shalt find thy way with the rose of Sharon in thy hand up to the throne of God himself, for heaven itself possesses nothing that excels its radiant beauty, and of all the flowers that bloom in paradise there is none that can rival the lily of the valley.

My soul, get Calvary’s blood-red rose into thy hand by faith, by love wear it, by communion preserve it, by daily watchfulness make it thine all in all, and thou shalt be blessed beyond all bliss, happy beyond a dream. Jesus, be mine forever, my God, my heaven, my all.

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 15

Get A Move On

And beside this . . . add . . — 2 Peter 1:5

In the Matter of Drudgery. You have inherited the Divine nature, says Peter (v.4), now screw your attention down and form habits, give diligence, concentrate. “Add” means all that character means. No man is born either naturally or supernaturally with character, he has to make character. Nor are we born with habits; we have to form habits on the basis of the new life God has put into us.

We are not meant to be illuminated versions, but the common stuff of ordinary life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God. Drudgery is the touchstone of character. The great hindrance in spiritual life is that we will look for big things to do. “Jesus took a towel . . . and began to wash the disciples’ feet.”

There are times when there is no illumination and no thrill, but just the daily round, the common task. Routine is God’s way of saving us between our times of inspiration. Do not expect God always to give you His thrilling minutes, but learn to live in the domain of drudgery by the power of God.

It is the “adding” that is difficult. We say we do not expect God to carry us to heaven on flowery beds of ease, and yet we act as if we did! The tiniest detail in which I obey has all the omnipotent power of the grace of God behind it. If I do my duty, not for duty’s sake, but because I believe God is engineering my circumstances, then at the very point of my obedience the whole superb grace of God is mine through the Atonement.

《Faith's check book》June 15

Home Blessings Extended

May the Lord bless you from Zion, that you might see Jerusalem prosper all the days of your life, — Ps 128:5 

This is a promise to the God-fearing man who walks in the ways of holiness with earnest heed. He shall have domestic blessedness; his wife and children shall be a source of great home happiness. But then as a member of the church he desires to see the cause prosper, for he is as much concerned for the Lord’s house as for his own. When the Lord builds our house, it is but fitting that we should desire to see the Lord’s house builded. Our goods are not truly good unless we promote by them the good of the Lord’s chosen church.

Yes, you shall get a blessing when you go up to the assemblies of Zion; you shall be instructed, enlivened, and comforted, where prayer and praise ascend and testimony is borne to the great Sacrifice. “The Lord shall bless thee out of Zion.”

Nor shall you alone be profited; the church itself shall prosper; believers shall be multiplied, and their holy work shall be crowned with success. Certain gracious men have this promise fulfilled to them as long as they live. Alas! when they die the cause often flags. Let us be among those who bring good things to Jerusalem all their days. Lord, of Thy mercy make us such! Amen.

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 15

Circumspection

Therefore be very careful how you live – not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. — Eph 5:15-16 

Let every flying hour confess

I gain the gospel fresh renown;

And when my life and labours cease,

May I possess the promised crown.

《Streams In The Desert》June 15

It's Raining Blessing

He named the second child Ephraim, saying, “Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”—Gen 41:52 

The summer showers are falling. The poet stands by the window watching them. They are beating and buffeting the earth with their fierce downpour. But the poet sees in his imaginings more than the showers which are falling before his eyes. He sees myriads of lovely flowers which shall be soon breaking forth from the watered earth, filling it with matchless beauty and fragrance. And so he sings:

“It isn’t raining rain for me, it’s raining daffodils;

In every dimpling drop I see wild flowers upon the hills.

A cloud of gray engulfs the day, and overwhelms the town;

It isn’t raining rain for me: it’s raining roses down.”

Perchance some one of God’s chastened children is even now saying, "O God, it is raining hard for me tonight.

“Testings are raining upon me which seem beyond my power to endure. Disappointments are raining fast, to the utter defeat of all my chosen plans. Bereavements are raining into my life which are making my shrinking heart quiver in its intensity of suffering. The rain of affliction is surely beating down upon my soul these days.”

Withal, friend, you are mistaken. It isn’t raining rain for you. It’s raining blessing. For, if you will but believe your Father’s Word, under that beating rain are springing up spiritual flowers of such fragrance and beauty as never before grew in that stormless, unchastened life of yours.

You indeed see the rain. But do you see also the flowers? You are pained by the testings. But God sees the sweet flower of faith which is upspringing in your life under those very trials.

You shrink from the suffering. But God sees the tender compassion for other sufferers which is finding birth in your soul.

Your heart winces under the sore bereavement. But God sees the deepening and enriching which that sorrow has brought to you.

It isn’t raining afflictions for you. It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Spirit, which are bringing into your life such a spiritual enrichment as all the fullness of worldly prosperity and ease was never able to beget in your innermost soul. —J. M. McC.

SONGS ACROSS THE STORM

“A harp stood in the moveless air,

Where showers of sunshine washed a thousand fragrant blooms;

A traveler bowed with loads of care

Essayed from morning till the dusk of evening glooms

To thrum sweet sounds from the songless strings;

The pilgrim strives in vain with each unanswering chord,

Until the tempest’s thunder sings,

And, moving on the storm, the fingers of the Lord

A wondrous melody awakes;

And though the battling winds their soldier deeds perform,

Their trumpet-sound brave music makes

While God’s assuring voice sings love across the storm”

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 15

You came near on the day I called to you; you said, “Do not fear!” O Lord, you championed my cause, you redeemed my life. — Lam 3:57-58 

What is rightly done stays with us, to support another right beyond, or higher up; whatever is wrongly done vanishes; and by the blank, betrays what we would have built above.

— John Ruskin.

The seed ye sow another reaps,

The wealth ye find another keeps,

The robe ye weave another wears,

The arms ye forge another bears.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Prayer

Lord God, reveal to me my selfishness if I am receiving much and giving little to satisfy life. May I be grateful and considerate of all those who labor to give me comfort and happiness. Amen.

《Morning By Morning》June 16

"And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish."John 10:28

The Christian should never think or speak lightly of unbelief. For a child of God to mistrust his love, his truth, his faithfulness, must be greatly displeasing to him. How can we ever grieve him by doubting his upholding grace?

Christian! it is contrary to every promise of God's precious Word that thou shouldst ever be forgotten or left to perish.

If it could be so, how could he be true who has said, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Yea, they may forget, yet will I never forget thee." What were the value of that promise--"The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee."

Where were the truth of Christ's words--"I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Where were the doctrines of grace?

They would be all disproved if one child of God should perish. Where were the veracity of God, his honour, his power, his grace, his covenant, his oath, if any of those for whom Christ has died, and who have put their trust in him, should nevertheless be cast away?

Banish those unbelieving fears which so dishonour God. Arise, shake thyself from the dust, and put on thy beautiful garments.

Remember it is sinful to doubt his Word wherein he has promised thee that thou shalt never perish. Let the eternal life within thee express itself in confident rejoicing.

"The gospel bears my spirit up:

A faithful and unchanging God

Lays the foundation for my hope,

In oaths, and promises, and blood."

《Evening by Evening》June 16

“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”— Psalm 27:1

“The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

Here is personal interest, “my light,” “my salvation;” the soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation.

After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: he is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us.

Note, it is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but that he is light; nor that he gives salvation, but that he is salvation; he, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his possession.

This being made sure as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in the form of a question, “Whom shall I fear?” A question which is its own answer.

The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and the damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it rests, not upon the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM.

“The Lord is the strength of my life.”

Here is a third glowing epithet, to show that the writer’s hope was fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace.

Our life derives all its strength from God; and if he deigns to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary.

“Of whom shall I be afraid?”

The bold question looks into the future as well as the present.

“If God be for us,” who can be against us, either now or in time to come?

《My Utmost for His Highest》June 16

What Do You Make Of This?

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. . . . "I have called you friends." — John 15:13,15

Jesus does not ask me to die for Him, but to lay down my life for Him. Peter said – "I will lay down my life for Thy sake" and he meant it; his sense of the heroic was magnificent. It would be a bad thing to be incapable of making such a declaration as Peter made; the sense of our duty is only realized by our sense of the heroic. Has the Lord ever asked you – "Wilt thou lay down thy life for My sake?" It is far easier to die than to lay down the life day in and day out with the sense of the high calling. We are not made for brilliant moments, but we have to walk in the light of them in ordinary ways. There was only one brilliant moment in the life of Jesus, and that was on the Mount of Transfiguration; then He emptied Himself the second time of His glory, and came down into the demon-possessed valley. For thirty-three years Jesus laid out His life to do the will of His Father, and, John says, "we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." It is contrary to human nature to do it.

If I am a friend of Jesus, I have deliberately and carefully to lay down my life for Him. It is difficult, and thank God it is difficult. Salvation is easy because it cost God so much, but the manifestation of it in my life is difficult. God saves a man and endues him with the Holy Spirit, and then says in effect – "Now work it out, be loyal to Me, whilst the nature of things round about you would make you disloyal." "I have called you friends." Stand loyal to your Friend, and remember that His honour is at stake in your bodily life.

《Faith's check book》June 16

Possess, Not Only Profess

For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. — Matt 13:12 

When the Lord has given to a man much grace, He will give him more. A little faith is a nest egg; more faith will come to it. But then it must not be seeming faith, but real and true. What a necessity is laid upon us to make sure work in religion and not to profess much, and possess nothing! For one of these days the very profession will be taken from us, if that be all we have. The threatening is as true as the promise.

Blessed be the Lord, it is His way when He has once made a beginning to go on bestowing the graces of His Spirit, till He who had but little, and yet truly had that little, is made to have abundance. Oh, for that abundance! Abundance of grace is a thing to be coveted, It would be well to know much but better to love much. It would be delightful to have abundance of skill to serve God but better still to have abundance of faith to trust in the Lord for skill and everything.

Lord, since Thou hast given me a sense of sin, deepen my hatred of evil. Since Thou hast caused me to trust Jesus, raise my faith to full assurance. Since Thou hast made me to love Thee, cause me to be carried away with vehement affection for Thee!

《Believer's Daily Treasure》June 16

Discretion

It goes well for the one who generously lends money, and conducts his business honestly. — Ps 112:5 

Believers love what God commands,

And in his ways delight;

Their gracious words, and holy hands

Show that their faith is right.

Their converse is with God above,

Their labours bless mankind;

Their works of mercy, peace, and love,

Through Christ acceptance find.

《Streams In The Desert》June 16

Prayer Will Be Answered

Patiently wait for God alone, my soul! For he is the one who gives me confidence.—Ps 62:5 

Our too general neglect of looking for answers to what we ask, shows how little we are in earnest in our petitions. A husbandman is not content without the harvest; a marksman will observe whether the ball hits the target; a physician watches the effect of the medicine which he gives; and shall the Christian be careless about the effect of his labor?

Every prayer of the Christian, made in faith, according to the will of God, for which God has promised, offered up in the name of Jesus Christ, and under the influence of the Spirit, whether for temporal or for spiritual blessings, is, or will be, fully answered.

God always answers the general design and intention of His people’s prayers, in doing that which, all things considered, is most for His own glory and their spiritual and eternal welfare. As we never find that Jesus Christ rejected a single supplicant who came to Him for mercy, so we believe that no prayer made in His name will be in vain.

The answer to prayer may be approaching, though we discern not its coming. The seed that lies under ground in winter is taking root in order to a spring and harvest, though it appears not above ground, but seems dead and lost. —Bickersteth

Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, but they give us opportunities of honoring God by our steadfast confidence in Him under apparent repulses. —C. H. Spurgeon

《Daily Prayer Guide》June 16

The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, so that I know how to help the weary. He wakes me up every morning; he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. — Isa 50:4 

When to the sessions of sweet, solemn thought

I summon up remembrance of things past,

I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,

All losses are restored and sorrows end.

— William Shakespeare.

Seldom can the heart be lonely

If it seek a lonelier still—

Self-forgetting, seeking only

Emptier cups of love to fill.

— F. R. Havergal.

Prayer

Gracious Father, keep within me that cheer and courage which never has a place for weary murmurings; and with peace make the hours of solitude profitable as they pass. Help me to seek those who are in need of sympathy and encouragement, that I may help them to have a tranquil life. Amen.