When A Tear Is Wept By You - Do Not Think That God Does Not Behold It

Exo 3:7  And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;

Exo 3:8  And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Perhaps no figure of speech represents God in a more gracious light, than when He is spoken of as stooping from His throne and coming down from Heaven to attend to the wants and woes of His redeemed people.

How can we but love Him when we know that He numbers the very hairs of our heads, marks all our paths, and orders all our ways?

Especially is this great truth brought near to our heart when we recollect how attentive He is, not merely to the spiritual interests of His people but to their temporal concerns as well. 

Though leagues of distance lie between the finite creature and the infinite Creator  yet there are links uniting both.

When a tear is wept by you do not think that God does not behold it;

Psa 56:8  Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

Your sigh is able to move the heart of Jehovah...
 
Your whisper can incline His ear unto you...

Your prayer can stay His hand...
 
Your faith can move His arm!

Do not think that God sits on high taking no account of you.

For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.

~Charles Spurgeon~

True Patriotism!

Dear friend,
 

Allow me to say, that it excites both my wonder and concern, that a Christian minister such as yourself, should think it worth his while to attempt political reforms. 

When I look around upon the present state of the nation, such an attempt appears to me, to be no less vain and foolish, than it would be to paint the cabin while the ship is sinking! 

Or to decorate the parlor while the house is on fire!

When our Lord Jesus was upon earth, He refused to get involved in disputes or politics, And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? Luke 12:14.

John 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

God's children belong to a kingdom which is not of this world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, and a part of their Scriptural character is, that they are the quiet in the land.

Psa 35:20  For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.

Satan has many contrivances to amuse people, and to divert their thoughts from their real danger!

My dear sir, my prayer to God for you is...that He may induce you to employ the talents He has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil...

And to engage those who love and fear Him, (instead of wasting time in political speculations, for which you are not competent,)...

To sigh and cry for our abounding abominations, and to stand in the breach, by prayer, that God's wrath may yet be averted, and our national mercies prolonged!

This, I think, is True Patriotism...the best way in which people in private life may serve their country.

I consider the ungodly as saws and hammers in the hand of the Lord. 

So far as they are His instruments, they will succeed...but not an inch further! 

Their wrath shall praise Him, and be subservient to His designs!

If our lot is so cast that we can exercise our ministry free from stripes, fines, imprisonments, and death...it is more than the gospel has promised to us!

If Christians were quiet when under the cruel governments of Nero and other wicked persecutors, when they were hunted down like wild beasts - then we ought to be not only quiet but very thankful now!

It was then accounted an honor to suffer for Christ and the 'Offence of the Cross'!

Those are to be greatly pitied, who boast of their 'liberty' and yet they do not consider that they are in the most deplorable bondage as the slaves of sin and Satan, under the curse of God's law and His eternal wrath! 

Oh! for a voice to reach their hearts, that they may know their true and dreadful state and seek deliverance from their horrific thraldom!

May you and I labor to direct them to the one thing, which is absolutely needful, and abundantly sufficient.

If I had the wisdom or influence to soothe the angry passions of mankind...I would gladly employ them! 

But I am a stranger and a pilgrim here in this world. 

My charter, my rights and my treasures, are all in heaven - and there my heart ought to be.

In a very short time, I may be removed (and perhaps suddenly) into the unseen and eternal world where all that now causes so much bustle upon earth will be of no more importance to me than the events which took place among the antediluvians!

In the hour, when death shall open the door into eternity...many things which now assume an 'air of importance', will be found as light and unsubstantial as a child's dream!

How crucial then, is it for me to be found watching, with my lamp burning, diligently engaged in my proper calling!

For the Lord has not called me to set governments right...but to preach the gospel, to proclaim the glory of His name, and to endeavor to win souls!

Luke 9:60  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

Happy is that servant, whom his Master finds so doing, when He returns!

As you have forced me to respond...both duty and love have obliged me to be faithful and free in giving you my thoughts.

I recommend you to the care and blessing of the great Shepherd and Savior; and remain for His sake, your affectionate friend and brother,
 

~John Newton~

Don't Distrust God's Goodness

Satan is ever seeking to inject that poison into our hearts to distrust God's goodness...

Especially in connection with his commandments.

That is what really lies behind all evil, lusting, and disobedience...

A discontent with our position and portion...

A craving from something which God has wisely held from us.

Reject any suggestion that God is unduly severe with you.

Resist with the utmost abhorrence, anything that causes you to doubt God's love and his loving-kindness toward you.
 
Allow nothing to make you question the Father's love for his child.


~Arthur Pink~

Trust And Do; Do And Trust

Psa 37:3  Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Trust and do are words which go well together, in the order in which the Holy Spirit has placed them. 

We should have faith, and that faith should work.

Trust in God sets us upon holy doing: we trust God for good, and then we do good. 

We do not sit still because we trust, but we arouse ourselves and expect the LORD to work through us and by us. 

It is not ours to worry and do evil but to trust and do good. 

We neither trust without doing nor do without trusting. 

Adversaries would root us out if they could; but by trusting and doing we dwell in the land. 

We will not go into Egypt, but we will remain in Immanuel's land-the providence of God, the Canaan of covenant love. 

We are not so easily to be got rid of as the LORD's enemies suppose. 

They cannot thrust us Out nor stamp us out...

Where God has given us a name and a place, there we abide. 

But what about the supply of our necessities? 

The LORD has put a "verily" into this promise. 

As sure as God is true, His people shall be fed. 

It is theirs to trust and to do, and it is the LORD's to do according to their trust. 

If not fed by ravens, or fed by an Obadiah, or fed by a widow, yet they shall be fed somehow.

Away, ye fears!

~Charles Spurgeon~

What A Contrast!

Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

Psa 139:24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

What a contrast there is between a man of this world and a child of God!

The one wishes to Avoid the scrutiny of God and the other Desires and Prays for it.

The one Loves sin, and Cherishes it-the other Abhors sin, and desires to be Delivered from it.

The one walks hand in hand with iniquity the other Grieves that he bears about with him a body of sin and death.

It is the Earnest Desire of all who are born of God, and made partakers of the Divine nature to be delivered from the power of sin that dwells in them. 

They would have no lust spared and no corruption unmortified.

Chosen by the Father in eternity past, redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and justified freely by His grace - they would also be sanctified by His Spirit.

They would be holy as He is holy-and their desires will eventually be satisfied! 

He who has begun a good work in them, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

He will present them "Faultless Before The Presence Of His Glory With Exceeding Joy!"

Search me, O God, and try my thoughts, And make my heart sincere;
 
Let sin have no dominion, Lord, And keep my conscience clear!

Make me to walk in Your commands, 'Tis a delightful road;
 
Nor let my head, or heart, or hands, Offend against my God!

The desire of the righteous will be granted!

Pro 10:24  The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.

 ~Author Unknown~