Know The LORD In A Real Way

---

Php 1:9  And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment;

Personal, inward, spiritual intelligence is a very rare thing.

No wonder that the enemy has such a successful line in delusions, counterfeits, and false representations.

Our greatest safeguard against such will be a deep knowledge of the LORD through discipline.

To know the LORD in a real way means steadfastness when others are being carried away... steadfastness through times of fiery trial.

Those who know the LORD do not put forth their own hand and try to bring things about.

Such are full of love and patience, and do not lose their poise when everything seems to be going to pieces.

Confidence is an essential and inevitable fruit of this knowledge, and in those who know Him there is a quiet restful strength which speaks of a great depth of Life.

Let me point out that in Christ "are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden," and the LORD"S will for us is to come to an ever-growing realization and personal appreciation of Him in Whom all the fullness dwells. 

We have only stated facts as to the LORD'S will for all His own, and their greatest need.

The absence of this real knowledge of the LORD has proved to be the most tragic factor in the Church's history.

Every fresh uprising of an abnormal condition has disclosed the appalling weakness amongst Christian people because of this lack. 

Waves of error; the swing of the pendulum to some fresh popular acceptance; a great war with its horrors and many-sided tests of faith; all these have swept away multitudes and left them in spiritual ruin.

These things are ever near at hand, and we have written this message to urge upon the LORD'S people to have very definite dealings with Him that He will take every measure with them that they might know Him.

~Charles Spurgeon~

The War Was Of GOD

                                                                             
1Ch 5:22  For there fell down many slain, because the war was of God. And they dwelt in their steads until the captivity.
 
Warrior, fighting under the banner of the LORD Jesus, observe this verse with holy joy, for as it was in the  days of old so is it now, if the war be of GOD the victory is sure.

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh could barely muster five and forty thousand fighting men, and yet in their war with the Hagarites, they slew “men, an hundred thousand,”

For they cried to GOD in the battle, and he was entreated of them, because they put their trust in him.

The LORD saveth not by many nor by few; it is ours to go forth in Jehovah’s name if we be but a handful of men, for the LORD  of Hosts is with us for our Captain.

They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow, neither did they place their trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting means, but our confidence must rest in the LORD alone, for he is the sword and the shield of his people. 

The great reason of their extraordinary success lay in the fact that “the war was of GOD.”

Beloved, in fighting with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with devils and the devil’s allies, you are waging Jehovah’s war, and unless He himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.

Quail not before superior numbers, shrink not from difficulties or impossibilities, flinch not at wounds or death, smite with the twoedged sword of the Spirit, and the slain shall lie in heaps.

The battle is the LORD'S and He will deliver his enemies into our hands.

With steadfast foot, strong hand, dauntless heart, and flaming zeal, rush to the conflict, and the hosts of evil shall fly like chaff before the gale.

Stand up! stand up for Jesus! The strife will not be long; This day the noise of battle, The next the victor’s song:

To him that overcometh, A crown of life shall be; He with the King of glory Shall reign eternally.

~Charles Spurgeon~

Hedged In

James 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

James 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

GOD hedges in His own that He may preserve them, but oftentimes they only see the wrong side of the hedge, and so misunderstand His dealings.

It was so with Job...

Job 3:23  Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in?

Ah, but Satan knew the value of that hedge!

See his testimony in chapter 1:10.

Job 1:10  Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

Through the leaves of every trial there are chinks of light to shine through.

Thorns do not prick you unless you lean against them, and not one touches without His knowledge.

The words that hurt you, the letter which gave you pain, the cruel wound of your dearest friend, shortness of money - are all known to Him, who sympathizes as none else can and watches to see, if, through all, you will dare to trust Him wholly.
     
The hawthorn hedge that keeps us from intruding, Looks very fierce and bare When stripped by winter, every branch protruding
 
Its thorns that would wound and tear.
     
But spring-time comes; and like the rod that budded, Each twig breaks out in green;

And cushions soft of tender leaves are studded, Where spines alone were seen,
     
The sorrows, that to us seem so perplexing, Are mercies kindly sent To guard our wayward souls from sadder vexing, And greater ills prevent.
     
To save us from the pit, no screen of roses Would serve for our defense, The hindrance that completely interposes Stings back like thorny fence.
     
At first when smarting from the shock, complaining Of wounds that freely bleed, God's hedges of severity us paining, May seem severe indeed.
     
But afterwards, God's blessed spring-time cometh, And bitter murmurs cease;
     
The sharp severity that pierced us bloometh, And yields the fruits of peace.
     
Then let us sing, our guarded way thus wending Life's hidden snares among,
     
Of mercy and of judgment sweetly blending; Earth's sad, but lovely song.

The Evil Tongue Is The Slanderous Tongue

Psa 50:20  Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.
 
Slandering is when we speak to the prejudice of another, and speak that which is NOT TRUE.

Worth and eminency are commonly blasted by slander; holiness itself is no shield from slander:

Mat 11:18  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. 

Come and let us smite him with the tongue. A slanderer wounds another's name, and no physician can heal these wounds.

The sword doth not make so deep a wound as the tongue. The Greek word for slanderer, signifies devil.

Some think it is no great matter to belie and defame another; but know, this is to act the part of a devil.

The slanderer's tongue is a two-edged sword, it wounds two at once; while the slanderer wounds another in his name, he wounds himself in his conscience.

This is contrary to Scripture, "Speak not evil one of another" (James 4:11).

GOD takes this ill at our hands, to speak evil of others, especially such as are eminently holy, and help to bear up the honor of religion: 

Were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? (Numbers 12:8).

What! My servant who has wrought so many miracles-whom I have spoken with in the mount face to face...were not ye afraid to speak against him?

So will GOD say, You must take heed of this, it is a sin your nature is very prone to; and remember, it is no less sin to rob another of his good name, than to steal his goods or wares out of his shop. 

~Thomas Watson~

Uncertainty, A Master-Stroke Of Satan.

                                                                                 

To prevent assurance of faith is the devil's own work, it is his aim to get the Lord's people unsettled; and doubt is one of his most subtle means of working. 

It was so in the beginning, "hath God said?" - Gen. 3:1, and it is still his method.

The way, and the only way, to frustrate this is by being established in the faith, Acts 16:5; Col. 2:7. "Stand fast in the faith." - 1 Cor. 16. 

A true heart in full assurance of faith. 

Heb 10:22  Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

Rev 2:13  I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.

The great need of God's people is to be established in the faith, not just established in doctrine, in an orthodox gospel, or by acquiring knowledge of fundamental truth, but established by an inward knowledge of our standing in the Lord Jesus on the ground of His finished work and complete triumph over the devil and all his works. 

So many of the Lord's children lack this assurance of their position in the Lord;

Yet it is written: Eph 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Eph 1:5  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. 

Eph 1:6  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

This acceptance has to do with warfare, all things in our "so great salvation" are related to God's Eternal purpose in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Eph 3:11  According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: 

2Co 2:14  Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

The people of God are robbed of their fighting power when the enemy has got them to doubt and question their standing in Christ.

God must build His city in certainty, and we must stand in the full assurance of faith. 

The foundations of the wall of the city were furnished with all manner of precious stones. 

Rev 21:19  And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Get the internal troubles settled, then you can get on with the work.

To be established in the faith with full assurance enables us to strike a blow at Principalities and Powers; but the devil and his hosts have much power where there is uncertainty, doubt, question.

When the believer knows the power of the personal "I know" because of full assurance in the Word of God, then that very knowledge is a weapon of defense against the enemy; hence he desires to prevent assurance by inserting doubt whenever he gets a chance. 

Stand on God's facts and not on the quicksands of your own feelings.

Some are doubting simply because of feelings!

Salvation is not a matter of feeling, it is God's fact - "It is written" God hath said

The word of God is "no condemnation".

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

We are perfect in Christ the day we are born anew, that is as to our standing, we have good reason to be sorry for our state; but the word is "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"

2Pe 3:18  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Gal 4:19  My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,

Yes it is to be a day by day growing in grace. 

Salvation seems for so many of God's children to be a matter of feelings, therefore there is no fighting force that counts against the enemy; 

They have not put on the whole armour of God so as to be "able to stand against the wiles of the enemy").

Heb 10:35  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Eph 3:19  And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

There is an assurance of faith which sets us free from all the power of the enemy and self as well; enabling us to endure and be strong in the Lord.

Having the ground of our salvation settled, we now have ground from which we can wield sovereignty in the Lord. 

Here we are passing through trial, adversity, sorrow, suffering, and we are tempted to think the Lord has given us up;

The enemy presses in on every side with accusation, condemnation, question, doubts, fears.

Be ye steadfast, unmovable, for beloved, this is the establishing principle at work, our faith is being exercised.

We know anguish, travail.

Remember the establishing work is done while our eyes are unto Him;

When things are against us, seeking to press us down, then we look off unto Jesus now in the presence of God for us, having all authority in heaven and on earth, and a NAME that is above every other name, a title of Sovereignty above every other title of sovereignty. 

The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give unto you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your heart enlightened (full of light), that ye may know HIM...

And what the exceeding greatness of HIS power to us-ward who believe according to that working (in-energizing) of the strength of His might which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead, and made Him to sit at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all rule and authority and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come;

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be Head over all things to the Church, which is His Body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all."

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

This is the ONE unto whom our eyes are. 

Faith is thus exercised and enables us in the very midst of pressure and contradictory circumstances to rise upward and stand in Christ Jesus in the position He has given us, "seated together with Him in the heavenlies."

Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

So through trial, the establishing work is done; it is the manifestation of His Victory over all the power and pressure of the enemy,

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, it is HIS victory, a life that has conquered death

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The City of God is being built, and its very nature is Eternal life, indestructible life, this holds when we break down. 

He abides faithful. He still holds on because He is Eternal, unchangeable.

There is that with us that persists, that goes through,

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

It is the same with service; the conflict so great, the experiences through which we pass so strange and weird, so inexplicable, everything seems upside down, promises do not seem to be taking effect. 

Abraham in the land... yet the very promises given him of God seeming to be denied. Was Abraham mistaken? 

Are we not sometimes bewildered with the Lord, and are not His ways past finding out?

It all looks such a muddle, but as faith holds on, one day we shall praise Him, as we see the reason for it all afterwards;

Pro 4:18  But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Note "PATH" not things!

These mysteries of the way contain some secret mystery of God; and are they not another opportunity to show forth His wisdom and power?

When all seems gone, the conflict so great, the experience so strange and there is no key to the situation; we are tempted to question whether the promises were even of God; everything is so contrary to what we expected, we begin to wonder if we are all wrong! 

Just then, is the time for us to stand fast in the Lord and maintain that stand in faith. 

After all, our experiences are very much alike. There is perplexity, there is apparent contradiction, there is conflict; the forms of experience may vary, but it comes to all of us in some way or another - still "He abideth faithful". 

How does this establish us? By the very helplessness of the situation, and ourselves, which causes us to cast ourselves upon Him, and it is then we prove Him.

You are coming to the place where you know the mystery of God, and it is a glorious opportunity for Him to show His wisdom and so you are established.

It is all a matter of endurance.

~T. Austin Sparks~

The CURE For Discouragement

And David was greatly distressed…but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God" (1Sa 30:6).

The context is very solemn, showing that the best of men-are but men at the best.

Seeking help from the ungodly, David had placed himself under obligation to the king of Gath.

He had pretended to be a friend of the Philistines, and the enemy of his own people.

Accordingly, Achish determined to make use of David and his men, in the attack he had planned upon Israel.

But the Lord turned the hearts of the other "lords of the Philistines" against David (1Sa 29:2-7), and Achish was obliged to dispense with their service, so that they were allowed to depart.

Unconscious of the sad disappointment awaiting them, David and his men made for Ziklag, where he had left his wives and children.

Arriving there on the third day, "When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 

So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep" (1Sa 30:3-4).

That was an experience calculated to overwhelm the stoutest soul.

Arriving at the place where he had left his family and possessions, the city was a mass of smoking ruins, and those whom he loved were not there to welcome him.

Broken-hearted over this calamity, further trouble now came upon David, for his men murmured and mutinied, "for the people spoke of stoning him!" (1Sa 30:6).

They blamed their leader for having journeyed to Achish and leaving Ziklag defenseless, and for provoking the Amalekites (1Sa 27:8-9), who had thus avenged themselves.

To add to his grief, David knew that his own folly had brought down upon him this sore chastisement of the Lord.

And David was greatly distressed. He had cause to be so! Never before had he been called upon to drink so bitter a cup. 

What, then, was his reaction?

Did he yield to his sorrow and sink into abject despair? No!

He "encouraged himself in the LORD his God." That was where he found relief: that is the grand remedy for faint-heartedness!

David had sinned grievously-but conviction and contrition were now wrought in him. 

First, then, he took heart from the mercy of the Lord: 

God had promised His people that "if they shall confess their iniquity" and "be humbled" and "accept of the punishment of their iniquity," He would "remember" His covenant with their fathers (Lev 26:40-42).

It was on that ground he now acted: "David encouraged himself in the LORD his God"-that is, his covenant God.

I acknowledge my sin unto you…I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and you forgave the iniquity of my sin (Psalm 32:5).

However low the saint may fall, if he humbles himself before God, and confesses his sins, he may encourage himself in the divine mercy, for "the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 103:17). 

Second, he encouraged himself in God's righteousness: 

 I know, O LORD, that your judgments are right, and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me" (Psalm 119:75...and that took the sting out of it.

Third, David encouraged himself in God's goodness:

He reviewed God's favors to him in the past, and recalled how often He had delivered him from trying situations.

Fourth, he encouraged himself in God's omnipotence:

Realizing that nothing is too hard for Him, no situation hopeless unto His almighty power, assured that He was able to overrule evil unto good, and to bring a clean thing out of an unclean.

Fifth, he encouraged himself in God's promises:
 
He "hoped in God" (Psalm 119:74), counting upon Him to undertake for him.

When we are at our wit's end-we should not be at faith's end-but trust in God's sufficiency.
David had sadly departed from God-but now he turned unto Him in penitence and faith.

Nor did the Lord fail him:

Read the sequel (1Sa 30:7-8) and behold how God enabled him to overtake the Amalekites and recover "all" (1Sa 30:18-19)!

When discouraged, encourage yourself in the Lord your God!

~Arthur Pink~

Murmuring Proceeds From Pride

Men think they have deserved better; and, because they are crossed, therefore they utter discontented expressions against God.

He who is humble bears any thing from God; he knows his punishment is less than his sin, therefore says, "I will bear the indignation of the LORD" (Micah 7:9).

But pride raises discontent; and hence comes murmurings.

Murmuring is a sin that God cannot bear, "How long shall I bear with this evil congregation that murmur against me?" (Numbers 14:27).

The murmurer discovers much ingratitude; a murmuring tongue is always an unthankful tongue;

He considers not how much he is a debtor to free grace, and whatever he has is more than God owes him; he considers not that his mercies outweigh his afflictions;

There's more honey than wormwood in his cup; he considers not what God has done for him, more than such as are better than he;

He has the finest of wheat, when others feed, as Daniel, on pulse. 

The murmurer, I say, does not consider this; but, because he is crossed in some small matter, he repines against God. O ingratitude!

Israel, though they had manna from heaven, to satisfy their hunger, angel's food, yet murmured for want of quails; not content that God should supply their want, but must satisfy their lust too.

O unthankful! Israel's murmuring cost many of them their lives, "Neither murmur ye, as some of them did, and were destroyed of the destroyer" (1 Corinthians 10:10).

Their speeches were venomous, and God punished them with venomous serpents. 

~Thomas Watson~

Cleansing By Fire And Water

Numbers 31:23  Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.  

The great aim of this enactment was to render these articles ceremonially clean.

They had been in the use of the Midianites, and required cleansing, before they could be appropriated by Israel.

But the cleansing processes were to be determined by their texture. Fire for what would stand fire; water for what could not stand fire.

We must be thoroughly cleansed.

If a man will purge himself, he shall be a vessel unto honor, meet for the Master's use.

Not clever- ness, but cleanliness, is the prime condition of service.

Jesus will not put throne-water into impure and polluted receptacles.

What fellow- ship hath Christ with Belial?

We shall not be passed through fire, unless we can stand it. Our faith is too precious to God to be exposed to risk.

He will not let us be tempted beyond what we are able, lest we be dis- couraged, and make shipwreck.

If, then, you are called at this time to pass through an unusually searching ordeal, be sure that your Heavenly Father knows that you can endure it.

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

We must go through water, if not through fire. The law provided also that "all that abideth not the fire, ye shall make go through the water." 

The one is negative, the other positive; the first appertains to John the Baptist, the second to the Holy Spirit.

The latter is the best; but be thankful, if you cannot endure it, that there is a discipline more tempered and gentle, which will yet render you meet for the handling of the Holy Saviour.

~F. B. Meyer~

The Need And Value of Suffering

 

Let it be settled with us once for all that the sufferings of Christ are an absolute necessity.

I am going to say a very strong thing, and it is this...that if you know nothing about the sufferings of Christ, there is something wrong with you as a Christian.

I am not, of course, speaking of such as have only just entered upon the Christian life, though suffering is sometimes encountered right from the first.

But obedience and faithfulness soon lead to the experience of some form of Christ’s sufferings.

If you are avoiding those sufferings, if you are rebelling against them, you are taking an entirely wrong line.

They are the true lot of children of GOD. I do not say that you will each have them in the same measure or of the same kind, but you will have them.

Ask the LORD if your bad times may not, after all, fit into this. 

You have been thinking of them merely as circumstances, as disappointments, working out to your misfortune, your disadvantage.

But wait; see whether these are not, after all, bound up with your spiritual life, whether they do not bear a relationship to your spiritual growth.

Interrogate yourself, examine this question.

Sufferings are necessary for several things; first of all, to keep things real, practical and up-to-date.

The Lord is not going to allow any one of us to live upon a past, upon a theory, upon a tradition, upon a doctrine as a doctrine. 

He will allow us to live only on what is real and practical and up-to-date, and, being made as we are, we do not so live unless we are made to.

If I know even a little about the LORD and the LORD'S things, I can tell you perfectly frankly it is because of suffering.

I could not and would not have learned unless the LORD had made me learn, and taught me in a very deep and practical school where things were kept right up-to-date, and where every bit of ministry sprang out of some new experience.

It is a law which applies to us all.

The fact is that these sufferings are absolutely essential to keep things real; people have a right to ask, ‘How did you get to know that?

Have you proved that?

How much has that been to you in the deepest hours of life, when things were beyond your power?

Did that prove to be true then?

If we are not able to say with all our heart in utter sincerity, ‘I found the LORD to be like that; I have put that truth to a thorough test and proved it’, then we are frauds.

The LORD has no place for frauds; therefore He keeps us up-to-date.

Reality is by suffering.

~T. Austin Sparks~

Dealing With the Past

Matthew 9:28  And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

GOD deals with impossibilities.

It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if GOD is to be glorified.

If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for GOD to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust.

It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past.

GOD can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands.

Not because of what we are but because of what He is.

GOD forgives and heals and restores. He is "the God of all grace."

Let us praise Him and trust Him.

~Sunday School Times~

Nothing is too hard for Jesus No man can work like Him.

We have a GOD who delights in impossibilities. Nothing too hard for Me.

~Andrew Murray~

How To Wait

Dan 12:12  Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
 
It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching.

Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still.

There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take.

Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption?

No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.

Wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come, and shall not tarry.

Wait in quiet patience. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses.

Accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done.

I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities; but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes.

I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower.

 ~Morning by Morning~

Wait patiently wait, God never is late; Thy budding plans are in Thy Father's holding, And only wait His grand divine unfolding.

Then wait, wait, Patiently wait. Trust, hopefully trust, That God will adjust Thy tangled life; and from its dark concealings, Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings.

Then trust, trust, Hopefully trust. Rest, peacefully rest On thy Saviour's breast; Breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition, And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.
 
Then rest, rest, Peacefully rest!
 
~Mercy A. Gladwin~

We May Speak for GOD

Jer 15:19  Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
 
Poor Jeremiah! Yet why do we say so? The weeping prophet was one of the choicest servants of God and honored by Him above many.

He was hated for speaking the truth.

The word which was so sweet to him was bitter to his hearers, yet he was accepted of his LORD.

He was commanded to abide in his faithfulness, and then the LORD would continue to speak through him.

He was to deal boldly and truthfully with men and perform the LORD's winnowing work upon the professors of his day, and then the LORD gave him this word: "Thou shalt be as my mouth."

What an honor! Should not every preacher, yea, every believer, covet it?

For God to speak by us, what a marvel!

We shall speak sure, pure truth; and we shall speak it with power.

Our word shall not return void; it shall be a blessing to those who receive it, and those who refuse it shall do so at their peril.

Our lips shall feed many. We shall arouse the sleeping and call the dead to life.

O dear reader, pray that it may be so with all the sent servants of our LORD. 

~Charles Spurgeon~

No Need To Stint

The book of Proverbs is also a book of promises. Promises ought to be proverbs among the people of God. This is a very remarkable one.

We are accustomed to think of our good things as in reversion, but here we are told that we shall have them in possession.

Not all the malice and cunning of our enemies can work our destruction: they shall fall into the pit which they have digged.

Our inheritance is so entailed upon us that we shall not be kept out of it, nor so turned out of the way as to miss it.

But what have we now?

We have a quiet conscience through the precious blood of Jesus. 

We have the love of God set upon us beyond all change.

We have power with God in prayer in all time of need.

We have the providence of God to watch over us, the angels of God to minister to us, and, above all, the Spirit of God to dwell in us.

In fact, all things are ours. "Whether things present or things to come: all are yours." Jesus is ours. 

Yea, the divine Trinity in unity is ours. Hallelujah.

Let us not pine and whine and stint and slave, since we have good things in possession.

Let us live on our God and rejoice in Him all the day. Help us, 0 Holy Ghost

~Charles Spurgeon~

Why Does GOD Test Us?

Psa 35:3  Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

To keep water sweet, it must be perpetually running; and to keep the life of God up in the soul, there must be continual exercises.

This is the reason why the Lord's people have so many conflicts, trials, painful exercises, sharp sorrows, and deep temptations, to keep them alive unto God; to bring them out of, and to keep them out of that slothful, sluggish, wretched state of carnal security and dead assurance in which so many seem to have fallen asleep--fallen asleep like the sailor upon the top of the mast, not knowing what a fearful gulf is boiling up below.

The Lord, therefore, "trieth the righteous.

He will not suffer his people to be at ease in Zion; to be settled on their lees, and get into a wretched Moabitish state.

He therefore sends afflictions upon them, tribulations, and trials, and allows Satan to tempt and harass them.

And under these feelings the blessed Spirit, from time to time, raises up in them this sigh and cry, Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.

None but thyself, Lord, can save me; nothing short of thy voice can whisper peace to my conscience; nothing short of thy blood can speak away guilt from lying as a heavy burden upon my heart; nothing short of thy love shed abroad by the Holy Ghost can make my soul happy in thyself.

~J. C. Philpot~