GCC Women's study ~ Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7 ~ Holiness and Obedience

Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7 ~ Holiness (A heart like His) and Obedience (The acid test of love)

Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 02/28/2011 - 9:34pm SH011

Seeking Him: Lessons 6 & 7

HOLINESS: A Heart Like His
"...Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14

We have 2 kinds of holiness: Positional and Personal (or "practical")
Positional ~ purchased by God through Christ, imparted to the believer so that his/her faith is "reckoned" as God's righteousness ~ SECURED and so "already" ours
Personal ~ the outworking of the holiness God has reckoned to us as believers ~ evidenced in the way we think and live ~ progressive and increasing as we are made more and more like Christ (conformed to his likeness) ~ effected because God has given us his holy Spirit who empowers us to choose righteousness ~ will be fully realized when we are Glorified (we will be like him for we will see him as he is!)

Imagery: Getting ready for the wedding!
How ridiculous, a bride who would forget her wedding day, showing up disheveled and astonished!
In Ephesians 5:25-27, we see that what Jesus was purchasing FOR the church, his Bride (namely, her holiness), he also accomplishes IN her, "that he might sanctify her [make her holy], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish."

So we, the bride, by means of God's grace, and by the power of God's spirit in us, also make ourselves ready. "Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:13-16

This is a transformation that takes place from the INSIDE OUT ~ unlike Jesus' cursing of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 who were clean in their outward appearance like whitewashed tombs, but inside were "full of dead men's bones"! "...God doesn't look on the face of things; he looks at our hearts. He doesn't just glance at our hearts; he searches them." ~NLD

*Suggested assignment: Take some blank paper - in a journal or notebook, or just plain paper, and write out the verses for the "top ten" items in the day 5 inventory list, just 10 or so of the 65 items listed that the Lord brought to your particular attention as areas of your own "personal holiness" for which he is bringing conviction. And ask the Lord to impress these areas in your heart and life so that you might walk faithfully in them.

(ended classtime reading from the end of Revelation, how the Bride appears before God without any blemish, having made herself ready ~ and how our heavenly Groom is revealed in his Glory ~ even so come quickly, Lord!)

OBEDIENCE: The Acid Test of Love
"If you love me, you will keep my commandments." John 14:15

Obedience is the pathway to personal holiness ~ it is the means by which God guards us, effect his BEST for us. (It is not as though God is desiring mere "do's and don'ts," but rather because of his love FOR us, he desires obedience FROM us because his commands are not wearisome or hardships, but rather are his means for blessing us, enabling us to walk his BEST path for our lives.

His love is the basis of his self-revelation - his commands are for our Good! And when we obey out of love for HIM, we walk in greater intimacy WITH him. (Put another way, our obedience doesn't EARN God's favor, it springs forth FROM it!)

portion from a letter penned by John Newton (author of hymn, "Amazing Grace") in which he compares the Believer in his "Scripture-character" state versus his state "from experience," [clarifying comments in brackets].

"To hear a believer speak his apprehensions of the evil of sin, the vanity of the world, the love of Christ, the beauty of holiness, or the importance of eternity, who would not suppose him proof against temptation? [how could such a person, with such a right view of things, fail to walk in obedience?] To hear with what strong arguments he can recommend his watchfulness, prayer, forbearance, and submission when he is teaching or advising others, who would not suppose but he could also teach himself, and influence his own conduct? [clearly, such a one must "have it all together!" when it comes to their own walk with God?] Yet, alas!...The person who rose from his knees, before he left his chamber, a poor indigent, fallible, dependent creature, who saw and acknowledged that he was unworthy to breather the air or to see the light, may meet with many occasions, before the day is closed, to discover the corruptions of his heart, and to show how weak and faint his best principles and clearest convictions are in their actual exercise. And in this view, how vain is man! what a contradiction is a believer to himself! He is a believer emphatically, because he cordially assents to the word of God; but, alas! how often unworthy of the name!

"If I was to describe him from the Scripture-character, I should say, he is one whose heart is athirst for God, for His glory, His image, His presence; his affections are fixed upon an unseen Savior: his treasures, and consequently his thoughts, are on high, beyond the bounds of sense. Having experienced much forgiveness, he is full of bowels of mercy to all around; and having been often deceived by his own heart, he dares trust it no more, but alive by faith in the Son of God, for wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and derives from Him grace for grace; sensible [aware of the fact] that without Him he has not sufficiency even to think a good thought. In short, he is dead to the world, to sin, to self, but alive to God, and lively in His service. Prayer is his breath, the word of God his food, and the ordinances [God's righteous commandments!] more precious to him than the light of the sun. Such is a believer -- in his judgment and prevailing desires.

"But was I to describe him from experience, especially at some times, how different would the picture be! Though he knows that communion with God is his highest privilege, he too seldom finds it so; on the contrary, if duty, conscience, and necessity did not compel, he would leave the throne of grace unvisited from day to day. He takes up the Bible, conscious that it is the fountain of life and true comfort; yet, perhaps, while he is making the reflection, he feels a secret distaste which prompts him to lay it down, and give his preference to a newspaper. He needs not to be told of the vanity and uncertainty of all beneath the sun [surely he knows very well that the things of this earthly life are fleeting and temporary!]; and yet [he] is almost as much elated or cast down by a trifle, as those who have their portion in this world. He believes that all things shall work together for his good, and that the most high God appoints, adjusts, and over-rules all his concerns; yet he feels the risings of fear, anxiety, and displeasure, as though the contrary [opposite] was true. [!!] He owns [admits] himself ignorant, and liable to be deceived by a thousand fallacies [false arguments]; yet is easily betrayed into positiveness [assurance!] and self-conceit. He feels himself an unprofitable, unfaithful, unthankful servant, and therefore blushes to harbor a thought of desiring the esteem [praise] and commendations of men, yet he cannot suppress it. Finally, for I must observe some bounds, on account of these and many other inconsistencies, he is struck dumb before the Lord, stripped of every hope and plea, but [except] what is provided in the free grace of God, and yet his heart is continually leaning and returning to a covenant of works....

[How then will we be victorious? How can we walk in obedience rather than being forever undercut by our own failings?]

"...I think it safe to use Scriptural language -- The apostles exhort us to give all diligence to resist the devil, to purge ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, to give ourselves to reading, meditation, and prayer, to watch, to put on the whole armour of God, and to abstain from all appearance of evil. Faithfulness to light received, and a sincere endeavor to conform to the means prescribed in the word of God, with a humble application to the blood of sprinkling, and the promised Spirit, will undoubtedly be answered by increasing measure of light, faith, strength, and comfort; and we shall know [for in the end we will certainly see him as he is], if we follow on to know the Lord [don't give up! it is he who endures to the end who shall be saved!] ...."

God concerns himself with every detail (consider our study of Exodus 25 and 39-40) ~ And just as when Israel under Moses' leadership built the tabernacle of God according to ALL that the Lord had commanded Moses, and God's glory filled the tabernacle, so our obedience is inextricably linked to walking in intimacy with him.

Video summary: God is God - he has the right to tell us what to do. All nature obeys his commands, evil spirits even must obey his commands. But God gives us the opportunity to obey from "freedom," because God wants lovers. God's commands are always for our good, that it may go well with you - as he says repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. Obedience is a means of our protection, our joy, God's working his best in and for our lives. Disobedience is the pathway of conflict; we want the blessing, but we don't want to obey. Like with illustration from life of Helen Keller, God teaches us to obey him as the means of impressing our hearts with the reality of his goodness and love.

"Seeking Him" - Lesson One: Revival (What is it and Who needs it?)

"Seeking Him" - Lesson One: Revival (What is it and Who needs it?)
Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 01/17/2011 - 9:24pm RevivalSH011Sovereignty

LESSON ONE

Key Verse(s): Hosea 10:12-13
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness; You have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, Because you trusted in your own way, In the multitude of your mighty men."

The bulk of our discussion, last week, as we reviewed our study time in lesson one, focused on the questions laid out on pages 16-17 in our book. Based on that discussion, these were some of the main themes we discovered and/or traced throughout:


•Revival is for the BELIEVER ~ We must first have life from God to be able to experience life afresh. This isn't to say that the Lord doesn't newly save individuals in the context of, for example, a "revival meeting," but rather it is to emphasize that "Revival" is not some external activity or event (or something we ourselves can "drum up"). Rather, it is description of a work that takes place from within, and can only be brought about by God, who in Christ Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith.
•Revival is God's gift for his children, to give grace so that we have both the desire and the power to return to him. It's ultimately about our intimacy with our heavenly Father, and how that intimacy changes us from the inside out.
•As Nancy pointed out in the video segment of our study, the first step in the process is to "break up the fallow ground" ~ For us to have hearts that are soft and made ready to receive the good seed so that we may yield a harvest of righteouness, we must first have hearts that have been broken, tilled, plowed. And the plow needs to dig DEEP so that the soft soil underneath can be turned up, and the hard soil on the top can be broken up and made soft. It was by means of this analogy that Nancy warned us that these first few weeks of this study will be the most difficult, perhaps the most painful part. The Lord will begin exposing the soft undersides of our heart, and we will no doubt be disgusted by what he finds there. It makes us unconfortable, but we must be willing to submit to the process if we want to experience revival ~ Lord, we want you to search us and know us and see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting. (see prayer at end of Ps. 139)
•One of the tools in our lesson, this first week, was a kind of heart "inventory" we took on day 5 ~ examining our own hearts, looking at our lives in light of Scripture, being honest about whatever sin we might be seeing there. Several of us found this very helpful!
•Questions 4 and 5 on pages 16-17 were especially revealing. Both touched on the issue of what other things - often even GOOD things! - in our lives to we hold on to for security, or do we turn to in place of God? And as we discussed, we are quick to depend on our money, our health, our intelligence, our family relationships or friendships, or any number of other GOOD things that can very easily become idols of our hearts. We cling tightly to our expectations (demands?)!, rather than "holding all things," as Pastor Krogh has said, "with an open hand." We become distracted from loving the Lord, deceived even by our own hearts, so we go about "trusting in our own way" rather than fully following after the Lord.
•It was a point of conviction - in keeping with the hard and painful work of "plowing" our hearts - but there is a sweetness to it! We must remember that it is the KINDNESS of the Lord that leads us to repentance! It is for our GOOD that the Lord exposes the uglinesses of our hearts to ourselves, so that these sinful motives, these sinful desires, these self-preserving actions can be seen for how ugly they really are - and WHY are they ugly? Because they keep up from the love of our Father, they keep us from living righteous lives as God desires - and God's desire FOR us in this regard is not only for his glory, but for our JOY.
•Let us keep that JOY before our eyes, even as we humble ourselves to the Spirit's examination of our hearts! Let us, like King Josiah (see "going deeper" corner on p. 1, and text in 2 Kings 22:8-13, 18-20), weep over our sin, to the degree that we would "rend our garments" in mourning over how we have failed to obey the word of the Lord. And let us truly invite the Lord's life-giving work, trusting that he is GOOD, and that he changes us from the inside out because of his great LOVE for us.


Book Recommendation: "The Valley of Vision" compiled/edited by Arthur Bennett

This is a collection of prayers from several writings from many "Puritan" Christians from the past several hundred years. This collection has been SUCH a blessing in my own life, and as I said in class, if I could own only one other book besides the Bible, it would probably be this book.

Like nothing else I've read, I feel this book has taught and is still teaching me how to pray, and the poetic phrases - aside from just being beautiful and worshipful in their expression - contain some of the richest theological truths that in themselves are teachers. These heart-felt prayers encourage us to give our all, and to willingly invite the Lord to do the work that only he can....


This next Wednesday, we will start class with a time of prayer, using p. 18-19 in our book as a guideline.

~Leah

A Holy Ambition! ~ Being MOST Blameless and Upright

Today's "Grace Gem"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
There is no one on earth like him!

(Joseph Caryl, "Practical Observations on the Book of Job")

"Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him! He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Job 1:8

We ought not to be satisfied with low degrees of grace; or content ourselves to be like others in grace. We should labor (if it is possible) to go beyond all others in grace. It did not satisfy Job that he had gotten to such a degree, to such a frame and temper of heart, to such a course of holiness--as his neighbors or brethren had attained unto; but he labored to go beyond them all, "There is no one on earth like him!"

It is a holy ambition--to labor to exceed all others in grace and godliness.

We have a great many in the world who desire to be so rich--as none should be like them; to be so luxurious in their apparel--as none should be like them; or to be so beautiful--as none should be like them. But where are those who desire and endeavor to have such a portion or stock of grace--that none should be like them; to be above others in holiness--as Job was?

True grace never rests in any degrees or measures of grace--but labors to increase. He who has any grace--always desires to have more grace. Do not think it enough when you are like others in holiness--you ought to labor to be beyond others!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~


For more like the above - visit www.gracegems.org!

WE are God's JEWELS!

Submitted by Leah Page on Mon, 11/23/2009 - 11:16am

THE JEWELS OF GOD
(John MacDuff, "The Night Watches")
"And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels!" Malachi 3:17

"MY JEWELS!" (margin, My special treasure!)

Of what favored creatures does Jehovah thus speak?
Is it of seraphs?
Is it of angels?
Methinks, at such a title, even they would take
the dust of abasement, and veiling their faces,
cry, "Unclean! unclean!"

But, marvel of marvels! It is redeemed sinners
of the earth; the fallen children of men; once rude,
unshapely stones, lying in "the horrible pit and the
miry clay," amid the rubbish of corruption, who are
thus sought out by grace, purchased by love, and
destined through eternity to be set as jewels
in the crown of the eternal Savior!

A jewel in Immanuel's crown!

Not only raised from the ash heap to be set among
princes; but to gem through eternity the Forehead
that for me was once wreathed with thorns!

"And they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in
that day when I make up my jewels!" Malachi 3:17

Mortifying Darling Sins (Thomas Brooks)

~Mortifying Darling Sins~ (grace gem shared last night)
Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 11/05/2009 - 3:32pm

The best means to mortify sin

(Thomas Brooks, "The Crown and Glory of Christianity,or, HOLINESS, the Only Way to Happiness", 1662)

"Therefore, put to death whatever in you is worldly: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry." Colossians 3:5

While a darling sin lives and keeps the throne in the heart, grace and holiness will be kept exceeding weak and low. But when your darling sin is dethroned and slain by the power and the sword of the Spirit—grace and holiness will quickly grow stronger and stronger, and rise higher and higher.

When a man has eaten poison, nothing will make him thrive, until he has vomited up the poison. Beloved sins—they are the poison of the soul, and until these are vomited up, and cast out by sound repentance, and the exercise of faith in the
blood of Christ, the soul will never thrive in grace and holiness!

If ever you would attain to higher degrees of holiness, then fall with all your might, upon subduing and crucifying your most raging corruptions, and your most daring lusts!

Oh do not think that your golden and your silver idols will lay down their weapons, and yield the battle, and lie at your feet, and let you trample them to death—without striking a blow! Oh remember that besetting-sins will do all they can to keep their ground, and therefore you must arise with all your strength against them, and crush them to powder, and burn them to ashes!

Oh deal with your most enraged lusts, as the Philistines dealt with Samson—pluck out their eyes, and force them to grind in the mill of mortification, until their strength is utterly consumed and wasted.

I have read of five men, who being asked what was the best means to mortify sin, gave these answers. Said the first, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on death."

Said the second, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the judgment-day."

Said the third, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the joys of heaven."

Said the fourth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the torments of hell."

Said the fifth, "The best means to mortify sin, is to meditate on the death and sufferings of Christ."

Doubtless the last man hit the nail on the head!

The daily sight of a bleeding, groaning, dying Savior—is the only thing which will subdue and mortify darling sins!

O friends! Never leave looking up to a crucified Christ, until virtue flows from Him to the crucifying of those special besetting sins which do most obstruct and hinder the growth and increase of holiness.


~

It's Your Kindness that Leads Us to Repentance O Lord

~Grace Gem shared last night: "The Two Birds"~
Submitted by Leah Page on Thu, 10/29/2009 - 9:38am

The two birds

(J. R. Miller, "Finding God's Comfort" 1896)

....To correct, is to set right--that which has been wrong. Surely if a man is going in the wrong way, and God turns his feet back and sets him in the right way--a blessing has come to the man!

Afflictions are 'God's corrections'. They come always with a purpose of love in them. God never afflicts one of His children, without meaning His child's good in some way. So blessing is always intended by God. It is usually afterward that people begin to see and to understand the good that God sent them in their trial. "You do not understand what I am now doing" said Jesus, "but you shall understand hereafter." "No chastening seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." So when we have troubles and afflictions, we may know that God wants to do us good in some way through them.

...
He is not a true parent, who sees his children doing wrong, and yet fails to correct them for fear he may hurt their feelings. He ought to think of their higher good, and chasten them now--to profit them afterward.

This is the way our heavenly Father works. He never loves us better--than when He is correcting us. Therefore we ought not to despise this chastening. We ought not to murmur or complain when God does not give us our own way--but checks us, lays His afflictive hand upon us, and sends trouble upon us! We ought to have such faith in God--that we shall submit quietly, confidently, and sweetly to his will--even when it brings a heavy cross into our life.

A great many people need to pause at this line--and learn it. They do not treat God's chastening with reverence. Sometimes they are crushed by it, and refuse to look up into God's face with submission and love. Sometimes they grow bitter against God and say hard things of Him! We ought to reverence God's chastening; we ought to listen to the voice that speaks to us in our grief or pain.

The way in which God brings blessing through chastening, is emphasized: "For He wounds--but He also binds up; He strikes--but His hands also heal." Job 5:18. God never smites with both hands at once! When one hand is laid upon us in affliction--the other hand is reached out to help, to uphold, to heal.

Sometimes there is a trouble in a man's body which requires the surgeon's knife. There must be amputation, or cutting away, or cutting into. In such a case the skillful surgeon does not hesitate. He thinks far more of his patient's health for the future--than of his comfort at present. So he uses his knife--that he may cure disease, or save life. He wounds--to heal. He makes sore--that he may bind up. It is just so in all afflictions which God sends. He chastens--that He may deliver from the power of temptation. He hurts the body--that he may save the soul. He takes away earthly property--that He may give true, heavenly riches.

One writer tells of two birds and how they acted when caught and put into a cage. One, a 'starling', flew violently against the wire walls of its prison, in unavailing efforts to escape--only battering and bruising its own wings. The other bird, a 'canary', perched itself on the bar and began to pour forth bursts of sweet song, from its little throat. We know which bird was the wiser and happier.

Some people are like the starling--when they are in any trouble, they chafe and fret and complain and give way to wretchedness! The result is, they only hurt themselves, make themselves more miserable, and do not in any sense lessen their trouble. It is wiser always, as well as more pleasing to God, for us to bear our trials patiently, singing songs of faith and love--rather than crying out in rebellion and discontent.

Job wanted to get near to God in his great trouble; he cried, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him!" He felt sure that that would be the best and safest place for him to be. We ought not to lose this lesson. When trouble is upon us--the true thing for us to do, is to flee to God! Some people, in their affliction and sorrow--flee away from God. Thus they lose their joy and peace, missing the comfort which they would get if only they kept near to Him. The right way to respond, is to try to find the way to God's very presence. He is the only safe refuge, when the storms of trouble break upon us. The first thing always, in any time of trouble--is to find God and hide away in His bosom, as a child runs to the mother in alarm, or as the little bird flies to its nest. To find God--is to be safe!

God is our truest and best friend! He is our Father--we need never fear to go to Him. He gives heed unto our cries. He loves us. All His omnipotence is on our side. No mother's heart was ever so full of love for her child--as is the heart of God for us, His children!


~ ~ ~ ~ ~


I received this as yesterday's "Grace Gem" from the website www.gracegems.org, and it was so timely to our study! I pray the Lord would make me (and us) able to "turn back to praise" whatever we receive from his hand, recognizing even afflictions as his GOOD GIFTS, as the fire that ignites a fragrant offering to our God.
~L

Groups: Women of Grace

Today's Grace Gem - Zeal Blended w/Humility

*OH how I need to take note of this one:

Those mistakes, blemishes and faults in others
(Letters of John Newton)

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." Romans 15:7

The Christian, especially he who is advanced and established in the life of faith, has a fervent zeal for God--for the honor of His Name, His Word and His Gospel. The honest warmth of zeal which he feels, when God's Word is broken, His Gospel is despised, and when the great and glorious Name of the Lord his God is profaned, would, by the occasion of his infirmities, often degenerate into anger or contempt towards those who error--

--if he was under the influence of zeal alone.

But his zeal is blended with benevolence and humility; it is softened by a consciousness of his own frailty and fallibility.

He is aware, that his knowledge is very limited in itself, and very faint in its transforming power in his own life; that his attainments are weak and few, compared with his deficiencies; that his gratitude is very disproportionate to his obligations; and that his obedience is unspeakably short of conformity to his prescribed rule; that he has nothing but what he has received, and has received nothing but what, in a greater or less degree, he has either misapplied or misimproved. He is, therefore, a debtor to the mercy of God--and lives upon His multiplied forgiveness.

The Christian also makes the gracious conduct of the Lord towards himself--a pattern for his own conduct towards his fellow-worms. He cannot boast of himself--nor is he anxious to censure others. He considers himself, lest he also fall. And thus he learns tenderness and compassion to others, and to bear patiently with those mistakes, blemishes and faults in others--which once belonged to his own character; and from which, as yet, he is but imperfectly freed.

...Knowing that the Gospel is the wisdom and power of God, and the only possible means by which fallen man can obtain peace with God--he most cordially embraces and avows it. Far from being ashamed of it--he esteems it his glory. He preaches Christ Jesus, and Him crucified. He disdains the thought of distorting, disguising, or softening the great doctrines of the grace of God, to render them more palatable to the depraved taste of the times (2 Corinthians 4:2). And he will no more encounter the errors and corrupt maxims and practices of the world, with any weapon but the truth as it is in Jesus--than he would venture to fight an enraged tiger with a paper sword!

~ ~ ~ ~

Today's Grace Gem - "humbled into the dust before God"

Stripped of his peacock feathers

(Arthur Pink, "Unworthiness" 1940)

GRACE is favor shown to the undeserving and ill-deserving.

When Divine grace bestows salvation upon the ill-deserving, it makes them conscious of the infinite favor that has been shown them. Fallen man is naturally proud, self-complacent, and self-righteous.

But wherever the miracle of regenerating grace is wrought--all this is reversed. Its subject is stripped of his peacock feathers, made poor in spirit, and humbled into the dust before God. He is made painfully aware of the loathsome plague of his heart, given a sight of his vileness in the light of God's holiness, and brought to realize that he is a spiritual pauper, dependent upon Divine charity. He now readily acknowledges that he is a Hell-deserving sinner.

"I am not worthy of the least of all Your mercies and unfailing love, which You have shown to me, Your servant" (Genesis 32:10). This is the confession made by all who are the recipients of the saving grace of God. Whenever a miracle of saving grace is wrought in the heart--pride is subdued, self is effaced, and a sense of ill-desert takes possession of the heart.

One of the elements of great faith--is deep humility. "For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not worthy to be called an Apostle" (1 Cor. 15:9). "I am less than the least of all saints" (Eph. 3:8). What complete self-abasement! The most eminent Christians--are always the most lowly ones; those most honored in Christ's service--are deeply conscious of their unprofitableness.

Not without His Guardianship!

Has his word of promise ever proved false?!

...Amid so much that is fleeting here, how the heart clings to this assurance of the abiding presence of the Savior! Our best earthly friends—a few weeks may estrange them—but centuries have rolled on—Christ is still the same. How blessed to think that if I am indeed a child of God, there is not the lonely instant I am without His guardianship!

When the beams of the morning visit my chamber, the brighter beams of a brighter Sun are shining upon me. When the shadows of evening are gathering around, "it is not night, if He, the unsetting 'Sun of my soul,' is near." His is no fitful companionship—present in prosperity, gone in adversity.

He never changes. He is always the same—in sickness and solitude, in joy and in sorrow, in life and in death. Not more faithfully did the pillar-cloud and column of fire of old precede Israel, until the last murmuring ripple of Jordan fell on their ears on the shores of Canaan, than does the presence and love of Jesus abide with His people.

Has His word of promise ever proved false? Let the great cloud of witnesses now in glory testify. "Not one thing has failed of all that the Lord our God has spoken." This "word of the Lord is tried!"—"having loved His own, which were in the world, He loved them unto the end."

(John MacDuff, from "The Words of Jesus" (see also previous post))

Unfoldings of His faithfulness & mercy

The Sonful Servitude

...Can you say with a joyful heart, "O Lord, truly I am Your servant?" He is no hard taskmaster. Would Satan try to teach you so? Let this be the refutation, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me." True, the yoke is the appointed discipline He employs in training his children for immortality. But be comforted! "It is His tender hand that puts it on, and keeps it on." He will suit the yoke to the neck, and the neck to the yoke. He will suit His grace to your trials. No, He will bring you even to be in love with these, when they bring along with them such gracious unfoldings of His own faithfulness and mercy.

How His people need thus to be in heaviness through manifold temptations, to keep them meek and submissive! ... Never is there more gracious love than when God takes own means to curb and subjugate, humble us, and to prove us—bringing us out from ourselves, our likings, our confidences, our prosperity, and putting us under the needed YOKE.

And who has ever repented of that joyful servitude? Among all the regrets that mingle with a dying hour, and often bedew with bitter tears a dying pillow, who ever told of regrets and repentance here?

...There is a promised rest in the very carrying of the yoke; and a better rest remains for the weary and toil-worn when the appointed work is finished; for thus says "that same Jesus,"

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and you shall find REST unto your souls."


(John MacDuff, from "The Words of Jesus")

All that I can Possibly Want!

All that I can possibly want!
(Octavius Winslow, "The Witness of the Spirit")

"From the fullness of His grace--we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16

Child of God, all that can possibly want is treasured up in Christ! You have . . . no cross--but Christ can bear it, no sorrow--but Christ can alleviate it, no corruption--but Christ can subdue it, no guilt--but Christ can remove it, no sin--but Christ can pardon it, no need--but Christ can supply it!

Lift up your heads, you who are poor, needy and disconsolate! Lift up your heads, and rejoice that Christ is ALL to you! All you need in this valley of tears. All you will need in the deepest sorrow. All you need under the heaviest affliction. All you need in sickness. All you will need in the hour of death. All you will need in the day of judgment.

Indeed, Christ is IN ALL too. He is in all your salvation. He is in all your mercies. He is in all your trials. He is in all your consolations. He is in all your afflictions.

What more can you want? What more do you desire? A Father who loves you as the apple of His eye! A full Savior to whom to go, moment by moment!

"Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence--so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16



**Oh my God - today though I am well acquainted with my own shortcomings and my griefs, the loss of that which I desire, the prospect of enduring the suffering of this loss for some long time, how merciful that you have given me a fresh glimpse of my Christ through something so simple as a word from this brother who has long been in your presence, now, realizing the fullness of the things of which he tasted while he walked with you below. How merciful - this reminder of the transient nature of this life - and the recollection that ALL we experience here, whether for our immediate happiness or to our sorrow, all are nevertheless to our greater joy because all are for YOUR greater glory and according to your unsearchable wisdom! Please cause me to abide in Christ, in his love, throughout today - so that any sorrow may seem SO small because it IS indeed so small - you have given me MUCH for which I can rejoice, and I need your grace to train me so that I may in truth "turn back to praise" ANYTHING that I receive from your hand, so that I may "give thanks in all circumstances," and again I say, "rejoice in the Lord always." My precious Lord and Savior, let me drink deeply from YOUR goodness and be satisfied.**

We love to hear that voice....

**Are you a favored child of God?**

"... We are not afraid, for we hear our Father’s voice. And what favored child ever quaked at his Father’s speech. We love to hear that voice; although it is deep, bass, sonorous—yet we love its matchless melody, for it issues from the depths of affection. Put me to sea, and let the ship be driven along—that wind is my Father’s breath! Let the clouds gather—they are the dust of my Father’s feet! Let the waterspout appear from heaven—it is my Father dipping his hand in the laver of his earthly temple. The child of God fears nothing. All things are his Father’s! And divested now of everything that is terrible, he can look upon them with delight, for he says, "The clouds are the dust of his feet."

'He drives his chariot through the sky,

Beneath his feet his thunders roar;

He shakes the earth, he veils the sky,

My soul, my soul, this God adore—

He is your Father, and your love.'

Fall down before his feet and worship him, for he has loved you by his grace. You know there are many fearful events which may befall us; but we are never afraid of them, if we are believers, because they are the dust of his feet! Pestilence may ravage this fair city once again; the thousands may fall, and the funeral march be constantly seen in our streets. Do we fear it? No! The pestilence is but one of our Father’s servants, and we are not afraid of it, although it walks in darkness. There may be no wheat, the flocks may be cut off from the herd and the stall; nevertheless, famine and distress are our Father’s doings—and what our Father does we will not view with alarm. There is a man there with a sword in his hand—he is an enemy, and I fear him! But my father has a sword, and I fear him not; I rather love to see him have a sword, because I know he will only use it for my protection...."

(C. H. Spurgeon, August 19, 1855 - "What are the Clouds?")


**Are you a favored child of God? How can you know? How can you be sure? If you do not know, or fear that you cannot know, please comment on my post and I will be humbly glad to share with you how you can have assurance of God's grace in Christ Jesus.**

Beloved, there is comfort....

"... Consider, that the greatest things with man, are little things with God. We call the mountains great, but what are they? They are but 'the small dust of the balance.' We call the nations great, and we speak of mighty empires, but the nations before him are but as 'a drop in the bucket.' We call the islands great and talk of England boastingly—yet God’s Word declares that 'He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.' We speak of great men and of mighty—yet 'the inhabitants of the earth in his sight are but as grasshoppers.' We talk of ponderous orbs moving millions of miles from us—yet in God’s sight they are but little atoms dancing up and down in the sunbeam of existence!....

... You often will hear two Christians talk. One of them will say, 'O my troubles, and trials, and sorrows—they are so great I can hardly sustain them! I do not know how to bear my afflictions from day to day.' The other says, 'Ah! my troubles and trials are not less severe, but, nevertheless, they have been less than nothing. I could laugh at impossibilities, and say they shall be done.' What is the reason of the difference between these men? The secret is, that one of them carried his troubles, and the other did not. It does not matter to a porter how heavy a load may be, if he can find another to carry it all for him. But if he is to carry it all himself, of course he does not like a heavy load. So one man bears his troubles himself and gets his back nearly broken; but the other cast his troubles on the Lord.

Ah! it does not matter how heavy troubles are—if you can cast them on the Lord. The heavier they are so much the better, for the more you have got rid of, and the more there is laid upon the Rock. Never be afraid of troubles. However heavy they are, God’s eternal shoulders can bear them. He, whose omnipotence is verified by upholding revolving planets, and systems of enormous worlds—can well sustain you! Is his arm shortened, that he cannot save? Or is he weary, that he cannot uphold you? Your troubles are nothing to God, for the very 'clouds are the dust of his feet'.....

...Beloved, there is comfort, 'for the clouds are the dust of his feet.' He can scatter them in a moment. He can raise up his chosen servants, who have only to put their mouth to the trumpet, and one blast shall awaken the sleeping sentinels, and startle the sleeping camp. God has only to send out again some evangelist, some flying angel, and the churches shall wake up once more, and she who has been clothed in sackcloth, shall doff her garments of mourning and put on a garment of praise, instead of the spirit of heaviness. The day is coming, I hope, when Zion shall sit, not without her diadem, crownless; but with her crown on her head, she shall grasp her banner, take her shield, and, like that heroic maiden of old who roused a whole nation, shall go forth conquering and to conquer. We hope thus much, because 'the clouds are the dust of his feet.'.... "

(C. H. Spurgeon, August 19, 1855 - "What are the Clouds?")

**Does the fact that God can scatter the clouds in a moment bring you comfort or fear? Or are you indifferent to his power and authority? How can you be considered by God to be among his "Beloved" so that you might take COMFORT from that character of God which might otherwise inspire FEAR? Be comforted, or be afraid and SEEK comfort - but, I beg of you, please do NOT be indifferent....**

May I be Entirely Yours

"Reign, blessed Jesus, in my heart—reign supreme, and without a rival. I would sincerely love You above all things in heaven or earth. I see that You are infinitely glorious in Yourself, and worthy of my highest esteem and love. You are the only all-sufficient good—the overflowing spring of grace and blessedness. All things beneath and besides you—are vanity and emptiness. In comparison with you, they are less than nothing. You have drawn my heart towards Yourself, and made me willing to make choice of You, as my Savior, and my Portion. I would renounce all that the world calls good or great—that I may be entirely Yours. Be my everlasting inheritance, and I shall desire nothing that the whole world can bestow. Whom have I in heaven but You? There is nothing on earth that I desire in comparison of You! What can the present world afford—to tempt me to relinquish You? I would therefore bid 'adieu' to the gaudy pomps and empty vanities of life—and give my heart supremely to You. O may all the alluring trifles and vain delights of this world stand aloof from my heart—for I have devoted it to my Redeemer for His habitation. Keep your distance, O captivating delusions, from the gates of my heart, where You alone should dwell. There may You reign alone, over all my desires forever!"

(John Fawcett, "Christ Precious")