Discouragement - 11:33, Friday, June 19, 2009

" Pay as little attention to discouragement as possible.  Plow ahead like a steamship, which moves forward whether facing rough or smooth seas, and in rain or shine.  Remember, the goal is simply to carry the cargo and to make it to port. "   

Maltbie D. Babock

Answers to prayers - 11:31, Tuesday, June 16, 2009

 " Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, they also give us opportunities to honor God through our steadfast confidence in Him even when facing the apparent denial of our request. "

-- Charles H. Spurgeon

Sanctification - what does it take? - 01:21, Thursday, June 11, 2009

" When God finally  conquers us and changes our unyielding nature, we receive deep insights into the Spirit of Jesus.  Then, as never before we see His extordinary gentleness of Spirit at work in this dark and unheavenly world.  Yet the gifts of the fruit of the Spirit ( Gal 5:22) do not automaticaly become evident in our lives.  If we are not discerning enough to recognize their availability to us, to desire them, and then nourish them into our thoughts, they will never bcome embedded into our nature or behavior.  Every further step of spiritual growth in God's grace must be preceded by acknowledging our lack of godly attribute and then by exhibiting a prayerful determination to obtain it.

   However, very few Christians are willing to endure the suffering through which complete gentleness is obtained.  We must die to ourselves before we are turned into gentleness, and our crucifixion involves suffering.  It will mean experiencing genuine brokeneness and a crushing of self, which will be used to afflict the heart and conquer the mind.

 Today many people are attempting to use their mental capacity and logical thinking to obtain sanctification, yet this is nothing but a religious fabrication. They believe that if they just mentally put themselves on the altar and believe that altar provides gifts of sanctification they can then logically conclude they are fully sanctified.  Then they go happily on their way, expressing their flippant, theological babble about the "deep" things of God.

   Yet the heartstrings of their old nature have not been broken, and their unyielding character, which they inherited from Adam, has not been ground to powder. Their soul has not throbbed with the lonley groans of Gethesemane. Having no scars from their death on Calvary they will exhibit nothing of the sweet, gentle restful, victorious, overflowing and triumphant life that flows  like a spring morning from an empty tomb. "

-- G.D.W.

FAITH - 12:09, Tuesday, June 9, 2009

 " Faith can change any situation, no matter how dark or difficult.   Lifting your heart to God in a moment of genuine faith in Him can quickly  alter your circumstances.  God is still on the throne, and He can turn defeat into victory in a split second, if we only trust Him".

L.B. Cowman

Why worry? - 09:06, Monday, June 1, 2009

  Why do you worry?  What possible use does your worrying serve?  You are aboard a large ship that you would be unable to steer even if your captain placed you at the helm. You would not be able to adjust the sails, yet you worry as if you were the captain or the helmsman of the vessel. Be quiet dear soul ---- God is Master!!

Do you think all the commotion and the uproar of this life is evidence that God has left His throne?  He has not!   His mighty steeds rush furiously  ahead, and His chariots ar ethe storms themselves.  But the horses have bridles, and it is God who holds the reigns, guiding the chariots as He wills!

Our God Jehovah is still the Master! Believe this and you will have peace.   " Don't be afraid".  Matt 14:27

--  Charles H. Spurgeon

Learning to Sing! - 04:08, Saturday, May 30, 2009

  "No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the dead."   Rev. 14;3

Certain songs can only be learned in the valley.  No music school can teach them, for no theory can cause them to be perfectly sung.  Their music is found in the heart.  They are songs remembered through personal experience , revealing their burdens through the shadows of the past, and soaring on the wings of yesterday.

In this verse, John tells us that even in heaven there will be a song that will only be sung by those "who had beed redeemed from the earth".  It is undoubtably a song of triumph --  a hymn of victory to the Christ who set us free.  Yet the sense of triumph and freedom will be born from the memory of past bondage.

No angel, nor even an archangel will be able to sing the song as beautifully as we will.  To do so would require them to pass through trials, which is something they cannot do.  Only the children of  the Cross are equipped to learn that song.

Therefore, dear soul, in this life you are receiving a music lesson from your father. You are being trained to sing in a choir you cannot see, and there will be parts in the chorus that only you can sing.  There will be notes too low for the angels to reach and certain notes so far above the scale that only an angel could reach them.  But remember, the deepest notes belong to you and will only be reached by you.

Your father is training you for a part the angels cannot sing, and His conservatory is the school of sorrow. Others have said the He sends sorrow to test you, yet this is not the case.  He sends sorrow to  educate you thereby providing you with the proper training for His Heavenly Choir.

In the darkest night He is composing your son. In the valley He is tuning your voice . In the storm clouds He is deepening your range.  In the rain showers He is sweetening your melody. In the cold He is giving your notes expession.  And as you pass at times from hope to fear, He is perfecting the message of your lyrics.

O dear soul, do not despise your school of sorrow. It is bestowing on you a unique part in the heavenly song. 

-- George Mattheson

Clouds - 12:35, Monday, May 25, 2009

" Remember Jesus said, " blessed are those who mourn" ( matt 5:4). Stars shine the brightest during the long dark nights of winter.  And the gentian wildflowers display their fairest blooms among the nearly inaccesible heights of mountain snow and ice. God seems to use the pressure of pain to trample out the fulfillment of His promises and thereby relase the sweetest juice of His winepress. Only those who have known sorrow can fully appreciate the great tenderness of the "man of sorrows".  ( Is. 53:3)

You may be experiencing little sunshine, but the long periods of gloomy darkness have been wisely designed for you, for perhaps a lenghty stretch of summer weather would have made you like parched land or a barren wilderness.  Your Lord knows best, and the clouds and the sun wait for His command."

 L.B. Cowman

A Thought for today - 11:06, Monday, May 18, 2009

  " Trials and difficult times are needed to press us forward.  They work in the way the fire in the hold of a mighty steamship provides the energy that moves the pistons, turns the engine and propels the great vessel across the sea, even when facing the wind and the waves"

   --- A.B. Simpson

Look up! - 03:33, Saturday, March 14, 2009

" A man once stood on a high peak of the Rocky Mountains watching a raging storm below.  As he watched, an eagle came up through the clouds and soared away toward the sun. The water on its wings glistened in the sunlight like diamonds. If not for the storm, the eagle might have remained in the valley. In the same way, the sorrows of life cause us to rise toward God."

    -- L.B. Cowman --

Left alone? - 03:30, Monday, March 9, 2009

" Left alone! What different emotions these words bring to mind to each of us.  To some they mean lonliness and grief, but to others they mean rest and quiet.  To be left alone without God would be too horrible for words, while being left alone with Him, is a taste of heaven! And if His followers spent more time alone with Him, we would have spiritual giants again.

  Our master set the example for us.  Remember how often He went to be alone with God?  And there was a powerful purpose behind His command, "When you pray, go into your room , close the door and pray."   ( Matt. 6:6)

  The greatest miracle of Elijah and  Elisha took place when they were alone with God. Jacob was alone with God when he became a prince. ( Genesis 32:28)  In the same way, we too may become royalty  and people who are "wondered at" ( Zech 3:8 ) . Joshua was alone when the Lord came to him. ( Josh. 1:1)  Gideon and Jephthah  were by themselves when commisioned to save Israel.  ( Judges 6:11,11:29). Moses was by himself at the burning bush. ( Ex. 3:1-5). Cornelius was praying by himself when the Angel of God came to him. ( acts 10:1-4) . No one was with Peter on the housetop when he was instructed to go to the gentiles. ( acts 10:9-28). John the baptist was alone in the wilderness. ( Luke 1:80) and John the beloved was alone on the Island of Patmos when he was the closest to God. ( Rev.  1:9)

  Earnestly desire to get alone with God.  If we neglect to do so, we not only rob ourselves of a blessing but rob others as well, since we will have no blessing to pass on to them. It may mean that we do less outward, visible work, but the work we do will have more depth and power.  Another wonderful result will be that people will see "no one but Jesus"  ( Matt 17:8) in our lives.

  The impact of being alone with God in prayer cannot be overemphasized. 

   If chosen men has never been alone,

   In deepest silence, open-doored to God,

   No greatness  would ever have been dreamed or done. 

 Quote from Streams in the Desert, by L.B. Cowman:  page 89 & 90

It is possible! - 12:48, Friday, February 27, 2009

           " Nothing is impossible for you. "   -- Matthew 17:20

It is possible for believers who are completely willing to trust the power of the Lord for their safekeeping and victory to lead a life of readily taking His promises exactly as they are and finding them to be true.

It is possible to daily "cast all your anxiety on him". ( 1 Peter 5:7) and expierence deep grace in the process.

It is possible to have our thoughts and the desires of our hearts purified in the deepest sense of the word.

It is possible to see God's will in every circumstance and to accept it with singing instead of complaining.

It is possible to become strong enough through and through by completely taking refuge in the power of God and by realizing that our greatest weakness and the things that upset our determination to be patient, pure, or humble provide an opportunity to make sin powerless over us. This opportunity comes through Him who loves us and who works to bring us into agreement His will and thereby supplies a blessed sense of His presense and His power.

All these things are divine possiblities. Because they are His work actually expierencing them will humble us, causing us to bow at His feet and teaching us to hunger and thirst for more. 

We will never be satisfied with anything less -- each day, each hour, or each moment in Christ  thru the power of the Holy Spirit  -- than walking with God.

-- H.C.G Moule

REJOICE in the Lord always! - 10:43, Sunday, February 22, 2009

  " Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again, rejoice! "                         -- Phill. 4:4 --

It is a good thing to "rejoice in the Lord".  Perhaps you have tried it but seemed to fail at first.  Don't give it a second thought, and forge ahead!  Even when you cannot feel any joy, there is no spring in your step, nor any comfort of encouragement in your life,  continue to rejoice and "consider it pure joy". ( James 1:2). " Whenever you face trials of many kinds." ( James 1:2) , regard it as joy, delight in it, and God will reward your faith.  Do you believe that your heavenly Father will let you carry the banner of His victory and joy to the very front of the battle , only  to calmly  withdraw to see you captured and beaten back by the enemy?  Never!! His Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance and fill your heart with gladness and praise. You will find that your heart is exilerated and refreshed by the fullness within.

Lord teach me to rejoice in  YOU --- to be "joyful always". ( 1 Thess5:16)

Let us sing when we do not feel like it, for in this way we give wings to heavy feet and turn weariness into strength.  -- John Henry  Jowett

" Oh let us rejoice in the Lord, evermore,

       When darts of the tempter are flying,

For satan still dreads, as he oft did before,

       Our singing much more than our crying."

The Lord IS my sheperd... - 10:00, Tuesday, February 17, 2009

" The Lord is my sheperd. "  --- Psalm 23:1

                 ________________________________________

Not was, not may be, nor will be.  " The LORD IS my sheperd."   He is on Sunday, on Monday and through every day of the week.  He is in January, in December, and every month of the year.  He is when I'm at home, and in China.  He is during peace or war, and in times of abundance or poverty. "

   ---  J. Hudson Taylor, Founder of the China Inland Missions

This is My doing - 11:54, Friday, February 6, 2009

                 " This is my doing."  ~ I Kings 12:24

My child, I have a message for you today.   Let me whisper it to you in your ear so any storm clouds that may arise will shine with glory, and the rough places you may have to walk will be made smooth. It is only four words, but let them sink into your inner being and use them as a pillow to rest your weary head. This is my doing.

  Have you ever realized that whatever concerns you concerns me too?  " For whever touches you touches the apple of my eye"  ( Zech. 2:8).  " You are precious and honored in my sight. " ( Isaiah 43:4) . Therefore it is My special delight to teach you.

  I want you to learn when temptations attack you, and the enemy comes in "like a pent-up flood" ( Isaiah 59:19)  that "this is my doing" and that your weakness needs.  My strength, and your safety lies in letting Me fight for you.

  Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, never ask your opinion, and always push you aside?  " This is my doing" .   I am the God of circumstances.   You did not come t this place by accident  --- you are exactly where I meant for you to be.

   Have you not asked for me to make you humble?  Then see  that I have placed you in the perfect school where this lesson is taught.  Your circumstances an the people around you are only being used to accomplish My will. 

   Are you have having problems with money  , finding it hard to make ends meet?   "This is my doing," for I am the One who keeps your finances, and I want you to learn to depend upon Me. My supply is limitless, and I  will " meet all your needs".  ( Phil. 4:19)   I want to prove My promises so no one can say , " You did not trust in the Lord your God"  ( Deut. 1:32).

   Are you expierencing a time of sorrow?  " This is my doing."  I am " a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering" ( Isaiah 53:3) I have allowed your earthly comforters to fail you, so that by turning to Me you may receive "eternal encouragement and good hope" ( 2 Thess. 2:16).  Have you longed to  do some great work for Me but instead have been set aside on a bed of sickness and pain?   " This is my doing."  You were so busy I could not get your attention, and I wanted to teach you some of My deepest truths.  " They also serve who only stand and wait. " In fact some of my greatest workers  are those physically unable to serve, but who have learned to wield the powerful weapon of prayer.

  Today I place a cup of holy oil in your hands.  Use it freely, My child.  Anoint with it every new circumstance, every word that hurts you, every interruption that makes you impatient and every weakness you have.  The pain will leave as you learn to see Me in all things.   

 ~~ Laura A. Barter Snow ~~

Sturdy Shoes - 10:04, Thursday, January 29, 2009

Delayed Answers? - 03:21, Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Being brought to the end of ourselves - 01:09, Tuesday, January 27, 2009

" God is .... an ever present help in time of trouble. "  ( Psalms 46:1)  . But He allows trouble to persue us , as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, so  we may be brought to the end of ourselves.   Throught the trial, we are led to discover the treasure of darkness and the immeasurable wealth of tribulation.

  We may be sure that He who allows the suffering is with us throughout it.  It may be that we will only see Him once the ordeal is nearly  passed, but we must dare to believe that He never leaves our trial.  Our eyes are blinded so we cannot see the One our soul loves.  The darkness and bandages blind us so that we can not see the form of our High Priest. Yet He is there and is deeply touched.  Let us not rely on our feelings but trust in His unswerving faithfulness.  And though we cannot see Him, let us talk to Him. Although His presense is veiled, once we begin to speak of Jesus as if He were literally present, an answering voice comes to show us He is in the shadow, keeping watch over His own.  Your Father is  as close to you when your journey through the darkest tunnel as He is when you are under the open heaven!

~ From Daily Devotional Commentary ~

Blessed Sorrow - 11:01, Monday, January 26, 2009

" Sorrow , under the power of divine grace, performs various ministires in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths of the soul, and unknown capacities for suffering and service.  Lighthearted, frivilous people are always shallow and are never aware of their own meagerness or lack of depth.  Sorrow is God's tool to plow the depths of the soul."

" Every person, and every nation must endure lessons in God's school of adversity. In the same way we say " Blessed is the night, for it reveals the stars to us," we can say , " Blessed is sorrow, for it reveals God's comfort."   A flood once washed away a poor man's home and mill, taking with it everything he owned in the world.  He stood at the scene of his great loss, broekenhearted and discouraged.  Yet after the waters had subsided, he saw something shining in the riverbanks that the flood had washed bare.    " It looks like gold," he said.  And it was gold!  The storm that had impoverished him had made him rich.  So it is oftentimes in life. " 

~ Henry Clay Trumball ~

Victory in the midst of " apparent" defeat - 01:35, Friday, January 23, 2009

" God wins the greatest victories through apparent defeats.  Very often the enemy seems to triumph for a season, and God allows it. But then He comes in and upsets the work of the enemy and overthrows the apparent victory and as the Bible says, " frustrates the ways of the wicked." ( Psalms 146:9)  Consequently , He gives us a much greater victory than we would have known had He not allowed the enemy seemingly to triumph in the first place.

The story  of the three hebrew young men who were thrown into the fiery furnace is a familiar one.  There was an apparent victory for the enemy.  It looked as if  the servants of  the living God were going to suffer a terrible defeat.  We have all been in situations wher it seemed as though we were defeated, and the enemy rejoiced.  We can only imagine what a complete defeat this appeared to be for Daniel's friends.  They were thrown into the terrible flames while their enemies watched to see them burn.  Ye the enemy was greatly astonished  to see them walking around in the fire, enjoying themselves.  Then King Nebuchadnezzar told them to come out of the fire.  The enemy "crowded around them."  They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair on their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them..... for no other god can save in this way."  ( Dan. 3:27, 29)

This apparent defeat resulted in a miraculous victory.

Suppose these three men had lost their faith and courage and complained saying: " Why didn't God keep us out of the furnace!"  They would have burned, and God would not have been glorified.  If there is a great trial in your life today, do not acknowledge it as a defeat.  Instead, continue by faith to claim the victory thru Him who is able to make you "more than conquerors" ( Romans 8:37) and a glorious victory will soon be apparent. 

May we learn that in all the difficult places God  takes us, He is giving us opportunities to exercise faith in Him that will bring about blessed results and greatly glorify His name. "

~ from Life of Praise ~

Life's storms - 03:35, Wednesday, January 21, 2009

" When God wants to make a person, He puts them into some storm.  The history of humankind has always been rough and rugged.  No one is complete until he has been out in the surge of the storm and has found the glorious fulfillment of the prayer: " Oh God , take me, break me and make me". 

              ~ L. B. Cowman ~