Classics: Joy and Strength
Classics: Joy and Strength
| Accept Our Daily Bread by Mary Wilder Tileston | |
| I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. --PHILIPPIANS 4:11 (R. V.) And help us all, from morn till e'en, Still to believe that lot the best Which is,--not that which might have been. --GEORGE ZABRISKIE GRAY THOU givest within and without precisely what the soul needs for its advancement in a life of faith and self-renunciation. I have then only to receive this bread, and to accept, in the spirit of self-sacrifice, whatever Thou shalt ordain, of bitterness in my external circumstances, or within my heart. For whatever happens to me each day is my daily bread, provided I do not refuse to take it from Thy hand, and to feed upon it. --FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FENELON
Judge that only necessary which God, in His eternal wisdom and love, proportions out unto us. And when thou comest hither, thou wilt come to thy rest; and as thou abidest here, thou wilt abide in thy soul's true rest, and know the preciousness of that lesson, and of whom thou art to learn it, even, in every state to be content.
--ISAAC PENINGTON |
In The Face Of Fear
I’ll never forget my childhood fear that the clothes thrown on my chair would turn into a shadowy dragon-like figure after my bedroom lights were turned off. My early experience of fear-driven insomnia reminds me that when trouble arrives on the doorstep of life, fear is not our friend. It disables us from moving forward and causes us to shrink from doing what is right—unless we have our eyes fixed on Jesus.
When the disciples faced the raging seas that were threatening to sweep them overboard, Jesus, walking on the water, assured them, “It is I; do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27). And to His followers who were fearfully locked away in a room after His crucifixion, Jesus appeared and asked, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?” (Luke 24:38). Recognizing the inevitability of trials, He said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The point is clear. Trusting in His presence and power is the antidote to fear.
As the familiar hymn says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.” We can rest peacefully in the knowledge that God is with us.
Lord, in our weak and fearful moments, remind
us that Your love for us guarantees Your
presence with us and Your power against
our fears. Teach us to trust in You.
us that Your love for us guarantees Your
presence with us and Your power against
our fears. Teach us to trust in You.
Trust the presence and power of Jesus
in the midst of life’s storms.
in the midst of life’s storms.
Classics: Morning and Evening
| He Ordains the Best by Charles Haddon Spurgeon | |
| "He shall choose our inheritance for us." --Psalm 47:4Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition. A ship of large tonnage is to be brought up the river; now, in one part of the stream there is a sandbank; should some one ask, "Why does the captain steer through the deep part of the channel and deviate so much from a straight line?" His answer would be, "Because I should not get my vessel into harbour at all if I did not keep to the deep channel." So, it may be, you would run aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there. You are placed by God in the most suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, "Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows." Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God. Down busy self, and proud impatience, it is not for you to choose, but for the Lord of Love! "Trials must and will befall-- But with humble faith to see Love inscribed upon them all; This is happiness to me." |
| Faith Triumphs by Mrs. Charles Cowman | |
| "Under hopeless circumstances he hopefully believed" (Rom. 4:18). (Weymouth)Abraham's faith seemed to be in a thorough correspondence with the power and constant faithfulness of Jehovah. In the outward circumstances in which he was placed, he had not the greatest cause to expect the fulfillment of the promise. Yet he believed the Word of the Lord, and looked forward to the time when his seed should be as the stars of heaven for multitude. O my soul, thou hast not one single promise only, like Abraham, but a thousand promises, and many patterns of faithful believers before thee: it behooves thee, therefore, to rely with confidence upon the Word of God. And though He delayeth His help, and the evil seemeth to grow worse and worse, be not weak, but rather strong, and rejoice, since the most glorious promises of God are generally fulfilled in such a wondrous manner that He steps forth to save us at a time when there is the least appearance of it. He commonly brings His help in our greatest extremity, that His finger may plainly appear in our deliverance. And this method He chooses that we may not trust upon anything that we see or feel, as we are always apt to do, but only upon His bare Word, which we may depend upon in every state. --C. H. Von Bogatzky Remember it is the very time for faith to work when sight ceases. The greater the difficulties, the easier for faith; as long as there remain certain natural prospects, faith does not get on even as easily as where natural prospects fail. --George Mueller |
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