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Daily devotions for 03-09-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: No Promise of Peace
Evening Title: Two Sides
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Morning: No Promise of Peace
"We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." --Acts 14:22
God's people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when He chose His
people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace
of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy.
Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but
when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements
amongst the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part
of our lot; they were predestinated for us in Christ's last legacy. So surely
as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so
surely are our trials allotted to us: He has ordained their season and their
place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us.
Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be
disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them.
Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his
faith under them, he became the "Father of the faithful." Note well the
biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you
shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made
to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of
trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby
the King's vessels of honour are distinguished. But although tribulation is
thus the path of God's children, they have the comfort of knowing that their
Master has traversed it before them; they have His presence and sympathy to
cheer them, His grace to support them, and His example to teach them how to
endure; and when they reach "the kingdom," it will more than make amends for
the "much tribulation" through which they passed to enter it.
Evening: Two Sides
"She called his name Ben-oni (son of sorrow), but his father called him
Benjamin (son of my right hand)." --Genesis 35:18
To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side. Rachel was
overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and death; Jacob, though weeping
the mother's loss, could see the mercy of the child's birth. It is well for us
if, while the flesh mourns over trials, our faith triumphs in divine
faithfulness. Samson's lion yielded honey, and so will our adversities, if
rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds multitudes with its fishes; the wild
wood blooms with beauteous flowerets; the stormy wind sweeps away the
pestilence, and the biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distil bright
drops, and black earth grows gay flowers. A vein of good is to be found in
every mine of evil. Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most
disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial; if there were
only one slough in
the world, they would soon be up to their necks in it, and if there were only
one lion in the
desert they would hear it roar.
About us all there is a tinge of this wretched folly, and we are apt, at times,
like Jacob, to
cry, "All these things are against me." Faith's way of walking is to cast all
care upon the Lord,
and then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like Gideon's
men, she does not fret over the broken pitcher, but rejoices that the lamp
blazes forth the more. Out of the rough oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts
the rare pearl of honour, and from the deep ocean-caves of distress she uplifts
the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity ebbs, she finds
treasures hid in the sands; and when her sun of delight goes down, she turns
her telescope of hope to the starry promises of heaven. When death itself
appears, faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave, thus
making our dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin.
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Daily devotions for 03-08-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Have Faith
Evening Title: Trust in the Lord
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Morning: Have Faith
"Have faith in God. --Mark 11:22
Faith is the foot of the soul by which it can march along the road of the
commandments. Love
can make the feet move more swiftly; but faith is the foot which carries the
soul. Faith is the oil enabling the wheels of holy devotion and of earnest
piety to move well; and without faith the wheels are taken from the chariot,
and we drag heavily. With faith I can do all things; without
faith I shall neither have the inclination nor the power to do anything in the
service of God.
If you would find the men who serve God the best, you must look for the men of
the most faith.
Little faith will save a man, but little faith cannot do great things for God.
Poor Little-faith
could not have fought "Apollyon;" it needed "Christian" to do that. Poor
Little-faith could
not have slain "Giant Despair;" it required "Great-heart's" arm to knock that
monster down.
Little faith will go to heaven most certainly, but it often has to hide itself
in a nut-shell, and it frequently loses all but its jewels.
Little-faith says, "It is a rough road, beset with sharp thorns, and full of
dangers; I am
afraid to go;" but Great-faith remembers the promise, "Thy shoes shall be
iron and brass; as thy days, so shall thy strength be:" and so she boldly
ventures. Little-faith stands desponding, mingling her tears with the flood;
but Great-faith sings, "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:" and she fords the
stream at once. Would you be comfortable and happy? Would you enjoy religion?
Would you have the religion of cheerfulness and not that of gloom? Then "have
faith in God." If
you love darkness, and are satisfied to dwell in gloom and misery, then be
content with little
faith; but if you love the sunshine, and would sing songs of rejoicing, covet
earnestly this
best gift, "great faith."
Evening: Trust in the Lord
"It is better to trust in the Lord, than to put confidence in man." --Psalm
118:8
Doubtless the reader has been tried with the temptation to rely upon the things
which are
seen, instead of resting alone upon the invisible God. Christians often look to
man for help and
counsel, and mar the noble simplicity of their reliance upon their God. Does
this evening's
portion meet the eye of a child of God anxious about temporals, then would we
reason with him awhile. You trust in Jesus, and only in Jesus, for your
salvation, then why are you troubled?
"Because of my great care." Is it not written, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord"?
"Be careful for
nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make known your wants
unto God."
Cannot you trust God for temporals? "Ah! I wish I could." If you cannot trust
God for temporals, how dare you trust Him for spirituals? Can you trust Him for
your soul's redemption, and not rely upon Him for a few lesser mercies? Is not
God enough for thy need, or is His all-sufficiency too narrow for thy wants?
Dost thou want another eye beside that of Him who sees every secret thing? Is
His heart faint? Is His arm weary? If so, seek another God; but if He be
infinite, omnipotent, faithful, true, and all-wise, why gaddest thou abroad so
much to seek another confidence?
Why dost thou rake the earth to find another foundation, when this is strong
enough to bear all the weight which thou canst ever build thereon? Christian,
mix not only thy wine with
water, do not alloy thy gold of faith with the dross of human confidence. Wait
thou only upon
God, and let thine expectation be from Him. Covet not Jonah's gourd, but rest
in Jonah's God. Let the sandy foundations of terrestrial trust be the choice of
fools, but do thou, like one who
foresees the storm, build for thyself an abiding place upon the Rock of Ages.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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