Saturday, November 12, 2011

"The trial of your faith."

"The trial of your faith."—1 Peter 1:7.



FAITH untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. 

Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. 

When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. 

Let the winds rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway towards her desired haven.

 No flowers wear so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity.

 Tried faith brings experience. 
You could not have believed your own weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid the water-floods.

 Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. 

Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. 

You will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be measured out to you in due season. 

Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Reflection and inspirationfrom the 
"Prince of Preachers," 
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Copyright Statement
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and therefore is considered in the
"Public Domain". 
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Friday, November 11, 2011

"Underneath are the everlasting arms."

"Underneath are the everlasting arms."—Deuteronomy 33:27.

GOD—THE eternal God—is Himself our support at all times, and especially when we are sinking in deep trouble. 
There are seasons when the Christian sinks very low in humiliation.


 Under a deep sense of his great sinfulness, he is humbled before God till he scarcely knows how to pray, because he appears, in his own sight, so worthless. 


Well, child of God, remember that when thou art at thy worst and lowest, yet "underneath" thee "are everlasting arms." 


Sin may drag thee ever so low, but Christ's great atonement is still under all.
 You may have descended into the deeps, but you cannot have fallen so low as "the uttermost"; and to the uttermost He saves. 


Again, the Christian sometimes sinks very deeply in sore trial from without.
 Every earthly prop is cut away. 


What then? Still underneath him are "the everlasting arms." 
He cannot fall so deep in distress and affliction but what the covenant grace of an ever-faithful God will still encircle him. 


The Christian may be sinking under trouble from within through fierce conflict, but even then he cannot be brought so low as to be beyond the reach of the "everlasting arms"—they are underneath him; and, while thus sustained, all Satan's efforts to harm him avail nothing.

This assurance of support is a comfort to any weary but earnest worker in the service of God.

 It implies a promise of strength for each day, grace for each need, and power for each duty. 


And, further, when death comes, the promise shall still hold good.
 When we stand in the midst of Jordan, we shall be able to say with David, 
"I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." 


We shall descend into the grave, but we shall go no lower, for the eternal arms prevent our further fall.


 All through life, and at its close, we shall be upheld by the "everlasting arms"—arms that neither flag nor lose their strength, for "the everlasting God fainteth not, neither is weary."


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥
Reflection and inspirationfrom the 
"Prince of Preachers," 
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Copyright Statement
This resource was produced before 1923 
and therefore is considered in the
"Public Domain". 
Do you enjoy this blog ?
if you like to visit my others blogs
just click on links below. 
God bless, your day !!!
ENGLISH
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SPANISH WITH TRANSLATOR TO ANY
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Thursday, November 10, 2011

Messiah was cut off

Messiah was cut off


Now Messiah was to be cut off, but not for himself; he was to make his soul an offering for sin, he was to make his grave with the wicked, and lie in the heart of the earth. The blood of the covenant was to be shed, the paschal victim was to be slain, the Shepherd was to be smitten, the Lamb was to be led to the slaughter, and therefore only by the shedding of his blood could Jesus prove himself to be the Messiah so long foretold.

However pure the life he led, had he never died he could not have been the Savior appointed to bear the iniquity of us all. 



The blood was needed to complete the witness.


 The blood must now with the water, the suffering with the serving. The most pious example would not have proved him to be the divine Shepherd, if he had not laid down his life for the sheep. Take away the atonement, and Jesus is no more than any other prophet, the essential point of his mission is gone.


 It is evident that he who was to come was to finish transgression, and to make reconciliation for iniquity. 


Now, this could not be done except by an expiation, and as Jesus has made such an expiation by his own blood, we know him to be the Christ of God. His blood is the seal of his mission, the very life of his work.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Three Witnesses," delivered August 9, 1874.


♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Reflection and inspirationfrom the 
"Prince of Preachers," 
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Copyright Statement
This resource was produced before 1923 
and therefore is considered in the
"Public Domain". 
Do you enjoy this blog ?
if you like to visit my others blogs
just click on links below. 
God bless, your day !!!
ENGLISH
http://ambassadorforjesus.blogspot.com/
SPANISH WITH TRANSLATOR TO ANY
http://poderosoguerrerodejesus.blogspot..

"The eternal God is thy refuge."

"The eternal God is thy refuge."—Deuteronomy 33:27.


THE word refuge may be translated "mansion," or "abiding-place," 
which gives the thought that God is our abode, our home. 

There is a fulness and sweetness in the metaphor, for dear to our hearts is our home, although it be the humblest cottage, or the scantiest garret; and dearer far is our blessed God, in whom we live, and move, and have our being. 

It is at home that we feel safe: we shut the world out and dwell in quiet security.

 So when we are with our God we "fear no evil." He is our shelter and retreat, our abiding refuge.

 At home, we take our rest; it is there we find repose after the fatigue and toil of the day. And so our hearts find rest in God, when, wearied with life's conflict, we turn to Him, and our soul dwells at ease.

 At home, also, we let our hearts loose; we are not afraid of being misunderstood, nor of our words being misconstrued. So when we are with God we can commune freely with Him, laying open all our hidden desires; for if the "secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him," the secrets of them that fear Him ought to be, and must be, with their Lord. Home, too, is the place of our truest and purest happiness: and it is in God that our hearts find their deepest delight. 

We have joy in Him which far surpasses all other joy. It is also for home that we work and labour.
 The thought of it gives strength to bear the daily burden, and quickens the fingers to perform the task; and in this sense we may also say that God is our home. 

Love to Him strengthens us. We think of Him in the person of His dear Son; and a glimpse of the suffering face of the Redeemer constrains us to labour in His cause. 

We feel that we must work, for we have brethren yet to be saved, and we have our Father's heart to make glad by bringing home His wandering sons; we would fill with holy mirth the sacred family among whom we dwell. 

Happy are those who have thus the God of Jacob for their refuge!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

"His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure."—

Isaiah 33:16.
DO you doubt, O Christian, do you doubt as to whether God will fulfil His promise? 

Shall the munitions of rock be carried by storm? 
O Shall the storehouses of heaven fail? 
Do you think that your heavenly Father, though He knoweth that you have need of food and raiment, will yet forget you? 
When not a sparrow falls to the ground without your Father, and the very hairs of your head are all numbered, will you mistrust and doubt Him? 
Perhaps your affliction will continue upon you till you dare to trust your God, and then it shall end. 

Full many there be who have been tried and sore vexed till at last they have been driven in sheer desperation to exercise faith in God, and the moment of their faith has been the instant of their deliverance; they have seen whether God would keep His promise or not.

 Oh, I pray you, doubt Him no longer!
 Please not Satan, and vex not yourself by indulging any more those hard thoughts of God.

 Think it not a light matter to doubt Jehovah. 
Remember, it is a sin; and not a little sin either, but in the highest degree criminal. 

The angels never doubted Him, nor the devils either: we alone, out of all the beings that God has fashioned, dishonour Him by unbelief, and tarnish His honour by mistrust. 

Shame upon us for this! Our God does not deserve to be so basely suspected; in our past life we have proved Him to be true and faithful to His word, and with so many instances of His love and of His kindness as we have received, and are daily receiving, at His hands, it is base and inexcusable that we suffer a doubt to sojourn within our heart. 

May we henceforth wage constant war against doubts of our God—enemies to our peace and to His honour; and with an unstaggering faith believe that what He has promised He will also perform.


 "Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief."