Friday, December 29, 2006

Your Words

"For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel - not with words of human wisdom, least the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." I Corinthians 1:17

I came across this verse a few weeks ago and was struck by the last part of it, "least the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." I often wonder how my words, which lack much wisdom, have cause the cross of Christ to be emptied of its power. Maybe it's the times I've not spoken up when I should have. Or the times I've even said something damaging against my faith just to fit in with the crowd. Or how about the times when I was puffed up with what I thought was wisdom filled words that only caused division and/or pain amongst those I love.

The Bible says, "Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." (Proverbs 12:18). What we say can either be deadly or bring upon blessings. What we say greatly affects God's Kingdom. I tend to be opinionated and stubborn. If I feel a wrong has been committed I will push to find a way to correct it. Why? Because I, and I repeat I, have wanted to change it for my own desires. Was God in my stubborn thoughts of making right a wrong? NO! I have even done this at the expense of the other person's feelings. How damaging are my actions and words have been! "He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity." (Proverbs 21:23).

Let us all remember to guard our tongues from damaging ourselves, those we are speaking to or of and most of all remembering that whatever we do will impact the Cross of Christ.

Krista Jones
12.19.06

Thursday, December 28, 2006

The Right to Joy

"Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice." Psalms 63:7

ON our way rejoicing gladly let us go;
Conquered hath our Leader, vanquished is our foe!
Christ without, our safety! Christ within, our joy!
Who, if we be faithful, can our hope destroy?
On our way rejoicing as we homeward move,
Hearken to our praises, O Thou God of love!

- J. B. S. MONSELL

I CANNOT understand why those who have given themselves up to God and His goodness are not always cheerful, for what possible happiness can be equal to that? No accidents or imperfections which may happen ought to have power to trouble them, or to hinder their looking upward. - ST. FRANCIS DE SALES

Why should we go to heaven weeping, as if we were like to fall down through the earth for sorrow? If God were dead (if I may speak so, with reverence of Him who liveth for ever and ever,) we might have cause to look like dead folks; but "the Lord liveth, and blessed be the Rock of our salvation." None have right to joy but we; for joy is sown for us, and an ill summer or harvest will not spill the crop. - SAMUEL RUTHERFORD

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

To be Satisfied

"They shall be abundantly satisfied." Psalm 36:8

Ask the eagle that splashes in the glory of the sun if it ever longs for its cage away down among the dim, distant earth scenes. If it ever stops to look at the old cage of former days, it is to sing its doxology of deliverance and soar away to its home near the sun.

The life of the Spirit-filled heart is the winged life. The unsurrendered life is the life of the cage. The best that the cage can give is a momentary thrill that soon gives place to a pitiful beating against the bars.

Our precious Saviour, by His death on the cross, proclaims "liberty to the captive," and you may be set free; free not to take refuge on the branches of a nearby tree, but to "rise and walk in heaven's own light, above the world and sin, with heart made pure, and garments white, and Christ enthroned within!"

"They shall be abundantly satisified." The song in your heart will daily be:

"Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find."

Forget the past, throw off your last fear, and leap boldly forward to complete emancipation!

"Oh Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,
And found in Thee alone,
The peace, the joy I sought so lon;
The bliss till now unknown.

"I sighed for rest and happiness,
I yearned for them, not Thee;
But while I passed my Saviour by,
His love laid hold on me.

"I tried the broken cristerns, Lord,
But ah! the waters failed.
E'en as I stooped to drink they'd fled,
And mocked me as I wailed.

"Now none but Christ can satisfy,
None other name for me;
There's love, and life, and lasting joy,
Lord Jesus, found in Thee!"

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Let Jesus In

"That ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe." Ephesians 1:18,19

THOU dost well,
And my heaven is here and now,
Day-star of my soul, if Thou
Wilt but deign in me to dwell.

- WOLFGANG C. DESSLER

THROW open all the windows of your soul to the influence of Jesus. By prayer, thought, and action, let His divine power move in and through your life; and be sure that a mighty work is within His power and your possibility. Not that of lifting you into ordinary spiritual vitality, but of transforming you through and through with His Spirit. - WILLIAM LAWRENCE

The life which we are meant to lead under the dispensation of the Spirit who has been given for our guidance into Truth, is one which does not take us out of the world, but keeps us from its evil, enabling us to live a heavenly existence on earth, and so to span over the chasm which divides us from heaven. - EDWARD THRING

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Monday, December 25, 2006

The Birth of Jesus

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6


1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.

4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Luke 2:1-20

Friday, December 22, 2006

He has come for you

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

What a breath-taking truth! "I am come," Just another way of saying "Before Abraham was, I AM." All others began to be; our Lord is pre-temporal, definitely coming out of the eternities for a definite purpose: "That they might have life." This quality of life which the Biologist from Eternity gives, increases in quantity forever - Abundantly!"

The abundant life which Christ offers is the possession alone of those whom He designates "My Sheep." It is not an entering into material blessedness. It is a spiritual fulness conditional altogether upon likeness to the Lord, and walking in that obedience toward God wherein He walked. Its first condition is the acceptance of the Cross whereby the world is crucified unto the believer and the believer unto the world. But, as this separation is recognized and accepted, and the life is wholly yielded and kept subject to the will fo the Father, the Master's incoming and indwelling meets every longing and every need. Then alone will be understood the meaning of the promise of our text: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Have we come to the fountain of life? Are we drinking of its fulness? Are we living in His love? This is the life of our spirit; the health of our body; the secret of our joy!

May we seek this overflowing life, and become "channels only," with "all His wondrous power flowing through us" so that He can use us every day and every hour!

Come to the everlasting spring and drink freely. It never runs dry!

"Though millions their thirst are now slaking,
It never runs dry,
And millions may still come partaking,
It never runs dry!"

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Behold God

"Behold your God!" Isaiah 40:9

He became the Son of Man that we might become the sons of God. Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, child of a peasant woman. He had neither wealth nor influence, neither training nor education; yet in infancy he startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors. In manhood He walked upon the billows and hushed the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for His services. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the world could not hold the books that could be written about Him. He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs then all song-writers combined. He never founded a college, yet all the colleges together cannot boast of as many students as He.

"He was right, yet for your sakes He became poor."

How poor? Ask Mary! Ask the Wise Men! He slept in another's manger. He cruised the lake in another's boat. He rode on another man's donkey. He was buried in another man's tomb.

While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away from Him. One of them denied Him; another betrayed Him and turned Him over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon the Cross between two thieves. His executioners gambled for His coat.

Yet, all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were built, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man as powerfully as has this one solitary life!

Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on! Death could not destroy Him! The grave could not hold Him!

"Behold, the world is gone after Him!" John 12:19

"Let us also go." John 11:16

"If thou seek Him, He will be found of thee." I Chronicles 28:9

FIND HIM!

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Springs in the Valley"

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Take It to the Lord

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." 1 Peter 5:7

HOW gentle God's commands!
How kind His precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust His constant care.
His goodness stands approved
Down to the present day;
I'll drop my burden at His feet,
And bear a song away.

- PHILIP DODDRIDGE

SHE was not accustomed in these days to meet troubles, small or great, with the small stock of strength her mind or body could afford. She had acquired, by long habit, the power of putting them from her until she could take them into the presence of her Lord, and there, in secret, commune with Him of all that was in her heart. - SARAH W. STEPHEN

The Lord calls for our burdens, would not have us wrestle with them ourselves, but roll them over on Him. Now, the desires that are breathed forth in prayer are, as it were, the very unloading of the heart; each request that goes forth, carries out somewhat of the burden with it, and lays it on God. Tell Him what are your desires, and leave them there with Him, and so you are sure to be rid of all further disquieting care of them. - ROBERT LEIGHTON

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Ready to do His Will

"Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou hast also wrought all our works for us." Isaiah 26:12 (R. V.)

WITH that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of Thy call, As noiseless let Thy blessing fall
As fell the manna down.

- JOHN G. WHITTIER

PRAY to be calm and quiet and hushed, and that He will vouchsafe you the sense of His blessed presence; that you may do all things beneath His eye; to sit with Mary calmly at His feet and hear His voice, and then calmly rise and minister to Him. - EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY

Try so to live in the light of God's love that it becomes a second nature to you, tolerate nothing adverse to it, be continually striving to please Him in all things, take all that He sends patiently; resolve firmly never to commit the smallest deliberate fault, and if, unhappily you are overtaken by any sin, humble yourself, and rise up speedily. You will not be always thinking of God consciously, but all your thoughts will be ruled by Him, His Presence will check useless or evil thoughts, and your heart will be perpetually fixed on Him, ready to do His holy will. -JEAN NICOLAS GROU

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Monday, December 18, 2006

The Lord's Love

"Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to love one another." 1 John 4:11

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35

Do I find love so full in my nature, God's ultimate gift,
That I doubt His own love can compete with it? Here, the parts shift?
Here, the creature surpass the Creator,--the end, what Began?
Would I fain in my impotent yearning do all for this man,
And dare doubt He alone shall not help him, who yet alone can? - ROBERT BROWNING

"COME unto me," says the holy Jesus, "all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you." Beg of Him to be the light and life of your soul; love the sound of His name; for Jesus is the love, the sweetness, the compassionate goodness of the Deity itself; which became man, that so men might have the power to become the sons of God. Love, and pity, and wish well to every soul in the world; dwell in love and then you dwell in God. - WILLIAM LAW

The Lord's love is the love of communicating all that He has to all His creatures; for He desires the happiness of all; and a similar love prevails in those who love Him, because the Lord is in them. - EMANUEL SWEDENBORG


By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Friday, December 15, 2006

Sacrificing for the Good of Others

"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Psalms 17:11

SUN of the soul, Thou light divine,
Around and in us brightly shine,
To strength and gladness wake us.
Where Thou shinest, life from heaven
There is given; we before Thee
For that precious gift implore Thee.
MICHAEL SCHIRMER

THAT is what our sacrifice of ourselves should be--"full of life." Not desponding, morbid, morose; not gloomy chilly, forbidding; not languid, indolent, inactive; but full of life, and warmth, and energy; cheerful, and making others cheerful; gay, and making others gay; happy, and making others happy; contented, and making others contented; doing good, and making others do good, by our lively vivid vitality,--filling every corner of our own souls and bodies, filling every corner of the circle in which we move, with the fresh life-blood of a warm, genial, kindly Christian heart. Doubtless this requires a sacrifice; it requires us to give up our own comfort, our own ease, our own firesides, our dear solitude, our own favorite absorbing pursuits, our shyness, our reserve, our pride, our selfishness.
ARTHUR P. STANLEY

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Rejoicing in God's Love

"My soul shall be joyful in the Lord; it shall rejoice in His salvation." Psalms 25:9

"The living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17

"Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart." Isaiah 65:14

GIVE me, O Lord, a heart of grace,
A voice of joy, a shining face,
That I may show where'er I turn
Thy love within my soul doth burn!

A tenderness for all that stray,
With strength to help them on the way
A cheerfulness, a heavenly mirth,
Brightening my steps along the earth!

- LADY GILBERT

THOSE who love God are encompassed with gladness on every side, because in every passing moment they see and feel a Father's love, and nothing of this world can take it away or lessen it. - H. L. SIDNEY LEAR

To be happy is properly the beginning of all schemes for making happy. - SARAH W.STEPHEN

My life is so strangely free from all trial and trouble, that I cannot doubt my own happiness is one of the talents entrusted to me to "occupy" with, till the Master shall return, by doing something to make other lives happy. - CHARLES L. DODGSON

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Under Construction

What is the biggest room in your house? The room for improvement, of course! There is always room for improvement in our lives. No matter how much we may think that we have arrived, there are still rough edges and missing pieces that need work. The typical homeowner knows that there is always something that needs to be fixed, replaced, removed or added. That means he has two choices-either get to work on those things or forget about them. Obviously, the former is preferred over the latter.

The same is true with our spiritual lives. There is always room for improvement, and we can either work on it or forget about it. God's will is that we "build [ourselves] up in [our] most holy faith" (v. 20).

You started out your Christian life as a baby believer, one needing to be fed the milk of the Word. As you grew and developed, you moved from milk to meat. The parallels between physical growth and spiritual growth make it easy for us to understand. As the child is fed, he grows and develops. As the believer is fed the Word, he also grows and develops.

Sometimes, though, a Christian may be content to stay a child in the faith. That is not the same as childlike faith. Also, there is no excuse for stunted spiritual growth. God wants, expects and commands us to mature. It is a building process that should occur in the life of every believer.

Are you growing in your faith, or are you stagnant? Reading the Bible is part of the growth process, as is praying, which is also mentioned in this key verse today. Be sure to do both every day.

By Woodrow Kroll, Tony Beckett, taken from "Faith Walk"

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Live in Peace

"We command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work." 2 THESSALONIANS 3:12

THERE is an order in our daily life,
Like that the holy angels constant keep;
And though its outward show seems but a strife,
There dwells within a peace like oceans deep.

- JONES VERY

THE enemy of that grand central habit of interior patience is haste: haste of thought, haste of judgment, haste of manner, haste of speech. Even natural powers of every kind become true strength, when they work submissively and harmoniously under the direction of Divine light and the movement of Divine grace; and this disciplined subjection at every point under the dominion of Christ our Lord, ruling us by His grace, makes the soul the serene organ of the Holy Spirit, for the animating, controlling, and guiding of our souls. - WILLIAM BERNARD ULLATHORNE

We are conformed to Him in proportion as our lives grow in quietness, His peace spreading within our souls. Even amid all that outwardly disturbs us we have, if we have Him, the same peace, because He is our peace, sustaining our whole being. - T. T.CARTER

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"

Monday, December 11, 2006

Poem by Rachel Joy Scott

"What if you were to die today?

What would happen to you?

Where would you go?

Tomorrow is not a promise, but a chance, It may not be there for you.

After death, then what? Where will you spend your eternity?

Will you have an eternal life without our loving father, or will you be ripped from the arms of your savior Jesus Christ?

ETERNITY IS IN YOUR HANDS...CHANGE IT!"

-Rachel Joy Scott

Friday, December 08, 2006

Quicken Us

"Thou, who hast showed us many and sore troubles, wilt quicken us again" (Ps. 71:20, RV).

God shows us the troubles. Sometimes, as this part of our education is being carried forward, we have to descend into "the lower parts of the earth," pass through subterranean passages, lie buried amongst the dead, but never for a moment is the cord of fellowship and union between God and us strained to breaking; and from the depths God will bring us again.

Never doubt God! Never say that He has forsaken or forgotten. Never think that He is unsympathetic. He will quicken again. There is always a smooth piece in every skein, however tangled. The longest day at last rings out the evensong. The winter snow lies long, but it goes at last.

Be steadfast; your labor is not in vain. God turns again, and comforts. And when He does, the heart which had forgotten its Psalmody breaks out in jubilant song, as does the Psalmist: "I will thank thee, I will harp unto thee, my lips shall sing aloud." --Selected

"Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,
And old and chill is the wintry blast;
Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,
And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;
My face I hold to the stormy heaven,
My heart is as calm as the summer sea,
Glad to receive what my God has given,
Whate'er it be.
When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,'
And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;
For I've never a want but that He attends it;
And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow."

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Rock Flowers

"Thou hast shewed thy people hard things" (Ps. 60:3).

I have always been glad that the Psalmist said to God that some things were hard. There is no mistake about it; there are hard things in life. Some beautiful pink flowers were given me this summer, and as I took them I said, "What are they?" And the answer came, "They are rock flowers; they grow and bloom only on rocks where you can see no soil." Then I thought of God's flowers growing in hard places; and I feel, somehow, that He may have a peculiar tenderness for His "rock flowers" that He may not have for His lilies and roses. --Margaret Bottome

The tests of life are to make, not break us. Trouble may demolish a man's business but build up his character. The blow at the outward man may be the greatest blessing to the inner man. If God, then, puts or permits anything hard in our lives, be sure that the real peril, the real trouble, is what we shall lose if we flinch or rebel. --Maltbie D. Babcock

"Heroes are forged on anvils hot with pain,
And splendid courage comes but with the test.
Some natures ripen and some natures bloom
Only on blood-wet soil, some souls prove great
Only in moments dark with death or doom."

"God gets his best soldiers out of the highlands of affliction."

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

How To Wait

"Blessed is he that waiteth" (Dan. 12:12).

It may seem an easy thing to wait, but it is one of the postures which a Christian soldier learns not without years of teaching. Marching and quick-marching are much easier to God's warriors than standing still.

There are hours of perplexity when the most willing spirit, anxiously desirous to serve the Lord, knows not what part to take. Then what shall it do? Vex itself by despair? Fly back in cowardice, turn to the right hand in fear, or rush forward in presumption?

No, but simply wait. Wait in prayer, however. Call upon God and spread the case before Him; tell Him your difficulty, and plead His promise of aid.

Wait in faith. Express your unstaggering confidence in Him. Believe that if He keep you tarrying even till midnight, yet He will come at the right time; the vision shall come, and shall not tarry.

Wait in quiet patience. Never murmur against the second cause, as the children of Israel did against Moses. Accept the case as it is, and put it as it stands, simply and with your whole heart, without any self-will, into the hand of your covenant God, saying, "Now, Lord, not my will, but Thine be done. I know not what to do; I am brought to extremities; but I will wait until Thou shalt cleave the floods, or drive back my foes. I will wait, if Thou keep me many a day, for my heart is fixed upon Thee alone, O God, and my spirit waiteth for Thee in full conviction that Thou wilt yet be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower." --Morning by Morning

Wait patiently wait,
God never is late;
Thy budding plans are in Thy Father's holding,
And only wait His grand divine unfolding.
Then wait, wait,
Patiently wait.

Trust, hopefully trust,
That God will adjust
Thy tangled life; and from its dark concealings,
Will bring His will, in all its bright revealings.
Then trust, trust,
Hopefully trust.

Rest, peacefully rest
On thy Saviour's breast;
Breathe in His ear thy sacred high ambition,
And He will bring it forth in blest fruition.
Then rest, rest,
Peacefully rest! --Mercy A. Gladwin

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Dealing With the Past

"Believe ye that I am able to do this?" (Matt. 9:28).

God deals with impossibilities. It is never too late for Him to do so, when the impossible is brought to Him, in full faith, by the one in whose life and circumstances the impossible must be accomplished if God is to be glorified. If in our own life there have been rebellion, unbelief, sin, and disaster, it is never too late for God to deal triumphantly with these tragic facts if brought to Him in full surrender and trust. It has often been said, and with truth, that Christianity is the only religion that can deal with man's past. God can "restore the years that the locust hath eaten" (Joel 2:25); and He will do this when we put the whole situation and ourselves unreservedly and believingly into His hands. Not because of what we are but because of what He is. God forgives and heals and restores. He is "the God of all grace." Let us praise Him and trust Him. --Sunday School Times

"Nothing is too hard for Jesus
No man can work like Him."

"We have a God who delights in impossibilities." Nothing too hard for Me. --Andrew Murray

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Monday, December 04, 2006

Impossible Flowers

"For with God nothing shall be impossible" (Luke 1:37).

Far up in the Alpine hollows, year by year God works one of His marvels. The snow-patches lie there, frozen with ice at their edge from the strife of sunny days and frosty nights; and through that ice-crust come, unscathed, flowers that bloom.

Back in the days of the by-gone summer, the little soldanelle plant spread its leaves wide and flat on the ground, to drink in the sun-rays, and it kept them stored in the root through the winter. Then spring came, and stirred the pulses even below the snow-shroud, and as it sprouted, warmth was given out in such strange measure that it thawed a little dome in the snow above its head.

Higher and higher it grew and always above it rose the bell of air, till the flower-bud formed safely within it: and at last the icy covering of the air-bell gave way and let the blossom through into the sunshine, the crystalline texture of its mauve petals sparkling like snow itself as if it bore the traces of the flight through which it had come.

And the fragile thing rings an echo in our hearts that none of the jewel-like flowers nestled in the warm turf on the slopes below could waken. We love to see the impossible done. And so does God.

Face it out to the end, cast away every shadow of hope on the human side as an absolute hindrance to the Divine, heap up all the difficulties together recklessly, and pile as many more on as you can find; you cannot get beyond the blessed climax of impossibility. Let faith swing out to Him. He is the God of the impossible. --Selected

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman taken from "Streams in the Desert"

Friday, December 01, 2006

Fear of Trying

"Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left." DEUTERONOMY 5:32

NO duty, however hard and perilous, should be feared one-half so much as failure in the duty. People sometimes shrink from responsibility, saying they dare not accept it because it is so great. But in shrinking from duty they are really encountering a far more serious condition than that which they evade. It is a great deal easier to do that which God gives us to do, no matter how hard it is, than to face the responsibility of not doing it. We have abundant assurance that we shall receive all the strength we need to perform any duty God allots to us; but if we fall out of the line of obedience, and refuse to do anything which we ought to do, we find ourselves at once out of harmony with God's law and God's providence, and cannot escape the consequences of our failure. - J. R. MILLER

KNOWLEDGE is a call to action; an insight into the way of perfection is a call to perfection. - J. H. NEWMAN

By Mary Wilder Tileston taken from "Joy and Strength"