Christians Here for Support

[Annie's Phil]

Morning and Evening
Charles Spurgeon
February 23

Morning

“I will never leave thee.”
- Heb 13:5

No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any one saint, he has said to all. When he opens a well for one, it is that all may drink. When he openeth a granary- door to give out food, there may be some one starving man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor a wide mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up now thine eyes to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to believe, for he hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”In this promise, God gives to his people everything. “I will never leave thee.” Then no attribute of God can cease to be engaged for us. Is he mighty? He will show himself strong on the behalf of them that trust him. Is he love? Then with lovingkindness will he have mercy upon us. Whatever attributes may compose the character of Deity, every one of them to its fullest extent shall be engaged on our side. To put everything in one, there is nothing you can want, there is nothing you can ask for, there is nothing you can need in time or in eternity, there is nothing living, nothing dying, there is nothing in this world, nothing in the next world, there is nothing now, nothing at the resurrection-morning, nothing in heaven which is not contained in this text-”I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Evening

“Take up the cross, and follow me.”
- Mar 10:21

You have not the making of your own cross, although unbelief is a master carpenter at cross-making; neither are you permitted to choose your own cross, although self-will would fain be lord and master; but your cross is prepared and appointed for you by divine love, and you are cheerfully to accept it; you are to take up the cross as your chosen badge and burden, and not to stand cavilling at it. This night Jesus bids you submit your shoulder to his easy yoke. Do not kick at it in petulance, or trample on it in vain-glory, or fall under it in despair, or run away from it in fear, but take it up like a true follower of Jesus. Jesus was a cross-bearer; he leads the way in the path of sorrow. Surely you could not desire a better guide! And if he carried a cross, what nobler burden would you desire? The Via Crucis is the way of safety; fear not to tread its thorny paths.

Beloved, the cross is not made of feathers, or lined with velvet, it is heavy and galling to disobedient shoulders; but it is not an iron cross, though your fears have painted it with iron colours, it is a wooden cross, and a man can carry it, for the Man of sorrows tried the load. Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it, that like Moses, you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it, and it will smell sweetly; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble. The Lord help you to bow your spirit in submission to the divine will ere you fall asleep this night, that waking with to-morrow’s sun, you may go forth to the day’s cross with the holy and submissive spirit which becomes a follower of the Crucified.

 

[Annie's Phil]

Daily Strength for Daily Needs
Mary W. Tileston
February 23

"Let the Lord do that which is good in His sight." – 1C 19:13.

"Let Thy mercy O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee." – Ps 33:22.

I cannot feel
That all is well, when darkening clouds conceal
The shining sun;
But then, I know He lives and loves; and say, since it is so,
Thy will be done.

S. G. BROWNING.

No felt evil or defect becomes divine until it is inevitable; and only when resistence to it is exhausted and hope has fled, does surrender cease to be premature. The hardness of our task lies "here_; that we have to strive against the grievous things of life, while hope remains, as if they were evil; and then, when the stroke has fallen, to accept them from the hand of God, and doubt not they are good. But to the loving, trusting heart, all things are possible; and even this instant change, from overstrained will to sorrowful repose, from fullest resistance to complete surrender is realized without convulsion.

J. MARTINEAU.

 

[Annie's Phil]

Streams in the Desert
L.B. Cowman
February 23

"And there came a lion" (1Sa 17:34).

It is a source of inspiration and strength to come in touch with the youthful David, trusting God. Through faith in God he conquered a lion and a bear, and afterwards overthrew the mighty Goliath. When that lion came to despoil that flock, it came as a wondrous opportunity to David. If he had failed or faltered he would have missed God's opportunity for him and probably would never have come to be God's chosen king of Israel. "And there came a lion."

One would not think that a lion was a special blessing from God; one would think that only an occasion of alarm. The lion was God's opportunity in disguise. Every difficulty that presents itself to us, if we receive it in the right way, is God's opportunity. Every temptation that comes is God's opportunity.

When the "lion" comes, recognize it as God's opportunity no matter how rough the exterior. The very tabernacle of God was covered with badgers' skins and goats' hair; one would not think there would be any glory there. The Shekinah of God was manifest under that kind of covering. May God open our eyes to see Him, whether in temptations, trials, dangers, or misfortunes. -- C. H. P.

 

[Annie's Phil]

Daily Light on the Daily Path
Samuel Bagster
February 24

Morning:

Thus saith the Lord GOD;
I will yet for this be enquired of.

Yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and the door shall be opened to you: for every one that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh the door shall be opened. This is the confidence that
we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will,
he heareth us: and if we know that he heareth us, whatever we
ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired from
him. If any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who
giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall
be given to him. I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out
of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears
are open to their cry. The righteous cry, and the LORD
heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. Ye
shall ask in my name: and I say not to you, that I will pray the
Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye
have loved me. Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be
full.

Eze 36:37 Jas 4:2 Mat 7:7-8 1Jn 5:14-15 Jas 1:5 Psa 81:10 Luk 18:1 Psa 34:15 Psa 34:17 Joh 16:26-27 Joh 16:24


Evening:

Shall we receive good at the hand of God,
and shall we not receive evil?

I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that
thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. O LORD, thou art our
father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are
the work of thy hand. It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth
him good.

Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let
me speak with thee of thy judgments.

He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. Whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he
receiveth. It is enough for the disciple that he should be as
his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called
the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they
call them of his household? Though he was a Son, yet he
learned obedience by the things which he suffered.

But rejoice, seeing ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings;
that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with
exceeding joy. These are they who came out of the great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in
the blood of the Lamb.

Job 2:10 Psa 119:75 Isa 64:8 1Sa 3:18 Jer 12:1 Mal 3:3 Heb 12:6 Mat 10:25 Heb 5:8 1Pe 4:13 Rev 7:14

 

[Annie's Phil]

Streams in the Desert
L.B. Cowman
February 24

"John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true" (Joh 10:41).

You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.

John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he.

John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ.

Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says, "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.

Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.

We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting streamlets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say,

"He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." -- George Matheson

"THY HIDDEN ONES" (Psa 83:3)

"Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth,
Happy springtime hath called them forth;
First faint promise of summer bloom
Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume,
Under the leaves.

"Lift them! what marvelous beauty lies
Hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes!
Mayflowers, rosy or purest white,
Lift their cups to the sudden light,
Under the leaves.

"Are there no lives whose holy deeds--
Seen by no eye save His who reads
Motive and action-- in silence grow
Into rare beauty, and bud and blow
Under the leaves?

"Fair white flowers of faith and trust,
Springing from spirits bruised and crushed;
Blossoms of love, rose-tinted and bright,
Touched and painted with Heaven's own light
Under the leaves.

"Full fresh clusters of duty borne,
Fairest of all in that shadow grown;
Wondrous the fragrance that sweet and rare
Comes from the flower-cups hidden there
Under the leaves.

"Though unseen by our vision dim,
Bud and blossom are known to Him;
Wait we content for His heavenly ray--
Wait till our Master Himself one day
Lifteth the leaves."

"God calls many of His most valued workers from the unknown multitude" (Luk 14:23).

 

[Annie's Phil]

Daily Strength for Daily Needs
Mary W. Tileston
February 24

"These things I have spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." – Jn 16:33.

O Thou, the primal fount of life and peace,
Who shedd'st Thy breathing quiet all around,
In me command that pain and conflict cease,
And turn to music every jarring sound.

J. STERLING.

Accustom yourself to unreasonableness and injustice. Abide in peace in the presence of God, who sees all these evils more clearly than you do, and who permits them. Be content with doing with calmness the little which depends upon yourself, and let all else be to you as if it were not.

FRANCOIS DE LA MOTHE FENELON.

It is rare when injustice, or slights patiently borne, do not leave the heart at the close of the day filled with marvellous joy and peace.

GOLD DUST.

 

[Annie's Phil]

A Spiritual Treasury for the Children of God
Evening Meditations
William Mason
February 25

What is your life? Jam 4:14.

A short day, full of evils; a span long, replete with crosses. Each revolving day brings its troubles; each fleeting moment, its sorrows. ‘Yes,’ says a soul, ‘I am a living witness of this: I am a mark for the enemy to shoot his fiery darts at; against man he daily renews his attacks, constantly buffets, and is ever busy with his subtle devices. Each morning I rise, I am brought into the field to exercise my arms; or on the stage, to conflict with my enemies. Truly, I am almost worn and wearied out. What with a sense of indwelling corruptions, the plague of my heart, the attacks of Satan, the troubles of the world, want of the sense of my Lord’s love, and the workings of unbelief;-my life is one continued scene of sorrow and distress.’ Remember, for your comfort, your life is short: your rest shall be eternal and glorious. Consider what one sweetly says, “It is the great work and difficulty, and yet duty of a Christian, to believe unseen and unfelt love, in and under wellseen and well-felt difficulties.” sometimes the Lord joins these together, as in 1Th 1:6. “Having received the word in much affliction; with joy in the Holy Ghost.” Then, it is easy. But often the trouble is felt, while the love is hidden in the word. What is to be done in such a case? Faith can find love in the word of promise: receive it, fasten upon it, and live by it. Here opens a most delightful scene, a most glorious prospect! Here, lose sight of your life: it is swallowed up in that word, “Ye are dead, your life is hid with Christ in God: Christ is our life. (Col 3:3-4.) Never consider yourself, without Christ; nor your life, without his; nor his enemies, without his perfect victory over them, in your nature, for your person, and to your comfort and joy in him. Now say, what is your life? You have lost all the glory and comfort of it in Adam: you find all restored, with infinite addition, to you in Christ. Therefore, whatever your feelings and frames may be, yet live by faith upon him, above corrupt sense and carnal reason. This is a mystery unknown to the world. When you see professors following the pleasures of this life, seeking happiness from the gay scenes of vanity, you behold them turning their backs upon Christ, shewing the greatest contempt to him; and, in effect, saying of him, ‘The Lord, with all the treasures of his life and love, cannot make my life happy: I am forced to take up with the delights of the playhouse, and rant and revel in scenes of mirth and jollity.’ . . . From such a life-such a spirit-and such professors of Christ, good Lord! deliver us.

I have a better life than this,
‘Tis hid in Christ with God:
Let death this mortal body seize,
I have a sure abode.

Yea, now I live, (for Christ’s my life)
I taste the joys of love;
And when I die, then ends my strife-
I go to joys above.

 

[Annie's Phil]

As I read today's "Utmost" I couldn't help but think of the applicability to the work of service for which a CALS has currently been called by the Lord. May His grace abound to all you CALS as you pour out your love upon Him through your loving and selfless attention to the needs of the PALS assigned to your care.
-Phil

My Utmost for His Highest
Oswald Chambers
February 25

The Destitution of Service
2 Corinthians 12:15

Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, "It doesn't really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God." "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor . . ." (2Co 8:9). And Paul's idea of service was the same as our Lord's. He did not care how high the cost was to himself --- he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.

The institutional church's idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ's idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually "out-socialized" the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (Mat 23:11). The real test of a saint is not one's willingness to preach the gospel, but one's willingness to do something like washing the disciples' feet that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul's delight to spend his life for God's interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns --- "What if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things." All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ's idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.

 

[Annie's Phil]

Let us not restrict God to fulfilling all of His promises to the confines of our time upon the earth. That would be like restricting a parent to fulfilling all of their plans for their children to their bedroom and within the next few hours. Those would paltry plans indeed.
-Phil

Morning Meditations
Octavius Winslow
February 25

"Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Psa 37:7.

It is just this simple, patient waiting upon God in all our straits that certainly and effectually issues in our deliverance. In all circumstances of faith's trial, of prayer's delay, of hope deferred, the most proper and graceful posture of the soul that which insures the largest revenue of blessing to us and of glory to God is a patient waiting on the Lord. Although our impatience will not cause God to break His covenant, nor violate His oath, yet a patient waiting will bring down larger and richer blessings. The moral discipline of patience is most costly. It keeps the soul humble, believing, prayerful. The mercy in which it results is all the more prized and precious from the long season of hopeful expectation. It is possible to receive a return too speedily. In our eagerness to grasp the mercy with one hand, we may lose our hold on faith and prayer and God with the other. A patient waiting the Lord's time and mode of appearing in our behalf will tend to check all unworthy and unwise expedients and attempts at self rescue. An immediate deliverance may be purchased at a price too costly. Its present taste may be sweet, but afterwards it may be bitter, God embittering the blessing that was not sought with a single eye to His glory. God's time, though it tarry, and God's deliverance, though delayed, when it comes proves always to have been the best: "My soul, wait only upon God, for my expectation is from him."