John 13:34.
A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
Let love through all my conduct shine,
An image fair, though faint, of Thine;
Thus let me His disciple prove,
Who came to manifest Thy love.
Simon Browne.
When the world looks at me do they see Jesus ? . . . Today
Hebrews 4:14-16
Seeing then that we have a great high Priest…
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession.
Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need
Our great Helper in prayer is the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Advocate with the Father, our Great High Priest,
whose chief ministry for us
these centuries has been intercession and prayer.
He it is who takes our imperfect petitions from our hands,
cleanses them from their defects,
corrects their faults,
and then claims their answer from His Father on His own account
and through His all-atoning merits and righteousness.
Brother, are you fainting in prayer?
Look up.
Your blessed Advocate has already claimed your answer,
and you would grieve and disappoint Him
if you were to give up the conflict in the very moment
when victory is on its way to meet you.
He has gone in for you into the inner chamber,
and already holds up your name upon the palms of His hands;
and the messenger, which is to bring you your blessing,
is now on his way,
and the Spirit is only waiting your trust
to whisper in your heart the echo of the answer from the throne,
“It is done.”
–A. B. Simpson
Lord, Help my unbelief . . .Today
Psalm 46:5
God is in the midst of her;
she shall not be moved:
God shall help her,
and that right early.
O troubled soul, beneath the rod,
Thy Father speaks, be still, be still;
Learn to be silent unto God,
And let Him mould thee to His will.
O praying soul, be still, be still,
He cannot break His plighted Word;
Sink down into His blessed will,
And wait in patience on the Lord.
O waiting soul, be still, be strong,
And though He tarry, trust and wait;
Doubt not, He will not wait too long,
Fear not, He will not come too late.
Hollyhocks
When He giveth quietness,
who then can make trouble?
Job 34:29
I’ve many a cross to take up now,
And many left behind;
But present troubles move me not,
Nor shake my quiet mind.
And what may be to-morrow’s cross
I never seek to find;
My Father says, “Leave that to me,
And keep a quiet mind.”
ANON.
None of these things move me.–Acts 20:24
“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction
Isaiah 48:10
Does not the Word come like a soft shower,
assuaging the fury of the flame?
Yes, is it not an asbestos armor,
against which the heat has no power?
Let the affliction come–God has chosen me.
Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door;
but God is in the house already,
and He has chosen me.
Sickness, thou mayest intrude;
but I have a balsam ready–
God has chosen me.
Whatever befall me in this vale of tears,
I know that He has chosen me.
Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee.
In all thy fiery trials,
His presence is both thy comfort and safety.
He will never leave one
whom He has chosen for His own.
“Fear not, for I am with thee,”
is His sure word of promise
to His chosen ones
in “the furnace of affliction.”
–C. H. Spurgeon
I called upon him,
but he gave me no answer
Song of Solomon 5:6
The Lord, when He hath given great faith,
hath been known to try it by long delayings.
He has suffered His servants’ voices
to echo in their ears as from a brazen sky.
They have knocked at the golden gate,
but it has remained unmovable,
as though it were rusted upon its hinges.
Like Jeremiah, they have cried,
“Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud,
that our prayer should not pass through.”
Thus have true saints continued
long in patient waiting without reply,
not because their prayers were not vehement,
nor because they were unaccepted,
but because it so pleased Him who is a Sovereign,
and who gives according to His own pleasure.
If it pleases Him to bid our patience exercise itself,
shall He not do as He will with His own!
No prayer is lost.
Praying breath was never spent in vain.
There is no such thing as prayer
unanswered or unnoticed by God,
and some things that we count refusals or denials
are simply delays.
–H. Bonar
When thou goest,
thy way shall be opened up
before thee step by step
Proverbs 4:12, free translation
The Lord never builds a bridge of faith
except under the feet of the faith-filled traveler.
If He builds the bridge a rod ahead,
it would not be a bridge of faith.
That which is of sight is not of faith.
There is a self-opening gate
which is sometimes used in country roads.
It stands fast and firm across the road
as a traveler approaches it.
If he stops before he gets to it,
it will not open.
But if he will drive right at it,
his wagon wheels press the springs below the roadway,
and the gate swings back to let him through.
He must push right on at the closed gate,
or it will continue to be closed.
This illustrates the way to pass
every barrier on the road of duty.
Whether it is a river, a gate, or a mountain,
all the child of Jesus has to do is to go for it.
If it is a river, it will dry up
when you put your feet in its waters.
If it is a gate, it will fly open
when you are near enough to it,
and are still pushing on.
If it is a mountain,
it will be lifted up and cast into a sea
when you come squarely up, without flinching,
to where you thought it was.
Is there a great barrier across your path of duty just now?
Just go for it,
in the name of the Lord,
and it won’t be there.
–Henry Clay Trumbull
Proverbs 4:11-12 KJV
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom;
I have led thee in right paths.
When thou goest,
thy steps shall not be straitened;
and when thou runnest,
thou shalt not stumble.
Romans 8:31
What shall we then say to these things?
If God be for us,
who can be against us?
As if he had said:
What comfort may we derive from these doctrines?
God has called us all to holiness, and to love to him,
which is the principle of holiness.
We are persecuted and despised,
it is true, and we may be more so;
but, as God has called us to love him,
and all things work together for good to them that love him;
and, as his covenant with Abraham,
while he was in his Gentile state,
shows his gracious purpose towards us Gentiles,
whom he has foreknown,
who have been objects of his gracious foreknowledge,
as well as the Jews,
and who have now the fullest proof that we were so,
by his sending us the Gospel, and showing us, in it,
that if the Israelites were to be a holy priesthood, a royal nation,
we are no less favored, as he has predestinated,
from the beginning determined,
that we should be conformed to the image of his Son,
who is to be the first-born among many brethren,
the head and chief of all converted Jews and Gentiles,
and, in order to our final salvation,
has called, invited us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
has justified those who do believe,
and has glorified, highly honored,
and adorned them with innumerable gifts and graces,
and, if they continue to possess that faith which worketh by love,
will bring them, both body and soul, to his eternal glory,
their bodies being made like unto his glorious body:
– seeing, therefore, all these things are so,
what comfort in our tribulations shall we derive from them?
– Why this:
If God be for us, who can be against us?
He who is infinitely wise
has undertaken to direct us:
He who is infinitely powerful
has undertaken to protect us:
He who is infinitely good
has undertaken to save us.
What cunning, strength, or malice,
can prevail against his wisdom, power, and goodness?
None.
Therefore we are safe who love God;
and not only shall sustain no essential damage
by the persecutions of ungodly men,
but even these things work together for our good.
Clarke’s Commentary
Thoughts of Grace 