Fear Has Its Place

Thursday, September 09, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 9

Fear Has Its Place

Happy is the man that feareth always. (Proverbs 28:14)

The fear of the Lord is the beginning and the foundation of all true religion. Without a solemn awe and reverence of God there is no foothold for the more brilliant virtues. He whose soul does not worship will never live in holiness.

He is happy who feels a jealous fear of doing wrong. Holy fear looks not only before it leaps, but even before it moves. It is afraid of error, afraid of neglecting duty, afraid of committing sin. It fears ill company, loose talk, and questionable policy, This does not make a man wretched, but it brings him happiness. The watchful sentinel is happier than the soldier who sleeps at his post. He who foreseeth evil and escapes it is happier than he who walks carelessly on and is destroyed.

Fear of God is a quiet grace which leads a man along a choice road, of which it is written, "No lion shall be there, neither shall any ravenous beast go up thereon." Fear of the very appearance of evil is a purifying principle, which enables a man, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to keep his garments unspotted from the world. Solomon had tried both worldliness and holy fear: in the one he found vanity, in the other happiness. Let us not repeat his trial but abide by his verdict.

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The Spurgeon Archive

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

"The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate."

 (King Solomon in the book of Proverbs)


Who would true valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather
There’s no discouragement
Shall make him once relent
His first avowed intent
To be a pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories
Do but themselves confound;
His strength the more is.
No lion can him fright, 
He’ll with a giant
fight,                                           
He will have a right
To be a pilgrim.                               
Hobgoblin nor foul fiend               
Can daunt his spirit,                        
He knows he at the end                  
Shall life inherit.                              
Then fancies fly away,
He’ll fear not what men say,
He’ll labor night and day
To be a pilgrim.

(Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan)

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 8

Broken and Smoking

A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. (Isaiah 42:3)

Then I may reckon upon tender treatment from my Lord. Indeed, I feel myself to be at best as weak, as pliant, as worthless as a reed. Someone said, "I don't care a rush for you"; and the speech, though unkind, was not untrue. Alas! I am worse than a reed when it grows by the river, for that at least can hold up its head. I am bruised—sorely, sadly bruised. There is no music in me now; there is a rift which lets out all the melody. Ah, me! Yet Jesus will not break me; and if He will not, then I mind little what others try to do. O sweet and compassionate Lord, I nestle down beneath Thy protection and forget my bruises!

Truly I am also fit to be likened to "the smoking flax," whose light is gone, and only its smoke remains. I fear I am rather a nuisance than a benefit. My fears tell me that the devil has blown out my light and left me an obnoxious smoke, and that my Lord will soon put an extinguisher upon one. Yet I perceive that though there were snuffers under the law, there were no extinguishers, and Jesus will not quench me; therefore, I am hopeful. Lord, kindle me anew and cause me to shine forth to Thy glory and to the extolling of Thy tenderness.

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The Spurgeon Archive

Monday, September 06, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 6

A Strong Heart

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:14)

Wait! Wait! Let your waiting be on the Lord! He is worth waiting for. He never disappoints the waiting soul.

While waiting keep up your spirits, Expect a great deliverance, and be ready to praise God for it.

The promise which should cheer you is in the middle of the verse—"He shall strengthen thine heart." This goes at once to the place where you need help. If the heart be sound, all the rest of the system will work well. The heart wants calming and cheering, and both of these will come if it be strengthened. A forceful heart rests and rejoices and throbs force into the whole man.

No one else can get at that secret urn of life, the heart, so as to pour strength into it. He alone who made it can make it strong. God is full of strength, and, therefore, He can impart it to those who need it. Oh, be brave; for the Lord will impart His strength to you, and you shall be calm in tempest and glad in sorrow.

He who penned these lines can write as David did—"Wait, I say, on the Lord." I do, indeed, say it. I know by long and deep experience that it is good for me to wait upon the Lord.

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The Spurgeon Archive

Victory Without Battle

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 4

Victory Without Battle

But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. (Hosea 1:7)

Precious word. Jehovah Himself will deliver His people in the greatness of His mercy, but He will not do it by the ordinary means, Men are slow to render to God the glory due unto His name. If they go to battle with sword and bow and win the victory, they ought to praise their God; yet they do not, but begin to magnify their own right arm and glory in their horses and horsemen. For this reason our Jehovah often determines to save His people without second means, that all the honor may be to Himself alone.

Look, then, my heart, to the Lord alone and not to man. Expect to see God all the more clearly when there is no one else to look to. If I have no friend, no adviser, no one at my back, let me be none the less confident if I can feel that the Lord Himself is on my side; yea, let me be glad if He gives victory without battle, as the text seems to imply. Why do I ask for horses and horsemen if Jehovah Himself has mercy upon me and lifts up His arm for my defense! Why need I bow or sword if God will save? Let me trust and not be afraid from this day forth and for evermore. Amen.

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The Spurgeon Archive

Out of Spiritual Death

Friday, September 03, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 3

Out of Spiritual Death

And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves. (Ezekiel 37:13)

Indeed it must be so: those who receive life from the dead are sure to recognize the hand of the Lord in such a resurrection. This is the greatest and most remarkable of all changes that a man can undergo—to be brought out of the grave of spiritual death and made to rejoice in the light and liberty of spiritual life. None could work this but the living God, the Lord and giver of life.

Ah, me! How well do I remember when I was lying in the valley full of dry bones, as dry as any of them! Blessed was the day when free and sovereign grace sent the man of God to prophesy upon me! Glory be to God for the stirring which that word of faith caused among the dry bones. More blessed still was that heavenly breath from the four winds which made me live! Now know I the quickening Spirit of the ever-living Jehovah, Truly Jehovah is the living God, for He made me live. My new life even in its pinings and sorrowings is clear proof to me that the Lord can kill and make alive. He is the only God. He is all that is great, gracious, and glorious, and my quickened soul adores Him as the great I AM. All glory be unto His sacred name! As long as I live I will praise Him.

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The Spurgeon Archive

		But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
		God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
		so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
		And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
		so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord."    (1Cor. 1:27-29) Trust in the Lord...take Comfort. Come to a resolution that  God is in control.

Follow to Know

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 2

Follow to Know

Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. (Hosea 6:3)

Not all at once, but by degrees shall we attain to holy knowledge, and our business is to persevere and learn by little and little. We need not despair, though our progress may be slow, for we shall yet know. The Lord, who has become our Teacher, will not give us up, however slow of understanding we may be; for it is not for His honor that any degree of human folly should baffle His skill. The Lord delights to make the simple wise.

Our duty is to keep to our main topic and follow on to know, not this peculiar doctrine nor that, but Jehovah Himself. To know Father, Son, and Spirit, the Triune God, this is life eternal. let us keep to this, for in this way we shall gain complete instruction. By following on to know the Lord, we learn healing after being torn, binding up after smiting, and life after death. Experience has its perfect work when the heart follows the trackway of the almighty Lord.

My soul, keep thou close to Jesus, follow on to know God in Jesus, and so shalt thou come to the knowledge of Christ, which is the most excellent of all the sciences. The Holy Ghost will lead thee into all truth. Is not this His gracious oR'ice? Rely upon Him to fulfill it.

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The Spurgeon Archive

How do you get to know someone without spending time with them? How would you get closer to God by reading about Him but never taking a walk with him? The answer is you don't...you must experience God.  He is ready to turn a listening ear...He knows you from the inside. 

Abiding in Obedience, in Love

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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September 1

Abiding in Obedience, in Love

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love. (John 15:10)

These things cannot be parted—abiding in obedience and abiding in the love of Jesus. A life under the rule of Christ can alone prove that we are the objects of our Lord's delight. We must keep our Lord's command if we would bask in His love. If we live in sin we cannot live in the love of Christ. Without the holiness which pleases God we cannot please Jesus. He who cares nothing for holiness knows nothing of the love of Jesus.

Conscious enjoyment of our Lord's love is a delicate thing. It is far more sensitive to sin and holiness than mercury is to cold and heat. When we are tender of heart and careful in thought, lip, and life to honor our Lord Jesus, then we receive tokens of His love without number. If we desire to perpetuate such bliss we must perpetuate holiness. The Lord Jesus will not hide His face from us unless we hide our face from Him. Sin makes the cloud which darkens our Sun: if we will be watchfully obedient and completely consecrated we may walk in the light, as God is in the light, and have as sure an abiding in the love of Jesus as Jesus has in the love of the Father. Here is a sweet promise with a solemn "if," Lord, let me have this "if" in my hand; for as a key it opens this casket.

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The Spurgeon Archive


Abide in me,
and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can
you, unless you abide in me. (John 15:4)

...apart from me you can do nothing

 

 

 

 We cannot produce fruit of our own accord. He is the vinedresser of our souls. 
Giving to us freely spiritual gifts...good and wonderful things.

Divine, Ever-Living, Unchanging

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 31

Divine, Ever-Living, Unchanging

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. (1 Peter 1:25)

All human teaching and, indeed, all human beings shall pass away as the grass of the meadow; but we are here assured that the Word of the Lord is of a very different character, for it shall endure forever.

We have here a divine gospel; for what word can endure forever but that which is spoken by the eternal God?

We have here an ever-living gospel, as full of vitality as when it first came from the lips of God; as strong to convince and convert, to regenerate and console, to sustain and sanctify as ever it was in its first days of wonder-working.

We have an unchanging gospel which is not today green grass and tomorrow dry hay but always the abiding truth of the immutable Jehovah. Opinions alter, but truth certified by God can no more change than the God who uttered it.

Here, then, we have a gospel to rejoice in, a word of the Lord upon which we may lean all our weight. "For ever" includes life, death, judgment, and eternity. Glory be to God in Christ Jesus for everlasting consolation. Feed on the word today and all the days of thy life.

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The Spurgeon Archive

You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.
Martin Luther

                           We cry "Abba Father!"

                        
Draw Your children to You.

      Assurance

I found You

in the midst

of it all.

My hope 

no longer

a wish

but a prayer.

I was poor & needy

You found 

me as I am.

Accepted me

for who I am.

Your Grace is 

Sufficient 

Your arms so

wide.

Father thank You...

for all You do.

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel...   (Ephesians 6:19)

Plentiful Refreshment

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 29

Plentiful Refreshment

Their soul shall be as a watered garden. (Jeremiah 31:12)

Oh, to have one's soul under heavenly cultivation; no longer a wilderness but a garden of the Lord! Enclosed from the waste, walled around by grace, planted by instruction, visited by love, weeded by heavenly discipline, and guarded by divine power, one's favored soul is prepared to yield fruit unto the Lord.

But a garden may become parched for want of water, and then all its herbs decline and are ready to die. O my soul, how soon would this be the case were the Lord to leave thee! In the East, a garden without water soon ceases to be a garden at all: nothing can come to perfection, grow, or even live. When irrigation is kept up, the result is charming. Oh, to have one's soul watered by the Holy Spirit uniformly—every part of the garden having its own stream; plentifully—a sufficient refreshment coming to every tree and herb, however thirsty by nature it may be; continually—each hour bringing not only its heat, but its refreshment; wisely—each plant receiving just what it needs. In a garden you can see by the verdure where the water flows, and you can soon perceive when the Spirit of God comes.

O Lord, water me this day and cause me to yield Thee a full reward for Jesus' sake. Amen.

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The Spurgeon Archive

Out of Any Circumstance

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 28

Out of Any Circumstance

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me. (Psalm 55:16)

Yes, I must and will pray. What else can I do! What better can I do? Betrayed, forsaken, grieved, baffled, O my Lord, I will call upon Thee. My Ziklag is in ashes, and men speak of stoning me; but I encourage my heart in the Lord, who will bear me through this trial as He has borne me through so many others. Jehovah shall save me; I am sure He will, and I declare my faith.

The Lord and no one else shall save me. I desire no other helper and would not trust in an arm of flesh even if I could. I will cry to Him evening, and morning, and noon, and I will cry to no one else, for He is all sufficient.

How He will save me I cannot guess; but He will do it, I know. He will do it in the best and surest way, and He will do it in the largest, truest, and fullest sense. Out of this trouble and all future troubles the great I AM will bring me as surely as He lives; and when death comes and all the mysteries of eternity follow thereon, still will this be true: "the Lord shall save me." This shall be my song all through this autumn day. Is it not as a ripe apple from the tree of life? I will feed upon it. How sweet it is to my taste!

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The Spurgeon Archive

Wow such a powerful message...I could not help reading further in this passage of Psalms. Here is a song that came to mind when reading it. 





"In Creation, God shows us His hand; in Salvation His heart."

Friday, August 27, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 27

Choice Men

I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. (Isaiah 48:10)

This has long been the motto fixed before our eye upon the wall of our bedroom, and in many ways it has also been written on our heart. It is no mean thing to be chosen of God. God's choice makes chosen men choice men. Better to be the elect of God than the elect of a whole nation. So eminent is this privilege, that whatever drawback may be joined to it we very joyfully accept it, even as the Jew ate the bitter herbs for the sake of the Paschal Lamb. We choose the furnace, since God chooses us in it.

We are chosen as an afflicted people and not as a prosperous people, chosen not in the palace but in the furnace. In the furnace beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed, and yet here eternal love reveals its secrets and declares its choice. So has it been in our case. In times of severest trial God has made to us our calling and election plain, and we have made it sure: then have we chosen the Lord to be our God, and He has shown that we are assuredly His chosen. Therefore, if today the furnace be heated seven times hotter, we will not dread it, for the glorious Son of God will walk with us amid the glowing coals.

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The Spurgeon Archive

"...there is no other God who can deliver like this." 

                               Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel  3:29

He is the refiner...taking away all our impurities and bringing out the treasure from within.  There is a wonderful song by Steve Green that rings true to my feelings on His working.

The Refiner's Fire 

There burns a fire with sacred heat
White hot with holy flame
And all who dare pass through its blaze
Will not emerge the same
Some as bronze, and some as silver
Some as gold, then with great skill
All are hammered by their sufferings
On the anvil of His will

Chorus:
The Refiner's fire
Has now become my souls desire
Purged and cleansed and purified
That the Lord be glorified
He is consuming my soul
Refining me, making me whole
No matter what I may lose
I choose the Refiner's fire

I'm learning now to trust His touch
To crave the fire's embrace
For though my past with sin was etched
His mercies did erase
Each time His purging cleanses deeper
I'm not sure that I'll survive
Yet the strength in growing weaker
Keeps my hungry soul alive

 

 

He of Tender Conscience

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 26

He of Tender Conscience

I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:22)

Some are fat and flourishing, and therefore they are unkind to the feeble. This is a grievous sin and causes much sorrow. Those thrustings with side and with shoulder, those pushings of the diseased with the horn, are a sad means of offense in the assemblies of professing believers. The Lord takes note of these proud and unkind deeds, and He is greatly angered by them, for He loves the weak.

Is the reader one of the despised? Is he a mourner in Zion and a marked man because of his tender conscience? Do his brethren judge him harshly? Let him not resent their conduct; above all let him not push and thrust in return. Let him leave the matter in the Lord's hands. He is the Judge. Why should we wish to intrude upon His office? He will decide much more righteously than we can. His time for judgment is the best, and we need not be in a hurry to hasten it on. Let the hard-hearted oppressor tremble. Even though he may ride roughshod over others with impunity for the present, all his proud speeches are noted, and for every one of them account must be given before the bar of the great Judge.

Patience, my soul! Patience! The Lord knoweth thy grief. Thy Jesus hath pity upon thee!

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The Spurgeon Archive

God calls us to be lights, not lightning bolts :)

We especially forget this in two ways when it comes to witnessing Christ. 

Some of us expect a non-christian to accept that they should live a pure Godly life...when the circumcision of the heart has not taken place for

them. 

Another way we do this is through unforgiveness of our fellow brethren. 

Realizing that we are to encourage one another...love one another...putting His plan before our own.

Please Lord give me eyes that see your cross applied. 

You died for me while still in the mire of my sin. 

Thank you for applying you amazing grace...may that see true in our hearts today.

Food and Rest

 

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 25

Food and Rest

I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:15)

Under the divine shepherdry saints are fed to the full. Theirs is not a windy, unsatisfying mess of mere human "thought," but the Lord feeds them upon the solid, substantial truth of divine revelation. There is real nutriment for the soul in Scripture brought home to the heart by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself is the true life-sustaining Food of believers. Here our Great Shepherd promises that such sacred nourishment shall be given us by His own self. If, on the Lord's Day, our earthly shepherd is empty-handed, the Lord is not.

When filled with holy truth the mind rests. Those whom Jehovah feeds are at peace. No dog shall worry them, no wolf shall devour them, no restless propensities shall disturb them. They shall lie down and digest the food which they have enjoyed. The doctrines of grace are not only sustaining but consoling: in them we have the means for building up and lying down. If preachers do not give us rest, let us look to the Lord for it.

This day may the Lord cause us to feed in the pastures of the Word and make us to lie down in them. May no folly and no worry but meditation and peace mark this day.

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The Spurgeon Archive

"There is real nutriment for the soul in Scripture brought home to the heart by the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself is the true life-sustaining Food of believers."

This reminds me of the words of wisdom that Jesus speaks to His disciples after talking to the Samaritan women at the well.
Read the whole chapter there is alot to chew on there. 
Found in John Chapter 4. 

In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
		But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."
		Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"
			Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
		"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
		"And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
			"For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.'
		"I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
		And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."
			So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
		And many more believed because of His own word.
			Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

 

Love and Seek True Wisdom

Monday, August 23, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 23

Love and Seek True Wisdom

I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. (Proverbs 8:17)

Wisdom loves her lovers and seeks her seekers. He is already wise who seeks to be wise, and he has almost found wisdom who diligently seeks her. What is true of wisdom in general is specially true of wisdom embodied in our Lord Jesus. Him we are to love and to seek, and in return we shall enjoy His love and find Himself.

Our business is to seek Jesus early in life. Happy are the young whose morning is spent with Jesus! It is never too soon to seek the Lord Jesus. Early seekers make certain finders. We should seek Him early by diligence. Thriving tradesmen are early risers, and thriving saints seek Jesus eagerly. Those who find Jesus to their enrichment give their hearts to seeking Him. We must seek Him first, and thus earliest. Above all things Jesus. Jesus first and nothing else even as a bad second.

The blessing is that He will be found. He reveals Himself more and more clearly to our search.... Happy men who seek One who, when He is found, remains with them forever, a treasure growingly precious to their hearts and understandings.

Lord Jesus, I have found Thee; be found of me to an unutterable degree of joyous satisfaction.

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 The Spurgeon Archive

I have a hard time just talking about simple things sometimes. 

Then I realize the most simple things are profound. 

Like that if  we are faithful  to seek God's wisdom in the morning 

He will supply that portion to our day. 

Lord we do not desire knowledge over your heavenly wisdom. 

We want our choices to be from you. 

Night of Weeping; Joyous Day

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 21

Night of Weeping; Joyous Day

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

A moment under our Father's anger seems very long, and yet it is but a moment after all. If we grieve His Spirit, we cannot look for His smile; but He is a God ready to pardon, and He soon puts aside all remembrance of our faults. When we faint and are ready to die because of His frown, His favor puts new life into us.

This verse has another note of the semi-quaver kind. Our weeping night soon turns into joyous day. Brevity is the mark of mercy in the hour of the chastisement of believers. The Lord loves not to use the rod on His chosen; He gives a blow or two, and all is over; yea, and the life and the joy, which follow the anger and the weeping, more than make amends for the salutary sorrow.

Come, my heart, begin thy hallelujahs! Weep not all through the night, but wipe thine eyes in anticipation of the morning. These tears are dews which mean us as much good as the sunbeams of the morrow. Tears clear the eyes for the sight of God in His grace and make the vision of His favor more precious. A night of sorrow supplies those shades of the pictures by which the highlights are brought out with distinctness. All is well.

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  The Spurgeon Archive



We all know deep down that our sins cannot be left unpunished.
God loved us so much that he laid down his life to pay for these transgressions...
This Love gave us a way to be free from the burden of our sins. 

Lord we Thank you for doing what you did not have to do.
Being lower then angels and redeemer of mere man.
With The Breath of life you gave us, we thank your name. 
You are our ... Hope...Deliverer, Conqueror, and Friend. 

“Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.”

                           (C.S. Lewis) 



 

Deliverance Not Limited

Friday, August 20, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 20

Deliverance Not Limited

He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. (Job 5:19)

Eliphaz in this spoke the truth of God. We may have as many troubles as the workdays of the week, but the God who worked on those six days will work for us till our deliverance is complete. We shall rest with Him and in Him on our Sabbath. The rapid succession of trials is one of the sorest tests of faith. Before we have recovered from one blow it is followed by another and another till we are staggered. Still, the equally quick succession of deliverances is exceedingly cheering. New songs are rung out upon the anvil by the hammer of affliction, till we see in the spiritual world the antitype of "the Harmonious Blacksmith." Our confidence is that when the Lord makes our trials six, six they will be and no more.

It may be that we have no rest day, for seamen troubles come upon us. What then? "In seven there shall be no evil touch thee." Evil may roar at us, but it shall be kept at more than arm's length and shall not even touch us. Its hot breath may distress us, but its little finger cannot be laid upon us.

With our loins girt about us, we will meet the six or the seven troubles and leave fear to those who have no Father, no Savior, and no Sanctifier.

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The Spurgeon Archive


The Anvil of tempest Love

                                           by Justin :)

Every Hit rings true to my soul...
this is hard.

my spirit aches...
yearning for release. 

The Anvil calls again 
bringing new trials to come...
more hurts..more pain. 

Lord your suffering 
was more then all
You know me 
and all that i can take. 

You will not forsake me...
Give me rest in this sea. 

Turn your face 
Give me sleep. 

Replace these thoughts
with waves of 
spiritual peace.

For I know that my Redeemer 
lives...
and that in the end He will stand upon the earth. 
(Job 19:25)

“May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us, may the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us. Be always ours this day and for evermore." 

                                                                                                            - St. Patrick

Reward for the Righteous

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry

C. H. Spurgeon

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August 19

Reward for the Righteous

So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth. (Psalm 58:11)

God's judgments in this life are not always clearly to be seen, for in many cases one event happeneth alike to all. This is the state of probation, not of punishment or reward. Yet at times God works terrible things in righteousness, and even the careless are compelled to own His hand.

Even in this life righteousness has that kind of reward which it prefers above all others, namely, the smile of God, which creates a quiet conscience. Sometimes other recompenses follow, for God will be in no man's debt. But, at the same time, the chief reward of the righteous lies in the hereafter.

Meanwhile, on a large scale, we mark the presence of the great Ruler among the nations. He breaks in pieces oppressive thrones and punishes guilty peoples. No one can study the history of the rise and fall of empires without perceiving that there is a power which makes for righteousness and, in the end, brings iniquity before its bar and condemns it with unsparing justice. Sin shall not go unpunished, and goodness shall not remain unrewarded. The Judge of all the earth must do right. Therefore, let us fear before Him and no more dread the power of the wicked.

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 The Spurgeon Archive  

So many times I want to control so much more of my life...then I realize I fail at what little God gives me to do. 
I ask the Lord today to take away the burden of servitude and replace it with joy. To be victorious through Christ and not my self ambitions. 

God you are great and You are good...all the time. 
Let me trust your judgment.