As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. 1 Samuel 12:23 .
Whoever ceases to pray for one he loves, fails in the most sacred duty of love, because he withholds love’s best help. It is pleasant to think that we can render this best of all services for others even when we are unable to do any work on their behalf.
A “shut-in” who can run no errands and lift no burdens, and speak no words of cheer to busy toilers and sore strugglers in the great world, can yet pray for them, and God will send them truest help! J. R. Miller
Yes, pray for those you love. If uncounted wealth were thine,
The treasure of the boundless deep, the riches of the mine,
You could not to your cherished friends a gift so dear impart,
As the earnest benediction of a deeply prayerful heart.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Teach us to pray. Luke 11:1
We should pray in the spirit of the prophet Daniel. Not only did he come down to the level of the people of Israel when he said, “We have sinned,”but he also lifted them up with himself to God in repentance and supplication and when he said, “We . . . present our supplication before Thee” (Daniel 9:8,18).
Daniel was praying alone. He was able to lift the nation of Israel into the presence of God in his intercessions. This was the turning point of Judah’s captivity. From that moment the wisdom and power of God wrought for their recovery. What results the supplication of one person may accomplish!
O Thou by Whom we come to God, the Life, the Truth, the Way!
The path of prayer Thyself hast trod teach us how to pray! Selected
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Broken Pieces
Matt. 14:20 “Fragments” Mark 6:43 “Fragments”
Luke 9:17 “Fragments” John 6:12 “Fragments”
Have you ever felt at the end of the day that you had nothing to offer bur “broken pieces” of things? In the morning we put our day in our Lord’s hands. Then we begin to do His work, but we are not able to do nearly as much as we had hoped.
Interruptions came and broke up our plans, and the evening finds us a little disappointed. “I hoped to do so much, and I have done nothing worth bringing to Thee”—that is how we feel.
I have been finding new comfort in the two words which are used by each of the four evangelists in telling the end of the story of the feeding of the Five Thousand. they speak of “broken pieces”, and the same words are used by two in telling of the later miracle. (Matthew 15:37 and Mark 8:8)
There was nothing over but “broken pieces”, and yet of those fragments our Lord said, “Gather them up that nothing be lost” (John 6:12). Even so, our dear Lord cares for, the broken pieces of our lives, the fragments of all we meant to do, the little that we have to gather up and offer, and He will use even these fragments. He will not let even the least of our little broken things be lost. Amy Carmichael
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Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10
Heaven will be when I have entirely forgotten myself, and am filled with God. That very same love which will fill heaven was manifested in the cross; for there it put all my sins away, and in heaven there are none.
I want something on which my soul may be stayed. Well, God loves me; and that which makes me know how much He loves me is, that He gave His Son for me. Then, as my soul rests upon this love of God, no measure of failure can be adequate to shake my confidence, as I estimate God’s love in the gift of His Son.
The enjoyment of this love is another thing, and that is carried on by the daily and hourly communion with God as our Father, by the Spirit in us.
Close to Thy trusted side, in fellowship divine;
No cloud, no distance, e’er shall hide, glories that then shall shine.
Fruit of Thy boundless love, that gave Thyself for us;
Forever we shall with Thee prove that Thou still lov’st us thus.
We wait to see Thee, Lord, yet now within our hearts
Thou dwell’st in love that doth afford the joy that love imparts.
J. N. Darby
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The Three Sieves
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs?
James 3:12
All of us who have tried to remember these three sieves, and have used them, know what a help they are. We are sorry when we ever forget them, and we are very grateful when we are reminded of them in time to keep us from saying something untrue, unkind, or unnecessary.
Sometimes when I listen to hymn-singing I think of the words about the fig tree and the vine and the fountain. “Can the fig tree . . . bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.” Can the lips which have sung these beautiful loving words speak those other words? But they sometimes do.
Perhaps these three sieves will help to keep some words from being spoken that would grieve the Spirit of love and hurt someone whom our Lord loves.
Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
The three sieves are only useful for keeping wrong words from being spoken. They do not give us right words. Love can fill the cup so full of love, that nothing can come out but love. Amy Carmichael
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And Nathan said to David. . .Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and has slain him with the sword . . . And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the LORD also hath put away thy sin, thou shalt not die.
(2 Samuel 12:7,9,13)
Here we come to the great distinction between the grace of God, and the government of God. Penally, David’s sin was forgiven as soon as he truly confessed it (v.13) and we find him afterwards rejoicing in the knowledge of that blessed fact (Psalm 32:1, 103:12) But governmentally, the consequences remained.
For, it must be remembered that when it is a question of government, a sin is not necessarily done with, even when it is confessed. The principle laid down in Galatians 6. 7,8 applies to Christians as well as to unconverted men: indeed the words were written primarily to children of God. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.” Heaven’s Cure for Earth’s Care
Child of God, by Christ’s salvation, rise o’er sin and fear and care—
Joy to find in every station something still to do or bear;
Think what Spirit dwells within you—think what Father’s smiles are yours—
Think that Jesus died to win you—He for you has opened doors.
Mrs. McKay
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God sent me (Joseph) before you (his brothers) to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:7
The last scene in the history of Joseph manifests that his brothers had no true knowledge of the heart of Joseph and therefore no real confidence in him. Joseph had saved their lives; he had put them in possession of “the best of the land of Egypt, and he had nourished them with bread (47:12). For 17 years they had been the recipients of Joseph’s bounty, and the special objects of his loving care, and yet when a crisis arises—it becomes manifest that they have no personal knowledge of Joseph. (50:15-21)
They know something of his greatness and glory, they know the great work he has accomplished, they know that every blessing they enjoy is owing to his position and work, but they had no personal acquaintance with his mind and heart. It is as if they said, “We know what he has done for us, but we do not know how he feels about us.
And not knowing his mind, when the crisis arises it becomes manifest that they have no confidence in him, with the result that they conclude that he will think and act towards them according to the way they had thought and acted towards him.
They remember that when Joseph was but a lad of seventeen, “they hated him”, now they conclude “Joseph will hate us.” Conscience recalls how wickedly they had acted to Joseph and now they say “he will certainly requite us all the evil we did unto him.” They judge his thoughts by their thoughts, his heart by their hearts and his acts by their acts.
Are we Christians today often like Joseph’s brethren? We know something of the glory of the Person of Christ, of the benefits that flow from His finished work on the cross, but when some crisis arises it becomes manifest how little we know of His heart, and therefore what little confidence we have in Him. The result is that in the presence of some trial we are, like Joseph’s brethren, greatly distressed in soul.
There has been great zeal to acquire knowledge of the Scriptures, but personal acquaintance with the Lord has not been sought after—not only knowing what He has done for us but also how He feels about us. Joseph - Hamilton Smith
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Let us go unto perfection. Hebrews 6:1
PROGRESS
Blest Saviour, keep our spirits stayed, Hard following after Thee,
Till we, in robes of white arrayed, Thy face in glory see. J. G. Deck
I believe the one great hindrance to our progress is the limited measure of our desire and preparation. We often think that we are wishing for and ready for much more than we are. We always get what we value.
It is very helpful to see in Ephesians 4:14-15 that if you were well grown you would not be “tossed to and fro,” The higher you go the safer you are—a fine principle, hence Satan would prevent us from going to the top.
I think many do not habituate themselves to sitting before the Lord. One does not appear to be doing anything, and yet that is the very time in which the peculiar lines of His mind and pleasure for one are acquired.
I believe the practical difficulty with us all is to say—not Adam in any form or quality but Christ liveth in me! Galatians 2:20). . . Every believer likes to advance himself spiritually, but hardly anyone likes to exchange himself for another Man.
Learning is very real work, and there is no maturing without it, and I do not believe that anyone matures brilliantly who does not learn sufferingly. Easily got, easily gone, was never so corroborated as in the highest things.
I am quite sure that if there were more breaking of heart to know more of the Lord wondrous disclosures would be made to us. The great thing we need for progress is restfulness of heart. Footprints for Pilgrims - J. N. Darby
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Impressions
See then that ye walk circumspectly, [carefully] not as fools, but as wise. Ephesians 5:15
A father and his little boy had been enjoying a day at the beach. As they began to prepare to leave, the boy got up from the sand where he had been lying. Looking down at the beach he said, “Look Daddy, you see me in the sand!”
“You sure can!” answered his Dad. You left quite an impression there.” “What’s a ‘pression’, Daddy?” asked the puzzled little boy. “It’s that place in the sand where we see a mark where you were lying. It’s just the footprints you leave in the sand. Also its kind of like the impression you left in Mr. Green’s new cement sidewalk.“You mean my handprint?” he asked Dad.
“Well, yes but I was thinking of another kind of impression you left with Mr Green. You left an impression on his mind.” “Is Mr. Green’s brain made of cement too?” “No,” laughed Dad, “but you left an impression on his memory—a bad impression. Every time Mr. Green walks out the door he sees your hand print right there in his sidewalk. I’m pretty sure that’s an impression of you he gets every day, son.”
But Daddy I wanted to do something good. Mr. Green is always crabby and acts mad. I thought if he saw my hand in his sidewalk waving ‘hi’ every morning he would be happy!”
Believers are a bit more like this dear little boy than we might care to admit. Our conduct often leaves unintended impressions on the minds of others. Our acts and our words are carefully watched by unbelievers—often by those who are looking to find fault with Christians that try to live their faith. How we need the wisdom found in James 3:17 as our daily guide: “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, yielding, full of mercy and good fruits, unquestioning, unfeigned” (JND Trans.)
Conduct the world engages in, often revealing in such actions, is quickly rebuked when observed in those who bear the name of Christ.. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:22) is a divine command that every believer desiring to honour the Lord must diligently follow.
Doug Nicolet - The Christian Shepherd - December 2007
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But doThou for me, O God the Lord, for Thy name’s sake: because Thy mercy is good, deliver Thou me. Psalm 109:21
The Psalmist does not say what he wanted God to do for him. So this most restful prayer is left open for all perplexed hearts to appropriate according to their necessities.
We leave it open for God to fill up in His own way. Only a trusting heart can pray this prayer; the very utterance of it is an act of faith. We could not ask anyone we didn’t know intimately and trust implicitly to do for us without even suggesting what.
Through waves, through clouds and storms,
God gently clears the way;
We wait His time; so shall the night
Soon end in blissful day.
We leave it to Himself
To chose and to command;
With wonder filled, we soon shall see
How wise, how strong His hand.
Charles Wesley
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There is therefore now no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Have you ever got hold of the wonderful truth of being in Christ Jesus? ”For there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.” Why? because there is nothing left to condemn. “Well,” you say,”that is a bold statement.” I do not deny it, for I know the blessedness and joy of it! There is nothing left to condemn—if you are in Christ Jesus.
The truth of the gospel is this, that when the Lord Jesus was upon the cross, not only was He bearing our sins, but He was there made sin by God, and stood identified with all that the first man (Adam) was, and underwent the judgment of God upon the first man. The history of the first man terminated before God and for faith in the death of the Second man (Jesus). Everything was condemned in the cross, and now there is no condemnation left, nothing left to condemn.
God has not made light of sin. Christ has borne our sins, and put them away, but more, He has been made sin, and gone down into the depth of the judgment due to sin, and risen up from those depths. He has become my life; I am in Him, and therefore in all the impossibility of condemnation for Him. Sin in the flesh has not been forgiven. God condemned it. God never forgives sin. He forgives sinners, and pardons sins, blotting them out in Christ’s blood, but the evil principle of sin—sin in the flesh— can only end in judgment.
If you are a believer, you are in Christ before God, and hence there is no condemnation, because your very place is in the One who has come out of, and left behind, in the judgment He came out of, all that pertained to your sins and you. And is He going to condemn those for whom He died, for whom He agonized, and for whom He Himself was condemned? Never! Blessed be His peerless name! We may well say, Hallelujah! Dr. W. T. P. Wolston.
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“IT IS FINISHED'“
It is finished. John 19:30
Precious words that released young Hudson Taylor from years of doubt and striving! While reading a tract his eye caught the words, “The finished work of Christ.” He had known for years of the atoning work of Christ, but for the first time he saw that if it were a finished work there was nothing for him to do but accept it and praise God forever.
God has taken care of everything in Christ. My sins, my salvation, my life, my past and present and future, all my needs and the needs of the whole world, all are wrapped up in a finished work. If God has taken care of everything I do not need to try to take care of anything. I have only to believe, receive, rejoice, and then out of the fulness of my heart love and obey Him.
No matter what comes up, there is provision for it in Christ. And when we find that everything is in Jesus, He becomes to us everything!
“Finished”—not something with ragged edges and frazzled ends that I must piece out. God has taken care of everything forever in Christ. And we are complete in Him. Day by Day - Vance Havner
Nothing either great or small nothing sinner, no
Jesus died and paid it all long, long ago.
When He from His lofty throne stooped to do and die
Everything was fully done, hearken to His cry.
“It is finished!” yes, indeed, finished every jot:
Sinner, this is all you need—tell me is it not? James Proctor
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The Lord Knoweth:
Them that are His (2 Timothy 2:19);
His own sheep (John 10:14);
Them that trust in Him (Nahum 1:7);
What we need (Matthew 6:32);
The way I take (Job 23:10);
Our frame (Psalm 103:14);
How to deliver (2 Peter 2:9).
We Know:
That the Son of God is come (1 John 5:20);
That our Redeemer lives (Job 19:25);
Whom we have believed (2 Timothy 1:12);
That we have eternal life (1 John 5:13);
That all things work together for good (Romans 8:28);
That we have an eternal Home (2 Corinthians 5:1);
That we shall be like Him (1 John 3:2).
The Wonderful Word - George Henderson
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My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even the thoughts of my heart. Job 17:11
Mine heart within me is broken. Jeremiah 23:9
Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. Malachi 4:2
He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. Psalm 147:3
My every wound to Thee I take to heal, for Thou art touched with every pang I feel;
O Friend of friends—the faithful, true and tried—in Thee, and Thee alone, I now confide.
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a Friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Saviour still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake Thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In HIs arms He’ll take and shield thee; Thou will find a solace there.
Joseph M. Scriven
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But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
We are bound to have our days of rain, our times of tears, our hours of disappointment. There are bound to be blustery storms of testing, counter air-currents of frustration, and nights of darkness.
But through them all, in them all, our Father is always there. He does not desert us. He does not abandon us. He is at work in the environment of our lives, persistent in pressing in upon us in ways we do not always see, much less understand.
In these difficult, grievous, heavy times He expects that we shall simply settle down quietly upon the shore of His great grace and wait patiently for Him. He does not call us to beat our way with flashing wings and spent bodies against the storms of life. He does not ask us to fight the adverse winds in fury.
He simply tells us that those who wait upon the Lord, who wait for the weather to change, who wait for Him to alter the environment, will mount up with wings refreshed. They shall fly and not grow weary, borne aloft on the fresh updrafts of His faithfulness.
For, our Father is true to His children. Just as the sun will shine again after the storms have swept the beach, so the rising power of Christ’s presence will again warm the shore of my soul. The uplifting wind of His Spirit will once more bear up my spirit. Again I shall soar in strength and beauty. Songs of My Soul - Phillip Keller
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