Departing from my usual format, I must recommend these two free online books. I have long wanted to understand the idea of Waiting on God: it took a long time, but I found a resource that looks at this important diamond from almost every angle:
http://www.victoryoversin.com/murray/waiting.htm
And blessed Andrew Murray also offered up this exaltation to the good works God has prepared for us:
http://ccel.org/ccel/murray/working.toc.html
Soak in these treatises on working and waiting...maybe we might discover how to discern when to work (act) and when to wait (not act) , which is thus far beyond my wisdom...
Monday, July 24, 2006
Friday, July 21, 2006
Our Precious Indwelling Friend
An Excerpt from Anne Dutton's (1692 - 1765) Letters on Spiritual Subjects
A spiritual appetite that allows the Lord’s own to relish spiritual things is a gift from the Spirit of Christ. It is He who takes of the things of Christ and the Father and allows us to understand them. "The natural man can’t receive the things of the Spirit of God—for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually perceived."
It is the loving, caring Spirit of Truth in His special functions as Comforter and Guide who directs His people into all truth. It is He who removes the fog from our minds to understand abundant Truths and the knowledge of God in Christ. We cannot draw correct conclusions about the Things of God without the actual presence and superintendence of the Holy Spirit giving us insight. His light and heat kindles understanding, then it is He who even inflames our wills to apply and practice this knowledge. Let us thank and adore Jesus Christ for giving us so great an Indwelling Friend that warms and brightens and eventually ignites our inner man.
A spiritual appetite that allows the Lord’s own to relish spiritual things is a gift from the Spirit of Christ. It is He who takes of the things of Christ and the Father and allows us to understand them. "The natural man can’t receive the things of the Spirit of God—for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually perceived."
It is the loving, caring Spirit of Truth in His special functions as Comforter and Guide who directs His people into all truth. It is He who removes the fog from our minds to understand abundant Truths and the knowledge of God in Christ. We cannot draw correct conclusions about the Things of God without the actual presence and superintendence of the Holy Spirit giving us insight. His light and heat kindles understanding, then it is He who even inflames our wills to apply and practice this knowledge. Let us thank and adore Jesus Christ for giving us so great an Indwelling Friend that warms and brightens and eventually ignites our inner man.
Friday, July 14, 2006
The deep sight of Our Father
Excerpted from the chapter on the Sovereignty of God in CHRISTIAN MEDITATIONS
by Thomas Reade 1841
A sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from the Sovereignty of God. The very hairs of our heads are all numbered – we should be very composed no matter what happens. The reins of the whole universe, seen and unseen, are in the hands of Infinite Love, and that Infinite Love has been set on His people from Eternity. This vast cosmos in every detail is guided by His Infinite Wisdom and Power. Our Father of Lights cannot be taken by surprise. Nothing unforeseen can cross His purposes or thwart His designs. Everything and all contingencies are open to his view.
All hearts, too, lie naked before him. He knows all the restless, perplexed thoughts of men. He knows every motive, the cause of every action. The thoughts and desires [[both righteous and corrupt]] deeply buried in our hearts, are clearly perceived by his all-searching eye. By Him actions are weighed. He tests the spirits. He searches the imaginations, and the heart (Jeremiah 17:10), that, as the Righteous Judge of all, he may render unto every man according to his work.
by Thomas Reade 1841
A sparrow cannot fall to the ground apart from the Sovereignty of God. The very hairs of our heads are all numbered – we should be very composed no matter what happens. The reins of the whole universe, seen and unseen, are in the hands of Infinite Love, and that Infinite Love has been set on His people from Eternity. This vast cosmos in every detail is guided by His Infinite Wisdom and Power. Our Father of Lights cannot be taken by surprise. Nothing unforeseen can cross His purposes or thwart His designs. Everything and all contingencies are open to his view.
All hearts, too, lie naked before him. He knows all the restless, perplexed thoughts of men. He knows every motive, the cause of every action. The thoughts and desires [[both righteous and corrupt]] deeply buried in our hearts, are clearly perceived by his all-searching eye. By Him actions are weighed. He tests the spirits. He searches the imaginations, and the heart (Jeremiah 17:10), that, as the Righteous Judge of all, he may render unto every man according to his work.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
The envy of archangels
From The Night of Weeping, The Morning of Joy by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889)
At present, our responses to affliction and distress are one of the best opportunities for glorifying God. [[you can only suffer for this short time on Earth, so you might as well enjoy it]] It is on earth that He expects to get glory from trials; glory that angels can never give Him, glory we can't give Him later on in the sheer joy of Eternal Life. It is here that we are to preach to angels; it is here we are to show these angelic spectators what a glorious God is ours. But it is especially in sorrow and under infirmity that God looks for glory from us. What a God-honoring thing to see a struggling, sorrowing child of earth cleave fast to God, calmly trusting in Him, happy and at rest in the midst of storm and of suffering! What a spectacle for the hosts of Heaven! Let us prize affliction as the very time and opportunity for honoring and magnifying the Grace of God. Let's use this season well. To think that our afflictions might be coveted by archangels. They can glorify God much in Heaven amid its glory and blessedness, but oh, not half so much as we can on earth amid suffering and weaknesses!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Song to our Precious Holy Spirit of Christ
Inspired by the book, THE BLOOD OF JESUS by William Reid, © 1866
The Holy Spirit reveals Christ; He makes us to in part understand the attributes of Jesus, enjoy Jesus, and feed upon Him. He bears witness to Christ, takes of the things of Christ, and patiently reveals them to us. He is the power of our communion, the agent of our eternal seal, our Teacher of God's Words, the witness to the Son, the earnest of God, the unction in effectual preaching. His agency on our behalf is crucial. Without the precious Spirit of Christ, we can't see, we can't hear, we can't know, we can't do. Without Him, we have no affections for Jesus, ourselves, or others.; no joy, nor even Life Itself. Oh, Holy Spirit, thank you for your hard work drawing our hard hearts toward Jesus.
New Eyes to See
My contemplation inspired by the sermon, “Light Affliction and Eternal Glory” preached in 1857, by J. C. Philpot
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen– for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18
Affliction "for a moment," glory eternal. All of these relatively light sufferings and sorrows in this speck of time will result in a weighty, eternal glorification in Christ.
Our natural bent is to look continually at "the things which are seen." Day by day we stare at the things that surround us; those things with which we have much to do. Our employment, legitimate cares, duties to our families and friends, recreational amusements, the disciplines of daily living– all are saying, "Look to me! think of me, this has got to be done! The things which are seen include:
• What the natural eye can rest on
• What the natural ear of man hears
• What the natural heart of man can plan
• What the tongue of man can utter.
In a word, it is all of which our natural life consists. Grace alone enables us to look at the superior eternal, unseen things.
Out of proportion, things of time and sense drown our spiritual longings for the Lord Jesus. The natural man bullies the spiritual man, opposing spiritual appetite, entangling our affections, and dragging us from the heavenlies to earth. But in abundant thanks, we welcome the affliction brought on us by the persistent grace of the Lord that loosens the grip of things seen. Thank God, He has an “affliction in his treasure-house” that he commissions as a messenger to rescue the shriveling soul of the earth-bound saint.
Shattered dreams interrupt our stare at the things that surround us, and reveal to us mercifully, that He has not really had a place in our affections. As sanctified affliction purifies our spiritual sight, eternal things come into view with their solemn, healing weight of glory. We see the glorious truth that compared with these eternal realities, the things of time are not worth the attention we give them. The affections of our hearts reverse and begin to flow heavenward. We see more clearly how lovely and precious is our Jesus and worthy of all our best affections. Under affliction's sharp, gracious discipline, we begin at last to press forward towards heaven and glory! This speck of time is swallowed up in a glimpse of an eternal weight of glory and a spiritual bud pops inside us as we realize that these eternal, unseen glories stretch into ages following ages followed by a billion more ages, our perceptions of the attributes of God weighing heavier and heavier in their glory.
Now we give thanks for trial and affliction– blessing the Father of Lights for the sanctifying effect it produces; and we praise God with all our hearts that he was kind enough to lay his rod upon us and we say with David, "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept your word."
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen– for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18
Affliction "for a moment," glory eternal. All of these relatively light sufferings and sorrows in this speck of time will result in a weighty, eternal glorification in Christ.
Our natural bent is to look continually at "the things which are seen." Day by day we stare at the things that surround us; those things with which we have much to do. Our employment, legitimate cares, duties to our families and friends, recreational amusements, the disciplines of daily living– all are saying, "Look to me! think of me, this has got to be done! The things which are seen include:
• What the natural eye can rest on
• What the natural ear of man hears
• What the natural heart of man can plan
• What the tongue of man can utter.
In a word, it is all of which our natural life consists. Grace alone enables us to look at the superior eternal, unseen things.
Out of proportion, things of time and sense drown our spiritual longings for the Lord Jesus. The natural man bullies the spiritual man, opposing spiritual appetite, entangling our affections, and dragging us from the heavenlies to earth. But in abundant thanks, we welcome the affliction brought on us by the persistent grace of the Lord that loosens the grip of things seen. Thank God, He has an “affliction in his treasure-house” that he commissions as a messenger to rescue the shriveling soul of the earth-bound saint.
Shattered dreams interrupt our stare at the things that surround us, and reveal to us mercifully, that He has not really had a place in our affections. As sanctified affliction purifies our spiritual sight, eternal things come into view with their solemn, healing weight of glory. We see the glorious truth that compared with these eternal realities, the things of time are not worth the attention we give them. The affections of our hearts reverse and begin to flow heavenward. We see more clearly how lovely and precious is our Jesus and worthy of all our best affections. Under affliction's sharp, gracious discipline, we begin at last to press forward towards heaven and glory! This speck of time is swallowed up in a glimpse of an eternal weight of glory and a spiritual bud pops inside us as we realize that these eternal, unseen glories stretch into ages following ages followed by a billion more ages, our perceptions of the attributes of God weighing heavier and heavier in their glory.
Now we give thanks for trial and affliction– blessing the Father of Lights for the sanctifying effect it produces; and we praise God with all our hearts that he was kind enough to lay his rod upon us and we say with David, "Before I was afflicted I went astray; but now I have kept your word."
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