The Lessons of Providence
But a Christian is to pursue his lawful calling
with an eye to the providence of God, and with submission to his wisdom. Thus,
so far as he acts in the exercise of faith, he cannot be disappointed. He casts
his care upon his Heavenly Father, who has promised to take care of him. What
God gives, he receives with thankfulness, and is careful as a faithful steward
to improve it for the furtherance of the cause of God, and the good of mankind.
And if he meets with losses and crosses, he is not disconcerted, knowing that
all his concerns are under a Divine direction; that the Lord whom he serves, chooses
for him better than he could choose for himself; and that his best treasure is
safe, out of the reach of the various changes to which all things in the
present state are liable.
A Believer Would be Ashamed to be…
A believer would be ashamed to be so utterly
unlike his Lord. What! The master always a man of sorrow and acquainted with
grief, and the servant always happy and full of comfort! Jesus despised,
reproached, neglected, opposed, and betrayed, and His people admired and
caressed; He living in the want of all things, and they filled with
abundance; He sweating blood for anguish, and they strangers to distress!
How unsuitable would these things be! How much better to be called to the honor
of experiencing a measure of His sufferings! A Cup was put into His hand on our
account, and his love engaged Him to drink it for us. The wrath which it
contained he drank wholly Himself; but He left us a little affliction to taste,
that we might pledge Him, and remember how He loved us, and how much more He
endured for us than He will ever call us to endure for Him.”
Not What I Once Was!
Dear God, I confess that I am not what I should
be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I will be, but by your grace I am
what I am, and that I am not what I once was!
The Devil is but a Whetstone
We have
no clear ideas of the agency of [demonic] spirits, nor is it necessary. The
Scripture says little to satisfy our curiosity; but tells us plainly that he is
always watching us, and desiring to sift us as wheat. I believe we give him no
more than his due, when we charge him with having a hand in all our sins. I
believe he cuts us all out abundance of work.
Hope When Praying for a Lost Family Member
I am
willing to hope that you will be made a messenger of light and peace to his
soul. The Lord’s hand is not shortened that he cannot save. He can do great
things in a small time, as you know from your own experience. In a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, he can command light to shine out of darkness. If he
speaks, it is done… One glimpse of the worth of the soul, the evil of sin, and
the importance of eternity, will effect that which hath been in vain attempted
by repeated arguments.
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