3. Devotional: Careful Unreasonableness

Careful Unreasonableness

by Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Behold the fowls of the air. (Matthew 6:26,28)

    Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars and the moon - all these are, and what a ministration they exert. So often we mar God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. 

    "Do not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me" - pay attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. We cannot get at the springs of our natural life by common sense, and Jesus is teaching that growth in spiritual life does not depend on our watching it, but on concentration on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows the circumstances we are in, and if we keep concentrated on Him we will grow spiritually as the lilies.

    The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould us.  

    If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live.

2. Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy

Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy

Author: Reginald Heber (1783-1826)

(Vocal)

(Music)

(Sheet Music)

1. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!
    Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
    Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
    God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!  

2. Holy, Holy, Holy! All the saints adore thee,
    Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
    Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
    Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

3. Holy, Holy, Holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
    Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
    Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee
    Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.  

4. Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
    All thy works shall praise thy Name, in earth and sky and sea;
    Holy, Holy, Holy! Merciful and Mighty!
    God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

1. Devotional: All Things Are Possible With God

All Things Are Possible With God

by T. Austin-Sparks (1888-1971)

The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. (Luke 18:27)  

    All hangs upon this one thing (as simple as it may seem) that if Christ is present (which means nothing else than that God is present) anything is possible at any moment. Are you waiting for some day when things will be better? It is not a matter of time at all, it is a matter of Him. He says, "I am time and eternity all in a moment, and you need not accept anything in the matter of time; you accept Me, and you may be well-nigh dead in the morning and be very much alive before the day is over. 'I am the resurrection and the life.'" Mary said, “I know that He will rise again in the last day.” For her resurrection was a matter of time. Oh no. Resurrection was right there....  

    As long as it takes to break a loaf you have gone from seed-time to harvest. "'Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest?' (John 4:35). I am here, and there can be harvest at any moment when I am here." It is not a matter of time, of circumstance. We are dealing with God, and He is not bound by anything that is known to our human life at all. Eternity dwells in any moment when He is present. All things are bound up with any moment when He is present. The centurion said, "Just say the word and my servant will be healed." "You need not come. Distance does not matter, time does not matter, just speak the word and it will be done." The Lord said, "I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel." The word was uttered, and when the enquiry was made as to when it happened it was found to synchronize with the moment when He spoke. He takes everything into His hands, and says "My hour..." and when that comes, there is no postponement. Oh, that we should lay hold of that more, live on that, never surrender to conditions, never surrender to the inevitable from the standpoint of the human, but say, "We have Him; He is our future, He is our circumstance." Anything can be at any moment with the Lord present.