2. A Quote from A. W. Tozer

1. A Quote from Leonard Ravenhill

1. Devotional: Hold On!

Hold On!

by T. Austin-Sparks

Walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith. (Colossians  2:6,7)   

    Abraham in the land... yet the very promises given him of God seeming to be denied. Was Abraham mistaken? Are we not sometimes bewildered with the Lord, and are not His ways past finding out? It all looks such a muddle, but as faith holds on, one day we shall praise Him, as we see the reason for it all afterwards; "the path of the just... shineth more and more unto the perfect day." - Prov. 4:18. Note "PATH" not things! These mysteries of the way contain some secret mystery of God; and are they not another opportunity to show forth His wisdom and power? When all seems gone, the conflict so great, the experience so strange and there is no key to the situation; we are tempted to question whether the promises were even of God; everything is so contrary to what we expected, we begin to wonder if we are all wrong! Just then, is the time for us to stand fast in the Lord and maintain that stand in faith.  

    After all, our experiences are very much alike. There is perplexity, there is apparent contradiction, there is conflict; the forms of experience may vary, but it comes to all of us in some way or another - still "He abideth faithful".  How does this establish us? By the very helplessness of the situation, and ourselves, which causes us to cast ourselves upon Him, and it is then we prove Him. You are coming to the place where you know the mystery of God, and it is a glorious opportunity for Him to show His wisdom and so you are established. It is all a matter of endurance.

1. Hymn: My Goal Is God Himself

My Goal Is God Himself

Author: Frances Brook
Tune by Henry J. E. Holmes

(Chinese Vocal)

(Music)

1. My goal is God Himself, not joy, nor peace,
    Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
    'Tis His to lead me there—not mine, but His
    At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

2. So faith bounds forward to its goal in God,
    And love can trust her Lord to lead her there;
    Upheld by Him, my soul is following hard
    Till God hath full fulfilled my deepest prayer.

3. No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
    No matter though the cost be oft-times great,
    He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
    The way that leads to Him must needs be strait.

4. One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
    One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
    My God my glory here, from day to day,
    And in the glory there my great Reward.

1. Hymn Resource

1. Louis F. Benson Collection of Hymnals and Hymnology
    http://commons.ptsem.edu/benson

2. Hymnal: Christ in Song (Edited by Brother Christian Chen of New York)
    https://www.hymntreasury.org

3. Audio Hymnal (by Andrew Remillard)
    http://www.andrewremillard.com

2. Devotional: God Is In Control

God Is In Control

by C. H. Spurgeon

(Audio)

The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33)       

    If the disposal of the lot is the Lord's, whose is the arrangement of our whole life? If the simple casting of a lot is guided by him, how much more the events of our entire life—especially when we are told by our blessed Saviour: “The very hairs of your head are all numbered: not a sparrow falleth to the ground without your Father.” 

    It would bring a holy calm over your mind, dear friend, if you were always to remember this. It would so relieve your mind from anxiety, that you would be the better able to walk in patience, quiet, and cheerfulness as a Christian should. When a man is anxious he cannot pray with faith; when he is troubled about the world, he cannot serve his Master, his thoughts are serving himself. If you would “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” all things would then be added unto you. 

    You are meddling with Christ's business, and neglecting your own when you fret about your lot and circumstances. You have been trying “providing” work and forgetting that it is yours to obey. Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing. 

    Come and survey your Father's storehouse, and ask whether he will let you starve while he has laid up so great an abundance in his garner? Look at his heart of mercy; see if that can ever prove unkind! Look at his inscrutable wisdom; see if that will ever be at fault. Above all, look up to Jesus Christ your Intercessor, and ask yourself, while he pleads, can your Father deal ungraciously with you? If he remembers even sparrows, will he forget one of the least of his poor children? “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain thee. He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.”          

    My soul, rest happy in thy low estate,          

    Nor hope nor wish to be esteem'd or great;          

    To take the impress of the Will Divine,          

    Be that thy glory, and those riches thine.

1. Hymn: Trust and Rest

Trust and Rest

Author: A. B. Simpson

1. Trust and rest in Christ forever,
    Lean thy head upon His breast;
    Nothing from His love can sever
    Those who simply trust and rest.

2. Trust and rest in hours of sorrow;
    Every wrong shall be redressed,
    In some happy, bright tomorrow,
    If you only trust and rest.

3. Trust and rest when all around thee
    Puts thy faith to sorest test;
    Let no fear nor foe confound thee,
    Wait for God and trust and rest.

4. Trust and rest with heart abiding,
    Like a birdling in its nest,
    Underneath His feathers hiding;
    Fold thy wings and trust and rest.

5. Trust and rest till gentle fingers
    Fold thy hands across thy breast,
    While the echo softly lingers,
    Everlasting trust and rest.

1. Devotional: Don't Fear

Don't Fear

by C. H. Spurgeon

(Audio)

He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. (Psalm 112:7)

    Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?         

    Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?         

    Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

1. Devotional: Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord

Cast Thy Burden Upon The Lord

by C. H. Spurgeon

(Audio)

Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. (Psalm 55:22)

    Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labour to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. 

    Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the “broken cistern” instead of to the “fountain;” a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are “careful for nothing” because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.”

5. God's Mystery And Wisdom

God's Mystery And Wisdom

by T. Austin-Sparks

    Abraham in the land... yet the very promises given him of God seeming to be denied. Was Abraham mistaken? Are we not sometimes bewildered with the Lord, and are not His ways past finding out? It all looks such a muddle, but as faith holds on, one day we shall praise Him, as we see the reason for it all afterwards; "the path of the just... shineth more and more unto the perfect day." - Prov. 4:18. Note "PATH" not things! These mysteries of the way contain some secret mystery of God; and are they not another opportunity to show forth His wisdom and power? When all seems gone, the conflict so great, the experience so strange and there is no key to the situation; we are tempted to question whether the promises were even of God; everything is so contrary to what we expected, we begin to wonder if we are all wrong! Just then, is the time for us to stand fast in the Lord and maintain that stand in faith.  

    After all, our experiences are very much alike. There is perplexity, there is apparent contradiction, there is conflict; the forms of experience may vary, but it comes to all of us in some way or another - still "He abideth faithful".  

    How does this establish us? By the very helplessness of the situation, and ourselves, which causes us to cast ourselves upon Him, and it is then we prove Him. You are coming to the place where you know the mystery of God, and it is a glorious opportunity for Him to show His wisdom and so you are established. It is all a matter of endurance.