Quote from Morning and Evening:
When we first believe in Christ—we see but little of Him. The higher we climb—the more we discover of His beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ, which passes knowledge?
If you profess to be a Christian—yet find full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and pursuits, your profession is false. If your soul can stretch herself at rest, and find the bed long enough, and the coverlet broad enough to cover her in the chambers of sin—then you are a hypocrite, and far enough from any right thoughts of Christ or perception of His preciousness.
O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.
The worst evils which have ever come upon the world—have been brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God’s priest—act as such. You are God’s king—reign over your lusts. You are God’s chosen one—do not associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion—live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there be holiness in the life.
Worldly wisdom recommends the path of compromise, and talks of “moderation.”
According to this carnal policy, purity is admitted to be very desirable—but we are warned against being too precise; truth is of course to be followed—but error is not to be severely denounced.
Let your first care be to glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are. Fill your present sphere to His praise, and if He needs you in another—He will show it to you.
It is ever the Holy Spirit’s work, to turn our eyes away from self—to Jesus. But Satan’s work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ.
But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self—He tells us that we are nothing—but that “Christ is all in all.” Remember, therefore, it is not your hold of Christ that saves you—it is Christ; it is not your joy in Christ that saves you—it is Christ;
If Christ is anything to you—He must be everything to you. O rest not, until love and faith in Jesus are the master passions of your soul!
“Today shall you be with me in paradise,” is the whisper of Christ to every dying saint. They “sleep in Jesus,” but their souls are before the throne of God, praising Him day and night in His temple, singing hallelujahs to Him who washed them from their sins in His blood.
If the grace of God should leave the best Christian, there is enough of sin in his heart to make him the worst of transgressors.
The seasons change and you change—but your Lord abides evermore the same—and the streams of His love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever.
Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. Trouble does not necessarily bring consolation with it to the believer—but the presence of the Son of God in the fiery furnace with him fills his heart with joy. He is sick and suffering—but Jesus visits him and makes his bed for him. He is dying, and the cold chilly waters of Jordan are gathering about him up to the neck—but Jesus puts His arms around him, and cries, “Fear not, beloved!
When we consider the readiness of the Lord to hear, and His ability to aid, we shall see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation.
If I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old grain in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my soul.
We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if we are not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting to Jesus alone? If not, whatever you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not “suffering with Christ,” and have no hope of reigning with Him in heaven.
The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We only progress in sound living as we progress in sound understanding. “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”
Do not say of any error, “It is a mere matter of opinion.” No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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