Mercy's Bed
A little place to rest my head.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Spring
Christ’s gospel warms that which was cold, makes that fruitful which before was dead and barren; when it comes to any place it puts a beauty and glory upon that place (2 Co. 3:7, 2 Co. 3:8 ) and furnishes occasion for joy. Spring-time is pleasant time, and so is gospel-time. Aspice venturo laetentur ut omnia seclo —Behold what joy the dawning age inspires! said Virgil, from the Sibyls, perhaps with more reference to the setting up of the Messiah’s kingdom at that time than he himself thought of. See Ps. 96:11 . Arise then, and improve this spring-time. Come away from the world and the flesh, come into fellowship with Christ, 1 Co. 1:9 ... The soul that was hard, and cold, and frozen, and unprofitable, like the earth in winter, becomes fruitful, like the earth in spring, and by degrees, like it, brings its fruits to perfection. This blessed change is owing purely to the approaches and influences of the sun of righteousness, who calls to us from heaven to arise and come away.. ~ Matthew Henry ♥
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Prayer
To most of us prayer is burdensome because we
have not learned that prayer consists in telling Jesus what we or others
lack. We do not think that that is enough. Instinctively we feel that
to pray cannot be so easy as all that. For that reason we rise from
prayer many times with heavy hearts. "Can God hear this prayer of mine?
Will God heed my humble supplications? And how will He do it? Everything
seems so impossible." Then we go on living in a state of suspense and
looking intently for the answer to our prayers. And when the answer is
not forthcoming at once, we think that we must do something in addition
to that which we have already done before God can hear us. Just what
this something is, we are not certain of in our own minds. And this
uncertainty causes that inner anxiety and worry which makes prayer so
painful. Especially is this the case if we or some of our dear ones are
in great distress and it is imperative that our prayers be heard.
All this is changed when we, like the mother of Jesus, learn to know Him so well that we feel safe when we have left our difficulties with Him.
-Ole Hallesby
All this is changed when we, like the mother of Jesus, learn to know Him so well that we feel safe when we have left our difficulties with Him.
-Ole Hallesby
Thank you, HZ, for this wonderful quote! I'm adding O. Hallesby's book on Prayer to my upcoming reading list!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Gentleness
Be gentle to the lambs of the flock; be gentle to them whose grace is little, whose faith is weak, whose strength is small, whose infirmities are many, whose sorrows are keen, whose trials are severe, whose positions and paths in life are difficult and perilous. Oh, I beseech you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, that you be in this particular, Christ-like. Be gentle to them that have fallen by the power of temptation; those who have travelled in the ways of the Lord with so slow and tardy a step that they have been over-taken by evil. Be gentle to the bruised reed and the smoking flax. Be gentle, very gentle, to the broken heart and the wounded spirit. ~ Octavius Winslow
Friday, August 31, 2012
Cheer
up, my soul! there is One who has promised never to leave you. When
father and mother, husband and wife, lover and friend, forsake you, the
Lord will take you up. He who was deserted by friends and followers,
will cling to you in prosperity and in adversity, in weal and in woe,
with unfaltering fidelity and unchanging love; and though all forsake
you, yet will He not in life, in death, and through eternity.
Octavius Winslow
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Wrath to God's Glory
Faith's Check Book, Daily Entry
C. H. Spurgeon
August 22
Wrath to God's Glory
Surely the wrath of man shall raise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain. (Psalm 76:10)
Wicked men will be wrathful. Their anger we must endure as the badge of our calling, the token of our separation from them: if we were of the world, the world would love its own. Our comfort is that the wrath of man shall be made to redound to the glory of God. When in their wrath the wicked crucified the Son of God they were unwittingly fulfilling the divine purpose, and in a thousand cases the willfulness of the ungodly is doing the same. They think themselves free, but like convicts in chains they are unconsciously working out the decrees of the Almighty.
The devices of the wicked are overruled for their defeat. They act in a suicidal way and baffle their own plottings. Nothing will come of their wrath which can do us real harm. When they burned the martyrs, the smoke which blew from the stake sickened men of popery more than anything else.
Meanwhile, the Lord has a muzzle and a chain for bears. He restrains the more furious wrath of the enemy. He is like a miller who holds back the mass of the water in the stream, and what He does allow to flow He uses for the turning of His wheel. Let us not sigh, but sing. All is well, however hard the wind blows.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Rainbow in the Clouds
Rest in the quiet consciousness that all is well. Murmur at nothing which brings you nearer to His own loving Presence. Be thankful for your very cares, because you can confidently cast them all upon Him. He has both your temporal and eternal "prosperity" too much at heart — to appoint one superfluous pang, one needless stroke. Commit therefore, all that concerns you to His safe keeping, and leave it there! ~ John MacDuff
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Strength in Weakness
"I
am weak, yes, weakness itself," is his language, "I am as a bruised
reed, shaken in the wind; I stumble at a feather; I tremble at an echo; I
frighten at my own shadow; the smallest difficulty impedes me; the
least temptation overcomes me. How shall I ever fight my way through
this mighty host, and reach in safety the world of bliss?" By leaning
daily, hourly, moment by moment, upon your Beloved for strength! Christ
is the power of God, and he is the power of the children of God. Who can
strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees but Jesus? "In
those who have no might, he increases strength." When they are weak in
themselves, then are they strong in him. His declaration is—"My strength
is made perfect in weakness." It is illustrated, it shines forth, and
is exhibited in its perfection and glory in upholding, keeping, and
succoring the weak of his flock. Lean, then, upon Jesus for strength. He
has strength for all your weakness; he can strengthen your faith, and
strengthen your hope, and strengthen your courage, and strengthen your
patience, and strengthen your heart, for every burden, and for every
trial, and for every temptation. Lean upon him; he loves to feel the
pressure of your arm; he loves you to link your feebleness to his
almightiness, to avail yourself of his grace.
Octavius Winslow ~ Midnight Harmonies
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)