Friends-
Would you please pray for our family? We have experienced some hurt recently over things that have been said about us that are NOT TRUE! Please pray for God to reveal HIS truth and that He would be glorified.
In my devotional,
Streams in the Desert, God has spoken directly to my heart with the following entries...
August 14th
Isn't is glorious to know that no matter how unjust something may be, even when it seems to have come from Satan himself, by the time it reaches us it is God's will for us, and will ultimately work to our good?
August 15th
There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.
The lesson of faith once learned, is an everlasting acquisition and an eternal fortune made; and without trust even riches will leave us poor. --Days of Heaven upon Earth
"Why must I weep when others sing?
To test the deeps of suffering.
Why must I work while others rest?
To spend my strength at God's request.
Why must I lose while others gain?
To understand defeat's sharp pain.
Why must this lot of life be mine
When that which fairer seems is thine?
Because God knows what plans for me
Shall blossom in eternity."
There is no way of learning faith except by trial. It is God's school of faith, and it is far better for us to learn to trust God than to enjoy life.
"If you long to go through the daily exchanges of life with the kind of tact that never inflicts pain, then you must be prepared to pay the price for a costly education - for like Christ you must suffer." - Frederick William Robertson
August 18th
Believe God's word and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your Rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows, but your sea. --Samuel Rutherford
Keep your eye steadily fixed on the infinite grandeur of Christ's finished work and righteousness. Look to Jesus and believe, look to Jesus and live! Nay, more; as you look to him, hoist your sails and buffet manfully the sea of life. Do not remain in the haven of distrust, or sleeping on your shadows in inactive repose, or suffering your frames and feelings to pitch and toss on one another like vessels idly moored in a harbor. The religious life is not a brooding over emotions, grazing the keel of faith in the shallows, or dragging the anchor of hope through the oozy tide mud as if afraid of encountering the healthy breeze. Away! With your canvas spread to the gale, trusting in Him, who rules the raging of the waters. The safety of the tinted bird is to be on the wing. If its haunt be near the ground--if it fly low--it exposes itself to the fowler's net or snare. If we remain grovelling on the low ground of feeling and emotion, we shall find ourselves entangled in a thousand meshes of doubt and despondency, temptation and unbelief. "But surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of THAT WHICH HATH A WING" (marginal reading Prov. 1:17). Hope thou in God. --J. R. Macduff
When I cannot enjoy the faith of assurance, I live by the faith of adherence. Matthew Henry
August 19th
Does Sorrow lay his hand upon your shoulder,
And walk with you in silence on life's way.
While Joy, your bright companion once, grown colder,
Becomes to you more distant day by day?
Run not from the companion of Sorrow,
He is the messenger of God to thee;
And you will thank Him in His great tomorrow -
For what you do not know, you than will see;
He is God's angel, clothed in veils of night,
With whom "we walk by faith" and "not by sight."
Friends-
Thank you for reading/praying. Consolidating this in one place reminds me that this is all for my good and for His glory.
Sometimes, in my weariness, I desire to have a "break" from being a pupil in God's classroom. God's refining process is difficult; even painful at times. My prayer is to walk well on this current path. May my words be guarded. May I hold fast to God's promises, and not believe false assumptions. May I - as Ted said on Sunday - strive to be "gloriously known" by responding as Christ would.
We are reading Little Pilgrim's Progress to the boys. As little Christian travels from the City of Destruction toward the Celestial City, he meets danger along the way. He must scale the Hill of Difficulty, escape from the Giant Despair, defeat the Enemy Self, suffer for the King's sake in Vanity Fair, but never stop pursuing the Celestial City.
It's where I find myself - continuing to climb as I trust the Lord to lead the next step. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for continuing to mold me, strip me, change me, help me...to become more like you.
"So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10
