A.B. Simpson~ Devotional (march)

March 1st - Days of Heaven on EarthWait on the Lord. How often this is said in the Bible; how little understood! It is what the old monk called the "practice of the presence of God." It is the habit of prayer. It is the continual communion that not only asks, but receives. People often ask us to pray for them and we have to say, "Why, God has answered our prayer for you; now you must take the answer. It is awaiting you, and you must take it by waiting on the Lord." It is this that renews our strength until we "mount up with wings as eagles, run and are not weary, walk and are not faint." Our hearts are too limited to take in His fullness at a single breath. We must live in the atmosphere of His presence till we absorb His very life. This is the secret of spiritual depth and rest, of power and fullness, of love and prayer, of hope and holy usefulness. Wait, I say, on the Lord. I am waiting in communion at the blessed mercy seat; I am waiting, sweetly waiting on the Lord; I am drinking of His fullness; I am sitting at His feet; I am hearkening to the whispers of His Word.

March 2nd - Days of Heaven on EarthGod gives to us a power within which will hold our hearts in victory and purity. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. It is the Holy Spirit; and when any thought or suggestion of evil arises in our hearts, the quick conscience can instantly call upon the Holy Spirit to drive it out, and He will expel it at the command of faith or prayer and keep us as pure as we are willing to be kept. But when the will surrenders and consents to evil, the Holy Spirit will not expel it. God, then, requires us to stand in holy vigilance, and He will do exceeding abundantly for us as we hold fast that which is good. He will also be in us a spirit of vigilance, showing us the evil and enabling us to detect it and to bring it to Him for expulsion and destruction. O Spirit of Jesus, fill us until we shall have room only for Thee. Oh, come as the heart-searching fire, Oh, come as the sin-cleansing flood; Consume us with holy desire, And fill with the fullness of God.

March 3rd - Days of Heaven on EarthGod seems to love to work by paradoxes and contradictions. In the transformations of grace, the bitter is the base of the sweet, night is the mother of day and death is the gate of life. Many people want to have power. But, how is power produced? The other day I passed the large powerhouse where the trolley engines are supplied with electricity. I heard the hum and roar of countless wheels, and I asked my friend, "How do they make the power?" "Why," he said, "Just by the revolution of those wheels and the magnetic friction they produce. The friction creates the electric current." In this same manner, when God wants to bring more power into our lives, He brings more pressure. He is generating spiritual force by friction. Some of us do not like it. Some of us do not understand. We try to run away from the pressure instead of getting the power and using it to rise above the painful cause. O troubled soul, beneath the rod Thy Father speaks-be still, be still; Learn to be silent unto God, And let Him mold thee to His will.

March 4th - Days of Heaven on EarthBlessed secret of spiritual purity, victory and joy, of physical life and healing and all power for service! Filled with the Spirit there is no room for self or sin, for fret or care. Filled with the Spirit we repel the elements of disease that are in the air as the red-hot iron repels the water that touches it. Filled with the Spirit we are always ready for service, and Satan turns away when he finds the Holy Spirit enrobing us in His garments of holy flame. Not half-filled, but filled with the Spirit-this is the place of victory and power! It is not only a privilege; it is a command. And He who gave it will enable us to fulfill it if we bring it to Him with an empty, honest, trusting heart and claim our privilege in the name of Jesus and for the Glory of God. Holy Ghost, I bid Thee welcome; Come and be my Holy Guest; Heavenly Dove within my bosom, Make Thy home and build Thy nest; Lead me on to all Thy fullness, Bring me to Thy Promised Rest, Holy Ghost, I bid Thee welcome, Come and be my Holy Guest.

March 5th - Days of Heaven on Earth Christ has overcome for us every one of our four terrible foes: Sin, Sickness, Sorrow, Satan. He has borne our sin, and we may lay all, even including our sinfulness itself, on Him. He has borne our sickness, and we may detach ourselves from our old infirmities and rise into His glorious life and strength. He has borne our sorrows, and we should not even carry a care, but rejoice evermore and even glory in tribulations. And He has conquered Satan for us, too, and left him nailed to the cross, spoiled and dishonored, a shadow of himself. And now we need only claim His full atonement and assert our victory, and so [overcome] him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). Beloved, are we overcoming sin? Are we overcoming sickness? Are we overcoming sorrow? Are we overcoming Satan? Fear not, though the strife be long; Faint not, though the foe be strong; Trust thy glorious Captain's power; Watch with Him one little hour, Hear Him calling, "Follow Me, I have overcome for thee."

March 6th - Days of Heaven on EarthFaith is hindered by reliance upon human wisdom, whether our own or the wisdom of others. The devil's first bait to Eve was an offer of wisdom, and for this she sold her faith. Ye shall be as gods, he said, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5); and from that hour she began to know and she ceased to trust. It was the spies who postponed the Land of Promise to Israel. It was their "evil report" after searching out the land that led to the awful outbreak of unbelief and effectively shut the doors of Canaan to a whole generation. It is very significant that the names of those spies are nearly all suggestive of human wisdom, greatness and fame. So in the days of Christ, it was the bondage of the Jews to the traditions of their fathers and the opinions of men that kept them back from receiving Him. How can ye believe, He asked, which receive honour one of another; and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? (John 5:44). Let us trust Him with all our hearts and not lean upon our own understanding.

March 7th - Days of Heaven on EarthHow shall we know the difference between earthly and heavenly love? The one centers on ourselves and is partly our ego seeking its own gratification. The other reaches out to God and to people and finds its Joy in glorifying Him and blessing them. Love is unselfishness, and the love that is not unselfish is not divine. How much do we give to others, and how much do we take for ourselves? What is the center of our being-ourselves, or our Lord and His people and work? May the Lord help us to know more fully the meaning of that great truth, It is more blessed to give than to receive. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it (Mark 8:35). Have you found some precious treasure? Pass it on. Have you found some holy pleasure? Pass it on. Giving out is twice possessing, Love will double every blessing, On to higher service pressing, Pass it on.

March 8th - Days of Heaven on EarthPrayer is the mighty force that will move missionary work. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest (Matthew 9:38). We are asking God to touch the hearts of men every day by the Holy Spirit, so that they shall be compelled to go abroad and preach the gospel. We are asking Him to awaken them at night with the solemn conviction that the heathen are perishing and that their blood will be upon their souls. God is answering that prayer by sending persons to us every day who feel that the king's business [requires] haste (1 Samuel 21:8). Beloved, pray, pray, pray. And as petitions rise to the heavens there will be a period of silence in heaven, and the coals of fire will be emptied out upon the earth, and the coming of the Lord will begin to draw nearer. Pray until the Lord of the harvest shall thrust forth laborers into His harvest. Send the coals of heavenly fire, From the altar of the skies; Fill our hearts with strong desire, Till our prayers like incense rise.

March 9th - Days of Heaven on EarthMany Christians are in the place that the Lord has appointed them, and yet the devil is harassing their lives with a sense that they are not quite pleasing the Lord. If they could just settle down in the place that God has assigned them and fill it faithfully and lovingly for Him, there would be more joy in their hearts and more power in their lives. God puts us in various places to serve Him, and the secret of accomplishing the most is to recognize our place as designated from Him and our service in it as pleasing to Him. Even in the great factory or the complex machine there is a place for the smallest screw and rivet as well as the great driving wheel and piston. So God has His "small parts" whose business is simply to stay where He puts them and to believe that He wants them there and is making the most of their lives in the little spaces that they fill for Him. There is something all can do, Tho' you're neither wise nor strong; You can be a helper true, You can stand when friends are few, Some lone heart has need of you, You can help along.

March 10th - Days of Heaven on EarthIt is not peace with God, but the peace of God that [keeps our] hearts and minds. The peace which passeth all understanding is the very breath of God in the soul. He alone is able to keep it, and He can so keep it that "nothing shall offend us." Is this your experience? God's rest did not come until His work was finished. Nor will ours. We begin our Christian lives by working, trying and struggling in the energy of the flesh to save ourselves. At last, when we are able to cease from our own work, God comes in with His blessed rest and works His own divine will in us. Oh! have you heard the glorious word Of hope and holy cheer? From heav'n above its tones of love Are lingering on my ear; The blessed Comforter has come, And Christ will soon be here. Oh hearts that sigh, there's succor nigh, The Comforter is near; He comes to bring us to our King, And fit us to appear. I'm glad the Comforter has come, And Christ will soon be here.

March 11th - Days of Heaven on EarthHave you ever thought about the strange way in which God is calling a people out of a people already called? The word ecclesia, or church, means called out, but God is calling out a still more select body from the church to be His bride-those especially prepared for His coming. We see an illustration of this in the story of Gideon. When first he sounded the trumpet of Abiezer there resorted to him more than thirty thousand men; however, he was instructed by God to reduce the number. A first test was applied, appealing to their courage, and all but ten thousand returned home. But there needed to be an additional elimination, and so a second test was applied appealing to their prudence, caution and singleness of purpose, and all but three hundred were refused. With this small but select band, Gideon raised the standard against the Midianites. Through the power of God he won his glorious victory. So in this present day the Master is choosing His three hundred, and by them He will yet win the world for Himself. Let us be sure that we belong to the "out and out" people.

March 12th - Days of Heaven on EarthAll who fight the Lord's battles must be content to die to the favorable opinions of men and the flattery of human praise. We cannot make an exception even in favor of the good opinions of the children of God. It is very easy for the insidious adversary to make this also an appeal to the flesh. It is all right when God sends us the approval of our fellow men; however, we must never make that approval a motive in our life. All such motives are poison and deprive us of the strength with which we are to give glory to God. Rather, we must be content with the solitary way and the lonely wilderness. The man of God must walk alone with God. He must be content in the realization that God knows all things. it is such a relief to the natural man within us to fall back upon human countenances and human thoughts and sympathy that we often deceive ourselves and think it "brotherly love, when, in fact, we are just resting in the earthly sympathy of some fellow worm!

March 13th - Days of Heaven on EarthSome time ago, I was enjoying a beautiful sunset. The western skies seemed like a great archipelago of golden islands, the masses in the distance rising up into vast mountains of glory. The hue of the sky was so gorgeous that it seemed to reflect itself upon the whole atmosphere as I looked back from the west to the eastern horizon. The whole earth was radiant with glory. The fields had changed to strange red richness, and the earth seemed bathed with the dews of heaven. So it is when the love of God shines through all our celestial sky; it covers everything below, and life becomes radiant with its light. Things that were hard become easy. Things that were biting become sweet. Labor loses its burden, and sorrow becomes silver-lined with hope and gladness. There are two ways of living in God's love: one is constant trust; the other is constant obedience. God's own Word gives the message for both. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love John 15:10).

March 14th - Days of Heaven on EarthSome time ago, I was enjoying a beautiful sunset. The western skies seemed like a great archipelago of golden islands, the masses in the distance rising up into vast mountains of glory. The hue of the sky was so gorgeous that it seemed to reflect itself upon the whole atmosphere as I looked back from the west to the eastern horizon. The whole earth was radiant with glory. The fields had changed to strange red richness, and the earth seemed bathed with the dews of heaven. So it is when the love of God shines through all our celestial sky; it covers everything below, and life becomes radiant with its light. Things that were hard become easy. Things that were biting become sweet. Labor loses its burden, and sorrow becomes silver-lined with hope and gladness. There are two ways of living in God's love: one is constant trust; the other is constant obedience. God's own Word gives the message for both. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love John 15:10).

March 15th - Days of Heaven on EarthThere are many different atmospheres in which one may live. Some people live in an atmosphere of thought. Their faces are thoughtful, their minds intellectual. They live in their ideas, their concepts of truth, their tastes and aesthetic nature. Other people live in their animal nature, in the lusts of the flesh and eye, the coarse, low atmosphere of a sensuous life, or worse. Still others live in a world of duty. The predominating feature of their lives is conscience, and it carries with it a certain shadowy fear that takes away the simple freedom and gladness of life. Admittedly, in the latter there is a rectitude, an uprightness, a strictness of purpose and of conduct which cannot be ignored or questioned. But Christ bids us live in an atmosphere of love. As my Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. In the original it is, live in my love. Love is the atmosphere in which He would have us constantly live-that is, believing that He ever loves us and claiming His divine approval and tender regard. This is the life of love.

March 16th - Days of Heaven on EarthThis word glory is a very difficult one to translate, define or explain. But there is something in the spiritual consciousness of the quickened Christian that interprets it. it is the overflow of grace; it is the wine of life; it is the foretaste of heaven; it is a flash from the Throne and an inspiration from the heart of God which we may have and in which we may live. The glory which thou gavest me I have given them (John 17:22), the Master prayed for us. Let us take it and live in it. David used to say, Wake up my glory. Ask God to wake up your glory and enable you to mount up with wings as eagles, to dwell on high and sit with Christ in heavenly places. Mounting up with wings as eagles, Waiting on the Lord we rise, Strength exchanging, life renewing, How our spirit heavenward flies. Then our springing feet returning, Tread the pathway of the saint, We shall run and not be weary, We shall walk and never faint.

March 17th - Days of Heaven on EarthAs long as we struggle under law-that is, by our own effort-sin shall have dominion over us. But the moment we step from under the shadow of Sinai and throw ourselves upon the simple grace of Christ and His free and absolute gift of righteousness, the struggle is practically over. We take Him to be to us what He has pledged Himself to be-our righteousness of thought and feeling-and ask Him to keep us, in spite of everything that ever can be against us, in His perfect will and peace. Do we really know and believe that this is the very promise of the gospel, the very essence of the new covenant? Do we believe Christ pledges Himself to put His law in our hearts, to cause us to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments and do them? Do we know that this is the oath which He swore unto Abraham-that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life? (Luke 1:74-75). He has sworn to do this for us, and He is faithful that promised. Let us trust Him.

March 18th - Days of Heaven on EarthWe know what it is to be fireproof or to be waterproof. But it is a greater thing to be sin proof. it is possible to be so filled with the Spirit of Jesus that all the shafts of the enemy glance off our heavenly armor. It is possible to so know the presence of Jesus that all the burrs and thistles which grow on the wayside fail to stick to our heavenly robes. All the noxious vapors of the pit disappear before the warm breath of the Holy Ghost, and we walk with a charmed life even through the valley of the shadow of death. The red-hot iron repels the water that touches it and the fingers that would toy with it. If we have been set aflame by the Holy Spirit, Satan will keep his fingers off us, and the cold water that he pours over us will roll off and leave us unharmed. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not (1 John 5:18). Before going into a malarial region, it is well to fortify the system with nourishing food. So we should be fed and filled daily by the life of Christ in such a way that evil cannot invade our lives.

March 19th - Days of Heaven on EarthMany difficulties and perplexities in connection with our Christian lives might best be settled by a simple and bold decision of our will to go forward with the light we have, leaving the speculations and theories that we cannot decide for further settlement. What we need is to act, and to act with the best light we have. As we step out into the present duty and full obedience, many things will be made plain which it is no use waiting to decide. Launch out into the deep with a bold plunge, and Christ will settle for you all the questions that you are now debating. More probably, He will show you their insignificance and let you see that the only way to settle them is to leap over them. They are Satan's petty snares to waste your time and keep you halting when you should be marching on. The mercy of God is an ocean divine, A boundless and fathomless flood; Launch out in the deep, cut away the shoreline, And be lost in the fullness of God.

March 20th - Days of Heaven on EarthGod's people sometimes fight tremendous battles to attain to righteousness in trying circumstances. Perhaps they feel guilt because temptation has been allowed to overcome them or, at least, to turn them aside from their singleness of purpose toward God. The resulting conflict is a terrible one as they seek to adjust and be right with God. They find themselves baffled by spiritual foes, and they are helpless and perplexed. How dark and dreary the struggle! At such times how helpless and ineffectual we seem to be! We are almost sure to strive in the spirit of the law; such striving will always result in condemnation and failure. Every disobedience is met by a blow of wrath and discouragement, and we are close to despair. If the tempted and struggling one could only understand, or remember what perhaps he has learned before, that Christ is our righteousness, and that it is not by law but by grace alone that we conquer. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace (Romans 6:14). That is the secret of the battle.