Need Hope ?

[color=669900][b]Compilation:

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be"

~*~

Psa 119:114 Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in Thy Word.

God beholds thee individually, whoever thou art. "He calls thee by thy name." He sees thee, and understands thee. He knows what is in thee, all thy own particular feelings and thoughts, thy dispositions and likings, thy strength and thy weakness. He views thee in thy day of rejoicing and thy day of sorrow. He sympathizes in thy hopes and in thy temptations; He interests himself in all thy anxieties and thy remembrances, in all the risings and fallings of thy spirit. He compasses thee round, and bears thee in His arms; He takes thee up and sets thee down. Thou dost not love thyself better than He loves thee. Thou canst not shrink from pain more than He dislikes thy bearing it, and if He puts it on thee, it is as thou wilt put it on thyself, if thou art wise, for a greater good afterwards.

~*~

Psa 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His Word do I Hope.

Beware of letting your care degenerate into anxiety and unrest; tossed as you are amid the winds and waves of sundry troubles, keep your eyes fixed on The Lord, and say, "Oh, my God, I look to Thee alone; be Thou my guide, my pilot" and then be comforted. When the shore is gained, who will heed the toil and the storm? And we shall steer safely through every storm, so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast and our trust and hope fixed on God.

If at times we are somewhat stunned by the tempest, never fear ~ let us take breath, and go on afresh.

Do not be disconcerted by the fits of vexation and uneasiness which are sometimes produced by the multiplicity of your domestic worries. No indeed, dearest child, all these are but opportunities of strengthening yourself in the loving, forbearing graces which our dear Lord sets before us.

~*~

Psa 147:11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that Hope in His Mercy.

Strive to see God in all things without exception, and-acquiesce in His will with absolute submission. Do everything for God, uniting yourself to Him by a mere upward glance, or by the overflowing of your heart towards Him. Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. Commend all to God, and then lie still and be at rest in His bosom. Whatever happens, abide steadfast in a determination to cling simply to God, trusting to His eternal love for you; and if you find that you have wandered forth from this shelter, recall your heart quietly and simply.

~*~

Jer 17:7 Blessed is the one that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD.

Lord, I know not what I ought to ask of Thee; Thou only knowest what I need; Thou lovest me better than I know how to love myself. O Father! give to Thy child that which she herself knows not how to ask. I dare not ask either for crosses or consolations; I simply present myself before Thee; I open my heart to Thee. Behold my needs which I know not myself; see, and do according to Thy tender mercy. Smite, or heal; depress me, or raise me up; I adore all Thy purposes without knowing them; I am silent; I offer myself in sacrifice; I yield myself to Thee; I would have no other desire than to accomplish Thy will. Teach me to pray; pray Thyself in me.

~*~

Lam 3:21~26 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

Great is Thy faithfulness,
O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide; Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

~*~

1Pe 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

In all the little things of life,
Thyself, Lord, may I see;
In little and in great alike
Reveal Thy love to me.

So shall my undivided life
To Thee,my God, be given;
And all this earthly course below
Be one dear path to heaven.

~~~*~~~

Psa 71:3 Be a rock of strength for me, to which I may always go; You have given a command to save me; for You are my rock and my fortress.

It is possible, when the future is dim, when our depressed faculties can form no bright ideas of the perfection and happiness of a better world ~ it is possible still to cling to the conviction of God's merciful purpose towards His creatures, of His parental goodness even in suffering; still to feel that the path of duty, though trodden with a heavy heart, leads to peace; still to be true to conscience; still to do our work, to resist temptation, to be useful, though with diminished energy, to give up our wills when we cannot rejoice under God's mysterious providence. In this patient, though uncheered obedience, we yet come prepared with hope. The soul gathers force.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Psa 38:15 For in thee, O LORD, do I hope: thou wilt hear, O Lord my God.

In unspeakable grief it is difficult to believe that the sun will shine again, that we will again be touched by the beauty of the flowers and the rainbow after the rain, that music will once again bring quietness of spirit. Often in overwhelming sorrow the very things that should comfort us only serve to bring even more sadness because they remind us that we shared them with our loved one.

Jesus kneels and weeps with us! Oh, friend, please believe that! The shortest and most poignant verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept." How marvelous--the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with our unspeakable griefs, kneeling and weeping with us, His gentle arms enfolding us as we cry out in anguish. Dear friend, what a beautiful thought! There were many dark nights when I felt those arms! In my distress I pictured the Father as giving strength, the Son giving hope, and the Holy Spirit giving wisdom. These we need so urgently, so quickly, so completely, in the darkest moments.

At this point I would like to share with you tried and true steps in dealing with deep grief. Dear friend, I want for you at this moment of your sorrow that peace that only God can give. May He bless you and grant you comfort and calm as you read these practical steps in dealing with what now seems so impossible.

1. Don't constantly talk about your feelings of despair. We need to share, yes, but try to speak of hope. Confine your deepest grief for friends who really do understand. When we constantly talk of the negative aspects of our grief, we make it just that much more difficult to recover. It may be tempting to open your bleeding heart for all to see and suffer with you, but a wound always exposed and being probed doesn't heal. God will provide the balm. Please believe that!

2. Don't worry about eloquent prayers, but do pray. Realize the prayers may be silent or sobbing prayers. In your confusion you may not know what to pray for, but God knows and that is the important thing. Just keep the line open. God understands the temporary static. Don't feel He has lost you or left you because of the way you feel. He, too, walked the earth, He felt pain as we do, He loved as we love, and He felt losses as keenly as--yes, more keenly than--we ever could. Remember that God surely hears these prayers--the silent ones, the weeping ones. He hears them instantly. Our agony deeply touches His heart. The eighth verse of Psalm 56 is a prayer in itself: "Put my tears into Your bottle." How extraordinary! God takes note of every tear, drop by sorrowful drop. The word bottle takes on a holy significance, for it is God's receptacle in which He preserves and then transforms our tears into pearls. What a thought when we feel we cannot go on another hour!

I believe that the greatest prayer we mortals can offer is an ever-present prayer of thanksgiving. Oh, yes, dear hurting soul, thanksgiving! But how can you be thankful when struggling under a load too heavy for a human heart to bear? Give it to Jesus, my friend. Right now, as you read this. Pray, "Jesus, please, I beg You, hold this broken, shattered heart of mine in Your gentle hands." Picture Jesus giving it healing, rest and peace. Thank Him, friend, and know that He will heal your heart.

Then open your Bible to Philippians 4 and read over and over these verses. Verse 6: "Be anxious for nothing: but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." Verse 11: "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content." Verse 13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Mark these verses. Go to them in moments of searing pain.

3. Count your blessings. Trite, but I have found this to be truly helpful. Charles L. Allen, in his book All Things Are Possible Through Prayer, tells of the lady who asked him, "What have I done to deserve this?" His reply was, "Nothing. Neither have you done anything to deserve many of your blessings." Mr. Allen also points out that every blessing has within it the risk of sorrow. If we love, we risk losing the object of that love. But surely, as the saying goes, it is far better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. If it helps you, jot down your blessings (you will be surprised to see how many you have); and when grief begins to overwhelm you, read them again. I found this to be particularly helpful. Tangibles such as a note to read can stabilize our emotions and clear our clouded minds.

4. Take one step at a time and one day at a time. We hear this so often, but it becomes a practical necessity in times of extreme suffering. God has promised help for the day and strength for the next agonizing hour, and He has yet to break a promise. It is up to us to cling to that promise. Allow friends and relatives to take over the physical and mental duties for however long you need their help. They want to. Don't deprive them of this Spirit-inspired wish to be of service. Someday they may need you. Thank God for them and accept their help graciously.

At the time of sorrow it is imperative that we keep up our strength. When searching Scripture for comfort, I was impressed with the many promises of actual strength. One of the treasures I discovered in my sorrow was: our God is a practical God. Isaiah 40:29 and 31 became as necessary for my heart as food for my body: "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength ... But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Our God is a God who "neither faints nor is weary," (Isaiah 40:28b) so He is there for us every moment. But, dear friend, don't run ahead of God! Don't become impatient if He allows you to remain in the valley for a while. There may be lessons we still have to learn. " Adversity is frightening. It also becomes the test of strength, including physical, for stress can affect our physical condition. I tried to understand that when difficult situations come into our lives it is because God knows we are strong enough to endure this and this temporary grief will make us even stronger. Psalm 46:1 assures us that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." What a blessed promise! Another thought I would like to share: while reading the Book of Job it occurred to me that it wasn't so much that Job trusted God, but that God trusted Job! For some inexplicable reason, that thought got me through some very bad moments when I thought I was losing it. But I would stop and think, "God trusts you, to come through this! He's depending on you to bring victory from this."

5. Get busy as soon as possible. This is imperative. I cannot stress it too much. Work keeps mind, heart and body intact. Start jobs that have accumulated over the months and years. If you have a paying job, get back to it as soon as possible. Physical exercise with a friend is most helpful also: jogging, walking, camping, swimming, picnics, tennis, basketball--whatever you like to do--but do it with a friend and do it outdoors whenever possible. Nature has definite healing powers for the hurting heart.

I believe this is one of the most important steps in dealing with grief. In New England there is an expression used for those in heart pain: "Go out and tell it to the bees." The bees stay busy. Physicians tell us that we use the brain cells of our frontal lobes when we are worried and fearful. Other brain cells control muscular activity. In physical activity we relieve the strain on the cells of the important frontal lobes and allow them to rest from their intense stress. The very worst thing we can do is withdraw from life, crawl into bed, and pull the covers over our heads, and reflect on what an injustice we have been dealt. God's natural world provides the fresh air, sunshine and beauty we so need at all times, but especially in the dark times.

6. Hold on to faith--faith in today and, above all, faith in tomorrow. This perhaps is the most difficult step of all. Does God really know best? Does He really care about our tangled hearts, our shattered dreams, our sleepless nights, our Gethsemane moments? Oh yes, my dear friend, He does! At the time you may not believe it, but hold on to the reality that when you are trapped in that terrible valley of despair, the everlasting hills are all around you.

In the immediate aftermath of grief we are so tempted to ask why. Indeed, we feel we have a right to know why we have been singled out for such an unbearable burden. We may pass through the futile and self-pitying stage of thinking that no one else suffers as we do. My friend, go next door, to church, to the grocery store, to that friend who seems so carefree, and seek out a fellow sufferer. The world is filled with them! Grief is universal and is no respecter of age or status.

Rather than wasting time and emotion threatening God--"I'll never trust you again, God!"--study His Word. There you will find an answer to your grief, although you may not find the reason why grief is permitted. There are certain pieces to God's puzzle that He reserves for Himself to test our faith. But you will find an answer to wait in faith on God. Faith is simple in definition but enormously difficult in practice. It is admitting and believing that our Father has complete control of our lives. We are not the masters of our fate, as Henley in his poem Invictus would have us believe, but we can choose the Master of our fate.

7. Keep in mind that in grief there is a peculiar ministry. I use the word "peculiar" in the sense that it is used in God's Word: set apart, consecrated, exclusively God's. You who have borne sorrows made bearable through a divinely renewed heart and mind have a special work for God. Your heart has been broken up, watered with tears, and planted with God's special seeds so that you may bear the graceful blooms of hope, love and gentleness for others to appropriate in their dark moments. What a beautiful ministry!

8. Remember that only God knows the end from the beginning. There is a sublime purpose for and in our lives which includes everything that happens to us. Joseph's beginning was full of trials: he was sold by his brothers into slavery and then he was imprisoned for something he didn't do. But he believed, he held on to his faith and he was rewarded. God had a plan for Joseph, and it could only be fulfilled with his cooperation. So it must be with our lives. "Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One Who is leading" (Oswald Chambers).

Job is another example of stability and steadfastness in the face of catastrophe. He lost all, he was afflicted bodily, and yet he could still say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust him" (Job
13:15). Still another example of Job's complete trust: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). In Job 42:10 we are told that "The Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends." The word "captivity" is significant. We become captive to feelings of anger, hate and distrust in extremity of heart or body. When Job prayed for others his captivity was turned and he was given twice the blessings he had before. When sorrow descends on us, it is so easy to be made a captive of self-pity and resentment. But in praying for others, in listening to the even greater burdens others must carry, we can be liberated from our own prison of discontent.

There are well-meaning friends and relatives who tell us that time heals. They are right, it does. But I'm grateful for the advice of a good friend who warned me that before the hurt is lessened it might get much worse. God may ask us to remain in the dark for a while, to learn more lessons and to discover the shadows in our heart that we don't even know we have. Only in the dark can we finally see the Light. The school of sorrow has within its walls a unique kind of education obtained nowhere else.

It is at these times we must appropriate the precious promises. One of the dearest promises in all the Bible is Revelation 21:4: "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Think of it, dear weeping friend! No more tears; no more pain in body, mind or heart; no more parting from loved ones. We shall know as we are known; we shall again meet those we have loved. We shall walk hand in hand with our lovely Savior up into the everlasting hills.

Thank You Lord !

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Psa 31:24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.

Be still and cool in thy own mind and spirit from thy own thoughts, and then thou wilt feel the principle of God, to turn thy mind to the Lord God, from whom life comes; whereby thou mayest receive His strength, and power to allay all blustering storms and tempests. That is it which works up into patience, into innocency, into soberness, into stillness, into stayedness, into quietness, up to God with His power. Therefore be still awhile from thy own thoughts, searching, seeking, desires, and imaginations, and be stayed in the principle of God in thee, that it may raise thy mind up to God, and stay it upon God; and thou wilt find strength from Him, and find Him to be a God at hand, a present help in the time of trouble and need.

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God will take care of you

Be not dismayed whatever betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

God will take care of you,
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.

All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you.

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you.[/b][/color]

You're more than welcome Pastor.
Please excuse that I love "colors" - cuz He made them. :-)

[color=CC6600][b]November 24 Devotional by George H. Morrison

The Interceding Savior

He is able also to save them to the uttermost…seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them— Heb_7:25

The Strengthening Power of Prayer[/b]

There are times in life when it is very helpful to know that somebody is praying for us. It strengthens us when we are prone to faint. When some difficult duty lies ahead, when we have to undergo an operation or when death has taken away a loved one and we are overwhelmed with loneliness, the certainty that friends are praying for us is a mighty succor to our trembling hearts and often ministers quietness and confidence. I have often heard missionaries say that what sustained them was their assurance of the prayers at home. During the war many of our boys used to speak of the difference this made. It reinforced their hearts and kept them strong to know that folks at home were praying for them. Indeed, I have found that many who never pray are eager to have the prayers of others when facing a crisis in their lives.

"I Have Prayed for Thee"

Now our text tells us that somebody is praying for us, and the somebody is our risen Savior. That is the only meaning which our text can have, and with all its mystery we thankfully accept it. We light on the same truth again in the song of triumph in the eighth of Romans. John, too, in his old age, dwelt on the consolation of that thought (1Jo_2:1). And if we only let it sink into our hearts, we find it the good news of God. Others may forget us in their prayers; there is One in heaven who never does forget. Others may fail us when their lamp burns low; He ever liveth. We are engirdled by the prayers of One who loves us and has the ear of God and therefore is able to save unto the uttermost.

Nor was this ministry begun in heaven; it was carried over from the days on earth. Our Lord on earth was an interceding Savior. One remembers His words to Simon Peter recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke: "Simon, Satan hath desired to have thee, but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not." And if our Lord so prayed when He was here, why should it be thought a thing incredible that He would continue that ministry in heaven? Does not Satan desire to have us just as he desired to have Simon? And often when our foot has wellnigh slipped, have we not escaped out of the fowler's snare? And why should we be charged with being mystical because we adoringly ascribe our rescue to the intercession of the risen Lord? Did He not say, "I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter"? Have we never experienced with an inward certainty that in the hour of need that Comforter has come? All fresh enduements of the Holy Spirit, whether for service or for suffering, are intimations of a praying Savior.

Again, we remember another intercession, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." And if He prayed that prayer when on the cross, we may be perfectly certain that forgiveness followed. Did not He say beside the grave of Lazarus, "I knew that thou hearest me always"? How little any of us know what we are doing! How often we say, "If I had only known!" Hence springs remorse and agony of conscience and thoughts which reproach us in the silent night. In such seasons, may we not lift our hearts to Him who ever lives to intercede and hear Him praying for our human ignorance as once He prayed upon the cross? So much of our sin is not deliberate. Evil is wrought by want of thought. We are such ignorant and foolish beings that we can rarely follow our actions to their issues. But He is praying for us just as He prayed on Calvary, and He is able to save unto the uttermost because He ever liveth to make intercession for us.

And then one thinks what this implies, for prayer is never an isolated thing. Whenever anybody prays for you, it means that he bears you on his heart. When a mother prays for her boy who is a prodigal, that is a token that she loves him still. When a sister prays for a brother who is careless, that means that he is very dear to her. If our Lord is praying for us in His ascension, that tells us He has not forgotten us but is eager to help us in our need. Prayers that do not lead to action are mockeries. True prayer issues in endeavor. Unless we are willing to help the man we pray for, our prayers are nothing else than empty breath. Thus do we find assurance of His help when the way is dark and the heart is very sore, in the good news with which the Gospel rings, that He ever liveth to make intercession for us.

GOD is GOOD All the time![/color]

[color=336699][b]"The Word Brought Nigh to the Sorrowful"[/b]
By Andrew Bonar

Introduction
Our errand being one of grace, the Lord will hear us when we ask his presence in it. Now, his Spirit is not "the spirit of fear :" it is the "spirit of love, and of power, and of a sound mind" (2 Tim. 1:7). To be clothed with his Spirit ourselves, and to ask Him to impart to others what we ourselves have been furnished with, is our best preparation for dealing with the case before us.

We may take up some such passage as Gen. 21:17. "What aileth thee, Hagar? Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is." Here is , 1. God's interest in the cares and troubles of a servant-woman, or rather slave. 2. God takes such interest in such a case as even hers, that He sends an angel - aye, and no common angel; He sends "the Angel of the covenant," as appears by the context. 3. The Holy Ghost has recorded all this minutely, to teach us what to expect when we too are in a wilderness, losing our way, and trying to manage our own cares.

Or we dwell upon Ps. 112:4. "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness." A memorable text. 1. as surely as there is blue sky behind these dark clouds, so surely there is a gracious God and Father, though unseen, behind these distressing cares. 2. The past has given examples of light arising on darkness. 3. Your one duty is, to continue conscientiously and filially to fulfil His will, doing or suffering.

Perhaps we may occasionally, with advantage, refer to history or biography. What a simple yet powerfully instructive incident was that of the little child, who, seeing her mother's tears while gazing shoreward from the ship that bore her amid strangers to a land of strangers, repeated (as she touched her mother's hand), "Though I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, thy right hand shall hold me;" and then asked, "Is it true?"

Sorrowful - because of anxious forebodings and cares
Ps 37:23. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way."

1. The plan of that man's life has been drawn up by the Lord, and He delights to see the plan carried out, step by step. 2. Each man's history is a world's history in miniature.

Num. 14:11. "How long will this people provoke Me? How long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs that I have shewed among them?"

What! not trust Him with the future? He that has destroyed Pharaoh, is He not able to bring Anakims down? He that gave you His Spirit to bring you to know His Son (having given you His Son as your Saviour), what else will He hesitate to do for you?

Luke 12:29-32. "Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after. And your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

He that loveth you as to have ready for you the glorious kingdom, cannot but intend to keep you safe by the way. But strength is not promised to-day for the trials of to-morrow.

Rom 8:28. "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose."

1. "All things?" yes, cares, perplexities, as well as other things. 2. They will help you on your progress. 3. They are in God's plan of your life - "according to His purpose." 4. Do not say, "If I were an eminent saint, I might fancy this to be so;" it belongs to all who "love God," i.e., who acquiesce in His will, who love the work and person of His Son, in whom the Father is revealed. 5. "We know" all this; we "know" it - it is most sure.

Prov. 12:21. "There shall no evil happen to the just."

("If we are not secure from trials, we are secure from harm" - Cecil)
1. The just man in God's sight is the sinner made just, or justified, who now doeth justly - the sinner "in Christ, who walketh not after the flesh, but after the Spirit" (Rom. 8:1). 2. To this man, nothing but good ever comes. No condemnation, no wrath, no evil. 3. Trials, uncertainties, drive him nearer to God, and so become blessings.

Ps.112:7. "He shall not be afraid of evil tidings : his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord."

The Good News takes the sting out of all that men call evil tidings. God's covenant-love sweetens the bitterest gall.

Ps.61:2. "From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."

That Rock can cast its shadow over the careful, fearful, foreboding man, as it did over that same man, when sin-oppressed, ready to sink under God's crushing wrath.

Phil.4:6,7. "Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God; and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Luther called prayer "The leeches of his care.")
1 Pet. 5:7. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

1. It is not, cast away care, but "cast it on Christ." 2. It is, cast it all on Him. 3. Not one concern of yours is too small for Him. In creation, the smallest insect is cared for, and gets mysterious life, as certainly as the loftiest angel; and, in providence, His saints' minutest interest is attended to. "If it were not so, I would have told you" (John 14:2). 4. Let this sink into your heart, "He careth for you."

Jer. 17:7,8. "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, . . . he shall not be careful in the year of drought."

Faith is the remedy for fear and care.

Mark. 4:39,40. "The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?"

1. You will see, when the storm is over, how unreasonable was your fear. 2. He that permits the storm to arise, can control it. 3. Fix your eye on Him; forget the winds and waves.

Jer. 10:23. "O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in him that walketh to direct his steps."

"If so, you need not wish to alter anything. God has chosen for you out of his endless stores the very best portion," - says one who knew care.

Ps. 32:1,8. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. . . . I will instruct thee and teach thee the way which thou shalt go : I will guide thee with mine eye."

1. A pardoned man is one to whom guidance is promised. Why, then, should he be so careful and fearful? 2. He that sees how to get over the difficulties in the way of thy pardon, can He not get over the difficulties that lie in thy way through life?

Num. 9:2, 18-22. "Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season. . . . .At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched. Whether it were two days, or a week, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed."

1.Passover-men are the men whom the Lord will guide by His cloudy pillar. This is the connecting link between the first part of this chapter and the second. 2. They are not left to shift for themselves. 3. He often takes unexpected paths, and puts them to much inconvenience. 4. He thus trains their will.

Is.42 :16."I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
Gen. 46:2,3. "God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob? And he said, Here am I. And He said, I am God! the God of thy father! Fear not to go down into Egypt." Verse 4. "I will go down with thee into Egypt."
Ps. 94:18,19. "Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul."

1. "Mercy held him up" when his foot was slipping. Mercy ! mercy ! the very thing for my case. 2. God's comforts were dropt into the stream of his anxious thoughts. Yes, the comforts of God !

Is. 50:10. "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God."

1. Spoken to a real believer; i.e., to a sinner who feels the Lord's majesty, and listens to the grace revealed by Messiah, "His Servant." 2. Spoken to such a one especially in times of affliction; for the darkness here is that arising from outward things, as if calamities were equivalent to God's frowns. 3. Let such a one fix his thoughts on "the name of the Lord;" i.e., the Lord's manifested character, and the Lord's gracious heart, and stay himself there, till "these calamities be overpast."

Gen. 32:7, 9,11,30. "Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham. . . .deliver me! And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

1. It was always in anxious seasons that Jacob got his singular discoveries of God. This is one instance; but see also, Bethel, ch. 28:11,12; and Bethel again, ch. 35: 5,9, and 46:3,4. How seasonable is our God's support! 2. If so, perplexities and forebodings may be but the folding-doors by which we are to see God come forth (as Jonathan came out to David from the thick wood) to comfort us.

Song 4:8. "Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon; look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards."
1 Pet. 5:10,11. "But the God of all grace, who hath called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

1. It is the God of grace that wishes us to suffer a while - the God who spared us every drop of penal suffering. 2. If so, these trials must be love-portions. 3. They will soon end. 4. They will contribute to our after completeness. The potter is handling and moulding the clay at present, and sometimes his hand seems rude as it shapes the vessel. 5. We shall yet sing "Glory" to him over these very sorrows; and "Dominion," too, rejoicing that he had the power to overrule.

2 Chron. 20:12. "Neither know we what to do; but our eyes are upon Thee."

It is He that drives the chariot - He alone. Do not try to help Him, but sit quiet in faith upon Him, and look what He will do. "The Lord, alone, did lead him" (Deut. 32:12).

Ps. 25:15. "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net."
Job 9:34. "Let Him take His rod away from me."

"It is all one to have a burden taken off, and to have strength given to bear and patience to endure it." - Caryl.

Ps. 56:3. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."
Daniel 3:17. "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace."
Is. 27:8. "He stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind."

He might have added bodily sickness to this trial, or the sickness of friends; He might have added excruciating pain; He might have added a hundred aggravations; but lo! He gives you just so much at a time as you can well bear, through His Spirit in you.

1 John 4:4. "Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world."
Is. 27:7. "Hath He smitten him as He smote those that smote him?"

There is a wide difference between your afflictions and those of other men, if you are one of His people - even as there was between Israel's chastisements and Pharaoh's doom.

Ps.140:7. "O Lord God, the strength of my salvation! Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle."
Ps. 42:7. "All thy waves and billows are gone over me."

It is God's waves. "Tides of love springing out of the ocean of God's love! so that they cannot overwhelm, but only plunge us in its unfathomable depths." - (A. Newton's Memoirs)

Luke 10;19. "Nothing shall by any means hurt you."

Spoken to the seventy - to all whose names are written in heaven. Jesus promises, 1. Nothing shall hurt a disciple ! 2. Nothing shall hurt a disciple, come in what shape it may, and though Satan try to wield it - "Nothing by any means"[/color]

Thank you Brother Christian. Always appreciate what you find to post and say. Thanking God for the internet - so we could meet brothers and sisters around the world, that we would never have otherwise, this side of Glory.

Last night, I was reading about this young Puritan man.

He was ordained at 19 and died at 22 - but you can see from this Site -- his sermons and books that he wrote and about him.

We need never give up hope. We're here for Him until we're blessed to be called to His Side.

Here is one of his Sermons -

[url=http://www.newble.co.uk/gray/treatise5.html]THE HAPPINESS AND PRIVILEGES OF THE TRUE BELIEVER[/url]

By ANDREW GRAY 1634-1656
The Youngest Puritan

[b][i]"If the heart is cleansed by the love of Jesus Christ, and if the heart loves Him, one can resist all tortures. What would a loving bride not do for a loving bridegroom? ...God will judge us not according to how much we endured, but how much we could love. The Christians who suffered for their faith in prisons could love. I am a witness that they could love God and men." [/i]

~ Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ
________________________________________________________

As a youth, Geoffrey T. Bull longed to share the gospel with Tibetan Buddhist. Instead, he was imprisoned by Chinese Communists during the 1950s. Whether confined in dirty, crowded cells or in dingy solitary confinement, God's promises sustained him. And week after week, in the darkness of his cell, he would write the devotional notes that eventually were printed in this book.

Excerpt from the book "When Iron Gates Yield" -- Geoffrey Bull's testimony about God's victory in the midst of persecution, torture and brainwashing in China. [/b]

[url=http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/faith/triumph-iron.htm][b]The Triumph of Truth[/b][/url]~

[i]"If you believe Him for forgiveness, you must believe Him for deliverance. He Who saves us from the guilt of sin can deliver us from the power of sin ... He can cut the chains that bind him to his former master ... He purchases us that He might possess us ....
If we want deliverance from the power of indwelling sin, we must rely in simplicity upon [url=http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/Word.htm]His Word,[/url] accepting without question what God says to us about it. We must still move in faith. ...

The aim of the Lord involves two things: the praise of God and the perfecting of the believer, that is to say His glory and our glorification. ...

He is prepared, for His glory and our good, to go all lengths with us. In occupying our vision with Christ, He seeks to show us what He desires our likeness to become. In this way, the more we [url=http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/beholding.htm]behold Him[/url] the more we are [url=http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/endurance.htm]prepared to endure[/url] that we might be conformed to His beauty ...

When a person who believes God is put through harrowing experiences, God waits, as it were, to see whether that person will consider Him worthy of his trust to the bitter end. His glory in that circumstance is linked up with that man's faith. When faith triumphs in the sufficiency of God's grace, then God is glorified in the world ...

The entrustment (by God) of trial and discipline is one therefore of highest honour (to us). He dares to expose Himself, to see whether in the darkest hour we will really respond to Him who is invisible, more than to all the visible terror about us; to see whether we will [url=http://www.crossroad.to/HisWord/verses/topics/love-his.htm]love Him more than life[/url] and count His joy more to be grasped at than the moment's excitement of an apparent security."[/i]

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

[url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=category&cid=135&page=1][b]"Shouting"[/b][/url] by Samuel Logan Brengle

[i]Nothing is more completely hidden from wise and prudent folk than the blessed fact that there is a secret spring of power and victory in shouting and praising God.

The devil often throws a spell over people which can be broken in no other way. Many an honest, seeking soul, who might step forth into perfect and perpetual liberty if he would only dare to look the devil in the eye and shout "Glory to God!" goes mourning all his days under this spell. Frequently whole congregations will be under it. There will be a vacant or a listless or a restless look in their eyes. There is no attention, no expectation. A stifling stillness and the serenity of "death" settles upon them. But let a Spirit-baptized man, with a weight of glory in his soul, Bless the Lord, and the spell will be broken. Every man there will come to his senses, will wake up, will remember where he is, and will begin to expect something to happen.

Shouting and praising God is to salvation what flame is to fire. You may have a very hot and useful fire without a blaze, but not till it bursts forth into flame does it become irresistible and sweep everything before it. So people may be very good and have a measure of salvation, but it is not until they become so full of the Holy Ghost that they are likely to burst forth in praises to their glorious God at any hour of the day or night, both in private and public, that their salvation becomes irresistibly catching.

The shouting of some people is as terrible as the noise of an empty wagon rolling over cobble stones; it is like the firing of blank cartridges. It is all noise. Their religion consists in making a racket. But there are others who wait on God in secret places, who seek His face with their whole hearts, who groan in prayer with unutterable longing to know God in all His fullness and to see His kingdom come with power; who plead the promises, who search the word of God and meditate on it day and night, until they are full of the great though and truths of God, and faith is made perfect. Then the Holy Ghost comes pressing down on them with an eternal weight of glory that compels praise, and when they shout it takes effect. Every cartridge is loaded, and at times their shouting will be like the boom of a big gun, and will have the speed and power of a cannon-ball.

Where there is victory, there is shouting, and where there is no shouting, faith and patience are either in retreat, or are engaged in conflict, the issue of which for the time being seems uncertain. But:

Oh, for a faith that will not shrink Though pressed by every foe,

That will not tremble on the brink Of any earthly woe.

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, And looks to that alone,

Laughs at impossibilities, And cries, "It shall be done!"

And what is true in individual experience is revealed to be true of the Church in its final triumph. For after the long ages of stress and conflict and patient waiting and fiery trial; after the ceaseless intercessions of Jesus, and the unutterable groaning of the Spirit in the hearts of believers, the Church shall finally come to perfect faith and patience and unity of love, according to the prayer of Jesus in John xvli., and then "The Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God" (I Thess. iv. 16), and seeming defeat shall be turned into eternal victory.

But let no one hastily conclude that he should not shout and praise God unless he feels a mighty wave of triumph rushing through his soul. Paul says, "We know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Rom. viii. 26). But if a man refused to pray till he felt this tremendous pleading of the Spirit in his heart, which John Fletcher said is "like a God wrestling with a God," he would never pray at all. We must stir up the gift of prayer that is within us, we must exercise ourselves in prayer until our souls sweat, and then we shall realize the mighty energy of the Holy Ghost interceding within us. We must never forget that "the spirit of the prophets is subject unto the prophets." Just so we must stir up and exercise the gift of praise within us.

We must put our will into it. When Habakkuk the prophet had lost everything, and was surrounded with utter desolation, he shouted: "Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my salvation!" We are workers together with God, and if we will praise Him, He will see to it that we have something for which to praise Him. We often hear of Daniel praying three times a day, but we pass over the fact that at the same time "he gave thanks," which is a kind of praise. David says: "Seven times a day do I praise Thee." Over and over, again and again, we are exhorted and commanded to praise God and shout aloud and rejoice evermore. But if, through fear or shame, men will not rejoice, they need not be surprised that they have no joy and no sweeping victories.

But if they will get alone with God in their own hearts-note, alone with God, alone with God in their own hearts; there is the place to get alone with God, and a shout is nothing more or less than an expression of joy at finding God in our hearts -- and will praise Him for His wonderful works, praise Him because He is worthy of praise, praise Him whether they feel like it or not, praise Him in the darkness as well as the light, praise Him in seasons of fierce conflict as well as in moments of victory; they will soon be able to shout aloud for joy. And their joy no man will be able to take from them, but God will make them to drink of the river of His pleasures, and He Himself will be their "exceeding joy."

Many a soul, in fierce temptation and hellish darkness, has poured out his heart in prayer and then sunk back in despair, who, if he had only closed his prayer with thanks, and dared in the name of God to shout, would have filled Hell with confusion, and won a victory that would have struck all the harps of Heaven and made the angels shout with glee. Many a prayer meeting has failed at the shouting point. Songs were sung, testimonies had been given, the Bible had been read and explained, sinners had been warned and entreated, prayers had been poured forth to God, but no one wrestled through to the point where he could and would intelligently praise God for victory, and, so far as could be seen, the battle was lost for want of a shout.

From the moment we are born of God, straight through our pilgrim journey, up to the moment of open vision, where we are for ever glorified and see Jesus as He is, we have a right to rejoice, and we ought to do it. It is our highest privilege and our most solemn duty. And if we do it not, I think it must fill the angels with confusion, and the fiends of the bottomless pit with a kind of hideous joy. We ought to do it, for this is almost the only thing we do on earth that we shall not cease to do in Heaven. Weeping and fasting and watching and praying and self-denying and cross-bearing and conflict with Hell will cease; but Praise to God, and hallelujahs "unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own Blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and His Father," shall ring through Heaven Eternally.

[u]Blessed be God and The Lamb for evermore![/u] Amen. [/i]

[color=009900][b]Bump for pastor and whomsoever ~

"My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."

2 Corinthians 12:9[/color][/b]