I Delight in Weaknesses

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. 
2 Corinthians 12:10

The literal translation of this verse adds a startling em-
phasis to it, allowing it to speak for itself with power 
we have probably never realized. It is as follows: 
"Therefore I take pleasure in being without strength, 
being insulted, experiencing emergencies, and being 
chased and forced into a corner for Christ's sake; for
when I am without strength, I am dynamite."

The secrete of knowing God's complete sufficiency is 
in coming to the end of everything in ourselves and 
our circumstances. Once we reach this point, we will 
stop seeking sympathy for our difficult situation or ill 
treatment, because we will recognize these things as 
the necessary conditions for blessings. We will then 
turn from our circumstances to God, realizing they are 
the evidence of Him working in our lives.  
A B Simpson

Well, reader, 2 Corinthians 12 keeps coming up in my
life. In the past week so many things have transpired
that I never thought I would see in this country. We
are not of this world, but we are of the invisible king-
dom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

George Matheson says this: "Teach me, O Lord, to 
glory in my cross. Teach me the value of my thorns. 
Show me how I have climbed to You through the path 
of pain. Show me it is through my tears I have seen 
my rainbows.

Maranatha, dear friends. It is all good, because He is
all good and He is coming for His Bride!

Silence

He answered nothing. Mark 15:3

There is no scene in all the Bible more majestic
than our Savior remaining silent before the men
who were reviling Him. With one quick burst of
divine power, or one fiery word of rebuke, He
could have caused His accusers to be laid pros-
trate at His feet. Yet He answered not one word,
allowing them to say and do their very worst.
He stood in the power of stillness--God's holy
silent Lamb.

There is a place of stillness that allows God the
opportunity to work for us and gives us peace.
It is a stillness that ceases ours scheming, self-
vindication, and the search for temporary means
to an end through our own wisdom and judge-
ment. Instead, it lets God provide an answer,
through His unfailing and faithful love, to the
cruel blow we have suffered.
A B Simpson  1843-1919

Reader, now what about the silence part? How
difficult it is to find silence in our day. I would
our time as the noisy generation. Even the mu-
sic at church on Sunday is often loud and in-
trusive.

About the author. There is a little booklet I came
across written by AB Simpson that has become a
favorite of mine. The title is HIMSELF. It is avail-
able at the end of the biography below. It will so
encourage you as it shows just how mighty and
loving our Lord Jesus is.

https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/online-books/a-b-simpson-biography/

Last or First?

But many who are first will be last, and many who
are last will be first.  Matthew 19:30

We need God's power to be little.
John Darby--1800-1882

Darby was a both prolific writer and teacher and 
was a leader among the Plymouth Brethren. His 
influence on subjects such as the deeper life and
Bible prophecy have influenced millions of
Believers.

Reader, how often do I want to look around the
screen--so to speak-- to see how I am doing?
Don't we all want to be great in the eyes of God?
How about impressing the herd? Yuk--but it is
indeed true.

I looked at several biographies and chose this
one for those who want to look deeper. I read
a book that highlighted a three year period in
Darby's life when he was sick and in that time
he studied the Bible extensively. All of the bio's
emphasize that he was the first person to teach
a pre-tribulation rapture, but if you go back into
the first two hundred years, you find that the
church fathers preached and wrote about the Jews
returning to the land, a rapture, the rebuilding of
the temple, the anti-christ, the Second Coming
and the Millennium. Darby did not invent these
things. He found them in his study of the Bible.
What was there all along was revealed to him.
(By the way, Darby wrote down these findings
three years before he met a woman named Mc-
Donald, who, it turns out, did not even believe in
a Rapture. She is credited with influencing Darby
in this regard.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby

God's Rest

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people
of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests
from his own work, just as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:9-10

It is this resting from their own work which many
Christians cannot understand. They think of it as a 
state of passive and selfish enjoyment, of still con-
templation which leads to the neglect of the duties 
of life, and undermines the watchfulness and war-
fare to which Scripture calls us. 

Yet, this is an entire misunderstanding of God's call
to rest. The Almighty God is the only source of pow-
er. In nature He works all. In grace He waits to work 
all too, if man will but consent and allow. Truly to 
rest in God is to yield oneself up to the highest ac-
tivity. We work, because He works in us to will and 
to do.

Jesus as the High Priest is the One who can bring 
us in living union with Himself into that place of rest
and love, and, by His Spirit within us, making that 
life of heaven a reality and an experience.
Andrew Murray 1828-1917, a South African
clergyman who strongly influenced the missionary
movement to South Africa. He is largely remem-
bered for his many devotional books, still in print
today and still strong sellers.

A great many people have the faith that seeks, but
they have not a faith that rests. The Lord Jesus is
here, rest in Him, let the burden go. 
"Lord, I trust you now. I abide in you now. Lord, as 
I think about my home problems, my business pres-
sures, my personal difficulties in every sphere of 
life, I bring them all, and give them all to You." 
Believe that He keeps you. I am sure this rest of 
faith is the center of all activity.   
Evan Hopkins was a vicar from Richmond in Surrey
England. His ministry changed as he appropriated
the truths of God's grace he'd heard. Later he was
to be widely used in the Keswick movement as a
popular Bible teacher.

Reader, I find Hebrews 4 to be slightly unsettling. I
don't think that this modern age has any idea of the
"rest" that seems to be so important to God.

Transformed

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the
Lord's glory, are being transformed into his like-
ness with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18

The majority of active members in our sound churches 
today are primarily doers; their chief concern is to 
work for the Lord. But, service being the emphasis of 
their life, they are, for the most part motivated by self.

We must all learn, sooner or later, that the result of 
every form of self-effort is nothing but a barren waste, 
a spiritual Death Valley. Our growth is bound to falter 
and dry up when service is predominantly in the life, 
especially in the formative years.

Conversely, when growth in Christ is given first place, 
service will never suffer. Furthermore, our life work 
will be accomplished in His time and in His way--and 
that without physical, mental, or spiritual breakdown.

The tragedy of the church is the service-centered be-
liever has little or no concern for spiritual growth, 
other than enough development and training for what 
he considers to be fruitful service. Naturally altruistic, 
he is appalled at the thought of placing growth ahead 
of outreach. The activist rarely seems to become aware 
of the sin of self, of the necessity of the Cross in his 
life, or of God's purpose for him to be conformed to 
the image of Christ.

There are many believers who feel that the chief pro-
blem in our congregations is the existence of an over-
whelming number of pew parasites. But, on the other 
hand, the vast army of busy-bee workers in our midst 
constitutes a comparable problem. Both doing nothing, 
and doing too much, are a hindrance to God's purpose. 
His will for the Christian is expressed in the word 
"being," which in turn will result in effective "doing."
Miles Stanford 1914-1999

Reader, being part of a church can be an exhausting
experience for most committed Christians. We want
to be accepted and well thought of. Right? As I look
back on my life at all of the temptations to be busy,
I understand how Lyme Disease played an essential
role. I was simply too exhausted to play the game well.
God continues to have me on a short tether where I am
given the strength to do only what He is asking of me.
Well...Amen!

Miles Stanford certainly laid it out in the short para-
graphs above. The verse at the top is a verse that one
can wallow in...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_J._Stanford

Resting

"We rest on Thee"--our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
"We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go."

Yea, "in Thy Name," O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

"We go" in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;
"We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go."

"We rest on Thee"--our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise
When passing through the gates of pearly splender,
Victors--we rest with Thee through endless days.
Ruth G Cherry--could not find any stats on her

Reader, This hymn is the hymn of the week for me.
It is written to the tune of Be Still, My Soul, which
is also a winner:

Be still my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, loves purest joys restored.
Be still my soul: when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
Katharina Von Schlegel

Greatly Rejoice

Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a 
season, if needs be, you are in heaviness through
manifold temptations. 1 Peter 1:6

Receive every inward and outward trouble, every
disappointment, pain, uneasiness, temptation, 
darkness and desolation with both hands as a true
opportunity and blessed occasion of dying to 
self, and entering into fuller fellowship with thy
self-denying and suffering Savior. Look at no
inward or outward trouble in any other way. Re-
ject every other thought about it, then every kind
of trial and distress will be the blessed day of
thy prosperity.    William Law1680-1761
Law was an English writer whose major work
A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life con-
tinues to inspire Christians today.

Faith must pass through the furnace--it will not
do to say that we trust in the Lord, we must prove
that we do, and that when everything is against
us. CH Mackintosh 1820-1896
Was one of the early and most prolific Brethren
writers. Still widely read. 

Reader, this seems to be a season where many are
in heaviness due to various trials. It takes me back
to a very great trial as a college student where I
came to the point of blessing those who had deep-
ly hurt me. The result was joy unspeakable and
a relationship that is precious even today.

That was a one time event of somewhat short dura-
tion, but many find themes of suffering which seem
to be part of their lives in this world.

The Secret of Power

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
Galatians 6:14

The cross is the secret of power. The cross is what
we can glory in. It sets us aside, breaks us to pieces,
writes upon us the sentence of death, in order that
the power of Christ, through the Holy Spirit, may
rest upon us. The one who has learned death, who
has the sentence of death in himself, is the one who
will have power...

You are to make a complete surrender of your will,
strength, time, talents--all that you are and have to
be put upon the altar. But who makes this surrender,
and what is the altar? If you make the surrender, it is
self surrendering to self, a most subtle form of self-
righteousness. but when we see it is the cross of our
Lord--that cross by which I am, I was crucified, in
His death; that "I am crucified with Christ"--when
we see this, we find that it is not a question of surren-
der for me, but of the cross which has set me aside,
that Christ may be all. Anything short of the cross
only fosters pride, and pride in its worst form.
Samuel Ridout 1855-1924

Reader, there is so much here that cannot be under-
stood in a quick read. His is a very interesting bio.
http://www.plymouthbrethren.org/category/author/samuel-ridout

His Finished Work

...To them God has chosen to make known among
the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, 
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Colossians 1:27

When the Holy Spirit comes into our hearts He brings
Christ in the completeness of His finished work on
the cross, and then proceeds progressively to conform
us to Christ.

Do you realize that the Christ in you is not an imperfect
Christ? When the Lord Jesus wrought His Calvary work
He not only dealt with the matter of forgiveness but He
went right on to the perfection of redemption, finally
reaching the throne of the Overcomer.

In Him, the Person, the whole ground of spiritual ex-
perience is covered and completed. There is no exper-
ience that can ever come to you or me which makes
it impossible the reaching of God's end, for Christ has
already met and overcome it.

So we are not to struggle in vain attempts after perfec-
tion, but to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He seeks
to make good in us the power of Christ's finished
work on the cross. It is Christ in you who is the hope 
of  glory. Anything less or anything else will bring
no hope of glory but rather despair. T Austen-Sparks

Reader, we cannot add or subtract anything to what
our Lord has accomplished on the Cross. If we could
only grasp it and live free in His love. In this we are
progressively conformed to His image. It is by reve-
lation that we transformed. Paul prays this:

May He grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the (deep and intimate) knowledge of Him, by
having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so 
that you can know and understand the hope to which 
He has called you... Ephesians 1:17, 18 (AMP)

Watchman Nee meets T Austen-Sparks--you can find
a biography of T Austen-Sparks at this website:
http://frankviola.org/2010/04/15/watchman-nee-meets-t-austin-sparks/

Every Man's Work

...if any man build upon this foundation gold, 
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stable; Every 
man's work shall be made manifest: for the day 
shall declare it...  I Corinthians 3:12-13a

The only power God recognizes in His church is the 
power of His Spirit whereas the only power actually 
recognized today by the majority of evangelicals is 
the power of man. God does His work by the opera-
tion of the Spirit, while Christian leaders attempt to
do theirs by the power of trained and devoted intel-
lect. Bright personality has taken the place of divine
anointing.

Everything that men do in their own strength and by 
means of their own abilities is done for time alone; 
the quality of eternity is not in it. Only what is done 
through the Eternal Spirit will abide eternally; all
else is wood, hay, stubble. 
AW Tozer

Placed under the glass of my dressing table as I was
growing up was this:
"Only one life, 'twill soon be past, only what's done
through Christ will last."
My Dad pulled it out and wrote: "Amen! Dad"

Five Seconds From Death?

We had just finished shopping at COSTCO, and
were putting our groceries into the van. Danalee
was returning the cart when I decided to move the
groceries from the trunk to the back seat. I lifted
the hatch and made two trips. As I was leaning
my head into the trunk I heard a shout, at which
time I noticed the descending door. I ducked out
with the feeling that "nothing could have kept that
door from closing all the way." This may not be
true but I remember a Mom who lost her son
when the garage door failed to rise.

What was this all about? Well, I had just asked the
gal at check out if she had heard that God loved
her, that He had sent His Son Jesus to die for her
sins so she could go to heaven? The woman said,
"No, I have not heard that." At this point I quoted
Romans 10:9 to her.

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

So, as we finished the transaction I encouraged
her to get hold of a Bible and read the beautiful
story of Jesus. I finished up by saying that of all
the lines I could have been in, I was in her lane
because God loved her so much. I noticed that
the man helping her was listening to my every
word. As I turned to go he caught my attention
and said, "Thank you so much for speaking to
her."

Reader, we are clueless as to how long we are
going to live here on earth. Each of us is either
in the kingdom of darkness or the Kingdom of
the Son. Paul says this to the Christians in his
letter to the Colossians:

He has delivered us from the kingdom of the
power of darkness and conveyed us into the
Kingdom of the Son of His love. Col 1:13

Do you know Him? Are you in the Kingdom
of the Son of His love? What about the people
around you? The first time I shared the Gospel,
I felt I was completely incoherent, but the
young man accepted Christ. We were both 18
but he was dying of metastatic cancer. It was
this that compelled me to go beyond my com-
for zone. In the past few weeks I have talked
to many about Jesus and what He has done for
them. It has become easier. May you, too, ven-
true out into the deep to catch those that are
perishing.

Endless Praise

My praise shall be continually of Thee 
Psalm 71:6

The God of Abraham praise,
Who reigns enthroned above,
Ancient of everlasting days,
   And God of love.
Jehovah great I AM!
By earth and heaven confessed,
I bow, and bless the sacred name,
   For ever blest.

The God of Abraham praise,
At whose supreme command
From earth I rise, and seek the joys
   At His right hand.
I all on earth forsake,
Its wisdom, fame and power;
And Him my only portion make,
   My shield and tower.

He by Himself hath sworn,
I on His oath depend:
I shall, on eagle's wings upborne,
   To heaven ascend;
I shall behold His face,
I shall His power adore,
And sing the wonders of His grace
   for evermore.

There dwells the Lord our King,
the Lord our righteousness,
Triumphant o'er the world and sin,
   the Prince of Peace.
On Zion's sacred height
His kingdom He maintains,
And glorious with His saints in light
   For ever reigns.

The whole triumphant host
Give thanks to God on high;
"Hail Father, Son and Holy Ghost!"
   They ever cry.
Hail Abraham's God and mine!
(I join the heavenly lays),
All might and majesty are Thine,
   And endless praise.
Thomas Olivers 1725-99

Reader, I have never heard this hymn sung, that
I remember, but I am able to sing it. The hymn
is based on the Hebrew Yigdal. It has been some-
thing that I have turned to when life has taken a
downward turn. I have almost memorized it! The
words penetrate deeper than the surface where
one lives. It speaks forth truth to the inner man.

A short biography of this Welshman. He called
himself, "A brand plucked from the fire."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Olivers

The Lord He is God

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Psalm 100:3

Before Jehovah's awful throne,
Ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
Know that the Lord is God alone;
He can create, and He destroy.

His sovereign power, without our aid,
Made us of clay, and formed us
   men;
And, when like wandering sheep we
   strayed,
He brought us to the fold again.

We are His people, we His care,--
 Our soul's and all our mortal frame:
What lasting honors shall we rear,
Almighty Maker, to Thy name?

We'll crowd Thy gates with thankful
   songs,
High as the heavens our voices raise;
And earth, with her ten thousand
   tongues,
Shall fill Thy courts with sounding
   praise.

Wide as the world is Thy command,
Vast as eternity Thy love;
Firm as a rock Thy truth shall stand,
When rolling years shall cease to
   move.
Isaac Watts  1674-1784
alt John Wesley 1703-91

Reader, as we see the nations shaking
and the foundations laid bare, we have
a God who is in control, One whose
love is boundless toward His own.

Here is a very detailed bio of the life
of Isaac Watts. What caught my atten-
tion is that his genius was contained
in a very weak sickly body.
https://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/bwatts7.html

A concise bio of the man who is con-
sidered the father of modern hymns.
ishttps://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-history-composers-and-performers-biographies/isaac-watts

Sowing in Tears

Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping
Bearing seed for sowing
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 126:5, 6

Thoughts
Why the tears? Because the sower knows the lost
and desperate condition of those who are not
believers.

Continually, weeping? This must be the love and
compassion of our Lord that pours forth in tears
from our hearts with prayers back to Him.

Bearing seed for sowing? I see a weeping woman
whose arms are filled with seed--the Word of God--
which is spilling out on the ground of many soils,
which she wets with her tears. The woman goes
on often completely unaware of the results of her
labor.

The result.? She shall surely come back to the place
of sowing and will reap the harvest; her arms now
full of harvest; her heart full of joy.

Father, melt our hearts for the lost whose hope is
not in heaven, but in the very short time on earth--
and then what? Give us the seed that will become
hope as we sow the Gospel into the soil for we do
not know who is ready to hear. You are the Lord
of the harvest!

"In sweet abandon, You were used up and spilled
out for me..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pklUAB4E4nA

I Hear The Words of Love

Being justified by faith, we have peace with 
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Romans 5:1

I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.

'Tis everlasting peace!
Sure as Jehovah's name;
'Tis stable as His steadfast throne,
Forever more the same.
   
The clouds may come and go,
And storms may sweep my sky--
This blood-sealed friendship changes
   not:
The cross is ever nigh.

My love is oft times low,
My joy still ebbs and flows;
But peace with Him remains the same--
No change Jehovah knows.

I change, He changes not,
The Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting place,
His truth, not mine, the tie.
Horatius Bonar 1808-89

Reader I am not sure if I used this old hymn
recently, but it doesn't matter. Someone needs
to hear this today.

I have just finished reading a biography of Bonar.
He was of the Reformed tradition who also be-
lieved in a Pre-Millenial Rapture! He knew John
Darby and both studied under the same man.
This is a good read!
https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/eusebeia/03_023.pdf

Here is the hymn for those who remember our
IVCF days. I loved to sing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhPGpNwguuU

Leadership

Be ye holy (complete, whole, full) even as I am holy. 
1 Peter 1:16

A Late Prophet Has Written:
It is a law of the human soul that most people tend 
to become like that which they admire most intensely.
Deep and long continued admiration can alter the
whole texture of the mind and heart and turn the de-
votee into something quite other than he was before.

For this reason it is critically important that we Chris-
tians should have right models. It is not enough to say
that our model should be Christ. While that is true, it
is also true that Christ is known mostly through the
lives of His professed followers, and the more promi-
nent and vocal these followers are the more powerful
will be their influence upon the rank and file of Chris-
tians. If the models are imperfect the whole standard
of Christian living must suffer as a result.

A sacred obligation lies upon each of us to be Christ-
like. This generation of Christians must have models
it can safely admire. That is not the primary reason
for seeking to be holy, but it is a powerful one. Many
beginners are taking us for their examples. Later they
will become detached from us and will learn to fix
their eyes directly upon the Lord Himself; in the mean-
time, for better or for worse we are their idea of what
Christ is like. This is a wonderful and frightening fact
that we must face and deal with as we may.
A W Tozer--1897-1963

Reader, Tozer is speaking of the Baby Boomer genera-
tion, of which I am one. Life was much simpler when
this man was alive, but even then, there was a need to
admonish leaders. We may not feel like leaders but
think of children, grandchildren and young adults who
are just beginning to walk through a maze of opportuni-
ties and who are trying to choose. Does your life reflect
the Savior? And, who are your role models? Are they
men and women who are true to scripture, still learning,
humble, Godly in character?

A biography of the man called Tozer:
http://www.awtozerclassics.com/page/page/4891821.htm

Be Filled

Be filled with the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 5:18

One day in the city of New York--oh, what a day--I 
cannot describe it, I seldom refer to it--it is almost 
too sacred an experience to name. I can only say 
God revealed Himself to me, and I had such an ex-
perience of His love that I had to ask Him to stay 
His hand. I went to preaching again. The sermons 
were no different. I did not present any new ideas, 
yet hundreds were converted. I would not be placed 
back where I was before that blessed experience if 
you were to give me all Glasgow.
Dwight L Moody

Reader, this is what we need. A fresh empowerment
of the Holy Spirit. A deeper revelation of God!

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins
may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may
come from the presence of the Lord.  Acts 3:19

Repent means to turn and go another way. Ask God to
show you if there is anything blocking a fresh new ex-
perience of God's Life and Power. 

Promises

He has give us exceeding great and precious promises.
2 Peter 1:4

I became a believer in the Lord Jesus  in November,
1825, nearly seventy years ago. The first four years
after my conversion were spent in spiritual weak-
ness; but in July, 1829, now sixty six years ago, I
came to a place of entire and full surrender of heart.
I gave myself fully to the Lord. Honors, pleasure,
money, my physical powers, my mental powers, all
laid down at the feet of Jesus, and I became a great
lover of God. I found my all in God, and have con-
tinued to do so, in all my temporal and spiritual trials, 
for these past sixty six years. My faith does not per-
tain to only temporal bleassings, but to everything be-
cause I stand constantly on God's Word. It has been 
my knowledge of God and His Word that has thus 
sustained me. George Mueller

Reader, we will constantly stumble and fall if we do
not understand and embrace His exceeding great and
precious promises. For those who do not know the
man, George Mueller, take the time to read his bio.
We have so much to learn from those who have gone
before us. I am taking time this summer to draw near
to God as I wait and watch for His coming. I have
felt so dry lately, fearful and discouraged. How about
you?

I have found a wonderful expose of Mueller's life. I 
urge all of you who want to know God in a deeper
way to read it. 

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/george-muellers-strategy-for-showing-god