Seeing Him Who Is Invisible

After that He appeared in another form unto
the two of them. Mark 16:12

Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing.
Many are partakers of God's grace who have never
seen Jesus. When once you have seen Jesus, you can
never be the same, other things do not appeal as they
used to do.

Always distinguish between what you see Jesus to be,
and what He has done for you. If you only know what
He has done for you, you have not a big enough God;
but if you have had a vision of Jesus as He is, experien-
ces can come and go, you will endure "as seeing Him
Who is invisible." The man blind from his birth did
not know Who Jesus was until He appeared and re-
vealed Himself to him. Jesus appears to those for whom
He has done something; but we cannot dictate when He
 will come. Suddenly He may come. "Now I see Him!"

Jesus must appear to your friend as well as to you, no
one can see Jesus with your eyes. Severance takes
place where one and not the other has seen Jesus. You
cannot bring your friend unless God brings him. Have
you seen Jesus? Then you will want others to see Him
too. "And they went and told it unto the residue, nei-
ther believed them" You must tell, although they do
not believe.

O could I tell, ye surely would believe it!
    O could I only say what I have seen!
How should I tell or how can ye receive it,
    How, till He brings you where I have been?
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

Reader, I thirst for Him. My longing grows to see Him
more clearly. He who is invisible. I pray that He will
become your meat and drink.

Here is a brief biography:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/innertravelers/oswald-chambers.html 

It Passes Knowledge

The love of Christ, which passes knowledge
Ephesians 3:19

O love divine, how sweet thou art!
When shall I find my longing heart
    All taken up, by thee?
I thirst, I faint, I die to prove
The greatness of redeeming love,
    The love of Christ for me.

Stronger His love than death or hell;
Its riches are unsearchable;
    The first-born sons of light
Desire in vain its depth to see;
They cannot reach the mystery,
    The length, and breadth, and height.

God only knows the love of God;
O that it now were shed abroad
    In this poor stony heart!
For love I sigh, for love I pine;
This only portion, Lord, be mine,
    Be mine this better part.

O that I could for ever sit
Like Mary at the Master's feet!
    Be this my happy choice:
My only care, delight, and bliss,
My joy, my heaven on earth, be this,
    To hear the Bridegroom's voice.
Charles Wesley  (1707-1788)

Reader, go back and look at this poem again.
It is a balm unto your soul...

Then Came a Lion

Then there came a lion. 1 Samuel 17:34

It is a source of inspiration and strength to us to re-
member how the youthful David trusted God.
Through his faith in the Lord, he defeated a lion
and a bear and later overthrew the mighty Goliath.
When the lion came to destroy his flock, it came 
as a wonderful opportunity for David. Had he fal-
tered, he would have missed God's opportunity 
for him and probably would never have been the 
Lord's chosen king of Israel.

Normally we think of a lion not as a special bles-
sing from the Lord but only as a reason for alarm.
Yet the lion was God's opportunity in disguise.
Every difficulty and every temptation that comes
to us, if received correctly, is God's opportunity.

When a "lion" comes to your life, recognize it as
an opportunity from the Lord, no matter how fierce
it may outwardly seem. Even the tabernacle of God 
was covered with badger skins and goat hair. No 
one would think there would be any glory there, yet 
the Shechinah glory of God was very evident unde-
rneath the covering. May the Lord open our eyes to 
see Him in temptations, trials, dangers, and misfor-
tunes. CHP 

Reader, nothing can come into our lives that is not
first passed through our God who surrounds us. In
these last days we have the opportunity to lay down
our lives for the One who laid down His life for us.
Trials seem to be piling up. I do not have a large
readership but almost daily someone tells me that
a blog was helpful. We need one another for lone-
liness is a big thing for many of my readers.

Be Still and Wait

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him
Psalm 37:7

Have you prayed and prayed, waited and waited? Are you 
tired of seeing no movement? Are you at the point of giv-
ing up? Then perhaps you have not waited in the right way, 
which removes you from the right place--the place where 
the Lord can meet you.

"Wait for it patiently" (Rom 8:25). Patience eliminates 
worry. The Lord said He would come, and His promise is 
equal to His presence. Patience eliminates weeping. Why 
feel sad and discouraged? He knows your needs better 
than you do, and His purpose in waiting is to receive more 
glory through it. Patience eliminates self-works. "The 
work of God is this: to believe" (Jn 6:29), and once you 
believe, you may know all is well. Patience eliminates 
all want. Perhaps your desire to receive what you want 
is stronger than your desire for the will of God to be 
fulfilled.

Patience eliminates all weakness. Instead of thinking of 
waiting as being wasted time, realize that God is prepar-
ing His resources and strengthening you as well. Patience 
eliminates all wobbling. "He touched me and raised me 
to my feet." (Dan 8:18). God's foundations are steady 
while we wait. Patience yields worship. Sometimes the 
best part of praiseful waiting is experiencing "great en-
durance and patience...joyfully." (Col 1:11) While you 
wait, "let (all these aspects of) Patience have her perfect 
work." (Jam 1:4), and you will be greatly enriched. CHP

Reader, patience is not a popular concept in our world. All
of us have things that we can't make happen. I am so glad
that Jesus has "patience" and that He lives in me, other-
wise my life would be an ongoing grouch. I just need to
remember to tap into His power.

May you be filled with the knowledge of HIs will in all
wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may 
walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being
fruitful in every good work with increasing knowledge
of God; strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power, for all patience and long suffering
with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has quaili-
find us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light.  Col 1:9-12

My prayer for you today, dear reader.

The Depth of His Riches

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his
judgements, and his ways past finding out.
Romans 11:33

If you ask me how I know that the Lord is present,
since His ways are past finding out, my answer is
that the Word is living and active, and as soon as
ever He entered me, He aroused my sleeping soul,
and stirred and softened and pricked my heart,
that had been sick and hard as stone.

He began to pluck up and destroy, to build and plant, 
to water the dry places and shed light upon the dark, 
to open what was shut, to warm the chill, to make 
the crooked straight and the rough places plain; so 
that my soul has blessed the Lord and all that is 
within me has praised His holy Name.

Thus has the Bridegroom entered into me; my senses 
told me nothing of His coming, I knew that He was 
present only by the movement of my heart. I per-
ceived His power, because it put my sins to flight and 
exercises a strong control on all my impulses. I am 
moved to wonder at His wisdom too, uncovering my 
secret faults and teaching me to see their sinfulness; 
and I have experienced His gentleness and kindness 
in such measure as to astonish me.
Bernard of Clairvaux--The 12th Century

Reader, the rest of the thought in Paul's
stunning verse above is:

For who has known the mind 
   of the Lord?
Or who has first given to Him
   And it shall be repaid to 
     him? (Is 40:13; Job 41:11)

For of Him and through Him and to Him are 
all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen  
Hebrews 11:34-36

Trials That Build Us

Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised
me that day. You yourself heard then that the Anakites
were there and their cities were large and fortified,
but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just
as he said.  Joshua 14: 12, 13

Extraordinary afflictions are not always punishment 
for extraordinary sins. Sanctified afflictions are spiri-
tual promotions.  Matthew Henry

Some brothers and sisters have met few difficulties, but 
they are spiritually feeble. The explanation is, they have 
not consumed enough Anakim. On the other hand there 
are those who have met difficulty and overcome. They 
are full of vigor. The reason is, that they have fed well on 
Anakim--(their giants.) Every difficulty and every tempta-
tion Satan puts in our way is food for us. This is a divine-
ly appointed means of spiritual progress. The sight of any 
great trouble strikes terror into the heart of those, who 
do not believe God, but those who trust Him say: 
"Praise God, here is some more food!" 
All our trials without exception, are bread for us, and as 
we accept one trial after the other, we are more and more 
richly nourished and the result is a continuous increase 
of strength.   Watchman Nee

Wow reader! What a challenge for those of us who live
in these times where life seems to change on a dime.
Watchman Nee was not a light weight for his ministry
corresponded to the rise of Mao and he spent the last 20
years of his life in a Chinese prison. Nee died in 1972.
After his conversion, he established numerous churches
and wrote many books. One of my favorites is
The Normal Christian Life. Nee walked the talk. While
in prison he offered to clean the cells of other prisoners.
In this way many were saved. How could he possibly
do this day after day without the understanding that trials
were food for his soul! He couldn't--and neither can we.
In the west we seem to get the drip, drip, drip of discour-
agement in little things, while our brothers and sisters in
other parts of the world face daily hindrances from their
families and religious leaders, not to mention the govern-
ments. Regardless, the enemy wants to muzzle us.

He is risen!
Let's go out and eat snake!

A biography of Watchman Nee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watchman_Nee

If this blog is helpful to you, please share it!

Oh, Hallelujah

I am the resurrection and the life. 
John 11:25

Love's redeeming work is done;
Fought the fight, the battle won:
Lo, our Sun's eclipse is o'er!
Lo, He sets in blood no more.
Hallelujah!

Vane the stone, the watch, the seal!
Christ has burst the gates of hell;
Death in vane forbids His rise;
Christ has opened Paradise.
Hallelujah!

Lives again our glorious King;
Where, O death, is now thy sting?
Dying once, He all doth save;
Where thy victory, O grave?
Hallelujah!

Soar we now where Christ has led,
Following our exalted Head;
Made like Him, like Him we rise;
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
Hallelujah!
Charles Wesley  1707-88

Reader, this hymn comes from many Resurrection
Sundays as I grew up. It still brings tears to my
eyes.

Bring back the organ, the brass and the choir!