How many people are like birds with clipped wings! Life holds them enchained by some handicap. They feel they can never rise, and the temptation comes to settle down to despair or lassitude. But the spirit need not be earthbound. Its range is not restricted or its possibilities limited by physical handicap. Though he could not hear, Beethoven gave the world some of its finest music; Milton's blindness did not affect the noble range of his soul's vision. History has many instances of those who overcame handicaps because they lived in the spirit. Their souls were touched by an eternal flame, and any defect of body could not dim the light that was in them.
Sir Walter Scott is a brilliant example of grace and grit. He overcame lameness and misfortune, and instead of being crushed in spirit and defeated, he won out.
Charles P. Steinmetz, who rivaled Thomas A. Edison in his discoveries and inventions in the field of electrical engineering, was greatly deformed. He did most of his work half standing, half leaning upon a stool. However, he did not allow his handicap to embitter or discourage him. He knew he would have to fight his way. There was no personal popularity, no pleasant social contacts to speed him along. He tortured his brain into headaches and his eyes into burning balls of pain. Time after time he was defeated and undone, but Steinmetz kept climbing until he became the greatest electrical wizard of his time.
The march of progress is the conquering of impossibilities. The mountain that cannot be climed may be tunneled
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Lean Upon......
The fact of our salvation does not depend upon our feelings. They are the least reliable of things to rest upon, they are treacherous and not to be trusted. As surely as we rest upon these frauds-our feeling-the Lord will see fit to withdraw them, in order that we may learn to rest upon Him. Therefore stay your faith upon Christ, not upon your most hallowed feelings, but upon Christ Himself and His written promises. Whenever you are in doubt, perplexed, and unhappy, go at once to the Lord and His unfailing Word, and God's truth will disperse any mists of darkness which surround your soul.
Let us learn to lean more upon the fact and less upon our apprehensions of it. We are to walk by faith and not by feelings.
Believe! and the feeling
may come or may go,
Believe in the Word, that
was written to show
That all who believe their
salvation may know;
Believe and keep right on
believing."
By believing, we do not make anything true that was not true before. We simply bring ourselves into accord with what is and has always been the truth. There are some who say that is true for us which finds us, or works in our case. But that only is true for us, when it finds us or works for us, which was true already in itself. There is an order, a divine order..... true, whatever we may think or deny, find or miss. Faith does not create this order. It realizes it. It is the loyal and loving acceptance of it. What we think and do is only a tardy response to the thought of God, and to what He has ever doing for us.
Let us learn to lean more upon the fact and less upon our apprehensions of it. We are to walk by faith and not by feelings.
Believe! and the feeling
may come or may go,
Believe in the Word, that
was written to show
That all who believe their
salvation may know;
Believe and keep right on
believing."
By believing, we do not make anything true that was not true before. We simply bring ourselves into accord with what is and has always been the truth. There are some who say that is true for us which finds us, or works in our case. But that only is true for us, when it finds us or works for us, which was true already in itself. There is an order, a divine order..... true, whatever we may think or deny, find or miss. Faith does not create this order. It realizes it. It is the loyal and loving acceptance of it. What we think and do is only a tardy response to the thought of God, and to what He has ever doing for us.
Practice The Presence Of God
What a warning lesson we have in the life of David who had slain Goliath but was nearly slain himself long after by a famous giant, and had to be rescued from the peril and shame by his men! Years of court life had gradually sapped his early vigour and simplicity, and when the "evil day" came, he was not able "to stand".
Are you in danger? Tell your Lord. Are you tempted? Tell Him. Did you slip by the way and grieve Him ? Tell Him. Never wait for the evening hour for confession and forgiveness. Pardon waits for your confession; make it immediately, wherever you are, in the train, in the office, on the street, amid the busy rush of the busy day, express your need in prayer. Practice the presence of God and speak to Him under stress and strain at every point whenever you feel you are burdened or in need.
I cannot snap my own chains or slay my own enemies. Thou knowest temptation, for Thou wast tempted. Thou knowest how to succour me in my hour of conflict. Thou canst save me from sinning,and save me when I have sinned. It is promised in Thy very name that Thou wilt do this, and I pray Thee let me this day verify the prophecy. Save me unto holiness of life, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me abundantly!
"When temptation assails you, when the enemy pours in upon your soul, then be as the bird and seek the heights." "Flee as a bird to your mountain."
Who knows a mountain? One who has trod its cloud-swept summit alone with God!
Are you in danger? Tell your Lord. Are you tempted? Tell Him. Did you slip by the way and grieve Him ? Tell Him. Never wait for the evening hour for confession and forgiveness. Pardon waits for your confession; make it immediately, wherever you are, in the train, in the office, on the street, amid the busy rush of the busy day, express your need in prayer. Practice the presence of God and speak to Him under stress and strain at every point whenever you feel you are burdened or in need.
I cannot snap my own chains or slay my own enemies. Thou knowest temptation, for Thou wast tempted. Thou knowest how to succour me in my hour of conflict. Thou canst save me from sinning,and save me when I have sinned. It is promised in Thy very name that Thou wilt do this, and I pray Thee let me this day verify the prophecy. Save me unto holiness of life, that the name of Jesus may be glorified in me abundantly!
"When temptation assails you, when the enemy pours in upon your soul, then be as the bird and seek the heights." "Flee as a bird to your mountain."
Who knows a mountain? One who has trod its cloud-swept summit alone with God!
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
The Confident Hope
Over the years, each time we have seen new attacks upon the name of Christ. I have drawn much comfort from an essay by the noted English writer F. W. Boreham. It is beautifully titled "The Candle and the Bird". Boreham makes the comment that God's presence is more analogous to a bird than it is to a candle. When a candle is extinguished, the light goes out. But when a bird is driven away, it only leaves to sing on another bough.
Even as England was becoming barren of a godly influence, the Moravians were raised up in Germany. From that movement missionaries were sent to the ends of the globe. But the Moravian movement began to wane. Had the light been extinguished?? No, the bird was singing on a different bough. Later in the century it was William Carey who set foot in India on the very day that the cross was being burned in France. While Volraire and hostile philosophers had done their work and Europe was threatening slaughter against gospel, William Carey, with a Bible in one hand and the annals of Moravian Mission in the other, was going to touch the heart of India. And as Scotland saw its heros fade, suddenly the voice of Charles Haddon Spurgeon rang out from London to thousands at home and abroad.
No, the light is never extinguished. As a bird, it has sung its song from different boughs. I am convinced that as dark as it may seem to us, there are strains of a melody beginning. The Lord of history may well be tuning His instruments as never before. Let us not look at the dark side. The bird is singing its song. But the melody must first be sung in each of our hearts. The philosopher may debate. The skeptic may scoff. Experience may be deceptive. But the Word of God abides forever, and that Word has shone upon the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.
....while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light,
In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright!!
Even as England was becoming barren of a godly influence, the Moravians were raised up in Germany. From that movement missionaries were sent to the ends of the globe. But the Moravian movement began to wane. Had the light been extinguished?? No, the bird was singing on a different bough. Later in the century it was William Carey who set foot in India on the very day that the cross was being burned in France. While Volraire and hostile philosophers had done their work and Europe was threatening slaughter against gospel, William Carey, with a Bible in one hand and the annals of Moravian Mission in the other, was going to touch the heart of India. And as Scotland saw its heros fade, suddenly the voice of Charles Haddon Spurgeon rang out from London to thousands at home and abroad.
No, the light is never extinguished. As a bird, it has sung its song from different boughs. I am convinced that as dark as it may seem to us, there are strains of a melody beginning. The Lord of history may well be tuning His instruments as never before. Let us not look at the dark side. The bird is singing its song. But the melody must first be sung in each of our hearts. The philosopher may debate. The skeptic may scoff. Experience may be deceptive. But the Word of God abides forever, and that Word has shone upon the face of our Lord Jesus Christ.
....while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back, through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main.
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light,
In front, the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright!!
Monday, 8 March 2010
What If…. ?????
God did not say: I love you
God did not say: I forgive you
God did not show his mercy on you
God says I’m busy
God did not say: "I WILL GIVE YOU REST". (MATTHEW 11:28-20)
God did not say: "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU." (HEBREWS 13:5)
God did not say: "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT." (2 CORIN 12:9 & PSALM 91:15)
God did not say: "I WILL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS." (PHIL 4:19)
Well, it’s hard to think, our life would have been very miserable otherwise.
Did you respond to this wonderful calling of His? If you were ignoring this call all this while or never heard it. My dear today is the day…answer his call
Rev 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
God did not say: I forgive you
God did not show his mercy on you
God says I’m busy
God did not say: "I WILL GIVE YOU REST". (MATTHEW 11:28-20)
God did not say: "I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU." (HEBREWS 13:5)
God did not say: "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT." (2 CORIN 12:9 & PSALM 91:15)
God did not say: "I WILL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEEDS." (PHIL 4:19)
Well, it’s hard to think, our life would have been very miserable otherwise.
Did you respond to this wonderful calling of His? If you were ignoring this call all this while or never heard it. My dear today is the day…answer his call
Rev 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Friday, 5 March 2010
Changed
I presume everybody has known saints whose lives were just radiant. Joy beamed out of their eyes; joy bubbled over their lips; joy seemed to fairly run from their fingertips. You could not come in contact with them without having a new light come into your life. They were like electric batteries charged with joy.
If you look into the eyes of such radiantly happy person- not those people who are sometimes on the mountain top, and sometimes in the valley, but those who are always radiantly happy- you will find that everyone is a man or woman who spends a great deal of time alone with God in prayer. God is the source of all joy, and if we come into contact with Him, His infinite joy comes into our lives.
Would you like to be a radiant Christian? You may be! Spend time in prayer. You cannot be a radiant Christian in anyother way. Why is it that prayer in the name of Christ makes one radiantly happy? It is because prayer makes God real. The gladdest thing upon earth is to have a real God! I would rather give up anything I have in the world, or anything I ever may have, than give up my faith in God! You cannot have vital faith in God if you give all your time to the world and to secular affairs, to reading the newspaper and to reading literature, no matter how good it is. Unless you take time for fellowship with God, you cannot have real God. If you do take time for prayer you will have real, living God, and if you have a living God you will have a radiant life.
Of all the lights you carry in your face,
Joy will reach the farthest out to sea.
If you look into the eyes of such radiantly happy person- not those people who are sometimes on the mountain top, and sometimes in the valley, but those who are always radiantly happy- you will find that everyone is a man or woman who spends a great deal of time alone with God in prayer. God is the source of all joy, and if we come into contact with Him, His infinite joy comes into our lives.
Would you like to be a radiant Christian? You may be! Spend time in prayer. You cannot be a radiant Christian in anyother way. Why is it that prayer in the name of Christ makes one radiantly happy? It is because prayer makes God real. The gladdest thing upon earth is to have a real God! I would rather give up anything I have in the world, or anything I ever may have, than give up my faith in God! You cannot have vital faith in God if you give all your time to the world and to secular affairs, to reading the newspaper and to reading literature, no matter how good it is. Unless you take time for fellowship with God, you cannot have real God. If you do take time for prayer you will have real, living God, and if you have a living God you will have a radiant life.
Of all the lights you carry in your face,
Joy will reach the farthest out to sea.
Monday, 1 March 2010
My Speech Shall Distil As The Dew....
There is a beauty of language, just as there is a beauty of face. There is harmony of words, Just as there is harmony of sky and stars, green foliage, and crystal waters. There is a delicacy of speech, just as there is a delicacy of tints in the masterpiece on canvas, in the shimmer of light on the dewdrop, in the semi-transparent petal of the woodland flower.
Beautiful nature is the robe of God, woven on the loom of His everlasting word.
The beautiful word, placed in the depths of mind, beautifies the language of life. Kind words, firm words, tender words, righteous words, loving words, draw on these elements of God, bringing them to bloom in human life, as the wick draws the oil and produces light.
The beautiful word makes beautiful faces, beautiful manners, beautiful lives.
WATCH YOUR WORDS
Keep watch on your words, my darlings,
For words are wonderful things;
They are sweet, like the bees' fresh honey,
Like the bees, they have terrible stings.
They can bless like the warm, glad sunshine,
And brighten a lonely life;
They can cut, in the strife of anger,
Like an open, two edged knife.
May peace guard your lives, and ever
From the time of your early youth,
May the words that you daily utter
Be the words of beautiful truth.
Select your words as you would choose flowers for a friend. Be a model in the art of fine speech.
"Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." (Ps 141:3)
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strngth, and my redeemer." (Ps 19:14)
Beautiful nature is the robe of God, woven on the loom of His everlasting word.
The beautiful word, placed in the depths of mind, beautifies the language of life. Kind words, firm words, tender words, righteous words, loving words, draw on these elements of God, bringing them to bloom in human life, as the wick draws the oil and produces light.
The beautiful word makes beautiful faces, beautiful manners, beautiful lives.
WATCH YOUR WORDS
Keep watch on your words, my darlings,
For words are wonderful things;
They are sweet, like the bees' fresh honey,
Like the bees, they have terrible stings.
They can bless like the warm, glad sunshine,
And brighten a lonely life;
They can cut, in the strife of anger,
Like an open, two edged knife.
May peace guard your lives, and ever
From the time of your early youth,
May the words that you daily utter
Be the words of beautiful truth.
Select your words as you would choose flowers for a friend. Be a model in the art of fine speech.
"Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips." (Ps 141:3)
"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strngth, and my redeemer." (Ps 19:14)
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