Spurgeon or no?

So, I've continued to read up in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening (generally in bursts every three or four days...) and I've found that the verses he's been using recently tend to be taken out of context more and more often, even though his comments and advice are good. So, I'm considering dropping the dead dude and just reading through a chapter of the Bible every day. Any good suggestions as to where I should start? Proverbs is always a good one, and it makes it real easy to pull one or two out and comment on them myself here, but they can get a little overwhelming with all the stuff packed into each chapter. My Dad's worked out (or is still working on) a daily reading schedule of the Bible, based of a chronological Bible, which means that you get through the whole Bible in a year, in roughly the same order that they think the events actually happened. I may start reading that once he's done with it.

Also, I took to playing a little bit of the CCG Magic, and when I mentioned it to Mom and Dad, Dad was like, "Well, that sounds very Wiccan to me, I'll do some research, but I'm trying to warn your soul." And of course he has good intentions, and I don't really support the game, except for the fact that Dave and I drove to Philly Saturday night to pick up 5000 common cards for $20 (we split them, I paid for gas and he paid for the cards). It's fun for sure. A bit of competition, a lot of strategy, and I get to play it at work sometimes if the boss is in a good mood. After all, he's the one that started it.

However, due to the nature of the game, and a combination of my research and my Dad's, and our gut feelings about it, I think I will get out of it and sell my cards back to the guys. I think I'll keep playing till the end of the summer though, cause it's a great thing to pass the time when there's nothing else to do. I think I'll also sell my Warhammer 40K stuffs and stick to the Paper and Pencil RPGs. Dad's still against D&D as a concept, but I'm gonna talk and see if I can't reason with him and pull in some Star Wars or Lord of the Rings parallels.

Stephe(trying,learning,living)

So incredibly true

It's not funny, really it's not. :-p
Not that I care. Blissful ignorance has served me well thus far, I think I'll continue.
/SARCASM

Heh. Hehe... *SNICKER*

Came across this earlier... Wow. So true. X-D

Heh, Oh jeez.

Really? :-p

Sometimes I feel like this.

My middle name ("More-complicated-than-necessary") lives up to itself sometimes, and my thought processes are not so different from these. :-p

Be just and rigorous

Spurgeon's Thought for this morning can be summed up in the last few phrases:

Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the fall of it. O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.

And his thought for the evening as well, a little more verbose:

Have you come forth from the lust of pride? Have you escaped from slothfulness? Have you clean escaped from carnal security? Are you seeking day by day to live above worldliness, the pride of life, and the ensnaring vice of avarice? Remember, it is for this that you have been enriched with the treasures of God. If you be indeed the chosen of God, and beloved by him, do not suffer all the lavish treasure of grace to be wasted upon you. Follow after holiness; it is the Christian's crown and glory. An unholy church! it is useless to the world, and of no esteem among men. It is an abomination, hell's laughter, heaven's abhorrence. The worst evils which have ever come upon the world have been brought upon her by an unholy church. O Christian, the vows of God are upon you. You are God's priest: act as such. You are God's king: reign over your lusts. You are God's chosen: do not associate with Belial. Heaven is your portion: live like a heavenly spirit, so shall you prove that you have true faith in Jesus, for there cannot be faith in the heart unless there be holiness in the life.

The last line speaks of the fruit that results from a faithful heart and a willing spirit. If there is not one, there is not the other. There can't be holiness in the life without faith in the heart, and if you have faith in the heart but are not willing to act on it, your faith is dead and useless.

Can you find rest elsewhere?

Simple and true, we cannot, nor should we, find full satisfaction in this world alone. There may be satisfaction for a time, rest for a day, a month, a year, but it is not enough. We must crave more, better, higher things. We must crave Christ. If we do not for a time, we are not to be shaken, as though because we turn to simple pleasures and forget about God, He has forgotten about us. But we cannot leave it at that. We need to remember that this world is only temporary, and the true gold is in our Heavenly palace.
(Emphasis and paragraph breaks added)

Thought for the evening of June 25

Reader, can you find rest apart from the ark, Christ Jesus? Then be assured that your religion is vain. Are you satisfied with anything short of a conscious knowledge of your union and interest in Christ? Then woe unto you.

If you profess to be a Christian, yet find full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and pursuits, your profession is false. If your soul can stretch herself at rest, and find the bed long enough, and the coverlet broad enough to cover her in the chambers of sin, then you are a hypocrite, and far enough from any right thoughts of Christ or perception of his preciousness.

But if, on the other hand, you feel that if you could indulge in sin without punishment, yet it would be a punishment of itself; and that if you could have the whole world, and abide in it for ever, it would be quite enough misery not to be parted from it; for your God-your God-is what your soul craves after; then be of good courage, thou art a child of God. With all thy sins and imperfections, take this to thy comfort: if thy soul has no rest in sin, thou are not as the sinner is! If thou art still crying after and craving after something better, Christ has not forgotten thee, for thou hast not quite forgotten him.

The believer cannot do without his Lord; words are inadequate to express his thoughts of him. We cannot live on the sands of the wilderness, we want the manna which drops from on high; our skin bottles of creature confidence cannot yield us a drop of moisture, but we drink of the rock which follows us, and that rock is Christ. When you feed on him your soul can sing, "He hath satisfied my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's," but if you have him not, your bursting wine vat and well-filled barn can give you no sort of satisfaction: rather lament over them in the words of wisdom, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!"

Our time on this earth is but a fleeting moment. Let us make the best use of our time as we possibly can.

Demon Hunter + Crazy Cousin = AWESOME

SO! I went to a Demon Hunter + Living Sacrifice concert Monday night... It was a blast. Bit my lip pretty hard when Dave's head met my chin from below, but after a little while I got right back into the pit, this time keeping my mouth closed and my arms out. My lip looked pretty bad, it swelled some and stung, so I sucked on it till it stopped bleeding so much. It still looks bad, but doesn't hurt nearly as much. I also found out today that I chipped a molar... Not too bad, but it'll have to get looked at and filed down most likely. Good thing I have a dentist's appointment scheduled already. :-p

In other news, I'm still reading through Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, though I'm a little behind. I'm also a lot behind on my American Literature reading. Especially so because I've misplaced my copy of the ten-pound tome... ugh. I went to the library to try and find it, and they can't find it either! They think it might be labeled wrong somehow, because every library can't find any of their copies... I reserved one and it should come in tomorrow, and I desperately need it for a presentation I'm doing on some of the readings... :-/ Oh well.

Spurgeon on Sifting

Amos 9:9: For behold, I will command, and shake the house of Israel among all the nations as one shakes with a sieve, but no pebble shall fall to the earth.

Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are directly the work of heaven, for the text says, "I will sift the house of Israel." Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn; but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive.

We hear this over and over, and yet every time we are shaken, the faint thought comes into our mind, or perhaps it is a loud voice shouting: "Where is your God? Why has he left you? See this trouble you are in? Why would He ever leave you to something like this? Didn't He say He loved you? And you were foolish enough to believe Him? Ha! Forsake your God, for He has left you. Take charge yourself, for you cannot trust Him. You can do better than this, you know you can."

Do not listen to him! He is a deceiver and a liar, twisting God's words in our darkest moments. Cling to the Truth, and the Speaker of Truth will hold you in His grasp.

God himself sifts, and therefore it is stern and terrible work; he sifts them in all places, "among all nations"; he sifts them in the most effectual manner, "like as corn is sifted in a sieve"; and yet for all this, not the smallest, lightest, or most shrivelled grain, is permitted to fall to the ground. Every individual believer is precious in the sight of the Lord, a shepherd would not lose one sheep, nor a jeweller one diamond, nor a mother one child, nor a man one limb of his body, nor will the Lord lose one of his redeemed people. However little we may be, if we are the Lord's, we may rejoice that we are preserved in Christ Jesus.

Appropriate cats FTW

This one actually reminded me to clean the litter box today...

What do I do now?

She doesn't like me anymore.
No, she didn't really say that, but she's thinking it, I just know it! Cause I'm psychic like that. (Just kidding, please take it in jest, but examine the kernel of truth in the sarcasm)

Wait, but I thought... I'd said that we weren't going to talk so that she could get herself straightened out with God, so things would work better for us. Has this changed? No.

But now I've got this idea that maybe I should pay a little more attention to studies than a girlfriend next semester, maybe Spring too. I don't know what God has in store for me, but I've also got to have a bit more leadership in me, so maybe that's what God wants me to get a grasp of before I go off trying to lead someone else. I'll have to set certain goals for my next relationship, and I hope that Laura can see that it'll be for the better. If being friends is all we can be for a while, then that's what it'll be. God's got it in His hands.

I really hope that by the time I get back, Laura will have gotten some help, some word from God, and once I hang out and spend some more time, I think I'll be able to open up again and be a better friend.

I really wish I'd written down all the promises we'd made, cause I made some hoping she'd keep her end, and then I broke my end, and she broke her end, and I'd thought it could be mended, but if she doesn't see it that way, then so be it, we can work things out and still be friends right?

I don't have anyone in mind for my "next" girlfriend. I'm not interested in anyone seriously, but I really hope it's Laura again. She's really an awesome person, and the only thing she lacks basically is self-esteem and a deep relationship with God. I really thought I understood where she was, cause I was in a similar place in my relationship with God, but maybe not. Now He's arrested my attention and reminded me that I'm nothing without Him, as if I didn't remind myself of that daily already. But I've also learned that preaching the gospel to yourself daily really helps.

Not just the "you're going to hell" part, that's hardly Good News. But more along the lines of "You've failed, but I still love you, I died for you while you were my enemy. Let me help you up and we can walk on together." Coming from the lips of Jesus, those are the sweetest words I've ever heard. Coming from a sinner like me though, they sound hollow, because I keep coming up with conditions for my love. That's not true love. It's gotten harder for me to forgive though... Jesus says we're supposed to forgive 70x7, but when your partner is repeatedly and continually acting stupid, when she KNOWS it's wrong... and when you aren't there to stop it, it gets tough to trust.

It's hard for me to love someone and want to spend the rest of my days with someone I can't trust... and honestly I guess I haven't done much on that end either. I feel like a failure every time I "talk" to her, and since we're not supposed to be communicating this summer (God's directive, not mine; I thought I saw wisdom in it, I keep screwing up.), I can only gather what she's thinking and doing through her blog posts. I figured she was on the right path, but then I got involved again. I hate me.

I guess I'll have to start writing out my thoughts on what a relationship should entail and what I'm looking for, cause she thinks that she needs to change who she is in order for me to love her. That is frankly stupid, and I'm sorry I've ever exuded that thought. I've told her that she shouldn't change for me, that she should change for herself, and she's got that part. I feel though that she isn't reading what I'm saying, she's reading into what I'm saying whatever she feels, which at the moment isn't too hot, but I don't know what to say when she's obviously convinced one way AND I've committed to not talk with her for a time. I really wish I could just get it over with, but where's the growth in that?

She does have good intentions, she is on the right path... I guess my pressure isn't a good thing. I was trying to guide her, but she feels like I'm forcing her. Not good for any relationship. I can't change her, and I've come to that realization. I thought I'd communicated it, but apparently not, and now it's messing with her. All I want is solid and firm commitment, but I can't accept words until I can see action... which I guess is a little shallow, but words right now mean so little to me, since promises have been broken on both ends, but I mentioned that before. Relationship requirement #1: No unwritten promises. My memory sucks, and when the hard times roll around, it's best to know what you've promised to. I don't remember half of mine, but I'm sure they're clear as day to her. I suck.

Stephe(confused and trying to be hopeful)

P.S. You wear the ring to remind you that there is a man for you that you should commit yourself to and not entertain the idea of another man in your life, for any reason other than public, casual friends. I don't hate you. Don't think about me. Think about just you and God. That's what this is for, that's why I've tried to step out of your life for this season... But unfortunately I keep toeing the line. I'm sorry. Keep on going. Listen to your friends, they're giving great advice.

Pizza drivers rock.

This just came to my inbox in the daily joke newsletter I get.

Where's the Road?

A friend and I were driving in the country looking for an address. We found the town, but we couldn't locate the road.

We drove to the police station, but they'd never heard of the road. Neither had the Fire Department. We went to City Hall, where a community get together was going on. We consulted a map, with no luck, until we happened to ask one young man who knew exactly where the road was. He pointed to the map, showing us exactly how to get there.

I said, "Thank you! Are you with the police or the Fire Department?"

"Neither. I deliver pizzas."

Oh, and to explain the magical week's worth of Spurgeon posts, I kinda cheated a little. Quite similar to Rachelskirts and her Blog365 catching up. Also, I apologize for the many many posts today. Maybe I'm making up for lost time? But I already did that... Ah well. If you're getting tired of Spurgeon... Hmm. I think I'll have to go back and label them all. I hope they've been helpful at least.

Stephen(posting daily, and sometimes magically)

Help, Lord.

Psalms 12:1:Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

A simple prayer that we often neglect to put forth. Thought from Spurgeon this morning.
Rendered "Save" in the English Standard Version, "Help, Lord" is a prayer that we must continually voice. For we are weak, and insufficient. We have a savior, why don't we run to Him more often? Is it because it would make us seem weak? We are! Is it because it may seem foolish? The fool forsakes a free gift.

Hide and seek.

It doesn't really work that well with God. You hide, He seeks. Thing is, He's everywhere (omnimpresent) and sees everything (omniscient), so He always sees you.

Stuff Christians Like posted this morning about how he feels that God is "on the other side of the fence," When really, He's on both sides. Something to think about, and a good thing to realize.

All too often, I am a two-year old closing my eyes. I am a child misbehaving. I am a toddler that thinks that as soon as I mess up and my little world goes dark with sin and I feel that I can no longer see God, that He can no longer see me. The moment I make a decision that shuts Him out, He does the same to me. When I can't see Him, He can't see me.

This is simply and wonderfully not true. He also pulls from Job chapter 23, where Job is wondering where God might be, that he may argue with Him and lay his case before Him. Verses 8 and 9 are directly applicable,

⁸Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
⁹on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

Just because we cannot see God does not mean He loses sight of us, as Job so kindly makes clear in verse 10:

But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.

Awkward Mouse

I'm not so sure on the idea of pole-dancing... in act I'm pretty much against it. It seems merely a base act of senseless erotica... Something that should be reserved for the marriage bedroom, as should most sensuality. Apparently it pays decently, but it's still a questionable occupation in my mind, especially when you're training for a high-class career.

Eternal means Forever

John 10:28:I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Christ shall never forsake his childrem!

The Christian should never think or speak lightly of unbelief. For a child of God to mistrust his love, his truth, his faithfulness, must be greatly displeasing to him. How can we ever grieve him by doubting his upholding grace? Christian! it is contrary to every promise of God's precious Word that thou shouldst ever be forgotten or left to perish.
...
Where were the truth of Christ's words-"I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." Where were the doctrines of grace? They would be all disproved if one child of God should perish.
...
Banish those unbelieving fears which so dishonour God. Arise, shake thyself from the dust, and put on thy beautiful garments.
...
Let the eternal life within thee express itself in confident rejoicing.
"The gospel bears my spirit up:
A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation for my hope,
In oaths, and promises, and blood."

You are His, and He is yours, and He shall never depart from you, though you may turn your back on Him, He is still right there. Though you may not hear Him, He is still working in your favor for His glory.

Frugality is important.

Here's something from the Get Rich Slowly blog that fits right in with one of my recent posts from Spurgeon:

This one is just too good

Daniel 9:8:To us, O LORD, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

Ok, I just have to post it all (with added paragraph breaks). This one hammers home tha fact that we have sinned, and continue to sin, and our sin is great, but I've bolded the last two sentences, because they are the crux of the sinner's delight in Christ.

A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past?

As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and against love-light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced. Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's own elect ones, who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus' bosom.

Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession! Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence.

Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter's denying his Master. Remember, it is written, "He wept bitterly." Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas! these sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning.

My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee-the mercy which spares thee-the love which pardons thee!

Delight in the Lord?

Psalms 37:4:Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Now if this verse hasn't been misconstrued and pondered on and been ever so confusing to me and I'm sure many others, but they are true, and Spurgeon has an excellent word on why.

The teaching of these words must seem very surprising to those who are strangers to vital godliness, but to the sincere believer it is only the inculcation of a recognized truth. The life of the believer is here described as a delight in God, and we are thus certified of the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy. Ungodly persons and mere professors never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight.
...
They who love God with all their hearts, find that his ways are ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. Such joys, such brimful delights, such overflowing blessednesses, do the saints discover in their Lord, that so far from serving him from custom, they would follow him though all the world cast out his name as evil.
...
"'Tis when we taste thy love,
Our joys divinely grow,
Unspeakable like those above,
And heaven begins below."

Basically, It all begins with God, and we've built up a religion around His teachings. His teachings are the true religion, that which, when followed, lead to a better life, a more humble one maybe, but He who is close to God needs nothing else. Certainly He may give us material things, but we must recognize that we are merely stewards on this earth serving the Creator and caring for His creation.

A twofer from Spurgeon

Proverbs 30:8: Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
    give me neither poverty nor riches;
    feed me with the food that is needful for me
Psalm 38:21: Do not forsake me, O LORD!
    O my God, be not far from me!

Here we have two great lessons-what to deprecate and what to supplicate. The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state.
...
No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity-he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot. I do not blame ungodly men for rushing to their pleasures. Why should I? Let them have their fill. That is all they have to enjoy.
...
Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls. We have heard of a philosopher who, while he looked up to the stars, fell into a pit; but how deeply do they fall who look down. Their fall is fatal. No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life.
...
[Satan] may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!

I've noticed that Spurgeon likes to repeat himself repeat himself a lot. It helps get the point across, and it tends to make the highlights a little more difficult to pull out, since he is such an excellent writer. Fear not! I shall only be pulling from object lessons from Spurgeon from now on when I feel they're appropriate for daily living, which, it seems he's very good at doing as well. ;-)

Take freely, and drink fully

Revelation 22:17:The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Drink freely of the gifts of God, and it will make you well. You need not pay him for them, though they are so perfect and good that we wish to glorify him for them, and to tell our neighbor of them. Those who preach are those who have either tasted, or are selling their own snake oil. Test them and find the true water of life, then drink it in and enjoy. It is for everyone.

Jesus says, "take freely." He wants no payment or preparation. He seeks no recommendation from our virtuous emotions. If you have no good feelings, if you be but willing, you are invited; therefore come! You have no belief and no repentance,-come to him, and he will give them to you. Come just as you are, and take "Freely," without money and without price.
...
The drinking fountains at the corners of our streets are valuable institutions; and we can hardly imagine any one so foolish as to feel for his purse, when he stands before one of them, and to cry, "I cannot drink because I have not five pounds in my pocket." However poor the man is, there is the fountain, and just as he is he may drink of it.
...
The liberality of some good friends has put the refreshing crystal there and we take it, and ask no questions. Perhaps the only persons who need go thirsty through the street where there is a drinking fountain, are the fine ladies and gentlemen who are in their carriages. They are very thirsty, but cannot think of being so vulgar as to get out to drink. It would demean them, they think, to drink at a common drinking fountain: so they ride by with parched lips. Oh, how many there are who are rich in their own good works and cannot therefore come to Christ! "I will not be saved," they say, "in the same way as the harlot or the swearer." What! go to heaven in the same way as a chimney sweep. Is there no pathway to glory but the path which led the thief there? I will not be saved that way. Such proud boasters must remain without the living water; but, "WHOSOEVER WILL, LET HIM TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE FREELY."

Spurgeon on salvation

2 Timothy 1:9
Salvation is a one-time thing.

The apostle uses the perfect tense and says, "Who hath saved us." Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised, and enjoyed now.
...
The believer is also perfectly saved in his covenant head, for as he fell in Adam, so he lives in Christ. This complete salvation is accompanied by a holy calling. Those whom the Saviour saved upon the cross are in due time effectually called by the power of God the Holy Spirit unto holiness: they leave their sins; they endeavour to be like Christ; they choose holiness, not out of any compulsion, but from the stress of a new nature, which leads them to rejoice in holiness just as naturally as aforetime they delighted in sin. God neither chose them nor called them because they were holy, but he called them that they might be holy, and holiness is the beauty produced by his workmanship in them.
...
Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the author of it: and what motive but grace could move him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is for ever excluded. Such is the believer's privilege-a present salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it-a holy life.

Spurgeon on love

1 John 4:19: We love because He first loved us.
With this statement, I could not agree more. How foolish do we think ourselves when we pride ourselves on our love. We rarely realize that true love springs not from our hearts, but from that of the One who made us. We would not be able to love Him, had He not loved us first. Now, we can love others, as we love ourselves, but this is only love that is a reflection of our own self-love. Loving God requires His nurturing the seed He plants in us, and we can either shade ourselves from his warm sunlight or embrace it and seek Him out, thus perpetuating the cycle of love. Here's what Spurgeon has to say on it.

There is no light in the planet but that which proceedeth from the sun; and there is no true love to Jesus in the heart but that which cometh from the Lord Jesus himself. From this overflowing fountain of the infinite love of God, all our love to God must spring.
...
How great the wonder that such as we should ever have been brought to love Jesus at all! How marvellous that when we had rebelled against him, he should, by a display of such amazing love, seek to draw us back.
...
Love is an exotic; it is not a plant which will flourish naturally in human soil, it must be watered from above. Love to Jesus is a flower of a delicate nature, and if it received no nourishment but that which could be drawn from the rock of our hearts it would soon wither.

Arg and Glory! (A week of Spurgeon)

No that's not a typo.

I'd fallen miserably behind (Well I suppose that's a rather subjective term) in reading Spurgeon's Morning and Evening devotionals, as I said I would be doing regularly. I'm now more than a week behind, and was going to write up a catch-up post ccontaining excerpts and short comments on each day's devo, but of course hadn't saved the file when my computer decided to freeze up and I had to reboot it. So instead I will just say to you dear reader, read the devo for yourself, it is quite edifying. I will continue my posting starting from two days ago, that is, Sunday the 8th, with a few excerpts and comments, like I was planning to originally. And as always, keep praying for me that I may not lose sight of the glorious wonders of God's grace.

Thought for the morning of Sunday June 8

1 Chronicles 5:22

Warrior, fighting under the banner of the Lord Jesus, observe this verse with holy joy, for as it was in the days of old so is it now, if the war be of God the victory is sure.

Well then, good sir, what say you of the fight which I wage daily against myself? Of what war exactly do you speak?

The Lord saveth not by many nor by few; it is ours to go forth in Jehovah's name if we be but a handful of men, for the Lord of Hosts is with us for our Captain. They did not neglect buckler, and sword, and bow, neither did they place their trust in these weapons; we must use all fitting means, but our confidence must rest in the Lord alone, for he is the sword and the shield of his people.

So then, we must place our confidence in the Lord, using earthly tools. We must wage war upon sin and evil, fighting it not of our own strength but with the Lord's, using implements familiar to us, and effective weapons.

Beloved, in fighting with sin without and within, with error doctrinal or practical, with spiritual wickedness in high places or low places, with devils and the devil's allies, you are waging Jehovah's war, and unless he himself can be worsted, you need not fear defeat.

Fighting against sin is not our war, it is God's, so how about we let Him fight it? No, for we are soldiers of Christ, and thus are commanded by our Lord and Master to fight the good fight.

Thought for the evening of Sunday June 8

Numbers 11:23

God had made a positive promise to Moses that for the space of a whole month he would feed the vast host in the wilderness with flesh. Moses, being overtaken by a fit of unbelief, looks to the outward means, and is at a loss to know how the promise can be fulfilled. He looked to the creature instead of the Creator. But doth the Creator expect the creature to fulfil his promise for him? No; he who makes the promise ever fulfils it by his own unaided omnipotence. If he speaks, it is done-done by himself. His promises do not depend for their fulfilment upon the co-operation of the puny strength of man. We can at once perceive the mistake which Moses made. And yet how commonly we do the same! God has promised to supply our needs, and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we indulge in unbelief.

Why do we so often doubt the Creator? Is He not omnipotent? Does His word return void in our lives? Perhaps that is our perception, but then we are most likely not resting in His unfailing word and giving Him our full trust. We cannot do God's work for Him, or rather, we should not attempt to hurry His plan along. His timing is perfect, and as long as we rest in that fact, things will work out. It's when we try and take things into our own hands that God has to remind us who is really in charge.

The ground of faith is not the sufficiency of the visible means for the performance of the promise, but the all-sufficiency of the invisible God, who will most surely do as he hath said. If after clearly seeing that the onus lies with the Lord and not with the creature, we dare to indulge in mistrust, the question of God comes home mightily to us: "Has the Lord's hand waxed short?" May it happen, too, in his mercy, that with the question there may flash upon our souls that blessed declaration, "Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not."

And God's word shall pass unto us as He has said.

Thought for the morning of Monday June 9

Psalms 126:3

Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, yet with scarcely any allusion to the mercy and help which God has vouchsafed them. But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state, will come forward joyously, and say, "I will speak, not about myself, but to the honour of my God. He hath brought me up out of an horrible pit, and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings: and he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad."

Here is an example of looking down rather than up, looking around at the rough waters rather than gazing into the eyes of our savior. It reminds me of the last line from the poem "Footprints in the Sand", when the Lord replied, "My precious child, I love you and I would never leave you! During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and mournfully do we know this, but it is quite as true that we have an all-sufficient Saviour, who overcomes these corruptions, and delivers us from their dominion.

The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through all, and preserved us until now. Our griefs cannot mar the melody of our praise, we reckon them to be the bass part of our life's song, "He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad."

Thought for the evening of Monday June 9

John 5:39

The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word.

There is much to be found in the Scriptures, the living word of God. Much of it is revealed to us just when we need it through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur- who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises them despises the God who wrote them.

If you tossed away your girlfriend's letter, or a letter from your Mother or Father, without reading or cherishing it, what would they think? Here Spurgeon is applying human attributes to God, but aren't we really somewhat reflections of Him?

God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn-we have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises.

There is not simply a few nuggets of truth hidden far away, nestled deep in the crevices of the Word, no, it is burting forth with Truth, filled to the brim and running over!

Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: "They are they which testify of me." No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Saviour.

Thought for the morning of Tuesday June 10

Romans 14:8

If God had willed it, each of us might have entered heaven at the moment of conversion. It was not absolutely necessary for our preparation for immortality that we should tarry here.

Why then, Mr. Spurgeon, are we still here? He asks the same question.

Why are his children still wandering hither and thither through a maze, when a solitary word from his lips would bring them into the centre of their hopes in heaven?

And here he gives the answer:

We are here as the "salt of the earth," to be a blessing to the world. We are here to glorify Christ in our daily life. We are here as workers for him, and as "workers together with him." Let us see that our life answereth its end. Let us live earnest, useful, holy lives, to "the praise of the glory of his grace."

We are here to increase the fold, to bring more to the flock of Christ, and to better the world through our imitation of Christ.

Thought for the evening of Tuesday June 10

John 5:39

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of the Bible. He is the constant theme of its sacred pages; from first to last they testify of him.

We should always read Scripture in this light; we should consider the word to be as a mirror into which Christ looks down from heaven; and then we, looking into it, see his face reflected as in a glass-darkly, it is true, but still in such a way as to be a blessed preparation for seeing him as we shall see him face to face. This volume contains Jesus Christ's letters to us, perfumed by his love.

The Scriptures are the swaddling bands of the holy child Jesus; unroll them and you find your Saviour. The quintessence of the word of God is Christ.

Not much I can say to all that. It's certainly true.

Waking up can be sooo troublesome