I Will Wait Upon the Lord

Believers daily Remembrance - james smith
"I will wait upon the Lord." Isa 8:17

THE Lord hath concealed His face, His favour could not be discovered, but marks of displeasure appeared; yet the church determines not to despond or yield to fear, but to wait upon the Lord who was hiding Himself from the house of Israel, and to look for Him. It is a great trial to a real believer for his God to hide His face: but it is still his privilege to wait daily at His gates, and to watch at the post of His doors, persuaded that He will turn again and display His forgiving love. We must not give up hope, nor abandon the Lord's ways, nor restrain prayer before Him; but we must wait in faith, believing His word—in expectation, trusting His faithfulness. Nothing should be allowed to weaken our faith in God's word, or drive our souls from His throne. He waits for the fittest time to be gracious; and we should wait His time to be comforted, or delivered. Wait on the Lord and KEEP HIS WAY. Wait as a servant for his master's return—as a child for his father's blessing; as a bride for the tokens of her bridegroom's love. He says, "Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that watcheth."

Still nigh me, O my Saviour, stand,
And guard in fierce temptations's hour;
Hide in the hollow of Thy hand,
Show forth in me Thy saving power,
Still be Thine arm my sure defence,
Nor earth nor hell shall pluck me thence

Success

So how do you define success?

If you were an actress, you may define it in terms of getting a big part and becoming "famous." If you were a businessman you may define it in terms of huge profits. If you were a baseball team, you may define it in terms of winning the World Series. But if you have the heart of a missionary, you define it in terms of seeing a group of people whom you've been ministering to, gathered around an open Bible praying to the one true God.

Such is the case of a young man who came to preach the Word yesterday and give a presentation to our church of his hopes and dreams to serve God in the "uttermost parts of the world." He and his wife and two small children will be leaving to go to live in a place that not many folks go to for vacation. In April, they're moving to Papua, New Guinea. Why are they going to this remote part of the world and leaving the comforts of America? Why to preach the gospel there; to try to reach the unreached, that's why.

As he said in his sermon yesterday, the Triune God will accomplish the task of Missions. It's guaranteed. How exactly this will work out in this young man's life  and ministry we can't know yet. But I certainly will be praying for his family and certainly do wish him success.

The Measure of Days and Years

 

(Photo by letoirina)

For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Psalm 90:4

"The Holy Ghost expresseth himself according to the manner of men, to give us some notion of an infinite duration, by a resemblance suited to our capacity. If a thousand years be but a day to the life of God, then as a year is to the life of man, so are three hundred and sixty-five thousand years to the life of God: and as seventy years are to the life of man, so are twenty-five millions five hundred fifty thousand years to the life of God. Yet still, since there is no proportion between time and eternity, we must dart our thoughts beyond all these, for years and days measure only the duration of created things, and of those only that are material and corporeal, subject to the motion of the heavens, which makes days and years."

~ Stephen Charnock

As the Lord has been our stay for 2012, may He again be so for 2013. Have a blessed and Christ-filled New Year.

He Will Yet Deliver Us

Believers daily Remembrance - james smith
"He will yet deliver us." 2 Cor 1:10

HOW many times has our God delivered us, from how many dangers, in how many ways; and He who hath delivered, doth deliver, and in Him we trust that He will yet deliver us. He delivered us from spiritual death, by the operations of His Holy Spirit, and from eternal death, by the sacrifice of His Son. We were dead, but we are now alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord; and He who delivered from the greatest evil, spiritual death, will not refuse to deliver us from any lesser danger. Let us trust in Him, rely upon Him, and expect Him to deliver. It is written, " Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." He knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation. Let us triumph with Paul, "The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." If He had not intended to carry on the work, He would not have begun it, for He well knew what opposition it would meet with: but He that began will perfect it in the day of Jesus Christ.

Yet I must fight, if I would reign:
Increase my courage, Lord!
I'II bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy word.

He'll Keep Us

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. John 17:15

Painting by Stanley M. Brice

If we have any hope that we are Christ's true disciples, let us be satisfied that Christ knows better than we do what is for our good. Let us leave "our times in His hand," and be content to abide here patiently as long as He pleases, however hard our position, so long as He keeps us from evil. That He will so keep us we need not doubt, if we ask Him, because He prays that we may be "kept." Nothing, we may be sure, glorifies grace so much as to live like Daniel in Babylon, and the saints in Nero's household, -- in the world and yet not of the world, --tempted on every side and yet conquerors of temptation, not taken out of the reach of evil and yet kept and preserved from it's power. ~ J.C. Ryle

Enter Into His Gates

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him, and bless his name." Psalm 100:4

"Enter into his gates with thanksgiving" . . . So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks. Mercy permits us to enter his gates; let us praise that mercy.  

"And into his courts with praise." Into whatever court of the Lord you may enter, let your admission be the subject of praise: thanks be to God, the innermost court is now open to believers, and we enter into that which is within the veil; it is incumbent upon us that we acknowledge the high privilege by our songs.

"Be thankful unto him." Let the praise be in your heart as well as on your tongue, and let it all be for him to whom it all belongs.

"And bless his name." He blessed you, bless him in return; bless his name, his character, his person. Whatever he does, be sure that you bless him for it; bless him when he takes away as well as when he gives; bless him as long as you live, under all circumstances; bless him in all his attributes, from whatever point of view you consider him.

~ From The Treasury of David, Charles Spurgeon

Godly Fear

Believers daily Remembrance - James Smith
"Happy is the man that feareth alway." Prov 28:14

GODLY fear flows from grace, and is always connected with spiritual knowledge. It is the fear of a tender child, who would not on any account grieve a kind and loving parent. It is a covenant blessing. Our God bestows it on all whom He loves; and they consequently fear to offend Him, their Father; dishonour their gracious Saviour, or grieve the Holy Comforter. They fear lest they should be led astray from God by their own hearts, by Satan, by professors, by the world, or any of the dispensations of providence. They fear to trust their own judgments, they reverence God's word, and dread a lukewarm state. Happy is the man who thus feareth alway; he happily preserves a tender conscience, a humble mind, and a consistent walk. He proves his interest in all new-covenant blessings; has much to do with the blood of atonement; and enjoys a solid peace. He is in a happy state, standing high in the favour of God, walking in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and keeping himself unspotted from the world. Oh, for godly fear to rule my heart, and preserve my goings!

This fear's the spirit of faith,
A confidence that's strong;
An unctious light to all that's right,
A bar to all that's wrong.

The Highest Authority

 (Art by Juliette Aristides)

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Romans 13:1 [NKJV]

Just wanted to share a couple of thoughts from our pastor's sermon this morning on the subject of government. The sermon was a needed one at the time we're in right now with the current election coming up in nine days. It wasn't a political message, because at our church the pastors do try to stay away from any involvement in politics, refraining from telling us who or what we should vote for on any given level. But they do rightfully try to impress the Word of God on our hearts, so that when we do whatever we do, including exercising this important privilege as citizens, that will be foremost in our minds.

I've been thinking a lot about this election so it was good to be reminded of some things. I've been listening to the "much talking" coming from both sides, everybody accusing everybody else of being liars, among a host of other things. Actually, it's getting exhausting to tell the truth. So the reminders from today's sermon were so welcome. I won't outline the entire sermon, which I appreciated so much as it was so sober, sensible, and practical. But I don't want to ever forget what was he said about the highest authority that exists:

Every human government has its credentials. It has a name, an ideology, a capital, a cabinet, a sphere of rule, intelligence, and the rest. But the highest authority has a Name, which is "the Most High God;" an Age, which is Eternal; a Capital, which is Heaven; Ministers, who are the Angels; a Realm, which is the Universe; Intelligence, which is Omniscient; Experience, which is Infinite; a Record, which is Impeccable; Character, which is Unimpeachable; and a Purpose, which is Benevolent. ~ Pastor J.R.

Now that's quite enough to help me to press on and not be afraid, no matter who wins on November 6th.

What to Put On

 (Art by Elaine Vollherbst - Lane)

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 

Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.

Colossians 3:12-14

Seven Thousand

 

 Art by Khodchenko Valeriy

Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:18

The comfortable information God gives him [Elijah] of the number of Israelites who retained their integrity, though he thought he was left alone. . .In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy God has always had, and will have, a remnant faithful to him, some that keep their integrity and do not go down the stream. It is God's work to preserve that remnant, and distinguish them from the rest, for without his grace they could not have distinguished themselves. God's faithful ones are often his hidden ones (ps.83:3) and the visible church is scarcely visible, the wheat lost in the chaff and the gold in the dross, till the sifting, refining, separating day comes. The Lord knows those that are his, though we do not; he sees in secret. There are more good people in the world than some wise and holy men think there are. . .

~ Matthew Henry