The privilege of His presence

 

  Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling: for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure

        Phil. 2:12, 13

It is not your business and mine to study whether we shall get to Heaven, or even to study whether we shall be good men; it is our business to study how we shall come into the midst of the purposes of God and have the unspeakable privilege in these few years of doing something of His work.

Phillips Brooks

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Our existence is short in this life. In the time we have on this earth we should not spend too much time worrying about whether we are going to heaven or whether we are good. We are sinners one and all. Rather, we should strive to do what is right and pleasing to God for the privilege of His presence with us. His presence with us is all that matters. It is the pleasure of His good grace that saves us and grants us entrance to heaven. 

May the good Lord bless and Keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details." 

The Hem of His garment

 

Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible distress

Mt 8:6

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993)

We, in this age of the church, are in the position of that sick servant at Capernaum. To the eye of sense we are separated from the Saviour. We see Him not—we can touch Him not—the hand cannot steal amid the crowd to catch His garment hem—we cannot hear His loved footsteps as of old on our threshold; but faith penetrates the invisible; the messenger—prayer—meets Him in the streets of the New Jerusalem; and faith and prayer together, the twin delegates from His church below, He has never yet sent empty away.

                                                                    Macduff

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997)

We are in the position of living in an age where we, unlike the time when Christ physically walked the earth, are unable to "touch the hem of His garment". We are asked to believe something we cannot see, touch, taste or smell. Impossible you say! It is the reason many, both young and old, have fallen away from the Christian way and are following the way of the world. Unfortunately, it is a path to nowhere, where death is at the end of the road. The good news is that Christ is still among us and we can still touch the hem of His garment and be healed. The physical Christ now is the spiritual Christ, always present, never far from us. The grace of His presence is ever present and available. All it takes is to ask in His name. It is how we touch the hem of His garment. His spirit, the Father's spirit, The Holy Ghost is aways with us. Taste and see that His promises are always kept. He is always with us in ways that are miraculous and real. Belief will open your spiritual eyes to His presence. Talk to Him, confide in Him. Touch the hem of His garment.

May Christ Bless and keep you safe. 

Remember to "Alway Love The Details."

Burdens

 

  Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ

        Gal. 6:2

However perplexed you may at any hour become about some question of truth, one refuge and resource is always at hand: you can do something for someone besides yourself. At the times when you cannot see God, there is still open to you this sacred possibility, to show God: for it is the love and kindness of human hearts through which the divine reality comes home to men, whether they name it or not. Let this thought, then, stay with you: there may be times when you cannot find help, but there is no time when you cannot give help.

George Merriam

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

It is with going through life that we often find ourselves burdened. It is these times we will often find we are not alone. Others are there with burdens of their own. In these times we are led to share the burden of others as well as our own. In this way our burdens become less in our minds and our soul is lifted up. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Still Waters

 

  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters

        Ps. 23:2

This suggests the rest into which our Good Shepherd leads His flock. Life is not all toil. God gives us many quiet resting-places in our pilgrim way.

Night is one of these, when, after the day’s toil, struggle, and exhaustion, we are led aside, and the curtains are drawn to shut out the noise and He giveth His beloved sleep, in sleep giving the wonderful blessings of renewal. The Sabbath is another of these quiet resting-places. God would have us drop our worldly tasks, and have a day for the refreshing of both body and soul.… Friendship’s trysts are also quiet resting-places, where heart may commune with heart, where Jesus comes, too, unseen, and gives His blessing. All ordinances of Christian worship—seasons of prayer and devotion, hours of communion with God—are quiet resting-places.

Far more than we are apt to realize do we need these silent times in our busy life, needing them all the more the busier the life may be.

J. R. Miller

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Where are your places of rest where the Lord leads you? In this busy life they are the respite from the ever more frantic lives we live. It is where spirit and soul find peace, stillness to hear the voice of the Lord. A place to drink in the still waters is refreshment for our soul. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Lingering

He had shown himself alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for forty days he had continued to appear to them and tell them about the kingdom of God.

Ac 1:2–3

The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

This lingering for forty days is the crowning proof of Christ’s tender regard for His little flock. He who had laid down His life for them is loath to leave them. Though they had forsaken Him, and doubted Him, they had not wearied, much less had they worn out, His love. He stays to look again, and yet again, and yet again, upon them, as if turning back and lingering to bless them. It is all of a piece with His life of love. Everywhere He meets them without a touch of upbraiding, without recalling a single memory of all His bitter suffering, revealing Himself to the disciples with a tenderness and blessedness indescribably beautiful.

How can He go till He has healed the Magdalene’s broken heart? He must linger till poor Peter can venture near to have his forgiveness assured. He must stay to strengthen Thomas’ faith. He must tarry with them till He has made them feel that He is just the same friendly, brotherly Jesus that He has ever been, caring for them in their work, watching them with a yearning pity, stooping to kindle a fire for their warmth, and to cook the fish for their meal, and then to bid them come and dine.

Mark Guy Pearse

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997)

The Lord, upon rising from the tomb, lingered to reveal the truth of His purpose and of His risen personage to those who were His followers, that they might know He is the son of God. It is not lost on us that this truth is for us as well. Even though we were not there to witness this wonderous time with them, the gospel is left by those who were there so that we may also know the truth of His love and gentle heart. He lingered among the disciples and believers as if to say "I am here and still love all. Be of gentile heart and strong faith until I return again."

May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Silent Love

 

  Always rejoicing

        2 Cor. 6:10

No Christian can ever know what is meant by those two little words, “always rejoicing,” but the Christian who takes up his cross and follows Jesus.

W. Hay Aitken

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Love is silent but ever visible to the heart that sees the ever-present love of God in their life. Always rejoice in it.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remeber to "Always Love The Details."

Called

One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them.’

Acts 13:2

The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

It is always amazing to me that the Lord went forth in His ministry and chose those who were considered outcasts and sinners for His followers. Most of them were uneducated and of lowly standing in their day. One of the worst was Saul, who would be known as Paul, a persecutor who oversaw the stoning and persecution of His saints. He would become the saint who proclaimed the word to the known world at that time. Such is the way of the Lord, who sees the heart of everyone. He knows the total person, inside and out. There is no hiding place or secret He does not know. The chosen, those He calls, are set apart for a purpose of His choosing. All are servants of the most high. All are saints in their own right. Are you one who has been called?

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

From Dust to Life

 

  The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul

        Gen. 2:7

And so this soul of mine is a compound of two worlds—dust and Deity! It touches the boundary line of two hemispheres. It is allied on one side to the divine; on the other, to the beast of the field. Its beginning is from beneath, but its culmination is from above; it is started from the dust of the ground, but it is finished in the breath of God.

My soul, art thou living up to thy twofold origin? Art thou remembering thy double parentage, and therefore thy double duty? Thou hast a duty to thy God, for His breath is in thee; thou hast a duty to the earth, for out of it wast thou taken.

George Matheson

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

May the good Lord bless and Keep you safe.

Remember to"Always Love The Details.

In the early morning

  In the morning came the word of the Lord unto me

        Ezek. 12:8

A quiet hour spent alone with God at the beginning of the day is the best beginning for the toils and cares of active business. A brief season of prayer, looking above for wisdom and grace and strength, and seeking for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, helps us to carry our religion into the business of the day. It brings joy and peace within the heart. And as we place all our concerns in the care and keeping of the Lord, faithfully striving to do His will, we have a joyful trust that however dark or discouraging events may appear, our Father’s hand is guiding everything, and will give the wisest direction to all our toils.

Selected

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

It is in the early AM hours that I seek the word of the Lord and write these posts. It is in the quiet solitude that we meet. There are no distractions or interruptions, only quiet solitude. Heart and soul are still. Mind and tongue are quiet. The Lord is present.

May thye good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Greater things

  The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day

        Prov. 4:18

Have I begun this path of heavenly love and knowledge now? Am I progressing in it? Do I feel some dawnings of the heavenly light, earnests and antepasts of the full day of glory? Let all God’s dealings serve to quicken me in my way. Let every affection it may please Him to send, be as the moving pillar—cloud of old, beckoning me to move my tent onward, saying, “Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest.” Let me be often standing now on faith’s lofty eminences, looking, for “the day of God”—the rising sun which is to set no more in weeping clouds. Wondrous progression! How will all earth’s learning, its boasted acquirements and eagle-eyed philosophy sink into the lispings of very infancy in comparison with this manhood of knowledge! Heaven will be the true “Excelsior,” its song, “a song of degrees,” Jesus leading His people from height to height of glory, and saying, as He said to Nathaniel, “Thou shall see greater things than these!”

Macduff

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

What in life has the splendor of life forever more in heaven? No one has seen the full glory of heaven while in mortal skin! What is the price of such a sight as this? None but the Lord knows the answer to that question.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

It is good

 

  God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness

        Gen. 1:4

No sooner is there a good thing in the world than a division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion; God has divided them, let us not confound them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, and bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who shall dwell in it forever.

We should by our distinct separation from the world divide the light from the darkness. In judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, in association, we must discern between the precious and the vile, and maintain the great distinction which the Lord made upon the world’s first day.

O Lord Jesus, be Thou our light throughout the whole of this day, for Thy light is the light of men.

Spurgeon

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Yes, this was part of the creation in the book Genesis. It is also what the Lord is doing in the hearts and souls of mankind. Of this He declares "It is good." The light shining from us when we follow Him is the beacon of His presence in us as poof of His spirit in us. It shows the world we do not belong to this world but the world to come.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Finished

 

   I have glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.

The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

        John 17:4

Was the work of the Master indeed done? Was not its heaviest task yet to come? He had not yet met the dread hour of death. Why did He say that His work was done? It was because He knew that, when the will is given, the battle is ended. He was only in the shadows of the garden; but to conquer these shadows was already to conquer all. He who has willed to die has already triumphed over death. All that remains to Him is but the outer husk, the shell.

The cup which our Father giveth us to drink is a cup for the will. It is easy for the lips to drain it when once the heart has accepted it. Not on the heights of Calvary, but in the shadows of Gethsemane is the cup presented; the act is easy after the choice. The real battlefield is in the silence of the spirit. Conquer there, and thou art crowned.

George Matheson

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Our spirit is the defining of our place in heaven.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

In Memory

 

 More than all else, keep watch over your heart, since here are the wellsprings of life.

Proverbs 4:23

The New Jerusalem Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1985)

It is a sadness of heart on this holiday, more than joy, for the loss of so many to the horrors of war, evil actions, public service or sickness. Pray for them, that they were not lost in vain. I cannot but wonder what the world would be like had they lived a full life, giving all they had and enjoyed what the good Lord graced them with. Life lost is a loss for the world in what could have been a benefit for the world. There is a hole left behind where that life was, a piece of the fabric of life cut short. The only repair is the memory of their existence in those who knew them and will continue to remember them throughout their life. Remember those who gave their all so that we could enjoy our life 

May the good Lord bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Positive?

 

  See then that ye walk circumspectly

        Eph. 5:15

There is no such thing as negative influence. We are all positive in the place we occupy, making the world better or making it worse.

T. DeWitt Talmage

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Influence is always positive whether the outcome is good or bad, no matter our position (place) in life. We move positively regardless of how we influence the world around us. 

May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Orphaned Not (John 14:18)

 

  Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you

        Matt. 6:33

We need have only one care, that we put the first thing first—faithfulness to God. Then all else we need for both worlds will be supplied. God will never fail us; but we forget, sometimes, in our rejoicing over such an assurance, that we must fulfill our part if we would claim the divine promise.

It will not always be easy. Tomorrow it may mean a distasteful task, a disagreeable duty, a costly sacrifice for one who does not seem worthy. Life is full of sore testings of our willingness to follow the Good Shepherd. We have not the slightest right to claim this assurance unless we have taken Christ as the guide of our life.

J. R. Miller

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997)

There are often times when we are awed by the eloquence of speech from someone well educated. We would do well to remember that the gospel of the Lord was taught by the humblest of mankind in Jesus's day, fishermen, the simplest of humankind. Education may inform the mind but it is faith that goes beyond what the mind cannot see. The opening lines of J. R. Miller are true to what the calling of the Lord is about.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Grudging Assent

 

  And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send

        Exod. 4:13

It was a very grudging assent. It was as much as to say, “Since Thou art determined to send me and I must undertake the mission, then let it be so; but I would that it might have been another, and I go because I am compelled.” So often do we shrink back from the sacrifice or obligation to which God calls us, that we think we are going to our doom. We seek every reason for evading the divine will, little realizing that He is forcing us out from our quiet homes into a career which includes, among other things, the song of victory on the banks of the Red Sea; the two lonely sojourns for forty days in converse with God; the shining face; the vision of glory; the burial by the hand of Michael; and the supreme honor of standing beside the Lord on the Transfiguration mountain.

F. B. Meyer

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

How often we resist the urging of the Lord to do a task only to begrudgingly agree. This is often the case in scripture of the ones chosen to be His voice, prophet or emissary. The thanks for the mission is not always from those of earth but from a loving God with grace, blessings and eternal life.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Alms (Special reminder)

 

“Alms-deeds,” says St. Augustine, “comprise every kind of service rendered to our neighbor who needs such assistance. He who supports a lame man bestows an alms on him with his feet; he who guides a blind man does him a charity with his eyes; he who carries an invalid or an old man upon his shoulders imparts to him an alms of his strength. Hence none are so poor but they may bestow an alms on the wealthiest man in the world.”

John Gilmary Shea, Pictorial Lives of the Saints (New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1887), 220.

Alms is more than financial giving. Kindness of every kind is also alms. This kind of giving is bringing treasure to the heavenly bank to be deposited in your account.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Paths

 

  He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake

        Ps. 23:3

He always has a purpose in His leading. He knows where the bits of green pasture are, and He would lead His flock to these. The way may be rough, but it is the right way to the pasture. “Paths of righteousness” may not be straight paths; but they are paths that lead somewhere—to the right place. Many desert paths are illusive. They start out clear and plain, but soon they are lost in the sands. They go nowhere. But the paths of righteousness have a goal to which they unerringly lead.

J. R. Miller

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

The way is not always what we think, the result is not always as we wish. The plan of the Lord is always as he wishes. The way may appear crooked, but the destination is where we are destined. It is not a mistake but a blessing.

May the good Lord Bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

For The Good

 

  All things work together for good to them that love God

        Rom. 8:28

If our circumstances find us in God, we shall find God in all our circumstances.

Selected

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

No matter our walk in life, when following the will of the lord, all things we experience are turned to the grace of God's good pleasure and a blessing for us.

May the good Lord Bless and Keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Always present

 

  Their eyes were holden … Their eyes were opened

        Luke 24:16, 31

There is much precious significance in this. The Lord is often present in our lives in things that we do not dream possess any significance. We are asking God about something which needs His mighty working, and the very instrument by which He is to work is by our side, perhaps for weeks and months and years all unrecognized, until suddenly, some day it grows luminous and glorious with the very presence of the Lord, and becomes the mighty instrument of His victorious working. He loves to show His hand through the unexpected. Often he keeps us from seeing His way until just before He opens it, and then, immediately that it is unfolded, we find that He was walking by our side in the very thing, long before we even suspected its meaning.

A. B. Simpson

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Often the hand of the Lord is recognized well after the day He was experienced. It is the way he often does things to show us His presence and teach us His ways. Be ever alert to what you do, say and think for He is ever present.

May the good Lord Bless you and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Happy Easter

 

  Having … boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus … let us draw near with a true heart

        Heb. 10:19, 22

Oh, the glory of the message! For fifteen centuries Israel had a sanctuary with a Holiest of All, into which, under pain of death, no one might enter. Its one witness was: Man cannot dwell in God’s presence; cannot abide in His fellowship. And now how changed is all! As then the warning sounded: “No admittance! enter not!” so now the call goes forth: “Enter in! the veil is rent; the Holiest is open; God waits to welcome you to His bosom; henceforth you are to live with Him.” This is the message. Child! thy Father longs for thee to enter, to dwell, and to go out no more forever.

Andrew Murray

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

HAPPY EASTER

Renew your Spirit and Thank the good Lord always for the blessing of His presence in the days and years to come. May He bless and keep you safe.

It is done

 Isaiah 52:13-53:12

  Lo, I am with you all the days

        Matt. 28:20 (R.V., margin)

“ALL THE DAYS”—in winter days, when joys are fled; in sunless days, when the clouds return again and again after rain; in days of sickness and pain; in days of temptation and perplexity, as much as in days when the heart is as full of joy as the woodlands in spring are full of song. That day never comes when the Lord Jesus is not at the side of His saints. Lover and friend may stand afar, but He walks with them through the fires; He fords with them the rivers; He stands by them when face to face with the lion. We can never be alone. We must always add His resources to our own when making our calculations.

F. B. Meyer

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

It is not just on Easter Sunday that mankind should be aware of the sacrifice of our Lord but every day of our existence. It is not just Easter when we are forgiven of our sins but every day of our existence. It is not our attendance at church on Easter Sunday when we remember His sacrifice but every day of our existence. Every day is a holy day of forgiveness because of His sacrifice.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Remember To Always Love The Details."

Eagles Wings

 

  They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint

        Isa. 40:31

The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself as to how it is to cross rivers.

Selected

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

What better way to soar than to have Jesus as your friend. His strength becomes our strength. With Him the path is ever clear.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Names

 

  Come behind in no gift

        1 Cor. 1:7

The Scripture gives four names to Christians, taken from the four cardinal graces so essential to man’s salvation: Saints for their holiness, believers for their faith, brethren for their love, disciples for their knowledge.

Thomas Fuller

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Which of these are you? 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Unseen

 

  Ye shall receive power after the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be witness unto me                                                                    Acts 1:8

Look at it! Think of it! A hundred and twenty men and women having no patronage, no promise of any earthly favor, no endowment, no wealth—a company of men and women having to get their living by common daily toil, and busied with all the household duties of daily life and yet they are to begin the conquest of Christianity! To them is entrusted a work which is to turn the world upside down. None so exalted but the influence of this lowly company shall reach to them, until the throne of the Caesars is claimed for Christ. None so far off but the power of this little band gathered in an upper room shall extend to them until the whole world is knit into a brotherhood! Not a force is there on the earth, either of men or devils, but they shall overcome it, until every knee shall bow to their Master, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord.

A thing impossible, absurd, look at it as you will, until you admit this—they are to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Then difficulties melt into the empty air. Then there is no limit to their hopes, for there is no limit to their power. Their strength is not only “as the strength of ten,” it is as the strength of the Almighty.

This is Christ’s idea of Christianity; the idea not of man—it is infinitely too sublime—the idea of God!

                                                                Mark Guy Pearse

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

No visible trace of the Holy Spirit is more visible than the loving presence of those who host it. It is the word manifest in a human host.

Lent

  He that sent me is with me; the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him

                                                                John 8:29

He who holds nearest communion with Heaven can best discharge the duties of everyday life.

                                                           Selected

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

At this time of deep considerations and conversations with our Lord it is of great importance to remember the sacrifice He blessed us with. It was selfless sacrifice that gave us the grace of life which we did not earn or deserve. What we received is not ours to keep but, to in turn, give to others.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to 'Always Love The Details."

Brought low, Not defeated

 

  As captain at the host of the Lord am I now come

Josh. 5:14

Surely Israel might now face the foe with unwavering confidence, and sing of victory even before the battle was gained. And so may the Christian. It is to no conflict of uncertain issue that he advances; the result of the battle is not doubtful. The struggle may be severe, the warfare long; he may sometimes, like the pilgrim, be beaten to the ground, and well-nigh lose his sword; but “though cast down” he is “not destroyed.” The Captain of salvation is on his side, and in the midst of sharpest conflict he can say, “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

                                                                    S. A. Blackwood

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

The path through life is fraught with many troubles and snares. They make us stumble. They cause us to fall. It is by the grace of our Lord that our victory is assured and not our own strength. Humility and faith are our salvation. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember top"Alaways Love The Details."

Mistakes

 

  Forgetting those things which are behind … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus

                                                   Phil. 3:13, 14

It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have. What we are and where we are, is God’s providential arrangement—God’s doing, though it may be man’s misdoing. Life is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian who makes the fewest false steps. He is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes.

                                                F. W. Robertson

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Our lives are often a string of mistakes, failures and shortcomings. When we look back, we realize they cannot be undone so we press on. With those mistakes in mind, we press on in the hope of greater results than those of the past. Mistakes forgotten are mistakes repeated. Love of the Lord and His word is a sure footing in the way of life. 

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

 Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Silent conflict

 

  After ye were illuminated ye endured a great fight of afflictions

                                                      Heb. 10:32

Our boldness for God before the world must always be the result of individual dealing with God in secret. Our victories over self, and sin, and the world, are always first fought where no eye sees but God’s.… If we have not these secret conflicts, well may we not have any open ones. The outward absence of conflict betrays the inward sleep of the soul.

                                                    F. Whitfield

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

Private wars in private places can be those times we struggle and place the problems and sins of our lives before the throne of God. In those times and places we are brought to a place of knowing the ways of God. It is akin to praying and exalting our Lord behind closed doors.

May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

"Christian"

 

  To every man his work

        Mark 13:34

He does the most for God’s great world who does the best in his own little world.

Selected

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

We bear the name of Christians, but are full of the spirit of worldlings, and our actions are infected with its poison. We secretly seek ourselves, even when we flatter ourselves that God is our only aim, and whilst we undertake to convert the world, we suffer it to pervert us. When shall we begin to study to crucify our passions and die to ourselves, that we may lay a solid foundation of true virtue and establish its reign in our hearts?

John Gilmary Shea, Pictorial Lives of the Saints (New York; Cincinnati; Chicago: Benziger Brothers, 1887), 100.

Today is a day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. He has redeemed us though we are ever in the world. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."

Obedience and Inheritance

 

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (Washington, DC: National Council of Churches of Christ, 1993), Heb 11:8–10.

Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God. He leaned not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser. He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself. O glorious faith! This is thy work, these are thy possibilities: contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the love and wisdom of the Lord High Admiral: willinghood to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth’s best cannot bear comparison with Heaven’s least.

                                                     F. B. Meyer

Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moody, Thoughts for the Quiet Hour (Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997).

This post is for the missed post from last night. May the good Lord bless and keep you safe.

Remember to "Always Love The Details."