He Will Not Allow Your Foot To Be Moved

"He will not allow your foot to be moved. He who keeps you will not slumber." Psalm 121:3
This is a choice stanza for pilgrims to the celestial city.

"He will not allow your foot to be moved." Though the paths of life are dangerous and difficult--yet we shall stand fast, for Jehovah will not permit our feet to slide; and if He will not allow it--we shall never be moved! If our foot will is thus kept--we may be sure that our head and heart will be preserved also! Those who have God for their keeper--shall be safe from all the perils of the way.
Among the hills and ravines of Palestine, the keeping of the feet is a great mercy. But in the slippery paths of a tempted, tried and afflicted believer, the blessing of upholding is of priceless value--for a single false step might cause us a fall fraught with awful danger! To stand 'steadfast' and pursue our holy way--is a blessing which only God can give. It is worthy of His divine hand--and worthy also of our perennial gratitude. Our feet shall move in heavenly progress--and we shall never be overthrown!
"He who keeps you will not slumber." We could not stand a moment--if our Divine Keeper were to sleep! We need Him by day and by night. Not a single step can be safely taken--except under His guardian eye. God is the convoy and body-guard of His people. When dangers are all around us--we are safe, for our Preserver is awake, and will not permit us to be moved. No fatigue of exhaustion can cast our God into sleep--His watchful eyes are never closed!

- Charles Spurgeon

Perfect Peace

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
Unless the heart is kept quiet and peaceable--the life will not be happy. If calm does not reign over that inner lake within the soul which feeds the rivers of our life--the rivers themselves will always be in storm. Our outward acts will always manifest that they were born in tempests--by being tempestuous themselves.
We all desire to lead a peaceful and joyous life; the bright eye and the elastic foot are things which each of us desire; to carry about a contented mind is that to which most people are continually aspiring. Let us remember that the only way to keep our life peaceful and happy--is to keep the heart at rest--for come poverty, come wealth, come honor, come shame, come plenty, or come scarcity--if the heart is quiet, there will be peace and happiness manifested in the life!
But no matter how bright the sun shines outside--if the heart is troubled--the whole life must be troubled too!
"You will keep in perfect peace--all whose thoughts are fixed on You--because he trusts in You!" Isaiah 26:3

- Charles Spurgeon, "Gleanings among the Sheaves"

Obnoxious As Brimstone

This is a strong expression--but most sadly true. When we offer prayer, is there not at times a sorrowful mixture of self-will, petulance, and impatience? Does not unbelief, which is quite as obnoxious as brimstone, too often spoil the sweet fragrance of our supplications? When we offer praise, is it all pure spices from the heavenly apothecary? Do not self-conceit and pride, frequently spoil the holy frankincense and myrrh? Alas! we fear that the charge must lie against us, and force us to a sorrowful confession!
As the priests of God, our whole life should be the presentation of holy incense unto God--and yet it is not so. The worldly ambitions and carnal lustings of our hearts, deteriorate and adulterate the spices of our lives! And Satan, with the sulphur of pride, ruins the delicate perfume of perfect consecration.
What astounding grace does the Lord display--in accepting our poor, imperfect offerings! What rich merit abides in our Lord Jesus! What sweet fragrance beyond expression dwells in Him--to drown and destroy our foul sulphurous offerings, and to make us accepted in the Beloved! Glory be unto our glorious High Priest, whose perfect life and sin-atoning death, is so sweet--that the Holy Judge is well pleased with us for His righteousness' sake--and accepts us in Him, even with our sulphurous incense!

-Charles Spurgeon

Seemingly Trivial Events

"Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened to be in the portion of land belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech's family." Ruth 2:3

"She happened." Yes, it seemed nothing but an accident--but how divinely was it overruled! Ruth had gone forth with her mother-in-law's blessing, under the care of her God--to humble but honorable toil; and the providence of God was guiding her every step! Little did she know, that amid the sheaves--she would find a husband; and that he would make her the joint owner of all those broad acres; and that she, a destitute foreigner, would become an ancestor of the great Messiah!

God is very good to those who trust in Him, and often surprises them with unlooked for blessings. Little do we know what may happen to us in the future; but this sweet fact should cheer us--that nothing which is really good for us--shall be withheld from us!
The word "chance" is banished from the Christian's vocabulary--for we see the hand of God in everything. The seemingly trivial events of today or tomorrow, may involve consequences of the highest importance. Take comfort--our Lord deals as graciously with all His servants--as He did with Ruth!

- Charles Spurgeon

CJ Mahaney – Session 4 – Monday

Christ’s Death – My Notes

Mark 15:33-39

We cannot think of that death too often. C.H. Spurgeon

His death is a matter of first importance. Heaven is never indifferent of the cross. The cross involves more than the physical suffering of Christ.

The cup (of God’s wrath) dominates His soul in the garden.

Jesus prays for an alternative even though He knows there is none, it was motivated by the horror of One wholly of the Father.

If there was an alternative, God would have provided one. Cry from the cross is Gethsemane realized.

1. suffering, forsaken Savior
2. dying Savior
3. revealed Savior

By death we determine that we are not gods.

Romans 8:20

My Thoughts From The Message:

During CJ’s sermon I was once again (it happened a lot at the conference) overwhelmed by Christ’s passionate love for me. That Jesus (who is part of the Trinity) would die, that He would take on the full force of God’s wrath. It blew me away. Why? It seems to be the dumbest thing to do. Why would God die for rebellious creatures? Why not just kill us all. He doesn’t need us. He can easily receive glory another way. Why punish your Son? Why die, experiencing the full fury of your Holy Father? Why does He love me??? The knowledge of His awesome power and otherness was colliding with the knowledge of His extravagant love for me. The two should not go together. They don’t make sense. And yet, they do. This is when the smoke starts coming out my ears and my brain begins to overload. Jesus screamed the cry of the damned in my place. The awesome Creator of the Universe…He died for my sins. As goose bumps gallop over my body, I sit here once again amazed. Amazed at His otherness (which the cross so clearly displays). Amazed at His boundless love for me. Amazed at my testimony. Amazed at His protection and favor. Pretty much amazed at everything about Him.

You can download the sermon HERE.

You can also read a couple of great synopsis’ HERE and HERE.

Pics from Monday:

“Dear friends I am going to preach to you again upon the cornerstone of the gospel. How many times will this make, I wonder? The doctrine of Christ crucified is always with me. As the Romans sentinel in Pompeii stood to his post even when the city was destroyed, so do I…every thing else can wait, but this one truth must be proclaimed with a voice of thunder. Others may preach as they will but as for this pulpit it shall always resound with the substitutions of the Christ…Our blessed Savior would have us hold his death in great reverence; it is to be our chief memory we cannot think of that death too often.” – Charles Spurgeon

Rock That Is Higher Than I

"When my heart is overwhelmed--lead me to the Rock that is higher than I!" Psalm 61:2
Most of us know what it is to be overwhelmed in heart--sinking like a vessel deluged by the storm!

Discoveries of inward corruption will do this--if the Lord permits the great deep of our depraved heart to become troubled, and cast up its mire and dirt.

Disappointments and heartbreaks will do this--when billow after billow rolls over us, and we are like a broken shell hurled to and fro by the raging surf!
Blessed be God, at such seasons we are not without an all-sufficient solace--our God is the harbor of weather-beaten souls, the hospice of forlorn pilgrims! His mercy is higher than our sins! His love is higher than we could imagine!
It is pitiful to see unsaved men putting their trust in something lower than themselves; but our confidence is fixed upon the exceeding high and glorious Lord.
A Rock He is--since He changes not. And He is a high Rock--because the tempests which overwhelm us--roll far beneath at His feet! He is not disturbed by them--but rules them at His will. If we get under the shelter of this lofty Rock--we may defy the hurricane! All is peaceful under the shelter of that towering cliff!
Alas! such is the confusion in which the troubled mind is often cast, that we need piloting to this divine shelter. Hence the prayer of the text, "When my heart is overwhelmed--lead me to the Rock that is higher than I! O Lord, our God, by Your Holy Spirit--teach us the way of faith, and lead us into Your rest. The wind blows us out to sea--and our puny hand cannot steer the helm! You, You alone can steer us over the wide ocean between yon sunken rocks--and safe into the fair haven. How dependent we are upon You! We need You to bring us to You! To be wisely directed and steered into safety and peace is Your gift, and Yours alone!"

- Charles Spurgeon

Take Sorrow And Sin—To The Same Place

"Look upon my affliction and my pain--and forgive all my sins!" Psalm 25:18
It is well for us when prayers about our sorrows--are linked with pleas concerning our sins; when, being under God's hand, we are not wholly taken up with our pain--but remember our offences against God. It is well, also, to take both sorrow and sin--to the same place! It was to God--that David carried his sorrow. It was to God--that David confessed his sin.
We must take our sorrows to God. Even your little sorrows you may roll upon God--for He counts the hairs of your head. And your great sorrows you may commit to Him--for He holds the ocean in the hollow of His hand. Go to Him, whatever your present trouble may be--and you shall find Him able and willing to relieve you.
But we must also take our sins to God. We must carry them to the cross, that the blood may fall upon them, to purge away their guilt, and to destroy their defiling power.
The special lesson of the text is this--that we are to go to the Lord with sorrows and with sins in the right frame of heart. Note that all David asks concerning his sorrow is, "Look upon my affliction and my pain." But the next petition is vastly more express, definite, decided and plain, "Forgive all my sins!"
Many sufferers would have put it, "Remove my affliction and my pain--and look at my sins." But David does not say so--he cries, "Lord, as for my affliction and my pain, I will not dictate to Your wisdom. Lord, look at them--I will leave them to You. I would be glad to have my pain removed--but do as You will. But as for my sins, Lord, I know what I want with them--I must have them forgiven! I cannot endure to lie under their curse for a moment!"
A Christian counts his sorrow lighter in the scale--than his sin. He can bear that his troubles should continue--but he cannot support the burden of his transgressions.

-Charles Spurgeon

His Murderer

Beware of light thoughts of sin. It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by degrees so callous, that the sin which once startled him--no longer alarms him in the least. We palliate and excuse our sin; we throw a cloak over it; we call it by dainty names.
Sin, a little thing? Is it not a poison! Who knows its deadliness!
Sin, a little thing? Do not the little foxes--spoil the grapes? Does not the tiny coral insect--build a rock which wrecks a navy? Do not little strokes--fell lofty oaks? Will not continual droppings--wear away stones?
Sin, a little thing? It girded your Redeemer's head with thorns--and pierced His heart! It made Him suffer anguish, bitterness, and woe! Could you weigh the least sin in the scales of eternity--you would fly from it as from a serpent, and abhor the least appearance of evil. Look upon all sin as that which crucified your Savior--and you will see it to be "exceeding sinful."

 

"A great multitude of the people followed Him, including women who mourned and wailed for Him." Luke 23:27
Amid the rabble crowd which hounded the Redeemer to His doom, there were some gracious souls whose bitter anguish sought vent in wailing and lamentations--fit music to accompany that march of woe!
When my soul can, in imagination, see the Savior bearing His cross to Calvary--she joins the godly women, and weeps with them. They bewailed . . .     
innocence--maltreated,
goodness--persecuted,
love--bleeding,
meekness--dying!
But my heart has a deeper and more bitter cause to mourn: MY SINS were the scourges which lacerated those blessed shoulders! MY SINS were the thorns which crowned that bleeding brow! MY SINS cried, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!" and laid the cruel cross upon His gracious shoulders! His being led forth to die, is sorrow enough for one eternity--but MY having been His murderer--is more, infinitely more grief, than one poor fountain of tears can express! Those women who loved and wept--could not have had greater reasons for love and grief--than my heart has!
The widow of Nain saw her son restored--but I myself have been raised to newness of life!
Peter's mother-in-law was cured of the fever--but I myself have been cured of the plague of sin!
Mary Magdalene had seven devils cast out of her--but a whole legion of devils were cast out of me!
Mary and Martha were favored with visits from Jesus--but He dwells with me!
I am not behind these holy women in debt to Jesus--let me not be behind them, in gratitude or sorrow.
"Love and grief my heart dividing,
With my tears His feet I'll lave;
Constant still in heart abiding,
Weep for Him who died to save!"

- Charles Spurgeon

O Parched Plant

"I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." Ezekiel 34:26

Here is sovereign grace, "I will send down showers." Is it not sovereign, divine mercy--for who can say, "I will send down showers," except God? There is only one voice which can speak to the clouds, and bid them beget the rain, "Who sends down the rain upon the earth? Who scatters the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord?" Grace is the gift of God--and is not to be created by man.

It is also needed grace. What would the ground do without showers? You may break the clods, you may sow your seeds--but what can you do without the rain? As absolutely needful, is the divine blessing. In vain you labor--until God bestows the plenteous shower, and sends the needed grace down!

Then, it is plenteous grace. "I will send down showers." It does not say, "I will send them drops," but "showers." So it is with grace. If God gives a blessing, He usually gives it in such a measure that there is not room enough to receive it. Plenteous grace! Ah! we need plenteous grace . . .
  to keep us humble,
  to make us prayerful,
  to make us holy,
  to make us zealous,
  to preserve us through this life,
  and at last to land us in heaven!
We cannot do without saturating showers of grace!

Again, it is seasonable grace. "I will send down showers in season." What is your season this morning? Is it the season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. "I will send down showers in season."

And here is a varied grace. "I will give you showers of blessing." The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in a golden chain. If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send "showers of blessing." Look up today, O parched plant--and open your leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering!

- Charles Spurgeon

Pray

‘Praying always’ Ephesians 6:18

What multitudes of prayers we have put up from the first moment when we learned to pray. Our first prayer was a prayer for ourselves; we asked that God would have mercy upon us, and blot out our sin. He heard us. But when He had blotted out our sins like a cloud, then we had more prayers for ourselves. We have had to pray for sanctifying grace, for constraining and restraining grace; we have been led to crave for a fresh assurance of faith, for the comfortable application of the promise, for deliverance in the hour of temptation, for help in the time of duty, and for succour in the day of trial. We have been compelled to go to God for our souls, as constant beggars asking for everything. Bear witness, children of God, you have never been able to get anything for your souls elsewhere. All the bread your soul has eaten has come down from heaven, and all the water of which it has drunk has flowed from the living rock-Christ Jesus the Lord. Your soul has never grown rich in itself; it has always been a pensioner upon the daily bounty of God; and hence your prayers have ascended to heaven for a range of spiritual mercies all but infinite. Your wants were innumerable, and therefore the supplies have been infinitely great, and your prayers have been as varied as the mercies have been countless. Then have you not cause to say, ‘I love the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplication’? For as your prayers have been many, so also have been God’s answers to them. He has heard you in the day of trouble, has strengthened you, and helped you, even when you dishonored Him by trembling and doubting a the mercy-seat. Remember this, and let it fill your heart with gratitude to God, who has thus graciously heard your poor weak prayers. ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.’

-Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening

Strengthen Thee

I will strengthen thee... Isaiah 41:10

God has a strong reserve with which to discharge this engagement; for he is able to do all things.
Believer, till thou canst drain dry the ocean of omnipotence, till thou canst break into pieces the towering mountains of almighty strength, thou never needest to fear. Think no that the strength of man shall ever be able to overcome the power of God. Whilst the earth's huge pillars stand, thou hast enough reason to abide firm in thy faith. The same God who directs the earth in its orbit, who feeds the burning furnace of the sun, and trims the lamps of heaven, has promised to supply thee with daily strength. While He is able to uphold the universe, dream not that He will prove unable to fulfil His own promises. Remember what He did in the days of old, in the former generations. Remember how He spake and it was done; how He commanded, and it stood fast. Shall He that created the world grow weary? He hangeth the world upon nothing; shall he who doth this be unable to support His children? Shall He be unfaithful to His word for want of power? Who is it that restrains the tempest? Doth not He ride upon the wings of the wind, and make the clouds His chariots, and hold the ocean in the hollow of His hand? How can He fail thee? When He has put such a faithful promise as this on record, wilt thou for a moment indulge the thought that He has outpromised Himself, and gone beyond his power to fulfil? Ah, no! Thou canst doubt no longer. O though who art my God and my strength, I can believe that this promise shall be fulfilled, for the boundless reservoir of Thy grace can never be exhausted, and the overflowing storehouse of Thy strength can never be emptied by Thy friends or rifled by Thine enemies.

Now let the feeble all be strong,

And make Jehovah's arm their song.

- Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, December 22 -  Morning

Mary & Martha

 “We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune.”

- Charles Spurgeon

Strength to Strength

'They go from strength to strength.' Ps. 84:7

They go from strength to strength. There are various renderings of these words, but all of them contain the idea of progress.

Our own good translation of the authorized version is enough for us this morning. 'They go from strength to strength.' That is, they grow stronger and stronger. Usually, if we are walking, we go from strength to weakness; we start fresh and in good order for our journey, but by-and-by the road is rough, and the sun is hot, we sit down by the wayside, and then again painfully pursue our weary way. But the Christian pilgrim having obtained fresh supplies of graces is as vigorous after years of toilsome travel and struggle as when he first set out. He may not be quite so elated and buoyant, nor perhaps quite so hot and hasty in his zeal as he once was, but he is much stronger in all that constitutes real power, and travels, if more slowly, far more surely. Some gray-haired veterans have been as firm in their grasp of truth, and as zealous in diffusing it, as they were in their younger days...'The youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but 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.' Fretful spirits sit down and trouble themselves about the future. 'Alas!' say they, 'we go from affliction to affliction.' Very true, O thou of little faith, but then thou goest from strength to strength also. Thou shalt never find a bundle of affliction which has not bound up in the midst of it sufficient grace. God will give the strength of ripe manhood with the burden allotted to full-grown shoulders.

-Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, December 14 - Morning

Do Not Be Afraid

"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
Gen. 15:1

"Beloved, you have seen others suffer losses, and it has probably depressed you. Regardless of what happens, do not be alarmed. God is your defense and refuge in the day of your trouble (Ps. 59:16) You will be most secure in Him. You may have losses and afflictions, but they will not overwhelm you. You will be kept by God's power. He will deliver you out of every trial and affliction. He will be your shield and your exceedingly great reward."

C. H. Spurgeon
Beside Still Waters - words of comfort for the soul

source: Adventures in Faith

A Dying Savior

"Nothing puts life into men like a dying Savior. All other topics in Holy Scripture are important, and none of them are to be cast into the shade. But the death of the Son of God is the central sun of all these other minor luminaries. May this house be utterly consumed with fire before the day should come here when there should be given an uncertain sound about the atonement. This is not merely a doctrine of the church; it is the doctrine of the church. Leave this out, and you have no truth, you have no Savior, and you have no church."--Charles Spurgeon

Kindness

"My kindness shall not depart from thee." Isaiah 45:10

"O my loving Lord, let the support and comfort of this precious 'shall not' sink into my soul this morning, and strengthen me to face every difficulty, and resist every evil, and bear any trial with the courage such an assurance gives!"

~ Susannah Spurgeon 

He Will Satisfy

I read this during my devotions this morning. I found it very encouraging...

Such is the language of the believer panting after present fellowship with Jesus, he is sick for his Lord. Gracious souls are never perfectly at ease except they are in a state of nearness to Christ; for when they are away from him they lose their peace. The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to Him the fuller the heart is not only of peace but of live, and viguour, and joy, for these all depend on constant intercourse with Jesus. What the sun is to the day, what the moon is to the night, what the dew is to the flower, such is Jesus Christ to us. What bread is to the hungry, clothing to the naked, the shadow of a great rock to the traveler in a weary land, such is Jesus Christ to us; and, therefore, if we are not consciously one with Him, little marvel if our spirit cries in the words of the Song, ‘I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, tell Him that I am sick of love’. This earnest longing after Jesus has a blessing attending it: ‘Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness;’ and therefore, supremely blessed are they who thirst after the Righteous One. Blessed is that hunger, since it comes from God: if I may not have the full-blown blessedness of being filled, I would seek the same blessedness in its sweet bud-pinning in emptiness and eagerness till I am filled with Christ. If I may not feed on Jesus, it shall be next door to heaven to hunger and thirst after Him. There is a hallowedness about that hunger, since it sparkles among the beatitudes of our Lord. But the blessing involves a promise. Such hungry ones’shall be filled’ with what they are desiring. If Christ thus causes us to long after Himself, He will certainly satisfy those longings; and when he does come to us, as come He will, oh, how sweet it will be!

Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, Morning August 22

What comfort! Are you weary today? Are you discouraged by you sin? Are you experiencing trials? Remember, that He Who began a good work will finish it to completion. Run into His loving arms. Ask for forgiveness if needed. Ask for grace. Ask to be filled. Enjoy your Savior and His amazing love for you! He is faithful, good, and He will provide all that you need.

He Knows All

August 14th - Evening
“I know their sorrows.” - Exodus 3:7

The child is cheered as he sings, “This my father knows;” and shall not we be comforted as we discern that our dear Friend and tender soul-husband knows all about us?

1. He is the Physician, and if he knows all, there is no need that the patient should know. Hush, thou silly, fluttering heart, prying, peeping, and suspecting! What thou knowest not now, thou shalt know hereafter, and meanwhile Jesus, the beloved Physician, knows thy soul in adversities. Why need the patient analyze all the medicine, or estimate all the symptoms? This is the Physician’s work, not mine; it is my business to trust, and his to prescribe. If he shall write his prescription in uncouth characters which I cannot read, I will not be uneasy on that account, but rely upon his unfailing skill to make all plain in the result, however mysterious in the working.

2. He is the Master, and his knowledge is to serve us instead of our own; we are to obey, not to judge: “The servant knoweth not what his lord doeth.” Shall the architect explain his plans to every hodman on the works? If he knows his own intent, is it not enough? The vessel on the wheel cannot guess to what pattern it shall be conformed, but if the potter understands his art, what matters the ignorance of the clay? My Lord must not be cross-questioned any more by one so ignorant as I am.

3. He is the Head. All understanding centres there. What judgment has the arm? What comprehension has the foot? All the power to know lies in the head. Why should the member have a brain of its own when the head fulfils for it every intellectual office? Here, then, must the believer rest his comfort in sickness, not that he himself can see the end, but that Jesus knows all. Sweet Lord, be thou forever eye, and soul, and head for us, and let us be content to know only what thou choosest to reveal.

Why Go I Mourning?

'Why go I morning?' Psalm 42:9

Canst thou answer this, believer? Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told thee that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left, but long leagues of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow, and ice, and hail, to deeper snow, and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Knowest thou not that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed to winter? Hot thou then! Hope thou ever! for god fails thee not. Dost thou not know that thy God loves thee in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God's love is as true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments. No father chastens always: thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost; He only cares to use it for that reason which should make thee willing to receive it, namely, that it works thy lasting goo. Thou shalt yet climb Jacob's ladder with the angels and behold Him who sits at the top of it - thy covenant God. Thou shalt yet, amidst the splendours of eternity, forget the trials of time, or only remember them to bless the God who led thee through them, and wrought thy lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation. Rejoice while passing through the furnace. Make the wilderness to blossom like the rose! Cause the desert to ring with thin exulting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then 'forever with the Lord', thy bliss shall never wane...

- Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening

His Wonderful Dealings With You

The Lord our God hath shewed us His glory - Deuteronomy 5:24

God's great design in all His works is the manifestation of His own glory. Any aim less than this were unworthy of Himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man's eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there may be more room for God to be exalted; and this is the reason why He bringeth His people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that, being mad conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when he comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but they who 'do business in great waters', these see His 'wonders in the deep'. Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God's greatness and loving-kindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has sent you, as He did His servant Moses, that you might behold His glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of His glory in His wonderful dealings with you. 

- CH Spurgeon, Morning & Evening