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It is in these storms
(Philpot, "Christ
Jesus the Lord Received and Walked In")
"When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone;
but the righteous stand firm forever." Proverbs 10:25
The very storms through which the believer passes,
will only strengthen him to take a firmer hold of Christ.
As the same wind that blows down the shallow-rooted
tree, only establishes the deep-rooted tree--so the
same storms which uproot the 'shallow professor',
only establish the 'true believer' more firmly in Christ.
Though these storms may shake off some of his 'leaves',
or break off some of the 'rotten boughs' at the end of the
branch, they do not uproot the believer's faith, but rather
strengthen it.
It is in these storms that he learns . .
.
more of his own weakness, and of Christ's strength;
more of his own misery, and of Christ's mercy;
more of his own sinfulness, and of superabounding grace;
more of his own poverty, and of Christ's riches;
more of his own desert of hell, and of his own title to heaven.
It is in these storms that the same blessed
Spirit who
began the work carries it on; and goes on to engrave
the image of Christ in deeper characters upon his heart;
and to teach him more and more experimentally the
truth as it is in Jesus.
"Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy!
I look to You for protection.
I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings
until this violent storm is past." Psalm 57:1
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