WALKING WITH JESUS by Mary Winslow
Spiritual meditations for pilgrims in a weary land on
their way to glory!
Part 3
Every new trial, and every fresh cross, drives me
into the very bosom of Jesus; and it seems as if I could lie there, and feel
the very throbbings of His loving heart. I am His, and in His own loving
hands, and can fully trust Him for all. In the cup of trial we are called to
drink, there is no wrath, all is love; though faith may be tried, and we may
for a season weep. Whatever draws or drives us to Christ is a mighty
blessing. How needful are these high winds and storms to cause us to cling
to our heavenly Pilot, and to speed our way to our blessed harbor of eternal
rest.
The Lord's table is a season of melting love.
The heart is softened; Christ crucified for my sins is placed before the
eye; deep repentance and holy affection fill the soul.
This world, and all that you have loved, are insufficient
to impart one grain of real happiness. You may find in Jesus all, and more
than tongue can express, of what your soul needs; an everflowing,
overflowing fountain of indescribable happiness and holy enjoyment.
How graciously God is dealing with my soul. I cannot
describe, for language fails me, His exceeding gentleness, and His tender
love to my soul. I go to Him often in perplexity, not knowing where to look;
and as a babe is hushed to quietness, soothed and comforted on its mother's
bosom, so the Lord calms and quiets me.
Never, never could it enter into the heart of man to
conceive the rich gifts there are in the heart of Christ for His saints!
Heaven would be no heaven to me if I did not see
Jesus, my best, my dearest, my constant Friend, who with unceasing patience,
tenderness, and mercy, has followed me through all my wanderings in this
wilderness world; and has never, no, never, left nor forsaken me for one
single moment. To know Him aright is a little heaven begun below.
Oh, heaven is worth living for! A life of trial and
of tribulation is as nothing when compared with the mighty blessings that
await the believer in Jesus, when he drops the body of sin and of death. I
have been, and still am, looking to the things that are not seen, and that
are eternal.
Precious Bible! Precious revelation of God's most
gracious doings of eternal mercy to such sinners as we are!
Heaven seems always before me, and in imagination I
am constantly there. I long to be gone. I much enjoy, in anticipation,
the blessedness of that place where Jesus is, where He unveils His beauteous
face, and we shall behold Him without a cloud between. My sweetest
meditation, lying down and rising up, or waking in the night, is Heaven. Oh,
to enjoy unutterable bliss of perfect freedom from sin, in the presence of
Jesus, my dearest, my best Friend.
"The Lord raises those who are bowed down." Psalm 146:8.
How little do we think of whose care we are under, and whose loving eye is
ever guiding our way through the wilderness, causing all things we meet
with, to work together for our good! Thus has He led me. He has brought
me into the wilderness to teach me; to lead me to cling closer to
Himself; to brighten every grace of the Spirit; to wean me from a dying
world; and to show me this is not my rest, because it is polluted. Here He
gave me precious faith, and then tried the faith He gave. When bowed down,
He lifted me up. He shut me out of the vain things of a poor empty world,
and shut me into Himself.
Growth in grace is to know more of Christ, His
excellence, preciousness, and fullness, through the teaching of the Holy
Spirit. Growth in grace is to know more of our wretched, lost condition, our
helplessness and unworthiness.
Surely the wise virgins are slumbering! Oh that the
church would awaken and rejoice at the glorious prospect that is before her!
The Lord Jesus is on His way!
When you enlisted under the banner of King Jesus, you
commenced the life of a soldier, and are therefore called, as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ, to fight manfully. Your enemies are the world,
Satan, and the flesh; this last is the greatest of all; it lies down and
rises up with you, and wherever you are, this enemy is always at hand.
A corpse floats down with the stream; but where there
is living faith in the soul, it stems the tide, buffets with the wave, and
makes its way through all that opposes it. Be of good courage, keep close to
Jesus, and you have nothing to fear from within or without.
This world is nothing more than a wretched, dying
vanity! But the bright world to which we are traveling has substantial
blessing and unutterable happiness to bestow. Oh, then, what folly to grieve
here, and allow our affections to wander from God!
Oh, for more weanedness from the world! Oh, to love
Jesus more, and to have Him more in our thoughts! How soon we may behold Him
in all His glory, coming in the clouds of heaven, with all His saints and
holy angels!
Time is short! You have much to do for God in a little
space. Eternity will be quite long enough to rest.
Oh that you may trace His dear hand in all His
tender, gentle dealings. Walk doubly close to Him in the day of prosperity,
and watch over your heart with a jealous eye, lest it prove a temptation and
a snare.
Christianity ennobles, sanctifies, and immortalizes
all the endeared relationships of life.
Ought I not to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of God
my Savior? But oh, how slowly I advance to what I ought! One thing I do
know: I feel increasingly my own vileness, and see increasing beauty in
the gospel, and its suitableness to the needs of a poor sinner. God shows me
more of my own sinful self, and more of that perfect righteousness in Christ
Jesus, which is unto all and upon all those who believe.
Oh, to call the Creator, the Upholder of all worlds,
mine; yes, mine, for I am His, and He is mine, and that
through all eternity; is a privilege so sweet that angels might envy!
This world, with the dearest earthly creatures,
could not satisfy my soul.
How delightful to live to please Him, and Him only,
who died for you!
Watch against the treacherous foe we carry within!
I would be holy, even as He is holy. I am wearied with
sin; my soul loathes it, and I abhor myself in dust and in ashes. Truly, I
would not live always thus. Heaven would be greatly to be desired, were it
only to be done with sin forever. But oh! the presence of Jesus in all His
glories, unveiled to our wondering eye, will make our happiness complete. "O
earth, earth! let my heart's best affections go, and trouble me no more. I
want this heart only for Christ! It is His by the purchase of His
blood; it is His by the conquest of His grace; and I covet it all for Him.
Oh! May every throb beat with love, gratitude, and adoration to Him
who has saved my soul, and redeemed me from the power of the enemy! Amen,
and amen."
I look back, and sigh, and grieve, and think how many
evils I could have avoided.
I feel more and more the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and
my own weakness and inability to stand one moment, without the all
upholding arm of Jehovah Jesus!
The way to God is so delightful, so exactly suited to
a poor lost sinner; so suited to me. A way sprinkled with atoning blood;
justice and mercy as a wall of defense on either side; and this way leading
to such a rich treasure house, filled with all blessing for time and for
eternity. All is in Jesus the way to God, the way of holiness, the
way to glory.
I have to recount the goodness and unfailing mercy
of my good and gracious God, who has brought me thus far on my weary
pilgrimage. I have to lament my unfaithfulness and backslidings of
heart from Him.
Let us often look back upon all the way our God has
led us, and trace His gracious dealings at every step; and we shall not
only acknowledge that He is good, but we shall aim more and more to do
everything that is right and pleasing in His sight. Oh for more grace, more
uprightness of heart, and more singleness of eye! It is with God we have to
do, and not with man.
Keep your eye upon the cross of Christ, and you need
not fear to see yourself as you are.
I have felt today much blessedness in viewing the Lord as
my own and only Friend on earth and in heaven; and making a renewed
surrender of my whole heart to Him, desiring above all earthly good that it
should be molded according to His will, and made conformable to His
likeness. There is a store of incalculable riches in Christ! He is
everything to me! I could not live without Him! I could not die without Him!
Heaven would be no heaven to me if my Beloved were not there!
Every place where Jesus is, and which He blesses with His
presence, is sweet. He can transform a dungeon into a palace, and His
presence can turn darkness into light.
Who can tell the glory that surrounds the saints on
their entrance into that abode of bliss? How strange that we do not more
often long to be there, freed from a body of sin and death, and a life of
pain and suffering! Oh that I may be helped to keep my garments unspotted by
the world; and to be ready when the summons comes!
Oh, if we did but fully believe that God will condemn the
impenitent sinner to eternal perdition, we would act very differently!
If the religion of Christ is not the main business of
our whole life, it is nothing, and we are nothing, and shall be found as
nothing, or worse than nothing, when He comes to judge the world.
Unbelief, unbelief, oh, this is our great crime
before God! We will not take Him at His word, fully believing all that He
has promised. If we really believe that sinners will be cast into hell,
would we not be more earnest both with them and with God? Oh yes, we would!
When I have a glimpse of God as He is in Himself, as well
as what He is to my soul, I sink in all my nothingness, melted into love, at
His feet. What would I do but for Jesus? "Precious Jesus! I do love You. You
are the chief among ten thousand. I am wearied with 'the creature', for
disappointment is written upon the dearest object here below. But in You
there is no disappointment, You blessed, dearest One! Oh that I could love
You as I wish to do, and serve You with all the powers of my mind and body!
Let not my heart wander from You! Keep me under the shadow of Your wing
until the storm of life be past."
I cannot trace a single thing I ever did in my
whole life that affords me any real pleasure to look back upon.
With what a delusion Satan continually aims to blind
the minds of men as to the brevity and uncertainty of human life. How often
does he prevail, even with the real Christian! On looking back upon the past
sixty years of my life, and forward to the little point that remains, what a
dream! How like a vision does it appear! Oh, how little of it, if any at
all, has been spent to the real glory of Him who gave it.
None but God Himself could bear with such sinners as
we are.
I seldom rise from my knees without weeping; my whole
heart melted with contrition in view of the wonderful love of God to one so
poor and vile as I. Oh, how near does He sometimes draw me to Himself! And
when I look around, and see so many mercies, so many blessings, such tender
care in providing for all my needs, no good thing withheld; although my
base heart has distrusted Him in the very mist of countless proofs of
His love; I abhor myself in dust and in ashes. God has forgiven, and does
forgive me, but I cannot forgive myself.
God's ear is ever open to the cry of His children!
I have never wept so much for sin as I have done lately.
Often have I put up the prayer, 'Search me, O God'. The Lord has heard and
answered it; and oh, if it had not been that the fountain was still open, I
would have sunk into unutterable despair. He has ploughed up the fallow
ground afresh of my poor heart, and the view presented has prostrated me in
the dust. If ever I felt what a broken heart and a contrite spirit was, I
have of late. Oh, the evil that is there covered over by the rank weeds of
'self love', self complacency, or self in some hideous form or other,
that is not discernible until the Holy Spirit makes it known. He is pleased
to show us enough to make us cling closer to the cross, to make Jesus more
precious, and sin more hateful. But while I have thus been led of late to
mourn so much for sin, I have never felt pardon so abundantly manifested.
Oh, keep close to the cross!
I see myself more and more, every hour, a poor sinner,
unworthy of the least crumb that falls from the Master's table. But I
see, at the same time, Jesus a great Savior, divinely able, and most
lovingly willing, to save the chief of sinners, even me. No one can tell how
this thought fills my heart with contrition, and my eyes with tears.
Oh that we might always endeavor in all things, in
thought, word, and deed, to please God; setting aside everything which is
not connected with His glory, and contemplating all things and all events
more in the light of eternity!
How jealous ought we to be over our hearts. When we
find a traitor there, how earnest should we be to bring him directly to
the Savior, that He might enable us to place our foot upon his neck, while
He himself subdues the evil that He hates.
Had God not tried me in the furnace of affliction my loss
would have been immense. I thank Him for my deep, deep cup of sorrow.
Whatever draws or drives us to Christ is a blessing. We then breathe a holy,
heavenly atmosphere, and see the poverty of all other things to make us
happy here or hereafter.
We shall soon meet where we shall be all of one mind, in
a brighter, happier world, surrounding the throne of Him we love. Blessed be
God for this prospect! It often causes the dark cloud to withdraw, and the
weary soul to take fresh courage, and press onward, and look upward.
Blessed is the hope of the Christian!
Oh, what a mercy to have a throne of grace, and a tender,
compassionate, loving Christ to go to at all times, and under all
circumstances! A genuine welcome; no frown to fear; no distant look. Oh that
we all might live upon Him, moment by moment! For this reason He takes
away our props, that we might lean fully upon Himself.
Did you but see your children standing on the edge
of an awful precipice, and know that none but God could prevent their
destruction, would you not cry day and night to Him? What can be compared to
the eternal death that awaits them, if they die unconverted? Will you not
pray, that your dear children may escape from the wrath to come? In
proportion as you feel the infinite value of their immortal souls, you shall
feel anxious for their salvation.
Our heavenly Father knows better how to control and
direct our concerns than we know ourselves. Oh, to be among the number who
wholly trust in the Lord!
Nothing but the power of the Holy Spirit can convert the
soul. The Word, and the preaching of the Word, pass for nothing, unless
accompanied by the Holy Spirit. If God has begun His work in the soul, God
will complete it, and all sin cannot destroy it. Salvation from first to
last is of God. God begins it, God carries it on, and God
will finish it forever. Blessed be His holy name!
May the little trials we have may be so
sanctified, as to draw us near to Christ, and make Him more precious than
ever!
I weep that I am such a sinner, while I stand in
wonder and astonishment that God can love and does love, such a one as I,
and having loved me in time, will love me through eternity.
Our happiness does not depend upon a favorable change
of circumstances or of place, but upon a submission of our wills to the will
of God; a complete surrender of every desire and wish to Him who is
acquainted with what is best for us.
What a chamber of iniquity is the heart, all hidden
and unknown, until God in mercy shows it to us, as we are able to bear the
disclosure!
Let us not be faint and weary because of the hardness
of the way. It is the Lord's way. Thorny and steep though may be the
ascent, when we reach the summit we shall be well repaid for all our labor.
Great things often spring out of little things. Let
me entreat you to look to Him continually, for counsel to direct in little
as well as in great matters. Oh that we might both be led to sit more
constantly at the feet of Jesus, looking up, like little children, into His
face to catch His smile and watch His eye; to see what He would have us to
do, seeking nowhere else for comfort and guidance but in Him!
Be very cautious to whom you open your heart. Make no
one your confidant but Jesus. Oh, commune with Him of all that is in
your heart. If you are wounded, go and tell Christ. If you are in
need, go and tell Christ; the silver and the gold are His. If you are
in trouble, go and tell Christ; and He will deliver you out of it, and
you shall glorify Him. Live upon Him as little children would live upon a
dear, kind, and tender father. Oh, how happily will you then pass on your
way! If at any time you are in perplexity or difficulty, through your own
imprudence or otherwise, do not go to an arm of flesh, nor sit down to
consider how you are to obtain deliverance; but go directly to Jesus, and
tell Him all, all; and He will appear for you, and bring you out of all.
I have been thinking of the worldling's happiness;
it never satisfies; it affords no real enjoyment; it does not reach the
soul. Ten thousand worlds could not satisfy me, now that I have tasted the
unspeakably precious love of Christ!
It is not change of place or circumstances, but Christ
alone, that can make us truly happy here and hereafter. God would have us
cease from these things, and live upon Him alone for our enjoyments!
I often think how mysterious are the ways of God.
It is our mercy, however, to know at all times that He is directing our
steps, and that not a circumstance in our lives but is included in the
everlasting covenant that is ordered in all things and sure. It is a great
thing to be helped to be satisfied with God's dealings and ways, and not to
dictate to Him, even in our minds, what we conceive would be better for us.
Remember, the more your sermons are filled with Christ,
from first to last, the more will Christ honor your ministry. There is no
preaching like it. Never be afraid of not finding something new to say of
Him. The Holy Spirit will supply you with matter as you go on. Never doubt
it, never fear. The whole Bible points to Christ, and you must make it all
bear upon the subject. Christ is the sum and substance of the whole!
I never knew a man who seemed to find his way to one's
heart as Mr. Evans does in his preaching. He arrests your attention,
instructs your mind, and captivates your heart. Oh, what a precious gospel
we hear; doctrinal, practical, and experimental religion beautifully
blended!
How deep are the riches of the love of Christ!
Oh, what a God do you serve! How infinitely
condescending in all His steps towards you, and how deeply indebted are you
to give yourself entirely to Him!
What should we do were it not for a throne of grace to go
to? In all my troubles and difficulties I flee to Christ, for none can help
me but Him. You do the same. You need not carry your own burdens,
when Christ has commanded you to cast them on Him. Learn in the early stages
of your Christian pilgrimage to go constantly to Jesus. Live upon Him for
all you need for both soul and body, for He has redeemed and will take care
of both.
Oh, how precious is Jesus to a poor seeking sinner!
What a mercy that when we sin we have in Him an Advocate, and a fountain
still open to wash away our sin, and always welcome to come; never so
welcome to Christ as when we feel our misery and poverty, our nothingness
and unworthiness. He it is who gives the broken and contrite heart that He
delights to look upon. The enemy would sincerely keep us from Christ when we
feel our vileness; but it was for sinners Jesus died.
Oh, it is sweet to live a life of holy dependence
upon the Savior! I find it more and more so every day. May He save you from
trusting your own heart, or leaning to your own understanding in anything.
Let us think a little of our home, our pleasant home. A
precious Jesus waiting to welcome His weary pilgrims there. A sweet home
indeed! Our Father's home! And a happy meeting with all who are dear to us
and to Christ. No more separation; no more sickness, no more sin, nor more
labor, but one endless scene of love and happiness!
How often has an unkind look or word proved a blessing to
my soul! It has made me flee to Christ; and there I have found no
unkindness. He has appeared, at such times, more than enough to make up
for the lack of all 'creature love' and created good.
How wretchedly poor are my best conceptions of this
most glorious work of salvation! Dear Lord, enlighten my understanding, that
I may more and more see the infinite value of this wondrous work of
everlasting love; and may my base ingratitude and unbelief never be thorns
to wound You afresh.
What a mercy, of more value than a thousand worlds,
to walk in the fear of the Lord all the day long; to be enabled to live
above the smiles or frowns of this world, and to find the love of Christ all
satisfying to our souls; to feel all 'creature love' swallowed up in Christ,
and to know that He loves us better than we love ourselves.
As soon as I take my eye from Jesus, and look for
anything like comfort from this world, or look within for something to rest
upon, I begin to be in trouble, and have again to run into the name of the
Lord, which is a strong tower to my soul at all times! Oh, why look to
'creature love' when the love of Christ is always the same?
Still traveling on, I humbly trust, through this waste
howling wilderness, to my heavenly home. I need to look more to Jesus,
that I may be strengthened for this continual warfare, for so it is with me.
But am too often looking to some broken cistern still; but afterwards can
say, when enabled to turn and take a fresh view of Christ, I do prefer Him,
with all my trials and cares, to all that the world calls good.
By constantly poring over anticipated troubles, we
lose the sweet enjoyment of present mercies in the expectation of
future evil. I pray to be enabled to praise Him for the present, and trust
His love for all that is to come.
There is an inexpressible sweetness in the thought, that
salvation is not of works; and that our full and complete acceptance is
not in our wretched selves. It is all, all of grace.
Oh, the hidden evil of the heart, unknown and unfelt,
until the Spirit of Christ sees fit to reveal the depths of iniquity that
are there. It is a sickening view; and were it not that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, I would lie down in utter despair.
Nothing but the precious blood of Christ can wash my guilt away.
O Lord, help me more and more to cease from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils, and to expect nothing but evil from an evil
world!
It is good to walk by faith; to feel dependent for
all, and to come to Him as little children for all we need.
Oh, the sad levity and trifling of some, even of the
ministers of Christ! I am aware of the same evil in myself, and by these
things lay up material for bitter repentance.
Oh how lovely, how good, exceedingly good, is Jesus
Christ to unworthy me! He is enough to satisfy my soul. When disappointed
in the creature, and I turn with a sickening feeling from the world to
Christ, I find here no disappointment. Here is fullness of joy, an
ocean of love, a heart to feel and sympathize, an eye to pity, and a power,
an infinite power to supply all my needs, to comfort my drooping
spirits, to refresh my fainting heart, and lift me with joy and peace in
believing. Jesus is an all satisfying portion, and He is my portion, O my
soul.
Some new lesson in the school of Christ is daily, no,
hourly, to be learned; some hidden evil to be felt; some new enemy to be
encountered; some fresh, precious views of Jesus to be obtained.
I increasingly feel that this poor world is not my rest;
it is polluted! Go where he may, rest where he will, trials and
crosses await the Christian.
When trials press upon my mind I must arise and carry
them to Jesus. To whom else can I go? I would not often tell the dearest
friend in the world what passes in my mind; but I can disclose it all to
Jesus! I can and do unbosom myself to Him whose compassions fail not, and
who remembers I am but dust; yet pities and loves me better than I love
myself!
I never fail to find that trials drive me closer
to Christ, and quicken me in the exercise of prayer.
The essence of real religion is intimacy with God.
Remember that God has to do with the heart. 'To this man
will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit.' Humility
is one of the sweetest graces of God's Spirit. Earnestly seek to know as
much of your own hearts as will keep you sitting at the foot of the
cross; and at the same time to know as much of Christ's heart as will
enable you to rejoice in the fullness and sufficiency there is in Him.
My beloved children, never, never omit secret prayer!
Remember, the first departures from Christ begin at the closet, or rather in
the heart; and then private prayer is either hurried over, becomes a mere
form, or is entirely neglected.
A few more years, and we shall be done with all
things here below, and eternity, with all its glorious realities, will burst
upon your view! Oh, then, live for eternity! Think much of your
blessed inheritance there, and let the glory of God be dearer to you than
your own lives.
Beloved, in all your many difficulties and trials,
do not first go to an arm of flesh, nor sit and ponder what you shall do.
But go directly to your dear Savior, and ask earnestly for wisdom and grace
to guide you through them. Watch the leadings and openings of His gracious
providence, and follow on as He leads the way, and He will make even these
things to work for your good. Cast your cares, as they arise, upon Him who
cares for you!
Avoid trifling, lukewarm professors. They are the bane
of the church of Christ! If you can do them no good, they will do you
much harm.
Beloved, go to Jesus for all you need. Lean upon Him.
There is a fullness in Christ, treasured up for you, that the highest
angel in heaven cannot fathom! Tell Him all that is in your heart. Lay
your case before Him as if He did not already know it. This is the sweet
simplicity of faith that Christ loves. You cannot come too often. Bring to
Him your little cares as well as your great ones. If anything is a trouble
to you, however small it may be, you are warranted, no, commanded, to take
it to Him, and thereby you glorify His name.
Oh what a mercy is a throne of grace! Wherever you
are, at home or by the wayside, lift up your heart to that precious Savior
who has manifested so much love to your souls.
Oh, it is good to look back and trace His dealings and
His wondrous works to us! Taking thus a review of these gracious things,
under the teaching of the Eternal Spirit, so far from being puffed up, they
will lay us low in the dust under a sense of our base ingratitude towards
Him, and the wretched returns we have made for such distinguishing
mercies.
Nothing tests or strengthens faith so much as the trying
dispensations of God toward His people. The furnace destroys everything
but the pure gold! Nothing but real faith can endure the heat of the
fiery crucible, and, what is strange, it grows in the fire!
In Christ, I discover such a fullness, such a
sufficiency, such goodness, and boundless, matchless love, that at times I
can but kneel and weep! My mind is led from earthly things to longing
desires after conformity to His holy likeness. Oh, to be holy! How beautiful
does holiness appear to me! To be holy is to be happy. May the Lord sanctify
us! A little while and we shall be done with those things that but too often
encumber us, and then, Oh what glory awaits the believing soul!
I feel my vileness, my unprofitableness, my woeful
shortcomings, and am thankful if I can but only creep to the foot of the
Cross, and there repose my weary soul, refreshed by one look at Jesus,
who died for my sins. But oh, I want to be more conformable to His lovely
image, to be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit, and to have every power of
my mind under the constant influence of the Holy Spirit.
Mysterious are the ways of God! This bereaving
providence has done more to wean me from the world, and show me the
importance of eternal things, than you can imagine. Blessed be God for all
His dispensations, the evil as well as the good. My severe trials have
awakened a general sympathy among the dear people of God, who have visited
and endeavored to comfort me. But vain is the help of man. God alone can
comfort. I see love and mercy directing this stroke, and I trust it will be
abundantly sanctified to my soul. I know it is for my good that I have been
afflicted.
Tribulation must be felt, or it would not be
tribulation; and it is needful. I think I have learned more of my dreadfully
wicked heart, and the preciousness of Jesus, during this trial, than I ever
learned before. It has been a bitter discipline, but I hope, with God's
blessing, it will bring forth the peaceable fruits of righteousness; tending
to wean me from the world and from self, and causing me to know where my
great strength lies. I failed not to thank my God, and to implore His aid to
strengthen me, and enable me to bear up under this and every other
disappointment and trial, through what His infinite wisdom should see fit I
should pass while on my pilgrimage through this wilderness.
I feel my poverty and my need of Christ more and more.
My choicest seat is at the foot of the Cross! When I can but view His
bleeding wounds, and obtain one glance by faith of His gracious countenance,
it is worth a thousand worlds to me. Nothing else can give me joy and
comfort. I find it is the safest to keep close to Jesus; and as I came at
first, so I come again and again. In this way the foe is defeated, and my
soul is melted with love, while He lifts upon me His heavenly countenance.
I rather decline much communication with worldly
people; for if one can do them no good, they are sure to do you some
harm.
Oh, the sweets of true religion! To know the Lord
Jesus is our Friend surpasses every earthly good, and is better than the
possession of a thousand worlds. To have Him to go to; to lay before Him all
our needs, to express our fears, to plead His promises, and to expect that
because He has promised He will fulfill; is worth more than all the world
can give. His ear is ever open to the prayer of His people, and, though hell
and death obstruct the way, the weakest saint shall win the day.
I am strong, and in good spirits! for my Friend above
reigns, and He has enabled me to cast every weight of care upon Him.
May the Lord fill your hearts with peace and joy in
believing, and lift you above this poor, fleeting, perishing world.
Oh, how far, how very far do I fall short of what a
true Christian ought to be! I grieve and lament my shortcomings, and long to
manifest myself, by practice as well as by profession, a lowly follower of
Jesus Christ.
All we have to do in this valley of tears is to press
forward to the glorious prize He has placed in our view, looking continually
to Jesus, trusting not to our own strength, but waiting in humble dependence
upon Him for all our sufficiency to carry us on, and to enable us to hold
out unto the end. This world is not our home; we look for a better. His
people are pilgrims here on earth, and generally are a poor and afflicted
people. They have not their portion here as thousands have; their portion is
to come. Their names are written in the book of life, and were written
before the foundation of the world. They are as dear to Him as the apple of
His eye. Then what have we to fear? nothing; but everything to hope.
Blessed be God, who sent His only Son to pay our
debt, to rescue us from the power of Satan, to cleanse us from all our
guilt, to clothe our souls with His righteousness, and thereby give us a
rightful claim to a crown of glory.
Beware of the form of godliness without its vital,
its blessed power!
Remember that you have not to do with man but with God,
and that God has to do with you. He scrutinizes the motive, searches
the hidden spring, regards the principle, and by Him actions are weighed.
Live and think and act with eternity fully in view!
There is not a circumstance in my whole past life, but
what I have reason to mourn and weep over in the dust before God. It has
been evil, and that continually. Never, never publish my worthless life. I
am ashamed of it, and abhor myself in dust and ashes. God knows I do. I
see nothing but sin in myself from the moment I knew anything to the
present instant. Lost as I was, vile and polluted, Jesus made the atonement
required, paid my debt, bore the penalty, washed me in His precious blood,
and the Holy Spirit in due time unveiled my blind eyes to see my lost
condition, wretchedness, and misery; and then led me to the fountain opened
for sin and uncleanness. There He cleansed, clothed, and saved me! But what
returns have I made for all this rich display of mercy? I must put my hand
upon my mouth, and my mouth in the dust before Him.
How few follow hard after their glorious Leader, the
Captain of our salvation! There are few who seem to be in right down earnest
in this holy, heavenly warfare.
There is a divine reality in the religion of the Bible,
but it must be experienced in the soul to learn its mighty value and
infinite blessedness. I meet with but few who have this divine echo in the
heart; the soul's experience harmonizing with the revealed word of truth.
Why do you stand outside when there is room in the
heart of Christ for His every needy child?
Oh, this precious Jesus! how can we love Him enough?
We shall love Him as we desire to, when this poor body of flesh is
thrown off and we see Him as He is.
How many ways the Lord takes to teach His children,
and to wean them from the creature and from themselves!
God does nothing in vain towards His own people. He
loves us too dearly to afflict us arbitrarily or for nothing.
We are so prone to look to the creature, and thus God
removes our created prop that we may lean more simply and entirely upon
Him, and upon Him only. He is teaching some hard yet precious and, perhaps,
needed lessons; but the issue will be your deeper holiness and His loftier
praise and richer glory.
Cast your present burden upon Him from whom comes all
help. Is He not a very present help in every time of trouble? Why should
you carry a heavy burden, when Jesus has undertaken and is better able
to bear it for you, and stands ready to transfer it from you to Himself?
"Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you."
Everything around us, viewed in relation to eternity, is
alarming! The unconverted are passing into the world of woe, the
Church is slumbering, error is prevailing, worldliness abounding, and the
love of many for the Lord and His truth is waxing cold.
Do we really believe that there is a hell and that
there is a heaven?
Temptation is a test, tribulation is a discipline, and
trial is a school. All are essential to our perfect education for
eternity.
Try and realize the nearness of heaven to you. It will
enable you to walk more above the world, and incline your heart to
seek a closer acquaintance with God as your reconciled Father in Christ
Jesus.
Dear friend, make God your Confidant. Carry to Him
all your needs, disclose to Him all your sorrows, confide to Him all your
secrets, confess to Him all your sins. He will do all, soothe all, supply
all, and pardon all, for who is a God like Him? He cares for you, His loving
heart is towards you, His unslumbering eye is upon you. Oh, how
condescendingly kind and gentle is Jesus to poor sinners who feel their need
of Him, and are conscious that they can do nothing without Him! You will
always meet with a welcome from Jesus, come when you may, and how you will.
Prayer, precious prayer, how can we live without it?
What could I do had I not God to go to? Oh, it is my chief joy and
comfort to throw open every avenue and chamber of my heart, and disclose to
Him all.
Oh the comfort, that while crossing this sandy desert
we are privileged to hold converse with Jesus, telling Him as our dearest
Friend, all we need and all we desire.
Oh, what would we do in a world of sin and sorrow
without Jesus! Heaven itself would be no heaven were He not its attraction,
its glory, and its joy. His name is Love, and an ocean of love is His heart.
Is it not strange that we cling to this shadowy,
fleeting life as we do?
Jesus came to my help, raised my eyes to Himself,
drew me closer to His heart, hushed my mourning, and enabled me to repose my
sorrow upon His bosom.
Oh, for stronger faith and more filial submission to all
His blessed, loving, holy will!
May the presence of the Lord be with you, may His love
comfort you, and may His arms encircle you, to preserve you from all
evil!
Who can portray the joy of the soul the moment it is
freed from the flesh, and finds itself in the immediate presence of God,
encircled by all the holy angels, and the goodly company of glorified
saints, who stand round about the throne?
May we be enabled to follow on to know the Lord more
fully, and be more engaged in the contemplation of heavenly realities,
so that we might live more above the poor things of a dying world. This poor
world is not our rest; and God will not have His people rest in anything
short of Himself.
It is our loss, when we permit ourselves to be so
absorbed with present passing trifles as to lose sight, even for a
moment, of the glories and attractions of that upper world into which we
shall to a certainty soon enter. I think I could sometimes sit all day long
looking up into heaven; heaven seems so opened to my view, so near, so real,
so blessed and holy. I seem to stand upon its verge, and beneath its very
portal.
It is through Satan's devices that God's Word is cast
aside, and human wisdom and tradition is set up in the place of God's
revealed truth.
In a little while we all must stand at the bar of God.
Short and uncertain is our time here. Eternity, with solemn realities, is
before us. God has, in His rich mercy, left us a divine direction to
show us plainly the way we should take, turning neither to the right hand
nor to the left. The path is there prescribed to those who desire to do
God's holy will and to walk in the same.
Alone with God. Sweet moments these, to a saint of
God; rich the privilege to be closeted with Jesus. To get closer to Him, to
hear His voice, the gentle whisper of His unchanging love, to be enabled to
unbosom our whole hearts to Him, confiding to Him all their secrets. Is not
this a mighty privilege?
How mysterious are often our Father's dealings with
us; and yet all is infinite love. Not a cross, not a pain, not a trial but
is given in the tenderest love to our souls, dear to Him as His own beloved
Son.
Do you not love to think of heaven? Not only as a
place of rest- rest from all care, and conflict, and toil- but above all, a
perfect rest from sin. But more even than this, as the place where we shall
see and be with Jesus, and be perfectly like Him. To behold the once
despised Man of sorrow, seated upon His throne, encircled by the host of
heaven, will be a glorious spectacle. And shall you and I be there? Shall we
not together shout our song of praise to Him who bled for us, died for us,
who paid our mighty debt, and who so patiently bore our ingratitude and
coldness, our wanderings and lack of love, throughout our wilderness
journey? How unwearied has been His changeless love towards us.
One precious view of Jesus will more than repay us for
all our sufferings and afflictions and crosses here, were they ten
thousand times more than they have been. To look upon that countenance which
so often illumined with its smile our dreary path, filling our souls with
joy unspeakable and full of glory, and which, when our hearts were so broken
for sin, because it was sin against One who so loved us, and whom we loved,
that we were ashamed to look up and knew not what to say, even then has He
beamed upon us His look of forgiveness- oh, will not this be heaven! Long we
not, dear friend, to see Him, that we might thank Him again and again for
all His mighty love and great goodness, marvelous loving-kindness towards us
poor sinners, eternally lost but for Him? There are seasons when language
quite fails me to express what I feel towards Him, and then how do I long to
depart that I might tell Him all I cannot tell Him now.
God is in small events! How unspeakably precious and
sweet it is when we can believe that God our Father in heaven is absolutely
directing the most minute circumstance of our short sojourn in this
wilderness world! That nothing, however trivial, takes place, whether it
relates to the body or the soul, but is under His control; in fact, is
ordered by Himself! But how hard to believe this, particularly when things
look dark, and we cannot discern the way we should take. It is, then, the
province of faith to wait upon the Lord, keeping a steadfast eye upon
Him only; looking for light, help, and deliverance, not from the creature,
but from Jehovah Himself. Well may it be called precious faith! How happy do
those travel on, whose faith can discern God's hand in everything. But I
fear the number is very small who so live. I cannot imagine how those who
deny God's particular providence can get comfortably on, for they
must perpetually be confronted with minute events in their history as
mysterious and baffling to them as greater ones.
It is a consolation to know that Jesus reigns, and that
all things, all creatures, and all events are in His hands and
beneath His control.