Milo

January 4

“Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.” (John 4:50.)

“When ye pray, believe.” (Mark 11:24.)

WHEN there is a matter that requires definite prayer, pray till you believe God, until with unfeigned lips you can thank Him for the answer. If the answer still tarries outwardly, do not pray for it in such a way that it is evident that you are not definitely believing for it. Such a prayer in place of being a help will be a hindrance; and when you are finished praying, you will find that your faith has weakened or has entirely gone. The urgency that you felt to offer this kind of prayer is clearly from self and Satan. It may not be wrong to mention the matter in question to the Lord again, if He is keeping you waiting, but be sure you do so in such a way that it implies faith. Do not pray yourself out of faith. You may tell Him that you are waiting and that you are still believing Him and therefore praise Him for the answer. There is nothing that so fully clinches faith as to be so sure of the answer that you can thank God for it. Prayers that pray us out of faith deny both God’s promise in His Word and also His whisper “Yes,” that He gave us in our hearts. Such prayers are but the expression of the unrest of one’s heart, and unrest implies unbelief in reference to the answer to prayer. “For we which have believed do enter into rest” (Heb. 4:3). This prayer that prays ourselves out of faith frequently arises from centering our thoughts on the difficulty rather than on God’s promise. Abraham “considered not his own body,” “he staggered not at the promise of God” (Rom. 4:19, Rom. 4:20). May we watch and pray that we enter not into temptation of praying ourselves out of faith.—C. H. P.
Faith is not a sense, nor sight, nor reason, but a taking God at His Word.—Evans.
The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.—George Mueller.
You will never learn faith in comfortable surroundings. God gives us the promises in a quiet hour; God seals our covenants with great and gracious words, then He steps back and waits to see how much we believe; then He lets the tempter come, and the test seems to contradict all that He has spoken. It is then that faith wins its crown. That is the time to look up through the storm, and among the trembling, frightened seamen cry, “I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me.”

“Believe and trust; through stars and suns,
Through life and death, through soul and sense,
His wise, paternal purpose runs;
The darkness of His Providence
Is starlit with Divine intents.”

January 3

“I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure.” (Gen. 33:14)

WHAT a beautiful picture of Jacob’s thoughtfulness for the cattle and the children! He would not allow them to be overdriven even for one day. He would not lead on according to what a strong man like Esau could do and expected them to do, but only according to what they were able to endure. He knew exactly how far they could go in a day; and he made that his only consideration in arranging the marches. He had gone the same wilderness journey years before, and knew all about its roughness and heat and length, by personal experience. And so he said, “I will lead on softly.” “For ye have not passed this way heretofore.” (Josh. 3:4.)
We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has. It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience. The steep bits that take away our breath, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we have to pass through—Jesus has gone through it all before us. “He was wearied with his journey.” Not some, but all the many waters went over Him, and yet did not quench His love. He was made a perfect Leader by the things which He suffered. “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all.—Frances Ridley Havergal.

In “pastures green”? Not always; sometimes He
Who knowest best, in kindness leadeth me
In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.
So, whether on the hill-tops high and fair
I dwell, or in the sunless valleys, where
The shadows lie, what matter? He is there.

—Barry.

January 2

“And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breath of the house was still upward and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst.” (Ezek. 41:7.)

“Still upward be thine onward course:
  For this I pray today;
Still upward as the years go by.
  And seasons pass away.

“Still upward in this coming year,
  Thy path is all untried;
Still upward may’st thou journey on,
  Close by thy Savior’s side.

“Still upward e’en though sorrow come,
  And trials crush thine heart;
Still upward may they draw thy soul,
  With Christ to walk apart.

“Still upward till the day shall break,
  And shadows all have flown;
Still upward till in Heaven you wake,
  And stand before the throne.”

We ought not to rest content in the mists of the valley when the summit of Tabor awaits us. How pure are the dews of the hills, how fresh is the mountain air, how rich the fare of the dwellers aloft, whose windows look into the New Jerusalem! Many saints are content to live like men in coal mines, who see not the sun. Tears mar their faces when they might anoint them with celestial oil. Satisfied I am that many a believer pines in a dungeon when he might walk on the palace roof, and view the goodly land and Lebanon. Rouse thee, O believer, from thy low condition! Cast away thy sloth, thy lethargy, thy coldness, or whatever interferes with thy chaste and pure love to Christ. Make Him the source, the center, and the circumference of all thy soul’s range of delight. Rest no longer satisfied with thy dwarfish attainments. Aspire to a higher, a nobler, a fuller life. Upward to heaven! Nearer to God!—Spurgeon.

“I want to scale the utmost height,
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray, till heaven I’ve found,
Lord, lead me on to higher ground!”

Not many of us are living at our best. We linger in the lowlands because we are afraid to climb the mountains. The steepness and ruggedness dismay us, and so we stay in the misty valleys and do not learn the mystery of the hills. We do not know what we lose in our self-indulgence, what glory awaits us if only we had courage for the mountain climb, what blessing we should find if only we would move to the uplands of God.
—J. R. M.
“Too low they build who build beneath the stars.”

5 JANUARY (BEGUN SUNDAY EVENING 8 JANUARY 1769)

Anointed eyes

‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ Genesis 1:1
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Psalm 19:1–14

It would make plain people more sensible of the advantage of the Word of God if they knew the uncertainty and perplexity of the wisest men, who were not favoured with this light, with respect to the most obvious truths. The world with all their wisdom knew not God. A child that has read the Bible knows more than all the philosophers of old put together. Some thought the world was eternal, others that it made itself. But the Scripture gives a clear and satisfactory, though brief, account. There is more in this first verse of the Bible than in 10,000 volumes of men’s invention.

The book of creation

The book of nature open lies,
The knowledge of the saints excels
With much instruction stored;
The wisdom of the schools;
But till the LORD anoints our eyes
To them his secrets GOD reveals,
We cannot read a word.
Though men account them fools.

Philosophers have pored in vain,
To them the sun and stars on high,
And guessed, from age to age;
The flowers that paint the field,
For reason’s eye could ne’er attain
And all the artless birds that fly,
To understand a page.
Divine instruction yield.

Though to each star they give a name,
The creatures on their senses press,
Its size and motions teach;
As witnesses to prove
The truths which all the stars proclaim,
Their Saviour’s power, and faithfulness,
Their wisdom cannot reach.
His providence and love.

With skill to measure earth and sea,
Thus may we study nature’s book
And weigh the subtle air;
To make us wise indeed!
They cannot, LORD, discover thee
And pity those who only look
Though present everywhere.
At what they cannot read.

FOR MEDITATION: ‘But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding’ (Jeremiah 10:12, NIV).

SERMON SERIES: GENESIS, NO. 1 [1/4], GENESIS 1:1

Homeward bound

‘And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant’s house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God.’ 1 Chronicles 17:17
SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 Chronicles 17:18–27

You have spoken about the future. Are these small things? Yes, compared to what follows—he has spoken for a great while to come, even to eternity. Present mercies are but earnests of his love, present comforts but foretastes of the joy to which we are hastening. O that crown, that kingdom, that eternal weight of glory! We are travelling home to God. We shall soon see Jesus, and never complain of sin, sorrow, temptation or desertion any more. He has dealt with us according to the estate of a man of high degree. He found us upon the dunghill and has made us companions of princes—in a wilderness and has led us to the city of God.
This calls for patience—yet a little while and we shall be at home, for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed (Romans 13:11). We are spared thus far. But some, I fear, are strangers to the promises. You are entered upon a New Year. It may be your last. You are at present barren trees in the vineyard. O fear lest the sentence should go forth—Cut it down [Luke 13:7].
FOR MEDITATION:
The LORD has promised good to me,
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
His word my hope secures;
And mortal life shall cease;
He will my shield and portion be,
I shall possess, within the veil,
As long as life endures.
A life of joy and peace.

     The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
     The sun forbear to shine;
     But GOD, who called me here below,
     Will be forever mine.

[Note these are the original last verses to Amazing Grace, by Newton.]

SERMON: 1 CHRONICLES 17:16–17 [4/4]