“Blessed is Every One Who Fears the Lord” (Ps 128)

“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.  When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you” (vs1-2)

Fearing the Lord, we are blessed indeed. He says, “Blessed is every one who fears the Lord”, and, “Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord”.  Like Noah, being warned of God, we move with fear (Heb 11:7).  Like the manslayer, with death approaching us, we run to Christ and stay put (Numb 35:22-28). We do what God says by the power that He gives, because we FEAR sin and its consequences. 

This blessed life of fearing God shall be rewarded with joy, assurance, and peace. Jesus says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (John 14:21). God’s Son will fellowship with you, you’ll be assured that you are saved, and you’ll have a clear mind devoted to and taught by God.  There is no higher person than one who fears God, being blessed, both now and eternally, for we sow what we reap (Gal 6:7-10).

God’s blessed us to fear by godly sorrow.  Paul says, “For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.  For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: what diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter” (2 Cor 7:10-11).  He puts shame and conviction upon us, and yet He gives us hope in Christ, that there is forgiveness and power to overcome. Jacob thought Esau would kill him, so he wrestled with the Angel all night, REFUSING to let Him go (Gen 32:36).  Like the saints in 2 Corinthians, we have godly fear, which produces zeal, and the clearing of our transgressions by pardon and power.  We who fear God plead with Him for strength to overcome.  We fight with sin, and we conquer with God and man.  We overcome the world because fear drives us to Christ to be blessed, blessed, blessed!

Finally, the Lord uses spiritual pictures to describe your soul’s blessedness (Ps 128:3-6).  He says, “Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house [flourishing and near to you], your children like olive plants all around your table [blessed with joy].  Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord”. These pictures speak of soul prosperity, forgiveness enjoyed, and the power to overcome.  Your enemies may be in your household, but God will be your in peace, He will bless your obedience, and He will give assurance of heaven! He will use you, hear your prayer, and you will help others.  This blessedness may be invisible to men, but you will feel, see, and experience it. He promises, “When you eat the labor of your hands [the fruit of your fearing God], you shall be happy, and it shall be well with you”.

Don’t be ashamed of fearing God, as if zeal isn’t worth the trouble, or it’s unimportant to happiness. Every one who fears God is blessed, and the more we fear, the better we live.  Take heed and get power over sin.  Trust Christ because you have to, and He’ll reward your fear with salvation. He told Jacob, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have power with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen 32:28).

“Shall Doubtless Come Again With Rejoicing” (Ps 126)

Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.
He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him. (vs5-6)

Rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation is good: we take what He’s given us, delighting in our salvation (vs1-3). He says, “When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’ The Lord has done great things for us, And we are glad.” We go through many struggles in life, but salvation is assured, and when experienced, it is to be rejoiced in, and we’re to feel the blessing inwardly.  We are not the sour puss of faith, the one always complaining and mourning, the one who can’t see the bright side. But, even as we fight sin and temptation, even as we war with unbelief and terrors, saying, “Bring back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South”, we rejoice in the Lord always, and what He’s done for us (vs4). 

Let us trace God’s dealings all the way to salvation, and receive the reality of it joyfully.  We are sinners, but He’s chosen to save, so rejoice (Phil 4:3-13).  We have problems that we shall be saved from, so rejoice in hope.

Joy is the believer’s portion, because salvation is the believer’s sure inheritance.  We have tears and joy… problems and salvation.

Secondly, go on weeping and laboring by faith: God WILL give you joy, faithfully.  He says, “Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.  He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bring his harvest with him”. He assures our success as He exhorts us to continue seeking mercy for our needs. We go before Him broken hearted, weeping and in desperation, but He’s promised joy so we continue with expectation.

Never surrender to your sinfulness or be led away from Christ because of heartbreak and failure!  Keep on believing the gospel, keep preaching Christ to your family, and keep being faithful to Him in this world.  We are needy, lonely, and filthy, but He will keep giving mercy and joy in due time.

The Lord is a prayer hearing and answering God.  Behold the Son of God, weeping on Calvary’s tree for your salvation, and see Him crowned with glory, at the Father’s side, rejoicing in His accomplishments and rewards.  We read, “who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest ‘according to the order of Melchizedek’, even forever (Heb 5:7-9).  

Blessed be His name that this is guaranteed.  You shall rejoice, if you weep by faith.  Call upon Him, look to Him, and do His bidding in the tough times. He will give the joy of success, the joy of His faithfulness, and the joyful deliverance.  He will wipe away your tears and replace them with laughter. This promise is from God, so we go forward, even amidst great anguish, in tremendous hope. We never say, “It’s not worth it. There is no reward.” Or, “It’s too hard, and I can’t be saved”. No, we know there’s time to weep, time to keep pressing, and then time to inherit bliss.

Let God Arise for the Wicked and the Righteous (Ps 68:1-16)

“Let God arise, Let His enemies be scattered; Let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, So drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice exceedingly” (vs1-2)

We want all opposition to Christ to fail (vs1-2). He says, “Let the wicked perish at the presence of God”. We are not praying that men perish and die; we want them saved. But, like our Lord, if they continue in rebellion, we want them justly punished, and we want their schemes to fail. We want God and righteousness to win; we want His people to prosper, and we want a reward for those who obey. We are saying, “Don't let evil win, but punish them righteously”.

If you repent, this won't be you. But, if you refuse to turn, then you are among those the Son did not pray for, but rather determines to destroy in His wrath. He says, “I pray for them, I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me for they are Yours” (John 17:9). Don't think God is a pacifist who couldn't hurt a fly; He is a judge and a punisher of men.

Secondly, we rejoice before God because He is just and righteous, holy and good, punishing the evil and rewarding the righteous (vs3-6). He says, “But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; yes, let them rejoice exceedingly... A father of the fatherless, a defender of widow, is God in His holy habitation”. He is the Savior of sinners, a promise keeping God, and being in Christ, we're to rejoice in His bounty to us. He says, “Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him”.

We are not wicked unbelievers rebelling against His rule, but we have submitted to Him as sinners, obtained mercy in the blood of the Son, and we've been given power from on high, after admitting that our strength was insufficient and non-existent. He says, “O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, the earth shook; the heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God... You, O God, sent a plentiful rain, whereby You confirmed Your inheritance, when it was weary. Your congregation dwelt in it; You, O God, provided from Your goodness for the poor”. God has been good to us, saving us from sin, Satan, and hell. He put us in the Book of Life and cares for us daily, providing and doing all that we need. He cares for us graciously, receives us continually, and helps us mightily to conquer. We have rich and precious promises of future good and present grace, so we are RIGHT to rejoice. Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil 4:4)

He commands joy, but He gives us plenty of reasons, and as we look to Christ in the gospel, we are cheered and encouraged amidst the pain of sin and persecution. We are more than conquerors, so we rejoice now. We are absolutely victorious and eternally blessed, so we joy in God by whom we've received the atonement, rejoicing in His promise of good. The child of God, by the gospel, has reason to be joyful, and we're to consider Christ and rejoice indeed.

Finally, God's choice is made: Jesus Christ is His dwelling place and the Church (vs11-16). He says, “A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan (fruitful); a mountain of many peaks is the mountain of Bashan. Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever”. He will bless us from His holy and fruitful habitation, even the gospel of the risen Christ. You may be included, but envious resistance gets you nowhere (Mark 15:10). Don't fight the Son of God's authority, but BOW to Him and be blessed. He has chosen where He will dwell and whom He'll bless. He has chosen the way that we should go, promising that the righteous prosper. Do not be angry that holiness and grace are the commands. Don't despise the Lord because He is good and gives to whom He will. Take the water of life freely, for He's chosen to save in Jesus Christ and what He did for God's elect, redeeming us from sin. He has chosen to bless FAITH, so that He dwells in power where faith relies upon and believes Him. He has chosen the Church, the ground of the truth. And, He's chosen to dwell in eternity, not giving heaven on earth, but waiting until this world and life is over. Choose what He's chosen and be happy that you're saved by grace. Don't envy and destroy yourself, even as the Pharisees who murdered Jesus because they envied His power and purity.

“Blessed Is He” (Ps 32)

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit [hiding in lies]”(vs1-2)

The Son of God has blessed us immensely and indescribably in the forgiveness of sins, the non-imputation of guilt, and acceptance with God by faith alone (vs1-2). By faith in what He did – dying for us on Calvary's tree, making an end of sin, and restoring to God the just payment of sin with His own blood – the believer is just, accepted, and declared “blessed”. We have not earned this, contributed to it, or done anything except receive it freely as God's gift, believing that God is righteous to declare us righteous by faith only. Elsewhere we read, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works” (Rom 4:5-6).

The gospel hangs or falls on justification by faith. Any teaching that we're accepted based on what we do + Christ is damnable heresy. Paul wrote clearly, “having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith [a good conscience by faith only] have made shipwreck” (1 Tim 1:19). Any teaching that faith isn't enough, and I must live right before I can know my salvation is sure, takes away from what Christ accomplished, denies God's promise, and ruins the soul. Yet, simple souls who only believe – who say that God is righteous to forgive and give through Christ alone – are fully pleasing to God, and He will conquer your sin.

Secondly, if we confess sins, then God forgives them (vs3-10). We read, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord', and You forgave the iniquity of my sin”. We are slow to admit that we're wrong, finding hiding places where there aren't any. But, He presses upon us the shame, guilt, and sinfulness of sin, until like toothpaste, He squeezes from us the confession, “I've sinned, I'm wrong”, and like the Prodigal who returned to his father, “I am no longer worthy”.

To our shock and joy, He UTTERLY forgives the sins of every confessing sinner, everyone who says, “I'm wrong, You're right. Forgive and cleanse”. He puts sins away freely because Christ did enough in His death and resurrection, and He gives the enjoyment of pardon, where we had the pain of disobedience and the fear of Judgment to come! Indeed, “Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him”.

Finally, rejoice (vs10-11)! He says, “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!” Joy is your inheritance, and we're to walk in it, receiving God so fully in Christ that we're motivated by Him, pleased inwardly, and empowered by the most glorious sight - mercy, grace, Jesus Christ - that we've ever seen, or ever can be seen by otherwise sinful men!

“A Great Feast” (Gen 21:1-8)

vs8, “So the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned.”

Feasting and laughter are good gifts from God, whereby we CELEBRATE His grace to us. Let us feast upon Christ, continually, receiving grace from God in promises that haven't yet happened, and let us rejoice in what He's done for us already. Solomon wrote, “A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money”, atonement money, “answers everything” (Eccl 10:19). Religion without joy is not the salvation that God gives; it is not His grace fulfilling promises to chosen sinners.

First, rejoice always, for this is your strength. “Abraham made a great feast” (vs8). Nehemiah 8:10 says, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength”. Joy strengthens us to honor God BY the forgiveness of sins, and the more powerfully we believe in reconciliation, the more that we can achieve for God.

Too many spend the day looking at themselves and magnifying failures above the mercy of God. They do not know the lesson CA Coates so clearly illustrates by the man who looked in the garbage over and over, hoping to find something good. He was warned and instructed, but he still looked and looked. Finally, he stopped looking, and his friend asked, “Why? Why have you stopped your pursuit of the trash?” The man responded, “There is NOTHING in there”.

It is the same with us: there is NOTHING inside of us, and no amount of crying or weeping can put away sin. Paul says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2). The only hope is to believe the goodness of God and receive fresh mercies. He is for us now in reconciliation, and we have all the power that we need. Now, instead of staring at ourselves, we go love others in faith that we're forgiven, and doing this, we experience joy for real, lasting joy that abides with us. He says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Is 26:3). In Nehemiah, after hearing pardon, “all the people went their way to eat and drink, to send portions and rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that were declared to them” (Neh 8:12). Forgiveness is the door to obedience in character, and you can't please God any other way than believing that He is pleased with you in the Son.

Secondly, feast upon the gospel truly. Do not feast on half a gospel. Scripture says, “Abraham made a great feast on the same day that Isaac was weaned” (Gen 21:8). The feast was not made for Ishmael, but for Isaac, the son of promise. We don't rejoice in our methods, our ways, and our notions; we rejoice in God's faithfulness to us by the word. We don't have a sin that grace might abound joy; we don't have a joy that is devoid of fear and trembling. We are commanded clearly, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling” (Ps 2:11). Many think that joy in the Lord means that I have no fear of God, and they are wrong. We pass the time of our temporary life in fear, and “happy is he that fears always” (Prov 28:14; 1 Pet 1:17). We rejoice with holy joy, we rejoice with God, and we rejoice in what He has done for us, making us whole, able to walk, and loving.

Thirdly, rejoice in the Lord and not yourself. We read, “And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him... Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. And Sarah said, God has made me laugh, and all who hear will laugh with me” (Gen 21:1-7). Don't think that you've brought the promise to pass. It was God's grace, God's gift, and God's love, so respond in love and not pride. It is shameful to see us confess grace ungraciously, and behave unmercifully, when we've obtained mercy. Jesus warned Peter, “So My heavenly Father also will [not forgive you] if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matt 18:35). Don't FORGET that we're saved by grace and all we have is God's gift. If I grow spiritually, if I obtain a wife, children, and a home, then let me rejoice in the Giver, and not merely the gift. Let me FEAST unto the Lord.

Abraham and Sarah show their joy by circumcising Isaac and raising him in the gospel, “Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him” (Gen 21:4). They tell God “thanks” by being faithful to people and doing things that show belief in mercy.

Finally, you rejoice in the Lord and feast with Him. “Abraham made a great feast”, and you have one too (vs8). Don't look at everyone else happy and content, others at peace, and not get in on it yourself. Don't be the Prodigal's older brother who hated the music and the dancing, thinking GRACE was too gracious a term.

“That They May Not Understand One Another's Speech” (Gen 11:1-9)

(vs3-9) Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God overthrows our plans, so we don't destroy ourselves, so it is a mercy when things we desire do not work, so long as it leads us to REAL refuge in Him. You won't find refuge in your wife, ministry, or any thing other than Christ. You can have peace and safety in His will, you can be happy in His presence, or you can suffer PERPETUAL defeat. “There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked” (Is 57:21). But, when God THROWS DOWN our Babel's and confuses our godless ambitions, it is a mercy, even though it leads to grief, because it leads us to Him, our rest.

Do not be deceived. You and I will have peace in Christ, or there will be no peace. Scripture says, “the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt” (Is 57:20). We will love people to Christ and live that God be honored, or we will get CONFUSION to our faces from God. Bless Him that He destroys our hands to give us Jesus' salvation. Bless Him that He destroys our plans to save us.

These sons of men rejected the Son of God, whom He's highly exalted, but He would not be forgotten. You and I forget too.

Remember, God is your peace, God is your hope, and God is your life. Don't find any peace apart from Him.

Monday Morning Reflections

The Only Remedy

God's gospel is on my mind, that we can make the gospel the joy of life, living it fully for Christ's sake. We must live to save men's souls, to bring them to Jesus, and we must get results. Regarding the four men who brought their friend to Jesus, it is written, “And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had BROKEN THROUGH, they let down the bed on which the paralyzed was lying” (Mark 2:4).

Our lives are too selfish. Men are perishing in hell, while we powder our noses, saying, “How do I look?” We have no need of self-serving; it is empty. Use beauty, talent, and all that you have to God's glory. 1 Cor 10:31, 33 says, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God... just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved”. Live that others know Christ, and recommission yourself in obedience to His commission daily. This is the remedy for all that you need: believing God.

His purpose is to save YOU, giving glory to Jesus Christ, and it is to save others by you.

Remember Jonah? He was depraved in his thinking, caring for himself while others perished, “so Jonah was very grateful for the plant... But the Lord said, You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand – and much livestock” (Jonah 4:6)? Don't be this way, or you will be unhappy. Be God-visioned. See through His eyes, and you'll see sinners in need of salvation, rather than people to use for our own pleasure and gain. Paul said, “For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30).

You are either taking from men, using yourself to DISTRACT them from Christ, and drawing them away, or you're showing them the character and doctrine of Jesus.

He said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters” (Luke 11:23)

Love Better Than Wine (Song 1:2)

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for your love is better than wine” (vs2).

Christ’s love is better than everything the world can give, which is why we SEEK Him and love Him supremely. If His love were not better, then we wouldn’t have the motivation to pursue Him here. We’d have the duty, perhaps, but not the pleasure… and duty WITHOUT pleasure isn’t the way of God - “Looking unto Jesus the Leader and Perfection of faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God” (Heb 12:2). He says, “Come unto me”, not merely because He is Lord, but because He is enjoyable, too. He says, “Believe”, not merely because it is RIGHT, but also to obtain GOOD things from God. He says, “Obey”, not merely because He has authority and we ought obey, but we’ll be rewarded.  Thus, the goodness of God’s love in Christ is a joy that makes us seek after God in Christ. He is the high of my life, the joy of my heart, and He is the Only One who gives peace.

If the world could give peace, then I’d love the world, but it cannot; it can only deceive me to destruction  - “Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season“ (Heb 11:25). But, since Christ gives JOY and gladness, I pursue after Him to have what I so desire. It is GOOD to seek your pleasure, knowing it’s in God. It is right to desire happiness in obedience to Christ. Thus, to love my neighbor, because Christ commands, is the path of peace, and I will do it, because Christ’s love… what I get back from loving… is better than wine… what I get from sin.

Earthly wine isn’t bad, but Christ’s love is better than the proper things of this world. In fact, earthly joy is enjoyed as we honor Christ - “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God“, not forbidden by scripture, “and prayer“, and conscience faith in Christ as I partake of it before God (1 Tim 4:4).  We experience the best this world has to offer as we walk in the love of God, enjoying temperance, and being thankful to God, rather than idolatrous.  Christ’s love changes bad into good, cleanses the conscience, and brings forth fruit; it is better than what the world gives because it is sanctifying and pleasurable; it is safe, secure, thrilling, and it lasts unto eternal life; it is the way of preparation for heaven, and it is the best foretaste we have down here.

“Received It Not” (Esther 4:3-4)

“And in every province, wheresoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.  So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her.  Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received it not” (vs3-4).

While the world of God’s elect are lost and ruined, while terror comes on the church and saints are distressed, while there is sin in the world and people need saving, we cannot “chill” and act like everything is OK, because we are happy.

If you want to destroy your prosperity, then use it as an occasion to the flesh, and the liberty will be gone - “For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another” (Gal 5:13).  We must serve God, even as our Lord’s interest is in His kingdom, so we must involve ourselves, too.  If we believe unto SERVING the Lord Jesus, then we’ll have the joy of His Spirit, using His blood for what He appoints.  But, if we please ourselves and CARE NOT for His cause, then the joy will dissipate, we’ll grieve the Spirit, and He’ll grieve us too.

Do not think that indifference is tolerable; be on fire for Christ and His people, and God will bless your joy increasingly. Serve yourself and lose the blessing you had.

Many say, “I love the gospel”, but they don’t love the people who believe, they don’t gather and worship, and they deceive themselves.

God gives space to repent; repent or perish.

Happy in the Lord: Our First Business (George Mueller)

From the Autobiography of George Mueller


It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul in a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.

I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God. And here again, not to the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.

I began therefore to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon His precious Word, was to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching as it were into every verse to get blessing out of it.

When we pray, we speak to God. Now, prayer, in order to be continued for any length of time in any other than a formal manner, requires, generally speaking, a measure of strength or godly desire; and the season, therefore, when this exercise of the soul can be most effectively performed is after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God, where we find our Father speaking to us, to encourage us, to comfort us, to instruct us, to humble us, to reprove us.

By the blessing of God, I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials, in various ways, than I had ever had before.

How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when, without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon me!

Joy that No Man Can Take Away (John 16:22)

“And you now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again [by the Holy Spirit], and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy NO MAN takes from you”.

The joy of Christ given to us by the Spirit cannot be removed by man. Man can persecute, sin against us, and dissuade us, but man cannot remove the joy of seeing Christ ruling the world for our good. Man can’t remove the JOY of forgiveness, acceptance in the Beloved, and the knowledge that we are elect of God.

Earthly circumstances can and do hurt us, but nothing that happens here in this world is more powerful than what God shows us of eternal salvation. Christ is stronger than men, which is the hope of all that believe. Therefore, keep your eyes on Him, do His will, and be lavished with His peace (Prov 5:15-18). We have an inheritance in Christ that is GREATER than pleasing men or seeking happiness from people. Be at peace with God, and you’ll love, rather than using people for your own joy.

Gain the More (I Cor 9)

“For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.” (I Cor 9:19)

The Christian is gaining by serving God. We GAIN the salvation of men and the thrill of living for what matters. All that is noble, we do: we save, we invest ourselves in reality, and we gain from God thereby. Everything about serving Christ is BETTER than serving our lusts and what profits not.

Grace has given meaning to my life, and as I live this purpose, I live for what I am made, and EVEN THOUGH I sacrifice and SUFFER, I get the reward of a clean conscience, the reward of OBEDIENCE to Christ, and the reward of men being saved by God, the one thing needful – “For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conduct in the world, and more abundantly to you ward” (II Cor 1:12).

If you and I have this reason to live, then use it.

1. We have work in the Lord - “are you not my work in the Lord”, (I Cor 9:1). We have SOMETHING to do, a reason to live, a reason to exist. We have WORK to accomplish, and like laborers, we have REWARD to experience. We are wrong to say, “I will not work, because I have all that I need, God loves me, and He will bless me for Christ’s sake”, because we don’t realize that He BLESSES me His way and not my own. I am blessed by faith, and faith obeys the Lord’s word, doing what He says. He doesn’t just “bless us” with peace REGARDLESS of our actions, but He blesses and DISCIPLINES through the obedience and DISOBEDIENCE of saints. Paul says essentially, “Don’t be SELFISH, living for you, because you miss the reason God saved you, which is for Christ’s sake and His glory”.

2. The gospel must be served above ourselves, “Nevertheless we have not used this power [to be supported financially]; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ” (I Cor 9:12). We are FREE to love God, and not free to serve ourselves. We have a joy in obedience, and we are defeated in selfish sin. We think, “Take care of yourself, because no one else will”, when in reality, God CARES for those that OBEY Him, and our labor is not in vain.

For Christ’s sake, we suffer, serve, deny ourselves, and receive more in the end. For our own bellies, we labor vainly and find no true relief. Cast your bread upon the water and believe the gospel unto living it in your life: don’t MERELY believe in YOUR own salvation from hell, but believe in your SALVATION unto faith and love. Believe you have newness of life and live.