January 2013
1 post
Text from The Rule of St Benedict: Insight for the...
“How does a person seek union with God?’ the seeker asked. “The harder you seek,” the teacher said, “the more distance you create between God and you.” “So what does one do about the distance?” “Understand that it isn’t there,” the teacher said. “Does that mean that God and I are one?” the seeker said. “Not one. Not two.” “How is that possible?” the seeker asked. “The sun and its light, the ocean...
October 2012
3 posts
“When all our hopes are gone,
‘Tis well our hands must keep toiling on...”
An Hour in the Garden →
September 2012
8 posts
I ASK not that my course be calm and still; No, here too, Lord, be done Thy holy will: 1 ask but for a quiet childlike heart; Though thronging cares and restless toil be mine, Yet may my heart remain forever Thine; Draw it from earth, and fix it where Thou art.
—C. J. P. SPITTA
1 tag
Hiding Place by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
“Hide thyself by the brook Cherith” (1 Kings 17:3). God’s servants must be taught the value of the hidden life. The man who is to take a high place before his fellows must take a low place before his God. We must not be surprised if sometimes our Father says: “There, child, thou hast had enough of this hurry, and publicity, and excitement; get thee hence, and hide thyself...
August 2012
9 posts
The End Of Our Strength by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
“Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God to keep us in the things that are unseen! If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust...
1 tag
Nothing Satisfies by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
“It is not in me” (Job 28:14). I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain...
July 2012
1 post
1 tag
tarry
“For the Vision is yet for an appointed time?though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Hab. 2:3).
In the charming little booklet, Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman was led into the Lord’s treasure houses, and among many other wonders there revealed to him was the “Delayed Blessings Office,” where God kept certain things, prayed...
June 2012
1 post
1 tag
spiritual polyps
The polyps which construct the coral reefs, work away under water, never dreaming that they are building the foundation of a new island on which, by-and-by, plants and animals will live and children of God be born and fitted for eternal glory as joint-heirs of Christ.
If your place in God’s ranks is a hidden and secluded one, beloved, do not murmur, do not complain, do not seek to get out...
May 2012
6 posts
1 tag
God will be acknowledged
Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. ROMANS 12:11
LET us begin from this moment to acknowledge Him in all our ways, and do everything, whatsoever we do, as service to Him and for His glory, depending upon Him alone for wisdom, and strength, and sweetness, and patience, and everything else that is necessary for the right accomplishing of all our living. It is not so much...
1 tag
Signs do not nourish - Elisabeth Elliot
It is the enemy who tempts us, as he tempted Jesus, to demand always some visible proof of the miracle-working power of God: “Tell these stones to become bread” (Mt 4:3 NEB). A miracle would validate our own claim to be in close touch with the Father. But the important thing in life is not to be vindicated, nor to see miracles, but to walk by faith—that is, to take God at his...
“GOD has a purpose for each one of us, a work for each one to do, a place for...”
– ARTHUR C. A. HALL
1 tag
“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him” (Ps. 25:14).
There are secrets of Providence which God’s dear children may learn. His dealings with them often seem, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, “This is God’s secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning.”
Sometimes diamonds are...
April 2012
4 posts
1 tag
Our natural inclination is to be so precise—trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next—that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, “Well,...
1 tag
under fire
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil”
Luke 4:1-2
Jesus was full of the Holy Ghost, and yet He was tempted. Temptation often comes upon a man with its strongest power when he is nearest to God. As someone has said, “The devil aims high.” He got one apostle to say...
March 2012
8 posts
1 tag
A life of faith
In the Old Testament, a person’s relationship with God was seen by the degree of separation in that person’s life. This separation is exhibited in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and his family. When we think of separation today, we do not mean to be literally separated from those family members who do not have a personal relationship with God, but to be separated mentally...
Christ in All
CHRIST with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ at my right hand, Christ at my left.
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks to me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.
ST. PATRICK
“These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on shelves. From...”
– Gilbert Highet (via quote-book)
February 2012
7 posts
1 tag
“Remember these things, O Jacob,
for you are my servant, O Israel.
I have made you, you are my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you.
I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist,
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this;
shout aloud, O earth beneath.
Burst into song, you mountains,
you forests...
1 tag
Trust Amid the Silence by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.
“He answered her not a word” (Matt. 15:23).
“He will be silent in his love” (Zeph. 3:17).
It may be a child of God is reading these words who has had some great crushing sorrow, some bitter disappointment, some heart-breaking blow from a totally unexpected quarter. You are longing for your Master’s voice bidding you “Be of good cheer,” but only silence...
1 tag
A Man Moves Toward Marriage by Elisabeth Elliot
Letters keep coming from both men and women who are in a quandary about how one ought to move toward marriage. While I was sitting here, rereading some of them, a man phoned with a question about the same subject. I wonder what is happening. Why so much confusion? Here’s one of the letters:
“I’m a male Christian who needs help. I just ended a long-term ‘relationship’...
January 2012
13 posts
1 tag
Ponder Our Lord by Charles H. Spurgeon
“But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
—Luke 2:19
There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of her being: her memory—she kept all these things; her affections—she kept them in her heart; her intellect—she pondered them; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things...
1 tag
