HE LEADS US

"But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

Consider what heavenly blessings there are for those who have a living union with the Son of God. Everything is provided for them that shall be for their salvation and their sanctification: not a single blessing has God withheld that shall be for their eternal good. View them as foolish, ignorant, unable to see the way, puzzled and perplexed by a thousand difficulties, harassed by sin, tempted by Satan, far off upon the sea. How shall they reach the heavenly shore? God, by an infinite act of sovereign love, has made his dear Son to be their "wisdom," so that none shall err so as to err fatally; none shall miss the road for want of heavenly direction to find it or walk in it. Their glorious Head, who is in heaven, is made of God unto them wisdom on earth to bring them to their heavenly inheritance. He opens up his word to their heart; he sends down a ray of light into their bosom, illuminating the sacred page and guiding their feet into the way of truth and peace. If they wander, he brings them back; if they stumble, he raises them up; and whatever be the difficulties that beset their path, sooner or later some kind direction or heavenly admonition comes from his gracious Majesty. Thus the wayfaring man, though a fool, does not err in the way of life, for his gracious Lord being his "wisdom" leads him safely along through every difficulty until he sets him before his face in glory.
~J.C. Philpot~

GODLY MEN AND WOMEN WEEP

We cannot have too low an opinion of ourselves;
or too high an opinion of Christ.

Godly men weep over the evils which
are found in themselves, such as . . .
error,
ignorance,
prejudice,
pride,
self-righteousness,
worldliness,
levity,
unloving tempers and dispositions,
censoriousness,
envy,
sinful anger,
hatred,
a proneness . . .
to remember wrongs,
to indulge complaints,
to forget mercies.

There is no plague like the plague of an evil heart!

There is no misery like the wretchedness of
'conscious vileness'.

There are no sighs so long and so deep-drawn
as those caused by indwelling sin. Though the
righteous shall not weep always, yet they may
weep bitterly.

"What a wretched man I am!" Romans 7:24

"I abhor myself!" Job 42:6

"Behold, I am vile!" Job 40:4

"Woe is me! For I am undone!" Isaiah 6:5

"Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" Luke 5:8
~William Plumer~

"Let your tears flow like a river. Give yourselves no
rest from weeping day or night." Lament. 2:18

THE GREATEST LOVE STORY. HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS SHEEP

All for you!

(MacDuff, "Encouragements to Patient Waiting")

Take a pilgrimage in thought, to Gethsemane
and Calvary! Gaze upon His sufferings! He knew
all the sorrows that await Him--the shame, the
suffering, the anguish--but He takes the bitter
cup, and, with His heart set on the salvation
of His people--with His heart set on you--the
blessed Savior drains it to the very dregs!

See Him on Calvary . . .
unpitied by the crowd;
deserted by His disciples;
forsaken by His Father;
the Lamb led to the slaughter;
and all for you!

GLOBAL WARMING

God hates the Lukewarm gospel of Half-Truths that is now spreading over the Globe. This gospel says, 'Just believe in Jesus and you'll be Saved. There's nothing more to it.' It ignores the Whole Counsel of God, which speaks of Repenting from former Sins, of Taking up your Cross, of being conformed to the Image of Christ by the refining work of the Holy Spirit. It is totally silent about the Reality of Hell and an After-Death Judgment."

HE BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN YOU TILL THE END Phil. 1:6

It is so comforting to know that He never gives up on His children.

"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises," - Hebrews vi, 12

Patience is necessary in order to prove the genuiness and reality of faith. The Lord generally--I may say invariably--does not accomplish his purpose at once. He usualy-- I might say almost invariably--works by graduations. Is not this the case in creation? Do we see the oak starting up in all its gicantic proportions in one day? Is not a tiny acorn committed to the ground; and is not the giant oak, whose limbs we admire, the gorwth of a century? Men and women are years growing up to thier full stature. So spiritualy, "He that believeth shall not make haste." Faith in the soul is of slow growth for the most part; for the Lord takes care that every step in the path shall be tried by the perplexities and difficulties that suround it. And appointed this that it may be a means of distinguishing the faith of God's elect from the faith of those who have a name to live while dead. They apostatize and turn away from the faith. Like the stoney ground hearers, they believe for a time, but in temptation fall away. The various hindrances of nature, sense and reason, sin, the devil, and the world get the better of them; thus they turn back, often give up all profession of religeon, and die in thier sins. But the Lord's people cannot so die. Thier faith is of a lasting nature, because what God does He does forever. Thus thier faiith. stands every storm and endures forever.

EARS FROM HARVESTED SHEAVES/J.C. PHILPOT

Lord thankyou for Mr. Philpots and the many more men and women you have given your children to encourage.

"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them."—Jeremiah 31:9

Until God is pleased to pour out upon us the spirit of grace and of supplications, we cannot worship him aright; for God is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth; nor can we without this spirit offer up that spiritual sacrifice which is acceptable to him through Jesus Christ. When this spirit has been once given and kindled in a believer's breast, it never dies out. It is like the fire upon the brazen altar, which was first given by the Lord himself from heaven, and concerning which God gave this command: "The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out" (Lev. 6:13). This fire might sink low; it might be covered with the ashes of sacrifice, but it never was suffered to go out for want of supply of fuel.So at times it may seem to you as if there were scarcely any spirit of prayer alive in your bosom; and you may feel as destitute of a spirit of grace and of supplications as if you had never known its lively movements and actings. But you will find it drawn out from time to time by circumstances. You will be placed under peculiar trials, under which you will find no relief but at a throne of grace; or God will in tender mercy breathe again upon your soul with his own gracious Spirit, and by his quickening breath will revive, I will not say kindle, for it is not gone out, that holy fire which seemed to be buried under the ashes of corruption, that inward spirit of prayer which he gave you at regeneration, and which will never cease till it issue in everlasting praise.

I am reading a Devotional called "EARS FROM HARVESTED SHEAVES" by J. C. Philpot
And I am being so blessed by it.