JUNE 30
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely … he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee (Ps. 39:6–7).
Sanctification is (1) the removal, by the blood of Jesus, of the evil principle of sin, (2) having the presence of the Holy Spirit, and (3) living a life of praise for the glory of God. This last link of sanctification might be called absolute sanctification.
The life of Godward praise is essential. May God the Holy Spirit sift our testimonies, our experiences, and all the externals of religion until we realize there “is no One but Thee, my God.” The stamp of the sanctified life is that we have made our choice forever: We will walk with Christ.
My Lord, I the lonely way have taken,
Rough and toilsome though it be,
And although despised, forsaken,
Jesus, I’ll go through with thee.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, I want only to praise You today.
SUGGESTED READING: ACTS 1:19–25
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? (John 6:70).
Let me say one word to conscientious Christians: You cannot judge the faithfulness of other disciples. Peter assumed he was speaking for all of the Twelve when he said, “… We believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:69). Yet Jesus answered, “… One of you is a devil” (v. 70). And this was not the last time a Christian presumed faith on behalf of others.
When you speak to the Lord, don’t speak of “we,” but of “me.” “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own master he standeth or falleth” (Rom. 14:4a).
In fact, the twelve disciples were marked with total ignorance of themselves. Peter said, “This thing will never happen as long as I am with You,” and the Lord had to let him go straight over the precipice of denial before he found out who he was. Jesus led Peter into crisis after crisis, until he knew himself.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Reveal the “real me” and make me alive unto You—pleasing You!
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 5:18–22
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:19).
Jesus taught that if we are to be spiritual we must sacrifice the natural, or physical and material, life. One of the greatest principles that we do not seem to grasp, but was very evident in our Lord’s life, is that the natural life is neither moral nor immoral; we make it moral or immoral.
Jesus says the natural life is meant for sacrifice. We give it as a gift to God. This is the way to become spiritual.
That is where Adam failed. He refused to sacrifice his natural life and make it spiritual by obeying God’s voice. Consequently, he sinned by insisting on his right to have his own way.
If we say, “I like this natural life. I do not want to be a saint. I do not want to sacrifice the natural life for the spiritual,” then Jesus says we barter the spiritual life we could have had. It is not a punishment. It is an eternal principle.
Spirituality is not a sweet tendency toward piety in bad people who do not have enough life in them to be bad. Spirituality is being possessed by the Holy Spirit of God, who makes the most corrupt and twisted, sin-stained life a truly spiritual life if He is obeyed.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I love You, Lord. Fill me with more of Your love.
SUGGESTED READING: ACTS 1:15–18
Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus (Acts 1:16).
If you take time to follow Jesus Christ’s contact with His disciples, you will find that He brought each of them to a crisis of decision. For instance, Peter was led to a moral precipice in which he was nearly lost, before he knew that he must forever give up his right to himself and entertain Jesus Christ as his Lord. John the beloved disciple experienced the same thing. The only disciple who failed this test was Judas.
Coming in contact with mighty revivals, being swept by the power of God, having devils cast out while you pray, are no signs that you are saved. God never judges us by what we do or say, or what our reputations happen to be. He judges us where no one else can—by the motives of the heart.
Judas was chosen of God to be an apostle. He followed Christ three years. He was with Him night and day. Following Jesus through the fascination of that marvelous Personality, like the others, he grew to hate Him where the others loved Him. How will you decide, when your hour of testing comes?
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord, take full control of my life. Cleanse me of all selfishness, for I love You.
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 5:13–16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matt. 5:16).
What is the standard of success as a Christian? Do you know what spiritual success is? It is to be the “preserving salt” and “shining light” of the world, not losing your Christ-like savor but preserving it in health.
God will continually use you as an exhibition of His way of life, but you will not be conscious of it. You won’t make that your conscious motive. You won’t be thinking that “I have to walk just that way and look just like this,” or show what a magnificent specimen God can make of a man or woman. When you think like that, you are in danger of degeneration.
Do you seek success? Then let God work through you. Allow Him to possess you fully. The advantage is a successful journey to heaven. The light of His Word will show you the way!
PRAYER THOUGHT: With You, Lord, I can be successful. Without You, I would be a miserable failure.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 PETER 1:6–16
Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow (1 Pet. 1:11).
The intent of our motives and the springs of our dreams must be so right that our deeds and actions will naturally follow. Some tell us certain attitudes to suppress and certain rules and regulations to obey. But Jesus Christ never gives us rules and regulations. He gives us His ruling Spirit.
The spiritual truths that Jesus taught require a new heart and a new spirit within us in order for us to obey them. Quite often, the only way in which we know that Jesus has given us a pure heart is through trying circumstances.
This is the way it works: You are brought under difficult circumstances. People impute wrong motives to you. But, if the Lord Jesus Christ has purified your heart with love for God and others, then instead of feeling resentment, you feel exactly the opposite. There is an amazing difference inside. This is proof that God has indeed altered your heart by His love.
PRAYER THOUGHT: My strength comes from You, Lord. Enable me to stand true in the midst of difficulties.
Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve (Luke 22:3).
We read in Psalm 106 that the Israelites hated Caleb and Joshua. Why? Because they knew Caleb and Joshua were right and wanted to go the right way, and they did not.
Judas had hatred against Jesus because he was unwilling to do what was right. He refused to have the carnal self eradicated out of him. And when the time came for the Lord to expose him, Jesus referred to Judas as the “son of perdition.”
Judas could have been one of Christ’s own, but he chose otherwise. Neither men nor angels nor devils have the slightest bit of power over the soul of man, unless that soul first gives consent.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, grant that I will never reject You for temporary satisfactions.
SUGGESTED READING: PSALM 78:1–10; 65 – 72
So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands (Ps. 78:72).
Integrity means the unimpaired state of a thing. A person of integrity speaks and acts with unimpaired faithfulness to the principles that guide his life—or, in the case of a Christian, faithfulness to his Lord.
We get ourselves into tangles that compromise our integrity by not leaving things alone. If people around you make mistakes, leave them alone. Let them correct their mistakes. Our Lord seldom told His disciples when they made mistakes. They made many blunders in His presence, but He went on quietly planting truth.
It never occurs to a pure and honest heart to back up what it says with evidence; yet even the person of high integrity will be met at times with suspicion. Suspicion is of the Devil. This is why we ought never to treat children with suspicion. Believe in their integrity; they will, in turn, believe in yours.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank You for really believing in me, Lord, and allowing me the freedom to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Your Word.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 TIMOTHY 6:1–2
But godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Tim. 6:6).
The ultimate expression of Christian character is not doing good, but Godlikeness. If the Spirit of God has transformed you, you will exhibit not only good human characteristics, but good divine characteristics in your life.
It is not sufficient to be good and to do the right thing. You must have goodness stamped upon your life by the superscription of Jesus Christ. The whole secret of a Christian’s character is that the supernatural has been made natural in his life, by the grace of God. The supernatural influences natural human life, not just in granting us secret communion with God; it flows out of us in the practical workings of our daily lives.
What results do we see? When problems come, to our great astonishment, we have a power we never had before—a power that keeps us wonderfully poised in the midst of it all. And this is because of the supernatural grace of God, working within us and flowing out of us.
PRAYER THOUGHT: God, I need You every moment of this day. Your power and grace are what I need to face the day.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 12:22–30
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin (Matt. 6:28).
Jesus said, “Consider the lily.” It obeys the laws of its life in the circumstances where it is placed. As a Christian, consider your hidden life with God. Pay attention to the source of your life—God! Realize that He will care for your provision.
The most hard-working creature of our world is a bird, yet it does not toil to stick feathers to itself. It obeys the law of its life and becomes what it is. The same is true for Christians.
You cannot enjoy life by heeding outside pressures to change. Imagine what would happen if a lily did what some of us try to do. We say, “Oh, I must give up this; I must go here and there.” Imagine a lily’s hauling itself out of a pot and saying, “Well, I don’t think I smell nice enough. I don’t think I look exactly right. I must change myself!” The lily’s duty is to obey the law of its life where it is placed by the gardener.
Watch your life, dear Christian friend, and allow God to be the source of your life. Then you will grow in His grace.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank You, Lord, for providing all the necessities of my life.
SUGGESTED READING: PROVERBS 14:9–14
The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man shall be satisfied from himself (Prov. 14:14).
The backslidden condition is twofold—it is forsaking God and taking up with something else.
Remember Peter. Peter was a man loyal-hearted and true to Jesus, but grossly ignorant about what he was capable of, in the way of sin. Quite loyal but quite ignorant, he got into difficult circumstances and trying crises. Suddenly, to his amazement, he found that he was capable of evil that horrified him.
Satan is after you. He wants to entice you away from Christ. Beware of his allurements.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Heavenly Father, may I never forget my human weakness and vulnerability.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 22:54–62
Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest’s house. And Peter followed afar off (Luke 22:54).
What were the conditions that led Peter to his fall? He had followed Jesus Christ out of true loyalty of heart and genuine devotion. He had pictured a great many things that might happen. But he never imagined, in his wildest moments, that Jesus Christ was going to give Himself right over to His captors. When that occurred, all Peter’s thoughts were turned into confusion. His heart was in despair. He followed in that condition “afar off.” And when he was tormented by stinging questions from serving women in the courtyard, he answered with oaths and curses that he never knew Jesus Christ.
That is the condition of a backslider—one who is fully awake to the possibility of carnality within him, who knows what God’s grace is, what sin is, and what deliverance is. A backslider knows the danger of denying the Lord Jesus, but has deliberately forsaken Him because he loved something else better.
PRAYER THOUGHT: O God, I understand Peter’s problem of denying his Lord at a time when He needed him. Make me fully aware of a similar temptation in my own life.
Forsake me not, O LORD: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation (Ps. 38:21–22).
The question is often asked, “Can a Christian commit a sin?” He certainly can. I mean it is possible. But the sin must be immediately confessed and forgiven; for if a Christian allows that act of sin to remain unresolved, it will lead to the condition of backsliding. An unrepentant Christian perverts all the ways of God and hews out a way for himself. The backslider must have his backslidings healed and be restored, or else he will be lost.
Only those who have the indwelling Spirit of God, who have had the disposition of sin removed and the disposition of holiness implanted, can discern the perfect will of God. As we discover and do God’s will, we are able steadfastly to serve Him until He has finished His purpose in our lives.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I need You, Lord, to overcome the temptations that confront me each day. Thank You for sufficient grace and spiritual power!
SUGGESTED READING: GENESIS 2:1–17
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Gen. 2:7).
Every corpuscle of blood, every nerve, every sinew, and every muscle of Adam’s body became the temple that could manifest an exact harmony with God and manifest the image of God in perfect faith and love. Angels can manifest the image of God only in what we call “bodiless spirits.” There is only one creature who can manifest the life of God on this earth, and that is man.
Satan attempted to thwart that purpose, and then laughed his devilish laugh against God. But the Bible says that God will laugh last. God is on His throne. He rules the universe. He is almighty. He is God! Put your trust in Him.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I adore and worship You, O God.
SUGGESTED READING: JUDE 1 – 13
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness (2 Pet. 2:15).
The New Testament speaks in three different contexts about Balaam. Peter talks about the “way of Balaam,” Jude (v. 11) talks about the “error of Balaam,” and Revelation (2:14) talks about the “doctrine of Balaam.”
The “way of Balaam” is to make a market of one’s gift. A Christian who does this begins to put himself into the “show” business.
The “error of Balaam” is seeing only the standard of natural morality and never discerning God’s ways. When a Christian follows his own common sense morally, rather than the dictates of the Word of God, he falls into this error.
The “doctrine of Balaam” is teaching the corruption of God’s people. Balaam taught Balak to corrupt the people by enticing them to marry the women of Moab. In modern terms, the doctrine of Balaam is any teaching that tries to strike a compromise between corrupt worldliness and Christian profession.
After God has entirely sanctified you, everything is against you to put you to death. Heed the disastrous example of Balaam, and stay true to your Lord.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Oh, deliver me from making gross perversions of Your will, Lord!
SUGGESTED READING: EPHESIANS 5:1–15
Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward (Isa. 1:4).
Be careful about how you guide your Christian life. You must do more than follow the ordinary standards of the world.
It is very tempting to follow the world’s standards in your business and to say, “Oh, well, they all do it. I must do the same.” But if that standard conflicts in the tiniest degree with the clear standard of God, beware! It is an attempt to make a judicious blend of corrupting worldliness and godliness.
Compromising Christians spread their disease quicker than any other kind. One backslider exerts an influence over the community that is tenfold worse than the influence of a hundred sinners who have never been saved.
PRAYER THOUGHT: If my conduct has provoked You, Lord, I pray that You will reveal my fault and forgive me.
SUGGESTED READING: HOSEA 14:1–9
I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him (Hos. 14:4).
God is forgiving, gracious, and merciful to the backslider. Let me take as an illustration the fifteenth chapter of Luke. I know that parable is used in ever so many ways; but I want to use it as a picture of the backslider. It might be called the Parable of Two Sons.
One went away and spent his substance in riotous living, and the other stayed at home. Each of them is as bad as the other; in fact, the spirit of the stay-at-home was every bit as bad as the wild riot of the younger boy who went away.
Did the father send any message to the boy in the far country? There is no record of any message being sent. But what did that boy have to do? Exactly what was recorded in Hosea 14, ages before that parable was spoken by our Lord: He had to return!
The backslider had to get up, leave the pigs and what pigs eat, and go back from whence he came. Was help granted him? None whatever. Messages from the home country? Not one. Were there tender touches of God’s grace on his life? Not one.
Is there a backslider reading this? Then rouse yourself and go back to God. Are you tempted to say, “But I feel no drawing”? You will feel none, dear friend. I do not find one instance in the Bible in which God drew a backslider in the same way that He draws a sinner. The word to the backslider is, “Return, take with you words and say, By mine iniquity have I fallen” (Hos. 14:1).
PRAYER THOUGHT: God, I pray for the backsliders. Help them, like the prodigal son, to confess their sins and return to their Father.
SUGGESTED READING: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:1–6
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32).
It is so easy to persuade myself that my convictions are the standards of Christ. When I succumb to such thinking, I condemn to perdition everyone who does not agree with me, because my convictions have taken the place of Jesus Christ.
Take heed that you do not let such carnal suspicion take the place of the discernment of God’s own Spirit. Spiritual fruit, not your personal fancies, are the real test of your faithfulness to Christ. Wait for that fruit to manifest itself in your life, and don’t trust the apparent confirmation of your own ideals.
The character of God, the love of Christ, and the indwelling fullness of the Holy Spirit are the crowning evidences of Christ’s presence in our lives.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Lord Jesus, convince me of my wrong when I attempt to force my own convictions on others. Remind me that You are the standard for my life.
SUGGESTED READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 6:1–10
But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. … Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? (1 Cor. 6:6–7).
I hope every Christian worker will listen carefully when I say that in dealing with a backslider you will be exhausted to the last drop of your energy. When we work with other cases, God seems to supply grace at the very moment we need Him. But we need to remember that, if we need to rely on the Holy Spirit in the other cases of dealing with sinners, we need Him ten thousand times more to deal with backsliders.
Intercessory prayer for a backslider is a most instructive, but a most trying, act. It teaches a Christian that prayer is not only making petitions, but is breathing a holy atmosphere. The two must go together. You need to be bathed moment by moment in the limpid life of God as you pray for a backslider.
If ever you need “the wisdom that cometh from above,” it is in the moment of dealing with a backslider. You will wonder, How am I going to awaken this soul? How am I going to sting into action this backslidden heart? How am I going to make this person go back to God? You cannot. But the Spirit of God is ready to accomplish the miracle, if you will open the way for Him.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, teach me how to deal with a backslider. Help me to be alert to the spiritual needs of the wayward soul.
SUGGESTED READING: ROMANS 6:15–23
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).
The Christian life is a holy life. Do not substitute the word happy; happiness is a consequence of holiness.
So many good people are caught up in what we may call “the gospel of temperament.” In other words, they subscribe to the belief that they must be happy and bright. But these moods are consequences, and not causes, of the Christian’s relationship with God.
Our Lord insists that we keep our eyes fixed on “the strait gate and the narrow way” which, in essence, is pure love and holy living in every area of our lives. Happiness is not to be our primary aim. Our aim is to please the Lord Jesus Christ, to serve Him in the beauty of holiness, in love, and in humility. Is this your aim?
PRAYER THOUGHT: Holiness and happiness come from You, O Lord. Without a holy life, my happiness is not fully possible.
SUGGESTED READING: GALATIANS 5:22–26
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven (Matt. 7:21).
Human nature is very fond of labels. It is so easy to be branded with labels, and easy to give other people labels they do not deserve.
Our Lord said that the test of goodness was doing the will of God. That is how we are to discern between the man labeled as being “good” and the man with “the goods.” Christian discipleship will reveal itself in character and behavior. The ultimate test of a person’s Christian faith is a right relationship to Jesus Christ, unsullied in every detail, privately and publicly.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Search my motives, Holy Spirit, and empower me to be wholly the Lord’s in every thought and deed.
SUGGESTED READING: MARK 5:25–34
And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague (Mark 5:34).
If our religion is only one of sunshine for the healthy-minded, it is no good, because many people throughout the world are not capable of enjoying sunshine. Their lives are so twisted and tortured that exactly the opposite seems to be their portion. All of our talking about healthy-mindedness, about cheering up and living in sunshine, will never touch that crowd.
If all Jesus Christ can do is tell someone to be better when he is poorly, if all the Christian worker can do is tell someone he has no business feeling miserable, then I say the Christian religion is a failure.
But the wonder of our Lord Jesus Christ is just this: You can confront Him with any kind of person you like—no matter how wan and dejected—and He can put that person into a right relationship with God.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I praise You, Lord, for Your power to overcome all the trials and troubles of life.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 11:1–17
When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby (John 11:4).
The New Testament mentions quite a few sick souls. Take Thomas for example.
Why do I mention Thomas? Because he was very loyal to Jesus Christ, but he was very gloomy. He took the sick view of life. He always thought the worst was going to happen—and the worst always did happen! There was no use going to Thomas and saying, “Cheer up.” He knew you could not alter facts by saying that.
Every time you hear from Thomas, he says something about death or disease. When Lazarus died, and Jesus said He was going to the place where Lazarus was buried, Thomas said, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
Are you like Thomas? Then keep your eyes upon Jesus. Watch Him turn death into life, sadness into gladness, failure into success, defeat into victory.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Unlike Thomas, I want to view life as victory. Like Thomas, I need You to help me believe the power of God.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 8:1–3, 26 – 36
Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid (Luke 8:35).
Mary Magdalene was possessed of seven demons. She is a type of the tortured and afflicted sick soul. There was no use going to Mary and telling her to take healthy exercises, or to believe there is no such thing as the Devil or sin. She would have been absolutely incapable of taking the first step.
What did Jesus Christ do for Thomas? He brought Himself into personal contact with him and altered him entirely. What did Jesus Christ do for Mary Magdalene? He cast out the demons and healed her. Completely!
Jesus wants to cure our sick bodies, but He also wants to heal our sick souls and minds. Will you let Him do that for you?
PRAYER THOUGHT: Heal me, dear Lord, of my lack of faith.
SUGGESTED READING: PSALM 71:14–24
But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more (Ps. 71:14).
There is a threshold to our nerves. By that I mean there is a point at which our nerves begin to be affected. Some people’s nerves are not affected as quickly as others, while some seem to live in constant misery. One person can sleep in a tremendous racket, while another would be kept awake by the slightest noise.
Take sound alone. The ears gather up vibrations, and only when those vibrations are quick enough do I hear. If my threshold of hearing were a little lower, I could hear many other disturbing noises; but as it is, I can go through my normal activities without being the least bothered by them.
Get a nervous system whose threshold is very low, and you have a person whose life is abject torture wherever he goes. What is the purpose of telling that person to cheer up? He is tortured by things we never hear, discomforted by things we never feel. He cannot help being nervous.
Shall we preach our temperament of cheerfulness to such a person? The doctrine of cheerfulness is all very well among people who are cheerful; but what about the folks who cannot be cheerful—who, through no fault of their own, have a nervous threshold so low that life is a misery?
PRAYER THOUGHT: O God, I want to be considerate of people who have nervous problems. Forgive me when I get impatient with them.
SUGGESTED READING: ACTS 10:34–48
Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).
In Acts 10, Peter says a wonderful thing about Jesus Christ. Peter has just awakened to the fact that God is no respecter of persons, and so he resolved to preach Jesus to all sorts of people.
You will always find in the New Testament that, when people are being led by the Spirit of God, they never preach their own convictions. They preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified! Peter had never preached like that before. He had always talked to the Jews about Jesus Christ. As soon as he came into contact with people who were not Jews, and who were not religious, the Spirit of God made him present Jesus to them as well.
All people need to know Jesus as the One who suffered for them. He is no respecter of persons.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I praise You, Lord, for the love You have shown toward all people.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 16:17–33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
I want to give you a strange warning: Beware of the “gospel of cheerfulness.” Many well-meaning people tell us to ignore sin and to ignore gloomy people; yet more than half of the human race is gloomy.
Sum up your own circle of acquaintances, and then draw your inference. Go over the list, and before long you will come across one who is gloomy. How are you going to get that person’s oppression taken off? By telling him to “cheer up”? No! By urging him to spend several weeks by the seaside? No! By giving him iron pills? No!
Living in the joy of God’s forgiveness and favor is the only thing that will bring cheerfulness to such a person. God’s healing of a sick soul is complete.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Dear Lord, in You is joy and happiness. May my life reflect this joy to others.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust (Ps. 91:2).
If you are a worker for Jesus Christ, open your eyes wide to the fact that sin and misery and anguish are not imaginary. They are real. Jangled and tortured nerves are as real as healthy nerves. Listen to this, taken from the life of Martin Luther:
“I am utterly weary of life. I pray the Lord will come forthwith and carry me hence. Let Him come above all with his last judgment. I will stretch out my neck, the thunder will burst forth and I shall be at rest.” And having a necklace of white agates in his hand at the time he added: “O God, grant that it may come without delay. I would readily eat up this necklace today for the judgment to come tomorrow.” The Electress Dowager one day when Luther was dining with her, said to him, “Doctor, I wish you may live forty years to come.” “Madam,” replied he, “rather than live forty years more, I would give up my chance of paradise.”
That was Luther at the end of his life. What produced it in him? He saw the Reformation work havoc, not good; he was too near it. He was too enmeshed with his responsibilities to enjoy the fruit of his labor.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Keep me balanced, O Lord, in my outlook on life.
SUGGESTED READING: MATTHEW 17:14–21
Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting (Matt. 17:21).
Robert Louis Stevenson said that three hours out of every five he was insane with misery. John Stuart Mill said that life was not worth living after he was a boy.
These are not fictitious statements, but facts. Christian Science ignores them! The New Thought cult ignores them! The Mind Cure cult ignores them! But Jesus Christ opens our eyes to the fact of depression and despair.
How are we going to get those dark souls in contact with Jesus Christ? In the first place, we should realize that we do not know how to do it. I want to lay that one principle down very strongly: If you think you know how to present Jesus Christ to a depressed soul, you will never be able to do it. But if you will learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit, believing that Jesus Christ can do it, then I am bold enough to state that He will.
If you get your little lists of Scripture texts and search them out and say, “I know how to deal with this soul,” you will never be able to help. But if you realize your absolute helplessness, saying, “My God, I cannot touch this case. I do not know where to begin. But I believe that Thou canst do it,” then you can do something.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I will depend upon You, Lord, in dealing with needy people today.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 20:24–29
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed (John 20:29).
It is wonderful to see Jesus Christ slip His balm through tired and jangled nerves, turning out demons, altering the whole outlook, and lifting the whole life into a totally new relationship with Him. Have you ever seen Him do that?
I have seen it twice in my life, and I will never forget it. While I watched the marvelous work of God in those gloomy, tortured lives, it was as if I were bathed in the sunlight of the presence of God. It made me realize my own utter helplessness and the power of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ had to come into contact with Thomas to alter his gloom. The disciples’ testimony could not do it. They told Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” And out of the agony of his sick soul, Thomas said, “I cannot, I dare not, believe. Except I see in His hands and feet the wound-prints, I will not believe” (John 20:25). The testimony of the disciples was not the slightest bit of use; but when Jesus Christ came into contact with him, He made the difference.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I praise Your name, Lord, for the healing balm of Your presence.