9. Gods a actads secreoreo ee 51
Contents l > Turming dor Homee cee s.. ee ec
2 We KnGwe oo Bre, PA ae bie cs eons 25 a. Sudden Withhehrist 2.04 os a ee
4. The Unfinished Name of God............ 33
5: Spiritual Worshipdcas.s sane eee lee 37 6, Ours an Christa. ee ape ee eee 41 7. God Is Not bost—We-Arewet
he. 43
BS. hings that iinderaw: loday aca. ae 47 9. Gods a actads secre oreo ee 51 107 Holy Cominco ensen. ested ee 59 Lis Bungering inthe vy iderness gaan ene oe ey) 12) Jesus) Bread oF (ite 2 aie fe hte cal aoe 63 IS, The Lord Most Highton en 67 LAr jestie Saver Me INOW:
« -5.5. uci euad oan fA 152 the Fact oF Our Preedoms5 sg ep nen 72 lon Living (the Present Moment: yaygo9ee 79
17 mLiOW opitity Our POWeloe paecner anne 83 ISevtronghoids of Doubt iis wear cunenes 87 194 the Erison of Discouragements.. 55.4007 91
20 mite Tight iaceseeit (0d Ge, pore; pao ay 95 2 Lee AGATE ELIS SAOrVanits soa: thee cute cele 99
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The: Giants ion een i eeaunere ce ee eee Ett Risky. Paths 5 atte aren tetas nets i ew aes 115 25.
26.
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AUINeW SOng. OL VICtORGe an, gene naee it Paes 30.
Now Second. Gatises a, nab. erings te eee 135 DUN Gss cate new eet yee tsa de et ool eee 141 Sl; O2e The Orderoof Love «eee. wer eee 143 ao.
The Unselfishness of God . ..-sesens eh: 145
34.
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The. Divine Ruleiof Faithe t... 2.) Sie aco. 151
On Beleviin® 5 oars 5 sac elias ee be dered 155 36.
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The:Comforter:Is Come.
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Turning for Home Lora, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Psalm 90:1
... he will keep me safe...
Psalm 27:5
{| esus said, "Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him .
. we will come to him and make our home with him."
John 14:19, 21, 23 Our "dwelling place" is not merely a place where we visit. It is our home. All the interests of our earthly lives center in our home; we do all we can to make it attractive and comfortable. But our souls need a comfortable dwelling place even more than our bodies.
. . .
Where the soul is full of peace and joy, outward surroundings and circumstances are of comparatively little account. It is of vital
importance, then, that we should determine where our souls are living. The Lord declares that He has been our dwelling place throughout all ages, but the question is: Are you and I living in our true home?
The psalmist says of the children of Israel that they "wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away"
(Psalm 107:4—5).
I am afraid there are many wandering souls in the church of Christ, whom this description of the wandering Israelites would exactly fit. All their Christian lives they have felt themselves wandering in a spiritual wilderness, and have found no "city" to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, they feel their lives ebbing away.
And yet all the while the dwelling place of God has been standing wide open, inviting them to come in and take up their rest and peace there forever! Our Lord Jesus himself urges this invitation upon us. "Abide in me," He says, "and Tin you" (John 15:4, KJV). The truth is, our souls are made for God. He is our natural home, and we can never be at rest anywhere else.
How shall we describe this divine dwelling place? David describes it when he says: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer"
(Psalm 18:2).
When we are told that God, who is our dwelling place, is also our fortress, it can only
mean one thing, and that is, that if we will but live in our dwelling place, we shall be perfectly safe and secure from every assault of every possible enemy that can attack us.
"In the shelter of your presence you hide [me] from the intrigues of men; in your dwelling you keep [me] safe from accusing tongues" (Psalm
31:20). The "shelter of His presence" is safer than a thousand Gibraltars!
I do not mean that no trials will come. They may come in abundance. But they cannot penetrate into the sanctuary of the soul when it is settled in God, and we may dwell in perfect peace....
Gop OF ALL COMFORT: Ch. 8
My Father, it's true that I wander in some desert places trying to find for myself a place of safety and strength. Today, I hear you calling me to continue my soul's journey home to you.
I set my face toward your welcoming light, toward the banquet that is spread for me in your love. I come now, to meet you in the secret holy place of your
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. everyone born of God overcomes the world.
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to bea liars.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know. .
1 John 5:4-5, 10, 13, emphasis added One of the most commonsense principles in the physical realm of everyday life is this: We need to have clear knowledge of both our earthly position—so we are not constantly getting lost— and our earthly possessions—so we know the resources at our disposal.
Nothing is plainer in the Bible than that we are meant to have this sure knowledge in our spiritual life as well. Uncertainty hinders our spiritual progress and destroys comfort and peace. Yet it has somehow become the fashion among Christians to encourage uncertainty in the
spiritual life, and to accept uncertainty as a sign of healthy spirituality.
There is a great deal of longing and hope among Christians, but there is not much knowing. And yet the Bible was written for the purpose of making us know.
. And the Holy Spirit is given to us Christians not to make us have longings and hopes only, but to enable us to "know the things that are freely given to us of God" (1 Corinthians 2:12, KJV).
Doubts and uncertainties about spiritual things belong to and come from the ungodly spirit of this world. Steadfast knowledge belongs to and comes from the Spirit of God. As long as we fail to say "I know" in regard to spiritual things, we are allowing the spirit of this world to rule instead of the Spirit of God.
In the Bible it is always taken for granted that we know. . .
"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth" (1 John
2:21). We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding (1 John
5:20). We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
The Bible is full of declarations like these. But how would they sound if we should substitute in them all the word hope for the word know? Never anywhere in the whole Bible are we given the
slightest intimation that God's children are to be anything but perfectly sure of our relationship to Him as children, and of His relationship to us as Father.
We are not commanded to be followers of God in order to become His children, but because we know we are His children.
A man cannot act like a king unless he knows that he is a king. Similarly, we cannot act like the sons of God unless we know that we are His sons. This knowledge, of our position and standing, is the essential foundation of everything else in the Christian life.
EVERYDAY RELIGION: Ch. 1
M y Father, I will no longer make you out to be a liar. I will take my eyes off "bad circumstances" and look with the spiritual eyes and with belief .
. looking to the higher, greater spiritual work you are doing in me in every situation.
Today, I will not say, doubtfully, "I hope." Instead, I will begin to say, "I know." a7
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. set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
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ee Colossians 3:1—4 The "higher" Christian life .
. is the only true Christian life. To my own mind it is best described in the words "the life hidden with Christ in God."
I consider it as a settled point that the Scriptures do set before the believer in the Lord
Jesus a life of abiding rest and continual victory, which is far beyond the ordinary run of Christian experience.
The chief characteristics of "the life hidden with Christ" in God are these: entire surrender to the Lord, and a perfect trust in Him. This will ae
result in victory .
. and inward rest of soul. It differs from the lower range of Christian experience in that it causes us to let the Lord carry our burdens and manage our affairs for us, instead of trying to do most of it ourselves.
Most of us, however, are like the man who was toiling along a road, bending under a heavy burden. Soon a wagon overtook him and the driver kindly offered to help him on his journey.
The man happily accepted the offer, but when he was seated on the wagon he continued to bend under his burden, which he still kept on his shoulders.
"Why don't you lay down your burden?" asked the kindhearted driver.
"Oh no!" replied the man. "T feel it's almost too much to ask you to carry me. I couldn't think of letting you carry my burden too."
And so Christians—those who have given themselves to the care and keeping of the Lord
Jesus—still continue to bend beneath the weight of their burdens, and often go weary and heavyladen throughout the whole length of their journey.
When I speak of burdens, I mean everything that troubles us, whether spiritual or temporal.
I mean, first of all, ourselves. The greatest burden we have to carry in life is self. The most difficult thing we have to manage is self. Our own daily living—our moods and feelings, our special weaknesses and temptations, our peculiar
temperaments and inward affairs of every kind— these are the things that disturb and worry us more than anything else, and that frequently lead us back into bondage and darkness.
In laying off your burdens, therefore, the first one you must get rid of is yourself. You must hand yourself—with your temptations, your temperament, your moods and feelings, every inward and outward experience, the whole of your life—into the care of your God. Daily, minute by minute, determine to leave it there.
God made you and therefore understands you and knows how to manage you. You must trust
Him to do it.
THE CHRISTIAN'S SECRET OF A HAPPy LIFE: Ch. 3
M y Father, contained in this one small word—me—are so many heavy burdens.
Now I see it: If I am still trying to manage any great weight alone—an everyday problem, or a spiritual one—then I will always stumble and fall on my journey in you.
Today, I lay in your hands the greatest thing that weighs me down .
. which is my self.
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- The Unfinished Name of God Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them?"
Exodus 3:13
I wilt sing praise to your name, O Most High. .
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.
Psalm 9:2, 10 The greatest question of all ages, and of every human heart, is expressed here: "What is the name of God?"
And the whole fate of every one of us hangs on the answer to it. .
. Everything in the universe depends upon the sort of creator who has brought it into existence, right down to the
everyday welfare of the human beings who have been placed there.
If the God who created us is a good God, then everything must of necessity be all right for us. A good God cannot ordain any but good things. But if He is a bad God, or careless, or unkind...
Each of us who say we are in Christ must answer this first great question for ourselves.
What is God's name—or what is His character, what sort of God is He?
God answered Moses' question this way—He said, "I AM WHOI AM. .. say to the Israelites, I AM has sent me to you.
. This is my name forever.
. ." (Exodus 3:14—-15).
In the Gospel of John, Jesus adopts this name Iam as His own. When the Jews were questioning Him as to His authority, Jesus said to them, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58,
KJV). And in the Book of Revelation, He again declares, "I am the Alpha and the Omega.
. who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (1:8).
These words—I am—express eternity, and One who exists without being subject to change.
And this is the very first trait necessary in a God we can depend upon, for we cannot depend upon a God who is changeable.
But what does this name | am imply? We must ask, "I am what?" What does the I am include?
I'm now convinced it includes everything the human heart longs for and needs. For this name
of God is an unfinished name—it seems to me that it is like a blank check, signed by a very wealthy friend, and given to us to be filled in with whatever sum we wish.
Every attribute of God, every revelation of His character, every proof of His undying love, every declaration of His watchful care, every assurance that all His purposes for us are wrapped in His tender mercy, every possible manifestation of His lovingkindness—all are included in God's unfinished name, and waiting for us to draw upon.
God tells us, through all the pages of His Book, what He is, and what His name means for us:
"T am all that my people need or desire"
(Psalm 145:16; Ephesians 3:20).
"Tam your strength" (Psalm 18; 1 Timothy 112):
"Tam your wisdom" (Proverbs 2:6; 1 Corinthians 1:30).
"T am your righteousness" (Isaiah 45; Romans 10:4).
"Tam your peace" (Isaiah 9:6; Romans 1:7).
"Tam your salvation" (Psalm 62:2; 2 Timothy 2:10).
"Tam your life" (Psalm 27:1; John 1).
This apparently unfinished name, therefore, is the most comforting name the heart of man could devise. The very name of our God allows us to oo
add to it, without any limitation, whatever it is we need.
Gop oF ALL COMFORT: Ch. 2
M y comforting Father, I thank you that you are not brutal when you open my eyes to all that I am not.
Only draw my eyes away and up to all that you are, so that I can become more whole and complete today.
. in you.