It is I

CHRISTS SYMPATHY TO WEARY PILGRIMS

by Octavius Winslow (1808 - 1878)

"Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid." Mark 6:50

Listen, then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm!

It is I who raised the tempest in your soul — and will control it.

It is I who sent your affliction — and will be with you in it.

It is I who kindled the furnace — and will watch the flames, and bring you through it.

It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross — and who will strengthen you to bear it.

It is I who mixed your cup of grief — and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your Father's will.

It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth — and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child.

It is I who has done it ALL!

I make the clouds My chariot, and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment. The night hour is My time of coming, and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk. Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.

It is I — your Friend, your Brother, your Savior! I am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good.

It is I who permitted . . .

  the enemy to assail you,
  the slander to blast you,
  the unkindness to wound you,
  the need to press you! 

Your affliction did not spring out of the ground, but came down from above — a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light, clad in a robe of ebony.

I have sent all in love!

This sickness is not unto death — but for the glory of God.

This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all!

In every stormy wind,
in every darksome night,
in every lonesome hour,
in every rising fear, 

 — the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid."

It is easier to offer God a few easy activities

(J.R. Miller)

"My son, give me your heart" Proverbs 23:26

"They first gave themselves to the Lord" 2 Corinthians 8:5

God wants, not so much your work, but you; at least He wants you first--and then your work. Service from hearts which are not really consecrated to God, is not pleasing to Him. We are in danger of forgetting this in our busy, bustling periods. It is easier to offer God a few easy activities--than to give Him our heart. The tendency of the religious life at present is to work and to serve--rather than to love God. So we need to remind ourselves continually, that loving must come before doing and serving. The largest and most noticeable work will find no acceptance with God--if our hearts are not His.

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John Newton's tombstone

In his old age, when he could no longer see to read, John Newton, the author of "Amazing Grace" heard someone recite this verse,"By the grace of God--I am what I am." 1 Corinthians 15:10. He remained silent a short time, and then said:
 

I am not what I ought to be. Ah! how imperfect and deficient.
I am not what I might be, considering my privileges and opportunities. 

I am not what I wish to be. God, who knows my heart--knows I wish to be like Him. 

I am not what I hope to be. Before long, I will drop this clay tabernacle, to be like Him and see Him as He is!

Yet, I am not what I once was--a child of sin, and slave of the devil!
Though not all these--not what I ought to be, not what I might be, not what I wish or hope to be, and not what I once was--I think I can truly say with the apostle, "By the grace of God--I am what I am!" 

At the age of 82, Newton said, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner--and that Christ is a great Savior!"

John Newton's tombstone reads: "John Newton, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy!"

"By the grace of God I am what I am!" 1 Corinthians 15:10

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gracegems.org

The rough stalk of suffering

(J.R. Miller)

"These are those who have come out of the great tribulation!" Revelation 7:14 

Much of the most beautiful Christian living in this world, comes out of sorrow. As "fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks"--so many of the fairest flowers of human life, grow upon the rough stalk of suffering. 

We take our place with the beloved disciple John on the other side, and we see that those who in Heaven wear the whitest robes, and sing the loudest songs of victory--are those who have come out of "great tribulation". Heaven's highest places are filling, not from earth's homes of glad festivity and tearless joy--but from . . .
  its chambers of pain,
  its valleys of struggle where the battle is hard, and
  its scenes of sorrow, where pale cheeks are wet with tears, and where hearts are broken.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!" 2 Corinthians 4:17

Don't Wait

By J. Stuart Holden        "He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap" (Eccles. 11:4). There are deterrent influences which ceaselessly play upon Christian life to baffle and thwart its pledged purposes. Unfavourable winds and unseasonable clouds are apt to induce the thought that such unpropitious conditions call for prudence and justify cessation of field-service.  How full of rebuke and how searchingly final is the prophet's comment: "He that observeth the wind shall not sow, and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap." And this trite maxim, a summary of the imperative law of all husbandry, is not just a bit of mere moralizing.  It is a positively protective counsel. For a farmer who knows his business does not wait until an ideal day encourages his sowing. Of course he cannot afford to. The proper season is at hand; he sows his seed; and trusts the disintegrating and reintegrating forces of Nature to keep that which he commits to them against the coming autumn. Deterrent prudence would simply be costly faithlessness. Indeed where God and man are in co-operation it always is. The fact is, every farmer is either a man of faith or a dead failure. So, too, our supreme life-duty must be carried on just as whole-heartedly, with just the same faith and courage, when conditions seem unpromising as when prospects flatter.  If we wait for ideally favourable weather for the sowing of the good seed, for the investment of our lives in the field of human need and Divine fidelity we shall die waiting.

Rejoice In The Word

By Warren Wiersbe

     
The secret of Christian joy is to believe what God says in His Word and act upon it. Faith that isn't based on the Word is not faith at all; it is presumption or superstition. Joy that isn't the result of faith is not joy at all; it is only a "good feeling" that will soon disappear. Faith based on the Word will produce joy that will weather the storms of life.

It isn't enough for us to read the Word or receive the Word as others expound it; we must also rejoice in the Word. "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure" (Ps. 119:162). In Bible days, people sometimes hid their wealth in jars buried in the ground (Matt. 13:44; Jer. 41:8). If a farmer plowing his field suddenly discovered a jar filled with gold, he would certainly rejoice. There are great treasures buried in God's Word, and you and I must diligently "dig" for them as we read, meditate, and pray; and when we find these treasures, we should rejoice and give thanks.

If we read and study the Word of God only from a sense of duty, then its treasures may never be revealed to us. It is the believer who rejoices in the Word, who delights to read and study it day by day, who will find God's hidden treasures. "Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands" (Ps. 112:1, niv). "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night" (Ps. 1:2).

Do you delight in God's Word? Would you rather have God's Word than food (Ps. 119:103; Luke 10:38-42), or sleep (Ps. 119:55, 62, 147-148), or wealth (vv. 14, 72, 137, 162)?

True of you? "Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long. . . . Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" (Psalm 119:97, 105, niv).

You Are Part of His Treasure

By Theodore Epp      Ephesians 1: 16-18 From Ephesians 1:18 it is apparent that we are more than a mere inheritance of Christ. Paul emphasized the kind of inheritance we are to Christ in the words "riches of the glory of his inheritance." Believers are an inheritance of glorious riches to Christ. This reveals to us what God considers to be of greatest value in the universe. It is not the planets or stars; it is people. God created the universe by His might and power, but He purchased mankind by His precious blood. This universe will someday pass away, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. But man, who has been redeemed by Christ, shall abide forever! This reveals how important believers are to God. No wonder God is going to display the exceeding riches of His grace through us in ages to come (2:7). This is why Jesus desires to present the Church "to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (5:27). When we consider the marvelous truths of what God thinks of us as believers, it causes us to be filled with praise because of our wonderful Saviour. Although there are times when, humanly speaking, there is only despair, we are able to lift our eyes to Christ and know that He is working in us to accomplish that which will bring glory to Him. So it is important that we do not become discouraged with circumstances; these are the very tools that God uses to make us more like Christ. "Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ" (Col. 3:24).

The Discipline Of Dejection

By Oswald Chambers

     
'But we trusted ... and beside all this, to-day is the third day ...'
Luke 24:21

Every fact that the disciples stated was right; but the inferences they drew from those facts were wrong. Anything that savours of dejection spiritually is always wrong. If depression and oppression visit me, I am to blame; God is not, nor is anyone else. Dejection springs from one of two sources - I have either satisfied a lust or I have not. Lust means - I must have it at once. Spiritual lust makes me demand an answer from God, instead of seeking God Who gives the answer. 

What have I been trusting God would do? And to-day - the immediate present - is the third day, and He has not done it; therefore I imagine I am justified in being dejected and in blaming God. Whenever the insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off the track. The meaning of prayer is that we get hold of God, not of the answer. It is impossible to be well physically and to be dejected. Dejection is a sign of sickness, and the same thing is true spiritually. Dejection spiritually is wrong, and we are always to blame for it.

We look for visions from heaven, for earthquakes and thunders of God's power (the fact that we are dejected proves that we do), and we never dream that all the time God is in the commonplace things and people around us. If we will do the duty that lies nearest, we shall see Him. One of the most amazing revelations of God comes when we learn that it is in the commonplace things that the Deity of Jesus Christ is realized.