Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called (1 Corinthians 7:20) – c.h. spurgeon

Some persons have the foolish notion that the only way in which they can live for God is by becoming ministers, missionaries, or Bible women.  

Alas! how many would be shut out from any opportunity of magnifying the Most High if this were the case.  

Beloved, it is not office,
     it is earnestness;
it is not position,
      it is grace
which will enable us to glorify God. 

God is most surely glorified in that cobbler's stall, where the godly worker, as he plies the awl, sings of the Saviour's love…. 

The name of Jesus is glorified by the poor unlearned carter as he drives his horse, and blesses his God, or speaks to his fellow labourer by the roadside….  

God is glorified by our serving him in our proper vocations.

Take care, dear reader, that you do not forsake the path of duty by leaving your occupation,
     and take care you do not dishonour your profession while in it.

Think little of yourselves, but do not think too little of your callings.
     Every lawful trade may be sanctified by the gospel to noblest ends.

Turn to the Bible, and you will find the most menial forms of labour connected either with most daring deeds of faith, or with persons whose lives have been illustrious for holiness.

Therefore be not discontented with your calling. Whatever God has made your position, or your work, abide in that, unless you are quite sure that he calls you to something else.

Let your first care be to glorify God to the utmost of your power where you are.
     Fill your present sphere to his praise, and if he needs you in another he will show it you.

This evening
     lay aside vexatious ambition,
          and embrace
               peaceful content.

“Each one should remain in the situation which he was in when God called him.”
I Corinthians 7:20

Thy will...

I wonder what would happen if I ended each of my prayers with the small but powerful phrase, “Thy will be done.”

You know, as in “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Yes, that’s from the Lord’s Prayer found in Matthew 5, which is of course the prayer Christ gave us as a model for righteous and effectual conversations with the Father.

I am ashamed,
     yet not surprised,
          by how infrequently I include
               this humble entreaty in my talks with the Lord.

We live in a results-oriented, “get-it-done-yesterday” society that compounds the trouble we already have with the impatience and willfulness deeply seated in our human condition.

What would happen if our prayers were still specific and persistent,
     but each request ended with,
          “Lord, not as I will, but as You will”? 
(Compare Christ’s prayer in Gethsemane as recorded in Matthew 26:39.)

The relief that comes from throwing our concerns squarely into the capable hands of our gracious, powerful Father! 

Not taking on any of the responsibility for moving the mountain other than bringing the matter to the Lord in faith-filled petition!

What freedom! 

Yes, I wonder what would happen.

Why go I mourning? (Psalm 42:9) – c.h. spurgeon

Canst thou answer this, believer?
     Canst thou find any reason why thou art so often mourning 
          instead of rejoicing?
     Why yield to gloomy anticipations?  
              
Who told thee that the night would never end in day?

Who told thee that the sea of circumstances would ebb out
     till there should be nothing left
          but long leagues of the mud of horrible poverty?

Who told thee that the winter of thy discontent would proceed
     from frost to frost,
          from snow, and ice,
               and hail,
                    to deeper snow,
          and yet more heavy tempest of despair?

Knowest thou not that day follows night,
that flood comes after ebb,
that spring and summer succeed winter?

Hope thou then!  Hope thou ever!
     For God fails thee not.

Dost thou not know that thy God loves thee in the midst of all this?

Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day,
     and God's love is as true to thee now as it was in thy brightest moments.

No father chastens always: thy Lord hates the rod as much as thou dost;
     he only cares to use it for that reason
          which should make thee willing to receive it,
namely, that it works thy lasting good.

Thou shalt yet climb Jacob's ladder with the angels,
and behold him who sits at the top of it—thy covenant God.

Thou shalt yet, amidst the splendours of eternity,    
     forget the trials of time,
          or only remember them to bless the God who led thee through them,
               and wrought thy lasting good by them.

Come, sing
     in the midst of tribulation.
Rejoice
     even while passing through the furnace.
Make
     the wilderness to blossom like the rose!
Cause
     the desert to ring with thine exulting joys,

for these light afflictions will soon be over,
     and then “for ever with the Lord,”
          thy bliss shall never wane.


“Faint not nor fear, his arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou art dear;
Only believe and thou shalt see,
That Christ is all in all to thee.”
 

I say to God my Rock, “Why have You forgotten me?  Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”
Psalm 42:9

The voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8) – c.h spurgeon

My soul, now that the cool of the day has come,
     retire awhile and hearken to the voice of thy God.

He is always ready to speak with thee when thou art prepared to hear.
     If there be any slowness to commune it is not on his part,
          but altogether on thine own, for he stands at the door and knocks,
               and if his people will but open he rejoices to enter.

But in what state is my heart, which is my Lord's garden?

May I venture to hope that it is well trimmed and watered, and is bringing forth fruit fit for him?

If not, he will have much to reprove, but still I pray him to come unto me,
     for nothing can so certainly bring my heart into a right condition
as the presence of the Sun of Righteousness, who brings healing in his wings.

Come, therefore, O Lord, my God,
my soul invites thee earnestly,
and waits for thee eagerly.

Come to me, O Jesus,
my well-beloved, and plant fresh flowers in my garden,
such as I see blooming in such perfection in thy matchless character!

Come, O my Father,
who art the Husbandman,
and deal with me in thy tenderness and prudence!

Come, O Holy Spirit,
and bedew my whole nature,
as the herbs are now moistened with the evening dews.

O that God would speak to me.
     Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth!

O that he would walk with me;
     I am ready to give up my whole heart and mind to him,
          and every other thought is hushed.

I am only asking what he delights to give.
     I am sure that he will condescend to have fellowship with me,
          for he has given me his Holy Spirit to abide with me for ever.

Sweet is the cool twilight,
     when every star seems like the eye of heaven,
and the cool wind
     is as the breath of celestial love.

My Father,
     my elder Brother,
          my sweet Comforter,
speak now in lovingkindness,
     for thou hast opened mine ear and I am not rebellious.



Then [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day….”
Genesis 3:8

Like stars

Hope shines brightest in the midst of trial.

My pastor believes this.  He spoke on it this morning in his sermon.

I believe this, too.

How does bright hope pour out of the believer in the midst of 

hardship, 

tragedy, 

struggle?

It’s not simply a mindset, though there is much to be said for the strength of character that declares, “God has allowed this situation for my good and His glory, so I will trust Him for the outcome…despite these difficult circumstances.” 

It’s more than that.
    

It’s the power of Christ in us.
     The power that confounds the wise.

The power that makes the weak mysteriously emerge as strong and mighty.
     Christ’s own reflection in our lives.

I know a little something of trauma, of disappointment, of battling painful forces beyond my control.

How often, though, am I prepared to give a gentle answer to those who wonder about the Hope I have?  (I Peter 3:15)

Can others even see my Hope…or do they only see me fussing and fretting and fighting in my own strength?

Do I allow the Holy Spirit to shine through me in my hour of grief?  Do I find my identity and purpose in Christ’s own suffering for my sake?  (Philippians 2:5ff)

When this season is over, will I have completed the course well…or will I have wasted precious teachable, refining moments in frustration and faithlessness?


Do you find yourself in the midst of discouragement and distress? 
     Rest assured:  the redemption of this season is already at hand.  

          The Lord’s purposes are for your wellbeing,

               and His care for you is like that of a tender shepherd.  

His beautiful pathway for your life is upheld in His ability to know and do all things and to love you without condition or prejudice.  His glorious plans cannot be thwarted!  (Job 42:2)


Lord, may we—and the Hope that You have placed within us—shine forth like stars as we hold out the Word of Life!  (Philippians 2:15)


“God has chosen to make known among [us] the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in [us], the hope of glory.”  (Colossians 1:27)  

Blessed is he that watcheth (Revelation 16:15) – c.h. spurgeon

“We die daily,” said the apostle.

This was the life of the early Christians;
they went everywhere with their lives in their hands.

We are not in this day called to pass through the same fearful persecutions:
     if we were, the Lord would give us grace to bear the test;
but the tests of Christian life, at the present moment, though outwardly not so terrible,
     are yet more likely to overcome us than even those of the fiery age. 

We have to bear the sneer of the world—that is little;
     its blandishments,
          its soft words,
               its oily speeches,
                    its fawning,
                         its hypocrisy, are far worse.

Our danger is lest we grow rich and become proud,
lest we give ourselves up to the fashions of this present evil world,
and lose our faith.

Or if wealth be not the trial, worldly care is quite as mischievous.
     If we cannot be torn in pieces by the roaring lion,
     if we may be hugged to death by the bear,
the devil little cares which it is,
     so long as he destroys our love to Christ, and our confidence in him. 

I fear me
     that the Christian church
          is far more likely to lose her integrity in these soft and silken days
               than in those rougher times.

We must be awake now, for we traverse the enchanted ground,
and are most likely to fall asleep to our own undoing,
unless our faith in Jesus be a reality,
and our love to Jesus a vehement flame.

Many in these days of easy profession are likely to prove tares, and not wheat;
     hypocrites with fair masks on their faces,
          but not the true-born children of the living God.

Christian,
     do not think that these are times
in which you can dispense with watchfulness
     or with holy ardour;
you need these things more than ever,
     and may God the eternal Spirit display his omnipotence in you,
that you may be able to say,
     in all these softer things, as well as in the rougher,
“We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

 “Behold, I am coming like a thief.  Blessed is the one who stays awake….”
Revelation 16:15