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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING
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Monday, November 12, 2007
MORNING:
"The trial of your faith."
-- 1 Peter 1:7
Faith untried may be true faith, but it is sure to be little faith, and
it is likely to remain dwarfish so long as it is without trials. Faith
never prospers so well as when all things are against her: tempests are
her trainers, and lightnings are her illuminators. When a calm reigns
on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship moves not to its
harbour; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds
rush howling forth, and let the waters lift up themselves, then, though
the vessel may rock, and her deck may be washed with waves, and her
mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is
then that she makes headway towards her desired haven. No flowers wear
so lovely a blue as those which grow at the foot of the frozen glacier;
no stars gleam so brightly as those which glisten in the polar sky; no
water tastes so sweet as that which springs amid the desert sand; and
no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity.
Tried faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own
weakness had you not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you
would never have known God's strength had you not been supported amid
the water-floods. Faith increases in solidity, assurance, and
intensity, the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is
precious, and its trial is precious too.
Let not this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You
will have trials enough without seeking them: the full portion will be
measured out to you in due season. Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim
the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have;
praise him for that degree of holy confidence whereunto you have
attained: walk according to that rule, and you shall yet have more and
more of the blessing of God, till your faith shall remove mountains and
conquer impossibilities.
EVENING:
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
-- Luke 6:12
If ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it was our
spotless, perfect a Lord, and yet none was ever so much in supplication
as he! Such was his love to his Father, that he loved much to be in
communion with him: such his love for his people, that he desired to be
much in intercession for them. The fact of this eminent prayerfulness
of Jesus is a lesson for us-he hath given us an example that we may
follow in his steps. The time he chose was admirable, it was the hour
of silence, when the crowd would not disturb him; the time of inaction,
when all but himself had ceased to labour; and the season when slumber
made men forget their woes, and cease their applications to him for
relief. While others found rest in sleep, he refreshed himself with
prayer. The place was also well selected. He was alone where none would
intrude, where none could observe: thus was he free from Pharisaic
ostentation and vulgar interruption. Those dark and silent hills were a
fit oratory for the Son of God. Heaven and earth in midnight stillness
heard the groans and sighs of the mysterious Being in whom both worlds
were blended. The continuance of his pleadings is remarkable; the long
watches were not too long; the cold wind did not chill his devotions;
the grim darkness did not darken his faith, or loneliness check his
importunity. We cannot watch with him one hour, but he watched for us
whole nights. The occasion for this prayer is notable; it was after his
enemies had been enraged-prayer was his refuge and solace; it was
before he sent forth the twelve apostles-prayer was the gate of his
enterprise, the herald of his new work. Should we not learn from Jesus
to resort to special prayer when we are under peculiar trial, or
contemplate fresh endeavours for the Master's glory? Lord Jesus, teach
us to pray.
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THE SECRET MESSAGE OF JESUS: UNCOVERING THE TRUTH THAT COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING, by Brian McLaren
Unafraid of controversy or the uncomfortable gray areas of life,
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MORNING & EVENING from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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Morning & Evening is the classic devotional by 19th-century writer
and preacher Charles Spurgeon. It's part of HEARTLIGHT Magazine,
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