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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Tuesday, August 12, 2008
MORNING:
"The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice."
-- Psalms 97:1
Causes for disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence
is true. On earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the
wicked as the rage of the sea; his love as easily refreshes the poor
with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire
amid the tempest's horrors, and the glory of the Lord is seen in its
grandeur in the fall of empires, and the crash of thrones. In all our
conflicts and tribulations, we may behold the hand of the divine King.
"God is God; he sees and hears
All our troubles, all our tears.
Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In hell, evil spirits own, with misery, his undoubted supremacy. When
permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel; the bit is
in the mouth of behemoth, and the hook in the jaws of leviathan.
Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have
divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge of
all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the
kennel fear the hunter's whip.
"Fear not death, nor Satan's thrusts,
God defends who in him trusts;
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In heaven none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, but all fall
on their faces to do him homage. Angels are his courtiers, the redeemed
his favourites, and all delight to serve him day and night. May we soon
reach the city of the great King!
"For this life's long night of sadness
He will give us peace and gladness.
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
EVENING:
"The bow shall be seen in the cloud."
-- Genesis 9:14
The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah, is typical of our
Lord Jesus, who is the Lord's witness to the people. When may we expect
to see the token of the covenant? The rainbow is only to be seen
painted upon a cloud. When the sinner's conscience is dark with clouds,
when he remembers his past sin, and mourneth and lamenteth before God,
Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all
the glorious hues of the divine character and betokening peace. To the
believer, when his trials and temptations surround him, it is sweet to
behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ-to see him bleeding, living,
rising, and pleading for us. God's rainbow is hung over the cloud of
our sins, our sorrows, and our woes, to prophesy deliverance. Nor does
a cloud alone give a rainbow, there must be the crystal drops to
reflect the light of the sun. So, our sorrows must not only threaten,
but they must really fall upon us. There had been no Christ for us if
the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud: punishment
must fall in terrible drops upon the Surety. Until there is a real
anguish in the sinner's conscience, there is no Christ for him; until
the chastisement which he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus.
But there must also be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain make not
rainbows unless the sun shineth. Beloved, our God, who is as the sun to
us, always shines, but we do not always see him-clouds hide his face;
but no matter what drops may be falling, or what clouds may be
threatening, if he does but shine there will be a rainbow at once. It
is said that when we see the rainbow the shower is over. Certain it is,
that when Christ comes, our troubles remove; when we behold Jesus, our
sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks the
waters of the sea, how profound the calm!
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CURE FOR THE COMMON LIFE: LIVING IN YOUR SWEET SPOT, by Max Lucado
In Cure for the Common Life, Max Lucado offers practical tools for
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MORNING & EVENING from HEARTLIGHT /\/\
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