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\ / Charles Spurgeon's MORNING & EVENING http://www.heartlight.org/
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
MORNING:
"Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy."
-- 1 Timothy 6:17
Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant
withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full
to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; he
is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert,
ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his
grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and
the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. As the King can
never die, so his grace can never fail. Daily we pluck his fruit, and
daily his branches bend down to our hand with a fresh store of mercy.
There are seven feast-days in his weeks, and as many as are the days,
so many are the banquets in his years. Who has ever returned from his
door unblessed? Who has ever risen from his table unsatisfied, or from
his bosom un-emparadised? His mercies are new every morning and fresh
every evening. Who can know the number of his benefits, or recount the
list of his bounties? Every sand which drops from the glass of time is
but the tardy follower of a myriad of mercies. The wings of our hours
are covered with the silver of his kindness, and with the yellow gold
of his affection. The river of time bears from the mountains of
eternity the golden sands of his favour. The countless stars are but as
the standard bearers of a more innumerable host of blessings. Who can
count the dust of the benefits which he bestows on Jacob, or tell the
number of the fourth part of his mercies towards Israel? How shall my
soul extol him who daily loadeth us with benefits, and who crowneth us
with loving-kindness? O that my praise could be as ceaseless as his
bounty! O miserable tongue, how canst thou be silent? Wake up, I pray
thee, lest I call thee no more my glory, but my shame. "Awake, psaltery
and harp: I myself will awake right early."
EVENING:
"And he said, Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of
ditches. For thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not see wind,
neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled
with water, that ye may drink, both ye and your cattle, and
your beasts."
-- 2 Kings 3:16,17
The armies of the three kings were famishing for want of water: God was
about to send it, and in these words the prophet announced the coming
blessing. Here was a case of human helplessness: not a drop of water
could all the valiant men procure from the skies or find in the wells
of earth. Thus often the people of the Lord are at their wits' end;
they see the vanity of the creature, and learn experimentally where
their help is to be found. Still the people were to make a believing
preparation for the divine blessing; they were to dig the trenches in
which the precious liquid would be held. The church must by her varied
agencies, efforts, and prayers, make herself ready to be blessed; she
must make the pools, and the Lord will fill them. This must be done in
faith, in the full assurance that the blessing is about to descend.
By-and-by there was a singular bestowal of the needed boon. Not as in
Elijah's case did the shower pour from the clouds, but in a silent and
mysterious manner the pools were filled. The Lord has his own sovereign
modes of action: he is not tied to manner and time as we are, but doeth
as he pleases among the sons of men. It is ours thankfully to receive
from him, and not to dictate to him. We must also notice the remarkable
abundance of the supply -there was enough for the need of all. And so
it is in the gospel blessing; all the wants of the congregation and of
the entire church shall be met by the divine power in answer to prayer;
and above all this, victory shall be speedily given to the armies of
the Lord.
What am I doing for Jesus? What trenches am I digging? O Lord, make me
ready to receive the blessing which thou art so willing to bestow.
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THE DREAM GIVER: FOLLOWING YOUR GOD-GIVEN DESTINY, by Bruce Wilkinson
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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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