Prayer Is the Forerunner of Mercy

Ezekiel 36:37

Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.

 

Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. Turn to sacred history, and you will find that scarcely ever did a great mercy come to this world unheralded by supplication. You have found this true in your own personal experience. God has given you many an unsolicited favour, but still great prayer has always been the prelude of great mercy with you. When you first found peace through the blood of the cross, you had been praying much, and earnestly interceding with God that He would remove your doubts, and deliver you from your distresses. Your assurance was the result of prayer. When at any time you have had high and rapturous joys, you have been obliged to look upon them as answers to your prayers. When you have had great deliverances out of sore troubles, and mighty helps in great dangers, you have been able to say, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Prayer is always the preface to blessing. It goes before the blessing as the blessing's shadow. When the sunlight of God's mercies rises upon our necessities, it casts the shadow of prayer far down upon the plain. Or, to use another illustration, when God piles up a hill of mercies, He Himself shines behind them, and He casts on our spirits the shadow of prayer, so that we may rest certain, if we are much in prayer, our pleadings are the shadows of mercy. Prayer is thus connected with the blessing to show us the value of it. If we had the blessings without asking for them, we should think them common things; but prayer makes our mercies more precious than diamonds. The things we ask for are precious, but we do not realize their preciousness until we have sought for them earnestly.

"Prayer makes the darken'd cloud withdraw;

Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;

Gives exercise to faith and love;

Brings every blessing from above."

~Charles Spurgeon~

The Blessedness of the Unoffended # 5

Matthew 11:6; John 16:1 (continued)

There is first of all the severity of His requirements. When we first come to Christ the pathway seems to be strewn with roses, and the air seems filled with sweet and soothing perfumes. For while Christ is absolutely frank with us, and veils nothing of the hardships and conflicts we must endure, our own powers of apprehension are so limited that we see but one thing at a time, and that one thing is that Christ meets all the need of which we are then immediately conscious. Hence we march to a glad strain with which our hearts are in tune. But before long we discover that the conditions of companionship are severe. For instance, we find that a real separation from the world in spirit and purpose is entirely necessary to the maintaining of fellowship. We find that we cannot march to two tunes at once - and the world's strains are seductive indeed. We learn that we cannot keep step at the same time with Him and with popular opinion, with Him and the world, nor always with Him and the outward professing Church.

And when this discovery is made, it often means that men are offended in Him. For His demand involves a costly disturbance in the regulation of home and business and social life, according to His order. It means possibly for some the relinquishing of a kind of popularity which exists only because of shameful silence regarding Him. It involves others in the severance of ties which have become a large part of their life, and the sacrifice of material prosperities which partake of the nature of unrighteousness. It means for all the end of self-indulgence, a crucifixion in order to a coronation, a dethronement in order to an enthronement.

And when all this comes to be clearly apprehended, then it is that men are offended in Christ. When He says: "Cut off thy right hand; pluck out thy right eye; forsake all that you have; take up the cross and follow Me", then comes the test which determines everything. Then too often men go back to walk no more with Him. Not because they do not understand Him, but because they have come to know Him too well! When He comes to be recognized, not only as the Christ of the sympathetic heart, but also as the Christ of the steadfastly set face, then great is the blesedness of the unoffended.

Then there is the mystery of His contradictions. It often seems as though Christ were unsympathetic with our best desires, with those desires which have originated in our fellowship with Himself. You want, for instance, to do some great service and to fill some great sphere; but Christ's answer to your longing is to set you down to face the difficulties of a small work in a place where there is little, if any, recognition of your toil. You ask for spiritual service, and all that has been granted is a monotonous round of secular duty. And you are in danger of being offended in Him, just because there seems so little justification for His treatment of your high aim.

Or, you have asked the gift of rest, and claimed His great promises on this head; but the answer has come in the necessity for stern and continuous conflict. The fires of temptation blaze around you, not less, but far more fiercely than ever; and you are both puzzled and provoked at such a fulfillment of the Word upon which you have hoped. Or, you have desired to have a life less burdened and strained, but His only response has been to impose other and heavier burdens upon you. And you are well-nigh offended in Him. The mystery of it all baffles every serious purpose, and the temptation to distrust is at times almost too much.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 6)

What Spiritual Temperature Are You?

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Revelation 3:15-16

In my house, temperature can be a “hot” topic. In the winter, the thermostat can never be too hot for me, but my husband loves to sleep in the cold. I like foods taken straight out of the fridge but he likes them steaming hot out of the oven. One extreme or the other tends to dominate in several areas in our home, but how extreme am I when it comes to the things of the Lord? What is my spiritual temperature? How many areas of my life am I content with just being lukewarm, especially when it comes to living for Jesus?

We as Christians are often afraid to live at the extremes. We are uncomfortable standing out and speaking out too much. We rationalize our positions by saying that we do not want to offend anyone or come across as too zealous in our faith. We even justify sinful behaviors by telling ourselves that if we blend in with the crowd, then we can be a more effective witness. Where did these ideas really come from? Are they from the Lord? Not according to Revelation 3:16. Jesus says He will “vomit” us out of His mouth if we are lukewarm. He wants us to pick a position; we are either cold or hot, for Him or against Him. We either take up our cross and follow Him with our whole hearts or we follow our own desires. To live in the gray areas is unacceptable, regardless of our human rationalizations.

Where are you today? Do you have a lukewarm relationship with Jesus? I fear greatly for many people who sit in church every Sunday proclaiming to know Jesus but having no evidence of Him in their lives. Many of us look righteous on the outside but are numb on the inside. Our churches are filled with complacent Christians who are quite content to live in the gray areas, not wanting to get too uncomfortable. Will Jesus say “well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23)? Or will He say “I never knew you; depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23)?  Ask the Lord to light a fire in your heart today that will set a blaze in any area of your life that has become lukewarm and complacent. Life here on earth is but for a moment, but eternity is forever. 

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

The Blessedness of the Unoffended # 4

Matthew 11:6; John 16:1

Now it is not disloyal to Christ to say this: that He not only masters men but mystifies them also. While He blesses them He bewilders them too, so incomparably higher are His ways and thoughts than ours. He persuades us to love and loyalty; but He puzzles us too, often to the point of distraction. He certainly answers the questions of our hearts; but at the same time He arouses even more than He answers. And in the life of every true believer of Him, there will always be, as there was in His own, some great unanswered "Why?" None of us will ever be exempt from the need of acquiring by faith and patience the blessedness of the unoffended.

For think of an ordinary and typical instance of offence. It is not commonly a matter of open backsliding, of heartless renunciation of the truth, or of bitter denial of past experience. Rather does it begin with the disappointment of some hope, the failure of an expectation, the weariness of an unanswered prayer, or the ache of a heart which seems to evoke no sympathetic answer from God. All this generates an unspoken and almost unspeakable distrust; and as we brood over it, a sense of injustice grows, a feeling that we have not been treated quite fairly by Christ, which becomes positive resentment. Until, after ia while, His yoke becomes irksome; we challenge His right to control our lives so; and it all ends in a secret repudiation of His mastership, and often in an outward renunciation also of all spiritual interests and aims. This is a typical cause of offence in Christ. And how many there are all around us of whose lives it is a true description! From small beginnings of distrust the largest disasters grow. If two parallel lines are produced into infinity, there will never be any variation of the distance between them. But let them diverge at any point by only a hair's breadth. Then the farther they are produced, the wider the divergence becomes, until at length there is a universe of distance between them. So with our fellowship with Christ. The smallest distrust or disobedience is charged with the potentiality of the infinite; and if undiscovered and unchecked, will eventually put an eternity of  distance between the soul and the Saviour. If, therefore, we can estimate some of the unchanging certainties of discipleship; explore some, at least, of the perilous causes of offence in Christ; and at the same time also establish a new relationship of implicit trust with our Lord, we shall be saved from this threatening peril. And this is surely the aim of His forewarning Word.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 5)

An Idol in Your Life?

Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:4

When we think of idols, most of us do not think of worshiping some molded statue. Today, some religions do bow down to gods with the image of a man, woman or creature, but certainly not Christians. We know that an idol is anything that we prioritize over God, not necessarily a literal man-made god that we worship. But then again, we do have the “Oscars.” Each year Hollywood gives out these little gold statues to its most honored artists. The evening gowns, the jewelry and the parties are also a big part of this night of awards and acclamations. However, it is not just for those who attend the event and are nominated for the golden honor…it seems that many of us get caught up in the excitement as well.

As Christians, what are our responsibilities in supporting or not supporting this industry?  How much should we care about the movies and about these little golden statues? For some, it is harmless entertainment. For others, it is a continuing sign of moral decay in our society. Where are the lines for us as Christians? The answers to these questions are based upon a personal conviction for each one of us. If we somehow are choosing these idols over our Lord, then maybe we should really pray about our level of interest.

The bigger issue is that God warned His people to turn from their idols and false gods because He knew where it would lead them…to destruction. The same is true for us today. When we focus on things outside of Jesus, our focus is marred with images that are not healthy. No greater place breeds false images than Hollywood. Think about your level of interest. If you feel a nudge in your spirit, ask the Lord to show you areas that need refocusing. We must also remember that our minds tend to replay images over and over in our minds, so be careful of the content in those images. If you find yourself thinking on things of the world too much, ask the Lord to change your focus.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

The Blessedness of the Unoffended # 3

Matthew 11:6

John 16:1


Is it to be wondered at that at last doubt overcomes faith, so that he sends the messengers to Christ in the hope that He will declare Himself plainly, and interpret such utterly inexplicable and contradictory experience to the one who had at immense cost to himself maintained a devoted loyalty to the Son of God? Christ's only answer to these messengers is an exhibition of His sovereign power over the forces of destruction and death, and an injunction that they should tell John what they had seen, and give to him this message which calls for a new triumphant trust on his part: "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me." For it means that in the pathway of blessing the providence of testing will always be experienced. Its implication is that there is true peace only for that man who will trust Christ when he has no external aids to faith, who believes Him when he sees only the seeming denial of his confidence, and who holds to his loyalty without stumbling when His treatment tests his endurance to the uttermost.

The second of these words of Christ helps us to understand how His message to John applies to ourselves. "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended." Spoken as they were on the eve of His departure, when the fierce tests of discipleship were about to be experienced by His followers, they imply that they will need to stay their souls on the things He has told them concerning His purpose and power, if they are to avoid the peril of stumbling and going back from Him. For they are bound to come into experiences of test and strain as they carry out their consecration vows; and "in those days", says Christ, "be true to your own best experience of Me. Rest on that which no man can take from you - the personal knowledge you have of My grace. Hold to those thing I have spoken and shown to you. Be loyal to Me. Trust Me entirely, despite every unexplained mystery and seemingly unnecessary tribulation. And you shall not be stumbled but strengthened by these very things which are all of My ordering."

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 4)

Refined and Tested

This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, “They are my people, and they will say, The LORD is our God.”   Zechariah 13:9

I read a verse like this and ask the Lord, “Why do the ones that you choose and love need to be refined and tested?” In some strange way, I look at love so much differently.

It is not natural in the flesh to look at my children and think that I willingly plan to discipline them. I often succumb to discipline when their actions are not socially acceptable, and it embarrasses me. I really want to believe that they don't need me to discipline them and that they'll grow out of their stage. I want to believe that I can show love by having the self control to not discipline them and patiently wait for them to grow up.  This is what my flesh wants to believe, that this is absolutely wrong because God is perfect love and He does not think that way.  So, I need to align myself up with Him: both as a parent and as a child of God.

God says in this verse that He brings His own people into the fire. It is in the fire that we are refined like silver and tested like gold. If He is comparing us to precious metals, then we have to assume that the fire is pretty hot! The Lord does this for our good. He wants us to call on His name and know that He will answer because we are His people. His people have to be trained, disciplined, tested and refined to think His thoughts and to live in His ways. Because our flesh is so strong, we resist His work and end up turning from the Lord or blaming Him. We accuse Him of not being loving or caring. We wonder why He isn’t answering our prayers or rescuing us from those hot circumstances, without realizing that He is the One who has placed us there.

God loves you. He is all powerful and can absolutely rescue you but He cares more about you than you can care about yourself. He needs you to change to be more like Him. Unfortunately that takes time in the fire. Trust Him because this is only for a season. For when you are trained, you will produce a harvest of righteousness and a deep peace knowing that He is your God.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~