Silent Trust

Isaiah 30:15 says "..In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength". In repentance (in the thorough reformation of our hearts and lives) and in rest (in an entire submission of our souls to God) we shall be saved and strengthened. It must be in quietness and in confidence; we must keep our spirits calm and sedate by a continual dependence upon God, and in his power and goodness. We must rely upon God with a holy confidence that he can do what he will and will do what is best for his people. This will be our strength; it will inspire us and will carry us with ease and courage through all the difficulties we may meet in life.

Sustained

Psalm 55:22 says "Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved". In every trial let us call upon the Lord, and he will save us. He will hear us, and not blame us for coming too often; the oftener the better! David had thought all were against him; but he discovered that there were many with him, more than he supposed; and the glory of this he gives to God, for it is he that raises us up friends, and makes them faithful to us. There are more friends who will stand with you in the gloomiest of days than you somethings suppose. True genuine friendship can also sustain you in your time of need.

The debt of love!

Romans 13:8 says - "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who has loved his fellow-man has fulfilled the law".
It is easy to build up the wrong kind of debt. However, we find Paul speaking here about a positive debt which requires the giving of love to others and in so doing we fulfill the law. We owe love - and lots of it!

Open Heavens

............a Quote by Smith Wigglesworth
"God has a special way of satisfying the cry of His children. He is waiting to open to us the windows of heaven until He has so moved in the depths of our heart that everything unlike Himself is destroyed". Lord search us find no wicked ways within our hearts.

Pursuit

Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12 - "I know whom I have believed". Once we experience God's glory, we can't turn away from Him or forget His touch. As A.W Tozer once said, "To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love". Be a pursuer. Know whom you serve.

Come and stay

A.W. Tozer wrote, "ransomed man need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His presence and live our whole life there". We need to remember that God would ever dwell with His people. He does not want to live apart from them. Yet why is it we pull against this desire for intimacy. What else must we be doing that is so vital that heaven must wait? The call to come and stay remains.

Single Desire

Psalm 73:25-26 says, "Whom have I but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever".
Let's ask ourselves the question again today, what else is more lovely and satisfying than the presence of God? Lord, You are our single desire.

Distance matters!

Scientist's say that the Earth's equatorial diameter is 7926 miles - now that is of course going straight through it not around it. That's quite a distance and helps us to determine the enormity of the planet we live on. Psalm 103:12 says "as far as the east is from the west, that's how far He has removed our transgressions from us". What we deduce from this is that there is an 'incalculable distance' to which our transgressions(violence against the law) have been removed from us. Who can determine the size of our universe and the distance between these two points? Only God!

Kingdom of "opposites"

I'm always captivated by the concept of the "kingdom of opposites". Let me share a few biblical concepts with you from one of my songs.

Rest for the weary
Strength for the weak
Hope for the hopeless
Peace in times of trouble

The first shall be last
And the last shall be first
The least shall be greatest
And the greatest the least

Joy for sadness
Freedom from shame
Beauty for ashes
Healing from our pain

Little is much in His hands
Little is much in His hands

copyright 2007 George Elliott

Divine 'pressure'

Matthew 26:36 says - "Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, Sit here while I go and pray over there". Gethsemane in the Greek means the place of the oil press. In the Hebrew it is comparable to the word 'Shemen' meaning grease, richness in anointing, fruitful oil. Perhaps the 'oil-pressing' foot of the Father was pressing down on the Divine 'Olive'. There are most definitely times of pressing on our souls when it seems the Father is silent. Yet the response must always be, Lord not my will but Yours be done. Under times of 'Divine pressure' let us release a fruitful oil that will cause others to see the work that God is performing in us.

The greatest privilege

Hebrews 4:16 says -"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The greatest privilege God gives to us is the freedom to approach Him at any time. You are not only authorised to speak to Him; you are invited. You are not only permitted; you are expected. God waits for you to communicate with Him. You have instant, direct access to God. Let's remember today that we as His children can call on Him any time, any place, in any situation and He will show us mercy and grace in our time of need.

Freedom in forgiveness

When Leonardo da Ninci was painting The Last Supper, he had a quarrel with a fellow painter and was so outraged that he decided to depict the fellow painter’s face as that of Judas! Da Vinci then hit a mental block when pondering how he should render the face of Christ. He couldn’t bring himself to paint it. He decided that this "painting block" was caused by depicting Judas’ face as the face of his enemy. He decided to make amends with his painter friend and repainted the face of Judas and shortly after went on to paint the face of Christ. As Christians we need to realise that unforgiveness will form a block in our relationship with Christ and that as set out in Matthew 6:12 we must forgive those who have sinned against us. There is freedom in forgiveness.

Strong love

Song of Songs 8:6 says "Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love as strong as death, it's jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame." Lord we thank You that Your covenant love for us, is a love more determined than the grave. Lord Your love will never let us go. It will indeed hold us. We willingly surrender to Your intense love. May our impression be engraven both on His heart and His arm. How close do we want to be to our lovely Saviour and friend?

Barnabized!

On a similar subject to last Thurday's blog, Barnabas' name was Joseph, but was changed to 'son of encouragement'. He must have been the sort of person who left a trail of encouraged people behind him wherever he went. The various episodes in the New Testament where he appears from time to time bear this out. When he arrived he certainly 'barnabized' them (Acts 11:23). Some commentator's refer to Barnabus as full of grace. The Greek word 'parakaleo' has several related meanings: to exhort, admonish, teach, beg, entreat, beseech, console, encourage, comfort but the basic word is always used for one primary purpose - to describe functions that will help Christians to be built up in Christ, or to help them to build up one another in Christ. I personally thank God for those He has placed around me and my family to bring encouragement which is so sweet when it is least expected.