Never Alone (and other devotionals)

Never Alone

"Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken"   (Isaiah 62:4).

"Forsaken" is a dreary word. It sounds like a knell. It is the record of I sharpest sorrows and the prophecy of direst ills. An abyss of misery yawns in that word forsaken. Forsaken by one who pledges his honor! Forsaken by a friend so long tried and trusted! Forsaken by a dear relative! Forsaken by father and mother! Forsaken by all! This is woe indeed, and yet it may be patiently born if the LORD will take us up. But what must it be to feel forsaken of God? Think of that bitterest of cries, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Have we ever in any degree tasted the wormwood and the gall of "forsaken" in that sense? If so, let us beseech our LORD to save us from any repetition of so unspeakable a sorrow. Oh, that such darkness may never return! Men in malice said of a saint, "God hath forsaken him; persecute and take him." But it was always false. The LORD's loving favor shall compel our cruel foes to eat their own words or, at least, to hold their tongues. The reverse of all this is that superlative word Hephzibah "the LORD delighteth in thee." This turns weeping into dancing. Let those who dreamed that they were forsaken hear the LORD say, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."

~Charles Spurgeon~
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The Source of Your Success

There is no question we live in one of the most prosperous of ages.  And many Christians today live in tremendous prosperity.

It is pretty easy to look at all we have accomplished, and the wealth we have accumulated, and feel pretty good about ourselves.

Today, I want you to read Psalm 44:1-3.  It contains a powerful truth and reminder,

We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, the deeds You did in their days, in days of old:  You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted; You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out.   For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.

Any good thing that you and I possess is the result of God's hand and nothing less.  It is not because we are something special or because we are so intelligent.

When everything is said and done, we are not going to be able to point to our own arm or our own intelligence or our own ability.  We will only be able to stand back and say, "Look what the Lord has done."

If you are prosperous today, I want you to know that it is the result of God's hand and God's arm working on your behalf. 

As you look to the future, if you are going to experience the fullness of what He has for you, it will indeed be the result of the power of His Spirit working in your life.  Not your ingenuity, not your human striving, not the power of your flesh, but the power of His Spirit.

~Bayless Conley~

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He opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7).

How much grace it requires to bear a misunderstanding rightly, and to receive an unkind judgment in holy sweetness! Nothing tests the Christian character more than to have some evil thing said about him. This is the file that soon proves whether we are electro-plate or solid gold. If we could only know the blessings that lie hidden in our trials we would say like David, when Shimei cursed him, "Let him curse;... it may be... that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day."

Some people get easily turned aside from the grandeur of their life-work by pursuing their own grievances and enemies, until their life gets turned into one little petty whirl of warfare. It is like a nest of hornets. You may disperse the hornets, but you will probably get terribly stung, and get nothing for your pains, for even their honey is not worth a search.

God give us more of His Spirit, "who, when he was reviled, reviled not again"; but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." "Consider him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself."
--A. B. Simpson

"Before you" He trod all the path of woe,
He took the sharp thrusts with His head bent low.

He knew deepest sorrow and pain and grief,
He knew long endurance without relief,

He took all the bitter from death's deep cup,
He kept not a blood-drop but gave all up.

"Before you" and for you, He won the fight
To bring you to glory and realms of light.
--L.S.P.

~L. B. Cowman~