The Hidden Life

This message is to some who are striving to live near the heart of Christ. It is the hidden life which makes the character. What we are in the depths of our being, where no human eye can penetrate, that we are actually, as God sees us. 

Then this inner life will ultimately work its way through to the surface, transforming the character into its own quality. Nothing can be more important, therefore, than that the hidden life be true, pure, beautiful, and Christ-like.

[J. R. Miller]

 

1 Samuel 16:7 ... But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

1 Peter 3:3-4 ... Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;  But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.  ❤

My Rock!!

Believe God's love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea.

[Samuel Rutherford]

 ✞  ✞  ✞ 

1 Samuel 2:2 ... There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

Psalm 31:3 ... For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.

Psalm 18:2 ... The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. ❤

God Shoots Many Kinds of Arrows!

We pray here, that we may have grace to submit to God's will patiently, in whatever He inflicts. Patient submission to God's will, is a gracious frame of soul, whereby a Christian is content to be at God's disposal and acquiesces in His wisdom. "It is the Lord's will, let Him do what He thinks best!" (1 Samuel 3:18)  

Patient submission to the will of God, lies in seeing His hand in the affliction. "Affliction does not spring from the soil, and trouble does not sprout from the earth!" (Job 5:6) Affliction does not come by chance! Job eyed God in all that befell him. "The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21) Job looks beyond second causes, he sees God in the affliction! "The Lord has taken it away." 

There can be no submission to God's will, until there is an acknowledging of God's hand in the affliction. Patient submission to God's will, lies in justifying God. God is holy and just, not only when He punishes the wicked, but when He afflicts the righteous. "Now we are being punished because of our wickedness and our great guilt. But we have actually been punished far less than we deserve." (Ezra 9:13)  

While we live here in this valley of tears, patient submission to God's will is much needed. The Lord sometimes lays heavy afflictions upon us. "Your arrows have struck deep, and Your blows are crushing me!" (Psalm 38:2) God sometimes lays many afflictions upon us. "He multiplies my wounds." (Job 9:17) God shoots many kinds of arrows! 

God sometimes afflicts with POVERTY, which is a great affliction. To have an estate reduced almost to nothing, is hard to flesh and blood. "The Almighty has made life very bitter for me. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me home empty." (Ruth 1:20-21)  

God sometimes afflicts with REPROACH. Dirt may be cast upon a pearl. Just so, those names may be blotted, which are written in the Book of Life. Piety shields from Hell, but not from slander. God sometimes afflicts with the DEATH of loved ones. "Son of man, I am going to take away your dearest treasure. Suddenly she will die!" (Ezekiel 24:16)  

God sometimes afflicts with INFIRMITY of body. Sickness takes away the comfort of life. Sometimes God lets the infirmity continue long. Some diseases are chronic and linger and hang about the body for many years. The Lord is pleased to exercise many of His precious ones with chronic infirmities. God tries His people with various afflictions so that they have need of patient submission to His will. Murmuring is not consistent with submission to God's will. Murmuring is the height of impatience; it is a kind of mutiny in the soul against God. "They began to murmur against God!" (Numbers 21:5)  

When water is hot, then the scum boils up! When the heart is heated with anger against God, then murmuring boils up! Murmuring springs from pride! Men think they have deserved better at God's hand; and, when they begin to swell with pride, they spit poison! 

[Thomas Watson] 

Hebrews 12:5-6 ... And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. ❤

God's Cup!!

God's mode of dealing is often wrapped in mystery. We fail to understand why one is elevated to the highest rank while others seem to waste their days in poverty and obscurity. But no doubts should arise. It should be firmly fixed in our persuasions, that in all these matters, God's hand prevails. "The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles, and he exalts." (1 Samuel 2:6-7)  

In the same way, afflictions, sorrows and trials are all appointed by the same unerring wisdom! God's hand holds a cup which is mixed in accordance with His sovereign and righteous will. According to His good pleasure, He causes all men to drink from it. But what will be the portion of the wicked? "It is God alone who judges. For the Lord holds a cup in His hand; it is full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours the wine out in judgment, and all the wicked must drink it, draining it to the dregs!" (Psalm 75:7-8)  

Let the unsaved tremble! They are forewarned that they must drink God's cup to the dreg's indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish forever! 

[Henry Law] 

Deuteronomy 32:39 ...  See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

No Truer Kindness

Intercessory prayer is a vital and powerful spiritual practice. It is an essential part of the Christian life, modeled throughout Scripture as an act of love and compassion towards others, and obedience to God. This selfless act of praying for other believers, reflects the compassionate heart of Christ, who constantly intercedes for His redeemed people. This sacred duty of intercessory prayer is a tangible way for believers to demonstrate Christ-like love, and to bear one another's burdens. Intercession is perhaps the greatest way we can help other Christians. Let us never be slack in it. 

Earnest intercession will be sure to bring love with it. I do not believe you can hate a man for whom you habitually pray. If you dislike any fellow Christian, pray for him doubly, not only for his sake, but for your own, that you may be cured of all unkind feelings. Love is the cement on which the living stones of the church should be laid, if they are to be united together. I ascribe lack of brotherly love, to the decline of intercessory prayer. Pray for one another earnestly, habitually and fervently and you will knit your hearts together in love. 

Dear brethren, when you pray for one another, not only will your sympathy and love grow, but you will have kinder judgments concerning one another. Prayer is a wondrous blender of hearts, and a mighty creator of love. I urge you, my brethren, if there is any member of this church who has treated you unkindly then revenge yourself upon him by praying for him more constantly and more earnestly. Intercessory prayer is one of the holiest, and most heavenly exercises in which a devout man can possibly be occupied. Oh, let us be done with murmurings and complaining's, criticisms and fault-finding, and take the whole of it up to the mercy seat. 

If half the breath that is vainly spent in censorious complaints were turned into intercession, there would be much more holiness in the church! For myself personally, I say that no man can do me a truer kindness, than to pray for me.

[Charles H. Spurgeon] 

 ✞  ✞  ✞  

1 Samuel 12:23 ... Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way:

Ephesians 6:18 ... Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; ❤

Absolute Sovereignty!!

One has stated, "God does not permit things to happen. He purposed all that comes to pass in time, before time began. And all that He ordained from eternity and performs in time, is good." 

Sadly, many in Christendom do not accept the teaching of God's absolute Sovereignty over His world. I offer the following Scriptures without comment, for your perusal: 

"Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" Exodus 4:11 

"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand." Deuteronomy 32:39 

"The Lord brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up. The Lord sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts." 1 Samuel 2:6-7

"Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job 2:10 

"For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground." Job 5:6 

"For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." Job 5:18 "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other." Ecclesiastes 7:14 

"This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised them." Jeremiah 32:42 

"Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?" Lamentations 3:38 

"When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?" Amos 3:6

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Presence of a Loving God!

God loves His people with a first love! 1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us."

By nature, we were without God, and afar off from God; we were strangers to God, and enemies to God, yes, haters of God! Therefore, if God had not loved us first, we would have been everlastingly undone! God loves His people with a free love! Hosea 14:4, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely." 

I know they are backslidden, but I will heal their backslidings. I know there is nothing at all in them, which is excellent or eminent, which is honorable or acceptable, which is laudable or lovely yet "I will love them freely" of My own, free, rich, absolute and sovereign grace! God loves His people with an everlasting love! Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn you." 

 

That is, "I love you with the love of perpetuity, or with the love of eternity. My love and My affections to you shall continue forever!" God loves His people with an unchangeable love! Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed." Men change, and counsels change, and occurrences change, and friends change, and relations change, and kingdoms change; but God never changes! "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind," 1 Samuel 15:29. 

God is immutable in His nature, in His essence, in His counsels, in His attributes, in His decrees, in His promises, etc. He is Omnina immutabilis, "Altogether immutable!" God loves His people with a special love, with a peculiar love, with a distinguishing love, with a superlative love! God loves His people with the greatest love, with a matchless love! John 3:16, "God so loved." This signifies the greatness of God's love, the vehemence of His love, and the admirableness of His love. What an unspeakable comfort must this be to God's people to have the presence of a loving God, to have the presence of such a loving God with them in all their troubles and deep distresses! 

If the presence of a loving friend, a loving relation in our troubles and distresses, is such a mercy oh, what then is the presence of a loving God!

[Thomas Brooks]

Isaiah 43:4... 4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

The Presence of a Loving God!

By nature, we were without God, and afar off from God; we were strangers to God, and enemies to God, yes, haters of God! Therefore, if God had not loved us first, we would have been everlastingly undone! God loves His people with a free love! Hosea 14:4. "I will heal their backsliding; I will love them freely." I know they are backslidden, but I will heal their backslidings. 

I know there is nothing at all in them, which is excellent or eminent, which is honorable or acceptable, which is laudable or lovely yet "I will love them freely" of My own, free, rich, absolute and sovereign grace! God loves His people with an everlasting love! Jeremiah 31:3, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, with loving-kindness have I drawn you." That is, "I love you with the love of perpetuity, or with the love of eternity. My love and My affections to you shall continue forever!" 

God loves His people with an unchangeable love! Malachi 3:6, "I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed." 

Men change, and counsels change, and occurrences change, and friends change, and relations change, and kingdoms change; but God never changes! "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind," 1 Samuel 15:29. 

God is immutable in His nature, in His essence, in His counsels, in His attributes, in His decrees, in His promises, etc. He is Omnina Immutabilis, "Altogether immutable!" God loves His people with a special love, with a peculiar love, with a distinguishing love, with a superlative love! God loves His people with the greatest love, with a matchless love! John 3:16, "God so loved." This signifies the greatness of God's love, the vehemence of His love, and the admirableness of His love. 

What an unspeakable comfort must this be to God's people to have the presence of a loving God, to have the presence of such a loving God with them in all their troubles and deep distresses! If the presence of a loving friend, a loving relation in our troubles and distresses, is such a mercy oh, what then is the presence of a loving God! 

[Thomas Brooks]

Isaiah 43:4 ...  Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.

1 John 4:19 ...  We love him, because he first loved us. ❤

Take These Three Spears

Do with your sin as Joab did with Absalom. He took three spears and thrust them through the heart of Absalom! (2 Samuel 18:14) Just so, take these three spears: the Word of God, prayer, and mortification and strike through the heart of your lusts, so that they die! 

What is the end of all a Christian's duties, praying, and hearing but to weaken and mortify lust! Why is this spiritual medicine taken but to kill the child of sin! Sin will insinuate itself and plead for a reprieve but show it no mercy! Saul's sparing Agag lost him the kingdom and your sparing sin will lose you the kingdom of Heaven. 

Do with your sin, what Samuel did to Agag, "He hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal." (1 Samuel 15:33)

[Thomas Watson]

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

The Infinite Distance ...

We must ever bear in mind the infinite distance between us and our holy Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer. He is the great, the incomprehensible God! You are poor sinful worms crushed before the moth! He is the eternal and infinitely wise God! "You are of yesterday and know nothing!" 

Get but a proper understanding of the infinite distance between you and God, and you will take your proper place at His footstool. You will receive whatever He shall speak in His blessed Word, with humility and confidence. You will trust Him for acting with unerring wisdom and goodness, even when His dispensations are most dark and mysterious. You will be submissive to His chastisements, and obedient to His will as revealed in His Word. Your insignificance as creatures will constrain you to bow before Him, and to say, "He is the LORD! let Him do what is good in His eyes!" (1 Samuel 3:18) 

Your vileness as sinners will make you to regard every mercy you enjoy with unbounded gratitude; and especially that greatest of all mercies the gift of his only dear Son to die for your sins. With what wonder and admiration, you will embrace His astonishing salvation. With what simplicity of mind, you will live by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! With what zeal and diligence, you will devote yourselves to His service! 

We say again: If only God is exalted in your eyes, and you are abased in the dust then God will be glorified, and your souls be blessed both in time and eternity! 

[Charles Simeon] 

Job 4:17-19 ... Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?  Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth?

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

"Hitherto"

The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet, "hitherto the Lord has helped us!" 

Through poverty and through wealth, through sickness and through health, at home and abroad, on the land and on the sea, in honor and in dishonor, in perplexity and in joy, in trial and in triumph, in prayer and in temptation, "Hitherto has the Lord helped us!" 

We delight to look down a long avenue of trees. It is delightful to gaze from end to end of the long vista, a sort of verdant temple, with its branching pillars and its arches of leaves. In the same way, look down the long aisles of your years, at the green boughs of mercy overhead, and the strong pillars of loving-kindness and faithfulness which bear up your joys. Are there no birds in yonder branches singing? Surely there must be many, and they all sing of mercy received "hitherto." 

But the word hitherto also points forward. For when a man gets up to a certain mark and writes "hitherto," he is not yet at the end, there is still a distance to be traversed. More trials and more joys; more temptations and more triumphs; more prayers and more answers; more toils and more strength; more fights and more victories; and then come sickness, old age, disease and death! Is it over now? No! there is more yet: awakening in Jesus' likeness, glorious thrones, heavenly harps and songs, white clothing, the face of Jesus, the society of saints, the glory of God, the fullness of eternity, the infinity of bliss! 

O be of good courage, believer, and with grateful confidence raise your "Ebenezer," for He who has helped you hitherto will help you all your journey through! When read in Heaven's light, how glorious and marvelous a prospect will your "hitherto" unfold to your grateful eye! 

[Charles H. Spurgeon]

1 Samuel 7:12 ... Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord helped us.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Bearing One Another's Burdens

 My very dear,

Breathe, Holy Comforter, on our souls that they may be quickened. Breathe in providences, that we may be edified by them. Breathe in the written Word that we may be instructed. Breathe on the Rose of Sharon, the Incarnate Word, that by the fragrance thereof our souls may be revived and refreshed. Breathe upon these hearts, that we may commune sweetly in and of, the Beloved, for His glory, and our soul-strengthening. Amen, amen. "Awake, north wind, and come, south wind! Blow on my garden, that its fragrance may spread abroad. Let my lover come into His garden and taste its choice fruits." (Song of Songs 4:160

Jesus is the never-tiring theme! It is He who is the precious stone, wherever He turns, he succeeds. (Proverbs 17:8) On the mount of high communion He is precious. In the valley of humiliation, He is precious. Also, unto you who believe, He is precious. Faith is the "Christ-receiving grace." By faith we apprehend Him, by faith we know more and more of His preciousness; by faith we have the felt benefit of His blood and righteousness, (Romans 3:22, 25) and by faith we cast anchor on this Rock, when to sense and feeling all is dark and stormy.

Ah! indeed there are seasons in experience when we can neither see nor hear nor feel Him whom our souls love and long for; and all within seems barren and powerless then is the trial of faith, and the time for its exercise. If we are walking by sense, our confidence will be shaken, and we shall draw wrong conclusions (Isaiah 9:14;) but if faith prevails, we shall not be greatly moved. The soul does not voluntarily choose to be "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed," neither, if under self-direction, would it prefer to travel "three days in the wilderness and find no water." We would rather linger always at Elim, beside the wells and the palm-trees. Thus, sense would grow mightily, and faith become weak for lack of exercise. But He who ordains all our encampments, and who is to us "instead of eyes," knows best where to lead us; having determined that "faith, though the smallest, shall surely be tried."

Therefore, my beloved and longed-for, "think it not strange concerning the trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you." Whether that trial be inward exercise from indwelling sin, or the fiery darts of the wicked one, or outward affliction, or something in prospect which makes the heart tremble; for all these, and every other, we have the promise, "My grace is sufficient for you, my strength is made perfect in weakness."

What can be weaker than a worm? Yet the Lord says, "Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I myself will help you declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. I am holding you by your right hand I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, do not be afraid. I am here to help you." "But now, O Israel, the Lord who created you says Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior!" (Isaiah 41:13, 14; 43:1-3)

These are sweet cordials for a time of weakness and trial. May the Lord fulfill them in your experience, and grant that your faith fails not. May you be kept instant in prayer, "watching thereunto with all perseverance" to learn the mind of the Lord respecting you. Times of trial are inquiring times. See Genesis 25:22, 23; 1 Samuel 23:2, 4, 11; 1 Samuel 30:8; 2 Chronicles 18:4; Job 10:2. There are those now living who can testify to the Lord's glory, that they have found a great blessing, in the close dealing with God to which they have been brought by afflictive dispensations under the Divine exercising (Hebrews 12:11) of the Holy Spirit. It is spoken of ancient Israel that "the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew." Often, indeed, is it thus with the spiritual seed of Abraham, being "chastened of the Lord" there is growth out of SELF into Christ. Blessed is it when we turn our face to the wall; that is, away from every creature expectation, and pour out our hearts before Him. One who did so, in the bitterness of his soul, had afterwards thankfully to say, "O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these is the life of my spirit; so, will You recover me, and make me to live." The Lord grants you like experience, that with me you may have to say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted."

My heart earnestly desires for you that the present afflictive dispensation, and what may be approaching, may be very much sanctified, that the Lord's name may be glorified, and you come forth as gold, saying, "I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that you in faithfulness have afflicted me;" (Psalm 119:75) and heartily choosing, as Moses did, "to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." (Hebrews 11:25)

"For though our cup seems mixed with gall, there's something secret sweetens all."

Is it not so? Have you not found some drops of Divine love in this bitter cup? May the Beloved further show Himself through this lattice, and walk with you in this furnace, causing some fetters to be burned off, that you may freely walk in the way of His commandments. It is better to walk with Jesus in the fire, than to walk after the flesh in the slippery places of worldly indulgence and carnal security. I trust He has a special favor towards you and means to have you walk very closely with Himself. Would that I could speak more worthily of our precious Well-Beloved, who may safely be trusted in the flood and in the flame. Praise Him, O our souls. Adieu, much-beloved.

Your very affectionately,
Ruth.

[To E. M., September 25, 1850]

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Shoes in Church

I showered and shaved, I adjusted my tie. I got there and sat in a pew just in time. Bowing my head in prayer as I closed my eyes, I saw the shoe of the man next to me touching my own. I sighed.   With plenty of room on either side I thought, 'Why must our soles touch?' It bothered me, his shoe touching mine. But it didn't bother him much. 

A prayer began: 'Our Father,' I thought, 'This man with the shoes, has no pride. They’re dusty, worn, and scratched. Even worse, there are holes on the side!' 'Thank You for blessings,' the prayer went on.   The shoe man said a quiet 'Amen.' I tried to focus on the prayer but my thoughts were on his shoes again.  Aren't we supposed to look our best. When walking through that door? 'Well, this certainly isn't it,' I thought, glancing toward the floor. Then the prayer was ended and the songs of praise began.  

The shoe man was certainly loud sounding proud as he sang. His voice lifted the rafters, his hands were raised high. The Lord could surely hear the shoe man's voice from the sky.  It was time for the offering and what I threw in was steep. I watched as the shoe man reached into his pockets so deep. I saw what was pulled out, what the shoe man put in. Then I heard a soft 'clink' as when silver hits tin. 

The sermon really bored me to tears, and that's no lie. It was the same for the shoe man  for tears fell from his eyes.   At the end of the service as is the custom here, we must greet new visitors, And show them all good cheer. But I felt moved somehow and wanted to meet the shoe man. So after the closing prayer I reached over and shook his hand.

He was old and his skin was dark and his hair was truly a mess.  But I thanked him for coming, for being our guest.  He said, 'My name’s Charlie, I'm glad to meet you, my friend.'  There were tears in his eyes but he had a large, wide grin; 'Let me explain,' he said, wiping tears from his eyes. 'I've been coming here for months and you're the first to say Hi.  I know that my appearance is not like all the rest, But I really do try to always look my best.  I always clean and polish my shoes before my very long walk.  But by the time I get here they're dirty and dusty, like chalk.' 

My heart filled with pain and I swallowed to hide my tears. As he continued to apologize for daring to sit so near.  He said, 'When I get here I know I must look a sight. But, I thought if I could touch you then maybe our souls might unite.' I was silent for a moment  knowing whatever was said would pale in comparison. I spoke from my heart, not my head. 'Oh, you've touched me,' I said, 'And taught me, in part that the best of any man is what is found in his heart.' 

The rest, I thought, his shoe man will never know. Like just how thankful I really am that his dirty old shoe touched my soul. 

[message from the Internet]

1 Samuel 16:7 ... But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.❤

His Sheep Hear!

Christ's sheep hear His voice. Christ speaks to us in His Word as truly as ever He spoke to His disciples in the days of His flesh and it is the delight of all His people to hear and obey His Word. The inspired volume is to them an inexhaustible source of comfort. They read it, they meditate upon it, they pray over it, they "esteem it more than their necessary food." When they open it, they look up to their Divine Master and say, "Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening. (1 Samuel 3:9-10) "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things out of Your law." (Psalm 119:18)  Directions, warnings, precepts, promises are all alike acceptable to them. Everything that conveys to them the mind and will of their Good Shepherd, is received with implicit faith and unreserved obedience. 

Christ's sheep follow His steps. In the written Word they behold the path their Savior trod. Wherever they see the traces of His feet, they endeavor to follow. They inquire not whether the way is arduous and self-denying, or perilous and beset with enemies. All that they desire is to ascertain precisely the path of duty; and then to walk in it with steadiness and perseverance. They follow Jesus regardless of all dangers, indifferent to all the things of this world, and intent only on executing His will; and thither they direct their steps, cultivating in everything the mind that was in Him, (1 Corinthians 2:16) and endeavoring "to walk as He walked." (1 John 2:6)

 [Charles Simeon] 

John 10:27-28 ... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.❤

Outward Appearance.

 Don't judge a book by it's cover.

[Idiom 1944]

[Greg Laurie interview with Alice Cooper]

1 Samuel 16:7 ... But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

The LORD is Holy.

God is intrinsically holy, being holy in His nature without limits. 

God is primarily holy, being the perfect and the only true pattern of holiness.

God is efficiently holy, being the cause of all holiness in angels and saints. 

God is transcendently holy, being far above the capacity of holy angels and glorified saints to behold, much less fallen man.

[Thomas Watson]

Revelation 4:8 ... And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Isaiah 6:3 ... And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.

1 Samuel 2:2 ...  There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.❤

Careful ...

Be very careful what you pray for, for not everything is according to God's perfect plan. Sometimes, in rash presumption, people seek, fast, and believe for the wrong thing, it hinders God's overall plan and yet, in those rare moments, God will give us those fleshly desires of our heart, but the result is ruin.

Israel wanted a King, God said "Wait", Israel said "No, we won't wait" and God gave them Saul. Lesson learned.

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10 is an object lesson in waiting for God's will to come into our lives, not our will but his.

Not everything is God's will for you, even the good things, for even good things can destroy a man or woman. So pray according to HIS will, not your own, then things will change in your life. That is God's way.

[Christopher Gregory]

1 Samuel 15:11 ... It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.

✫❤•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫...•°*”˜˜”*°•.❤✫

Faithful Servant.

He does not want a girl who trifles with Christianity. He wants a woman who is radically given to Christ. He does not want a girl who prays tepid, lukewarm prayers. He wants a woman who lives in defiance of the powers of Hell. He does not want a girl who is self-adorning with the latest fashions and trends. He wants a woman who is adorned with the inner jewelry of Christ-given holiness. He does not want a girl who dishonors and belittles her parents. He wants a woman who honors the authorities God has placed in her life and serves them with charity and gladness. He does not want a girl whose Bible is an accessory to her wardrobe. He wants a woman whose hunger and thirst is to know the Lord, and who diligently feasts upon His Word. He does not want a girl whose tongue is a deceptive weapon of selfishness. He wants a woman whose words drip with the honey of the name of Jesus.

[Leslie Ludy]

Proverbs 31:10 ...  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. ❤

Purposeful Target

 You must set goals. Goals are like spiritual targets that greatly increase your ability to focus. Lift your hearts visions up to Him in prayer and He will give you clear goals that will give your arrow a [purposeful target]. Sharpened focus in this area is time well spent. Know that it is by His Spirit that your targets will come and know it is by His Spirit that you will hit those targets. Brainstorming in prayer is getting out your creative paints. Get them all out on the table with all their color. Lift up your ideas to Him in prayer and He will give you your creative targets. Sharpen and exercise this activity and you will greatly increase your capacity and capability for more.

Activity without sharpened wisdom is a waste of time. There is a time and a season for everything. Free time and time before Him is important. But learn to manage your time and the currency of your life. Spend what He has given you well and He will give you more. Peace is a position and posture of great power. Clarity comes from its center. Those who abide in His peace are free from fear and can clearly receive signals from the mind of Christ.

You are coming into a season of adjustments. Assess, clear and clean. Orderly ways must replace the cluttering confusion of disorder. Aimless arrows always sin and miss the mark they were intended. Clean and organize. He is a God of order. Meaningful patterns and order bring peace and creates beauty. Simplify and clarify your targets. It makes it easier to see and hit your purposeful targets.

[Troi Nelson Cockayne]

1 Samuel 15:22 ... And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.❤

Take

These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.

He will TAKE your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.

He will TAKE the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.

He will TAKE the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.

He will TAKE your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.

He will TAKE the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.

And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day. (1 Samuel 8:10-18)

The emphasis is TAKE.

I fear that America won't heed God’s warning to Israel in the past about selecting bad leaders. Biden would be a bad leader.

[Christopher Gregory]

Psalm 9:17 ... The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.❤