Behold, His Precious Gift!!

Look at the cross! Behold His precious Gift transfixed to it, and that by His own hand, and for your sins! Then look at your present circumstances, survey your needs, your trials, your chastisements, your bereavements, your heart-sickening, heart-breaking tribulations, and know that God still is love. 

If He had love strong enough, deep enough, to give you Jesus; to tear Him, as it were, from His bosom, and to transfix Him on yonder accursed tree for your iniquities; has He not love enough to bow His ear to your cry, and His heart to your sorrow? Will He not rescue you from this difficulty, deliver you out of this trouble, shield you in this temptation, supply this need, support and comfort you in this grief? 

Oh yes, He will! Doubt it not! The cross of Calvary is a standing pledge; standing until sin and guilt, need and woe shall be known no more; that God, who "spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, will with Him also freely give us all things" necessary to our good, and promotive of His glory. 

[Octavius Winslow]

Romans 8:32 ... He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

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A Worldly Christianity!!

Professor of the gospel! guard against the world; it is your undoing! Watch against conformity to it in your dress, in your mode of living, in the education of your children, in the principles, motives, and policy that govern you. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by any known inconsistency of conduct, any sinful conformity to the world, any inordinate pursuit of its wealth, its honors, its pleasures, its friendships, and its great things. 

Pray against the sin of covetousness, that canker worm that feeds at the root of so many souls! Pray against the love of dress, that sin that diverts the mind of so many professors from the simplicity of Christ and takes the eye off from the true adornment! Pray against a thirst for light and trifling reading, that strange and sinful inconsistency of so many, the certain tendency of which is to starve the life of God in the soul, to engender a distaste for spiritual nourishment, for the Word of God, for holy meditation, and for Divine communion and fellowship. Yes, pray against the spirit of worldly, sinful conformity in everything! 

Reader! are you a professing Christian? Then guard against a worldly Christianity a Christianity that wears a fair exterior, so far as it is composed of church attendance, but which excludes from it the cross of the meek and lowly Lamb of God—a Christianity which loves the world and the things of the world, "makes a fair show in the flesh," speaks well of Christ, and yet betrays Him with a kiss. Oh, awful state! oh, fearful deception! oh, fatal delusion! The world is the sworn enemy of your Savior; let it not be your friend. No; come out of it and be separate. 

[Octavius Winslow] 

Romans 12:2 ... And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

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Low Views of Yourself?

What are you to yourself? worthless? vile? empty? 

What is Jesus to you? precious? lovely? all your salvation? all your desire? 

What is sin to you? the most hateful thing in the world? 

What is holiness to you? most lovely? most longed for? 

What is the throne of grace to you? the most attractive spot? 

What is the cross to you? the sweetest resting place in the universe? 

What is God to you? your God? your Father? the spring of all your joys? the fountainhead of all your bliss? the center where your affections meet? 

Is it so? Then you are a child of God! 

Those low views of yourself that brokenness, that inward mourning, that secret confession, that longing for more spirituality, more grace, more devotedness, more love, does but prove the existence, reality, and growth of God's work within you. Cheer up, precious soul! That soul never perished, that felt itself to be vile, and Jesus to be precious! 

[Octavius Winslow]

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Psalm 51:17 ... The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Psalm 138:6 ... Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Isaiah 1:18 ... Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.❤

Lean Hard!!

It is by an act of simple, prayerful faith we transfer our cares and anxieties, our sorrows and needs, to the Lord. Jesus invites you to come and lean upon Him, and to lean with all your might upon that arm that balances the universe, and upon that bosom that bled for you upon the soldier's spear! 

But you doubtingly ask, "Is the Lord able to do this thing for me?" And thus, while you are debating a matter about which there is not the shadow of a shade of doubt, the burden is crushing your gentle spirit to the dust. And all the while Jesus stands at your side and lovingly says, "Cast your burden upon Me and I will sustain you. I am God Almighty. I bore the load of your sin and condemnation up the steep of Calvary, and the same power of omnipotence, and the same strength of love that bore it all for you then, is prepared to bear your need and sorrow now. Roll it all upon Me! Child of My love! Lean hard! Let Me feel the pressure of your care. I know your burden, child! I shaped it I poised it in My own hand and made no proportion of its weight to your unaided strength. For even as I laid it on, I said I shall be near, and while she leans on Me, this burden shall be Mine, not hers. So shall I keep My child within the encircling arms of My own love. Here lay it down! Do not fear to impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds! Yet closer come! You are not near enough! I would embrace your burden, so I might feel My child reposing on My breast. You love Me! I know it. Doubt not, then. But, loving me, lean hard!" 

[Octavius Winslow] 

Psalm 55:22 ... Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

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True Happiness!!

Happiness is the magic charm that the world is eagerly in search of. But the believer in Christ is its only possessor. He has found it and found it in Jesus. He has found it in a renunciation of self-righteousness, and in a humble reception of Jesus. There is no true happiness outside of Jesus! What true happiness can the heart feel while it is spiritually dead, its sins are unpardoned, it is under condemnation, and exposed to the wrath of a holy and just God? 

Oh reader, do not dream of happiness, until you have gone as a repenting sinner to the cross of Christ! You may be a son or a daughter of affliction. In this furnace you may be chosen, and through this furnace, it may be the Lord's holy will that you should pass all your days. You may be a child of poverty, possessing but little of this world's comforts and you feel lonely, neglected, and despised. 

Yet oh, look up Christian! You are precious in God's sight! You are as dear to Him as the pupil of His eye. His heart yearns over you with more than a mother's exquisite fondness for her child, because He has loved you with an everlasting love! And to the praise of the glory of His grace, He has accepted you in the Beloved. Realize this, and though rough and thorny your path may be, and fiery your furnace, and deep your poverty, and lonely your situation you shall experience a peace and a happiness to which the world around you is an utter stranger. 

[Octavious Winslow] 

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John 14:27 ... Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Psalm 1:1-2 ... Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. ❤

Lean Hard!!

It is by an act of simple prayerful faith, that we transfer our cares and anxieties, our sorrows and needs to the Lord. Jesus invites you to come and lean upon Him, and to lean with all you might upon that arm that balances the universe, and upon that bosom that bled for you upon the soldier's spear! But you doubtingly ask, "Is the Lord able to do this thing for me?" And thus, while you are debating a matter about which there is not the shadow of a shade of doubt the burden is crushing your gentle spirit to the dust! And all the while Jesus stands at your side and lovingly says: Cast your burden upon Me, and I will sustain you. I am God Almighty. I bore the load of your sin and condemnation up the steep of Calvary, and the same power of omnipotence, and the same strength of love that bore it all for you then is prepared to bear your need and sorrow now. Roll it all upon Me! 

"Child of My Love! Lean hard! Let Me feel the pressure of your care. I know your burden, child! I shaped and formed it in My own hand and made no proportion of its weight to your unaided strength. For even as I laid it on, I said, 'I shall be near;' and while you lean on Me, this burden shall be Mine, not yours. So shall I keep My child within the circling arms of My own love.  Here, lay it down!  Do not fear to impose it on a shoulder which upholds the government of worlds! Yet closer come you are not near enough! I would embrace your burden, so I might feel My child reposing on My bosom. You love Me! I know it. Doubt not, then. But, loving Me, lean hard!"

[Octavius Winslow] 

Psalm 55:22 ... Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

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"Fruit"

An unconverted state will bear fruit corresponding with its own essence. It must, in the nature of things, be so. The enmity against God of the carnal mind, the rejection of the Lord Jesus, the governing principle of SELF, the supreme ascendancy of the world, the slavery of sin; indicate, unmistakably, the unrenewed, unregenerate nature from which they spring. We do not expect one to yield the fruits of holiness from an unholy nature. 

The life that an unbeliever lives is in keeping with the unrenewed heart he possesses. He is of the earth, earthly. It is consistent with his unregenerate nature that he should be of the world, that he should love the world, that the world should love him and claim him as its own, that the things of the world its pursuits, its pleasures, its sins; should harmonize with his nature, charm his tastes, delight his senses, and bind his affections in their spell. 

[Octavius Winslow]

Matthew 7:16-18 ... Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ❤

The only thing that makes you differ!

Christian! The only thing that makes you differ from the most debauched being that pollutes the earth, or from the vilest fiend that gnaws his chains in Hell, is the free grace of God! 

[Octavius Winslow]

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1 Corinthians 4:7 ... For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it? 

1 Corinthians 15:10 ...  But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ❤

The God of Light!

Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is to behold the sun. In what believing heart will not these words awaken a quick and grateful response? The renewed man is the only being who knows what true light is, because he only, really knows Jesus. All others are like miners dwelling from their birth beneath the surface of the earth, having never seen the sun, through whose eternal gloom not one vivifying ray has ever pierced. "Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the people." (Isaiah 60:2)

When man sinned, God went out of the temple, luminous and glorious with His presence, and the sun of the soul set in guilt, darkness, and death. Henceforth the natural man walks in darkness, not knowing where he goes, until the time of electing love and sovereign grace draws on, when He who at creation's dawn said, "Let there be light, and light was," (Genesis 1:3) causes the light of life to shine, and the soul is immediately "translated out of darkness into His marvelous light," (1 Peter 2:9) henceforth and forever to be a child of the light and of the day. "You were once darkness, but now are you light in the Lord Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8)

But the present pages have more especially to do with God Himself as the God of light. We are invited to consider, less the reflection and effects of God's light, than the Divine Fountain from which it flows. 

[Octavius Winslow]

1 John 1:5 ... This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ❤

Lord, I Am a Poor, Blind Child!

Jesus leads those who are burdened, and need a skillful, sure and gentle shepherd. Our journey to Heaven is across a waste howling wilderness, through an enemy's country all armed and combined to resist, dispute, and oppose our every step. It is a road, also, all untraveled and unknown. Over the entrance of every new path is written, "You have not passed this way before!" 

A new bend in our life transpires, a new path in our pilgrimage is presented involving new duties and responsibilities, new cares and trials. And with fear and trembling we gird ourselves for the new cloud-veiled pilgrimage which God in His goodness has appointed us. But why these doubts, these trembling's, these fears? 

Jesus is our Leader! He knows all the way we take has mapped every road and has appointed every path. As a Teacher, He leads us into all truth. As a Captain, He leads us from victory to victory. As a Shepherd, He leads us into green pastures. As a Guide, He leads us along our difficult path skillfully, gently, and safely. 

How does Jesus lead us? He leads us graciously. He leads us along all the stages, and through all the exercises of our Christian experience not leaving us when our frames are low, and our faith is assailed, and darkness, often thick darkness, covers our soul. Who could skillfully, patiently, and faithfully lead us along all the mazes, intricacies, and perils of our Christian course, safely to glory but Christ our Leader? 

Commit yourself, O my soul, confidently to the Lord's leading. The way may appear all wrong to you, but it is the right way. Mystery may enshroud it, trials may pave it, sorrows may darken it, tears may bedew it nevertheless He is leading you by the right way home. "Lord, I am a poor, blind child not knowing my way. And when I do see it, I am often so burdened that I cannot walk. Take me by the hand, and gently, skillfully lead me until traveling days are over, and I am at home with You forever! You have promised gently to lead the burdened and feeble who cannot keep up with the flock. Lord, lead ME!" 

[Octavius Winslow] 

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Isaiah 42:16 ... And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Isaiah 40:11 ...  He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

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

Weaned and Divorced From Creature Help!

It is sweet to lean upon one we love: hanging upon His arm for support and reclining upon His bosom for sympathy; one on whose wisdom we can unhesitatingly rely, in whose love we can confidently repose. Transfer this thought to God! How unutterable the blessedness, how vast the privilege, and how happy the result of waiting upon Him who stands to us in the relation of our Father and Redeemer, our brother and Friend. waiting the movement of His pillar of cloud; waiting the supply of His inexhaustible providence; waiting the comfort of His unchanging love; waiting for the fulfillment of the word of promise upon which He has caused our soul to hope! 

"My soul waits on the Lord." 

There does not exist a more privileged and holy condition of the soul, than that of being entirely cast upon God. When the created arm fails to sustain, and the human heart to love; when earthly props give way, and affection and sympathy have fled their last asylum; when the barrel of meal is well-near exhausted, and the cruse of oil distills its last drop oh then to exclaim, "My soul, wait only upon God; for my expectation is from Him." (Psalm 62:5) This is a privilege indeed, a privilege eclipsing all others! 

Oh, count it the richest experience of the divine life when thus weaned and divorced from creature help, you are brought to wait only on the Lord, exclaiming, Now I have no prop, no supply, no sympathy, no comfort but that which I find in Jehovah. I am shut up to Infinity alone! "My help comes from the Lord." (Psalm 121:2)

The gracious soul hangs in faith upon God: upon the veracity of God to fulfill His promise, upon the power of God to help him in difficulty, upon the wisdom of God to counsel him in perplexity, upon the love of God to shield him in danger, upon the Omniscience of God to guide him with His eye, and upon the Omnipresence of God to cheer him with His presence at all times and in all places, his Sun and his Shield. 

Oh, have faith in God! The moment the soul can believingly repose upon Him, it ceases to be the sport of every wind and wave of circumstance and doubt and drops its anchor on the firm and immovable bedrock of DIVINITY! 

[Octavius Winslow]

Psalm 33:20 ... Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield.

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The Nearness of God

More saints than Luther have felt a personal interest in the forty-sixth Psalm "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble;" thus drinking with him of the "river the streams whereof make glad the city of God." (Psalm 46:1,4) 

My soul, are you not one of them? Has not your praiseful exclamation often been, "You are NEAR, O Lord!" God is everywhere, but it is only His own children who forcibly feel, and gratefully acknowledge, and holily exhibit, not His omniscience only, but his especial and personal presence. Look at this precious truth, my soul, in connection with two or three features of your varied experience. He is a God at hand in the person of Christ. The Lord Jesus brings God very near to us. He is not only the revealed One of God, but He is in His own person really and absolutely God "He who has seen Me, has seen the Father." (John 14:9)

Could a mere creature, a man only, say this? Impossible, with any truth, and without blasphemy. Oh, how near to us has Jesus brought the Father! Come to Jesus, look at Jesus, listen to Jesus, and realize that in so doing you approach to, gaze upon, and hear the voice of, God your Father in heaven. God is near in the work of Jesus. The blood brings us sinners near to God, as it brings a sin-pardoning God near to us. "You that were afar off are made near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13)

See then your true and present standing, O my soul! Nothing comes between you and God but the atoning blood of Jesus. His blood annihilates all your sin and guilt. Robed in His imputed righteousness, you are to God nearer than the highest angel in heaven and nearer you cannot be, and God draws near to you and speaks "A God at hand, says the Lord." (Mark 1:15)

God is near at hand when you do approach Him in prayer. Oh, comforting truth! A God at hand to hear the softest breath of prayer to listen to every confession of sin to every cry of need to every utterance of sorrow to every wail of woe to every appeal for counsel, strength, and support. 

Arise, O my soul! and give yourself to prayer; for God is near at hand to hear and answer you. Listen to His word, "Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto Me? says the Lord." "You meet him that rejoices and works righteousness, those who remember You in Your ways."  A God at hand is He in every time of trouble. "A very present help." Not far have you to travel for the guidance and deliverance you need. If forsaking the Lord your God you go down into 'Egypt' for help, and trust in the chariots and horses thereof, then will you be ashamed of your confidence. But why fly to creature help, when the Lord your God is near unto you in all that you call upon Him for? 

Cease from man; for God in Christ is very near, and one step of believing prayer will bring you to His feet. Oh, live as in His presence! Be your life a life of communion, doing and enduring, toiling and suffering, as beholding Him who is invisible. In a little while we shall pass from our partial and imperfect realizations of His presence when on earth, to enjoy His full, unclouded, and eternal presence in heaven! Then shall our eyes see the King in His full unveiled beauty, not as now, through a glass darkly, but then face to face. And, oh transporting thought! we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Guard vigilantly and strive prayerfully against that which creates a conscious distance between God and your soul. Is it the world? come out of it. Is it the creature? relinquish it. Is it the flesh? mortify it. Is it sin? forsake it. Is it unbelief? nail it to the cross. 

Oh, let nothing separate you from Christ no earthly good or carnal delight cause a distance, or coldness, or shyness between God and your soul. Give Jesus your undivided heart, and let God be your all in all. Then shall your happy experience be "You are NEAR, O Lord." 

[Octavius Winslow] 

Jeremiah 23:23 ... Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?

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The Absolute Necessity of Experimental Religion!

The religion of the Lord Jesus is valuable only as its power is experienced in the heart. In this respect, and in this only, it may be compared to the physical sciences, which, however ingenious in structure, or beautiful in theory yet, if not reduced or reducible to purposes of practical use, are of little worth. 

It is so with the truth of Jesus. The man of mere taste may applaud its external beauty, the philosopher may admire its ethics, the orator may admire its eloquence, and the poet may admire its sublimity but if the Spirit of God does not take His own truth, and impress it upon the heart, as to the great design of its revelation it avails nothing! 

What numbers there are who rest in the mere 'theory' of Christianity! But as a practical principle they know nothing of it. As a thing experienced in the heart it is a hidden mystery to them. They speak well of Christianity as a religious system; they believe its Divinity, and even defend its doctrines and extol its precepts yet make no approaches towards a personal and practical obedience to its claims. 

In a word, they know nothing of repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. It will surely appear to a spiritually enlightened mind, a subject of vast and solemn importance that this delusion should be exposed that this foundation of sand should be undermined; and that the absolute necessity of experimental religion, as necessary to an admission within the kingdom of glory, be strenuously and scripturally enforced! 

[Octavius Winslow] 

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2 Thessalonians 2:10 ...  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

 1 Thessalonians 1:5 ... For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake. ❤

The Buzzing of a Fly!!

Look at that flower! It neither toils nor spins and why? Because your Heavenly Father clothes it! Look at that bird! Leaping from bow to bow, springing from hill to valley, sparkling with beauty, gushing with song, and wild with ecstatic delight! It has not a thought or care of its own and why? Because God thinks and cares for it. 

Oh, you of little faith! Why do you hesitate to trust all your personal interests, to confide all your worldly affairs, to disclose all your temporal needs and sorrows in prayer to God? He is not too high for your lowest need nor too great for your smallest care. 

"If the buzzing of a fly troubles me," says John Newton, "I may take it to God." This is not mere sentiment. It is the practical embodiment of a principle of experimental religion most honoring to God and sanctifying to us the principle of faith, which acknowledges God in all our ways, sees God in everything, and takes everything, the smallest, to God. 

[Octavius Winslow] 

Matthew 6:26-32 ... Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

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He Gave His Entire Self!!

It is utterly impossible to savingly know Jesus, and not become inspired with a desire . to love Him supremely, to serve Him devotedly, to resemble Him closely, to glorify Him faithfully here, and to enjoy Him fully hereafter. And oh, how worthy is the Savior of our most exalted conceptions; of our most implicit confidence; of our most self-denying service; of our most fervent love! 

When He could give us no more, and the fathomless depths of His love and the boundless resources of His grace would not be satisfied by giving us less He gave us Himself! Robed in our nature, laden with our curse, oppressed with our sorrows, wounded for our transgressions, and slain for our sins.

He gave His entire self for us! 

[Octavius Winslow] 

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Galatians 2:20 ... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Ephesians 5:2 ... And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

Titus 2:14 ... Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. ❤

Your Poor, Silly Sheep

It is not the least important duty of the Shepherd to go in quest of the stray ones of the flock the fickle sheep wandering from the fold. The spiritual history of the believer is a history of declension and revival, of departure and return, of his backsliding and of the Savior's restoring. 

The regenerate soul is bent upon backsliding from the Lord. The sun does not more naturally decline, than does the believing heart wander from God. "O Lord, how many and hidden are my soul's departures from You, you only know! How often my love chills, my faith droops, my zeal flags, and I grow weary, and am ready to halt in Your service. Mine is a sinful, roving heart as fickle to You as the changing wind, as false to my vows as a broken bow. 

But You, O Lord, are my Shepherd, and You restore my soul. Pitying my infirmity, knowing my wanderings, and tracking all my steps You recover, heal, and pardon Your poor, silly sheep, prone to leave Your wounded, sheltering side in quest of that which can be found in Yourself alone." 

Oh, the love of Jesus in curbing our waywardness, checking our wanderings, arresting, healing, and restoring our souls! He never forsakes His people, though they forsake Him times without number. How can He turn His back upon one bought with His sufferings, groans, and tears? How can He forsake the work of grace wrought in the soul by His Spirit? 

He may withdraw Himself for a time, gently to awaken us from our slothfulness and slumber yet He returns again, and our lips gratefully sing, "He restores my soul!"  (Psalm 23:3) 

[Octavious Winslow] 

Hebrews 13:5 ... Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

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Treasures of His Grace!!

Bring your perplexities to God, and He will guide them. Bring your needs to God, and He will supply them. Bring your mountains to God, and He will level them. Bring your sins to God, and He will forgive them. Bring your sorrows, trials, and temptations to God and He will sustain you under and will bring you through them; to the praise and glory of His great Name, as the "God of all grace." 

Your supplies may be exhausted, but not His fullness. Your need may press, but there is no pressure on His sufficiency. Your power may be limited, but His is illimitable. Your grace may be shallow, but His is fathomless. And you may ask, "From where will my next supply come?" while, at the moment that the anxious question is trembling upon your lip the supply that is to silence it is laid up in the inexhaustible treasures of His grace and will be sent just at the moment that will awaken in you the sweetest song, and yield to Him the richest glory! 

[Octavious Winslow] 

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Psalm 23:1 ... The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Philippians 4:19 ... But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. ❤

Listen to the LORD.

Listen then, to the voice of Jesus in the storm! It is I who raised the tempest in your soul and will control it. It is I who sent your affliction and will be with you in it. It is I who kindled the furnace and will watch the flames and bring you through it. It is I who formed your burden, who carved your cross and who will strengthen you to bear it. It is I who mixed your cup of grief and will enable you to drink it with meek submission to your father's will. It is I who took from you worldly substance, who bereft you of your child, of the wife of your bosom, of the husband of your youth and will be infinitely better to you than husband, wife, or child. It is I who has done it ALL! 

I make the clouds My chariot and clothe Myself with the tempest as with a garment. The night hour is My time of coming; and the dark, surging waves are the pavement upon which I walk. Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid. 

It is I, your friend, your brother, your Savior! I am causing all the circumstances of your life to work together for your good! It is I who permitted the enemy to assail you, the slander to blast you, the unkindness to wound you, the need to press you! Your affliction did not spring out of the ground but came down from above a heaven-sent blessing disguised as an angel of light clad in a robe of ebony. I have sent all in love! 

This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God. This bereavement shall not always bow you to the earth, nor drape in changeless gloom your life. It is I who ordered, arranged, and controlled it all! In every stormy wind, in every darksome night, in every lonesome hour, in every rising fear, the voice of Jesus shall be heard, saying, "Take courage! It is I! Do not be afraid!" 

[Octavius Winslow]

 

Mark 6:50 ... For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. ❤

Promised and Pledged.

Whose presence is thus promised and pledged? It is the presence of Christ! The Christ who is God. "Immanuel, God with us!" The Christ who made all worlds, created all beings, governs all empires, and controls all events! The Christ who replenishes earth with beauty, Heaven with glory, eternity with song! The Christ before whom angels and archangels, principalities and powers bend and at whose name every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord! 

The Christ whose glory is divine, whose beauty is peerless, whose wealth is boundless, whose love is as infinite as His being! The Christ who bore and put away your sins forever, uplifted and forever removed your curse, paid all your great debt to Divine justice, sorrowed for you in the garden, suffered and expired in your stead on the cross, rose from the grave, ascended up to Heaven, lives and intercedes for you, representing your person and presenting your prayers and praises with ineffable acceptance and delight to His Father and your Father, to His God and your God. 

O honored saint of God! You have the Divinest in the universe to love you, the Mightiest in the universe to shield you, the Loveliest in the universe to delight you, the Dearest in the universe to soothe, cheer, and gladden you! O favored disciple of Jesus you have such a One ever at your side! This is the promise of promises—the richest pearl of all the promises, exceeding in its mightiness and preciousness; while it is the substance, sweetness, and pledge of all the rest! 

[Octavius Winslow] 

Matthew 28:20 ...  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

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The One, Precious, All Absorbing Theme!

The Word of God must ever be transcendently precious to the believer. The Bible is, from its commencement to its close, a record of the Lord Jesus. Around Him the divine and glorious Word centers; all its wondrous types, prophecies and facts gather. His Promise and Foreshadowing, His holy Incarnation, Nativity and Baptism, His Obedience and Passion, His Death, Burial and Resurrection, His Ascension to Heaven, His Second coming to judge the world are the grand and touching, the sublime and tender, the priceless and precious truths interwoven with the whole texture of the Bible, to which the Two Witnesses of Revelation, the Old and the New Testaments bear their harmonious and solemn testimony. 

Beloved, let this be the one and chief object in your study of the Bible the knowledge of Jesus! The Bible is not a history, a book of science or a poem it is a record of Christ. Study it to know more of Him His nature, His love, His work. With the magnanimous Paul, "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord." (Philippians 3:8) Then will God's Word become increasingly precious to your soul, and its truths unfold. 

In every page you will: trace the history of Jesus, see the glory of Jesus, admire the work of Jesus, learn the love of Jesus, and hear the voice of Jesus! The whole volume will be redolent of His name, and luminous with His beauty! Oh, what is the Bible to us apart from its revelation of a Savior! Is there not great danger of studying it merely intellectually and scientifically, of reveling among its literary beauties and its grandeur blind to its true value, and without any desire to know that precious Savior who died for sinners, that Divine Redeemer who purchased the ransom of His Church with His own blood; that Friend who loves us; that Brother who sympathizes with us, that enthroned High Priest who intercedes for us within the veil? 

Do we study the "Word of Christ" spiritually and honestly as those whose souls hunger and thirst for this, the bread and water of life? Do we search it diligently and earnestly as for hidden treasure, treasure beyond all prices? Can we say with David, "O how love I Your law! It is my meditation all the day!" (Psalm 119:97) Do we: read it with a child-like mind, receive it with a believing heart, bow to its teaching with reverence of soul, and receive its decisions in all questions of faith and practice as decisive and ultimate? In a word, do we search the Scriptures humbly, prayerfully, depending upon the guidance of the Spirit to find Jesus in them? 

Of these Scriptures He is the Alpha and the Omega, the substance, the sweetness, the glory, the one, precious, all absorbing theme! Yes, Lord! Your word is precious to our souls, because it reveals to us Your glory, and tells us of Your love! 

[Octavius Winslow]

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1 John 5:11 ... And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

John 1:14 ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

2 Timothy 2:15 ... Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ❤