OCTOBER 12

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

Proverbs 17:3

“The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts.”

Malachi 3:17

“They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.”

Isaiah 29:16

“Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?”

Isaiah 64:8

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.”

James 1:3-4

“knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

1 Corinthians 10:13

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

This month we will read choices from Charles Spurgeon’s (known affectionately as the “prince of preachers”)  devotional, “Beside Still Waters.”   It’s no secret that this world system is getting more evil by the day.  We have to stand strong in the Lord and look to Him more than ever to get through, and to be guided through, what is in the future……..known and allowed  by Him alone…..as well as whatever personal things we are experiencing in our lives.

PASTOR SPURGEON:

Gold is put into the furnace because it is gold.  It is useless to try to refine rubbish there.  A first-rate diamond will undergo more cutting than an inferior one.  The great Owner of heaven’s jewels uses a sharper cutting machine on the most valuable stones.  Our King desires that we have many facets to reflect the glory of His name.

You often think that Jesus doesn’t care because He has not interposed with a great miracle.  Gradually, you are getting poorer or becoming more afflicted of body.  You had hoped for a miracle.  My dear friend, sometimes God works a greater wonder when He sustains people in trouble than by delivering them.  To let the bush burn with fire and not be consumed, as we find in Exodus 3:2, is a greater thing than quenching the flame and saving the bush.

Possibly, the hard suspicion that Jesus does not care takes another form.  I do not ask the Lord to work a miracle, but I do ask Him to cheer my heart and apply the promises to my soul.  I want His Spirit to visit me so that my pain may be forgotten in the delight of His presence.  I want to feel the full assurance of the Savior’s presence, that this present trial will be swallowed up in a far greater weight of joy.  (2 Corinthians 4:17).  Yet to my regret, the Lord hides His face, and this makes my trial all the heavier.

What a mercy that you can never sink lower than grace!  When you come to your lowest point, God interposes.  The tide turns when you reach the full ebb.  The darkest part of the night is farthest from the rising of sun.

Believers, be of good courage.

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