Gems from January 2016

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”

(Philippians 2:13)

An Exchange of Wills

I want my heart so cleared of self that my dear Lord can come

And set up His own furnishings, and make my heart—His home.

And since I know what this requires, each morning while it’s still,

I slip into that secret room, and leave with Him—my will,

He always takes it graciously, presenting me with His;

I’m ready then to meet the day and any task there is.

And this is how my Lord controls my interest, my ills,

Because we meet at break of day, for an EXCHANGE OF WILLS.

(Anna Jane Granniss)

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“Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord.”

(Exodus 14:13)

It will not do to say that we trust in the Lord; we must prove that we do, 

and that too when every thing apparently is the king's bearing in the eyes of the people; yea, rather, such is ever the bearing of faith, calm, self-possessed, dignified, in the presence of man; while, at the same time, ready to sink into the very dust in self-abasement in the presence of God. The man of faith can say to his fellow, 'Stand still, and see the salvation of God!' and, at the same moment, send up to God the cry of conscious weakness. 

Harken to Him while, in the retirement of the sanctuary, shut in 

with God, he pours out the anxieties of his soul in the ear 

of One who was willing to hear and ready to help. 

(C.H.Mackintosh - D.H.)

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January 1

YOU ARE STILL WORLDLY

“I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 

(1 Corinthians 3:2-3)

Have you ever heard the statement from an unbeliever..."Why should I become a Christian? 

I don't see any difference between my life and theirs. 

I don't see how their faith in Christ has affected the way they live.” 

What a sad commentary on the average believer. I'm afraid this is starkly true of many who profess faith in Christ.

For a Christian to be changed from their carnal state to the spiritual, 

there must be sincere conviction of inward attitudes, such as pride, 

criticism of others, selfishness, arrogance, and any worldly pursuits that quench the Spirit and bind one in the bondage of SELF. 

Until we admit our need, we will not seek God in our new relationship with Him for Him to deliver us from the "power of sin" in our lives. But God has not only provided atonement "for" our sin but he has provided every believer the Holy Spirit who alone enables us to have victory over sin in our daily lives. 

The whole aim of Christ's work in our redemption and our walk before others is that 

HE MAY BE ALL IN ALL. 

This life of walking by the Spirit comes from God. HE will be our sufficiency for every encounter, when we cast ourselves completely at the foot of the cross. There must be a displacement of self-rule and the enthronement of God in our heart. Until God is THE priority of our life, we will wander on the perimeter of God's plan in inconsequential significance, and have an unfruitful, ineffective spiritual life. 

(Adapted)

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January 2

“The children of Israel journeyed . . . from the wilderness  . . . toward the sunrising.”

(Numbers 21:11)

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown!”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God,

trod gladly into the night.

And He led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

(M. Louise Haskins)

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January 3

“My times are in Thy hand.”

(Psalm 31:15)

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

(Ephesians 5:16)

Implacable.  Inevitable.  Constant.  Time.  Keeps. Ticking.

Another year has slipped quietly into the ocean of eternity.

A new year beckons, pristine and unsullied, 365 gifts from God,

brim full of opportunities and possibilities.

As you anticipate 2016, cling to these two great principles.

First, our times are in His hand.

When the sorrows and failures of the year threaten to overwhelm you,

rest in His sovereign, unfailing compassion.

Secondly, use your time for His glory.  Set goals for your life in prayer,

Bible study, witnessing, and service.  

Do it now!

Stick with it!

He will help you to succeed.

(S.M.)  

Another year is dawning!  Dear Father, let it be,

In working or in waiting, another year with Thee.

(F.R. Havergal)  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The coming of the Lord for all His redeemed ones may well intervene before

we see another year, month, week, day, hour or moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”

(James 5:8)

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January 4

“So Joseph sent his brethren away, and they departed: and he said unto them, See that ye fall not out by the way.” (Genesis 45:24)

In those last words of the upper room, when the Lord is equipping His disciples to be His witnesses, He thrice exhorts them to love one another (John 13:34; 15:12, 17). 

Alas! we have fallen out by the way. The Galatians by their legality fell out by the way, for the apostle has to say, “Ye bite and devour one another” (Galatians 5:15).

The Corinthians by their carnality fell out by the way, for the apostle writes, “There are contentions among you” (1 Corinthians 1:11)

And as in the beginning so it has ever been 

through the long history of that which 

professes to be a witness for Christ in the earth.

Had love prevailed there would have been no room either for legality

or carnality to divide the servants of Christ and mar their service to the Lord.

(Hamilton Smith)

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January 5

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will

and to do of His good pleasure.”

(Philippians 2:13)

If we would have Christ dwell in our hearts 

there must be something more than a guest room set aside for Him.

He desires to dwell with us, to abide in us.

The transient guest is hedged about by certain limitations.

But there can be no secrets from one who has a permanent home with us.

This is so with Christ in the heart.

From attic to basement in the whole house of life there must be no room that is closed to Him.

There may be rooms of the soul we would not throw open to the world,

but if the Lord is to abide with us,

the key even to these must be placed in His hands.

Only so can we know the joy and peace and strength of His abiding presence in the heart.

(Mountain Trailways for Youth)

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January 6

“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name.” 

(Malachi 3:16)

It is possible to be so busy that our souls become barren. Too much activity causes us to be occupied too much with our work and too little with our God. Preachers who do not spend much time alone in meditation and communion with the Lord soon give out second-hand messages that have little or no spiritual power. 

We should all pray, “Lord, deliver me from the barrenness of a busy life.”  Many believers are afraid to be alone. They must be with others, talking, working or traveling. No time is spent in quiet contemplation. 

The pressures of modern life encourage us to be hyperactive, to be overachievers. We build up a momentum of activity and it is difficult to slow down. Life seems to be a continual push, push, push, go, go, go. The result is that we do not develop deep spiritual roots. 

(Adapted)

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January 7

“And He (Jesus) was withdrawn from them about a stone’s cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, saying, Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me: nevertheless not My will, but Thine, be done.” (Luke 22:41-42)

You cannot expect an answer from God unless your will is gone.

You shut out answers to prayer because you have a will 

about the thing for which you are praying.

(Edward Dennett)

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January 8

“Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,

and a two-edged sword in their hand.”

(Psalm 149:6)

The Lord’s people are to be both worshippers and warriors.

The truth of it is: if you are a worshipper, 

you can expect to be a warrior,

for the enemy will surely seek to quell your overflowing heart.

Songs of praise bring pleasure to the Lord but provoke anger in the enemy.

How wonderful, when we turn to the New Testament we find that the

Lord has provided a “melody in your heart” (Ephesians 5:19) to praise Him,

and “the whole armour of God . . .to stand against the wiles of the devil” 

(Ephesians 6:11). 

(Milton Haack)

“To Thee we pay our grateful songs; Thy kind protection still implore;

O may our hearts, and lives and tongues confess Thy goodness, and adore.”

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January 9

“When thou passest through the waters . . . they shall not overflow thee.” (Isaiah 43:2)

“When thou passest through the waters” deep the waves may be and cold, But Jehovah is our refuge, and His promise is our hold; For the Lord Himself hath said it, He, the faithful God and true:

“When thou comest to the waters thou shalt not go down, BUT THROUGH.”

Seas of sorrow, seas of trial, bitterest anguish, fiercest pain,

Rolling surges of temptation sweeping over heart and brain—

They shall never overflow us for we know His word is true;

All His waves and all His billows He will lead us safely through.

Threatening breakers of destruction, doubt’s insidious undertow,

Shall not sink us, shall not drag us out to ocean depths of woe;

For His promise shall sustain us, praise the Lord, whose Word is true!

We shall not go down, or under, for He saith, “Thou passest THROUGH.”     

(Annie Johnson Flint)

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January 10

“Now the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always by 

all means. The Lord be with you all”

(2 Thessalonians 3:16)

Praise is all that we can offer to God.

When everything is going on smoothly and pleasantly;

our property safe, our business prosperous, our children carrying 

themselves agreeably, our residence comfortable, our health excellent—

everything, in short, just to our mind—how apt we are to mistake the 

peace which reposes on such circumstances for that peace

which flows from the realized presence of Christ. 

(Food for the Desert)

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January 11

“But [Stephen], being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God.”  (Acts 7:55)

"Keep your eye on the One gone up . . .”

As you feel the dearth and weariness of everything here,

simply turn your eye upward;

all power and comfort must now come from above.

As your eye becomes educated in the exaltation of Jesus,

so will your heart be invigorated to endure for Him down here in everything,

like the first martyr (Stephen),

though in comparison it may be a very small measure.

(Footprints for Pilgrims)

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January 12

The Scarlet Line


“And she bound the scarlet line in the window.”
(Joshua 2:21)

Perhaps our thoughts went to the story of Rahab when the
Children of Israel took the city of Jericho.
The scarlet line was the salvation for her and all who were in her house.
But there is another “scarlet cord/thread” very prominent in the Scriptures.
It runs from Genesis to Revelation, from the coat of skins
God provided to cover Adam and Eve’s
nakedness (Genesis 3:21) to the blood of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation 12:11.
It is the vital role of blood throughout Scripture.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood . . .
to make an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11).
“Without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22).

The countless animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, with all that shedding of blood,
served as a foreshadowing of the one true sacrifice to come, Jesus, the Lamb of God when He died on the cross.
The blood of all those animals could never take away sins, but the precious blood of Christ,
(as of a Lamb without blemish or spot), was used once and for ever.

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Ephesians 1:7).

Have you put your trust in Jesus and His shed blood, blood shed for you?(Daily Devotionals - F.P.)

“Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood,
Would you o’er evil a victory win? There’s wonderful power in the blood.
There is power, power. Wonder working power in the blood of the Lamb.
Oh, there’s power, power. Wonder-woking power in the precious blood of the Lamb.”(Song by Lewis Jones - 1899)

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January 13

“Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling . . .”

(Jude 24)

“Unto Him that is able!”

This is what gives new strength to the wearied warrior.

Weak and helpless in himself,

he looks up in faith to 

One who is able

and thus out of weakness is made strong.

(H.A. Ironside)

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January 14

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith . . .”

(Revelation 3:22)

If we are quiet, we shall hear.

If we hear, we shall be quiet.

(JND)

It will often be seen that those who complain most of lack of appreciation do not know how to love— 

of inadequate pay do not know how to work— 

of abuse of rights do not know how to give—

of not being heard do not know how to listen.

(With thanks - J.K.)

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January 15

“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five 

smooth stones out of the brook.”

(1 Samuel 17:40)

David faced a formidable foe in Goliath, yet the shepherd met the enemy with a sling and five smooth stones.

He was challenging Goliath on God’s level! The feeble sling and five smooth stones were symbols of dependence upon Him. David would not defeat the enemy with carnal weapons, but with spiritual power. The stones were small, insignificant things, but they were powerful in the hand of the man of God. God can give us victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil, but we too need to be dependent on Him, allowing the Spirit of God to energize our lives day by day.

(James Comte)

Be thou a vessel, contented and low, 

Ever kept clean by His mercies’ pure flow.

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January 16

“My soul is even as a weaned child.”

(Psalm 131:2)

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers,

ye . . . are become such as have need of 

milk, and not of strong meat.”

(Hebrews 5:12)

The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “weaned” takes us straight to Hebrews 5:12.

For “to wean” means “to complete, to ripen," and to be weaned therefore

means to be completed, ripened, so that baby food and baby 

ways are left behind and childish things are put away.

We are not meant to live on prepared food, or to be spoon fed.

God did not mean us always to have the Living Water drawn 

for us and poured out into glasses and set on our tables.

We are meant to draw water out of the wells of 

salvation ourselves (Isaiah 12:3).

The Eastern picture is not that of turning on a tap, 

but of going to a well, dipping down into it,

and drawing water up for ourselves.

We must not go on being baby souls, starved and 

thirsty if our food and drink is not doled out to us.

Don’t let us so live on anything given by others to us.

If the time has come for us to be teachers, helpers,

 givers ourselves, don’t let us disappoint our God.

He wants His children to be ripened, complete, weaned.

(Amy Carmichael)

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January 17

“With Christ; which is far better.”

(Philippians 1:23) 

“In My Father’s house are many mansions . . . 

I go to prepare a place for you.”

(John 14 :2) 

He tells us the place He is going to take us to—It is the Father’s house.

And what makes the Father’s house of importance to the child—if he has right affections?                                                        

It is, that the Father is there. . . .

However feebly we may enjoy it now, 

when we talk of “going to heaven,”

it is going to the Father.

(J.N. Darby)  

“There no stranger God shall meet Thee!

Stranger thou in courts above:

He who to His rest shall greet thee,

Greets thee with a well known love."

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January 18

"So will I also be for thee.”

(Hosea 3:3)

His life for thee.  “The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.”  

Oh, wonderful gift! not promised but given; not to friends but to enemies.

Given without condition, without reserve, without return.

Himself unknown and unloved, his gift unsought and unasked, He gave His life for thee;

a more than royal bounty—the greatest gift that Deity could devise.  

Oh, grandeur of love!

"I lay down My life for the sheep.”  And we for whom 

He gave it have held back, and hesitated to give our lives,

not even for Him (He has not asked us to do that) but to Him. 

But that is past and he has tenderly pardoned the unloving,

 ungrateful reserve and has graciously accepted the poor little 

fleeting breath and speck of dust which was all we had to offer.

And now His precious death and His glorious life are all”for thee".

(Kept for the Master’s Use - Francis Ridley Havergal)

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January 19

“His blood-servants shall serve Him.”

(Revelation 22:3

“And they shall reign for ever and ever.”

(Revelation 22:5)

Before the throne there’s neither toil nor care;

No wearied limbs, no anxious minds, are there.

Yet though they rest indeed who see His face,

No one is idle in that happy place.

The saints above two diverse tasks combine — 

(What man divorces, God can intertwine) — 

They are His servants, and they serve amain,

Yet, e’en while serving Him, they also reign.

O teach me, Lord, that of this heavenly art

I may beforetime learn a little part!

For my proud heart would fain for honours pray,

Yet from the bond-slave’s task-work turn away.

O give me grace to stoop!  For otherwise

I sink the lower as I seem to rise.

And let this truth my life’s endeavours nerve — 

None truly reigns but those who truly serve!

(Bells & Pomegranates)

(James M.S. Tait)

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January 20

“As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness:

I shall be satisfied, when I awake,

with Thy likeness.”

(Psalm 17:15)

At least ten times the Psalmist speaks of being satisfied.  

The world claims to offer satisfaction, but time after 

time, to our sorrow, we’ve found that its waters fail.

Its joys are shallow and its pleasures fleeting.

Note Jacob’s response in Genesis 45 when he saw the wagons 

sent from Egypt for his deliverance,

“It is enough, I will go.”  

Concerning the things of Christ, can you say from the depths of your heart,

“It is enough, I am satisfied”?

(Wm. H. Gustafson)

"Satisfied with Thee, Lord Jesus, I am blest;

Peace which passeth understand on Thy breast;

No more doubting, no more trembling, O, what rest!”  

(H. Bennett)

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January 21

“And He said, so is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come” (Mark 4:26-29).

The parable depicts three different periods in the experience of a farmer, first that of faithful sowing, then that of patient waiting, and lastly that of joyful reaping.

Jesus declares that this experience is similar to that of one who proclaims  the message of salvation. His task is to sow the seed faithfully; the production of the harvest is in the hands of God.

This sowing may be difficult and painful; it may involve hardship and sacrifice and pain; but when the seed has been carefully planted, then one can rest.  He can “sleep and rise night and day,” for by processes of which he is ignorant, and which he does not seek to discover, the seed will spring up and grow, he doesn’t know how.

There are forces in the earth, and rain and sunlight and summer air; over these the sower has no control; but he trusts that, if he has sown good seed, these influences will combine to produce the ripe grain.

Happy is the Christian messenger who has learned to wait patiently for the harvest when he has faithfully scattered the seed, to do his work carefully and to leave the results with God!

(Charles R. Erdman)

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January 22

“And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,

even as He is pure.”

(1 John 3:3)

Why do we long for the Lord’s coming?

Because we love Him.

And He loves us infinitely more than we love Him.

That is why I believe that He longs for that day even more than we do.

We know we must be ready at His coming—completely ready.

And if we are really hoping for His return, 

we shall see to it that we are ready.

(Corrie Ten Boom - This Day is the Lord’s)

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January 23

“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”  (Colossians 3:13)   

THE MINISTRY OF BENEVOLENCE

The New Testament speaks of three kinds of works:

- Dead works—the activities of the self-righteous man (Hebrews 9:14).

- Wicked works—the activities of the unrighteous man (Colossians 1:21).

- Good works—the activities of the Christian man (Ephesians 2:10).

It tells us that the Lord Jesus went about continually doing good (Acts 10:38); and that He has left His people an example that they should follow His steps (1 Peter 2:21). Christian women are asked to adorn themselves with good works (1 Timothy 2:9-10).

Christian men are urged to separate from everything that hinders in order that they may be meet for the Master’s use and prepared unto every good work (2 Timothy 2:21).

We are to be fruitful in every form of benevolence (Colossians 1:10);

and are not to restrict our activities to the children of God but, as we have opportunity, are to show kindness to all (Galatians 6:10;  Hebrews 13:16).

The power by which we are equipped for these delightful ministries 

is the illimitable grace of God (2 Corinthians 9:8).

(Heaven’s Cure for Earth’s Care - George Henderson)

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January 24

“The Word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.”

(Jonah 3:1)

Here is a message that glows with promise and hope. 

Just because a man has failed does not mean that God has put him on the shelf. David’s failures are recorded with stark realism. 

As we read them, we sit in the dust with him and burn with shame. But David knew how to break before the Lord, how to repent with blood-earnestness. 

And God was not through with him. God forgave him and restored him to a life of fruitfulness. Jonah failed to answer God’s missionary call and wound up in the belly of a great fish. 

In that animate submarine, he learned to obey. When God called him the second time, he went to Nineveh, preached imminent judgment, and saw the whole city plunged into deepest repentance. 

So when it comes to service, God is the God of the second chance. 

He is not through with a man just because that man has failed. Whenever He finds a broken and a contrite heart, he bows to lift up the head of his fallen soldier. 

This must not be taken to condone sin or failure, however. 

The bitterness and remorse of having failed the Lord should serve as sufficient deterrent. Neither does it mean that God gives the unrepentant sinner a second chance after this life. 

There is a terrible finality about death. 
For the man who dies in his sins, the awful sentence is,

"...in the place where the tree falleth, there it shall be."  

(Ecclesiastes 11:3)

(Truth to live by, one day at a time - D.H.) 

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January 25

“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, 

I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

(Revelation 3:16)

Every decision is a moral decision - - because it is for 

better or for worse;

and whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

God is never neutral; and He does not condone neutrality.

He is offended by the suggestion of it.  

(Nuggets - - Food for Thought - J.K.)

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January 26

“The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails 

fastened by the masters of assemblies.”

(Ecclesiastes 12:11)

- No action so little, but we may in it do God or the devil some service, and therefore none too little for our care to be bestowed on. 

- Hypocrisy is a lie with a fair cover over it.

- None sooner topple over into error, than such who have a dishonest heart with a nimble head.

The richest soil, without culture, is most tainted with weeds.

- Thou must live by thy faith, not another's.  Labour to see truth with thy own eyes.

- He that maintains any error from the Bible, bears false witness against God.

-  He that abandons the truth of God, renounceth the God of truth.  

(The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall - 1617-1679)

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January 27

“When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime".  

(Daniel 6:10)

“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice.”

(Psalm 55:17)

“Continuing instant in prayer.”

(Romans 12:12)

I love to steal awhile away from every cumbering care,

And spend the hours of setting day in humble, grateful prayer.

I love in solitude to shed the penitential tear, 

And all His promises to plead, where none but God can hear.

(Anon)

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January 28

“And [Gideon] divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers.  And he said unto them, Look on me, and do likewise.” (Judges 7:16-17)

They were a strangely equipped army as they went out  to the fight; their weapons were contrary to all accepted ideas, and their tactics such as could not be learned in the military schools; but they were men with the a single object and obedient—all they needed to be. The battle cry was a glorious one, and proved that they were men assured of victory.

They were focused men, and their gaze was fixed upon their leader, for his command was: “Look upon me.”  If they had looked upon the foe they would probably have been discouraged by the number of them.  But to look upon the foe was no business of theirs, for their God-given captain claimed their attention and commanded their obedience, and while they looked on him, “they stood every man in his place,” 

and, standing each in his place, they became a compacted, undivided company.

The state of things described in 2 Timothy 3 could scarcely be worse, and yet we have there a true picture of the professing church today.  But Paul looked not in that direction; he looked  above the scene of conflict and failure, and fixed his eyes upon a risen Christ at God’s right hand, and the result of this steadfast gaze was continual triumph.  

(The Lord is Near - J.T. Mawson)

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January 29

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

(2 Timothy 1:12)

When the great Chemist, Sir Michael Faraday, was on his deathbed,

some journalists questioned him as to his speculations

concerning the soul and death.

“Speculations!”

said the dying man, in astonishment;

"I know nothing about speculations;

I am resting on certainties!”

(Streams in the Desert)

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January 30

"And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, 

even a morning without clouds.”

(2 Samuel 23:4)

"When the mists have rolled in splendour from the beauty of the hills,

And the sunlight falls in gladness on the river and the rills,

We recall our Father’s promise in the rainbow of the spray:

We shall know each other better when the mists have rolled away.

We shall come with joy and gladness, we shall gather round the throne,

Face to face with those that love us we shall know as we are known:

And the song of our redemption shall resound thro’ endless day

When the shadows have departed and the mists have rolled away."

(Annie Herbert)

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January 31

“That ye study to be quiet . . .”

(1 Thessalonians 4:11)

“Be silent . . . before the Lord.”

(Zechariah 2:13) 

A converted slave-trader, John Newton, distilled his life’s perfume into:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!”

"Pilgrim’s Progress" was not dashed off in a plush penthouse suite, but 

written from a prison cell - John Bunyan.  

A broken heart guided Joseph Scriven’s pen to exclaim:

“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!"

That the Holy Spirit lives and breathes through the deep devotional writing of Oswald Chambers is no accident.

His short forty-one years were spent in reckless abandonment to God;

his stature of spiritual giant-hood dearly bought.

God seems to exact as His price of "best-selling“ writing success a diploma from 

His gruelling School of Experience.

Courses are: Discipline,  suffering,  Faith,  Tests,  and Self-examination.

Bruised, jostled and mobbed, Charles Wesley sought refuge in a milk-house and wrote:

"Jesus, Lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly,

Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee."

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