Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Jesus' Notes of Encouragement

Tonight I read this little excerpt from a book about Amy Carmichael. I am sharing this with you all for two reasons. The first is because at the recent conference in Denton, TX a message was preached by Ryan Fullerton about the "worth of sinful men." (greatly impacting, do whatever you can to find it and listen!) The message was meant to show the great value of lost souls and to compel Christians to seek out the lost, treat them as Christ would have, and show them the Gospel through Christian love. That was Amy Carmichael's life-work.

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"In Amy's Bible, on a card pasted inside the front cover, are these words: 'These children are dear to Me. Be a mother to them, and more than a mother. Watch over them tenderly, be just and kind. If thy heart is not large enough to embrace them, I will enlarge it after a pattern of My own. If these young children are docile and obedient, bless Me for it; if they are froward, call upon Me for help; if they weary thee, I will be thy consolation; if thou sink under thy burden, I will be thy Reward.' The words are followed by a picture of the Shepherd, reaching for a lamb while a vulture hovers overhead."

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The second reason I share this is because I absolutely love that the card sounds as if Jesus wrote it Himself. I can picture Him quietly making His way to Amy's room and slipping the card under her door while she slept, so that she would find it there in the morning. Of course that didn't happen; she wrote it herself because He had revealed His vision to her and showed her the India Mission work from His perspective. But isn't that just how it feels when you receive something like that from the Lord? Some new lesson or fresh perspective, especially when it comes from His Word. It's like He wrote it just for you and left it where He knew you'd find it.

Matthew Henry's Daily Thoughts, April 27th

"We are likely to seek and find when we seek with affection and seek in tears. But many believers complain of the clouds and darkness they are under, which are methods of grace for humbling their souls, mortifying their sins, and endearing Christ to them. A sight of angels and their smiles will not suffice without a sight of Jesus, and God's smiles in Him. None know, but those who have tasted it, the sorrows of a deserted soul, which has had comfortable evidences of the love of God in Christ, and hopes of heaven, but has now lost them, and walks in darkness; such a wounded spirit who can bear? Christ, in manifesting himself to those that seek him, often outdoes their expectations. See how Mary's heart was in earnest to find Jesus. Christ's way of making Himself known to His people is by His word; His word applied to their souls, speaking to them in particular."

"Taste and see that the Lord is good." Psalm 34:1

Monday, April 18, 2011

Building a Godly Life

"Godly life is not built in a day, a year, or a single event, but by the daily practice of prayer and renewing the mind in the Word of God." ~Paul Washer

Saturday, April 9, 2011

We Have An Anchor

"We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure and steady. Gospel hope is our anchor in the storms of this world. It is sure and steadfast, or it could not keep us so." ~Matthew Henry