The Life of Faith (1855)

Here are some practical thoughts from George Muller regarding faith in God and entrusting Him with the care of your possessions, money, and wealth. I thought this was especially good because it gives a glimpse into the mindset behind George Muller's faith that was displayed on a daily basis in the orphanage works that he carried out. The following excerpt was taken from Valuable Selections from the Writings of George Muller, page 18-19.


If anyone desires to live a life of faith and trust in God he must:

1) Not merely say that he trusts in God but must really do so. Often individuals profess to trust in God, but they embrace every opportunity where they may directly or indirectly tell someone about their need. I do not say it is wrong to make known our financial situation, but it hardly displays trust in God to expose our needs for the sake of getting other people to help us. God will take us at our word. If we do trust in Him, we must be satisfied to stand with Him alone.

2) The individual who desires to live this way must be content whether he is rich or poor. He must be willing to live in abundance or in poverty. He must be willing to leave this world without any possessions.

3) He must be willing to take the money in God's way, not merely in large sums, but in small. Many times I have had a single shilling given to me. To have refused such tokens of Christian love would have been ungracious.

4) He must be willing to live as the Lord's steward. If anyone does not give out of the blessings which the Lord gives to him, then the Lord, who influences the hearts of His children to give, would soon cause those channels to be dried up. My good income increased even more when I determined that, by God's help, His poor and His work would be helped by my money. From that time on, the Lord was pleased to entrust me with more.

Abandoned

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Seeking all His fullness, whatever the cost;
Cutting all the moorings, launching in the deep
Of His mighty power--strong to save and keep.

Utterly abandoned to the Holy Ghost!
Oh! The sinking, sinking, until self is lost!
Until the emptied vessel lies broken at His feet;
Waiting till His filling shall make the work complete.

Utterly abandoned to the will of God;
Seeking for no other path than my Master trod;
Leaving ease and pleasure, making Him my choice,
Waiting for His guidance, listening for His voice.

Utterly abandoned! No will of my own;
For time and for eternity, His, and His alone;
All my plans and purposes lost in His sweet will,
Having nothing, yet in Him all things possessing still.

Utterly abandoned! It's so sweet to be
Captive in His bonds of love, yet wondrously free;
Free from sin's entanglements, free from doubt and fear,
Free from every worry, burden, grief, or care.

Utterly abandoned! Oh, the rest is sweet,
As I tarry, waiting, at His blessed feet;
Waiting for the coming of the Guest divine,
Who my inmost being will perfectly refine.

Lo! He comes and fills me, Holy Spirit sweet!
I, in Him, am satisfied! I, in Him complete!
And the light within my soul will nevermore grow dim
While I keep my covenant--abandoned unto Him!

~Author Unknown

Hebrews 11:1

How do the blind know that grass holds the dew,

That sunshine is bright or that clouds carry rain?

Others describe to them all of these truths,

And faith springs from the unseen.

How does the soul know God is real,

Or feel the conviction of sin?

How do hearts of stone suddenly feel

The need for new life within?

The workings of God cause all of these things

To bring out repentance and faith;

Then out of the darkness a Christian heart springs,

A product of Christ's saving Grace.

Faith in things that are hoped for,

Conviction of things not seen;

Trust in the one true Lord of Lords,

You don't have to see to believe.

~A.L. 6/08

Who Do You Say That I Am?

Today I was reading the passage in Matthew 16 where Jesus is asking his disciples who they thought that he was. Some said John the Baptist, some said Elijah, and some said Jeremiah. But what caught my attention was the question that Jesus asked Peter:

Verses 15-16 say "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

The reason that I like Peter's response so much is because he had no doubt in his mind about who Jesus was. A lot of times it is easy to look down on Peter because of his over-zealous spirit followed by his denial of Jesus. But there is a lesson that we can learn from Peter. Even though he was misguided in a lot of ways and was not as faithful as he declared he would be, he still had a measure of reality in regard to who Christ really was. I think that we can learn from this because in life we are tempted to look at all kinds of things other than Christ. Our own sins and failures, doubts and fears, the routine of daily living, even the shortcomings of others. But all of these are things that the enemy uses to distract us from the one thing that should be our focus, and that is Christ.

In Matthew 14 there is the account of Jesus walking on the water during a storm and Peter goes out to meet him. Verse 30 says "But when he saw the wind, [Peter] was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Getting out of the boat and onto the water showed faith on Peter's part, but the problems began when he focused on the wind and the waves. Once he had taken his eyes off of Christ, he began to sink. There are so many things in our everyday lives that can draw our eyes and attention away, but we must not be tempted to look to anything other than Christ. If we truly believe that Christ is who he said he is, we might be less tempted to look so easily away from the one thing that is capable of both saving and keeping.

Risen, Ascended, Returning

"He is not here; He has risen!" Luke 24:6

"After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God." Mark 16:19

"Behold, I am coming soon!" Revelation 22:7

'Twas by a path of sorrows drear
Christ entered into rest;
And shall I look for roses here,
Or think that earth is blessed?
Heaven's whitest lilies blow
From earth's sharp crown of woe:
Who here his cross can meekly bear,
Shall wear the kingly purple there.
~Author Unknown

While the hosts cry Hosanna, from Heaven descending,
With glorified saints and the angels attending,
With grace on His brow, like a halo of glory,
Will Jesus receive His own.
~Author Unknown

Hudson Taylor Quotes

• I have seen many men work without praying, though I have never seen any good come out of it; but I have never seen a man pray without working.
• It is the consciousness of the threefold joy of the Lord, His joy in ransoming us, His joy in dwelling within us as our Saviour and Power for fruitbearing and His joy in possessing us, as His Bride and His delight; it is the consciousness of this joy which is our real strength. Our joy in Him may be a fluctuating thing: His joy in us knows no change.
• Perhaps if there were more of that intense distress for souls that leads to tears, we should more frequently see the results we desire. Sometimes it may be that while we are complaining of the hardness of the hearts of those we are seeking to benefit, the hardness of our own hearts and our feeble apprehension of the solemn reality of eternal things may be the true cause of our want of success.
• To every toiling, heavy-laden sinner, Jesus says, "Come to me and rest". But there are many toiling, heavy-laden believers, too. For them this same invitation is meant. Note well the words of Jesus, if you are heavy-laden with your service, and do not mistake it. It is not, "Go, labour on," as perhaps you imagine. On the contrary, it is stop, turn back, "Come to me and rest." Never, never did Christ send a heavy laden one to work; never, never did He send a hungry one, a weary one, a sick or sorrowing one, away on any service. For such the Bible only says, "Come, come, come."
• I cannot tell how I am buffeted sometimes by temptation. I never knew how bad a heart I have. Yet I do know that I love God and love His work, and desire to serve him only and in all things. And I value above all else that precious Saviour in whom alone I can be accepted.

George Muller's Testimony

To give a little background, before his conversion George Muller was an accomplished liar. He was fond of pleasure and sin, he denied himself nothing, and often lied in order to get what he wanted or to cover up his actions. After breaking trust with his father, Muller went off to college where he met other young men who were equally wicked. Spending what little money he had on frivolous living, Muller and his friends resorted to dishonesty in order to obtain passports and essentials for a luxurious trip to Switzerland. Even after living out the experiences of his dreams, Muller was not satisfied but God was preparing his heart. The following account is taken from Valuable Selections from the Writings of George Muller.

"The time was now come when God would have mercy upon me. His love had been set upon such a wretch as I was before the world was made. His love had sent His Son to bear punishment on account of my sins, and to fulfil the law which I had broken times without number. And now at a time when I was as careless about Him as ever, He sent His Spirit into my heart. I had no Bible, and had not read in it for years. I went to church but seldom; but, from custom, I took the Lord's supper twice a year. I had never heard the gospel preached up to the beginning of November, 1825. I had never met with a person who told me that he meant, by the help of God, to live according to the Holy Scriptures. In short, I had not the least idea that there were any persons really different from myself, except in degree."

Upon returning from Switzerland, Muller was searching and empty. When a friend of his with some degree of morality invited him to a Christian gathering, Muller agreed. It was there that he was significantly impacted by his first exposure to true Christianity. After that evening and his encounter with Christians, Muller says this:

"Now my life became very different, though all sins were not given up at once. My wicked companions were given up; the going to taverns was entirely discontinued; the habitual practice of telling falsehoods was no longer indulged in, but still a few times after that I spoke an untruth...I now no longer lived habitually in sin...I read the Scriptures, prayed often, loved the brethren, went to church from right motives, and stood on the side of Christ, though laughed at by my fellow students...What all the exhortations and precepts of my father and others could not effect; what all my own resolutions could not bring about, even to renounce a life of sin and profligacy; I was enabled to do, constrained by the love of Jesus. The individual who desires to have his sins forgiven, must seek for it through the blood of Jesus. The individual who desires to get power over sin, must likewise seek it through the blood of Jesus." pages 12, 13, 14

True Religion

This is religion, "to build all upon the everlasting mountains of God's love and grace in Christ, to look continually at Christ's infinite righteousness and merits, to see the full guilt and defilement of sin pardoned and washed away; in these views to pray, hear, etc., knowing your polluted self, and all your weak performances, accepted continually; in these views to trample upon all self-righteousness, and to be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only (Philippians 3:9), that Christ alone, as Mediator, may be exalted in His throne; mourning over all your duties which you have not performed, in the sight and sense of Christ's love." Without the blood of Christ on the conscience, all is dead service (Hebrews 9:14).

~Thomas Wilcox, Honey Out of the Rock, page 18-19

Trust in the Midst of Trials

I ran across this poem in a book that I am reading and thought it was especially encouraging. How amazing that someone could say such things even when they are in the midst of a seemingly unbearable trial. I hope that if I am ever placed in these circumstances I might be given Grace to bless God and say the same things this poet said:

I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I will believe the Hand that never fails,
From seeming evil works to good for me.
And though I weep because those sails are tattered,
Still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered:
"I trust in Thee."

I will not doubt, though all my prayers return
Unanswered from the still, white realm above;
I will believe it is an all-wise love
That has refused these things for which I yearn;
And thought at times I cannot keep from grieving,
Yet the pure passion of my fixed believing
Undimmed will burn.

I will not doubt, though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like been about a hive.
I will believe the heights for which I strive
Are only reached by anguish and by pain;
And though I groan and writhe beneath my crosses,
Yet I will see through my severest losses
The greater gain.

I will not doubt. Well anchored is this faith,
Like some staunch ship, my soul braves every gale;
So strong its courage that it will not fail
To face the mighty unknown seas of death.
Oh, may I cry, though body leaves the spirit,
"I do not doubt," so listening worlds may hear it,
With my last breath.

~Author Unknown

I Will be Still

I will be still, my bruised heart faintly murmured,
As o'er me rolled a crushing load of woe;
My words, my cries, e'en my low moan was stifled;
I pressed my lips; I barred the teardrop's flow.

I will be still, although I cannot see it,
The love that bares a soul and fans pain's fire;
What takes away the last sweet drop of solace,
Breaks the lone harp string, hides Your precious lyre.

God is love, so I will stay me, stay me--
We'll doubt not, Soul, we will be very still;
We'll wait til after while, when He will lift us--
Yes, after while, when it will be His will.

And I did listen to my heart's brave promise;
And I did quiver, struggling to be still;
I did lift my tearless eyes to Heaven,
Repeating ever, "Yes, Christ, have Your will."

But soon my heart spoke up from 'neath our burden,
Rebuked my tight-drawn lips, my face so sad:
"We can do more than this, O Soul," it whispered.
"We can be more than still, we can be glad!"

And now my heart and I sweetly singing--
Singing without the sound of tuneful strings;
Drinking abundant waters in the desert;
Crushed, and yet soaring as on eagle's wings.

~S.P.W.