Jesus leading you

The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

Prov 4:18 (KJV)

   Have I begun this path of heavenly love and knowledge now? Am I progressing in it? Do I feel some dawnings of the heavenly light, earnests and antepasts of the full day of glory? Let all God’s dealings serve to quicken me in my way. Let every affection it may please Him to send, be as the moving pillar-cloud of old, beckoning me to move my tent onward, saying, “Arise ye and depart, for this is not your rest.” Let me be often standing now on faith’s lofty eminences, looking for “the day of God” –the rising sun which is to set no more in weeping clouds. Wondrous progression! How will all the earth’s learning, its boasted acquirements and eagle-eyed philosophy sink into the lispings of very infancy in comparison with this manhood of knowledge! Heaven will be the true “Excelsior,” its song, “a song of degrees,” Jesus leading His people from height to height of glory, and saying, as He said to Nathaniel, “Thou shalt see greater things than these!” –Macduff

be Thou our light

God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Gen 1:4 (KJV)

    No sooner is there a good thing in the world than a division is necessary. Light and darkness have no communion; God has divided them, let us not confound them. Sons of light must not have fellowship with deeds, doctrines, or deceits of darkness. The children of the day must be sober, honest, and bold in their Lord’s work, leaving the works of darkness to those who shall dwell in it forever.

     We should by our distinct separation form the world divide the light from the darkness. In judgment, in action, in hearing, in teaching, in association, we must discern between the precious and the vile, and maintain the great distinction which the Lord made upon the world’s first day.

      O Lord Jesus, be Thou our light throughout the whole of this day, for Thy light is the light of men. –Spurgeon

Joy on its Knees

      A great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.

Rev 7:9 (KJV)

    A station on the feet in front of the throne in heaven is the effect of being often on the knees before the throne on earth. #ThoughtsfortheQuietHour

I have finished the work

I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

John 17:4 (KJV)

    Was the work of the Master indeed done? Was not its heaviest task yet to come? He had not yet met the dread hour of death. Why did He say that His work was done? It was because He knew hat, when the will is given, the battle is ended. He was only in the shadows of the garden; but to conquer these shadows was already to conquer all. He who has willed to die has already triumphed over death. All that remains to Him is but the outer husk, the shell.

      The cup which our Father giveth us to drink is a cup for the will. It is easy for the lips to drain it when once the heart has accept it. Not on the heights of Calvary, but in the shadows of Gethsemane is the cup presented; the act is easy after the choice. The real battle-field is in the silence of the spirit. Conquer there, and thou art crowned. –George Matheson

We are often surprised at the outward calmness of men who are called upon to do unpleasant and most trying deeds

She took for him an ark of bulrushes . . . and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

Ex 2:3 (KJV)

    The mother of Moses laid the ark in the flags by the river’s brink. Ay, but before doing so, she laid it on the heart of God! She could not have laid it so courageously upon the Nile, if she had not first devoutly laid it upon the care and love of God.

     We are often surprised at the outward calmness of men who are called upon to do unpleasant and most trying deeds; but could we have seen them in secret, we should have known the moral preparation which they underwent before coming out to be seen by men. Be right in the sanctuary, if you would be right in the market-place. Be steadfast in prayer, if you would be calm in affliction. Start your race from the throne of God itself, if you would run well, and win the prize. –Joseph Parker

Making the World a Better Place

See then that ye walk circumspectly

Eph 5:15 (KJV)

   There is no such thing as negative influence. We are all positive in the place we occupy, making the world better or making it worse. –T. DeWitt Talmage

    When a Christian tells a sinner of their sin and the redemption that can be found in Christ alone, they are a positive influence. Positive influence is not merely being holly and jolly and "optimistic." --Ryan Marks

God knows when its time for you to Quit

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send.

Ex 4:13 (KJV)

    It was a very grudging assent. It was as much as to say, “Since Thou are determined to send me and I must undertake the mission, then let it be so; but I would that it might have been another, and I go because I am compelled.” So often do we shrink back from the sacrifice or obligation to which God calls us, that we think we are going to our doom. We seek every reason for evading the divine will, little realizing that He is forcing us out from our quiet homes into a career which includes, among other things, the song of victory on the banks of the Red Sea; the two lonely sojourns for forty days in converse with God; the shining face; the vision of glory; the burial by the hand of Michael; and the supreme honor of standing beside the Lord on the Transfiguration mount. –F.B. Meyer

He always has a purpose in His leading

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Psalms 23:3 (KJV)

   He always has a purpose in His leading. He knows where the bits of green pasture are, and He would lead His flock to these. The way may be rough, but it is the right way to the pasture. “Paths of righteousness” may not be straight paths; but they are paths that lead somewhere—to the right place. Many desert paths are illusive. They start out clear and plain, but soon they are lost in the sands. They go nowhere. But the paths of righteousness have a goal to which they unerringly lead. –J.R. Miller

Jesus is often Present in things we Think aren't Significant

Their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

Luke 24:16 (KJV)

Their eyes were opened.

Luke 24:31 (KJV)

    There is much precious significance in this. The Lord is often present in our lives in things that we do not dream possess any significance. We are asking God about something which needs His mighty working, and the very instrument by which He is to work is by our side, perhaps for weeks and months and years all unrecognized, until suddenly, some day it grows luminous and glorious with the very presence of the Lord, and becomes the mighty instrument of His victorious working. He loves to show His hand through the unexpected.  Often he keeps us from seeing His way until just before He opens it, and then, immediately that it is unfolded, we find that He was walking by our side in the very thing, long before we even suspected its meaning. –A.B. Simpson

Blessed Rest

They rest not day and night.

Rev 4:8 (KJV)

   O blessed rest! When we rest not day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty!” –when we shall rest from sin, but not from worship; from suffering and sorrow, but not from joy! O blessed day, when I shall rest with God; when I shall rest in knowing, loving, rejoicing, and praising; when my perfect soul and body shall together perfectly enjoy the most perfect God; when God, who is love itself, shall perfectly love me, and rest in His love to me, and I shall rest in my love to Him; when He shall rejoice over me with joy, and joy over me with singing, and I shall rejoice in Him!—Baxter

Mercy, Truth, and Righteousness find unity in Christ

Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.
Psalms 85:10-13 (KJV)

Find Christ right where you cast Him Away

sought him, but I found him not.

Song 3:1 (KJV)

   Tell me where you lost the company of Christ, and I will tell you were the most likely place to find Him. Have you lost Christ in closet by restraining prayer? Then it is there you must seek and find Him. Did you lose Christ by sin? You will find Him in no other way than by the giving up of the sin, and seeking by the Holy Spirit to mortify the member in which lust doth dwell. Did you lose Christ by neglecting Him in the Scriptures? You must find Him in the Scriptures. It is a true proverb, “Look for a thing where you dropped it; it is there.” So look for Christ were you lost Him, for He has not gone away. –Spurgeon

Feed on Christ

He that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

John 6:57 (KJV)

     To feed on Christ is to get His strength into us to be our strength. You feed on the corn field, and the strength of the corn field comes into you, and is your strength. You feed on Christ, and then go and live your life; and it is Christ in you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells the truth, that fights the battles, and that wins the crown.—Phillips Brooks

The Place of Power

Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.

Acts 1:8 (KJV)

   Look at it! Think of it! A hundred and twenty men and women having no patronage, no promise of any earthly favor, no endowment, no wealth—a company of men and women having to get their living by common daily toil, and busied with all the household duties of daily life—and yet they are to begin the conquests of Christianity!  To them is entrusted a work which is to turn the world upside down. None so exalted but influence of this lowly company shall reach them, until the throne of the Caesars is claimed for Christ. None so far off but the power of this little band gathered in an upper room shall extend them until the whole world is knit into brotherhood! Not a force is there on the earth, either of men or devils, but they shall overcome it, until every knee shall bow to their Master, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord.

   A thing impossible, absurd, look at it as you will, until you admit this—they are to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Then difficulties melt into the empty air. Then there is no limit to their hopes, for there is no limit to their power. Their strength is not only “as the strength of ten,” it is as the strength of the Almighty. This is Christ’s idea of Christianity; the idea not of man—it is infinitely too sublime—the idea of God!—Mark Guy Pearse

Lasting Fruit bathed in the Sonlight and Love of God

Keep yourselves in the love of God.

Jude 1:21 (KJV)

   Fruit ripened in the sun is sweetest. #ThoughtsfortheQuietHour

What are you Building inside the years of your Life

Full of years.

Gen 25:8 (KJV)

   Scaffolding are for buildings, and the moments and days and years of our earthly lives are scaffolding. What are you building inside it? What kind of a structure will be disclosed when the scaffolding is knocked away? Days and years are ours that they may give us what eternity cannot take away—a character build upon the love of God in Christ, and moulded into His likeness.

   Has your life helped you to do that? If so, you have got the best out of it, and your life is completed, whatever may be the number of its days. Quality, not quantity, is the thing that determines the perfectness of a life. Has your life this completeness? –Alex. McLaren

We have a Body prepared by Christ!

When He cometh into the world, He saith,… A body hast thou prepared me.

Heb 10:5 (KJV)

   This word of Christ must be adopted by each of His followers. Nothing will help us to live in this world and keep ourselves unspotted but the Spirit that was in Christ, that looked upon His body as prepared by God for His service; that looks upon our body as prepared by Him too, that we might offer it to Him. Like Christ, we too have a body in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Like Christ, we too must yield out body, with every member, every power, every action, to fulfil His will, to be offered up to Him, to glorify Him. Like Christ, we must prove in our body that we are holy to the Lord. –Andrew Murray

Communion with Christ

He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him.

John 8:29 (KJV)

  He who holds nearest communion with heaven can best discharge the duties of everyday life. #ThoughtsfortheQuietHour

Quench not the Spirit of God

Quench not the Spirit.

1 Thess 5:19 (KJV)

    In order that you may not quench the Spirit, you must make it a constant study to know what is the mind of the Spirit. You must discriminate with the utmost care between His suggestions and the suggestions of your own deceitful heart. You will keep in constant recollection what are the offices of the Spirit as described by Christ in the Gospel of John. You will be on your guard against impulsive movements, inconsiderate acts, rash words. You will abide in prayer. Search the Word. Confess Christ on all possible occasions. Seek the society of His people. Shrink from conformity to the world, its vain fashions, unmeaning etiquette. Be scrupulous in your reading. “What I say unto you, I say unto you all, watch!” “Have oil in your lamps.” “Quench not the Spirit.” –Bowen

Sin, Confession and the Christian

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 (KJV)

   The same moment which brings the consciousness of sin ought to bring also the confession of it and the consciousness of forgiveness.—Smith

To Lieve to me is Christ

To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Phil 1:21 (KJV)

   Live in Christ, and you are in the suburbs of heaven. There is but a thin wall between you and the land of praises. You are within one hour’s sailing of the shore of the new Canaan. –William Rutherford

When You can Face that Foe with Unwavering Confidence

As captain of the host of the Lord am I now come.

Josh 5:14 (KJV)

  Surely Israel might now face the foe with unwavering confidence, and sing of victory even before the battle was gained. And so may the Christian. It is to now conflict of uncertain issue that he advances; the result of the battle is not doubtful. The struggle may be severe, the warfare long; he may sometimes, like the pilgrim, be beaten to the ground, and well-nigh lose his sword; but “though cast down” he is “not destroyed.” The Captain of salvation is on his side, and in the midst of the sharpest conflict he can say, “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” –S.A. Blackwood

Eleven days, yet it took forty years!

There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.

Deut 1:2 (KJV)

   Eleven days, and yet it took them forty years! How was this? Alas! we need not travel far for the answer. It is only too like ourselves. How slowly we get over the ground! What windings and turnings! How often we have to go back and travel over the same ground, again and again. We are slow travelers because we are slow learners. Our God is a faithful and wise, as well as a gracious and patient Teacher. He will not permit us to pass cursorily over our lessons. Sometimes, perhaps, we think we have mastered a lesson and we attempt to move on to another, but our wise Teacher knows better, and He sees the need of deeper ploughing. He will not have us mere theorists or smatterers; He will keep us, if need be, year after year at our scales until we learn to sing. –C.H.M.

Sow Now....some time...then Reap a Harvest

Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Gal 6:7 (KJV)

   The most common actions of life, its every day and hour, are invested with the highest grandeur, when we think how they extend their issues into eternity. Our hands are now sowing seeds for that great harvest. We shall meet again all we are doing and have done. The graves shall give up their dead, and from the tombs of oblivion the past shall give up all that it holds keeping, to bear true witness for or against us. –Gruthie

Come up in the Morning and Present Thyself to Me

come up in the morning … and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.

Ex 34:2 (KJV)

   The morning is the time fixed for my meeting the Lord. This very word morning is as a cluster of rich grapes. Let me crush them, and drink the sacred wine.

     In the morning! Then God means me to be my best in strength and hope. I have not to climb in my weakness. In the night I have buried yesterday’s fatigue, and in the morning I take a new lease of energy.

     Sweet morning! There is hope in its music. Blessed is the day whose morning is sanctified! Successful is the day whose first victory was won in prayer! Holy is the day whose dawn finds the on the top of the mount! Health is established in the morning. Wealth is won in the morning. The light is brightest in the morning. “Wake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early.” –Joseph Parker

My Past....Then Jesus...My Future Home!

Forgetting those things which are behind … I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Phil 3:13-14 (KJV)

    It is not by regretting what is irreparable that true work is to be done, but by making the best of what we are. It is not by complaining that we have not the right tools, but by using well the tools we have. What we are, and were we are, is God’s providential arrangement—God’s doing, though it may be man’s misdoing. Life is a series of mistakes, and he is not the best Christian who makes the fewest false steps. He is the best who wins the most splendid victories by the retrieval of mistakes. –F. W. Robertson

One Road to Heaven

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6 (KJV)

    Heaven often seems distant and unknown, but if He who made the road thither is our guide, we need not fear to lose the way. We do not want to see far ahead—only far enough to discern Him and trace His footsteps. . . . They who follow Christ, even through darkness, will surely reach the Father. –Henry Van Dyke

Angels About You

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

Gen 32:1 (KJV)

     It is in the path where God has bade us walk that we shall find the angels around us. We may meet them, indeed, on paths of our own choosing, but it will be the sort of angel that Balaam met, with a sword in his hand, mighty and beautiful, but wrathful too; and we had better not front him! But the friendly helpers, the emissaries of God’s love, the apostles of His grace, do not haunt the roads that we make for ourselves. –Alex. McLaren

Christ's Gentleness

Thy gentleness hath made me great.

2 Sam 22:36 (KJV)

    The gentleness of Christ is the comeliest ornament that a Christian can wear. –William Arnot

As the Wind

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

John 3:8 (KJV)

     We know that the wind listeth to blow where there is a vacuum. If you find a tremendous rush of wind, you know that somewhere there is an empty space. I am perfectly sure about this fact: if we could expel all pride, vanity, self-righteousness, self-seeking, desire for applause, honor, and promotion—if by some divine power we should be utterly emptied of all that, the Spirit would come as a rushing mighty wind to fill us. –A.J. Gordon