“Men return again and again to the few who have mastered
the spiritual secret, whose life has been hid with Christ
in God. These are of the old time religion, hung to the
nails of the Cross.”
Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843)
Polycarp
I saw the martyr at the stake.
The flames could not his courage shake,
Nor death his soul appall;
I asked him whence his strength was given,
He looked triumphantly to heaven,
And answered, “Christ is all.”
anonymous
“Eighty and six years have I served Christ,
nor has He ever done me any harm. How, then,
could I blaspheme my King who saved Me?….I
bless Thee for deigning me worthy of this day
and this hour that I may be among Thy martyrs
and drink the cup of my Lord Jesus Christ.”
Born AD 69 Died AD 155
The Surf
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Romans 8:37
“The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces
in the surf-rider a super-joy of going clean through it.
Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things-tribulation,
distress, persecution, produce in us the super- joy; they are not things
to fight. We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not
in spite of them, but in the midst of them…
Undaunted radiance is not
built on anything passing, but on the love of God that nothing can alter.
The experiences of life, terrible or monotonous, are impotent to touch the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers Published by Barbour and Company, Inc. p.67.
What Have I Done?
“Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“ ‘When men fall down, do they not get up?
When a man turns away, do they not return?
Why then have these people turned away? …
They cling to deceit; they refuse to return.
I have listened attentively, but they do not
say what is right.
No one repents of his wickedness, saying,
“What have I done?” Each pursues his own course
like a horse charging into battle.”
Jeremiah 8: 4-6
Darkness
What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight;
what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.
Matthew 10:27
At times God put us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed him.
Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and we are put into the shadow of
God’s hand until we learn to hear Him… Are you in the dark just now in your
circumstances, or in your life with God? Then remain quiet. If you open your
mouth in the dark, you will talk in the wrong mood: darkness is the time to
listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason
of the darkness, but listen and heed. If you talk to other people, you cannot
hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you very
precious message for someone else when you get into light.
After every time of darkness there comes a mixture of delight and humiliation…
What a long time I was in hearing that! How slow I have been in understanding that!
And yet God has been saying it all these days and weeks. Now He gives you the gift
of humiliation which brings the softness of heart that will always listen to God now.
My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers A Barbour Book copyright 1935 p.45.
How Can I Keep from Singing?
My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation;
I hear the clear though far-off hymn that hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing;
It finds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing?
What though the tempest loudly roars, I know my Savior liveth;
Although the darkness binds me close, deep in the night sweet songs
he giveth.
His inner peace makes fresh my heart, a fountain ever springing;
Since Christ is Lord of heavens and earth, how can I keep from singing?
Song written by Pauline T & Robert Lowry in 1868 based on Psalm 96.