“If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”
Habakkuk 2:3 NLT
Pray in faith and be sure to bring your lives into harmony with your petitions, that you may receive the blessings for which you pray. Let not your faith weaken, for the blessings received are proportionate to the faith exercised.
“According to your faith be it unto you.” “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Matthew 9:29; Matthew 21:22.
Pray, Believe, Rejoice.
Sing praises to God because He has answered your prayers.
Take Him at His word.
“He is faithful that promised.”
Hebrews 10:23
Not one sincere supplication is lost.
When we do not receive the very things we asked for, at the time we ask, we are still to believe that the Lord hears and that He will answer our prayers.
When our prayers seem not to be answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most.
Then do not fear to trust Him, even though you do not see the immediate answer to your prayers. Rely upon His sure promise, “Ask, and it shall be given you.”
Do not cease to pray. If the answer tarry, wait for it.
Lay all your plans at the feet of the Redeemer. Let your importunate prayers ascend to God. ”
Prayer pg. 100
“We can never weary Christ by earnest supplications. We do not depend on God as we should. Let us leave unsaid every word of complaint.
Talk faith and courage while waiting for God…. Be afraid to doubt, lest this become a habit that will destroy faith.
The dealing of the heavenly Father may seem dark and mysterious and unexplainable; nevertheless we are to trust in Him.
If the answer is deferred, it is because God desires us to show a holy boldness in claiming the pledged word of God.
He is faithful who hath promised. He will never forsake the soul who is wholly surrendered to Him.”
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience [endurance]. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4
When He [God] has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Job 23:10
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the Lord tests the hearts.
Proverbs 17:3
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you…
1 Peter 4:12
That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:7
He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: And He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
Malachi 3:3
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
Isaiah 48:10
“The fact that we are called upon to endure trial shows that the Lord Jesus sees in us something precious which He desires to develop. If He saw in us nothing whereby He might glorify His name, He would not spend time in refining us. He does not cast worthless stones into His furnace. It is valuable ore that He refines. The blacksmith puts the iron and steel into the fire that he may know what manner of metal they are. The Lord allows His chosen ones to be placed in the furnace of affliction to prove what temper they are of and whether they can be fashioned for His work.”
Ministry of Healing pg.471
Many who sincerely consecrate their lives to God’s service are surprised and disappointed to find themselves, as never before, confronted by obstacles and beset by trials and perplexities. They pray for Christlikeness of character, for a fitness for the Lord’s work, and they are placed in circumstances that seem to call forth all the evil of their nature.
It is because God is leading them that these things come upon them.
Trials and obstacles are the Lord’s chosen methods of discipline and His appointed conditions of success…. In His providence He brings these persons into different positions and varied circumstances that they may discover in their character the defects which have been concealed from their own knowledge. He gives them opportunity to correct these defects and to fit themselves for His service. Often He permits the fires of affliction to assail them that they may be purified.
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the Rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the Rock.
But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
Luke 6:46-49
“Like the builders of these houses on the rock, said Jesus, is he who shall receive the words that I have spoken to you, and make them the foundation of his character and life. “The word of our God shall stand forever”, Isaiah 40:8…. The word of God is the only steadfast thing our world knows. It is the sure foundation. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” said Jesus, “but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35.
Whoever builds upon them (Christ’s words) is building upon Christ, the Rock of Ages. In receiving the word, we receive Christ. And only those who thus receive His words are building upon Him.
“(No) Other foundation can no man lay than that is (already) laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
1 Corinthians 3:11
Christ, the Word, the revelation of God,—the manifestation of His character, His law, His love, His life,—is the only foundation upon which we can build a character that will endure.
Do you desire to become a follower of Christ, yet know not how to begin? Are you in darkness and know not how to find the light?
Follow the light you have. Set your heart to obey what you do know of the word of God. His power, His very life, dwells in His word. As you receive the word in faith, it will give you power to obey. As you give heed to the light you have, greater light will come. You are building on God’s word, and your character will be builded after the similitude (likeness) of the character of Christ.
Christ, the true foundation, is a living stone; His life is imparted to all that are built upon Him….. But every building erected on other foundation than God’s word will fall. He who, like the Jews in Christ’s day, builds on the foundation of human ideas and opinions, of forms and ceremonies of man’s invention, or on any works that he can do independently of the grace of Christ, is erecting his structure of character upon the shifting sand.
You who are resting your hope on self are building on the sand. But it is not yet too late to escape the impending ruin. Before the tempest breaks, flee to The Sure Foundation.
“Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a Stone, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.” “Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.”
Isaiah28:16;45:22;41:10;45:17
Excerpt from the book, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, pg. 148-152
Reader, is your house built upon The Sure Foundation? If not, it is time to get building!
“It is necessary to mortify sins because if we do not kill them, they will kill us.”
Matthew Henry, 1706
“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.“
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these…. since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…”
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air (satan), the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”
Therefore “…put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness….give no opportunity to the devil….For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.”
“Walk as children of light“
Excerpts from the Apostle Paul’s letters to the Romans, Colossians and the Ephesians.
“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 4:28-29
The germination of the seed represents the beginning of spiritual life, and the development of the plant is a beautiful figure of Christian growth. As in nature, so in grace; there can be no life without growth. The plant must either grow or die. As its growth is silent and imperceptible, but continuous, so is the development of the Christian life.
As the plant takes root in the soil, so we are to take deep root in Christ. As the plant receives the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, we are to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit. The work is to be done “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6….By constantly relying upon Christ as our personal Saviour, we shall grow up into Him in all things who is our head. Ephesians 4:13; 5:23.
The wheat develops “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.” The object of the husbandman in the sowing of the seed and the culture of the growing plant is the production of grain….. So the divine Husbandman, Jesus Christ, looks for a harvest as the reward of His labor and sacrifice. Christ is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts of men; and He does this through those who believe in Him. The object of the Christian life is fruit bearing—the reproduction of Christ’s character in the believer, that it may be reproduced in others.
As you receive the Spirit of Christ—the Spirit of unselfish love and labor for others—you will grow and bring forth fruit. The graces of the Spirit will ripen in your character. Your faith will increase, your convictions deepen, your love be made perfect. More and more you will reflect the likeness of Christ in all that is pure, noble, and lovely.
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the Coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it…”
James 5:7
“But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.”
Mark 4:29
Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church.When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own, [Ephesians 5:26-27; 1 Peter 1:17-18]…..Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.
Christ’s Object Lessons, pg. 65-69
“And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud One sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.”
“For assuredly, I say to you, if you have FAITH as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”
Matthew 17:20
“Throughout the history of God’s people great mountains of difficulty, apparently insurmountable, have loomed up before those who were trying to carry out the purposes of Heaven. Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test of faith. When we are hedged about on every side, this is the time above all others to trust in God and in the power of His Spirit. The exercise of a living faith means an increase of spiritual strength and the development of an unfaltering trust. It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power. Before the demand of faith, the obstacles placed by Satan across the pathway of the Christian will disappear; for the powers of heaven will come to his aid.
“Nothing shall be impossible unto you.” Matthew 17:20.”
Prophets & Kings pg. 594
Sometimes He trains His workers by bringing to them disappointment and apparent failure. It is His purpose that they shall learn to master difficulties.
Often men are tempted to falter before the perplexities and obstacles that confront them. But if they will hold the beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end, God will make the way clear. Success will come to them as they struggle against difficulties. Before the intrepid spirit and unwavering faith of a Zerubbabel, great mountains of difficulty will become a plain; and he whose hands have laid the foundation, even “his hands shall also finish it.”
Ibid pg.595
“
‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!”
Zechariah 4:7
To His children today the Lord declares, “Be strong, … and work: for I am with you.” The Christian always has a strong helper in the Lord. The way of the Lord’s helping we may not know; but this we do know: He will never fail those who put their trust in Him. Could Christians realise how many times the Lord has ordered their way, that the purposes of the enemy concerning them might not be accomplished, they would not stumble along complainingly. Their faith would be stayed on God, and no trial would have power to move them. They would acknowledge Him as their wisdom and efficiency, and He would bring to pass that which He desires to work out through them.
God has a purpose in sending trial to His children. He never leads them otherwise than they would choose to be led if they could see the end from the beginning, and discern the glory of the purpose that they are fulfilling. All that He brings upon them in test and trial comes that they may be strong to do and to suffer for Him.
Ibid pg. 576,578
“Be ye therefore strong and let not your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”
2 Chronicles 15:7
Be encouraged reader.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts.”
“…Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8
“Jesus bore the humiliation and shame and reproach that justly belonged to the sinner. He was the Majesty of heaven, He was the King of glory, He was equal with the Father; and yet He clothed His divinity with humanity, that humanity might touch humanity, that divinity might lay hold of divinity. Had He come as an angel, He could not have been a partaker with us of our sufferings (Hebrews 2:17-18), could not have been tempted in all points like as we are (Hebrews 4:15-16), He could not have sympathised with our sorrows; but He came in the garb of our humanity, that as our substitute and surety, He might overcome the prince of darkness in our behalf, and make us victors through His merits (Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 3:8).”
Ye Shall Receive Power pg.71
“Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “With His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5-6
The Desire of Ages pg. 25
By His humanity, Christ touched humanity; by His divinity, He lays hold upon the throne of God. As the Son of man, He gave us an example of obedience; as the Son of God, He gives us power to obey.
The Desire of Ages pg. 24
“Christ was the Son of God. He became the Son of man that the sons of men might become the sons of God.” Galatians 4:4; 1 John 3:1
The Consecrated Way to Christian Perfection pg. 47
“For our Citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 3:20
For God’s people, we are but mere strangers and pilgrims on this earth. This world in its current state is not our home. Says the Psalmist:
I am a stranger in the earth.
Psalm 119:19
Like Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, we are but sojourners, travelling through this world. Consequently, we must set our eyes on the Kingdom above, “whose builder and maker is God“. Our focus must be upon the things of Heaven, not the things of this fallen world, which shall all pass away, “like the chaff on the summer threshing floor”. Hebrews 11:9-10; Colossians 3:1-2; Daniel 2:35
According to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, the only city that will endure is the City whose builder and maker is God. With the eye of faith, man may behold the threshold of Heaven, flushed with God’s living glory. Through His ministering servants the Lord Jesus is calling upon men to strive with sanctified ambition to secure the immortal inheritance. He urges them to lay up treasure beside the throne of God.
Prophets & Kings, pg. 274
As a result, our conduct in our day to day lives must reflect Christ and His Heavenly Kingdom. In all that we do and in all that we say, the Light of Christ Jesus must shine in us, that “men may see our good works and glorify our Father who art in Heaven.” It is by the shining of this light, that we illuminate the darkness around us and reveal the pathway to the Celestial City, that others may also find the Light of life. We must live as true citizens of the Kingdom of God.
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
Philippians 1:27
It is true that at one time, we were separate from the Israel of God, Galatians 6:15-16, but now, through Christ, we have been grafted in to the True Vine. We, “which in time past were not a people, are now the people of God” through Jesus Christ. Romans 11:24; 1 Peter 2:10.
That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 2:12-13
Therefore, as Citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom, let us abstain from the carnal lusts and desires of the heart which war against the soul, for it is “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?“…….Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9; 1 Peter 2:11.
Let us strive to “do justly and love mercy and walk humbly with God”, Micah 6:8, that we may pass the time of our pilgrimage on this earth with fear and reverence, for this earth is not our home. 1 Peter 1:17
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:1-2
”But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven….”
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believethin Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16
God manifested His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, with NO HOPE of salvation, destined to the lake of fire, which is the 2nd death, Revelation 20:14-15, that He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to be the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world, John 1:29,35.
No longer was a lamb or bullock or a kid of the goats required, for it was not possible for the blood of bulls or goats to take away sin, Hebrews 10:4. These literal sacrifices found in the Old Testament were but a type or symbol of the True Sacrifice which was to come into the world, Christ Jesus.
Christ was the Perfect Sacrifice; He was sinless, without spot or blemish or any such thing, 1 Peter 1:18-19; Leviticus 1:3,10. It was Him & Him alone, who could atone for the sin of humanity. He is the way, the truth & the life and no man cometh unto the Father except through Christ, John14:6.
As the sinner in ancient times, placed his hands upon the head of the animal and confessed all of their sins upon the head of that said animal before sacrificing it, Leviticus 1:3-5;16:21, so the sinless Father placed upon the head of His sinless Son, the sin of all humanity, before He gave Him up to die on the Cross.
He made Him, who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, 2 Corinthians 5:21.
“The LORD has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all…He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.”
Isaiah 53:6-7
He came unto His own and His own received Him not, but as many as received Him and accepted Him as their Saviour, Redeemer & Lord, to them, He gave power to become the sons of God, John 1:11-12.
Behold! What manner of love, the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons & daughters of God! 1 John 3:1.
“God is love, in this was made known the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. This is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us.”
1 John 4:8-10
“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.”
John 15:16
Friends, this is true love, a love which our fallen human minds will never fully grasp; the love shown by our Creator for His perishing creatures who have fallen to sin.
A way has been made that we may be redeemed and saved from the coming destruction. Sin and satan must be destroyed and those who shun the love of God, revealed unto us through no greater gift than that of His Son Jesus Christ, shall perish along with the devil and his angels.
Grace has been bestowed upon us, even though we are underserving of it; unmerited favour has been extended from the Holy Father to us, sinful creatures, “and how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”
“Everything that God could do has been done for the salvation of man. In one rich gift He poured out the treasures of heaven. He invites, He pleads, He urges; but He will not compel men to come unto Him. He waits for their cooperation. He waits for the consent of the will….”
And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
Matthew 12:32.
It was just before this that Jesus had a second time performed the miracle of healing a man possessed, blind and dumb, and the Pharisees had reiterated the charge, “He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils” (Matthew 9:34).
Christ told them plainly that in attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan, they were cutting themselves off from the fountain of blessing.
Those who had spoken against Jesus Himself, not discerning His divine character, might receive forgiveness; for through the Holy Spirit they might be brought to see their error and repent. Whatever the sin, if the soul repents and believes, the guilt is washed away in the blood of Christ; but he who rejects the work of the Holy Spirit is placing himself where repentance and faith cannot come to him.
It is by the Spirit that God works upon the heart; when men wilfully reject the Spirit, and declare Him to be from Satan, they cut off the channel by which God can communicate with them. When the Spirit is finally rejected, there is no more that God can do for the soul.
It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. Often the process is gradual, and almost imperceptible.
Light comes to the soul through God’s Word, through His servants, or by the direct agency of His Spirit; but when one ray of light is disregarded, there is a partial benumbing of the spiritual perceptions, and the second revealing of light is less clearly discerned. So the darkness increases, until it is night in the soul.
Thus it had been with these Jewish leaders. They were convinced that a divine power attended Christ, but in order to resist the truth, they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan. In doing this they deliberately chose deception; they yielded themselves to Satan, and henceforth they were controlled by his power.
What constitutes the sin against the Holy Ghost? It is willfully attributing to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit. For example, suppose that one is a witness of the special work of the Spirit of God. He has convincing evidence that the work is in harmony with the Scriptures, the Spirit witnesses with his spirit that it is of God. Afterward, however, he falls under temptation; pride, self-sufficiency, or some other evil trait controls him; and rejecting all the evidence of its divine character, he declares that which he had before acknowledged to be the power of the Holy Spirit was the power of Satan.
Excerpt from the devotional “You Shall Receive Power”, page 36-37
Loud Cry Compendium 