Share a 'brief' devotional

[McWilliams]

You are the one who has done this!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You
are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9

In the words you may observe three things:

1. The person speaking, and that is, David. David
a king, David a saint, David 'a man after God's own
heart,' David a Christian. And here we are to look
upon David, not as a king, but as a Christian, as a
man whose heart was right with God.

2. The action and carriage of David under the hand
of God, in these words--'I was silent; I would not
open my mouth.'

3. The reason of this humble and sweet carriage
of his, in these words--'for You are the one who
has done this!'

The proposition is this: That it is the great duty and
concern of gracious souls to be mute and silent under
the greatest afflictions, the saddest providences, and
sharpest trials that they meet with in this world.

David's silence is an acknowledgment of God as the
author of all the afflictions that come upon us. There
is no sickness so little, but God has a finger in it;
though it be but the aching of the little finger.

David looks through all secondary causes to the first
cause, and is silent. He sees a hand of God in all, and
so sits mute and quiet. The sight of God in an affliction
is of an irresistible efficacy to silence the heart, and to
stop the mouth of a godly man.

Men who don't see God in an affliction, are easily
cast into a feverish fit, they will quickly be in a flame;
and when their passions are up, and their hearts on
fire, they will begin to be saucy, and make no bones of
telling God to His teeth, that they do well to be angry.
Such as will not acknowledge God to be the author of
all their afflictions, will be ready enough to fall in with
that mad principle of the Manichees, who maintained
the devil to be the author of all calamities; as if there
could be any evil or affliction in the city, and the Lord
have no hand in it, Amos 3:6.

If God's hand be not seen in the affliction, the heart
will do nothing but fret and rage under affliction.

Such as can see the ordering hand of God in all their
afflictions, will, with David, lay their hands upon their
mouths, when the rod of God is upon their backs!

They see that it was a Father that put those bitter cups
in their hands; and love that laid those heavy crosses
upon their shoulders; and grace that put those yokes
around their necks--and this caused much quietness
and calmness in their spirits.

When God's people are under the rod, He makes by His
Spirit and word, such sweet music in their souls, as allays
all tumultuous motions, passions, and perturbations.

"I was silent; I would not open my mouth, for You
are the one who has done this!" Psalm 39:9

 

[Bernergirl]

I do not have anything (except an amen) to add to this.

 

[McWilliams]

If you attempt to enthrone the creature!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

O Christian! God has removed one of your sweetest mercies,
comforts, or enjoyments! It may be you have over-loved them,
and over-prized them, and over-much delighted yourself in
them. It may be they have often had your heart--when they
should have had but your hand. It may be that care, that
concern, that confidence, that joy--which should have been
expended upon more noble objects--has been expended
upon them!

Your heart is Christ's bed of spices--and it may be
you have bedded your mercies with you--when Christ
has been made to lie outside! You have had room for
them--when you have had none for Him! They have
had the best--when the worst have been counted good
enough for Christ!

It is said of Reuben, that he went up to his father's bed,
Gen. 49:4. Ah! how often has one creature comfort, and
sometimes another--been put in between Christ and
your souls! How often have your dear enjoyments gone
up to Christ's bed! Your near and dear mercies have
come into Christ's bed of love--your hearts!

Now, if you take a husband, a child, a friend--into that
room in your soul which only belongs to God--He will
either embitter it, remove it, or be the death of it.

If once the love of a wife runs out more to a servant, than
to her husband--the husband will remove that servant;
though otherwise he was a servant worth gold.

Now, if God has stripped you of that very mercy with which
you have often committed spiritual adultery and idolatry--
have you any cause to murmur?

There are those who love their mercies into their graves--
who hug their mercies to death--who kiss them until they
kill them! Many a man has slain his mercies--by setting too
great a value upon them! Many a man has sunk his ship of
mercy--by overloading it. Over-loved mercies are seldom
long-lived. The way to lose your mercies is to indulge them!
The way to destroy them is to fix your minds and hearts
upon them. You may write bitterness and death upon that
mercy first--which has first taken away your heart from God.

Christian! Your heart is Christ's royal throne, and in this
throne Christ will be chief! He will endure no competitor!
If you attempt to enthrone the creature--be it ever
so near and dear unto you--Christ will dethrone it! He
will destroy it! He will quickly lay them in a bed of dust
--who shall aspire to His royal throne!

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am about to desecrate
my sanctuary--the stronghold in which you take pride, the delight
of your eyes, the object of your affection. The sons and
daughters you left behind will fall by the sword!" Ezekiel 24:21

 

[edie19]

Hidden Heroes
by Max Lucado
A revival can begin with one sermon. History proves it. John Egglen had never preached a sermon in his life. Never.
Wasn’t that he didn’t want to, just never needed to. But then one morning he did. The snow left his town of Colchester, England, buried in white. When he awoke on that January Sunday in 1850, he thought of staying home. Who would go to church in such weather?
But he reconsidered. He was, after all, a deacon. And if the deacons didn’t go, who would? So he put on his boots, hat, and coat and walked the six miles to the Methodist Church.
He wasn’t the only member who considered staying home. In fact, he was one of the few who came. Twelve members and one visitor. Even the minister was snowed in. Someone suggested they go home. Egglen would hear none of that. They’d come this far; they would have a service. Besides, they had a visitor. A thirteen-year-old boy.
But who would preach? Egglen was the only deacon. It fell to him.
And so he did. His sermon lasted only ten minutes. It drifted and wandered and made no point in an effort to make several. But at the end, an uncharacteristic courage settled upon the man. He lifted his eyes and looked straight at the boy and challenged: “Young man, look to Jesus. Look! Look! Look!”
Did the challenge make a difference? Let the boy, now a man, answer. “I did look, and then and there the cloud on my heart lifted, the darkness rolled away, and at that moment I saw the sun.”
The boy’s name? Charles Haddon Spurgeon. England’s prince of preachers.
Did Egglen know what he’d done? No. Do heroes know when they are heroic? Rarely. Are historic moments acknowledged when they happen?
You know the answer to that one. (If not, a visit to the manger will remind you.) We seldom see history in the making, and we seldom recognize heroes.
But we’d do well to keep our eyes open. Tomorrow’s Spurgeon might be mowing your lawn. And the hero who inspires him might be nearer than you think.
He might be in your mirror.

 

[McWilliams]

You have been long a-gathering rust

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

Oh! but my afflictions are greater than other
men's afflictions are! Oh! there is no affliction
like my affliction! How can I not murmur?

It may be your sins are greater than other men's
sins. If you have sinned against . . .
more light,
more love,
more mercies,
more promises,
than others--no wonder if your afflictions are
greater than others! If this be your case, you
have more cause to be mute than to murmur!

It may be that the Lord sees that it is very needful
that your afflictions should be greater than others.

It may be your heart is harder than other men's
hearts, and prouder and stouter than other men's
hearts, it may be your heart is more impure than
others, and more carnal than others, or else more
selfish and more worldly than others, or else more
deceitful and more hypocritical than others, or
else more cold and careless than others, or more
formal and lukewarm than others.

Now, if this is your case, certainly God sees
it very necessary, for . . .
the breaking of your hard heart, and
the humbling of your proud heart, and
the cleansing of your foul heart, and
the spiritualizing of your carnal heart, etc.,
that your afflictions should be greater than
others; and therefore do not murmur!

Where the disease is strong, the remedy must
be strong--else the cure will never be wrought!
God is a wise physician, and He would never
give strong medicine--if a weaker one could
effect the cure!

The more rusty the NAIL is, the oftener we put it
into the fire to purify it; and the more crooked it
is, the more blows and the harder blows we give
to straighten it.

You have been long a-gathering rust; and
therefore, if God deal thus with you, you have
no cause to complain.

"For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and
punishes every son whom He receives." Heb. 12:6

 

[McWilliams]

When He shows no anger!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

"The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and
punishes every son whom He receives." Heb. 12:6

There cannot be a greater evidence of God's
hatred and wrath--than His refusing to correct
men for their sinful courses and vanities!

Where God refuses to correct--there God resolves
to destroy! There is no man so near God's axe--so
near the flames--so near hell--as he whom God
will not so much as spend a rod upon!

"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline."
Revelation 3:19

God is most angry--when He shows no anger!

Who can seriously meditate upon this, and not
be silent under God's most smarting rod?
* * * * * * * * * *

We have completed the publishing of Thomas Brooks'
"The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod".
This is the best book we have ever read on the
trials and afflictions of believers. Must reading!

 

[edie19]

Because I often wonder how folks can look at the majesty that is God's creation and not see Him:


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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]August 17
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​

Psalm 104:1, 2
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with hounour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.

As the car crested the hill, the entire family drew in its breath. The sky was painted with a hundred different colors and hues. Pinks, reds, oranges, blues, lavenders, and golds blended into a canvas of glory and light. God in His awesome beauty once again presented the proof of His existence. Only a blind fool would deny God in the face of such splendor.Time and again God offers us signs of His power and wonder. If we will just keep our eyes open, the truth of God's existence will present itself over and over. God gives graciously to His children. Relax and enjoy the show that God puts on. It is nothing less than perfection.
​

 

[McWilliams]

You fool!

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your
soul will be demanded from you. Now who will get the
things you've accumulated?" (Luke 12:20)

And so all trembling, the lost soul comes forth from the
body, and instantly is seized upon by infernal fiends, who
carry it with violence to the bottomless lake which burns
with fire and brimstone; where it is kept as a prisoner in
torments until the general judgment of the great day!

The loathsome carcass is afterwards laid in the grave. And
thus the godless and unregenerated worldling, who made . . .
earth his paradise,
his belly his god,
his lust his law;
as in his life he sowed vanity--so he is now dead,
and reaps misery!

In his prosperity he neglected to serve God--in his
adversity God refuses to save him! And the devil, whom
he long served--now at length pays him his wages!

Detestable was his life--damnable is his death!

The devil has his soul, and the grave has his carcass--in
which pit of corruption, den of death, and dungeon of
sorrow--let us leave the miserable sinner, rotting with . . .
his mouth full of earth,
his belly full of worms,
his carcass full of stench;
expecting a fearful resurrection, when the body shall
be reunited with the soul; that as they sinned together,
so they may be eternally tormented together! "For God didn't appoint us to wrath, but to the obtaining
of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Thes. 5:9

 

[mlqurgw]

I make no claim of being a poet so forgive the lack of poetic skill.
When I am full of doubts and fears
My soul distressed near death
I only need to look to Him who sits upon the throne

He rules and reigns for good to me
No earthly thing can harm
I am my Lord's and He is mine
He silences alarm

Peace I have with God in Christ
What else can my soul ask
My name is written on His heart
Shall He not give me rest

Walking by faith I live in Him
His love and strength are mine
While I am weak He is strong
My Savior Divine

Why would I doubt Him in the least
He gave His all for me
That I in Him should be complete
He is all I need

Lord give me sight that I may see
In Christ alone my Lord
All my hope of life and death
Bind me by this chord

 

[McWilliams]

Father knows best!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

"Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they
thought best; but God disciplines us for our good,
that we may share in His holiness." Hebrews 12:10.

What God, our Father wills, is best.

When He wills sickness, sickness in better than health.

When He wills weakness, weakness is better than strength.

When He wills want, want is better than wealth.

When He wills reproach, reproach is better than honor.

When He wills death, death is better than life.

As God is wisdom itself, and so knows that which is
best; so He is goodness itself, and therefore cannot
do anything but that which is best--therefore remain
silent before the Lord.

 

[McWilliams]

Without a rag on his back, or a penny in his purse!

(Thomas Brooks, "An Ark for All God's Noahs" 1662)

"The Lord is my portion, says my soul; therefore
I will hope in Him." Lamentations 3:24

Lazarus having God for his portion, when he died he went
to heaven without a rag on his back, or a penny in his
purse! Whereas Dives, who did not have God for his portion
when he died--went tumbling down to hell in all his riches,
bravery, and glory. Oh! it is infinitely better to go to heaven
a beggar--than to go to hell an emperor!

 

[McWilliams]

What a pitiful perishing portion is that!

(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")

"Men of the world, whose portion is in this life."
Psalm 17:14 Certainly, men . . .
whose hearts are worldly,
whose minds are worldly,
whose spirits are worldly,
whose desires are worldly,
whose hopes are worldly,
whose main ends are worldly--
have only the world for their portion; and what a
pitiful perishing portion is that! Such men . . .
choose the world as their portion, and
delight in the world as their portion, and
trust to the world as their portion, and
in straits run to the world as their portion, and
take contentment and satisfaction in the world
as their portion.
Doubtless that word was a thunderbolt to Dives--
"Remember that during your life you received your
good things, just as Lazarus received bad things; but
now he is comforted here, while you are in agony!"
Wicked men have their best here, their worst is to come.
They have their comforts here, their torments are to come.
They have their joys here, their sorrows are to come.
They have their heaven here, their hell is to come.

 

[RunningCabalSOL]

Thanks. God Bless

 

[edie19]

[SIZE=+2]HIS SONG (Ps. 42:6-8) [/SIZE] [SIZE=+1]By Ruth Holmes [/SIZE] This is written with the prayer that it will be of some help to all those that are going through difficult times. May the God of all grace, the God of all mercy, your God (if you are a Christian), now give me grace to help you sing songs in the night, songs that will lift your spirits and fill you with joy, with hope and with comfort, because God is YOUR GOD.
The Psalmist writes, "O my God, my soul is cast down within me." MY GOD. What a statement! Who would dare to say to the Creator of heaven and earth, the Majesty of heaven, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords -- MY GOD?
How can I, how can you, a sinner, be so bold? By what right? By covenant -- the covenant of grace.
Therefore we will remember Him - we will remember all the times He has helped us in the past. We will remember that He is the Sovereign Lord and that the waves and billows that wash over us are His waves and His billows. He has sent them. He has directed them. They are only meant to wash us clean. He has commanded His lovingkindness in the daytime, yet it seems to us a very dark night.
We must realize that He is only teaching us to sing, to sing His Song in the night. What is HIS SONG? It is the song that He sang on the darkest night of His life, the song He sang in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said in prayer, "Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done." This was the prayer to the God of His life. It is as a song in the ears of God.
Let us sing THIS SONG, HIS SONG, to the God of our life, let us bless Him with our whole heart and our whole soul as He has promised to do for us in His covenant (Jer. 32:41).

 

[McWilliams]

Then the scum appears!

("The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod"
or, "The Silent Soul with Sovereign Antidotes"
by Thomas Brooks, 1659, London.)

Few Christians see themselves and understand
themselves rightfully. By trials, God discovers
much of a man's sinful self to his pious self.

When the fire is put under the pot--then the
scum appears; so when God tries a poor soul,
Oh! how does . . .
the scum of pride,
the scum of murmuring,
the scum of distrust,
the scum of impatience,
the scum of worldliness,
the scum of carnality,
the scum of foolishness,
the scum of willfulness--
discover itself in the heart of the poor creature!

Trials are God's looking-glass, in which
His people see their own faults. Oh! . . .
that looseness,
that vileness,
that wretchedness,
that sink of filthiness,
that gulf of wickedness,
which trials show to be in their hearts!

"I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
Isaiah 48:10
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[FONT=arial, helvetica][SIZE=-1]Grace Gems (choice electronic books, sermons & quotes)[/SIZE][/FONT]
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[FONT=arial, helvetica][SIZE=-1]Sovereign Grace Treasures (choice printed books
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[McWilliams]

Every twig has a voice!

(Thomas Brooks) "Pay attention to the rod and the One who
ordained it." Micah 6:9

Christians should hear the rod, and kiss the rod, and
sit mute and silent under God's rod.

Christians should be mute and silent under the greatest
afflictions, the saddest providences, and sharpest trials
which they meet with in this world, that they may the
better hear and understand the voice of God's rod.

As the word has a voice, the Spirit a voice, and
conscience a voice--so God's rod has a voice.

God's rods are not mutes. They are all vocal, they are all
speaking as well as smiting. Every twig has a voice!

'Ah! soul,' says one twig, 'you say it smarts. Well! tell
me, is it good to provoke a jealous God?' Jerem. 4:18.

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'you say it is bitter, it
reaches to your heart; but have not your own doings
procured these things?' Rom. 6:20, 21.

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'where is the profit,
the pleasure, the sweet that you have found in
wandering from God?' Hosea 2:7.

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'was it not best with
you, when you were high in your communion with
God, and when you were humble and close in your
walking with God?' Micah 6:8.

'Ah! Christian,' says another twig, 'will you search
your heart, and try your ways, and turn to the Lord
your God?' Lam. 3:40.

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you die to sin more
than ever, and to the world more than ever, and to
relations more than ever, and to yourself more than
ever?' Rom. 14:6-8; Gal. 6:18.

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you live more to
Christ than ever, and cleave closer to Christ than
ever, and prize Christ more than ever, and venture
further for Christ than ever?'

'Ah! soul,' says another twig, 'will you love Christ
with a more inflamed love, and hope in Christ with
a more raised hope, and depend upon Christ with
a greater confidence, and wait upon Christ with
more invincible patience?'

Now, if the soul is not mute and silent under the rod,
how is it possible that it should ever hear the voice of
God's rod, or that it should ever hearken to the voice
of every twig of God's rod?

 

[McWilliams]

The funeral

(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")

A Christian knows that death shall be the funeral of all . . .
his sins,
his sorrows,
his afflictions,
his temptations,
his vexations,
his oppressions,
his persecutions.

He knows that death shall be the resurrection of all . . .
his hopes,
his joys,
his delights,
his comforts,
his contentments.

He knows that death shall bring him to a more clear,
full, perfect, and constant enjoyment of God! This
makes him sweetly and triumphantly to sing it out,
"O death! where is your sting? O grave! where is
your victory?" 1 Corinthians 15:35-37
* * * * * * * * * *
We have added another outstanding section from
the above book, "Practical Application"
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[McWilliams]

Not the doll nor the rattle

(Thomas Brooks, "The Transcendent Excellency of
a Believer's Portion above All Earthly Portions")

"The one who loves money is never satisfied with
money, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied
with income. This too is futile." Ecclesiastes 5:10

Worldly portions can never satisfy the souls of men.

Absalom's beauty could not satisfy him.

Haman's honor could not satisfy him.

Ahab's kingdom could not satisfy him.

Balaam's gold could not satisfy him.

Ahithophel's wisdom could not satisfy him.

The pharisees' learning could not satisfy them.

Dives's riches could not satisfy him.

All the world cannot fill the soul; nor can all the
creatures in the world fill up the soul with complete
satisfaction. Nothing can be the satisfaction of the
soul--but He who made it.

All earthly portions aredissatisfying portions. They
do but vex and fret, gall and grieve, tear and torment
--the souls of men. The world is a circle, and the heart
of man is a triangle--and no triangle can fill a circle.
Some good or other will be always lacking to that man
who has only outward good to live upon.

The soul can never be at rest, until it comes to rest and
center in God. God Himself is the soul's only home. No
good but the chief Good, can suffice an immortal soul.

It is the breast--and not the doll nor the rattle--which
will satisfy the hungry babe. And it is God, and not this
or that creature--which will satisfy the soul of man.

* * * * * * * * * *

We have added another section from the above book:
"How shall we know whether God is our portion?"

 

[McWilliams]

The path of the scissors!

(Lewis Bayly, "The Practice of Piety" 1611)

"For who makes you to differ from another?
And what do you have, that you did not
receive?" 1 Corinthians 4:7

We are all . . .
fashioned from the same mold,
hewed out of the same rock,
made as it were, of the same cloth
--the path of the scissors making the only
difference between one person an another.
It is therefore only the free love and grace of
God, which makes all the difference between us.

No believer should ever insolently demean
the unsaved, who, like miserable drudges,
allow their corrupt nature to carry them to
any villainy, lust, or lewd course; and who
damn themselves in the devil's slavery!

Alas! our hearts should bleed within us at beholding
so many around us imbruing their cruel hands in the
blood of their own souls--by their ignorance, worldliness,
drunkenness, lust, unbelief and scoffing at true religion.

What heart, except it be hewed out of the hardest
rock, or has sucked the breasts of merciless tigers;
but would yearn and weep to see a man made of the
same mold with himself, willfully, as it were, against
a thousand warnings, and God's many compassionate
invitations--cast himself, body and soul, into the
endless, easeless, and remediless miseries of hell?
We should the rather pity and pray for such a one
who follows the bent of his own evil heart--to his
own everlasting perdition!

It is only the free mercy, goodness, and grace of
God which has made the difference between them
and us. If God should give us over to the unbridled
current of our corrupt nature--we might be worse
than them, and run riot in this world of wickedness.
If the same God visits them in mercy--they may
become every way as godly, or better than us.

"By the grace of God I am what I am."
1 Corinthians 15:10

 

[edie19]

Micah 2:13
The breaker is come up before them.

Inasmuch as Jesus has gone before us, things remain not as they would have been had He never passed that way. He has conquered every foe that obstructed the way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but He has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? He has nailed it to His cross. Dost thou fear death? He has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? He has barred it against the advent of any of His children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome. There are lions, but their teeth are broken; there are serpents, but their fangs are extracted; there are rivers, but they are bridged or fordable; there are flames, but we wear that matchless garment which renders us invulnerable to fire. The sword that has been forged against us is already blunted; the instruments of war which the enemy is preparing have already lost their point. God has taken away in the person of Christ all the power that anything can have to hurt us. Well then, the army may safely march on, and you may go joyously along your journey, for all your enemies are conquered beforehand. What shall you do but march on to take the prey? They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count.

"Proclaim aloud the Saviour's fame, Who bears the Breaker's wond'rous name; Sweet name; and it becomes him well, Who breaks down earth, sin, death, and hell."​