O Lord! Thy rich, Thy boundless love
No thought can reach, no tongue declare;
Oh give our hearts its depths to prove,
And reign without a rival there.
From Thee, O Lord, we all receive,
Thine, wholly Thine, alone we’d live.
Gerhardt
“Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Fellowship with the Father is to be filled with His thoughts, His desires, His objects and His affections. It is also so with fellowship with the Son. . . . It is our privilege to be taken out of ourselves altogether — to be lost in the affections and aims of the Father and the Son! . . . Self disappears before such a blessed possibility. Shall I cling to my own thoughts and purposes when I may be occupied with those of the Father and the Son? Shall I have my own affections when I may be possessed with those that fill the heart of the Father and His Son Jesus Christ? Far be the thought! Rather let me be lost in this illimitable sea of bliss opened out before me in the marvelous grace of God.
It is written, “All things are possible to him that believeth”; we read the words, do not doubt them, and yet we seldom think of the possibility of their being verified in our own experience.
Circumstances may be the form of the expression of God’s will for us, but the normal thing for the Christian should be the inward apprehension of the Lord’s mind. “I will counsel thee with Mine eye upon thee.” If this is true, we have to wait until we hear His voice, and if that attitude be maintained, I am sure that we never should be confounded.
It must ever be remembered that guidance is a matter of faith, not sight.
The Christian ought to be the most dignified person in the world. We do not think half enough of ourselves as we are before God.
If the cross be applied to ourselves and then to the world, you have two crucified things, and consequently there could not be the least attraction between the two (Gal. 6:1414But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. (Galatians 6:14)). That, therefore, is the true way of overcoming the attractions of the world.
When the heart is at leisure from itself, through being satisfied with Christ, the Holy Spirit is free to lead it out into all the circle of God’s interests, whether as regards the church, His ancient people or the world.
An open door in service is from the Lord and not from man. We may, therefore, be independent of man altogether, and we shall be if we keep our eyes wholly upon the Lord, remembering He always sets an open door before us if we keep His word and do not deny His name (Rev. 3:88I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. (Revelation 3:8)).
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be” (Deut. 33:2525Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. (Deuteronomy 33:25)). The whole force of this scripture depends upon the connection. The last words of verse 24 are, “Let him dip his foot in oil”; that is, in its Christian interpretation, let him walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, and then his shoes should be as iron and brass — a firm and consistent walk, and his spiritual strength should never decay. As your days, your strength shall be.
D