By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
"I am jealous over you with God's own jealousy" (2 Cor. 11:2) Weymouth
How an old harper dotes on his harp! How he fondles and caresses it, as a child resting on his bosom! His life is bound up in it. But, see him tuning it. He grasps it firmly, strikes a chord with a sharp, quick blow; and while it quivers as if in pain, he leans over intently to catch the first note that rises. The note, as he feared, is false and harsh. He strains the chord with the torturing thumb-screw; and though it seems ready to snap with the tension, he strikes it again, bending down to listen softly as before, till at length you see a smile on his face as the first true tone trembles upward.
So it may be that God is dealing with you. Loving you better than any harper loves his harp, He finds you a mass of jarring discords. He wrings your heartstrings with some torturing anguish; He bends over you tenderly, striking and listening; and, hearing only a harsh murmur, strikes you again, while His heart bleeds for you, anxiously waiting for that strain--"Not my will, but thine be done"--which is melody sweet to His ear as angels' songs. Nor will He cease to strike until your chastened soul shall blend with all the pure and infinite harmonies of His own being. --Selected.
"Oh, the sweetness that dwells in a harp of many strings,
While each, all vocal with love in a tuneful harmony rings!
But, oh, the wail and the discord, when one and another is rent,
Tensionless, broken and lost, from the cherished instrument.
"For rapture of love is linked with the pain or fear of loss,
And the hand that takes the crown, must ache with many a cross;
Yet he who hath never a conflict, hath never a victor's palm,
And only the toilers know the sweetness of rest and calm.
"Only between the storms can the Alpine traveller know
Transcendent glory of clearness, marvels of gleam and glow;
Had he the brightness unbroken of cloudless summer days,
This had been dimmed by the dust and the veil of a brooding haze.
"Who would dare the choice, neither or both to know,
The finest quiver of joy or the agony thrill of woe!
Never the exquisite pain, then never the exquisite bliss,
For the heart that is dull to that can never be strung to this."
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9202.shtml
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Voice Of The Nature Of God
By Oswald Chambers
'I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?'
Isaiah 6:8
When we speak of the call of God, we are apt to forget the most important feature, viz., the nature of the One Who calls. There is the call of the sea, the call of the mountains, the call of the great ice barriers, but these calls are only heard by the few. The call is the expression of the nature from which it comes, and we can only record the call if the same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God's nature, not of our nature. There are strands of the call of God providentially at work for us which we recognize and no one else does. It is the threading of God's voice to us in some particular matter, and it is no use consulting anyone else about it. We have to keep that profound relationship between our souls and God.
The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah's soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9763.shtml
'I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?'
Isaiah 6:8
When we speak of the call of God, we are apt to forget the most important feature, viz., the nature of the One Who calls. There is the call of the sea, the call of the mountains, the call of the great ice barriers, but these calls are only heard by the few. The call is the expression of the nature from which it comes, and we can only record the call if the same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God's nature, not of our nature. There are strands of the call of God providentially at work for us which we recognize and no one else does. It is the threading of God's voice to us in some particular matter, and it is no use consulting anyone else about it. We have to keep that profound relationship between our souls and God.
The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah's soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9763.shtml
Vision And Darkness
By Oswald Chambers
'An horror of great darkness fell upon him.'
Genesis 15:1
Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, He puts him, as it were, in the shadow of His hand, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen. There is a darkness which comes from excess of light, and then is the time to listen. Genesis 16 is an illustration of listening to good advice when it is dark instead of waiting for God to send the light. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will make you in accordance with the vision He has given if you will wait His time. Never try and help God fulfil His word. Abraham went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all self-sufficiency was destroyed; there was no possibility left of relying on common-sense ways. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not of displeasure. Never pump up joy and confidence, but stay upon God (cf. Isaiah 1:10,11).
Have I any confidence in the flesh? Or have I got beyond all confidence in myself and in men and women of God; in books and prayers and ecstasies; and is my confidence placed now in God Himself, not in His blessings? "I am the Almighty God" - El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God. The one thing for which we are all being disciplined is to know that God is real. As soon as God becomes real, other people become shadows. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever perturb the one who is built on God.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9766.shtml
'An horror of great darkness fell upon him.'
Genesis 15:1
Whenever God gives a vision to a saint, He puts him, as it were, in the shadow of His hand, and the saint's duty is to be still and listen. There is a darkness which comes from excess of light, and then is the time to listen. Genesis 16 is an illustration of listening to good advice when it is dark instead of waiting for God to send the light. When God gives a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will make you in accordance with the vision He has given if you will wait His time. Never try and help God fulfil His word. Abraham went through thirteen years of silence, but in those years all self-sufficiency was destroyed; there was no possibility left of relying on common-sense ways. Those years of silence were a time of discipline, not of displeasure. Never pump up joy and confidence, but stay upon God (cf. Isaiah 1:10,11).
Have I any confidence in the flesh? Or have I got beyond all confidence in myself and in men and women of God; in books and prayers and ecstasies; and is my confidence placed now in God Himself, not in His blessings? "I am the Almighty God" - El-Shaddai, the All-Powerful God. The one thing for which we are all being disciplined is to know that God is real. As soon as God becomes real, other people become shadows. Nothing that other saints do or say can ever perturb the one who is built on God.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9766.shtml
Vision
By Oswald Chambers
'I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.'
Acts 26:19
If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God's highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.
"Though it tarry, wait for it." We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw it but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul's welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss the fulfilment of the vision.
Watch God's cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.
It is essential to practise the walk of the feet in the light of the vision.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9817.shtml
'I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.'
Acts 26:19
If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God's highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.
"Though it tarry, wait for it." We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw it but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul's welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss the fulfilment of the vision.
Watch God's cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.
It is essential to practise the walk of the feet in the light of the vision.
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9817.shtml
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Prophetical Glory of the Redeemer
By Octavius Winslow
These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. John 12:41
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. John 12:41
Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he made this prediction, because he was given a vision of the Messiah's glory. John 12:41
How true is it that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!" "To Him gave all the prophets witness." Of Him, as of one only glorious person, they delighted to testify- of Him, as of one only precious subject, they delighted to speak. Never did the Divine Spirit rest upon them with greater power- never did they strike their prophetic harps to strains so high, so rich, so sweet, as when Emmanuel was their theme. And is it too much to say, that magnificent as is the drapery in which their writings are clothed- gorgeous as is the imagery, and sublime the doctrines, in which these announcements are invested, they would possess no beauty, glory, or sweetness, but for- Jesus?
The confidence and the joy of the Church has ever been the prospective view she has had of the coming Messiah. Through the long vista of ages she saw Him advancing; and though the vision was distant and dim, yet, persuaded of the promise, she embraced it, and rested in it, believing that God was able as He was willing to make good all that He had in covenant mercy pledged to do. The incarnate God was her hope, her joy, her trust; and living or dying, the "Consolation of Israel" was the pole-star on which the eye of her faith was ever and immovably fixed.
It pleased God to raise up a school of prophets, whom He endowed with extraordinary powers of inspiration, filling them with the Holy Spirit, whose especial office it was to feed this desire, to animate this hope, and to strengthen this expectation of faith, by keeping the glorious truth of the approaching Savior constantly and prominently before the eye of the Church.
"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what person, or what period of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
That we are justified in looking into the prophetical Scriptures for peculiar revelations of the glory of Christ will appear clear from a reference to a few passages bearing upon this subject. Our Lord's conversation with the two disciples journeying to Emmaus is strikingly in point. In the first place, Jesus gently chides them for their lack of faith in the prophetical writings relating to Himself. "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." He then passes to the great subject before Him, "And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." The same day, and on another occasion, appearing in their assembled midst, "He said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures."
In a conversation He held with the Jews, how pointedly did He refer to His glory as beaming from beneath the veil of the Mosaic writings! "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me." And well did He exhort them to "search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." Thus invited and encouraged, let us address ourselves to the pleasing task of drawing aside the prophetical veil, thus revealing the hidden glories of our Emmanuel. The unfolding of this subject will be found to present a brief exposition of those striking words of the evangelist: "These things said Elijah, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him."
We commence with the testimony which the prophetical Scriptures bring to the doctrine of our Lord's Deity. Clearer intimations of the Divinity of Christ are nowhere found than in the Old Testament writings.
"In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
What an august revelation of the glory of Christ's Godhead was this which broke upon the view of the lowly prophet! How instructive is each particular of his beatific vision! Mark the profound humility of the seraphim- they veiled with their wings their faces and their feet. They were in the presence of Jesus. They saw the King in His beauty, and covered themselves.
Bat the effect of this view of our Lord's Divine glory upon the mind of the prophet, is still more impressive: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips ... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." What prostrated his soul thus low in the dust? What filled him with this self-abasement? What overwhelmed him with this keen sense of his vileness? Oh, it was the unclouded view he had of the essential glory of the Son of God! And thus will it ever be. The beaming forth of Christ's glory in the soul, reveals its hidden evil; the knowledge of this evil lays the believer low before God with the confession, "I abhor myself. Woe is me, for I am undone!"
Beloved, let this truth be ever present to your mind, that as we increasingly see glory in Jesus, we shall increasingly see that there is no glory in ourselves. Jesus is the Sun which reveals the pollutions and defilements that are within.
The chambers of abomination are all closed until Christ shines in upon the soul. Oh, then it is these deep-seated and long-veiled deformities are revealed; and we, no longer gazing with a complaisant eye upon self, sink in the dust before God, overwhelmed with shame, and covered with confusion of face. Holy posture! Blessed spectacle! A soul prostrate before the glory of the incarnate God! All high and lofty views of its own false glory annihilated by clear and close views of the true glory of Jesus. As when the sun appears, all the less lights vanish into darkness, so when Jesus rises in noontide glory upon the soul, all other glory retires, and He alone fixes the eye, and fills the mind. "With twain they covered their faces, and with twain they covered their feet." Their own perfections and beauty were not to be seen in the presence of the glory of the Lord. How much more profound should be the humility and self-abasement of man!
Have we covered ourselves- not with the pure wings of the holy cherubim- but with sackcloth and ashes, before the Lord? Have we sought to veil- not our beauties, for beauties we have none; but our innumerable and flagrant deformities, even the "spots upon our feasts of love," the sins of our best and holiest things; and, renouncing all self-glory, have we sunk, as into nothing, before God? Oh, we are yet strangers to the vision of Christ's glory, if we have not! If the constellations of human gifts and attainments, distinctions and usefulness, on which unsanctified and unmortified self so delights to gaze, have not retired into oblivion, the Sun of Righteousness has yet to rise upon our souls with healing in His wings.
His glory as the God-man is reflected with equal clearness from the prophetical page. Thus was it predicted that the eternal Son of God should assume an inferior and a human form. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel." "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Could any truth be more emphatically or distinctly stated? Oh, what love in the Father does it unfold, that not only He should have promised His dear Son, but that He should have held out that promise at so distant a period, and in such terms, as would lay an unequivocal foundation for the faith, hope, and joy of the saints, in all ages of the world!
His Divine anointing, constituting an important feature of His official glory, and opening a channel of the most costly blessing to the Church, forms a distinct and sacred theme of the prophetical writings. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me." "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." This anointing was upon the Redeemer, in infinite richness and fragrance. "God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him." As essentially Jehovah, He needed it not; but as the great High Priest, and the mediatorial Head of His "Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all," it was necessary that the anointing oil should be upon Him in its utmost plenitude. As one with Him, all the members alike participate.
"It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went to the skirts of his garment;" even to the lowest believer- Ah! and he that lies the lowest, obtains the most of this "precious ointment," as it descends from Jesus: the hand of faith that touches but the hem of His garment, receives from Him who was "anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows." Dear reader, are you professedly one with Jesus and His saints? then seek, oh diligently seek, a large and still larger degree of this holy and fragrant anointing. Rest not short of it. Do not be satisfied to proceed another step without it. Do not be content with a mere profession, having a name to live, yet lacking all the essential evidences of real life, while discovering many of the fearful attributes of actual death.
These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. John 12:41
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. John 12:41
Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he made this prediction, because he was given a vision of the Messiah's glory. John 12:41
How true is it that "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!" "To Him gave all the prophets witness." Of Him, as of one only glorious person, they delighted to testify- of Him, as of one only precious subject, they delighted to speak. Never did the Divine Spirit rest upon them with greater power- never did they strike their prophetic harps to strains so high, so rich, so sweet, as when Emmanuel was their theme. And is it too much to say, that magnificent as is the drapery in which their writings are clothed- gorgeous as is the imagery, and sublime the doctrines, in which these announcements are invested, they would possess no beauty, glory, or sweetness, but for- Jesus?
The confidence and the joy of the Church has ever been the prospective view she has had of the coming Messiah. Through the long vista of ages she saw Him advancing; and though the vision was distant and dim, yet, persuaded of the promise, she embraced it, and rested in it, believing that God was able as He was willing to make good all that He had in covenant mercy pledged to do. The incarnate God was her hope, her joy, her trust; and living or dying, the "Consolation of Israel" was the pole-star on which the eye of her faith was ever and immovably fixed.
It pleased God to raise up a school of prophets, whom He endowed with extraordinary powers of inspiration, filling them with the Holy Spirit, whose especial office it was to feed this desire, to animate this hope, and to strengthen this expectation of faith, by keeping the glorious truth of the approaching Savior constantly and prominently before the eye of the Church.
"Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what person, or what period of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow."
That we are justified in looking into the prophetical Scriptures for peculiar revelations of the glory of Christ will appear clear from a reference to a few passages bearing upon this subject. Our Lord's conversation with the two disciples journeying to Emmaus is strikingly in point. In the first place, Jesus gently chides them for their lack of faith in the prophetical writings relating to Himself. "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken." He then passes to the great subject before Him, "And beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." The same day, and on another occasion, appearing in their assembled midst, "He said unto them, These are the words which I spoke unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures."
In a conversation He held with the Jews, how pointedly did He refer to His glory as beaming from beneath the veil of the Mosaic writings! "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me." And well did He exhort them to "search the Scriptures; for in them you think you have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." Thus invited and encouraged, let us address ourselves to the pleasing task of drawing aside the prophetical veil, thus revealing the hidden glories of our Emmanuel. The unfolding of this subject will be found to present a brief exposition of those striking words of the evangelist: "These things said Elijah, when he saw His glory, and spoke of Him."
We commence with the testimony which the prophetical Scriptures bring to the doctrine of our Lord's Deity. Clearer intimations of the Divinity of Christ are nowhere found than in the Old Testament writings.
"In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
What an august revelation of the glory of Christ's Godhead was this which broke upon the view of the lowly prophet! How instructive is each particular of his beatific vision! Mark the profound humility of the seraphim- they veiled with their wings their faces and their feet. They were in the presence of Jesus. They saw the King in His beauty, and covered themselves.
Bat the effect of this view of our Lord's Divine glory upon the mind of the prophet, is still more impressive: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips ... for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." What prostrated his soul thus low in the dust? What filled him with this self-abasement? What overwhelmed him with this keen sense of his vileness? Oh, it was the unclouded view he had of the essential glory of the Son of God! And thus will it ever be. The beaming forth of Christ's glory in the soul, reveals its hidden evil; the knowledge of this evil lays the believer low before God with the confession, "I abhor myself. Woe is me, for I am undone!"
Beloved, let this truth be ever present to your mind, that as we increasingly see glory in Jesus, we shall increasingly see that there is no glory in ourselves. Jesus is the Sun which reveals the pollutions and defilements that are within.
The chambers of abomination are all closed until Christ shines in upon the soul. Oh, then it is these deep-seated and long-veiled deformities are revealed; and we, no longer gazing with a complaisant eye upon self, sink in the dust before God, overwhelmed with shame, and covered with confusion of face. Holy posture! Blessed spectacle! A soul prostrate before the glory of the incarnate God! All high and lofty views of its own false glory annihilated by clear and close views of the true glory of Jesus. As when the sun appears, all the less lights vanish into darkness, so when Jesus rises in noontide glory upon the soul, all other glory retires, and He alone fixes the eye, and fills the mind. "With twain they covered their faces, and with twain they covered their feet." Their own perfections and beauty were not to be seen in the presence of the glory of the Lord. How much more profound should be the humility and self-abasement of man!
Have we covered ourselves- not with the pure wings of the holy cherubim- but with sackcloth and ashes, before the Lord? Have we sought to veil- not our beauties, for beauties we have none; but our innumerable and flagrant deformities, even the "spots upon our feasts of love," the sins of our best and holiest things; and, renouncing all self-glory, have we sunk, as into nothing, before God? Oh, we are yet strangers to the vision of Christ's glory, if we have not! If the constellations of human gifts and attainments, distinctions and usefulness, on which unsanctified and unmortified self so delights to gaze, have not retired into oblivion, the Sun of Righteousness has yet to rise upon our souls with healing in His wings.
His glory as the God-man is reflected with equal clearness from the prophetical page. Thus was it predicted that the eternal Son of God should assume an inferior and a human form. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Emmanuel." "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." Could any truth be more emphatically or distinctly stated? Oh, what love in the Father does it unfold, that not only He should have promised His dear Son, but that He should have held out that promise at so distant a period, and in such terms, as would lay an unequivocal foundation for the faith, hope, and joy of the saints, in all ages of the world!
His Divine anointing, constituting an important feature of His official glory, and opening a channel of the most costly blessing to the Church, forms a distinct and sacred theme of the prophetical writings. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord has anointed me." "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." This anointing was upon the Redeemer, in infinite richness and fragrance. "God gives not the Spirit by measure unto him." As essentially Jehovah, He needed it not; but as the great High Priest, and the mediatorial Head of His "Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all," it was necessary that the anointing oil should be upon Him in its utmost plenitude. As one with Him, all the members alike participate.
"It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went to the skirts of his garment;" even to the lowest believer- Ah! and he that lies the lowest, obtains the most of this "precious ointment," as it descends from Jesus: the hand of faith that touches but the hem of His garment, receives from Him who was "anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows." Dear reader, are you professedly one with Jesus and His saints? then seek, oh diligently seek, a large and still larger degree of this holy and fragrant anointing. Rest not short of it. Do not be satisfied to proceed another step without it. Do not be content with a mere profession, having a name to live, yet lacking all the essential evidences of real life, while discovering many of the fearful attributes of actual death.
Vineyards in the Wilderness
By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman
"I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness...And I will give her her vineyards from thence" (Hosea 2:14-15).
A strange place to find vineyards--in the wilderness! And can it be that the riches which a soul needs can be obtained in the wilderness, which stands for a lonely place, out of which you can seldom find your way? It would seem so, and not only that, but the "Valley of Achor," which means bitterness, is called a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth!
Yes, God knows our need of the wilderness experience. He knows where and how to bring out that which is enduring. The soul has been idolatrous, rebellious; has forgotten God, and with a perfect self-will has said, "I will follow after my lovers." But she did not overtake them. And, when she was hopeless and forsaken, God said, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." What a loving God is ours! --Crumbs
We never know where God hides His pools. We see a rock, and we cannot guess it is the home of the spring. We see a flinty place, and we cannot tell it is the hiding place of a fountain. God leads me into the hard places, and then I find I have gone into the dwelling place of eternal springs. --Selected
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9362.shtml
"I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness...And I will give her her vineyards from thence" (Hosea 2:14-15).
A strange place to find vineyards--in the wilderness! And can it be that the riches which a soul needs can be obtained in the wilderness, which stands for a lonely place, out of which you can seldom find your way? It would seem so, and not only that, but the "Valley of Achor," which means bitterness, is called a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth!
Yes, God knows our need of the wilderness experience. He knows where and how to bring out that which is enduring. The soul has been idolatrous, rebellious; has forgotten God, and with a perfect self-will has said, "I will follow after my lovers." But she did not overtake them. And, when she was hopeless and forsaken, God said, "I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." What a loving God is ours! --Crumbs
We never know where God hides His pools. We see a rock, and we cannot guess it is the home of the spring. We see a flinty place, and we cannot tell it is the hiding place of a fountain. God leads me into the hard places, and then I find I have gone into the dwelling place of eternal springs. --Selected
http://articles.christiansunite.com/article9362.shtml
DREAM: U.S. COMMANDO
By David North
U.S.A
http://www.worldstrider.blogspot.com/
Background
The Census Job
Ten years ago I had applied for a census job and had gotten 100% on the entrance test plus a five point bonus for being a military veteran. Hiring was and is based on the test score but people began working and I had not been called at all--this went on for close to three weeks from the time I should have been called. So I was outside my home praying and asked the Lord why I had not been called. He responded, "Kindling sticks". I asked him what he meant and he replied, "Another twig for your fire. You have used all you have to maintain your household but haven't invested one-cent in the things I have showed you.". I felt before that the Lord had showed me something ministry related tthat i was to do but I had no financial means to do it. His point was not that I "hadn't done it anyway" but that I hadn't done anything. So I said I would take a portion of what I next make and even if it takes away from my own house will put it towards what you want--even if it isn't enough. My wife came to the door of the house about five-sconds later and said, "The census is on the phone"...and then I was hired.
I was placed in charge of the crew for the entire county where I lived and was making $3 an hour more than other employees and also had more hours each week (over forty). When I arrived for training, I was asked by the instructor--who was also to be my boss, what I was doing in her class. I explained I had been hired by the regional office as crew leader and she answerd that she already had hired a crew leader and not to get comfortable because i wasn't going to have the job long. When she called to replace me they refused and ordered her to give me the job. She was furious and came back and told me that as far as she was concerened I was not the "real" crew leader and so would have to share authority with the young lady she had previously hired and to have the person she had chosen already as her assistant to be mine as well.
The other leader did ot have the recoginition of the regional office as a "co-leader" but I was told by the supervisor I had that she was whether she had the title or not. Shortly after we began work, I discovered that the supervisor had told this girl to simply bide her time and the first time I made a mistake she would have me fired. A week later, the two "assistants" attempted to do part of my job and to take credit for it at my expense. Instead, they did the job horribly wrong. To cover themselves, they agreed to lie and say I had done the work and made the mistakes. I was called in to be fired but just before I arrived, two of my crew members who respected me and had overheard the plot went in and told my supervisor the whole accusation was a lie and had been premeditated by the others. The supervisor would not have cared but the fact that two employes knew what happened and might tell someone else made her cover her back and take disciplinary action against the other two assitants instead of me. She told me just before she did that she had indeed called me into fire me and that as far as she was still concerned that I should never have been there and didn't deserve the job. However, the action of the other two had made her look bad so she had to remove them and I was allowed to actually be in charge for the first time. I finished my work over the next few weeks but she treated me with thinly veiled contempt most of the time. I hated going in every day but was determined to not let someone lose a job that I merited and had done nothing that should have caused me to lose it.
After the work was over, I asked the Lord why it had been so unpleasant--not just in the natural but spiritually. It was oppression in the spirit as well as mentally.
DREAM: U.S. COMMANDO
I had a dream that night and I saw a squad of uniformed Russian commandos getting their weapons and equipment ready for a raid. They were going to parachute into the United States and attack the government and their commanding officer was briefing them on what they were to do. At that point Jesus walked in and said, "I have a new addition to your team.". He then stepped to the side and I was standing behind him dresssed as a U.S. commando. He placed a badge on a chain about my neck (the census issues those to workers too). The Russians were in shock and dumbfounded but I saw that no one in the room had the nerve to confront Jesus and they swallowed hard and just complied.
When I awoke and asked the Lord what the dream was about he answerd that their was "already a great evil at work in your government" but because of my prayer a place had been made for me in the midst of the enemy's camp. I wouldn't have had any idea what to make of this but as it happened, about a year before, I had a dream where I saw my census supervisor (I had never met her). There was a great economic depression in the United States and a lot of demonic activity. I had gone looking for work and when none was available had walked down a road and saw a mansion surrounded by a high hedge. I thought maybe I could do some small work there to bring back food for my family and went about the hedge looking for a gate. There was a very narrow one that was only found when I stepped into the hedge. I went up steps in the back of the hoiuse and knocked on the door. Two women answered and seemed shocked I was there. They didn't know what to do with me and said they would have to ask "mother". I was allowed to come in and a bit later and older women (my census supervisor in appearance) came in and was furious that "a man" was in her house. She angrily demanded of the women that they explain whay I was allowed in and they stammered that I had come in "by the back gate". "Mother" angrily answered, "There is no back gate!" and the women responded, "We know but he found one anyway.". She seemed uncertain what to do with me. I was amazed after seeing her anger that she hadn't just ordered me from the house but she seemed reluctant for me to know that was what she wanted to do. She was then very polite and offered me tea and then suddenly grabbed my chin in her hand, thrust her face nose-to-nose with mine and stared intensly into my eyes. She then said, "It's been less than a year for you--you aren't done yet.". She said she would give me some small jobs and to come back the next day. I left and as I went down the road thought, "What a wicked house.". It had been almost a year to the day in my real life that the Lord had told me to quit my previous job and I had not found regular work up to that time.
So I was called last year again to work and excelled and had real favor with everyone. The job was wonderful and I did excedingly well and additionally got along very well with all the supervisors there. Then the job ended and when I was supposed to be called back for additional work, I was "missed" on two occasions. I called a friend still working there a few months later and asked if she would inquire as to my status and she did one better and told the regional manager that I had not been called back for work on the two occasions when I should have been--I was hired the next day. A few days later, that same regional supervisor asked me to change work to a crew leader again and waived the mileage restriction so I could do it. That has since led me to two more jobs and I am still working after what was initially supposed to be only about a week of work (I've been two months now).
I have no idea what all of this means but this time I had the sense that my "addition to the team" still stood from ten years back so I stood on that. Two times I was nearly dropped through an administrative crack and each time got a better job as a result.
Not a real point to telling this but just, "Interesting".
Peace,
David
U.S.A
http://www.worldstrider.blogspot.com/
Background
The Census Job
Ten years ago I had applied for a census job and had gotten 100% on the entrance test plus a five point bonus for being a military veteran. Hiring was and is based on the test score but people began working and I had not been called at all--this went on for close to three weeks from the time I should have been called. So I was outside my home praying and asked the Lord why I had not been called. He responded, "Kindling sticks". I asked him what he meant and he replied, "Another twig for your fire. You have used all you have to maintain your household but haven't invested one-cent in the things I have showed you.". I felt before that the Lord had showed me something ministry related tthat i was to do but I had no financial means to do it. His point was not that I "hadn't done it anyway" but that I hadn't done anything. So I said I would take a portion of what I next make and even if it takes away from my own house will put it towards what you want--even if it isn't enough. My wife came to the door of the house about five-sconds later and said, "The census is on the phone"...and then I was hired.
I was placed in charge of the crew for the entire county where I lived and was making $3 an hour more than other employees and also had more hours each week (over forty). When I arrived for training, I was asked by the instructor--who was also to be my boss, what I was doing in her class. I explained I had been hired by the regional office as crew leader and she answerd that she already had hired a crew leader and not to get comfortable because i wasn't going to have the job long. When she called to replace me they refused and ordered her to give me the job. She was furious and came back and told me that as far as she was concerened I was not the "real" crew leader and so would have to share authority with the young lady she had previously hired and to have the person she had chosen already as her assistant to be mine as well.
The other leader did ot have the recoginition of the regional office as a "co-leader" but I was told by the supervisor I had that she was whether she had the title or not. Shortly after we began work, I discovered that the supervisor had told this girl to simply bide her time and the first time I made a mistake she would have me fired. A week later, the two "assistants" attempted to do part of my job and to take credit for it at my expense. Instead, they did the job horribly wrong. To cover themselves, they agreed to lie and say I had done the work and made the mistakes. I was called in to be fired but just before I arrived, two of my crew members who respected me and had overheard the plot went in and told my supervisor the whole accusation was a lie and had been premeditated by the others. The supervisor would not have cared but the fact that two employes knew what happened and might tell someone else made her cover her back and take disciplinary action against the other two assitants instead of me. She told me just before she did that she had indeed called me into fire me and that as far as she was still concerned that I should never have been there and didn't deserve the job. However, the action of the other two had made her look bad so she had to remove them and I was allowed to actually be in charge for the first time. I finished my work over the next few weeks but she treated me with thinly veiled contempt most of the time. I hated going in every day but was determined to not let someone lose a job that I merited and had done nothing that should have caused me to lose it.
After the work was over, I asked the Lord why it had been so unpleasant--not just in the natural but spiritually. It was oppression in the spirit as well as mentally.
DREAM: U.S. COMMANDO
I had a dream that night and I saw a squad of uniformed Russian commandos getting their weapons and equipment ready for a raid. They were going to parachute into the United States and attack the government and their commanding officer was briefing them on what they were to do. At that point Jesus walked in and said, "I have a new addition to your team.". He then stepped to the side and I was standing behind him dresssed as a U.S. commando. He placed a badge on a chain about my neck (the census issues those to workers too). The Russians were in shock and dumbfounded but I saw that no one in the room had the nerve to confront Jesus and they swallowed hard and just complied.
When I awoke and asked the Lord what the dream was about he answerd that their was "already a great evil at work in your government" but because of my prayer a place had been made for me in the midst of the enemy's camp. I wouldn't have had any idea what to make of this but as it happened, about a year before, I had a dream where I saw my census supervisor (I had never met her). There was a great economic depression in the United States and a lot of demonic activity. I had gone looking for work and when none was available had walked down a road and saw a mansion surrounded by a high hedge. I thought maybe I could do some small work there to bring back food for my family and went about the hedge looking for a gate. There was a very narrow one that was only found when I stepped into the hedge. I went up steps in the back of the hoiuse and knocked on the door. Two women answered and seemed shocked I was there. They didn't know what to do with me and said they would have to ask "mother". I was allowed to come in and a bit later and older women (my census supervisor in appearance) came in and was furious that "a man" was in her house. She angrily demanded of the women that they explain whay I was allowed in and they stammered that I had come in "by the back gate". "Mother" angrily answered, "There is no back gate!" and the women responded, "We know but he found one anyway.". She seemed uncertain what to do with me. I was amazed after seeing her anger that she hadn't just ordered me from the house but she seemed reluctant for me to know that was what she wanted to do. She was then very polite and offered me tea and then suddenly grabbed my chin in her hand, thrust her face nose-to-nose with mine and stared intensly into my eyes. She then said, "It's been less than a year for you--you aren't done yet.". She said she would give me some small jobs and to come back the next day. I left and as I went down the road thought, "What a wicked house.". It had been almost a year to the day in my real life that the Lord had told me to quit my previous job and I had not found regular work up to that time.
So I was called last year again to work and excelled and had real favor with everyone. The job was wonderful and I did excedingly well and additionally got along very well with all the supervisors there. Then the job ended and when I was supposed to be called back for additional work, I was "missed" on two occasions. I called a friend still working there a few months later and asked if she would inquire as to my status and she did one better and told the regional manager that I had not been called back for work on the two occasions when I should have been--I was hired the next day. A few days later, that same regional supervisor asked me to change work to a crew leader again and waived the mileage restriction so I could do it. That has since led me to two more jobs and I am still working after what was initially supposed to be only about a week of work (I've been two months now).
I have no idea what all of this means but this time I had the sense that my "addition to the team" still stood from ten years back so I stood on that. Two times I was nearly dropped through an administrative crack and each time got a better job as a result.
Not a real point to telling this but just, "Interesting".
Peace,
David
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