Hope Thou in God

"Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.  Why art thou cast down, oh my soul?  Hope thou in God for I shall yet praise Him."

~ Psalm 27:3; 42:5 ~

Take away faith, and in vain we call to God.  There is no other road betwixt our souls and Heaven.  Blockade that road and we cannot communicate with the Great King.  Faith links us with Divinity.

An outstanding minister said that one evening he found himself staggering along under a load that was heavy enough to crush half a dozen strong men.  Out of sheer exhaustion he put it down and took a good look at it.  He found that it was all borrowed.  Part of it belonged to the following day; part of it belonged to the following week, and here he was borrowing it that it might crush him now - a very stupid but a very ancient blunder.

Never yield to gloomy anticipations.  Who told you that the night would never end in day?  Who told you that the winter of your discontent should proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow?  Do you not know that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?  Place your hope and confidence in God.  He has no record of failure."

- Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

- taken from Streams in the Desert, Volume 2, December 26th

~Brittany

Praying, Instead of Talking

"...in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."

- Isaiah 30:15 -

"Do you know what Luther said?  'Suffer and be still and tell no man thy sorrow; trust in God - His help will not fail thee.'  This is what Scripture calls keeping silent before God.  Talk much of one's sorrows makes one weak, but to tell one's sorrows to Him Who heareth in secret, makes one strong and calm."  - Tholuck

The little sharp vexations

And the briars that catch and fret,

Why not take all to the Helper

Who has never failed us yet?

Tell Him about the heartache,

And tell Him the longings, too;

Tell Him the baffled purpose

When we scarce know what to do.

Then, leaving all our weakness

With the One divinely strong,

Forget that we bore the burden,

And carry away the song.

                    ~ Margaret Sangster

- Streams in the Desert, Volume 2, February19th

~Brittany

~Brittany

Joy, Peace, and Confidence in Trials

I was very blessed by this devotional this morning, and challenged yet again.  The Lord has been teaching me so much this year, and one of the things He has been helping me learn recently is to rest in joy in Him in my trials.  So trials seem bigger than others, but as I seek to have an overall attitude to joy in the providential happenings around me, it makes such a difference.  I hope that this devotional is a blessing and encouragement to some of you as well.  May your Lord's Day be blessed!

“He shall not be afraid of evil tidings.”  - Psalm 112:7

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, “Stand still and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God’s high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

-Charles Spurgeon Morning Meditation, September 15th

~Posted by Brittany

Hope ~ Romans 5:2-5

In interesting word study from my personal reading this morning. :-)

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  -Romans 5:2-5

This list of steps in the growth of our Christian walk is sandwiched with hope.

Hope is:

(to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: - faith, hope.

Anticipate:

To foretaste or foresee; to have a previous view or impression of something future.

Expectation:

The act of expecting or looking forward to a future event with at least some reason to believe the event will happen. Expectation differs from hope. Hope originates in desire,and may exist with little or no ground of belief that the desired event will arrive. Expectation is founded on some reasons which render the event probably. Hope is directed to some good; expectation is directed to good or evil.

Confidence:

A trusting, or reliance; an assurance of mind or firm belief in the integrity, stability or veracity of another, or in the truth and reality of a fact.

Safety, or assurance of safety; security.

Boldness; courage.

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”  -Michael Lederman

“Hope is a gift of God's grace, and is implanted in regeneration, but abounds, increases, and becomes more strong and lively by experience of the love, grace, mercy, power, and faithfulness of God.”  - John Gill’s Commentary