Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1834-1892 “The Prince of Preachers”
“Most of the grand truths of God have to be learned by trouble; they must be burned into us with the hot iron of affliction, otherwise we shall not truly receive them.”
–CH Spurgeon
“Remember that if you are a child of God, you will never be happy in sin. You are spoiled for the world, the flesh, and the devil. When you were regenerated there was put into you a vital principle, which can never be content to dwell in the dead world. You will have to come back, if indeed you belong to the family.”
“Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful.”
1 Corinthians 1:27, NLT
God has particular preferences when it comes to peculiar people. He selectively chooses. These choices are made up in his mind and heart. For us to criticize them, is by association, faulting God. It just happens to be that He likes losers. He choses uneven performers over the gifted and learned, (1 Cor. 1:26).
There have been very many men and women tossed out on the trash heap of humanity. They are often regarded as useless and irrelevant. But God loves the outcast and forgotten.
We who are the disabled know weakness intimately. We must deal with it 24/7; and it never takes a holiday, We are broken believers who are in love with Jesus and still we are broken. Talk about having faith for healing? What about the faith to be sick?
People who have experienced dealings so harsh– most likely— there is little pride or arrogance left. These are usually the marginalized, the losers. People like Moses,
“Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
Exodus 3:11
Someone once said, “When God intends to use a man or woman He takes them and crushes them.” The inevitable breaking is followed by a release of the Holy Spirit from their lives. Moses is proof of God’s renovating presence. You want the presence? Prepare for years of roughness, and misunderstanding. Prepare for the crushing.
At the burning bush, Moses was given the assignment of returning, confronting Pharaoh, and leading all the captives to the Promised Land of Canaan. He had just spent 40 years as a refugee/shepherd. In spite of a good education he had received while in Egypt as a prince, that wasn’t why he had been selected.
Moses has definite feelings of inadequacy and failure. And his time in the desert did nothing to relieve this. But a 40 year “prison” term will do that. In chapter 4 of Exodus we read “the back and forth” conversation between Moses and the Lord God. All of Moses’ objections were consistently volleyed back with comfort and promise.
As you read this, you may be aware of God’s presence. He has called you to do something for him. You have wandered off the path, gotten lost and suffered much. The “desert” will do that. But it all can be forgiven. His alert grace is a velvet battering ram of grace and love. He will (and does) discipline you–but only because he is passionately in love with your soul, and His glory.
“We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.”
John 9:4, NLT
To be quick means that we move very fast; being slow often implies a reluctance or a mental delay. To hesitate while doing God’s will for us suggests a degree of ignorance or stubbornness. Our quickness is to be seen while doing “the tasks assigned to us.”
Urgency should be woven into our hearts. We need to have wings on our feet, a fleetness and an alacrity. A “double-eagerness” as we carry out His work. It should be of no surprise that God sets before us an itinerary of work He wants us to do.
So many brothers and sisters sleepwalk through their salvation. They snooze when Jesus desires they “watch and pray”with Him.
Jesus was on a timetable. He communicated a need of doing. He is in tune with the work of God, and is involved in the urgency of his present moment. Jesus knows this, and he clearly communicates the need to do. We are not called to be manic for Jesus; we are expected to be alert and aware.
This is a cry for urgency to his disciples.
“The night is coming.” It is getting late. In response Jesus issues an order. Work at what the Father has assigned you. It is almost dark now. There is a “principle of spiritual velocity” calling us to an alertness and an awareness of needful things to do before “the time is up.”
In Acts 9 the disciples show a holy zeal in their day’s work. “We can’t stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” The Old Testament prophets carried this urgency–Jeremiah and Amos both declared to us this avidity placed on the believer. Jesus desires that we factor in this concentrated awareness of the approaching night.
I recently read of an evangelist in the last century. He had a watch made, and on the dial he had a picture of a setting sun. And over it, the words, “the night comes.” Everytime he would look at his watch he would be reminded of the shortness of life and the need of the performance of his duty. That lesson should be transmitted to each zealous believer.
The key word I guess, in all of this, is zeal. And often the older we get the more this word becomes diminished, and distant. (I believe our Father understands this about us.) No matter what we do, He focuses His love on us. There will never be a condemnation on us. But we can still waste away our lives in a tragic way, which we will later regret.
But we have to ask ourselves this, will I just be an admirer, or can I become a zealous disciple of Christ?
“The heart is but a small vessel; and yet dragons and lions are there, and there poisonous creatures and all the treasures of wickedness; rough, uneven paths are there, and gaping chasms. There likewise is God, there are the angels, the heavenly cities and the treasures of grace; all things are there.”
~St. Macarius
OK, I admit it. I am fully capable and fully able to do just about any sin or deceit. It’s my dubious claim to fame. I can easily think of a 1000 things that I could do rather than serving God. It seems my name is ‘Legion.’ To add to this, I have a chorus of support that wants me to give up my faith. Demons are really plotting to destroy me, while all along my flesh insists on being fed with ‘fresh sin’. (And I wonder why I’m getting gray hair.)
Within each of us is the potential and capability of doing great evil. Each of us is contested ground, with eternal decisions hanging in the balance.
My mental illness does not give me “a get-out-of-jail-free card.” I am just as responsible as anyone else when it comes to choosing good vs. evil. Somehow I’d like to think that since I am deeply flawed because of my depression, it can actually make it somewhat easier to admit the truth. Maybe? (Perhaps that’s about the only edge I get.)
In Greek mythology there were three beautiful, but dangerous bird-women called “Sirens.” With their music and voice they seduced sailors to shipwreck on the rocks. It was said that there was few or any could resist them. Since they had to be neutralized somehow; some would plug their ears with beeswax, while others tied themselves to the mast.
The Bible has promised us the Holy Spirit. The very presence of God has reached out His hand to hold me against the onslaught of evil forces. He truly does hold me in place, and His Word gives me the things I need to defend myself. Yes, the darkness can be very strong–but is no match to what God can do for me. We live in a very difficult age.
The intensity of seduction has increased. Tying yourself to something is probably a good idea.
“Keep yourself pure.”
1 Timothy 5:22
When the voices begin to lure you, you had best be ready with a plan. The spiritual mast we have before us is the person of Jesus Christ. Call on Him and then tether yourself to His mast (the cross.) He has all power and all love for you. You can resist the darkness, you can!
Broken Believers 