From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Heavenly Alchemy
November 26
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20)
Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when He rose from the dead and showed Himself in their midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted, even the worst of them, which look as if they must forever remain fountains of bitterness.
Then the more sorrow, the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord’s power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavor of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.
Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long; I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: absence, afflictions, almighty, among, anticipation, battles, begin, behind, Believe, bitter, bitterness, black, brilliance, cause, cheer, Christ, clearly, come, Comforter, contrast, day, dead, Death, delight, deliverance, delivered, Depression, diamond, Elohim, faithful, far, farther, flavor, foil, forever, fountains, glad, gloomy, go, God, God's Son, grief, happy, heart, heavenly, Heavenly Father, heighten, Holy Spirit, illnesses, Jehovah, Jesus, joy, left, little, loads, long, look, Lord, Lord's power, mercy, midst, more, night, one, other, particular, pendulum, pleasure, power, praise, Promise, protector, Provider, remain, remembrance, resurrection, right, risen, rose, saints, Savior, seen, set, shall, short, showed, sing, sorrow, Spirit, struggles, sweeter, swinging, tons, transmuted, trials, tribulation, trouble, turned, up, way, while, worst, Yahweh, Yeshua, your
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Child Chastisement Not Forever
August 14
And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. (1 Kings 11:39)
In the family of grace there is discipline, and that discipline is severe enough to make it an evil and a bitter thing to sin. Solomon, turned aside by his foreign wives, had set up other gods and grievously provoked the God of his father; therefore, ten parts out of twelve of the kingdom were rent away and set up as a rival state. This was a sore affliction to the house of David, and it came upon that dynasty distinctly from the hand of God, as the result of unholy conduct. The Lord will chasten His best beloved servants if they cease from full obedience to His laws: perhaps at this very hour such chastening is upon us. Let us humbly cry, “O Lord, show me wherefore thou contendest with me.”
What a sweet saving clause is that — “but not for ever”! The punishment of sin is everlasting, but the fatherly chastisement of it in a child of God is but for a season. The sickness, the poverty, the depression of spirit, will pass away when they have had their intended effect. Remember, we are not under law but under grace, The rod may make us smart, but the sword shall not make us die. Our present grief is meant to bring us to repentance that we may not be destroyed with the wicked.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: afflict, affliction, battles, bitterness, Child of God, Christ, discipline, Elohim, evil, false gods, false idols, family, foreign, forgiveness, God, grace, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Jehovah, Jesus, Lord, mercy, momentary, perish, Promise, punishment, Savior, sin, Solomon, trials, tribulation, troubles, wicked, wives, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Why Remain Captive
May 5
The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity. (Deuteronomy 30:3)
God’s own people may sell themselves into captivity by sin. A very bitter fruit is this, of an exceeding bitter root. What a bondage it is when the child of God is sold under sin, held in chains by Satan, deprived of his liberty, robbed of his power in prayer and his delight in the Lord! Let us watch that we come not into such bondage; but if this has already happened to us, let us by no means despair.
But we cannot be held in slavery forever. The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy’s hand. The way to freedom is, “Return unto the Lord thy God.” Where we first found salvation we shall find it again. At the foot of Christ’s cross, confessing sin, we shall find pardon and deliverance. Moreover, the Lord will have us obey His voice according to all that He has commanded us, and we must do this with all our heart and all our soul, and then our captivity shall end.
Often depression of spirit and great misery of soul are removed as soon as we quit our idols and bow ourselves in obedience before the living God. We need not be captives. We may return to Zion’s citizenship, and that speedily. Lord, turn our captivity!
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: backsliding, believers, bitterness, bondage, captivity, chains, Child of God, confession, deprivation, deprived, Devil, Elohim, enemies, fight, forgiveness, freedom, fruit, God, Heavenly Father, holiness, hope, Jehovah, Jesus, liberty, Lord, power, prayer, Promise, robbed, root, salvation, Satan, Savior, sin, slavery to sin, Yahweh
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Why Remain Captive
May 5
The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity. (Deuteronomy 30:3)
God’s own people may sell themselves into captivity by sin. A very bitter fruit is this, of an exceeding bitter root. What a bondage it is when the child of God is sold under sin, held in chains by Satan, deprived of his liberty, robbed of his power in prayer and his delight in the Lord! Let us watch that we come not into such bondage; but if this has already happened to us, let us by no means despair.
But we cannot be held in slavery forever. The Lord Jesus has paid too high a price for our redemption to leave us in the enemy’s hand. The way to freedom is, “Return unto the Lord thy God.” Where we first found salvation we shall find it again. At the foot of Christ’s cross, confessing sin, we shall find pardon and deliverance. Moreover, the Lord will have us obey His voice according to all that He has commanded us, and we must do this with all our heart and all our soul, and then our captivity shall end.
Often depression of spirit and great misery of soul are removed as soon as we quit our idols and bow ourselves in obedience before the living God. We need not be captives. We may return to Zion’s citizenship, and that speedily. Lord, turn our captivity!
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: bitterness, bondage, captivity, child, Cross, freedom, fruit, God, hope, Jesus, liberty, Lord, overcome, people, power, Promise, release, root, sacrifice, salvation, Satan, sin, slavery
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Heavenly Alchemy
November 26
Your sorrow shall be turned into joy. (John 16:20)
Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when He rose from the dead and showed Himself in their midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted, even the worst of them, which look as if they must forever remain fountains of bitterness.
Then the more sorrow, the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord’s power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavor of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be the more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.
Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorrow shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long; I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: bitterness, dead, God, Jesus, joy, left, Lord, Messiah, pleasure, right, risen, saints, sorrow, trials, victories
forhisgloryandpraise 