From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Gift of Strength; Peace to Bless
December 7
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace. (Psalm 29:11)
David had just heard the voice of the Lord in a thunderstorm and had seen His power in the hurricane whose path he had described; and now, in the cool calm after the storm, that overwhelming power by which heaven and earth are shaken is promised to be the strength of the chosen. He who wings the unerring bolt will give to His redeemed the wings of eagles; He who shakes the earth with His voice will terrify the enemies of His saints and give His children peace. Why are we weak when we have divine strength to flee to? Why are we troubled when the Lord’s own peace is ours? Jesus, the mighty God, is our strength; let us put Him on and go forth to our service. Jesus, our blessed Lord, is also our peace; let us repose in Him this day and end our fears. What a blessing to have Him for our strength and peace both now and forever!
That same God who rides upon the storm in days of tempest will also rule the hurricane of our tribulation and send us, before long, days of peace. We shall have strength for storms and songs for fair weather. Let us begin to sing at once unto God, our strength and our peace. Away, dark thoughts! Up, faith and hope!
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: almighty, attacks, away, battles, before, believers, Bless, blessed, blessing, bolt, calm, chosen, Christ, Christians, Comfoter, cool, dark, David, day, days, described, divine, eagles, Earth, Elohim, end, enemies, fair, Faith, fears, flee, forever, give, God, God'peace, God's children, God's people, God's Redeemed, God's Saints, God's Son, heard, Heaven, Heavenly Father, help, Holy Spirit, hope, hurricane, Jehovah, Jesus, long, Lord, mighty, now, ours, overwhelming, path, peace, power, Promise, protector, Provider, repose, rides, rule, same, Savior, seen, send, service, shaken, shakes, shelter, sing, Songs, Storms, strength, strengthen, struggles, tempest, terrify, thoughts, thunderstorms, trials, tribulation, troubled, unerring, up, Voice, weak, weather, wings, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Peace Whatever Exposure
December 3
I will make them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. (Ezekiel 34:25)
It is the height of grace that Jehovah should be in covenant with man, a I feeble, sinful, and dying creature. Yet the Lord has solemnly entered into a faithful compact with us, and from that covenant He will never turn aside. In virtue of this covenant we are safe. As lions and wolves are driven off by shepherds, so shall all noxious influences be chased away. The Lord will give us rest from disturbers and destroyers; the evil beasts shall cease out of the land. O Lord, make this Thy promise good even now!
The Lord’s people are to enjoy security in places of the greatest exposure: wilderness and woods are to be as pastures and folds to the flock of Christ. If the Lord does not change the place for the better, He will make us the better in the place. The wilderness is not a place to dwell in, but the Lord can make it so; in the woods one feels hound to watch rather than to sleep, and yet the Lord giveth His beloved sleep even there. Nothing without or within should cause any fear to the child of God. By faith the wilderness can become the suburbs of heaven and the woods the vestibule of glory.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: almighty, aside, away, beasts, believers, better, cause, cease, change, chased, Child of God, Christ, Christians, Comforter, compact, covenant, creature, destroyers, disturbers, driven, dwell, dying, Elohim, enemies, enemies of God, enjoy, entered, evil, exposure, faithful, Fear, feeble, feels, fields, flocks of Christ, folds, give, glory, God, God's people, God's Son, good, grace, greatest, Heaven, Heavenly Father, height, Holy Spirit, hound, influences, Jehovah, Jesus, land, lions, Lord, Lord's people, make, man, nothing, noxious, off, out, pastures, peace, place, places, Promise, protection, protector, Provider, provision, rest, safe, safely, safety, Savior, securitty, shepherds, sinful, sleep, solemnly, suburbs, turn, vestibule, virtue, watch, wilderness, within, without, wolves, woods, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
God Is in the Front Line
November 30
The Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 31:8)
In the presence of a great work or a great warfare, here is a text which should help us to buckle on our harness. If Jehovah Himself goes before us, it must be safe to follow. Who can obstruct our progress if the Lord Himself is in the van? Come, brother soldiers, let us make a prompt advance! Why do we hesitate to pass on to victory?
Nor is the Lord before us only; He is with us. Above, beneath, around, within is the omnipotent, omnipresent One. In all time, even to eternity, He will be with us even as He has been. How this should nerve our arm! Dash at it boldly, ye soldiers of the cross, for the Lord of hosts is with us!
Being before us and with us, He will never withdraw His help. He cannot fail in Himself, and He will not fail toward us. He will continue to help us according to our need, even to the end. As He cannot fail us, so He will not forsake us. He will always be both able and willing to grant us strength and succor till fighting days are gone.
Let us not fear nor be dismayed; for the Lord of hosts will go down to the battle with us, will bear the brunt of the fight, and give us the victory.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: abides, able, according, advanve, afraid, almighty, arm, armor, army of the Lord, attends, battles, bear, before, Belief, boldness, bravery, brint, brother, buckle, Christ, Comforter, continue, courage, Cross, dash, days, diismayed, dismay, Elohim, Eternity, fail, Faith, Fear, fight, fighting, fights, follow, forsake, give, God, God's Son, goes, gone, grant, great, guidance, harness, Heavenly Father, help, hesitation, Holy Spirit, hope, Jehovah, Jesus, Lord, Lord of Hosts, need, nerve, obedience, obstruction, Omnipotent, omnipresent, presence, progress, Promise, prompt, protect, protection, protector, Provider, provision, safety, Savior, soldiers, Soldiers of the Cross, strength, struggles, succor, text, time, trials, tribulations, trust, victory, warfare, wars, weapons, willing, with, withdraw, work, Yahweh, Yeshua, you
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Hunger Satisfied
November 20
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. (Psalm 107:9)
It is well to have longings, and the more intense they are the better. The Lord will satisfy soul-longings, however great and all-absorbing they may be. Let us greatly long, for God will greatly give. We are never in a right state of mind when we are contented with ourselves and are free from longings. Desires for more grace and groanings which cannot be uttered are growing pains, and we should wish to feel them more and more. Blessed Spirit, make us sigh and cry after better things and for more of the best things!
Hunger is by no means a pleasant sensation. Yet blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Such persons shall not only have their hunger relieved with a little food, but they shall be filled. They shall not be filled with any sort of rough stuff, but their diet shall be worthy of their good Lord, for they shall be filled with goodness by Jehovah Himself.
Come, let us not fret because we long and hunger, but let us hear the voice of the psalmist as he also longs and hungers to see God magnified. “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.”
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: almighty, blessed, blessed spirit, blessings, Christ, contented, contenttment, diet, Elohim, fill more, Food, free, fret, give, God, God's Son, goodness, growing pains, hear praise, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, hunger, Jehovah, Jesus, longings, Lord, needs, out releived, Promise, provide, Provider, provision, Psalmist, righr, righteousness, satisfy, satsfaction, Savior, soul, state of mind, stuff, supplies, thirst, uttered, Voice, wonderful, worry, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Walk Without Stumbling
November 10
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved. (Psalm 121:3)
If the Lord will not suffer it, neither men nor devils can do it. How greatly would they rejoice if they could give us a disgraceful fall, drive us from our position, and bury us out of memory! They could do this to their heart’s content were it not for one hindrance, and only one: the Lord will not suffer it; and if He does not suffer it, we shall not suffer it.
The way of life is like traveling among the Alps. Along the mountain path one is constantly exposed to the slipping of the foot. Where the way is high the head is apt to swim, and then the feet soon slide; there are spots which are smooth as glass and others that are rough with loose stones, and in either of these a fall is hard to avoid. He who throughout life is enabled to keep himself upright and to walk without stumbling has the best of reasons for gratitude. What with pitfalls and snares, weak knees, weary feet, and subtle enemies, no child of God would stand fast for an hour were it not for the faithful love which will not suffer his foot to be moved.
Amidst a thousand snares I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
That hand unseen shall hold me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: almighty, Alps, among, attacks, avoid, battles, believers, best, bury, Child of God, Christ, constantly, content, could, demons, devils, disgraceful, do, drive, Elohim, enabled, enemies, exposed, faithful, fall, fast, feet, foot, give, glass, God, God's people, God's Son, gratitude, greatly, guarded, hand, hard, head, hearts, Heavenly Father, help, high, hill, himself, hindrance, hold, holy, Holy Spirit, hope, hour, Jehovah, Jesus, keep, knees, lead, Life, loose, Lord, love, memory, men, mountain, moved, out, path, pitfalls, position, Promise, protection, protector, reasons, rejoice, rough, safety, Satan, Savior, slide, slipping, smooth, snares, spots, stand, still, stones, struggles, stumbling, subtle, suffer, swim, temptations, thousand, throughout, traveling, trials, tribulations, unseen, upheld, upright, walk, way, way of life, weak, weary, without, would, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Delight and Desires
November 6
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Delight in God has a transforming power and lifts a man above the gross desire of our fallen nature. Delight in Jehovah is not only sweet in itself, but it sweetens the whole soul, till the longings of the heart become such that the Lord can safely promise to fulfill them. Is not that a grand delight which molds our desires till they are like the desires of God?
Our foolish way is to desire and then set to work to compass what we desire. We do not go to work in God’s way, which is to seek Him first and then expect all things to be added unto us. If we will let our heart be filled with God till it runs over with delight, then the Lord Himself will take care that we shall not want any good thing. Instead of going abroad for joys let us stay at home with God and drink waters out of our own fountain. He can do for us far more than all our friends. It is better to be content with God alone than to go about fretting and pining for the paltry trifles of time and sense. For a while we may have disappointments; but if these bring us nearer to the Lord, they are things to be prized exceedingly, for they will in the end secure to us the fulfillment of all our right desires.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: above, abroad, added, alike, all, almighty, alone, any, Award, believers, better, bring, care, Christ, Christian, closer, Comforter, compass, content, contentment, delight, desires, desiresmfallen, direction, disappointments, do, drink, Elohim, end, example, exceedingly, expect, first, foolish, formsmremakes, fountain, fretting, friends, fulfill, fulfillment, give, given, God, God's people, God's Son, going, good thing, grand, gross, guidance, heart, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, home, iniquity, Jehovah, Jesus, joys, lack, longings, Lord, molds, more, multiplied, nature, nearer, over, overflowing, own, paltry, pining, powermlifts, prized, Promise, Provider, reward, right desires, runs, safely, Savior, secure, seek, sense, set, similar, sin, soul, stay, sweetmsweetens, take, things, thyself, time, transforming, trifles, want, waters, way, whole, without, works, worldly, worrying, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
What Is Painful Will End
November 5
I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls; which I have made. (Isaiah 57:16)
Our heavenly Father seeks our instruction, not our destruction. His contention with us has a kind intention toward us. He will not be always in arms against us. We think the Lord is long in His chastisements, but that is because we are short in our patience. His compassion endureth forever, but not His contention. The night may drag its weary length along, but it must in the end give place to cheerful day. As contention is only for a season, so the wrath which leads to it is only for a small moment. The Lord loves His chosen too well to be always angry with them.
If He were to deal with us always as He does sometimes, we should faint outright and go down hopelessly to the gates of death. Courage, dear heart! The Lord will soon end His chiding. Bear up, for the Lord will bear you up and bear you through. He who made you knows how frail you are and how little you can bear. He will handle tenderly that which He has fashioned so delicately. Therefore, be not afraid because of the painful present, for it hastens to a happy future. He that smote you will heal you; His little wrath shall be followed by great mercies.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: afraid, against, almighty, always, angry, arms, attacks, battles, bear, before, chastisements, cheerful, chiding, chosen, Chrrist, Comforter, Compassion, contend, contention, courage, day, deal, Death, deliicately, destruction, discipline, drag, Elohim, end, endurance, endures, fail, faint, fall, fashioned, Fear, finish, followed, forever, forgiveness, frail, future, gates, give, God, God's Son, goodwill, grace, great, handicaps, handle, happy, hastens, heal, heart, Heavenly Father, Hell, help, Holy Spirit, hope, hopelessly, illness, instruction, intention, Jehovah, Jesus, kind, knows, lasts, leads, lengtth, little, long, Lord, love, made, mercies, moment, neither, night, obedience, outright, pain, painful, patience, place, plummet, present, Promise, Provider, punishment, Savior, season, seek, short, small, smote, souls, Spirit, struggles, teendeerly, tenderness, think, through, toward, trials, tribulations, up, wait, weapons, weary, wrath, wroth, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
Heavenly Wealth
November 2
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11)
Many pleasing things the Lord may withhold but “no good thing.” He is the best judge of what is good for us. Some things are assuredly good, and these we may have for the asking through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Holiness is a good thing, and this He will work in us freely. Victory over evil tendencies, strong tempers, and evil habits He will gladly grant, and we ought not to remain without it.
Full assurance He will bestow, and near communion with Himself, and access into all truth, and boldness with prevalence at the mercy seat. If we have not these, it is from want of faith to receive and not from any unwillingness of God to give. A calm, a heavenly frame, great patience, and fervent love–all these will He give to holy diligence.
But note well that we must “walk uprightly.” There must be no cross purposes and crooked dealings; no hypocrisy nor deceit. If we walk foully God cannot give us favors, for that would be a premium upon sin. The way of uprightness is the way of heavenly wealth-wealth so large as to include every good thing.
What a promise to plead in prayer! Let us get to our knees.
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: access, almighty, asking, assurance, blessed, blessings, boldness, calm, Christ, Comforter, Communion, courage, crooked, Cross, dealings, deceit, diligence, Elohim, evil, Faith, favors, fervant, foul, frame, freely, full, give, gladly, God, God's Son, good, grace, grant, great, habits, heavenly, Heavenly Fsther, holiness, holy, Holy Spirit, hypocrisy, Jehovah, Jesus, judge, knees, large, Lord, love, mercy, mercy seat, note, overcome, overcomer, patience, plead, pleasing, prayer, premium, prevalence, Promise, purposes, receive, remain, reward, Savior, sin, strength, strong, tempers, tendencies, things, truth, unwillingness, uprightly, uprightness, victory, walk, want, wealth, withhold, without, work, Yahweh, Yeshua
From Charles Spurgeon’s “Faith’s Checkbook”
The Lord’s “Much More”
June 24
And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this. (2 Chronicles 25:9)
If you have made a mistake, bear the loss of it; but do not act contrary to the will of the Lord. The Lord can give you much more than you are likely to lose; and if He does not, will you begin bargaining and chaffering with God. The king of Judah had hired an army from idolatrous Israel, and he was commanded to send home the fighting men because the Lord was not with them. He was willing to send away the host, only he grudged paying the hundred talents for nothing. Oh, for shame! If the Lord will give the victory without the hirelings, surely it was a good bargain to pay their wages and to be rid of them.
Be willing to lose money for conscience’ sake, for peace’s sake, for Christ’s sake. Rest assured that losses for the Lord are not losses. Even in this life they are more than recompensed: in some cases the Lord prevents any loss from happening. As to our immortal life, what we lose for Jesus is invested in heaven. Fret not at apparent disaster but listen to the whisper, “The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.”
From the Faith’s Checkbook Mobile Devotional Android app – http://www.LookingUpwardApps.com/fcb
Like this:
Like Loading...
Tags: army, Christ, Elohim, give, God, Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, Israel, Jehovah, Jesus, Judah, King, listen, Lord, loss, man of God, military, mistake, pay, Promise, recompense, Yahweh