Posted on 10/10/2005 9:34:51 PM PDT by Alamo-Girl
Has God trusted you with His silence— a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible— with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him— He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes. The actual evidence of the answer in time is simply a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is nothing to God. For a while you may have said, "I asked God to give me bread, but He gave me a stone instead" (see Matthew 7:9 ). He did not give you a stone, and today you find that He gave you the "bread of life" ( John 6:35 ).
A wonderful thing about God’s silence is that His stillness is contagious— it gets into you, causing you to become perfectly confident so that you can honestly say, "I know that God has heard me." His silence is the very proof that He has. As long as you have the idea that God will always bless you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of His silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is for the glorifying of His Father, then He will give you the first sign of His intimacy— silence.
In 1910 Chambers married Gertrude Hobbs. They had one daughter, Kathleen, who still resides in London (as of 1992).
In 1911 he founded and became principal of the Bible Training College in Clapham, London, where he lectured until the school was closed in 1915 because of World War I. In October 1915 he sailed for Zeitoun, Egypt (near Cairo), where he ministered to Australian and New Zealand troops as a YMCA chaplain. He died there November 15, 1917, following surgery for a ruptured appendix.
My Utmost for His Highest, his best-known book, has been continuously in print in the United States since 1935 and in this, the last decade of the century, remains in the top ten titles of the religious book bestseller list with millions of copies in print. It has become a Christian classic. [from the flyleaf of the book]
Absolutely no flaming! These daily threads are intended to be devotional in nature. If a particular day's offering says nothing to you, please just go on and wait for the next day. Consider these threads a DMZ of sorts, a place where a perpetual truce is in effect and a place where all other arguments and disagreements from other times and places are left behind.
I can attest from personal experience that reading from Chambers daily will almost certainly change - not one's faith - but one's perspective of his/her own faith, and open up new vistas in your spiritual life. If - when - this happens to a reader of these threads, and they choose to share what has happened within them - we are treading on hallowed ground. Be respectful.
- Religion Moderator
Peace, solitude, and communion with God:
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God...
Matthew 11:23 Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mark 6:31 Come ye, yourselves, apart into a desert place and rest awhile.
Mark 1:35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out into a solitary place and prayed.
It sounds like you are in the waiting of Abraham and Sarah. The promise of Isaac came, but many, many silent years transpired before the child was actually brought forth. Remember how they stumbled in the way, and be warned: They attempted in their own strength/wisdom to complete the promise, through Hagar the slavewoman, and Ishmael was brought forth to much heartache.
I've stumbled in this way myself, being sure of a promise given, then deceiving myself in many small steps into thinking I could complete it in my own strength or power or wisdom because the fulfillment appeared to me to be delayed or denied! What a foolish woman! The ugly fruit of that false/empty/godless/human work (of attempting to fulfill the promise myself, gads!) is still plaguing me to this day, though the diversion from the Path of Promise happened four years ago and I have confessed, repented, and been completely cleansed by the blood of Christ from that sin.
I remember David, too, and his love, Bathsheba, and how he took her; he was completely forgiven and to this day is remembered as "a man after God's own heart" yet he suffered incredible, prolonged and multiplying consequences for his transgression.
Remember the promise over Jacob, "The older will serve the younger," but Jacob and his mama sought the blessing by human wisdom/deception.
Even so, God worked all these things into Great Good for those who loved Him and are the Called according to His purpose (Romans 8:38).
What a great line, and a great truth.
The most intimate of friends are those who delight in one another's company without ever saying a word.
Just being together is enough.
Thank you oh so very much for the excellent passages from Scripture!!!
GOD, the Master, The Holy of Israel,The Carbine translation (w/ NKJV):
has this solemn counsel:
"Your salvation requires you to turn back to MeIsaiah 30:15, Message
and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.
Your strength will come from settling down
in complete dependence on Me--
The very thing
you've been unwilling to do.
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says:
"In repentance and rest
Is your Salvation;
In quietness and trust
Is your Strength......but you must choose it."
Good morning all.
Praise God for what He has done and is doing in your spiritual lives.
What a marvelous spiritual opportunity exists in waiting.
Indeed, endurance is not for everyone, it requires more than the grace of faith. It requires the gift of faith - a gift more astonishing to me than that of the named prophets who by faith were saved from the mouths of lions and the fiery furnace. God says of the nameless ones who patiently endured to the end, that they are the ones of whom the world is not worthy (Hebrews 11:36-40)
I am also reminded of Paul who by faith in Christ brought healing to many but was himself made to wait until he completed the race:
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. - 2 Cr 12:8-10
But, in the Spirit, I believe it shall be both - blessings in this world (but not too much or too little) - and eternal treasures for your endurance in faith.
Again, thank God for both of you!
Good morning, abigail2! Thanks for bumping by!
Thank you so much for the url, Prophet!!!
Thank you for your insights!
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