http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions Portions from God's Word, various hymns, and some quotations from godly Christians from the 19th century such as John Darby and Edward Dennett and others. From September 2005 to March 2006, postings are almost exclusively from "Footprints for Pilgrims"; since April 2006 postings include primarily selections from "Choice Gleanings" and "Streams in the Desert". en soundwords soundwords Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:21:04 +0200 daily 1 Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Romans 4:18-19   Greatest Gifts Come Through Travail "For Abraham, when hope was gone, hoped on in faith. His faith never quailed" (Rom. 4:18-19). We shall never forget a remark that George Mueller once made to a gentleman who had asked him the best way to have strong faith. "The only way," replied the patriarch of faith, "to learn strong faith is to endure great trials. I have learned my faith by standing firm amid severe testings." This is very true. The time to trust is when all else fails. Dear one, you scarcely realize the value of your present opportunity; if you are passing through great afflictions you are in the very soul of the strongest faith, and if you will only let go, He will teach you in these hours the mightiest hold upon His throne which you can ever know. "Be not afraid, only believe." And if you are... Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:21:04 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Gifts-thru-Travail/5409/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Gifts-thru-Travail/5409/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: 2 Timothy 2:10   Eternal Glory Struggles "I endure all things for the sake of God's own people; so that they also may obtain salvation...and with it eternal glory" (2 Tim. 2:10, Weymouth). If Job could have known as he sat there in the ashes, bruising his heart on this problem of Providence--that in the trouble that had come upon him he was doing what one man may do to work out the problem for the world, he might again have taken courage. No man lives to himself. Job's life is but your life and mine written in larger text....So, then, though we may not know what trials wait on any of us, we can believe that, as the days in which Job wrestled with his dark maladies are the only days that make him worth remembrance, and but for which his name had never been written in the book of life, so the days through which we struggle, finding no way, but never losing the light, will be the most... Tue, 26 May 2009 17:01:39 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Struggles-in-view-of-Eternal-Glory/5408/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Struggles-in-view-of-Eternal-Glory/5408/ " Though the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines . . .and the fields shall yield no food. . . and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation ." (Habakkuk 3:17-18) In our language today we would say: "There is nothing in the refrigerator, the cupboards are bare, the grocery stores have all been closed up, and I have no money." Could we then say with Habakkuk: "I will rejoice in the Lord?" What can we do when we are not experiencing the joy of the Lord in our lives? We can do the following: 1. Confess the sins we are aware of, so that we might be restored to fellowship with the Lord`(compare 1 John 1:9). David confessed his sin and prayed: "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation" (Psalm 51:12) and God did as he asked! 2. Take time to sit at Jesus' feet and hear Him speak from His Word. The morning is the best time to do this. If we wait until... Tue, 21 Apr 2009 19:20:54 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/True-Joy/5407/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/True-Joy/5407/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Ezekiel 3:22   Waiting and Working "And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth unto the plain, and I will there talk with thee" (Ezek. 3:22). Did you ever hear of any one being much used for Christ who did not have some special waiting time, some complete upset of all his or her plans first; from St. Paul's being sent off into the desert of Arabia for three years, when he must have been boiling over with the glad tidings, down to the present day? You were looking forward to telling about trusting Jesus in Syria; now He says, "I want you to show what it is to trust Me, without waiting for Syria." My own case is far less severe, but the same in principle, that when I thought the door was flung open for me to go with a bound into literary work, it is opposed, and doctor steps in and says, simply, "Never! She must... Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:11:38 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Waiting-and-Working/5406/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Waiting-and-Working/5406/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Romans 8:28   Spiritual Force "All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36). "All things work together for good to them that love God" (Rom. 8:28). Many people are wanting power. Now how is power produced? The other day we passed the great works where the trolley engines are supplied with electricity. We heard the hum and roar of the countless wheels, and we asked our friend, "How do they make the power?" "Why," he said, "just by the revolution of those wheels and the friction they produce. The rubbing creates the electric current." And so, when God wants to bring more power into your life, He brings more pressure. He is generating spiritual force by hard rubbing. Some do not like it and try to run away from the pressure, instead of getting the power and using it to rise above the painful causes. ... Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:41:07 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Spiritual-Force/5405/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Spiritual-Force/5405/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Isaiah 24:15   Honor Him in the Trials "Glorify ye the Lord in the fires" (Isa. 24:15). Mark the little word "in"! We are to honor Him in the trial--in that which is an affliction indeed and though there have been cases where God did not let His saints feel the fire, yet, ordinarily, fire hurts. But just here we are to glorify Him by our perfect faith in His goodness and love that has permitted all this to come upon us. And more than that, we are to believe that out of this is coming something more for His praise than could have come but for this fiery trial. We can only go through some fires with a large faith; little faith will fail. We must have the victory in the furnace. --Margaret Bottome A man has as much religion as he can show in times of trouble. The men who were cast into the fiery furnace came out as they went in--except their bonds.... Fri, 03 Apr 2009 20:21:57 +0200 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/In-the-Trials/5404/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/In-the-Trials/5404/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Hebrews 10:38   The Just Shall Live by Faith "The just shall live by faith." (Heb. 10:38). Seemings and feelings are often substituted for faith. Pleasurable emotions and deep satisfying experiences are part of the Christian life, but they are not all of it. Trials, conflicts, battles and testings lie along the way, and are not to be counted as misfortunes, but rather as part of our necessary discipline. In all these varying experiences we are to reckon on Christ as dwelling in the heart, regardless of our feelings if we are walking obediently before Him. Here is where many get into trouble; they try to walk by feeling rather than faith. One of the saints tells us that it seemed as though God had withdrawn Himself from her. His mercy seemed clean gone. For six weeks her desolation lasted, and then the Heavenly Lover seemed to say: "Catherine, thou hast looked... Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:49:02 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Living-by-Faith/5403/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Living-by-Faith/5403/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Hebrews 6:12   Tempered and Tried "Followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Heb. 6:12). They (heroes of faith) are calling to us from the heights that they have won, and telling us that what man once did man can do again. Not only do they remind us of the necessity of faith, but also of that patience by which faith has its perfect work. Let us fear to take ourselves out of the hands of our heavenly Guide or to miss a single lesson of His loving discipline by discouragement or doubt. "There is only one thing," said a village blacksmith, "that I fear, and that is to be thrown on the scrap heap. "When I am tempering a piece of steel, I first beat it, hammer it, and then suddenly plunge it into this bucket of cold water. I very soon find whether it will take temper or go to pieces in the process. When I discover after one or two... Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:41:51 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Tempered-and-Tried/5402/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Tempered-and-Tried/5402/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Isaiah 49:2-2   Lessons in the Shadow "In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft: in his quiver hath he hid me" (Isa. 49:2). "In the shadow." We must all go there sometimes. The glare of the daylight is too brilliant; our eyes become injured, and unable to discern the delicate shades of color, or appreciate neutral tints--the shadowed chamber of sickness, the shadowed house of mourning, the shadowed life from which the sunlight has gone. But fear not! It is the shadow of God's hand. He is leading thee. There are lessons that can be learned only there. The photograph of His face can only be fixed in the dark chamber. But do not suppose that He has cast thee aside. Thou art still in His quiver; He has not flung thee away as a worthless thing. He is only keeping thee close till the moment comes when He can send thee most... Tue, 03 Feb 2009 02:51:07 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Learned-in-the-Shadow/5401/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Learned-in-the-Shadow/5401/ Source: Early in the Morning Scripture Reference: Mark 11:1-26   Fruit and Faith And in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. There is an old legend about a great teacher who was walking through an orchard on a windy day. The teacher came to a fence which divided the grove from an adjoining forest and he imagined that he could hear the trees talking to each other. The maple trees taunted a group of nearby fruit trees, "Why don't your leaves rustle in the breeze like ours so that you could be heard from a distance?" "We don't need such useless fluttering to draw attention to our presence," was the reply. "Our fruit speaks for us!" The story of Jesus cursing the fig tree is a story of fruit and faith. As our Lord approached the cross during the Passion Week, many outstanding events took place. On Palm Sunday He triumphantly entered the city of Jerusalem, but he... Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:17:17 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Good-Fruit/5400/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Good-Fruit/5400/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Psalm 10:1-1   A Very Present Help "Why standest thou afar off, O Lord?" (Psalm 10:1.) God is "a very present help in trouble." But He permits trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, that we may be brought to the end of ourselves, and led to discover the treasure of darkness, the unmeasurable gains of tribulation. We may be sure that He who permits the suffering is with us in it. It may be that we shall see Him only when the trial is passing; but we must dare to believe that He never leaves the crucible. Our eyes are holden; and we cannot behold Him whom our soul loveth. It is dark--the bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest; but He is there, deeply touched. Let us not rely on feeling, but on faith in His unswerving fidelity; and though we see Him not, let us talk to Him. Directly we begin to speak to Jesus, as... Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:03:09 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Very-Present-Help/5398/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Very-Present-Help/5398/ Source: Joy and Strength Scripture Reference: Psalm 31:24-24   Psalm 38:9-9   Strength For the Weary Heart Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. PSALMS 31:24 Lord, all my desire is before Thee. PSALMS 39:9 THINK not again the wells of Life to fill, By any conscious act of your own will; Retire within the silence of your soul, And let God's Spirit enter, and control. The springs of feeling which you thought were stilled, ANNA J. GRANNISS WHEN you find that weariness depresses or amusement distracts you, you will calmly turn with an untroubled spirit to your Heavenly Father, who is always holding out His arms to you. You will look to Him for gladness and refreshment when depressed, for moderation and recollection when in good spirits, and you will find that He will never leave you to want. A trustful glance, a silent movement of the heart... Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:03:42 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Strength-for-the-Weary/5397/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Strength-for-the-Weary/5397/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Ecclesiastes 7:3-3   Sorrow, God's Plowshare "Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better" (Eccles. 7:3). When sorrow comes under the power of Divine grace, it works out a manifold ministry in our lives. Sorrow reveals unknown depths in the soul, and unknown capabilities of experience and service. Gay, trifling people are always shallow, and never suspect the little meannesses in their nature. Sorrow is God's plowshare that turns up and subsoils the depths of the soul, that it may yield richer harvests. If we had never fallen, or were in a glorified state, then the strong torrents of Divine joy would be the normal force to open up all our souls' capacities; but in a fallen world, sorrow, with despair taken out of it, is the chosen power to reveal ourselves to ourselves. Hence it is sorrow that makes us think deeply, long, and... Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:41:39 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Learning-from-Sorrow/5396/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Learning-from-Sorrow/5396/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Daniel 6:20-20   The Living God "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee" (Dan. 6:20). How many times we find this expression in the Scriptures, and yet it is just this very thing that we are so prone to lose sight of. We know it is written "the living God"; but in our daily life there is scarcely anything we practically so much lose sight of as the fact that God is the living God; that He is now whatever He was three or four thousand years since; that He has the same sovereign power, the same saving love towards those who love and serve Him as ever He had and that He will do for them now what He did for others two, three, four thousand years ago, simply because He is the living God, the unchanging One. Oh, how therefore we should confide in Him, and in our darkest moments never lose sight of the fact that He is still... Sat, 17 Jan 2009 22:06:58 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/He-Lives/5395/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/He-Lives/5395/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Romans 8:37-37   Hardship Makes Character "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Romans 8:37). This is more than victory. This is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank God that the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character. Temptation is necessary to settle and confirm us in the spiritual life. It is like the fire which burns in the colors of mineral painting, or like winds that cause the mighty cedars of the mountain to strike more deeply into the soil. Our spiritual conflicts are among our choicest blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat.... Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:15:46 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Character-through-Hardship/5394/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Character-through-Hardship/5394/ Morning: Ownership "Ye are Christ's." --1 Corinthians 3:23 Ye are Christ's." You are His by donation, for the Father gave you to the Son; His by His bloody purchase, for He counted down the price for your redemption; His by dedication, for you have consecrated yourself to Him; His by relation, for you are named by his name, and made one of His brethren and joint-heirs. Labour practically to show the world that you are the servant, the friend, the bride of Jesus. When tempted to sin, reply, "I cannot do this great wickedness, for I am Christ's." Immortal principles forbid the friend of Christ to sin. When wealth is before you to be won by sin, say that you are Christ's, and touch it not. Are you exposed to difficulties and dangers? Stand fast in the evil day, remembering that you are Christ's. Are you placed where others are sitting down idly, doing nothing? Rise to the work with all your powers; and when the sweat... Tue, 13 Jan 2009 01:33:13 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/You-belong-to-Christ/5393/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/You-belong-to-Christ/5393/ Source: Joy and Strength Scripture Reference: Jeremiah 29:11   Isaiah 45:5   God Has Good Plans For You I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. ISAIAH 14:5 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord; thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. JEREMIAH 29:11 THOU knowest,--oh, the precious truth That bids my soul be strong! The care, the never-weary care That cannot lead me wrong! There is a blessed end for me, Whereon thine eyes are set; Thou hast a comfort in Thy love, Too great to show me yet. ANNA L. WARING NO room for a discouraged or depressed feeling is left you. If your sphere is outwardly humble, if it even appears to be quite insignificant, God understands it better than you do, and it is a part of His wisdom to bring out great sentiments in humble conditions, great principles in works that are outwardly trivial, great characters under great adversities... Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:59:59 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/God-s-good-plans/5392/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/God-s-good-plans/5392/ Morning: Our God Evening: Serve With Gladness Morning: Our God "I will be their God." --Jeremiah 31:33 Christian! here is all thou canst require. To make thee happy thou wantest something that shall satisfy thee; and is not this enough? If thou canst pour this promise into thy cup, wilt thou not say, with David, "My cup runneth over; I have more than heart can wish"? When this is fulfilled, "I am thy God," art thou not possessor of all things? Desire is insatiable as death, but He who filleth all in all can fill it. The capacity of our wishes who can measure? but the immeasurable wealth of God can more than overflow it. I ask thee if thou art not complete when God is thine? Dost thou want anything but God? Is not His all-sufficiency enough to satisfy thee if all else should fail? But thou wantest more than quiet satisfaction; thou desirest rapturous delight. Come, soul, here is music fit for heaven in this thy... Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:26:58 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Joy-in-Serving-God/5391/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Joy-in-Serving-God/5391/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: Isaiah 43:2-2   Step-By-Step Grace "When thou passest through the waters...they shall not overflow thee" (Isa. 43:2). God does not open paths for us in advance of our coming. He does not promise help before help is needed. He does not remove obstacles out of our way before we reach them. Yet when we are on the edge of our need, God's hand is stretched out. Many people forget this, and are forever worrying about difficulties which they foresee in the future. They expect that God is going to make the way plain and open before them, miles and miles ahead; whereas He has promised to do it only step by step as they may need. You must get to the waters and into their floods before you can claim the promise. Many people dread death, and lament that they have not "dying grace." Of course, they will not have dying grace when they are in good health, in the midst of life's... Wed, 07 Jan 2009 19:44:49 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Grace-for-Each-Step/5390/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Grace-for-Each-Step/5390/ Source: Streams in the Desert Scripture Reference: 2 Chronicles 14:11-11   None to Help But God "Lord, there is none beside thee to help." (2 Chron. 14:11, RV). Remind God of His entire responsibility. "There is none beside thee to help." The odds against Asa were enormous. There was a million of men in arms against him, besides three hundred chariots. It seemed impossible to hold his own against that vast multitude. There were no allies who would come to his help; his only hope, therefore, was in God. It may be that your difficulties have been allowed to come to so alarming a pitch that you may be compelled to renounce all creature aid, to which in lesser trials you have had recourse, and cast yourself back on your Almighty Friend. Put God between yourself and the foe. To Asa's faith, Jehovah seemed to stand between the might of Zerah and himself, as one who had no strength. Nor was he mistaken. We are told that... Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:00:40 +0100 http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Only-God/5389/ http://www.blogigo.co.uk/portions/Only-God/5389/