Simple Living, Homeschooling, Faith, Homemaking, & Books
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"The servant of the Lord must be gentle" (2 Tim. 2:24). When God conquers us and takes all the flint out of our nature, and we get deep visions into the Spirit of Jesus, we then see as never before the great rarity of gentleness of spirit in this dark and unheavenly world. The graces of the Spirit do not settle themselves down upon us by …
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"Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me" (Luke 7:23). It is sometimes very difficult not to be offended in Jesus Christ. The offenses may be circumstantial. I find myself in a prison-house--a narrow sphere, a sick chamber, an unpopular position--when I had hoped for wide opportunities. Yes, but He knows what is best for me. My …
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"My expectation is from him" (Ps. 62:5). Our too general neglect of looking for answers to what we ask, shows how little we are in earnest in our petitions. A husbandman is not content without the harvest; a marksman will observe whether the ball hits the target; a physician watches the effect of the medicine which he gives; and shall the …
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"Lo, I am with you all the appointed days." Matt. 28:20, Variorum Version Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear. Rather look at them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely …
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"Let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece" (Judges 6:39). There are degrees to faith. At one stage of Christian experience we cannot believe unless we have some sign or some great manifestation of feeling. We feel our fleece, like Gideon, and if it is wet we are willing to trust God. This may be true faith, but it is imperfect. …
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"For the Vision is yet for an appointed time; though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab. 2:3). In the charming little booklet, Expectation Corner, Adam Slowman was led into the Lord's treasure houses, and among many other wonders there revealed to him was the "Delayed Blessings Office," where God kept …
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"But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him...And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf" (Gen. 8:9-11). God knows just when to withhold from us any visible sign of encouragement, and when to grant us such a sign. How good it is that we may trust Him anyway! When all …
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"They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb . . . and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11). When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be …
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"And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields at eventide" (Gen. 24:63). We should be better Christians if we were more alone; we should do more if we attempted less, and spent more time in retirement, and quiet waiting upon God. The world is too much with us; we are afflicted with the idea that we are doing nothing unless we are fussily running …
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"His name shall be called Emmanuel . . . God with us." (Matt. 1:23) . "The Prince of Peace" (Isa. 9:6). "There's a song in the air! There's a star in the sky! There's a mother's deep prayer, And a baby's low cry! And the star rains its fire While the beautiful sing, For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King." A few years ago a …
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"There we saw the giants" (Num. 13:33). Yes, they saw the giants, but Caleb and Joshua saw God! Those who doubt say, "We be not able to go up." Those who believe say, "Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able." Giants stand for great difficulties; and giants are stalking everywhere. They are in our families, in our churches, …
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"It came to pass . . . that the brook dried up" (1 Kings 17:7). The education of our faith is incomplete if we have not learned that there is a providence of loss, a ministry of failing and of fading things, a gift of emptiness. The material insecurities of life make for its spiritual establishment. The dwindling stream by which Elijah sat and …
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"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" (I Sam. 7:12). The word "hitherto" seems like a hand pointing in the direction of the past. Twenty years or seventy, and yet "hitherto hath the Lord helped us!" Through poverty, through wealth, through sickness, through health; at home, abroad, on the land, on the sea; in honor, in dishonor, in perplexity, in …
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"In waiting, I waited, for the Lord" (Ps. 40:1, margin). Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection. But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high …
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"And every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." John 15:2 A child of God was dazed by the variety of afflictions which seemed to make her their target. Walking past a vineyard in the rich autumnal glow she noticed the untrimmed appearance and the luxuriant wealth of leaves on the vines, that the ground …
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"We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Rom. 8:26). Much that perplexes us in our Christian experience is but the answer to our prayers. We pray for patience, and our Father sends those who tax us to the utmost; for "tribulation worketh patience." We pray for submission, and God sends sufferings; for "we learn obedience by the …
