"Peace is the flowing of the brook, but joy is the rushing of the waterfall when the brook is filled and bursts its banks, and gushes down upon the rocks."
- Charles H. Spurgeon
May the Lord bring the rushing waters of His everlasting joy down upon our heads as we attend a state-wide ladies conference titled, Joy Inexpressible, which takes place tonight through Saturday. Until next week may this thought from Mr. Spurgeon encourage your hearts and minds.
Today Mr. Spurgeon urges us to keep on praying! Let us join together and pray that God will meet us this weekend. Let us believe that He has great plans in store for us who love Him. Let's ask Him to move in our midst as we humbly bow before Him, the Almighty God of Heaven.
"Keep prayer going; don't neglect your prayer meetings. Christmas Evans gives us a good idea about prayer.
He says, "Prayer is the rope in the belfry; we pull it, and it rings the bell up in heaven." And so it is. Be sure that you keep that bell going. Pull it well. Come up to prayer meetings. Keep on pulling it; and though the bell is up so high that you cannot hear it ring, depend upon it, it can be heard in the tower of heaven, and is ringing before the throne of God, who will give you answers of peace according to your faith. May your faith be large and plentiful, and so will your answers be!"
"Our world has two forces; it has one tendency to run off at a tangent from its orbit; but the sun draws it by a centripetal power, and attracts it to itself, and so between the two forces it is kept in a perpetual circle.
Oh! Christian, you will never walk right, and keep in the orbit of truth, if it were not for the influence of Christ perpetually attracting you to the center. You feel, and if you do not always feel, it is still there-you feel an attraction between your heart and Christ, and Christ is perpetually drawing you to Himself, to His likeness, to His character, to His love, to His bosom, and in that way you are kept from your natural tendency to fly off and be lost in the wild fields of sin.
Bless God, that Christ lifted up draws all His people unto Him in that fashion."
taken from Spurgeon Gems
This week we are going to offer devotional thoughts from Charles Spurgeon in an effort to help us prepare our hearts to receive from God at the Statewide Ladies Retreat, which starts on Thursday night. If you haven't registered yet, click here! Our prayer is that God will use these devotions to soften your heart and refresh your soul. Enjoy!
"How does God touch our hearts? Our heavenly Father generally uses a soft, tender, gentle, quiet, calm and peaceful -- still, small -- voice. Softly and gently, the Holy Spirit works like the breath of spring
dissolving icebergs and melting glaciers. After winter has taken every stream by the throat and held it fast, spring sets it free. No hammer or file is heard as the icy bonds fall off; only the soft south wind blows, and all is life and liberty.
So it is with the work of the Holy Spirit when He comes into the soul. He can be a mighty rushing wind (Acts 2:2), for He comes according to His own sovereign pleasure. Yet when He brings the peace of God, He usually descends as the dove (Matt. 3:16) or as the dew from heaven -- all peace, all gentle, and all quiet.
Satan can set the soul on fire with agony, doubt, fear, and terror. Then the Spirit comes in tender love and reveals Christ the Gentle One. He sets up the Savior's cross and speaks peace, pardon, and salvation. This is what we want and need: the work of the Spirit of God coming in His own manner of living love.
(taken from Beside Still Waters, pg. 33)
