Morning and Evenings by Spurgeon

Morning, September 15
"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings." -- Psalm 112:7

Christian, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved his faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?

Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

God is good

God is good.  He is sweet and gentle and for me and I can feel that today with every fiber of being.  He knows me, really knows me.  And He's with me, really with me.  He's safe and strong and steady and He's all around me and throwing reckless and radical promises at me and sharing the deepest parts of Himself with me through His Word and He's fighting for me when I'm too weak to fight and He's holding me when I'm too weak to stand.

He's deep and good and mine. fabs

on days like today.. this is the truth I need to hear. 

service without reward

I was quickly convicted that there are too many areas in life in which my acts of charity or my acts of kindness are charitable and kind primarily toward me. I'll serve you if it somehow serves me. I'll give to you if I receive some tangible reward in the end. But if my serving or my giving interferes with my big plans, if it gets in the way of what I really want, that's where I object, that's where I pull back, that's where I say, "I cannot do it. It's impossible. It's ridiculous to even ask." At too many times and in too many ways, I am like this anonymous relative, this man whose actions earned him no named place in this story, this man who is here to serve as a contrast with Boaz—Boaz whose actions point us to Christ, whose love is evidence of a transformed heart and transformed affections.

 

-T.Challies

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How often is that the posture of my own heart, serve when there's something in it for me. Rather, correct me, serve as Christ served to the very end.