Charles Spurgeon

Tested Faith

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“No faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God’s strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through” (Charles Spurgeon).

Leave it up to the old dead guys to speak some serious truth in a way that few now speak it. I’m not saying that everything old was great and everything new is crap, but there is a lot of wisdom out there that has been tested through the years and proven worthy, much in the same way that the purity remains after the gold has been refined by fire.

This quote spoke to me profoundly, even though I’m not currently in the midst of a crisis. Maybe you are. Maybe this will speak to you on a whole different level than it did to me.

Tested faith doesn’t come through prosperity and wealth, despite what some preachers might say. It only comes through hardship and poverty (sometimes material but more often being poor in spirit).

I keep thinking about how the apostles actually rejoiced because they were counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Jesus and the Gospel. Such language doesn’t fit the culture we live in that worships success and comfort. Sadly, you find little of it coming from pulpits on Sunday mornings.

But that’s the kind of faith that lasts and leads to Christlikeness. That’s still the kind of faith that changes the world.

 

Tennessee Seasons

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“Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded; death must come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it is as years roll round, and the leaves begin again to fall, to enjoy such an unfading promise as this, ‘The Lord will give grace” (Charles Spurgeon).

One good thing about living in Tennessee is not having to wait around to experience the different seasons of the year. Already this year, I’ve seen spring, fall, and winter weather– and a day or two that bordered on summer. And it’s not even officially spring.

I know that those afflicted with allergy and sinus issues are not fans of the rapidly changing weather. Mine are mild and bearable, but I know people who haven’t stopped sneezing since January. It’s been that bad.

The good news that I’m being reminded of again is that God is faithful through all the seasons, whether they come in one month or over the course of a year. No matter what befalls, God will continue to be faithful.

As the song I recently sang says, God is perfect in all of His ways to us. Always.

Those words may not always feel true, especially in the dark seasons when life doesn’t make sense and nothing seems to go right, but God’s promises are truer than my feelings. Even when they lie, He remains faithful and true.

 

 

More Declarations of Dependence

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“God helps those who cannot help themselves” (Charles H. Spurgeon).

The old saying that got passed around as Bible truth went something along the lines of “God helps those who help themselves.”

It’s often quoted as a verse out of the Bible when it actually is a quote by Benjamin Franklin, who was a deist and didn’t believe in a personal God who was actively involved in the affairs of humans and the world.

I’ve always wondered about the flaw in that statement. If we can help ourselves, what in the world do we need God for? It seems to me that if we’re truly self-sufficient, then we’re our own god.

The truth of the matter that I find out everyday is that I can’t help myself. In every sense of the word. I start out every morning with the best of intentions and end up looking back on a long list of messes and mistakes that litter my day.

God helps those who cannot help themselves, me included. You included.

God hears the cries of and delivers those who know their desperate need for God and proclaim it loudly every day. God is seeking out those who will make a declaration of dependence and throw their whole weight in faith on Him at every possible moment.

God is after blind beggars who cry out persistently for the mercy they don’t deserve but who never give up in seeking it even though everyone around them tells them to shut up and go home.

God is after the soldiers who count themselves unworthy for Jesus to even enter the door of their homes but who know His power isn’t limited by geography.

God is after those of us who never stop clinging to that old rugged cross and never stop holding on to faith in spite of our circumstances and who never quit believing that God is good all the time.

God helps those who cannot help themselves.

The end.

 

You Can Never Out-give God

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“Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw His hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; He is manna always falling round the camp; He is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing” (Charles Spurgeon).

I’m not one of those people who believe that with enough faith, you can name and claim vast sums of money, mansions, and other material wealth. I don’t believe God is a celestial genie whose sole purpose is to give us our every wish and whim.

I do believe that God always gives the greatest gift– God gives God.

The greatest blessing isn’t the kind that shows up on a bank account statement. It isn’t one that you list on your income tax returns.

The greatest blessing from God is that serene peace that comes from knowing God will keep every promise toward you and there will never be a moment where you slip out of God’s hand.

The greatest treasures aren’t things. The currency in heaven isn’t gold– it’s love. it’s those who will be there because of your testimony both spoken and lived out. All you can take with you is what you’ve given away, as the line from It’s a Wonderful Life goes.

I’m all for those who are financially successful. I’m all for having nice things. I also know that he who dies with the most toys, still dies, and you can’t take those toys with you.

All you can take is the love of God that you’ve given away.

 

 

Remembering

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“I slew him—this right hand struck the dagger to his heart. My deeds slew Christ. Alas! I slew my best beloved; I killed him who loved me with an everlasting love. Oh eyes, why do you refuse to weep when you see Jesus’ body mangled and torn? Give vent to your sorrow, Christians, for you have good reason to do so” (adapted from “The Tomb of Jesus” by Charles Spurgeon).

Every time I think my sin is no big deal, I should read this. Every time I think that I can keep sinning and God’s grace will cover it, I need to remember that my sin always costs something. It cost God everything.

Although I may be free from the penalty of sin, I’m not free from its consequences, one of those being the inability to sense God’s presence in my life. Plus, I’ve found that when I give in to temptation and sin, I become very me-focused as opposed to others-focused and God-focused.

So this Easter season, I’m remembering that even though my salvation was free for me, it was not free for God. It cost Him Jesus. That sin that I take so lightly required a payment of blood and death. It should have been my blood and my death but Jesus took that penalty, not so that I could continue to take sin lightly, but so that I might finally have the freedom to walk away from it.

Better still, I can claim the promise that no matter how far down my sin takes me, God’s grace is deeper still. Even with all my best intentions and even despite my endeavors to take sin seriously, I will still stumble and I will still have bad days and bad weeks. But God is still faithful when I am faithless and He will still finish what He started in me.

 

 

 

Character (And Not the Cartoon Kind)

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I’m sure you’ve heard the word character defined as “what you do in the dark” or “how you behave when you think no one is watching.”

I agree with that. But my question in response is: so what does that look like in real life?

I think it means keeping your word. Regardless.

It means following through on a commitment, even if it becomes inconvenient.

It means when I say, “I’ll pray for you,” actually praying. I can say that I’m about 50/50 on that. Sometimes, I pray and sometimes I intend to but life and forgetfulness get in the way. I need to work on that.

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It means when you say you’re a friend, actually being a friend and not just being friendly. To me, being friendly means “whenever I gave spare time or whenever I feel like it.” Being a friend means sacrificing by taking time out do other important things to make time for a person.

Character means when I say I’ll be somewhere, actually showing up.

Character means more than good intentions and good feelings. It means I am the same person to all people in all situations. Not like the old joke, “I’m frank and earnest with all my women. In Memphis, I’m Frank and in Nashville, I’m Earnest.”

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When life squeezes me, what comes out? Is it anger? Is it annoyance? Is it impatience?

The reality is that what I’m filled with is what comes out. If I spend time with Jesus and get filled up with Him, He’s what comes out.

People are watching me whether I know it or not. People will decide whether or not Jesus is worth following by examining how much I talk about Him and how much I look and act like Him.

And sometimes, it’s fun to be a character. But that’s another topic for another day.

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