From Leonard Ravenhill ~
My goal is God Himself.
Not joy.
Not peace.
Not even blessing, but Himself, my God.
It is His to lead me there not mine but His.
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.
So faith bounds forward to its goal in God and love can trust our Lord to lead her there.
I pray by Him my soul will follow hard til God has at last fulfill my deepest prayer.
No matter if the way become sometimes dark.
No matter if the cost be often great.
He knoweth how I best should reach the mark.
The way that leads to Him must need be straight.
One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay.
One thing I do, I press toward my God.
The secret of the life of the Apostle was this - you want to know its this one thing I do - he never got into sidetracks.
He never got into business like so many preachers do.
This one thing I do, it will be hell to get there.
I forget one of the old puritan preachers said in the 1600s - you have to go through hell to get to heaven.
You have to lose everything in order to become the part of the Bride of Jesus Christ.
One thing I know, I can not say Him nay.
One thing I do, I press toward my Lord.
My God, my glory here from day to day.
And in the glory then, my great reward - {HIM}
1Ch 16:11 Seek the LORD and His strength, seek His Face continually.
Psa 105:4 Seek the LORD, and His strength: seek His Face evermore.
Quote from J.C. Ryle ~
"Because of what Jesus said, many of His
disciples turned their backs on Him and
stopped following Him." John 6:66
Millions in every age have turned their back on Christ.
The defection is continually going on.
It is an old disease, and must not surprise us.
The heart is always deceitful and desperately wicked;
the devil is always busy, and seeking whom he may devour;
the world is always ensnaring;
the way of life is narrow,
the enemies many,
the friends few,
the difficulties great,
the cross heavy,
the doctrine of the gospel offensive to the natural man.
What thoughtful person need wonder that multitudes
in every age turn back from Christ, throw off all religion,
and perish miserably!
It is only the 'sifting process' which God permits, in
order to separate the wheat from the chaff,
through which we must all pass.
The world after all, with . . .
its pitfalls and snares for the soul,
its competitions and struggles,
its failures and successes,
its disappointments,
its perplexities,
its perpetual crop of crude theories and extreme views,
its mental conflicts and anxieties,
its extravagant 'free thought',
its equally extravagant superstition,
--the world is a fiery furnace and ordeal, through
which all believers must make up their minds to pass.
"Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words
of eternal life!" John 6:68
Where, indeed, could we turn . . .
for peace of heart,
for satisfaction of conscience,
for hope in the world to come,
--if we turn away from Jesus?
To whom, indeed, shall we go for help, strength,
and comfort--if we turn our backs on Christ?
We live in a world of troubles, whether we like it or
not. Our bodies are liable to a thousand ailments,
and our hearts to a thousand sorrows. No creature
on earth is so vulnerable, and so capable of intense
physical as well as mental suffering, as man.
Sickness,
and death,
and funerals,
and partings,
and separations,
and losses,
and failures,
and disappointments,
and private family trials,
which no mortal eye sees, will break in upon us
from time to time; and we desperately need help
to meet them! Alas, where will our thirsty, wailing
hearts find such help--if we leave Christ?
The plain truth is, that nothing but an Almighty
personal Friend will ever meet the legitimate
needs of man's soul--with His daily help,
sympathy, and watchful care.
and - http://www.lifehouse.org/tracts/fcbchristisall.htm
Amen - Praying, bible4life. |
