“The Lord shall guide thee.’ Not an angel, but Jehovah shall guide thee. Observe the adverb continually. We are not merely to be guided sometimes, but we are to have a perpetual monitor; not occasionally to be left to our own understanding, and so to wander, but we are continually to hear the guiding voice of the Great Shepherd; and if we follow close at His heels, we shall not err, but be led by a right way to a city to dwell in.

If you have to change your position in life; if you have to emigrate to distant shores; if it should happen that you are cast into poverty, or uplifted suddenly into a more responsible position than the one you now occupy; if you are thrown among strangers, or cast among foes, yet tremble not, for ‘the Lord shall guide thee continually.’

There are no dilemmas out of which you shall not be delivered if you live near to God, and your heart be kept warm with holy love. He goes not amiss who goes in the company of God. Like Enoch, walk with God, and you cannot mistake your road. You have infallible wisdom to direct you, immutable love to comfort you, and eternal power to defend you. ‘Jehovah’ – mark the word – ‘Jehovah shall guide thee continually.'”

( from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening )

The story of the prodigal son is put so beautifully here it leaves me in tears every time! I love Phillips, Craig, & Dean and this is one of my favorites of theirs. Praise God for His unconditional love towards us!!

“Believer, if your inheritance be a lowly one, you should be satisfied with your earthly portion; for you may rest assured that it is the fittest for you. Unerring wisdom ordained your lot, and selected for you the safest and best condition.

It may be you would run aground and suffer shipwreck, if your divine Captain did not steer you into the depths of affliction where waves of trouble follow each other in quick succession. Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get but little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit unto perfection.

Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there.
You are placed by God in the most  suitable circumstances, and if you had the choosing of your lot, you would soon cry, ‘Lord, choose my inheritance for me, for by my self-will I am pierced through with many sorrows.’

Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordained all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove most effective to make you perfect in every good work and work to the glory of God.”

( from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening )

I have heard this song many times before, but recently discovered this version sung by the couple who wrote it, accompanied by Alison Krauss.  I just love it and hope it blesses your day!  The Gospel really is the most beautiful story ever written!

“O, Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou had possessed my reins: thou has covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are they works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not  was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

[pullquote]”Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”[/pullquote]

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me and know my thought: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

In 1 Samuel 30, David and his men return home to find their city burned and their families taken captive. He enquires of the Lord whether they should pursue the enemy and God answers, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.”

A few verses later, it tells what David did.

“And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day; and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither son nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”

Beth Moore writes in her devotional study David – Seeking a Heart Like His, “Assured victory does not mean easy wins. God told David in advance he would ‘ certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue ‘ yet we see references to exhaustion, hard work, a nonstop 24 hour battle, and four hundred escapees. God was absolutely true to His word. The end was exactly as God had promised, but what we often don’t count on is the means. God often gives us a victory that requires blood, sweat, and tears. Why? Because He is practical. When He can bring about a victory and strengthen and mature us all at the same time, He’s likely to do it.

That day God not only worked a victory through David but He also worked one in David. The man after God’s own heart came out of battle with grace and mercy and a little better grasp of God’s sovereignty.

We constantly fight an unseen enemy. God has assured us the victory, but He has told us to take an aggressive stand against the evil one, covering ourselves in His armor. We’re going to win, but victory is going to take blood, sweat and tears – His blood, our sweat, and tears from both of us.“

“One good deed is more worth than a thousand brilliant theories. Let us not wait for large opportunities, or for a different kind of work, but do just the things we ‘find to do ‘ day by day. We have no other time in which to live. The past is gone; the future has not arrived; we never shall have any time but time present.

Do not wait until your experience has ripened into maturity before you attempt to serve God. Endeavor now to bring forth fruit. Serve God now, but be careful as to the way in which you perform what you find to do – ‘do it with thy might.’ Do it promptly; do not fritter away your life in thinking of what you intend to do tomorrow as if that could recompense for the idleness of today. No man ever served God by doing things tomorrow.

Whatever you do for Christ throw your whole soul into it. Do not give Christ a little slurred labor, done as a matter of course now and then; but when you do serve Him, do it with your heart, and soul, and strength.

But where is the might of a Christian? It is not in himself, for he is perfect weakness. His might lieth in the Lord of Hosts. Then let us seek His help; let us proceed with prayer and faith, and when we have done what our ‘hand findeth to do,’ let us wait upon the Lord for His blessing. What we do thus will be well done, and will not fail in its effect.”

( from Charles Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening )