" When you hear this you might say, 'Yes, I can see, but my faith isn't big enough.' However, this is not the time to reflect on your faith. You should look at the Lord.
Once I was waiting at a very primitive bridge in New Zealand. We were traveling by car, but we didn't dare to cross. First, one of the men in the car went to investigate if the bridge was strong enough. It appeared to be strong enough, even though it was very primitive and we crossed without a problem. This man was not investigating our trust in the bridge.
Very often, we tend to look a our faith, and we know our big and strong, or weak and small. BUt we shouldn't investigate our faith; we should investigate the Bridge. We should not rely on ourselves, but on Him. And when we look to Jesus, we know that He is strong."- Corrie ten Boom, I Stand at the Door and Knock.
"How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is, and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith, or to increase our faith, but a looking off the the Faithful One, seems all we need, a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity."- John McCarthy in a letter to Hudson Taylor
"Faith, I now see, is the 'substance of things hoped for,' and mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward form of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance, feed on substance. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (ie His word of promise credited) is power indeed, is life indeed. And Christ and sin will not dwell together, nor can we have His presence with love of the world, or carefulness about many things."
"'if we believe, He abideth faithful.' I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh how the joy flowed!) that He had said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you!' Ah, there is rest! I thought, I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more, For has He not promised to abide with me never to leave me, never to fail me?"
" As I thought of the vine and the branches what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the fullness out of Him. I saw now only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine, I now see, is not the root merely, but all- root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit: And Jesus is not only that: He is oil and sunshine, air and showers and ten thousand time more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of this truth!"
"It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior; to be a member of Christ! thing what is involves...
The sweetest part, if one may speak or one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this: for He, I know if able to carry out His will, and His will is mine"
- J Hudson Taylor
"Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession, He becomes responsible for Him. 'Ye shall be my witnesses unto Me.' The Spirit that comes in is not doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The secret of the missionary is- I am His and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.
Be entirely His."
- Oswald Chambers
Once I was waiting at a very primitive bridge in New Zealand. We were traveling by car, but we didn't dare to cross. First, one of the men in the car went to investigate if the bridge was strong enough. It appeared to be strong enough, even though it was very primitive and we crossed without a problem. This man was not investigating our trust in the bridge.
Very often, we tend to look a our faith, and we know our big and strong, or weak and small. BUt we shouldn't investigate our faith; we should investigate the Bridge. We should not rely on ourselves, but on Him. And when we look to Jesus, we know that He is strong."- Corrie ten Boom, I Stand at the Door and Knock.
"How then to have our faith increased? Only by thinking of all that Jesus is, and all He is for us: His life, His death, His work, He Himself as revealed to us in the Word, to be the subject of our constant thoughts. Not a striving to have faith, or to increase our faith, but a looking off the the Faithful One, seems all we need, a resting in the Loved One entirely, for time and for eternity."- John McCarthy in a letter to Hudson Taylor
"Faith, I now see, is the 'substance of things hoped for,' and mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward form of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance, feed on substance. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (ie His word of promise credited) is power indeed, is life indeed. And Christ and sin will not dwell together, nor can we have His presence with love of the world, or carefulness about many things."
"'if we believe, He abideth faithful.' I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh how the joy flowed!) that He had said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you!' Ah, there is rest! I thought, I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more, For has He not promised to abide with me never to leave me, never to fail me?"
" As I thought of the vine and the branches what light the blessed Spirit poured into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the fullness out of Him. I saw now only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine, I now see, is not the root merely, but all- root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit: And Jesus is not only that: He is oil and sunshine, air and showers and ten thousand time more than we have ever dreamed, wished for or needed. Oh, the joy of this truth!"
"It is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior; to be a member of Christ! thing what is involves...
The sweetest part, if one may speak or one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this: for He, I know if able to carry out His will, and His will is mine"
- J Hudson Taylor
"Our Lord makes a disciple His own possession, He becomes responsible for Him. 'Ye shall be my witnesses unto Me.' The Spirit that comes in is not doing anything for Jesus, but of being a perfect delight to Him. The secret of the missionary is- I am His and He is carrying out His enterprises through me.
Be entirely His."
- Oswald Chambers
He who believes in Me . . . out of his heart will flow rivers of living water —John 7:38
"A river reaches places which its source never knows. And Jesus said that, if we have received His fullness, “rivers of living water” will flow out of us, reaching in blessing even “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) regardless of how small the visible effects of our lives may appear to be. We have nothing to do with the outflow— “This is the work of God, that you believe. . .” (John 6:29). God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
A river is victoriously persistent, overcoming all barriers. For a while it goes steadily on its course, but then comes to an obstacle. And for a while it is blocked, yet it soon makes a pathway around the obstacle. Or a river will drop out of sight for miles, only later to emerge again even broader and greater than ever. Do you see God using the lives of others, but an obstacle has come into your life and you do not seem to be of any use to God? Then keep paying attention to the Source, and God will either take you around the obstacle or remove it. The river of the Spirit of God overcomes all obstacles. Never focus your eyes on the obstacle or the difficulty. The obstacle will be a matter of total indifference to the river that will flow steadily through you if you will simply remember to stay focused on the Source. Never allow anything to come between you and Jesus Christ— not emotion nor experience— nothing must keep you from the one great sovereign Source.
Think of the healing and far-reaching rivers developing and nourishing themselves in our souls! God has been opening up wonderful truths to our minds, and every point He has opened up is another indication of the wider power of the river that He will flow through us. If you believe in Jesus, you will find that God has developed and nourished in you mighty, rushing rivers of blessing for others." -Oswald Chambers
"'And God, even our Father.' Lord, help me to realize all that this wonderful relationship means to me! As your child, I may claim all that your have promised to give, and if I am living and acting as your child- dwelling with your, loving you, and obeying you, I shall assuredly find that your Father-love is ready to grant every reasonable desire of my heart. dear Lord, when I see, as I often do, some earthly fathers, whose love for their little ones is intense, forbearing, and unspeakably tender, how much greater yours must be! I feel ashamed that I do not better understand the love of your heart toward me, your child through faith in Christ Jesus. How much greater is that love? I cannot work out a sum, Lord; but I know if must be infinitely greater, closer, and dearer, because you are the infinite God, and your love is 'from everlasting'. Oh, that I may have the spirit of a child when I draw near to you!
"What little one if afraid to run to a loving father, and ask for all it wants? Never a doubt rises in a child's mind as to the supply of all his needs, and the direction of all that concerns Him. The child has positively no care for the present, no thought for tomorrow, no fears for the past. Father knows everything. Father can do everything. Father provides everything. In fact, Father loves.
'Which hath loves us.' Oh my soul, can you for a moment imagine what is would be a of joy and rest, and peace to live out day by day such a child-life in the love of the Father? He knows you altogether. He understand all your individual peculiarities, sees your weakness and sinfulness, your sore temptations, perplexities, and daily shortcomings; but He loves you notwithstanding all, not for any merit or worthiness in your, but because your are His child." - Susannah Spurgeon
