For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 2 Corintians 4:17.
I was pointed to the glory of heaven, to the treasure laid up for the faithful. Everything was lovely and glorious. The angels would sing a lovely song, then they would cease singing and take their crowns from their heads and cast them glittering at the feet of the lovely Jesus, and with melodious voices cry, “Glory, Alleluia!” I joined with them in their songs of praise and honor to the Lamb, and every time I opened my mouth to praise Him, I felt an unutterable sense of the glory that surrounded me. It was a far more, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Said the angel, “The little remnant who love God and keep His commandments and are faithful to the end will enjoy this glory and ever be in the presence of Jesus and sing with the holy angels.”
Then my eyes were taken from the glory, and I was pointed to the remnant on the earth. The angel said to them, “… Get ready, get ready, get ready. Ye must have a greater preparation than ye now have, for the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. Sacrifice all to God. Lay all upon His altar—self, property, and all, a living sacrifice. It will take all to enter glory. Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where no thief can approach or rust corrupt. Ye must be partakers of Christ’s sufferings here if ye would be partakers with Him of His glory hereafter.”
Heaven will be cheap enough, if we obtain it through suffering. We must deny self all along the way, die to self daily, let Jesus alone appear, and keep His glory continually in view.
The work of salvation is not child’s play, to be taken hold of at will and let alone at pleasure. It is the steady purpose, the untiring effort, that will gain the victory at last. It is he who endureth to the end that shall be saved. It is they who patiently continue in well-doing that shall have eternal life and the immortal reward.
The Faith I Live By p. 359
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Prayer Requests
—-We just got news that Hal Meyer suffered a stroke last Sunday. He’s struggling with speech, his left side is compromised, he’s in hospital still. Please pray for him and his wife Betsy – as well as the ministries he runs (Keep the Faith and Abide). M
—-update—Brian is not out of the woods yet – fevers still coming and going… but maybe there is a tiny improvement. M
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Dear Friends,
When Eileen was seven, we were in a store looking at baby clothes, since it would not be long and Ronnie Jay would be born. The clerk , smiling, said to Eileen, “It looks like you will soon be a big sister! Isn’t that wonderful?”
Eileen said, “Yes! I prayed and prayed for a baby and finally Jesus said, ‘Oh, all right! You can have it.” Both the clerk and I had a hard time holding in our amusement.
On the way home, however, I explained to my little girl that God didn’t answer her prayer with exasperation because she had asked so much. He had answered her prayer because He saw that it was best for us to have a baby at that time. I explained that God answers our prayers even when they seem to go unanswered. He knows what is best for us. Jesus said, “your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matt 6:8
Our dear Saviour tells us the conditions for answered prayer, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” John 15:7 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Luke 11:9,10
This does not always mean that we will get just what we ask for. James explains, “Ye ask, and receive not,because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3 But if we abide in Him and ask according to His will, we will have our petitions. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” 1 John 5:14,15 What a wonderful Father we have! He listens to our prayers and weighs each request. Then He gives us an answer that is better than we could ask or think.
Let us have confidence that He hears and gives us our requests according to His great knowledge and understanding. Let us trust Him to take complete control of our lives. Let us put our hand in His and let Him lead us to His Heavenly Kingdom is my prayer.
Rose