A Living Stillness

"There is a perfect passivity that is not laziness. It is a living stillness born of trust. Quiet tension is not trust but simply compressed anxiety." -- Cowman

Psalm 46:10 -- "Be still and know that I am God."

Grateful 

"Because He Trusts Us!"

Mrs. Cowman's classic devotional book, "Streams in the Desert", was my Mom's daily encourager as she raised me and my brothers. Married to a fisherman who had to be away from home often, much of the day-to-day parenting was left up to Mom to fulfill. We watched her pray and soak in God's Word and especially Mrs. Cowman's inspirational pen was her strong pal.

Years later, Mom's three sons would all become local pastors. The same writings Mom cut her spiritual teeth on, in time, also became ours. 

This page from "Streams in the Desert" has proven to be the most powerful page in the book in my estimation. So, here it is. (The Bible verse at the end especially explains so very much and rights so much bad theology in our world.)

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you....you are sharing what Christ suffered; so rejoice in it."(1 Peter 4:12.) 

MANY a waiting hour was needful to enrich the harp of David, and many a waiting hour in the wilderness will gather for us a psalm of "thanksgiving, and the voice of melody," to cheer the hearts of fainting ones here below, and to make glad our Father's house on high. 

What was the preparation of the son of Jesse for the songs like unto which none other have ever sounded on this earth? 

The outrage of the wicked, which brought forth cries for God's help. Then the faint hope in God's goodness blossomed into a song of rejoicing for His mighty deliverances and manifold mercies. Every sorrow was another string to his harp; every deliverance another theme for praise. 

One thrill of anguish spared, one blessing unmarked or unprized, one difficulty or danger evaded, great would have been our loss in that thrilling Psalmody in which God's people today find the expression of their grief or praise! 

To wait for God, and to suffer His will, is to know Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, and to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. So now, if the vessel is to be enlarged for spiritual understanding, be not affrighted at the wider sphere of suffering that awaits you. The Divine capacity of sympathy will have a more extended sphere, for the breathing of the Holy Ghost in the new creation never made a stoic, but left the heart's affection tender and true. --- Anna Shipton. 

"He tested me ere He entrusted me." (1 Tim. 1:12.) (Way's Trans.)

Did you get that? God tests us, yes, He allows us seasons of suffering even times of uncertainty, not because He's mad at us, but because HE TRUSTS US!

Holiness Unto The Lord!

Grateful 

Who's Your Soul's Thriller?

Mrs. Chas. Cowman suggests this translation of 1 Samuel 2:1:

My heart thrills over the Eternal:
My powers are heightened by my God.

Thoro Harris penned this hymn in 1931:

Who can cheer the heart like Jesus
By His presence all divine
True and tender, pure and precious
O, how blest to call Him mine

Chorus
All that thrills my soul is Jesus
He is more than life to me
And the fairest of ten thousand
In my blessed Lord I see

Love of Christ so freely given
Grace of God beyond degree
Mercy higher than the heavens
Deeper than the deepest sea

What a wonderful redemption
Never can a mortal know
How my sin, though red like crimson
Can be whiter than the snow

Every need His hand supplying
Every good in Him I see
On His strength divine relying
He is all in all to me

By the crystal flowing river
With the ransomed I will sing
And forever and forever
Praise and glorify the King

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Faith or Fanaticism?

To dream that God will do this and that because we wish that He would is not faith but fanaticism. Faith can only stand upon truth (what God has promised). -- Mrs. Chas. Cowman

Exodus 12:25 (NKJV) -- ...just as He promised...

Lord, I want to live by faith and die in faith. I want to be faithful not fanatical. Find me for forever and today standing only on Your promises, my God. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Why Rest Awhile?

In a poem by Mrs. Chas. Cowman, these words hint at one wonderful reason why workers in the Lord's harvest, should take time for sabbath rest?

To cease awhile from all the joy of service,
To find a deeper joy with Him to share.

And Jesus said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. -- Mark 6:31-32 (NKJV)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Consecration Simply Defined

Consecration is simply a matter of letting God have what He has paid for, or returning stolen property. -- Mrs. Chas. Cowman

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV) -- (19) Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; (20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

Jesus, You paid it all. All to You I owe. Let me live my life not only claiming "You are mine" but also declaring "I am Yours". In Your wonderful name, Jesus. Amen.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Help

Is anything too hard for the Lord? -- Genesis 18:14 (NLT)

The more we are cut off from human help, the greater claim we can make on Divine Help. -- Mrs. Chas. Cowman

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful