January, 6
Step Out Boldly
"When thou goest, thy way shall be opened up before thee step by step" (Proverbs 4:12, free translation).
The Lord never builds a bridge of faith except under the feet of the faith-filled traveler. If He builds the bridge a rod ahead, it would not be a bridge of faith. That which is of sight is not of faith.
There is a self-opening gate which is sometimes used in country roads. It stands fast and firm across the road as a traveler approaches it. If he stops before he gets to it, it will not open. But if he will drive right at it, his wagon wheels press the springs below the roadway, and the gate swings back to let him through. He must push right on at the closed gate, or it will continue to be closed.
This illustrates the way to pass every barrier on the road of duty. Whether it is a river, a gate, or a mountain, all the child of Jesus has to do is to go for it. If it is a river, it will dry up when you put your feet in its waters. If it is a gate, it will fly open when you are near enough to it, and are still pushing on. If it is a mountain, it will be lifted up and cast into a sea when you come squarely up, without flinching, to where you thought it was.
Is there a great barrier across your path of duty just now? Just go for it, in the name of the Lord, and it won't be there. --Henry Clay Trumbull
We sit and weep in vain. The voice of the Almighty said, "Up and onward forevermore." Let us move on and step out boldly, though it be into the night, and we can scarcely see the way. The path will open, as we progress, like the trail through the forest, or the Alpine pass, which discloses but a few rods of its length from any single point of view. Press on! If necessary, we will find even the pillar of cloud and fire to mark our journey through the wilderness. There are guides and wayside inns along the road. We will find food, clothes and friends at every stage of the journey, and as Rutherford so quaintly says: "However matters go, the worst will be a tired traveler and a joyful and sweet welcome home."
I'm going by the upper road, for that still holds the sun, I'm climbing through night's pastures where the starry rivers run:
If you should think to seek me in my old dark abode, You'll find this writing on the door, "He's on the Upper Road." --Selected
Yes that me in the cowboy hat. In every place I have been and everywhere I go I have always had God speak to me in Streams in the Desert. Why? Perhaps it is because I don't listen so good so He knows I read this and He can get some heart of an issue to me. Or maybe the people in it went thru the same issues I do. I DO KNOW that when I read only the Bible, there were times I really really really worried when I was lost in some passage of God's judgement. While that part is true, we all need to be reminded thanks to Jesus, not only do we have a personal God, we have a loving Father who knows we are doing the best we How, even when He and We know we might stop trying at times.
We we stop trying that is when we need to know that God is directly speaking to us.
Not to condemn, but to contend with us for our faith. He is perfecting us.
