Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 30, 2011

                                                                  The Overcomer's Reward

"He who has an ear, let him her what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except who receives it."

~ Revelation 2:17

  "My heart, be stirred up to persevere in the holy war, for the reward of victory is great. There is reserved for us in Christ a higher degree of spiritual life, and  food for it, which is hidden. In the golden pot that was laid up in the ark, there was a portion of manna hidden away, which though kept for ages, never grew stale.

  The highest life of the believer is hid with Christ, in God. We shall come to it soon. Being made victorious through the grace of our Lord, we shall eat of the King's meat. We shall feed upon Jesus. He is our "hidden manna." He is all in all to us in our highest, as well as in our lowest, estate. He helps us to fight, gives us the victory, and then is Himself our reward. Lord, help me to overcome."

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 29, 2011

                                                             Forget and Forgive

Do not say, "I will recompense evil"; wait for the Lord, and He will save you.

                                                                                 ~ Proverbs 20:22

  "Be not in haste. Let your anger cool. Say nothing and do nothing to avenge yourself, as that will not show the spirit of the Lord. It is nobler to forgive and let the offense pass. To let an injury rankle and to meditate revenge is to keep old wounds open.

  Perhaps you feel like you must do something or be considered a loser; then do what this morning's promise advises, "Wait for the Lord." Wait on the Lord; tell Him your grievance, this itself will ease your burdened mind. Besides, there is the promise, "He will save you."

JESUS SAID, "LAY YOUR BURDENS

DOWN AT MY FEET AND WALK AWAY"

 WE AS HUMANS DON'T KNOW HOW TO

WALK AWAY FROM A SITUATION

WITHOUT A FIGHT. WE HAVE TO REALIZE

 THE FIGHT IS NOT OURS TO FIGHT. WE ARE TO

 FORGIVE AND TO FORGET WHAT HAS

HAPPENED TO US, BY SOMEONE ELSE HANDS.

  God will find a way of deliverance for you. How He will do it, we cannot guess, but do it He will. Don't get into petty quarrels and cover yourself with filth by wrestling with the unclean. Be no more angry. Leave your case with the Judge of all."

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 28, 2011

                                                              It Becomes Natural

"I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and thy shall be My people."
                                                                           ~ 2 Corinthians 6:16

  "Here is a mutual interest. Each belongs to each. God is the portion of His people, and the chosen people are the portion of their God. God is our chief possession, and we are His peculiar treasure.
  This happy condition of mutual interest leads to mutual consideration. God will always think of His own people, and they will always think of Him. This day my God will perform all things for me; what can I do for Him? My thoughts ought to run toward Him, for He thinks on me. Let me make sure that it is so.

  This, again, leads to mutual fellowship. God dwells in us, and we dwell in Him; He walks with us and we walk with God.
  May I treat the Lord as my God: trust Him and serve Him, as His Godhead deserves! To love, worship, adore, and obey Jehovah in spirit and in truth! This is my heart's desire. When I shall attain to it, I shall have found my heaven."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 27, 2011

                                                               God Finishes His Work

                        The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.

                                                                                   ~ Psalm 138:8

  "He who has begun will carry on the work that is being wrought within me. What is now good, but not perfect, the Lord will watch over, preserve, and carry out to completion. This is a great comfort, for I fail daily, and have only held on because the Lord has helped me.

  The Lord will continue to bless me. He will perfect my faith, my love, my character, my life's work. He will do this because He has begun a work in me. He never leaves a work unfinished; this would not be for His glory, nor would it be like Him. He knows how to accomplish His gracious design. Though my own evil nature, the world, and the devil all conspire to hinder Him, I do not doubt His promise. He will fulfill His purpose for me. Lord, let Your gracious work make some advance this day!"

(By:Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 26, 2011

                                                                           Gracious Dealing

                  The Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.
                                                                         ~ Deuteronomy 15:18

JESUS TREATED HIS DISCIPLES
JUST THE WAY WE ARE TO
TREAT OUR FELLOW WORKERS. HIS
DISCIPLES WORKED FOR HIM BY GOING
OUT AND TEACHING THE PEOPLE
ABOUT GOD AND HIS SON.

  "A master was to give his bondservant liberty in due time, and was to start him in life with a liberal portion, heartily and cheerfully, so the Lord promised to bless the generous act.
  The spirit of this precept binds us to treat work people well. We ought to remember how the Lord has dealt with us and therefore we should deal graciously with others. It becomes those to be generous who are the children of a gracious God. How can we expect our great Master to bless us in our business if we oppress those who serve us?
  To be blessed in all that we do is to be blessed indeed. The Lord will send us this partly in prosperity, partly in content of mind, and partly in a sense of His favor, which is the best of all blessings. God's blessing is more than a fortune. It makes rich and adds no sorrow."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 25, 2011

                                                                   What to Leave Children

The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.
                                                                                   ~ Proverbs 20:7

  "If we walk before the Lord in integrity, we shall do more to bless our descendants than if we bequeathed them large estates. A father's holy life is a rich legacy for his sons.
  The upright man leaves his heirs his example, and this in itself is a mine of true wealth. How many men may trace their success in life to the example of their parents!

  Above all, a righteous father leaves his children his prayers and the blessing of a prayer-hearing God, and these make our offspring to be favored among the sons of men. God will save them even after we are dead.

  Our integrity may be God's means of saving our sons and daughters. If they see the truth of our religion proved by our lives, it may be that they will believe in Jesus for themselves. Lord, fulfill this word to my household!"
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 24, 2011

                                                             Conditions of Blessings

"Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this," says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it."
                                                                                     ~ Malachi 3:10

BY HELPING THE POOR
WE ARE PAYING
TITHES TO THE LORD.

  "Many read and plead this promise without noticing the condition upon which the blessing is promised. we cannot expect heaven to be opened or blessing poured out unless we pay our dues to the Lord our God and to His cause. There would be no lack of funds for holy purposes if all professing Christians paid their fair share.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

  If there is no temporal meat for God's servants, we need not wonder if their ministry has but little food in it for our souls. When missions pine for means, and the work of the Lord is hindered by an empty treasury, how can we look for a large amount of soul prosperity?

THESE ARE THE STORE
 HOUSES THAT GOD HAD
 JOSEPH FILL WITH FOOD FOR
 THE YEARS THAT WERE YET
TO COME OF FAMINE AND DISEASE.

  What have I given of late? Let me give my Lord Jesus His tithe by helping the poor and aiding His work."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 23, 2011

                                                                    No Fear of Death

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.
                                                                             ~ Revelations 2:11

ANGEL OF DEATH

  "The first death we must endure, but let us not fear it, since Jesus has transformed death into a passage leading to glory.

  The thing to be feared is not the first, but the second death; not the parting of the soul from the body, but the final separation of the entire man from God. This is death indeed - it kills all peace, joy, happiness, and hope. Such a death is far worse than ceasing to be: it is existence without the life that makes existence worth having.

LAKE OF FIRE ETERNAL DEATH

  If by God's grace we fight on to the end and conquer in the glorious war, no second death can lay its chilly finger upon us. Eternal life is worth a life's battle. To escape the hurt of the second death is a thing worth struggling for throughout a lifetime.

  Lord, give us faith so that we may overcome, though sin and Satan dog our heels!"
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 22, 2011
                                                                       Power to Raise

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down.
                                                                                       ~ Psalm 146:8

  "Am I bowed down? Then let me urge this word of grace before the Lord. It is His promise, His delight, to raise up those who are bowed down.

  Is it sin, and a consequent depression of spirit, which now distresses me? Then the work of Jesus is, in this case, made and provided to raise me up into rest.
  Is it a sad bereavement, or a great fall in circumstances? Here again the Comforter has undertaken to console; He has made it His peculiar care.

  Some are so bowed down that only Jesus can loose them from their infirmity; but He can, and He will, do it. He can raise us up to health, to hope, to happiness. We who are bowed down and sorrowful shall be set on high. What an honor to be raised up by the Lord! It is worthwhile to be bowed down that we may experience His upraising power."

(By:Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 21, 2011
                                                                               God Repays

He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.

                                                                                   ~ Proverbs 19:17

  "We are to give to the poor, not to be seen and applauded, but out of pure sympathy and compassion.

  We must not expect to get anything back, not even gratitude; but we should regard what we have done as a loan to the Lord. He undertakes the obligation; and, if we look to Him in the matter, we must not look to the second party. What an honor the Lord bestows upon us when He condescends to borrow of us! Let us not make it a paltry pittance but a heavy amount. The next needy man that comes this way, let us help him.

AS A CHILD OF GOD IT IS
 OUR DUTY TO FEED THE
 POOR AND GIVE THEM
CLOTHING, AND SOME KIND
 OF SHELTER SO THAT THEY
ARE NOT OUT IN THE COLD.

  As for repayment we can hardly think of it, and  yet here is the Lord's note of hand. Blessed be His name, His promise to pay is better than gold and silver. Has any reader neglected the poor? Poor Soul. May the Lord forgive him."

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 20, 2011
                                                                          By Faith, Not Feeling

                                                                 The just shall live by faith.
                                                                                       ~ Romans 1:17

  "Even if I were perfect, I would not try to live by my righteousness; I would cling to the work of the Lord Jesus, and live by faith in Him and by nothing else.
  To live by faith is a far surer and happier thing than to live by feelings or by works. The branch, by living in the vine, lives a better life than it would live by itself, even if it were possible for it to live at all apart from the stem.

To live by clinging to Jesus is a sweet and sacred thing: if even the most just must live in this fashion, how much more must I who am a poor sinner! Lord, I believe. What else can I do? Trusting You is my life. I will abide by this even to the end."

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 19, 2011
                                                 An Expert Searcher

For thus Says the Lord God: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out."
                                                       ~ Ezekiel 34:11

  "How wonderfully does the Lord find His chosen! Jesus is a seeking Shepherd as well as a saving Shepherd. Though many of those His Father gave Him gone near to hell's gate, the Lord, by searching and seeking, discovers them and draws near to them in grace. He has sought us out: let us have good hope for those who are laid upon our hearts in prayer, for He will find them out also.

  The Lord repeats this process when any of His flock stray from the pastures of truth and holiness. He will, by providence and grace, pursue them into foreign lands, into abodes of poverty, into dens of obscurity, into deeps of despair; He will not lose one that the Father has given Him. It is a point of honor with Jesus to seek and to save all the flock, without a single exception."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

 

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 18, 2011
                                                         He Never Fails

"I will be with you. I will not leave you, nor forsake you."
                                                           ~ Joshua 1:5

  "A life of warfare is before us, but the Lord of Hosts is with us. This promise guarantees us all the wisdom and prudence that we shall need. Have we to contend with cunning and powerful enemies? Here is strength and valor, prowess and victory. Have we a vast heritage to win? By this sign we shall achieve our purpose: the Lord Himself is with us.

  On no occasion will the Lord desert us. Happen what may, He will be at our side. Friends drop from us; their help is nut an April shower. But God is faithful, Jesus is the same forever, and the Holy Spirit abides in us.

  So be calm and hopeful today. Clouds may gather, but the Lord can blow them away. Since God will not fail me, my faith shall not fail, and, as He will not forsake me neither will I forsake Him."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

 

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 17, 2011
                                                    Enemies at Peace

When a man's ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
                                                      ~ Proverbs 16:7

I MUST PRAY FOR MY
CHILDREN AND GOD'S
CHILDREN DAILY. AND
FOR THE ANGELS WHO
WATCH OVER US AND
WHO KEEP US SAFE.

  "I must see that my  ways please the Lord, then the Lord will make the wrath of man abate so that it shall not distress me.

WE MUST FEED THE HUNGRY
JUST AS JESUS CHRIST DID.

  He can constrain an enemy from harming me even though he has a mind to do so; as with Laban, who pursued Jacob, but did not dare to touch him. He can subdue an enemy's wrath and make him friendly, as He did with Esau, who met Jacob in a brotherly manner, though Jacob had dreaded that he would smite him. He can convert an adversary into a brother of Christ, as He did with Saul of Tarsus.

WE ARE TEACH OTHERS
ABOUT THE GOSPELS, ABOUT
HOW JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS
SO THAT WE WOULD LIVE
FOREVER WITH HIM.

  Happy is the man whose enemies are made to be to him what the lions were to Daniel in the den, quiet and companionable! When I meet death, the last enemy, I pray that I may be at peace. Only let my great care be to please the Lord in all things."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

 

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 16, 2011 &nbsp..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 16, 2011
                                                 All Turned to Holiness

In that day, "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" shall be engraved on the bells of the horses.
                                                     ~ Zechariah 14:20

  "Happy day when all things shall be consecrated, and the horses' bells shall ring out holiness to the Lord! That day has come to me. Do i not make all things holy to God? Oh, that today my clothes may be vestments, my meals sacraments, my house a temple, my table an altar, my speech incense, and myself a priest! Lord, fulfill Your promise, and let nothing be to me common or unclean.

  Let me in faith expect this. As I am the property of Jesus, my Lord may take an inventory of all I have, for it is altogether His own; and I resolve to prove it to be so by the use to which I put it this day. From morning till evening my bells shall ring: why should they not? All my bells, my music, my mirth shall be turned to holiness and shall ring out the name of "The Happy God.""
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 15, 2011 &nbsp..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 15, 2011
                                Desires of the Righteous Granted

                 The desire of the righteous will be granted.
                                                                                                              ~ Proverbs 10:24

  "Because it is a righteous desire, it is safe for God to grant it. It would not be good for such a promise to be made to the unrighteous.

  When righteous men are left to desire unrighteous desires, they will not be granted. But then, these are not their real desires: they are their wanderings or blunders; and they should be refused.

 Does the Lord deny us our requests for a time? Let the promise for today encourage us to ask again. Has He denied us altogether? Thank Him still, for it always was our desire that He should deny us if He judged a denial to be best.

  Some things we ask very boldly. Our chief desires are for holiness, usefulness, and preparedness for heaven. These are the desires of grace rather than of nature. God will not stint us in these things but will do for us exceeding abundantly. So today, ask largely!"

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 14, 2011 My Choice Is His Choice He will choose our inherita..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 14, 2011
                                             My Choice Is His Choice

                          He will choose our inheritance for us.
                                                             ~ Psalm 47:4

  "Our enemies would allot us a very dreary portion, but we are not left in their hands. The Lord will cause us to stand in our lot, and our place is appointed by His infinite wisdom. A wiser mind than our own arranges our destiny. The ordaining of all things is with God, and we are glad to have it so.

  Being conscious of our own folly, we would not desire to rule our own destinies. We feel safer and more at ease when the Lord steers us. Joyfully we leave the painful present and the unknown future with our Father, our Savior, our Comforter.

  Today, lay down your wishes at Jesus' feet! If you have of late been somewhat wayward, dismiss your foolish self now, and place the reins in the Lord's hands. It is my freest choice to let Him choose. As a free agent, I elect that He should have absolute sway."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 13, 2011 &nbsp..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 13, 2011
                                             This Body Transformed

Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.

                                                      ~ Philippians 3:21

JUST AS JESUS LAID HIS LIFE
DOWN FOR US, SO ARE WE TO
DO THE SAME THING FOR OUR
FRIENDS AND FAMILY.

  "Often when we are racked with pain or we are tempted by the passions of the flesh, we do not think the word "lowly" at all too vigorous a translation. We are lowly, because our bodies ally us with animals, and even link us with the dust!

  But our Savior shall change all this. We shall be fashioned like His own body of glory. This will take place in all who believe in Jesus. By faith their souls have been transformed, and their bodies will undergo such a renewal as shall fit them for their regenerated spirits. The thought of this transformation should help us to bear the trials of today and all the woes of the flesh.

TO ACT JUSTLY, TO
 LOVE MERCY, AND
TO WALK HUMBLY
WITH YOU GOD.

  In a little while we shall be as Jesus now is - no more aching brows, no more swollen limbs, no more dim eyes, no more fainting hearts. "Conformed to His glorious body." What an expression!"

(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 12, 2011 &nbsp..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 12, 2011
                                            He Remembers No More

"For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
                                                       ~ Jeremiah 31:34



JESUS TELLS THE MEN THAT
WERE GOING TO STONE THIS
WOMAN FOR COMMITTING
ADULTERY, LET THE FIRST ONE
THROW A STONE THAT IS
WITHOUT SIN, AND WHEN JESUS
ASKED THE WOMAN, WHERE
HAVE YOUR ACCUSERS GONE, SHE
 SAID I DO NOT KNOW. HE TOLD
 HER GO AND SIN NO MORE.

   "When we know the Lord, we receive the forgiveness of sins. What a joyful discovery is this! How divinely is this promise worded: the Lord promises no more to remember our sins! Can God forget? He says He will, and He means what He says. He will regard us as though we had never sinned. The great atonement so effectually removed all sin that it is to the mind of God no more in existence.

HIS BLOOD WAS SHED FOR
OUR SINS, SO THAT THEY
MAY BE WASHED AWAY.
JESUS SAYS, REPENT OF
YOUR SINS, AND SIN NO MORE. 

  The Great Lord will not remember our sins so as to punish them, or so as to love us one atom the less because of them. When we are mourning over our transgressions and shortcomings, let us at the same time rejoice that they will never be mentioned against us. God's free pardon makes us anxious never again to grieve Him by disobedience."
(By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

A Word of Inspiration: Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon): "April 11, 2011 &nbsp..."

Faith's Checkbook (By: C.H. Spurgeon)

April 11, 2011
                                                     Close Fellowship

"No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," says the Lord.
                                                       ~ Jeremiah 31:34

JESUS WASHING THE FEET

OF HIS DISCIPLES.

JESUS RESTORED THE
 LIFE BACK INTO THIS
 LITTLE BOY.

  "Truly, whatever else we do not know, we know the Lord. This day is this promise true in our experience, and it is not a little one. The least believer among us knows God in Christ Jesus - not as fully as we desire, but yet truly and really we know the Lord. We not only know doctrines about Him, but we know Him. He is our Father and our Friend. We are acquainted with Him personally. We are on terms of close fellowship with God, and many a happy season do we spend in His holy company.

JESUS SAID, "ALL WHO
ARE MINE KNOW MY
VOICE, AND HARKEN UNTO
MY COMMANDMENTS
THAT I GIVE WITH LOVE.

 

Flesh and blood has not revealed God to us. Christ Jesus has made known the Father to our hearts. If, then, the Lord has made us know Himself, is not this the foundation of all saving knowledge? To know God is eternal life. O my soul, rejoice in this knowledge and bless God all this day!"

                                      (By: Charles H. Spurgeon ~ One Minute Devotions)