Pilgrim
Portions
|
|
Weeks
|
Still sweet ‘tis to discover, If
clouds have dimmed my sight, Towards me, as e’er, Thou’rt bright. Oh! guard my soul then, Jesus, Abiding
still with Thee; Habitual
faithfulness in judging the flesh in little things is the secret of not
falling. It is very
disagreeable work to get to know ourselves, but very useful work. Peter
is sifted, and has to learn that this confidence that he has in himself
is the very occasion of his failure. … In the end the Lord not only
restores his soul but makes him the channel of blessing to others. When
you know your own utter nothingness, then you can go and help others.
“Go and feed my sheep” the Lord says to Peter. Humility before
man is often the best proof of restoration before God. Suppose my soul
is out of communion, the natural heart says, I must correct the cause
of this before I can come to Christ. But He is gracious; and knowing
this, the way is to return to Him at once just as we are, and then
humble ourselves deeply before Him. It is only in Him and from Him that
we shall find that which shall restore our souls. To be truly
restored the Christian must recognise the point of departure where his
soul gave up communion with God and sought its own will. … Communion
with God is not thoroughly re established, self and its will are not
thoroughly broken, as long as the Christian has not found the point
where his heart began to lose its spiritual sensibility, for the
presence of God makes us feel that. Diligence in your
business is all right, but do not let it get between your soul and God.
If you are not as bright with Him, and more and more so, search out
why, and look to Him, for He giveth more grace. If the sorrow
gets between our souls and God so as to produce distrust, it is sin. …
Whether from trouble, or from offending, He can restore. … The Psalmist
does not say, I must get my soul restored, and then go to God, but “He
restoreth my soul.” How often the
absence of God causes His value to be felt, whose presence had not been
appreciated! The slippery path
of sin is often trodden with accelerated steps, because the first sin
tends to weaken in the soul the authority and power of that which alone
can prevent our committing still greater sins—that is, the word of God,
as well as the consciousness of His presence, which imparts to the word
all its practical power over us. It is of all
importance that our inner life should be kept up to the height of our
outward activity, else we are near some spiritual fall. It is surprising
what a man can believe when he is left to himself, without being kept
by God, when the power of the enemy is there. We talk of common sense,
of reason (very precious they are), but history tells us that God alone
gives them or preserves them to us. Pilgrim Portions - Meditations for the Day of Rest - Selected from the Writings, Hymns,
Letters, etc., of J. N. Darby SEDIN-Servicio Evangélico |
Index: Homepage 
|
||| General English Index ||| Creation/Evolution Materials ||| Molecular Machines Museum ||| PDF documents (classified by subjects) ||| |