Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 36

In a previous excerpt, Knapp stated that there are four features of "impressions" from God. These are Scriptural; Right (consistent with good morals); Providential (in harmony with God's will); and Reasonable. His discussion of "Impressions from Above" continues:

Unless it is a settled question with us that we will follow God's guidance when it is clearly revealed, at any cost, we can never know it, but will be a prey of impressions from below.

I heard a minister say that there had been times when he would pray for light on certain subjects, and then get up and hurry away lest he would get an answer that he would not like. Such seekers arise from their knees but to stumble on in darkness.

We must not only "commit our ways" unto God, but also the time and manner of them. "God," says an eminent minister, "not only requires us to obey and serve Him, but to obey and serve Him in His own time and way. In the eye of God voluntary disobedience in the manner of a thing, is the same as disobedience in the thing itself."

He who consents to obey God, but seeks to dictate the time of so doing, is as unwise as a blacksmith that would hammer the iron either before it is heated or after it cools off instead of when it is hot and flexible. Had Joshua dictated as to the time and manner of taking Jericho, Israel doubtless would have been defeated, and his own name have sunk into oblivion. For transgression in the manner of obedience, Moses was debarred from the promised land.

God said to David: "When thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the Philistines."

There is a mighty significance in the two "thens" in the preceding paragraph. "THEN thou shalt bestir thyself, for THEN shalt the Lord go out before thee."

Confusion ever comes to all who say now when God says "tomorrow," and who say "tomorrow" when God says "now."

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here.  

Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp, 35

In a previous excerpt, Knapp stated that there are four features of "impressions" from God. These are Scriptural; Right (consistent with good morals); Providential (in harmony with God's will); and Reasonable. His discussion of "Impressions from Above" continues:

There must be a belief that God will make His guidance known. "If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him, but let him ask in faith nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord." -- Jos. 1: 6-8.

Unbelief in God's ability and promises to guide will leave the soul like a ship at sea with no helm and at the mercy of wind and waves.

There must be complete commitment to God. Hence it is written: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass." Any mental reservation in the commitment will
deaden the discerning of the divine voice.

Spurgeon said: "Brethren, I can testify for my God that when I have submitted my will to His directing Spirit, I have always had reason to thank Him for His wise counsel. But when I have asked at His hands, having already made up my own mind, I have had my own way; but like as He fed the Israelites with quails from heaven, while the meat was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them."

He who employs a physician or attorney puts the case fully in their hands and follows their directions. Jesus is the soul's great Physician, and the lost man's lawyer. Infinite in wisdom and in love, the most timid soul need not fear to commit itself unreservedly to Him. Any shrinking here may cost what is worth more than worlds. The soul must be like a ship sailing under sealed orders unrevokably committed to execute the orders when opened, no matter what they are. It is God's to direct; ours to execute. We are accountable only for the execution; He for the results.

Praise His name!

Excerpted from Impressions, by Martin Wells Knapp. Original publication date, 1892. Public domain. My source is here. The previous post in the series is here. 

Prayer benefits the entire person

As every part of man’s complex being enters into true praying, so every part of that same nature receives blessings from God in answer to such praying. This kind of praying engages our undivided hearts, our full consent to be the Lord’s, our whole desires.
God sees to it that when the whole man prays, in turn the whole man shall be blessed. His body takes in the good of praying, for much praying is done specifically for the body. Food and raiment, health and bodily vigour, come in answer to praying. Clear mental action, right thinking, an enlightened understanding, and safe reasoning powers, come from praying.
Divine guidance means God so moving and impressing the mind, that we shall make wise and safe decisions. “The meek will he guide in judgment.”
Many a praying preacher has been greatly helped just at this point. The unction of the Holy One which comes upon the preacher invigorates the mind, loosens up thought and gives utterance. This is the explanation of former days when men of very limited education had such wonderful liberty of the Spirit in praying and in preaching. Their thoughts flowed as a stream of water. Their entire intellectual machinery felt the impulse of the Divine Spirit’s gracious influences.
And, of course, the soul receives large benefits in this sort of praying. Thousands can testify to this statement. So we repeat, that as the entire man comes into play in true, earnest effectual praying, so the entire man, soul, mind and body, receives the benefits of prayer.

This post is one of a series, taken from The Essentials of Prayer, by E. M. Bounds. Found through the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, here. Public Domain. The previous post in the series is here.

The 90% rule for marriage

You probably like about 90% of what your spouse is and does.

(If you figure out how to quantify this, let me know.)

Otherwise you probably wouldn't have married her/him in the first place. So, here's a rule to follow.

Be sure to praise, thank, or tell her/him about her dimple, his pleasing tone of voice, how well he fixes bouquets, how conscientiously she mows the grass, how carefully he keeps the checkbook, how well she fixed the bathroom leak, etc. -- in other words, something from the 90%, at least nine times, sincerely -- mean it -- for every complaint.

Try it. I'm going to try it, too. In fact, it's a life-long commitment.

That's probably part of 1 Corinthians 13 in action.

Thanks for reading.

Following God by faith, not sight

Then the great old, young, beautiful princess turned to Curdie.

'Now, Curdie, are you ready?' she said.

'Yes, ma'am,' answered Curdie.

'You do not know what for.'

'You do, ma'am. That is enough.'

'You could not have given me a better answer, or done more to
prepare yourself, Curdie,' she returned, with one of her radiant
smiles. 'Do you think you will know me again?'

'I think so. But how can I tell what you may look like next?'

The Princess and Curdie, 1883, Public Domain, Chapter 7. (Available from Project Gutenberg)

The Princess and Curdie is a pretty good story, as story, but MacDonald's writing is also full of gems like the above, which stand alone. As in several of MacDonald's fantastic writings, there is a very old wise woman, who, at least partly, stands for God, who appears to us in all sorts of guises.

Thanks for reading. Read MacDonald.

Breaking down doors: how to REALLY measure commitment

Leonard Pitts, syndicated columnist, and a good one, muses about the recent Black Friday stampedes. I'm linking, for the first time, to Moscow News, which has an article about the incident. (It really is a small world, isn't it?) This news article speaks of a Wal-Mart employee who died in a stampede as a "sacrificial victim to the pagan gods of consumerism."

Mr. Pitts uses the lining-up-early-and-pushing-against-the-door test to measure our priorities. He points out that he hasn't seen people lining up early and breaking the glass in libraries, schools, or churches, but we do this for bargains. Which, as he says, tells us something about ourselves. Something not so good, I guess.

As John put it: 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (ESV)

I wasn't at any retail store, pushing on the door, on Black Friday. But I wasn't storming the gates of heaven, either.

Thanks for reading.

Hathach: Lessons from a Eunuch

"for such a time as this" was not spoken by Mordecai to Esther. Not really.

Here's the entire verse:
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this? Esther 4:14, KJV

Most people familiar with the Bible would know that the "thou" in this verse is Esther. I doubt seriously that many would answer correctly if asked "who said it to her?" They would probably answer "Mordecai." Mordecai was her guardian. Mordecai sent this message, but it was actually delivered by Hathach, a eunuch in Esther's service. Esther was in the harem in the palace, and Mordecai wouldn't have been allowed there. Esther, even though queen, was probably confined to the palace most of the time.

Communication
Hathach communicated someone else’s message, and he did it effectively. He didn't:
listen to something, or someone, else
put off telling her
leave out anything important
add to the message: make it his message, not Mordecai’s
say, “this is over and above my job”
think, “I have something more important to do”

He must have previously showed Esther that he was trustworthy.

Mordecai had a message, but he had to rely on someone else to deliver it. So does God. I need to be sure that I am an effective communicator, because God's message is important. Lives depend on it.

Commitment
Easton's Bible Dictionary, available through the Blueletter Bible, says that eunuch meant ". . . literally bed-keeper or chamberlain, and not necessarily in all cases one who was mutilated, although the practice of employing such mutilated persons in Oriental courts was common. Moses excluded them from the congregation (Deu 23:1)."

A eunuch was someone who had given up sex, or, rather, been deprived of his sexual powers.

Jesus pointed out that there were different categories of eunuchs:
For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from [their] mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive [it], let him receive [it]. (Matthew 19:12)

Giving up sex is a serious matter. Our society isn't in tune with that idea. The U. S. is now subsidizing drugs to cure erectile dysfunction through Medicare. (There are, of course, other things that we should give up, at times, not just sex. But I could hardly leave that idea out when writing about a eunuch!)

Jesus never asks us to give up something that is, really, good for us. Giving up something for Christ does not go unrewarded.

Isaiah had this to say:
For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose [the things] that please me, and take hold of my covenant; Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 56:4-5)

Mark wrote:
And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

We may have to make serious commitments, in order to communicate the message effectively. If so, we will be rewarded.

There is a message that needs to be communicated effectively, passionately. It needs trusted, committed, messengers. I hope that I am one.

* * * *

The above was posted at 4:27 AM, EDT, Feb 11, more or less. My eldest daughter pointed out that I had not spelled Hathach's name consistently, so I am changing the title to correct this. Thanks to her. Thanks for reading.