"Remember no day is lost on which some Spiritual Truth becomes clearer. No day is lost which you have given to Me to use. My use of it may not have been apparent to you. Leave that to Me. Dwell in Me, and I in you, so shall ye bear much fruit. The fruit is not the work of the branches, though proudly the branches may bear it. It is the work of the Vine, that sends its life-giving sap through those branches. I am the Vine and ye are the branches."
Recently I read in the news about a man who, out of anger, poured acid on his sleeping wife and daughter. As a result his wife died and his daughter was seriously burnt and permanently blinded. How senseless, how tragic. No wonder the Word of God tells us:
"The secret of true discipleship is service and little things. So rarely do Mine understand this. They are ready to die for Me, but not to live for Me, in all the small details of this life. Is not this the way of men, so often, towards those they love in the world? They are ready to make the big sacrifices, but not the little ones. Guard against this in service for Me. Suffer little hardships gladly, overcome little proud impulses, little selfishnesses, and little difficulties. Serve Me in the little things. Be My servants of the little ways.
To whom the Scholar said again:
"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'. For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
"In your unrest behold My Calm, My Rest. In your impatience, My unfailing patience. In your lack and limitations, My Perfection. Looking at Me you will grow like Me, until men say to you, too, that you have been with Jesus."
Yes! Praise. That moment, in the most difficult place, your sorrow is turned to joy, your fret to praise, the outward circumstances change from those of disorder to order, of chaos to calm.
"Everyone who ceases to trust in his own righteousness and follows Me shall receive from Me true peace and everlasting life."
"In the bitter cold of winter the trees stand bare of leaves, and it seems as if their life, too, had departed forever, yet in the spring time they put forth new leaves and beautiful flowers, and the fruit begins to show itself. So was it with Me in My crucifixion and resurrection, and so it is with my faithful cross-bearers. Though they seem to be crushed and dead beneath their cross they still put forth beautiful flowers and glorious fruits of eternal life which abide for ever."
"For Adam and Eve the fig leaves were too scanty a covering, so God gave them coats of skin. In this way, too, man's good deeds are as useless as the fig leaves to save him from the wrath to come. Nothing will suffice save My robe of righteousness."
"The human spirit abides in the body very much as the chicken in the shell. If it were possible for the bird within the shell to be told that outside of it was a great widespread world, with all kinds of fruit and flowers, with rivers and grand mountains, that its mother also was there, and that it would see all this when set free from its shell, it could not understand or believe it. Even if anyone told it that its feathers and eyes, ready now for use, would enable it to see and to fly, it would not believe it, nor would any proof be possible till it came out of its shell. In the same way there are many who are uncertain about the future life and the existence of God, because they cannot see beyond this shell-like body of flesh, and their thoughts, like delicate wings, cannot carry them beyond the narrow confines of the brain. Their weak eyes cannot discover those eternal and unfading treasures which God has prepared for those who love Him. The necessary condition for attaining to this eternal life is this, that while still in this body we should receive from the Holy Spirit by faith that life-giving warmth which the chicken receives from its mother, otherwise there is danger of death and eternal loss."
Sadhu Sundar Singh - At The Master's Feet
"....it sometimes happens that in a plot of unclean and filthy ground flowers spring up and flourish, and the sweet scent of the flowers overpowers the evil smell of the place. The plants, turning towards the sun, receive from it light and heat, and the filth instead of being hurtful to the plants fertilizes them and helps them to grow and flourish. So, too, the man of prayer as he prays turns his heart to Me, and receives from Me light and warmth, and amidst the ill odours of this evil world the sweet scent of his new and holy life glorifies Me, and there is produced in him not sweet odours only, but also fruit which shall abide for ever."
"Although the fish spend their whole life in the salt water of the sea, yet they do not themselves become salty, because they have life in them; so the man of prayer, though he has to live in this sin-defiled world, remains free of the sinful taint, because by means of prayer his life is maintained."
"The moth thinks not of the burning and destructive power of the flame, but fascinated by its brilliancy rushes into it and perishes. So man, regardless of the destructive and poisonous power of sin, and feeling only its allurement, rushes into his eternal destruction. But My light rescues the sinner from death, and bestows upon him life and enduring happiness. Man was so made as to be capable of appropriating the precious gift of My true light."
"......My children cannot find in this great garden of a world, so full of charming and beautiful things, any true joy until they find Me. I am their Emmanuel, who is ever with them, and I make Myself known to them."
