Several years ago there was found in an African mine the most magnificent diamond in the world’s history. It was presented to the King of England to blaze in his crown of state. The King sent it to Amsterdam to be cut. It was put into the hands of an expert lapidary. And what do you suppose he did with it?
He took the gem of priceless value, and cut a notch in it. Then he struck it a hard blow with his instrument, and lo! the superb jewel lay in his hand cleft in twain. What recklessness I what wastefulness! what criminal carelessness!Not so. For days and weeks that blow had been studied and planned. Drawings and models had been made of the gem. Its quality, its defects, its lines of cleavage had all been studied with minutest care. The man to whom it was committed was one of the most skilful lapidaries in the world.
Do you say that blow was a mistake? Nay. It was the climax of the lapidary’s skill. When he struck that blow, he did the one thing which would bring that gem to its most perfect shapeliness, radiance, and jewelled splendour. That blow which seemed to ruin the superb precious stone was, in fact, its perfect redemption. For, from those two halves were wrought the two magnificent gems which the skilled eye of the lapidary saw hidden in the rough, uncut stone as it came from the mine.
So, sometimes, God lets a stinging blow fall upon your life. The blood spurts. The nerves wince. The soul cries out in agony. The blow seems to you an appalling mistake. But it is not, for you are the most priceless jewel in the world to God. And He is the most skilled lapidary in the universe.
Some day you are to blaze in the diadem of the King. As you lie in His hand now He knows just how to deal with you. Not a blow will be permitted to fall upon your shrinking soul but that the love of God permits it, and works out from its depths, blessing and spiritual enrichment unseen, and unthought of by you. –J. H. McC.
#godisatwork #wordsofencouragement #morningdevotional #christiandevotional #messianic #hiswaysarehigher #nowweseedimly #trustgod
The Little Birds of God by Annie Johnson Flint I HEAR them at my window in the late, gray winter dawn,
The little birds of God, the farthing sparrows of His care;
They ask of me, as I of Him, His gift of daily bread.
With soft, impatient twitterings they voice their morning prayer.
The heavenly Father feedeth them, the little birds of God,
Though ’tis my hand that scattereth the food within their reach;
I do but share His bounty when I give the crumbs to them.
doubting heart and anxious heart, what lessons they can teach!
They sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns,
Content if but each day shall bring the day’s supply of food;
No question whence it comes, nor if the morrow bringeth more
Small optimists in feathers, who are sure that all is good!
God seeth when they fly or fall. Am I less worth than they?
I would not fail them in their need. Is He less true than I?
I would not mock their faith in me, nor hurt them, nor betray;
I answer to their trusting call, He to His children’s cry.
When sunset tints the fading light and dusk is falling fast,
The while I draw the curtains close and stir the hearth-fire bright,
I hear their cheerful chirping, the little birds of God,
And wonder to what shelter they are fleeing for the night.
But they, as I, shall rest secure beneath the wings of Love,
Though storm and darkness sweep the sea and cover all the land.
My life and theirs, so small and frail, God’s care of both the same;
My soul a nesting bird within the hollow of His hand. #anniejohnsonflint #matthew626 #wordsofencouragement #christianpoetry #christiandevotional
“A Persian fable says: One day
A wanderer found a lump of clay
So redolent of sweet perfume
Its odours scented all the room.
‘What are thou? was his quick demand,
‘Art thou some gem from Samarcand,
Or spikenard in this rude disguise,
Or other costly merchandise?’
‘Nay: I am but a lump of clay.’
“‘Then whence this wondrous perfume–say!’
‘Friend, if the secret I disclose,
I have been dwelling with the rose.’
Sweet parable! and will not those
‘Who love to dwell with Sharon’s rose,
Distil sweet odors all around,
Though low and mean themselves are found?
Dear Lord, abide with us that we
May draw our perfume fresh from Thee.” 🌹🌹🌹🌹 We must remember we live in a world that is blind. Their eyes have been blinded to the truth. Not only can they not see who Messiah is but many don’t even believe the Creator even exists 😰 We walk among the blind and broken every day and what can we do to reach past the blind eyes and broken hearts? We can make sure we spend time with the ROSE so when we walk among the blind they will smell the fragrance of the Rose upon us and remember. Remember that they have been lovingly created in His image. Created to do righteous and just deeds. Created to live for the honor and glory of He who created them. Created in love to be both recipients and givers of love. #whatisthegreatestcommandment #lovethelordwithallyourheart #loveyourneighborasyourself #becompassionate #beyekind #fragranceofchrist #morningdevotional #christiandevotional #roseofsharon
“Thou makest the outgoing of the morning and evening to rejoice” (Ps. 65:8).
Get up early and go to the mountain and watch God make a morning. The dull gray will give way as God pushes the sun towards the horizon, and there will be tints and hues of every shade, that will blend into one perfect light as the full-orbed sun bursts into view. As the King of day moves forth majestically, flooding the earth and every lowly vale, listen to the music of heaven’s choir as it sings of the majesty of God and the glory of the morning.”
In the holy hush of the early dawn
I hear a Voice
“I am with you all the day,
Rejoice! Rejoice!”
#goodmorningquotes #morningdevotional #christiandevotional #psalm65
Two painters each painted a picture to illustrate his conception of rest. The first chose for his scene a still, lone lake among the far-off mountains.
The second threw on his canvas a thundering waterfall, with a fragile birch tree bending over the foam; and at the fork of the branch, almost wet with the cataract’s spray, sat a robin on its nest.
The first was only stagnation; the last was rest.
Christ’s life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives that ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the waves breaking over it all the time until the worn body was laid in the grave. But the inner life was a sea of glass. The great calm was always there.
At any moment you might have gone to Him and found rest. And even when the human bloodhounds were dogging Him in the streets of Jerusalem, He turned to His disciples and offered them, as a last legacy, “My peace.” Rest is not a hallowed feeling that comes over us in church; it is the repose of a heart set deep in God. –Drummond #shabbatshalom #mypeaceigiveyou #restinhim
