Scripture at Sunrise 04.18.2023

“I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” -Joshua 1:5

This word to Joshua is often quoted; it is the basis of that New Testament word “He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

Beloved, a life of warfare is before us, but the Lord of Hosts is with us. Are we called to lead a great but fickle people? 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.

It would be woe to us indeed if Jehovah could fail us; but, as this can never be, the winds of disquietude are laid to sleep in the caverns of divine faithfulness. On no one occasion will the Lord desert us. Happen what may, He will be at our side. Friends drop from us, their help is but an April shower; but God is faithful, Jesus is the same forever, and the Holy Spirit abideth in us.

Come, my heart, 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. Oh, for a restful faith!

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Scripture at Sunrise 03.28.2023

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:6-7

No care but all prayer. No anxiety but much joyful communion with God. Carry your desires to the Lord of your life, the guardian of your soul. Go to Him with two portions of prayer and one of fragrant praise. Do not pray doubtfully but thankfully. Consider that you have your petitions, and therefore thank God for His grace. He is giving you grace; give Him thanks, Hide nothing. Allow no want to lie rankling in your bosom; “make known your requests.” Run not to man. Go only to your God, the Father of Jesus, who loves you in Him.

This shall bring you God’s own peace. You shall not be able to understand the peace which you shall enjoy. It will enfold you in its infinite embrace. Heart and mind through Christ Jesus shall be steeped in a sea of rest. Come life or death, poverty, pain, slander, you shall dwell in Jesus above every rolling wind or darkening cloud. Will you not obey this dear command?

Yes, Lord, I do believe thee; but, I beseech thee, help mine unbelief.

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Scripture at Sunrise 03.21.2023

“Then shalt thou walk in thy way of safety, and thy foot shall not stumble.” -Proverbs 3:23

That is to say, if we follow the ways of wisdom and holiness we shall be preserved in them. He who travels by daylight along the highway is under some protection. There is a way for every man, namely, his own proper calling in life, and if we devoutly walk therein in the fear of God He will preserve us from evil. We may not travel luxuriously, but we shall walk safely. We may not be able to run like young men, but we shall be able to walk like good men.

Our greatest danger lies in ourselves: our feeble foot is so sadly apt to stumble. Let us ask for more moral strength that our tendency to slip may be overcome. Some stumble because they do not see the stone in the way: divine grace enables us to perceive sin and so to avoid it. Let us plead this promise and trust in Him who upholds His chosen.

Alas! Our worst peril is our own carelessness, but against this the Lord Jesus has put us on our guard, saying, “Watch and pray.”

Oh, for grace to walk this day without a single stumble! It is not enough that we do not actually fall. Our cry should be that we may not make the smallest slip with out feet but may at the last adore Him “who is able to keep us from stumbling.”

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Scripture at Sunrise 03.14.2023

“As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.” -Isaiah 66:13

A mother’s comfort! Ah, this is tenderness itself. How she enters into her child’s grief! How she presses him to her bosom and tries to take all his sorrow into her own heart! He can tell her all, and she will sympathize as nobody else can. Of all comforters the child loves best his mother, and even full-grown men have found it so.

Does Jehovah condescend to act the mother’s part? This is goodness indeed. We readily perceive how He is a father; but will He be as a mother also? Does not this invite us to holy familiarity, to unreserved confidence, to sacred rest? When God Himself becomes “the Comforter,” no anguish can long abide. Let us tell out our trouble, even though sobs and sighs should become our readiest utterance. He will not despise us for our tears; our mother did not. He will consider our weakness as she did, and He will put away our faults, only in a surer, safer way than our mother could do. We will not try to bear our grief alone; that would be unkind to one so gentle and so kind. Let us begin the day with our loving God, and wherefore should we not finish it in the same company, since mothers weary not of their children?

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Scripture at Sunrise 01.05.2023

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” -John 10:27

“It is not for the flock of sheep to know the pasture the Shepherd has in mind. It is for them simply to follow Him.” -Elisabeth Elliot via Twitter

Scripture at Sunrise 01.04.2023

“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” -Hebrews 13:5

Safety and peace are not found in being removed from circumstances, rather safety and peace are found in having fellowship and walking hand-in-hand with the Lord through all circumstances. -Associate Pastor Josh Wilson (excerpts from Sunday Evening Sermon “Great is Thy Faithfulness” from Lamentations 3:22-29)

Scripture at Sunrise 01.03.2023

“The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it.” -Genesis 28:13

No promise is of private interpretation: it belongs not to one saint but to all believers. If, my brother, thou canst in faith lie down upon a promise and take thy rest thereon, it is thine. Where Jacob “lighted” and tarried and rested, there he took possession. Stretching his weary length upon the ground, with the stones of that place for his pillows, he little fancied that he was thus entering into ownership of the land; yet so it was. He saw in his dream that wondrous ladder which for all true believers unites earth and heaven, and surely where the foot of the ladder stood he must have a right to the soil, for otherwise he could not reach the divine stairway. All the promises of God are “Yea” and “Amen” in Christ Jesus, and as He is ours, every promise is ours if we will but lie down upon it in restful faith.

Come, weary one, use thy Lord’s words as thy pillows, Lie down in peace. Dream only of Him. Jesus is thy ladder of light. See the angels coming and going upon Him between thy soul and thy God, and be sure that the promise is thine own God-given portion and that it will not be robbery for thee to take it to thyself, as spoken specially to thee.

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]

Summing Up Sunday 01.02.2023

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His Name’s sake.” -1 John 2:12

Our forgiveness is based on His Name, not our works.

-Pastor Steve Wainright (excerpt from Sunday Morning Sermon “A Word of Encouragement” from 1 John 2:12-14)

Scripture at Sunrise 11.30.2022

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous…” -1 John 2:1

A child of God stands before the Father. Christ pleads our case before Him. Everyone He represents is guilty. He pleads with the Father based on His payment for our sin. -Pastor Steve Wainright (excerpts from Sunday Morning Sermon “Do Not Sin” from 1 John 2:1-2)

Scripture at Sunrise 11.29.2022

“He that believeth shall not make haste.” -Isaiah 28:16

He shall make haste to keep the Lord’s commandments; but he shall not make haste in any impatient or improper sense.

He shall not haste to run away, for he shall not be overcome with the fear which causes panic. When others are flying hither and thither as if their wits had failed them, the believer shall be quiet, calm, and deliberate, and so shall be able to act wisely in the hour of trial.

He shall not haste in his expectations, craving his good things at once and on the spot, but he will wait God’s time. Some are in a desperate hurry to have the bird in the hand, for they regard the Lord’s promise as a bird in the bush, not likely to be theirs. Believers know how to wait.

He shall not haste by plunging into wrong or questionable action. Unbelief must be doing something, and thus it works its own undoing; but faith makes no more haste than good speed, and thus it is not forced to go back sorrowfully by the way which it followed heedlessly.

How is it with me? Am I believing, and am I therefore keeping to the believer’s pace, which is walking with God? Peace, fluttering spirit! Oh, rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him! Heart, see that thou do this at once!

[from Faith’s Checkbook by Charles H. Spurgeon]