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It has been accurately stated that the child of God who is disappointed has somewhere trusted in the arm of flesh (2 Chr 32:8), for God never disappoints! Surely there can be no greater gain in this life than that of being made godly (which is how God is glorified God – John 15:8); and no greater joy than this being your sole source of “contentment” (1 Tim 6:6), requiring no additions but to reap its fruits.
There is an expected certainty and a definite sure-footedness in those reborn who walk with assurance in knowing all is orchestrated to their advantage (Rom 8:28), and that their spiritual state can never be other than “blameless.” Though guided amidst “the wiles of the Enemy” (Eph 6:11) and through distractions of the “old man” (Rom 7) and the unbelieving world, the child of God is “kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1 Thes 5:23; v 24 supported - NLT).
NC
The Satisfied Heart
“He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee” (Psa 81:16). Here are two things—firstly, the best food, indicating strength; and secondly, personal affection of the highest order. The more restful you are in companionship with the Lord Jesus the more you will receive of the one and enjoy the other. The great thing we need for progress is restfulness of heart. I do not believe that there is simple restfulness of heart until union with the Lord Jesus is known not merely as a doctrine, but as the unalterable bond of affection. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2).
You are not only assured of His grace in saving you, but you have found Him so necessary to you that you cannot live without Him; then you find out that you are united to Him in absolute solace and divine restfulness. If He had not made you fit to enjoy His company, if you were not really His companion, there could be no readiness of heart for union with Him. Now, when the heart is in the restfulness of union, there is a manner of life consequent on it, and there are two great acquisitions, namely, food and personal affection; the finest of the wheat, and honey out of the Rock.
The more you enter into the blessedness of being united, the more will you ask to feed on Him in order that in everything you may be in keeping with Him. It is not now that you want to be assured that you can be near Him, but you want to be better able to comprehend Him to whom you are so near. There is a great difference between trying to be fit to be near Him, and being in conscious nearness to Him; seeking to be more in fellowship with Him, and to take part with Him in His interests in the knowledge of His blessed will. You are like a wife studying her husband’s business in order that she may be in company with him therein, and in order to do this, exercising her mind in things that would increase her ability.
You seek to “grow up into Him in all things” (Eph 4:15), and now with this ability there is His personal affections, not merely His love as God, but that individuality of affection that “honey” typifies. You will learn this in a twofold way—the descending affection in which He enters into all your cares and difficulties here, as a husband would to his wife; and the ascending affection when He conducts you into the things in which He is interested. His “heart will then safely trust you” (Pro 31:11). May you know more and more of this perfect satisfaction, this “honey” which alone satisfies.
First, the solitude of your own room will be preferred to the most attractive company. You have been satisfied by the most perfect, unique love, and hence every other is inferior to it. You value ministry, but it is ministry that unfolds Him more and more to you. The ministry that shows Him to you is what you value, whether it be in connection with your wilderness path, or your position in heaven, and not mere interpretations or thrilling discourses. The “watchman” know that you seek out but One. You have no real anxiety but the Lord’s interests. This is wonderful experience, but the satisfied heart knows it.
- J B Stoney
Excerpt from MJS devotional for November 7:
“Our Father is never our debtor. Whatever price He asks of us He will repay with infinite and eternal compound interest.” – Miles J Stanford
“There is a universal misapprehension that godliness means immunity from suffering. It is so often expected by believers that they will not go through suffering as other men. This is far from the truth. It is a part of the calling of saints to show men how to suffer: how, even in the midst of the hard and bitter experiences of life, the Lord Jesus is sufficient to give joy and comfort.” -H.F.
None But The Hungry Heart
There is an expected certainty and a definite sure-footedness in those reborn who walk with assurance in knowing all is orchestrated to their advantage (Rom 8:28), and that their spiritual state can never be other than “blameless.” Though guided amidst “the wiles of the Enemy” (Eph 6:11) and through distractions of the “old man” (Rom 7) and the unbelieving world, the child of God is “kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again” (1 Thes 5:23; v 24 supported - NLT).
NC
The Satisfied Heart
“He would have fed them with the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock would I have satisfied thee” (Psa 81:16). Here are two things—firstly, the best food, indicating strength; and secondly, personal affection of the highest order. The more restful you are in companionship with the Lord Jesus the more you will receive of the one and enjoy the other. The great thing we need for progress is restfulness of heart. I do not believe that there is simple restfulness of heart until union with the Lord Jesus is known not merely as a doctrine, but as the unalterable bond of affection. “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col 3:2).
You are not only assured of His grace in saving you, but you have found Him so necessary to you that you cannot live without Him; then you find out that you are united to Him in absolute solace and divine restfulness. If He had not made you fit to enjoy His company, if you were not really His companion, there could be no readiness of heart for union with Him. Now, when the heart is in the restfulness of union, there is a manner of life consequent on it, and there are two great acquisitions, namely, food and personal affection; the finest of the wheat, and honey out of the Rock.
The more you enter into the blessedness of being united, the more will you ask to feed on Him in order that in everything you may be in keeping with Him. It is not now that you want to be assured that you can be near Him, but you want to be better able to comprehend Him to whom you are so near. There is a great difference between trying to be fit to be near Him, and being in conscious nearness to Him; seeking to be more in fellowship with Him, and to take part with Him in His interests in the knowledge of His blessed will. You are like a wife studying her husband’s business in order that she may be in company with him therein, and in order to do this, exercising her mind in things that would increase her ability.
You seek to “grow up into Him in all things” (Eph 4:15), and now with this ability there is His personal affections, not merely His love as God, but that individuality of affection that “honey” typifies. You will learn this in a twofold way—the descending affection in which He enters into all your cares and difficulties here, as a husband would to his wife; and the ascending affection when He conducts you into the things in which He is interested. His “heart will then safely trust you” (Pro 31:11). May you know more and more of this perfect satisfaction, this “honey” which alone satisfies.
First, the solitude of your own room will be preferred to the most attractive company. You have been satisfied by the most perfect, unique love, and hence every other is inferior to it. You value ministry, but it is ministry that unfolds Him more and more to you. The ministry that shows Him to you is what you value, whether it be in connection with your wilderness path, or your position in heaven, and not mere interpretations or thrilling discourses. The “watchman” know that you seek out but One. You have no real anxiety but the Lord’s interests. This is wonderful experience, but the satisfied heart knows it.
- J B Stoney
Excerpt from MJS devotional for November 7:
“Our Father is never our debtor. Whatever price He asks of us He will repay with infinite and eternal compound interest.” – Miles J Stanford
“There is a universal misapprehension that godliness means immunity from suffering. It is so often expected by believers that they will not go through suffering as other men. This is far from the truth. It is a part of the calling of saints to show men how to suffer: how, even in the midst of the hard and bitter experiences of life, the Lord Jesus is sufficient to give joy and comfort.” -H.F.
None But The Hungry Heart
