HAPPY NEW YEAR

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

May you get a clean bill of health from your dentist, your
cardiologist, your gastro-enterologist, your urologist, your
proctologist, your podiatrist, your psychiatrist, your plumber and the
I.R.S.

May your hair, your teeth, your face-lift, your abs and your stocks
not fall; and may your blood pressure, your triglycerides, your
cholesterol, your white blood count and your mortgage interest not
rise.

May New Year's Eve find you seated around the table, together with
your beloved family and cherished friends. May you find the food
better, the environment quieter, the cost much cheaper, and the
pleasure much more fulfilling than anything else you might ordinarily
do that night.

May what you see in the mirror delight you, and what others see in you
delight them. May someone love you enough to forgive your faults, be
blind to your blemishes, and tell the world about your virtues.

May the telemarketers wait to make their sales calls until you finish
dinner, may the commercials on TV not be louder than the program you
have been watching, and may your check book and your budget balance -
and include generous amounts for charity.

May you remember to say "I love you" at least once a day to your
spouse, your child, your parent, your siblings; but not to your
secretary, your nurse, your masseuse, your hairdresser or your tennis
instructor.

And may we live in a world at peace and with the awareness of God's
love in every sunset, every flower's unfolding petals, every baby's
smile, every lover's kiss, and every wonderful, astonishing,
miraculous beat of our heart.

Unanimous

ONE OF THE MANY SAYINGS!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

God is searching...if He finds me not, I'll find Him!
God is passing by...if He passes me by, I'll run after Him!
God is drawing near...if He pulls away, I'll wrestle with Him!
God is speaking...if He stops, I'll begin!

God is everlasting...if He doesn't see me, I'll see Him!
God is saving...if He saves me (and He did), I'll seek no other!
God is loving...if He loves me (and He does), I'll love another!
God is calling...if He calls (and He did) I'll answer Him!

David was a man after God's own heart!
His path, I intend to be my part!
God searches for those to do His Will!
His Spirit, on my life, a lasting Seal!

Obedience is better than Sacrifice!
When I fear the Lord, then, I'm wise!
God established Jesus forever!
An inextricable bond with man, none can sever!

I have been lukewarm, and not bold!
I thought I was hot, but I know I'm cold!
God awaits the manifestations of His children!
My heart is thus inspired; mine and my brethren!

My sins, so heavy, and so deadly!
My soul scorched by death, ungently!
But Jesus, sweet Jesus, took my place!
I'm, thus, forever acquitted, Jesus!-I seek thy lovely face!

The prisoner of Christ

MY FIRST LOVE

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

I have travelled long and far;

the road has been difficult and wearisome.

I find myself looking back as the memory frees itself,

for the vessel it possessed in the beginning is now discarded.

I have tried to meditate and ponder,

what exactly got me travelling in the first place?

It seems along the long, narrow road

my purpose and drive has become hazy in the enveloping darkness!

Although I try to remember,

and my soul tries to acclaim what it lost,

now I know that I have substituted Grace for Works,

and my first Love for self-aggrandisement!

The Bible says, "work out your salvation,"

and not "work for your salvation."

I must now put an extra, conscious effort every moment of my life,

for Christ must be first, and Him alone!!!

The prisoner of Christ

The Essence We Forget!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

In the US, cell phones were once the great tide that swept the whole nation like the Katrina storm. Now, the great tide has subsided. The influx of cell phones into nations, and the world at large can be compared to a great wave that never returns without leaving a deposit or residue. Unlike some puzzles that take a while, leaving treasures, most times, unfound because of its undecipherable secrets, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the purpose of cell phones. You might have guessed it: “communication made easy.” I remembered when cell phone held on to this sole purpose. Unfortunately, this purpose has been demeaned as now the primary purpose, and you know when there is a primary, there is undoubtedly, a secondary. I know a friend... let me see... probably two who have more than one cell phone. Ah! Now I remember! Companies now offer cell phone-owned employees blackberry, solely for business. For those who don’t know, blackberry is not a fruit no more, but a cell phone.
In the midst of a world of affluence, with resultant but yet undignified wastes of resources, a 60-yr old woman in the beautiful havens of nature, found in faraway S/Africa, held a cell phone in the year 2006, for the first time in her life. All her life, she had longed for one day when she would join the ‘Rich’ of her community to hold one. Sometimes, when motorbikes, in need of an engine tweak, roar by her small village, she would gaze long enough for the dust to clear only to see one of the bikers holding a cell phone to his ears. She would then sigh, turn back and enter into her thatched home consumed with thoughts like, "if I could only be favored to see one up close, not even to own it.”
The privileged ones out of us fail to realize what great bliss it is to have what we have till we lose it. When needs become wants, we tend to devalue and eventually trivialize the importance of life’s necessities by the whim of a brow. Many crave to wake up in good health like we do without acknowledgment; some face extreme hunger that the many good stuffs that end up in our refuse bins could satisfy a soul, if not more, for a lifetime; others experience great thirsts that a drop of water, will give their weary, bony soul enough hope to hang on for the morrow; many lives have faced the inevitable Death if only they had the knowledge of a Savior who has already made provisions for eternity.
I heard a song recently. It said, “You have too much to gain, to lose.” Love as long as you live! Give as long as you have! Praise as long as you breathe! Appreciate as long as you sense!
We have the One whose footsteps are worthy to remember and follow: God!-He is love!
God!-His Son He has given for our sins! God!-He is worthy of our praise! God!-His Spirit is our very Breathe!
You only live once!!!

The prisoner of Christ

TAKE A TIME!!!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

Take a time to breath
no fragrance can compare to the air around you;
take a time to sit
to worry is the least activity needed for a breakthrough.
Take a time to stand
if the cost would be your own demise;
take a time to run
time and tide doesn't wait for the unwise.
Take a time to sigh
sometimes instinct needs a second thought;
take a time to act
a good counsel always need to be sought.
Take a time to read
my people perish for lack of knowledge;
take a time to play
in the elation of joy, watch out for the ledge.
Take a time to pray
the hidden cry within is Jesus calling;
take a time today
heed to hold on to God, or end up falling.
Take a time to meditate
you have all it takes for life and godliness;
take a time to wait
Spirit speaks! Listen! You are His righteousness!!!

Take a time!!!

prisoner of Christ

TAKE TIME!!!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

Take time to think
It is the source of power.
Take time to laugh
It is the music of the soul!
Take time to read
It is the foundation of wisdom.
Take time to work
It is the price of success.
Take time to love
It is God's given privilege.
Take time to give
It is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to play
It is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to pray
It is the greatest weapon in existence.
Take time to care
It is the pathway to empathy.
Take time to serve
It is the route to greatness.
Take time!!!

Elizabeth
O.A.U Ile-ife
lizzyash2002@yahoo.com

The Ponderings of A Tall Man

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

A tall man once wondered how people viewed him:
in a view beyond the frame of pretence or
a piercing sight into his inner man?
"You are so cute!" some said;
"You are such a good boy," he allowed himself to be misled.
Tauntings, he thought, grew;
words spoken in stares, allude.
Years passed without him knowing the truth,
which is simply, "Not in a life that you should."

A tall man once wore the spectacles of people.
An action to see how he was seen.
Non-plussed, at what he saw,
it was a view behond the frame of pretence:
a piercing insight into his inner man.

In the One who held him in embrace-
he found a bile of despise;
In another who paid him compliments in many ways-
a liver of lies.
In the silence of a watchful observer-
he stumbled on a heart of love;
In the secrecy of an admirer-
he was a beggar craving for attention at the curve!

A tall man later said: "Never do things for those you see,
moreso for those you don't see;
only One can hold you in high esteem and love-
and that is THE LORD JESUS TO THEE!!!"

The prisoner of Christ

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

What if?
What if tomorrow doesn't come?
And you make a journey home
In your sinful state and proud personality
Make a swift passage to Christless eternity
What if your life is cut short?
And all your dreams are brought to naught
In your self righteous confidence
End up in hell's burning incense
What if you die this very hour?
For over death you have no power
And in your belief and faithlessness
Cross to unending hopelessness
What if the trumpet does sound?
And in your Savior you are not found
In your backslidden compromise
Burn forever, paying sin's high price
And an end comes to life's race
In your careless neglect and complacence
Share everlasting moments in Devil's presence
What if?

Bola Adeoye

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

"I will hearken what the Lord God will speak in me."
Blessed is the soul which heareth the Lord speaking within her,
and receiveth from His moth the word of consolation.
Blessed are the ears that gladly receive the pulses of the Divine whisper,
and give no heed to the many whisperings of the world.
Blessed indeed are those ears which listen not after the voices which is sounding without, but for the Truth, teaching inwardly.
Blessed are the eyes which are shut to outward things, but intent on things eternal.
Blessed are they that enter far into inward things, and endeavour to prepare themselves more and more, by daily exercises, for the receiving of Heavenly secrets.
Blessed are they who are glad to have time to spare for God, and shake off all worldly impediments.
Consider these things, O my soul, and shut up the door of the sensual desires, that thou mayest hear what the Lord thy God shall speak in thee.

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST-Thomas Kempis

THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL!!!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

I was kind of thinking, what stirs an indifferent soul
what drives away the emptiness and makes one whole?
what a puzzle it is to find what appeals-
A quietus for every grief, that definitely heals!

Mesmerized, when I realised its one true remedy,
as I sauntered the road down to Schenectady;
just a simple caress, as a mother held her own-
A hug that speaks more than what was seen or shown!

I stopped in my tracks, amazed at such passion,
displaying the divinest of all divine, yet merely an action.
The night was cool and dear as a wishing star sped by,
and I knew what my wish was, with just a sigh!

Like a haze I caught my breath as the clouds covered;
touched way beyond as the snow-my pale skin smothered.
With understanding I knew nothing else could come from above-
Than the greatest gift of all-I leave for you to resolve!

The prisoner of Christ.

KNOWLEDGE

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!


Knowledge is foundation for great minds, inclined to change the world with a simple thought or a vast ocean of ideas.

Knowledge is the key to success opening doors that were forbidden before.
Giving perfect opportunities to expose or propose your definition of what would make you and this world excellent.

Knowledge is the ultimate power to overcome poverty of the environment and the mind, which are illusions that are designed to blind us and keep us in a box.

Knowledge is the art of knowing and growing, implementing what you have learned and continuously learn in life, constantly analyzing, strategizing, the need to enhance your world to make ours a better place.

Knowledge is the outcome of a person or persons having a thirst to seek and obtain a greater conscious mind, and once having that, reaching and encouraging others to do the same.

Iketa Gibson

BrooKlyn, NY

NOT GUILTY

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

"Oh God!" The youth swore.
Stepping out into the well lit streets of Manhattan, he struggled to cover his head with the headwarmer as the gusty winds met him in a fierce embrace. The weight of his bag like a milestone, with its handle looped across his cotton-stuffed chest, the youth struggled to blanket his weariness but his bag won't let him.
"Come to this side, will you?"
A passerby looked at him and shook her head in disbelief. In her heart she pondered how a young lad could lose all sense of sanity, and find a companion in nothing else than his bag.
The youth looked at her and realised he must have spoken loud, for plastered on the face of the blonde was sympathy and a line that masked her eyes in pity. Without waiting for the traffic sign, he stepped out across the road and almost got hit by a car. In his shame to get away from the hypocrisy of the passerby, he realised that by sheer stupidity of crossing the busy road he had only worsened the bemused look on the blonde who now thought of a certain that he was insane. Taking large steps, he was almost running to the subway.

***

The Man sat, with so many others, on one side of the car. Their lungs suffered from the awful smell exhuming from the beggar on the other side. The beggar sat alone on one role while the role of seats opposite him was unoccupied. As the train came to a halt in one of the stations, many that sat with the Man got up and changed cars; some came in and only had to inhale once before exiting the car in preference to either change cars or wait for the next train. A lady dressed in a white shirt, dark skirt and stockings that kept the winter chill at bay stepped in and immediately moved to the other side to join the others and the Man in obvious disgust of the lonely beggar. The Man noticed the woman make a face while a young lad stepped in as the car doors were closing. The announcements were made, and the Man knew they all had to suffer in silence until they got to their destination.
The youth stepped in and immediately noticed the obvious. He was about to join others at the other side but something bade him not to. He found himself standing beside the stinking beggar, his tommy taking a turn in anguish.
"Why do you stop me from joining the others?" This time the youth was wise enough to whisper to himself. He looked at the other side and read the remark on the faces of people on the other side.
The Man looked at the young lad wondering if he was insane. Maybe he was a beggar, he wondered to himself, but he could see the lad wasn't badly dressed as such.
The youth realised that he hadn't succeeded in escaping. Someone on the way thought of him insane and now here are a bunch of people who felt the same. "I need an answer. Why do you stop me from going. This place smells like hell. I will puke if you don't let me leave."
"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"
"Forgotten what?"
"IS IT THAT EASY TO FORGET, SON? DON'T YOU REMEMBER ONE TIME WHEN YOU STANK WORSE THAN THIS BEGGAR?
"What are you talking about?"
"IT WASN'T LONG AGO, YOU KNOW."
"But I never smelled bad. I always take my bath."
"YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT YOU STANK SO BAD YOU WEREN'T ALLOWED INTO THE THRONE OF GRACE. FROM YOUR MOTHER'S WOMB YOUR SIN SEPARATED YOU FROM GOD. IN DEPRAVITY OF MIND YOU WERE UNBECOMING OF A CHILD OF GOD. YET HE SAVED YOU."
The youth closed his eyes. He hated himself for always being close to tears, but he could feel his heart break at the chastisement.
"WHILE YOU WERE UNGODLY, CHRIST CAME FOR YOU. GOD DEMONSTRATED HIS LOVE FOR YOU THAT WHILE YOU WERE A SINNER, CHRIST DIED FOR YOU."
"Oh Father. I'm sorry. I will stay beside him and will not join others at the other side, not because I'm better than them but because I was once lost and you found me; a beggar and you blessed me."
The Man,with others, stared at this young lad standing in relish of the odour oozing from the beggar. How can anyone survive such a smell. He was certain the beggar must have defaecated on himself, for the smell was so bad.
Seconds turned into minutes, yet the young lad didn't move, instead there was a characteristic change visible on his face. He was blooming in joy. But in what, the Man wondered. With every stop the train made at stations, people came in and immediately changed cars only after uttering words of disgust at the beggar, while the young lad laughed. For once, the Man felt like shouting at him what was his problem. The young lad's gentle face was smearing his skin and bruising his humanity, but he couldn't find an explicable reason for his hate.
As the train pulled to its last stop, the Man watched the young lad tap the beggar. The announcements were made that people should leave the train cars but he wanted to see what transpired between this young lad and the beggar.
The youth tapped the beggar, handed him a twenty dollar bill and told him, "Take this. Go to Lenox on Nostrand, ask for Jesus. Someone will show you the Way."
For the first time the beggar looked up in tears. "Thank you, son. Thank you."
That did it for him. The Man was thrown back. He realised his stand. While he condemned the beggar all the way, this young lad didn't. While he couldn't stand a breath of him, this young lad touched him. While he joined others to spite, this young lad had changed a life forever. At that moment it came to him as the young lad left the subway. It didn't matter if the beggar went to where the young lad told him to go. Neither did it matter if the beggar went out to blow the money down the drain. All that mattered is that the beggar had come in contact with someone who identified with him without condemnation and while he picked up a stone to throw, the young lad, by his character, had said to the beggar in summary:

"NEITHER WILL I CONDEMN YOU, GO AND SIN NO MORE."

shalom!!!
the prisoner of Christ

...then I met His gaze!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

"...looking unto Jesus." - Heb12:2

It was one of those days. Nothing to do. Nowhere to go. Vanity couldn't provide another area of life to be wasted; itself out of resource. Purposedly, I drifted my thoughts immediately the voice in the wind tells me to pick it up and read.
"Ah, well, i might as well read it and get it over with," I said to myself. "Let me start from the book of Acts," thinking loud, "maybe I could run through this one."
The words I read, the pages I turned, but none seeped in. It was like having two minds in one. Having read a few chapters I got to the point where a commoner was arrayed to face judgment. I came alive when I read that he looked up and saw the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.
Like a bolt of lightning, it hit me; it was like pouring a hot coffee in a cup and at the same time looking at one of God's creations in admiration, only to feel a tinge of a nerve and then a shot of pain as the hot water smears your skin. "Did Stepen really see what he claimed?" I wondered.
"He must have for the scriptures says it."
I beckon to you to recall those moments when you know, and you know, that you know, there has never been any moment than when you find yourself standing before the throne of Grace. My eyes went up; not in belief to see what Stephen saw, but in hidden mockery;
times when you lay your hands on a sick person, not believing to heal but doing to conceal your unbelief while trying to justify your works;
Do you still remember when you are told that all you need to do is to pray and believe, then you bend down to pray again; knowing you've prayed before; this time, merely an act;
the former prayers, you thought you were praying to God, while within you were blaming God for the mishap; the latter prayer before the child of God who instructed you to pray, only a whisper of weariness; never passing beyond the roughtops above you.

I felt exactly like that. It was one of those times. I lifted my face up like Stephen, but not like him. Stephen's was out of belief; mine was out of duty.
Then I met His gaze!
My eyes were undone as Christ's eyes burrowed into mine!
Pain shot through my heart as my heart He unfolded
Tears of shame, trapped beneath my eyelids as my doubt He revealed.
"Depart from me Oh, Son of Man,for I'm a sinner. Defiled and unmade I am Oh, Righteousness of God. Leave me in my state for I've failed You."
"LOOK UP AGAIN, SON. LET ME SEE YOU."
"I can't Father. Stephen is your son, for he looked at you in boldness."
"LOOK UP AND LIVE. YOU CANNOT UNMAKE YOUR SONSHIP. YOU ARE MINE. LISTEN AND LIVE."
Fear, greater than that of Zechariah when he attended to the temple of God, filled me.
As I looked up...
"IT IS FINISHED!"
AND IT WAS! MY SHAME WAS GONE. MY SIN WAS LOST. MY UNBELIEF UNDONE.
NOW I LOOK BACK AND REALISE THAT I WAS NEVER SAVED UNTIL I CAME TO THE CROSS...NEVER JUSTIFIED UNTIL I SAW THE EMPTY TOMB... NEVER REDEEMED UNTIL I WAS BOUGHT WITH HIS BLOOD.. NEVER SANCTIFIED UNTIL I WAS COVERED WITH HIS BLOOD...
NEVER SAW UNTIL I LOOKED UNTO JESUS...
TRY IT BELOVED, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU WILL MEET HIS GAZE!!!

Shalom
the prisoner of Christ

A Heavenly Language

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!

"I am crucified with Christ..." -Galatians 2:20


How beautiful it is to see christians stand up and declare, with such a great boldness that, "I am crucified with Christ," after thirty minutes of being under the voice of an inspiring Man of God. Sometimes, with an aura too overwhelming, a tear escapes the confines of my eyes as I join them in afffirmation of Apostle Paul's words. Funny isn't it that the atmosphere we find ourselves in, when in Church, takes an upheaval immediately we breathe in fresh air the wind brings on our way home. Sometimes it takes only an hour (to be truthful, most times less) only to have almost forgotten today was a Sunday. Ha! I hope you no longer wonder what Jesus meant when He said that, "the word of the Lord is like a seed; some land on the floor and the birds come and pick it up..."
Dearly beloved, how innocent you are of this! For those who have attained unto righteousness by works will not have a clue of what I'm talking about, but for us who know, of a truth, that,"our sufficiency is not of ourselves," can say we've have been found guilty of this unfortunate tragedy.
Do you ever wonder the frame of mind of Paul when he beat his chest to declare such heavenly tongues of mystery: "I am crucified with Christ!"
Without ever seeing Paul, I could vouch that he meant that there should be an exclamation at that point; a pause of thought; a silence of all human wisdom; a letting go of worries that seem to cloud the present; a centurion's order to halt while every inclination of his subordinates is to obey, without understanding; a divine order for all hearts to stop in defiance of nature- for a revelation has just being made! When Paul said, "I know a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know, who was caught up in the heavens and heard things unfit for a man to hear," atleast, we now have an idea what he meant.
Try saying it, O saint of God, "I am crucified with Christ!" Again. One more time. It ain't gonna hurt yah; it won't kill you mate; wa guan, say it; make una say am... Irrespective of the languages of mankind, it will come to a time that as you meditate on those words and say it, you will come to feel a strong clutch on the reins of your heart, and come to experience the superiority of the nudging over the feeling; then you will find yourself in the upper room with the disciples on Pentecost-the endueing power of His Spirit. Atlas! those tongues of fire will purge you and in all truthfulness, and with all sincerity, you have learnt another, of the language of the heavens: one is 'Halleluyah,' and another, "I am crucified with Christ!" Come on. Don't wait for me. Go on. Finish it.
"Nevertheless I live, yet not I but Christ lives in me, and the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me."
What better time to start learning the language you will find yourself overwhelmed with, when you finally get to the place filled with jasper and streets paved with gold and precious stones! And beyond the billions of angels and saints and the beauty of beauties, that blind out the former world from the windows of your soul, coupled with the enchanting orchestra of praise crying, "Holy! Holy!! Holy!!!"- there lies the One. This time you won't forget, for He is the Christ you claimed to be crucified with... the one you truly were crucified with!

Selah!

The prisoner of Christ

For me to live is Christ!

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!


"For me to live is Christ."
- Phi_1:21
The believer did not always live to Christ. He began to do so when God the Holy Spirit convinced him of sin, and when by grace he was brought to see the dying Saviour making a propitiation for his guilt. From the moment of the new and celestial birth the man begins to live to Christ. Jesus is to believers the one pearl of great price, for whom we are willing to part with all that we have. He has so completely won our love, that it beats alone for him; to his glory we would live, and in defence of his gospel we would die; he is the pattern of our life, and the model after which we would sculpture our character. Paul’s words mean more than most men think; they imply that the aim and end of his life was Christ-nay, his life itself was Jesus. In the words of an ancient saint, he did eat, and drink, and sleep eternal life. Jesus was his very breath, the soul of his soul, the heart of his heart, the life of his life. Can you say, as a professing Christian, that you live up to this idea? Can you honestly say that for you to live is Christ? Your business-are you doing it for Christ? Is it not done for self- aggrandizement and for family advantage? Do you ask, "Is that a mean reason?" For the Christian it is. He professes to live for Christ; how can he live for another object without committing a spiritual adultery? Many there are who carry out this principle in some measure; but who is there that dare say that he hath lived wholly for Christ as the apostle did? Yet, this alone is the true life of a Christian-its source, its sustenance, its fashion, its end, all gathered up in one word-Christ Jesus. Lord, accept me; I here present myself, praying to live only in thee and to thee. Let me be as the bullock which stands between the plough and the altar, to work or to be sacrificed; and let my motto be, "Ready for either."

Charles Spurgeon

IN AN ENDLESS TRADITION OF GOD'S WORD AND THE MIRACULOUS!!!


"Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening."
- Eze_33:22
In the way of judgment this may be the case, and, if so, be it mine to consider the reason of such a visitation, and bear the rod and him that hath appointed it. I am not the only one who is chastened in the night season; let me cheerfully submit to the affliction, and carefully endeavour to be profited thereby. But the hand of the Lord may also be felt in another manner, strengthening the soul and lifting the spirit upward towards eternal things. O that I may in this sense feel the Lord dealing with me! A sense of the divine presence and indwelling bears the soul towards heaven as upon the wings of eagles. At such times we are full to the brim with spiritual joy, and forget the cares and sorrows of earth; the invisible is near, and the visible loses its power over us; servant-body waits at the foot of the hill, and the master-spirit worships upon the summit in the presence of the Lord. O that a hallowed season of divine communion may be vouchsafed to me this evening! The Lord knows that I need it very greatly. My graces languish, my corruptions rage, my faith is weak, my devotion is cold; all these are reasons why his healing hand should be laid upon me. His hand can cool the heat of my burning brow, and stay the tumult of my palpitating heart. That glorious right hand which moulded the world can new-create my mind; the unwearied hand which bears the earth’s huge pillars up can sustain my spirit; the loving hand which incloses all the saints can cherish me; and the mighty hand which breaketh in pieces the enemy can subdue my sins. Why should I not feel that hand touching me this evening? Come, my soul, address thy God with the potent plea, that Jesus’ hands were pierced for thy redemption, and thou shalt surely feel that same hand upon thee which once touched Daniel and set him upon his knees that he might see visions of God.

Charles Spurgeon