Use the Lord’s Words as Pillows

“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; and 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. –C. H. Spurgeon

Spurgeon, Charles H. The Chequebook of the Bank of Faith: Precious Promises Arranged for Daily Use with Brief Comments (p. 11). Counted Faithful. Kindle Edition.

When it’s Hard to Trust God

If you have difficulty believing, you should ask God for faith. For the ability to believe is in God’s hands alone. God sometimes gives faith openly and sometimes secretly.

But you can spur yourself on to believe. To begin, you shouldn’t continually focus on the suffering of Christ. This has already done its work and frightened you. Rather, move beyond that and look at Christ’s caring heart. See how full of love it is toward you, so that it drives him to lift the heavy load of your sin. Then your heart will be filled with love toward him, and your faith will be strengthened.

After this, move beyond Christ’s heart to God’s heart. You will see that Christ wouldn’t have shown you love unless God in his eternal love had wanted him to. Christ is being obedient to God when he loves you. You will discover the good heart of the Father, and as Christ says, you will be drawn to the Father through Christ. Then you will better understand what Christ says in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” We recognize the nature of God best, not by thinking about his power and wisdom, which are terrifying, but by thinking about his goodness and love. Then we are truly born anew in God, and we can grow in faith. –Martin Luther

Worthy to Pray

Some say, “I would feel better about God hearing my prayer if I were more worthy and lived a better life.” I simply answer: If you don’t want to pray before you feel that you are worthy or qualified, then you will never pray again. Prayer must not be based on or depend on your personal worthiness or the quality of the prayer itself; rather, it must be based on the unchanging truth of God’s promise. If the prayer is based on itself or on anything else besides God’s promise, then it’s a false prayer that deceives you—even if your heart is breaking with intense devotion and you are weeping drops of blood.

We pray because we are unworthy to pray. Our prayers are heard precisely because we believe that we are unworthy. We become worthy to pray when we risk everything on God’s faithfulness alone. –Martin Luther

Collect of the Day

Eve of The Sunday after the Ascension

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting.

Amen.

The Book

No other writing has within it a heavenly life whereby it works miracles, and even imparts life to its reader. . . . Why, the Book has wrestled with me; the Book has smitten me; the Book has comforted me; the Book has smiled on me; the Book has frowned on me; the Book has clasped my hand; the Book has warmed my heart. The Book weeps with me, and sings with me; it whispers to me, and it preaches to me; it maps my way, and holds up my goings; it was to me the Young Man’s Best Companion, and it is still my Morning and Evening Chaplain. –Charles Spurgeon

Saving Faith

The second way is to believe in God. This not only includes believing that what is taught about God is true, but also includes trusting him and daring to be in relationship with him. It means believing without any doubt that he really is who he says he is, and he will do all he says he will do. I wouldn’t believe any person to this same degree, no matter how highly others might praise him. It’s easy to believe that someone is godly, but it’s another matter to rely completely on him.

Those who believe in God believe everything written about God in Scripture. They dare to believe this in life and in death. This faith makes them true Christians and gives them everything they desire from God. A person with an evil, hypocritical heart can’t have this type of faith, for it’s a living faith, as described in the first commandment: “I am the LORD your God. . . . You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:2–3). –Martin Luther

Collect of the Day

Eve of The Sixth Sunday of Easter: Rogation

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

LOVE CONSTRAINING TO OBEDIENCE

No strength of nature can suffice To serve the Lord aright:
And what she has she misapplies, For want of clearer light.

How long beneath the Law I lay In bondage and distress;
I toiled the precept to obey, But toiled without success.

Then, to abstain from outward sin Was more than I could do;
Now, if I feel its power within, I feel I hate it too.

Then all my servile works were done A righteousness to raise;
Now, freely chosen in the Son, I freely choose His ways.

‘What shall I do,’ was then the word, ‘That I may worthier grow?’
‘What shall I render to the Lord?’ Is my inquiry now.

To see the law by Christ fulfilled And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child, And duty into choice. –William Cowper

Faith Comes First

You have often heard me say that the Christian life has two dimensions: the first is faith, and the second is good works. A believer should live a devout life and always do what is right. But the first dimension of the Christian life—faith—is more essential. The second dimension—good works—is never as valuable as faith. People of the world, however, adore good works. They regard them to be far higher than faith.

Good works have always been valued more highly than faith. Of course, it’s true that we should do good works and respect the importance of them. But we should be careful that we don’t elevate good works to such an extent that faith and Christ become secondary. If we esteem them too highly, good works can become the greatest idolatry. This has occurred both inside and outside of Christianity. Some people value good works so much that they overlook faith in Christ. They preach about and praise their own works instead of God’s works.

Faith should be first. After faith is preached, then we should teach good works. It is faith—without good works and prior to good works–that takes us to heaven. We come to God through faith alone. –Martin Luther

The Call is to Believe

We are called to simply believe a truth which has been accomplished by God for us, one mercifully immune to our feelings, vacillations, and continued doubts and shortcomings. Those old selves “have died,” and their lives are “hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). What we feel and perceive is the death of those old selves, but their resurrection and new lives are hidden. Thus the wild, absurd, unconditional truth of God’s love in Emmanuel—“God with us,” just as we are “with Christ”—is one we may not always feel, but something to simply be repeated to us over and over until some shred of it sinks in. Though hidden, these new lives are secure with Christ our savior “in God,” who is always the same: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2 Tim 2:13). The Gospel thus remains true as God is true. “It is finished,” and there is nothing more to be done. –David Zahl