“The Gospel is like the sun, it can look in at any window.”
Andrew Bonar
“And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.”
(1 Corinthians 2:13)
Andrew Bonar on the Atoning Blood
This morning I took Andrew Bonar’s, Heavenly Springs (the inspiration for the name of this blog) with me on my way to work. I was moved by a tiny passage that captures how magnificent a salvation we have. Where would we be without the atoning blood of Jesus? God only knows.
“Christ needed the storm on the Lake of Galilee that He might show how His single word could quiet it. He needed a troubled conscience that He might show how His atoning blood could calm and quiet it. And He needed a great and guilty sinner in order to show the power of the atonement and the riches of His grace.”
Are you living within the veil?
REPOSTED FROM AUGUST 2010:
“When present affliction strips us of all earthly comforts, so that we can adopt Habbakuk’s words; if it makes us look with in the veil and hear Christ saying, ‘Am I not better than all My gifts?’ then affliction is a blessing.
How far will the blessing go?
It worketh out for us an eternal weight of glory.
Affliction for a moment, then an eternity of glory to recompense it!
Instead of there being just a possibility that the affliction may do you good, Paul says “It is beyond measure efficacious. You could not do without it.’
To Paul the heaviest affliction seemed but a feather resting on his soul, because he lived so much within the veil.
If we cannot, like him, say ‘Our light affliction,’ let us try to say at any rate, ‘It is but for a moment.’ “
Andrew Bonar, Heavenly Springs, page 188.
Let’s Not Trouble Ourselves With “What Ifs?”
This road gets a little rugged sometimes, doesn’t it? But, by faith, we know that Christ is with us. Despite daily pressures (seen and unseen) Jesus is God forever and He never changes. Just as He led Moses and the Israelites in the desert, He will lead us in our wilderness.
As Matthew Henry tells us, “Those who make the glory of God their end, and the word of God their rule, the Spirit of God the guide of their affections, and the providence of God the guide of their affairs, may be sure that the Lord goes before them, though they cannot see it with their eyes: we must now live by faith.”
If you are weak or weary today, if your mind is dogged by all kinds of “what ifs”, I pray you are encouraged by this little gem of truth that Andrew Bonar so beautifully captures.
“Their past experience was not of great use to the Israelites in their journeyings. They needed always to consult God. If you think you will get through anything because you got through before, you will certainly fail. You must ask fresh counsel of God and consult with him continually; and since the pillar cloud and not your own experience is your guide, see that you make it so. Perhaps some Israelite, looking on the burning all around and thinking of the scorching heat, would say, ‘What if this continue? What if that friend should die? What if the little ones be worn out?’ Let us follow the pillar-cloud and not trouble ourselves with ‘ ifs.'” (Heavenly Springs, page 19-20)
“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” (Exodus 13:21)