"You must believe in order to see instead of seeing in order to believe." I heard this a very long time ago. It always comes to my mind when life get tough. I don't recall whose quote it is but it came to mind as I read a devotion by Charles Spurgeon about faith and believing. Charles Spurgeon has been a wonderful mentor in my walk as a believer. Life may be pressing down but his words help lift me back up! His sweet reminders, always drawn from the Word, are for me a "life preserver" that you grab and hang on as you pray for strength. I'll share a few.
Hebrews 11:13 "These all died in faith." "Behold the epitaph of all those blessed saints who fell asleep before the coming of the Lord! It matters nothing how else they died, whether by old age, or by violent means; this one point, in which they all agree, is the most worthy of record, "they all died in faith." In faith they lived--it was their comfort, their guide, their motive, and their support; and in the same spiritual grace they died, ending their life-song in the sweet strain in which they had so long continued. They did not die resting in the flesh or upon their own attainments; they made no advance from their first way of acceptance with God, but held to the way of faith to the end... Take courage, my soul, as thou readest this epitaph. Thy course, through grace, is one of faith, and sight seldom cheers thee: this has also been the path of the brightest and best.
John 16:33 "In the world ye shall have trouble." (I will slightly paraphrase this one.) Do you know what foes you have beneath your feet? You were once a servant of Satan, and no king will willingly lose his subjects. Do you think that Satan will leave you alone? NO, he will always be at you, for he goes around like a roaring lion, seeking to "chew you to pieces". Expect trouble, therefore, Christian, when you look around you. LOOK around you. Where are you? You are in enemy country, a stranger and a traveler. The world is not your friend. If it is, then you are not God's friend, for he who is the friend of the world is an enemy of God... Look also within you, into your own heart. and observe what is there. Sin and self are still within. Even if you had no devil to tempt you, no enemies to fight you, and no world to entangle you, you would still find in yourself evil enough to be a pain, for "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Expect trouble then, but do no despair on account of it, for God is with you to help and strengthen you. He said, "I will be with you in trouble; I will deliver you and honor you. I will overcome the world."
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