“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (4:7). “For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (4:10). When Jesus was confronted with the devil’s schemes, He overcame them with God’s Word.
The Lord said to Peter, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). I look at this wonderful example of Christ’s love and realize I know almost nothing about how to love those who fall. Surely Jesus is the “friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).
Jesus sees both the good and the bad in Peter and concludes, “This man is worth saving! Satan desires him, but I desire him all the more.” Peter truly loved the Lord and the Lord truly loved Peter even though He knew his personality traits.
There is only one way to cheer up your heart and stay in gladness. “My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. . . . My tears have been my meat day and night. . . . I pour out my soul in me. . . . Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance” (Psalm 42:2-5). This is God’s message to all who are “cast down”—all those who are sad, defeated, low, blue, discouraged and joyless.
“There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early” (Psalms 46:4-5).
Yes, the river is Jesus—His very presence. The moment you cast down all doubt and fear, and cry out, “Lord, I believe, and in You I have hope, abounding hope,” you will be transplanted to the banks of this river by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Why are some believers full of peace and joy, radiating the glow of spiritual life and health to all they meet? Is it because they don’t have my problems? No! The truth is, they may have more than you—in fact, more than most people!
“For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters” (Jeremiah 17:8). Here the secret of living in constant hope is revealed—the secret of being full of joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. It is not found in trying to reform, in making promises to God that you can’t keep.
The person who experiences this promise can no longer be hurt by people because he does not hope in them. His expectations are all in the Lord. He does not care what man says or does; his eyes are on the Lord alone. And the Lord never fails or lets him down!
One of the great wonders of America is the incredible New York aqueduct. Made of bricks, it is all underground and runs for miles and miles from upstate, bringing water to this metropolis. What would happen if that aqueduct were cut off and suddenly there was no water supply flowing to the city? New York City would become a “parched place . . . a salt land and not inhabited” (Jeremiah 17:6). We can exist without gas but not without water.
“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
Recently, a distraught sister in Christ wrote these words to me: “I am terrified. I think it would be wonderful if a hydrogen bomb fell on us, especially on me and my family. It would all be over for us in such a hurry. We’d be with Jesus! I lost my husband to cancer and one of my two unmarried daughters has health problems and hasn’t worked for two years. I just got out of the hospital and am recovering from a broken back. We have suffered terribly for the past few years. Members of our fellowship are being persecuted, and my friends are all suffering unmercifully.
In a weary moment, Jesus stopped to rest at a well, but there was a lost woman who needed help. Once again, He was energized. His disciples came again to find their Master so relaxed, so refreshed! “He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of” (John 4:32). That is the secret energy of resurrection life!
Often I feel like a drained car battery. If you forget to turn off the light of your car, all you get the next day is that dreaded noise—urr . . . urr—the empty clinking sound of dead machinery.