Hold On to the Power of God

December 7, 2010 at 10:22 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Hold On to the Power of God

Wisdom from William Gurnall

You have seen God bare His arm to help you. So unless you think He has lost the strength or use of it, hope still has an object to act upon, to lift your head above the water. No person ever drowns in despair unless he loses his hold on the power of God.

Another way to let God rescue you from despair is to remember how often He has proved your unbelief to be a false prophet. Has He not knocked at our door with inward comfort and outward deliverance after you had already put out the candle of hope and given up looking for Him? He came to Hezekiah after he had concluded that his case was beyond hope and help (Isaiah 38:10-11). Have you ever been left alone with fear as if an everlasting night had come and there would never be another morning? Yet even then God proved those despairing thoughts all liars by an unlooked-for surprise of sweet mercy which He crept in and gently brought to you. Why then are you frightened again and again by your distrustful thoughts, which God has so often proved liars? Stop feeding your hopes on the corpses of slain fears!

Remember too how even when you have been impatient and despairing in your afflictions, nevertheless God’s mercy has been at work all the while to deliver you from them. David is an instance of this: “I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? (Psalm 116:11-12); “I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes: nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto Thee” (Psalm 31:22). He was saying, “I prayed with so little faith that I unsprayed my own prayer! I assumed my dilemma was hopeless but God forgave my hasty spirit and gave me the mercy which I had hardly any faith to expect.” And with his experience, David raises every saint’s troubled hope: “Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24). – Taken from The Christian in Complete Armour, December 1. Edited by James S. Bell, Jr. Moody Publishers Edition, 1994.

Ask God for a Stronger Hope

November 30, 2010 at 9:55 am | Posted in William Gurnall | Leave a comment
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Wisdom from William Gurnall

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans 15:13). God is the God of hope; not only of the first seed but also of the whole growth and harvest of it in us. He does not give a saint the first grace of conversion and then leave the completion of it wholly to his human skill.

Be sure you humbly acknowledge God by constantly waiting on Him for your spiritual growth. “The young lions” are said to “seek their meat from God” (Psalm 104:21). God has taught them to express their wants when they are hungry; and by this they have learned that their Maker is also their Supplier. At first a baby expresses his needs only by crying’ but as soon as he knows who his mother is, he directs his cries to her.

The Father can always find you, Christian. He knows what you want but He waits to supply you until you cry to Him. Does God care for the beasts in the field? Then surely He will care for you, His child in His house. You might pray for more riches and be denied; but a prayer for more grace is sure to be answered quickly.

Love has a secret yet powerful influence in hope. Moses befriended the Israelite when he killed the Egyptian who fought with him. And love kills slavish fear – one of the worst enemies hope has – and thereby strengthens hope’s hand. Whoever pulls up the weeds helps the corn to grow. It is fear that oppresses the Christian’s spirit so that he cannot act or hope strongly. “Perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18). The freewoman will cast out the bondwoman. Fear is one of Hagar’s breed – an affection that keeps everyone in bondage who partakes of it.

Love cannot tolerate fear. The loving soul asks, “Can I fear that the One who loves me most will ever hurt me? Fear and doubt, away with you! There is no room for you in my heart.” Charity “thinketh no evil” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Taken from The Christian in Complete Armour, November 29. Edited by James S. Bell, Jr. Moody Publishers edition, 1994.

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