The CELESTIAL Spirit of the Lord's Prayer - Part 4

Based on what I shared with you for my new year's resolution in 2014, I will include a one line prayer in each post for the month of January.

I pray that God would take away anything that causes my heart and yours to wander away from Him. Whether it is materialism, laziness, lack of dedication to Him, seeking other's approval and praise, spiritual pride, seeking honour and living the kind of life that is full of pretenses......  

EXCERPT FROM THE KINDLE EBOOK: 

THE LORD’S PRAYER, Its Spirit and its Teaching.By Octavius Winslow, 1866

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"Thus heaven is gathering, one by one, in its capacious breast,
All that is pure and permanent, the beautiful and blest;
The family is scattered yet, though of one home and heart,
Part militant, in earthly gloom, in heavenly glory part.
But who can speak the rapture when the circle is complete,
And all the children, sundered now, before their Father meet?
One fold, one Shepherd, one employ, one everlasting home,
'Lo, I come quickly.' Even so, amen, Lord Jesus, come!"

This view of the celestial spirit of the Lord's Prayer is suggestive of many PRACTICAL LESSONS. We are instructed in the first place to look up in prayer. The proper attitude of the mind in approaching God is a heaven-bent attitude. The whole soul should be in the ascent. When we draw near to our heavenly Father we must remember that, He is in heaven. Earth with its cares and ties, its sins and sorrows, must be left below. For the time being we professedly have exchanged, in our mental and spiritual flight, the terrestrial for the celestial--the communion of the saints who are on earth, for the higher communion of our Father who is in heaven. How consonant with this the experience of the psalmist! "My voice shall you hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto you, and will look UP."

Alas! how little is there in our experience of this looking up to God in trial, in trouble, in sin. We look down, we look to the right hand and to the left, and there is none to help, none to deliver, and we despond and despair. It is just because our eyes are earthward and not heavenward, man-ward and not Godwards. What a tendency, also, is there to look within ourselves, and not from ourselves, through Jesus, up to our Father who is in heaven! We look at the darkness, at the vileness, at the barrenness, at the deadness of our hearts--absorbed in the profound contemplation of our own poverty, vileness, and unworthiness--rather than up to the loving, gracious, forgiving, paternal heart of God.

But our whole Christian course must be a looking up. The more we look to God, and the less to our own selves and to man, the holier and the happier shall we be. The memorable intercessory prayer of our Great High Priest when on earth is thus introduced, "And Jesus lifted UP his eyes unto heaven, and said, Father." Such, also, has been the attitude of the Lord's people in all ages. "My eyes," says David, "are ever toward the Lord." Thus, also, prayed Jehoshaphat, "O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do--but our eyes are upon you." Then again the psalmist, "Unto You lift I UP mine eyes, O You that dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look into the hand of their masters, and as the eye of a maiden into the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until that he have mercy upon us."

Look up, then, tried believer! Look up, then, tempted saint! Look up, then, suffering child! Your help comes from where your trouble came--from above. Affliction springs not out of the ground, but is a Heaven-sent discipline; and from hence comes the divine strength that will sustain, and the grace that will sanctify, and the love that will soothe. Oh, look up! Look up to Jesus, your Elder Brother, now appearing in the presence of God for you. Look up to the sun shining behind the clouds, to the rock towering above the billows; to Jesus, the Author, the Sustainer, the Finisher, and who, holding out the diadem, waits to be the Crowner, of your faith.

Another lesson we are taught by the celestial spirit of the Lord's Prayer is, to seek heavenly blessings. Our Father is in heaven. Nothing but heavenly blessings should satisfy our desires. Earth's choicest, are poor; its sweetest, unsatisfying; its loveliest, fading; its fondest, passing away. If born again, God has given you a spiritual nature, which will be content only with spiritual things. The nutriment which nourishes the divine nature must be divine; the good which satisfies the heavenly nature must be heavenly. Our Father is in heaven, where our heart's treasure is, and from heaven our dearest blessings flow. "If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God." Oh, let us be earnest after heavenly blessings! Deeply do we need them! The needs of the soul are infinitely greater, and more important than those of the body. Yet, how we pamper and gratify the body, and how we starve and neglect the soul. How eager our pursuit of the earthly!--how languid our desires for the heavenly!--as though the body, so soon to return to its original dust, were of greater moment than the soul, which never ceases to exist.

Great is our need of heavenly blessings. We need more love to God, more conformity to Christ, more of the anointing of the Spirit; a fuller assurance of our conversion, and a higher enjoyment of a present salvation. We need more personal, heart-religion; more spiritual life; a walking in closer fellowship with the unseen and the eternal; and a more filial and confidential converse with God. Since, then, our Father is in heaven, prepared to send down from above every good and perfect gift; and since Christ, our Elder Brother, is at His right hand, prepared to endorse every petition, and to urge every request, let us look up through the blood of Christ, and importune God for that grace, and strength, and help, which will promote our heavenliness, and fit us all the more perfectly for heaven itself.

What, my reader, is the real state of your soul? What is your hope for the future? Which the destiny that awaits you--heaven or hell? In the one or the other you must spend your eternity. Nothing will be admitted into heaven but the heavenly, the holy, the pure. None enter its holy gate but those who have washed in the Lamb's blood, and are robed in the vestment of His righteousness. None enter there but those who love God, and have union with Christ, and are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Oh, decide the question now! Heaven and Hell begin upon earth. So real is their commencement, so unmistakable their evidence, every individual may arrive at a moral certainty as to which of the two he is speeding his way.

Think of the joys of heaven, of the sorrows of hell! Think of the eternal glory, of the endless woe! Happy with Christ and the saints forever, or forever the companion and the associate of demons and the damned! Throw down the weapons of your enmity against God, repent and believe in Jesus, and henceforth you will become a child of the heavenly parent; your conversation in heaven; shedding around you the reflected purity and luster of that world of holiness and glory in which the Father dwells, and into which, before long, will be gathered and assembled, in domesticated union and eternal fellowship, the one family of God.

Children of the kingdom! repose, amid the weariness of your pilgrimage, upon the slopes of glory! Soon heaven will be reached--soon its golden spires, and cloudless dome, and towering turrets will burst upon your view--soon the portal will appear, and the pearl gate will open upon its golden hinges to admit you to an innumerable company of angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator, and to God the Judge of all. Your path through death's lonely valley will be all light, shining with increasing effulgence unto the perfect day. It was a strangely-beautiful remark of a child, when asked how his little sister, who had lately died, went up to heaven, replied, "She put her foot upon the sun, and went up." Thus will ascend to glory every child of the light. Perhaps the spirit, in its celestial flight, will make the sun in the natural skies a stepping-stone, from which it will spring into higher regions of glory. But, beyond all doubt, it will stand upon, and be clothed with, the divine "Sun of Righteousness," borne upon whose wings, and radiant with whose luster, it will float away into the world of light and song, of bliss and immortality--and so shall it be forever with the Lord!

"What is a scene of glory? I would say,
A Christian standing on the verge of heaven,
One foot on earth, another on the sun,
Standing sublime on Pisgah's lofty mount,
Spreading his wings, and ready for his flight;
Leaving earth's dim and shadowy things behind,
Catching already on his heaven-bound soul
The beams of that bright land to which he goes.
Done with the world, its sorrows, and its cares,
Its empty joys, and vain delusive hopes.
Done with the world, its sufferings, and its sins,
Its follies, and its frailties, and its fears.
Done with the world, and entering upon heaven,
With all its bright realities unseen
By mortal eye, full opening to the gaze
Of faith, so soon to be matured in sight.

"The sight of Jesus bursting on the eye,
The songs of angels floating on his ear;
The palm of victory, the spotless robe,
The crown of glory, and the golden harp,
Unfolding to the eyes, that close on earth
To open on the glorious things of heaven.
Around him waving the celestial wings
Of the angelic band, that waits to bear
His parting spirit to its heavenly home.
This is a scene of glory, in whose light
The brightest scenes of earth grow dim and fade;
The beams of this world's glory cease to shine,
E'en as the morning sun puts out the stars."

 THE CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK ARE AS FOLLOW:

 The Filial Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Brotherly Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Celestial Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Reverential Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Submissive Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Dependent Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Penitential Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Forgiving Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Watchful Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Devotional Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Adoring Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OF YOU - May You Have a Blessed One!

May God's wishes for you all (not yours) come true in  2014!

This holiday season I have been so busy. Since December 22, 2013 I have been super busy with family’s visits. Although I have gone nowhere, but the time spent catering to them has taken all my time away from God. In fact, I had to force myself to keep my blog updated  because you guys have become my family too and I felt the need to remain in contact with you. That was the extend of my computer time.  Mind you that I am not complaining about being with families and taking care of them because this is all part of living this life for His glory. But I feel the need to confess I have been so busy that God had almost become an afterthought for me. Yes, I made sure even while doing  my chores I sang Christian songs to keep me somewhat close to Him, but it is nothing when you consider there is no time for real prayer and Bible reading to commune with the lover of my soul.

I had a break in between where there was no one around, but I found myself cleaning up the place and by the time I finished I was so exhausted I could not even remember my name. The next day the busyness started again with unexpected family obligations and visits. For a moment I had some clarity of mind and realized I did not pray at all that morning. Today I am back in my groove and I said goodbye to the last family members and celebration time for this holiday season, so this morning I was determined to go back to my God. The first thing I did was opening my devotion book “My Utmost For His Highest!”

As I read today’s devotion, my heart broke. I realized, I used to be this person with a determination of the will to be all that He wants me to be so that in the last day I will not be ashamed of standing in front of Him. But, for almost two weeks now, I failed Him and I was not this person at all. As I repented and renewed my oneness with Him I became conscious two things: One was the fact that it was so evident to me when we feel God so far away He never moved. It is always us who drift away step by step to the point that sometimes we find ourselves so far we do not even know how to come back because of the distance we have travelled away from Him.

The second thing that I found out is how the Spirit of God went out of His way to make me feel the difference. It was as if I had a welcome back home type of greeting from Him and my soul was thirsty for it, yet in my busyness the past two weeks, I did not even realize what I was missing. One of the reasons I broke down was the fact that I could be without Him for so long and I did not miss the intimacy because I was too busy and tired to miss Him.  As the Spirit rejuvenated my soul, He also made clear to me how God cannot talk to us intimately, if we are not right with Him.

I started thinking about you guys right away and felt the need to write this post. The truth is, I love my virtual family (you guys) very much and in my heart I am living out a brotherly kind of love with you. Often time I find myself looking forward to seeing you in heaven. I know that the truth in our hearts will be revealed and you will find out how dear all of you are to me, how much I care and how much I worry about some of you through reading perhaps your Blogs or Facebook page, I have a good idea where you are at.

The point I am trying to make is that while I hate the idea of New Year Resolution, I made one today and I want to ask you to join me in making 2014 a year where we truly exercise our will to truly look up to Him. I still remember how my full surrender delighted His heart few years ago, I want this closeness back and I want once again to delight His heart.  (I am so needy when it comes to my Father’s approval.) It is still vivid in my heart how I got there through the full surrender process through His grace. So when you feel God brings you to the end of yourself, when the road is so dark that you cannot find the strength to take one more step. When the pruning season seems unbelievably long and hardships in this life surround you to the point you can’t take the pain any longer, look up to Him.

How do you do it in the midst of a messy and painful life? Determine to live not one day at the time, not even hours at the time but only the strength to take the next step in and through Him. Oswald said ”An undue amount of thought and consideration for ourselves is what keeps us from making that decision, although we cover it up with the pretense that it is others we are considering. When we think seriously about what it will cost others if we obey the call of Jesus, we tell God He doesn’t know what our obedience will mean. Keep to the point— He does know. Shut out every other thought and keep yourself before God in this one thing only— my utmost for His highest. I am determined to be absolutely and entirely for Him and Him alone.”

I know too well what Oswald meant here. What keeps us away from giving our all, is the thoughts that we take into consideration as we work out those what if scenarios. The only way to get His best for our lives is if we learn to shut down those what if scenario and trust Him for the next step, the next breath and the next flow of His divine grace. It is not about what tomorrow will be or bring, but how we live the very moment He put us in as He waits to see how we respond.

Paul did not lie to himself; he knew, God’s grace also demands that we make a determination of the will to embrace His life, His holiness and His righteousness. Make it a RESOLUTION TO LEAVE THE SHALLOW LIFE BEHIND! Let Christ be magnified in your body whether by death or by life. Let Him be your all in all!

A New Year's Motto! - James Smith, 1865

"Look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!" Luke 21:28

The time of his second coming approaches, and it befits his disciples to think of that event, and diligently prepare for it. But if we do not witness the descent of our Lord in the clouds — death will soon come and usher us into his presence; and before that we may be exposed to many and painful troubles, so that the direction given by our Lord to his disciples may be just suitable, "Then look up!" 

We are entering upon a new year, we shall have new toils, new trials, new temptations, and new troubles; but whenever they come — let us "look up!" And, with a view to encourage our souls to do so, let us, at the opening of the year, consider —

First, the OCCASIONS to which this advice is applicable. There may be national calamities — such as pestilence, famine, or war; but whatever comes upon the nation, the Christians in it should "look up"

There may be persecution — laborers may lose their jobs, cottagers their cottages, and children many of their comforts, for Christ's and conscience' sake. While the sword of the magistrate is sheathed, the pen, the tongue, the frowning countenance — persecutes some; the withholding employment or custom persecutes others; but if persecution should rage against any of us this year, let us "look up." 

Providence may frown and throw us into perplexity and difficulty; losses and crosses may become almost our daily lot; we may think that God is turned against us, and that everything is contrary to us; but when our circumstances are most trying, when our souls are ready to faint within us — then let us remember the Lord has engaged for us by promise and by covenant, and let us "look up." 

We may be called to change our residences, and leave dear friends and connections behind us; or, what is worse, our friends may be alienated from us, and turn against us; but if every friend frowns upon us, even if father and mother forsake us, or if we be removed to the ends of the earth — let us remember that our God is the same to us, and that he is ever near us; therefore let us "look up."

If death should enter in at our windows, and take away the desire of our eyes with a stroke; if our parents should die, our children be removed, or our wives or husbands be laid in the grave; though lover and friend be removed far from us, and our acquaintance into darkness, still, whatever death may do — let us determine that we will "look up." 

If darkness becloud our evidences, obscure our path, and throw its gloom over our minds; if discouragement brood over our souls, or place stumbling-blocks in our way; if all our past experience appear questionable, and our acceptance with God at present doubtful, still let us not give way or yield to despondency — but let us "look up."

If thrown on the bed of sickness, racked with pain and fainting with weakness; if death stand before us, and the grave appear ready for us; if eternity throws its revealing light upon us, or draws back its curtain to us — let us not tremble, or shake with fear, but let us "look up." In whatever state, in whatever place, into whatever condition we may be brought this year — let us seek grace to follow our Lord's loving advice, and "look up" We will now notice — 

Secondly, the DIRECTION our Savior gives: "Then look up!"

Do not look back — as Lot's wife did.

Do not look within — as too many do.

Do not look around — as David did.

But "look up!" Look up to God — He is your Father, your Friend, your Savior. He can help you. He will help you. He says, "Look unto Me, and be delivered — for I am God!"

Look up for light to guide you — and He will direct your path. 

Look up for grace to sanctify you — and the grace of Jesus will be found sufficient for you.

Look up for strength to enable you to do and suffer God's will — and His strength will be made perfect in your weakness. 

Look up for comfort to cheer you — and as one whom his mother comforts, so will the Lord comfort you.

Look up for courage to embolden you — and the Lord will give courage to the faint; and to those who have no might — He will increase strength. 

Look up for endurance to keep you — and the God who preserves you will enable you quietly to bear the heaviest burden, and silently to endure the most painful affliction.

Look up for providence to supply you — and the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry; but God shall supply all your needs, according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. 

Look up in faith — exercising confidence in the Word of a faithful God.

Look up in prayer — asking for what God has graciously promised.

Look up in hope — expecting what you ask in the name of Jesus.

Look up with adoration — and adore the sovereignty, righteousness, and wisdom of God. 

Look up constantly — let nothing daunt or discourage you! Rather say, "Our eyes are on the Lord our God until He shows us mercy."

Look up — for this will keep . . .
the head from swimming,
the heart from sinking,
the knees from trembling,
the feet from slipping, and
the hands from hanging down!

Well, my friends, what do you say? Will you follow this advice? Will you take this counsel? Will you act upon this direction? He who loves you best, who knows you most, and who always wishes you well — gave it. Take it — and you will never regret it. Act upon it — and you will never repent of it. 

It is impossible to say what will happen to us, or what will be required of us this year — but "Look up!" This direction, if properly attended to, will . . . 

procure for us all that we need,
secure us against all that we dread, and
make us more than a match for all our foes and fears!

Fellow-Christian, are you fearful? "Look up" and hear Jesus saying to you, "Do not be afraid — I Myself will help you!"

Are you discouraged? "Look up" — and your youth shall be renewed like the eagle's, and fresh light, comfort, and courage shall be given to you! 

Are you desponding? "Look up" for Jesus never breaks the bruised reed, nor quenches the smoking flax. 

Do not look too much at your sin — look most at the infinitely meritorious blood of God's dear Son! 

Do not look too much at self — but look at Jesus, who ever lives to make intercession for you in Heaven. 

Are you stripped of your comforts, your props, and your goods? Then look up! He who stripped you — loves you! He will be more than all these to you! He will bind up your broken heart, calm your perturbed spirit, cheer your drooping mind, and fill you with his own peace and happiness.

Look up . . .
for all that you need;
from all that you fear;
through all that would obstruct your way;
and notwithstanding all that would deter you from doing so.

Look up every day, saying with David, "In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and will look up!" Psalm 5:3

Look up in every trial, saying "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence comes my help: my help comes from the Lord, who made Heaven and earth!"

Do not look at your sin — it will discourage you!

Do not look at your self — it will distress you!

Do not look at Satan — he will bewilder you! 

Do not look to men — they will deceive, or disappoint you!

Do not look at your trials — they will deject you!

But do as the church did, look up "until the Lord looks down from heaven and sees" (Lamentations 3:50).

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us — looking unto Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith!" Hebrews 12:1-2. Look only, look always, look intently, to Jesus; run looking, work looking, fight looking, suffer looking, live looking, and die looking — to Jesus, who is at God's right hand in glory. Oh, look, look, look to Jesus! 

"Behold the Lamb of God, who bore
Your burdens on the tree;
And paid in blood the dreadful score —
The ransom due for Thee!

Look to Him till the sight endears
The Savior to your heart;
His pierced feet — bedew with tears,
Nor from His cross depart!

Look to Him till His dying love
Your every thought control;
Its vast constraining influence prove,
O'er body, spirit, soul.

Look to him, as the race you run,
Your never failing Friend;
Finish He will, the work begun,
And grace — in glory end!

A Prosperous New Year - Arthur Pink - January, 1944

TAKE THIS MESSAGE TO HEART FOR 2014.
I TRULY LOVE YOU GUYS!

This is our desire both for our readers and for ourselves. But the mere wishing or desiring of it, will not bring the same to pass. What more is necessary? Only God can grant us prosperity either spiritual or temporal, and we must submit to his good pleasure. True—but He is not capricious in this. Prosperity or the absence of it is not a matter of chance thing, nor is it the product of a blind and inexorable fate. If we do not enjoy prosperity, the fault is entirely our own, and we are dishonest if we ascribe it solely unto the sovereignty of God. "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it" (Isaiah 30:15). Would it not have been flagrantly dishonest, if they attributed their disquietude and fears, to the sovereign will of God? "O that you had hearkened to My commandments! then had your peace been as a river" (Isaiah 48:18), then how wicked to charge God with being responsible for their lack of peace.

If we consult the Scriptures, we shall find definite teaching on this subject—that there are clearly-revealed laws which we must observe, conditions which we are required to meet—if we are to enjoy prosperity. Let us first consider one or two things which hinder prosperity. "Why do you disobey the Lord's commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord—he has forsaken you." (2 Chron. 24:20). Ah, here is the cause of all our troubles: disobedience, for "the way of transgressors is hard" (Proverbs 13:15).

Observe how emphatically and absolutely it is expressed, "you will not prosper"—a holy God will not place a premium on insubordination. He may allow "the wicked" to flourish as a green bay tree, for he is like a beast being fattened for the slaughter; but not so with those who profess His name. Disobedience, then, chokes the channel of blessing. "He who covers his sins shall not prosper" (Proverbs 28:13). Unconfessed sin in the heart of a believer is like a worm at the root of prosperity. "If I regard iniquity in my heart—the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18), prayer is then futile. Unless we keep short accounts with God—we shall not enjoy His smile. Jeremiah 10:21 tells us what prevents "pastors" from prospering—self-sufficiency, failing to be cast entirely upon the Lord.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful" (Josh. 1:8). Here is the positive side, the making known the conditions which regulate and determine prosperity, as the repeated "then" plainly intimates. The passage begins at verse 5, and the whole of verses 5-8 should be attentively weighed.

Let us first anticipate an objection by asking the question "was it written for his sake alone" (Romans 4:23)? Undoubtedly those words had a special reference to Joshua himself—yet that they have a wider bearing is clear from other passages, and that they have a general application to God's children today—is definitely established by the New Testament. But as some of our readers have come under the influence of those who would rob the Christian of his rightful portion, under the pretext of "rightly dividing the Word of Truth," we must labor the point.

Note then how unhesitatingly David appropriated these words of the Lord to Joshua when he spoke to his son, for he emphatically assured him that if Divine grace enabled him to "keep the Law of the Lord his God" taking heed to "fulfill the statutes and judgments" of it, "then shall you prosper" (1 Chron. 22:12,13). But more pertinently still, observe how the apostle expressly appropriates the promise of Joshua 1:5, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" and insists that it belongs equally to the whole household of faith, immediately adding "so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my Helper" (Heb. 13:5,6). That precious promise of God, then, belongs as truly to me—as it did to Joshua of old. Are not the needs of believers the same in one age as in another? Is not God affected alike unto all of His children—does He not bear to them the same love? If He would not desert Joshua—He will not desert you! Consequently, if I would ascertain the laws which will determine my prosperity, I must pay attention to those which regulated his.

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth." It was the Rule given to act by. In Joshua's case, it furnished him with Divine authority for his conduct in the governing of Israel. In our case, we may give these words a spiritual meaning. God's Word is our appointed food—thus the "mouth" speaks to us of feeding upon it. In verse 6 God says, "Be strong and of a good courage," and in verse 7 adds, "only be strong and very courageous that [in order that] you may observe to do according to all the Law." Obedience to God—calls for firmness, resolution, boldness. Without it we shall yield unto temptations to compromise, being intimidated by the ridicule and opposition of our fellows. How, then, is this strength and courage to be obtained? By feeding on the Word, being "nourished up in the words of faith" (1 Tim. 4:6), having the Law of the Lord continually in our "mouth." This is the interpretation made by the apostle; appropriate that promise "I will never leave you" and then, says he, every believer may confidently declare "The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Heb. 13:6). There is the proof that feeding on the Word imparts strength and courage.

"But you shall meditate on it day and night." Only thus will its injunctions be fixed in the memory—only thus shall we be able to ascertain our duty—only thus shall we discern the rightful application of the Divine precepts to all the varied details of our daily lives. It is entirely our own fault, if we be ignorant of God's "mind" in connection with any situation confronting us. God's will for us is revealed in His Word, and "a good understanding have all those who obey His commandments" (Psalm 111:10). The more I am regulated by the Divine Rule, the more shall I be preserved from the "mistakes" or folly which characterizes those who follow a course of self-pleasing. But in order to do God's commandments, I must be conversant with them; and in order to perceive their breadth and specific application unto any problem or decision confronting me, I must "meditate on it day and night." Meditation stands to reading—as mastication does to eating. Spiritual prosperity eludes the dilatory and careless.

"That you may be careful to do everything written in it." This must be the dominating motive and object. God's Word is to be appropriated and masticated—fed and meditated upon—first and foremost, day in and day out. Not for the purpose of understanding its prophecies, or obtaining an insight into its mysteries—but in order to learn God's will for myself, and having learned it—to conform thereto. God's Word is given to us chiefly—not to gratify curiosity or to entertain our imagination—but as "a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path" (Psalm 119:105) in this dark world. It is a Rule for us to walk by—it is a heavenly standard for the regulation of all our conduct. It points out the things to be avoided, the things which would harm us. It tells of the things to be followed and practiced, the things which are for our good, our peace. It contains not only good advice—but is clothed with Divine authority, commanding implicit and unqualified obedience.

"For then—(if we feed on the Word, if we constantly meditate upon its precepts and promises, if we render to it entire obedience) —you will be prosperous and successful." The promise is emphatic, unqualified, sure. If then this new year is not a prosperous one for me—the fault is entirely my own—it will be because I have failed to meet the conditions prescribed in the context. Turn to 2 Chronicles 20:20 and see how well Jehoshaphat understood the secret of prosperity. Mark what occasioned the prosperity of Hezekiah (2 Chron. 31:20,21). Compare Job 36:11. Ponder all that precedes the last clause of Psalm 1:3. "But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer—but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed" (James 1:25)

The CELESTIAL Spirit of the Lord's Prayer - Part 3

EXCERPT FROM THE KINDLE EBOOK: 

THE LORD’S PRAYER, Its Spirit and its Teaching. By Octavius Winslow, 1866

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"We do not know how much we love,
Until we come to leave;
An aged tree, a common flower,
Are things o'er which we grieve.
We linger while we turn away,
We cling while we depart;
And memories, unmasked until then,
Come crowding round the heart.
Let what will lure us on our way,
Farewell's a bitter word to say."

"I know of no passage in classical literature," says an eloquent writer, "more beautiful or affecting than that where Xenophon describes the effect produced on the remnant of the ten thousand Greeks, when, after passing through dangers without number, they at length ascended a sacred mountain, and from its peak and summit caught sight of the sea. Dashing their shields with a hymn of joy, they rushed tumultuously forward. Some wept with the fullness of their delicious pleasure, others laughed, and more fell on their knees and blessed that broad ocean. Across its blue waters, like floating sea-birds, the memorials of their happy homes came and fanned their weary souls. All the perils they had encountered, all the companions they had lost, all the miseries they had endured, were in an instant forgotten, and nothing was with them but the gentle phantoms of past and future joys. O home, magical spell, all-powerful home! how strong must have been your influences when your faintest memory could cause these hungered heroes of a thousand fights to weep like tearful women! With the cooling freshness of a desert fountain, with the sweet fragrance of a flower found in winter, you came across the great waters to these wandering men, and beneath the peaceful shadow of your wings their souls found rest!"

Graphic and glowing as is this picture of the magic influence of home upon the returning exile, it pales before the believer's eye as he catches, from some Pisgah height, a view of the New Jerusalem, the happy home where he is forever to dwell--its walls of jasper, its gates of pearl, its sunlight dome, its golden streets, its crystal waters, its tree of life, its central throne, the Lamb seated thereon, its countless multitude of holy, happy beings, all united in adoration of the Lamb who was slain. And when the soul has actually crossed the flood, and planted its foot, weary and sore, upon the golden sands, what its ecstasy, what its transport to find itself in heaven at last! Heaven was the starting-point of our race, and heaven will be the final home of its ransomed portion.

The exquisite story of the younger brother who exchanged his home for exile, poverty, and need; but who, in penitence and faith, with confession and supplication, returned to its sacred shelter and met a father's welcome, is the true position of redeemed humanity. The sinner saved by grace, the wanderer restored by love, retraces his steps back to God, and home to the heaven from whence he originally departed. Heaven is the family home of all the children of God. It is the Father's home. There, day by day, hour by hour, the Father is bringing His sons and daughters--the adoption of grace. He Himself is there, and where should the children be but with the Father?

Not one of that REDEEMED family shall be absent from the domestic circle. The white-haired parent, whose sun had run a long and holy course and then set in a flood of golden light--is there! The youth of manliness and beauty, the flower and hope of the family, whose sun went down while it was yet day--is there! The child of prattle and of song, the sunbeam and the cherub of the house, whose brightness and music death has in a moment darkened and hushed--is there! The infant of a day, just opening its languid eyes upon the world of sin, then closing them, as if saddened by the scene it beheld--is there! Yes, enriched and domesticated by the countless number of the family who have departed with 'FAITH in Jesus', heaven is daily growing more enchanting and endeared to faith's far-seeing eye as the Father's house.

And is not OUR RECORD on high? "Rather rejoice," said Christ to His disciples when they reported to Him the subjection of demons to their power--"rather rejoice that your names are written in heaven." Oh, what a remarkable and precious mercy to have a name written in heaven! Better, infinitely better, to have it enrolled there than emblazoned on the page of historic fame, engraved in brass, sculptured in marble, or set in diamonds upon a mother's heart! But ALL the names of the family of God are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and written there from the foundation of the world. Rejoice in this!

You ask, "How may I know it?" The Lord has not left you without evidence. Is the name of Jesus engraved upon your heart? Has the Holy Spirit shown to you in measure, the evil of your heart, and brought you to see its darkness, its vileness, and its treachery? Has the discovery led to a renunciation of your own righteousness, to an abandonment of all hope based upon the law, to a believing, simple, loving acceptance of the Lord Jesus? Have you been led by the Spirit as a poor, empty sinner to the blood and righteousness of the Redeemer, looking only to Jesus, trusting only in Jesus, clinging only to Jesus as the limpet clings to the rock, as the shipwrecked mariner clings to the plank, as the dying man clings to the last hope of life? Are you combating with sin, hating the garment spotted by the flesh, striving after and, in some degree, attaining unto holiness?

Then, be you assured that your name is written in heaven. If the Spirit of Christ has written the name of Christ, and pencilled the image of Christ, however faintly traced and dimly seen, upon your softened, believing, loving heart, doubt not the fact that your name is enrolled in glory on the pages of that volume in which divine love wrote it from eternity, and from which Christ our Captain will pronounce it when the great muster-roll is read in the last great day. Oh, mercy of mercies, to have a name written in heaven! Lord! write Your own precious name upon my heart, and I will sing aloud of Your righteousness all the day long!

Heaven, also, is the residence of Jesus, the Elder Brother, and must therefore be the final home of all His brethren. How often, and with what emphasis of meaning, did Jesus associate Himself with His brethren in glory. "That where I am, there you may be also." "Father, I will that they also whom You have given me be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory." "With Christ,"--"present with the Lord,"--"forever with the Lord," were modes of expression by which Jesus and the sacred writers instructed and comforted the saints in the prospect of their departure.

The return of Christ to heaven, His entrance within the veil, was as the Representative of His Church, as the First Born of His brethren. When He had found the "pearl of great price,"--His Church--for the discovery and rescue of which He purchased the "field"--in this sense, and in this sense only, becoming the Savior of the world--He returned in triumph to heaven, claiming and possessing it as the just reward of His sufferings, and as the fittest cabinet of the ransomed and priceless jewel.

From Christ his Elder Brother not one of the brethren--the lowest and unworthiest--shall be separated. The family would be broken, the home circle would be incomplete, were a place vacant at the banquet which shall celebrate the return of every wanderer home to God. Oh, the rejoicing, oh, the merriment when all shall safely arrive at heaven! What blissful reunions, what joyful recognitions, what fond greetings, what mutual congratulations, what entrancing music will resound through the bowers, and reverberate through the high arches of heaven, when the whole family on earth and in heaven shall meet in glory!

Is not this prospect worth living for, worth dying for? Is it not worth the struggle with sin, the battle with the world, the endurance of suffering, the light affliction, the cross, the moral, even the physical martyrdom which the gospel of Jesus involves? Yes! Christ our Elder Brother took the veritable nature of His brethren, wore it in poverty, suffering, and humiliation on earth; and then bore it to heaven as the first-fruits of that redeemed nature to be gathered home by the angel reapers at His coming. How did Joseph's soul yearn to have his brethren with him in Egypt, that they might see his greatness and be nourished at his side! Listen to the language of Joseph's spiritual Prototype. "Father, I will that they also whom You have given me be with me where I am, that they might behold my glory." What yearning of soul is here! what breathing of love! what power of will! That petition shall be answered!

Until then how incessantly and intently is the Elder Brother occupied in our behalf. Every moment, every thought, every affection is engaged upon, and entwined with, our present and future well-being. For us Christ is praying, for us He is governing, for us He is waiting, and with us He is sympathizing until His brethren are complete, and the last and least--theBenjamin of the family--is brought home to see His greatness, to share His glory, and to celebrate His praise.

Who, with any true, experimental knowledge of Him, would not love with the intensest affection of his heart, serve with every power of his ransomed being, make any sacrifice, and die, if need be, a martyr's death for such a Brother? Are we wearing His nature, as He still wears ours? Are we growing more divine, as He is changelessly human? Are we not ashamed of Him, as He is not ashamed of us? Are we living a Christ-imitating, a Christ-exalting life, even as He once lived a man-abased, yet a man-saving life?

I can only further remark, that the expression, "Our Father, which are in heaven," clearly describes heaven to be the only befitting abode of the saints in glory. Earth is not the proper realm for the holy ones. This world is indeed a school for the culture of our Christian graces, and a sphere for the exercise of Christian service, but here we have no abiding place. The moment a sinner is by grace transformed into a child of God he becomes a stranger here, an alien and a pilgrim. Heaven, henceforth, is the goal, the aspiration, the home of his spirit. God has provided and furnished a heavenly abode for the heavenly mind--a pure dwelling for the "pure in heart," a beauteous world for the beautiful in holiness. For this He is daily preparing you. All His providential dealings, and gracious operations; all your mental and spiritual exercises--every tempest, every furnace, every temptation--God is employing to prepare YOU for the prepared place. Accept every stroke of His rod, every discipline of His hand, as bent on this mission of love. Blend every trial, every affliction, every rebuke of your Father with a sweet, sunny thought of heaven.

SUFFERING and GLORY are united in golden links in the history of the saints. Peter speaks of himself as a "witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glorywhich shall be revealed." And again, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him." Look, then, beyond the dark waters and the leaden skies which lie between you and the holy, peaceful coasts of glory; and let faith's eye often peer within the door opened in heaven, and behold the place where your weary spirit, before long, will fold its drooping wing, smooth its ruffled plumage, lie down and rest upon the ineffable bosom of your glorified Lord. There they have arrived, and there they repose, who have out-sped us in the race, have reached the goal, and anticipate our coming. We mourn them not as lost, but as saved; not as far-sundered from us, but as nearer now than ever; not as wearing the sin-tainted and disfigured robe of the flesh, enfolded with the belt of suffering; but as clad with the holy, beautiful vestments of the Father's house, the glory-robe of heaven, all encircling and worshiping the Lamb that was slain.

THE CHAPTERS IN THIS BOOK ARE AS FOLLOW:

 The Filial Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Brotherly Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Celestial Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Reverential Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Submissive Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Dependent Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Penitential Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Forgiving Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Watchful Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Devotional Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

The Adoring Spirit of the Lord’s Prayer

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