Daily Affirmations - Day 1 - Secret Source: Ever-Flowing Spring

This week's Theme: Secret Source

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Day 1: Ever-flowing spring

V. CONTINUED STRENGTH, CONTINUED FRESHNESS, CONTINUED SUPPLY.

“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought... and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not”  (Isaiah 58:11 - King James Version).

There are many wells... which do fail, and many apparent springs which deceive the traveller. The [side note to this text says], “whose waters deceive not, or lie not.” When a caravan comes to a well, if there be no water in it the travellers are deceived; and if the [farmer] should come to a reservoir, and find that the water is all gone, then the reservoir has lied unto him and deceived him.

And how many a [person] who has appeared like a Christian has been but a mere deceiver! We looked into his conversation, where there should have been... godliness, but we found none. We hoped that in his actions he would be like the Master whom he professed to serve, but we saw no... likeness. He has been a deceiver; his waters have lied unto us.

Not so God’s true people; they shall not deceive. They shall have so much grace that when a Christian friend expects to find grace in them, he shall not be disappointed. He shall be refreshed by their conversation; he shall be encouraged by their holy example.

A spring of water is not dependent upon anything beyond itself. Deep down in the caverns of the earth great treasures of water have been prepared by God, and the spring subsists upon its own secret source. And so does the [true follower of Jesus]... Christ himself has declared that he who drinks of the water of life shall find it in him, “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

A reservoir must be filled at certain times... but a spring is filled from itself... Do you not think that when the Saviour says, “...The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life,” the interpretation... necessitates the belief that grace is an enduring thing which cannot be destroyed?

The [follower of Jesus Christ] should be satisfied, and [the grace he receives] should never come to an end. Come then, let us wrap our cloak about us with a word of joy and comfort, and go our way into the cold, bleak world, rejoicing that if our hearts are right, we are resting upon the source of every precious thing.

Let us go forth and rejoice that we have within us a life that can never die; that we have a something within us that can satisfy us in the worst of times; that God is with us, to be our guide and our dear companion... Let us rejoice in the Lord always, and shout for joy, and so may His blessed Spirit help us to live to His glory.

I can only regret that... there are some to whom we shall have to read the text in the negative. “You shall not be guided by God, for you shall follow your own devices, and they shall lead you down to death and to the gates of hell.”

O [you who would not accept the grace of Jesus] tremble at this! There shall come a day of drought that shall dry up your body, though you flourished as a green herb. There shall come a time when your pleasures shall be of no use to you... but shall only work the end of all your joy... You may have outward good... but there shall be no inward peace, no spiritual joy...

[If you] shut your ear against God... He will shut His ear against you. If you refuse the cross of Christ... you shall lose the crown of heaven, and shall not know joy...The little joy you have, all brackish as it is, shall be denied you at the last.

Sinner, there is hope yet. This is not the realm of despair. Not yet has the great iron key grated in the lock to shut you for ever in the dungeon! It is said of Christ that “He openeth and no man shutteth.” He can open heaven to you.

Trust Him with your whole heart, mourning for sin and hating it. Rest in His blood! Find a shelter beneath His cross, and He will not, cannot cast you away, for “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.”

May you so come, and then may your life [in Christ] be [filled] with happiness, and overflowing with joy, so that you may sing in the words of David... — “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”