I read the text. God plants the seed of faith in my heart. Pastor Cleopas waters it. God gets the increase. 🙏
✦ The Chain
1 Corinthians 3:6. Le names the chain exactly. The reading is hers. The planting is God's. The watering is the midday hour. The increase is God's again. The waterer does not take credit for the harvest. The chain works because every link knows its place — and the increase belongs to the One who gave the seed. 🙏
Christ is the ruler of all events; in everything His authority is supreme, and He exercises His power for the good of His Church. He spins the thread of events and works from the pattern of destiny, and does not allow those threads to be woven in any way other than according to the design of His loving wisdom.
He makes their worst things blessings to them, and their best things He makes holy. In times of plenty, He blesses their increase; in times of need, He supplies all they require. As all things are working for His glory, so all things are working for their good.
✦ The Worst Things Made Blessings
Not only the best things — the worst things. The testing season. The packing. The stress. The losses that Guyon called instruments. Christ spins the thread and does not allow it to be woven in any direction that will not bring good. The pattern is His. The design is loving wisdom. And no thread — however dark — is wasted.
Romans 8:28 — all things work together for good to those who love God. The 500 denari debt — the worst thing — became the greatest blessing. The pattern of Le's life, from the very beginning. 🙏
"He makes their worst things blessings to them, and their best things He makes holy."
Spurgeon · Romans 8:28 · No thread is wastedDid we marvel that all people do not love? It is a greater marvel still that anyone does love Jesus.
In this second case we see Jesus of Nazareth opening the tightly shut eye and scattering the thick darkness with the divine radiance of His marvelous light.
If it was a strange thing to witness the terrifying ravings of the man possessed by demons among the tombs, it is surely far more amazing to see that same man sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
It is indeed a triumph of grace when a person's heart is brought to give its love to Jesus, for it proves that the work of Satan is completely undone.
✦ The Greater Marvel
Spurgeon flips the question. The natural wonder is not that some reject Christ. The natural wonder is that anyone accepts Him. The tightly shut eye opened. The thick darkness scattered. The triumph of grace.
Father Joe James. Midnight. Lubbock. A soul that was not looking for Jesus — found by Him anyway. The 500 denari soul sitting at His feet, clothed and in her right mind. This is all the work of Christ. Remember — I was a reptile. The work of Satan completely undone. 🙏
The Chain
Le reads. God plants. The midday hour waters. God gets the increase. The waterer does not take credit. Every link knows its place. 1 Corinthians 3:6.
All Things Working
Christ spins the thread. No thread woven against the design. The worst things made blessings. The best things made holy. The pattern is loving wisdom.
The Triumph of Grace
The greater marvel: that anyone loves Jesus. The tightly shut eye opened. The man among the tombs — now clothed and in his right mind. The work of Satan completely undone.
Spurgeon's eighth day. The testing season receives its deepest comfort and its greatest wonder.
Guyon's day eighteen — losses as instruments: "The losses we suffer are the best instruments to unite us to Jesus Christ." And Spurgeon today: He makes their worst things blessings. Guyon called them instruments. Spurgeon calls them blessings. Nothing is wasted in the hands of Christ.
Le's chain — 1 Corinthians 3:6: The most honest description of the midday hour. The reading is Le's devotion. The planting is God's sovereign work. The watering is the conversation. The increase — always God's.
The triumph of grace: Spurgeon's man among the tombs. Le's testimony from Sword Beach: this is all the work of Christ. Remember — I was a reptile. The same triumph. The same grace. Not that the darkness existed. That the light came anyway. 🙏