The way to grow strong in Christ is to become weak in yourself. God pours no power into a person's heart until that person's own power is all poured out. The Christian's life is one of daily dependence on the grace and strength of God.
✦ Poured Out — Poured In
Guyon's vacuum from day four — as the air rushes to a vacuum, so God fills the soul emptied of self. And Spurgeon today: God pours no power in until the person's own power is all poured out. The same truth, the same sequence: empty first, then full. The weakness is not the obstacle to strength. It is the condition for it. Daily dependence. Daily emptying. Daily filling. 🙏
Let a person truly know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be a happy person. Any religion that teaches misery to be a duty is false on its very face, for God, when He made the world, intended the happiness of His creatures.
He has not merely given us bare necessities — He has given us more. Not simply the useful, but even the beautiful. The flowers in the hedgerows, the stars in the sky, the beauties of nature — all these things were provided not merely because we needed them, but because God wanted to show how He loved us and how eager He was that we should be happy.
✦ The Beautiful Beyond the Necessary
The world did not need to be lovely — it needed to function. But God made it lovely anyway — because He wanted to. Flowers in the hedgerows. Stars in the sky. Hill and valley. Not because we needed them. Because He loved us.
And if the Creator who gave beauty beyond necessity is also the Redeemer, then the salvation He sends will not be miserable either. He who is a happy Creator will be a happy Redeemer. The God who scattered stars for pleasure will not send a joyless gospel. 🙏
To be a Christian would be a bright and happy thing, for it lights up this valley of tears and fills the wells in the Valley of Weeping to the brim with streams of love and joy.
✦ Wells Filled to the Brim
Psalm 84:6 — the Valley of Baca, the valley of weeping. And the wells are not empty. They are full. The joy does not bypass the valley. It does not wait on the other side. It fills the wells inside it.
The testing season in Caldas is the Valley of Weeping. The packing, the stress, the deadlines. And the mornings before dawn — the readings, the Word, the communion — these are the wells. And the streams of love and joy are filling them to the brim. Not after the valley. In the valley. 🙏
"It fills the wells in the Valley of Weeping to the brim with streams of love and joy."
Spurgeon · Psalm 84:6 · Not after the valley — in the valleyConsider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
To be a Christian would be a bright and happy thing, for it lights up this valley of tears and fills the wells in the Valley of Weeping to the brim with streams of love and joy. 🙏
✦ Pure Joy — When You Face Trials
Not after the trials. When you face them. The joy and the trial occupy the same moment. James does not say consider it joy when the trial ends. He says consider it joy whenever you face trials. The facing is the occasion for the joy — because the facing is where the testing happens, and the testing is where the perseverance is produced, and the perseverance is where the maturity is completed.
Mature and complete, not lacking anything. The finished work. The tree planted by the rivers of water from Psalm 1:3. The substantial fruits ripening for eternity from Guyon's day thirty-three. The valley produces what the mountaintop cannot: completeness. 🙏
Weak in Self — Strong in Christ
God pours no power in until the person's own power is poured out. The vacuum from day four. Empty first, then full. Daily dependence. Daily filling.
The Beautiful Beyond Necessary
Flowers, stars, hill and valley — not because we needed them. Because He loved us. A happy Creator will be a happy Redeemer. The gospel is not joyless.
Wells in the Valley
The joy does not bypass the valley — it fills the wells inside it. Pure joy when facing trials. The testing produces. The perseverance finishes. Mature, complete, lacking nothing.
Spurgeon's ninth day. And today the Valley of Weeping gets its wells filled.
Guyon's day four — the vacuum: "As the air rushes to a vacuum, so God fills the soul emptied of self." And Spurgeon: God pours no power in until the person's own power is poured out. Same sequence. Same truth. Same God — filling what has been emptied. The weakness is not the problem. It is the prerequisite.
Guyon's day twenty — the stars shine in silence: And Spurgeon today: the stars in the sky, the flowers in the hedgerows — provided because God wanted to show how He loved us. Guyon saw creation's silence as evidence of God's operation. Spurgeon sees creation's beauty as evidence of God's love. Both look at the same stars and see the same Father.
Spurgeon's day seven — the promises real when the rain falls: Le's own words. And today James 1:2-4 — pure joy when you face trials. The rain and the trials. The promises and the wells. Both are filled in the difficulty, not after it.
The Valley of Weeping — Caldas: The testing season. The packing. September ahead. And the wells are full. Not because the valley has ended — because the streams are flowing while Le is still in it. The mornings before dawn fill the wells. The Word fills the wells. The communion fills the wells. And the joy — pure joy, James says — is not waiting at the exit. It is in the valley, filling everything to the brim. 🙏