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Tracy 8/1/2026 12:31:31 AM MST | STREAMS IN THE DESERT by L.B. COWMAN Offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life. (Romans 6:13) One night I went to hear a sermon on consecration. Nothing special came to me from the message, but as the preacher knelt to pray, he said, "O Lord, You know we can trust the Man who died for us." That was my message. As I rose from my knees and walked down the street to catch the train, I deeply pondered all that consecration would mean to my life. I was afraid as I considered the personal cost, and suddenly, above the noise of the street traffic, came the message; "You can trust the Man who died for you." I boarded the train, and as I traveled toward home, I thought of the changes, sacrifices, and disappointments that consecration might mean in my life --- and I was still afraid. Upon arriving home, I went straight to my room, fell on my knees and saw my life pass before my eyes. I was a Christian, an officer in the church, and a Sunday school superintendent, but I had never yielded my life to God with a definite act of my will. Yet as I thought of my own "precious" plans that might be thwarted, my beloved hopes to be surrendered, and my chosen profession that I might have to abandon --- I was afraid. I completely failed to see the better things God had for me, so my soul was running from Him. And then for the last time, with a swift force of convicting power to my inmost heart, came that searching message: "My child, you can trust the Man who died for you. If you cannot trust Him, then whom can you trust?" Finally that settled it for me, for in a flash of light I realized that the Man who loved me enough to die for me could be absolutely trusted with the total concerns of the life He had saved. Dear friend, you can trust the Man who died for you. You can trust Him to thwart each plan that should be stopped and to complete each one that results in His greatest glory and your higher good. You can trust Him to lead you down the path that is the very best in this world for you. J.H.M. Just as I am, Thy love unknown, Has broken every barrier down, Now to be Thine, yea,Thine ALONE, O Lamb of God, I come! Life is not wreckage to be saved out of the world but an investment to be used in the world. | |||
Tracy 7/25/2026 7:52:40 AM MST |
MAGNIFICENT PRAYER by NICK HARRISON "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. (Revelation 3:14-16) Cold prayers shall never have any warm answers. God will suit His returns to our requests. Lifeless services shall have lifeless answers. When men are dull, God will be dumb. (Thomas Brooks) PRAY ABOUT IT: Many of us were taught to pray by rote as a child. As a result, sometimes we still rattle off our requests in an almost detached manner. If we would have the living God answer, our prayers must be living prayers. Today, speak living prayers to God, from a heart that's alive to Him. When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart. (John Bunyan) | |||
Tracy 7/18/2026 10:12:40 PM MST |
STREAMS IN THE DESERT by L.B. COWMAN Because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will . . . make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky . . . because you have obeyed Me. (Genesis 22:16-18) From the time of Abraham, people have been learning that when they obey God's voice and surrender to Him whatever they hold most precious, He multiplies it thousands of times. Abraham gave up his one and only son at the Lord's command, and in doing so, all his desires and dreams for Isaac's life, as well as his own hope for a notable heritage, disappeared. Yet God restored Isaac to his father, and Abraham's family became "as numerous as the stars in the sky and as sand on the seashore" (vs.17). And through his descendants, "when the time had fully come, God sent His Son" (Gal.4:4). This is exactly how God deals with every child of His when we truly sacrifice. We surrender everything we own and accept poverty --- then He sends wealth. We leave a growing area of ministry at His command --- then He provides one better than we had ever dreamed. We surrender all our cherished hopes and die to self --- then He sends overflowing joy and His "life . . . that [we] might have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). The greatest gift of all was Jesus Christ Himself, and we can never fully comprehend the enormity of His sacrifice. Abraham, as the earthly father of the family of Christ, had to begin by surrendering himself and his only son, just as our heavenly Father sacrificed His only Son, Jesus. We could never have come to enjoy the privileges and joys as members of God's family through any other way. (Charles Gallaudet Trumbull) We sometimes seem to forget that what God takes from us, He takes with fire, and that the only road to a life of resurrection and ascension power leads us first to Gethsemane, the cross and the tomb. Dear soul, do you believe that Abraham's experience was unique and isolated? It is only an example and a pattern of how God deals with those who are prepared to obey Him whatever the cost. "After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised" (Heb. 6:15), and so will you. The moment of your greatest sacrifice will also be the precise moment of your greatest and most miraculous blessing. God's river, which never runs dry, will overflow its banks, bringing you a flood of wealth and grace. Indeed, there is nothing God will not do for those who will dare to step out in faith onto what appears to be only a mist. As they take their first step, they will find a rock beneath their feet. (F.B. Meyer) | |||
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