Introduction

Welcome to God Between The Lines. This blog will be used to share with the readers some of the messages and thoughts that I glean from reading "Morning and Evening" by Charles H. Spurgeon. I've been reading this particular devotional for about a month or so now, and I have many times paused and wished that I had the means to share with those who might be interested a particularly meaningful passage.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this book, I highly recommend it as a devotional. God is truly to be found between the printed lines of this book!

For those of you who are familiar with Spurgeon and his devotional, I am reading through an updated and revised edition, so if I quote a passage and it doesn't match your own copy of M&E, that's why.

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June 8th - Evening

I have been wrestling personally lately with the desire for the praise of men (John 12:42-43). This is one of the constant battles in the Christian life, as the "old man" within us becomes gradually conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. I find myself almost instinctively looking to friends and family to comfort and encourage me when I am feeling down. Rather than turning my eyes to the only Person who can truly heal my hurts, and restore my peace, I reach out to those around me and get disappointed when they can't or won't help me the way I think I need to be helped. In fact, just today, I was discussing this very tendency with a close friend and wondering what I could do about it.

So I turn in my M&E to the entry for this evening and what should I discover but that Spurgeon has chosen to address this very topic! Here's what Spurgeon has to say:

"...does the Creator expect the creature to fulfill His promise for Him? No; He who makes the promise always fulfills it by His own unaided omnipotence. If He speaks, it is done...God has promised to supply our needs and we look to the creature to do what God has promised to do; and then, because we perceive the creature to be weak and feeble, we engage in unbelief."

Why, then, in the light of this promise, do we constantly (do I constantly) focus on others to provide solace when I'm done, or to give me confirmation when I do something good? Is it not, as Spurgeon said, basic unbelief?

I pray, tonight that the Lord will help my unbelief, and I pray that I would see, and come to know, the true meaning of finding my all in God. As God said to His people in the Book of Numbers: "Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not." And the resounding answer, based on God's goodness and neverending faithfulness, is that His word will ALWAYS come true for us!