October 13

“Think of the blessed confidence with which children cast their cares upon their parents, and recall how the parents love to have it so...The only thing that a mother asks of her child is that it will yield to her care and obey her voice, and then she will take charge of all the rest.  It is the same with us and our God.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, Daily Secrets, 9/29

I can really identify with this.  I remember becoming quite frustrated with my first born because he would not cooperate with my good intentions toward him.  I found myself constantly battling with him whether it was going down for a nap so that he’d be better able to cope or to not drink so much juice so he’d be hungry for supper.  I remember wishing he’d just let me “do my job” of being a good mother.  My second son didn’t appreciate my concern over how much sleep he got as a teenager.  He’d end up sleeping in his first-period class I discovered later.  My youngest son doesn’t seem to understand why I care so much about his schoolwork.  But I must confess I’ve not been the easiest “child” to raise, either.  I can only imagine what God has to say about me!  When I think about the times I’ve not trusted Him by being anxious, the times I’ve felt weary because I wouldn’t let Him carry my burdens, or the times I’ve been sad because I didn’t look to Him for my comfort, I realize that it’s time for me to let Him parent me in the way I wanted to mother my children.  An obedient child is a blessing, indeed.

“Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.”  Isaiah 64:8

March 29

“Faith is an absolutely necessary element in the reception of any gift...Love may be lavished on us by another without measure, but until we believe that we are loved, it never really becomes ours.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 3/29

This, I believe, is why there are so many professing Christians who are not saved.  They believe Jesus died for their sins, but they have not received the forgiveness for themselves because they do not believe they are loveable since they still feel imperfect.  In receiving the gift of forgiveness they are asking for the Holy Spirit to take up abode in them.  This is what reconciliation with God is all about.  Then it is the Holy Spirit--the Christ life in them--that “works out their salvation” bringing them into total submission. As redeemed creatures we become clay in the Potter’s hands as He makes us fit for His use.   Evidence of this is the Fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  So it is by faith that we believe we are forgiven and are no longer condemned to eternal separation from God.

“Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.”  Isaiah 64:8