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This morning in my quiet time I opened The Silver Lining - Words Of Comfort And Cheer by John Henry Jowett. I chose to read the chapter, “Wealth That Never Fails.” The whole chapter was a meditation on the words in Ephesians 3:8, “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” I have been thinking a lot recently about the words of Jesus in John 7:37-38 “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” As I read this chapter by Jowett, I could not help but think about how the inexhaustible, unsearchable riches of Christ, who lives in us (see Galatians 2:20), are like a well of water flowing within us that never runs dry.

Jowett had some profound words for me to ponder (just like he always does): “Our wealth is inexhaustible and always manifest itself as current coin…Their glory (the inexhaustible riches of Christ) is found in their immediate applicability to all the changes of our changing years” (p. 184). “When we grow older…larger resources are disclosed to our larger capacity, and the riches are plentiful to the vaster needs. Our Lord never wears out. He is always equal to the problem. He always brims to the new occasion and in Him we are always full” (p. 185). “The unsearchable riches do not give out in the high crises of our awful sin and guilt…He hath loved thee more than thou hast loved thy sin” (p. 187). “We can never get to the end of the unsearchable riches of Christ. They are our glory in time; they will be our endless surprise in eternity” (p. 188).

Oh how I especially love those last words: They are our glory in time; they will be our endless surprise in eternity. Even though the troubles and trials in our lives seem so front and center and often impossible to meet with our own resources, we must always remember that the Lord is always more than enough for whatever comes our way. As Jowett says: “Our Lord never wears out” and “He is always equal to the problem.” Those rivers of living water that flow from our innermost being are like a well that never runs dry. May the Lord Himself renew our hearts and refresh our spirits for this new day as we run our race with endurance and live for Him wherever He leads us.

I recently read an email from a woman who shared that the Lord had used an encouraging phone call to “strengthen her hand.” Then she said that she was quoting (her words were “happily stealing from”) Nehemiah 6:9. What does Nehemiah 6:9 say, I wondered? So, in my quiet time this AM, I turned to Nehemiah 6:9 - this woman obviously knew those words well and understood the need for them in our lives. When I read the words of Nehemiah, I realized I needed them for my own life. They are a prescription for discouragement that can come at any time to those involved in ministry.

Nehemiah had a task before him - to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. It was a “good work” according to Nehemiah 2:18. There were many around Nehemiah and those working with him who were trying to discourage him in the work - discouraging words came from Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites (Nehemiah 4:7). Nehemiah says this in 6:9, “For all of them were trying to frighten us, thinking, ‘they will become discouraged with the work and it will not be done.’ But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” Oh, what great words for any of us who are serving the Lord and have a great task before us. We need to recognize that we have an enemy as well who will try to frighten us to the point of discouragement in the work. The enemy would love nothing more than for us to stop running our race. Perhaps that is why “perseverance” is so critical in the “race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1-2). Our prayer must be, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands.” We must not allow the enormity of the task given to us by God to discourage us. No, instead, we must calculate God and His ability into our ministry and ask Him to “strengthen our hand.” Then, we can say with Paul, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

I might add that I am so thankful for those in my life who know the Word of God so well that they quote easily from it. I am thankful for my friend who quoted Nehemiah 6:9 so handily that I could reap the benefit. Oh, that we might all know the Bible so well that our language is filled with its words. We might think of it as the “vocabulary of God” that becomes our language of choice as we speak of life. When we can easily quote from many places in the Bible, then God’s eternal perspective in His Word becomes the driving force and influence in our life.

Oh what a difference from week to week here in the desert. It was 90 degrees outside yesterday. Last week look at the snow we had in the mountains. It was freezing outside. But the snow was SO BEAUTIFUL that people were stopping everywhere just to get pictures. I love photography so I could not resist. I carry my little Nikon Coolpix 5200 with me in my purse so I don’t miss things like this. I actually took this picture from the 2nd floor of our church. When I think of snow I think of what God says in Isaiah 55:10-11 (a favorite passage here at Quiet Time Ministries): “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; it will not return empty, but will accomplish what I desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” No time is ever wasted when it is spent in God’s Word - His purposes are wrapped up in His Word and He will use it in your life and mine.

Last weekend I had the privilege of speaking at a large women’s luncheon in Arizona. It was such a blessing to talk about personal, spiritual revival. This picture shows the realization of one of my dreams for Quiet Time Ministries - to offer quiet time resources to others so they can experience quiet time with the Lord for themselves. I don’t want to just talk about it, I want to share things in such a way that when a person reads Six Secrets, finishes an online retreat, or lives in one of the books of quiet times, they have had the opportunity to experience intimacy with the Lord for themselves. That’s my desire. So when I see people at one of our book tables, it brings great joy to my heart. I believe there is a thirst, a desire in our hearts that can only be satisfied by our Lord Jesus. So there is a great treasure, a great reward, when we sit with Him, open the pages of the Bible, and draw near. God bless you today, dear friends.

Well, I just returned from another speaking trip. I gave a message entitled “Revive My Heart O Lord.” In that message I shared how we need personal, spiritual revival every day of our lives. It’s the kind of revival the Lord does in our hearts so that we may live out His purpose and plan in the place where we live. When I give that kind of a message I can’t help but think of my own relationship with the Lord. When I returned home, I sat down with my quiet time basket. I pulled out each book, one by one. I looked at each book, and made a decision whether or not it would stay in my basket. Then, I created another stack of books that I have been wanting to live in during my quiet time. Which one would make it to my basket? As I began looking at each, I really sensed that the Lord was guiding me in my choices. There is really one, in particular, that I sense is a book I must live in: A Man Of The Word: Life of G. Campbell Morgan by Jill Morgan. Wilbur Smith made a very powerful statement about this book: “I wish I could persuade every Bibleloving minister in the Western world to read this book through, behind a locked door, alone with God.” I can’t get that statement out of my mind. When I first read Wilbur Smith’s comment, I scoured the world to find this book. It is long out of print and almost impossible to find. I did finally find it up in Canada, received it in the mail, and put it on my bookshelf. I could not read it immediately as I was immersed in editing a new book about the Bible. That book is now off to my publisher. And so, my attention now turns to this book on the life of G. Campbell Morgan. Examples of godly men and women are so very important to me. And there are so few in this day and age. I don’t want to emulate the world. I want to follow Christ and be a godly woman, a “woman of the Word” just like G. Campbell Morgan was a “man of the Word.” I love reading these kind of books from long ago. And I love to pass on what I learn from them as is seen in the books of quiet times I’ve written - there are hundreds of quotes and excerpts from many out of print books.

Once I pulled out all the books from my basket and chose the new books for my quiet time, I put each item back in my basket, one by one, thinking how I would use each. It doesn’t mean that I will use every item every day, but they will be my choices as I spend time with the Lord. I like to have a lot of variety as many can see when they read my book, Six Secrets To A Powerful Quiet Time. Here is what is in my quiet time basket right now:
My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers
The Valley Of Vision: A Collection Of Puritan Prayers And Devotions
Daily Light
Morning And Evening by Spurgeon
Edges Of His Ways by Amy Carmichael
Praying God’s Will For My Husband by Lee Roberts
A Man Of The Word: Life Of G. Campbell Morgan
Operation World
Hymns For The Family Of God
The Quiet Time Notebook
The Daily Walk Bible
New American Standard Bible
Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible
Mug with pens and pencils
reading glasses
CD player
Today I will bring my Linguistic Key to the Greek NT from the office and add that to my basket. This morning in my quiet time I read My Utmost For His Highest, The Daily Walk Bible, underlined a bunch of stuff and wrote many comments in the margins, looked up some words in the Key Word Study Bible, and thought about the phrase “be very careful” repeated three times in Joshua 22-23. You can see my thoughts written in a little online journal at Online Reading Group that I’ve created for reading through the Daily Walk Bible this year. Anyhow, I talked with the Lord this morning about my own desire to serve Him and follow Him all the days of my life. It was a good time. I’m so thankful I went through my basket yesterday. I could wake up this morning feeling as though I was ready to meet with the Lord. Now tomorrow I hope to begin to read, little by little, A Man Of The Word. I’ll be sure to share what I learn from the life of G. Campbell Morgan.

Many years ago during a difficult change in my life I began living in the Psalms. I began with Psalm 84. When I got to verse 5 I read, “Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” I could not get my eyes off of that word “pilgrimage.” I realized that life is really a pilgrimage of the heart. Our real home is with the Lord and we are pilgrims here on earth. And so, as I think of life, I think of it as my pilgrimage of the heart. Well, it has been quite a pilgrimage recently. Yesterday I sent in the manuscript for the next in the series of 30 day journeys, entitled Knowing And Loving The Bible - Face To Face With God In His Word. This book follows Six Secrets and is all about the Bible. I share about how we got our Bible, people who gave their life for the Bible, biblical archaeology, and seven different ways you can devotionally study the Bible when you are reading it. I want so much for others to treasure the Word of God as the gift that it is. There are some countries where it would be a crime to hold a Bible in our hands. Oh, what a privilege that we can open its pages each day. And that is my passion. That no Bible will ever sit on a shelf. But that we will open it, day by day, and that it will live in our hearts. And so, the journey that we have begun in Six Secrets will continue in Knowing And Loving The Bible. And…..there is more around the corner.