HEART OF THE MATTER*By Miles Stanford

HEART OF THE MATTER *
*By Miles Stanford*
"That I may know Him" (Phil. 3:10).
Immaturity is selfish; maturity is selfless. "He must increase, but I
must decrease" (John 3:30). "The question for the tried and tempted, the
harassed and oppressed, is this: 'Which would you rather have, the power
of Christ's hand in deliverance from trial, or the sympathy of His heart
in the midst of trial?' The carnal mind, the unsubdued heart, the
restless spirit, will, no doubt, at once exclaim, 'Oh! let Him only put
forth His power and deliver me from this insupportable trial, this
intolerable burden, this crushing difficulty. I sigh for deliverance. I
only want deliverance. '
"But the spiritual mind, the subdued heart, the lowly spirit, will say,
and that without a single particle of reserve, 'Let me only enjoy the
sweet company of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in my trial, and I
ask no more. I do not want even the power of His hand to deprive me of
one drop of consolation supplied by the tender love and profound
sympathy of His heart. I know He can deliver me, but if He does not see
fit to do so, if it does not fall in with His unsearchable counsels, and
harmonize with His wise and faithful purpose concerning me so to do, I
know it is only to lead me into a deeper and richer realization of His
most precious sympathy.''' - C.H.M.
"The same faith that sees glory for us at the end of the path sees God
for us all through the path. This is the secret of real strength. What
unbelief does is to compare ourselves and our own strength with
circumstances. What faith does is to compare God with circumstances. "
"For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also
aboundeth by Christ" (II Cor. 1:5).

2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech [you] by us: we pray [you] in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled
to God.
We can either choose to grovel in our own self-pity *
*or rejoice *
*in whatever state we may find ourselves." *