MATTHEW HENRY

Here are a few random thoughts gleaned from,

THE SECRET OF COMMUNION WITH GOD

by

Matthew Henry.

These have been an encouragement to me and hopefully

at least one can be an encouragement to you.

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"Praying is lifting up the soul to God, 

and pouring out the heart before him;"

"However, God understands the language of the heart,

and that is the language in which we must speak to God;"

"... we must see to it that God hears from us daily....

He expects and requires it....

he has obliged us to offer the sacrifice of prayer and 

praise to him continually."

"What a shame is this to us, that God is more willing

to be prayed to, and more ready to hear prayer

than we are to pray."

"I know what an influence it would have upon

the prosperity of your souls to be constant and

sincere in your secret worship, ..."

"All the business of the day will prosper the better for 

your beginning it thus with God."

"God looks not at the length of your prayers, nor shall

you be heard for your much speaking or fine speaking;"

"To wait on God, is entirely and unreservedly to refer

ourselves to his wise and holy direction, and disposals, 

and cheerfully to acquiesce in them, and comply with them."

"To wait on God, is to make his will our rule."

"It is good for us to think frequently of dying, to think

of it as oft as we go to bed; it will help to mortify

the corruptions of our own hearts,..."

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Note of interest to writers.

I am not one, but I do live in a different generation

than brother Henry did.  Thus, I am able to notice 

how "wordy" they were back in 1700 plus.

Matthew Henry has "one" sentence on page 30

of the above book which is - 136 words long.

Can you top that?

MATERIAL POSSESSIONS SATISFACTION

"I made great works;

I built me houses; I planted me vineyards.

I made me gardens and orchards,

and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits;

I made me pools of water, to water the forest 

of growing trees.

I got me servants and maidens

and had servants born in my house;

also I had great possessions of great and small cattle

above all that were in Jerusalem before;

I gathered me also silver and gold,

and the treasure of kings and of the provinces;

I got me men singers and women singers,

and the delights of the sons of men,

as musical instruments, and that of all sorts......

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done,

and on the labour that I had laboured to do:

and, behold,

all was vanity and vexation of spirit,

and there was no profit under the sun."

(Ecclesiastes 2:4-8,11 AJKV)

LOST AND FOUND

My wife has a small house cleaning business.

She had just added a new client who has the prospect

of being one of the better ones.

After only two cleaning sessions the lady of the house had

one of her rings missing.  And it was a special ring.  One that

her husband gave her for their twenty fifth wedding anniversary.
(No, the picture above is not it.  That's my old ring.)

We can only imagine the thoughts that went through her mind.

A new house cleaning lady and the ring comes up missing.

She of course called and talked to the wife.  She did not accuse

the wife of taking it, but....   And the next house cleaning session

was cancelled.  That was not good news.

By this time I was praying about the matter.  My prayer of course

was that the wife would be vindicated, but also that it would be

obvious that the Lord's hand was in the matter.

At the next scheduled cleaning session the lady told my wife

that the Lord woke her up at two thirty in the morning and 

showed her where the ring was.

She wanted to put off checking it out until morning. 

But that was not to be.  So at two thirty in the morning

she got up, went out of the house to the horse trailer.

Then finding the jacket that the Lord showed her,

she put her hand into the pocket the Lord had shown

her - AND FOUND THE RING.

IS GOD GREAT OR WHAT?

HE WAS IN A RUSH

I read in a motorcycle magazine about an incident with one of their staff members. He was in a rush. Waiting for a traffic signal to change, he wanted to be first across the intersection. He would have been - if it were not for a negligent driver running the red light.

The motorcycle rider had,

the fastest reaction time,

the fastest vehicle,

the right of way,

and the broken leg.

King Saul was in a rush. He started to seek God's leading. But life came too fast and he said, "There's no time to consult the Lord!" -1 Samuel 14:19 (TEV)

That same impatience cost him the kingship. Becoming impatient earlier Saul offered a sacrifice he was not supposed to. God speaking through the prophet Samuel said, "But now your rule will not continue. Because you have disobeyed him, the Lord will find the kind of man he wants and make him ruler of his people." -1 Samuel 13:14 (TEV)

That was king David, "a man after God's own heart." David had learned not to be in a hurry with God, but to wait for him.

In the remainder of 1st Samuel and 2nd Samuel we see David constantly consulting God. And when in doubt reconsulting God. As the Psalmist, David mentions fifteen or twenty times the matter of waiting on God. [Depending on your version and it's word usage.]

I can relate to king Saul. And I can relate to the motorcyclist. But when will I ever learn to "wait on - or consult" the Lord?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Never rely on what you think you know. Remember the Lord in everything you do, and he will show you the right way." -Proverbs 3;5,6 (TEV)

Have you ever got in a rush and missed the Lord's best??? Tell us about it. I don't want to be the only one that failed to wait.

THE BLESSING OF PAIN AND DISAPPOINTMENT

Are pain and disappointment a blessing in disguise?

John Newton lived a despicable life admitting to being "an infidel and libertine." It eventually reduced him to "a servant of slaves in West Africa." Finally in a severe storm the ship he was on about sank, then he turned to God.

He ultimately wrote, Amazing Grace. A song that for several hundred years literally blessed millions of people.

Joseph's dreams shattered. Sold into slavery, and imprisoned for years. But prepared by God to save his family and nation.

Paul and Silas. In prison beaten and bleeding, but singing praises to God. An earth quake opened the jail, and opened the heart of the jailer saving him and his family.

Paul state, "I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan' messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away. But his answer was: 'My grace is all you need. for my power is greatest when you are weak.'" - 2 Corinthians 12:8,9 (TEV)

Much of the New Testament was written and many churches started in Asia minor as a result.

Even Jesus was "made perfect" through suffering. "But even thought he was God's Son, he learned through his sufferings to be obedient. When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him..."-Hebrews 5:8,9 (TEV)

Above all, God wants our pain and disappointments to drive us to Him. That is where the real blessing will come to us.

"We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose." - Romans *:28 (TEV)

Am I going to let God use my pain and disappointments in life? Or just complain about them?

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TODAY'S PROMISE

"You, LORD,
are all I have,
and you give me all I need;
my future is in your hands."
(Psalms 16:5 GNB)

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNB)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

THEY STILL DO IT

"Then the old prophet from Bethel said to him,

'I, too, am a prophet just like you,

and at the LORD'S command an angel told me

to take you home with me and offer 

you my hospitality.'

But the old prophet was lying."

(1 Kings 13:18 GNB)

You have heard it before,

"Figures do not lie.

But liars figure."

If you are familiar with this historical event,

you know that the good prophet believed the bad prophet.

And just as there were bad prophets back then,

they are with us today too.

In fact Jesus told us,

"Then many false prophets will appear

and fool many people."

(Matthew 24:11 GNB)

If you will look to see when this is all to be,

- it's in our day and age.

If you keep up with things in "the Christian world",

you know that many of the prophets in pulpits today 

are PROFITS.  Not prophets.

Photo of the motivating spirit of many prophets today.

Now I know that the "prophet" in your pulpit, preacher

in your pulpit, teacher or what ever, is an honest God 

fearing person.  One who would not lie to you if their 

life depended on it.  That is why you bother to sit still 

and listen to them.

But did you notice in our beginning Scripture that the

good profit believed the bad profit.  And it cost him

his life because he believed the bad prophet.

With all the bad prophets we have in this day and age,

what is the chance that "your good prophet" might at 

some point have believed a bad prophet???

It happens.

Especially if the teaching sounds good.

God gives us an example from the life of the apostle Paul 

we are supposed to follow.

"They listened to the message with great eagerness,

and every day they studied the Scriptures to see if what

Paul said was really true."

(Acts 17:11 GNB)

Of course you hear, and might check, the Scripture

texts that your "prophet" uses.  But have they been 

pulled out of context and arranged in an order that 

pleases them and you?

Have you compared them against the entire teaching

of God's word????

Your life may depend on it.

"Examine yourselves, to see whether you 

are holding to your faith.  Test yourselves.  ...."

(2 Corinthians 13:5 RSV)