COMMUNION WITH GOD
Related Index Topics: Communion With God; Prayer, Prayer Life, Rest in the Lord, Love for God, First Place.
1. In a sermon on "Enoch walked with God," Dr. Campbell Morgan gave the following illustration:
A little child gave a most exquisite explanation of walking with God. She went home from Sunday school, & the mother said, "Tell me what you learned at school."
And she said: "Don't you know, Mother, one day they went for an extra long walk, & they walked on & on, until God said to Enoch. 'You are a long way from home; you had better just come in & stay.' And he went."
2. At cool of day, with God I walk
My garden's grateful shade;
I hear His voice among the trees,
And I am not afraid.
He speaks to me in every wind,
He smiles from every star;
He is not deaf to me, nor blind,
Nor absent, nor afar.
His hand that shuts the flowers to sleep,
Each in its dewy fold,
Is strong my feeble life to keep,
And competent to hold.
The powers below & powers above,
Are subject to His care--
I cannot wander from His Love
Who loves me everywhere.
Thus dowered, & guarded thus, with Him
I walk this peaceful shade;
I hear His voice among the trees,
And I am not afraid.
--Caroline Atherton Mason (1823-1890)
3. The Christian has to live in the World, but he must draw all his resources from outside of the World.
4. One of Satan's methods today is to start so many organisations in a church that the members have no time for communion with God.
5. There is too much working before men & too little waiting before God. There is more & more motion, & less & less unction.
6. The Lord is my Teacher;
I shall not lose the way to wisdom.
He leadeth me in the lowly path of learning.
He prepareth a lesson for me every day.
He findeth the clear fountain of instruction.
Little by little He showeth me the beauty of Truth.
The World is a great book that He has written,
He turneth the pages for me slowly;
They are all inscribed with images & letters--
His voice poureth light on the pictures & the words
Then am I glad when I perceive His meaning.
He taketh me by the hand to the hilltop of wisdom,
In the valley, also, He walketh beside me
And in the dark places He whispereth in my heart.
Yea, tho' my lesson be hard, it is not hopeless,
For the Lord is very patient with His slow scholar.
He will wait awhile for my weakness--
He will help me to read the Truth thru' tears.
Surely Thou wilt enlighten me daily by joy & by sorrow,
And lead me at last, O Lord, to the perfect knowledge of Thee.
--Henry Van Dyke
7. The more a person is satisfied with Christ, the more he will find his satisfaction in satisfying Him.
8. The life rooted with God cannot be uprooted.
9. In an effort to get the work of the Lord done, we often lose contact with the Lord of the work.
10. Our ability to stay with God in our closet measures our ability to stay with God out of the closet.
11. None reverence the Lord more than they who know Him best.--William Cowper
12. How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak!--Francois Fenelon
13. One man with a glowing experience of God is worth a library full of arguments.
14. Nothing is more dreadful for a sinner nor more wonderful for a Christian than to be alone with God.
15. We must live a life of communion with God, even while our conversation is with the World.
16. How can you expect to keep your powers of hearing when you never want to listen? That God should have time for you, you seem to take as much for granted, as that you cannot have time for Him.
--Dag Hammarskjold
17. There is a place where thou canst touch the eyes
Of blinded men, to instant perfect sight.
There is a place where thou canst say, Arise,
To dying captives bound in chains of night.
There is a place where thou canst reach the store
Of hoarded gold & free it for the Lord.
There is a place upon some distant shore
Where thou canst send a worker or the Word.
There is a place where Heaven's resistless power
Responsive moves to thine insistent plea.
There is a place, a silent trusting hour,
Where God Himself descends & fights for thee.
Where is that blessed place?
Dost thou ask where?
Oh friend, it is the secret place of prayer!
18. Sometimes I do not even pray in words,
I take my heart in my two hands
And hold it up before the Lord,
I'm so glad He understands.
Sometimes I do not even pray in words,
My spirit bows before His feet,
And with His hand upon my head
We hold communion, silent, sweet.
Sometimes I do not pray in words,
For I am tired & long for rest,
My heart finds all it wants & needs
Just resting on the Saviour's breast.
19. One late afternoon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wanting to be alone, I entered a strange cathedral & sat down amid the silence & semi-darkness. It was a gloomy place at that hour. The stained glass windows were especially forbidding. Presently a caretaker approached me, & thinking he wished me to leave so that he could lock up, I started to go. "Oh no," he whispered, "don't go until the lights come on!" So I waited. The room became darker, the shadows deepened, the windows were ugly & repelling & I wanted so much to leave. Then suddenly the street lights came on in full & the whole scene was changed!
What a transformation! I thought I had never seen such exquisite colouring, such Heavenly suggestiveness as the windows gave forth in their wonderful colouring! Everything was enhanced with unearthly beauty that fed my soul, & I wanted to capture & keep it forever!
Then I thought of the darkness which had shrouded many times my spirit, & how inexplicably it can vanish with the joy of the Lord coming in & His light flooding the soul. "The Lord will lighten my darkness!" I had learned a secret from that old caretaker, yes I had!--Don't go until the lights come on!--Francis E. Seaworth
20. In the secret of His presence, how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint & thirsty, 'neath the shadow of His wing
There is cool & pleasant shelter, & a fresh & crystal spring;
And my Saviour rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet;
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet.
Only this I know; I tell Him all my doubts, my griefs & fears:
Oh, how patiently He listens! And my drooping soul He cheers:
Do you think He ne'er reproves me? What a false friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go & hide beneath His shadow: This shall then be your reward;
And whene'er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
You will bear the shining image of the Master in your face!
--Ellen Lakshmi Goreh