Here are #13--#24:
#13—“But how much greater is the
spiritual blessing we receive, both in this life and in the world to come, if
constrained by the love of Christ, we act as God’s stewards, respecting that,
with which He is pleased to entrust us!”
#14—“Our Heavenly Father never
takes any earthly thing from His children except He means to give them something better instead”.
Early in my Christian walk I
would have read this quote and believed that God would bless me like Job (Job
42:12-17). Now in my 23rd or 29th year as a Christian, I
understand that the blessing may or may
not be material, but it is always
spiritual.
#15—“We have to guard against practically despising the discipline of
the Lord, though we may not do so in word, and against fainting under
discipline; since all is intended for blessing to us”.
The reader must not have a
one-dimensional understanding of “fainting”. “Fainting” can mean wilting under
the heat of God’s discipline, which makes us frail and weak, blaming others and
playing the “victim card”. It can also mean “running from the discipline”,
internalizing the bitterness, so the Christian begins to rot from the inside
out, rather than experiencing the renewal of the inner man (Heb. 12:5-11; 2
Cor. 4:16-18).
#16—“In the whole work we desire
to stand with God, and not to depend
upon the favorable and unfavorable judgment of the multitude”.
How many mature Christians questioned and criticized the methods of George Müller? Quite a few I am sure.
Yet he would not succumb to the worldly seduction of man’s approval (John
12:42-43).
#17—“Weigh everything well; weigh
all in the light of the Holy Scriptures,
and in the fear of God”.
#18—“To ascertain the Lord’s will
we ought to use scriptural means. Prayer,
the word of God, and His Spirit should be united together”.
This “blend” was the secret to Müller’s strength.
#19—“Our happiness, our
usefulness, our living for God are often most intimately connected with our choice of a spouse”.
What if Müller’s wife did not agree with his conviction
regarding “voluntary poverty”? What if she would have said a few years into
marriage, “I didn’t sign up for this!” Would we be reading about George Müller
today? Probably not.
#20—“True godliness without a shadow of doubt, should be the first and
absolutely needful qualification, to a Christian, with regards to a companion
for life”.
I did not write in my blog about
the second Mrs. Müller.
She was a co-laborer with Müller (in the Orphan Houses) and her fruits of her godly
behavior had been observed for years. After the loss of the first Mrs. Müller,
he was lonely and desired a companion. Again, his accounts speak little of her
physical beauty, but her spiritual beauty was obvious, which made for an easy
decision. Young men, pray for a wife that is “sold out” to Christ. In the
meantime……go serve the Lord!
#21—“The very fact that day after
day, and year after year, for 29 years, the Lord has enabled me to continue,
patiently, believingly, to wait on Him for the blessing, still further encourages me to wait on”.
29 years! Have I prayed daily for
one year about anything? Müller
spent 52 years praying for the salvation of his brother. The parable of the
persistent widow makes a whole lot more sense after blogging after the life of
George Müller (Luke 18:1-9).
#22—“Most frequently we fail in
not continuing in prayer until the blessing is obtained and in not expecting
the blessing”.
#23—“It is common temptation of
Satan to make us give up the reading of the Word and prayer when our enjoyment
is gone; while the truth is, in order to enjoy the Word, we ought to continue
to read it, and the way to obtain a spirit of prayer is to continue praying;
for the less we read the word of God, the less we desire to read it, and the
less we pray, the less we desire to pray”.
Many young Christians need to
hear this quote of Müller.
How true this is! If Satan can’t take away eternal life, he certainly can
distract us and deceive us. Is this not simply another ploy of the Deceiver,
similar to his work in the Garden of Eden? Let us not be “ignorant of his
schemes” (2 Cor. 1:11)!
#24—“The word of God is our only
standard, and the Holy Spirit our only Helper”.
Simple words from a simple man. Thank
you God for saving and using George Müller in my life.
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