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"Did not our heart burn within us . . . ?" - Luke
24:32
We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us,
fires are set ablaze, and we are given wonderful visions; but then we must learn
to maintain the secret of the burning heart— a heart that can go through
anything. It is the simple, dreary day, with its commonplace duties and people,
that smothers the burning heart— unless we have learned the secret of abiding in
Jesus.
Much of the distress we experience as Christians comes not as the result of sin,
but because we are ignorant of the laws of our own nature. For instance, the
only test we should use to determine whether or not to allow a particular
emotion to run its course in our lives is to examine what the final outcome of
that emotion will be. Think it through to its logical conclusion, and if the
outcome is something that God would condemn, put a stop to it immediately. But
if it is an emotion that has been kindled by the Spirit of God and you don’t
allow it to have its way in your life, it will cause a reaction on a lower level
than God intended. That is the way unrealistic and overly emotional people are
made. And the higher the emotion, the deeper the level of corruption, if it is
not exercised on its intended level. If the Spirit of God has stirred you, make
as many of your decisions as possible irrevocable, and let the consequences be
what they will. We cannot stay forever on the "mount of transfiguration,"
basking in the light of our mountaintop experience (see Mark 9:1-9 ). But we
must obey the light we received there; we must put it into action. When God
gives us a vision, we must transact business with Him at that point, no matter
what the cost.
We cannot kindle when we will The fire which in the heart resides, The spirit
bloweth and is still, In mystery our soul abides; But tasks in hours of insight
willed Can be through hours of gloom fulfilled.
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Daily Morning and Evening Devotionals by Spurgeon
Wisdom from the Desert Devotional
Daily Devotional with Oswald Chambers Archives
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