Deuteronomy 28:13

This verse came to me first as a very real message from God in a time of great pressure. We had fourteen guests in the Mission house and were almost without domestic help. I had, perforce, to lay aside correspondence and other duties and give my time and attention to cooking and housework, and was feeling the strain.

Then God’s Word spoke to me with power: “Thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath,” and in a moment I saw there was no need to go under—no need to be overwhelmed by my circumstances. No need to trouble because it seemed as if I could not get through and my ordinary work was getting in arrears—somehow, I could be above it all! “Above only, and not beneath.” How often I used to say as I went about my kitchen, “I refuse to go down,” and how the lesson I learned in those difficult days has been an inspiration ever since. Do you wonder that Deuteronomy 28:13 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible?

If we obey the Lord, He will compel our adversaries to see that His blessing rests upon us. Though this be a promise of the law, yet it stands good to the people of God; for Jesus has removed the curse, but He has established the blessing.

It is for saints to lead the way among men by holy influence: they are not to be the tail, to be dragged hither and thither by others. We must not yield to the spirit of the age, but compel the age to do homage to Christ. If the Lord be with us, we shalt not crave toleration for religion, but we shall seek to seat it on the throne of society. Has not the Lord Jesus made His people priests? Surely they are to teach and must not be learners from the philosophies of unbelievers. Are we not in Christ made kings to reign upon the earth? How, then can we be the servants of custom, the slaves of human opinion?