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?

I see in it the possibility of a life of constant victory—not up today in heights of blessedness, and down in the depths tomorrow. This is a steady life. It is the life that has been established and settled by the God of all grace.

“Above only” is a position of victory, too. It is that position which is ours in Christ Jesus. “Alive with Christ. . . . in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5–6). “Your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).

When we lived in Alexandria, Egypt, we used to see some fierce squalls of wind and rain, which lashed the sea into fury. The great buoys in the harbor would be covered with spray and foam, but when the wind died down again they were still there in their places, unmoved and steady.

“Above only” for they had that within them which kept them on the top. And have we not power within us, too, which should insure our triumph? Let us absolutely refuse to come down to live and work on a lower level.

A MISSIONARY’S TESTIMONY

“Far above all” (Ephesians 1:21).

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?

Have you, dear friend, taken up your true position for Jesus? Too many are silent because diffident, if not cowardly. Should we allow the name of the Lord Jesus to be kept in the background? Should our religion drag along as a tail? Should it not rather lead the way and be the ruling force with ourselves and others?