(Written after her husband's death.)
I am thine, and all that I have (1 Kings 20:4)
A LITTLE WHILE SINCE, dear Lord, you did permit me to sign a contract for the building of a House of Prayer to the honour of your Name. This morning, on the table of my heart there rests another covenant, one I would gladly renew with you, and to which I pray you to set your seal and signature. O my Lord, come near, I beg you; look down with your great love upon me as I write these solemn words, 'I AM THINE, AND ALL THAT I HAVE', and let my soul hear your tender response, 'I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.'
There is nothing on earth, O Lord, you know, that I desire so much as to be absolutely surrendered to you and to your service, I want to fullest spiritual blessing you can see fit to give me; and to obtain this, I do gladly yield up body, soul, and spirit - all I am and have - into your loving hands, that you may reign over, and rule within me as my absolute King and Master.
Do you ask me if I have counted the cost? Yes, Lord, it means, 'I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.' This is the cost, but your grace is sufficient to meet it, and to fill your child's heart with joy unspeakable at the thought that she is no longer her own, but 'bought with a price.'
'I am thine.' Who has so great a right to me as you have? Created by you, I belong of necessity to him who made me. Daily preserved by you, the life you maintain ought to be consecrated to your service. But the closest tie of all is that you have loved me, redeemed me from death, purchased me with the price of your own blood, and thus bound me to yourself for ever.
O love amazing and divine, why did you do all this for one so unlovely and unworthy? It is but another instance of 'Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight', and, since it has pleased you to be thus gracious, and you have made it possible for me to say, 'I am thine', it must naturally follow that I should add, 'and all that I have', laying every possession and power at your dear feet; for what have I, Lord, of anything good or excellent which is not your own gift to me?
I pray you to grant that my surrender may be real, practical, and complete; not in word only, but in deed and in truth, not simply a spiritual submission, which might be counted easy and pleasant, but that constant denial of self and its pleadings, that keeping under of the body, and bringing it into subjection, which I find so difficult to attain.
If you have given me but one talent, may that be so used as to bring the greatest interest of glory to you! My time must not be aimlessly frittered away, or employed for self-indulgence but every hour should bear on its fast flying wings the witness of something said, or done, or thought, for you, my Master, or your service. My money all belongs to you, and every coin of it should be spent, as in your sight, and with your approval. I pray that you would enable me in this matter to render a good account of my stewardship. Deliver me from the evil of looking on gold as a gift, to be used at my will and pleasure, instead of receiving it from you as a sacred loan or trust to be employed and expended only for your glory. Be it much or little which bestow on me, help me from my heart to say, 'All that I have is thine.'
O my pitiful Lord, you will remember that my dearest and most precious possession is already in your safe keeping, and that you have long since taught me, by a sorrowful experience, to measure earth's losses by heaven's gain!
Yes, Lord, I can bless you that you have but removed my treasure into your own treasury, and gathered my priceless jewel into your own regalia. 'Of Thine own have I given Thee' when resigning into your arms that most dearly beloved one who is now with you in the glory. Dear Lord, in taking him (her husband, Charles), you seem to have taken ALL THAT I HAVE, so that it is no longer a question of 'surrender', but only of quiet, happy submission, as your will daily unfolds itself, and directs my work and my way.
Lord, keep me ever thus in the secret hiding-place of your love, 'as having nothing, yet possessing all things'; it is safe a shelter for a weary, waiting soul, and so blessed a way of being made ready for the coming inheritance!
From Susannah Spurgeon's devotional book 'Free Grace and Dying Love'In the precious Name which is above every name, I come to inquire--Is it well with you? Does the vine flourish, and the tender grape appear? (Song 6:11) and do you find the savor of the Beloved's ointments give a very good fragrance? Is Jesus increasingly precious, more than ever desirable? Is He, in your esteem, better than rubies, and all the things that may lawfully be desired not to be compared to Him? Is the Holy Spirit sharpening your appetite for this Bread of Life, so that with more ardent longings you are saying, "None but Jesus!"
Is the Holy Spirit sharpening your appetite for this Bread of Life, so that with more ardent longings you are saying, "None but Jesus!"
When He is in the right place, other things will be so; it is His rising in the soul that makes them sink to their proper level. And oh! He is so worthy, so suitable, so altogether lovely--we cannot prize Him too much, or hold Him too fast, or lean on Him too heavily. My highest praise of Him is far below His worth; but through rich grace, I, a vile sinner, have tasted and handled of this precious Word of life, and found such blessed benefit, such soul-invigoration, that I want to set others longing for these royal dainties!
we cannot prize Him too much, or hold Him too fast, or lean on Him too heavily. My highest praise of Him is far below His worth
Perhaps I might think that the Lord will do His own work, and I am only meddling in vain, if I did not read in His Holy Word about "exhorting one another," and "stirring up pure minds by way of remembrance." But, as these things are there, I venture; and if by many poor attempts I may be used to stir up but one warm loving remembrance of Him, I shall be thankful.
Satan is ever striving to divert the mind from this blessed Object. He will allure or alarm, he will use what is pleasing or painful, anything to keep the soul from delighting in Jesus, from looking unto Jesus, and believing in Him for life and salvation. Nevertheless, all those who are ordained unto eternal life shall believe in spite of his efforts, and all those in eternal union with Christ shall close with Him by living faith. Cords of love shall entwine, and ropes of kindness shall draw--until the poor soul is brought into conscious union with the Beloved, and can say, "He loved me, and gave Himself for me!"
the blood which CLEANSES is Heaven's royal bounty, for freely did it flow from the veins of heaven's King
Oh, the blessed provisions and securities of the everlasting covenant, which is ordered in all things, and sure! Not only are all things made ready, but the soul is made willing to receive them; the appetite given, and the required garment put on. (Isa. 61:10) The precious Savior is a free gift, and the faith which receives Him is a free gift also; the blood which CLEANSES is Heaven's royal bounty, for freely did it flow from the veins of heaven's King, and the application of it is Heaven's sole prerogative. By mercy, not by merit, do all the blessings come. This salvation is for the poor, and the poor only--and they must be stripped even of their rags! It is not enough to confess that their rags are filthy and worthless--they must be parted with, and this necessity touches very closely the heart of the 'old Adam'. But all must go, that Christ may wear the crown—that he who glories may glory in the Lord our righteousness.
How is it with you, my beloved? Are you stripped of your own righteousness, emptied, and bankrupt? If so, I hail you blessed, for "the poor have the gospel preached to them;" and it is written, "When they had nothing to pay, he graciously forgave them both." Nothing to pay! how our proud flesh does murmur and complain, and only wish that it had something to bring! But why? "He has magnified the law and made it honorable." He has endured every stripe that justice required, paying every farthing the creditor demanded, and that in Heaven's own coin, for "without shedding of blood is no remission of sin." His pure blood was freely shed that sin might be honorably remitted.
"The soul that sins--it shall die." He dies, "the just for the unjust, to bring us to God;" and when at the close of His work He cried aloud, "It is finished," there was not a voice heard in heaven, earth, or hell to contradict him. Take courage, then, my beloved; we can afford to be poor with such "unsearchable riches in Christ!" All He is and has is ours, for "my Beloved is mine, and I am His." "All things are yours, for you are Christ's, and Christ is God's." He is "Head over all things to His body the Church."
"Ah! but," say you, "I want to know more clearly that He is mine. I want personal application and appropriation." Well, this is not unlawful coveting; go on longing, for this very same Jesus "satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." You want to know your sonship? "We are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;" faith is the manifestation of sonship, and by it we come to the enjoyment of family privileges. Living faith is the gift of God, and "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."
While Rebekah was listening to Abraham's servant, there was a moving of her heart towards his master's son, for when asked if she would so quickly leave all for him, she said, "I will go." So, perhaps, while you are hearing of the "things which are Jesus Christ's," the Holy Spirit will be kindling love and longing in your soul, bringing it to believe and venture. May the blessed Comforter speedily make you as willing as Rebekah, and work in you the same obedience of faith. She went forth, and her faith was not in vain--she found her husband. So shall you; for eternity will never unfold all the love, loveliness, and glories of our wonderful Emmanuel! Oh, I do want to know more of them here, and thus have all the things of earth bedimmed!
Sweet Testifier of Jesus! O Wind Divine! "awake," and "come," and blow away the dust of earth, and clouds of flesh and sense, which seem to come between us and our souls' Beloved, revealing Him in warmer love, more manifested union, and more endeared communion. Oh, make us walk in Him!
"Closer and closer may we cleave To His beloved embrace, Expect His fullness to receive, And grace to answer grace."
If for Jesus you pine, come and beseech Him for more of His love. Come, O Beloved! into the garden of our souls; breathe upon the graces of Your own Spirit there, that the spices may flow forth for Your regaling.
If for Jesus you pine, come and beseech Him for more of His love. Come, O Beloved! into the garden of our souls; breathe upon the graces of Your own Spirit there, that the spices may flow forth for Your regaling. Eat, O Beloved! Your own pleasant fruits, and give us, Your unworthy ones, to find Your fruits sweet to our taste—the fruits of Your love, of Your doing, of Your suffering! Give us to feast on Your rich fruits—to eat, by faith, Your flesh and blood, and thus live by You. (John 6:57) Say to us, "Eat, O friends! drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved!" for Your "biddings are enablings." Amen. (Eph. 20, 21.)
Now if there should be one drop of living water for your refreshment in this little vessel, give God the praise. To Him I commend you in love.
I greet you with a sincere heart; welcome to the unspeakable delights of union with the King of kings, the most high and mighty Prince, Emmanuel, the Lord of Hosts, the King of Glory! Your song of love has made my heart as an open fountain, so that I have wept abundantly, in sincere joy, to find another love-stricken soul who, separated from all besides, shall know the blissfulness of absorption in the Beloved.
Your song of love has made my heart as an open fountain, so that I have wept abundantly, in sincere joy, to find another love-stricken soul who, separated from all besides, shall know the blissfulness of absorption in the Beloved.Surely this Well-Beloved has "put in his hand by the hole of the door," and my affections are moved for Him and for you; so that I must respond, though in feeble strains, to love's own language, which my heart knows right well, triumphantly exclaiming, "It is the voice of my Beloved, He is "white and ruddy, the chief among ten thousand," "Yes, he is altogether lovely!" (Song 5:10, 16) He has borne away my heart and my heart's affections; and, now, love and the Beloved are my most delightful theme.
I had not time, my dearest Amelia, to pour out all my heart’s fullness this morning, and whether there will be a renewal of it is known to Him who opens and no man shuts, who shuts and no man opens, who can turn water into wine, and poverty into plenty. This has been a blissful day to me, heaven begun, and glory antedated. At times you have been very near me, and perhaps, if I knew more of spirit blending with spirit, and soul communing with soul, we might have enjoyed it more fully. I wish to wait quietly upon the Lord for the further unfolding of His blissful secrets, and revealing of His glorious Person. And here my heart bounds with delight, for it is the Person of Christ that ravishes my soul, and has made me a willing captive to His matchless charms!
“All human beauties, all divine, In my Beloved meet and shine.”
Perfect humanity, ineffable divinity, one glorious Person, our all-lovely Emmanuel. The union between this matchless One and ourselves is double: we are joined to Him by one Spirit, so that when born of the Spirit we partake of His nature, and He for very love took a body like our own. “Forasmuch as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,” and thus “we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones,” and it is blessedly written, “They are no more two—but one flesh.” “This is a great mystery—but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”
To take Christ for His own sake is a secret worth worlds, and has in it that other secret, "rejoicing in the Lord always."This morning I had not heard your letter to dear Anne. She has this evening read it to me. It is delicious to my spiritual taste, savory meat, such as my soul loves. The Lord your God brought it unto you and me, to Him therefore be all the glory. Fear not the loss of joyous sensations, my very dear friend; your precious Husband and His love will be ever the same, and you will come in sweet reciprocal love to such devotedness to Himself, that you will, as it were, lay down His smile, and His shine, and His kiss, and His benefits at His dear feet, and seek His glory above them, and say--Honor Yourself by me, rather than please me with these. When you have thus left them for Him, you will find them most richly and continuously in Him. To take Christ for His own sake is a secret worth worlds, and has in it that other secret, "rejoicing in the Lord always." I know not whether I am clear to you—but must finish.
Accept warm love from the warmed heart of your dearly affectionate, Ruth, the happy gleaner.
P.S.—I should tell you, my beloved Amelia, that I have had rich enjoyment in dear Madame Guyon. I do not think her views quite correct in some points; but in others I have been astonished to find her speak my very secrets, known only between the beloved and my soul. She was a kindred spirit, and drank deeply of Love’s pure stream; yes, she at length lived at the Fountainhead. After going quite through, I regaled myself with delight here and there among her precious things.
I have had rich enjoyment in dear Madame Guyon. I do not think her views quite correct in some points; but in others I have been astonished to find her speak my very secrets, known only between the beloved and my soul.At times I was enraptured to find one in mortality pouring forth such pure strains of divine love, until at length one evening, while thus engaged, it was as if the Beloved of my soul gently beckoned me away from her, saying--Come to Me, and receive it first hand. You will be sure the invitation was welcome. I immediately closed the book, and have not opened it since; for "His lips are like lilies, dropping sweet smelling myrrh;" "the law of his mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver," and to hear of Himself from Himself is better than any instrumentality whatever.
Do you know, beloved friend, this is the way the Lord has ever dealt with me–He Himself has been my dear instructor; most frequently without any creature. Gal. 1:12, is my very own verse, “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it—but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” He has powerfully spoken to me, too, from 2 Sam. 9:7, “You shall eat bread at my table continually.” How blessed to sit at the King’s table, to see Him, to hear Him, to learn of Him. Oh! indeed, I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than dwell and fare sumptuously in the tents of wickedness. My heart says, “Let your handmaid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my Lord.”
I have thought of you in your last bereavement; you now know a little of my anguish—the lonely bed, the lonely meal, the vacant chair, etc. But Jesus makes up for all these, does He not? To His dear heart of love, and arm of power, I now commend you, and in Him rest in bonds indissoluble.
Your ever-affectionate, Ruth
Very full blessings has the Lord vouchsafed to me during the past week, and my glorious Christ has been to me "a place of broad rivers and streams" in this dry and thirsty land. He has sweetly manifested Himself to me on Mount Ebal, in reading Deut. 27. The blessed Spirit seemed to show me that Calvary was Mount Ebal to me, where I sit in the dust at the foot of the cross, hearing the solemn thunderings of the law, "Cursed, cursed, cursed," which I have thoroughly deserved. But beholding them fall short of me, and rest upon my adorable Surety—the suffering Lamb sacrificed for us.
I sit in the dust at the foot of the cross, hearing the solemn thunderings of the law, "Cursed, cursed, cursed," which I have thoroughly deserved. But beholding them fall short of me, and rest upon my adorable Surety—the suffering Lamb sacrificed for us.
Oh, what blessedness flowed into my soul! it seemed as if Mount Ebal had become Mount Gerizim. My precious Bridegroom was made a curse for me, and every open vein seemed as a mouth proclaiming to me "Blessed, blessed, blessed," in time and eternity. Then did I feelingly understand how on Mount Ebal we eat and drink by faith the flesh and blood of our Paschal Lamb, and rejoice before the Lord, and find the peace-offering in the place of curses (verse 6, 7), which is just where we need it. Truly, here our Father supplies our need "according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
I have also been richly enjoying those two expressive words, "in Christ." Throughout eternity, we shall never fathom the depth or reach the height of that blessedness. O Lord, grant me further entrance into it now. Exercise me in the written Word by the Spirit, showing me therein the Incarnate Word.
Open my dull understanding to discern You through the types and through the shadows. Show Yourself through these lattices, and open my heart to receive You experimentally in all, and my mouth to show forth Your praise everywhere.
Adorable Immanuel, Moses wrote of You, the Psalms and prophets speak of You. Open my dull understanding to discern You through the types and through the shadows. Show Yourself through these lattices, and open my heart to receive You experimentally in all, and my mouth to show forth Your praise everywhere. Bodily strength increases, I do long to devote it to You. "Eternity will be too short to utter half Your praise." Oh, cause me to lisp it more constantly and feelingly in the low notes of the wilderness!
To E. M., 1854.
"But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself!" Hebrews 9:26
Dearly-beloved friend,
These rich words still follow me. That word "sin" feels weighty to a sensible sinner. But oh! that word "Himself!" seems a million times more weighty! "Himself!" the mighty God, the precious Man Christ Jesus! "Himself!" by whom all things were created, and for whom they exist! "Himself!" whose smile is heaven, whose frown is hell; whom all angels worship, and all devils obey! "Himself!" the sacrifice! Such another could not be found! Sins deep as hell and high as heaven cannot overmatch it, for it is infinite! Sins of scarlet and crimson dye cannot resist its power, for it makes them whiter than snow. See as as much as you can of the vileness of self, and the demerit of sin--yet "Himself," a bleeding sacrifice, exceeds it all! Here is the sweet-smelling savor, or savor of rest, both to the Lawgiver and the lawbreaker. The Lawgiver is honored, the lawbreaker is saved!
See how He stands most lovingly, as with open arms, saying to every laboring, weary, heavy-laden sinner, "Come!" "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest." "I still receive sinners, to the uttermost I save them, and never am weary of healing their backslidings, forgiving all their iniquities, and multiplying pardons as they multiply transgressions against Me. I blot all out with My blood, and love them freely and forever." Sinner, will not this suffice? It will if the Spirit applies it--and opens in a little measure Himself and His sacrifice in contrast to yourself and your sins. It will take eternity to know it fully; but that your heart may find rest and refreshing in it now, is the affectionate prayer of
His gleaner, Ruth