Whispers of His Power – FEBRUARY 28

The Lord is for me (margin).  What can man do unto me?  Nothing.  Nothing that really matters.  Nothing that can do any harm.  Nothing that will not be turned to golden good.

Sometimes we feel as though man could do a great deal.  A perverse child can cloud a whole day.  The sight of deadly sin, injustice and suffering can overwhelm us.  And deeper things, the inward assaults of the never-resting foe (though he is not man but stronger than man) can seem to do appalling things.

But still the word stands, the question that can have only one answer.  The Lord is for me.  What can man do unto me?

Nothing.

And to another question there is only one answer.  When He giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?

No one.

However things seem, the answers to those two questions are among the things that cannot be shaken.

Whispers of His Power – FEBRUARY 29

Eph. 4.25: Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

All the different translations bring out clearly the ‘for’ of Ephesians 4.25.  Not, ‘That we may be united, let us be truthful with one another’ – which would be a natural and sensible way to put it – but because ‘We are as it were parts of one another’ (Weymouth) let us be sincere.

This sort of sincerity is searching, but it leads straight to the most restful thing in all the world:  perfect confidence in one another.

oooOOOooo

These words are from ’Whispers of His Power’ a collection of writings that Amy Carmichael wrote for her ‘children’ and others associated with the Dohnavur Fellowship. and are Copyright © The Dohnavur Fellowship 1982

Unless otherwise stated, biblical quotations are from the Authorized King James Version of the Bible.

The following abbreviations are used to refer to other versions and sources:

BCP:               Book of Common Prayer, the Great Bible of Coverdale

Conybeare:       W. J. Conybeare, The Epistles of Paul (a translation)

Delitzsch:        F. Delitzsch, Notes on Job and the Psalms

Kay:                W. Kay, The Psalms (a translation)

LXX:              The Septuagint

Moffatt:           J. Moffatt, The New Testament: a new translation

Rotherham:      J. B. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible Revised Version

RV:                 Revised Version

Way:              A. Way, The Letters of St Paul (a translation)

Westcott:        F. Westcott, Notes on the Gospel of St John

Weymouth:      R. F. Weymouth, The New Testament in Modern Speech

Young:            R. Young, A Literal Translation of the Bible

Verses of poetry without quotation marks were written by Amy Carmichael.