Whispers of His Power – JUNE 22

Gen. 41.51-52:  And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh (Forgetting):  For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil… And the name of the second called he Ephraim (Fruitful):  For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

Phil 3.13-14:  Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark.

‘Forgetting; fruitful.’  The word ‘forgetting’ takes us to Philippians 3.13.  As we grow older the adversary reminds us of how much more we used to do, of things we cannot do now, of joys we must lay down.  The word of release then is ‘Forgetting, reaching forth, I press on’.

There are times when we are tempted to remember and brood over the trials of the past.  Sometimes we feel broken-hearted over unkind words and misunderstandings.  It helps then to remember our dear Lord’s words (Ps. 35.11):  False witnesses did rise up;  they laid to My charge things that I knew not. Let us never forget what He said to His disciples after He had washed their feet, The servant is not greater than his Lord (John 13.16).

As we, by His grace, ‘forget’ and reach forth and press on, He turns our forgetting into fruitfulness.  The sap in us is free to flow, not round and round ourselves, but out into leaf and bud and flower and fruit, to His glory and to the help of others.

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.