Whispers of His Power – OCTOBER 15

Mark 11.21:  And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto Him, Master, behold, the fig tree which Thou cursedst is withered away.

‘Half the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not.’  George Macdonald said that.  The fig tree did that on Monday, (Mark 11.12-14).  On Tuesday it was dried up from the roots.

The disciples had a chance then to learn, not only what faith in God meant, but also what a tremendous thing in His sight insincerity is.  The fruitless tree in full leaf was a picture of that, for when a fig is in full leaf we may expect fruit.  The story is full of meaning for us who have to help others.  We cannot give them what we have not got ourselves.  We may seem to be able to give, but they will soon discover whether or not there are figs under our leaves.  If there are none, the awful penalty is to dry up from the roots – that is to be unable to give anything to anyone.

God save us from that.  It need never be our fate.  The blessed opposite of the fig-tree story is the parable of the Vine in John 15.1-5.

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.