Whispers of His Power – OCTOBER 27

2 Tim. 2.3-4:  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;  that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

Père Didon, who died at Toulouse in 1900, wrote letters to prepare and strengthen a woman for work among little girls.  A few years later, after great public service, and much suffering, he gave himself to the education of young boys.  This is what he wrote about those who wanted to work for the Lord among children:

‘I do not want people who come to me under certain reservations.  In battle you need soldiers who fear nothing.  Enlarge yourself then, and may noble sacrifices never appear to you too burdensome.  Tear yourself away from self – that is the work of the strong.  The really great hearts are those who have learned to forget self.  So long as one is occupied with self, one is petty and unworthy of Christ who humbled Himself even unto death to prove how much He loved us.

‘Never say to yourself, “It is enough”, but keep rising higher.  Feelings are of very little value;  the will is everything.  God will not take you to task for your feelings, for it is not within the power of man to ward them off, or allay them.  That which God looks at in the human soul is the will.  The only thing that lies within our power is to will, to love.  That is what Christ wants of us, that is the important thing.  He reckons us only according to the measure of our will and our love.’

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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.