I absolutely love books written in the 1800's...and am more than ever delighted to say that I have truly found in one a great treasure! I am extremely floored by all of the things that the Lord has been teaching me recently. Over the past couple of years, my sister has been trying to get me to read this certain book that I have been highly unmotivated to start...until a few weeks ago! It has completely transformed my walk with the Lord, and as I read, I feel a desire to know Him, surrender to Him, and love Him more than I've ever desired before.
Questions I've long had have been answered through this and His faithful Word. He has enlightened me about Himself and His true character through this book, which has miraculously corresponded with my daily quiet time with Him. For a couple of years I have had intense struggles and challenges with understanding the deep things in our Christian walk; such as unwavering faith, true surrender, His will, and absolute trust. I've been convicted, rebuked, and taught much through reading this. Though it's been painful at times, it's been well worth it!
I highly, highly recommend the book, and have added some of my favorite quotes (though I must admit, I've underlined almost the entire book) as they would describe it's content better than I ever could. I pray that you're blessed, encouraged, and more importantly challenged in your walk as you read through these!
The Christians Secret of a Happy Life ~ by Hannah Whitall Smith
'No thoughtful person can question the fact that, for the most part, the Christian life, as it is generally lived, is not entirely a happy life...the religion of Christ ought to be, and was meant to be, to its possessors, not something to make them miserable, but something to make them happy...All of God's children, I am convinced, feel instinctively, in their moments of divine illumination, that a life of inward rest and outward victory is their inalienable birthright'
'It is a fact beyond question that there are two kinds of Christian experience, one of which is an experience of bondage, and the other an experience of liberty...in the first, the Christian is a servant, and works for hire; in the second he is a son, and works for love.'
'Can we, for a moment, suppose that the holy God, who hates sin in the sinner, is willing to tolerate it in the Christian, and that He has even arranged the plan of salvation in such a way as to make it impossible for those who are saved from the guilt of sin to find deliverance from its power?'
'The maturity of a Christian experience cannot be reached in a moment, but is the result of the work of God's Holy Spirit, who, by His energizing and transforming power, causes us to grow up into Christ in all things.'
'All that we claim, then, in this life of sanctification is that by an act of faith we put ourselves into the hands of the Lord, for Him to work in us all the good pleasure of His will, and then, by a continuous exercise of faith, keep ourselves there...in the divine order, God's working depends upon our cooperation. Of our Lord it was declared that at a certain place He could do there no mighty work because of their unbelief. It was not that He would not, but He could not. I believe we often think of God that He will not, when the real truth is that He cannot.'
'This life hid with Christ: its chief characteristics are an entire surrender to the Lord, and a perfect trust in Him, resulting in victory over sin and inward rest of soul...Your part is simply to rest. His part is to sustain you; and He cannot fail...It is no speculative theory, neither is it a dream of romance. There is such a thing as having one's soul kept in perfect peace, now and here in this life; and childlike trust in God is the key to it's attainment.'
'The first step you must take in order to enter into the life hid with Christ in God is that of entire consecration...faith is the next thing after surrender.'
'If our Father permits a trial to come, it must be because the trial is the sweetest and best thing that could happen to us, and we must accept it with thanks from His dear hand. This does not mean that we must like or enjoy the trial itself, but that we must like God's will in the trial; and it is not hard to do this when we have learned to know that His will is the will of love, and is therefore always lovely.'
'It seems strange that people whose very name of Believers implies that their one chiefest characteristic is that they believe, should have to confess that they have doubts.'
