‘Is it well with you?’ (2 Kings 4:26)

Is Jesus precious to your soul? Are you mourning over sin or after the presence of your beloved Saviour? Are you strong in faith, giving glory to God? Are you desperate for communion with your heavenly Father? Is the world beneath your feet? Are you glowing with love to all the saints? Are you seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness? Are you lying at the feet of Jesus in trouble, crying ‘Lord, help me’?

If so, it is well with you: there is spiritual life in your soul, and the blessed Spirit is your teacher. But if the world is preferred to Jesus, earthly pleasures to fellowship with God, if self-examination is neglected and the Bible has become dry and unsavoury, it is not well.

Health of the soul is manifest by HABITUAL prayer, zeal in the Lord’s cause, an appetite for the bread of life and activity in the Lord’s ways. Is your soul sick? If so, apply at once to Jesus, as the great Physician; and plead with Him to restore to you the joys of His salvation, and to uphold you with His free Spirit. He will heal your backslidings and love you freely.

Tis well, my soul is fill’d with joy,
Though in myself a feeble worm;
For Jesus will His power employ,
And save my soul in every storm:
He will His gracious word fulfil,
And guard my soul from every ill.

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘My frames were very changeable, up and down, high and low, comfortable and depressed, now singing the praises of the Lord, and then sighing and crying like a prisoner under sentence of death. One morning, I arose very dull and dejected and was not well in health; but just as I opened the door to go to my labour, the sun shining full upon me, the following words came home, full of sweetness and power:

“Yes, and before we rise
To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss,
Should constant joys create.”