From J. C. Philpot's Daily Portions
October 16 "Your words were found, and I ate them; and your word was
unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by your name, O
Lord God of hosts." Jeremiah 15:16 There is a sweetness in the promises which captivates the
heart; a beauty in Christ which wins the soul; a saving unction and power in
the word of God, when applied, which draws forth toward it every secret and
sacred affection. Can you not sometimes look up and say, "Blessed Jesus, I
do love you?" And when the word of God is opened up, applied, and made sweet
and precious, have you not felt sometimes as if you could kiss the sacred
page, as conveying such sweetness into your soul? This is embracing a
promise in love--throwing our arms round it, drawing it near to our breast,
kissing it again and again with kisses of love and affection, and taking
that sweet delight in it with which the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
as now all his own--at times almost lost, but now wooed and won, no more to
be parted. This is rejoicing in the word of God, delighting in a blessed
Jesus and in the promises which testify of, and center in him. Have you not felt these sweet embracements in your soul
of the truth as it is in Jesus as so precious, so suitable, so encouraging,
and so adapted to every need and woe? Then you are a believer; then you are
a child of God; then there is a work of grace upon your heart; then you know
the truth for yourself by divine teaching and divine testimony. You may
still not have had that full deliverance, that blessed revelation, that
overpowering manifestation whereby all your doubts and fears have been swept
away, and your soul settled in a firm enjoyment of the liberty of the
gospel. You may have had it or may have had it not. But if you have this
character stamped upon you that you have seen the promises afar off and been
persuaded of them, and embraced them in faith, hope, and love, you have a
mark of being a partaker of the faith of God's elect