Fellowship with Jesus lies not alone in pleasurable emotions; you must learn it in suffering and in service.
The oblation of the cross is perpetuated, carried on—not materially, but spiritually—in every heart, in every life which is consecrated to a crucified Jesus and to His suffering cause.
Happy the heart to whom God has given enough strength and courage to suffer for Him, to find happiness in simplicity and the happiness of others.
In our weakness, His strength is ours. In our conflicts, His victories are ours. In our bereavements and sorrows, His grace is ours. He had not where to lay His weary head, that we might have His bosom on which to lean our fevered brows. He endured the cross, and despised the shame, that, instead of weeping and wailing, we might share His immortal blessedness.
To know Jesus Christ for ourselves is to make Him a consolation, delight, strength, righteousness, companion, and end.
He came down even to the grave, and became the dead One for me. I believe in Him, and, as one with Him, I leap at one bound straight out of my grave up to His throne. "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." This is not a matter of feeling, but all a matter of faith, merely apprehending the grace of God, "I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."
