THE MAJESTY OF CALMNESS
Forty Days of Devotions on Calming the Soul
William George Jordan’s book, The Majesty of Calmness, has been called a Christian classic. I’ve read the book a few times and had it in my library for years. I must admit, however, that it has always fallen short of my expectations. It is its lack of Christ-centeredness that leaves me unsatisfied. Jordan appears to me to be looking in the wrong place for the serenity of the soul. He emphasizes self-confidence and self-reliance rather than confidence in Christ and reliance upon Him. If you ask me, there is no surer way to keep your soul in perpetual upheaval than to live your life looking to yourself rather than to Christ.
In spite of my dissatisfaction with Jordan’s supposed Christian classic, the theme of his book has always intrigued me. Since my first baby steps on the walk of faith, I’ve been intrigued by the calmness that characterized our Lord’s earthly sojourn. No matter the circumstances that surrounded Him or the situation He found Himself in, the majesty of calmness was always on perfect display in the life of Christ. Whereas we may expect calmness to personify the life of the Son of God, the Scripture presents us with a plethora of glimpses of this same majesty of calmness in the lives of the people of God. When we add to these scriptural examples the fact that Christ lived His earthly life as a perfect example for us to follow, we are forced to conclude that the majesty of calmness is not an unscalable spiritual summit reserved only for our Redeemer, but one that is also possible for us to ascend.
There is, as there always has been, but a remnant of the redeemed who aspire to live high where the air is rare. Most Christians are spiritual lowlanders, content to live out their Christian lives in spiritual gullies and gorges. Few ever aspire to acquire a calmness of the soul that enables them to live above it all. Unlike the hymn writer, most modern-day Christians have no desire to “scale the utmost height” in order to “catch a gleam of glory bright.”
How about you? Would you like to scale the utmost height and catch a gleam of glory bright? Would you like to have a calmness of the soul that is invulnerable to outward circumstances? Would you like to possess an inner-peace that is impregnable to doubts, worries, and fears? Would you like to be shaken by nothing and able to shake off everything? If so, be forewarned that it is a steep slope to this soaring spiritual summit, but one that can be scaled with God's help if you are willing to persevere in its painstaking ascent.
|
DAY 1
The majesty of calmness cannot be swiftly acquired. It only comes over time to those in continuous and worshipful communion with Christ. |
|
DAY 2
There is no magic formula for the majesty of calmness. There is only a long, steep, and arduous path laid out for us in Scripture. It is up to you whether or not you ever step foot on it, as well as whether or not you stay on it with God’s help until you eventually reach its lofty spiritual summit. |
|
DAY 3
From the summit of soul serenity all of life’s circumstances may be calmly viewed, regardless of how calamitous they may appear to be. |
|
DAY 4
Calmness of the soul can only be obtained by a regenerate heart and maintained by a guarded heart. |
|
DAY 5
Calmness of soul is always the companion of a clear conscience and clean heart. It is never found in the company of a guilty conscience and condemned heart. |
|
DAY 6
No one who looks up to himself or down upon others will ever be able to calm or quiet his tempestuous soul. |
|
DAY 7
The first stop on the way to the majesty of calmness is Calvary. No one can calm the soul until he has taken up his cross and died to himself. |
|
DAY 8
The majesty of calmness is not so much a matter of the head, but of the heart. Its truths can be learned in a short lesson, but its realization requires a lifelong ascent. |
|
DAY 9
The calm soul is a thankful soul. No ungrateful soul can be calmed and quieted. |
|
DAY 10
To quiet and calm the soul requires us to empty our arms of all worldly things in order to embrace Christ alone, who alone can satisfy our hungry soul. |
|
DAY 11
To calm the soul Christlikeness must be our goal and Christ’s service our preoccupation. |
|
DAY 12
To sail the stormy sea of life with a calm soul requires absolute confidence in the sufficiency of God’s sustaining grace in every current or coming tempest. |
|
DAY 13
To calm the soul one must be unoffended by Christ’s blessing of others and neither envious of the blessed or covetous of their blessings. |
|
DAY 14
To calm the soul you must lower your eyes from the lofty dreams of an extraordinary life to the few things that matter in your ordinary life. |
|
DAY 15
To calm the soul one must count it the highest honor to do anything for Christ, regardless of how mundane or menial it may appear to be. |
|
DAY 16
To calm the soul one must cease looking for significance anywhere else besides Calvary. |
|
DAY 17
To calm the soul one must rid his life of all selfish ambition and learn to be still before God, patiently waiting upon Him to exalt and exonerate. |
|
DAY 18
To calm the soul requires us to be content with our God-given lot in the body of Christ, with the ministry to which God has called us, and with the spiritual gifts with which the Spirit has blessed us. |
|
DAY 19
The calm soul seeks only the Spirit’s stamp of approval on his faithful service. He has no need of tangible results or man’s testimonials to prove his spiritual success. |
|
DAY 20
The calm soul never measures himself by the achievements of others, but always by God’s expectations of him alone. |
|
DAY 21
The calm soul is one that fears God alone and is completely freed from the tyrannical snare of the fear of man. |
|
DAY 22
To calm the soul we must be willing to trust God even when confounded by His ways. |
|
DAY 23
The calming of the soul is a stupendous work of God’s grace only exceeded by the soul’s salvation. |
|
DAY 24
The calm soul is a weaned soul whose affection for the Heavenly Father is unaltered by whether or not it gets its way. |
|
DAY 25
The calm soul is one weaned from the world and ever-growing weary of it. |
|
DAY 26
The calmed and weaned soul is ever-growing weary with the worldly and homesick for Heaven. |
|
DAY 27
The heart of the calmed soul is removed from the treasures of this world and unmoved by the trials of this world. |
|
DAY 29
The calmed and weaned soul is at peace because of its surrender to God. |
|
DAY 28
The calmed and weaned soul has a contentment and joy impervious to the circumstances of life. |
|
DAY 30
The calmest of souls is the most disciplined of souls. |
|
DAY 31
The daily calming of the soul requires a daily taking up of the cross. |
|
DAY 32
The calmed and weaned soul is satisfied leaning upon the Savior. |
|
DAY 33
The calm soul possesses a hope expanded beyond the inhibiting boundaries of self and transient things. |
|
DAY 34
The calm soul possesses a living and eternal hope in the resurrected Christ. |
|
DAY 35
The calmed soul sees earthly things from the perspective of a heavenly throne. |
|
DAY 36
That the calmed soul has reached the pinnacle of hope in the Lord will be proven in the life by piety, purity, and perseverance. |
|
DAY 37
The calm soul is anchored by hope. |
|
DAY 38
The calmed soul believes in an endless hope, not a hopeless end. |
|
DAY 39
The calmed soul is ever-ready to proclaim and explain the hope of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. |
|
DAY 40
The calming of the soul begins with one’s coming to Christ. |