Gems from September 2025
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life. Deuteronomy 30:19-20
I lay there, unable to move...realizing how very real my situation had become. Unbelievable actually...I asked the Lord, really? Are you sure...?? In the wee hours one morning in the ICU, I struggled..."Lord, is this really gong to be the sum of my life?...Really??..."
A still small voice in my heart said "Mike, it was never yours alone...Remember? You asked me into your heart? It is our life, I only ever wanted to live in you, with you, through you...I wanted to partner with you. I wanted us to live together." I have little time left but I know for sure, I want to live it with Him..."
Happiness is a choice.... Accepting that depending on others is a privilege and is critical to a happy life for me now. I can embrace it and enjoy peace and happiness, or I can let this situation overwhelm me...
When I am weak then am I strong,
Grace is my shield and Christ my song.
Embracing your inability is a prerequisite to God showing you His ability.
There is so much that we do not see, but we see Him.
Musings From My Journey: Mike O'Brien "A brother beloved."
Mike continues to suffer serious disabilities and has spent many years depended on the care of others.
N.J. Hiebert - 10052
September 1
About midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Acts 27:27-28
Paul was being taken to Rome as a prisoner, but the ship became caught in a major storm. The sailors, in the dark, sensed land was near, so they used a "Fathom" line to measure the depth under the keel. This was a process of heaving a lead weight as far out in front as possible. The line attached had a knot every six feet (two meters). Counting the knots when the weight touched bottom revealed the depth; in this case, 120 feet, shoaling quickly to 90 (27.5 m).
The account in Acts tells us that Paul had direct assurance from God that, although the ship would be lost, every one aboard would arrive safely on land. This suggests that as we see the world situation getting darker, we rely more and more on the promise that all believer will get safely to heaven.
If the water were much deeper, the leadsman would holler, No bottom! meaning, beyond measurement. And this meaning has been used by our hymn writers to describe the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross as unfathomable. One example is mentioned in the hymn where the Lord is nailed to a tree: Unfathomable wonder! And mystery divine! The voice that speaks in thunder says, "Sinner, I am thine! " William Cowper
Another synonym, appearing in the Psalms and elsewhere, is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable, and Ephesians 3:8 Unto me...is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The hymn writer (J. Kent - 1827) describes the grace of God this way.
Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding...'tis a deep that knows no sounding...!
Lorne Perry
N.J. Hiebert - 10053
September 2
And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter...and he (Moses) cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. Exodus 15:23,25
That He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Hebrews 2:9
Marah is but a picture of this world as a wilderness wild with its bitter waters, under curse due to men's sins. "For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Death is depicted by the bitter waters. What then is the solution?
"The Lord showed him a tree." The tree had to be shown to Moses through his crying before God. Apart from God's kind intervention, Moses could not see the tree. The tree reminds us of Christ as here in flesh for the will of God, and of the cross. Likewise, unless the Lord shows us His cross, we will never see its profound significance. Not until then can we truly see who our blessed Lord is. May the Lord show us His cross. May we, through His cross, contemplate Him as never before.
The cure of the bitter waters relied on the tree cast into those waters. He was violently and mercilessly "cast" into the place of death so that sweetness might be yielded at the end. Oh, what had He done to merit such a harsh treatment from God? "So that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man" (or "everyone"). Oh, what an unfathomably bitter taste He fully experienced on the cross! Blessed, adorable Lord and Saviour! F.S.W.
The cross! the cross, oh, that's our gain,
Because on that the Lamb was slain:
'Twas there the Lord was crucified,
'Twas there for us the Saviour died.
Miss C. Taylor - 1742
N.J. Hiebert - 10054
September 3
I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. Ezekiel 34:26
What is thy season this morning? Is it a season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. "As thy day so shall thy strength be." (Deuteronomy 33:25) "I will give thee showers of blessing." The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in a golden chain.
If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send "showers of blessing." Look up today, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering. Spurgeon
"Let but thy heart become a valley low,
And God will rain on it till it will overflow."
Thou, O Lord, canst transform my thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7) into a flower. And I want my thorn transformed into a flower. Job got the sunshine after the rain, but has the rain been all waste? Job wants to know, I want to know, if the shower had nothing to do with the shining. "Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the field: to set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety." (Job 5:10,11)
And Thou canst tell me--Thy Cross can tell me. Thou hast crowned Thy sorrow. Be this my crown, O Lord. I only triumph in Thee when I have learned the radiance of the rain. George Matheson
And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 2 Samuel 23:4
N.J. Hiebert - 10055
September 4
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. ...moreover by them is thy servant warned." Psalm 19:9,11
"Do all things without murmurings and disputings." (Philippians 2:14) We murmur at a thousand things in our lot, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness, and thereby question the care, the love and the wisdom of Him who orders all our path, and lose the blessed sense of His presence with us.
When people become slaves to a fad they soon become tyrants.
When knowledge enters the head it exalts me. When knowledge enters the heart it humbles me.
May we never bridge over the chasm between the world and us, and we shall never seek to do so if we can adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14).
"Wisdom and might are His." (Daniel 2:20). A simple utterance, but how profound! For if wisdom and might are God's, they are no where else to be found, and it is in vain to turn for them to any but God.
There are only two channels of testimony--the lip and the life, and the lip should be but the expression of what has been produced in the life. What we should all desire is intense reality, to be possessed and controlled by the truth we profess to hold, and thus to shun the use of phrases and sentences which we have never eaten, digested and found true in our souls.
In this day of grace God would have all men to be saved, and hence we have to beseech (2 Corinthians 5:20)--not denounce--all men. You cannot feed souls with denunciations--even though the things denounced are errors.
Edward Dennett
N.J. Hiebert - 10056
September 5
Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Ecclesiastes 11:1
THE PAWNED BIBLE
A young man, born in 1839 left home for college at the age of 17. His mother, a godly Christian woman, gave him a Bible. In the fly-leaf she wrote his name, her name and a Bible verse. The young man competed college and went on to medical school but he began to associate with a bad crowd. One day, in a drunken spree he pawned the Bible for money to buy more liquor.
Though the young Scotsman went on to become a very successful doctor--rising to the head of the largest hospital in Edinburgh--he forsook his upbringing becoming a committed infidel and was elected president of a society of atheists in that city.
One day, an accident victim was brought into the hospital and was placed under his care. The patient learning that he likely had only a few hours to live, requested of the doctor; "Please contact my landlady, and ask her to send me the Book." The doctor agreed, and within a few hours the landlady arrived with "the Book", the dying patient's Bible.
It was not long after that the patient died. The doctor was curious as to what kind of book the patient wanted. He asked the nurse, "Was it his bank book or appointment book?"
The nurse replied, "No, it was neither of those. It is still under his pillow. Go look." Reaching under the pillow the doctor pulled out "the Book". He opened it and to his amazement it was the very Bible he had received from his mother that he had pawned some years before. The fly-leaf still had his name, his mother's name and the Bible verse inscribed on it.
Overwhelmed, he slipped the Bible under his coat and rushed to his private office. There the doctor who had become an atheist, fell on his knees praying that God would have mercy on him, and save him. He remembered one verse his mother had taught him and believing it was brightly saved. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
The doctor immediately contacted his elderly mother who had never ceased to pray for her wayward son. What unspeakable joy was hers as she heard how God had used the very Bible she gave her son years before, in his salvation! The Christian Shepherd - December 2012
N.J. Hiebert - 10057
September 6
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
Luke 10:34
I remember a man who was overtaken by a bad fall on the road. He fell among thieves who robbed him, took his clothes away, and left him naked, wounded and half dead. I watched the law come by chance down that way, and waited to see the law go and pick up the poor wounded man and set him on the road again; but the law, although it saw him, only passed by on the other side.
Then I watched the Jewish temple service, sacrifices and feasts, (of which the Galatians were so fond). They came and even stopped and looked at him. I thought I heard them say, "Poor man, poor man, be more careful next time." And then they passed by on the other side, like the law. Neither of them seemed able to do a thing for the fallen man. Indeed they did not seem to care very much about him.
Then came my Master. It was this that made Him my Master, for I was the poor man who fell among the thieves. He came all the way from heaven, right to where I was. He got down in the dust on the road, and bound up my wounds, pouring in oil and wine; He put me on His own beast, put His arm around me to hold me so I would not fall, and took me to an inn.
The name of the inn was "The Place That Receives All," and the name of the Inn-keeper was "The One who receives all" (how different from the inn where my Master was born; there was no room for Him there, so He was born in the stable). My Master paid for my keep, and left word with the inn-keeper, "Take care of him." There was no fear of spending too much on me, for my Master said, "Whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you." So now, I am waiting and looking for my Master to come again. (Luke 10:30-37)
Galatians or Beautiful Grace - G.C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 10058
September 7
MEMORIES--TREASURES OR TYRANTS?
Forgetting those thing which are behind....
Philippians 3:13
I remember the days of old.... Psalms 143:5 .
Memories, whether good or bad, must be handled with care. Bad recollections can drive us to despair. Good remembrances can become idols and lead us to wallow in sentimentality.
We can paint the past with glamour it never had and crown dear ones with haloes they never wore. "Distance lends enchantment to the view." Memory can become a tyrant instead of a treasure chest.
From the mistakes of the past, let us learn whatever lessons they teach, then forget them, even as God remembers our sins no more. Let precious memories be benedictions but not bonds. Life must be lived and we must get on with the job. All The Days - Vance Havner
How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend,
Whose love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end!
'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We'll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that's to come.
Hart - 1750
N.J. Hiebert 10059
September 8
I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me...that beareth fruit, He purges (pruning) it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1,2
And they said, is this Naomi? and she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Ruth 1:19-22
How many pruned ones may read these words! They are inclined to say, like Naomi, that the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with them. Husband and sons buried in a distant land; poverty and want supreme in a deserted and darkened home; only one left of all the merry circle of bygone years: and yet out of all this shall come a golden harvest of blessing; and the little grandson pressed to the heart, and his line to David, the sweet Psalmist (2 Samuel 23:1) and mighty king, shall make the aged heart young again. (Ruth 4:15-22).
"No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:11).
It is a recognized rule, among vine-dressers, that no shoot should have more than one bunch of grapes. All but that one are nipped off. The vine-dresser will obtain a greater weight of better grapes in that one bunch, than he would by permitting two or three clusters to form. And so with merciless hand he picks off bunch after bunch of unformed fruit.
It is thus that we are sometimes shut away from one after another of our chosen directions of Christian activity: not that our Father would diminish our fruit-bearing, but that the strength of our life may be saved from dissipation, and conducted by one channel to a better and richer fruit. Joseph - F. B. Meyer
N.J. Hiebert - 10060
September 9
THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST
When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples. John 18:1
A thousand years before, King David had crossed the brook Kidron and had gone up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives (2 Samuel 15:23,30), rejected by His people and weeping. King David walked this way in consequence of his own guilt; the Lord Jesus went this way because it was the beginning of the path which He trod for the guilt and sins of others. In the darkness of the night, in the place called Gethsemane, the shadow of the cross fell across His path, where the Father would give Him the bitter cup of God's wrath in just judgment of sin. He had come to this earth for the very purpose of drinking this cup.
Before our eyes is the Man Jesus Christ with all His divinely perfect feelings of dependence and obedience. The path leading to the cross lay before Him--the path which He would now have to walk to accomplish God's counsels. He felt keenly what was before Him. He longed for the sympathy and comfort of His disciples, but the only source of his strength was from above with His Father.
Jesus enters deeper into the garden, accompanied by Peter, James, and John, but then He separates even from them, and going a little farther, He falls on the ground, praying, "Abba, Father" (Mark 14:36). This is the only time we hear that intimate expression to the Father from the Lord's lips. His prayer continues,"All things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt."
No one knew as well as He that this was not possible if He wanted to open the way of salvation for sinners and accomplish the Father's eternal counsel. Thus, He rises from prayer and walks in perfect peace on the way to drink, until empty, that cup which He had taken from the Father's hand. Fritz von Kietzell
N.J. Hiebert - 10061
September 10
LET GO DISPLEASURE
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Psalm 37:8
Sometimes something happens which recalls great pain. You are not able to find pleasure in that thing. You are oppressed by it and saddened. Suddenly the word comes, "Let go displeasure."
Displeasure is not always wrath; it is not unkindness, or the fretting which the Psalm says so truly, "tendeth only to evildoing." (Psalm 37:8) It is just something that is not pleasure but pain, and so can depress the heart.
Let it go. Do not hold on to it. Let it slip out of mind. Turn to something that does give pleasure and fasten your thoughts on that. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." (Psalm 37:7) "Commit thy way" (and the way of those thou lovest) "unto the Lord" (Psalm 37:5) and thou shalt delight thyself in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)
Prove this word if ever you are tempted in this way. You will find that by an act of will, by His grace, you can "Let go displeasure" and be most tenderly released and refreshed.
Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 10062
September 11
Work out (cultivate) your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12
It might be of interest to look at a few other passages where this Greek word (work out) might be translated in the same way (cultivate):
- The law cultivates wrath. Romans 4:15
- Tribulation cultivates patience. Romans 5:3
- Godly sorrow cultivates repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10
- The trying of your faith cultivates patience. James 1:3
Cultivate means to loosen the soil so the rain and air can get to the roots so the plants grow strong and bear fruit. Another purpose is to get rid of the weeds.
An important point in this verse is the use Scripture makes of the word "salvation". If we think of the salvation of our souls only, many passages of Scripture will be very hard to understand: that salvation was completed at the cross, and was given to us freely when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We could not "work out," or even "cultivate" this salvation: for it is complete and perfect for ever: our souls are as safe now as they will be when we are at Home in Glory. But Scripture looks at salvation in various ways. It speaks of the salvation of our bodies as well as of our souls. It looks at salvation of our bodies as past, present, or future: according as redemption, grace, or glory are in view.
For our souls, salvation is past: (1 Peter 1:9). But for our bodies, the Lord keeps us safe day by day, and hour by hour, and this will not be completed until He has us safe at Home, spirit, soul and body: (Romans 5:9,10) "much more being reconciled, we shall be kept safe in His life". This is present salvation; and in Romans 8:23,24 we see future salvation: "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 13:11)...the present guardian care of our God who brings us safely through. Philippians - G.C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 10063
September 12
A VITAL TRUTH ILLUSTRATED
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Henry Moorhouse, a British evangelist, once said that he found it difficult for many to take their place as guilty sinners before God. Some time ago a woman had said to him, "I cannot believe that one who has perhaps broken only one law of the commandments can be as bad as another who has broken five or ten laws."
He said to her, "but has it occurred to you that God never gave five or ten laws? He gave only one LAW, and it consists of ten commandments. Look at this watch. Count the wheels and you will find ten or more. It is a broken watch, and will not run. Only one wheel is broken; but it is still a broken watch."
As the woman still could not see it, he said, "Suppose you were hanging by a chain over a precipice. The chain consists of ten links. If someone took a hammer and smashed every link, where would you go?"
"To the bottom, of course."
"But, suppose only one link were broken, where would you go?"
"That would be just as bad; I would fall. And now I see the point. Even for one sin, I am a sinner, and need a Saviour. Thank God for His Son--Jesus, my Saviour Who cleanses from all sin."
It take just as much of the grace of God to save the best people in the world as to save the vilest. Nothing but grace through faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ can give salvation to a lost soul and freedom from the law of sin. Grace Triumphant - Tom Dear
N.J. Hiebert - 10064
September 13
They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels. Malachi 3:17
What do God's children as jewels remind us of?
1. Like jewels they are rare.
2. Like jewels they are beautiful, brilliant, ornamental.
3. Like jewels they are found in strange and unlikely places.
4. Like jewels they are obtained only with much risk and trouble.
5. Like jewels they have to be cut and polished to bring out their beauty and value.
6. Like jewels they are very valuable; hence they cost a great deal.
7. Like jewels they are carefully preserved.
8. Like jewels they will be collected and exhibited.
Sapphires, rubies, opals, precious every one;
The great Lapidary sees His work begun.
He will not relax His care
Till His work is finished there. - E.E.T.
From the archives of Tom Dear
'Tis the promise of our Father, given in His Word divine,
Pledge of never failing mercy, those who love Me shall be Mine.
When He gathers up His jewels, every bright and precious gem,
Then shall shine in realms of glory, stars in Jesus' diadem.
Would you be a star in glory, in the Saviour's kingdom shine?
Trust in Him, it is His promise, those who love Me shall be Mine.
[Refrain] Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For His precious love divine!
When He gathers up His jewels I will with the ransomed shine. W. F. Cosmer
N.J. Hiebert - 10065
September 14
So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
In the 1930s, Stalin, the Russian dictator, ordered massive purges of segments of the Soviet population to eliminate any whom he considered to be a threat to his rule. Christians (with their Bibles) were among the groups specially marked for elimination. Some historians estimate that over one million Christians died in Stalin's purges.
In Stavropol, Russia, Stalin's order to eliminate all Christians and all Bibles was strongly enforced. Thousands of Bibles were confiscated, while many Christians were immediately executed or set to the gulags (prisons) where most died, branded as "enemies of the state."
Many years later, when Soviet persecution of Christians had greatly eased, a Christian missionary team, was allowed to visit Stavropol to make contact with any Christians living there. However, the Bibles they had ordered from Moscow to distribute in Stavropol had not arrived. A local Russian who knew the history of the Stavropol purges mentioned that the warehouse where the confiscated Bibles had been stored still existed.
A member of the missionary team went to the warehouse to see if the Bibles were still there. The warehouse officials assured him that they were indeed still stored there. A request to remove the Bibles and to distribute them to the people of Stavropol also received official approval.
The next day the missionary team returned with a truck and with several Russian men who had been hired to help load the Bibles. One of these, a young college student, was particularly hostile and arrogant, a self-proclaimed agnostic. It was obvious he had come just to earn a day's wages.
While loading the Bibles one of the missionaries notice that the young man had disappeared. When they found him, he was huddled in the corner of the warehouse holding a Bible in his hands and weeping. He had planned to take one of the Bibles for himself and had stolen away from the truck unnoticed so that none would know that he too wanted a Bible.
Once alone with a pile of Bibles, he had picked up a dusty, well-worn copy. Opening it, he was deeply shaken when he saw, inside the front cover, the faded hand-writing and the name of the Bible's former owner--one of the Christians who had been purged by Stalin so many years before --his own grandmother. (Courtesy of John Kaiser)
N.J. Hiebert - 10066
September 15
Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
We may well be happy with such a One to care for us. Again we ask: Have you realized that the order which was given about the man in the inn (Luke 10:35)-- "Take care of him"--has been given about you? Let us wake up to the fact that we have SOMEONE to care for us. Why is a babe so happy though so helpless? Because it is the best-cared-for person in the house. Its cry brings immediate aid, its wants are always attended to.
Would that we were content to be the Creator's babes! For are we anything more in the presence of the vast universe that stretches all around us, and of Him who made it? Are there no arms to enfold, no hands to uplift, no bosom to shelter us? Thank God, there are for all those who become as little children.
It will assist us to rise above all our care if we are looking in the right direction. We catch the impress of what we behold. "They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed" (Psalm 34:5).
During some very costly wars in which England was engaged more than a hundred years ago, it is said that while the then Prime Minister was always elated, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the contrary, was always depressed. The former looked only at the trophies of the war, the latter only at the expense.
Where are we looking? and what do we look for? Upon the answer to these two questions very much of our happiness depends. We often look for that which is bound to bring us disappointment, but if we look as Scripture directs us, we shall be more than satisfied. "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time...unto salvation." "Looking for that blessed hope." "From whence also we look for the Saviour. (Hebrews 9:28; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20)
Angels in White - Russell Elliott
N.J. Hiebert - 10067
September 16
THE UNFATHOMABLE SUFFERINGS OF CHRST
Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow. Lamentations 1:12
Many and various causes of sorrow are presented in the life of our blessed Lord on earth; one coming on another. And sorrow becoming more and more intense, up to the closing scene on Mount Calvary. Suffering, connected with testimony for God; whoever is for God will be sure to suffer in such a world.
Then there was the peculiarity of sorrow, as being the One to solve that problem which seemed so impossible to solve--how God and the sinner could go together. How could God find anyone to show the bearing of divine glory in connection with mercy towards one covered with sin? He did find One who was to be the perfect measure of what sin was in His presence. That One takes the cup of wrath from God's hand; and in that hour, God cannot look at the One in whom was all His delight. That hour of forsaking, when the "sword" (Zechariah 13:7) was to awake, only came out at the cross. There was but the anticipation of its unsheathing at Gethsemane.
I see there God's estimate of sin when it comes into His presence. That Son of His love had to be treated as if the whole mass of sin was His, and the whole weight of wrath for that sin came upon Him. He had to bear it all there, alone. He may be a Man of sorrows all through His life, but He has God with Him in it. Never till the cross do we find the sense of God's distance from Him--expressed in that cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34). He never could taste that before, for only then was He bearing sin in His own body, in God's presence. Not one ray of light came from Him while the Son of His love was there, suffering, the Just for the unjust. (1 Peter 3:18). Man tries to keep sin far away, out of God's presence, but Christ carried it right into His presence. G. V. Wigram
N.J. Hiebert - 10068
September 17
"Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked..." Psalm 64:2
"...Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For Thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy." Psalm 61:2,3
"Preserve my life from fear of the enemy." Psalm 64:1
The lion is said to be boldest in the storm. His roar, it is said, never sounds as loud as in the pauses of the thunder; and when the lightening flashes, brightest are the flashes of his cruel eye. Even so, he who "the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8) often seizes the hour of human nature's greatest distress to assault us with his fiercest temptations.
He tempted Job when he was bowed down with grief. He tempted Jesus when He was faint with hunger. He tempted Peter when he was weary with watching and heart-broken with sorrow.
When the devil's forces are besieging a low soul, he appeals as a rule to the lowest in him. When he is dealing with a high soul he attacks the highest in him; he appears as an angel of light. Even if the ridge line of our soul is but a low one, that crest marks the hottest place of conflict; a few feet farther down spells defeat.
In some of the American lakes it is found that boats are strangely hindered in their progress. They are drawn downwards, because of the magnetic power of deep mud concealed below the surface of the waters. Now, a temptation in the life is like this magnetic mud. It lies in the depths and pulls at everything; it drags down everything; it makes progress difficult.
Save us, O Lord, from the enemy who seeks to take us captive while we are unaware of his devices. Mountain Trailways for Youth.
N.J. Hiebert - 10069
September 18
Go to the ant,...consider her ways, and be wise. Proverbs 6:6
"Go to the ant." Tammerlane used to relate to his friends an anecdote of his early life. "I once was forced to take shelter from my enemies in a ruined building, where I sat alone many hours," he said. "Desiring to divert my mind from my hopeless condition, I fixed my eyes on an ant that was carrying a grain of corn larger than itself up a high wall.
I numbered the efforts it made to accomplish this object. The grain fell sixty-nine times to the ground; but the insect persevered, and the seventieth time it reached the top! This sight gave me courage at the moment, and I never forgot the lesson." The King's Business.
Rubenstein, the great musician, once said, "If I omit practise one day, I notice it; if two days, my friends notice it; if three days, the public notices it." It is the old doctrine, "Practise makes perfect." We must continue reading His Word, continue praying, continue doing His will.
Suppose along any line of art, one should cease practicing--we know what the result would be. If we would only use the same quality of common sense in our walk with the Lord that we use in our every day life, we should go on to perfection.
The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose." By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.
N.J. Hiebert - 10070
September 19
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans. 10:9-10
A beautiful incident in the experience of Queen Victoria is worth remembering. It is unquestionably authentic. The Queen had attended a service in St. Paul's Cathedral and had listened to a sermon that interested her greatly; then she asked her chaplain "Can one be absolutely sure in this life of eternal safety?" His answer was that he "knew of no way that one could be absolutely sure."
This was published in the Court News and fell under the eye of a humble minister of the gospel; John Townsend, an intimate friend of George Mueller, whose life of faith led to the founding of his well-known orphanages. After reading Queen Victoria's question and the answer she received, John Townsend thought and prayed much about the matter, then sent the following note to the Queen:
"To her gracious Majesty, our beloved Queen Victoria, from one of her most humble subjects: With trembling hands, but heart filled love, and because I know that we can be absolutely sure even now of our eternal life in the Home that Jesus went to prepare, may I ask your Most Gracious Majesty to read the following passages of Scripture: John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10. These passages prove there is full assurance of salvation by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ for those who believe and accept His finished work. - I sign myself, your servant for Jesus' sake"
John Townsend.
John Townsend was not alone in praying about his letter to the Queen. He took others into his confidence, and much prayer from many hearts went up to God. He received a modest-looking envelope containing the following letter:
To John Townsend: "Your letter of recent date received and in reply would state that I have carefully and prayerfully read the portions of Scripture referred to. I believe in the finished work of Christ for me, and trust by God's grace to meet you in that Home of which He said, 'I go to prepare a place for you'. " Victoria Guelph.
Whether one is an earthy monarch or an inconspicuous unknown person, the way of salvation and of eternal life is the same. Come Home
N.J. Hiebert - 10071
September 20
SUSTENANCE AND REFRESHMENT
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. Psalm 23:2
When the Israelites were passing through the wilderness, there were two things which never failed them, the manna, and the water. The former was for their sustenance and the later for their refreshment; and during that long period of forty years each recurring day brought its abundant supply (Psalm 78:24 & Isaiah 43:20). For the spiritual meaning of the manna compare Exodus16 with John 6; and for that of the water Exodus 17 with John 7.
Since the wilderness through which the Israelites passed to their inheritance represents the valley experiences through which we pass to ours, that two-fold provision aptly sets forth the nourishment and refreshment. The green pastures sustain, the still waters refresh; and our responsibility to avail ourselves of them arises from the fact that, like the manna and the water, they are freely provided.
Each morning, and with unfailing regularity, the soft showers of angel's food reached the place of their sojourning (Psalm 78:25); all they had to do was to gather, to appropriate, and to enjoy, the full and ample provision for their needs. The manna was white--telling of its purity; it tasted like honey--telling of its sweetness (Exodus 16:14,15, 31) - (Psalm 119:103,140).
When the people departed from God, however, and returned in heart to the land from which His outstretched arm had delivered them, the manna lost its sweetness: they first made light of it, and eventually despised it. "We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely: ...but now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes." "Our soul loatheth this light bread." (Numbers 11:5:6 & 21:5)
The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson
N.J. Hiebert - 10072
September 21
Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto Him the whole band of soldiers.
And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe.
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!
And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head.
Matthew 27:27-30.
What miserable heroes the soldiers were that day when they mocked God's lovely Son. A King? Then crown Him, and they pressed the thorns into His blessed brow. A King? Then anoint Him, so they spat in His face.
Be not deceived, for beneath that thorny crown lay all the authority of Godhood. One word and He could have forever banished His tormentors. But He loved them, and soon would die for them, and for us.
What a crown! What a King! What a love is this.
J. Boyd Nicholson
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed! And did my Saviour die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut His glories in,
When the Incarnate Maker died for man His creature's sin.
Isaac Watts
N.J. Hiebert - 10073
September 22
September 23
September 24
posted by soundwords at
September 01, 2025
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