Scriptural meditations on God's precious Word (8160 posted here) sent daily for over 22 years from njhiebert@gmail.com - see also biblegems1.blogspot.com or else biblejewels.blogspot.com 2016-2025 and this will be updated also.

Friday, August 01, 2025

Gems from August 2025

THE DAY OF CHRIST

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.  Philippians 2:16

Ye also are our's (our boast) in the day of the Lord Jesus. 2 Corinthians 1:14

And what is this "Day" of which the Apostle so often speaks?  This "Day of our Lord Jesus Christ"?  We speak of "Caesars day" or, "Napoleon's day"; and we all understand by this that it means the day when Caesar or Napoleon held sway, and exercised his will. 

So is it now: it is "man's day," (1 Corinthians 4:3) when man is permitted to act according to his own will.  But the time is coming when the Lord Jesus Christ will have His day: when He will come again and take all His own to be with Himself forever.1 Thessalonians 4.


This is the beginning of the day of our Lord Jesus Christ: but it will include the Judgment Seat of Christ.  I think this is the time that the Apostle refers to in Philippians 2.  When He sees His beloved brethren from Philippi receive their reward for their faithful walk down here, it will be a boast to Paul, that not in vain he ran, and not in vain he toiled.

And, beloved fellow labourer, you and I have that same bright hope: nor do I mean by that word "fellow labourer" (1 Corinthians 3:9) any special class of persons.  A child who seeks to lead a school-mate to the Saviour; the Sunday School teacher who seeks to win the class to Him; the worker who points his companion to Christ: and, perhaps the sweetest of all, the parents who win their own child: these all are "labourers" for Christ: these all may look forward to that same boast the apostle had: if these dear souls continue in the path marked out.  Meditations on Philippians - G. Christopher Willis  

N.J. Hiebert - 10021

August 1

- There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) 
- By the name of Jesus Christ  of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this (lame) man stand here before you. (v.10)
- They (council) commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (v.18). 
- But Peter and John answered . . . Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye (v.19). 
- For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (v.20)


The council admit defeat, (v.16) and then, calling in the apostles, commanded them (v.18).  This command raised the most important question possible: Was God to be obeyed or man?  Peter and John answered (v.19,20)

It is to be noted here that the action of the apostles is in no sense opposed to the scripture that enjoins: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers" (Romans 13:1,2) (1 Peter 2:13,14).  In the case before us it was not a question of the king or of the civil power,--which the saint ever recognizes as the sword of God put into man's hand,--but of ecclesiastical and priestly arrogance, which has no claim on the conscience for allegiance. 

This is a principle of immense importance here, viz., that a child of God is never supposed to disobey God, in order to obey man.  The civil power may make regulations which deprive the saint of privileges he would like to enjoy, but the latter must never disobey God,  in order to conform to the will of the former.  He may have to endure deprivation of a privilege, but never can disobey a divine command. This Peter's action here makes abundantly clear. 
(Simon Peter - W. T. P. Wolston)

N.J. Hiebert - 10022

August 2

Looking unto Jesus . . .  Hebrews 12:2  (Continued from Gem # 8530)

Only three words, but in those three words is the whole secret of life.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to receive from Him the task and the cross for each day, with the grace which is sufficient to carry the cross and to accomplish the task;
the grace that enables us to be patient wth His patience, active with His activity, loving with His love;
never asking "What am I able for?" but rather: "What is He not able for?" and waiting for His strength  which is made perfect in our weakness. 
(2 Corinthians 12:9) 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to go forth from ourselves and to forget ourselves; so that our darkness may flee away before the brightness of His face; so that our joys may be holy, and our sorrow restrained;

- that He may cast us down, and that He may raise us up; 
- that He may afflict us, and that He may comfort us;
- that He may deprive us, and that He may enrich us;
- that He may teach us to pray, and that He may answer our prayers;
- that while leaving us in the world, He may separate us from it, our life being hidden with Him in God, and our behaviour bearing witness to Him before men.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS and at nothing else,
as our text expresses it in one untranslatable word (aphoroontes),
which at the same time directs us to fix our gaze upon Him, and to turn it away from everything else. 

Theodore Monod  

N.J. Hiebert - 10023

August 3

Preach wisely.
Because the preacher was wise, he . . . sought to find out acceptable words.  Ecclesiastes 12:9,10.  Not rude, loose, and indigested stuff, in a slovenly manner brought forth, lest the carelessness of the cook should turn the stomachs of the guests.

Preach gently.  
The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.  2 Timothy 2:24, 25.  O how careful is God that nothing should be in the preacher to prejudice the sinner's judgment, or harden his heart against the offer of His grace!  If the servant be proud and hasty, how shall they know that the Master is meek and patient?

He that will take the bird must not scare it.  A forward, peevish messenger is no friend to him that sends him. Sinners are not pelted into Christ with stones of hard provoking language, but wooed into Christ  by heart-melting exhortations. 

The oil makes the nail drive without splitting the board.  The word never enters the heart more kindly, than when it falls most gently.  The word preached comes, indeed, best from a warm heart.  "The words of wise men are heard in quiet."  Ecclesiastes 9:17

Preach diligently.
All the water is lost that runs beside the mill, and all your thoughts  are waste which help you not to do God's work withal in your general or particular calling.  The bee will not sit on a flower where no honey can be sucked, neither should the Christian.  

The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall (1616 - 1679)

N.J. Hiebert - 10024

August 4

Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of His hand.   Isaiah 40:12 

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.  Isaiah 49:16

Jesus said: I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.  My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them our of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one.   

John 10:28-30

One day, deep in the forest, we came upon a rock in midstream scooped by the backwash of immemorial waters to a hollow like the palm of a man's hand.  Over this rock fell a crystal sheet of water, and through that moving clearness we saw maidenhair fern growing in a lovely profusion in the hollow of the "hand".  

It was not the place where we should have planted a fern; at any moment it might have been tossed, a piteous, crumpled mass, down the shouting river--this is how it seemed to us.  But it was safe.  The falls flowed over it, not on it.  And it was blessed.

When the fern on the bank shrivelled in heat, it was green, for it was watered all the year long by dust of spray.  So does our wonderful God turn that which had seemed to be a perpetual threat to a perpetual benediction.  Is there anything to fear with such a God?    Rose From Briar - Amy Carmichael 

Safe am I, safe am I, in the hollow of His hand;
Sheltered o'er, sheltered o'er with His love for evermore.
No ill can harm me, no foe alarm me,
For He keeps both day and night.
Safe am I, in the hollow of His hand.
  Mildred L. Dillon

N.J. Hiebert - 10025

August 5

THE UNFATHOMABLE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST 

Behold . . . is any sorrow like unto My sorrow.  Lamentation 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 a sinner could go together.  How God  could 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. The hour of forsaking, when the "sword" was to awake, only came out at the cross.  (Zechariah 13:7) 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?" (Matthew 27:46) 

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 - 10026

August 6

We glory in tribulation...knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed.  Romans 5:3-6.

"Knowing"
, Paul says, that tribulation worketh patience, experience, hope.  And another thing we notice is, these tribulations stand in direct relation with the love of God--shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit.  This is the climx of the passage.  He knew what tribulation could do for him, and so he gloried in it; and more than that, he knew that the One who sent the tribulation loved him perfectly.

These two things, the conviction that tribulations are only a blessing in disguise, and that it must be so because the One who permits it all loves us, will enable the weakest saint to glory in them.          

Yes, it is the "knowing" what tribulation can work, and the "knowing" the love which is behind it all, that enables us to praise God.  As the psalmist says, "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: to show forth Thy loving kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings."

And if God is allowing sorrow after sorrow to enter into your life, and calamities one after another to come upon you just as if they watched and waited, scanning one another's motions, when the first descends the others follow.

He is only adding the strings, which are really your own experience how of He has delivered you and brought you to Himself, of how He loves you, of how He makes all things work together for your good, 
(Romans 8:28) that thus the music may become more varied, and possess greater harmony.   
Angels in White  - Russell Elliott     

N.J. Hiebert - 10027

August 7

"Looking unto Jesus . . ."  Hebrews 12:2   and not at our faith.

The last device of the adversary, when he cannot make us look elsewhere, is to turn our eyes from our Saviour to our faith, and thus to discourage us if it is weak, to fill us with pride if it is strong: and either way to weaken us. For power does not come from the faith but from the Saviour by faith.  It is not looking at our look, it is "looking unto Jesus".

Looking unto Jesus  as long as we remain on the earth,--unto Jesus from moment to moment, without allowing ourselves to be distracted by memories of a past which we should leave behind us, nor by occupation with a future of which we know nothing.

HENCEFORTH--not unto Themselves. (2 Corinthians 5:15) 

OH, the bitter shame and sorrow, that a time could ever be,
When I let the SAVIOUR'S pity plead in vain, and proudly answered:
All of self, and none of Thee.

Yet He found me: I beheld Him bleeding on the accursed tree,
Heard Him pray : "Forgive them, Father;" and my wistful heart said faintly:
Some of self, and some of Thee.
 
Day by day His tender mercy, healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient, brought me lower, while I whispered:
Less of self, and more of Thee.

Higher than the highest heaven, deeper than the deepest sea,
LORD, Thy love at last hath conquered; grant me now my supplication:
None of self, and all of Thee.

Theodore Monod (1874)

N.J. Hiebert - 10028

August 8

And David, went on, and grew great, (going and growing) and the Lord God of host was with him. (margin)  2 Samuel 5:10.

When a believer stops going he cease growing also.  There must be obedience to the truth of God, a "going" on in the ways that be in Christ, as they are learned from His Word.

No shirking of the cross that obedience often brings with it, but steady "going and growing" steadily and constantly.  They are the happy  saints who thus go on growing, and they are fruitful ones too.

They are not toppled over with every wind, for they grow like the cedar in Lebanon, striking down their roots deeper every year, and flourish like the palm tree, evergreen, amid burning deserts.

J. Ritchie

The cedar boughs once touched the grass; but every year they grew
A little farther from the ground and nearer to the blue.
So live that you may each year be, while time glides swiftly by,
A little farther from the earth, and nearer to the sky.


As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.  (Colossians 2:6,7)    

N.J. Hiebert - 10029

August 9

". . . Yes Lord . . ."  Mark 7:28

"YES LORD" are two words found only once in the Bible: (Mark 7:28) But they were the key to blessing for a person who needed help that only the Lord Jesus Christ could give.

These words are still the key which will open the door to good things in our lives.  When we submit our wills to the will of God, we have started in the right direction.  God has spoken to us in His word, the Bible.

He loves us and wants us to have His best.  He sent His Son into our world to die as a sacrifice for us on Calvary's cross.  God raised Him from among the dead and has taken Him back to heaven and placed Him on His throne  of grace and power.

Jesus lives today.  He is LORD.  Submit yourself to Him by faith right now.  "YES, LORD" is the key!

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." Romans 10:9  

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  (Matthew 11:28)      
R. Reeves - J-O-Y GOSPEL DISTRIBUTORS

N.J. Hiebert - 10030

August 10

Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.  2 Timothy 1:13

God's love is very brave.  He trusts us not to look back and wonder about things, or wonder about present things either, or fear for future things.  Often in our work for Him something happens which seems the most hindering thing possible.  It cuts straight across our hopes and plans.  The only thing to do then is to take 2 Timothy 1:12 and use it about everything.

For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

If we are certain, beyond a doubt, that He whom we have believed is able to keep that precious thing or person which we have committed unto Him, then we have peace.  If we hold fast the form of these sound words, they will carry us through any storm.  They will lead us straight to those other words in
Isaiah 26:3.


Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusted in Thee.

The Lord help us to give Him the joy that our children give to us when they loyally and lovingly keep our words.  Let us give Him this joy today. 

Jesus said . . .If a man love Me, he will keep My words.  John 14:23 

Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 10031

August 11

The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me. 2 Timothy 4:17
Oh, help me, Lord, to take the time to set all else aside,
That in the secret place of prayer I may with Thee abide. 
 -Unknown 

One of the loneliest feelings we can have comes when we face a time of need without having a loving friend to talk to about it.  Everyone needs at least one trusted friend in whom to confide.  Elisha A. Hoffman, author and composer of more than two thousand gospel songs, gives the following account of the writing of this well-loved hymn.

There was a woman to whom God permitted many visitations of sorrow and affliction.  Coming to her home one day, he, found her much discouraged.  She unburdened her heart, concluding with the question, "Brother Hoffman, what shall I do?  What shall I do?"  He quoted from the Word, then added, "You cannot do better than to take all of your sorrows to Jesus. You must tell Jesus."

For a moment she seemed lost in meditation.  Then her eyes lighted as she exclaimed, "Yes, I must tell Jesus." As he left her home he had a vision of that joy-illuminated face and he heard all along his pathway the echo," I must tell Jesus, I must tell Jesus." Hoffman quickly wrote the following words and soon completed the music as well.  This text has reminded many believers that they have a heavenly Friend who is always available to hear and help.


I must tell Jesus all of my trials, I cannot bear these burdens alone;
in my distress He kindly will help me, He ever loves and cares for His own.
I must tell Jesus all of my troubles, He is a kind, compassionate Friend;
if I but ask Him, He will deliver, make of my troubles quickly an end.

O how the world to evil allures me!  O how my heart is tempted to sin!
I must tell Jesus, and He will help me over the world the vict'ry to win.
Chorus:  I must tell Jesus! I must tell Jesus! I cannot bear my burden alone;
I must tell Jesus! Jesus can help me, Jesus alone.  
Elisha A. Hoffman,  1839-1929

N.J. Hiebert - 10032

August 12

And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?  Mark 15:34

Then said Jesus, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Luke 23:34


Christ had been falsely accused by the chief priests and elders, taken to stand trial before Annas and Caiaphas, sent to Pilate and  Herod and back again to Pilate. The Roman soldiers brutally beat Him, pulled the hair from His cheeks, and mocked Him.  The prophet Isaiah had spoken of this One saying, "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).  Jesus Christ, bearing His cross and wearing a crown of thorns, was led to Calvary to be crucified.

We stand in awe as we consider the Lord of glory hanging on the accursed tree.  We should have been there, and we would have been, had His wondrous love not caused Him to take our place as our blessed Substitute.  Christ Himself gave the answer to the question, "Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  The Lord Jesus was forsaken by God so that we would never be forsaken. Instead, we know and enjoy the love of God through our Lord Jesus Christ--God's gift to us. 

Willful, sinful, callous hands nailed the Son of God to that Roman cross.  At any time, He could have called for twelve legions of angels, but He would not.  Instead, at this very time, He prayed.    He did not pray for help to be delivered from His adversaries, but He prayed for His enemies: "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).  Unless He would endure the cross, Jesus knew that no one could be forgiven.  Justice must be satisfied; Satan must be defeated; the sinner must be reconciled.  What wonderful love!   
Jacob Redekop

N.J. Hiebert - 10033

August 13

I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. John 8:12   
He that abideth in Me, and I in Him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me, ye can do nothing.  John 15:5


The honeycomb must first be filled by patient industry before it drops.  The honey must be gathered from every flower.  Such should be the habit of the Christian; learning something from almost everything.  But, alas, we too much resemble the butterfly, and too little the bee.  The former may be seen hovering over the flower for a little,  then flying off without tasting its sweetness, while the latter fastens down upon it, and sucks the honey out of it.  Thus her storehouse is filled by little and little.

The word must be carefully studied, and the heart well stored, before the word suited for the occasion lies ready under our tongue.  As the fruit of the Spirit, the Lord is refreshed and delighted in finding it so.  "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as the honey comb: honey and milk are under thy tongue. (Song of Solomon 4:11)  The dropping of the honeycomb may suggest the idea  of a thoughtful selection, in contrast with "the multitude of words" (Proverbs 10:19).  Words are like seeds, they germinate, and bear fruit: whether they be sharp and bitter, or good and wholesome words. 

How important then, to sow good seed!  If we sow tares we cannot reap wheat; and if we sow wheat we shall never need to reap tares.  "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7) Oh! to be ever dropping the words of kindness, gentleness, meekness, truth, faith, hope and love.  What is purer than milk?  What is sweeter than honey?  What more nourishing than the one?  What more healing than the other?  The blessed Lord owns us, and here speaks of the precious fruits of the Spirit which are so delightful to Him.  

Song of Solomon - Andrew Miller

N.J. Hiebert - 10034

August 14

But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.  Romans 4:5

God now justifies an ungodly sinner who believes that He has "raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification." But this is just what we are, ungodly sinners.  We are helpless and ungodly. 

One cannot boast over another, for there are no godly sinners; but it was "when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)  God has taken into account all that we really are as helpless and hopeless sinners, and Christ has died for us as such. 

"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.  But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved  from wrath through Him." (Romans 5:7-9)   

It has all to do with the death of Christ, and ourselves as sinners, and nothing else.  And the moment we bow to what GOD; says in HIS WORD, we have PEACE WITH GOD, being justified by faith. 

The Ways of God With Man - W. M. Sibthorpe

N.J. Hiebert - 10035

August 15

Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.   Matthew 11:28-30

We follow on to think of His yoke and His burden.  "My yoke, is easy."  Let us consider what a yoke is really for.  Is it to be a burden to the animal which wears It?  Surely not.  It is just the very opposite.  It is to make its labour light.

The plow, attached to the oxen in any other way than by a yoke, would make the work of plowing intolerable.  By means of a yoke, it is light.  A yoke is not an instrument of torture; it is an instrument of mercy. 

It is not a malicious  contrivance for making work hard; it is a simple device to make hard labour light; and the Saviour's yoke never chafes, for, as has been said, it is padded with meekness and lowliness of heart.  And then His burden is light.  It is such a burden as the wings are to a bird, or as the sails are to a boat.

Here, then, is the two-fold secret of rest.  Responding to the Saviour's invitation, we find that the restlessness of the troubled sea gives place to the peace which flows like a river; and by taking His yoke and learning of Him Who is meek and lowly in heart, we anticipate, and experience even now, the deep rest of heart that remains for the people of God (Hebrews 4:9).  Then, indeed, do we lie down in green pastures--satisfied.   

The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson

O patient, spotless One, our hearts in meekness train
To bear Thy yoke, and learn of Thee, that we may rest obtain. 

Jesus! Thou art enough the heart and mind to fill;
Thy patient life--to calm the soul; Thy love--its fear dispel. 


N.J. Hiebert - 10036

August 16

And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him.  Matthew 14:31 

I have been feeding on the comfort of this word "immediately"; it has been speaking to me, as sometimes God's words do, by its quick lovingness.  How many seconds lie between a man's beginning to sink and his sinking?  Any of you who have been out of your depth in water before you could swim, or, being able to swim, were somehow powerless, will know that a single second or less sees one who is beginning to sink under water.  How swift, then, was the movement of love.

The use of the word "immediately" in the Gospels makes a Bible study of hours.  I must leave all that, and end with this one that has been more than ever life and peace to me of late.  They were troubled, those poor men in the boat.  "But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: for they all saw Him, and were troubled.   And immediately He talked with them."  We know what He said.  He has said it to us often. "Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid." (Mark 6:49,50).   

How needless their trouble seems to us as we read.  Do ours seem as needless to the heavenly watchers? (Psalm 91:11)  Do they wonder about us, as we do about those men, how there could be room for trouble in a ship that was under His command?  (It was He who had constrained them to go to the other side. It is He who directs our boat now, to the Other Side.)  But there is nothing of this wonder in the sweetness of the words of our Lord Jesus when He immediately talked with them.  He understood.

We, who know how upholding dear and loving words can be when a friend who understands does not blame, but just understands even the trouble that need not be, and comforts it, can enter into this most lovely story and find honey in this honeycomb word, immediately.  Thou Givest...They Gather - Amy Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 10037

August 17

THE BELOVED UNSEEN

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.   1 Peter 1:8 


Walking with a little four-year old, I said something about loving Jesus.  "But how can I love Him," she asked, "when I can't see Him?"

Thus she posed a problem which has occupied not a few grown-ups.  Peter had seen Jesus.  He was writing to Christians who had not.  Yet they loved Him, anyway, and though now they saw Him not, yet believing, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable  and full of glory.
 
We cannot see Him, but He lives and we can believe.  And if we trust Him the Spirit makes Him real and the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts.  And we make our way through this evil world in love with One we have never seen.

We are not infatuated with a hero of fiction, a memory or an ideal.  We love a Living  Person who was and is, and we shall be like Him, for one day we shall see Him as He is.  (1 John 3:2)   

Yes, we can love Him though we cannot see Him. 

Day by Day  With Vance Havner 

N.J. Hiebert - 10038

August 18

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above. 

Colossians 3:1,2 

    Many years ago, when airplanes were just becoming a safe way to travel a famous British pioneer aviator, Mr. Page, was flying his motorized aircraft in India.  As he flew a few hundred feet above the flat plains of that part of India, he became alarmed by a strange sound coming from inside his aircraft's control panel.  Though the motor made a loud noise, the pilot was still able to hear the alarming sounds and realized that he very likely had a very unwelcome passenger in his airplane.
    The scratching sounds were coming from some animal and Mr. Page assumed that the animal was probably the very unwelcome but very common India rat.  By the sounds he was able to detect that the creature was actively moving around inside the area where there were many delicate wires, cables and hoses containing oil which allowed him to control the aircraft.
    Knowing the normal activity of the rat was to gnaw on things he became increasingly alarmed for though he could hear the rat's movements, it was out of his sight and his reach.  Nor could he see any convenient place to land the aircraft on the ground below, so that he could get rid of his unwelcome guest.
    Now, very alarmed because he knew that the rat, by his gnawing abilities, could easily damage the cables and hoses causing him to lose control of the aircraft and have a terrible disaster, he desperately thought about what he might do.
    It was then Mr. Page remembered that the India rats were common to the plains but never found at the higher altitudes of the mountains due to the thinner air.  Immediately he lifted the nose of the aircraft and quickly gained altitude.  He flew the plane up to several thousand feet--the highest his aircraft could fly.  As Mr. Page kept the aircraft at that altitude, the noises inside the control panel lessened and before long completely stopped.  After the noises had long ceased Mr. Page was able to land his aircraft, and a short time later removed a very large dead rat. 
The Christian Shepherd - May 2012

N.J. Hiebert - 10039

August 19

August 20

August 21

August 22

Tuesday, July 01, 2025

Gems from July 2025

Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Exodus 17:10,11

While Joshua fought, Moses prayed.  As long as Moses held up his hands in prayer, Israel prevailed in battle, but when his hands drooped, Amalek prevailed. This battle was not won by Israel's fighting ability, since they were not experienced soldiers nor adept at warfare.

The battle was won by Moses through prayer.  What a reminder as to the value, power, and absolute necessity of prayer! Have you prayed today?  

W. Ross Rainey

Behold the throne of grace!
The promise calls us near!
To seek our God and Father's face,
Who loves to answer prayer.

Thy rich atoning blood,
Which sprinkled round we see,
Provides for those who come to God 
An all prevailing plea.

My soul, ask what thou wilt;
Thou canst not be too bold;
Since His own blood for thee He spilt,
What else can He withhold?

Beyond thy utmost wants 
His love and pow'r can bless;
To praying souls He always grants 
More than they can express.
   
John Newton

N.J. Hiebert - 9990

July 1

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  2 Corinthians 5:21 

Let us consider Christ's work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it.  But who is able to speak worthily of this theme of all themes?  Who can fathom the solemn yet blessed fact, the death of the Son of God on the cross?  What tongue or pen can describe the sad, yet glorious truth, that the Just One died for the unjust, that Christ died for the ungodly!  And what human mind can estimate the wonderful results of His work on the cross!

There can be nothing deeper than the death of God's Son on the cross.  Depths are here which are unfathomable.  We must ever turn back to the cross.  Always we shall learn something new.  With unspeakable Glory upon us and greater glory before us in eternal ages to come, the cross of Christ and the Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world can never be forgotten.  But we shall never know what that death on the cross meant for Him and what it meant to God.

"Through the eternal He Spirit offered Himself without spot to God" (Hebrews 9:14).  The Holy Lamb of God, with no spot or blemish upon Him, shed His precious blood on the cross, to procure redemption.  But what it all meant for Him who was as truly Man as He is God!  Here was a Being perfectly holy, One who had always pleased God and did His will, yea, His meat and drink was to do the will of Him that sent Him.

Sin was the horrible defiling thing to Him.  He, too, like the Holy God hated and hates sin.  And yet such a One was made sin for us.  He had to stand in the place of guilty sinners and all the waves and billows of divine judgment and wrath had to pass over Him.   He drank the cup of wrath to the last drop. 

A. C. Gaebelein  (1861-1945) 

N.J. Hiebert - 9991

July 2

Looking unto Jesus.  Hebrews 12:2
Only three words, but in those three words is the whole secret of life.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS in the Scriptures
to learn there what He is, what He has done, what He gives, what He desires; to find in His character our pattern, in His teachings our instruction, in His precepts our law, in His promises our support, in His person and in His work a full satisfaction provided for every need of our souls.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS Crucified,
to find in His shed blood our ransom, our pardon, our peace. 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS Risen,
to find in Him the righteousness which alone makes us righteous, and permits us, all unworthy as we are, to draw near with boldness, in His Name, to Him Who is His Father and our Father, His God and our God. 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS Glorified,
to find in Him our Heavenly Advocate completing by His intercession the work inspired by His loving-kindness for our salvation; (1 John 2:1) Who even now is appearing for us before the face of God (Hebrews 9:24), the kingly Priest, the spotless victim, bearing the iniquity of our holy things (Exodus 28:38).  

LOOKING UNTO JESUS Who gives repentance,
as well as forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31) because He give us the grace to recognize, to deplore, to confess, and to forsake our transgressions.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS NOW, if we have never looked unto Him,--
UNTO JESUS AFRESH, if we have ceased doing so,--
UNTO JESUS ONLY, STILL, ALWAYS, thus awaiting the hour when He will call us to pass from earth to heaven, and from time to eternity,--when at last "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2 
Theodore Monod

N.J. Hiebert - 9992

July 3

Looking unto Jesus . . .  Hebrews 12:2  (Continued from Gem # 8530)

Only three words, but in those three words is the whole secret of life.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to receive from Him the task and the cross for each day, with the grace which is sufficient to carry the cross and to accomplish the task;
the grace that enables us to be patient wth His patience, active with His activity, loving with His love;
never asking "What am I able for?" but rather: "What is He not able for?" and waiting for His strength  which is made perfect in our weakness. 
(2 Corinthians 12:9) 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to go forth from ourselves and to forget ourselves; so that our darkness may flee away before the brightness of His face; so that our joys may be holy, and our sorrow restrained;

- that He may cast us down, and that He may raise us up; 
- that He may afflict us, and that He may comfort us;
- that He may deprive us, and that He may enrich us;
- that He may teach us to pray, and that He may answer our prayers;
- that while leaving us in the world, He may separate us from it, our life being hidden with Him in God, and our behaviour bearing witness to Him before men.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS and at nothing else,
as our text expresses it in one untranslatable word (aphoroontes),
which at the same time directs us to fix our gaze upon Him, and to turn it away from everything else. 

Theodore Monod  

N.J. Hiebert - 9993

July 4

Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.  Matthew 28:20 

Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear.  Rather look at them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them.  He has kept you hitherto; do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. 

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow.  The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day.  Either He will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.  Be at peace, then, put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

Frances de Sales

The Lord is my shepherd.  Psalm 23:1

Not was, not may be, nor will be.  "The Lord is my Shepherd," is on Sunday, is on Monday, and is through every day of the week; is in January, is in December, and every month of the year; is at home, and is in China; is in peace, and, is in war; in abundance, and in penury. 

J. Hudson Taylor
    

N.J. Hiebert - 9994

July 5

The trying of your faith worketh patience.  James 1:3

Again and again we see it, that suffering instead of knocking the truth of the gospel out of the young convert most effectually knocks it in, and if you want to find stabilized Christians, strengthened Christians, settled Christians, you will have to discover tested Christians. 

The strong winter winds shake the sapling down to the utmost ramifications of its roots; and it is that shaking, that testing that the young tree gets, that enables it to break up the soil round the roots and get ready for the underground growth of the spring, when above the ground the fresh leaves and twigs appear.  The process is going on beneath the surface and even the winter winds prepare the ground for the strengthening and establishment and settlement of that tree in the site where it has been placed.

James tells us that the trying of our faith, "works patience."  It is the testing of your faith that works endurance. The common notion is that temptations and testings and trials are merely dreadful weights.  We say, if only I were not tied down by these difficulties what a good kind Christian I could be.  But again I have had to revise my thoughts.  I discovered after all I was not right.

A little lad flies his kite in the March winds.  It goes soaring into the sky and here he is down beneath.  He has hold of the cord and if you could give that kite a mouth it might reason to itself, "Look how well I am flying and, doing all this in spite of the aggravating circumstance. That annoying lad  continually hangs on to the end of the string.   Does he think I am going to lift him as well as myself in the wind? Seeing I fly so well under this handicap, I think I could fly up and hit yonder moon if only I got free.  What could I not do if I were not tied down in this foolish way?" 

Then the little lad is inattentive for a moment, the string goes slack, and the kite going up again with a jerk, the string snaps.  The kite goes wobbling down, and gets tangled in the old oak.  A poor sorry thing it looks.  Supposing the kite could speak what would it say now? "Well I never!  The very thing I thought was keeping me down was keeping me up."

It is the trials, the testings, the  awkward circumstances you and I have to face that are God's education for us. We are learning what God can do for us in the midst of those temptations.  
F. B. Hole - with thanks to Bill Weiss                     

N.J. Hiebert - 9995

July 6

The Man Daniel - Early Choices

The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.  Psalm 25:14
If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.  John 7:17
  


Daniel was cruelly uprooted and transported to Babylon when he was a teenager.  It would have been easy for him to forget his past, and his God, but even as a youth, he took a stand for God, and remained faithful to Him during a long life of active service.  This was the kind of man to whom God revealed His secrets.  There are a number of lessons for us here.

First, It is never too early to take a stand for God.  Most of the major decisions that will determine the course of our entire life do not face us when we have decades of experiences behind us, but when we are in our teens and twenties.  It is in these years that we make all the major decisions--what career we will pursue, who we will have as a partner for life, the standards that we will maintain, etc.  So it is in our spiritual lives.

The critical decisions that will determine our spiritual priorities, and our commitment to God and His things, are made in the early formative years of our lives. Daniel made some weighty decisions as a teenager, and we encourage  the young reader to do the same.   

Secondly, knowing the mind of God is not merely a matter of intellectual capacity, or of determination to study the Word, but rather of being intimate with Him, and faithful to Him in the matters of everyday living.  It is to such that God will unveil the treasures of His Word. God will reveal Himself to those who are humble of heart and submissive to the Holy Spirit's teaching and guidance.

Daniel - Godly Living in a Hostile World - William Burnet

N.J. Hiebert - 9996

July 7

And Jesus took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when He had taken him in his arms, He said unto them, whosoever shall receive one of such children in My name, receiveth Me: and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me, but Him that sent Me.  Mark 9:36,37

On the way to Capernaum Jesus had been speaking of His coming humiliation, of His sacrifice and death for the sake of others; but the disciples, when they supposed Jesus did not hear them, were disputing as to which of them was greatest.   Could we imagine a more pitiful contrast, or on the other hand a more striking illustration of the lesson Jesus found occasion to teach? The One among them who was incomparably great was He who was about to stoop  to the death of the cross, that others might live.  

The disciples are ashamed to have Jesus know of their dispute; they must have felt, in His presence, that there was something wrong about their pride and jealousy and deceit and anger.  Some modern disciples might be ashamed of their disputes if they realized the presence of their Lord.  However, He does not rebuke them severely; He calls them to Him and says, "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." (Mark 9:35).

 
Then Jesus Impresses the lesson by an acted parable of peculiar beauty: (Mark 9:36).  To care for a little child, or for one who like a little child needs our sympathy, our protection, our guidance, our help, is really to do a great thing; so great, indeed, that to do so in the name of Christ, and for the sake of Christ, is really to render the service to Christ.  It is even more, if more can be; it is to render a service directly to God (Mark 9:37). 

True greatness, then, consists not in attaining the first place in the notice and praise of the world, not in being served by many, but in being willing to stoop down to a humble place, not for the sake of self-effacement, not in timid diffidence, but in order to serve others for the sake of Christ.   
Charles Erdman  

N.J. Hiebert - 9997

July 8

"The thief said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into Thy kingdom.  And Jesus said unto him...today shalt thou be with Me in paradise.  Luke 23:42,43 

There is no scene in the history of the world like that which is before us in Luke 23.  There is a page  in God's Word, and a page in the history of man's world, that stands alone, stands unique, because you have there the death of the only absolutely sinless, spotless, holy Man, by the side of two men who were sinners, and one of them becomes the companion of that sinless Man for eternity.  The other got his chance but missed it.

Between these three seen here, each nailed to a cross, there is an immense difference.  Of One I can say this--there was no sin in Him; although there was sin on Him. Then I come to the man who had no sin on him, though there was sin in him.  And there was a third of these men, who had sin on him and sin in him.  So he died.  Ah! do not you be the eternal companion of that third man, I implore you.

You may perhaps say, what do you mean?  One of these three had no sin in Him, and yet had sin on Him, when He was nailed to that tree!    Yes! that was Jesus.  Perfect He was.  He was the holy, spotless Man; and the charm of this scene is this, that the thief confesses not only his own guilt and his own sin, but he makes, if I may say so, a public confession of what his faith is in regard to Christ.  "This man hath done nothing amiss" (verse 41), was his true and blessed declaration. 

That man reversed everybody's judgment; that man stood alone that day in his witness, and in his testimony, to Jesus. If you glance through what went before, you will find that everybody was against Christ,--Judas, Pilate, Herod, priests, scribes, populace, everybody; there was nobody for Him.  Not one solitary soul stood for Him in all that company that day.  What a scene!  Betrayed by a false friend, denied by true friends, and deserted by all His followers; with the chief priest, who instigated the populace  to demand His death, against Him;  The governor against Him; the king against Him; the world against Him; everybody against Him.  The dying thief changed his company and fell in with God in rich appreciation of Christ.

There was no sin on that thief, though there was sin in him.  How is this?  His sins were laid on Christ; they were taken off the poor thief who trusted Him.    
Seekers for Light - W. T. P. Wolston M.D.

N.J. Hiebert - 9998

July 9

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  James 1:22,25. 

We find here an important expression-- "The law of liberty."  If I tell my child to remain in the house when he wishes to go out, he may obey; but it is not a law of liberty to him; he restrains his will.  But if I afterwards say, "Now go where you wish to go;" he obeys, and it is a law of liberty, because his will and the command are the same; they run together.

The will of God was for Jesus a law of liberty.  He came to do His Father's will, He desired nothing else.  Blessed state!  It was perfection in Him, a blessed example for us.  The law is a law of liberty when the will, the heart of man, coincides perfectly in desire with the law imposed upon him--imposed in our case by God--the law written in the heart.

It is thus with the new man as with the heart of Christ.  He loves obedience, and loves the will of God because it is His will, and as having a nature which answers to what His will expresses, since we partake of the divine nature; in fact it loves that which God wills.

But there is an index to what is found in the heart, which, more than any other, betrays what is within.  This index is the tongue.   He who knows how to govern his tongue is a perfect man, and able to bridle the whole body.  (James 3:2) 

The appearance of religion is vain if the tongue be not bridled; such a man deceives his own heart. True religion is shown by love in the heart, and by purity--keeping himself unspotted from the world.  It thinks of others, for those who are in distress, in need of protection, and the help and support of love, as widows and orphans.  The truly religious heart, full of the love of God, and moved by Him, thinks, as God does, upon sorrow, weakness, and need.  It is the true christian character.  (James 1:26,27)       
James - JND

N.J. Hiebert - 9999

July 10

Looking unto Jesus . . . Hebrews 12:2  (continued from Gems #8530, 8531)

Only three words, but in those three words is the whole secret of life.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS  and not at His enemies or at our own.
In place of hating them and fearing them, we shall then know how to love them and to overcome them.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS  and not at the obstacles which meet us in our path.  As soon as we stop to consider them, they amaze us, they confuse us, they overwhelm us, incapable as we are of understanding either the reason why they are permitted, or the means by which we may overcome them.

The apostle began to sink as soon as he turned to look at the waves tossed by the storm; it was while he was looking at Jesus that he walked on the waters as on a rock.  The more difficult our task, the more terrifying our temptations, the more essential it is that we look only at Jesus.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS and not at our troubles,
to count up their number, to reckon their weight, to find perhaps a certain strange satisfaction in tasting their bitterness.  Apart from Jesus trouble does not sanctify, it hardens or it crushes.  It produces not patience but rebellion; not sympathy, but selfishness; not hope (Romans 5:3,4) but despair. 

It is only under the shadow of the cross that we can appreciate the true weight of our own cross, and accept it each day from His hand, to carry it with love, with gratitude, with joy; and find in it for ourselves and for others a source of blessings. 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS with a gaze more and more constant, more and more confident, "Changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)    
Theodore Monod 

N.J. Hiebert - 10,000

July 11

HE GIVETH MORE 

"He giveth more grace,"  James  4:6
"He increaseth strength."  Isaiah 40:29
"Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied."  Jude 2


He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,
Our Father's full giving is only begun.

His love has no limit, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;  
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.

Annie Johnson Flint

N.J. Hiebert - 10001

July 12

David said to Goliath, this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 1 Samuel 17:46 

David and Goliath's unequal battle--the shepherd lad without a sword or spear meeting the mighty giant of the Philistines striding proudly with his spear and sword and shield to mortal combat in the valley of Elah--is one of the striking pictures in the Old Testament of Golgotha.

David was misjudged by his brethren.  Eliab, his eldest brother, said in anger, "Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle" (1 Samuel 17:28).  What stinging sarcasm and evil surmising!  How untrue the charge of pride and idle curiosity!  David was one of the noblest examples of meekness and lowliness in the Scriptures.

"To see the battle"?  There was no battle till David came.  There would have been no battle had he not come.  David was there because his father sent him.  David was there because he was needed there.  David despised Goliath.  "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26). David was fired with zeal for the dishonour that was done to the name of God.  "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied" (1 Samuel 17:45).

See the courage and the confidence of David as he meets the towering giant.  "David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:48).  How soon it was all over!  Goliath, like Dagon his god, lay stretched out with his face upon the earth.  In the forehead of his pride, Goliath was pierced with the stone from David's sling.  Before the men of Israel could scarcely get their breath, there was David standing on the carcass of the giant, swinging above his head the sword he had pulled from Goliath's sheath.  Tears of admiration were in many an eye as David returned to the ranks of Israel carrying the head of the boasting enemy of God in his hand.  
(Leonard Sheldrake)

The record says suggestively, "But there was no sword in the hand of David"
(1 Samuel 17:50)
 to be a type of the Lord. 
(Leonard Sheldrake)|

By weakness and defeat, He won the mead and crown;
Trod all His foes beneath His feet, by being trodden down.
 
Whitlock Gandy

N.J. Hiebert - 10002

July 13

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities. . .nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:37-39  

George Matheson went completely blind when he was eighteen years old.  Still, he remained a star student.  He went on to become a great preacher in Scotland, assisted by his sister, who learned Greek and Hebrew to help with his research. This hymn was written on the evening of June 6, 1882. "I was at that time alone.  It was the day of my sister's marriage.  Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering.  The hymn was the fruit of that suffering."

What was it that happened to him?  Something he was remembering the time he himself was engaged to be married and fiancée broke the engagement when she learned that he would soon be completely blind.  Or perhaps it was difficult for him to have his devoted sister getting married.  In any case, he was led to ponder God's eternal love, which would turn his "flickering torch" into blazing daylight. 


O Love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest  all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain 
That morn shall tearless be. 
 George Matheson

N.J. Hiebert - 10003

July 14

WITS' END CORNER

They reel to and fro . . . and are at their wits' end.  Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still . . . so He bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. 

Psalm 107:27-31

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner" Christian, with troubled brow? Are you thinking of what is before you, and all you are bearing now?
Does all the world seem against you, and you in the battle alone? Remember--at "Wits' End Corner" is just where God's power is shown.

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner," blinded with wearying pain, Feeling you cannot endure it, you cannot bear the strain--
Bruised through the constant suffering, dizzy, and dazed and numb? Remember--to "Wits' End Corner" is where Jesus loves to come!

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner," your work before you spread, All begun, lying unfinished and pressing on heart and head,
Longing for strength to do it, stretching out trembling hands? Remember--at "Wits' End Corner" the Burden-Bearer stands.

Are you standing at "Wits' End Corner", yearning for those you love, Longing, and praying, and watching, pleading their cause above,
Trying to lead them to Jesus, wondering if you've been true? He whispers, at "Wits' End Corner," I'll win them, as I won you!

Are you standing at "Wits End Corner?" then you're just in the very spot, 
To learn the wondrous resources of Him who faileth not!
No doubt, to a brighter pathway your footsteps will soon be moved, But only at "Wits' End Corner" is the "God who is able" proved!  
A. Wilson    

N.J.Hiebert - 10004

July 15

And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. . . JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.  

John 19:19

The charge that the high priests of Jerusalem had made against Jesus was that He declared Himself to be King of the Jews.  Pilate had asked Him "Art Thou the King of the Jews?"  It was necessary that Pilate, as the one who condemned Jesus to die, should make out a placard that should indicate the crime of which the crucified one was guilty. He wrote "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS"-- in Hebrew, the language of religion; in Greek, the language of culture; and in Latin, the language of government.

The charge against Jesus was: "This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."  That was meant to say, "He is being crucified as a rebel, as an insurrectionist  against the Roman Government."  Pilate did not believe that for one moment, but on his part it was an ironical, sardonic thing.  He wanted to taunt these chief priests and scribes who had hounded him until at last he had condemned, an innocent Man to death.

Pilate designates Him as King of the Jews, and some day it will be found that the title Pilate put over the cross was more true than he or the world realized.  For this One who has gone to His Father's throne in heaven will return again for we are told that "They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced." (John 19:37). They will recognize Him, as the true King of the Jews.  

It is remarkable how the cross of Christ brings out all that is in the heart of man, shows men up as they really are.  In the light of that cross Pilate comes before  us in all his cynicism and his lack of conscience.  In the light of that cross the chief priests were manifested in all their hypocrisy and bitterness and their hatred of the holy, spotless Son of God.  We see the callousness, indifference, greed and covetousness of the soldiers who were gambling for the clothing of the crucified One at the foot of the cross.
 
Gospel of John - H. A. Ironside 

N.J. Hiebert - 10005

July 16

The word of God is quick, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.

Jonah is not the only prophet of Jehovah who in a fit of disappointment had prayed that he might die.  You remember Elijah had prayed, "it is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers." 
(1 Kings 19:4)
  We, too, have had similar thoughts when we have been utterly disappointed with ourselves.  How different if all our hopes had been in our Lord, and we had truly learned the lesson that "in me, that is, in my flesh, is no good thing." (Romans 7:18)

How gracious is Jehovah, whether to Jonah, or to Elijah, or to us!  He might well have sharply rebuked Jonah for such a prayer as that, or for coming into His presence in displeasure and anger.  How gracious is His reply to another question, too: "Doest thou well to be angry?" (Jonah 4:4)  Jonah did the very best thing he could have done--he was silent.  His mouth was closed.  How graciously the Lord answered Elijah's prayer!  This time the Lord was silent, and instead of a reply in words, He gave him sweet refreshing sleep under a broom-bush, and then fed him with a cake baked on hot stones. 1 Kings 4:5-7

Was it baked by the same One who prepared the fish on the fire of coals, and the bread, in John 21?  He refreshed him with a cruse of water also.  That prayer of Elijah's was never answered, for in place of taking away his life in death, as he had wished, the Lord took him home without passing through death at all, in His own chariot of fire.  How gently and graciously the Lord has answered us in our times of disappointment  and discouragement, giving us better than all we could ask or think, each one may bear witness for himself!  but we can all unite in singing:


How good is the God we adore, our faithful, unchangeable Friend,
Whose love is as great as His power, and knows neither measure not end." 

Lessons From Jonah The Prophet - G. C. Willis

N.J. Hiebert  - 10006

July 17

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me.  John 15:4

"Abide in Me." "Learn of Me."  Christ  really means it, and that it is His own work to keep us abiding when we yield ourselves to Him, that we shall venture to cast ourselves into the arms of His love, and abandon ourselves to His blessed keeping.  It is not the yoke, but resistance to the yoke, that makes the difficulty; the whole-hearted surrender to Jesus, as at once our Master and our Keeper, finds and secures the rest.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me."  Does it weary the traveller to rest in the house or on the bed where he seeks repose from his fatigue?  Or is it a  labour to a little child to rest in its mother's arms?  Is it not the house that keeps the traveller within its shelter?  Do not the arms of the mother sustain and keep the little one?  And so it is with Jesus.  The soul has but to yield itself to Him, to be still and rest in the confidence that His love has undertaken, and that His faithfulness will perform the work of keeping it safe in the shelter of His bosom.

Abiding in Jesus is nothing but giving up oneself to ruled and taught and led, and so resting in the arms of Everlasting Love.  Blessed rest!  The fruit and the foretaste and the fellowship of God's own rest, found of them who thus come to Jesus to abide in Him.  It is the peace of God, that passes all understanding, and keeps the heart and mind. (Matthew 11:28).  With this grace secured, we have strength for every duty, courage for every struggle, a blessing in every cross, and the joy of life eternal in death itself. 
 Andrew Murray

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
He will not, He cannot, desert to HIs foes;
That soul, tho' all hell should endeavour to shake,
He'll never, no never, no never forsake!  
 Ribbon


N.J. Hiebert - 10007

July 18

Looking unto Jesus . . . Hebrews 12:2   His strength will communicate itself to our hearts, His praise will break forth from our lips.

UNTO JESUS and not what we are doing for Him.
Too much occupied with our work, we can forget our Master,--it is possible to have the hands full and the heart empty.  When occupied with our Master, we cannot forget our work; if the heart is filled with His love, how can the hands fail to be active in His service?

UNTO JESUS and not to the apparent success of our efforts.
The apparent success is not the measure of the real success; and besides, God has not told us to succeed but to work; it is of our work that He requires an account, and not of our success,--why then concern ourselves with it?  It is for us to scatter the seed, for God to gather the fruit; if not today, then it will be tomorrow; if He does not employ us to gather it, then He will employ others.

Even when success is granted to us, it is always dangerous to fix our attention on it: on the one hand we are tempted to take some of the credit of it to ourselves; on the other hand we thus accustom ourselves to abate our zeal when we cease to perceive its result, that is to say, at the very time when we should redouble  our energy.

To look at the success is to walk by sight; to look at Jesus, and to persevere in following Him and serving Him, in spite of all discouragements, is to walk by faith.  
T. Monod

N.J. Hiebert - 10008

July 19

THE PURPOSE OF PAIN

But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.  1 Peter 5:10

At times the very life of the Living Christ which comes to us may appear clouded, maybe even murky. We cannot fully comprehend why the stream of daily events flowing over our little lives resembles the cold, chill glacial streams that bear their burden of "glacial flour."  Yet this is the polishing compound that puts the fine polish and smooth satin patina over every stone it touches.  

It is the minute pangs of human misunderstandings, the crude, persistent rub of rudeness from others, the little lapses of ingratitude that press in upon us, the subconscious grief of insensitivity that move over us.  These are our all Father's "glacial flour" for polishing people in their pangs of pain.

Out of all this there has come to me an acute awareness that nothing is permitted to touch my life except in the gracious good will of my Father for me.  In His infinite concern He is shaping a character that not only in time here, but in eternity to come, will reflect something of the wondrous work He did in me.

Out of my stony spirit He has brought something of beauty and worth.  It has taken sorrow and suffering.  But anything of great value costs a great deal to create and shape. 
 W. Phillip  Keller

N.J. Hiebert - 10009

July 20

And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven.  And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.  Colossians 1:20-22 

The Basis of Our Peace with God.  As convicted sinners: 
- We see in the cross the everlasting  foundation of our peace with God.
- We see our sin judged and put away.
- We see God as the sinner's Friend and the Righteous Justifier of the ungodly sinner.

- We see God dealing with sin in such a manner as to glorify Himself infinitely.   

The cross displays all His divine attributes:
- Love that captures our hearts,
- Wisdom that baffles demons and astonishes angels,
- Holiness that repulses sin, the most intense expression of God's abhorrence of sin.
- And most of all the grace that sets the sinner in His very presence.

Thus the cross is the basis of the sinner's peace, of his worship, and of his eternal relationship with God. 

C.H. Mackintosh

N.J.Hiebert - 10010

Grace Gems

John 1:14, "We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

John 1:16, "From the fullness of His grace, we have all received one blessing after another."

There is in Jesus, not only a sufficiency of grace, but an all-sufficiency. He has enough to supply all our needs; and not only enough for us--but for all the saints who have ever lived or shall live!

Jesus is a fountain of mercy and grace. From His fullness, as from an overflowing fountain, streams every spiritual blessing. He fills our empty vessels again and again, and still the fountain overflows.

The more grace we draw from Jesus, the more is still in Him. The sun is never the less bright, after all the light we receive from it. In the same way, Jesus is never the less full, after all the grace we receive from Him. Grace from the heart of Jesus, is ever flowing out to His people:
  grace upon grace,
  blessing upon blessing,
  mercy upon mercy.

There is in the crucified Jesus, grace sufficient to all the difficulties, necessities, and desires of His poor people. Jesus is . . .
  a garment to cover and adorn them,
    a counselor to advise them,
      a captain to defend them,
        a prince to rule them,
          a prophet to teach them,
            a priest to make atonement for them,
            a husband to protect them,
          a father to provide for them,
       a foundation to support them,
     a head to guide them,
  and a treasure to enrich them!

Jesus is the great storehouse of all heavenly treasures. In Him, are laid up all the riches of divine grace. From Him, all believers receive grace, not only at their first conversion, but all along their pilgrim way. His blessings do not come occasionally, but one after another: ceaseless, boundless, sufficient for every step of the Christian life.

Jesus is all-sufficient for a believer. He is . . .
  the bread to nourish him,
   the physician to heal him,
     the rock to support him,
       the ark to shelter him,
         the sun to enlighten him,
           and the fountain to cleanse him!
What more can any Christian desire to save and satisfy him; and to make him holy and happy, in time and in eternity?

Jesus is a treasury of all spiritual blessings, and these are all for His redeemed people! If there is anything lacking in us, it is not because there is any lack in Jesus. The fountain is full, but the hand of faith must be stretched out to receive.

July 21

Death is swallowed up in victory.  1 Corinthians 15:54  Isaiah 25:8 

This is a remarkable statement; twice repeated for confirmation.  It is sometimes translated "Death has lost the battle" but I like the King James Version, quoted at the top.  "Lost the battle" looks back, which is perfectly valid, but the concept of "victory" looks ahead to the results.

When we think just how powerful a force death is, it is amazing to think of it being "swallowed up" by anything.  Death is the portal or gateway to what comes after natural life (whether eternal life or eternal death).  No one but our Lord Jesus Christ has ever come back to tell us about that process, but it is because of His death and resurrection power, that the force of death can be declared broken.

Hebrews 2:4 says this: "That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil".

The victory of the Lord's resurrection opens up such marvellous truths as the promise to believers of life forever in company with the Lord, and, while we wait, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Who also unlocks the mystery of the scriptures for us. 
Lorne Perry

Death and judgment are behind us,
Grace and glory are before;
All the billows rolled o'er Jesus,
There they spent their utmost  power.

by Mrs. J. A. Trench

N.J. Hiebert - 10011

July 22

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.  Matthew 27:45

At the sixth hour--that is, twelve o'clock, noon--darkness, like a pall, falls over the whole land.  What is it?  What is this strange eclipse at noon day?  Is it God in judgment coming forth to execute vengeance on men--on sinners for their treatment of this Holy One, His beloved Son?  Is God about to pour forth His judgment on their guilty heads?  Well might they think so.  No doubt they did.  Well might they believe it was just retribution coming for their murder of Him:

- whom even the dying thief could say, "This man hath done nothing amiss;"
- whom Pilate declared to be a "just person," in whom he could find no fault;
- who even their own guilty consciences must have known was unworthy to die.


But was it God's judgment on a guilty world?  No!  It was something greater far, deeper far.  It was not God dealing with sinful man, but God dealing with His own Son, God dealing with Christ, because of man's sin, that He had taken upon Him.  In that terrible hour, when darkness veiled the land,  God hid His face from Him. 

And those three hours of darkness, those three hours of total eclipse between God and the One on the cross, rolled on, and then at the ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon, comes that great, that terrible cry from Him, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  He forsook Jesus in that hour, that He might never forsake you and me.  There was darkness for Him that there might be only light for us.  He bore the judgment that we might go free.  Once more, He cries with a loud voice, "It is finished," and gives up His spirit.  "No man taketh it from Me, I lay it down of Myself."  God is able now to come out in grace to man, in spite of His guilt, because of what Christ has done.   
   The Call of the Bride - W. T. P. Wolston

N.J. Hiebert - 10012

July 23

Commit thy way unto the Lord; Trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.  Psalm 37:5  

That three-part recipe begins with a definite act of commitment.  Then the step of faith is followed by the walk of faith, ". . . Trust also in Him. . ." and it ends with victory, ". . . He shall bring it to pass."

We are so often creatures and victims of circumstance.  Ask someone, "how do you feel?" and you may get the answer, "I'm doing the best I can UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES." Our Lord said, "In the world ye shall have tribulation (pressure)" and when has there been so much pressure as now!  "but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Our Lord lived and died under the darkest of circumstances.  He was under the constant pressure of the powers of darkness.  The world, the flesh, and the devil were set against Him and they finally nailed Him to a cross.  But He overcame the whole combination and lives for evermore!

The Christian does not have any business living UNDER the circumstances.  He can live ABOVE them.  He is MORE  than conqueror.  He does not merely triumph, He transcends. Nor must he fight his way THROUGH  circumstances.  No amount of flexing our muscles and gritting our teeth and furiously battling the fog will  do it.  We mount up with wings as eagles above the tempest instead of exhausting ourselves wrestling with it.

You can go crazy considering the circumstances.  Plenty of people have.  You can live a life of fear, worry, defeat UNDER the circumstances.  You can exhaust yourself trying to battle THROUGH the circumstances.  Jesus came to defeat the devil, the world, and death.  He lives in every Christian's heart and we have victory because He is the Victor.  The Holy Spirit came to make all this real and operative and we have built-in power that no circumstances can defeat.  Though I Walk Through the Valley - Vance Havner

N.J. Hiebert - 10013

July 24

And, they stript Joseph out of his coat...and they took him, and cast him into a pit...and they sat down to eat bread.  Genesis 37:23-25.

Having cast Joseph into the pit, his brethren "sat down to eat bread."  Nor was it otherwise at the cross.  The presence of Joseph only serves to reveal the evil of His brethren, just as the cross becomes the occasion to expose the depth of corruption in the heart of man.

The leaders of Israel yield up the true Passover Lamb to death, and  calmly sit down to eat the passover feast--an evil and adulterous generation, like the adulterous woman of Proverbs, of whom it is written "She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness." Proverbs 30:20. 

The company of merchant men on their way to Egypt at once suggest to Judah the opportunity of making profit out of their brother.  Why not sell Joseph and make a little money?  If they are not going to gratify their hatred by killing Joseph, why not gratify their covetousness by selling Joseph?  Hence they gave their brother to the Gentiles, and gave themselves up to money making.

And what Judah did a thousand years before Christ came, His descendants have done for over two thousand years since His rejection.  At the cross the Jews abandoned their Messiah and ever since they have abandoned themselves to the worship of riches. 

"Profit" is the word that governed the actions of Joseph's brethren.  Judah asked the question for the covetous heart--not "is it right?" or "is it wrong?" but "what profit is it?" (Genesis 37:26)  And profit has governed the policy throughout the long centuries since that sad day when their Messiah was sold for thirty pieces of silver.  (Matthew 27:9).  
Joseph - Hamilton Smith

If I gained the world, but lost the Saviour, would my gain be worth the toil and strife?
Are all earthly treasures worth comparing with the gift of God, eternal life? 
 


N.J. Hiebert - 10014

July 25

BUDGETING OUR TIME 

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12 


This does not mean that we should count our days because we do not know how many we have.  But time is priceless and when it is running out we must be all the more careful how we spend what is left.

We should budget our time and put it to good use for one day we must report on how we spent it.

The Psalmist is asking God for instruction on how to use the time He has entrusted to us.  This does not mean that we must live in nervous tension keeping books on every minute.  God is not a tyrant or a taskmaster.  He is the Father of all who believe.

To study, work, and play as His children, we must give proper place to each and buy up all life's opportunities, "redeeming the time, because the days are evil."  Ephesians 5:16  
All The Days - Vance Havner.

Work, for the night is coming, work thro' the morning hours;
Work, while the dew is sparkling, work 'mid springing flowers;
Work, when the day grows brighter, work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming, when man's work is done. 

Work, for the night is coming, work thro' the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labour, rest comes sure and soon.
Give ev'ry flying minute something to keep in store;
Work, for the night is coming, when man works no more.   

A. L. Walker   


N.J. Hiebert - 100015

July 26

But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.  Luke 24:21 

I have always felt so sorry that in that walk to Emmaus the disciples had not said  to Jesus, "We still trust"; instead of "We trusted." That is so sad--something that is all over. 

If they had only said, "Everything is against our hope; it looks as if our trust was vain, but we do not give up; we believe we shall see Him again."  But no, they walked by His side declaring their lost faith, and He had to say to them "O fools, and slow of heart to believe!" (Luke 24:25).

Are we not in the same danger of having these words said to us?  We can afford to lose anything and everything if we do not lose our faith in the God of truth and love.

Let us never put our faith, as these disciples did, in a past tense--"We trusted."  But let us ever say, "I am trusting."   


The soft sweet summer was warm and glowing,
Bright were the blossoms on every bough:
I trusted Him when the roses were blooming;
I trust Him now. . . .

Small were my faith should it weakly falter
Now that the roses have ceased to blow;
Frail were the trust that now should alter,
Doubting His love when storm clouds grow.

Streams in the Desert


N.J. Hiebert - 10016

July 27

Thou  exceedest the fame that I heard.  

2 Chronicles 9:6 

- Thou!  Lord Jesus! for whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee (Psalm 73:25).
- Thou! Who hast loved me and washed me from my sins in Thine own blood.
- Thou! Who hast given Thyself for me (Revelation 1:5.)
- Thou! Who hast redeemed me, called me, drawn me, waited for me.
- Thou! Who hast given me Thy Holy Spirit to testify of Thee.
- Thou! Whose life is mine, and with Whom my life is entwined, so that nothing shall separate or untwine it (Romans 8:35).

- Thou exceedest the fame that I heard!  Yet I heard a great fame of Thee (1Kings 10:7).  They told me Thou wert gracious.  They told me as much as they could put into words. And they said, "Come and see."  (John 1:46).  I tried to come, but I could not see.  My eyes were holden, though
- Thou wast "not far." (Acts 17:27). Then I heard what 
- Thou wast to others, and I knew that
- Thou wast the same Lord.  But now I believe, not because of their saying, for I have heard Thee myself, and know that 
- Thou art indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world--my Saviour (John 4:42)
- Thee,"Whom I shall see for myself," (Job 19:27).  I now know for myself; "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

I did not understand how there could be satisfaction here and now.  It seemed necessarily future, in the very nature of things.  It seemed, in spite of Thy promises, that the soul could never be filled with anything but in heaven.
But Thou fillest, Thou satisfieth it (Psalm 107:9). 
 
Royal Bounty - Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert - 10017

July 28

My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.  Psalm 5:3  

Our first pursuits in the morning generally indicate where our hearts are.  The children of Israel had to gather their daily food before sunrise, or they would be too late. (Exodus 16:21)

And if the believer can rise from his bed and go about  the business of this life before he has looked up to the Lord, and turned to the Scriptures which testify of Him for renewal of the inward man, it is more than probable that his heart has gotten away from God.

Nothing can possibly make up for a lack of food, for "Christ is all" (Colossians 3:11). Be assured, Christian reader, it is not the discovery of beautiful things in Scripture, the solving of intricate questions; but it is Christ, of Whom the Word testifies, Who is the food of our souls--having personally to do with Christ Himself, Who is crowned with glory and honour, and soon coming to receive us unto Himself.

Oh, the untold blessedness of looking up to our Lord Jesus Christ on the Father's throne, Who is "Head over all things to the church which is His body," (Ephesians 1:22) and finding joy, sustainment, and comfort in the contemplation of the infinite perfectness of His Person, work, excellencies, offices, fulness and glory, as revealed in Holy Scripture!  Then our earnest cry will surely be:


"Oh fix our earnest gaze so wholly, Lord on Thee;
That with Thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see!"
 
The Remembrancer (Volume 18)

N.J. HIebert - 10018

July 29

There hath not failed one word of all His good promise.  1 Kings 8:56

I have found that in times of disappointment of any kind, there is great help in these words.  There is the fact.  Feelings may say what they will, they cannot touch the eternal fact.

One of His good promises is, "Whatsoever is right I will give you." (Matthew 20:4).  "No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11), so that the thing that is not given could not have been good for us.  He knows what is good. 

It is just here that faith is tested, sometimes very sharply, and we begin perhaps to distress ourselves over the condition attached to the promise. Is it because of something in me that  this good thing--as I believe it to be--is not  given?  "God, Who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27).   

God alone knows our need of the cleansing Blood for motive in prayer, but if by His enabling we will to desire His will, then we may leave all torturing thoughts and rest  our hearts on Him.  
"No good thing will He withhold. . . (Psalm 84:11) There hath not failed--nor ever can fail--one word of all His good promise. (1 Kings 8:56)   Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 10019

July 30

The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.  The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. Lamentation 3:24,25. 

"Therefore have I hope."  An exalted strain of joyous confidence is sustained.  In place of complaining that his woes were greater than he had deserved, Jeremiah justifies God, and gratefully acknowledges that justice has been tempered with grace.

"It is of the Lord's mercies," He owns, "that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."  (Lamentations 3:22:23).  How precious the faith that, at such a time, could so speak! And what tried saint can truthfully say otherwise?  

No self-judged believer ever yet failed to own that he was far from receiving the full reward of his deeds.  Rather, it seems as though God's grace leads Him to overlook even serious failure, and to correct but in part.  "His compassions fail not."

The rod is never directed by a cold, indifferent heart.  He feels as no other can for the people of His choice, the children He loves.  Every morning witnesses fresh evidences of His loving-kindness.  
Lamentations of Jeremiah - H. A. Ironside

N.J. Hiebert - 10020

July 31

THE DAY OF CHRIST

Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.  Philippians 2:16

Ye also are our's (our boast) in the day of the Lord Jesus.
2 Corinthians 1:14


And what is this "Day" of which the Apostle so often speaks?  This "Day of our Lord Jesus Christ"?  We speak of "Caesars day" or, "Napoleon's day"; and we all understand by this that it means the day when Caesar or Napoleon held sway, and exercised his will. 

So is it now: it is "man's day," (1 Corinthians 4:3) when man is permitted to act according to his own will.  But the time is coming when the Lord Jesus Christ will have His day: when He will come again and take all His own to be with Himself forever.1 Thessalonians 4.


This is the beginning of the day of our Lord Jesus Christ: but it will include the Judgment Seat of Christ.  I think this is the time that the Apostle refers to in Philippians 2.  When He sees His beloved brethren from Philippi receive their reward for their faithful walk down here, it will be a boast to Paul, that not in vain he ran, and not in vain he toiled.

And, beloved fellow labourer, you and I have that same bright hope: nor do I mean by that word "fellow labourer" (1 Corinthians 3:9) any special class of persons.  A child who seeks to lead a school-mate to the Saviour; the Sunday School teacher who seeks to win the class to Him; the worker who points his companion to Christ: and, perhaps the sweetest of all, the parents who win their own child: these all are "labourers" for Christ: these all may look forward to that same boast the apostle had: if these dear souls continue in the path marked out.  Meditations on Philippians - G. Christopher Willis  

N.J. Hiebert - 10021

August 1

- There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) 
- By the name of Jesus Christ  of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this (lame) man stand here before you. (v.10)
- They (council) commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (v.18). 
- But Peter and John answered . . . Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye (v.19). 
- For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (v.20)


The council admit defeat, (v.16) and then, calling in the apostles, commanded them (v.18).  This command raised the most important question possible: Was God to be obeyed or man?  Peter and John answered (v.19,20)

It is to be noted here that the action of the apostles is in no sense opposed to the scripture that enjoins: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers" (Romans 13:1,2) (1 Peter 2:13,14).  In the case before us it was not a question of the king or of the civil power,--which the saint ever recognizes as the sword of God put into man's hand,--but of ecclesiastical and priestly arrogance, which has no claim on the conscience for allegiance. 

This is a principle of immense importance here, viz., that a child of God is never supposed to disobey God, in order to obey man.  The civil power may make regulations which deprive the saint of privileges he would like to enjoy, but the latter must never disobey God,  in order to conform to the will of the former.  He may have to endure deprivation of a privilege, but never can disobey a divine command. This Peter's action here makes abundantly clear. 
(Simon Peter - W. T. P. Wolston)

N.J. Hiebert - 10022

August 2

Looking unto Jesus . . .  Hebrews 12:2  (Continued from Gem # 8530)

Only three words, but in those three words is the whole secret of life.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to receive from Him the task and the cross for each day, with the grace which is sufficient to carry the cross and to accomplish the task;
the grace that enables us to be patient wth His patience, active with His activity, loving with His love;
never asking "What am I able for?" but rather: "What is He not able for?" and waiting for His strength  which is made perfect in our weakness. 
(2 Corinthians 12:9) 

LOOKING UNTO JESUS to go forth from ourselves and to forget ourselves; so that our darkness may flee away before the brightness of His face; so that our joys may be holy, and our sorrow restrained;

- that He may cast us down, and that He may raise us up; 
- that He may afflict us, and that He may comfort us;
- that He may deprive us, and that He may enrich us;
- that He may teach us to pray, and that He may answer our prayers;
- that while leaving us in the world, He may separate us from it, our life being hidden with Him in God, and our behaviour bearing witness to Him before men.

LOOKING UNTO JESUS and at nothing else,
as our text expresses it in one untranslatable word (aphoroontes),
which at the same time directs us to fix our gaze upon Him, and to turn it away from everything else. 

Theodore Monod  

N.J. Hiebert - 10023

August 3

Preach wisely.
Because the preacher was wise, he . . . sought to find out acceptable words.  Ecclesiastes 12:9,10.  Not rude, loose, and indigested stuff, in a slovenly manner brought forth, lest the carelessness of the cook should turn the stomachs of the guests.

Preach gently.  
The servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves.  2 Timothy 2:24, 25.  O how careful is God that nothing should be in the preacher to prejudice the sinner's judgment, or harden his heart against the offer of His grace!  If the servant be proud and hasty, how shall they know that the Master is meek and patient?

He that will take the bird must not scare it.  A forward, peevish messenger is no friend to him that sends him. Sinners are not pelted into Christ with stones of hard provoking language, but wooed into Christ  by heart-melting exhortations. 

The oil makes the nail drive without splitting the board.  The word never enters the heart more kindly, than when it falls most gently.  The word preached comes, indeed, best from a warm heart.  "The words of wise men are heard in quiet."  Ecclesiastes 9:17

Preach diligently.
All the water is lost that runs beside the mill, and all your thoughts  are waste which help you not to do God's work withal in your general or particular calling.  The bee will not sit on a flower where no honey can be sucked, neither should the Christian.  

The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall (1616 - 1679)

N.J. Hiebert - 10024

August 4