Gems from July 2009

July 1

"Let us (Christians) draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)

An evil conscience is the result of persistence in sin. If men continue to defile themselves, the time will come when the conscience becomes thoroughly evil, and sin is no longer dreaded.

When we come to Christ our hearts ares sprinkled from an evil conscience. If men do not come to Him but insist on sinning against the light and refusing to heed the invitation which God has extended to all men to turn to Him in repentance and be saved, then eventually the conscience ceases to be active: it becomes seared.

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot iron."
(1 Timothy 4:1,2)

This is most solemn. Sin hardens. The conscience becomes like flesh which has been seared with a hot iron; it no longer responds; it can no longer be depended upon. In this state men may commit the most wicked and abominable things, and apparently there is not the least exercise of conscience. It is because they have gone so far in disobeying that which they knew to be right that they no longer have any concern whatever. They are given up to a seared conscience and a reprobate mind, and with that goes utter hardness of heart. But if men are willing to turn to God; if they realize they have an evil conscience, and they long for a pure and a cleansed conscience, they may obtain it through the work of the cross. (HARRY A. IRONSIDE)

N.J. Hiebert # 3752

July 2

"Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling."
(2 Timothy 1:9)

Believers in Christ Jesus are saved. They are not looked upon as persons who are in a hopeful state, and may ultimately be saved, but they are already saved. Salvation is not a blessing to be enjoyed upon the dying bed, and to be sung of in a future state above, but a matter to be obtained, received, promised and enjoyed now. The Christian is perfectly saved in God's purpose: God has ordained him unto salvation, and that purpose is complete. He is saved also as to the price which has been paid for him; "It is finished" was the cry of the Saviour before He died. . . .

Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord is the author of it: and what motive but grace could move Him to save the guilty? Salvation must be of grace, because the Lord works in such a manner that our righteousness is for ever excluded. Such is the believer's privilege - a present salvation; such is the evidence that he is called to it - - a holy life. (C.H. SPURGEON - MORNING & EVENING DAILY READINGS)

N.J. Hiebert # 3753

July 3

"We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." (2 Corinthians 3:18)

Not merely in the words you say,
Not only in you deeds confessed,
But in the most unconscious way
Is Christ expressed.

Is it a beatific smile?
A holy light upon your brow?
Oh, no: I felt His presence while
You laughed just now.

For me 'twas not the truth you taught,
To you so clear, to me still dim;
But when you came to me, you brought
A sense of Him.

And from your eyes He beckons me,
And from your heart His love is shed,
Till I lose sight of you and see,
The Christ instead.

(WINSOME CHRISTIANITY)

N.J. Hiebert # 3754

July 4

"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I (Jesus) have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

Cheerful Confidence

The word means "take heart", "be confident". It is both an exhortation and a promise. The word has been reserved to the last moment. Jesus spoke nothing prematurely. Only when the end comes, does He conclude His teaching in the flesh with a final saying, which might breathe courage and confidence into the disciples whom He leaves, and into those who, in all generations, should believe on Him through their testimony. So it is provided that the last word of the last discourse shall sound the note of victory for ever: "Be of Good Cheer; I have Overcome the World." (H.D. - HIS LAST WORDS)

N.J. Hiebert # 3755

July 5

"As in Adam all die . . ." (1 Corinthians 15:22)

"By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin . . . by one man's offense death reigned . . . " (Romans 5:12,17)

We see how sin entered the world, because of the open rebellion by disobedience of the first of the race. Now comes the very important question. How was sin transmitted from generation to generation until it reached its present situation in the world to-day? The Word of God gives us definite information about this matter.God tells us that sin entered into the world by Adam. He also declares that sin entered the race because of Adam's sin. Some have attempted to argue that it was not just for God to call one man to account for the sins of another. Let no man mistake the facts. We are sinners by choice, every one of us, and there would be enough in that alone to hold us accountable before the bar of perfect of justice and to condemn us as guilty.

But God does not deal with symptoms; He deals with the real causes. He knows, and has declared, that men are not sinners merely because they sin, but that they sin because they are sinners.

God looks at the problem from a perspective quite different from that which must of necessity control man's viewpoint. In man's way of looking at things, one is not a thief until he has stolen; one is not a murderer until he has killed. God sees the heart and knows how the natural law of inheritance has operated so that we inherit two arms instead of one and one head instead of two. The same laws hold good in the spiritual realm, and the very nature of sin comes down the race from generation to generation.

He knows and has told us that a man steals because he has a heart with the roots of of sin. He knows and has told us that a man kills because he has a heart with the roots of sin. In some cases through those restrictions that society and environments build around an individual some of these fruits of sin are not seen, but the roots are there nevertheless. If you are honest with yourself you must admit that you have within you the possibilities of every kind of lawlessness. (DONALD GREY BARNHOUSE - HAPPY THOUGH POOR)

N.J. Hiebert # 3756

July 6

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be comparedwith the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

Settle this in your minds so that you will not have to settle it again; there is no promise of ease for any soldier on any field. Search the New Testament; you will not find one such promise. It is made quite clear that things are not going to be made easy. So to be surprised and troubled when they are difficult is foolish and unreasonable too. Why is there so much inward stress, sometimes sharp trial, or what the New Testament calls tribulation? We are not told; but we are told that there will be this sort of thing, and that it is "not worthy to be compared with the glory" -- not worthy to be compared. (AMY CARMICHAEL - EDGES OF HIS WAYS)

N.J. Hiebert # 3757

July 7

Gems from June 2009

May 31

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise." (Proverbs 12:15)

A man with a fallen nature and in a fallen world to confide in himself is to play the fool. God is not in any of his thoughts. He is sure he needs no advice; he is right in his own eyes. What can his eyes do but help him to judge according to sight, which the Lord contrasts with judging righteous judgment? and what so dangerous as every question of self? For there is nothing a man dislikes more than thinking ill of himself, unless it is of believing good of God. Truly the way of a fool is right in his own eyes. He that is wise distrusts himself and hearkens to counsel; nor does he cheat God and his conscience by seeking counsel of the weak and easy-going, but of the godly. (William Kelly - The Proverbs)

N.J. Hiebert # 3721

June 1

"Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, 'PEACE BE UNTO YOU'. And when He had so said, He showed unto them His hands and His side." (John 20:19, 20)

The billows had rolled over Him; the storm had exhausted itself upon Him; the sword had found its sheath in His bosom, when, risen out of the grave, He announced, "PEACE" - peace established in resurrection power, peace eternally secure. And having proclaimed peace, Jesus showed the divine evidence of it: His hands and His side. He bade His disciples look upon Himself. We behold Jesus risen from the dead, and see in His once wounded hands and feet and side the evidence that our sins have been borne, and that the justice of God has raised the Sin-bearer from among the dead. There is no other evidence of peace having been made like the Person of Him who made it. (H.F. Witherby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3722

June 2

"For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth . . . all things were created by Him, and for Him." (Colossians 1:16)

I was tired and sat down under the shadows of the great pines in a Swedish forest, glad to find such a cool retreat from the broiling sun. I had not been there long before I noticed a fragrant odour and wondered what it could be and where it came from. No, Marechal Niel rose grew on that barren soil, nor could the sun penetrate the shades of the forest to extract its perfume even if it had; I looked around, and found by my side a tiny flower about half the size of an ordinary daisy, nearly hidden from view by the moss. It was the little "Linea blomma." Oh, how fragrant it smelled. Again and again I held it near my face, enjoying the perfume, and then I looked up and thanked God for that tiny flower, so insignificant, growing in a wild, almost untrodden forest, yet bringing cheer and refreshment to me. I thought, why is it so obscure, when it is a flower with such fragrance, and surely worthy of a place in the most stately grounds? I learned a lesson by it, and it spoke powerfully to my heart. I thought, If I cannot be a pine in God's forest, I may be a tiny flower to sendforth the fragrance of Jesus in this world of sadness. (Traveling Toward Sunrise)

N.J. Hiebert # 3723

June 3

"Neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:27)

We must realize that temptation is not sin. Christ Himself was tempted, yet He did not sin. So temptations will be our lot, but they do not make us sin. It is the yielding to temptation that is sin.

Was it not Luther who said: "I cannot keep the birds from flying around my head, but by the grace of God I can keep them from making their nests in my hair?" We are told that we are not to give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). So Satan will attack us, but God has made provision for our defense.

We have seen the nature of temptation when it is sent to the unbeliever. It is anything that will keep him from the cross of Jesus Christ. What about the temptations that come to a believer? For the fact that we have accepted Christ as our Saviour does not mean that our old nature has been removed. The Christian is just as subject to temptation after he has been born again as he was before. In fact he will find that temptation is much greater after he has believed, but that the temptation takes on new and different aspects.

A Christian is not a person from whom the possibility of sin has been removed but a person from whom the penalty of sin has been removed. This is a judicial act on the part of God and of this the Christian is the object. At the same moment that the penalty of sin is removed judicially, there is credited to the account of the believer a righteousness that is perfect - God's own righteousness. Now the struggle in the life of the Christian really begins. In Simon God has planted the Apostle Peter; with Jacob the swindler comes to dwell Israel, prince with God. The Apostle Paul must live with Saul. Two natures, utterly foreign to each other from source to destiny, are together in the same body until our life becomes a battlefield. The fleshly nature of man, which, we have seen to be Satan's enemy in the unsaved, becomes Satan's ally in the Christian. (Donald Grey Barnhouse - Happy Though Poor)

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57)

N.J. Hiebert # 3724

June 4

"Sir, we would see Jesus." (John 12:21)

I have six honest serving men; they taught me all I know,Their names are what and where and when; and how and why and who.

WHAT: "What must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30)
WHERE: "Where are you?" (Genesis 3:9)
WHEN: "Now is the accepted time: behold now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
HOW: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved." (Acts 16:31)
WHY: "The wicked shall be turned into hell." (Psalm 9:17)

WHO: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17) (Submitted by a reader, T.R.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3725

June 5

A GIFT TO BE RECEIVED

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

The great Scottish minister W.G. Scroggie once said that the heart of the Bible is the New Testament, the book of John its center, and the third chapter its vital pulse. "In other words," concluded Scroggie, "John 3:16 is the heart of the heart of the heart of the gospel." Peter Mackenzie, a preacher of a generation ago said, "There are two striking things about this text: When God loves, He loves a world. When He gives, He gives the best that heaven has - His Son." What remains, therefore, is for sinful man to receive Jesus Christ as his Saviour, the greatest of all gifts.

Dr. Walter L. Wilson told of using John 3:16 to lead a boy to the Lord. Quoting the verse, he stressed the word "gave," and explained that the Lord was offering him salvation, full and free. Then he asked him pointedly, "Does the giving of the gift make it yours?" "Well, no. I suppose you must take it." "Exactly," said Wilson. "Look at it this way. I'm not your doctor, am I?" "No," said the boy. "Why not?" asked Wilson. "Because I didn't ask you to be." "That's right! The same thing is true of Christ. He is not your Saviour unless you ask Him to be. Wouldn't you like to do that right now?" Bowing his head, the boy invited the Lord Jesus into his heart. Dr. Wilson then opened the Scriptures, and explaining several passages, he led him to the full assurance of salvation.

The Bible says that "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." But to make it yours, you must personally receive the wonderful redemption God offers. Have you done this? If not, do it now! (H.G.B.)

I do receive, I will believe
That Jesus died for me!
That on the cross He shed His blood,
From sin to set me free. (Anon.)

Although salvation is free, you must still ask for it.

N.J. Hiebert # 3726

Our daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (1979), Grand Rapids, Michigan - Reprinted permission

June 6

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
(Isaiah 41:10)

A SONG
All those tasks which fret and try thee,
Chafe thy spirit, seem so long,
With thy Saviour close beside thee,
Undertake them with a song;
Jesus knows and understands,
Ne'er too much His love demands;
With thy Saviour close beside thee,
Undertake them with a song.
(Unknown)

N.J. Hiebert # 3727

June 7

"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." (Colossians 3:23)

We must give Him unreserved control of our lives.

John Spencer says that in the Gospels we find that Christ had a four-fold entertainment among the sons of men.

- Some received Him into house, but not into heart, as Simon the Pharisee who gave Him no kiss nor water for His feet.
- Some into heart, but not into house, as Nicodemus.
- Some into neither heart nor house, as the graceless Gadarenes.
- Some into both house and heart, as Lazarus.

When He has unrestricted access to the many-roomed house of life, a thousand difficulties will automatically solve themselves. When this is done we no longer divide our life into two artificial sections, one of which is secular and the other sacred; for, from this point of view, all life is sacred. Whether it be to sweep a crossing or preach to the multitudes, to serve behind a counter or to rule a kingdom - whatsoever we do, we will do it heartily as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). The sense of duty will be lost in the delight. (George Henderson - Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)

N.J. Hiebert # 3728

June 8

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." (2 Corinthians 5:14)

The whole story of the cross is involved in this constraining love. Its first effect upon us is to compel us to a right judgment. "We thus judge." Have we a right judgment of our selves? We are prone to judge others; how very easily we sit in the critic's chair; but if we know the constraining love of Christ, we judge ourselves.What is this judgment we are constrained to accept? "That if one died for all, then were all dead." Thanks be to God for the largeness of the extent of the benefits and blessing of Christ's death; certainly, He "died for all." The teaching here is that His death for all evidenced that all were dead.

Christ's death for all does not put all there, it proves that all are there, and if that is true, then that is our condition - DEAD. I am sure that it is good for us to be constrained to this judgment.

The love of Christ brings us to it - the grand starting point from which we can go forward in the things of God. (N. Anderson)

N.J. Hiebert # 3729

June 9

"Strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness."
(Colossians 1:11)__________________________________________________________

"We know Him as we could not know
Through heaven's golden years;
We there shall see His glorious face,
On earth they saw His tears;
The touch that heals the broken heart
Is never felt above;
His angels know His blessedness,
His way-worn saints His love."

We shall thank Him for all eternity for every trial along our pilgrim path that gave Him a new opportunity to display His grace and to manifest His heart to us, His needy people, so dependent upon His power and grace.

As we thus go on with Him, we will be strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, and this "unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness." How much have we here upon which our souls may well meditate? It is He who supplies strength, giving all needed power in order that we may overcome in every adverse circumstance, according to the might of His glory. What room is there for discouragement, as temptations and trials surround me and seem about to overwhelm me, if I realize that the very same spiritual dynamic, that wondrous energy which raised Christ form the dead, operates in me by the Spirit, that I may be even more than victorious through Him who loves me! (H.A. Ironside - Lectures on Colossians)

N.J. Hiebert # 3730

June 10

"My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me." (John 4:34)

Yet I will wait, in labour still,
In Thy blest service here;
What Thou hast given me to fulfill -
Thy will - to me is dear!

If I have no motive but my Father's will, how astonishingly it simplifies everything. If you never thought of doing a thing, except because it was God's positive will that you should do it, how many things of your life would at once disappear; not in a constant struggle against one thing and another, but in the quiet consciousness that the grace of God has provided for everything, that you do not take a step, but what His love has provided for. . . .

Be assured that, if we are near enough to God, we shall not be at a loss to know His will.
The Father's will was His (Christ's) motive for everything. There are thousands of things we do from habit, and we say we must do them: there is not "must" for me, but Christ's will.

Where there is spiritual discernment, things get simple and clear as daylight. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him." . . . Where there is the fear of the Lord, there will be the understanding of His word and mind. But the word of God will not be simple without subjection to him. (Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J.N.D.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3731

June 11

"And the word of the Lord came unto him (Elijah), saying, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee THERE. . . . Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell THERE: behold, I have commanded a widow woman THERE to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was THERE. . . "
(2 Kings 17:2-4, 9,10)

I do not believe that the ravens would have fed Elijah anywhere else, nor would the widow woman have appeared anywhere else except "THERE." God did not say, Elijah, ramble around as you please and I will provide for you." "THERE" was the place of God's will for Elijah:

- The place of His Purpose,
- The place of His Power, and,
- The place of His Provision.

"THERE" was the place of God's purpose. God has a "THERE" for you, somewhere He wants you to be, something He want you to do. You can never be truly happy elsewhere, nor can you please God anywhere but "THERE." You may do lovely things and become a "success," but always there will be the haunting sense of having chosen life's second best. (The Best of Vance Havner)

N.J. Hiebert # 3732

June 12

"Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. . . . And there are diversities of operations,but it is the same God which worketh all in all." (1 Corinthians 12:4,6)

Diversity is not division, for it displays itself in unity. In 1 Corinthians 12 we find diversity and unity closely brought together in the church. (Note verses quoted). Also note, "For as the body is one and hath many members" (this is diversity in unity), "and all the members of that one body being many are one body" (this is unity in diversity), "so also is the Christ." We are united in one body, the Christ, and yet every child of God has his appointed work which no one can accomplish for him. Each one is entrusted with a different service; I cannot do yours, nor you mine. (TCN)

N.J. Hiebert # 3733

June 13

"Since ye seek a proof of Christ speaking in me, which to you-ward is not weak, but is mighty in you." (2 Corinthians 13:3)

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)

Do you know there is a difference between life and abundant life? Many Christians say, "I believe in Jesus; that is all I need. I have eternal life, so why these problems about abundant life?"

Once I saw a very sick person who could hardly move. Then a nurse entered the room. She was full of energy and strength, and came to help. Both had life. One just had life, the other had abundant life.

Too many Christians are like the sick person. They have life, yes, but they are not strong and cannot help others. (Corrie Ten Boom - This Day is the Lord's)

N.J. Hiebert # 3734

June 14

"Because thou art luke warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:16)

Since the first decline of the Church, there is nothing that the saint should more fear, than anything bordering on lukewarmness; because that is the condition of the Church characteristically when it shall be spued out of Christ's mouth - when it shall for ever cease to be for Him here on earth; and the moment we see anything in ourselves, tending to this lukewarmness, we should earnestly attend to His word, "be zealous and repent." To do this, would be not only to refuse and denounce all neutrality, but to be valiant for the truth.

Repentance does not only denounce the wrong, but it scrupulously and earnestly asserts and maintains the right. (Thought for the Day - Reprinted from "A Voice to the Faithful")

N.J. Hiebert # 3735

June 15

"This Paul has persuaded and turned away much people."
(Acts 19:26)

"These men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess." (Acts 19:37)

The second comment was made by the Ephesian city clerk. What a testimony to the value of presenting the truth rather than criticizing error. That Paul's preaching had been effective was evident, but it was done without balspheming the Ephesian's goddess. The Ephesians had been drawn to a greater attraction than even "great Diana of the Ephesians." We need to preach Christ - the flawless alte rnative to the heresies and emptiness of the world's philosophies and religions. Evangelize; don't antagonize. (GARRY W. SEALE)

Caught, and handed onward by the wise,
Truth never dies.

N.J. Hiebert # 3736

June 16

"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." (Psalm 139:14)

THE HUMAN BODY

The Christian anatomist, gazing upon the conformation of the human body, exclaims, "fearfully and wonderfully made."

- No embroidery so elaborate,
- No gauze so delicate,
- No colour so exquisite.
- No mechanism so graceful,
- No handiwork so divine.

So quietly and mysteriously does the human body perform its functions, that it was not until five thousand years after the creation of the race that the circulation of the blood was discovered; and though anatomists of all countries and ages have been so long exploring this castle of life, they have only begun now to understand it. (T. DE WITT TALMAGE - Born 1832)

N.J. Hiebert # 3737

June 17

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22,23)

The fruit of the Spirit begins with LOVE. There are nine graces spoken of, and of these nine Paul puts LOVE at the head of the list; LOVE is the first thing, the first in that precious cluster of fruit. Someone has said that all the other eight can be put in terms of LOVE.

- Joy is LOVE exulting;
- Peace is LOVE in repose,
- Long-suffering is LOVE on trial,
- Gentleness is LOVE in society,
- Goodness is LOVE in action,
- Faith is LOVE on the battlefield,
- Meekness is LOVE at school, and,
- Temperance is LOVE in training.

So it is LOVE all the way; LOVE at the top, LOVE at the bottom , and all the way along down this list of graces (D.L.MOODY - Year Book)

N.J. Hiebert # 3738

June 18

"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no Saviour." (Isaiah 43:11)

"But the Word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1:25)

A striking story is told of a colonel at a dinner table loudly declaiming that in his judgment the Koran (the Mohammedan's sacred book) was vastly superior to the Bible. An earnest Christian present, spoke up. He said, "Colonel, may I ask you two questions? Have you ever read the Bible through from beginning to end?" He had to admit that he had not.A second question was then asked, "Colonel, have you ever seen a copy of the Koran?" He had to admit that he had not.Then came the crushing retort, "Colonel, what do you think of yourself? You made a statement that a book you have never seen is vastly superior to a book you have never read from beginning to end." There was an ominous silence for a considerable time at that dinner table. (Why I Believe the Bible - A.J. Pollock)

N.J. Hiebert # 3739

June 19

"His delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law dothhe meditate day and night." (Psalm 1:2)

When John Wanamaker, the merchant prince, was eleven years old, he purchased a Bible. In later years he said of this purchase: "I have, of course, made large purchases of property in my time, involving millions of dollars, but it was as a boy in the country, at the age of eleven years, that I made my greatest purchase. In a little mission Sunday School I bought a small red leather Bible for $2.75, which I paid for in small installments. Looking back over my life, I see that that little red Book was the foundation on which my life has been built, and the thing which has made possible all that has counted in my life. I know now that it was the greatest investment and the most important and and far-reaching purchase I have ever mad."

Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door, and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;Then looking in, I saw upon the floor old hammers, worn with beating years of time.

"How may anvils have you had," said I, "To wear and batter all these hammers so?""Just one," said he, and then, with twinkling eye, "The anvil wears the hammers out, you know."

And so, though I, the anvil of God's Word,
for ages skeptic blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
the anvil is unharmed - the hammers gone. (UNKNOWN)

N.J. Hiebert # 3740

June 20

"Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetnessof the lips increaseth learning. Understanding is a well spring of life unto him that hath it." (Proverbs 16:20-22)

- Israel were never to forget amid the milk and honey of the land of Canaan, that which had sustained them during their forty year's sojourn in the wilderness.
- We cannot, if entering into the truth and reality of our position, hoard up.
- It is a deeply solemn thing to learn truth; for there is not a principle which we profess to have learned which we shall not have to prove practically.
- One often trembles to hear persons make high professions and use expressions of intense devotedness, whether in prayer or otherwise, lest when the hour of trial comes, there may not be the needed spiritual power to carry out what the lips have uttered.
- There is a great danger of the intellect's outstripping the conscience and the affections.
(FOOD FOR THE DESERT)

N.J. Hiebert # 3741

June 21

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

Sir Isaac Newton had a friend who, like himself, was a great scientist; but he was an infidel, while Newton was a devout believer. They often locked horns over this question, though their mutual interest in science drew them much together.

Newton had a skillful mechanic make him a replica of our solar system in miniature. In the center was a large gilded ball representing the sun, and revolving around this were smaller balls fixed on the ends of arms of varying lengths, representing Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, in their proper order. These balls were so geared together by cogs and belts as to move in perfect harmony by turning a crank.

One day as Newton sat reading in his study with his mechanism on a large table near him, his infidel friend stepped in. He was scientist enough to recognize at a glance what was before him. Stepping up to it he slowly turned the crank, and with undisguised admiration watched the heavenly bodies all move in their relative speed in their orbits. Standing off a few feet, he exclaimed, "My! What an exquisite thing this is! Who made it?"

Without looking up from his book Newton answered, "Nobody!" Quickly turning to Newton the infidel said: "Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked you who made this thing?" Looking up now, Newton solemnly assured him that nobody made it - that the aggregation of matter so much admired had just happened to assume the form it was in.

But the astonished infidel replied with some heat, "You must think I'm a fool! Of course somebody made it. He is a genius, and I'd like to know who he is."Putting his book aside, Newton arose. Laying a hand on his friend's shoulder, he said: "This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know. I can't convince you that this mere toy is without a designer and maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which this replica is taken has come into being without either designer or maker. Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?" No word of argument did the infidel offer. Instead, as a simple believer, at last he owned that "The Lord [Jehovah] , He is the God" (1 Kings 18:39).

"All things were made by Him: and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)

(CHRISTIAN TRUTH - Vol.22 - July 1969)

N.J. Hiebert # 3742

June 22

"That your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment." (Philippians 1:9)

Paul has prayed that the Philippian believers' love would abound yet more and more. But he places a corollary on his request. This love he speaks of is not some erratic emotion, but a maturing love based on biblical knowledge and spiritual discernment. He expands his concept even more as his prayer progresses. It is:

- A love that discerns and approves things that are excellent (1:10),
- A love that is sincere and never offends (1:10)
- A love that is the key to being filled with the fruits of righteousness (1:11),
- A love that brings glory and praise to God (1:11).

Keep yourselves in that love. (M. HAACK)

N.J. Hiebert # 3743

June 23

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be." (Deuteronomy 33:25)

One day at a time with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain, and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrows shall cease,
It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time - but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave, and the soul is not strong,
O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou near all the way;
Give courage and patience and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet:
'Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;
I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;
I will not forsake thee; I never will leave.'

Not yesterday's load are we called on to bear,
Not to-morrow's uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs, as our mercies, are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is HIS day;
He numbered its hours though they haste or delay;
His grace is sufficient, we walk not alone;
As the day so the strength that He giveth His own!
(Annie Johnson Flint)

N.J. Hiebert # 3744

June 24

"For God so loved the world, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

When Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), the Norwegian explorer and oceanographer, tried to measure the depth of the ocean in the far North, he used a long measuring line, and then discovered that he had not touched bottom. He wrote in his record: "Deeper than that." The next day he tried a longer line, only to write again: "Deeper than that." Several times he tried till, finally, he fastened all his lines together, and let them down; but his last record was like his first: "Deeper than that." He left without knowing the depth of the ocean at that point, except that it was deeper than so many thousand feet. Have you noticed that in their attempts to explain the transcending love of God for man, the writers of the Bible take up all the sweet human relationships? They compare it,

- To a bridegroom's affection for his bride (Ephesians 5:25)
- To a father's pity for his boy (Psalm 103:13)
- To a mother's love for her baby. (Isaiah 49:15-16)

Bind all these relationships into one, and multiply them by infinity, and you will still have to use Nansen's phrase "DEEPER THAT THAT;" It passes knowledge (Ephesians 3:14-19)
(George Henderson - In Pastures Green)

N.J. Hiebert # 3745

June 25

"Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20)

In this day of grace God would have all men to be saved, and hence we have to beseech - not denounce - all men. You cannot feed souls with denunciations - even though the things denounced are errors. A poet said "Refute error by the statement of the truth" so the presentation of Christ will expose evil and build up the hearers. (EDWARD DENNETT)

N.J. Hiebert # 3746

June 26

"Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." (John 17:17)__________________________________

By Thy truth and Spirit guiding,
Earnest He of what's to come,
And with daily strength providing,
Thou dost lead Thy children home.

The simple child of God receives the word as certainly as Christ gives it. Reliance on God's word is the only sure ground. How can you be certain? God has said it. If God's speaking requires proof, I must have something more sure and true than God. . . . If God cannot speak so as to claim authority, without another to accredit what He says, there is no such thing as faith. (J.N. DARBY)

N.J. Hiebert # 3747

June 27

"The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from ALL sin."
(1 John 1:7)

If you ask me to measure sin, there is no measure for it but the cross. There alone can you form any idea of what the intolerancy of God is to sin. If looking up by faith to the One crucified there, the cross will be your mark by which to measure everything in you. There is no charge against me, for Christ has met it all, and perfected me for ever. The blood shed for sinners, ever pleads in the presence of God, and not only can I be perfectly free from guilt there, but God delights to give me all that Christ has and is. (GLEANINGS FROM THE TEACHING OF G.V. WIGRAM)

N.J. Hiebert # 3748

June 28

"The Lord caused the sea to go back . . . all that night."
(Exodus 14:21)

In this verse there is a comforting message showing how God works in the dark. The real work of God for the children of Israel, was not when they awakened and found that they could get over the Red Sea; but it was "all that night."

So there may be a great working in your life when it all seems dark and you cannot see or trace, but yet God is working. Just as truly did He work "all that night," as all the next day. The next day simply manifested what God had done during the night. Is there anyone reading these lines who may have gotten to a place where it seems dark? You believe to see, but you are not seeing. In your life-progress there is not constant victory; the daily, undisturbed communion is not there, and all seems dark.

"The Lord caused the sea to go back . . . all that night."

Do not forget that it was "all that night." God works all the night, until the light comes. You may not see it, but all that "night" in your life, as you believe God, He works. (C.H.P.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3749

June 29

"As soon as the soles of the feet of the priest . . . shall rest in the waters . . . the waters shall be cut off." (Joshua 3:13)

The people were not to wait in their camps until the way was opened, they were to walk by faith. They were to break camp, pack up thier goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks before the river would be opened.

If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off.

We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight on in duty, although we see no way in which we can go forward. The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is that we expect to see them removed before we try to pass through them.

If we would move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles. (EVENING THOUGHTS)

N.J. Hiebert # 3750


June 30

"God is light . . ." (1 John 1:5)

Have you ever sat alone in darkness that was a metaphor for your own soul? Darkness that that could be touched and tasted - thick, cold, obsidian midnight. Suddenly a candle flares and soft gold splashes into every corner. Light. How touching that God would identify Himself completely with light.

- Light is pure
- Light illuminates
- Light warms
- Light comforts

But what of our hearts when they are darkened by failures or disappointments? Streaming from His loving heart, the light of God - His Spirit, His Word, His love - penetrates and illuminates every corner of my heavy heart, gently diffusing understanding, comfort and warmth.
(S. McEachern)

N.J. Hiebert # 3751

"Let us (Christians) draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:22)

An evil conscience is the result of persistence in sin. If men continue to defile themselves, the time will come when the conscience becomes thoroughly evil, and sin is no longer dreaded. When we come to Christ our hearts ares sprinkled from an evil conscience. If men do not come to Him but insist on sinning against the light and refusing to heed the invitation which God has extended to all men to turn to Him in repentance and be saved, then eventually the conscience ceases to be active: it becomes seared.

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their consciences seared with a hot iron."
(1 Timothy 4:1,2)

This is most solemn. Sin hardens. The conscience becomes like flesh which has been seared with a hot iron; it no longer responds; it can no longer be depended upon. In this state men may commit the most wicked and abominable things, and apparently there is not the least exercise of conscience. It is because they have gone so far in disobeying that which they knew to be right that they no longer have any concern whatever. They are given up to a seared conscience and a reprobate mind, and with that goes utter hardness of heart. But if men are willing to turn to God; if they realize they have an evil conscience, and they long for a pure and a cleansed conscience, they may obtain it through the work of the cross. (HARRY A. IRONSIDE)

N.J. Hiebert # 3752

Gems from May 2009

May 1

"Ye are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

When Moses was in Egypt, to punish Pharaoh God turned the waters into blood. When Christ was on earth He turned the water into wine. That is the difference between law and grace. The law says, "Kill him"; grace says, "Forgive him." Law says, "Condemn him"; grace says, "Love him." When the law came out of Horeb three thousand men were destroyed (Exodus 32:28). At Pentecost, under grace, three thousand men found life (Acts 2:41). What a difference! When Moses came to the burning bush, he was commanded to take the shoes from off his feet. When the prodigal came home after sinning he was given a pair of shoes to put on his feet. How thankful to be under grace rather than under the law. (D.L. Moody)

N.J. Hiebert # 3690

"Be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility; for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble."
(1 Peter 5:5)

Two ladies who lived in Shanghai were talking one day about the famous missionary Hudson Taylor. They wondered if he was ever tempted to be proud because of his many achievements. Finally they put the question to Mrs. Taylor.

Not knowing the answer, she went to her husband and asked him. Surprised, he inquired , "Proud about what?"His wife replied, "Why, about all the things you've done."Taylor gave this startling answer: "I never knew I had done anything!" He was not expressing a false humility, but merely recognizing that everything he had was a gift from God, and that whatever he had accomplished could be credited to Christ who worked in him and through him.

Let's allow the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts and motives so that we will not think too highly of our selves. Pride accomplishes nothing of lasting value. (Extract)

N.J. Hiebert # 3691

May 2

"But as one was felling a beam, the axe-head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.And the man of God said, Where fell it? And he showed him the place. And he cut down a stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim. Therefore said he, take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it." (2 Kings 6:5-7)

When Elisha restored the lost axe to his disciple, he entirely discarded the old handle, which had become loosened from the iron, and cast into the water another stick which he had cut down, and to which the iron rose. There is a lesson here for us.

The work had been suddenly brought to a stand-still and the cry of distress, "Alas, master!" brought Elisha to the spot. It may be good for us to be halted at times so that we may receive back from the Master the old axe-head with a new handle, and learn to use it aright. It will still be the old axe, and the old truth, but we have been handling it wrongly and so ultimately have lost it.

Our aimless; preaching and our drowsy discussion of worn-out controversies may be the wrong handle and be unsuited to the old axe in these days when our earnest work demands suitable instruments. People will not listen to us simply because we are respected preachers! However, we should not be afraid to have our faith tested as to its vitality and suitability to the needs of men - do we not believe in its divine origin and have we not experienced its power? The cause of Christ will ultimately prosper only if hollow, unthinking assent be replaced by a genuine, earnest inquiry into its truth and then by conviction. (A. Edersheim)

N.J. Hiebert # 3692

May 3

"It is written." (Matthew 4:4)

The Bible is a God-given oracle, carrying His authority, perfectly adapted to every need, every circumstance, and every period of the Church's history. "Do ye not therefore err?" He says to the unbelieving Sadducees. And why did they err? because they knew "not the Scriptures, neither the power of God." Herein was the fault - they knew not the Scriptures. Man, when left to the petty reasonings of his own mind, gets into all kinds of folly; he falls into superstition on the one hand, or infidelity on the other. But both these extremes agree in shutting out God's Word. It has been Satan's object in all ages to cut out the Word of God; or, if he cannot do so, to render it null and void. Sometimes he accomplishes this by insinuating doubts, raising the question, "Is it even so that God has said?" - in our own day this takes the form of "modernism." Sometimes he displaces the Scripture by tradition and the teachings and doctrines of men.

Our Lord Himself answered all such suggestions. He met Satan in person by the all-sufficiency word, "It is written." He met the Sadducees, whom we may call the "modernists" of that day, as He also met the Pharisees and scribes - those tradition mongers of old - by the simple word, "God said," "Did ye never read in the Scriptures?" "What is this then that is written?" He used the written Word to silence every objection and to refute every form of error; and surely if He thus accredited the Scripture, this is enough for all who have reverence for Him. (F.G.B.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3693

May 4

"For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)

How rich was He? Such a question plunges us into thoughts of His glory that amaze and astonish. His riches include all His glory in deity. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) Can we poor finite creatures comprehend that? No. Go back before Genesis 1, go back before the world was, back as far as the mind can go; and when you get there, He "was" there, and He "was God." "All things were created by Him and for Him." (Colossians 1:16) There is no single exception; all was created by Him and for Him.

Go through the Word of God and you will find many verses which tell of His riches. He speaks through Isaiah the prophet, "I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering." (Isaiah 50:3) Yes, He "was rich"; not as man saw Him in His pathway on earth. Here He was with the poor and, according to men's standards, He was poor. We never read of the Lord having had a piece of money. He came into the world in the stable of an inn. He was laid in one man's manger, and when He was to leave the world, He was placed in another man's tomb. Surely when Scripture speaks of His having been rich, it refers to all that He had before He became a man. (Paul Wilson.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3694

May 5

Satisfaction

I. "I shall be satisfied." (Psalm 17:15)

I SHALL be satisfied,
But not while here below,
Where every earthly cup of bliss
Is wisely mixed with woe.
When this frail form shall be
For ever laid aside,
And in His likeness I awake,
I shall be satisfied

II. "He . . . shall be satisfied." (Isaiah 53:11)

He shall be satisfied
When all He died to win,
By loving-kindness gently drawn,
Are safely gathered in.
When in the glory bright
He views His glorious bride,
Sees of the travail of His soul,
He shall be satisfied

These lines were found in the Bible of a young believer after she had departed to be with Christ. Ed. (Christian Friend, Vol. 16, 1889, p. 196 - Submitted, with thanks, from a reader.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3695

May 6

"The love of God manifested toward us." (1 John 4:9)
"Perfected in us." (1 John 4:12)
"Perfected with us." (JND Trans.) (1 John 4:17)

We are called upon to love one another because love is of God, and the character and nature of one born of God is to love. God's love was manifested in the gift of His Son when we had no love for Him; and now, in the midst of a heartless world, we are exhorted to love one another. This has often been spoken of; may we show it in true self-denial and devotedness.
(From - Christian Friend - 1894)

N.J. Hiebert # 3696

May 7

"Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)
....................................................................................................................

The psalmist wrote,
- "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).

Paul exhorted the Philippians to,
- "Be careful (anxious) for nothing" (Philippians 4:6).

And Peter instructed his readers,
- "Casting all your cares on Him" (1 Peter 5:7).

How can someone stop worrying and be "still"? Only through prayer and trust in the loving God (Philippians 4:6-7). Those who cast their cares on Him can set aside the noise and confusion, ambitions and strivings, and enter into the peace of God (v.7).

This doesn't mean that those who are "still" before the Lord will escape life's dangers and dilemmas, but it does mean they will have the ability to live with tranquility in the midst of them. Though trouble may remain, the confusion, apprehension, and despair begin to fade away. Such people show poise under pressure; they're unshaken by life's alarms; they radiate peace wherever they go.

If you've never acquainted yourself with the depths of God's love and His call for you to live in that love, your life will be filled with anxiety and cares. You'll often be fretful and restless - always looking for that illusive "something more."

When you learn to turn your confidence toward God and cast your cares on Him, you can be calm in the midst of life's demands. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3697

May 8

"I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies." (Psalm 119:59)

- Drop what weighs you down by giving it to God.
- Through prayer, the public business of the nation can become the private business of the Christian.
- Remembering Christ's death for us should cause us to live for Him.
- To survive the storms of life, be anchored to the Rock of Ages.
- Trials can be God's way of triumph.
- Through prayer, we we have instant access to to our Father.
(Some Thoughts to Consider - R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3698

May 9

"Jesus Christ the SAME yesterday, and today, and for ever." (Hebrews 13:8)

"ABLE to succour them that are tempted." (Hebrews 2:18)
"ABLE also to save them to the uttermost." (Hebrews 7:25)
"ABLE to make all grace abound toward you." (2 Corinthians 9:8)
"ABLE to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." (Ephesians 3:20)
"ABLE to keep you from falling, and present you faultless."
(Jude 24)
(Till HE Come - Oct. - Nov. 1972)

N.J. Hiebert # 3699

May 10

"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. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hurstayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun." (Exodus 17:10-12)

It is edifying to mark the contrast between Moses on the hill and Christ on the throne. The hands of our great Intercessor can never hang down. His intercession never fluctuates . "He ever liveth to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25). His intercession is never ceasing and all prevailing. Having taken His place on high, in the power of divine righteousness, He acts for us, according to what He is, and according to the infinite perfection of what He has done. His hands can never hang down, nor can He need any one to hold them up. (Extract - Christian Truth - Vol. 21 - August 1968)

N.J. Hiebert # 3700

May 11

THE PREVALENCE OF SORROW

"Man is born to sorrow, as the sparks fly upward." (Job 5:7)

"All history narrates it (Job 5:7); all poetry sings of it; all biography confesses it; all experience teems with it; there is not one beating heart among us all that does not know it. And mark that while righteousness brings blessedness and peace, it does not bring exemption from life's bitter trials." So said a great preacher of the Victorian era; and the testimony of the Bible and the experience of the saints right down the centuries bear witness to the truth of his words.

Philosophers may deride Genesis 3, but they cannot account for the facts of life without its aid. For that little section of the Book of God not only explains how sin came into the world, but also throws light on the sorrow which ever accompanies it (Genesis 3:16,17).

In a world which has been completely disarranged by sin, the experience of sorrow in one form or another is inevitable; that nevertheless God, Whose prerogative it is to bring good out of evil, uses it for the enrichment of the character and the deepening of the spiritual life of His people; that indeed it is an indispensable prerequisite in all who would attain to skill in comfort's art, and who would strengthen those that mourn. In other words, sorrow is common, purposeful, beneficent. (George Henderson - Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)

N.J. Hiebert # 3701

May 12

SHEPHERD'S CARE

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." (Psalm 23:2)

No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detailed direction, than sheep. For them to lie down:

1. They must be free of fear;

2. Because of the social behaviour within a flock, sheep will not lie down unless they are free from friction with others of their own kind;

3. If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down; There are many irritations - "being bugged" - frustrations that only can be alleviated by the Shepherd.

4. They must be free from hunger. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3702

May 13

"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

The story is told of two men who were trying to escape from an erupting volcano. As the fiery molten rock gushed out of its gaping crater, they fled in the only direction open to them. All went well until they came to a stream of hot, smoking lava about 30 feet across. Sizing up their situation, they realized that their only hope was to get over that wide barrier. One of the men was old and arthritic; the other was a healthy young track star who could broad jump 25 feet.

With a running start, they each tried to leap to safety. The first man went only a few feet through the air before falling into the bubbling mass. The younger, with his greater strength and skill, catapulted himself much further. Though he almost made it, he still missed the mark. It didn't matter that he outdistanced his companion, for he too perished in the burning lava.Now I don't know whether or not this actually happened, but it does illustrate an important spiritual truth - man cannot save himself. The Bible says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." No one can make it to Heaven on his own. Some may pride themselves in their good works, fine reputation, and charitable deeds, but everyone falls short. To break the law in just one point is to be guilty of all (James 2:10). No matter how good or how bad you are, you need Christ. He lived a perfect life, and His death on the cross has bridged the gap between you and a holy God. So place your trust in the Lord. The Scripture says, "There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).
(R.W.D)

'Tis simply to receive Him, The holy One and just;
'Tis only to believe Him - It is not "try" but "trust." (Anon)

We are saved by God's mercy, not by our merit - by Christ's dying, not by our doing!

N.J. Hiebert # 3703
__________________________________________________________
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (1979), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission.

May 14

"He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth His ways shall die." (Proverbs 19:16)

Man was made in God's image, after His likeness. He had dominion given him over fish and fowl, cattle and reptile, and over all the earth too. Yet was he put under commandment. And "he that keepeth the commandment keepeth his soul; as he that despiseth," or is reckless of, "his ways shall die." So Adam proved, and no less Adam's race. Even when no open sin was, man must bow to God. To seek independency of God is his ruin. To look up in gratitude and obey Him is not only the first of human duties, but vital to man whose breath is in his nostrils, and his life but a vapour. When sin entered and death through sin, how very evident and urgent it was that he should be dependent on that God who forthwith held out a Deliverer from the power of evil before banishing him from the paradise he had lost by his disobedience! (William Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert # 3704

May 15

"And say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfill it." (Colossians 4:17)

Promptness and energy are as important in spiritual service as in anything else. There is an incident related in connection with two leading generals of the Southern Confederacy of America that might well speak to every servant of Christ. General Robert E. Lee once sent word to General Stonewall Jackson that he would be glad to talk with him at his convenience on some mater of no great urgency. General Jackson instantly rode to Headquarters, through most inclement weather. When General Lee expressed surprise at seeing him, Jackson exclaimed, "General Lee's slightest wish is a supreme command to me, and I always take pleasure in prompt obedience." It is to be hoped that this same spirit laid hold of Archippus, and that he profited by the prodding of the aged apostle. (H.A. Ironside - Lectures on Colossians)

N.J. Hiebert # 3705

May 16

"Serving the Lord with all lowliness." (Acts 20:19)

We are but leaden pipes to let the water down from the cistern above - dry till it flows in above and dry if it ceases to flow in. It is good to remember this at all times and to walk humbly in the truth of it. . . . I found it useful (the remembrance of it) in praying before speaking. Oft not a word seemed with me to give, and the spreading out before the Lord His estimate of the worthiness of His Son to be spoken about, and His will that He should be announced, has been followed by a full fresh flow of water of the word of life.

Believe me, you can only plead with God as you know Christ. He alone is the channel by which God can bless. . . . The power of intercession is a great thing to the servant of God.

It ennobles a Christian immensely to know and to feel that he is a channel through which the life of Christ is to flow out.

Happy the person who has an empty vessel and God ever ready to fill. Unhappy they who have no empty vessel. . . . I doubt whether many know the sweetness of going into the presence of God as a channel or pipe to be filled in order to bring out what is wanted for others, saying, "I have got the ear and heart of Christ."

Which is most worthy to occupy our thoughts - the littleness of our love or the fulness of that love which passes knowledge? (G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert # 3706

May 17

"Whatsoever He saith unto you, DO IT." (John 2:5)

WILLINGNESS - THE SECRET OF KNOWING

How are you to know what He says to you? It is easy to know if we are really willing to know, and willing to obey when we do know! He has spoken so plainly to us in His Word! In that, He tells us exactly what to do. It is most wonderful how He has said everything there for us, told us everything we ought to do. When you read a chapter, listen and watch to see what He says to you in it. There is another way in which He tells us what to do. He speaks to you through your conscience. Now "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!" Whether easy or hard, do it because He tells you; do it for love of Him, and it will be much better and happier to obey the Lord than to please yourself. "Whatsoever He saith unto you do it!" "DO IT!" Do the exact thing He would have you do, not something a little bit different, or something which you think will be nearly the same, but do "it."And do it at once. It is so true, that the very first moment is the easiest for obedience. Every minute that you put off doing the right thing makes it harder. Do not let your Lord have to "speak twice" to you. "Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" cheerfully, exactly, instantly. (Francis Ridley Havergal - Opened Treasures)

N.J. Hiebert # 3707

May 18

"Put that on mine account." (Philemon 18)

Recently I was buying an item for $4.50 with a friend. At the counter I could not find my wallet. I said to the cashier, "I'm sorry, I forgot my money." A total stranger behind me immediately said, "I'll pay that for you." When I told him about my friend in the store, he repeated very earnestly, "I will pay that for you." I thanked him and waited for my friend. I thought of how we stood before God - sinners, with nothing to pay. Yet there was One, the Lord Jesus, who paid the debt for us. What grace! (Ben Tuininga)

He paid a debt He did not owe,
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away;
And now I sing a brand new song,
Amazing grace!
Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay. (Choice Gleanings)

N.J. Hiebert # 3708

May 19

"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)

There are four great passages in the New Testament which set forth Christian character in all its winsomeness and power:

- Matthew 5:3-12 with its nine beatitudes;
- 1 Corinthians 13, with its sixteen matchless qualities;
- Galatians 5:22,23, with its ninefold cluster of heavenly fruit;
- 2 Peter 1:5-8, with its description of fully developed Christian manhood.

- The words in Matthew 5 present a character schooled in humility, matured by suffering, instinct with gentleness, and purity, and love. "Blessed are the poor in spirit ... they that mourn ... the meek ... they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ... the merciful ... the pure in heart ... the peacemakers ... they which are persecuted ... blessed are ye, when men shall revile you ... rejoice and be exceeding glad: for your reward is in heaven ..."

- 1 Corinthians 13 is perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful thoughts extant in this our world. "And now abideth faith, hope, and charity (love); but the greatest of these is love."

- The paragraph in Galatians 5 unfolds the secret whereby we may have days of heaven upon earth. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

- 2 Peter 1, assuming faith as the foundation rises majestically, step by step, until the structure is crowned with that love which is the fulfilling of the Law. " . . . giving all diligence ... add to your faith virtue ... knowledge ... temperance ... patience ... godliness ... brotherly kindness ... love ... neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Henry Durbanville - Winsome Christianity)

N.J. Hiebert # 3709

May 20

"Chasten thy son (seeing) there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." (Proverbs 19:18)

The young twig is pliant, and may be bent aright or pruned to bear fruit. Love is not indifferent but takes pains; and chastening is a greater sorrow to a father than to the son that needs it. To allow evil, whatever the plea, is to set one's soul on causing "him to die." We, Christians on earth, endure chastening, which, though painful for the moment, afterward yields peaceful fruits of righteousness to those exercised thereby. (William Kelly - The Proverbs)

N.J. Hiebert # 3710

May 21

"Casting all your cares upon HIM; for HE careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)

The Saviour Can Solve Every Problem

The Saviour can lift every burden, The heavy as well as the light;
His strength is made perfect in weakness, In Him there is power and might.

The Saviour can bear every sorrow, In Him there is comfort and rest;
No matter how great the affliction, He only permits what is best.

The Saviour can strengthen the weary, His grace is sufficient for all;
He knows every step of the pathway, And listens to hear when we call.

The Saviour can break sin's dominion, The victory He won long ago;
In Him there is freedom from bondage, He's able to conquer the foe.

The Saviour can satisfy fully The heart that the world cannot fill;
His presence will sanctify wholly The soul that is yielded and still.

The Saviour can solve every problem,The tangles of life can undo;
There is nothing too hard for Jesus,There is nothing that He cannot do.
(Oswald J. Smith)

N.J. Hiebert # 3711

May 22

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

The story is told of a small boy trying very hard to lift a heavy object. His father coming into the room and noting the son's struggle asked him, "Are you using all your strength?" "Yes, of course I am," the boy impatiently exclaimed. You are not" the father answered. "You haven't asked me to help you." If the burden is too heavy to bear, it is time to ask God our Father for help. Our own puny supply of power is so often insufficient for the disappointments and difficulties we have to face. Let us form the habit of asking for God's help. God will allow no suffering, no trial above what we are able to bear. For He says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted (tried) above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3712

May 23

"Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but He is risen: REMEMBER . . . And they remembered His words."
(Luke 24:5,6,8)

Joey was a severely disabled student with a terminal disease who attended a Christian school. Spring had come and Easter was near. The teacher spent time teaching her class about the resurrection of Jesus from among the dead. Then she gave each of her students a large plastic egg.

"Now," she said to them, "I want you to take this home and bring it back tomorrow with something inside that shows new life. Do you understand?""Yes, Miss Nelson!" the children responded enthusiastically - all except for Joey. He just listened intently, his eyes never leaving her face. Miss Nelson wondered if he had understood what she had said about the Lord Jesus' death and resurrection? Perhaps she should call his parents that evening and explain the assignment to them, but in the busyness of her day she forgot about phoning Joey's parents.

The next morning, 19 excited children came to school, laughing and talking as they placed their eggs in the large wicker basket on Miss Nelson's desk. Soon it was time to open the eggs and in the first egg, she found a flower.

"Oh yes, a flower is certainly a sign of new life," she said. "When plants peek through the ground we know that spring is here."

The next egg contained a realistic plastic butterfly. "We all know that a caterpillar changes and grows into a beautiful butterfly. Yes, that is new life, too."

Next was a rock with green moss on it. She explained that moss, too, showed life.The fourth egg - Joey's egg - was empty. Because she did not want to embarrass him, she quietly set the egg aside and reached for another.Joey spoke up; " Miss Nelson, aren't you going to talk about my egg?" She stammered, "Joey...your egg is empty". But tears filled her eyes as she listened to Joey's explanation.He said softly, "Yes, but Jesus' tomb was empty, too. Jesus was killed and put in there. Then His Father raised Him up to life!" Three months later, Joey died. On top of his casket were 19 empty plastic eggs." Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25)(The Christian Shepherd - December 2008)

N.J. Hiebert # 3713

May 24

"Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight . . . Thou desirest truth in the inward parts . . . wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. . . . Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities." (Psalm 51:4,7,9)

This world hates the God of David, because it hates grace. The world rather likes David's taking Uriah's wife (for that is the world's manner of life!). But for Jehovah not to reckon this sin as damning guilt, and freely to forgive David - and that so fully as to give "her that had been the wife of Uriah" another son, and bestow His special love on him (Solomon) to the extent of giving him a personal name, Jedidiah "for Jehovah's sake" (2 Samuel 12:24,25) and placing this woman Bathsheba in the official genealogy of Christ (Matthew 1:6); and above all, for God to call David a man "after His own heart" - all this rouses the ire of a vile, self-righteous, neighbour-judging, blind, grace-ignorant, impenitent world - a world that has neither repented, nor means to repent, of the very sins into which David fell, and of which he repented most deeply. (TCN - W.B.N.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3714

May 25

"I am the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me." (John 14:6)

The headline of the National Post read, "Trouble at the Border." It then outlined a number of security gaps which permitted the unwanted to slip undetected into the country. There may be trouble at earthly borders, but there are none at heaven's. No one enters that holy place of purity and joy unless they have confessed to being a sinner and trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only then will they be assured of an entrance. (Arnot P. McIntee)

Only a step to Jesus!
Believe and thou shalt live,
Lovingly now He's waiting,
And ready to forgive. (D.W. Whittle)

N.J. Hiebert # 3715

May 26

"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

When a cloud comes between us and the sun, it robs us for the time of the enjoyment of his beams. It does not prevent Him from shining, it merely hinders our enjoyment of Him. Exactly so is it when we allow trials and sorrows, difficulties and perplexities, to hide from our souls the bright beams of our Father's countenance, which ever shine, with changeless lustre, in the face of Jesus Christ. (Food for the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert # 3716

May 27

"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2)

- How easily we stray whenever we get on the line of expediency. The Lord must have the first place, or we shall soon drift on the rocks.

- Two lessons we need to learn - first to be brought to an end of ourselves and also to be brought to the end of man, and we then expect nothing from self, and nothing from man.

- If our hearts are set on one single thing on which the heart of God is not set, in so far we are out of communion.

(Edward Dennett - Footprints for Pilgrims)

N.J. Hiebert # 3717

May 28

"And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli (Priest). And the word of the Lord was precious in those days;there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see . . . and the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, speak; for Thy servant heareth." (1 Samuel 3:1,2,10)

The Lord always sends refreshment in times of drought. When there was no guidance He sent the prophet Samuel. We must be careful as believers not to have our senses dulled by the prevailing compromise and complacency that we cannot hear God when He calls. We cannot be sleeping but should always be awake and aware of His presence and listen to others for advice on how to prepare our hearts for His Word. (B.R. - Meditations on 1 Samuel)

N.J. Hiebert # 3718

May 29

"Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

If ever there was a day when it was important for every professed follower of Christ to stand fast and to be true to his profession, I believe it is the present day. There is no answer to infidelity like the life of Christ displayed by the Christian. Nothing puts the madness of the infidel and the folly of the superstitious more to shame and silence than the humble, quiet devoted walk of a thoroughgoing, heavenly minded, divinely taught Christian. It may be in the unlearned and poor and despised; but, like the scent of the lowly violet, it gives its perfume abroad, and both God and man take notice of it.

In the experience of almost every believer, there is some turning point, where he either goes onward in devotedness to the Lord, or sinks down into a mere commonplace Christian. Not one of us is too obscure to be tried as to whether we will seek God's honour or present things first. God is very jealous of all man's substitutes and imitations of the power of the Holy Spirit. In stripping ourselves of such things, we may seem to others to be throwing away our influence and our usefulness. But what is usefulness? What is "doing good"? It is doing the will of God. (Christian Truth - Vol. 19 -1966)

N.J. Hiebert # 3719

May 30

"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." (John 12:31)

Two things give character to all true service in the present day. One is, the world has rejected Christ; and the other, God has rejected the world.

These two facts, if practically acted upon, would materially alter the character of that which professes to be the service of God, as well as the labours of many who render true service of God in some respects, but whose chief efforts are now misdirected. "In every good work doing the will of God." A work may be good in itself, but if it is not according to the will of God for the present moment, then it loses its savour to Him, and is deprived of its true value. (H.N.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3720

May 31

Gems from April 2009

April 1

"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether . . . Moreover by them is Thy servant warned."(Psalm 19:9,11)

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings."
(Philippians 2:14)

- We murmur at a thousand things in our lot, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness, and thereby question the care, the love and the wisdom of Him who orders all our path, and lose the blessed sense of His presence with us.

- When people become slaves to a fad they soon become tyrants.

- When knowledge enters the head it exalts me. When knowledge enters the heart it humbles me.

- Nothing has so corrupted Christianity as the acceptance of worldly help for the furtherance of its objects.

- May we never bridge over the chasm between the world and us, and we shall never seek to do so if we can adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14) (Edward Dennett)

N.J. Hiebert # 3660

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)

Someone has said, "Life is what you are alive to." A child may come alive when you talk about a baseball game or an ice-cream cone. A teenager may come alive when you mention cars or dates. Paul wrote, "For me to live is Christ." Christ was Paul's life and he was alive to anything that related to Christ. So should it be with every believer.We are raised with Christ. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." (Colossians 3:1) It is possible to be alive and still live in the grave. During World War II, several Jewish refugees hid in a cemetery, and a baby was actually born in one of the graves. However, when Jesus gave us His life, He lifted us out of the grave and set us on the throne in heaven! Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and we are seated there "in Christ." (W.W.W.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3661

April 2

"As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many."
(1 Corinthians 12:12-14)

In 1 Corinthians 12, we find most clearly established the great practical truth that each member of the body exerts an influence on all the rest; just as, in the human body, if there be anything wrong with the very feeblest and most obscure member, all the members feel it, through the head. If there be a broken nail, a broken tooth, a foot out of joint; any limb, muscle or nerve out of order, it is a hindrance to the whole body. Thus it is in the Church of God, the body of Christ: "If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or if one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." The state of each member affects the whole body. Hence it follows that each member is either a help or a hindrance to all. What a profound truth! Yes, and it is as practical as it is profound. (C.H. Mackintosh - Miscellaneous Writings - Vol. 5)

N.J. Hiebert # 3662

April 3

"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

"If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet (sharpen) the edge, then must he put to more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct." (Ecclesiastes 10:10)

Consider the story of two lumberjacks in a tree-cutting contest. Both were strong and determined, hoping to win the prize. But one was hardworking and ambitious, chopping down every tree in his path at the fastest pace possible, while the other appeared to be a little more laid back, methodically felling trees and pacing himself. The go-getter worked all day, skipping his lunch break, expecting that his superior effort would be rewarded.

His opponent, however, took an hour-long lunch, then resumed his steady pace. In the end, the eager beaver was dismayed to lose to his "lazier" competition. Thinking he deserved to win after his hard work, he finally approached his opponent and said, "I just don't understand. I worked longer and harder than you, and went hungry to get ahead. You took a break, and yet you still won. It just doesn't seem fair. Where did I go wrong?" The winner responded, "While I was taking my lunch break, I was sharpening my axe." (H. Mackay)

Are we taking time to pause to give our lives, our ministry, and areas of service a full work-over before the Lord and His Word for greater effectiveness? Not one area of the blade must be left out. The lunch (the Word) is needed for renewed energy. May God lead us to greater spiritual success as He searches and strengthens us, both by His word and His Holy Spirit. (S. Rice)

N.J. Hiebert # 3663

April 4

"Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?" (Matthew 22:41,42)

In this scripture we are confronted with the most important question we'll ever have to answer. Unless we believe that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God who came from Heaven to be our Redeemer, we will die in our sin (John 8:23-59).

Paging through the New Testament, we find several replies to the inquiry, "What think ye of Christ?" Ponder a few of them.

"Caiaphas, what's your opinion of Jesus?" "He's a blasphemer because He said, 'Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting oh the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven' " (Matthew 26:64).
"Pilate, what do you say?" 'I find in Him no fault at all' " (John 18:38).
"And you, Judas, who sold your Master for 30 pieces of silver, have you some serious charge to hurl against Him?" 'I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood' " (Matthew 27:4). Although Pilate and Judas were right in what they said, their actions made it clear that they rejected Christ.

Other men took a totally different view of the Saviour.
Note the words of John the Baptist who declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
The apostle Peter said of his Master, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16).
Thomas, who was the doubter among the disciples, ends up with a strong personal testimony, exclaiming with renewed faith, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Let me ask with heartfelt concern, "What do YOU think of Christ?" Your eternal destiny depends on your answer to this all-important question. (H.G.B.)

What will you do with Jesus? Neutral you cannot be;
Someday your heart will be asking, "What will He do with me?"
(Simpson)

Christ is the unavoidable One; your decision about Him determines your destiny!

N.J. Hiebert # 3664
________________________________________________________
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission.

April 5

"He (Peter) was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me." (Matthew 14:30)

Peter's cry of distress is one of the shortest prayers of the Bible. There are three significant thing about it.

- First, it was brief - quite different from some of our prayers in public.
- Then, it was fervent. He desperately asked for a specific thing - not everything in general.
- Finally, it was effective; it reached the Lord's ear and He met Peter's urgent need.

Could those who pray and who lead God's people in prayer profit from this? (R.J. Steele)

N.J. Hiebert # 3665

April 6

"It came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him." (Luke 24:30-31)

Reasoning together of the crucifixion while on the Emmaus road, Jesus Himself drew alongside them. Devastated over the death of their beloved Friend, they must have greatly savoured the exposition of the Scriptures. Sometimes the only comfort after the death of a loved one is to speak of them and to hear of them; we can't get enough. This intriguing guest they invited home unwittingly became the host but only during the breaking of bread were their eyes opened and they recognized Him. He is our host now. (R.M.B.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3666

April 7

"In Gibeon the Lord appeared to (King) Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee." (1 Kings 3:5)

"Hitherto ye have asked nothing in My name; ask, and ye shall receive that your joy may be full." (John 16:24)

It is well for us that we are commanded to pray, or else in times of heaviness we might give it up. If God command me, unfit as I may be, I will creep to the footstool of grace; and since He says, "Pray without ceasing," though my words fail me and my heart itself will wander, yet I will still stammer out the wishes of my hungering soul and say, "O God, at least teach me to pray and help me to prevail with Thee." (C.H. Spurgeon)

Satan the Hinderer may build a barrier about us, but he can never roof us in, so that we cannot look up. (J. Hudson Taylor)

Since our God has opened the way to His throne of grace, and bidden us draw near and ask what He shall give us, let us prize the privilege and ask and receive that we may have fullness of joy.

N.J. Hiebert # 3667

April 8

"Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1)

Procrastination is a snare which often results in ruin. Against this error this verse solemnly warns every one.

The present is given man in order that he may act in view of the future. To defer until the morrow what should be attended to today is the sad mistake which has destroyed untold thousands. The Old Spanish proverb says, "The road of by and by leads to the house of never;" while another trite saying reads, "The way to hell is paved with good intentions." The English are fond of quoting, "Procrastination is the thief of time;" and it is likely that every nation has some maxim intended to remind one of the warning of our verse. Yet, alas, how prone we all are to leave for to-morrow matters which should be settled at once! In nothing is this more manifest than in regard to the great question of the salvation of the soul. Again and again Scripture presses upon men the importance of an immediate settlement of this matter of tremendous moment.

"Today if ye will hear His voice harden not your hearts."
(Hebrews 3:7,8)
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 1:18) (H.A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert # 3668

April 9

"Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south, blow upon my garden,that the spices thereof may flow out!"
(Song of Solomon 4:16)

Look at the meaning of this prayer a moment. Its root is found in the fact that, as delicious odours may lie latent in a spice tree, so graces may lie unexercised and undeveloped in a Christian's heart. There is many a plant of profession; but from the ground there breathes forth no fragrance of holy affections or of godly deeds. The same winds blow on the thistle bush and on the spice tree, but it is only one of them which gives out rich odours. Sometimes God sends severe blasts of trial upon His children to develop their graces. Just as torches burn most brightly when swung to and fro; just as the juniper plant smells sweetest when flung into the flames; so the richest qualities of a Christian often come out under the north wind of suffering and adversity. Bruised hearts often emit the fragrance that God loves to smell. (Streams in the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert # 3669

April 10

"Then were there brought unto Him little children, that He should put His hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto Me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 19:13,14)

When you are exasperated by interruptions, try to remember that their very frequency may indicate the valuableness of your life. Only the people who are full of help and strength are burdened by other people's need. The interruptions which we chafe at are the credentials of our indispensibility. The greatest condemnation that anyone could incur - and it is a danger to guard against - is to be too independent, so unhelpful, that nobody ever interrupts us and we are left uncomfortably alone. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3670

April 11

"And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me? And he said Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest." (Acts 9:4,5)

Just as He said to Saul, "Why persecutest thou Me?" He felt Himself one with His afflicted members on earth. Just as he will say at the last day, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me." (Matthew 25:40). He reckons believers a part of Himself; what is done to them is done to Him. So when He carries them to His Father, this is all His argument: "Thou lovedst Me." If Thou lovest Me, love them, for they are part of Me. See how surely Christ's prayer will be answered for you. He does not plead that you are good and holy; He does not plead that you are worthy; He only pleads His own loveliness in the eyes of the Father. Look not on them, He says, but look on Me. "Thou lovedst Me before the foundations of the world" (John 17:24). (Bonar)

N.J. Hiebert # 3671

April 12

"Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory." (Psalm 73:24)

Do you not feel that you need the dependable, guiding counsel of the Lord for your soul? What a day in which to live, with pitfalls on every side! If you are going to escape, the only place to get the needed wisdom is in the Word of God. It gives dependable counsel for your soul. If you want to be happy and to be guided through this scene, saved from many a heartache, heed the Word of God. If you despise it, you will have to reap sorrow. Everything you need to guide you through this world in a moral and spiritual way, blessed, dependable counsel to your soul, is found in the Word of God. The way to be happy is to walk with God; the way to be miserable is to attempt to find your happiness in the world. (From - The Young Christian)

N.J. Hiebert # 3672

April 13

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" (James 2:14)

The Lord never fails a trusting heart. But He must be trusted in reality. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say" he trusts God, if he really does not do so? A sham faith will not do. It will not do to trust in word, neither in tongue. It must be in deed and in truth. Of what use is a faith with one eye on the Creator, and another on the creature? Can God and the creature occupy the same platform? Impossible. It must be God - or what? The creature and the curse that ever follows creature confidence. (C.H. Mackintosh)

"Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters,and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." (Jeremiah 17:7,8)

N.J. Hiebert # 3673

April 14

"We are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of God the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4)

The sign in the dry cleaning shop read "We dye to live, and live to dye; the more we dye, the more we live; and the more we live, the more we dye." For the child of God, it is also true that the more he dies to the temptations of a sinful world, the more he lives in the exciting joy of a Christ-filled life. Today, may we die to the world and live for the Lord Jesus Christ. (Arnot P. McIntee)

N.J. Hiebert # 3674

April 15

"Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress (hemmed in); have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer." (Psalm 4:1)

It is a little thing to trust God as far as we can see Him, as far as the way lies open before us; but to trust Him when we are hedged in on every side and can see no way to escape, this is good and acceptable with God. This is the faith of Abraham.

"Who against hope believed in hope." (Romans 4:18)

Abraham Lincoln, during the Civil War, once said: "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day."

The greatest men, without God, are nothing but dismal failures.

The devil may wall you 'round but he cannot roof you in;
He may fetter your feet and tie your hands
and strive to hamper your soul with bands
As his way has ever been; but he cannot hide the face of God

And the Lord shall be your light,
And your eyes and your thoughts can rise to the sky,
Where His clouds and His winds and His birds go by,
and His stars shine out at night.
(Annie Johnson Flint)

N.J. Hiebert # 3675

April 16

"Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself;but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come." (John 16:13)

To understand God's Word, one must first of all be born again. Beside this, one must also be spiritual. This means that our thoughts, our feelings, our whole life must be formed by the Spirit. Only then can one read the Word with the consciousness that it is God's Word, given us by revelation of God, and that it can only be understood when God opens it to us. Realizing this, we will read it prayerfully, knowing that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all the truth (John 16:13). We do not understand God's Word primarily by means of our intellect, but by means of our faith and our conscience (Hebrews 11:1,3). (H.L Heijkoop)

N.J. Hiebert # 3676

April 17

"Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are His: and He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings : He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding . . . light dwelleth with Him." (Daniel 2:20-22)

- All error has a particle of truth in it, and that is why it is so dangerous.
- "Wisdom and might are His." A simple utterance, but how profound! For if wisdom and might are God's, they are nowhere else to be found, and it is in vain to turn for them to any but God.
- Philanthropy has man for its objects, religion has God for its object.
- Wherever there is a claim to great spirituality there is a danger.
- Nothing so injures the soul as controversy.

(Edward Dennett - Footprints for Pilgrims)

N.J. Hiebert # 3677

April 18

"God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)
"O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches." (Psalm 104:24)

All the living things in creation are here described by God as being very good. We can still see how true that was in areas where the changes produced by man are minimal.God created nature in balance - everything is recycled! But man has disturbed that balance - Yellow Stone National Park in the USA had that balance - it was created by setting aside an area larger than some nations to preserve nature as it was. Then something happened! The abundant willow trees and aspen trees stopped regenerating, beavers disappeared, food for scavenger birds like eagles and ravens became extremely scarce, and so on.What had happened? Man had decided that he could improve on Yellowstone as God had originally created it - he killed all the wolves! What was good about the wolves? Their predation had kept the elk population in check. But now the elk were eating all the young trees and the vegetation needed by the other species of animals. The balance had been destroyed!

Finally the Park Service decide that letting "nature take its course" in what was a decidedly unnatural situation should not be allowed to continue. Wolves were good! Wolves were reintroduced from Canada and we are now seeing changes that seem to indicate that the reintroduction is achieving its objective.What is the lesson in all this? Man in his arrogance should not think that he can improve on what God has pronounced "very good"!

Man also, to his destruction, tries to "improve" on the Scriptures! God says, "All the day long they wrest My words" (Psalm 56:5) and they also "wrest . . . the Scriptures to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16). (A.H. Crosby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3678

April 19

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:3)

Yes, the life of faith is profound. But placing full dependence upon God to act upon His Word can be very simple. Beyond all that comes legitimately to our attention in this hurried world, let us keep our lives simple. We are relying on the Lord to be faithful to what He has promised, are we not? Simple faith confounds all the cynicism of an unbelieving world. As C. H. Spurgeon said, "By faith we are already in the 'heavenly places', are we not?" As we wait on the Lord, let us be simply CONTENT. (Mark Fenn)

N.J. Hiebert # 3679

April 20

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for ALL saints; and for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
(Ephesians 6:18-20)

The most faithful and advanced Christians feel their dependence upon God, and on all saints. The apostolic gift of Paul depended in one sense on the prayers of the saints: God intended it to be so, in order that the church might be united in its affections; "Ye also helping together by prayer for us . . ." (2 Corinthians 1:11) The apostle was in a prominent position, and perhaps he received power through the prayers of a poor bed-ridden woman; but all hidden fruits will be seen in the last day.

It is an encouraging thing to see that God honours the hidden members which are the least honourable to the eyes of the flesh. This thought encourages us to walk humbly in our place. Frequently there are persons hidden out of sight, who are the means of blessing for those who are in a very prominent place.We ought to think of the praise which God gives, and not of that of men. The only thing in our service is to glorify God. If my heart, which no one sees, does not beat, I cannot run. There are individuals who are truly the heart of the church; it is not often the things that are seen which are the most precious in the sight of God. (Notes on the Epistle to the Ephesians - JND)

N.J. Hiebert # 3680

April 21

"Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word." (Psalm 119:9)

How can youth keep its way shining through a dark world? How can you reach the goal - Christ? By stepping carefully and guiding your life by what your soul is learning of God in the text of Holy Scripture, and by keeping company with Christ as your best friend - you talk with Him and He talks with you. It means that you have Christ in your heart. (Harold St. John) (from his biography)

N.J. Hiebert # 3681

April 22

"Ye shall find a colt tied . . . the Lord hath need of him."
(Mark 11:2-3)
"The eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee."
(1 Corinthians 12:21)

It was only a colt - the foal of an unclean donkey - but it was brought to Jesus because the Lord had need of him, and it was used by Christ. The colt was young, unbroken, and even children who have been redeemed can be used by the Lord; the Lord has need of them. And old people, weak people, even people in wheelchairs can be used by the Lord (I'm one of those!). (R. Sheldrake)

N.J. Hiebert # 3682

April 23

"In whom (Him) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins." (Ephesians 1:7)

A missionary in West Africa was trying to convey the meaning of the word redeem in the Bambara language. So he asked his African assistant to express it in his native tongue. "We say," the assistant replied, "That God took our heads out." But how does that explain redemption?" the perplexed missionary asked.The man told him that many years ago some of his ancestors had been captured by slave-traders, chained together, and driven to the seacoast. Each prisoner had a heavy iron collar around his neck. As the slaves passed through a village, a chief might notice a friend of his among the captives and offer to pay the slave-traders in gold, ivory, silver, or brass. The prisoner would be redeemed by the payment. His head then would be taken out of his iron collar.What an unusual and graphic illustration of the word redeem! Ephesians 1:7 states. "In whom (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." Jesus died on the cross to purchase our freedom from the bondage of sin.Have you put your trust in Jesus as your Redeemer? Let Him take your head our of the enslaving collar of sin and set you free. (VCG)

Redeemed - how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy -
His child, and forever I am.
(Crosby)
___________________________________________________________
Christ was lifted up on the cross that we might be lifted out of our sin.
___________________________________________________________

N.J. Hiebert # 3683

"Our Daily Bread" RBC Ministries, copyright 1999 - Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission

April 24

"And He is before all things." (Colossians 1:17)

Jesus Christ is:

- First in rank,
- First in pre-eminence,
- First in the eternal purposes of God.

The great Apostle saw himself as the "least of all," a "wretched man," (where does that leave us?) and without hope. But, by redeeming grace,the lowly wretch is placed in the One who is before all and higher than all. Now we find our place is in the heavenlies. More than that: we are heirs of God and joint heirs with the Foremost One. This is incomprehensible! Yet, it is pure delight both to Him and to us. Is He not worthy of our worship and adoration? (Doug Kazen)

N.J. Hiebert # 3684

April 25

"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." (Proverbs 13:7)

Walking in a vain show is natural to man as he is, but it does not always put on the same mask. The most prevailing snare is to pretend to have more than one possesses; but we must be prepared also for some pretending to have less than they have, in order to escape a duty, or from other selfish motives.

The knowledge of Christ who is the Truth is the only sure means of making the believer truthful in deed as in word. But even he has no force beyond the constant dependence of faith. To be content with the fact that one believed is a snare and may be ruinous; faith is unreal, if it be not a living faith and a believing life. (William Kelly - The Proverbs)

N.J. Hiebert # 3685

April 26

"Let us walk honestly, as in the day." (Romans 13:13)

- Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.
- You can never lose anything that really belongs to you, and you can't keep that which belongs to someone else.
- The elegance of honesty needs no adornment.
- There is no right way to do something wrong. (A Collection of Wise Sayings - R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3686

April 27

"As soon the as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread." (John 21:9)

Peter must be approved before his brethren and re-commissioned. They would remember his boast of superior love, and they ate in silence. The Lord graciously said nothing about his failure. That matter had been settled between them personally. But He had prepared a coal of fire. Why coal, when driftwood, branches and twigs, would be more plentiful to burn? Because the fire where Peter had denied His Lord was a coal fire! Now, the Lord's fire would quietly remind him of what he was, an utterly dependent servant. (Choice Gleanings - J. Boyd Nicholson)

I need Thee every hour,
stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power
when Thou art nigh. (Annie S. Hanks)

N.J. Hiebert # 3687

April 28

"She (Naomi) went forth out of the place where she was."
(Ruth 1:7)

Naomi made a clean break from what she had been engaged with. Not only did she go out from Moab, she came all the way back to Bethlehem , the very place where she went out. "So they two (Naomi and Ruth) went until they came to Bethlehem . . ." (Ruth 1:19) She came right back to the point of departure. A person who wants to be restored to the Lord but won't give up his sin or get out of the circumstances that caused his fall is surely giving an index to his state, that he is not repentant. (Bruce Anstey)

N.J. Hiebert # 3688

April 29

"Serving the Lord with all humility (lowliness) of mind."
(Acts 20:19)

If there is any position, any calling where pride should have no place, it is in connection with the ministry of the Word of God, for, to begin with, the minister of Christ is one who was just a poor, lost, needy sinner, but who has been saved by grace and entrusted with a message to the world and to the people of God. He does not receive this because of any merit of his own. It is all because of the goodness of the Lord. Certainly therefore he has nothing to be proud of.When people used to crowd around George Whitfield and praise him because of his marvelous preaching, he would stop them like this: "The devil told me that just before I came down from the pulpit." Then he would add, "There are many who can preach the gospel better than I can, but none can preach a better gospel." It is the message that counts. The servant is really nothing, and the more we realize this and are willing to take the place of nothingness, the more God delights to come in and work through His servants. (H.A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert # 3689

April 30

"Ye are not under law, but under grace." (Romans 6:14)

When Moses was in Egypt, to punish Pharaoh God turned the waters into blood. When Christ was on earth He turned the water into wine. That is the difference between law and grace. The law says, "Kill him"; grace says, "Forgive him." Law says, "Condemn him"; grace says, "Love him." When the law came out of Horeb three thousand men were destroyed (Exodus 32:28). At Pentecost, under grace, three thousand men found life (Acts 2:41). What a difference! When Moses came to the burning bush, he was commanded to take the shoes from off his feet. When the prodigal came home after sinning he was given a pair of shoes to put on his feet. How thankful to be under grace rather than under the law. (D.L. Moody)

N.J. Hiebert # 3690

Gems from March 2009

March 1

"Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." (Exodus 14:13)

One of the most needful lessons in these trying times - and certainly one of the most precious - is to stand still and wait on God to act. God's vindication of those who are right, sooner or later, is most sure - although it may be delayed till the soul is morally prepared for it. The restlessness of spirit and impatience so natural to us, especially in persons of great energy of character, practically hinder God's intervention on their behalf. The living God! - oh, what a stay for the soul! Your case is in His hands, and He is fully aware of it. (Submitted by R.K.)

"In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."
(Isaiah 30:15)

N.J. Hiebert # 3629

"Ephriam is a cake not turned." (Hosea 7:8)

In my early ministry I was inclined sometimes to be rather sarcastic. The Bible tells us that Ephriam was "a cake not turned." Pity an Ephriam in the ministry who tries to be hard-boiled to hide the fact that he is only half-baked! A few years in the oven of God's chastening will work wonders.I have paid a great price for a new note in my preaching. When God consumes the dross and refines the gold in His children, they feel it. When He operates He does not use an anesthetic. He does not develop His saints in their sleep. We wrestle with the powers of darkness and we do not come from a wrestling match looking like we had just left a dress parade, well tailored and perfumed. Artificial flowers may look better than real flowers because they have not been exposed to wind and rain. God is not out primarily to make us happy but to make us holy - and holiness is not cheap.

There is compensation for our suffering if we are enabled to comfort others with our own comfort.

An overflowing heart if thou
Another's soul would reach;
An overflowing heart it is
That gives the lips full speech. (Author Unknown)

One does not learn to sing or speak from the heart in the schools of men. He finds it in the school of suffering but it pays off in the joy of sharing the Saviour's ministry to heal the broken hearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and setting at liberty the bruised. (Vance Havner - Though I Walk Through the Valley)

N.J. Hiebert # 3630

March 2

"The Lord . . . will hear . . . from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand." (Psalm 20:6)

Oh, I know that my name on Thy palms is graven ,
I remember the years of Thy hand, Most High!
How it has sheltered and held and guided
'Neath clouded heaven or open sky;

I lean on Thine arm and Thy hand upholds me.
Its power protects and its strength defends;
Still it shall hide me and keep and lead me
Till home is reached and the journey ends.

(Annie Johnson Flint's Best-Loved Poems)

N.J. Hiebert # 3631

March 3

"Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps." (Job 31:4)

"There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it." (Job 28:7,8)

If you have only got faith to walk in the path of God, you will find He has a plan and counsel through it all. If our hearts have courage to do God's will, all will turn out for blessing; we do not know how, but the secret thing is going on, that faith has to get hold of. If I am walking in a straight path, the power of God is pushing me on; but if I am walking in a cross path, the power of God tumbles me over - it shows me that I am not going straight. It is a great thing to be in the path of God's will, for I have all the power of God at my disposal. If you walk in the path of God's will, God makes everything work together for your good. We cannot get a thing that is outside of the power of God, though it may be He chastens us if crossing His path. (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3632

March 4

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8,9)

Galatianism. The attempt to mingle law and grace. Galatianism takes many forms, but sooner or later it always ends up in a meaningless contradiction: "God's grace has made it possible for man to work for His acceptance and forgiveness" or "God loves us unconditionally if we keep all the rules." Law is the realm of what you earn by your performance. Grace is the realm of receiving a free gift. How could you ever mingle the two?

Imagine if a friend came up to you one day and said, "I'm going to give you a car! Absolutely free, for only $1000."

"Wait a minute," you say." "Did you say you're going to give me a car for free, or for $1000?"
"That's right," he says. "Absolutely free, for only $1000!"
That's gibberish! The word "free" by definition means with no payment due at all. You can't work for a gift, or it's not a gift. Even a payment of $1 takes it out of the realm of a gift. A gift is not a gift unless it is free. (Bob George)

N.J. Hiebert # 3633

March 5

"And he (Saul) trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6)

The most harmful mistake we make concerning time is to think that it has somehow a mysterious power to perfect human nature and change the human personality. We say of a foolish young man, "Time will make him wiser," or we see a new Christian acting like anything but a Christian and hope that time will someday turn him into a saint. The truth is that time has no more power to sanctify a man than space has. Indeed, time is only a fiction by which we account for change. It is a transformation, not time, that turns fools into wise men and sinners into saints, Christ bringing it about by means of the changes he works in the heart!Saul the persecutor became Paul the servant of God, but time did not make the change. Christ wrought the miracle, the same Christ who once changed water into wine. One spirtual experience followed another in fairly rapid succession until the violent Saul became a gentle, God-enamoured soul, ready to lay down his life for the faith he once hated. It should be obvious that time had no part in the making of the man of God!

Human nature is not fixed and for this we should thank God day and night! We are still capable of change. We can become something other than what we are. By the power of the gospel the covetous man may become generous, the egotist lowly in his own eyes. The thief may learn to steal no more, the blasphemer to fill his mouth with praises unto God. (A.W. Tozer - Renewed Day By Day)

N.J. Hiebert # 3634

March 6

"Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." (James 2:10)

What man loves the Lord his God with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength (Deuteronomy 6:5)? Who loves his neighbour as himself? If a man sees a house on fire, who hopes it is his own house that is burning, and not his neighbour's? Who has never coveted something that is not his? Every honest man knows that he never has, and never can, keep these commands. But the law is like a mighty chain. If you break one link, the whole chain is broken. But "Cursed is every one who does not remain constantly in all the things written in the book of the law to do them." (Deuteronomy 27:26). Every man, woman and child who has ever lived (except our Lord), must come under that curse if he puts himself under law. Remember, not only can the law not bless, neither can it forgive. All the law can do to man is to curse him, and to condemn him. The law said, "This do, and thou shalt live." (Luke 10:28; See also Leviticus 18:5). But no man yet, except our Lord Jesus Christ, could claim life by this method; so we read in the Old Testament: "The just, or righteous man, shall live on the principle of faith" (Habakkuk 2:4). (G.C. Willis - Meditations on Galatians)

N.J. Hiebert # 3635

March 7

"The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead." (Proverbs 21:16)

The goodness of God leads to repentance, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Christ attracts the heart, the one Mediator between God and men. He is the way, the truth, and the life, always the Object of faith to the believer. Here is the way of wisdom, and the man that wanders out of that way shall abide in the congregation of the dead, far from God. (William Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert # 3636

March 8

"Then were they all of good cheer." (Acts 27:36)

The words "good cheer" occur seven times in the New Testament. God's desire for His children is that they be cheerful, sunshiny and joyous. His desire for us is that we shall live in victory; that we shall be strong and of good courage, and that we shall move on from strength to strength, from victory to victory, from glory to glory. And when we consider everything He has done for us, and all the provisions He has made for us, and all the resources we have in Him, we have every reason to be cheerful.

He wore a crown of thorns that I may wear a crown of glory! (Submitted by a reader R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3637

March 9

"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." (Colossians 1:20)
"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth,and things under the earth." (Philippians 2:10)

Notice that the things under the earth (i.e., the things in hell) are not named as being reconciled, but they are required to bow the knee and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. How eternally better to bow the knee now while on earth and be reconciled to the Lord now, than to be forced to bow in hell and then be cast out into outer darkness forever. (Tom Steere)

Jesus, before Thy face we fall
- our Lord, our life, our hope, our all:
For we have nowhere else to flee
- no sanctuary, Lord, but Thee!

N.J. Hiebert # 3638

March 10

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." (Job 19:25)

Job's life was full of unimaginable pain. He lost everything that men count dear: his family, his health, and his wealth. His friends misunderstood all that was going on. But amidst all the trials and misunderstandings, one bright hope lifted Job above his circumstances - one day, his Redeemer would appear. This certainty kept Job from slipping beneath the waves: He shall appear! Centuries have past since Job's day, but the message of hope remains. Amidst all our trials, the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord keeps us pressing on. He has said, "I will come again." (W.H. Burnett)

N.J. Hiebert # 3639

March 11

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not,because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doeth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1,2)

Now, as it is in the natural relationships of life, so it is in the spiritual. Once a child is born into the world, a relationship is established between the father and the child which can never be broken. And once we are the children of God, a relationship is established between God and us which is eternal. Being brought into this blessing, God looks for a walk and conduct consistent with the position of favour in which His grace has planted us. Having believed on His Son, our sins are all forgiven for His name's sake (1 John 2:12). God will remember them no more forever (Hebrews 10:17). And now we should live without sinning. The Spirit of God, who dwells in the believer, is the power to enable us to live to God, and to cease from sinning. "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not" (or, in no way) "fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).

Having believed in Christ, not only are our sins forgiven, but Christ having died to sin, we are dead with Him, and exhorted to reckon ourselves so, and alive to God in Christ Jesus, who lives to die no more. We are delivered from the dominion of sin, called to yield ourselves to God, and to bring forth fruit to Him (Romans 6:11-13, 22) (E.H.C.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3640

March 12

"None did search or seek after them." (Ezekiel 34:6)
"The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10)
"He which converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death." (James 5:20)

Speak gently to the erring ones:
We yet may lead them back,
With holy words and tones of love
From misery's thorny track.

One night when storms were beating in full fury, a wreck was firing the minute guns, and a life boat was manned and sent out. Relay after relay rescued the whole crew but one; and the life boat was being manned for the last trip. One young fellow, John Holden, stepped in. "John, don't go," said his mother. "Your father is dead, your brother William is lost at sea, I have no one left but you. Surely you won't risk your life for only one?" But John went. Slowly the life boat disappeared amidst mountains of foam. After anxious suspense the boat returned. "Is the man saved?" was shouted from the shore. "Yes," rang back the voice of John, "and go and tell mother, it is William." (This story was found in my archives printed on a yellow stained sheet of paper - the author was not given)

N.J. Hiebert # 3641

March 13

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)
"As thy days, so shall thy strength be." (Deuteronomy 33:25)

One day at a time, with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care;
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong,Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;It shall darken and die, and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time - but the day is so long,And the heart is not brave and the soul is not strong.O Thou pitiful Christ, be Thou near all the way;Give courage and patience and strength for the day.

Swift cometh His answer, so clear and so sweet; "Yea, I will be with thee, thy troubles to meet;I will not forget thee, nor fail thee, nor grieve;I will not forsake thee; I never will leave."

Not yesterday's load we are called on to bear,
Nor the morrow's uncertain and shadowy care;
Why should we look forward or back with dismay?
Our needs as our mercies, are but for the day.

One day at a time, and the day is His day;He hath numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone;As the day, so the strength that He giveth His own. (Annie Johnson Flint)

N.J. Hiebert # 3642

March 14

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.

It may not, perhaps, be so easy to see this when the pressure is upon us. When anxiously watching by the sick-bed of a beloved friend; or when treading the chamber of sorrow; or when laid on a bed of pain and languishing ourselves; or when overwhelmed by sudden tidings of the loss of our earthly all: under such circumstances it may not be so easy to see the glory of God maintained, and our blessing secured; but faith can see it for all that; and as for "blind unbelief," it is always "sure to err." (C.H. Macintosh)

N.J. Hiebert # 3643

March 15

"Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions. Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonments." (Hebrews 11:36)

Faith enables God's children to accomplish what may seem impossible. In this portion, we read that some did great things, while others endured great things. For both it was tier faith in God that allowed them to take one more step toward eventual victory. What will you put your faith in today, and where will it take you? (Saju Mathew)

N.J. Hiebert # 3644

March 16

"Behold My servant, whom I uphold." (Isaiah 42:1)

In a world rife with sound bytes and instant images, we need to teach ourselves to behold, to meditate, to appreciate. The wonders of our Saviour are not discerned in a moment, nor appreciated with a glance. Worship of God does not pour out of a packet marked "just add water." Worship is a precious gift - made valuable by the time invested in its creation. Worship bathes the object of its focus in absolute love and appreciation. Motivation must be strong to engender such emotion. Does he motivate us so? He can, if we take the time to behold and meditate on Him. The Father holds Him up to us and commands us to behold. Do we? (S. McEachern)

N.J. Hiebert # 3645

March 17

"In Thy light shall we see light." (Psalm 36:9)
"Christ is all, and in all." (Colossians 3:11)

- Christ's yesterday was the accomplishment of redemption.
- His tomorrow is the having His church with Himself in glory.
- But He is a living Christ for today.

Christ cannot light a single spark in the heart of an individual, without that little tiny spark being for God. He gives the light, and has ordained that every ray of it is to reflect something for God. (Gleanings of G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert # 3646

March 18

"I . . . am persuaded . . . that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."
(Romans 15:14)

If only we are self-emptied, our every act may emit a sweet odour to God. The smallest as well as the greatest services may, by the power of the Holy Spirit, present the fragrance of Christ.

- The paying of a visit,
- The writing of a letter,
- The public ministry of the Word,
- Giving a cup of cold water to a disciple,
- Giving something to a pauper,
- The common-place acts of eating and drinking.

All may emit the sweet perfume of the name and grace of Jesus. (A.A.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3647

March 19

"Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:18)

One day Robert McLuckie, a most lovable Scotsman to the core, took me for a walk around Edinburgh Castle and glowed as he described its historical background and the tradition of his land as symbolized in that great citadel. Then he took me into the throne room, and there in a casket lay the crown jewels of Scotland. The central crown really drew my attention and admiration. Turning to the guide who stood by with his long coat and many buttons, I queried, "How much is it worth?"

I was amazed at his reaction. He was flaming angry. "How much is it worth?" he reiterated.

"Yes," I said, "Thirty million, forty million? Surely there must be some price on it." "Young man," he said emphatically, "three thousand men died in one day to put that crown on the head of Robert, the Bruce. If you want to put a price upon human blood you are welcome to try. That crown is priceless!" As he simmered down and Robert and I beat a hasty retreat, my friend smiled at me when we were at a safe distance and said, "You've got a sermon there, lad!" He was right. "If you want to put a price upon human blood you are welcome to try." Surely if we cannot attempt to put a price upon the blood of Scotsmen who died in battle, how just how, can we put a price on the precious blood that stained the hill of Calvary? Divine life, become human life that we might have everlasting life. The answer is simple - it is priceless. (Note the verse quoted above.) That was the price of redemption for us; nothing less would satisfy God. But that does. Doesn't it satisfy you? (Ruth a Foreigner Redeemed - Derick Bingham)

N.J. Hiebert # 3648

March 20

"He that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live." (John 11:25)

That is a very simple sentence, but let it be most carefully read. Jesus did not say, he that believeth in Me thought he were dead, yet he shall live "again." That would be resurrection. He said, "though he were dead, yet shall he live." In other words, he that believes in Me, though he die, by all appearances as interpreted on the level of the earthly, he is not dead. He was saying, "Your brother is not dead. He that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." That is the great Christian declaration. We have hardly grasped its significance. We say, "What has become of so and so?" The reply is often, "He (or she) has died." We still talk the pagan way. They are not dead. "He that believeth on Me, though he were dead" - the death is a fact so far as you see, but he is alive. When our Lord recalled Lazarus, He talked to him as though he could hear Him. He muttered no incantations over him. He said, "Lazarus, come forth." He expected to be heard. Lazarus was not dead. (J.C.M.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3649

March 21

"The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly." (Proverbs 20:27)
"All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits." (Proverbs 16:2)

It is natural to man as he is to count right every way of his; but the solemn truth for everyone is that the Lord weighs not the acts only, but the heart. All things are naked and laid bare to His eyes with whom we have to do; let us never forget it. (William Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert # 3650

March 22

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness (KINDNESS), goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22,23)

Kindness comes from a lovely Greek word, "Chreestos." Christ in Greek is "Christos." The sound is almost the same. In the old days, the people used to say that "Christians" (from the name Christ which we bear) were also "Chreestians" (from Chreestos, meaning KIND), because the Christians were known for their kindness to others. This is just as it should be; and I hope that every one of us may be Chreestians, as well as Christians: This is the word, translated "easy", used by our Lord to describe His yoke. We use "easy" in this sense for the comfot of an old, well-fitting shoe, that does not hurt the foot in any part; so should the Christian be to those with whom he has to do. (G. Christopher Willis)

N.J. Hiebert # 3651

March 23

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

AS CORN BEFORE THE WIND

There is no fear in love, so we draw near,
Thy perfect love, O Lord, has cast out fear.

As corn before the wind bends all one way,
So would we bow before Thy wind to-day.

Our several choices, Lord, we would forgo;
Breath of the living God, O great wind, blow.

(Amy Carmichael)

N.J. Hiebert # 3652

March 24

"The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me." (Psalm 42:8)

The most important victory has often come when we have been most afraid of being beaten; the brightest songs when an evil day has forced us to lean on God.

To me partings go dreadfully deep. In spirit all is well. . . . Jesus is the bond which no distance breaks and no nearness can give without Him, and which will, blessed be His name, last for ever.

He weans us in every way from this world, that He may attach us to that one for which He has created us anew.

God's hand is always better than man's; His seeming harshness even is better than the world's favour; the spring which guides it is always love, and love directed by perfect wisdom, which we shall understand by-and-by. (Pilgrims Portions for the Day of Rest - J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3653

March 25

"Jesus answered and and said, I thank Thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes."
(Matthew 11:25)

Simplicity is the secret of seeing things clearly. A saint may not think clearly for a time, but he (she) ought to see clearly without any difficulty. You cannot think a spiritual muddle clear, you have to obey it clear. In intellectual matters you can think things out, but in spiritual things you can think yourself into cotton wool. If there is something upon which God has put His pressure, obey in that matter - bring your imagination into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5) with regard to it, and everything will become as clear as daylight. The reasoning capacity comes afterwards, but we never see along this line - we see like children. When we try to be wise, we see nothing (Matthew 11:25).

The tiniest thing we allow in our lives that is not under the control of the Holy Spirit is quite sufficient to account for spiritual muddle, and all the thinking we like to spend on it will never make it clear. Spiritual muddle is only made plain by obedience. Immediately we obey, we discern. (O.C.)

They that know God will be humbled;
They that know themselves cannot be proud.
Nothing sets a person out of the enemy's reach as does humility.

N.J. Hiebert # 3654

March 26

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word , and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John 5:24)

Note that the difference between a believer and unbeliever is right here. An unbeliever is living in his day, and he has nothing but a long dark eternal night to look forward to; a Christian is now living in his night, and he has a grand morning that he is looking forward to. The day is ahead, the glory is ahead, the best of life is ahead; it is not behind. That is the teaching of Scripture. For a man whose life is hid with Christ in God, judgment is already passed; he will not come into judgment. Christ was judged for me, and judgment is behind me, not before me. (Dwight L. Moody - Daily Gems)

N.J. Hiebert # 3655

March 27

"But a faithful man who can find?" (Proverbs 20:6)

FAITHFUL
being true to oneself
to one's new nature
to any promise given and
to any trust committed.

TIMOTHY ". . . who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord."
(1 Corinthians 4:17)
EPAPHRAS ". . . for you a faithful minister of Christ."
(Colossians 1:7 - Philemon 23)
TYCHICUS ". . . the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord." (Colossians 4:7)
ONESIMUS ". . . the faithful and beloved brother." (Colossians 4:9)
SILVANUS ". . . The faithful brother." (1 Peter 5:12)
ANTIPAS ". . . My faithful martyr." (Revelation 2:13)

But Above All

JESUS CHRIST ". . . the faithful witness." (Revelation 1:5)

". . . the same commit thou to faithful men." (2 Timothy 2:2)

God's approbation: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
(Matthew 25:21) (Selected)
_________________________________________________

N.J. Hiebert # 3656

March 28

"Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from trouble." (Proverbs 21:23)

Valuable a faculty as good speech is, it is wise to spare the tongue as well as the mouth. The time, the tone, the way, and the end, have all to be considered, lest a fair intention might not only fail, but provoke. As the mouth has to beware of taking in beyond what is right and good, so the tongue of letting out what is not edifying. To keep one's mouth and tongue as in God's presence is to keep the soul from troubles without end. (William Kelly - The Proverbs)

N.J. Hiebert # 3657

March 29

"And He (God) said, what hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. . . . A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. . . . And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord . . . he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son Enoch."
(Genesis 4:10,12,16,17)

We have the true history of the world and its practical principles in Cain. He had slain his brother, and was cast out of the presence of God, despairing of grace, and refusing to humble himself. By the judgment of God he was made a vagabond (restless wanderer) on the earth, but such a condition did not suit him. He settled down where God had made him a vagabond, and he called the city after the name of his son, to perpetuate the greatness of his family. That his city should be deprived of all the delights of life would have been unbearable; therefore, he multiplied riches for his son. Then another member of the family invented instruments of music; another was the instructor of aritificers (craftsman, inventor) in brass and iron. The world being cast out of from God, sought to make its position pleasant without God, to content itself at a distance from Him. (The Christian Truth - Vol. 20 - March 1957)

N.J. Hiebert # 3658

March 30

"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:34-35)

THE NEW COMMANDMENT

Christ's aim, on the night of His betrayal, was to introduce a new dynamic conception of love into the hearts of His disciples. Under law the Israelite was to love his neighbour as himself (Leviticus 19:18). Under grace the disciple is to love his neighbour as Christ loved him (John 13:34). And so it comes about, that the matchless affection which the Lord Jesus has for His own, becomes the pattern and foundation, the model and standard, of their love for the brethren (1 John 3:16). By the manifestation of such love they would declare and attest their discipleship (John 13:35). (Henry Durbanville - His Last Words)

N.J. Hiebert # 3659

March 31

"The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether . . . .Moreover by them is Thy servant warned." (Psalm 19:9,11)

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings."
(Philippians 2:14)

- We murmur at a thousand things in our lot, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness, and thereby question the care, the love and the wisdom of Him who orders all our path, and lose the blessed sense of His presence with us.
- When people become slaves to a fad they soon become tyrants.
- When knowledge enters the head it exalts me. When knowledge enters the heart it humbles me.
- Nothing has so corrupted Christianity as the acceptance of worldly help for the furtherance of its objects.
- May we never bridge over the chasm between the world and us, and we shall never seek to do so if we can adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14) (Edward Dennett)

N.J. Hiebert # 3660

Gems from February 2009

January 28

"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." (Psalm 91:4)

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained stedfast . . . because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3598

January 29

"Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . .pure . . . lovely . . . good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:6)

One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplative life--a life that thinks, a life that thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God's thoughts after Him. A person sitting at his or her desk staring out the window would never be assumed to be working. No! Thinking is not equated with work.

What is even more destructive is the assumption that silence is inimical (unfavourable or harmful) to life. The radio in the car, Muzak in the elevator, and the symphony entertaining callers "on hold" all add up as grave impediments to personal reflection. In effect, the mind is denied the privilege of living with itself even briefly and is crowded with outside impulses to cope with aloneness.

Is there a remedy? Nothing ranks higher for metal discipline than a planned and systematic study of God's Word, from whence life's parameters and values are planted in the mind. Paul, who loved his books and parchments, affirmed the priority of Scriptures: ". . . that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written." (Do not go above what is written) (1 Corinthians 4:6). And Psalm 119 promises that God's statutes keep us from being double-minded.

The Bible places supreme value on the thought-life as that which shapes all of life. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). Jesus asserted that sin's gravity lay a the level of the idea itself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, and to the same people he wrote, The follower of Christ must demonstrate to the world what it means not just to think, but to think justly. The LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.

Let us serve God with both hearts and minds. After all, it is not that I think, therefore, I am, but rather, I Am has asked us to think and therefore, we must. (A Slice of Infinity)

N.J. Hiebert # 3599

January 30

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

In the love of God, redemption originated. Jesus did not die that God might love the sinner; Jesus died because God did love the sinner. But the gospel is more than a message of love; the cross is more than a revelation of love - it is a demonstration of righteousness also. And because it is a demonstration of righteousness, as well as a revelation of love, it meets the whole case - the whole moral and spiritual need - of the Spirit-convinced, conscience-stricken, seeking sinner. (Christian Truth - Vol. 15)

N.J. Hiebert # 3600

January 31

"Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)

Adolph Monod said that the poor often ask how the promise of God about their daily bread will be fulfilled. But when they look back over the years, they are astonished to see that He has provided for every day, often in ways they cannot remember.

It is the same with those who are ill: "When they look back over weeks, months, years, they are surprised to see that God has given them each day the promised strength." And Adolph Monod adds that "we ought to practice ourselves in casting away our anxieties."

That is a good word - practice ourselves. Practice will make us perfect in this. It will become natural to us to cast our care at once upon our Lord, instead of carrying it for a while ourselves, until tired out we turn to Him to find the rest that might have been ours at the beginning.He cares for us. He who has loved will love; He who has led will lead; He who has kept will keep.
(Amy Carmichael - Whispers of His Power)

N.J. Hiebert # 3601

February 1

"What I (Jesus) do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter." (John 13:7)

Today at lunch a friend of mine told me that Spurgeon said that God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, and when you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart. I have been through much that I do not understand. God does not ask me to understand it but to accept it. I cannot trace His hand but I can trust His heart. I know that God is love and back of all His doings is that love. It sent His Son into this world and reached its climax on Calvary. It is the hallmark of His disciples. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to to another" (John 13:35). WE know and ALL MEN know that we are his because His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is inward evidence and outward evidence. I know that whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. His corrective discipline proves my sonship.

Back of all the misery and mystery of this world beats that heart of love. I cannot trace God's hand in news reports and the happenings in this modern madhouse. Satan is on the loose. (Vance Havner - Though I walk Through the Valley)

N.J. Hiebert # 3602

February 2

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together." (Acts 20:7,8)

Two things are brought into contrast - "midnight" and "many lights." This is not without significance. The church was in the prime of its splendour. The "many lights" represent the many gifts - apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists. Yet as, in spite of "many lights" and also the memorial of Christ's sufferings upon the table, Eutychus fell into a "deep sleep," so the church was about to lapse into spiritual torpor and death, and in "due time" worldliness and temporal prosperity would eat out its very heart. This helps us to understand the reference to "midnight". After Paul's departure the Church would in due time reach her midnight. The Middle Ages found her apparently sleeping the sleep of death. Worldly alliance, spiritual arrogance and moral corruption had done their work. Gorgeous ceremonial, pomp and carnal display might be there, but spiritual life and power were absent. Like Eutychus she had sunk down with sleep, and to all appearance she was dead. (Russell Elliott - Break of Day)

N.J. Hiebert # 3603

February 3

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."
(1 John 3:2)

I have not the thought of what we shall do in glory: my thought is, Christ will be there. I shall be in the place where everything is ruled by the mind of Christ. Have you known down here the calming effect of realizing His presence, hearing Him breathing out like oil on the waters, "It is I!" What will it be to be in a world were all is subject to Him who gives such peace even here! What will heaven be, when all that He is, all His perfect grace, will come out to us in the Father's house! What will it be where everything will be attuned to the name of Jesus! The full stream of His affections will flow over and spread blessing everywhere, "His fulness" poured forth to fill every heart, and every heart perfectly filled and satisfied with it. (Gleanings From the Teaching of G.V.W.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3604

February 4

"There came a messenger unto Job, and said: they have slain thy servants. . . there came another and said . . . fire hath burned up thy sheep . . . There came another and said . . . they have carried away thy camels and slain thy servants . . . there came another and said . . . thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking . . . there came a great wind . . . and they are dead . . . Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped. And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:13 - 21)

Even in our feasting here we see a warning to be vigilant. Bad news always finds a way of reaching us no matter where we are. Satan ensures this as a tool of discouragement. He designs, that a servant would survive from each catastrophe to bring him the report. Job realizes in his soul that all he possesses has been given to him by God who maintains it as He sees fit. This is proper for us all realizing we are only stewards of God's treasury. (Meditations in Job - B.R.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3605

February 5

"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path."
(Psalm 119:105)

- There are no dead ends in our Spiritual Walk, just places to turn around.
- I'm not telling you it is going to be easy--I'm telling you it's going to be worth it.
- Anything that comes to us from the God of the Word will deepen our love for the Word of God.
- Bible exposition without moral application raises no opposition.
- The Scriptures are in print what Christ is in person.
- The Scriptures, to be understood, must be read with the same Spirit that originally inspired them.
- Truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love, and love becomes soft if not strengthened by truth.
- The Scriptures were not given for our information, but for out transformation.
- The study of God's Word, for the purpose of discovering God's Word, is the secret discipline which has formed the greatest characters.
- Don't be surprised to discover that many Christian are far more interested in interpretation of the Bible than the application of it. (A Collection of Wise Sayings - R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3606

February 6

"One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh." (Ecclesiastes 1:4)

One Falling Leaf - However prominent the place we fill, our death will not jar the world. One falling leaf does not shake the Adirondacks.

When we go others take our spheres - We do not grudge the future generations their places. After a lifetime of preaching, doctoring, selling, sewing, or digging,let us cheerfully give way for those who come on to do the preaching, doctoring, selling, sewing, and digging.The Young to take

Our Places - As we get older, do not let us be affronted if you men and women crowd us a little. We will have had our day, and we must let them have theirs. When our voices get cracked, let us not snarl at those who can warble. When our knees are stiffened, let us have patience with those who go fleetas the deer. Because our leaf is fading, do not let us despise the unfrosted. (T. De Witt Talmage [Born 1832] - 1000 Gems)

N.J. Hiebert # 3607

February 7

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)

Did you ever think that when Christ was dying on the cross, H made a will? Perhaps you have thought that no one ever remembered you in a will. If you are saved, Christ remembered you in His. He willed His body to Joseph of Arimathaea; He willed His mother to John, the son of Zebedee; and He willed His spirit back to His Father. But to His disciples He said: "My peace I leave that with you; that is MY legacy. My joy, I give that to you." "My joy," think of it! "My peace" - not our peace, but His peace!

They say a man can't make a will now that lawyers can't break, and drive a four-in-hand (a four horse team driven by one person) right straight through it. I will challenge them to break Christ's will; let them try it. No judge or jury can set that aside. Christ rose to execute His own will. If He had left us a lot of gold, thieves would have stolen it in the first century; but He left His peace and His joy for every true believer, and no power on earth can take it from him who trusts. (D.L. Moody - Daily Gems)

N.J. Hiebert # 3608

February 8

"And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the LORD their God [one] fourth part of the day;and [another] fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the LORD their God." (Nehemiah 9:3)

The orderly and reverent reading of God's Word ("stood up in their place") not only produced repentance, but gave liberty to worship Jehovah. The importance and lasting blessing of reverent, daily family reading of the Bible cannot be overemphasized - reverent being the key to family blessing resulting from this happy activity. Such habitual and reverent reading of the Bible will produce a foundation from which worship and praise to God (even from little children - see Matthew 21:15) can result. (Christian Shepherd - July 2005)

N.J. Hiebert # 3609

February 9

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)

SUBSTITUTION "The just for the unjust."

A most blessed truth this is! The Just One Who knew no sin, Who did no sin, and in Whom is no sin, went to the cross and there took the place of the unjust ones. Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners and enemies of God. Yet He Himself was untainted by sin. He being holy and separate from sinners was thereby qualified to be their Substitute. Not only was He qualified, but also He was willing to bear our sins in His own body on the tree. Wonderful Saviour! Yes, Christ stooped down in grace to where we were, in order to lift us up and give us a place with Himself where He now is, that we might dwell with Him forever. (J. Redekop)

N.J. Hiebert # 3610

February 10

"And Moses said unto the Lord, wherefore hast Thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? . . . I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me." (Numbers 11:11,14)

Part of our responsibility for each other is developed by relationship. God has given us a care and concern for one another, which can develop into an intimate relationship. This however does not always provide comfort but sometimes becomes more of a burden, a disruption in our normal "comfort zone". We do not always like to be placed in a responsible position. We don't like to be "put out" for another, but how do I know how much is counting on my participation - a cup of cold water, will be rewarded. To think that He uses us as His arms, feet, hands, mouth, eyes and ears - what a privilege not a burden, service to any becomes. How often we feel He shares the burden among others, often those we know not of, or don't associate with us. It is easy for God's servant to get discouraged. We often think we are the only ones chosen as capable of meeting the needs of those who need more than we can offer. Self pity can be a dangerous area for the saint of God. He alone empowers us to care and comfort His own, for out own selfishness will not provide any powers but only problems. (Meditations in Numbers - B.R.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3611

February 11

"Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between Him that serveth God and him that serveth him not." (Malachi 3:18)

There is a hidden but real bond between those who love and serve the Lord. Think of: - The home, - The school, - The workplace,- The retirement home, or above all,- The gatherings of His people. These can be arenas where the reality of that fellowship bond, if it exists, is played out. Among those we meet in our daily lives, we soon know who really loves and serves the Lord. We soon know those with whom we have so much in common. What a privilege is fellowship in the Lord among those who serve Him! (Mark Fenn)

N.J. Hiebert # 3612

February 12

" . . . the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." (John 8:29)

It is human to stand with the crowd; It is divine to stand alone. It is manlike to follow the people, to drift with the tide; it is Godlike to follow a principle, to stem the tide. It is natural to compromise conscience and follow the social and religious fashion for the sake of gain or pleasure; it is against nature to sacrifice both on the altar of His will."No man stood with me, but but all men forsook me," wrote the battle-scarred apostle in describing his first appearance before Nero to answer with his life for believing and teaching contrary to the Roman world. Truth has been out of fashion since man changed his robe of fadeless light for a garment of fading leaves.

- Noah built and voyaged alone. His neighbours laughed at his strangeness and and perished in style.
- Abraham wandered and worshiped alone. Sodomites smiled at the simple shepherd, followed the fashion and fed the flames.
- Daniel watched and prayed alone.
- Elijah sacrificed and witnessed alone.
- Jeremiah prophesied and wept alone.
- JESUS loved and died alone.

I'm not alone, though others go A different way from what I choose;I'm not alone, though I say "No!" I know that I will never lose.I'm not alone, though others tease And urge that I should go their way;I'm not alone, though I displease My friends by what I'll never say. I'm not alone, for I now choose - Though other folk may call me odd, Though now it seems that I might lose - To go the way that Jesus trod. (L.E. Dunkin)
(Mountain Trailways for Youth - Mrs. Charles Cowman)

N.J. Hiebert # 3613

February 13

"It is good for me to draw near to God." (Psalm 123:28)

The nearer we are to the Lord Jesus, the better we understand that he who touches His brethren "toucheth the apple of His eye."

The true effect of being near to Christ puts me into fellowship with Himself about others, instead of being under my own circumstances. How can I be turning my heart to the joys of one, and the sorrows of another, unless I am living close to Christ, and getting my heart filled with Him instead of self.

Oh! that we . . . had nearness enough to Christ to draw from Him all grace and all devotedness, and correct in ourselves whatever tends to mar the one or the other.

Activity, unless renewing itself in communion with Him, may be sincere, but will degenerate into routine . . . and is even dangerous; the soul gets far from God without knowing it. (Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3614

February 14

"Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still." (Psalm 4:4)

There are three kinds of silence. Silence from words is good, because inordinate speaking tends to evil. Silence, or rest from desires and passions, is still better, because it promotes quietness of spirit. But the best of all is silence from unnecessary and wandering thoughts, because that is essential to internal recollection, and because it lays a foundation for a proper regulation and silence in other respects. (Madam Guyon)

N.J. Hiebert # 3615

February 15

"If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:7)

From man's side, the whole secret of answered prayer is in theses words. "If ye abide in Me," instinctively, habitually; "and My words abide in you" - not by rapturous experiences, but by practical and daily obedience to them; our desires will harmonize with His, and our prayers will be moulded along lines that will bring inevitable response from heaven. Stated in other words, the secrets of effectual prayer are mainly four in number:

- Unbroken fellowship (Psalm 66:18).."If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."
- A forgiving spirit (Mark 11:25)........ "And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any."
- Confident faith (James 1:5-7).........."Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. . . For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."- Loving obedience. (John 14:15)........"If ye love Me, keep my commandments."

Given fulfillment of these conditions, prayer is encouraged by promises more numerous and more absolute, than attach to any other one act and privilege of the believer's life. God's universal terms are peculiarly associated with it - "all", "any", "every", "whosoever", "whatsoever", and other such words, make clear His purpose to answer true prayer. (His Last Words - Henry Durbanville)

N.J. Hiebert # 3616

February 16

"Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." (John 13:23)
"In Him was no sin." (1 John 3:5)

It is not by accident or chance that the one who leaned on the breast of Christ and could feel the heartbeat of the Saviour would later take up his pen and write of His sinlessness - those tremendous words which have come down through the centuries, "In Him is no sin." In: - Thought, - Actions, - Words, - Motives, - HE IS SINLESS. When the world would seek to attack the impeccability of our Lord, may we lay hold upon the words of John today, "IN HIM IS NO SIN." (John M. Clegg)

N.J. Hiebert # 3617

February 17

"He hath bent His bow like an enemy." "He stood with his right hand as an adversary." (Lamentations 2:4) "The Lord was as an enemy." (Verse 5)

Three times in verses 4 and 5 God is said to have acted as though He were their enemy. It is well to notice the qualifying expressions "like" and "as." An enemy He never was; though their conduct compelled Him to act as if He were. How many a Christian has had to know Him in a similar way! How often has He seemed to become an enemy! but faith looks beyond all that the eye can see, and knows that He is unchanged in His love and tenderness. It is sin in His children that has broken in on the fellowship He delights to have them enjoy. He is "of purer eyes than to behold iniquity;" and while He will never give up one of His redeemed, He will not countenance looseness of walk and an unbridled tongue in any, simply because He has saved them. In fact, it is just the contrary, for "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth." (H.A. Ironside - Notes 0n Lamentations)

N.J. Hiebert # 3618

February 18

" . . . They took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus." (Act 4:13)

Some years ago, at a social function, one of England's leading actors was asked to recite for the pleasure of his fellow guests. He consented and asked if there was anything special that his audience would like to hear. After a moment's pause, an aged minister arose and said,"Could you, sir, recite the Twenty-Third Psalm?"

A strange look passed over the great actor's face. He paused for a moment, and then said, "I can, and I will upon one condition - after I have recited it, you, my friend, will do the same."
Impressively, the great actor began the Psalm. His voice and his intonation were perfect. He held his audience spell bound, and as he finished, a great burst of applause broke from the guests.

Then, as it died away, the aged minister arose and began to recite. His voice was not remarkable; his intonation was not faultless. When he finished, no sound of applause broke the silence, but there was not a dry eye in the room, and many heads and hearts were bowed in reverential awe!

The great actor rose to his feet. His voice shook with uncontrollable emotion as he laid his hand upon the shoulder of the aged minister, and said to the audience, "I have reached your eyes, and ears, my friends. This man has reached your hearts. The difference is just this: "I know the twenty-third Psalm, but he knows the Shepherd." (Traveling Toward Sunrise)

N.J. Hiebert # 3619

February 19

"And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me."
(Genesis 32:24-26)

Such will ever be the happy effect of a thorough acquaintance with our hearts. Jacob now gets his name changed; he must not be any longer know as the "supplanter," but as a "prince," having power with God through the very knowledge of his weakness; for "when I am weak, then am I strong." We are never so weak as when we fancy ourselves strong. Peter never displayed more lamentable weakness than when he fancied he had uncommon strength; had he felt somewhat of Jacob's happy condition when his sinew shrank, he would have thought, acted, and spoken differently differently. "Lord I am ready to go with Thee, both into prison, and to death." (Luke 22:33) (C.H. Mackintosh)

N.J. Hiebert # 3620

February 20

"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God." (James 4:6,7)

The Christian is always solemnly bound to submit himself to the revealed mind of God. To plead circumstances as an excuse for doing wrong, or for neglecting any truth of God, is simply flying in the face of divine authority, and making God the author of our disobedience.

(Christian Truth - Vol. 23 - March 1970)

N.J. Hiebert # 3621

February 21

"And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8)

To each of us there is something which seems simply impossible to get on top of. I know my special foe and all this week I have had to live looking off to "Jesus, the Author and (thank God) the Finisher of our faith." (Hebrews 12:2) Psalm 138:8 is another standby. "The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands." Oh! blessed be the eternal Word of God. Feelings may change (they do), We may change and fall (we do), but His word stands steadfast. It cannot fail.Don't you think that some of us must know the trials of misty weather if we are to be enabled to understand when others are in the mist?

My word yesterday was "Even the death of the cross". There is an "even" in most lives. God help us not to shrink back from that "even." (Philippians 2:8)
(Candles in the Dark - Amy Carmichael)

N.J. Hiebert # 3622

February 22

"And when they had brought their ship to land, they forsook all and followed Him." (Luke 5:11)

We see in these disciples the effect of all. They are absorbed with Christ now. They not only look to Him for salvation, but they think of nothing else for life, speaking now generally and apart from any particular failure. "They forsook all, and followed Him." Christ becomes their life. It is a new line altogether, not merely obedience to an express command with the reserve of thinking and saying, perhaps, "There is no harm in this or that." Christ pleased not Himself. His reason for action was His Father's will, and not the absence of a prohibition. And we are sanctified unto the obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ. "They forsook all," and where Christ went they went. They are associated with their Lord in His love to souls and in the walk of life.

This is liberty. May we, having Christ our life, have Him as our one motive, detached from all to Him, yet channels for all the blessing and grace we have ourselves tasted in Him! There is power to attract out of every corruption around, and to gather the soul into the thoughts and ways of God by the revelation of Christ Himself. (JND - The Man of Sorrows)

N.J. Hiebert # 3623

February 23

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom He spake." (John 13:21,22)

Judas, a non-believer, walked with Christ for three years as one of the disciples. He blended so well that when Christ told them that one of them would betray Him, they were mystified as to who it might be. No mention is made that Judas was singled out for suspicion. It is possible to blend well with believers in Christ but to never personally accept Him as Saviour and Lord. Having a Christian family or associating with Christians does not save you. Are you a blender or a believer? (David J. Logan)

I do believe, I will believe,
That Jesus died for me!
That on the cross He shed His blood
From sin to set me free.

N.J. Hiebert # 3624

February 24

"Quench (suppress) not the Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

Call of the Chickadees

The black-capped chickadee has a surprising level of complexity in the noises it makes for alarm calls. Researchers found that chickadees use a high-frequency call to warn of danger in the air. Depending on the situation, the "chickadee" call can cue other birds about food that is nearby or predators that are perched too close for comfort.

Studies have also found that chickadees don't sense danger from large predators such as the great horned owl, because they're not likely to prey on such a petite bird. But smaller owls, which are closer to the size of the chickadee and more of a threat, prompt sentinel chickadees to repeat the alarm sound of their calls - the chickadee's distinctive "dee" note.A similar level of awareness might serve us well. In the apostle Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, he didn't just condemn the evils of the world. He also focused his attention on the matters of the heart that can do harm to us with barely a notice. "See that none render evil for evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good." "Quench not the Spirit." "Prove all things" (1 Thessalonias 5:15,19,21).

With the Lord's help let's keep attuned to every caution in the Word about our heart. (Mart De Haan)

How we need a keen awareness
Of God's voice that is His Word,
Quiet whispers, gentle nudgings,
So we'll make Him King and Lord. (Anon)
______________________________________
God speaks to those who are willing to listen. ____________________________________________________________
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2007), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission

N.J. Hiebert # 3625

February 25

"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit." (Proverbs 29:23)

A father and his tall young son were walking through a narrow hallway which was crossed overhead by a large beam. The boy did not notice the beam as they were talking.

Suddenly his father said, "Stoop! Stoop!" The young fellow didn't understand what he meant until he hit his head against the low beam.

Then his father said to him, "Son, you are young. You have life before you. Stoop low as you go, and you will miss many hard bumps!"

The young man never forgot that lesson on humility from his father. It was a help to him all through his life. (Submitted by R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3626

February 26

"Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him."
(1 Samuel 3:18)

How do you confront your mentor (parent, elder, older brother) with bad news? Eli, the mentor in this case, had not personally done anything wrong. In fact, it was because he hadn't done anything at all (regarding his sons) that God had to deal in judgment with his house. A few years later, Samuel had to do the same thing again - only this time he had to confront King Saul for something he didn't do either (see 1 Samuel 15). Three principles apply here:

1. Be sure of the Scriptures;
2. Be sensitive to the hearer;
3. Be slow to condemn.

Let the Word of God do the work of God! (Craig Funston)

If advice we would convey, there's a time we should convey it;
If we've but a word to say, there's a way in which to say it.

N.J. Hiebert # 3627

February 27

"Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, DO; and the God of peace shall be with you." (Philippians 4:9)

The Positive

Two shoe salesmen were sent to a certain part of Africa to open up a new market. Three days after their arrival, the first salesman sent a message: "Returning home on next plane. Can't sell shoes here. Everyone here goes barefoot."

Nothing was heard from the second salesman for about two weeks. And then there came a fat airmail envelope with this message for the home office: "Fifty orders enclosed. Prospects unlimited. Nobody here has shoes." (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3628

Gems from January 2009

December 31

"Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given." (Isaiah 9:6)

Here clearly the prophet distinguishes the wonder of our Lord's incarnation. As a Child He was born, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid in a manger, and held in His mother's arms. As a Son, He was given as heaven's gift by God who so loved the world, the eternal Son of God by whom the worlds were framed and by whom our salvation was secured. Why a child and a Son? So that we, through His death, burial and resurrection, could be born again as God's dear children and one day he presented as the sons of God (Romans 8:19) (Rex Trogen)

N.J. Hiebert # 3570

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was NO ROOM for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)

All the circumstances were pre-arranged yet there was no comfort for the Lord Jesus. The journey, trauma and birth of the Lord Jesus were all clothed in hardship. The event of all time was heard by heaven and earth, in heaven the angels announced it, on earth a few shepherds received it. A premonition of how God's choice through Christ would work being spiritually promoted but only a few receiving it. Sad reflection on the heart of man.Such a wonderful secret to keep. God is so wonderful in allowing us brief glimpses of His grace and mercy which He allows us to treasure. They provide strength for the future and memories to cherish in troubling times. He often uses simple people to do great things - shepherds. How amazed the angels must have been to look down upon a helpless babe. (B.R. - Submitted by a reader of the "Gems.")

N.J. Hiebert # 3571

"Christ us all in all." (Colossians 3:11)

When you are down to nothing.... God is up to something!

“…O LORD…I flee unto thee to hide me.” Psalm 143:9

Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible!

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Faith looks away from circumstances to the God of circumstances.

“…in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Psalm 143:9

And there you will find perfect peace

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:3

Then, stand and watch what the Lord is going to do!

“…Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you…” Exodus 14:13

(Submitted by a reader of the "Gems.")

N.J. Hiebert # 3572

January 1

"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." (Psalm 25:14)

I am not competent to discern the will of God if I am not with Him. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." I have to be before God Himself, or else I shall never keep straight; and for that, I must be in the path of God for Him to lead me. I cannot realize God's presence out of the path of His will. The instant I lose the sense of dependence, I am in danger. Obedience and dependence are the two living principles of the new man. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4) (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 3573

January 2

"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5)

The unconverted sinner sins constantly. Every act, word, and deed springs from a defiled source. We are conceived in sin and shapen in iniquity. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked" (Jeremiah 17:9). It is a corrupt fountain from which a stream of sin flows continually. And that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and remains flesh to the end (John 3:6). And "the carnal mind" (or the minding of the flesh) "is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:7). But God in His great love to us gave His Son. Jesus the Lamb of God died on Calvary, glorified God, broke Satan's power, and bore the judgment of sin. God raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory, thereby showing His perfect satisfaction in His finished work. On the ground of that work all who believe are pardoned, justified, reconciled, saved - the children of God. "Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1,2) (E.H.C.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3574

January 3

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16)

Mystery indeed!

- The Eternal came into time;
- The Son of the Father became the Son of the virgin;
- The Son of God became the Son of Mary;
- The Omnipotent became dependent;
- The Creator became a carpenter;
- The God of glory became a Man of Sorrows.

We are not asked to understand or to explain or expound, but only to trust. We bow in wonder and when we cannot comprehend, we worship nevertheless! (Jim Flanigan - Choice Gleanings)

N.J. Hiebert # 3575

January 4

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He." (Deuteronomy 32:4)

When I was coaching high school freshman girls basketball in the fall of 2005, I was surprised at how many times I heard, "That's not fair!" The girls' motivation seemed to depend on whether or not they thought what I asked then to do was fair. If I asked some girls to do a defensive drill while others shot free throws, I heard, "Not fair!" If I allowed one group to play offense longer than another group, I heard, "Not fair."

So many situations in life shout, "Not fair!" I observe Christian couples who struggle to have babies while others are blessed with children and then abuse them. I look at families whose children are all alive and well, while I go through life without one of mine. I see friends who long to serve God but can't because of health issues.

It's then that I must go back to a basic truth. We are not the arbiters of fairness. God is, and He knows far more than we do about His plans and purposes. The question isn't about fairness. In the end, it's about trust in a faithful God who knows what He is doing. "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

Life will never look fair. But when we trust God, we always know that He is faithful.
(Dave Brandon)

If you feel that blessings pass you by,
And for you life seems a bit unfair,
Just remember, Christ was born to die,
And in His great salvation you can share. (Hess)
************
Life is not always fair, but God is always faithful.
_______________________________________________________
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2006), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission. _______________________________________________________

N.J. Hiebert # 3576

January 5

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (John 13:35)

Sometimes an earnest Christian will, after some remarkable encounter, withdraw himself from his fellow believers and develop a spirit of faultfinding.This is a dangerous state of mind, and the more dangerous because it can justify itself by the facts - it may easily be true that the professed Christians with whom he is acquainted are worldly and dull and without spiritual enthusiasm. It is not that he is mistaken in his facts that proves him to be in error, but that his reaction to the facts is of the flesh! His new spirituality has made him less charitable, and we must be cautioned that any religious experience that fails to deepen our love for our fellow Christians may be safely written off as spurious.The Apostle John makes love for our fellow Christians to be a test of true faith, insisting that as we grow in grace we grow in love toward all of God's people: "Every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him" (1 John 5:1). This means simply that if we love God we will love His children. All true Christian experience will deepen our love for other Christians!

Therefore we conclude that whatever tends to separate us in heart from our fellow Christians is not of God, but is of the flesh or of the devil. Conversely, whatever causes us to love the children of God is likely to be of God! (A.W. Tozer - Renewed Day by Day)

N.J. Hiebert # 3577

January 6

"Thou shalt know the Lord." (Hosea 2:20)

Not Knowing

I know not what shall befall me, God hangs a mist o'er my eyes;
And so, each step in mine onward path, He makes new scenes to rise,
And every joy He sends me comes As a strange and sweet surprise.

I see not a step before me, As I tread on another year;
But the past is still in God's keeping - The future, His mercy shall clear.
And what looks dark in the distance, May brighten as I draw near.

For perhaps the dreaded future Has less bitter than I think;
The Lord may sweeten the waters Before I stoop to drink;
Or, if Marah must be Marah, He will stand beside the brink.

Oh, restful, blissful ignorance! 'Tis blessed not to know!
It keeps me so still in those arms Which will not let me go,
And hushes my soul to rest On the bosom that loves me so.

So I go on, not knowing - I would not if I might!
I'd rather walk in the dark with God Than walk alone in the light.
I'd rather walk with him by faith Than walk alone by sight.

My heart shrinks back from trials That the future may disclose;
Yet I never had a sorrow But what the dear Lord chose;
So I send the coming tears back With the whispered words, "HE KNOWS."

N.J. Hiebert # 3578

January 7

"Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto His people Israel, according to all that He promised: there hathnot failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised."
(1 Kings 8:56)

So many promises are made and broken. Hearts are devastated, relationships are severed and hurts are deep. Is this your experience today? Then rest on the many promises given to you and me.

- We have eternal salvation.
- We have the promise that He is with us all through life's journey.
- We have the promise that He will never leave us or forsake us.
- We have the promise that He will meet every need.
- We have the promise of Heaven and "Home."

Claim these promises. Lean hard upon them. Not one of them can fail. (James Comte)

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord.

N.J. Hiebert # 3579

January 8

". . . Freely ye have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8)

"Take heed therefore . . . for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have."(Luke 8:18)

As we give our time, our substance, our very lives for others, so shall we be blessed. To receive and take and hold, without an outflowing, is to be as dead and dismal as the Dead Sea. Though watered by the dew of Hermon and the rain of Lebanon, the Dead Sea to this day is so bitter and vile that not a single living thing can be found in it. How loud is its message to us! The Dead Sea has no outlet. The waters of the many rivers would soon purify the Dead Sea did it but have an outlet to the ocean. But all the fresh and sparkling water flowing into it cannot heal its death and vileness while it does not pass on the blessing which comes into its basin. (L.S. - Mountain Trailways for Youths)

Hearken then thou deep, thou Dead Sea,
I have now thy secret learned!
Why in thee the dew of Hermon
Is to gall and wormwood turned.

In an old churchyard cemetery you may read this epitaph and epigram:

"What I gave, that I have;
What I kept, that I lost."

God might have used His sunset gold sparingly;
He might have put but one wee star in all the sky -
He might have doled His blossoms out quite grudgingly;
But since He gave so lavishly, why should not I
(A.C.H.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3580

January 9

"In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
(John 14:2,3)

Very little is said in scripture about the Father's house, save what we find in John 14. One is never weary of those verses, because they tell of the personal love of the Lord Jesus to His church; but locality is not defined, nor the thought of heaven introduced as meaning any particular locality. Jesus lifts up His eyes to heaven. Many found their ideas of heaven on some early association in their mind of a place of glory beyond the clouds, and connect it with all that the word of God has made familiar to them. Breaking down all this, would leave them with this blessed thought of the Son upon the Father's throne, and the Father setting them there together with Him. Whenever my faith goes up there, what does it find realized? The thought of One there who was once in all my circumstances of sorrow down here; the thought of home up there with Him. Oh, what a warm happy feeling the heart experiences at that thought - not the circumstances of that home, but the being there with Him. A man's heart is in his home, notbecause of its circumstances, but because the object of his affection is there. The same with regard to heaven; I find uncommonly little of detail as to circumstances there, but I find unfading reality in one of two simple verses, "If ye love Me ye would rejoice,because I go to my Father." What a volume in that! (Gleanings from the Teaching of G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert # 3581

January 10

"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you, in prayers,that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God."
(Colossians 4:12)

We are all servants of Christ in a sense. If you are a Christian, you are a servant of Christ. What a privilege! There is no such thing as an unnecessary member of the body of Christ, as a useless member. In biology they try to tell us that we have certain things in our bodies that once were functional, but they have ceased to be so - they do not mean anything any more. I am not saying that I agree with the biologists. There are no needless remnants hanging to our bodies. So in the body of Christ, every member has a functional responsibility. We are all servant of Christ - not servants of men, but servants of Christ - and our orders come from up there. You cannot go to a brother and ask him what you should do. You have to get your directions from Christ. Epaphras was a servant of Christ. What did he do? He was a mighty man of prayer. He was a labouring brother in a very special sense, and you can be a labouring brother or a labouring sister in this sense. This is an avenue of service open to every Christian, and it is a most valuable one. (C.H. Brown)

N.J. Hiebert # 3582

January 11

"Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

Look at David's Lord and Master; see His beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at His Father's right hand, expecting until His enemies be made His footstool. "As He is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you may wade through the mire, but in heaven walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing.

Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is your self, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death (if the Lord doesn't come first); but when Christ shall appear you shall be like Him, for you shall see Him as He is. Be content to be like Him, a worm and no man, that like Him you shall be satisfied when you wake up in His likeness.That rough looking-diamond is put upon the wheel if the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much-much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowed; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, if you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King. Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be Mine." saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up My jewels." "Better is the end of a thing that the beginning thereof." (Charles H. Spurgeon)

N.J. Hiebert # 3583

January 12

"Let him that is athirst COME." (Revelation 22:17)

Living water is for ever streaming from that Rock. In the ten commandments it is, "Thou shalt not;" but to whom was it ever said by God, "Thou shalt not touch the waters which I have caused to flow from the Smitten Rock?" No! but He says, "Whosoever will, let him take of the waters of life freely." (Revelation 21:6) God has found a living stream in Christ in Christ for poor sinners, and while the world lasts living waters will still be gushing forth. As long as the Spirit and the bride say, "Come," those life-giving waters will be flowing. (Gleanings of G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert # 3584

January 13

"O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." (1 Timothy 6:20)

The late Oswald Chambers made a very pertinent remark. "If the Bible agreed with modern science, it would soon be out of date, because in the very nature of things modern science is bound to change." The late Professor Thomas H. Huxley said, "The great and frequent tragedy of science is a beautiful hypothesis killed by an ugly fact." Never were there truer or more devastating statements. Science is always changing for the simple reason that a large proportion of so-called science is not really science, but merely theory unsupported by facts. It was so even in ancient times, for the Apostle's advice to young Timothy was, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust avoiding profane and vain babblings, and opposition of science falsely so-called." What shattering expressions - "PROFANE AND VAIN BABBLINGS" and "FALSELY SO-CALLED"!

Science, if it be really science, cannot change, for really ascertained knowledge must remain knowledge. One thing is certain. God is the Author alike of true science and the Bible. Therefore there can be no contradiction between them. (A.J. Pollock - Why I Believe the Bible)

N.J. Hiebert # 3585

January 14

"They crucified Him . . . and sitting down they watched Him there. (Matthew 27:35-36)
"Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I am their music."
(Lamentations 3:63)

When we see Thee as the Victim
Nailed to the accursed tree,
For our guilt and folly stricken,
All our judgment borne by Thee,
Lord, we own, with, with hearts adoring,
Thou hast washed us in Thy blood,
Glory, glory everlasting,
Be to Thee, Thou Lamb of God! (J. G. Deck)

N.J. Hiebert # 3586

January 15

"It is good for me to draw near to God." (Psalm 73:28)

The absolutely perfect and living rule is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him all written rules are united in one solitary living example. . . . Happy is he who keeps by His side to learn how one ought to walk. The great point is to be nearer Him in heart than even the work, and then we do the work from Him an din some measure as He would. A time of retirement is a very good thing in our service. it puts us before God instead of our work before us, and makes us feel, too, that our work is in His hands and not our own. I remember when I used to be ill every year, I always felt if I had been near enough to God I should no t have needed it.When one is near heaven, when Jesus is all, one place scarcely differs from another; God remains God, holy and love, and man remains man. (J.N.D. - Pilgrims Portion for the Day of Rest)

N.J. Hiebert # 3587

January 16

"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth." (Job 19:25)

Job's life was full of unimaginable pain. He lost everything that men count dear: his family, his health, and his wealth. His friends misunderstood all that was going on. But amidst all the trials and misunderstandings, one bright hope lifted Job above his circumstances - one day, his Redeemer would appear. This certainty kept Job from slipping beneath the waves: He shall appear! Centuries have past since Job's day, but the message of hope remains. Amidst all our trials, the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord keeps us pressing on. He has said, "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:3)

N.J. Hiebert # 3588

January 17

"Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him." (Luke 24:31)
"They said . . . He opened to us the Scriptures." (Luke 24:32)
"Then opened He their understanding." (Luke 24:45)

This lovely chapter begins with an opened sepulcher and ends with an opened heaven. Between these two we have:

- The opened Scriptures,
- An opened home,
- Opened eyes, and,
- Opened understanding.

He who came forth from the opened tomb and ascended into the opened heaven still delights to open the Word to the opened eyes of those who love Him. (Jim Flanigan)

N.J. Hiebert # 3589

January 18

"And He (Jesus) said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.'"(Mark 16:15)

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the word. Amen." (Matthew 28:19,20)

The post-office is not a source, it is only a medium. It does not create these potent messages, it only relays them from the Creator to you. You and I are human post-offices. We are daily giving out messages of some sort to the world. They do not come from us, but through us; we do not create, we convey. And they come either from evil or from good.Men study how to make their lives more interesting. Take a lesson from the post-office. It is interesting, not because of itself, but because of what it passes on to men. . . . What letters go through the window of your life? Letters of truth and hope, to cheer and console? Or do you hand out dirty trash, worthless drivel, selfish commercial circulars, black-edged missives of misery?

Every Christian is a postmaster for God. His duty is to pass out good news from above. If the postmaster kept all the mail and refused to give it out, he would soon be in trouble. No wonder some Christians are so miserable: they keep God's blessing within their own little lives, and soon there is congestion. God does not send us good things from the heavenly headquarters merely for our personal enjoyment. Some of them may be addressed to us, but most of them belong to our fellow-men, and we must pass them on. (Vance Havner)

N.J. Hiebert # 3590

January 19

"Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (Isaiah 45:22)

How can God be just and a Saviour? The cross yields the glorious answer.

- There justice had all its very highest claims answered.
- There the majesty of heaven was vindicated.
- There sin was thoroughly condemned.
- There all the demands of the throne were perfectly met.
- There all the divine attributes were gloriously harmonized.
- There the most convincing evidence was afforded to all created intelligence, that God could never let sin into His presence.

The cross is the only platform on which we can behold "a just God and a Saviour." There we see how God can be just and the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. The atoning death of Christ forms the righteous ground on which God can receive back his "banished." Christ bore the just judgment of God against sin, in order that as a Saviour He might receive to His bosom the very vilest sinner that simply looks to Him. (Christian Truth - Vol. 15 - December 1962)

N.J. Hiebert # 3591

January 20

"Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?" (Luke 12:6)

"Not One of Them is Forgotten of God"

God spread out the heavens as curtains,
Placed boundary to ocean and sea;
But He does not forget for one moment,
The little brown sparrow and me.

The moon and the stars in their courses,
His hand guides unceasingly;
Yet He stoops to give each day a portion,
To the little brown sparrow and me. (Author unknown)

"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Philippias 4:19)

N.J. Hiebert # 3592

January 21

"One if them, when he saw that he was healed , turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks . . . and Jesus answering said, 'were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?' . . . And He said unto him, 'Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole'." (Luke 17:15-19)

It is a poor miserable thing to be content with being saved, and then to go on with the world, and live for self-pleasing and self-interest - to accept salvation as the fruit of Christ's toil and passion, and then live at a distance from Himself. What should we think of a child who only cared about the good things provided by his father's hand, and never sought his father's company - preferred the company of strangers? We should justly despise him; but how much more despicable is the Christian who owes his present and his eternal all to the work of Christ and yet is content to live at a cold distance from His blessed Person, caring not for the furtherance of His cause - the promotion of His glory! (T.C.N.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3593

January 22

". . . Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these? He saith unto Him, 'Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love thee'. . . . He saith to him again the second time, 'Simon, son of Jonas, Lovest thou Me?' He saith unto Him, 'Yea, Lord; Thou knowest that I love thee'. . . . He saith unto him the third time, 'Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?' Peter was grieved because He said unto him the third time, 'Lovest thou Me?' And he said unto Him, 'Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee'. . . ." (John 21:15-17)

Light must make manifest. It could not hinder our joy because of our standing in such fullness of grace, and the grace too that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter never judged the self-confidence of his heart, that which had led to his fall, till the searching question of the Lord's which brought out his reply, "Thou knowest all things." Sadly as he had failed, yet at the bottom of his heart, the Lord's searching eye could see that he loved the Lord. Notwithstanding his going out and weeping bitterly, or or the love for his Master manifested by his visit to the sepulcher, and his casting his coat about him and going through the sea to Him, Peter was not restored till the searching of the Lord brought from him, at the third inquiry, "Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee."

But is there not a time when the counsels of every heart will be made manifest? Yes; when this comes, every one will have praise of God. The counsels of each will have praise of God; for the desire of every saint's heart, however he may fail, is to glorify the Lord. We may make many mistakes and be drawn aside; but after all the counsel of his heart, his inmost desire is to glorify God.Peter could no longer appeal to his purposes (his acts of course not), but simply cast himself on the Lord's all-searching power. "Thou knowest all things." (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3594

January 23

"Flesh and blood cannot . . ." (1 Corinthians 15:50)

The New Testament gives four negative statements regarding "flesh and blood." These give us four positive alternatives:

1. The Lord is known by revelation, not investigation
(Matthew 16:17).
2. Divine life is a gift of God, not from human effort
(1 Corinthians 15:50)
3. Valid guidance comes from the Lord, not from men
(Galatians 1:16).
4. The Christian's warfare, because it is spiritual, not carnal, requires the armour of God (Ephesians 6:12) (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3595

January 24

"Then led they Jesus . . . unto the hall of judgment . . . and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled." (John 18:28)

This must have been one of the greatest acts of hypocrisy ever seen. The Jewish leaders claiming that they were holier than God. Hypocrisy is a simulation of virtue that is totally insincere. Remember that we also can be guilty of this in our hearts and lives, before God and the world. We cannot fool God, and nothing is more devastating to the cause of Christ than when the world sees God's people live hypocritically. May His Spirit help us to walk circumspectly before God and man. (Brian Russell)

Christian, rise, and act your creed;
Let thy prayer be in thy deed;
Seek the right, perform the true;
Raise thy work and life anew.

N.J. Hiebert # 3596


January 25

" . . . if thou mayest be made free, use it. . . ." (1 Corinthians 7:21)

"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with theyoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

A train is never so free as when it is running on its tracks.Set it on an interstate highway and all you will get are spinning wheels and a lot of sparks as it slides off the pavement into the ditch, a useless hunk of metal, sunk up to its axels in the dirt. Set it in a river of water and it will quickly sink out of sight, a useless wreck sunk into the muddy riverbed. Set it in the farmers field and it will quickly sink down to its axels stuck in the sod, a useless hunk of iron. When not on its tracks all the train's power to pull freight and haul great loads, is rendered useless. Why?. . . because it was designed to run only on tracks.Every true believer is never so free, as when they are set on the tracks of God's Word. Some Christians seem to think that following the teachings of the Bible restricts their freedom, but that s a lie from the devil. Like the train set on its tracks, all the Bible does, if we believe it and follow it, is set us free to be and do all God designed us to be and do. If we get off the tracks of God's Word, we like the train taken off its tracks, are rendered useless. In fact, far from being free we become bound, held by the very thing we thought would be a source of freedom. (Submitted by a reader - S.L.)

N.J. Hiebert # 3597

January 26

"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler." (Psalm 91:4)

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings. The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained stedfast . . . because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 3598

January 27

"Whatsoever things are true . . . honest . . . just . . .pure . . . lovely . . . good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:6)

One of the tragic casualties of our age has been that of the contemplative life--a life that thinks, a life that thinks things through, and more particularly, thinks God's thoughts after Him. A person sitting at his or her desk staring out the window would never be assumed to be working. No! Thinking is not equated with work.

What is even more destructive is the assumption that silence is inimical (unfavourable or harmful) to life. The radio in the car, Muzak in the elevator, and the symphony entertaining callers "on hold" all add up as grave impediments to personal reflection. In effect, the mind is denied the privilege of living with itself even briefly and is crowded with outside impulses to cope with aloneness.

Is there a remedy? Nothing ranks higher for metal discipline than a planned and systematic study of God's Word, from whence life's parameters and values are planted in the mind. Paul, who loved his books and parchments, affirmed the priority of Scriptures: ". . . that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written." (Do not go above what is written) (1 Corinthians 4:6). And Psalm 119 promises that God's statutes keep us from being double-minded.

The Bible places supreme value on the thought-life as that which shapes all of life. "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7). Jesus asserted that sin's gravity lay a the level of the idea itself, not just the act. Paul admonished the church at Philippi to have the mind of Christ, and to the same people he wrote, The follower of Christ must demonstrate to the world what it means not just to think, but to think justly. The LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.

Let us serve God with both hearts and minds. After all, it is not that I think, therefore, I am, but rather, I Am has asked us to think and therefore, we must. (A Slice of Infinity)

N.J. Hiebert # 3599

January 28

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Himshould not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

In the love of God, redemption originated. Jesus did not die that God might love the sinner; Jesus died because God did love the sinner. But the gospel is more than a message of love; the cross is more than a revelation of love - it is a demonstration of righteousness also. And because it is a demonstration of righteousness, as well as a revelation of love, it meets the whole case - the whole moral and spiritual need - of the Spirit-convinced, conscience-stricken, seeking sinner. (Christian Truth - Vol. 15)

N.J. Hiebert # 3600

January 29

"Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)

Adolph Monod said that the poor often ask how the promise of God about their daily bread will be fulfilled. But when they look back over the years, they are astonished to see that He has provided for every day, often in ways they cannot remember.It is the same with those who are ill: "When they look back over weeks, months, years, they are surprised to see that God has given them each day the promised strength." And Adolph Monod adds that "we ought to practice ourselves in casting away our anxieties."That is a good word - practice ourselves. Practice will make us perfect in this. It will become natural to us to cast our care at once upon our Lord, instead of carrying it for a while ourselves, until tired out we turn to Him to find the rest that mighthave been ours at the beginning.

He cares for us.
He who has loved will love;
He who has led will lead;
He who has kept will keep.
(Amy Carmichael -Whispers of His Power)

N.J. Hiebert # 3601

January 30

"What I (Jesus) do thou knowest not now; but thou shat know hereafter." (John 13:7)

Today at lunch a friend of mine told me that Spurgeon said that God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken, and when you cannot trace His hand, you can always trust His heart. I have been through much that I do not understand. God does not ask me to understand it but to accept it. I cannot trace His hand but I can trust His heart. I know that God is love and back of all His doings is that love. It sent His Son into this world and reached its climax on Calvary. It is the hallmark of His disciples. "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren" (1 John 3:14). "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to to another" (John 13:35). WE know and ALL MEN know that we are his because His love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. It is inward evidence and outward evidence. I know that whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth. His corrective discipline proves my sonship. Back of all the misery and mystery of this world beats that heart of love. I cannot trace God's hand in news reports and the happenings in this modern madhouse. Satan is on the loose. (Vance Havner - Though I walk Through the Valley)

N.J. Hiebert # 3602

January 31

"And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them,ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together." (Acts 20:7,8)

Two things are brought into contrast - "midnight" and "many lights." This is not without significance. The church was in the prime of its splendour. The "many lights" represent the many gifts - apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evangelists. Yet as, in spite of "many lights" and also the memorial of Christ's sufferings upon the table, Eutychus fell into a "deep sleep," so the church was about to lapse into spiritual torpor and death, and in "due time" worldliness and temporal prosperity would eat out its very heart. This helps us to understand the reference to "midnight". After Paul's departure the Church would in due time reach her midnight. The Middle Ages found her apparently sleeping the sleep of death. Worldly alliance, spiritual arrogance and moral corruption had done their work. Gorgeous ceremonial, pomp and carnal display might be there, but spiritual life and power were absent. Like Eutychus she had sunk down with sleep, and to all appearance she was dead. (Russell Elliott - Break of Day)

N.J. Hiebert # 3603