Gems from July 2003

July 1

"Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. 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 41:9-10)

"To know God and to confide in Him is to be invincible. None can really injure one whose confidence is in the Lord, for He will cause all that seems to be evil to work for the good of those who put their trust in Him. It is thus that fear, that deadly enemy of the heart, is overcome. In due time God will deal with those who seek to injure His people. He will mete out righteous judgment to those who trouble His saints (2 Thessalonians 1:6,7). The believer can afford to leave all in His hands and so go on in quietness and confidence, through good or evil report." (H.A. Ironside - Isaiah)

N.J. Hiebert # 1568

July 2

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

"Here we have two things standing in contrast to each other, a burden and a rest. The burden is not a local one, peculiar to those first hearers, but one which is borne by the whole human race. It consists not of political oppression or poverty or hard work. It is far deeper than that. It is felt by the rich as well as the poor, for it is something from which wealth and idleness can never deliver us."The burden borne by mankind is a heavy and a crushing thing. The word Jesus used means 'a load carried or toil borne to the point of exhaustion.' Rest is simply release from that burden. It is not something we do; it is what comes to us when we cease to do. His own meekness, that is the rest.

"Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one. It attacks the heart and the mind and reaches the body only from within. First, there is the burden of pride. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking slightingly of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to which you must be loyal there will be those who will delight to offer affront to your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, to shield its touchy honor from the bad opinion of friend and enemy, will never let the mind have rest. 

Continue this fight through the years and the burden will become intolerable. Yet the sons of earth are carrying this burden continually, challenging every word spoken against them, cringing under every criticism, smarting under each fancied slight, tossing sleepless if another is preferred before them."Such a burden as this is not necessary to bear. Jesus calls us to His rest, and meekness is His method. (A.W. Tozer)

N.J. Hiebert # 1569

"THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." (Matthew 27:37)

"When the King whom the magi worshipped appeared as a small Child, the enemy sought to cut Him off through the murder of the children at Bethlehem. At the cross where he thought to make an end of Him, he could not prevent Him from being declared King of the Jews in sight of all by Pilate's inscription; and, when the enemy thought he was victorious, God resurrected His Anointed and made Him Lord and Christ before the eyes of the whole house of Israel." (H.L. Rossier)

N.J Hiebert # 1570

July 3

"Hypocrite, cast out first the (plank) out of thine own eye." 
(Luke 6:42)

"Some of us are quick to find fault with our fellow believers. In the name of 'encouraging' or 'exhorting,' we point out the sins and shortcomings of our brothers and sisters in Christ without seeing our own failures or guilt.

"I was reminded of that when I heard an account of a young person. Late one evening, she was driving through the streets of Broken Arrow, Okalahoma, when an oncoming car turned left in front of her. She honked her horn to let the person know he had nearly caused an accident by his carelessness.

"When she parked her car a few minutes later, the same car pulled up beside her and the driver got out. 'The next time you honk your horn at someone,' he said, 'maybe you should make sure your headlights are on.' Sure enough, in her haste she had forgotten to turn on her lights. She had been so convinced he was in the wrong that she never saw her own error. She was the one who had almost caused an accident."We often act in a similar way. We're quick to judge the behavior of others and point out their error. Jesus prefers that we examine our own lives and be quick to say, 'I was wrong. I am sorry." (Selected --)

N.J. Hiebert # 1572

July 4

"But now are they many members, yet but one body."
(1 Corinthians 12:20)

"I will not let you find fault with your bodies, because He made them. You may find as much fault as you like with the flesh, but that is not your bodies. Our bodies are 'members of Christ' Christendom has fallen into the great mistake of making our bodies members of the church, which is quite contrary to scripture: 'We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.'
(Taken from "Foods for the Desert.")

N.J. Hiebert # 1573

July 5

"The way of transgressors is hard." (Proverbs 13:15)

"The pleasures of sin. The pleasures of sin must needs be short, because life cannot be long, and they both end together. Indeed, many times the pleasure of sin dies before the man dies: sinners live to bury their Joy in this world. The worm breeds in their conscience before it breeds in their flesh by death. But be sure the pleasure of sin never survives this world. The word is gone out of God's mouth, every sinner 'shall lie down in sorrow' and wake in sorrow.... The carnal heart is all for the present; his snout is in the trough, and while his draught lasts, he thinks it will never end. Who would envy the condemned man his feast which he hath in his way to the gallows?

"Where guilt is contracted in the getting of and enjoyment, there can be little sweetness tasted when it comes to be used. There is a great difference between the joy of the husbandman, at the getting in of his corn at the harvest, and the thief's joy, who hath stolen some sheaves out of another's field, and is making merry with his booty." (William Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armor) (1665)

N.J. Hiebert # 1574

July 6

"But He (Jesus) answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4)

"Nine-tenths of our ideas come from relationship, not from intellect; just as a child knows its father. Relationship is never known by reason: mind is fond of a kind of metaphysical reasoning about this, but it is all folly. The moment relationship is formed, all moral duty flows from it, and from it alone. Duty has nothing to do with intellect. This it is that makes us totally dependent. 

Man at the outset tried to get out of dependence on God, and really got into dependence on the devil and his own lusts. 'By every word of God shall man live' was dependence and obedience, and that was where Christ was: it is the proper place of every intelligent creature, who ought to be both dependent and obedient." (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 1575

July 7 

"The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12) 

"The Bible will speak for itself. It will justify its divine origin. It will illumine our whole lives with such a blaze of light as shall scatter forever for us all the powers of darkness, so that all we need to do is to make sure that we are letting that light shine. Neglect, then, on the part of God's people is the greatest danger which is threatening them to-day." (S. Ridout) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1576
 
July 8 

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18) 

"God takes the bright light that shines in the face of Jesus Christ, and makes it shine in our hearts. He is the perfect answer and character of everything delightsome to God. We are in Him, and His character is to flow through us. He has brought us into the light and holiness of the Father's house; and because of having fellowship with Him, we can turn round to Him and cast every thought and every sorrow on Him." (Gleanings From the Teaching of G.V. Wigram) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1577
 
July 9 

"Thou desirest truth in the inward parts" (Psalm 51:6) 

"When souls are brought out of hindrances, when they are brought our of a false position, there is many a confession made which shows that the truth had pierced their consciences long before: only will, the world, the difficulties of family connection, a thousand snares, hindered fidelity to the Lord. But in truth, we are entirely dependent on God Himself to give force to His own truth. Power is not in the truth simply. It is still less in a position, true as it may be. The grace of God alone gives the truth power. It is this that really works so as to deliver from hindrances, and therefore it is of such importance to our souls that the affections should be strong and rightly set.

"If the affections are kept vigorous and pure on the object of God, then the truth is seen in its real beauty and brightness; whereas if the affections are weak, or wandering after false objects, we may have all the truth in the Bible before us, but it makes little or no impression. This we see in the unconverted man fully; but the very same thing that ends in the ruin of the unconverted operates, if allowed, and in the degree it is allowed, to the hindrance and injury of those born of God." (W. Kelly) 

N.J. Hiebert #1578
 
July 10 

"The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Beholding the evil and the good." (Proverbs 15:3) 

"How comforting is this truth to the weary heart, who, like poor Hagar in the desert, feels abandoned by all save One, but can say with assurance, 'Thou, God seest me!' To know that His eyes are on all our ways is sweet indeed when there is confidence and hope in Him. But for the wicked to know that he can never hide from those all-seeing eyes is perhaps the most terrible thing he has to face. Nor need it be wondered at, when it is remembered that He who beholds all is the holy and the True! It is sin unrepented of that makes it so dreadful a thing to be under the eye of God. He who acknowledges his guilt, and bows in repentance before Him, need no longer fear, for sin confessed is sin removed, through the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ." (H.A. Ironside - Proverbs) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1579
 
July 11 

"Ye know not what shall be on the morrow." (James 4:14) 

"Life on this sin-warped earth is unpredictable. James reminded us that we don't know what tomorrow will bring (James 4:14)."If disaster comes -- an accident, a tornado, an illness -- will we surrender to despair? Or even while grieving our losses, will we remain confident of God's wisdom, love, and power, and move on with hope into tomorrow?
 
"Inventive genius Thomas Edison lost his great New Jersey Laboratories in an inferno-like fire on a December night 1914. Yet the very next morning, walking among the still smoldering rubble of those buildings that had housed so many of his projects, Edison, then 67, said, 'There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God, we can start anew.'"No matter what hopes and dreams and relationships have been destroyed in our lives, with God's help let's prayerfully follow an example far more inspiring than Edison's. 

Let's resolutely determine, as Paul did, that we will forget the things that lie behind and press forward in our pilgrimage and service (Philippians 3:13-14). Sometimes our Lord must liberate us from the past, even by painful loss, in order to lead us into a more fruitful future." (Our daily bread November, 1993)

Some through the waters, some through the flood,
Some through the fire, but all through the blood,
Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song
In the night season and all the day long. --Young 

N.J. Hiebert # 1580
 
July 12 

"Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4)

"We are numbered among God's sheep as we pass one by one beneath the touch of the Shepherd's crook. Our names may be unknown among the great and learned; but they are written in heaven; our dwelling places may be lowly and ungarnished among the mansions and palaces of the rich; but we have 'houses not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.' 

Our sphere of ministry may be limited, and our work in the trenches preparing for the foundations far away from the shoutings with which the topstone is placed upon a finished pile in the sunny air; but we shine as stars of the firs magnitude in the sight of God. We are accounted as the small dust in the balance, as smoking flax, or bruised reeds; but in the eye of Our Father we are prized as very precious jewels, entered in His inventory, and destined to shine in the regalia of His Son before the gaze of all worlds."
(F.B. Meyer - The Shepherd Psalm) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1581
 
July 13

"Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit to his stature?" (Matthew 6:27)

 "We gain nothing by our anxiety and planning; we only shut out God, and that is no gain. It is a just judgment from the hand of God to be left to reap the fruits of our own devices; and I know of few things more sad than to see a child of God so entirely forgetting his proper place and privilege as to take the management of his affairs into his own hands. The birds of the air and the lilies of the field may well be our teachers when we so far forget our position of unqualified dependence upon God." (C.H. Macintosh - The Book of Genesis) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1582
 
July 14 

"They chose new gods: then was war in the gates." (Judges 5:8)

"Let us ask the reason for this state of things in Deborah's day, and in our own day: 'They chose new gods....' It is the old story of heart-departure from God, and of idolatry. Let us remember that war follows departure from our God, partial or complete, subtle or gross; whatever usurps His place exposes us to the inroads of our bitter foes."And what is the state, the preparedness of the people for such an inroad? 'Was there a shield or spear seen among forty thousand in Israel?' 

No weapons of war, no furnishing from the armory of divine truth. How is it today? Where are the well-armed soldiers of Christ? The word of God is our arsenal, and from that source alone can we obtain 'the weapons of our warfare.' How few have on 'the whole armor of God.' " 
(S. Ridout - Lectures on the Book of Judges)

N.J. Hiebert # 1583
 
July 15 

"Lord lay not this sin to their charge." (Acts 7:60)

"Here it is an example of what it is 'to be changed into the same image from glory to glory.' It is not anything mystical, nor a vague product of human imagination; it is in our daily life, our ways, our words, by love, intercession, patience, and dependence, that we may, through grace, show forth the likeness of a glorified Christ on whom we gaze. Is it so with us Christians in these days? 

Are our hearts so fed by Him that the world can see it in our lives? Can those around us catch the rays of the glory of Christ on our countenances, as with Stephen or Moses? It would not be for us to know it, for in this case we should have lost sight of the heavenly object, and turned our eyes upon ourselves. Moses alone in the camp of Israel wist not that his countenance shone."
(H.L. Rossier - Meditations on the Book of Joshua) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1584
 
July 16 

"And she (Ruth) took it (barley) up, and went into the city: and her mother in law saw what she had gleaned: and she brought forth, and gave to her what she had reserved after she was sufficed." (Ruth 2:18) 

"Ruth carried that which she had gathered into the city, and sought that others should also be made sharers of that which she had gleaned. There was no haughty spirit marking her, and leading her to say, If they want the blessing, let them go and get where I have been to gather it. Naomi was aged, and may have been infirm, and may not have been able to glean as Ruth, and so also it is in our own day. How many there are of God's saints who are advancing in years and who are not able to get out and glean as in younger days! Are they to be deprived of comfort? To be deprived of food? To receive nothing by which they shall be sustained in their old age? 

The Lord has promised that He will never leave nor forsake them. Let us also seek to feed them with the food which is convenient for them. We ourselves shall be no losers, for those who seek to water others shall themselves be watered. 'There is that scattereth, but yet increaseth.' As we seek to minister the truth to others, we shall have the truth confirmed and multiplied in our own souls."  (H.G. Moss - Thoughts and Suggestions on the Book of Ruth) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1585
 
July 17

"Blessed be thou of Lord: I have performed the commandment of Lord."(1 Samuel 15:13)

 "This was a lie, and King Saul knew it well. Asked what was the meaning of the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen, he replied that the people had spared the best of them to sacrifice unto Jehovah... rather than confess his own sin, he put the blame elsewhere."But such a plea could not be accepted. A king must rule, or abdicate. He must teach the people what is right, and also get the right thing done. 'Vote-catching' will not do for God. 'I feared the people,' says Saul (verse 24) 'and obeyed their voice.' The chief priests and elders feared the people in our Lord's day (Matthew 21:23-27). 

All such persons, by their own confession, are utterly unfit for the seat of power. David in his 'last words' describes the ideal king: 'He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God' (2 Samuel 23:3). 'The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso trusteth in the Lord shall be safe' (Proverbs 29:25)." 
(W.W. Fereday - Samuel God's Emergency Man) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1586
 
July 18 

"...I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven." (Nehemiah 1:4)

"Before receiving an answer to his prayer, Nehemiah has to wait for a period of four months. God's people must not only pray, but watch unto prayer. God hears and God answers, but it will be in God's own time and God's own way. And God's answers often come in a manner, and at a moment, little expected by ourselves."Nehemiah was pursuing his everyday duties as cupbearer to the king when the opportunity is given to open his heart before the royal master. Seizing the occasion, he tells the king that that the sadness of his face reflects the sorrow of his heart, for he says, 'The city, the place of my fathers' sepulchers, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire.' The king, apparently interested, at once replies, 'For what dost thou make request?' 

"This brings to the front a fine feature in the character of Nehemiah - his habitual dependence upon God. After four months exercise before God, Nehemiah surely knew what he desired; nevertheless, before expressing his desire, he tells us that he 'prayed to God of heaven.' Then it was that he replied to the king on earth, and asks to be sent to Jerusalem to build the walls. In reply the king grants his request, sets him a time, and gives him letters to the governors and the keeper of the king's forest to help forward the work. 

At once Nehemiah recognizes that the ready compliance of the king was the result of the good hand of God. Before making his request Nehemiah had turned to God, and now that his request is granted he acknowledges the good hand of God. We may remember to turn to God in our difficulties and forget to acknowledge the goodness of God when they are met. It is well to enter a difficulty in a spirit of prayer, and to come out of it in a spirit of praise." (Hamilton Smith - An Outline of the Book of Nehemiah) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1587
 
July 19

"The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." (Psalm 119:72)
"More to be desire are they than gold, yea than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb." (Psalm 19:10)

"We ought never to open Scriptures except with a feeling of profound reverence and gratitude. As one has said, 'They are heaven speaking upon earth; in them we hear the voice of the living God.' As the same witness (A. Monod) has declared on his death-bed: 'When I shall enter the invisible world, I do not expect to find things different from what the Word of God has represented them to me here. 

The voice I shall then hear, will be the same I now hear upon the earth, and I shall say, "This is indeed what God said to me; and how thankful I am, that I did not wait till I had seen in order to believe." " 
(Dr. Adolph Saphir - Christ and the Scriptures) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1588
 
July 20 

"The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!" (James 3:5)

"Vashti's temper, which goaded her to a course of conduct which jeoparded her life, was the 'little fire' which kindled this 'how great a matter.' It is a miserable, despicable circumstance. What can be meaner? The temper, we may say, of an imperious woman! And yet, God, by it, works results, then known to Himself in counsel, but the accomplishment of which shall be seen in the coming day of Jewish glory."Vashti is deposed. She is disclaimed as the wife of the Persian; and others more worthy are to be sought for to take her place." (J.G. Bellett - Witness for God in Dark and Evil Times) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1589
 
July 21

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." (Psalm 133:1)
 
It is one thing to talk about unity, and another thing altogether to dwell in it. We may profess to hold 'the unity of the body' and 'the unity of the Spirit' -- most precious and glorious truths surely -- and all the while be really full of selfish strife, party spirit, and sectarian feeling, all of which are entirely destructive of practical unity. If brethren are to dwell together in unity, they must be receiving the ointment from the Head, the refreshing showers from the true Hermon. 

They must live in the very presence of Christ, so that all their points an angles may be molded off, all their selfishness judged and subdued, all their own peculiar notions set aside, all their cues and crotchets flung to the winds. Thus there will be largeness of heart, breadth of mind, and depth of sympathy. Thus we shall learn to bear and forbear. It will not then be loving those who think with us as to some pet theory or other. It will be loving and embracing 'all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.' " (C.H. Mackintosh) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1590
 
July 22 

"Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." (Ephesians 6:24)

"The great thing that God calls upon me for, is to admire and delight in and learn more and more of the love of Christ."What is the effect? Love to Christ is produced in the very same ratio that I know His love to me. What is it that judges self and keeps it down and raises a person above all groveling ways and ends? Entrance into the blessedness of His love." (William Kelly) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1591
 
July 23 

"Yield yourselves unto the Lord." (2 Chronicles 30:8)

"Unconditional yielding to the Lord brings us into full unity with Christ to abide in Him, and He in us, and causes us to walk humbly with Him among our fellow men. It places us in sweet fellowship with Him and His people. While waiting for His glorious return, we are privileged to live on His life, nourished, fed, strengthened, and constantly filled with His Spirit and presence. Our part is just to give ourselves to Him, fully recognizing our own worthlessness, and ever abide in HIM." (Christian Truth - Volume 21 - January 1968) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1592
 
July 24 

"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision." (Joel 3:14)

"Indecision is a great hindrance in the Christian path. As long as a man does not consider responsibilities of the question before God, Am I for this world or for that? Satan will amuse him with something or other here, while the Spirit of God alone will satisfy him if he desires to go on in faith." (H.C. Anstey) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1593
 
July 25

"These all wait upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat in due season." (Psalm 104:27) 

"The ant lion is a little insect whose larva (also called a doodlebug) lives in regions of dry or sandy soil. It digs a pit about 2 inches deep and waits for ants to fall in."It is equipped with a highly sensitive alarm system that picks up the slightest vibration. A single grain of sand falling into its hole can activate it. Anchor-like appendages under its body enable it to grip the soil as it struggles with its victim. 

"Even more remarkable is its complex mouth that forms a kind of 'drinking straw,' ideal for sucking fluids. When an ant is trapped, the ant lion injects it with a paralyzing drug and then with digestive juices that allows it to feed on its prey."The eminent French zoologist Pierre-Paul Grasse says that Darwin's theory of natural selection can't explain the 'avalanche of ... chance occurrences ' necessary for such a creature to evolve. Grasse's research keeps pointing toward a Creator, even though he himself remains an unbeliever."The psalmist told us that God made all living things and feeds them, and we accept that by faith. Scientists marvel at nature's unique design, and they would not be at odds with the psalmist if they would merely believe what their findings point to - God, the great Designer." (Selected) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1594
 
July 26

"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." (2 Corinthians 4:18)
 
"It is a great thing to remember - what Christians too easily forget - that we are called to the enjoyment of heavenly things, and we live by the revelation of them. God has not introduced grace and His Son and Spirit to make us get along easily in this world - it was not needed - but to bring us to the enjoyment of heavenly things, and to live in them. What characterizes a man is what his mind is on, and then all his ways flow from that." (J.N. Darby) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1595
 
July 27 

"Preach the Word." (2 Timothy 2:4)

"A person who goes to preach in a heathen place knows what he has to do. His difficulty is not nearly so great as that of a Christian with the world, which professes to be Christian. If not very near to Christ, a man cannot discern what is the world and what is of Christ." (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 1596
 
July 28 

"But the word of the Lord endureth forever." (1 Peter 1:25)

"We may have often known what it was to be roused by a stirring word of exhortation, but incentives of this kind do not give power for endurance. They are like the crack of the whip, which makes the old horse increase his pace for a few yards, but he is soon back at his old jog-trot."What is needed for endurance is to have Christ commanding the heart. Turn the tired horse's head toward home, and see how he will go! We need more of the attraction of home, more of the attraction of that blessed Person who is the center of all the thoughts of God and of the place where He is." (Author not known) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1597
 
July 29

"For as often as ye ear this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come." (1 Corinthians 11:26)

"If the Lord had not requested that we remember Him in death according to His own prescribed manner, Christians might still have wished to commemorate His death in some fashion. But if we were left to ourselves to devise a way to do it, there would probably be as many ways, or variations, as there have been Christians who had such a response kindled in their hearts. Even as it is, with the Lord's direct and implicit directions in our hands, there are many innovations and inventions added to or taken away from its beautiful and meaningful simplicity - a loaf of bread and a glass of wine, the 'fruit of the vine.' " 
(Paul Wilson) 

N.J. Hiebert # 1598
 
July 30 

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

"It is the beginning of creation, not of the Creator, who has no beginning. He is the First Cause. All creation bears witness to its God. He speaks and reveals Himself in and through His creation. While He Himself is invisible, dwelling in an unapproachable light, His eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things He has made; so that if men have not the knowledge of the true God it is because they have refused the testimony of creation to its Creator. The entire race once possessed this knowledge of God through His creation. What happened? '... because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened...' " (Note - Romans 1:20-25)
(Arno Clemens Gaebelein - Listen! - God Speaks) 

N.J. Hiebert #1599
 
July 31 

"Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example..." (1 Peter 2:21)

"As a Man He was our example. He has passed the road we tread, 'leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps.' This is beautiful. He could truly say: 'I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth.' There is nothing so refreshing as to meet a praising saint. A mourning saint, or a murmuring saint, does not do you any good, but a praiseful saint, full of the goodness of the Lord, and the delight of what the Lord is - if you meet with such a saint - he leaves his impression on you." (W.T.P Wolston - Handfuls of Purpose)
 
N.J. Hiebert # 1600