Gems from February 2006

February 1

"And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." 
(Genesis 1:31)

Scripture is always perfect, but men are not competent to speak unless taught of God. Thus, humanly speaking, there are those who could appreciate the wonders of the heavens, but are dull to perceive the divine construction of a daisy; yet to anyone that estimates aright, the perfect hand of God, even in a daisy, is just as clear and certain as in the solar system. It is only a question of the place which each creature of God occupies in His own immense scheme. His wisdom and power are displayed no less in the minute than in the grand and massive and sublime. (W. Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert # 2510

February 2

"There arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He (Jesus) was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:35-41)

There is nothing more absurd and irrational than unbelief, when we come to look at it calmly. In the scene before us, this absurdity is very apparent; for what could be more absurd than to suppose that the vessel could possibly sink with the Son of God on board? And yet this was what they feared. It may be said they did not just think of the Son of God at that moment. True, they thought of the storm, the waves, the filling vessel, and, judging after the manner of men, it seemed a hopeless case. Thus it is the unbelieving heart ever reasons. It looks only at the circumstances, and leaves God out. Faith, on the contrary, looks only at God, and leaves circumstances out. (Selected)

N.J. Hiebert # 2511

February 3

"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)

Abiding in Christ is the result of continual watching and self-discipline, the outcome of the blessed Spirit's tender influence on the inner life. It is not easy at first to get the vine to entwine itself in some chosen direction. The string and hammer and knife must be used; but in time it is satisfied to adopt the new and forced attitude. And the clinging of the soul to Christ comes as the result of continual self discipline beneath the culture of the Spirit of God. (Anon)

N.J. Hiebert # 2512

February 4"This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

Nothing could be more blessed than this wondrous association and fellowship into which the saints are brought, and so the Apostle had written them these things that their joy might "be full." All this is the expression of God's infinite grace to poor sinners whom He has been pleased to lift out of the depths of ruin, and to deliver from the power of sin and Satan, giving them divine, eternal life, and bringing them into His own presence, and establishing them there in a known and eternal relationship with Himself. This is pure, unmingled grace, the fruit of infinite, eternal love, and it is most blessed indeed. (A.H. Rule)

N.J. Hiebert # 2513

February 5"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Colossians 3:16)

We need not so much to covet information about Him, as power to use divinely what we know - to turn it, through the energy of the Spirit, into a matter of communion, and the feeding and enlivening of our renewed affections. Then, and then only, is it what our God would have it to be. Colossians 3:16 (above) may teach us that, while inquiring after knowledge, and laying up "the word of Christ," the material of all wisdom, we should take care to nourish the simpler affections of the soul. Melody in the heart should be the companion of the indwelling word of wisdom and knowledge (Ephesians 5:19). If it be not, the knowledge will be wanting in its savor, and in its power to refresh either ourselves or others. (J.G. Bellett)

N.J. Hiebert # 2514

February 6

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him."
(1 John 4:9)

If we look at man, we shall find his whole history in the history of Adam. What Adam was in the garden, man has been ever since, from the garden to the cross. God tried man, but man only marred all he was trusted with. (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 2515

February 7

"Present your bodies . . . holy . . . unto God." (Romans 12:1)

The moral standards are being lowered each year in this and other English - speaking countries - the very countries that took the lead in circulating the Word of God and spreading the gospel. Corruption has set in and is growing apace. This, however, need not cause alarm to the children of God, for His Word has foretold that such conditions would come. . . .
Is God indifferent to all this? No! no! no! He has said that He will judge the doers of these things. The Old Testament gives the account of His governmental dealings with the world at the flood, of Sodom and Gomorrah, of the inhabitants of Canaan, and then of Israel when they followed in the ways of the heathen who before them had polluted the land. And it is common knowledge that the Roman Empire had lapsed into awful, sordid corruption before it fell. "God is not mocked," and men and nations shall reap the just consequences of their wickedness. (Paul Wilson)

N.J. Hiebert # 2516

February 8

"I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." (Acts 22:3)

Paul testifies that he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. In Acts 5 we find that Gamaliel stood up among his fellow citizens and students and told them to leave these men who talk of Jesus to themselves. He said that others, such as Theudas, boasted themselves to be something, but were brought to nothing; and if these men who were followers of Jesus were not of God, their work could come to nothing. Gamaliel knew that if the teaching of these men was of God, no man could overthrow it. Did Paul obey his instructor's advice? No, he was in effect a student activist. The next time we read of Paul (Saul), we find that he was consenting to the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8:1). He was persecuting the Christians with great zeal.

God spoke to Saul (Paul) on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) in a miraculous but solemn way. He accepted Christ as his Saviour and immediately began to serve the Lord. What did Paul say of the days when he was a student activist? In 1 Timothy 1, after delineating what he was characterized by before he was saved, Paul refers to himself as the chief of sinners. He realized that what he had been doing as a result of his independent, youthful ideas led him to a place of deep transgression against God. (F.F.A. - Christian Truth - Vol. 22)

N.J. Hiebert # 2517

February 9

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings . . . Having predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will." (Ephesians 1:3,5)

On a flight to California, a chaplain from Stanford University, talked with a Christian woman who had adopted a Jewish daughter. She explained that after Hitler had annexed Poland, the Nazis came to her village to round up Jews. She had been shopping near the train station where German soldiers were loading Jews into rail cars. Those helpless victims were destined to die in a concentration camp.
That woman saw a soldier pushing a Jewess toward the station, and she had a little girl toddling behind. He stopped her and demanded, "Is she your daughter?" The terrified mother looked straight into the Christian woman's eyes, who then was standing nearby and said, "No, the child is hers." From that moment the Christian woman took that Jewish girl as her own daughter.
By grace God has claimed us for His own. We were condemned, not as innocent victims, but justly as sinners. We were powerless to save ourselves. We were headed for the second death, which is eternal exile from heaven's eternal life and light and love. But the very God we rebelled against has redeemed us through Jesus' death on the cross.Praise God - once alienated; now by faith adopted!

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. (Fanny Crosby)
_______________________________________________________________
GOD CLAIMS BY GRACE THOSE WHO HAVE NO CLAIM TO GRACE.

Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (1993), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission
N.J. Hiebert # 2518

February 10

"Ahab went to eat and to drink . . . Elijah went up to the top of Carmel."
(1 Kings 18:42)

Every day we live we have to choose whether we shall follow in the way of Ahab or of Elijah. If we put self first, whether in great things or small, we are like Ahab. And the habit grows with life till we end as Ahab ended.

"The king died and was brought to Samaria" (1 Kings 22:37) - that poor little hill which never saw anything glorious till One, Who was wearied by His journey, sat on the well-side there.
If we put the things which concern the Lord first, then life will be a climb. Every day will see us higher up the mountain which is our Carmel; and in the end, even though a whirlwind does not carry us home, either angels, or our Lord Himself, will call us to meet Him in the air, far, far above all mountain tops. We shall not be sorry then that we chose Carmel. (Amy Carmichael - Edges of His Ways)
N.J. Hiebert # 2519
February 11

"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings." (Psalm 40:2)
"He does all things well." (Mark 7:37)

The answer to our sometimes unbelieving questions "why" is heard in the amazement and awe of the multitude as they bear testimony to the power and perfection of the Lord Jesus - "He does all things well." Why is some trial or difficulty happening to you? Because the Lord is allowing it in order to shape and mold you to what He wants and He makes no mistakes. Remember, the purpose of our Potter's pressure is not only formative, but also protective. (In The Potter's Hands)

N.J. Hiebert # 2520

February 12

"For He is our peace." (Ephesians 2:14)

The loving heart of Jesus was broken for my peace,
The tender hands of Jesus were pierced for my release.
This is the sure foundation on which my faith is built;
This is the one salvation from sin, its power and guilt;
This is the only glory my clouded life can claim,
Redemption's wondrous story of love and death and shame,
This - my assurance voicing, and this - my only plea,
My song and my rejoicing forevermore shall be.
The broken heart of Jesus alone could save from sin;
The wounded hands of Jesus alone my peace could win.
(Annie Johnson Flint - Flint's Best Loved Poems)N.J. Hiebert # 2521

February 13

"That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you." (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

Three of the hardest lessons in life are found in this verse. First, don't talk too much. "In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise." Second, mind your own business. Remember to clean your own house before you tell someone else theirs is dirty. Third, work to provide for your own needs and the needs of your household. Today, as we fill out our "things to do list," let's place these three near the top. (Frank Burgess)

N.J. Hiebert # 2522

February 14

"God created . . . every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew." (Genesis 2:3,5)

Examine a flower. Marvel at its beauty and aroma. The best artisan cannot duplicate its excellent qualities. And small wonder! For all plants and flowers were created by the Divine hand before they ever touched earth. Indeed, God worked on their creation (Genesis 1:3), then He planted a garden where they grew. All that the best of earth's gardeners can do is simply replicate and perpetuate the beauty and value that originated directly from the Creator. (Doug Kazen)
N.J. Hiebert # 2523

February 15

"There was no water . . . and the people chode with Moses . . . It is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink." 
(Numbers 20:2-5)

It is deeply touching to find Moses, again and again, on his face before God. It was a sweet relief to make his escape from a tumultuous host and betake himself to the only One whose resources were adequate to meet such an occasion. "They fell upon their faces; and the glory of the Lord appeared unto them." They (Moses & Aaron) do not appear,on this occasion, to have attempted any reply to the people; "They went from the presence of the assembly" and cast themselves upon the living God. They could not possibly have done better.

Who but the God of all grace could meet the ten thousand necessities of wilderness life? Well had Moses said, at the very beginning, "If Thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence." Assuredly, he was right and wise in so expressing himself. The divine presence was the only answer to the demand of such a congregation; but that presence was an all-sufficient answer. God's treasury is absolutely inexhaustible. He can never fail a trusting heart.

God delights to be used; He never grows weary of ministering to the need of His people. If this were ever kept in the remembrance of the thoughts of our hearts, we should hear less of the accents of impatience and discontent, and more of the sweet language of thankfulness and praise; but desert life tests every one. It proves what is in us, and, thanks be to God, it brings out what is in Him for us. (C.H. Mackintosh)
N.J. Hiebert # 2524

February 16

"Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved." 
(John 13:23)

Do I find reason for enjoying that expression, again and again repeated, "that disciple whom Jesus loved," and for delighting also in the thought that such a truth finds its illustration among the saints now, as it did in the midst of the apostles in earlier days.
The love with which we have to do is too perfect to be partial. It does not act irregularly or carelessly. We are all the objects of it. Thomas is not neglected because John is thus loved. But because this love is real, it is moved in this way by a John. But when I see a John leaning on Jesus while I myself am at a distance, let me have grace to look still, and to delight in the vision, and to say, It is good for me to be here. If I am not in the same experience, still it is blessed to enjoy the thought that another is there. Peter was gladdened by the vision of a glory in Moses and Elias, though it was all beyond him. So is my happy and thankful spirit to entertain the thought of my more heavenly brother pressing the bosom of our common Lord. (J.G. Bellett)

N.J. Hiebert # 2525

February 17

"As He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17)
"Ye are complete in Him." (Colossians 2:10)
"Accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)

It is most needful in handling any truth of God to cultivate the habit of calmly weighing all our conclusions in the balance of Holy Scripture. In this way we are preserved from the evil of hastily seizing one side of a question and using it in such a way as to mar the integrity of divine truth, and damage the souls of men.
Such is the case as between the perfect acceptance in Christ of the believer and of his confession of sins to his God and Father whenever he has sinned. It is quite true that all our sins were atoned for on the cross; and hence the very moment we believe, through grace, on the Son of God, we pass out of a condition of guilt and condemnation into a condition of perfect forgiveness and acceptance. The believer is united to Christ. He is complete as to his standing before God.
We can never lose this perfect standing. It is impossible that a single member of Christ's body can ever for one moment be out of that condition of perfect favour in which he has been set by God's free grace in union with a crucified, risen, and glorified Head.

"If we." believers,"confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It will not do for a believer to commit sin, and say, Oh! my sins are all forgiven, and I need not trouble myself with this matter. A single sin is sufficient to interrupt the believer's communion. What is he to do? Let him pour out his heart in confession. And what follows? Full forgiveness and cleansing according to the faithfulness and justice of God. 
(Christian Truth - Vol. 15)

N.J. Hiebert # 2526

February 18

"And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Has Christ ever touched the quick of your soul in solitude? Do you know the exquisite tenderness of His touch? He does not tear and lacerate. The necessities and trials of saints down here are created by God in order to show them what Christ is for them.

If I have taken Him as Lord, I do not expect an easy way. God never meant us to have ease as disciples. He takes us into a rough path to show what Christ is, and that in it His grace may be able to vent itself. There is a yearning in His heart up there to let this grace be displayed in a poor, needy people down here - a longing that His strength should be made perfect in their weakness.

Do you know for yourself the grace of that living Christ? Do you know what Christ has to do with you, and you with Him? Do you know yourself as one of a flock that belongs to Him, and that He is tending and guarding through the wilderness, and carrying on to glory to be forever with Himself? (G.V. Wigram)
N.J. Hiebert # 2527

February 19

"Spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention." (Habakkuk 1:3)
"Whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?" (James 4:1)
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Contention is uncomfortable, with whomsoever we fall out: neighbors or friends, wife or husband, children or servants; but worst of all with God.

Consider the unhappy contentions and divisions that are found among the people of God. Contentions ever portend ill. Christ sets up the light of His gospel to walk and work by, not to fight and wrangle; and therefore, it were no wonder at all if He should put it out, and so end the dispute. If these storms which have been of late years upon us, and are not yet off, had but made Christians, as that did the disciples (Mark 6:48), ply their oars, and lovingly row all one way, it had been happy. We might then have expected Christ to come walking toward us in mercy, and help us safe to land. But when we throw away the oar, and fall to strife in the ship, while the wind continues loud about us, truly we are more likely to drive Christ from us, than to invite Him to us. We are in a more probable way of sinking than saving of the ship and ourselves in it.

There is nothing (next to Christ and heaven) that the devil grudges believers more than their peace and mutual love. If he cannot rend them from Christ, stop them from getting to heaven, yet he takes some pleasure to see them go thither in a storm, like a shattered fleet severed from one another, that they may have no assistance from, nor comfort of each other's company all the way. One ship is easier taken than a squadron.
(W. Gurnall - 1665)

N.J. Hiebert # 2528

February 20

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." (Proverbs 28:13)

To attempt to cover sin and transgression is the greatest mistake a soul can be guilty of. Yet men invariably shrink from coming out frankly with a confession of their true state and actions. It seems to be natural to fallen man (ever since the day that our first parents, by fig-leaf aprons, sought to hide their nakedness) to endeavor to cover his shame, hoping thereby to avoid the just consequences of his sin. But God's Word clearly makes known the fact that he who justifies himself can only be condemned at last. It is the one who sides with God, and condemns himself, who is justified from all things.
Of course, by confession, is not meant a general acknowledgment of sinfulness and wickedness of life, uttered as a kind of soul-ease. True confession involves genuine repentance and self-judgment. Therefore we are here told, "Whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall obtain mercy." The repentant person no longer hugs the chains that bind him, but longs for full deliverance from them. He comes to God with real concern about his unholy ways and thoughts and words, earnestly seeking grace to cease from them, and to walk uprightly before the Lord. But this he cannot do in himself. It is only when he rests in simple faith in the finished work of Christ, and yields himself unto God as one now alive from the dead, that he is able to rise above the sins that have blighted his life and almost damned his soul.
(H.A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert # 2529

February 21
"Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7)

Watching unto prayer is the need of the day in which we live - the need to live in the spirit and habit of prayer. If only Christ's Church could be impelled to prayer, there would be an end of barrenness and failure. The lack of prayer lies at the root of all our troubles, and there is no remedy but in prayer.
The spirit of worldliness will never be broken by strong and fiery words of censure. Spiritual destitution and moral laxity are the order of the day, but they will never be better till prayer is restored to its true place in the individual believer's life. Why do we not set ourselves to prayer? The remedy is sure and simple, the need is urgent and acknowledged. (Anon)

N.J. Hiebert # 2530

February 22

"I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them . . . I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the evil. . . . Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth." (John 17:14,15,17)

The Bible. This majestic Book, well named, The Book of Books, is not an ordinary book. It is the one, outstanding, unique Book in possession of the entire human race, read by increasing millions in hundreds of languages. It is the Book of glory; for it has a glory which no other book in the wide world has, nor ever can have. It is the Book of eternity, for it reveals what man by searching could never know, the decrees of a Sovereign God made before the foundation of the world. It lifts the veil of eternity to come and reveals the destiny of mankind, and the future manifestation of God as Creator in producing a new heaven and a new earth.

It is the Book in which God comes down to man, even down into the deepest misery, sin and human helplessness, to meet his need, and to bring him back, not into an earthly Eden, but as a member of the family of God, into the Father's House above. It is the Book of power. If what Jeremiah said is done, "Thy words were found and I did eat them," if that blessed bread come down from heaven is taken and absorbed, it will give strength and power to live, to serve, to suffer, and to die. It will guide and direct; it will wipe our tears away. (A.C. Gaebelein)
N.J. Hiebert # 2531

February 23

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

The Book, that opens heaven to our sight,
Reveals the Son of Man in glory bright,
At God's right hand exalted, till the day
He comes to take His Church from earth away,
To share His kingdom, and enjoy His love
Forever in His Father's house above.
The Book, oh, blessed Book!
What thousands there have found relief from anguish and despair!
The lost it tells of pardon full and free,
For such as I am, and for such as thee.
(J.G. Deck)

N.J. Hiebert # 2532

February 24

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)

One day when Dr. F.B. Meyer was speaking he paused in the middle of his address. Stooping down, he picked up from the floor an old discarded violin string which had been flung away by one of the players in the orchestra. Holding it up, he said, "There shall never any more music come out of this; but contrariwise, though your life be broken and your heart full of sin, God can bring harmony out of them again." That is what the transforming power of grace does to broken human lives! Many a man is a harp with many a broken string: imperfect, defective; but if he will yield to the influences of the Holy Spirit, God can bring forth heavenly music from his soul. From an outcast of the highways he can become a guest at the marriage feast of the Lamb. One of the greatest triumphs of the famous Italian violinist, Paganini, was on an instrument with a single string. (Mountain Trailways for Youth)

He shambled awkward on the stage, the while Across the waiting audience swept a smile, With clumsy touch, when first he drew the bow He snapped a string. The audience tittered low. Another stroke! Off flies another string! With laughter now the circling galleries ring. Once more! The third string breaks its quivering strands, And hisses greet the player as he stands. He stands - while his genius, unbereft, Is calm - one string and Paganini left. He plays. 

The one string's daring notes uprise Against the storm as if they sought the skies. A silence falls; then awe; the people bow, And they who erst had hissed are weeping now; And when the last note, trembling, died away, Some shouted, "Bravo!" some had learned to pray. (Selected)
N.J. Hiebert # 2533

February 25

"Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." (Revelation 3:1)

The Pharisees had the name of being the most religious people of their day but the Lord said to them, "Inside you are full of dead men's bones and uncleanness"! We too normally carry the names, "born again" and "evangelical". If so, has my life been transformed by a personal encounter with Jesus Christ? Is He daily saving me from practicing sin? Following that experience of being "born again", am I personally witnessing to those who are still under the sway of sin? Or do I just carry the name? (David Croudace)

Suffer a sinner whose heart overflows, Loving his Saviour to tell what he knows, Once more to tell it would I embrace, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. - James Gray
N.J. Hiebert # 2534

February 26

"God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you." (2 Corinthians 7:6,7)

It is worthwhile to be afflicted, if God Himself becomes our comforter. Titus arrives bringing good tidings to the effect of his first epistle, and the apostle is full of joy. God often takes away the affliction itself and fills the soul with gladness, pouring His consolations into the heart which thus becomes more matured for communion with Himself and for heaven. In every case of affliction prayer is our resource; we own our dependence and we confide in His goodness. The heart draws near to Him, it tells out to Him its need and its sorrow, laying it down on the throne and the heart of God, who answers either by circumstances which make us happy, or by pouring in His consolation - an answer which is still more blessed than outward happiness - but ever by that which is best for us, acting according to His perfect love. (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert # 2535

February 27

"The greatest of these is charity (love)." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Love is of God. Therefore it is of the deepest importance that it should ever be genuine and incorrupt: for the higher its source, nature, and character, the more dangerous where that which is spurious (not genuine) usurps its place and name, misleading others and oneself under a fair but false pretension.
Love is the activity of the divine nature in goodness, and hence is inseparable from that nature as reproduced in the children of God. Nevertheless this does not absolve them from the need of self-examination that it be sincere and undefiled, seeking the good of others according to God's will unselfishly. The letting in of hopes, fears, or objects of our own falsifies it.
Where love is real, there is and must be the detestation of evil, no less decidedly than the close attachment to good. If the latter attracts, the former offends and is often ill received in the world. 
(W. Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert # 2536

February 28

"Whereof I (Paul) was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of His power." (Ephesians 3:7)

God's power is just fitted for the saints' weakness; and the saints' weakness is just fitted for God's power, so we suit each other.

N.J. Hiebert # 2537