Scriptural meditations on God's precious Word (7660 posted here) sent daily for over 20 years from njhiebert@gmail.com - see also biblegems1.blogspot.com or else biblejewels.blogspot.com 2016-2024 and going forward; this will be updated periodically

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Gems from April 2010

April 1

"'Master, carest Thou not that we perish?' And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, 'Peace be still'. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."
(Mark 4:38)

There is something perfectly beautiful in the way in which our blessed Lord rises, without an effort, from the repose of perfect humanity into the activity of essential deity. As man, wearied with His work, He slept on a pillow; as God, He rises and, with His almighty voice, hushes the storm and calms the sea.

Such was Jesus - very God and very man. And such He is now, ever ready to meet His people's need, to hush their anxieties, and remove their fears. Would that we could only trust Him more simply. We have little idea of how much we lose by not leaning more on the arm of Jesus day by day. We are so easily terrified. Every breath of wind, every wave, every cloud, agitates and depresses us. Instead of calmly lying down and reposing beside our Lord, we are full of terror and perplexity. Instead of using the storm as an occasion for trusting Him, we make it an occasion for doubting Him. No sooner does some trifling trouble arise than we think we are going to perish, although He assures us that not a hair of our head can ever be touched. Well may He say to us, as He said to His disciples, "Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" (Mark 4:40) (Christian Truth - Vol. 22 - December 1969)

N.J. Hiebert - 4025

April 2

"The wind bloweth where it listeth. . . ." (John 3:38) "A sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. . . ." (Acts 2:2)

When a great American city was enveloped by a smothering fog, a meteorologist said, "Only a sweep of wind from elsewhere can relieve this situation." Never has the world - and the Church - been so smog-bound as today. Only a wind from elsewhere can clear up the situation. We can blow up quite a blast ourselves because we are so wired up with out own devices that, if there is no heavenly wind, we have machinery all set to blow hot air instead. Only the Holy Spirit, a wind from elsewhere, can disperse the fog. (Vance Havner - All the Days)

N.J. Hiebert - 4026

April 3

"He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
(Hebrews 11:6)

While the prayer of faith is sure to succeed, our prayers, alas! too often resemble the mischievous tricks of children in a town, who knock at their neighbours' houses, and then run away. We often knock at mercy's door, and then run away, instead of waiting for an entrance and an answer. Thus we act as if we were afraid of having our prayers answered. (A Welsh Preacher)

It is the prayer into which the whole soul goes in an intensity of desire, that lays hold upon God. These indifferent, heartless, bloodless prayers that we offer and soon forget what we ask for count little with Him. (R.A. Torrey)

To play at praying as children play at ringing door bells or knocking at doors is deserving the severest condemnation, and yet how much of our praying is little less. We do not make a real business with God of it, and believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (Daily Meditations for Prayer)

N.J. Hiebert - 4027

April 4

"And Pilate answered and said again unto them, 'What will ye then that I shall do unto Him whom ye call the King of the Jews?' And they cried out again, 'Crucify Him'. Then Pilate said unto them, 'Why, what evil hath He done?' And they cried out the more exceedingly, 'Crucify Him.' And so Pilate, willing to content the people . . . delivered Jesus, when he had scourged Him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led Him away."
(Mark 15:12-16)

"And they clothed Him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about His head . . . And they smote Him on the head with a reed and and did spit upon Him . . ."
(Mark 15:17,19)


"And at the ninth hour JESUS cried with a loud voice, saying Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
(Mark 15:34)

"And JESUS cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost."
(Mark 15:37)

"And when the centurion, which which stood over against Him, saw that He so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said Truly this man was the SON OF GOD."
Mark 15:39)

"Be not affrighted: Ye seek JESUS of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here."
(Mark 16:6)

N.J. Hiebert - 4028

April 5

"Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in . . . true holiness."
(Ephesians 4:23-24)

Oswald Chambers wrote, "It is the great moment of our lives when we decide that sin must die right out, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified." To accomplish this we cannot think the way we did prior to salvation. A consecrated mind does not drift into the land of imagination to indulge the fallen nature. Believers must remove all unholy thinking and renew their mind to approve what is good and acceptable. We must resist the temptation to return to "stinking thinking" and replace what was removed. Die to self and fill your mind with Christ today. (Warren Henderson)

N.J. Hiebert - 4029

April 6

"But whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."
(Proverbs 1:33)

A QUIET MIND

What room is there for troubled fear?
I know my Lord, and He is near;
And He will light my candle, so
That I may see the way to go.

There need be no bewilderment
To one who goes where he is sent;
The trackless plain by night and day
Is set with signs, lest he should stray.

My path may cross a waste of sea,
But that need never frighten me;
Or rivers full to very brim,
But they are open ways to Him.

My path may lead through woods at night,
Where neither moon nor any light
Of guiding star or beacon shines;
He will not let me miss my signs.

Lord, grant to me a quiet mind,
That trusting Thee, for Thou art kind,
I may go on without a fear,
For Thou, my Lord, art always near.
(Amy Carmichael)

N.J. Hiebert - 4030

April 7

"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come WATER out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel."
(Exodus 17:6)

- Until the rock was smitten, the stream was pent up, and man could do nothing.

- What human hand could bring forth water from a flinty rock? And so we may ask, what human righteousness could afford a warrant for opening the flood-gates of divine love? This is the true way in which to test man's competency.
(Food for the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert - 4031

April 8

"And they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; . . ."
(Malachi 3:17)

Some scars are ornaments. I do not know a more splendid word in all the supremely splendid epistles of Paul than "I bear about in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." 'Do you see this,' he said; 'I was stoned there'; and then he would pull up his sleeve and say, "Do you see that? It is the mark of the scourge. If you could only see my back! I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.' He exhibited them as some men parade their degrees. His scars were his crown.'

A youthful Mexican convert who had escaped the bondage of a false religion was listening to a missionary as she told of her visit to the Tower of London where the crown jewels are kept. She had seen the famous Kohinoor diamond which adorns the crown of the British Sovereign at the time of the coronation. The crown is set with the most precious gems! They dazzle! They sparkle! They are priceless! Following this description, the process of polishing these gems was enlarged upon, and the words in Malachi 3 were quoted. Every word was being absorbed by this earnest, dark-eyed lad.

At the close of the service he came to the missionary saying, "Pray for me that I may endure the polishing and be worthy of being even the smallest gem in my Saviour's crown. I do not want to wear a cheap crown." A few months later he suffered martyrdom.

Few have been the martyrs on whose heads crowns have alighted while they were asleep. Their preparatory school has ever been persecution, suffering, and the true, patient, yearlong fulfillment of duty.

God has need of outstanding gems,
There is work for all to do.
God's vessels are chosen, but few become choice.
I'd love to be choice. Would you
?
(Mountain Trailways for Youth)

N.J. Hiebert - 4032

April 9

"How excellent (precious) is Thy loving kindness, O God!"
(Psalm 36:7)

If He uses me, it is a great honour; If He lays me by because self was elated, it is a great mercy. He is saying, as it were, Be satisfied with Myself, be content to know I love thee. Are you content with His love? The secret of all service is the due appreciation of the Master's grace. (J.N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert - 4033

April 10

"…God…giveth grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5)

Our hearts have such a tendency to turn back to legalism, and to think it humility. The only real humbleness and strength and blessing is to forget ourselves in the presence and blessedness of the Father. We may be brought thither by a humbling process but it is not in merely thinking evil of the old man that we are truly humble; we have the privilege of forgetting ourselves in the love of our Father. (John Darby)

It is well to be done with ourselves and to be taken up with the Lord Jesus. We are entitled to forget ourselves–we are entitled to confess and forget our sins–we are entitled to forget all but the Lord Jesus. It is by looking unto Him that we can give up anything, and can walk as obedient children. (John Darby
(Submitted by a reader of the "Gems" - S.L.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4034

April 11

"And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows."
(Exodus 3:7)

Like a wise husbandman (farmer) God ploughs up the hard and stony soil of the heart with the sharp plough-share of sorrow and pain to prepare the soil for the precious seed which He is going to sow. The harrow with its iron teeth has yet further to pass over the ground to break up the clods so that the seed may find a rich and fertile bed in which to germinate. Why does the farmer put so much work and care on his fields? Is it not in the hope of a rich and abundant harvest? And is not the harvest unto life eternal planned with a deeper design and watched over by a Husbandman of omnipotence and love?

Precisely here, however, come in those questionings about the goodness of God, that sometimes rob us of the comfort and the blessings which sorrow is intended to bring to us. The most puzzling question which comes to Christian people at a time of great sorrow is: 'WHY?' There is little use in telling us we ought not to ask it. It is true that we may not be able to find a full answer; yet there is more answer that we usually find; for most of us look for it in the wrong place. We look back to find what precedes our experience, to learn the reason which God had in letting us have it.

The best reasons for God's greatest deeds, so far as we know them, lie after the deeds themselves. Most of us will find the best answer to our question by looking forward. It is not so much what has preceded the sorrow as what shall follow it; not what the sorrow follows, but what shall follow the sorrow.

Not till the loom is silent, and the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why
The dark threads are as needful in the Weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern He has planned
."
(Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)

N.J. Hiebert - 4035

April 12

"Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows."
(Isaiah 53:4)

"Behold the man whose name is the BRANCH; . . . He shall bear the glory."
(Zechariah 6:12-13)

As sinners, we look back to Golgotha, and see our Saviour "bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows." The word "borne" may be rendered "to lift and place upon one self." Stooping to where we were, He lifted our load of sin upon Himself. The great prophet Zechariah delighted to tell of a day when the One who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows will be the One who bears the glory. As we wait for that day, let us give Him glory this day. (Arnot P. McIntee)

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ, by man rejected; yes, my soul, 'tis He! - 'tis He
!
(W. Kelly)

N.J. Hiebert - 4036

April 13

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer."
(Psalm 19:14)

- Sympathy is never wasted except when you give it to yourself.

- Self-denial is painful for a moment, but very agreeable in the end.

- The same people who can deny others everything are famous for refusing themselves nothing.

- It is a clear gain to sacrifice pleasure in order to avoid pain.
(A Collection of Wise Sayings - R.K.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4037

April 14

"To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge."
(Ephesians 3:19)

A little child was playing by the shore of the broad blue sea.
And oft he looked away across the waves, so wonderingly.
It was a new entrancing sight to him, that watery waste,
The tossing billows breaking on the sand with foam wreaths graced.
And often in his distant inland home, with childish glee,
The boy would say to young and older friends, "I have seen the sea!"
And so he had; the child made no mistake, his words were true;
But yet, how much of ocean's vast expanse had met his view!
Only the waves that rippled on the shore; while far away,
The broad Atlantic in its depth and strength beyond him lay.
And thus we say we know the love of Christ, and so we do;
'Tis no exaggeration or mistake, but sweetly true.
But ah! how much of that unfathomed love do we yet know?
Only the ripples on the shores of time, the nearer flow.
The mighty ocean of redeeming love rolls deep and wide,
Filling eternity, and heaven, and earth, with its vast tide.
We know it by a sweet experience now; yet shall explore
Its breadth and length, its depth and height of grace, for evermore.
(Streams in the Desert - Vol 2 - E.R.V.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4038

April 15

"To me to live is Christ." (Philippians 1:21)

A Christian that is really single-eyed, living Christ, is the most independent person in the world. Loving God, all things work together for his good (Romans 8:28). And dependent on God alone, he becomes independent of men. He walks by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). A thousand things that the natural heart loves and craves for lose their attraction. He is already satisfied with Christ, and has no room for them. But as sure as Christ is not the one Object, all-absorbing, the heart turns to something here. Alas! have we not all to mourn more or less that this is often the case?

If the compass does not point to the north, there is something wrong, and the ship will go astray on the wild waters. And if the compass of our hearts, so to speak, does not point to Christ, depend upon it that sooner or later we shall drift with some current in the world, to our sorrow. (E.H.C.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4039

April 16

"Ebenezer . . . Hitherto hath the Lord the Lord helped us."
(1 Samuel 7:12)

I believe that souls lose immensely by not being able to record more distinctly that hitherto He has helped them. It is the experimental knowledge of God which is acquired by true dependence on Him. When we have true confidence in Him because of what He is and what He has been to us, we are enabled to go forward in spite of all difficulties, and then we have no self-confidence. Our tendency is not to have full confidence in Him and, though we have prayed, to have few Ebenezers - few monuments -fixed judgments in our hearts of the power and succour of Christ; and then we seek for confidence in ourselves, which easy circumstances tend to feed.

One prays largely and fully in proportion as one has confidence in God; and if I really know Him as my Helper, if I have a sure Ebenezer, I can easily and simply look to Him. The great principle of prayer is that I know the One whom I am addressing, and I am reckoning on His help. (Christian Truth - Vol 21 - November, 1968)

N.J. Hiebert - 4040

April 17

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."
(Psalm 23:1)

As a sheep,

- My Shepherd surrounds me with His care.
- Under me are green pastures;
- Beside me, still waters;
- Within me, He restores my soul;
- In front of me, paths of righteousness;
- With me, His presence;
- Upholding me, His rod and staff;
- Before me, a table prepared;
- Upon me, anointing oil;
- Over me, my cup overflows;
- Behind me, goodness and mercy;
- Ahead of me, the house of the Lord forever.

To a grammar teacher it may sound prepositional, but to this sheep - WONDERFUL!
(Rex Trogdon)

N.J. Hiebert - 4041

April 18

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

All the Days

Yes, I am with thee when there falls no shadow
Across the golden glory of the day,
And I am with thee when the storm-clouds gather,
Dimming the brightness of the onward way;
In days of loss, and loneliness and sorrow,
Of care and weariness and fretting pain,
In days of weakness and of deep depression,
Of futile effort when thy life seems vain;
When youth has fled and Death has put far from thee
Lover and friend who made the journey sweet,
When Age has come with slowly failing powers,
And the dark valley waits thy faltering feet;
When courage fails thee for the unknown future;
And the heart sinks beneath its weight of fears;
Still I am with thee - Strength and Rest and Comfort,
Thy Counsellor through all Earth's changing years.
Whatever goes, whatever stays,
Lo, I am with thee all the days.
(Annie Johnson Flint -Best Loved Poems)

N.J. Hiebert - 4042

April 19

"Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
(Revelation 1:17-18)

Deep and varied as are the necessities of the soul, they are all met by the death and resurrection of Christ. If it be a question of sin that affects the soul, the the resurrection is the glorious proof of the complete putting away of sin. The moment I see Jesus at the right hand of God, I see an end of sin, for I know he could not be there if sin was not fully atoned for. He was delivered for out offenses; He stood as our representative; He took upon Him our iniquities, and went down into the grave under the weight thereof. But God raised Him up from the dead, and by so doing expressed His full approbation of the work of redemption. Hence we read, He "was raised again for our justification." Resurrection, therefore, meets the need of the soul as regards the question of sin.

Then, when we enter upon the trying and difficult path of Christian testimony, we find that Jesus risen is a sovereign remedy for all the ills of life. This is exemplified for us in John 20. Mary returns to the sepulchre early in the morning. Her heart was not only sad at the loss of her gracious Friend, but also tried by the difficulty of removing the stone. The resurrection removed at once her sorrow and her burden. Jesus risen filled the blank in her desolated affections and removed from her shoulders the load which she was unable to sustain. She found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre, and she found also her beloved Lord whom death had, for a season, snatched from her view. Such mighty things could resurrection accomplish on behalf of a poor needy mortal. (C.H. Mackintosh)

N.J. Hiebert - 4043

April 20

"For whatsoever is not of faith is sin."
(Romans 14:23)

Susannah Wesley, mother of John and Charles Wesley, once used this striking sentence, in a letter to son John:

"Whatever weakens your reason,
Impairs the tenderness of your conscience,
Obscures your sense of God,
Or takes off your relish of spiritual things;
In short,
Whatever increase the strength and authority
of your body over your mind,
that thing is sin to you,
However innocent it may be in itself."
(Susannah Wesley (Letter, June 8, 1725)

N.J. Hiebert - 4044

April 21

"Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things."
(Galatians 6:6)

"Let the one being taught the Word, be having fellowship with the one teaching in all good things." The word used for "teaching" and "being taught" has the meaning of teaching by word of mouth, and so would suggest those men among themselves who were doing this work. Notice, they taught "the Word," and not their ideas. It is most important for those who teach, to teach the Word. Our thoughts have neither value nor power but the Word has both; if we stick to the Word, there will surely be a harvest. In another verse, we read, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7) So let those who teach, teach the Word, and they may then be sure of a good harvest. (G.C. Willis - Meditations on Galatians)

N.J. Hiebert - 4045

April 22

"As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you."
(Isaiah 66:13)

I know there is the Lord's bosom for the reception of every care and every anxiety.

We ought to be patient, for He is the doer of everything; and when we are not patient we really find fault with Him and His doing.

He is a great giver, and if He hides His hand from giving today, tomorrow He often gives two-fold.

He is enough for us were the path ten thousand times more sad and difficult.

He that made all things, and upholds all things, is equal to, and a match for, any and every contingency that can befall any between Calvary and the cloud of glory.
(Footprints for Pilgrims - G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert - 4046

April 23

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
(Psalm 46:1)

- If we want to be happy, we must be occupied with God and His surroundings.
If we want to be miserable, we have only to be occupied
with self and its surroundings.

- What was it that shut up Zacharias in dumb silence? It was unbelief.
What was it that filled the heart and opened the
lips of Mary and Elizabeth? Faith.

- Oh! how miserable to presume to move in our own strength!
What defeat and confusion!
What exposure and contempt!
What humbling and smashing to pieces!
(Food for the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert - 4047

April 24

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and amise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone."
(Matthew 23:23)

In colonial North America, William Penn had a reputation as a benevolent Quaker who dealt fairly with Native Americans. When he returned to England, his sons stayed behind. They did not share his integrity. Soon they contrived a scheme to cheat a Delaware tribe. The sons produced an old contract in which the Indians had agreed to sell a portion of land that a man could walk in 1 1/2 days.

When the tribe consented to honour their ancestors' agreement, Penn's sons were delighted. They hired three of the fastest runners they could find. One of the men covered a distance of 65 miles in 18 hours. They totally disregarded both the letter and the spirit of the agreement.

In Jesus' day, the scribes and Pharisees rationalized their violation of the spirit of God's law. Jesus exposed their hypocritical practice when He cited the commandment to "honour your father and your mother" (Mark 7:10-13). They were declaring a portion of their income as "a gift to God" to keep from using it to care for their aged parents.

The Bible is not a tool to get what we want. Instead, we must ask God to help us understand its intended purpose. Let's be sure we don't neglect the "weightier matters of the law, judgment (Justice), mercy, and faith." (Dennis Fisher)

Obeying the letter of the law is good; obeying the spirit of the law is better.

(Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2006), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4048

April 25

"The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God."
(Galatians 2:20)

The simplicity of a life of faith has charms that they do not know who never tried it.

One does not get rid of the difficulties of the path of faith by trying to avoid them, one must surmount them by the power of God.

A difficulty may be a real one, but it is only for the unbelief of hearts that it is an obstacle, if on the path of God's will; for faith reckons
upon God . . . and difficulties are as nothing before Him.

Experience ought to strengthen faith; but there must be a present faith to use experience.

- It is by faith that God is honoured.
(Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - JND)

N.J. Hiebert - 4049

April 26

Hymn, Psalms 23

The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Even for His own Name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me; and Thy rod
And staff my comfort still.
My table Thou hast furnishèd
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.

N.J. Hiebert - 4050

April 27

"And He said, 'My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest'. And he said unto Him, 'if Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence'."
(Exodus 33:14-15)

Let us take these words not so much for a sketch of unknown months, but just for today. Are they not wonderful? "If Thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence" - for indeed I cannot think of even one hour without Thee. "My presence shall go with thee" - with thee through this day. "And I will give thee rest."

The God of Hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing that in very truth His presence will go with us throughout this day. (Amy Carmichael - Whispers of His Power)

N.J. Hiebert - 4051

April 28

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

“…Long ago in days of yore a king once placed a heavy stone in the roadway. Then he hid and waited to see who would remove it. Many who came by loudly blamed the kings government for not keeping the roadways clear, but none assumed the duty of clearing the obstacle out of the way. At last a poor man stopped and rolled it into the gutter. To his surprise he found a bag full of gold embedded in the road beneath the spot where the rock had been. A note said it was the king's reward for the person who removed the troublesome object.

God places the obstacles on the road we travel for a purpose. By them He tests our faithfulness, brings spiritual growth, turns our attention heavenward and brings special blessings.

Hidden under the rock of every trial is a special blessing. Roll your burden on the Lord, and you will discover the blessing. (From a reader - S.L.)

N.J. Hiebert - 4052

April 29

"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)

The believer is united to Christ. He is complete as to his standing before God. Nor can we ever 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.

He may lose the sense of it, the comfort of it, the power of it; but the thing itself he cannot lose. It is his unalterable standing in Christ. Clouds may overcast the sun and hide from our view his genial beams; but the sun shines all the while with undiminished luster. The believer is accepted, once and forever, in Christ. He is united to Him by a link that can never be severed.

It is not until we believe that we enter into this blessed position. The foundation of it all was laid in the death and resurrection of Christ; but it is only when we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, receive into our hearts the precious truth of the gospel that we enter into the enjoyment of it. "In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13) (Christian Truth - Vol. 15 -September 1962)

N.J. Hiebert - 4053

April 30

"For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."
(Jeremiah 2:13)

"He leadeth me beside the still waters."
(Psalm 23:2)

One should bear it most distinctly before the soul that in anything we are doing we are just going through it with Christ, and the waters will flow freely; no frost ever congeals them, no heat ever dries them up. You may have sorrow, temptation, and everything to try you, but nothing can touch those living waters, and why? Because we are loved with an everlasting love, and it is Christ the fountain of living water who leads us. (Gleanings of G.V. Wigram)

N.J. HIebert - 4054