Gems from February 2012

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you." (John 16:23)

Our Lord brings before us in a truly illuminating way, the privilege now extended to us, as believers, to go directly to the Father in prayer, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I do not think that there is any subject on which there seems to be more confusion than that of prayer. So many people have an idea that prayer is the effort to overcome God's unwillingness; to make Him willing to do something for us which He does not desire to do. That is not the case.

We are not told to pray in order to overcome God's unwillingness. Our God delights to bless, but he chooses to bless in answer to prayer, and that for a number of reasons. When I go to God directly, when various things are pressing upon heart and mind, and they drive me to Him, I find that just speaking to Him of the things that burden me has a sanctifying effect upon my own soul. (H.A. Ironside)

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

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January 30

“The LORD…saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
(Jeremiah 31:3)

“In math, if you divide an infinite number by any number, no matter how large, you still have an infinite quotient.
So Jesus' love, being infinite, even though it is divided up for every person on earth, is still infinitely poured out on each one of us!”
(C.H. Spurgeon)
“…the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

“Jesus, Captain of salvation,
Conqueror both of death and hell!
Thou who didst as sin's oblation,
Feel what Thou alone couldst feel:
Through Thy suff'rings, death, and merit,
We eternal bliss inherit,
Thousand, thousand thanks to Thee,
Jesus, Lord, for ever be!”

(Jacobi)
(Selected - SL with thanks)

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January 31

"Love suffereth long and is kind. Love envieth not. Love vaunteth not itself."
(1 Corinthians 13:4)

Get these ingredients, fellow Christian, into your life.

Then everything that you do is eternal, it is worth doing.

It is worth giving time to.
(A Thought for Every Day - Henry Drummond)

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February 1

"God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."
(2 Corinthians 9:8)

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Blind, but now I see.
(John Newton)

"All grace."
"All sufficiency."
"All things."
"Abound."

Unlocked by prayer, here is a treasury that is never empty.
It is a fountain,

Full flowing.
Ever flowing.
Overflowing.

Our great need can never diminish this inexhaustible treasure.
Myriads of saints on the earth can draw from this eternal source of grace.
There will always be a sufficient supply when they return for more.

There is grace for sunshine and storm.
Grace for the old believer and the young.
In health and sickness.
In life and death.
There is sufficient grace to say, through tears,
"Thy will be done."
(M. Haack)

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February 2

"Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is His name; Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiah 33:2-3)

The Christian story is about a God who goes out of His way to know and to be known, to offer us His name, to call us by name, to show us He is worth knowing and loving. Jesus came near so that God would be fathomable. And yet how unfathomable is a God who comes near? There is so much to life and mystery that is unplumbed by our own minds, even as it is held in our minds and in minds long before our own. Why do we have these minds? Why this instinct to search and know? How is it that we should know God by name, or know the voice of the Son? And how shall we respond to the kind of God who invites a love of knowing Him? (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

(A Slice of Infinity - RZIM)

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February 3

"As Thou hast went me Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world."
(John 17:18)

"As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you."
(John 20:21)

Such is the Christian's Mission.

A Christian is not to shut himself within the walls of a monastery or convent. Christianity does not consist in joining a brotherhood or a sisterhood. Nothing of the kind. We are called to move up and down in the varied relations of life, and to act in our Divinely appointed spheres, to the glory of God. It is not a question of what we we are doing, but of how we do it. All depends upon the object which governs our heart.

If Christ be the commanding and absorbing object of the heart, all will be right; if He be not, nothing is right. Two persons may sit down at the same table to eat; the one eats to gratify his appetite, the other eats to the glory of God - eats simply to keep his body in proper working order as God's vessel, the temple of the Holy Spirit, the instrument for Christ's service.

So in everything. It is our sweet privilege to set the Lord always before us. He is our model. As He was sent into the world, so are we. What did He come to do? To glorify God. How did He live? By the Father.

"As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me" (John 6:57).
(The All-Sufficiency of Christ - C.H. Mackintosh)

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February 4

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
(Ephesians 6:11)

The Christian believer cannot be happy and victorious in the true liberty of the children of God if he is still quaking about his past sins.

God knows that sin is a terrible thing - yes, and the devil knows it, too!
So the devil follows us around and as long as we will permit it, he will taunt us about our past sins.

Everything good - forgiveness and cleansing and blessing - everything that is good I have freely received from Jesus Christ!

Everything that is bad and that is against me I got from the devil - so why should he have the effrontery and the brass to argue with me about it? Yet he will do it because he is the devil, and he is committed to keeping God's children shut up in a little cage, their spiritual wings clipped.

Brethren, we have been declared "Not guilty!" by the highest court in all the universe. It is good to know that on the basis of grace as taught in the Word of God, when God forgives a man, He trusts him as though he had never sinned.

The Bible does not teach that if a man falls down, he can never rise again.
The fact that he falls is not the most important thing - but rather that he is forgiven and allows God to lift him up! That is the basis of our Christian assurance and God wants us to be happy in it.
(Renewed Day by Day - A.W. Tozer)

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February 5

"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
(2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

One of the older writers has quaintly suggested that sorrow leads us eventually into one of four lands:

1. The barren land in which we try to escape from it.
2. The broken land in which we sink under it.
3. The bitter land in which we resent it.
4. The better land in which we bear it, and in which, while bearing it, we become a blessing to others.

The first impulse of a stricken heart is to accept the dominion of sorrow to the exclusion of all other claims; to draw down the blinds of the many-roomed house of life, shutting out all sunshine and sound. We cannot help obeying this impulse for a few hours; but we wrong ourselves and our brethren if we continue to keep the blinds down and the door locked.

Now, when the first paroxysm of your grief is passed, I would advise you to come with me.
When you find yourself overpowered with melancholy, the best way is to go out and do something kind to somebody.

Thousands who today are sitting in the gloom of a self-created misery would soon lose it if they began to care for others. When I dig a man out of trouble I turn the hole he leaves behind him into a grave in which I bury my sorrows. This unquestionably is the purpose of God in permitting griefs to come into our lives.
(Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)

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February 6

"Peter saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me."
(John 13:8)

The Lord in His patient grace, passing over the slight, corrects Peter's impulsiveness by saying, "If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me." Brief as the answer is, we can see, now that the Spirit has been given, that it presents the spiritual significance of feet-washing. We learn that it symbolizes the present service of the Lord whereby He removes from our spirits everything that would hinder part with Him.

Let us note the Lord does not say, part in Me. Precious indeed is the service of feet-washing and yet it would never secure "part in Christ." For this the greater work of the Cross was required, which, once accomplished can never be repeated. By this greater work part in Christ has been for ever secured to every believer. Feet-washing is the symbolic setting forth on earth of a service continued in heaven - a service that enables believers on earth to hold communion with Christ in heaven: for do not the Lord's words "part with Me" signify communion with Himself, in that scene of holy affection in the Father's house?

There is, indeed, the blessed fact that the Lord draws near to us and communes with us in our homes, as on the occasion when He entered the house at Emmaus; but part with Him, carries the yet more blessed thought that we can have communion with Him in His home, as was the case with the Emmaus disciples when, on the same night, they found the Lord in the midst of His gathered saints at Jerusalem. Again, do not the Lord's words to the Laodiceans set forth this double truth, when he can say,"If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20). (The Last Word - Hamilton Smith)

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February 7

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

Human efforts shut this help out.
No human planning is ever right.
In His own time and way, God will come in.
Human efforts prove want of faith and restlessness.
Planning is mere flesh.

For the path where my Saviour is gone.
Has led up to His Father and God -
To the place where He's now on the throne:
And His strength shall be mine on the road.
(Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - JND)

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February 8

Disguised Sweetness

"Thou holdest mine eyes waking."
(Psalm 77:4)

If we could always say, night after night, "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep," receiving in full measure the Lord's quiet gift to His beloved, we should not learn the disguised sweetness of this special word for the wakeful ones. When the wearisome nights come, it is hushing to know that they are appointed. But this is something nearer and closer-bringing, something individual and personal; not only an appointment, but an act of our Father: "Thou holdest mine eye waking."

It is not that He is merely not giving us sleep; it is not a denial, but a different dealing. Every moment that the tired eyes are sleepless, it is because our Father is holding them waking. It seems so natural to say, "How I wish I could go to sleep!" Yet even that restless wish may be soothed by the happy confidence in our Father's hand, which will not relax its hold upon the weary eyelids until the right moment has come to let them fall in slumber. (Opened Treasures - Frances Ridley Havergal)

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February 9

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
(Romans 12:1-2)

In spring of 1867, a young American shoe salesman came to Bristol and one day was invited to a prayer meeting in a private home. During the meeting, Henry Varley stood up and spoke. He said one memorable thing in that prayer meeting: “The world has yet to see what God can do with one man wholly committed to him.” That young American walked out of that prayer meeting an hour later, with these words etched on his mind. They gave him no peace and he resolved to be such a man. As best he knew how, he gave himself fully to the will of God for His life and the Lord used him to shake two continents for Jesus. He preached to more than 100 million people during his ministry and many thousands came to know Jesus Christ as their Savior.

No one remembers Henry Varley, but that young American was Dwight L. Moody. The Lord is still looking for men, women, boys and girls that He can fill with His Spirit and use to make a difference for Christ. You and I can be that person that God will take and use for His name’s sake. (Selected)

“I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me”
(Isaiah 6:8).

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February 10

"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake."
(Psalm 23:1-3)

If you want God to lead you, be willing to follow.

When you're weary in life's struggles, find your rest in the Lord.

Those who have suffered are best able to help those who are suffering.

Christians can cope with their past because they have hope for the future.
(Some Thoughts to Consider - RK)

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February 11

"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." (2 Corinthians 3:5)

The World does not read the Bible,
But it reads you and me.
Does it see you grow like Peter?
Glow like Stephen?
Go like Paul?
If not, ask God to make you a person in whom the world can see
What He can do with a yielded life.
(This Day is the Lord's - Corrie Ten Boom

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February 12

"Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."
(Revelation 1:5)

Let our range of intelligence be ever so wide,
Our fund of experience ever so rich,
Our tone of devotion ever so elevated,
We shall always have to fall back upon the one simple,
Divine, unalterable, soul-sustaining doctrine of THE BLOOD.

The most deeply-taught and gifted servants of Christ, have always rejoiced to come back to "that one well-spring of delight,"
at which their thirsty spirits drank when first they knew the Lord. And the eternal song of the church in glory will be
"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." The courts of heaven will for ever resound with the glorious doctrine of the blood.
(Food for the Desert)

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February 13

"Exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
(Acts 14:22)

The best things of life come out of wounding.
Wheat is crushed before it becomes bread.
Incense must be cast upon the fire before its odours are set free.
The ground must be broken with the sharp plough before it is ready to receive the seed.
It is the broken heart that pleases God.
The sweetest joys in life are the fruits of sorrow.
Human nature seems to need suffering to fit it for being a blessing to the world.
(F.W. Robertson - 1816-1853)

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February 14

"And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation.)"
(Acts 4:36)

"Barnabas . . . exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord."
(Acts 11:22-23)

If you aspire to be a son of consolation;
If you would partake of the priestly gift of sympathy;
If you would pour something beyond commonplace consolation into a tempted heart;
If you would pass through the course of daily life with the delicate tact that never inflicts pain.
You must be content to pay the price of a costly education -
Like HIM, you must suffer.
(F.W. Roberstson 1816-1853)

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February 15

"One thing have I desired of the LORD" (Psalm 27:4).

"One thing I know" (John 9:25).

"One thing I do" (Philippians 3:13).

Jesus our only joy be Thou,
As Thou our prize wilt be.
Jesus be Thou my glory now,
And thru eternity.
(Bernard of Clairvaux - (1090-1153)

In today's multi-tasking world, there is a danger that we can lose our focus.
We get busy doing so many things, that we run the risk of becoming a,
"Jack of all trades, but master of none."
For many Christians, the concern is not that they will doubt their faith,
but that they will be distracted from their faith.
May we learn to be single-minded Christians!
(L. Shatford)

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February 16

"Sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called."
(Jude 1:1)

"But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked."
(Psalm 73:2)

What do we owe to God's preserving care day by day?
Often foolish hearts would wander like sheep on the dark mountains of this ungodly world.
THEN!
His hand reaches down and brings us back to the fold - preserved.
We get our eyes on the "prosperity of the wicked" and envy their ease, and our steps, like Asaph's, well nigh slip.
THEN!
He leads us gently into the sanctuary to get the eternal point of view - preserved again!
Let us thank Him today for His preserving care.
(J. Boyd Nicholson)

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February 17

"Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10)

The late Dr. Jowett said that once he was in a most pitiful perplexity, and consulted Dr. Berry. "What would you do if you were in my place?" he entreated.
"I don't know, Jowett. I am not there, and you are not there yet. When do you have to act?
"On Friday."
"Then you will find your way perfectly clear on Friday. The Lord will not fail you," answered Berry.
And sure enough, on Friday all was plain.
One of the greatest and wisest of all Queen Victoria's diplomatist has left it on record that it became an inveterate habit of his mind, never to allow any opinion on any subject to crystalize until it became necessary to arrive at a practical decision. (F.W. Boreham)

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February 18

"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)

Love Achieving the Highest Purpose of Grace Divine

To those troubled about the problem of Election, these simple words should be extremely helpful. The elect are the "whosoever wills;" and the non-elect, the "whosoever wont's." With God's secret counsels we have nothing to do; with His plainly revealed will we have everything to do. And His plainly revealed will is "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

"The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever" (Deuteronomy 29:29). Someone has written: "Nowhere in the Book of God is the knowledge of Election spoken of as an indispensable pre-requisite to the acceptance of Salvation; and hence, when a person rejects the Gospel on the ground that he is ignorant of Heaven's eternal decrees, he rejects what is revealed for which he is responsible, because of what is hidden for which he is not responsible."

If, therefore, you have received Christ as Saviour, you have the only ground you will ever have in this world, for believing that you are one of His chosen ones. (In Pastures Green - George Henderson)

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February 19

"And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him."
(Luke 24:50-52)

It always appeals to me that the last sight that the disciples had of our blessed Lord was His passing into heaven with His outstretched arms of blessing.
That indeed is His perpetual attitude towards us.
No less striking is their response to what they had seen.
It was, in one word, perpetual worship.
If we did but worship more we should have far higher conceptions of who He is, and what He has done for us.
(Edward Dennett)

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February 20

"Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou has wrought for us." (Psalm 68:28)

Many of us know what it is to receive a word in the early morning that lasts all through the day.
We live on that word; we "Feed on faithfulness." (Psalm 37:3).
These few words from the Psalm for the day have been with me all through the hours.
"Thy God hath sent strength forth for thee."
The day lies before us.
It will bring us things that in ourselves we have no strength to meet.
That does not matter.
Our God has already sent forth strength for us.
It is like that other word,
"My God, with His loving-kindness shall come to meet me." (Psalm 59:10)
Strength and lovingkindness - what more do we need?
That duty, that difficulty, which we see coming to meet us, what of it?
Our God hath already sent forth strength for us, and before the thing we fear can meet us on the road,
our God with His lovingkindness shall meet us there.
(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)

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February 21

"He (Andrew) first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, we have found the Messias, which is being interpreted, the Christ. And he brought him to Jesus."
(John 1:41-42)

Several months ago we were given a finch bag. We’d never heard of such a thing. All it is is a mesh bag full of thistle seed intended to attract finches. We were thrilled for we love birds. Well, week after week, month after month the bag hung there on the tree with never a visitor. We were perplexed and disappointed.

Then one day, maybe six weeks ago, I happened to look out just when one lone finch had found the bag. We were ecstatic! As we watched over the ensuing days more and more birds came. Now, we have to fill the bag 2-3 times a week. What a change. It just took one little bird finding the bag, and the word got out.

Oh, dear fellow Christian, we have such good news to tell – it’s the same good news the disciples shared. Let’s be like that one little bird – let someone else know about what you’ve discovered. But, you may say, I’m not outgoing. Well, I’m quite certain that there are some birds that come to the finch bag because they observed other birds doing so.

Your loving and consistent Christian life is a message all in itself. Andrew didn’t say much; he just brought Simon to Jesus. Be encouraged! (Selected)

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February 22

The Love of Christ

"That ye . . . may be able to comprehend . . . the breadth and length and depth and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge."
(Ephesians 3:17-19)

How broad is His love? Oh as broad as man's trespass, as wide as the need of the world can be;
And yet to the need of one soul it can narrow - He came to the world and He came to me.

How long is His love? Without end or beginning, eternal as Christ and His life it must be;
For, to everlasting as from everlasting He loveth the world and He loveth me.

How deep is His love? Oh, as deep as man's sinning. As low as that uttermost vileness can be;
In the fathomless gulf of the Father's forsaking He died for the world and He died for me.

How high is His love? It is high as the heavens, as high as the throne of His glory must be;
And yet from that height He hath stooped to redeem us - He so loved the world and He so loved me.

How great is His love? Oh, it passeth all knowledge, no man's comprehension its measure can be;
It filleth the world, yet each heart may contain it - He so loves the world and He so loves me.
(Annie Johnson Flint)

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February 23

"What iniquity have your fathers found in Me, that they are gone from Me?"
(Jeremiah 2:5)

"Which of you convinceth [convicts] Me of sin?"
(John 8:46)

Because the sinless Saviour died, my sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me.

God cannot sin, not in heaven and not on earth!
He is impeccable in glory and in the incarnation.
There is no good reason for not believing Him, nor for not following Him.
He could turn from us with reason, but He doesn't!
Let us renounce any worldly or fleshly wisdom or attraction,
And follow Him with our whole hearts, with fresh love and renewed confidence.
He cannot sin, and He cannot fail!
(Carl Knott)

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February 24

"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in Himself: it is not in man . . . to direct his steps."
(Jeremiah 10:23)

We were at the foot of Mount Blanc in the village of Chamouni. A sad thing had happened the day before. A young physician had determined to reach the heights of Mt. Blanc. He accomplished the feat, and the little village was illuminated in his honour; on the mountainside a flag was floating that told of his victory.

After he had ascended and descended as far as the hut, he wanted to be released from his guide; he wanted to be free from the rope and insisted on going on alone. The guide remonstrated with him telling him it was not safe; but he was tired of the rope and declared that he would be free. The guide was compelled to yield.

The young man had gone only a short distance when his foot slipped on the ice, and he could not stop himself from sliding down the icy steeps. The rope was gone, so the guide could not hold him nor pull him back. Out on the shelving ice lay the body of the young physician.

The bells had been rung, the village had been illumined in honour of his success; but alas, in a fatal moment he refused to be guided; he was tired of the rope.

Do you get tired of the rope? Gods providences hold us, restrain us, and we get tired sometimes. We need a guide, and shall until the dangerous paths are over. Never get disengaged from your Guide. Let your prayer be "Lead Thou me on," and sometime the bells of heaven will ring that you are safe at Home! (C.H. Spurgeon)

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February 25

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

His Way

God bade me go when I would stay
('Twas cool within the wood);
I did not know the reason why.
I heard a boulder crashing by
Across the pathway where I stood.

He bade me stay when I would go;
"Thy will be done," I said.
They found one day at early dawn,
Across the way I would have gone.
A serpent with a mangled head.

No more I ask the reason why,
Although I may not see
The path ahead, His way I go;
For though I know not, He doth know,
And He will choose safe paths for me.
(The Sunday School Times)

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February 26

"And it came to pass, that as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray."
(Luke 11:1)

They had not learned the simple confidence in the Father that would go up naturally to Him and tell Him all.
There may not always be wisdom in asking, but there should be confidence of communion by the Holy Spirit.
Even Paul had not always intelligence of God's mind, or he would not have asked to have the thorn in the flesh taken away; but he was not afraid to make his request.
The disciples had not this simple hearted confidence.
(The Man of Sorrows - J.N. Darby)

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February 27

"Christ is all, and in all."
(Colossians 3:11)

The Lord knoweth. "The Lord knoweth them that are His" (2 Timothy 2:19).
His own sheep. "I am the good Shepherd, and know My sheep. . ." (John 10:14).
Them that trust in Him. "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him" (Nahum 1:7).
What we need. "Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things" (Matthew 6:32).
The way I take. "But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).
Our frame. "For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14).
How to deliver. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Peter 2:9).
(The Wonderful Word - George Henderson)

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February 28

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
(1 John 1:9)

Has there been one hard, judging, critical, arrogant thought of others during the day?
One indulgence of needless, loveless, critical expression about them?
One allowance of mere prejudice against them?
One remembered act of any kind, inward or outward, which has broken the laws of holy love?
Has there been any difference, or dissension, with friend or brother, in which we have loved self,
and its claims and rights, perhaps under colour of a zeal for God?
Has there been a swelling heat of pride?
Has there been the wretched flutter of vanity?

Confess it all, articulately to the eternal High Priest, in the Holiest, at the Mercy-seat.
Remember the blood of sprinkling;
Rest on the covenant of remission and oblivion.
But all the more for this; excuse nothing;
Let the essence of the confession be a total renunciation and repudiation of the thing confessed.
As you thus confess lay hold of the promise for cleansing.
(H.C.G. Moule ~ 1841-1920)

N.J. Hiebert - 4720

February 29

"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."
(Galatians 6:7)

The path of deep and abiding Christian happiness is found first in
repenting and confessing known sin, and then in forsaking it.
Hear the words of King David, when he confessed to Jehovah his sin with Bathsheba.
May the spirit he displayed be that of each one who has returned in repentance to the Lord.
(The Journey of Life - D.N.)

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right sprit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit."
(Psalm 51:10-12)

N.J. Hiebert - 4721