Gems from June 2018

May 31

"Having loved His own which were in the world,  

He loved them unto the end.”

(John 13:1)

Oh, how sweet this experience of Christ’s love in this cold world!

When the heart is chilled, and yearning for a little warmth,

how sweet to turn to the Lord Jesus and

feel the warmth of His love! 

Ah, looking up to Him, the heart is always warmed.

If you see any beauty in Christ, and say,

“I desire to have that,” God will work it in you.

Can you spread out no wants before Christ, the Giver, the Healer? 

Believers grieve the Spirit by not using Christ, 

and then God must compel them to do it.

(G.V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert - 7099

June 1

“Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.”

(John 17:17)

By Thy truth and Spirit guiding, earnest He of what’s to come,

And with daily strength providing, Thou dost lead Thy children home.

(Tregelles)

The more you nourish your own soul by feeding on the word of God

the more likely is He to use you.

The sight of the eyes is constantly tending to dim the estimate which 

faith forms; and if faith is not nourished by the word, 

it sinks down and fades away.

If I am not feeding on the word, faith is not fed, for it

cannot be fed by sight of things all around.

(J. N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert - 7100 

June 2

“This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.  These things are good and profitable unto men.”

(Titus 3:8)

We may be doing a great deal, 

but it will not be service to Christ.

We may be saying a great deal; 

but it will not be testimony to Christ.

We may exhibit a great deal of piety and devotion; 

but it will not be spiritual and true worship.

The moment the soul hesitates, the enemy has the advantage; 

but there is blessing in every act of obedience.

It is of the utmost importance to see that what really stamps man’s 

character and condition is his ignorance or knowledge of God.

(Food for the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert - 7101

June 3

“And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a script; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.”

(1 Samuel 17:40) 

Young David chose five smooth stones from the brook.

To slay Goliath just one stone he took.

So he who seemed so ill-equipped before,

Has weapons now enough, and four times more.

Thus is it ever; God’s resources still

Surpass the needs of all who wait His will.

Nor when His last proud foe is overthrown,

Will half His strength exhaustless yet be known.

(Bells & Pomegranates - James M. S. Tait)

N.J. Hiebert - 7102

June 4

"And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.”

(Philippians 1:28)

When Luther was summoned to stand before the council at Worms: and his friends did their utmost to persuade him not to go, as they were sure it meant death; he replied, “Even although there were as many devils at Worms as there are tiles upon the roofs, I would enter it."

Zwingli, in Switzerland, when threatened by all the Civilian and Ecclesiastical wrath, was asked if he was not frightened, and he replied, with noble scorn, "I dread them . . . as the rock-bound shore dreads the threatening billows . . . — with God!” 

"How depressing to the enemy is the endurance of the saints."

It is of the utmost importance ”that we should keep in our souls good courage in face of the foe, and confidence in God, not only for our own sake but for others.  There is no testimony more gracious, nor more solemn to our adversaries.” (W.K)

Do you not think it was the courage and grace of Stephen that were the first links of the chain that won that terrible “opposer”, Saul of Tarsus?

There are many today who are opposed to the Gospel.  Don’t be scared of them! Don’t be frightened!  When they see you are not frightened, it will be clear evidence, absolute proof, to them of destruction: but for you of the final triumph of the gospel over all the opposing ones, and over all that the opposing ones can do: and this triumph is of God, not by us.

It may mean suffering . . . but remember there is power that can make even suffering sweet.

(G. Christopher Willis)

“And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us.

Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;

The body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still,

His kingdom is forever.”

(Martin Luther)  

N.J. Hiebert - 7103 

June 5

“Arise . . . for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good; and are ye still? Be not slothful to go, and enter to possess the land: for God hath given it into your hands; a place where there is no want of anything that is in the earth.”

(Judges 18:9,10)

Arise!  Then there is something definite for us to do.  Nothing is ours unless we take it.  “The children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephriam, took their inheritance” (Joshua 16:4). “The house of Jacob shall possess their possessions” (Obadiah 17). “The upright shall have good things in possession.”

We need to have appropriating faith in regard to God’s promises.  We must make God’s Word our own personal possession.

A child was asked once what appropriating faith was, and the answer was, “it is taking a pencil and underscoring all the me’s and mine’s and my’s in the Bible.” 

Take any word you please that He has spoken and say, “That word is my word.” Put your finger on this promise and say, “It is mine.” 

How much of the Word has been endorsed and receipted and said “It is done.” How many promises can you subscribe and say, “fulfilled to me.”

“Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.” 

Don’t let your inheritance go by default.

“When faith goes to market it always takes a basket.”

(Streams in the Desert)

N.J. Hiebert - 7104

June 6

“But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house.”

(Genesis 40:14)

Joseph is a wonderful picture of the Lord, especially here.

A butler with a cup, baker with bread, and a request, “Remember Me.”

The Lord Jesus took bread and a cup and instituted a feast of remembrance. “Remember Me” was His request.

He used emblems that were a part of everyday life, yet how easily we forget. That’s what the butler did.  He forgot!  When he remembered he said, “I remember my faults this day.”

How much better had he remembered Joseph.

What a privilege to remember the Lord as He requested.

(Rex Trogdon)

According to Thy gracious Word, in meek humility,

This would I do, O Christ my Lord, I would remember Thee.

( — J. M.)

N.J. Hiebert - 7105

June 7

“And take the helmet of salvation . . .”

(Ephesians 6:17) 

We are directed to “take the helmet of salvation”; and this not for some particular occasion, and then hang it up till another extraordinary strait calls us to take it down, and use it again; but we must take it so as never to lay it aside, till God shall take off this helmet, to put on a crown of glory in the room of it.

“Be sober, and hope to the end,” is the apostle Peter’s  counsel (1 Peter 1:13) The Christian in complete Armour - William Gurnall (1617- 1679)

N.J. Hiebert - 7106

June 8

“. . . come; for all things are now ready.

and they all with one consent began to make excuse.”

(Luke 14:17-18)

Excuse: The thin skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.

An excuse is an attempt to avoid an issue and to escape responsibility.

A man who lives by excuses endorses conditional obedience and is an excuse for a man.

We may make excuses or we may make progress, but not both at the same time. David faced Goliath before he killed him.

Beware excuses!  An excuse is the symptom of the secret presence of an idol (Genesis 31:31-35).

God provides an escape, not an excuse (1 Corinthians 10:7-13)

Multiplied excuses amount to insult. 

 Excuses cheapen apologies and their users.

They are the maggots which suck the life from an apology.

They are the opposite of repentance.

(Morsel’s for Meditation - J. Kaiser)

N.J. Hiebert - 7107 

June 9

"He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea,

driven with the wind and tossed."

(James 1:6)

The sea when agitated by the wind has visible motions:

to and from  (fluctuation) and another, up and down (undulation).

James in his inimitable words says a sea-wave cannot stay anywhere;

if it is propelled forward, it recedes backward; 

if lifted up, it sinks downward.

So a half-believing soul; whatever onward or upward impulse he gets, he cannot retain. He has no staying qualities and like the surging sea is frothy and flighty.

I wonder, is my testimony, and particularly my prayer life constant, 

consistent and day-by-day continual?

Keep praying!

(Les Rainey)

Pray without ceasing, pray, your Captain gives the word;

His summons cheerfully obey and call upon the Lord.

(Charles Wesley)

N.J. Hiebert - 7108

June 10

“Let not your heart be troubled . . .”

(John 14:1)

“. . . I will trust, and not be afraid . . .”

(Isaiah 12:2)

Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.

But God does not want His children to be fearful, and the best

 way to overcome fear is through the Word of God.

(Corrie Ten Boom)

N.J. Hiebert - 7109

June 11

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.  And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come.   And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

"Surely I come quickly.  Amen.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

(Revelation 22:17,20)

As soon as we are in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ we have got God; God has introduced Himself as a living person to the soul, and all our associations are connected with God.

When He separates any one to Himself,

He plants the blood of Christ right behind them. 

(Gleanings - G. V. Wigram)

N.J. Hiebert - 7110

June 12

"Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. . . .”

(Hebrews 12:2)

UNTO JESUS and it is from Him and  in Him that we learn 

to know, not only without danger, but for the wellbeing of our 

souls, what it is good for us to know about the world and about 

ourselves, our sorrows and our dangers, our resources and our victories: seeing everything in its true light, because it is He Who shows them to us, and that only at the time and in the proportion in which this knowledge will produce in us the fruits of humility and wisdom, gratitude and courage, watchfulness and prayer.

All that it is desirable for us to know, the Lord Jesus will 

teach us; all that we do not learn from Him,

it is better for us not to know. 

(Theodore Monod)

N.J. Hiebert - 7111

June 13

“I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.”

(Luke 12:22,23) 

“Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: How much more are ye better than the fowls?”

(Luke 12:24) 

He was not advocating thriftlessness, nor was He inculcating idleness, nor unconcern as to one’s future responsibilities.  The admonition was that His disciples should avoid anxious thought.

It is not becoming for a child of God to worry about food and clothing, and how to meet the various needs that arise from day to day. “If you worry, you do not trust; if you trust, you do not worry.” 

It was just this that the Lord sought to impress upon His disciples.

Faith can count upon God to meet each need as it arises, provided one is walking in obedience to the Word.

Jesus directed attention to the ravens, which were generally in evidence in Palestine.  Unable to either sow or reap they were provided for by their benevolent Creator. It is unthinkable that He should have more concern for the fowls of the air than for His own children. 

Besides, what is accomplished by worrying?  Can one by anxious thought add to his stature? We grow in height from childhood to maturity as ordered of God. Why not trust Him for the rest.

(H. A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert - 7112 

June 14

"Salvation is of the Lord.”

(Jonah 2:9)

What followed this grand and joyful exclamation?

What followed when the lesson was learned, and the 

eye was off self, off man, and turned to Jehovah alone?

“And Jehovah commanded the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” As soon as Jonah really learned that salvation is of Jehovah, then Jehovah, brought salvation.  And how did he accomplish this salvation? By a word.  He spoke and the fish obeyed.

We have already seen the stormy wind obeying His Word (Jonah 1:15), both in rising, and in being still.  Now we find the great fish equally obedient. The only disobedient one in this book was Jonah, a man, God’s highest creation, a man who was God’s servant and His prophet; and yet he ventured to disobey.

Now Jehovah commanded the fish, and it obeyed.  It all reminds us of when Jehovah, as a Man upon earth, could say to the storm, “Peace, be still,”  or could bring an abundance of fish into Peter’s net or one fish with a piece of money in its mouth, onto Peter’s hook.

His glories shine forth in the Old Testament and New, alike.  

He is the same—wondrous grace that HE whose glories are 

 so bright and so great, should stoop so low for us!

(G. Christopher Willis)

N.J. Hiebert - 7113  

June 15

“The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure.”

(Deuteronomy 28:12)

The Opened Treasure

When the wise men “opened their treasures,” they brought out gold and frankincense and myrrh. When the Lord opens unto us His good treasure, we shall see greater things than these.

The context of this rich promise seems to make the heaven the treasure-house; and in its primary and literal sense, the fertilizing rain is the first outpouring of the opened treasure, soon after expanded into beautiful details of the "precious things of heaven  and . . . the precious things of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 33:13-16)

But the spiritual blessings are closely interwoven with the temporal in the whole passage, and the faithful Israelites who did not look only for transitory promises may well have claimed the opening of heavenly treasures through this promise.

What shall He open unto you? 

 In a word, “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8)

In Him, "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3) but the Lord shall open them unto you. “all are yours” (1 Corinthians 3:22)

(Royal Bounty - F. R. Havergal)

N.J. Hiebert - 7114   

June 16

GOD’S ECOLOGY

“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” 
(Romans 8:22)

MAN HAS BECOME alarmed over the pollution and the deterioration of our environment and ecology became a familiar word.

God spelled it out long ago when He called it “The bondage of corruption” (Romans 8:21) wrought by sin and Satan.

He has told us furthermore that all creation will one day be redeemed from the curse when our Lord reigns here with His people.

He will send His angels to clean up the mess as no modern experts can ever do it.

"The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and cast them into a furnace of fire:  there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

(Matthew 13:41,42)  

As with everything else, God has the true ecology.

(All the Days - Vance Havner - 1901- 1986)

N.J. Hiebert - 7115

June 17

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.”

(Isaiah 53:2) 

He was a tender plant growing up before the Lord, an exotic, a plant from another land. He was native to another climate.  He had been always admired and worshiped in heaven.  Here He was unknown and unnoticed. “The world knew Him not.” 

There was a renown all His own in those tender years because He was content to be lowly and silent without renown in the world His hands had fashioned.  It was a matter of new renown to Him that He who had been so honoured and renowned in heaven should be altogether without renown in this cold, barren world.

Lovely lowliness was never so altogether lovely as when the King of kings was a carpenter in Nazareth.  He whose glory had flooded the heavens walked unknown along the lanes of a despised village in Galilee.

He who had been on the throne of God sat now on a rude bench in a cottage of the poorest of the people.  He whose hand had arranged the stars in the firmament worked hard with saw and hammer to provide that coarse and scanty livelihood that fed the hungry mouths of the labouring poor.  

He in whom God found all His delight was never once recognized or known by those nearest to Him, His kinsman according to the flesh.

He is altogether lovely to the anointed eyes of His people and raptures the heart of God till He opens heaven to exclaim,  “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” 

(Leonard Sheldrake - The Plant of Renown)

N.J. Hiebert - 7116

June 18

“And He led them forth by the right way . . .”

(Psalm 107:7)

Is this the right way home, O Lord?  The clouds are dark and still, The stony path is hard to tread.  Each step brings some fresh ill.

I thought the way would brighter grow, and that the sun with warmth would glow, And joyous songs from free hearts flow.  Is this the right road home?

Yes, child, this very path I trod, the clouds were dark for me, The stony path was sharp and hard.  No sight, but faith could see

That at the end, the sun shines bright, forever where there is no night, And glad hearts rest from earth’s fierce fight.  It is the right road home! 

(A. B. Simpson)  

The Way of the Cross Leads Home   .

I must needs go home by the way of the cross, there’s no other way but this;

I shall ne’er get sight of the gates of light, if the way of the cross I miss.

Chorus

The way of the cross leads home, the way of the cross leads home;

It is sweet to know as I onward go, the way of the cross leads home.

I must needs go on in the blood sprinkled way, the path that the Saviour trod,

If I ever climb to the heights sublime, where the soul is at home with God.

Then I bid farewell to the way of the world, to walk in it nevermore,

For the Lord says, “Come”, and I seek my home where He waits at the open door.

(Jessie Brown Pounds  1861-1921)

N.J. Hiebert - 7117

June 19

“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)

This is the joyful message which the Evangelist carries to the sons and daughters of men everywhere. God’s messenger can assure them that by His redemptive sacrifice, the Saviour and the Friend of man has secured for them a full and free salvation.

1 Timothy 1:15; that repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, bring them into possession of this wondrous gift of God—Acts 20:21, Ephesians 2:8-9; and he can definitely affirm that none that come to our Saviour will be turned away—John 6:37.

(In Pastures Green - George Henderson)

N.J. Hiebert - 7118 

June 20

STUCK IN DISCOURAGEMENT?

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.”

(Habakuk 2:1)

Do you feel stuck in discouragement?  If so, you are not alone.  Even the prophet Habakkuk was deeply discouraged over the state of God’s people, and had many complaints.  At some point everyone experiences dashed hopes.

Disappointment—an emotional response to a failed expectation—is the normal initial reaction. But allowed to linger, it can turn into discouragement, which hovers like a dense cloud. When that’s the case, there is no sense of joy or contentment, no matter what you do.

The circumstances that trigger these emotions may be unavoidable, but the way we respond is a choice. We can either let sadness overwhelm our souls, or face the situation with courage and bring it before the One who can help us.

Living in discouragement will divide the mind, making it hard to focus on anything besides our pain. Then as anger becomes habitual we will look for someone to blame—whether God, people around us, or ourselves.

Frustration that is not handled well may develop into depression, which in turn can estrange us from others—

people do not enjoy the company of someone who is bitter and defeated.  This isolation leads to a low self-esteem. Finally, in a fog of discouragement, we can make poor decisions based on crushed emotions instead of truth.  Obviously, choosing this self-destructive path is not God’s best for our lives.

Habakkuk eventually took his questions to God and waited for His answer.

Though we will all face disappointment from time to time, believers are not to wallow in it.  Instead,  God wants us to trust Him with everything—even our unmet expectations and our deepest sorrows. There is divine purpose for everything He allows to touch our lives. (Romans 8:28)

(Tim Hadley, Sr.)

N.J. Hiebert - 7119

June 21

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUD

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin.” (Romans 6:13)

Quick, angry motions of the heart will sometimes force themselves into expression by the hand, though the tongue may be restrained.

The very way in which we close a door or lay down a book may be a victory or a defeat, a witness to Christ’s keeping or a witness that we are not truly being kept.How can we expect that God will use our hand as an instrument of righteousness unto Him, if we yield it thus as an instrument of unrighteousness unto sin?

Therefore, let us see to it, that it is at once yielded to Him whose right it is; and let our sorrow that it should have ever been for an instant desecrated to Satan’s use, lead us to entrust it henceforth to our Lord, to be kept by the power of God through faith “for the Master’s use.” For when the gentleness of Christ dwells in us, He can use the merest touch of a finger. 

Have we not heard of one gentle touch on a wayward shoulder being the turning-point of a life? I have known a case in which the Master made use of less than that—only the quiver of a little finger being made the means of touching a wayward heart.

(Opened Treasures - Francis Ridley Havergal)

N.J. Hiebert - 7120 

June 22

“We hanged our harps upon the willows . . . 

How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”

(Psalm 137:2,4)

A thousand full-stringed harp is man, and each cord gives a jarring sound,

Till God, the mighty harmonist, the proper note for each has found. 

By no small work can all be tuned how skilled and patient He must be

To bring the thousand jangling notes in sweetest heavenly harmony.

Count not our Father’s chastening sore, but yield thine all to His kind hand;

The strains and tests and pulls and turns in heaven’s song we’ll understand.

No human power can master all the compass vast of harp so fine;

The pierced hand of Christ and God alone can make its praise divine.  

(C. H. P.)

I lived in an old house in the country once, where the wind would sometimes whistle around so that I thought I would have some music if it must blow like that.

So I made a rude Aeolian harp of mere sewing-silk strung acros a board, and placed it under the slightly lifted sash of a north window, and the music was so sweet through all the house when the wild storms came!

Is there any north window in your life?  Could you not so arrange the three wires of faith, hope, and love that the storms of life should only bring more music into this sad world? Many are doing it, and perhaps more music that we dream of comes this way. God has many an Aeolian harp.

(Crumbs)

If you hung your harp upon the willow, take it down and let the Lord blow blessings across its strings — even though you be in a strange land.

(Streams in the Desert - Volume 2)

N.J. Hiebert - 7121   

June 23

“. . . that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world . . .”

(Revelation 12:9)

The Bible speaks of the enemy of our souls as one who “deceiveth the whole world . . . for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44).  He still is.  How clever his approach can be!  Veiled in language which professes a concern for our happiness, it can be accompanied by the fairest of promises.

That was the approach he made to our first parents in the garden of Eden.  “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden . . .?  "And the serpent said, . . . ye shall not surely die . . . For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1 4-5). 

It has been said that in time of war truth is the first casualty.  This is certainly true in the spiritual warfare. There is only one answer to deceit, and that is truth.  We have that in the Word of God— the truth about sin, the truth about happiness, the truth about ourselves, the truth about God.

How vital it is that every Christian should be steeped in the Word of God so that we are not deceived by the enemy of our souls.

(Every Day With Jesus - G. Duncan)

N.J. Hiebert - 7122

June 24

“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God;

and every one that loveth is born of God,

and knoweth God.”

(1 John 4:7)

Though we have the new nature,

we want the power of the Holy Spirit 

in us to remove the obstacles to its display. 

Labour will not do; you may labour, 

but just as a mountain of cold snow, which no labour may 

remove, melts before the bright shining of the sun, and all vanishes away.

So nothing but the warm kindlings of divine affection in the soul by the power of the Holy Spirit will dissolve the thick ice of our hearts, and melts away all that which is in us to obstruct and hider its fuller manifestaion.

(J. N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert - 7123

June 25

“I will put my trust in Him.”

(Hebrews 2:13)

"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble;

and He knoweth them that trust in Him.”

(Nahum 1:7)

Lord teach me how to trust in Thee, and thus less unbelieving be;

To place on Thine unerring care those I love most, and leave them there.

For faith is not a mere belief that Thou canst aid in bitter grief;

Oh, ’tis far greater blessings, Lord, are promised in Thy gracious Word.

N.J. Hiebert - 7124

June 26

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

(Philippians 4:6)

Be on the lookout for mercies.

Blessings brighten when we count them.

Out of the determination of the heart the eyes see.

If you want to be gloomy, there’s gloom enough to keep you glum;

if you want to be glad, there’s gleam enough to keep you glad.

Better lose count in enumerating your blessings than lose your 

blessings in telling your troubles. 

Unbraid the verse into three cords and bind yourself to God with them in trustful, prayerful, thankful bonds, — Anxious for nothing, Prayerful for everything, Thankful for anything — and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(Thoughts for Every-Day Living)

N.J. Hiebert - 7125

June 27

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”  (John 14:1-3)   

Louisa Stead and her husband were relaxing with their four-year-old daughter on a Long Island beach when they heard a desperate child’s cry. A boy was drowning, and Louisa’s husband tried to rescue him. In the process, however, the boy pulled Mr. Stead under the water, and both drowned as Louisa and her daughter watched.

Louisa Stead was left with no means of support except the Lord.  She and her daughter experienced dire poverty. One morning, when she had neither funds not food for the day, she opened the front door and found that someone had left food and money on her doorstep.  That day she wrote this hymn. “’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus”.

Sometimes we mouth platitudes about our Christianity—glibly quoting Scripture and singing songs about trusting Jesus.  For Stead, there was nothing glib or superficial about it. Her hymn remains a timeless reminder and comfort to all believers who have experienced this same truth:

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word,

Just to rest upon His promise, just to know Thus saith the Lord.”

CHORUS: Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er!  Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more!

O how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust His cleansing blood,

Just in simple faith to plunge me 'Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease,

Just from Jesus simply taking  life and rest and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I leaned to trust Him, precious Jesus, Saviour, Friend;

And I know that He is with me, will be with me to the end. 

(Louisa M. R. Stead  1850 - 1917)  .

N.J. Hiebert - 7126

June 28

“Take . . . No Thought for the Morrow"

“Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” (Matthew 6:27)

All one’s anxiety cannot add a cubit to the stature, and how much there is in this way for which we are absolutely dependent on the will of Another.  Why not then leave all things to Him, to whom we have to leave so much? The weakness of a man’s faith is the only really sorrowful weakness after all.  And here the Lord appeals to us, whether those who know God are to find His presence with them count for anything or not.

The Gentiles away from God, seek after these things as His people do; but we have a Father in heaven who knows our need.  We have but to set the heart on His things, and let Him take the burden of ours. Seeking first His kingdom and righteousness, all these things shall be added to us.

He gives us a limit for care, which by itself would very much exclude it.  How much of the burden that we carry belongs really to the morrow—a burden not yet legitimately ours, for who can really tell what shall be on the morrow?

Each day will have its own sufficient evil—not too much, for a careful hand has apportioned it; but by borrowing trouble not yet come, we not only necessarily make the burden of the day too heavy, but we cannot reckon upon divine grace for that which is not come, and bear it thus far without assistance.

Nay, we have lost Him from our thoughts in all this calculation of the unknown future which is in His hands. How often has love in the most undreamed-of way disappointed all our fears!

(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)

N.J. Hiebert - 7127

June 29

“To know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,

that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

(Ephesians 3:19)

Blessed were we if we could make ourselves masters of that invaluable treasure, the love of Christ; or rather suffer ourselves to be mastered and subdued to Christ’s love, so as Christ were our all things, and all others things our nothings, and the refuse of our delights. 

O, let us be ready for shipping against the time our Lord’s 

wind and tide call for us.

There are infinite layers in His love that the 

saints will never get to unfold.

(Samuel Ruterford - 1600-1661)  

N.J. Hiebert - 7128 

June 30

Following Christ

“Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness.”

(Psalm 5:8)

All the way my Saviour leads me—O the fulness of His love! Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above.

When my spirit, clothed immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, This my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way.

(The Treasures of Fanny Crosby)

N.J. Hiebert - 7129