Gems from January 2019

December 1

“Serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with 

many tears, and temptations.” 

(Acts 20:19)

The apostle Paul puts before us here what should characterize every true minister of Christ: 

“Serving the Lord with all humility (lowliness) of mind.” 

If there is any position, any calling where pride should have no place, 

it is in connection with the ministry of the Word of God, for, the minister of Christ is one who was just a poor, lost, needy sinner, but who has been saved by grace and entrusted with a message to the world and to the people of God.  He does not receive this because of any merit of his own. It is all because of the goodness of the Lord. Certainly therefore he has nothing to be proud of.

When people used to crowd around George Whitefield and praise him because of his marvellous preaching, he would stop them like this: “The devil told me that, just before I came down from the pulpit.”

Then he would add, “There are many who can preach the gospel better than I can, 

but none can preach a better gospel.”  It is the message that counts.

The servant is really nothing, and the more we realize this and are willing to take the place of nothingness, the more God delights to come in and work through His servants.

(H. A. Ironside)

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“I ascend unto My Father, and your Father, and to My God and your God.” (John 20:17)

Real true worship is the overflow of the heart to God: and this is exactly what we see in this lovely little verse.That overflow of heart cannot be taught, and cannot be learned: it is spontaneous: it bursts forth from a full heart, just as we see here.

There are many such bursts of praise in the Scriptures: and they are all different: they are not planned, they are not of men, but come from the Holy Spirit within us.  What can we say to such a promise as the one we have just been considering?  

What could a penniless beggar say to a Royal giver who freely gave him a blank Cheque, good for an unlimited amount: a cheque that only needs endorsement—only needs to be appropriated—only needs to be taken as my own: and I have untold riches: what can I say to such an offer, when that offer is made by the Lord God Almighty, My Father?  

In Revelation 5:14, who dare to say where the burst of praise begins, and where it ends? "The elders fell down and worshipped!” is the last we see in that glorious scene; and shall not we say,—as we fall down and worship,— “Now unto  God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

(Philippians 4:20)  

(G Christopher Willis) 

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January 1

"Know ye that the LORD He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”

(Psalm 100:3)

I know a Person who years ago took clay and formed a man.

With great skill this Sculptor made a skeletal system held together by 650 muscles, and a circulatory system with a heart that would pump 658,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels yearly.

He wove together other critical systems: digestive, respiratory, urinary, reproductive, endocrine, and the nervous system with its master controller, the brain. Then He covered it all with twenty square feet of skin. 

No wonder we say "How great Thou art.”

Lord, we worship Thee our Maker, Mediator, and Master.

(Les Rainey)

O Lord, Thy works are all divine; in wisdom hast Thou made them all;

Earth’s teeming multitudes are Thine; Thine—peopled ocean’s great and small.

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January 2

“He hath filled the hungry with good things:

 and the rich He hath sent empty away.”

(Luke 1:53)

If you do not preach the coming of the Lord you only preach a half gospel.

“Apply thine heart unto My knowledge.  For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips” (Proverbs 22:17,18). 

The spirit will never bring a scripture to our lips for use unless we 

have first possessed it in our hearts.

Nothing justifies us in hardness of spirit.

We have to be faithful to God and tender to the one who erred.

(Edward Dennett)

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January 3

“I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” (Isaiah 48:10).

Does not the Word come like a soft shower, assuaging the fury of the flame? Yes, is it not an asbestos armour, against which the heat has no power? Let the affliction come—God has chosen me.

Poverty, thou mayest stride in at my door; but God is in the house already, and He has chosen me. Sickness, thou mayest intrude; but I have a balsam ready—God has chosen me.  Whatever befall me in this vale of tears, I know that He has chosen me. 

Fear not, Christian; Jesus is with thee.

In all thy fiery trials, His presence is both thy comfort and safety.

He will never leave one whom He has chosen for His own.  “Fear not, for I am with thee,"  is His sure word of promise to His chosen ones in “the furnace of affliction.”

(C. H. Spurgeon)

“He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). 

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January 4

“. . . Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth 

unto those things which are before.”

(Philippians 3:13)

The NEW YEAR is not present with us.  Only a NEW DAY! 

So it will be continually.  We shall see but ONE DAY at a time.

If EACH DAY is lived right, the whole year will be right; 

if each day is wrong, the year will be all wrong.

Each day is a white page to be written.

Write it beautifully, and the year will be beautiful.

NEW YEAR PRAYER

Lord, Thou ast given me a clean, new year.  Help me to keep its pages pure, unspoiled; To write upon its scroll but kindly thoughts, with no unsightly blots to have it soiled. 

Let me not mar, in thought or word or deed, this page, so white, so pure, unsullied, fair. Help me to know that when I stand in need of help from Thee, thou’rt always standing there.

When duty calls me, Lord, let pleasure wait.  Let me fulfill my calling.  Let Thy will, Not mine, be done.  Oh let me ever hear Thy calm, approving voice, Thy guidance still.

Lead me, dear Lord, in paths of peacefulness.  But if, perchance, Thy paths should ever lie  O’er mountain trails, though they be rough and bleak, then may I answer, “Master, here am I.”

(I. S. Ellis)       

An artist who was asked, “what is your best picture?” answered, "My next.”

Make tomorrow your best day!

"Yesterday ended last night."

(Mountain Trailways)   

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January 5

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 

by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

(1 Peter 1:23)

An old professor of Biology used to hold  a little brown seed in his hand 

and say, “I know just exactly the composition of this seed.

It has in it nitrogen, hydrogen and carbon.

I know the exact proportions.

I can make a seed that will look exactly like it.

But if I plant my seed it will come to nought:
its element will be absorbed in the soil.

If I plant the seed God made, it will become a plant, because it contains the mysterious principle which we call “the life principle.”

The Bible looks like other books.

We cannot understand altogether its marvellous power.

Planted in good ground it shows that it has the life 

principle in itself; it brings forth spiritual fruit.”

Each page of Thine hath true life in’t,

And God’s bright mind expressed in print.

“The heart is the total personality.”

(Taken from the archives of Tom Dear)

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January 6

“My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart,

and my portion forever.”

(Psalm 73:26)

Has the year brought sadness?  Joy is yet in store.

Has it given gladness?  Next year giveth more.

Let your Father measure all your pain and care,

Let Him weight the burden that your heart must bear.

Sending light or shadow as He deemeth best,

For in His sure wisdom you can safely rest.

Peace for all the morrows, strength for all the days,

These shall be your portion through the New Year’s ways. 

(Flint’s Best-Loved Poems)

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January 7

“I (Jesus) came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

(Luke 5:32)

How is it possible to be blameless—holy?

When we look at ourselves, such words just frighten us.

But when we look unto the Lord, we never need be afraid.

"Faithful is He that calleth you, Who also will do it."

(1 Thessalonians 5:24) 

We can rely on these words, because we know that on the Cross of Calvary all was finished that had to be done to prepare us for the future.

Jesus said: "It is finished.”

and when we look at Calvary’s cross, 

we know: Faithful is He Who did it and Who also will do it. 

It is Jesus Who calls us.

(Corrie Ten Boom)

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January 8

“Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”

(Romans 15:4)

The hope of heaven leaves a blot upon the world in the Christian’s thoughts. He that looks on heaven, must needs look off earth. The soul’s eye can as little as the body’s be above and below at the same time.

Here is not my hope, saith the soul, and therefore not my haunt: my hope is in heaven, from whence I look for my Saviour, and my salvation to come with Him.

Hast thou heaven in hope?

It is more than if thou hadst the whole world in hand.

The greatest monarch the earth hath will be glad, in a dying hour, to change his crown for thy helmet; his crown will not procure him this helmet, but thy helmet will bring thee to a crown; a crown not of gold, but of glory, which, once on, shall never be taken off.

(William Gurnall 1617- 1679)

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January 9

“. . . In the tenth day of this month (April) they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: and if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.”

(Exodus 12:3-4)

At the Passover, if the roast lamb proved to be more than one household needed, they were to share it with “his neighbour next unto his house.”  Have we taken time to feed on the roast Lamb, as well as to take shelter behind His precious blood?

Have we found the roast Lamb to be an inexhaustible feast, enough for me and my household, with unlimited supplies for my neighbour next to my house?  That is a good place to begin.

Let us each one share the roast Lamb with our neighbour in the house next unto us and we may find in time,  as our Lord pointed out to the lawyer, that “my neighbour” may be one of another nation, one who for years has been despised and scorned and neglected; then let me go and share the roast Lamb with him also.

Let us be clear, the Lord may send us where He will, be it near or far. Because He is God the Lord, our Lord, He has the right, and the authority to send us anywhere He pleases.

(G. C. Willis)

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January 10

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 3:14)

People often talk of the heavenly calling as if it were a piece of knowledge or a theory.

Was it such to Enoch when he walked with God, or with Moses when he endured as seeing Him who is invisible?  Don’t let our minds take it up as a piece of knowledge instead of realizing a living Christ in heaven.

It is that living Man on the throne of God who has distinctly called me by name, and not only that, but He bears my name before God, as one for whom He has done a great deal, and for whom He means to do a great deal more.  Why does my soul go up and find its anchorage up there?  Why?  Oh, that living Man who has stolen my heart is up there.

He who, as Son of God, thought it worth while to come off the throne to go to the cross as my substitute, to take the cup of wrath due to me.  And God has put His Amen upon this love which is stronger than death.

And is it not a reasonable thing for me to say that if the Son of God loved me and gave His life for me, I must love Him in the place where He is?  How blessed, as God’s eye rests on Him and then comes down to look on me, to have the certainty that, weak and foolish though I be, I shall never find Him against me; that I am so one with that risen Head, that God can say, What is true of the Head is true of the members!

How unutterly blessed to be able to say that that One crowned with glory and honour on the throne of God, is the One round whom my heart’s affections should centre more and more!  And that this risen Son of man up there, is occupied with a suffering people down here, in all the circumstances they may have to pass through.

(G. V. Wigram)

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January 11

“Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I swear to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.”

(Numbers 14:30)

The wilderness was a bracing air to Joshua and Caleb, they were full of hope.

The new man has no strength of his own—no back to bear a burden.

He has only the Holy Ghost to depend on.

The very first principle of the Christian’s walks is not to 

do his own will,—not even in good things.

(Hunt’s Sayings)

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January 12

“Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”

(Matthew 5:15)

“The night has a thousand eyes, and the day but one;

Yet the light of the bright world dies with dying sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes and the heart but one;

Yet the light of the whole life dies when love is done.” 

I do not know who wrote this little poem, but it is true.

Do you feel you can’t do much for anyone?

I feel like that often.  But we can love.

And love is like light.

If the candle of love is shining, then even though it is only a 

little candle it gives light to all who are in the house. 

God make us all His candles.

(Amy Carmichael)

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January 13

ALL THE DAYS

“Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

(Matthew 28:20)

ALWAY MEANS  “all the days,” any day, every day.

There will be days when we are not conscious of God’s presence,

when it may seem that He has forgotten us, but

He is there although we perceive Him not.

Christ lives in the believer’s heart and the Holy Spirit is alongside us to help. There are no exceptions — any day, every day, all the days — the promise holds.

This day, today, is the day the Lord hath made.

Let us be glad and rejoice in it.

(Psalm 118:24)

You may feel like saying,  “This just isn’t my day,” but it is His day!

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

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January 14

"He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words.”

(Luke 24:6-8)

We love to look within the tomb,

Thy death has robbed of all its gloom;

The stone forever rolled away;

Thy death the power of death did slay.

We joy to see Thee, Lord, arise 

Triumphant through the opening skies;

And hear all heaven united own

Thee worthy to ascend the throne.

(J. G. Deck)

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January 15

I have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25)

When I came to the gate that is at the head of the way, the Lord of that place gave me such things that were necessary for my journey and bade me hope to the end.

(Pilgrim’s Progress)

Every traveler setting out on a journey naturally wonders, "What is the distance?  Am I equal to it?  How shall I fare on the road?”

Perpetual strength to walk in God’s way is found to be the traveler’s birthright. His sandals are proof against the roughest road and tender feet grown weary with the long journey shall be carried in His strong arms.

Upon the threshold of another year we stand again.

We know not what of gladness and good cheer of grief or pain

May visit us while journeying to its close.  In this we rest,

God dealeth out in wisdom what He knows for us is best.

(Thomas Wearing)

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January 16

No Hurt.

“Nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

(Luke 10:19)

Is not this one of those very strong promises which we are apt to think are worded a little too strongly, and off which we take a great discount?  Now, instead of daring a “Yea hath God said?” (Genesis 3:1) let us just take all the comfort and rest and gladness of it for ourselves.

Let us believe every word, just as our beloved Master uttered it to the simple-hearted seventy (Luke 10:17) who were so surprised to find His name so much more powerful than they expected.

Nothing!  If He said “nothing,” have we any right to add, yes, but except . . .? Nothing can hurt those who are joined to Christ, “for with me thou shalt be in safeguard,” (1 Samuel 22:23) unless anything could be found which should separate us from Him. 

And “who shall separate us?” (Romans 8:35)  Earthly tribulations even the most terrible, shall not do it, for “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us (Romans 8:37).” 

Yet a farther reaching and, indeed, entirely exhaustive list is given, none of which, “nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us.” 

Let us take everything that possibly could hurt us to that list, and see for ourselves if it is not included, and then rejoice in the conclusion, based and built upon Christ’s bare word, but buttressed and battlemented by this splendid utterance of His inspired apostle that it is indeed so—“nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

(Royal Bounty - Havergal) 

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January 17

“He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in Himself:

He that believeth not God hath made Him a liar;

because he believeth not the record 

that God gave of His Son.”

(1 John 5:10)

The sin of men is in making God a liar when they do not believe the record God has given of His Son; for men do quarrel with you when you tell them you know that you are saved. They ask how you can know that— which is just as much as saying that God is not capable of communicating any blessing to man.

It is calling God’s wisdom in question, as well as His power, in the testimony of His mercy and grace. This is what I have felt in the great question about the Bible.  It is not whether it is the people's right to have the Bible, but it is questioning God’s right in giving it.

The treason is in keeping away God’s message from His servants.  It is not merely the servant’s right to have the message, but it is God’s right in giving it that is called in question, as it is interfering with God’s right of communicating His thoughts in His word.  

Whenever God gives a revelation, man is responsible to receive it.  God has given a witness in which He reveals the glory His Son; and when man calls in question that word, he is disputing with God in the testimony of His grace as to what He is.

(J. N. Darby)

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January 18

“Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, 

abstain from fleshly lusts, which 

war against the soul.”

(1 Peter 2:11)  

Thou my everlasting portion, more than friend or life to me,

All along my pilgrim journey, Saviour, let me walk with Thee.

Close to Thee, close to Thee, all along my pilgrim journey,

Saviour, let me walk with Thee.

“A man that hath friends must show himself friendly:

and there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

(Proverbs 18:24)

Not for ease or worldly pleasure, not for fame my prayer shall be;

Gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with Thee.

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.”

(Psalm 23:4)

Lead me through the vale of shadows, bear me o’er life’s fitful sea;

Then the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee.

Close to Thee, close to Thee, Close to Thee, close to Thee;

Then the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee.  

(The Treasury of Fanny Crosby)

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January 19

“And as he was now gong down, his servants met him,

and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

(John 4:51)

A father’s love for his son drove him to seek help from the Lord Jesus,

“Sir, come down e’er my child die."

Surprisingly, the Lord did not go with him, as He had done in similar circumstances, but simply said, “Go thy way, Thy son liveth.”

When the man returned, he discovered that the fever had left his son at the very hour that Jesus had spoken.

As a result he believed, and his household.

We have seen this happen, where an initial act of faith by one family member has swept through 

the whole family in glorious salvation.

May we look for this kind of outcome in our witness today.

(W. H. Burnett)

Life, life abundant life, Jesus alone is the giver,

Life, life abundant life, glory to Jesus forever.

(William Leslie)

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January 20

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” (Psalm 34:4)

The Scottish preacher, John McNeil, related this personal incident. During his boyhood in Scotland, he worked a long distance from home. The walk home took him through a dense forest and across a wide ravine.

The ravine was known to house such nefarious tenants as wild animals and robber gangs. Darkness would often gather before he got to the woods, and he said, ”How I dreaded to make the last part of the trip!  I never went through those woods without trembling with fear." 

One night it was especially dark, but I was aware that something or someone was moving stealthily toward me. I was sure it was a robber.  A voice called out, and its eerie tone struck my heart cold with fear. I thought I was finished.  Then came a second call, and this time I could hear the voice saying, "John, is that you?" It was my father’s voice.

He had known my fear of the ravine and the darkness of the forest, and he had come out to meet me.  My father took hold of my hand and put his arm around me; I never had a sweeter walk in my life.  His coming changed the whole trip. 

That is God’s relationship to you and me!  He is your Father and my Father. Through the darkness and mist we hear His voice - He has come to meet us. 

Just at the time we need Him, He will be there.

Through the darkest moment of life our Heavenly Father says, 

FEAR NOT!  Here is My hand!  I will walk the rest of the way with you.

(Streams in the Desert - Vol. 2)

Nor will I rebel if the Master sees fit in His plan divine,

To lead me through darkest of valleys, without e’en a ray of light,

Where loneliness wrappeth around me the awesomeness  of the night.   

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January 21

“My cup runneth over"  (Psalm 23 :5).

There is a process needed in all our souls, that we should be able to say: “My cup runneth over.” This is not the experience of the first part of the Psalm.  There, in being able to say: “The Lord is my Shepherd,” it is easy to add: “I shall not want.”

Accordingly, we find the Shepherd’s care expressed in the green pastures and still waters of His providing, that the soul thus invigorated (for this is the meaning of “restore,” as food or rest restores) may walk “in the paths or righteousness for His Name’s sake.”

But in the latter part of the Psalm there is a marked change.  The green pastures and waters of rest are no longer present to the soul, but the valley of the shadow of death. This is commonly taken to mean a death-bed.

  

Practically the experience of this Psalm is only reached on a death-bed.  But it ought not to be so;  and that this is not the thought of the passage may be clear from the words: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”

(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)

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January 22

“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32)

First observe that the Lord warns him.  Then note two other most touching things, the Lord’s prayer for him before he fell, and the Lord’s look at him after. “Satan hath desired to have you,”  is divinely met, in grace, by ”but I have prayed for thee.”    

The Lord made use of Satan to break the self-confidence which was the cause of Peter’s fall, but the Lord’s controlling hand was upon the enemy, even so, and he was allowed to go so far and no farther; and I believe that when the day of Pentecost came, and Peter, restored, and happy in His master’s love, was the means of three thousand souls coming to Christ, and being saved, the devil was heartily sorry that that he had not left him alone in the high priest’s hall.

But for that bitter experience he would never have been enough broken down, humbled, and self-emptied, for the Lord to use him in that marvellous manner.

(W. T. P. Wolston)

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January 23

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving-kindness: According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions."

(Psalm 51:1)

“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee.”

(Isaiah 44:22)

I have buried them there—where no mortal can see!

I have cast all your sins in the depths of the sea!

In the depths, in the depths, where the storm cannot come,

Where its faint echo falls like a musical drum,

Where no mortal can enter, your faults to deride—

For above them forever flows love’s mighty tide! 

(Unknown)

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January 24

“For the which cause I also suffer things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12)

"It’s not what you know, its who you know.”  That’s what we say when job hunting, but it’s also a foundational Christian truth.  We can study an entire lifetime to try to discover who God is and how to reach Him.  But it all comes down to one question:  Do we know Jesus?

As a POW during the Civil War, Daniel Whittle began reading the New Testament his mother had given him as he marched off to war, and he committed his life to Jesus Christ.

After the war, Whittle was promoted to the rank of major and then became a successful businessman. In 1873 he began preaching in evangelistic services, and for a quarter-century he led revivals throughout the United States.  

He also encouraged some of the leading song writers of his time and wrote many hymns himself, including “Showers of Blessing” and "Moment by Moment.”  Whittle penned this hymn in 1883, perhaps thinking back to questions he had asked during his imprisonment. There were still many things he didn’t know, but he certainly did know Jesus.

I Know Whom I Have Believed 

I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me He hath made known,

Nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own.

But "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able

to keep that which I‘ve committed unto Him against that day.”     

I know not how this saving faith to me He did impart,

Nor how believing in His Word wrought peace within my heart.

I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin,

Revealing Jesus through the Word, creating faith in Him.

I know not when my Lord may come, at night or noonday fair,

Nor if I’ll walk the vale with Him, or “meet Him in the air.”

Daniel Webster Whittle (1840–1901) 

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January 25

“Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou has laid up for them that fear Thee; which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!”

(Psalm 31:19)

We do not see it all now, it is hidden away, 

kept for a surprise of love.

“Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence from the pride of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.  Blessed be the Lord: for He hath showed me His marvellous kindness in a strong city.”

(Psalm 31:20-21)

What is my city today?  What are my circumstances?

Just where I am He waits to make His loving kindness wonderful to me.

Whoso hath know that comforting, 

The inward touch that maketh whole,

How can he ever chose but sing to Thee, 

O Lover of his soul?

(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)

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January 26

“The heart of the righteous studieth (ponders) to answer: 

But the mouth of the lawless poureth out evil things.”

(Proverbs 15:28)

The man who walks in the fear of God will weigh his words,

lest by a hasty utterance he dishonour His Lord and hinder where he desires to help.

The wicked has no such consideration, and speaks whatever comes to his lips, let it do what harm it may.

People often actually pride themselves on being, as they suppose, frank and outspoken, when in reality they are simply manifesting the unexercised state of their consciences: for, if truly aroused to the value of words, they would weigh them well ere giving them out, and thus save much mischief and sorrow.

Because a thing is true, it is not necessarily a fit subject to be discussed, and passed on from one to another.

The righteous will consider carefully its bearing for good or ill

before uttering what can never be fully recalled.

(H. A. Ironside)

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January 27

“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”

(John 17:16)

The question is not, what harm is there in this or that? but, is it a Christian object? It is well to see this.  We may depend upon it, without doubt, that one great reason of the low tone which prevails among Christians will be found in the fact that the eye is taken off Christ and fixed upon some lower object.

It may be a very laudable object for a mere man of the world—for one who merely sees his place in the world, or in the old creation.  But the Christian is not this.  He does not belong to this world at all. He is in it, but not of it.  “They,” says our blessed Lord, "are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:16).

“Our citizenship is in Heaven;” and we should never be satisfied
to propose to ourselves any lower object than Christ.

It matters not in the least what a man’s position may be.  He may be only a scavenger, or he may be a prince, or he may stand at any one of the many gradations between these two extremes.

It is all the same, provided Christ is his real, his only object. It is a man’s object, not his position, that gives him his character.  

(C. H. Mackintosh)

           

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January 28

A FIXED GAZE MAKES  A SURE STEP

“For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” (Proverbs 3:26)

You cannot keep from stumbling at all, but He is “able to keep you from falling,” which in the Greek is strongly and distinctly “without stumbling.”

The least confidence in or expectation from yourself not only leads to inevitable stumbling but it is itself a grievous fall.  “But, how shall I be kept?”  Jesus Himself has answered:  “If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.” 

“Walk in the light,” “looking unto Jesus,” and so shall we be “kept by the power of God through faith.” 

We tell a little child to look where it steps and pick its way, but Christ’s little children are to do just the opposite; they are to look away to Him.  “Let thine eyes look (not down, but) right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee,” and it is on Him, the Light of the world, that the gaze must be fixed. 

(Opened Treasures - Francis Ridley Havergal)

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January 29

The Real Deal

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience . . .” 

(Hebrews 10:22)

There was a story told of young man who saw several targets on the barn of a friend.  In the center of every bulls-eye there was a bullet hole.  He asked his friend who had done the shooting? His friend said he had.  He was amazed at what a crack shot his friend was.  Then, his friend confessed that he had shot the barn first, then painted the targets around the holes. 

I wonder how many of us have pulled off a similar ruse in our Christian lives?  I wonder, have I been guilty of that? Let’s ask ourselves, am I trying to give the impression that my life is on target with God, that I’m the real deal, or am I just a good painter?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, meekness, temperance . . .”(Galatians 5:22-23).  - only the Holy Spirit can produce those qualities in your and me. We are sealed with the Spirit when we receive Christ.

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom ye also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

(Ephesians 1:13)

Are you seeking to portray those virtues apart from having Christ in you life as your Saviour and Lord? Are you just painting?  I pray that God’s word will speak to you about this. In this eternal matter we must be the real deal!

Please ask yourself, am I living my life with a “true heart?”  Is my heart free from an “evil conscience?” Or am I doing some painting too.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me"  (Galatians 2:20). 

(L.I.F.E. Lines - F. Pratt)

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January 30

"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works.”

(Psalm 73:28)

If we live near enough to Christ we live for the church not from it. It is . . . not by what we find, but by what we bring that we can serve in Christianity.

“. . . living in the good with Him, you carry it in with you into the service and circumstances of the church. . . .  You must not want the support of the walking well of the church. It is the greatest comfort, but you must be for Christ whatever the church needs.

If we get near to the Lord, if we are in communion with God within the holy place, we see all the saints with His eyes, as dear to Him . . . objects of Christ’s delight and the fruit of the travail of His soul; then intercession for them is easy, and faithfulness to them becomes easy and gracious too. . . . 

(J. N. Darby)

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January 31

A DEATH REMEMBERED

“And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straightly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit: you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”

(Exodus 13:19)

So it comes to pass in the power of faith’s vision of the living God he gives directions concerning his bones.  They are not to be left in Egypt.

What a witness to the Israelites must the coffin of Joseph have been through the long centuries, for ever reminding them that not even death itself can hinder the living God from fulfilling all His pleasure, and carrying out His purpose for His people.

So in accord with the oath made to Joseph, when at last they leave the land of Egypt, “Moses took the bones of Joseph with Him” (Exodus 13:19),  still to be a witness to faith in God, throughout the forty years of wilderness journeyings. 

And when at last they reach the land of promise, his body is buried  “in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor” (Joshua 24:32), there to sleep in the dust of the earth until he awakes to everlasting life and stands in his lot at the end of days. 

(Hamilton Smith)

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February 1

“Ye are the light of the world.

A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

(Matthew 5:14)

“Let your lights so shine before men, that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

(Matthew 5:16)

Moody once said, "Do you know what the moon did when the dog barked at it?

It just kept on shining!” If the sons of darkness bark at us, 

just keep on shining, and someone who is stumbling in 

the darkness will be guided to Christ.

(E. MacLelland)

Jesus bids us shine with a clear, pure light,

Like a little candle burning in the night;

In this world of darkness we all must shine,

You in your small corner and I in mine.

(Susan Warner)

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February 2

This Is the Way

"This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand,

and when ye turn to the left.”

(Isaiah 30:21)

We can walk together with God.  We can share life with Him.

We can be acutely aware of His presence on the path.  We can know His intimate friendship.

We can be guided by Him in every area we enter.  

We can sense His gracious Spirit by our side, speaking 

distinctly, emphatically saying to us, “This is the way; walk in it.” 

This is the life to which God calls human beings.  He longs for our companionship. Down through the long centuries of human history, He has come and come and come, calling men and women to walk with Him, just as today He calls us.

(Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller)

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