Gems from August 2019

August 1

THE  BLIND  MAN

“And He took the blind man by the hand, 

and led him out of the town."

(Mark 8:23)

Lead me, my Saviour; take me by the hand,

For Thou can’st see those steps unseen by me.

I cannot walk by sight; ’tis well that Thou hast planned

How I may walk secure by faith in Thee.

Lead me, my Master; let me feel Thy hand,

E’en while Thy face as yet I cannot see.

What though “without the city” I must take my stand,

No-one is lonely while in touch with Thee.

Lead me, Lord Jesus, till at last Thy hand

From my dark blindness sets me gladly free.

The way Thou leadest now I then shall understand,

And, best and brightest, then I’ll gaze on Thee.

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

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August 2

“He shall dwell on high: His place of defence shall be the [fortresses] of rocks: . . . Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty:  they shall behold the land that is very far off.”

(Isaiah  33:16-17)

Up yonder on the rocky cliff in a rough nest of sticks lies an egg.  The eagle’s breast-feathers warm it; the sky bends down and invites it; the abysses of the air beckon it saying: 

“All our heights and depths are for you; come and occupy them.”

And all the peaks and the roomy places up under the rafters of the sky, where the twinkling stars sit sheltered like twittering sparrows, call down to the pent-up little life, “Come up hither!” and the live germ inside hears through the thin walls of its prison, and is coaxed out of its shell, and out of the nest, and off the cliff, and then up and away into the wide ranges of sunlit air, and down into the deep gulfs that gash mountains apart.

(A Pilgrim of the Infinite) 

I stand upon the mount of God with sunlight in my soul; I hear the storms in vales beneath, I hear the thunders roll.

But I am calm with Thee, my God, beneath these glorious skies; And to the height on which I stand, no storms, nor clouds, can rise.

O, THIS is life! O, this is joy!  My God, to find Thee so; Thy face to see, Thy voice to hear, and all Thy love to know.”

(Horatius Bonar)

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August 3

“For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews . . . seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”

(Esther 10:3)

In these days of selfishness and greed, it is refreshing to read of a man who used his elevated position to bless others.

God’s hand protected Mordecai and saw him saved from what seemed to be certain death and lifted to a place of political power and influence.

Instead of using it for his own benefit, Mordecai sought the wealth of his people. May God help us to be generous and selfless with God’s blessings to us. 

(G. S.)

As we receive, so let us give, with ready, generous hand, Rich fruitage from the lives we live, to bless our home and land.

(P. A Chub)

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August 4

“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered . . . Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. . . . Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.”

(Genesis 13:10-13)

What testimony was Lot in Sodom?  A very feeble one indeed, if one at all. The very fact of his settling himself there was the death-blow to his testimony.

To have spoken a word against Sodom and its ways, would have been to condemn himself, for why was he there?

But, in truth, it does not by any means appear that to testify for God formed any part of his object in “pitching his tent toward Sodom.”

Personal and family interests seem to have been the leading springs of action in his heart; and though, as Peter tells us, “ . . . his righteous soul was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked, from day to day, ”(2 Peter 2:7) yet had he but little power to act against it, even if inclined to do so.

It is important, in a practical point of view, to see that we cannot be governed by two objects at the same time.

(C. H. Macintosh)

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August 5

“. . . fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: 

but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

(Ephesians 6:4)

Mark you broad and rapid stream! brilliant though its surface seem,

Mingling in its depth below, poisonous currents surely flow.

Christian parents, pause to think, on that treacherous river’s brink,

Ere you launch your tiny bark on those waters deep and dark.

Yours the path of Jesus here, seek it for your children dear.

Though you cannot life impart, cannot bow the stubborn heart;

Do not help to weave a chain you would gladly break again.

Shall not He who for you died, food and raiment still provide?

He who has your children given, He can bless for earth and heaven.

Seek then first His holy will, seek His pleasure to fulfill.

Constant still in faith and prayer, that this blessing they may share.

And when by the Spirit’s power comes the gladly welcomed hour;

When the lips you love so well, of a Saviour’s grace shall tell,

They will have no cause to say that you turned their feet astray;

Rather, from their earliest youth, taught and nurtured in the truth,

May their light unhindered shine, to the praise of grace divine.

(The Christian Shepherd - Doug Nicolet April 2010 - Anon)

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August 6

TRUSTING  JESUS

"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”

(Psalm 37:3-5) 

“Simply trusting every day” along a ”stormy way,” “in danger” when “the path is drear” or "if the way is clear”—what a valuable lesson for each of us to learn.  We are so prone to look ahead in life to see how our problems will be solved or where our path will lead.

We waste much time and energy in worrying instead of simply trusting, delighting, and committing our ways to the Lord.  That’s how to find His strength and wisdom to face our problems and responsibilities for tomorrow and all the days ahead.

Edgar Page Stites, author, had learned that spiritual lesson.  He discovered that “While He leads I cannot fall.”  God’s way in our lives is always far superior to the path we might have chosen.  

Simply trusting ev’ry day, trusting through a stormy way; even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus—that is all. 

Brightly does His Spirit shine into this poor heart of mine; while He leads I cannot fall, trusting Jesus—that is all.

Singing if my way is clear, praying if the path be drear; if in danger, for Him call, trusting Jesus—that is all.

Chorus: Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by; trusting Him what’er befall, trusting Jesus—that is all.    

(Edgar Page Stites)

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August 7

’TIS  THE  NIGHT  THAT REVEALS  THE  STARS . . . AND  THE  BLESSINGS  AND  FAITHFULNESS  OF  GOD

“He made the stars also.”

(Genesis 1:16)

“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”

(Psalms 8:3,4)

When the astronomer Edwin Frost of the Yerkes Observatory was nearing his death, he was asked, “Doctor, are you afraid to die?” Frost, who had lost his eyesight, smiled and shook his head, "I’ve seen too many stars to be afraid of the night.”

Most people think of the night as something negative, or something of absence.  But to an astronomer, night is the time of revelation, of mysteries, and fullness.  It’s the night that reveals the stars.

Take this attitude of the astronomer to every part of your life.  See the dark times of your life in a new way. They are there to reveal the blessings and faithfulness of God - even the lights of God. For the righteous shine as stars. (Daniel 12:3).  When?  At night. 

For stars and astronomers, the night is the time of shining and blessing. Therefore, don’t fear the dark times, the hard times, or the bad times.  For it’s in the night when the stars shine most bright. Don’t focus on the dark, but focus on shining.

And remember that it’s at night when God’s blessings and faithfulness also shine. And you’ve seen too many stars to be afraid of the night. 

(With thanks - Dr. F. Charters)

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August 8

THE  PLANTING  OF  THE  LORD

“And I will raise up for them a plant of renown . . .”

(Ezekiel 34:29)

Plants are renowned for their fruit; all fruit is from plants.

Christ was God’s plant of renown in fulfillment of the promise of Jehovah: (Ezekiel 34:29).  He was that choice Vine whose fruit cheered both God and man (Judges 9:13; see also John 15:1-8).

He is also the wheat that grew in God’s field, to make the bread to strengthen man’s heart (Psalm 104:15). The fig tree was renowned for its sweetest, and the upright palm for its luscious dates.

The cedar of Lebanon was renowned for its majesty, and even the hyssop that sprang out of the wall had its own renown as the agent in the hand of the priest sprinkling precious blood on the leper to make him clean  (Leviticus 14:6-7).

All the fruit that ever grew, or herbs for the service of man, must be united into one volume of preciousness to present the glory and grace of Christ; who was raised up for us, as well as for Israel, to be God’s plant of renown.

(A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake)

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August 9

FOR  HIS  TIME

“Our times are in Thy hand.”  (Psalm 31:15)

When South African pastor Andrew Murray was visiting England in 1895, He began to suffer pain from a previous back injury.  While he was recuperating, his hostess told him of a woman who was in great trouble and wanted to know if he had any counsel for her.

Murray said, “Give her this paper which I have been writing for my own [encouragement].  It may be that she will find it helpful.”  This is what Murray wrote:

"In time of trouble say:

First—God brought me here.  It is by His will I am in this strait place.  In that I will rest.

Next—He will keep me in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.

Then—He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons He intends me to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.
Last—In His good time He can bring me out again—

how and when He knows. I am here—
by God’s appointment, in His keeping,

under His training, for His time.” 

We want the instant solution, the quick fix, 

but some things cannot be disposed of so readily;

they can only be accepted.  God will keep us by His love.

By His grace, we can rest in Him.

When God permits suffering, He also provides comfort.

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August 10

**Psalm 7 Title: Shiggaion [a song] of David, which he sang unto the Lord,

concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.

O LORD my God, in Thee do I put my trust: save me from all them 

that persecute me, and deliver me.

Psalm 7:1

I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing

praise to the name of the Lord most high.

Psalm 7:17 *

Cush is mentioned in the title** of Psalm 7, and we see that disagreeable person doing exactly as people sometimes do to us.  We see, too, what we should do when distressed by them. David sang unto the Lord.  He told Him all about it and then he turned from it  and sang those happy words at the end of the Psalm 7:17.*

If a Cush springs up among us, with his unkind and untrue accusations, let us try David’s way. According to Matthew 5:23-24 the first thing to do is to go to Cush and try to get things straight.  

If that fails, the right thing to do is not to discuss it with others, or to be miserable about it, brooding over it in a dreadful gloomy silence.  The right thing is to sing.

The wicked pleasure of hurting another is hateful, devilish.  The Lord

make us pure all through, like those of whom it is written in 

Revelation 3:4, They shall walk with Me in white: 

for they are worthy.

(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael 1867-1951)

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August 11

Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.

Psalm 90:17

One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;

that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days 

of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD.

Psalm 27:4

How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!

Zechariah 9:17

And this God is our God. Let us be glad in Him today, 

and stay where we can see His beauty.

One thing have I desired, my God, of Thee,

That will I seek—Thine house be home to me.

I would not breathe an alien, other air,

I would be with Thee, O Thou fairest Fair.

For I would see the beauty of my Lord,

And hear Him speak, Who is my heart’s Adored.

(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)

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August 12

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.

(Treasures From Fanny Crosby) 

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August 13

WHAT  IS  A  CHRISTIAN?

And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ.  This is the true God, and eternal life.

1 John 5:20

Are you a Christian?  Oh, you say, that is a very plain question.  Then let it have an honest answer now.  But what do you mean by a Christian? you ask.  I mean by a Christian a person that really knows Christ —not a person that knows something about Him but a person that really knows Christ as his own Saviour.

A Christian is one who knows the rejected and once slain, but now raised and glorified, Saviour at God’s right hand, and is connected with and united to that risen Saviour where He now is.  A Christian is one who is born again of God, whose sins are all forgiven, all blotted out—and who has received the Holy Spirit.

These are all things you can know. If you can only say, “I hope this is all mine,” you are not a true Christian in the proper sense of the word; and, frankly, you have not got hold of the real essence of Christianity yet.

A Christian is one that is indissolubly connected with the victorious risen Saviour.  He is linked to the One who went down first of all into death for him, bore his sins, blotted them all out, and met all the claims of God in righteousness in respect of those sins.  That Saviour is risen without a single sin, and has gone into God’s presence to prepare a place and take him to it.

The blessing of the believer is this—he knows his sins are forgiven, he knows he is saved, and he knows God is his Father; he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him, and he is a person standing on the other side of death and judgment, waiting, at the return of the Bridegroom (Jesus), for glory.  Are you a Christian?  Have you that title to glory without a flaw?  What is that title?  The precious blood of Christ—nothing more, and nothing less. 

W. T. P. Wolston          

  

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August 14

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

John 14:18

The “Man of Sorrows” is well qualified to be our Comforter. He says that in the moment we are in need of comfort, "I will come to you.”

He has already come all the way from glory to a manger in Bethlehem and then to a cross on Calvary in order to save us and dry away our tears.

Through His ministry He shed His tears at our sad lot and then He shed His blood to make a way for things to be right again for us. 

He is, “A Friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24).

There is no sorrow which He has not experienced.

Cheer up beloved saint, 

there is no sorrow, which our Blessed Comforter cannot console. 

Milton Haack

When God lays men upon their backs,

Then they look up to heaven.

Thomas Watson

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August 15

GOD’S  ENDURING  WORD

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.

Matthew 24:35

At the beginning of World War II, aerial bombings flattened much of Warsaw, Poland.  Cement blocks, ruptured plumbing, and shards of glass lay strewn across the great city.  In the downtown area, however, most of one damaged building still stubbornly stood.  It was the Polish headquarters for the British and Foreign Bible Society.  Still legible on a surviving wall were these words:

“Heaven and earth will pass away, 

but My words will never pass away” Matthew 24:35

Jesus made that statement to encourage His disciples when they asked Him about the “end of the age” (verse 3).  But His words also give us courage in the midst of our embattled situation today.  Standing in the rubble of our shattered dreams, we can still find confidence in God’s indestructible character, sovereignty, and promises. 

The psalmist wrote: “For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89).  But it is more than the word of the Lord; it is His very character.  That is why the psalmist could also say, “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations” (verse 90).

As we face devastating experiences, we can define them either in terms of despair or of hope. Because God will not abandon us to our circumstances, we can confidently choose hope.  His enduring Word assures us of His unfailing love.  

Dennis Fisher    

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Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries. copyright (2016) Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission. 

August 16

“COME” . . . “NOW”

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord.  Isaiah:1:18 

The Hoy Ghost saith, today.  Hebrews 3:7

And he [Pharaoh] said, tomorrow.  Exodus 8:10

“Come now!”  Nothing can be plainer.  Therefore, if you postpone coming, you are calmly disobeying God.

When we bid a child to “come,” we do not count it obedience unless he comes at once, then and there. It is not obedience if he stops to consider, and cooly tells you he is really thinking about coming, and waits to see how long you will choose to go on calling him.

What right have we to treat our Holy Lord as we would not think of letting a naughty child treat us? He says, “Come now.”  And “now” does not mean tomorrow.

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not 

your hearts.” Hebrews 3:15. 

Put it to yourself, what if this night God should require your soul of you, and you had not "come”? 

What if the summons find you still far off, when the precious blood was ready, by which you might have been brought nigh?

Precious, precious blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary;

Shed for rebels, shed for sinners, shed for me.

Precious blood, whose full atonement makes us nigh to God!

Precious blood, our song of glory, praise and laud.

F. R. Havergal

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August 17

My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. - Psalm 34:2 

We have to be what we are in Christ.

If you want to what to cheer and encourage souls, boast of the Lord,—and not of self, or attainments.

There will be a complete emancipation from self, There, and we shall delight in the Son. The creature will be brought into His perfection—occupied with the Creator, and no longer with himself,—not even with his own beauty.

Hunt’s Sayings

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August 18

The house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

John 12:3

This was a matter of fact, but underlying 

the fact is the teaching that nothing is so fragrant 

to the heart of God, or to the hearts of the saints when in communion with Him, as an act of absorbing devotedness to Christ.

This is the secret of all blessing—giving the Lord the supreme place. Thinking first of what is due to Him, and losing sight of all else until this is rendered.

Edward Dennett

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August 19

Occupy till I come.  

Luke 19:13

I am never really in the spirit of service if I do not remember that 

Christ is an absent and rejected Lord.

I am . . . a servant who has to recognize the sorrowful fact that 

his Master has been rejected and insulted here.

Is it not a tender thought that the very sorrows and insults which 

have been heaped upon Him here are so many 

fresh claims on one’s affections?

The heart, not the head, is the parent of eloquence.

J. G. Bellett

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August 20

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35

Priscilla Howe once described the Word of God as the Book that contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Therefore, how can it ever fade from the grasp of man?  Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy.

It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.  It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the soldier’s sword, and the Christians’s charter.  Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end.  It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet.  Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure.

It is given you in life, will be opened in the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the  greatest labour, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred content.

Priscilla Howe   

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August 21

And deliver them who through fear of death were all their 

lifetime subject to bondage.

Hebrews 2:15

John Wesley said, “Brethren, farewell.

The greatest thing is that God still lives.  Brethren, farewell.”

John Wesley stepped into his chariot and he rode on.  That is the Christian way.

When Moody was leaving this world for the other, he said to his wife,

“Do you hear that singing?”  Then he said, “Earth is receding, 

Heaven is opening,” and he was gone. 

That is beautiful.  That is the Christian way to go.

That is the glory of the death moment.

Still we live foolishly our whole life afraid of death.  

As sings the mountain stream 

Past rock and verdure wild.

So let me sing my way to Thee, 

Thy pure and happy child.  

(Traveling Toward Sunrise)

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August 22

MY  TRAVEL  PLANS

Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the 

coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

James 5:8

Though I am nearing my 80th birthday, I have travel plans regarding a very extensive future journey—an exciting trip that I will soon be taking.  I don’t know the exact departure time of my journey, but my wonderful Friend who made all the arrangements knows and has promised to call me when it’s time to leave. (1 Thessalonians 4:16,17; Matthew 24:44)

I will be traveling light—baggage check-in won’t be needed since I am not taking any luggage (1 Timothy 6:7) When I arrive at my destination, new beautiful clothing will be provided (Revelation 3:5).

I won’t need a credit card, cash or payment of any kind because all expenses have been paid through the kindness of my Friend and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 3:16).  

Since I am going “home" there’s no need for me to make any “reservations".  It’s true that I’ve never seen my heavenly accommodations but they‘ve been prepared by none other than the great Creator.  I know I’ll be totally delighted with all that He has prepared for me  (John 14:1-3, 10:28). 

I’ve not been given many details of what it looks like except that the building materials used are the purest gold and most precious jewels (Revelation 18:21).  I’ve also been promised that my destination is so beautiful that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).  Best of all I’ll be with my God and Father, and my Saviour (John 17:3). 

The place to which I am traveling  is located in a very exclusive neighbourhood and I’ll be there with all my family (Romans 12:5).  We are innumerable and specially chosen children of our Father (Ephesians 1:4, 1 John 4:4).  Each who will be there has been very carefully screened for purity and holiness-cleansed from anything that might defile (Revelation 21:27).  And we’ll all be just like the Saviour who invited us—(1 John 3:2).  He paid an incalculable price so that we— born again—would have His life, righteousness and holiness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Many years ago the Lord took a man there to learn what “home" is like. He was the apostle Paul and told us that human words can’t describe its wonder (2 Corinthians 12:1-4).  I’m looking forward to my trip!  

The Christian Shepherd - May, 2009

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August 23

Which of you by taking thought can add 

one cubit unto his stature?

Matthew 6:27

We gain nothing by our anxiety and planning; we only shut out God,

and that is no gain.

It is a just judgment from the hand of God to be left to reap the fruits of our own devices;

and I know of few things more sad than to see a child of God so entirely 

forgetting his proper place and privilege as to take the 

management of his affairs into his own hands.

The birds of the air and the lilies of the field may well be our teachers

when we so far forget our position of unqualified

dependance upon God. 

And why take ye thought for raiment?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;

they toil not, neither do they spin - Matthew 6:28.

C. H. Mackintosh

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August 24

L O S T

The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10

It has been a long time since I have heard parents speak of their unsaved boy or girl as being lost. That old word has departed from our Christian vocabulary.

Young couples who are prospering materially and socially are admired and congratulated, but, if they do not know Jesus Christ, they are not dong well.

We act as though their lostness were incidental, that it does not matter much, a personal and private matter not in good taste as a matter of discussion.

Either it is a stupendous issue of heaven or hell or we might as well forget it.

If our unsaved friends were in danger otherwise, we would go to their assistance without apology.

Yet Jesus came to seek and to save the lost and died for their redemption.

There is something hypocritical about claiming to believe that and 

acting as though it were unimportant.

All the Days - Vance Havner

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August 25

But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do . . . and He is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12,13

The unseen world, which to man is dark and hidden, is all open before Him. He alone searches the hearts of men, and tries the reins.

When they refuse correction His eye is observing their perversity, and He will see that they are judged according to their works.

It is only the scorner who resents correction and reproof, and hence avoids the wise, lest his evil ways be called in question.

But One he cannot avoid. With Him he must have to do whether he will or not. Solemn indeed will be the accounting for opportunities refused, instruction neglected, and grace despised.

H. A. Ironside    

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August 26

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

Matthew 28:20

When I was in solitary confinement, I wrote in one of my letters,

“I long for freedom, but I hope I will not lose the joyful 

consciousness of Jesus’ presence that 

I have in this cell.”

Do you also know what it means to feel the presence of Jesus?

There is nothing that can surpass it.

And He Himself promised that He would be with us!

This Day is the Lord’s - Corrie Ten Boom

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August 27

H A N N A H:   H E R   P R A Y E R  A N D   H E R   S O N G 

Be of good cheer.

And she (Hannah) was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.  1 Samuel 1:10

And Hannah prayed, and said, 
My heart rejoiceth in the Lord . . .  1 Samuel 2:1 

Hannah both prayed and sang, and she became the mother of praying Samuel - Psalm 99:6, and the ancestress of Heman the temple singer - 1 Chronicles 6:33.

First she prayed for a son, in her distress
weeping as she prayed - 1 Samuel 1:10.

The man who should have been, of all people, in close touch with God was so thoroughly out of communion with Him that he could not discern the difference between a sorrowful woman and a drunken woman.

God’s priest should be both compassionate
and sympathetic  -  Hebrew 5:2.

The risen Christ is all this and more; Eli, alas, was but a poor foreshadow of Him. Being corrected for his error, he could only vaguely say, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of Him.” 1 Samuel 1:17

Samuel God’s Emergency Man - F.F. Feredy

N.J. Hiebert - 7557 

August 28

"Be ye angry, and sin not: 

let not the sun go down upon your wrath."

Ephesians 4:26

Anger may be as holy a feeling as any other, but do not retain it so as to let it degenerate into nature.

Then we are to “resist the devil,” and “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour . . . that he may have to give to him that needeth."

This is very beautiful. He is not merely to cease from stealing, but to become a workman for others. 

“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth . . .

and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."

Our works are looked at and our words, and now our tempers.

Are you not thankful that Christianity legislates for every bit of you?

But what dignity!  Your lips may be employed in communicating 

grace to the hearers; and your thoughts, either in 

refreshing or grieving the Holy Spirit of God!

J. G. Bellett

N.J. Hiebert - 7558  

August 29

For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. 

Mark 13:34

Two salient points are to be observed.

While watching is the attitude of the servant, working is his characteristic. How sweet to notice that the Lord has given “to every man his work.” There is room for all, place for all, and work for all, that love Him.

No two have the same work, nor can another really do that which is allotted to each. Therefore to know one’s work, and then to stick to it, is of prime importance. Were we each to really get hold of this divinely important principle, how it would foster the work of the Lord!

What a cure would it be for the little petty jealousies that, alas! often spring up among the Lord’s servants, and hinder His work.

It is a happy moment in the soul’s history when it can say: “I have my little bit of work from the Lord to do; I can do no one else’s little bit, and no one can do mine.”  Coupled with the diligence and responsibility of service, how sweetly is here intertwined the call on the affections to “watch.”

Blessed Master, help us all to watch unremittingly for Thy coming; and, till Thou comest back, to work unweariedly in thy harvest field!    

W. T. P. Wolston

N.J. Hiebert - 7559

August 30

A T   C A L V A R Y

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the Beloved.  In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:5-7

WILLIAM R. NEWELL was best known as a Bible teacher, commentator, pastor and professor, not as a hymn writer.  Yet while on his way to teach a class at Moody Bible Institute one day, the words of this hymn began to form in his mind.

He didn’t want to forget these ideas, so he went into an unoccupied classroom and there scribbled the words on the back of an envelope.  

A few minutes later he gave the words to Daniel B. Towner, the director of music at the school.  Within an hour Towner had composed music for them. 

Years I spent in vanity and pride, Caring not my Lord was crucified, Knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary.

Chorus: 

Mercy there was great and grace was free, 

pardon there was multiplied to me,

There my burdened soul found liberty—At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned—then I trembled at the truth I’d spurned, Till my guilty soul imploring turned to Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus ev’rything, now I gladly own Him as my King,

Now my raptured soul can only sing of Calvary.

O the love that drew salvation’s plan! O the grace that bro’t it down to man! O the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary.

William Reed Newell (1868-1956)

N.J. Hiebert - 7560

August 31

They looked . . . and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.  Exodus 16:10

On a day in the autumn, I saw a prairie eagle mortally wounded by a rifle shot.  His eyes still gleamed like a circle of light.  Then he slowly turned his head, and gave one more searching and longing look at the sky.  He had often swept those starry spaces with his wonderful wings.

The beautiful sky was the home of his heart.  It was the eagles domain.  A thousand times he had exploited there his splendid strength.  In those far away heights he had played with the lightnings, and raced with the winds, and now, so far away from home the eagle lay dying, done to the death, because for once he forgot and flew too low.

The soul is that eagle.  This is not its home.  It must not lose the skyward look.  We must keep faith, we must keep hope, we must keep courage, we must keep Christ.  We would better creep away from the battlefield at once if we are not going to be brave.

There is no time for the soul to stampede.

Keep the skyward look, my soul; keep the skyward look!

Keep looking up—the waves that roar around thy feet,

Jehovah-Jireh will defeat when looking up.

Keep looking up—though darkness seems to wrap thy soul;

The Light of Light shall fill thy soul

When looking up.

Keep looking up—when worn, distracted with the fight;

Your captain gives you conquering might

When you look up.

We can never see the sun rise by looking into the west.

Streams in the Desert 

  

N.J. Hiebert - 7561

September 1

Thy name, O LORD, endureth for ever;

and Thy memorial, O LORD, through out all generations.   

Psalm 135:13

The wildest mistake which a man can possibly fall into is to act without taking God into his account. Sooner or later, the thought of God will force itself upon him, and then comes the awful crash of all his schemes and calculations.

At best, everything that is undertaken independently of God, can last but for the present time. It cannot, by any possibility, stretch itself into eternity.  

All that is merely human, however solid, however brilliant, or however attractive, must fall into the cold grasp of death, and moulder in the dark, silent tomb.

The clod of the valley must cover man’s highest excellencies and brightest glories; mortality is engraved upon his brow, and all his schemes are diminishing.

On the contrary, that which is connected with, and based upon, God, shall endure forever.

C. H. Mackintosh

N.J. Hiebert - 7562

September 2

Come unto Me . . . and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

There is but one Man . . . who never had a place of rest. . . .

The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;

but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.  Matthew 8:20

And if we now have a nest, a place of rest in God,

it is because for our sakes Jesus was without rest on earth.

Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J. N. Darby

N.J. Hiebert - 7563

September 3