Gems from July 2020

July 1

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  Romans 8:18

If God should never again send any trials intended to point us and others to Him, would all our sufferings cease?  No.  Left to ourselves, with our sinful natures unchecked, greater harm would result.

But as it is, He gives us only that which works for good and which will bring us closer to Him.  And there is something else: if we know Him as our Lord and Saviour, we will, at His time, go to heaven, where we will never suffer again.
Corrie Ten Boom - This Day is the Lord's

Whatever foes or fears betide,
In Thy blest presence let us hide;
And while we rest our souls on Thee,
Thou shalt our sanctuary be.

Through time, with all its changing scenes,
And all the grief that intervenes,
Let this support each fainting heart,
That Thou our sanctuary art.
C. Medley

N.J. Hiebert - 8164

July 2

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 3:23

Adam sinned and left God, because he thought more of what Satan offered him; he thought the devil a better friend to him than God: but he has since found out to his cost that the devil was a liar; that he never had the power of giving him what he promised and that by catching at the devil's bait; he has received his hook, and that "the wages of sin is death."  Romans 6:23.

On the cross hung the One spotless, blessed Man, yet forsaken of God.  What a fact before the world!  No wonder the sun was darkened - the central and splendid witness to God's glory in nature, when the Faithful and True Witness cried to His God and was not heard.

Forsaken of God!  What does this mean?  What part have I in the cross?  One single part - my sins.  It baffles thought, that most solemn lonely hour which stands aloof from all before or after.

Christ died rather than allow sin to subsist before God.

Directly grace acts in the heart, it gives the consciousness of sin; but, at the same time, the love of Christ reaches the conscience, deepening the consciousness of sin; but if this is deep, it is because the consciousness of the love of Christ is also deep.

Father! Thy sovereign love has sought
Captives to sin, gone far from Thee:
The work that Thine Own Son hath wrought,
Has brought us back - in peace and free!
Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - JND

N.J. Hiebert - 8165 

July 3

The lips of the wise disperse knowledge: but the heart of the foolish doeth not so.  Proverbs 15:7

Do let us look the matter straight in the face. Either we have committed our lips to the Lord, or we have not.  This question must be settled first.  If not, oh, do not let another hour pass!  Take them to Jesus, and ask Him to take them.

But when you have committed them to Him, it comes to this - is He able or is He not able to keep that which you have committed to Him?  If He is not able, of course you may as  well give up at once, for your own experience has abundantly proved that you are not able, so there is no help for you. But if He is able - nay, thank God there is no "if" on this side! - say, rather, as He is able, where was this inevitable necessity of perpetual failure?

You have been fancying yourself virtually doomed and fated to it, and therefore you have gone on in it, while all the time His arm was not shortened that it could not save, but you had been limiting the Holy One of Israel.

Honestly, now, have you trusted Him to keep your lips this day?  Trust necessarily implies expectation that what we have entrusted will be kept.  If you have not expected Him to keep you, you have not trusted.  You may have tried and tried very hard, but you have not trusted, and therefore you have not been kept, and your lips have been the snare of your soul.

Keep my lips, that they may be
Filled with messages from Thee.
Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert - 8166  

July 4

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.  Colossians 3:17

"And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed" - ever strike you?  We do not usually consider words as works.  But God's Word sometimes does.

How much we can do with words! We can do evil or good.  To learn to do good we have to be in much close fellowship with the Lord Jesus.

"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: He waketh morning by morning, He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned."  Isaiah 50:4

I am afraid that many of us wish for the tongue of the instructed so that we can show forth how much we know and how intelligent we are.  But the Lord Jesus did not have the tongue of the instructed for this reason.
H. L. Heijkoop

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,
Tell of His power to forgive;
Others will trust Him if only you prove
True, every moment you live.

Make me a blessing, out of my life may Jesus shine;
Make me a blessing, O Saviour, I pray,
Make me a blessing to someone today.
Ira B. Wilson

N.J. Hiebert - 8167 

July 5

And a certain ruler asked Him, saying, Good  Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life.  Luke 18:18

How easily Jesus might have declared to the rich young ruler, who came running to Him, asking, "Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" that, there was nothing to do, "only believe and live."  Had he done so, it would have been actually true.

But Jesus did not say that.  Instead He undertook to probe the conscience of the young man by using the stern precepts of the Law, and He put a test upon him that only real faith would have led him to meet.  "Yet lackest  thou one thing."   (Luke 18:22).  What was that?  The young man had never realized his need of a Saviour.  Self-satisfied and self-contained, he honestly prided himself on his goodness.

The test, "sell that thou hast, and give to the poor"  Matthew 19:21, was not putting salvation on the ground of human merit; it was intended to reveal to the young man the hidden evil of his heart and to show him his need of mercy.
(H. A. Ironside - Unless your Repent

Working will not save me; purest deeds that I can do,
Holiest thoughts and feelings too, cannot form my soul anew; Working will not save me.

Faith in Christ will save me; trust in Him, the risen One,
Trust the work that He has done; to His arms I now may run; Faith in Christ will save me.

Refrain: 
Jesus bled and died for me;  Jesus suffered on the tree:
Jesus waits to make me free;  He alone can save me! (Robert Lowry)    

N.J. Hiebert - 8168

July 6

"Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself." Daniel 1:8  Then said the presidents and princes . . . We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed . . .  he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. (6:4,5,10) 

WH0 AM I?
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.
Half the things you do you might just as well turn over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly, correctly.
I am easily managed - you must merely be firm with me.  Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great people; and alas, of all failures as well.  Those who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision of a machine plus the intelligence of a human being.
You may run me for a prophet or turn me for ruin - it makes no difference to me.
Take me, train me, be firm with me, and I will place the world at your feet.
Be easy with me and I will destroy you.
Who am I?

I AM A HABIT
Advice from a grandfather to his grandson.

Standing by a purpose true, heeding God's command.
Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone,
Dare to have a purpose firm!  Dare to make it known.   (P. P. Bliss - 1873)

N.J. Hiebert - 8169 

July 7

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  Psalm 1:1 

Psalm one portrays two men - the righteous and the ungodly.  Two ways - the narrow that leads to life and the broad to death.  Two destinies - heaven and hell.

As we look for ways to make a practical application of this verse we see examples given in Scripture.

Enoch walked with God,
Elijah stood before the Lord,
David sat before the Lord.

"Choose you this day whom ye will serve."  Joshua 24:15!  E. MacLelland 

Who is on the Lord's side?  Who will serve the King?
Who will be His helpers,  Other lives to bring?
Who will leave the world's side?  Who will face the foe?
Who is on the Lord's side?  Who for Him will go.

Jesus, Thou hast bought us, not with gold or gem,
But with Thine own life blood, for Thy diadem;
With Thy blessing filling all who come to Thee,
Thou hast made us willing, Thou hast made us free.

CHORUS
By thy grand redemption,  by Thy grace Divine,
We are on the Lord's side; Saviour, we are Thine! 
Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert  8170

July 8

The Mirror

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.  Romans 1:20

The Sunbeam shimmering o'er the sea,
The Lily blooming on the lea,
Tell of His light and purity.

The Lamb, the Lion and the Roe,
The Stream, the Cloud, the shining Bow,
His manifold perfections show.

The soaring Eagle's sweep above,
The gentle cooing of the Dove,
Proclaim His might and croon His love.

The bruised Grape, the Corn of Wheat,
The mystic parable repeat
His blood and flesh my drink and meat.

The Lightning's blaze, out-flashing far,
The beam serene of Morning Star,
The prophets of His advent are.

Look where thou wilt, thine eye may trace
In lovely tint and form of grace,
Some mirrored feature of His face.
James M. S. Tait

N.J. Hiebert - 8171

July 9

TRUST AND OBEY

And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.  1 Samuel 15:22

Life can often be a restless, disrupted existence until we give ourselves whole heartedly to something beyond ourselves and follow and obey it supremely.  Such implicit trust in God's great love and wisdom with a sincere desire to follow His leading should be every Christian's goal.  Our willingness to trust and obey is always the first step towards God's blessing in our lives.

Salvation is God's responsibility.  Our responsibility is to trust in that salvation and then to obey its truths. "Trust and obey" presents a balanced view of a believer's trust in Christ's redemptive work, and it speaks of the resulting desire to obey Him and do His will in our daily lives.  Then, and only then, do we experience real peace and joy.  Kenneth Osbeck

When we walk with the Lord in the light of HIs Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His sweet will, How our hearts He can fill
With His love as we trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it a way;
Not a doubt nor a fear, not a sigh nor a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.  

But we never can prove the delights of His love,
When in paths of self-pleasing we stray;
For the favour He shows, and the joy He bestows,
Are for those who will trust and obey  (John  H. Samis)

N.J. Hiebert - 8172

July 10

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.  
Psalm 119:9

How can youth keep its way shining through a dark world?
How can you reach the goal - Christ?

During the migration season on cloudy nights, many birds strike William Penn's statue in Philadelphia and fall dead on the ground.  The keeper declares it is usually the young birds that fly too low that perish.  Parents, pastors, teachers, teach your young to fly high!  By example and by precept teach them to scale the heights, to breathe the rarified air of God's atmosphere, for their soul's well-being.

How can youth keep its way shinning through a dark world?  How can you reach the goal - Christ?

By taking heed thereto, by stepping carefully and guiding your life by what your soul is learning of God in the text of Holy Scripture, and by keeping company with Christ as your best Friend - never ceasing until you are on such terms with Him that you talk to Him more intimately than to wife or child, lover or friend, and He talks with you.

That does not only mean you have a Bible in your pocket - thank God if you have - but it means that you have Christ in your heart.
Harold St. John - Portrait by His Daughter

N.J. Hiebert - 8173 

July 11

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.   Psalm 34:1

"I heard a joyous strain -
A lark on a leafless bough
Sat singing in the rain."

I heard him singing early in the morning.  It was hardly light!  I could not understand that song; it was fairly a lilt of joy.  It had been a portentous night for me, full of dreams that did disturb me .  Old things that I had hoped to forget, and new things that I had prayed could never come, trooped through my dreams like grinning little bare-faced imps.

Certainly I was in no humour to sing.  What could possess that fellow out yonder to be telling the whole township how joyous he was?  He was perched on the rail fence by the spring run.  He was drenched.  It had rained in the night and evidently he had been poorly housed.  I pitied him.

What comfort could he have had through the night bathed in the storm?  He never thought of comfort.  His song was not bought by any such duplicity.  It was in his heart.  Then I shook myself: The shame that a lark has finer poise than a man!  G. A. Leichliter

"Nothing can break you as long as you sing." 

There is music in my soul today, a carol to my King;
And Jesus, listening, can hear the songs I cannot sing.

REFRAIN:
Oh, there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, when the peaceful, happy moments roll:
When Jesus shows His smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul.
E. E. Hewitt

N.J. Hiebert - 8174

July 12

Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.   Genesis 15:1

CAN YOU COUNT THE STARS?

God brought Abram out  and said to him.  "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be."  Abram believed God; he did not ask: "How can it be? I am 85 years old and my wife is 75.  How can we have a son?"  Abram just simply believed God, so God counted it to him for righteousness.

How plain it is!  How easy it is!  Abram was not a righteous man himself.  Abram was a sinner like you and me.  But just because he believed God's word, God counted him righteous.  As if God said, "Abram, you are a sinner, but because you believe Me, I count you a righteous man."

God had not told him to act as a righteous man, nor to do something, or keep the commandments and the law, or to be a good man.  He just simply and plainly said that Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND GOD COUNTED IT TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Romans 4:3).  God counts sinners righteous when they believe God's word, not because of works they may do.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Romans 4:5)

Do you want God to justify you or not?  Do believe God.  The Lord Jesus died for our sins and was raised again to justify us.  Only believe, accept this work for yourself, and you will be justified by God.

"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."   (Romans 10:9)    Genesis  - G. C. Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 8175

July 13

THE RAM IN THE THICKET

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.   Genesis 22:13

The ram speaks of consecration; its horns speak of strength.  That ram caught in the thicket by its horns as seen by Abraham reminds us of the agonies and the sufferings of our blessed Lord Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.  

The cross itself never could have killed our Lord, the blessed eternal Son.  Rather, He voluntarily laid down His life on the cross for us.  The actual intensity of conflict engaged by our Lord there in the garden is veiled and far beyond our feeble comprehension.  Similarly, our feeble minds cannot take in the severity of suffering in bearing our sins in His body on the tree.   

Knowing the imminent danger of being trapped by the thicket, and possibly devoured by predators, the ram, by instinct, desperately attempted to free its horns from the thicket, but to no avail.  The thicket, perhaps, reminds us of the cursed ground overgrown with thorns and thistles because of men's sins.

Thank God, only the horns were caught by the thicket, not the body of the ram, so that it remained spotless and without blemish, fit for the offering instead of Isaac.

Are not our hearts completely subdued as we contemplate the sufferings of our blessed Lord in the breaking of bread?  The Lord told the Jews of His time that "Your Father  Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and He saw it, and was glad.  (John 8:56). In beholding the ram caught in the thicket by his horns, Abraham saw the day of the Lord and he rejoiced." 
F. S. W.  

N.J. Hiebert - 8176    

July 14

And Moses said unto the Lord, O my Lord, I am not eloquent.  Exodus 4:10

They (hypocrites) think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.  Be not ye therefore like unto them.  Matthew 6:7-8

These are words of comfort for those whose chief work is prayer.  Prayer is greatly helped by loved companionship - "loved" because the least hurt to love wounds prayer.

When John wrote "Beloved let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God, he was leading on to that wonderful word about prayer, And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us". 
(1 John 4:7; 5:14).

Even the most alone of us is one of a wonderful Companionship.  The Spirit is making intercession, and Christ our Lord ever liveth to make intercession, so we are not alone even when we seem to be alone. (Romans 8:26  Hebrews 7:25).

We do not have to be eloquent.  We do not need to speak much.  We do not even need to know what we should pray for.  For His compassion matches our yearning - is ever taking our human frailty by the hand.  We are not even sure what requests should rightly be the object of our prayers; but His Spirit - His very Spirit - is pleading ever for us with signs such as no language can shape into words.  His Spirit intercedes for His own in just the way that God desires.  (Romans 8:26-27).
Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)

N.J. Hiebert - 8177  

July 15

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For every man shall bear his own burden.  
Galatians  6:2,5 

I was standing by the side of the road with two heavy bags.  There were no buses and I was about a mile and a half from my destination, so I asked the Lord about the matter; and told him my position; and just as I was telling Him, a man drew up.  "Can I give you a lift?" he said. "Thank you", I said, and after I'd been in the car a few minutes, I said, "Do you know what I thought of as I got into this car?  It's a word in the Bible that says, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ."  Do you know anything about that?

"Why do you say that word out of the Bible to me?  The last time I was in church sixteen years ago the minister preached on that text, and I have never darkened the door of a church since."  "Well," I said, "what was wrong with that Scripture?" "Oh, he read the beginning of some chapter, "bear ye one another's burdens" and then he read almost in the next verse, "Every man shall bear his own burdens." I asked the preacher what He meant by those verses, and he said he didn't know."

"Very well", I said, "there are two words for burdens.  The first  means a load under which a man is staggering.  It is a simple exhortation to kindness, to do as Christ did.  In the next verse "Burden" is a nautical word, the word sailors use; it's used of the cargo of a ship.  Now a ship's captain never wants anyone else to carry his cargo for he would lose all his profit. And that means that everyone must carry his own burden of responsibility."

"Is that really right?" he said.  We sat down for nearly and hour and I preached to him, Jesus.

It is extraordinary to see how grateful people are that someone takes an interest  in a stranger's soul.  Harold St. John       

N.J. Hiebert - 8178

July 16

Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him . . .   Philippians 2:5-9

There is too much paraded glory today. Too many men and women want to show themselves to the world.  For men to display their own glory is not glory (Proverbs 25:27).  Lovely grace hides its beauty that it may only be betrayed  by its fragrance.

Our Lord never sought a crowd.  Like charity, He vaunted not Himself.  (1 Corinthians 13:4).  Christ had no one campaign for Him.  There was no stage and no glamour.  Herod might have wondered if he had seen a miracle performed by Him.  But the way of God is not the way of man.

When God gave a manifestation of that which delighted His heart, it is pictured in the tabernacle as seen in the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The One who was crucified in weakness; the One who for us became poor; the One who never paraded His wisdom; the One who was forsaken; the One who bore the deepest shame and curse; the One who was hated without a cause, is the One who alone is worthy "to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." (Revelation 5:12).

The world showed its utter estrangement from God in that it never attributed any of these honours to Him.  The world today shows its besotted ignorance in that this covered glory of heaven's lovely Man is still detested and unknown.
A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake

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July 17

TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IS ALL

His heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.  Psalm 112:7

We make faith more difficult than God ever made it.  We exercise faith a hundred times a day in just about everything we do, but when it comes to believing God, we make a mighty mystery out of it and fence it about with difficulties that make it well-nigh impossible.  Sure, it is the gift of God, but it comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  God says it and we simply take Him at His Word.  If it were as complicated as we have made it to be, most poor souls would never make it.

Indeed, it is the simple heart that grasps it while scholars miss it.  God has kept it from the wise and prudent and revealed it unto babes.  Just trusting Jesus that is all.  Unless we become as little children and stop being theologians who sometimes see it last, we shall never have fixed hearts like the Psalmist wrote about but only feverish heads. All the Days - Vance Havner

Simply trusting every day,  trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all.

Brightly doth 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.

Trusting Him while life shall last, trusting Him till earth be past; Till within the jasper wall: Trusting Jesus, that is all.

CHORUS: Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by; Trusting Him what e'er befall, trusting Jesus, that is all.  E. Page

N.J. Hiebert - 8180

July 18

LOVE  MISUNDERSTOOD

All these things are against me."  Genesis 42:36
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

Jacob is not guilty, like his sons, but his feeble faith can see no trace of the hand of God in all these circumstances.  As he hears the story of his sons' experiences he can only say, "All these things are against me." How different the language of faith which can say, "All things work together for good to them that love God."

The very things that to sight and nature were against him were the very means that God was taking for his blessing.  "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away."  These are the things that were for him.  Joseph lost to his father, rejected and sold, imprisoned and exalted, Simeon held in bondage, Benjamin taken from his father, were all stages in the pathway to blessing, and means  used by God to restore Joseph to his father and to bring Jacob and his sons into richer blessing.

Yet Jacob is saying to his sons, "Then shall ye bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave."  At the very moment when Jacob could see nothing in the future but sorrow and the grave, God was about to bring him into joy and blessing.  Had Jacob been able to persist in his thoughts he would have thwarted God in His ways of blessings, for says Jacob, " My son shall not go down."

There is a need-be for each pain,
And He will one day make it plain
That  earthly loss is heavenly gain.
Joseph - Hamilton Smith

N.J. Hiebert - 8181

July 19

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.   
Psalm 53:1

To be a fool is to be without common sense, without wisdom.  The wise man will contemplate creation and marvel.

He sees the way planet earth orbits the sun at just the right distance to sustain life.  He delights in the great seas and lakes without which no life would survive.

He is amazed at the countless species of plant and animal life.

He studies his own body and marvellous brain and stands in awe.

All of this proclaims a Creator, infinitely wise and powerful.  Only a fool will say that there is no God.  Do not be a fool.  Come to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Donald L. Norbie

I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad and built the lofty skies,
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day,
The moon shines forth at His command and all the stars obey.
Isaac Watts

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July 20

HE  NEVER  FAILS

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.  The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.  Lamentations 3:22-24.

Where today there is turmoil, stress and darkness, tomorrow new fields of flowers will flourish on the slopes.

In the skies so laden with heavy overcast, so charged with clouds and wind-driven snow, birds will soar on wing against the sun in the spring.  For this, too, will pass.  The skies will be blue again.

All is change. Life is ever in flux. Nothing on earth remains constant.  But in splendour and wonder those of us who know Christ shout with glad affirmation, "O God, Thou changest not!"  Amid the chaos, in calm confidence we assert boldly, "Forever, O Lord, Thou art faithful."

Clouds come and go.  He remains constant.
Winds blow, storms subside.  He is ever by our side.
Out of it all, He alone brings comfort, consolation, and the great renewal which is such abundant compensation for all the crushing sorrow of our years - and the burning agony of our tears.

He, and He alone, makes all things new - both in this life and in the eternal life yet to come beyond the skies.  Bless His wondrous Name forever and forever!
Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller

N.J. Hiebert - 8183 

July 21

Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.  Micah 7:19

When we were college boys, our old professor used to tell us of a spot in the sea off our western coast which was five miles deep.  Think of a solid mile of depth.  Then add another mile to that.  Then double this, and finally climax it with another mile on top of these four.  Five miles deep!

Into those almost fathomless deeps nothing which sinks ever comes back.  All is shrouded in dense and impenetrable darkness.  No eye can pierce into those black deeps of the ocean.  No ray of light illumines the darkness.  No message ever comes back from that which is swallowed up in this abyss.

And into such a gulf of oblivion has God cast all the sins of those who accept His Son as their sin-bearer.

In Christ His work of remission of sins is complete.  Not as into the shallow depths of the brook which murmurs through the field and valley where the eye can rest upon them and the heart grieve for them, has He cast them.

Nor does it please His heart of love, nor do honour to the riches of His grace that we should sorrow over them as though they were still upon our own hearts and staining our own innermost souls.
James H.McConkey

Gone, gone, gone, gone!  Yes my sins are gone.
Now my soul is free, and in my heart's a song;
Buried in the deepest sea, yes that's good enough for me;
I shall life eternally, praise God!  My sins are gone.
Helen Griggs 

N.J. Hiebert - 8184

July 22

If the clouds be full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth.  Ecclesiastes 11:3

Why, then, do we dread the clouds which now darken our sky?  True, for awhile they hide the sun, but the sun is not quenched; he will be out again before long.  Meanwhile those black clouds are filled with rain; and the blacker they are, the more likely they will yield plentiful showers.

How can we have rain without clouds?  Our troubles have always brought us blessings, and they always will.  They are the dark chariots of bright grace.  These clouds will empty themselves before long, and every tender herb will be happier for the shower.

Our God may drench us with grief but He will refresh us with mercy.  Our Lord's love-letters often come to us in black-edged envelopes.  His wagons rumble, but they are loaded with benefits.  His rod blossoms with sweet flowers and nourishing fruits.

Let us not worry about the clouds, but sing because May flowers are brought to us through the April clouds and showers.

"O Lord, the clouds are the dust of Thy feet!  (Nahum 1:3)!"  How near Thou art in the cloudy and dark day!  Love beholds Thee, and is glad. Faith sees the clouds emptying themselves and making the little hills rejoice on every side.

The blue of heaven is larger than the clouds.
C.H. Spurgeon

N.J. Hiebert - 8185

July 23

WONDERFUL  COMPANION

Lo, I am with you alway.  Matthew 28:20

Some of us think and say a good deal about a sense of His presence; sometimes rejoicing in it, sometimes going mourning all the day long because we have it not; praying for it, and not always seeming to receive what we ask; measuring our own position, and sometimes even that of others by it; now on the heights, now in the depths about it.

All our trouble and disappointment about it is met by His own simple word, and vanishes in the simple faith that grasps it.

For if Jesus says simply and absolutely, "Lo,  I am with you alway,"  what have we to do with feeling or "sense" about it?  We have only to believe it, and to recollect it.  And it is only by thus believing and recollecting that we can realize it.

He is with thee! - thine own Master,
Leading, loving to the end;
Brightening joy and lightening sorrow,
All today, yet more tomorrow,
King and Saviour, Lord and Friend.
Opened Treasures

N.J. Hiebert - 8186         

July 24

A  PRESENT  YIELD

Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.   Hebrews 12:11 

We think of trials as intended to do us good in the long run and in a general sort of way, but the Lord says of each one, "It yieldeth."  Apply this to the present:

- The particular annoyance which befell you this morning,
- the vexatious words which met your ear, and grieved your spirit,
- the disappointment which was His appointment for you today,
- the  slight but hindering ailment,
- the presence of someone who is a grief of mind to you.

Whatever this day seemeth not joyous but grievous is linked in "The good pleasure of His goodness" 2 Thessalonians 1:11 with a corresponding afterward of peaceable fruit, the very seed from which if you only do not choke it, shall spring up and ripen.

If we set ourselves to watch the Lord's dealings with us, we shall soon be able to detect a most beautiful correspondence and proportion between each individual chastening and its own resulting afterward. The habit of thus watching and expecting will be very comforting and a great help to quiet trust when some new chastening is sent, for then we shall simply consider it as the herald and earnest of a new afterward.

What shall Thine "afterward" be, O Lord?
How long must Thy child endure?
Thou knowest!  'Tis  well that I know it not!
Thine "afterward!' cometh, I cannot tell what,
But I know that Thy Word is sure.  Frances Ridley Havergal

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July 25

PRAYER  AND  THANKSGIVING

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.  Daniel 6:10.

Daniel, when in the very shadow of death, the plot being laid to take away his life, prayed three times a day, and gave thanks before his God.  (Daniel 6:10).  To have heard him pray in that great strait would not have afforded so much matter for wonder; but to have his heart in tune for giving thanks in such a sad hour was admirable. 

MORNING  AND  EVENING  PRAYER

Prayer must be the key of the morning, and lock of the night.  We show not ourselves Christians, if we do not open our eyes with prayer when we rise, and shut them again with the same key when we lie down at night. Pray as often as you please besides. 

BROKEN  PRAYER

Sometimes thou hearest one pray with a moving expression, while thou canst hardly get out a few broken words in duty, and thou art ready to accuse thyself and admire him; as if the gilt of the key made it open the door better.

"Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain . . . "  (James 5:17). 

A weak hand with a sincere heart is able to turn the key in prayer.
The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall  (1665)

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July 26

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

"Our Jesus hath done all things well" (Mark 7:37) has long been our song.  And so it must be, whatever we may feel; for if the Father of an only-begotten Son settles everything for us which is for the glory of that Son, surely all is well.

He loves you and wants His will to be all your satisfaction; wants you to find your all in Him and in His Son.  He thinks that if all His pleasure is found in the Son of His love He can make that Son of His love enough for you when all else is gone.  He so loves you in Him that He is making every affection in you, every thought in you, to find the Lord Jesus as its centre.   G. V. Wigram

Now in a song of grateful praise,
To our dear Lord the voice we'll raise;
With all His saints we'll join to tell,
"Our Jesus hath done all things well."

All worlds His glorious power confess,
His wisdom all His works express;
But oh, His love!--what tongue can tell?
"Our Jesus hath done all things well."

And since our souls have known His love,
What mercies has He made us prove,
Mercies which all our praise excel;
"Our Jesus hath done all things well."

And when on that bright day we rise,
And join the anthems of the skies,
In heavenly songs this note shall swell,
"Our Jesus hath done all things well."  Samuel Medley

N.J. Hiebert - 8189

July 27

For I have no man likeminded who will naturally care for your state.  Philippians 2:20
Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.  1 Peter 5:7  

A large company hired by the government, assembled a group of highly skilled scientists, engineers and technicians to develop and build an extremely complex piece of military equipment.  The many hours of intensely high pressure work, the frustrations of failed experiments, and the constant intimidation from overly zealous military officials anxious to have the project successfully completed, took a heavy emotional toll on the workers.

However, their boss by his kindness, honesty, hard work and affectionate caring, had won their loyalty and confidence.  There was very little complaining and no thought of quitting, though much of the time the work was intense and overwhelming.

One day, a lead scientist came to his boss and said; "I've made a promise to my kids for this evening since for the last several weeks we haven't had any time together.  I plan to take them out to eat and then to the circus that's in town tonight, but I'll need to leave at 5:00 this evening. Is that okay with you?"

His boss replied, "Well, we desperately need that sensor you're developing finished in the next day if we are to maintain our scheduled time line.  But ...sure.  You go and have a good time with your kids.

The scientist began his work.  He faced some very difficult technical problems.  Yet as the day wore on everything seemed to fall into place.  Finally the sensor was working just as he had planned!  Totally absorbed in his work, he hadn't looked at his watch until then.  The circus performance was to begin at 7 PM, but his watch read 8:30 PM!  He looked for his boss but the lab was empty.  Feeling terribly guilty for disappointing his children, he raced home.  His wife was sitting alone in the living room.  But instead of the sharp reprimand and scolding he expected, she just smiled and calmly asked whether he would like her to get him something to eat.

The scientist, taken aback, stammered, "Well, yes, if you'll have coffee with me.  But what about the kids?"

Grinning, his wife said, "Guess you didn't know your boss stopped by at 5:30, picked up the kids and took them out to eat and then to the circus!"
The Christian Shepherd - January 2010

N.J. Hiebert - 8190   

July 28

For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.  1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 

Our immediate hope, that of meeting the Lord in the air, does not necessarily wait for anything.  His coming to the earth, I surely know, must wait for much.  But that is not our first prospect.  I do not say when the rapture will be.  It may be more distant than our hope would have it, and hope deferred should make the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12).

But the delay is not for the purpose of sickening the hearts of saints, but for saving the souls of sinners. "The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation." 2 Peter 3:15  We should remember that; every moment of the delay, be it long or short.  And our patience should be unmurmuring, as God's patience is saving and gracious.
Ephesians - J. G. Bellett

N.J. Hiebert - 8191  

July 29

My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death.    Matthew 26:38 

The word used in the Greek New Testament for "exceeding sorrowful" is one word, peri-lupos.  Peri, the first half of the word, means "around".  We get our word "perimeter" from it.  The last half of the word, lupos, means "sorrow".  The whole word literally means, "surrounded with sorrow".  Which ever way our Lord looked, there was sorrow: unutterable sorrow, on every side.  Then He, the Man of Sorrows, turned to His Father in prayer.  Then, only, do we hear Him say, "Abba, Father".  It was then, being in an agony, He prayed more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  (Luke 22:44). 

It was at this time that Judas came to betray the Lord.  He had given those with him a sign, "Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold Him fast." (Matthew 26:48).  The fact that the traitor came just at that time, and with such a sign, seems to add greatly to the sorrow and anguish of our Saviour; and at the same time makes the awful hardness and cruelty of Judas' act more terrible than ever.

In our English Bible we read, "And forthwith came he to Jesus, and said, 'Hail, Master'; and kissed Him."  (Matthew 26:49).  The word translated "Hail" is Chaire, and literally means 'Rejoice!' though it is true it was also commonly used for a greeting or farewell. But the true, literal meaning of the word is 'Rejoice!'  "Rejoice Master and he kissed HIm."

It is difficult for us to conceive of anything more horrible than Judas' method of betraying his Master; and we know from the Psalms how keenly our Lord felt it.  "Yea, Mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of My bread, hath lifted up his heel against Me." Psalm 41:9.  "For it was not an enemy that reproached Me then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated Me that did magnify himself against Me . Psalm 55:12-14.
Hid Treasures - G. C. Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 8192  

July 30

And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head, and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, and mocked Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews!   Matthew 27:29

We find this word Chaire, 'Rejoice!' (Hail) next in the Greek New Testament is when the Roman soldiers put the crown of thorns on Jesus'  holy brow, and smote Him on the head with the reed, driving those thorns into that beloved brow. They spat upon Him, they abused Him till "His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men: and then they said to Him, Chaire!  "Rejoice, King of the Jews!"

The cruelty,  the heartlessness, the wickedness of such mockery is beyond words.  "Rejoice!" at such a moment!  (Matthew 27:29).
     
But, wonder of wonders, we find the same word again in the very next chapter Matthew 28: the resurrection chapter.  Perhaps the very first word that our Saviour spoke after His resurrection was this very word, Chaire: 'rejoice!'

Twice over during that terrible time before He was crucified, He had listened to that word in mockery: and now it is the first, or almost the first, word that He uses when He meets His own, alive from among the dead.  In Matthew 28:9, we read, "As they (Mary Magdalene and the other Mary) went to tell HIs disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying, Rejoice!"   'Chairete (the plural of Chaire.')

The sorrow, the unutterable sorrow on every side, was all His own.  The joy, the unspeakable joy, He immediately shares with those He loves.
The disciples rejoiced (John 20:20: the same word) when they saw the Lord, their own beloved, living Lord.  Listen again to His own sweet word: "REJOICE,"  Yes, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice!" 
Hid Treasures - G. C. Willis 

N.J. Hiebert - 8193   

July 31

"Then the spirit . . . said unto me, Go, shut thyself within."  Ezekiel 3:24 

'Tis good to be with Jesus from all the world apart,
Enjoying sweet communion, that blessed 'better part'.

Get a place, some familiar place, for being alone with God - and a time.  What time, it is not for me to say.  I would not have anybody to be bound by rules concerning times or anything else; but have a time - times if you will - but a time at least.

We shall all agree that, for the young, strong and healthy, there is no time like the morning.  Remember that God can do a wonderful amount of work in five minutes, if you can spare no more, but He can do nothing in five minutes if you can give Him sixty.  All this is between yourself and Him. Have a time, the time when the door is shut, the best loved on earth excluded, the soul brought face to face with God.

A Christian lad giving a testimony for Jesus, told his secret when he said that from the time of his conversion he trusted the Lord with his morning hour; and the way he spoke of it indicated the radiancy of the light that shone from him then.  Do you want a glad and rejoicing life?  Do you want  to live by the wells that never dry up or freeze?  There is no hour like that of the morning prime for fellowship with God.  The filling of that hour will overflow into all the hours that follow.  Mountain Trailways for Youth

"Do not have your concert first, then tune you instruments afterwards.  Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all, in harmony with Him."  J. Hudson Taylor.

"When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries,
Let Jesus Christ be praised!"   Edward Caswall

N.J. Hiebert - 8194

August 1

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on Thee.  Psalm 25:21

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly.  Hebrews 13:18

Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 2 Corinthians 8:21

Integrity means having the courage of your convictions.  This includes the capacity to cling to what you think is right, to go it alone when necessary, and speak out against what you know is wrong.

In the operating room of a great hospital a young nurse had her first day of full responsibility.  "You've removed eleven sponges, doctor," she said to the surgeon. "We used twelve."

"I've removed them all," the doctor declared.  "We'll close the incision now."

"No," the nurse objected.  "We used twelve."

"I'll take the responsibility,"  the surgeon said grimly.  "Suture!"

"You can't do that!" blazed the nurse."  "Think of the patient!"  The doctor smiled, lifted his foot, showed the nurse the twelfth sponge.  "You'll do," he said.  He had been testing her integrity - and she had it.

Integrity means having a conscience and listening to it.

"It is neither safe nor prudent," said Martin Luther, facing his enemies in the city where his death had been decreed, "To do aught against conscience.  Here I stand; God help me, I cannot do otherwise."    Arthur Gordon

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August 2

"Rebuke her (Ruth) not.  So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that she had gleaned: and it was about an ephah of  barley" Ruth 2:16-17).

The two disciples that went from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-36) on the day of resurrection were gleaners in the field until even: for they were talking together of all these things which had happened, and as they communed and reasoned together, Jesus drew near and went with them, and many handfuls did he spread out before them on that memorable journey.

May we, like the two privileged disciples on the way to Emmaus constrain Him, to "Abide with us: for it is toward evening."  (Luke 24:29).

Ruth knew at the close of her day's gleaning what she had got, for she had beaten it out, and she had an ephah of barley.

And the two disciples knew as they returned to Jerusalem that they had seen the Lord for they rested not until they had returned to tell others the blessed news, and when they were assembled together the Lord stood in their midst, and said "Peace be unto you" (Luke 24:36).

May we all be conscious of this peace, which only the presence of our Lord can give.  We may hear, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken" (Luke 24:25).  But, as the Holy Spirit opens to us the scriptures and unfolds to us the glories of our Redeemer, we are no longer heard saying, "We trusted that it had been" this or that, but we gladly bow down in worship and adoration, by the Holy Spirit, offering up to Him the sacrifice of praise continually.  (Hebrews 13:15)
Meditations on the Book of Ruth - C.McKendrick

N.J. Hiebert - 8196 

August 3

And He (Jesus) said unto them . . . Why do thoughts arise in your hearts?  Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Luke 24:38-39

Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean.  Leviticus 11:36

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.  Colossians 3:16

"When we think about Christ, it keeps bad thoughts out," said a young Christian.  He had proved the truth of this doctrine. By occupation of heart with Christ, the Christian grows like Him.

As a measure well filled with grain has no room for chaff, so a heart stored with Christ is preserved from evil.  (Selected)

When hearts are full of Christ, they long
Their glorious matter to declare!
Of Him they make their loftier song-
They cannot from His praise forbear;
Their ready tongues make hast to sing
The glories of the heavenly king.

Fairer than all the earth - born race,
Perfect in comeliness Thou art;
Replenished are Thy lips with grace,
And full of love Thy tender heart:
God ever blest! we bow the knee,
And own all fullness dwells in Thee.
Charles Wesley

N.J. Hiebert - 8197

August 4