Gems from February 2023
Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. John 11:5
Jesus does not want all His loved ones to be of one mould or colour. He does not seek uniformity. He will not remove our individuality; He only seeks to glorify it. He loved "Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."
"Jesus loved Martha." Martha is our Biblical example of a practical woman; "Martha served". In that place is enshrined her character. "And her sister." Mary was contemplative, spending long hours in deep communion with the Lord.
We need the Marys as well as the Marthas--the deep contemplative souls, whose spirits shed a fragrant restfulness over the hard and busy streets. We need the souls who sit at Jesus' feet and listen to His word, and then interpret the sweet gospel to a tired and weary world.
"And Lazarus." what do we know about him? Nothing! Lazarus seems to have been undistinguished and commonplace. Yet Jesus loved him. What a huge multitude come under the category of "nobodies"! Their names are on the register of births, and on the register of deaths, and the space between is a great obscurity.
Thank God for the common place people! They turn our houses into homes; they make life restful and sweet. Jesus loves the common place. Here then is a great, comforting thought: we are all loved-- the brilliant and the commonplace, the dreamy and the practical.
Loved! then the way will not be drear, for One we know is ever near,
Proving it to our hearts so clear that we are loved.
Loved when we sing the glad new song to Christ, for whom we've waited long,
With all the happy ransomed throng--for ever loved.
"Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." J. H. Howett
N.J.Hiebert - 9109
February 1
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. . . . God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able."
1 Corinthians 10:12,13
What we have to do, whether to Christians, to backsliders, or to sinners, is to maintain the attitude of God towards each of these classes.
He never gives up one of His own, nor diminishes His love, though He does change His manner. As someone has said, we do not cease to love, but we do not caress a naughty child.
The perfection of the christian life is absolute trust in God. All roads lead to this, and the one who reaches it in any measure will never be confounded.
Waiting before the Lord is the sure means of qualification for obedience to His bidding. The fear of God can lift the feeblest and humblest above the fear of man.
Sympathy is the rarest of all ministries, as it is also the sweetest; it makes no show in the world, but it leaves its mark. In praying for the sick I once heard a brother use this expression: "May those who are too weak to pray be able to lean."
Until the soul is at peace and in liberty divine things cannot be communicated. We get rest by a revelation of the Father's love through Christ. . . . There is no pillow like love, and we have the Lord's perfect love to rest upon. E. Dennett
N.J.Hiebert - 9110
What we have to do, whether to Christians, to backsliders, or to sinners, is to maintain the attitude of God towards each of these classes.
He never gives up one of His own, nor diminishes His love, though He does change His manner. As someone has said, we do not cease to love, but we do not caress a naughty child.
The perfection of the christian life is absolute trust in God. All roads lead to this, and the one who reaches it in any measure will never be confounded.
Waiting before the Lord is the sure means of qualification for obedience to His bidding. The fear of God can lift the feeblest and humblest above the fear of man.
Sympathy is the rarest of all ministries, as it is also the sweetest; it makes no show in the world, but it leaves its mark. In praying for the sick I once heard a brother use this expression: "May those who are too weak to pray be able to lean."
Until the soul is at peace and in liberty divine things cannot be communicated. We get rest by a revelation of the Father's love through Christ. . . . There is no pillow like love, and we have the Lord's perfect love to rest upon. E. Dennett
N.J.Hiebert - 9110
February 2
Upon the first day of the week let everyone of you lay by him in store as God hath prospered him.
1 Corinthians 16:2
Have you ever wondered why the Lord chose the first day of the week for us to lay aside something? Was it for convenience's sake? Was it because then we could just remember how our income was during the past week and give in relation to that?
The first day of the week, Sunday, or the Lord's Day, is the day when the Lord rose from the dead. The disciples were together that day and the Lord revealed Himself to them. A week later, again on the first day of the week, the disciples being together, again the Lord revealed Himself to them.
It became the practise that the believers met together on the first day of the week, and on that day they remembered the Lord in partaking of the bread and wine in memory of their Lord, and we continue this still today.
As we take the bread and eat of it, we remember the death of the Lord on the cross, His body given as a sacrifice; and as we drink from the cup, we remember that God's holiness and righteousness have been satisfied in the matter of sin because the Lord shed His blood, gave His life, and died in our place.
We remember, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
As we reflect on His riches and HIs poverty and His great sacrifice, should this not affect our hearts in relation to what we give Him in our offering every first day of the week? Considering Him, our giving will not be a mechanical percentage, it will not be an obligatory custom of putting some money in the collection, but it will be an offering of gratitude, a sweet-smelling savour to God, an act of worship. A. Blok.
N.J.Hiebert - 9111
Have you ever wondered why the Lord chose the first day of the week for us to lay aside something? Was it for convenience's sake? Was it because then we could just remember how our income was during the past week and give in relation to that?
The first day of the week, Sunday, or the Lord's Day, is the day when the Lord rose from the dead. The disciples were together that day and the Lord revealed Himself to them. A week later, again on the first day of the week, the disciples being together, again the Lord revealed Himself to them.
It became the practise that the believers met together on the first day of the week, and on that day they remembered the Lord in partaking of the bread and wine in memory of their Lord, and we continue this still today.
As we take the bread and eat of it, we remember the death of the Lord on the cross, His body given as a sacrifice; and as we drink from the cup, we remember that God's holiness and righteousness have been satisfied in the matter of sin because the Lord shed His blood, gave His life, and died in our place.
We remember, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
As we reflect on His riches and HIs poverty and His great sacrifice, should this not affect our hearts in relation to what we give Him in our offering every first day of the week? Considering Him, our giving will not be a mechanical percentage, it will not be an obligatory custom of putting some money in the collection, but it will be an offering of gratitude, a sweet-smelling savour to God, an act of worship. A. Blok.
N.J.Hiebert - 9111
February 3
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Matthew 24:35
Bibles are more plentiful today than they ever have been. The words of the Lord Jesus are better known and loved by a greater multitude today than ever before in the history of the world. The Gospels have been handed down by the noblest of earth, through rivers of blood, at the cost of liberty and life, in the history of every nation in Christendom.
Christians have fought by weakness, enemies as diverse as Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the people of Israel, and have always been victorious. The enemy, the devil, in one age, has prepared his weapons in the monasteries of superstition; in another he has conducted his warfare from the colleges of infidelity; but whether Greek or Jew, ignorant or intellectual, every weapon has failed.
Passed away! What has passed away? The kings of earth have passed away. The cruelty of the Inquisition and the scoffings of Voltaire have passed away. Whatever opposition may arise to God and His Word shall surely pass away: for the Son of Man who was the Son of God, said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."
Let the ages answer. Let history come with the officers to the seat of power and learning. With one voice all will say, "Never man spake like this Man." (John 7:46). The Words of the Lord Jesus were often promises as well as declarations. They were promises that could be tested; promises that have been tested, thousands and thousands of times. Whoever found fault with Matthew 11:28? "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake
N.J.Hiebert - 9112
Bibles are more plentiful today than they ever have been. The words of the Lord Jesus are better known and loved by a greater multitude today than ever before in the history of the world. The Gospels have been handed down by the noblest of earth, through rivers of blood, at the cost of liberty and life, in the history of every nation in Christendom.
Christians have fought by weakness, enemies as diverse as Herod, Pontius Pilate, and the people of Israel, and have always been victorious. The enemy, the devil, in one age, has prepared his weapons in the monasteries of superstition; in another he has conducted his warfare from the colleges of infidelity; but whether Greek or Jew, ignorant or intellectual, every weapon has failed.
Passed away! What has passed away? The kings of earth have passed away. The cruelty of the Inquisition and the scoffings of Voltaire have passed away. Whatever opposition may arise to God and His Word shall surely pass away: for the Son of Man who was the Son of God, said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."
Let the ages answer. Let history come with the officers to the seat of power and learning. With one voice all will say, "Never man spake like this Man." (John 7:46). The Words of the Lord Jesus were often promises as well as declarations. They were promises that could be tested; promises that have been tested, thousands and thousands of times. Whoever found fault with Matthew 11:28? "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake
N.J.Hiebert - 9112
February 4
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him . . . but the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? and we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss. Luke 23:39-41
What genuine repentance is there manifested! The repentant malefactor took God's part against himself. To the other malefactor he said, "you are a dying man, and I too, and we are justly punished". The man who is divinely converted always condemns himself. "We indeed justly" is the language of real repentance.
When we are not right ourselves we never employ "we." We can then use the word "you." This man, divinely taught, says, "We indeed justly;" and then, conscious of the glory of the One who hung by his side, sinless but suffering, adds, "but this Man hath done nothing amiss." It was a very striking confession. The world head it, God head it, Satan heard it.
Do you think he was a fool or a wise man? He was a wise man; and any man who is not his companion is a fool. You say, that is bold. It is true; it is right. That man was right, and every man, who is unbelieving, is wrong.
That repentant thief accepts the judgment of God upon him, condemns himself, and clears the character of Christ, when all had condemned Him. His life had been a sinful one, and he owns it, saying, I have sinned, and I am getting what I deserve; and then boldly confesses his faith in Jesus.
"This man hath done nothing amiss," is his triumphant allegation. Thank God for the bold, true, glorious confession of that dying malefactor on the cross beside Jesus. Seekers for Light - W.T. P. Wolston, M.D.
N.J.Hiebert - 9113
What genuine repentance is there manifested! The repentant malefactor took God's part against himself. To the other malefactor he said, "you are a dying man, and I too, and we are justly punished". The man who is divinely converted always condemns himself. "We indeed justly" is the language of real repentance.
When we are not right ourselves we never employ "we." We can then use the word "you." This man, divinely taught, says, "We indeed justly;" and then, conscious of the glory of the One who hung by his side, sinless but suffering, adds, "but this Man hath done nothing amiss." It was a very striking confession. The world head it, God head it, Satan heard it.
Do you think he was a fool or a wise man? He was a wise man; and any man who is not his companion is a fool. You say, that is bold. It is true; it is right. That man was right, and every man, who is unbelieving, is wrong.
That repentant thief accepts the judgment of God upon him, condemns himself, and clears the character of Christ, when all had condemned Him. His life had been a sinful one, and he owns it, saying, I have sinned, and I am getting what I deserve; and then boldly confesses his faith in Jesus.
"This man hath done nothing amiss," is his triumphant allegation. Thank God for the bold, true, glorious confession of that dying malefactor on the cross beside Jesus. Seekers for Light - W.T. P. Wolston, M.D.
N.J.Hiebert - 9113
February 5
Whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Daniel 6:7
The word of God gave Daniel plain directions for the circumstances in which he found himself. Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple anticipated his difficulties (1 Kings 8:47-49). . . In faith in God, Daniel acted according to the word of God. He refused to make any compromise.
The carnal mind might suggest, "Why not close the window and pray in secret?" Refusing any such compromise, he prayed with his window open. But if he must pray with his window open, why select a front room facing towards the street?
Without hesitation, he prayed in his room toward Jerusalem. But if he must pray with an open window toward Jerusalem, why need he go down on his knees? Could he not assume some other position that would not call attention to the fact that he was praying? No, Daniel would not give up the right attitude toward God; he knelt down.
If then he was so strict that he must pray with his windows open, looking toward Jerusalem and kneeling upon his knees, what need was there for doing it three times a day? Surely he could pray early in the morning before anyone was abroad, or late in the evening after everyone had retired? Indeed, could he not for these thirty days give up praying by day and pray by night instead? God can see and hear in the dark.
No such suggestions influence Daniel; he prays three times, and in the day. And though he is in captivity, and surrounded by those who are plotting for his life, he finds occasion to give thanks as well as to pray.
Moreover, he prays and gives thanks "before his God." Men may see him praying, but it is before God, not men, that he prays. This was no new thing with Daniel. Hamilton Smith
N.J.Hiebert - 9114
The word of God gave Daniel plain directions for the circumstances in which he found himself. Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple anticipated his difficulties (1 Kings 8:47-49). . . In faith in God, Daniel acted according to the word of God. He refused to make any compromise.
The carnal mind might suggest, "Why not close the window and pray in secret?" Refusing any such compromise, he prayed with his window open. But if he must pray with his window open, why select a front room facing towards the street?
Without hesitation, he prayed in his room toward Jerusalem. But if he must pray with an open window toward Jerusalem, why need he go down on his knees? Could he not assume some other position that would not call attention to the fact that he was praying? No, Daniel would not give up the right attitude toward God; he knelt down.
If then he was so strict that he must pray with his windows open, looking toward Jerusalem and kneeling upon his knees, what need was there for doing it three times a day? Surely he could pray early in the morning before anyone was abroad, or late in the evening after everyone had retired? Indeed, could he not for these thirty days give up praying by day and pray by night instead? God can see and hear in the dark.
No such suggestions influence Daniel; he prays three times, and in the day. And though he is in captivity, and surrounded by those who are plotting for his life, he finds occasion to give thanks as well as to pray.
Moreover, he prays and gives thanks "before his God." Men may see him praying, but it is before God, not men, that he prays. This was no new thing with Daniel. Hamilton Smith
N.J.Hiebert - 9114
February 6
I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1
Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection.
But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high that he cannot see over the top, and wonders whether he is ever to get out of the little sphere of influence and service in which he is pent up, it is hard for him sometimes to understand why he may not have a larger environment--hard for him to "brighten the corner" where he is.
But God has a purpose in all HIS holdups. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." (Psalm 37:23). On the margin of his Bible at this verse George Mueller had a notation, "And the stops also." It is a sad mistake for men to break through God's hedges. It is a vital principle of guidance for a Christian never to move out of the place in which he is sure God has placed him, until the "Pillar of Cloud" moves (Exodus 13:21).
When we learn to wait for our Lord's lead in everything, we shall know the strength that finds its climax in an even, steady walk. Many of us are lacking in the strength we so covet. God gives full power for every task He appoints. Waiting, holding oneself true to His lead--this is the secret of strength. And anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength. Watch for His leading.
Must life be a failure for one compelled to stand still in enforced inaction. No; Victory is then to be gotten by standing still, by quiet waiting. It requires a grander heroism to stand and wait and not lose heart and hope, to submit to God's will, to be quiet, confident rejoicing. "having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13) J. R. Miller
N.J.Hiebert - 9115
Waiting is much more difficult than walking. Waiting requires patience, and patience is a rare virtue. It is fine to know that God builds hedges around His people--when the hedge is looked at from the viewpoint of protection.
But when the hedge is kept around one until it grows so high that he cannot see over the top, and wonders whether he is ever to get out of the little sphere of influence and service in which he is pent up, it is hard for him sometimes to understand why he may not have a larger environment--hard for him to "brighten the corner" where he is.
But God has a purpose in all HIS holdups. "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." (Psalm 37:23). On the margin of his Bible at this verse George Mueller had a notation, "And the stops also." It is a sad mistake for men to break through God's hedges. It is a vital principle of guidance for a Christian never to move out of the place in which he is sure God has placed him, until the "Pillar of Cloud" moves (Exodus 13:21).
When we learn to wait for our Lord's lead in everything, we shall know the strength that finds its climax in an even, steady walk. Many of us are lacking in the strength we so covet. God gives full power for every task He appoints. Waiting, holding oneself true to His lead--this is the secret of strength. And anything that falls out of the line of obedience is a waste of time and strength. Watch for His leading.
Must life be a failure for one compelled to stand still in enforced inaction. No; Victory is then to be gotten by standing still, by quiet waiting. It requires a grander heroism to stand and wait and not lose heart and hope, to submit to God's will, to be quiet, confident rejoicing. "having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:13) J. R. Miller
N.J.Hiebert - 9115
February 7
HAVE YOU A RESERVATION?
I go to prepare a pace for you. John 14:2
An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
I go to prepare a pace for you. John 14:2
An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.
1 Peter 1:4
How good it is when the weary traveler can walk up to the hotel desk and find a room ready and waiting, while others may ask in vain--and all because his name is on the book; he made a reservation.
We cannot walk up to the gate of heaven after death and obtain a dwelling-place merely by asking for it. Our abiding place up there is secured in advance while we are down here. Our Saviour has gone to prepare a place, but there are places only for those who make reservations. Is you name in the book?
Many will come in that day and make various claims, but He will say, "I never knew you: depart from Me." (Matthew 7:23) The dying thief made a reservation: "Remember me." (Luke 23:42) Reservations are made, not on the basis of our merit, but on His merit and our simple faith in Him.
Have you a reservation? Day by Day by Vance Havner
O what will you do with Jesus? the call comes low and clear;
The solemn words are sounding in every listening ear;
Immortal life's in the question, and joy through eternity:
Then what will you do with Jesus? O, What will the answer be?
Nathaniel Norton
N.J.Hiebert - 9116
How good it is when the weary traveler can walk up to the hotel desk and find a room ready and waiting, while others may ask in vain--and all because his name is on the book; he made a reservation.
We cannot walk up to the gate of heaven after death and obtain a dwelling-place merely by asking for it. Our abiding place up there is secured in advance while we are down here. Our Saviour has gone to prepare a place, but there are places only for those who make reservations. Is you name in the book?
Many will come in that day and make various claims, but He will say, "I never knew you: depart from Me." (Matthew 7:23) The dying thief made a reservation: "Remember me." (Luke 23:42) Reservations are made, not on the basis of our merit, but on His merit and our simple faith in Him.
Have you a reservation? Day by Day by Vance Havner
O what will you do with Jesus? the call comes low and clear;
The solemn words are sounding in every listening ear;
Immortal life's in the question, and joy through eternity:
Then what will you do with Jesus? O, What will the answer be?
Nathaniel Norton
N.J.Hiebert - 9116
February 8
YOU COULD BE MISTAKEN
Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way? Proverbs 20:24
Even this difficulty he meets, for "He declareth unto man what is His thought." (Amos 4:13) But are you willing to let Him do this? He may show you that those who have, as you suppose, misunderstood you, may have guessed right after all.
He may show you that your desire was not so honest, your motives not so single as you fancied; that there was self-will where you only recognized resolution, sin where you only recognized infirmity or mistake.
Let Him search, let Him declare it unto you. For then He will declare another message to you: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Then, when all is clear between Him and you, "nothing between" (and let that "when" be "now"), how sweet you will find it in the light of His forgiveness, and the new strength of His cleansing, to look up and say, "Thou understandest!" and wait patiently for Him to let you be understood or misunderstood, just as He will, even as Jesus did. For who was ever so misunderstood as He? Opened Tresures - Frances Ridley Havergal
Nothing between my soul and my Saviour,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favour,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. Kaleb Brasee
N.J.Hiebert - 9117
Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way? Proverbs 20:24
Even this difficulty he meets, for "He declareth unto man what is His thought." (Amos 4:13) But are you willing to let Him do this? He may show you that those who have, as you suppose, misunderstood you, may have guessed right after all.
He may show you that your desire was not so honest, your motives not so single as you fancied; that there was self-will where you only recognized resolution, sin where you only recognized infirmity or mistake.
Let Him search, let Him declare it unto you. For then He will declare another message to you: "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
Then, when all is clear between Him and you, "nothing between" (and let that "when" be "now"), how sweet you will find it in the light of His forgiveness, and the new strength of His cleansing, to look up and say, "Thou understandest!" and wait patiently for Him to let you be understood or misunderstood, just as He will, even as Jesus did. For who was ever so misunderstood as He? Opened Tresures - Frances Ridley Havergal
Nothing between my soul and my Saviour,
So that His blessed face may be seen;
Nothing preventing the least of His favour,
Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. Kaleb Brasee
N.J.Hiebert - 9117
February 9
REMEMBER ME
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. Genesis 40:23
The chief butler forgot to remember Joseph's request! Perhaps, with his new lease on life, he was simply taken up with his blessings. When Pharaoh's dream jogged his memory, he came forward and spoke of Joseph as "a young man, an Hebrew, servant," (41:12). Don't we see veiled in these words a beautiful picture of our Lord?
There is nothing that we can tell the Father about the Lord Jesus that He does not already know; and yet the Father delights to hear us speak well of Him! Sometimes, we too, need a gentle reminder to refocus our gaze away from our temporal blessings to the Lord Himself.
Israel was warned: "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee" and "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 8:2,11).
In Paul's last letter to Timothy, he reminded him to "remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel (2 Timothy 2:8). Paul wanted him to be occupied with the greatness and glory of the One who was raised. How uplifting to our spirits in the midst of trial and suffering to know that we serve a living, victorious, Saviour!
On the night of His betrayal the Lord Jesus gathered His disciples, and with bread and wine instituted a new supper. The bread, He explained, was to represent His body, and the wine, His blood. He said to them, "this do in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19). When this is done out of genuine love and affection for the Lord Jesus, the very atmosphere and tone of the occasion is one of joy, and an abundant outflow of worship. Let us remember Him! Richard A. Barnett
N.J.Hiebert - 9118
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him. Genesis 40:23
The chief butler forgot to remember Joseph's request! Perhaps, with his new lease on life, he was simply taken up with his blessings. When Pharaoh's dream jogged his memory, he came forward and spoke of Joseph as "a young man, an Hebrew, servant," (41:12). Don't we see veiled in these words a beautiful picture of our Lord?
There is nothing that we can tell the Father about the Lord Jesus that He does not already know; and yet the Father delights to hear us speak well of Him! Sometimes, we too, need a gentle reminder to refocus our gaze away from our temporal blessings to the Lord Himself.
Israel was warned: "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee" and "Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God." Deuteronomy 8:2,11).
In Paul's last letter to Timothy, he reminded him to "remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel (2 Timothy 2:8). Paul wanted him to be occupied with the greatness and glory of the One who was raised. How uplifting to our spirits in the midst of trial and suffering to know that we serve a living, victorious, Saviour!
On the night of His betrayal the Lord Jesus gathered His disciples, and with bread and wine instituted a new supper. The bread, He explained, was to represent His body, and the wine, His blood. He said to them, "this do in remembrance of Me." (Luke 22:19). When this is done out of genuine love and affection for the Lord Jesus, the very atmosphere and tone of the occasion is one of joy, and an abundant outflow of worship. Let us remember Him! Richard A. Barnett
N.J.Hiebert - 9118
February 10
Saul lay sleeping within the trench and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster...and the people lay round about him...David said...as the Lord liveth,...the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die...The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord's anointed.
(1 Samuel 26:7,10)
The deep sleep that God had caused to fall on Saul and on all the camp might have given birth to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. This was not so. God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call Him to accomplish toward Saul.
Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord. But David takes a token, as he had taken one in the cave. The spear and the cruse of water are two witnesses by which the events that had taken place are confirmed. The weapon that Saul had sought to use against David more than once is now found in David's hand.
Would he use it against the Lord's anointed as he had once used Goliath's sword against this enemy of Israel? In no way. It is enough for David to take away from Saul that which he had used in his effort to harm David, to show the king that he was well aware of his weapons and that they were powerless against him.
Now David goes far away from sleeping Saul and puts "a great space ... between them" (v. 13). To have acted otherwise would have been blind confidence in man. Sometimes the world must see the distance that separates it from the children of God. If they do not distance themselves from the world they often support it in its illusion as to its condition. (1 Samuel - H. L. Rossier)
NJ.Hiebert - 9119
(1 Samuel 26:7,10)
The deep sleep that God had caused to fall on Saul and on all the camp might have given birth to the thought of taking advantage of such a moment. This was not so. God had sent this sleep to preserve His beloved and not to give him an occasion to avenge himself. God would save him in view of the work of grace He would call Him to accomplish toward Saul.
Grace is reserved for David; judgment is reserved for the Lord. But David takes a token, as he had taken one in the cave. The spear and the cruse of water are two witnesses by which the events that had taken place are confirmed. The weapon that Saul had sought to use against David more than once is now found in David's hand.
Would he use it against the Lord's anointed as he had once used Goliath's sword against this enemy of Israel? In no way. It is enough for David to take away from Saul that which he had used in his effort to harm David, to show the king that he was well aware of his weapons and that they were powerless against him.
Now David goes far away from sleeping Saul and puts "a great space ... between them" (v. 13). To have acted otherwise would have been blind confidence in man. Sometimes the world must see the distance that separates it from the children of God. If they do not distance themselves from the world they often support it in its illusion as to its condition. (1 Samuel - H. L. Rossier)
NJ.Hiebert - 9119
February 11
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick. Ezekiel 34:16
Perhaps when we read those words our hearts are sad over some who do not seem to want to be brought back, and bound up and strengthened.
It helps, if we remember that this is first and foremost His sorrow. Our feeling it, too, means that we do not leave Him to sorrow alone, as He was left to pray alone in the garden of Gethsemane.
So let us not give up hope, for He never does. Even if we have prayed for someone for many years without seeing any result, let us continue steadfastly. We know that the Good Shepherd goes on seeking His lost sheep until He finds. Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael
Down in the human heart, Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.
CHORUS
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Fanny Crosby
N.J.Hiebert - 9120
Perhaps when we read those words our hearts are sad over some who do not seem to want to be brought back, and bound up and strengthened.
It helps, if we remember that this is first and foremost His sorrow. Our feeling it, too, means that we do not leave Him to sorrow alone, as He was left to pray alone in the garden of Gethsemane.
So let us not give up hope, for He never does. Even if we have prayed for someone for many years without seeing any result, let us continue steadfastly. We know that the Good Shepherd goes on seeking His lost sheep until He finds. Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael
Down in the human heart, Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.
CHORUS
Rescue the perishing, care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.
Fanny Crosby
N.J.Hiebert - 9120
February 12
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions...but out of them all the Lord delivered me. 2 Timothy 3:10,11.
We are definitely told that the great safeguard against all that is false is the knowledge of that which is true...There is no necessity to know fully the evil, for we do not escape evil simply by the knowledge of evil. It is by the knowledge of the truth that we can detect that which is false and contrary to the truth; and having detected the evil the exhortation is, not to be occupied with it, but to "turn away" from those who pursue it.
The Apostle can appeal to his "manner of life". His life was wholly consistent with the doctrine that he taught.... In his doctrine he proclaimed the heavenly calling of the saints and, in consistency with his doctrine, his manner of life was that of a stranger and a pilgrim whose citizenship is in heaven. It was a life governed by a definite "purpose," lived by "faith," exhibiting the character of Christ in all "longsuffering," "love" and "endurance", involving "suffering" and "persecution."
Thus the first great safeguard from the evil of the last days is the knowledge of the truth; and the second safeguard, a life lived in consistency with the truth....thirdly, we read of the support of the Lord. "out of them all the Lord delivered me."(v11). If we are diligent to know the doctrine, if we are prepared to live a life consistent with the doctrine, we shall realize the support of the Lord.
Others may forsake us even as they did the Apostle; others may think we are too extreme and too uncompromising; but, in contending for the faith, we shall find even as he did, that the Lord will stand by us, the Lord will strengthen us.
2 Timothy - Hamilton Smith
N.J.Hiebert - 9121
We are definitely told that the great safeguard against all that is false is the knowledge of that which is true...There is no necessity to know fully the evil, for we do not escape evil simply by the knowledge of evil. It is by the knowledge of the truth that we can detect that which is false and contrary to the truth; and having detected the evil the exhortation is, not to be occupied with it, but to "turn away" from those who pursue it.
The Apostle can appeal to his "manner of life". His life was wholly consistent with the doctrine that he taught.... In his doctrine he proclaimed the heavenly calling of the saints and, in consistency with his doctrine, his manner of life was that of a stranger and a pilgrim whose citizenship is in heaven. It was a life governed by a definite "purpose," lived by "faith," exhibiting the character of Christ in all "longsuffering," "love" and "endurance", involving "suffering" and "persecution."
Thus the first great safeguard from the evil of the last days is the knowledge of the truth; and the second safeguard, a life lived in consistency with the truth....thirdly, we read of the support of the Lord. "out of them all the Lord delivered me."(v11). If we are diligent to know the doctrine, if we are prepared to live a life consistent with the doctrine, we shall realize the support of the Lord.
Others may forsake us even as they did the Apostle; others may think we are too extreme and too uncompromising; but, in contending for the faith, we shall find even as he did, that the Lord will stand by us, the Lord will strengthen us.
2 Timothy - Hamilton Smith
N.J.Hiebert - 9121
February 13
BETWEEN TWO FIRES
And when they had kindled a fire . . . Peter sat down among them.
Luke 22:55
As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there.
John 21:9
Peter warmed himself at the enemy's fire--and denied His Lord. The devil always has a convenient fire for saints who are about to slip. Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse.
Days later, Peter warmed at another fire, the coals his Master had kindled on the beach. There he met the question, "lovest thou Me?" John 21:16 and received the commission, "Feed My sheep."
Many Christians are living in an interim between Satan's Fire and the Saviour's fire. If you have fallen because you warmed yourself when you should have warned yourself, the Lord seeks an interview.
Peter, the backslider, was marked Special: "Go tell his disciples and Peter" (Mark 16:7). He does not want to fire you out but fire you up! If you have collapsed at Satan's fire, you may be converted at the Saviour's fire. Do not live "between fires." Vance Havner
N.J.Hiebert - 9122
And when they had kindled a fire . . . Peter sat down among them.
Luke 22:55
As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there.
John 21:9
Peter warmed himself at the enemy's fire--and denied His Lord. The devil always has a convenient fire for saints who are about to slip. Taking it easy is often the prelude to backsliding. Comfort precedes collapse.
Days later, Peter warmed at another fire, the coals his Master had kindled on the beach. There he met the question, "lovest thou Me?" John 21:16 and received the commission, "Feed My sheep."
Many Christians are living in an interim between Satan's Fire and the Saviour's fire. If you have fallen because you warmed yourself when you should have warned yourself, the Lord seeks an interview.
Peter, the backslider, was marked Special: "Go tell his disciples and Peter" (Mark 16:7). He does not want to fire you out but fire you up! If you have collapsed at Satan's fire, you may be converted at the Saviour's fire. Do not live "between fires." Vance Havner
N.J.Hiebert - 9122
February 14
Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. Matthew 13:52.
It is only with God-given treasure that we can enrich others. When we want to give a word to another, it generally seems to come with more power if, instead of casting about for what we think likely to suit them, we simply hand over to them any treasure word which He has freshly given to ourselves.
When He opens to us some shining bit of treasure, let us not forget: "Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8. Also, let us not stand idly waiting for some further opening of the treasure, but "let there be search made in the king's treasure house . . . search was made in the house of rolls, (archives) where the treasures were laid up . . . and therein was a record thus written . . ." Ezra 5:17, 6:1,2.
"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isaiah 45:3). They are truly hidden riches.
Neither must we we trust in our own store of spiritual treasures, whether of memory, experience, or even of grace. No, it is only continual drawing from HIs good treasure that will profit us, even "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."(2 Corinthians 4:7) .
Frances Ridley Hvergal.
N.J.Hiebert - 9123
It is only with God-given treasure that we can enrich others. When we want to give a word to another, it generally seems to come with more power if, instead of casting about for what we think likely to suit them, we simply hand over to them any treasure word which He has freshly given to ourselves.
When He opens to us some shining bit of treasure, let us not forget: "Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8. Also, let us not stand idly waiting for some further opening of the treasure, but "let there be search made in the king's treasure house . . . search was made in the house of rolls, (archives) where the treasures were laid up . . . and therein was a record thus written . . ." Ezra 5:17, 6:1,2.
"And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel." Isaiah 45:3). They are truly hidden riches.
Neither must we we trust in our own store of spiritual treasures, whether of memory, experience, or even of grace. No, it is only continual drawing from HIs good treasure that will profit us, even "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."(2 Corinthians 4:7) .
Frances Ridley Hvergal.
N.J.Hiebert - 9123
February 15
SUSTAINED IN SUFFERING
In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.
Psalm 138:3
None find such quick response at the throne of grace as suffering saints. Peter knocked at the gate of those who were assembled to seek God for him. (Acts 12:13) Almost as soon, their prayer knocked at heaven's gate in his behalf.
There is always a door more than the Christian sees in his prison, by which Christ can with a turn of His hand open a way for His saint's escape.
Man may, the devil to be sure will, leave all without help or protection, when in need, that do his work. But if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. When your faithfulness to Him has brought you into the briers: be not troubled if you are cast overboard.
Like Jonah, before you see the provision which God makes for your safety: it is always at hand, but sometimes out of sight, like Jonah's whale, sent of God to ferry him ashore under water, and the prophet in his belly, before he knew where he was.
That which you think comes to devour you, may be the messenger that God sends to bring you safe to land.
William Gurnall (1617-1679)
N.J.Hiebert - 9124
None find such quick response at the throne of grace as suffering saints. Peter knocked at the gate of those who were assembled to seek God for him. (Acts 12:13) Almost as soon, their prayer knocked at heaven's gate in his behalf.
There is always a door more than the Christian sees in his prison, by which Christ can with a turn of His hand open a way for His saint's escape.
Man may, the devil to be sure will, leave all without help or protection, when in need, that do his work. But if God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. When your faithfulness to Him has brought you into the briers: be not troubled if you are cast overboard.
Like Jonah, before you see the provision which God makes for your safety: it is always at hand, but sometimes out of sight, like Jonah's whale, sent of God to ferry him ashore under water, and the prophet in his belly, before he knew where he was.
That which you think comes to devour you, may be the messenger that God sends to bring you safe to land.
William Gurnall (1617-1679)
N.J.Hiebert - 9124
February 16
THANKFUL FOR SALVATION
For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14).
Strange, incomprehensibly
The Courts above are a strange place for me to tread. How can I find myself at ease there? Ah! Because of the accepted Sacrifice; up there everything belongs to Him. Without Him heaven would be a perfectly strange place to me.
But as soon as my mind gets occupied with Him in heaven, I know it to be true of me before God that Christ is there as the accepted Sacrifice for me, and faith acts on the fact of His being there to give me perfect ease. What a thing it is to be certain that if I were out of the body tonight, I have a life bound up with Christ up there, and I have got practical peace from His being up there as my accepted Sacrifice.
How can I hesitate to draw near to God when He has told us that His whole delight is in the accepted Sacrifice who has perfected me forever? That blood has done it--that death, which has become a record in heaven of what sin is, as well as a record of sin being put away from before God.
Oh what a light God has let shine in on me! He has let me know what a wretched thing I am--all ruin, all misery; but ah! I have fallen to the lot of the Lord Jesus. I am not a wretched man; I am a saved man, and where all is utterly marred and ruined, just there can I say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ." G. V. Wigram
N.J.Hiebert - 9125
For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
(2 Corinthians 5:21) For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14).
Strange, incomprehensibly
The Courts above are a strange place for me to tread. How can I find myself at ease there? Ah! Because of the accepted Sacrifice; up there everything belongs to Him. Without Him heaven would be a perfectly strange place to me.
But as soon as my mind gets occupied with Him in heaven, I know it to be true of me before God that Christ is there as the accepted Sacrifice for me, and faith acts on the fact of His being there to give me perfect ease. What a thing it is to be certain that if I were out of the body tonight, I have a life bound up with Christ up there, and I have got practical peace from His being up there as my accepted Sacrifice.
How can I hesitate to draw near to God when He has told us that His whole delight is in the accepted Sacrifice who has perfected me forever? That blood has done it--that death, which has become a record in heaven of what sin is, as well as a record of sin being put away from before God.
Oh what a light God has let shine in on me! He has let me know what a wretched thing I am--all ruin, all misery; but ah! I have fallen to the lot of the Lord Jesus. I am not a wretched man; I am a saved man, and where all is utterly marred and ruined, just there can I say, "I thank God through Jesus Christ." G. V. Wigram
N.J.Hiebert - 9125
February 17
Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of Him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. Galatians 5:7-9
Faith in Christ alone can save. But what about the Galatians? Were they still being persecuted? When they turned from Christ to circumcision, then their persecution would cease. It may be that Paul would gently remind them of this. If Paul were preaching the doctrines of the Jews, then the scandal of the cross would surely have ceased.
It was such a scandalous thing to preach about a Man who had been nailed on a cross. This death was worse than being hanged on a gallows. This death was kept for slaves and for criminals of the worst kind. A Roman citizen could not be crucified. But Paul gloried in the cross. He loved to tell the story of the cross.
He was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, nor of the cross of Christ. To him it was the power of God unto salvation. But to men of the world, it was a scandal. We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block (or scandal), and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:23,24) G. C. Willis
Christ the Saviour of sinners came into the world to save!
Sing His glory, His worth, His fame, Jesus alone can save!
No name else is given. Search through earth and heaven --
Jesus alone, Jesus alone, Jesus alone can save.
"Works of righteousness" all in vain, Jesus alone can save,
His blood cleanses from every stain, Jesus alone can save.
Now His work's completed, now in glory seated --
Jesus alone, Jesus alone can save, Jesus alone can save.
Inglis Fleming
N.J.Hiebert - 9126
Faith in Christ alone can save. But what about the Galatians? Were they still being persecuted? When they turned from Christ to circumcision, then their persecution would cease. It may be that Paul would gently remind them of this. If Paul were preaching the doctrines of the Jews, then the scandal of the cross would surely have ceased.
It was such a scandalous thing to preach about a Man who had been nailed on a cross. This death was worse than being hanged on a gallows. This death was kept for slaves and for criminals of the worst kind. A Roman citizen could not be crucified. But Paul gloried in the cross. He loved to tell the story of the cross.
He was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, nor of the cross of Christ. To him it was the power of God unto salvation. But to men of the world, it was a scandal. We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block (or scandal), and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
(1 Corinthians 1:23,24) G. C. Willis
Christ the Saviour of sinners came into the world to save!
Sing His glory, His worth, His fame, Jesus alone can save!
No name else is given. Search through earth and heaven --
Jesus alone, Jesus alone, Jesus alone can save.
"Works of righteousness" all in vain, Jesus alone can save,
His blood cleanses from every stain, Jesus alone can save.
Now His work's completed, now in glory seated --
Jesus alone, Jesus alone can save, Jesus alone can save.
Inglis Fleming
N.J.Hiebert - 9126
February 18
I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3
The writing of this text is most remarkable! It was authored by an esteemed Scottish minister George Matheson who was totally blind and who described the writing as the "fruit of much mental suffering."
"My hymn was composed on the evening of June 6 1882, when I was 40 years of age. It was the night of my sister's marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life."
"I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. This came like a dayspring from on high."
Though never fully substantiated, it is claimed that it was the result of the reminder at his sister's wedding of the great disappointment that Matheson had experienced just before he was to have been married to his college fiancée. When told of his impending total blindness, she is said to have informed him, "I do not wish to be the wife of a blind preacher." Kenneth W. Osbeck
O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.
O light that follows all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; my heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be.
O joy that seekest me thru pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow thru the rain, and know the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.
N.J.Hiebert - 9127
The writing of this text is most remarkable! It was authored by an esteemed Scottish minister George Matheson who was totally blind and who described the writing as the "fruit of much mental suffering."
"My hymn was composed on the evening of June 6 1882, when I was 40 years of age. It was the night of my sister's marriage, and the rest of the family were staying overnight in Glasgow. Something happened to me, which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life."
"I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. This came like a dayspring from on high."
Though never fully substantiated, it is claimed that it was the result of the reminder at his sister's wedding of the great disappointment that Matheson had experienced just before he was to have been married to his college fiancée. When told of his impending total blindness, she is said to have informed him, "I do not wish to be the wife of a blind preacher." Kenneth W. Osbeck
O love that wilt not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee; I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine ocean depths its flow may richer, fuller be.
O light that follows all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee; my heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's blaze its day may brighter, fairer be.
O joy that seekest me thru pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee; I trace the rainbow thru the rain, and know the promise is not vain that morn shall tearless be.
O Cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee; I lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red, life that shall endless be.
N.J.Hiebert - 9127
February 19
THE HEART REVEALED
And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. Genesis 50:15
They remember that when Joseph was but a lad of seventeen, "They hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him," and now they conclude, "Joseph will peradventure hate us." Conscience recalls how wickedly they had acted in regard to Joseph, and now they say, He "will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him." They judge of his thoughts by their thoughts, of his heart by their hearts, and of his acts by their acts.
THE CONDITION REVEALED
Alas! are not we Christians today often times like Joseph's brethren of old? We know something of the glory of the Person of Christ, we know something of the efficacy of His work, we enjoy the benefits that flow from His finished work on the cross and His present service in the glory, but when some little crisis arises in our history it becomes manifest how little we know of His heart, and therefore what little confidence we have in Himself.
We lack that personal intimate acquaintance with Christ, by which alone His mind is learned in such fashion that we can say not only "I know what He has done for me," but "I know how He feels about me." The result is that in the presence of some special trial we are, like Joseph's brethren, greatly distressed in soul.
One has truly said, "nothing has contributed more to the present distraction of saints than the lack of personal relationship with the Lord. There has been a great and increased zeal to acquire knowledge of the Scriptures, but personal acquaintance with the Lord has not been correspondingly sought after".
Joseph - Hamilton Smith.
N.J.Hiebert - 9128
And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. Genesis 50:15
They remember that when Joseph was but a lad of seventeen, "They hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him," and now they conclude, "Joseph will peradventure hate us." Conscience recalls how wickedly they had acted in regard to Joseph, and now they say, He "will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him." They judge of his thoughts by their thoughts, of his heart by their hearts, and of his acts by their acts.
THE CONDITION REVEALED
Alas! are not we Christians today often times like Joseph's brethren of old? We know something of the glory of the Person of Christ, we know something of the efficacy of His work, we enjoy the benefits that flow from His finished work on the cross and His present service in the glory, but when some little crisis arises in our history it becomes manifest how little we know of His heart, and therefore what little confidence we have in Himself.
We lack that personal intimate acquaintance with Christ, by which alone His mind is learned in such fashion that we can say not only "I know what He has done for me," but "I know how He feels about me." The result is that in the presence of some special trial we are, like Joseph's brethren, greatly distressed in soul.
One has truly said, "nothing has contributed more to the present distraction of saints than the lack of personal relationship with the Lord. There has been a great and increased zeal to acquire knowledge of the Scriptures, but personal acquaintance with the Lord has not been correspondingly sought after".
Joseph - Hamilton Smith.
N.J.Hiebert - 9128
February 20
LIGHTHOUSES BUILT ON SOLID ROCK
Ye are the light of the world...let your light so shine before men. Matthew 5:14-15
A few years ago, our family took a vacation up the New England coast and over to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. As we traveled, we found the lighthouses to be the most impressive sights along the shore. By day they were imposing-enough structures standing tall on cliffs or at the inlets of the ocean. But by night they were outstanding beacons, bright lights to guide ships away from harm's way and into safe harbour.
One lighthouse we visited looked like it grew right out of the solid rock upon which it was built. The water had worn away the rock below, but not the lighthouse which was situated high above the water. For over 100 years it not only kept ships from the dangerous rocks lurking just beneath the water's surface, but also guided their way into the safety of the nearby harbour.
Shouldn't Christians be situated like these lighthouses as well? Doesn't the Word of God call us to be built upon solid rock (Matthew 7:24), where we can both stand firm and be useful guides in the darkness and danger that is all around today? Shouldn't we be useful both to guide souls away from danger and into a safe and secure relationship with Jesus Christ?
When the Ethiopian eunuch told Philip he could not understand Scripture "except some man should guide me," (Acts 8:31,35). Philip responded immediately and announced the glad tidings of Jesus to him. Shouldn't we be ever ready to do likewise? L.J. Ondrejack
Brightly beams our Father's mercy from His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning! send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. P. P. Bliss
N.J.Hiebert - 9129
Ye are the light of the world...let your light so shine before men. Matthew 5:14-15
A few years ago, our family took a vacation up the New England coast and over to the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. As we traveled, we found the lighthouses to be the most impressive sights along the shore. By day they were imposing-enough structures standing tall on cliffs or at the inlets of the ocean. But by night they were outstanding beacons, bright lights to guide ships away from harm's way and into safe harbour.
One lighthouse we visited looked like it grew right out of the solid rock upon which it was built. The water had worn away the rock below, but not the lighthouse which was situated high above the water. For over 100 years it not only kept ships from the dangerous rocks lurking just beneath the water's surface, but also guided their way into the safety of the nearby harbour.
Shouldn't Christians be situated like these lighthouses as well? Doesn't the Word of God call us to be built upon solid rock (Matthew 7:24), where we can both stand firm and be useful guides in the darkness and danger that is all around today? Shouldn't we be useful both to guide souls away from danger and into a safe and secure relationship with Jesus Christ?
When the Ethiopian eunuch told Philip he could not understand Scripture "except some man should guide me," (Acts 8:31,35). Philip responded immediately and announced the glad tidings of Jesus to him. Shouldn't we be ever ready to do likewise? L.J. Ondrejack
Brightly beams our Father's mercy from His lighthouse evermore,
But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.
Let the lower lights be burning! send a gleam across the wave!
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman you may rescue, you may save. P. P. Bliss
N.J.Hiebert - 9129
February 21
Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges?
1 Corinthians 9:7
If we run unsent, we shall not only be left to learn our folly, but to exhibit it. It is a teacher's business to set forth God's Word, and it is a servant's business to set forth the Master's will; but while all this is fully understood and admitted, we must ever remember the deep need there is of counting the cost ere we undertake to build a tower or go forth to war. (Luke 14:28)
Abraham was called of God from Ur to Canaan, and hence God led him forth on the way. When Abraham tarried at Charran, God waited for him; When he went down into Egypt, He restored him; when he needed guidance, He guided him; when there was a strife and a separation, He took care of him; so that Abraham had only to say, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast 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)
He lost nothing by the strife. He had his tent and his altar before, and he had his tent and his altar afterwards. "Then Abraham removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." (Genesis 13:18)
Lot might choose Sodom; but as for Abraham, he sought and found his all in God. There was no altar in Sodom. Alas! all who travel in that direction are in quest of something quite different from that. It is never the worship of God, but the love of the world, that leads them thither. And even though they should attain their object, what is it?--how does it end? Just thus:
"He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:15) Genesis - C. H. Mackintosh
N.J.Hiebert - 9130
If we run unsent, we shall not only be left to learn our folly, but to exhibit it. It is a teacher's business to set forth God's Word, and it is a servant's business to set forth the Master's will; but while all this is fully understood and admitted, we must ever remember the deep need there is of counting the cost ere we undertake to build a tower or go forth to war. (Luke 14:28)
Abraham was called of God from Ur to Canaan, and hence God led him forth on the way. When Abraham tarried at Charran, God waited for him; When he went down into Egypt, He restored him; when he needed guidance, He guided him; when there was a strife and a separation, He took care of him; so that Abraham had only to say, "Oh, how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast 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)
He lost nothing by the strife. He had his tent and his altar before, and he had his tent and his altar afterwards. "Then Abraham removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord." (Genesis 13:18)
Lot might choose Sodom; but as for Abraham, he sought and found his all in God. There was no altar in Sodom. Alas! all who travel in that direction are in quest of something quite different from that. It is never the worship of God, but the love of the world, that leads them thither. And even though they should attain their object, what is it?--how does it end? Just thus:
"He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." (Psalm 106:15) Genesis - C. H. Mackintosh
N.J.Hiebert - 9130
February 22
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. 1 Peter 4:12
All that grieves is but for a moment;
All that pleases is but for a moment;
Only the eternal is important.
Most of you know these words; I want to remind you of them. The eternal in anything is the unseen, the spiritual. A trial comes. It will pass. In a few days, or months, or years, we shall have forgotten it. The way we meet that trial--our inner attitude towards it--belongs to the things that are eternal.
It will matter ten thousand years hence whether we conquered or were conquered by that temptation to impatience or faithlessness or worry which came when the trial rushed upon us. It does not seem so now. We feel, "If only I could have that--that joy on which my heart is set--then I should be happy."
But these words remind us of something we know is true, and yet often forget. The pleasure will pass. There is nothing abiding in pleasure, but there is something abiding in our attitude towards that pleasure.
If we say, "I must have it; I shall not be happy if I cannot have it," Then even if we did have it, there would be no lasting gain, only a dreadful loss, eternal loss.
There is a verse about this in the Bible: "And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." Psalm 106:15. Amy Carmichael
N.J.Hiebert - 9131
All that grieves is but for a moment;
All that pleases is but for a moment;
Only the eternal is important.
Most of you know these words; I want to remind you of them. The eternal in anything is the unseen, the spiritual. A trial comes. It will pass. In a few days, or months, or years, we shall have forgotten it. The way we meet that trial--our inner attitude towards it--belongs to the things that are eternal.
It will matter ten thousand years hence whether we conquered or were conquered by that temptation to impatience or faithlessness or worry which came when the trial rushed upon us. It does not seem so now. We feel, "If only I could have that--that joy on which my heart is set--then I should be happy."
But these words remind us of something we know is true, and yet often forget. The pleasure will pass. There is nothing abiding in pleasure, but there is something abiding in our attitude towards that pleasure.
If we say, "I must have it; I shall not be happy if I cannot have it," Then even if we did have it, there would be no lasting gain, only a dreadful loss, eternal loss.
There is a verse about this in the Bible: "And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." Psalm 106:15. Amy Carmichael
N.J.Hiebert - 9131
February 23
THE SOURCE OF PRAISE
Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:5-6
What? This One Who knows the secrets of the Father's heart, do I know that He loves me? Did He die for me? I had nothing but my sins when He looked upon me. Was His blood competent to take out all their crimson dye? And is God satisfied? Will God find fault with that work as inadequate? Oh no! He looked upon me, the chief of sinners, and I am to be a specimen of the cleansing power of that blood.
Oh, what love that is of His! How aggressive, how mighty in its power against all that is contrary to it, as it flows into the heart of a saint! How it enables one to look up and say, I know Thee, Lord Jesus up there, as the One who loved me in all my misery, who interposed Himself between me and my sins, and has given me a title to be a kingly priest to God and His Father, and has made me know it now.
How is it that there is so little praise? Because their so little appreciation of Christ and of the work of Christ, of how that blood has cleansed us and given us a place in glory. Why is there not willingness in saints to strip themselves for Christ, as Jonathan did for David (1 Samuel 18:4)? Why is there not that impulsive power of love flowing out in praise, as it did in John, when His heart welled forth, "To Him that loved us" (Revelation 1:5)? G. V. Wigram
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. Isaac Watts
N.J.Hiebert - 9132
Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:5-6
What? This One Who knows the secrets of the Father's heart, do I know that He loves me? Did He die for me? I had nothing but my sins when He looked upon me. Was His blood competent to take out all their crimson dye? And is God satisfied? Will God find fault with that work as inadequate? Oh no! He looked upon me, the chief of sinners, and I am to be a specimen of the cleansing power of that blood.
Oh, what love that is of His! How aggressive, how mighty in its power against all that is contrary to it, as it flows into the heart of a saint! How it enables one to look up and say, I know Thee, Lord Jesus up there, as the One who loved me in all my misery, who interposed Himself between me and my sins, and has given me a title to be a kingly priest to God and His Father, and has made me know it now.
How is it that there is so little praise? Because their so little appreciation of Christ and of the work of Christ, of how that blood has cleansed us and given us a place in glory. Why is there not willingness in saints to strip themselves for Christ, as Jonathan did for David (1 Samuel 18:4)? Why is there not that impulsive power of love flowing out in praise, as it did in John, when His heart welled forth, "To Him that loved us" (Revelation 1:5)? G. V. Wigram
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all. Isaac Watts
N.J.Hiebert - 9132
February 24
And that ye study yo be quiet. 1 Thessalonians 4:11
What struck me about this verse, written to a young man by an elderly apostle, was that we should need to, "take a course" on how to be quiet. The only other New Testament reference to studying is "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings. (2 Timothy 2:15-16)
We all started babbling as babies, trying our best to copy the sounds made by our parents. But some of us are so voluble that we continue the practise into adulthood; using lots of words without much spiritual depth. Hence the admonition tp consider what it means to just be quiet much of the time. Only in quiet times can we learn. It was a "still, small voice" (1 Kings 19:12) that spoke to Elijah, but only after the tumult died down was God ready to speak quietly. No wonder school teachers and professors require a tranquil classroom to get their message across.
Even when we think we might have something important to say, it is often better to give someone else a chance to say it better. And if they do speak up, consider it done, and resist the temptation to say the same thing again. We certainly do have a tendency to enjoy hearing the sound of our own voice, and may be so eager we cut someone else off, or worse, miss the direction of the Holy Spirit.
In the love song written by Solomon (Song of Solomon 2:14) the lady pleads with her lover "let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice." This is good advice for us. We will only grow in grace when we are in close relationship with the Lord Jesus. That is hard to arrange when we are talking, talking most of our waking hours. The Lord speaks to us by the Word of God, as conveyed by the Holy Spirit. It follows that we need to keep it before us frequently, so we can get His counsel. And that calls for quiet meditation.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." James 1:19 Lorne Perry
N.J.Hiebert - 9133
What struck me about this verse, written to a young man by an elderly apostle, was that we should need to, "take a course" on how to be quiet. The only other New Testament reference to studying is "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings. (2 Timothy 2:15-16)
We all started babbling as babies, trying our best to copy the sounds made by our parents. But some of us are so voluble that we continue the practise into adulthood; using lots of words without much spiritual depth. Hence the admonition tp consider what it means to just be quiet much of the time. Only in quiet times can we learn. It was a "still, small voice" (1 Kings 19:12) that spoke to Elijah, but only after the tumult died down was God ready to speak quietly. No wonder school teachers and professors require a tranquil classroom to get their message across.
Even when we think we might have something important to say, it is often better to give someone else a chance to say it better. And if they do speak up, consider it done, and resist the temptation to say the same thing again. We certainly do have a tendency to enjoy hearing the sound of our own voice, and may be so eager we cut someone else off, or worse, miss the direction of the Holy Spirit.
In the love song written by Solomon (Song of Solomon 2:14) the lady pleads with her lover "let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice." This is good advice for us. We will only grow in grace when we are in close relationship with the Lord Jesus. That is hard to arrange when we are talking, talking most of our waking hours. The Lord speaks to us by the Word of God, as conveyed by the Holy Spirit. It follows that we need to keep it before us frequently, so we can get His counsel. And that calls for quiet meditation.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." James 1:19 Lorne Perry
N.J.Hiebert - 9133
February 25
"Perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed (shunned) evil. Job 1:1)
Such was Job's character, given by God--no mean one, especially as it was earned in what we believe were pre-Abrahamic days, with no general light of revelation. He was blessed, too, as godliness was in those days, with abundance of this world's goods. "And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. (vv2,3).
God asks Satan, "Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?" (v.8) Satan, in reply, says in effect, "Strip him, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." (v11) Satan sought his fall, God sought his blessing; Satan wished him to curse God, God desired that he should abhor himself.
Satan gets leave from God to strip Job. With malignant energy he sets to work, and in one day he brings the greatest man in all the east into abject poverty and visits him with sore bereavement.
Blow after blow falls upon Job of such crushing nature and in such rapidity that one marvels at the comment of the Holy Ghost on his conduct in it all: "In all this Job sinned not." (v.22) What self-restraint! What a triumph for God so far! What a defeat for Satan, who predicted the deep and bitter curse if God touched his possessions! The tongue is an unruly member. Says James, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." And Job, up to this point, behaved perfectly." (James 4) Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock
N.J.Hiebert - 9134
Such was Job's character, given by God--no mean one, especially as it was earned in what we believe were pre-Abrahamic days, with no general light of revelation. He was blessed, too, as godliness was in those days, with abundance of this world's goods. "And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east. (vv2,3).
God asks Satan, "Hast thou considered My servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth?" (v.8) Satan, in reply, says in effect, "Strip him, and he will curse Thee to Thy face." (v11) Satan sought his fall, God sought his blessing; Satan wished him to curse God, God desired that he should abhor himself.
Satan gets leave from God to strip Job. With malignant energy he sets to work, and in one day he brings the greatest man in all the east into abject poverty and visits him with sore bereavement.
Blow after blow falls upon Job of such crushing nature and in such rapidity that one marvels at the comment of the Holy Ghost on his conduct in it all: "In all this Job sinned not." (v.22) What self-restraint! What a triumph for God so far! What a defeat for Satan, who predicted the deep and bitter curse if God touched his possessions! The tongue is an unruly member. Says James, "If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body." And Job, up to this point, behaved perfectly." (James 4) Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock
N.J.Hiebert - 9134
February 26
-Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Job 38:1,2
-Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee.
-Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
-Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me.
-I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee.
-Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:1-6
Personal dealing with God makes him a little man in his own eyes, even to the abhorrence of himself. This is the only road to true greatness, for when Job had arrived at this point God gave him a double portion, so that his later end was more blessed than his beginning. Thus it ever is.
Whether we are stripped of human righteousness as sinners, or stripped of self-complacency as saints, the end is always for blessing, and the truly great before God are the truly small in their own eyes.
It is all beautifully summed up by James when he says, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is pitiful, and of tender mercy." (v 5:11)
Those who are enduring the striping process, let them be encouraged by this prospect of pure blessing--"the end of the Lord." "He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." If exercised, Satan will not gain the advantage; God will gain the glory and we shall gain the blessing. Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock
N.J.Hiebert - 9135
-Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that Thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from Thee.
-Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
-Hear, I beseech Thee, and I will speak: I will demand of Thee, and declare Thou unto me.
-I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee.
-Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:1-6
Personal dealing with God makes him a little man in his own eyes, even to the abhorrence of himself. This is the only road to true greatness, for when Job had arrived at this point God gave him a double portion, so that his later end was more blessed than his beginning. Thus it ever is.
Whether we are stripped of human righteousness as sinners, or stripped of self-complacency as saints, the end is always for blessing, and the truly great before God are the truly small in their own eyes.
It is all beautifully summed up by James when he says, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is pitiful, and of tender mercy." (v 5:11)
Those who are enduring the striping process, let them be encouraged by this prospect of pure blessing--"the end of the Lord." "He is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." If exercised, Satan will not gain the advantage; God will gain the glory and we shall gain the blessing. Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock
N.J.Hiebert - 9135
February 27
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
Suppose you give over a piece of ground to another person. You give it up, then and there, entirely to the other; it is no longer in your own possession; you no longer dig and sow, plant and reap, at your discretion or for your own profit. His occupation of it is total; no other has any right to an inch of it; it is his affair what crops to arrange for and how to make the most of it.
But his practical occupation of it may not appear all at once. There may be waste land which he will take into full cultivation only by degrees, space wasted for want of draining and odd corners lost for want of inclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than they might, because of hedges too wide and shady, and trees too many, and strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for want of defined pathways.
Just so is it with our lives. The transaction of giving them over to God is definite and complete. But then begins the practical development of consecration. And here He leads on softly, according as the children be able to endure. (Genesis 33:14). I do not suppose anyone sees anything like all that it involves at the outset.
We have not a notion what an amount of waste of power there has been in our lives; we never measured out the odd corners and the undrained bits, and it never occurred to us what good fruit might be grown in our straggling hedges, nor how the shade of our trees has been keeping the sun from the crops.
And so, season by season, we shall be sometimes not a little startled, yet always very glad, as we find that bit by bit the Master shows how much more may be made of our ground, how much more He is able to make of it than we did; and we shall be willing to work under Him and do exactly what He points out, even if it comes to cutting down a shady tree or clearing out a ditch full of pretty weeds and wild flowers. Kept for the Master's Use - F. R. Havergal
N.J.Hiebert - 9136
Suppose you give over a piece of ground to another person. You give it up, then and there, entirely to the other; it is no longer in your own possession; you no longer dig and sow, plant and reap, at your discretion or for your own profit. His occupation of it is total; no other has any right to an inch of it; it is his affair what crops to arrange for and how to make the most of it.
But his practical occupation of it may not appear all at once. There may be waste land which he will take into full cultivation only by degrees, space wasted for want of draining and odd corners lost for want of inclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than they might, because of hedges too wide and shady, and trees too many, and strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for want of defined pathways.
Just so is it with our lives. The transaction of giving them over to God is definite and complete. But then begins the practical development of consecration. And here He leads on softly, according as the children be able to endure. (Genesis 33:14). I do not suppose anyone sees anything like all that it involves at the outset.
We have not a notion what an amount of waste of power there has been in our lives; we never measured out the odd corners and the undrained bits, and it never occurred to us what good fruit might be grown in our straggling hedges, nor how the shade of our trees has been keeping the sun from the crops.
And so, season by season, we shall be sometimes not a little startled, yet always very glad, as we find that bit by bit the Master shows how much more may be made of our ground, how much more He is able to make of it than we did; and we shall be willing to work under Him and do exactly what He points out, even if it comes to cutting down a shady tree or clearing out a ditch full of pretty weeds and wild flowers. Kept for the Master's Use - F. R. Havergal
N.J.Hiebert - 9136
February 28
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
UNTO JESUS and not to our brethren, not even to the best among them and the best beloved. In following a man we run the risk of losing our way; in following Jesus we are sure of never losing our way.
Besides, in putting a man between Jesus and ourselves, it will come to pass that insensibly the man will increase and Jesus will decrease; soon we no longer know how to find Jesus when we cannot find the man, and if he fails us, all fails.
On the contrary, if Jesus is kept between us and our closest friend, our attachment to the person will be at the same time less enthralling and more deep; less passionate and more tender; less necessary, and more useful; an instrument of rich blessing in the hands of God.
He is pleased to make use of him; and whose absence will be a further blessing, when it may please God to dispense with him, to draw us even nearer to the only Friend who can not be separated from us by "neither death nor life" Romans 8:38,39. Theodore Monod
N.J.Hiebert - 9137
UNTO JESUS and not to our brethren, not even to the best among them and the best beloved. In following a man we run the risk of losing our way; in following Jesus we are sure of never losing our way.
Besides, in putting a man between Jesus and ourselves, it will come to pass that insensibly the man will increase and Jesus will decrease; soon we no longer know how to find Jesus when we cannot find the man, and if he fails us, all fails.
On the contrary, if Jesus is kept between us and our closest friend, our attachment to the person will be at the same time less enthralling and more deep; less passionate and more tender; less necessary, and more useful; an instrument of rich blessing in the hands of God.
He is pleased to make use of him; and whose absence will be a further blessing, when it may please God to dispense with him, to draw us even nearer to the only Friend who can not be separated from us by "neither death nor life" Romans 8:38,39. Theodore Monod
N.J.Hiebert - 9137
March 1
The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31
What though of gilded baubles He bereaves us,
Dear to the heart of youth, to manhood's prime,
Think of the calm He brings, the peace He leaves us,
The hoarded spoils, the legacies of time."
"Nor does the falling into decay of the earthly house of this tabernacle affect the grandeur of old age. "They say I am growing old because my hair is silvered, and there are crow's feet on my forehead, and my step is not as firm and elastic as before. But they are mistaken; that is not me."
The knees are weak, but the knees are not me. The brow is wrinkled, but the brow is not me. This is the house I live in: but I am young--younger than I was ever before."
The conclusion at which we arrive so far, then, is that while youth is beautiful--wondrously beautiful--age has a beauty and a majesty all its own; and that, although those who are at the beginning of life may acquire much knowledge, those who are nearing its close may possess that wisdom which is knowledge applied.
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1 The Best Is Yet To Be - H. Durbanville
N.J. Hiebert - 9138
What though of gilded baubles He bereaves us,
Dear to the heart of youth, to manhood's prime,
Think of the calm He brings, the peace He leaves us,
The hoarded spoils, the legacies of time."
"Nor does the falling into decay of the earthly house of this tabernacle affect the grandeur of old age. "They say I am growing old because my hair is silvered, and there are crow's feet on my forehead, and my step is not as firm and elastic as before. But they are mistaken; that is not me."
The knees are weak, but the knees are not me. The brow is wrinkled, but the brow is not me. This is the house I live in: but I am young--younger than I was ever before."
The conclusion at which we arrive so far, then, is that while youth is beautiful--wondrously beautiful--age has a beauty and a majesty all its own; and that, although those who are at the beginning of life may acquire much knowledge, those who are nearing its close may possess that wisdom which is knowledge applied.
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)
"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. Isaiah 60:1 The Best Is Yet To Be - H. Durbanville
N.J. Hiebert - 9138
March 2
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25
It is quite certain that those who are whole hearted for Christ desire to be in His company. They instinctively wend their way to the spot where He is known to be. Is there such a spot on earth? Yes, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of the them." Matthew 18:20.
No one who is truly conscious of the greatness and excellency of His Person, and of the blessedness of communion with Him, would willingly be absent from that favoured place.
We read that of old, "They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42). Alas that there should be such a lack of continuing steadfastly now! "In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee." (Hebrews 2:12) and can we suppose that He fails to notice whether we are there or not to join in the song He leads?
"This do in remembrance of Me"? (1 Corinthians 11:24)
The Lord is Near - 2007
We go to meet the Saviour, His glorious face to see;
What manner of behaviour doth with this hope agree?
May God's illumination guide heart and walk aright;
That so our preparation be pleasing in His sight. Paul Gerhardt
N.J.Hiebert - 9139
It is quite certain that those who are whole hearted for Christ desire to be in His company. They instinctively wend their way to the spot where He is known to be. Is there such a spot on earth? Yes, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of the them." Matthew 18:20.
No one who is truly conscious of the greatness and excellency of His Person, and of the blessedness of communion with Him, would willingly be absent from that favoured place.
We read that of old, "They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." (Acts 2:42). Alas that there should be such a lack of continuing steadfastly now! "In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee." (Hebrews 2:12) and can we suppose that He fails to notice whether we are there or not to join in the song He leads?
"This do in remembrance of Me"? (1 Corinthians 11:24)
The Lord is Near - 2007
We go to meet the Saviour, His glorious face to see;
What manner of behaviour doth with this hope agree?
May God's illumination guide heart and walk aright;
That so our preparation be pleasing in His sight. Paul Gerhardt
N.J.Hiebert - 9139
March 3
posted by soundwords at
February 01, 2023
|
0 Comments
