Gems from September 2024
" . . . For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name." Revelation 3:8
A preacher was walking along Madison Square, New York, where a number of street meetings can always be found in session. He came across a group of extraordinary size, to which a speaker, mounted on a box, was airing his religious views. He was shouting at the top of his voice: "There is no God!--and there never was a God!" I dare anyone here to stand up on this box and prove that there is a God!"
The speaker flung the taunt at the crowd: "God hasn't a friend among you!" A fresh young voice rang out: "YES, HE HAS!" A young lad elbowing his way through the center of the throng was welcomed by his challenger and asked to state his proofs.
The young lad, throwing back his head and straightening his shoulders, began: "This man here says that there ain't no God. He tells an untruth! I know there IS a God! He says that God hasn't a friend in this crowd. He tells an untruth! I am a friend of God! He says that no one can prove that there is a God. Again, he tells an untruth, and I can prove it. God is in here right now," he said as he put his hand on his heart; "HE LIVES! He lives in ME! I hear His voice saying to me right now, 'Don't let that man put such lies over on this crowd!' "
It was truly a dramatic scene! In one solitary moment the leadership had passed from this blatant unbeliever to the boy of faith and vision! The infidel orator was unable recapture his crowd.
Someone in the crowd started to sing the old familiar hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." The preacher said, "It swelled from lip to lip, until a mighty chorus rolled up agains the great tower, and broke in a benediction upon every heart!"
Mountain Trailways for Youth.
N.J. Hiebert - 9686
The speaker flung the taunt at the crowd: "God hasn't a friend among you!" A fresh young voice rang out: "YES, HE HAS!" A young lad elbowing his way through the center of the throng was welcomed by his challenger and asked to state his proofs.
The young lad, throwing back his head and straightening his shoulders, began: "This man here says that there ain't no God. He tells an untruth! I know there IS a God! He says that God hasn't a friend in this crowd. He tells an untruth! I am a friend of God! He says that no one can prove that there is a God. Again, he tells an untruth, and I can prove it. God is in here right now," he said as he put his hand on his heart; "HE LIVES! He lives in ME! I hear His voice saying to me right now, 'Don't let that man put such lies over on this crowd!' "
It was truly a dramatic scene! In one solitary moment the leadership had passed from this blatant unbeliever to the boy of faith and vision! The infidel orator was unable recapture his crowd.
Someone in the crowd started to sing the old familiar hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." The preacher said, "It swelled from lip to lip, until a mighty chorus rolled up agains the great tower, and broke in a benediction upon every heart!"
Mountain Trailways for Youth.
N.J. Hiebert - 9686
August 31
And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull . . . and they crucified Him. Mark 15:22,25
Golgotha was the place where the death penalty was usually carried out. The Romans called it Calvary-- ("The place of a skull"). Here an alleged criminal named Jesus was crucified. Who was He? He was the Creator! (Colossians 1:16), the Son of God.
At about age 30, He began His public ministry. That is when all His troubles with the Jewish religious authorities began--His teaching and His claims for Himself put Him on a collision course with them. They had Him arrested and, after a mock court, turned Him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified--they themselves did not have the authority to do this. The Roman judge found Him not guilty, but then folded under pressure and turned Him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:20,26; Luke 23;21-25)
Who is to blame for this greatest crime ever committed? Well, the religious leaders and the people were certainly to blame; the Roman authorities and soldiers were to blame because they actually crucified Him, an innocent Man; but most of all, we are guilty! It was our sins that caused Him to be nailed to the cross-- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18). But death and the grave could not hold Him--HE AROSE!
And, He will come back again to take all the redeemed to spend eternity with Him. God has turned the worst crime ever committed into a way of blessing for all who will come to Him! R. Salcido
My conscience felt and owned the guilt, and plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins His blood had spilt and helped to nail Him there. . . . Jesus said:
This blood is for your ransom paid, I died that you may live. John Newton
N.J. Hiebert - 9687
Golgotha was the place where the death penalty was usually carried out. The Romans called it Calvary-- ("The place of a skull"). Here an alleged criminal named Jesus was crucified. Who was He? He was the Creator! (Colossians 1:16), the Son of God.
At about age 30, He began His public ministry. That is when all His troubles with the Jewish religious authorities began--His teaching and His claims for Himself put Him on a collision course with them. They had Him arrested and, after a mock court, turned Him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified--they themselves did not have the authority to do this. The Roman judge found Him not guilty, but then folded under pressure and turned Him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:20,26; Luke 23;21-25)
Who is to blame for this greatest crime ever committed? Well, the religious leaders and the people were certainly to blame; the Roman authorities and soldiers were to blame because they actually crucified Him, an innocent Man; but most of all, we are guilty! It was our sins that caused Him to be nailed to the cross-- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18). But death and the grave could not hold Him--HE AROSE!
And, He will come back again to take all the redeemed to spend eternity with Him. God has turned the worst crime ever committed into a way of blessing for all who will come to Him! R. Salcido
My conscience felt and owned the guilt, and plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins His blood had spilt and helped to nail Him there. . . . Jesus said:
This blood is for your ransom paid, I died that you may live. John Newton
N.J. Hiebert - 9687
September 1
". . . Henceforth . . . unto Him, . . . " 2 Corinthians 5:15
In the cemetery of an English town there is a tombstone which attracts the attention of many visitors. It marks the grave where the celebrated Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale, was buried, and upon the stone is the text, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Job 19:25
Jenny Lind was born 1820. When only seventeen she came from her native land, and her lovely voice took the concert-loving people by storm. Queen Victoria often was found in her audience and signally honoured "the girl with a marvellous voice,"as she was called, by throwing to her a bouquet of flowers.
Jenny Lind received honour, and gifts were showered upon her from all sides. Wealth poured in, but her success did not make her proud as is so often the case, and she humbly wrote to a friend in later years, "My unceasing prayer is that what I gave others may continue to live on through eternity and that the Giver of the gift and not the creature to whom He lent it may be acknowledged."
Nothing is more astonishing about the career of Jenny Lind than its comparative shortness. She sang in the English opera for only two years and retired in five years after her first appearance in London. To many it would seem strange circumstances which led a young girl to abandon such a promising career and retire to the quietness of an English country home.
On one occasion she sat on the seashore, reading a Bible, when one who greatly admired her beautiful voice saw her and asked, "How is it, madam, that you abandoned the stage at the very height of your success?" Jenny Lind replied: "When every day it made me think less of this"--laying her hand upon the open Bible, "what else could I do?" What a beautiful answer and how convincing! It was the knowledge of a Saviour's love which led her to abandon what the world counts of such value--riches, honour and popularity. Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 9688
In the cemetery of an English town there is a tombstone which attracts the attention of many visitors. It marks the grave where the celebrated Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale, was buried, and upon the stone is the text, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Job 19:25
Jenny Lind was born 1820. When only seventeen she came from her native land, and her lovely voice took the concert-loving people by storm. Queen Victoria often was found in her audience and signally honoured "the girl with a marvellous voice,"as she was called, by throwing to her a bouquet of flowers.
Jenny Lind received honour, and gifts were showered upon her from all sides. Wealth poured in, but her success did not make her proud as is so often the case, and she humbly wrote to a friend in later years, "My unceasing prayer is that what I gave others may continue to live on through eternity and that the Giver of the gift and not the creature to whom He lent it may be acknowledged."
Nothing is more astonishing about the career of Jenny Lind than its comparative shortness. She sang in the English opera for only two years and retired in five years after her first appearance in London. To many it would seem strange circumstances which led a young girl to abandon such a promising career and retire to the quietness of an English country home.
On one occasion she sat on the seashore, reading a Bible, when one who greatly admired her beautiful voice saw her and asked, "How is it, madam, that you abandoned the stage at the very height of your success?" Jenny Lind replied: "When every day it made me think less of this"--laying her hand upon the open Bible, "what else could I do?" What a beautiful answer and how convincing! It was the knowledge of a Saviour's love which led her to abandon what the world counts of such value--riches, honour and popularity. Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 9688
September 2
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . Romans 12:1
"By the mercies of God." What does that mean? It is like this. One evening you are walking quietly home from your place of business. Suddenly the fire alarm rings out; your heart leaps with fear as the thought of home and loved ones flashes upon you. As you near home your worst fears are realized: your house is in flames. You rush thither and find that your wife and children have been saved, except for one little one who is still in the house. The next instance a brave fireman hurries past and dashing into the burning house, finds his way to the little one, carries her out through the flames and smoke, and puts her in your arms--safe.
Weeks go by, and then one day this same brave man comes to you and showing his hands, says, "Behold my love and mercies to you. See these burned and blistered hands; see this scarred face, and these scorched feet. I am in need. I want help. I beseech you, by my mercies to your child, that you help me." There is nothing in the world you would not give to that man.
Even so, Jesus Christ, our loving Lord, stands here tonight. He stretches forth His hands, pierced with cruel nails for you and me. He points to the wound in His side, made by the blood-thirsty spear. He shows you the scars on His forehead, made by the crown of thorns. He says, "My child, behold, My mercies to you. I saved you from the guilt of sin; I brought you from death unto life; I gave you the Spirit of God.
Some day I will glorify your body and will make you to sit down with Me on My throne. My child, by My mercies, I beseech you." You say, "Lord, what do you want from me?" He answers, "I want you for My service. I beseech you, by My mercies to you, give your life to Me."
James McConkey
N.J. Hiebert - 9689
"By the mercies of God." What does that mean? It is like this. One evening you are walking quietly home from your place of business. Suddenly the fire alarm rings out; your heart leaps with fear as the thought of home and loved ones flashes upon you. As you near home your worst fears are realized: your house is in flames. You rush thither and find that your wife and children have been saved, except for one little one who is still in the house. The next instance a brave fireman hurries past and dashing into the burning house, finds his way to the little one, carries her out through the flames and smoke, and puts her in your arms--safe.
Weeks go by, and then one day this same brave man comes to you and showing his hands, says, "Behold my love and mercies to you. See these burned and blistered hands; see this scarred face, and these scorched feet. I am in need. I want help. I beseech you, by my mercies to your child, that you help me." There is nothing in the world you would not give to that man.
Even so, Jesus Christ, our loving Lord, stands here tonight. He stretches forth His hands, pierced with cruel nails for you and me. He points to the wound in His side, made by the blood-thirsty spear. He shows you the scars on His forehead, made by the crown of thorns. He says, "My child, behold, My mercies to you. I saved you from the guilt of sin; I brought you from death unto life; I gave you the Spirit of God.
Some day I will glorify your body and will make you to sit down with Me on My throne. My child, by My mercies, I beseech you." You say, "Lord, what do you want from me?" He answers, "I want you for My service. I beseech you, by My mercies to you, give your life to Me."
James McConkey
N.J. Hiebert - 9689
September 3
Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:3
It is always going down when we seek to leave the Lord. This was Jonah's first outward step down, but it was by no means his last. The outward step is generally preceded by an inward or spiritual step down. It is easier to go down than to go up, whether it be for body or soul. Beware dear fellow-Christian, when the path begins to go downward, when the travel is easy, and there is no hill to climb! We can be sure then that we have got on the wrong road.
Notice, too, that apparently with no difficulty or delay, he "found a ship going to Tarshish." Perhaps he thought, "this is quite providential! This is surely a sign that I am being prospered in my way." It is wonderful how easy the devil makes our downward pathway. He is always ready to provide all we need to get away from the Lord. Do not let us think for a moment that because the downward road is an easy one, therefore it must be right. The ship already "going to Tarshish" was absolutely no proof that God had "prepared " it. Quite the reverse was the truth, and we ever need to bear in mind that things made ready to our hand to help us to do our own will, are by no means prepared for us by God, but very possibly prepared for us by the devil. "So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah."
"So he paid the fare thereof." A terribly high fare it must have been for that long journey. The Lord asks, "Who goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges" (1 Corinthians 9:7). If we are going in the service of the Lord, we may be quite sure that He will see about "the fare;" but if we are going to please ourselves, or in the service of the devil, "the fare" must be paid!
Friends, how very costly is that fare at times! There is many a man who has refused the call of God, and turned to his own way and "the fare" has been his peace of mind, the rest of heart that the Lord alone can give as we bear His yoke and perhaps the eternal loss of family, comfort and possessions. All these cannot begin to make up for the price we had to pay for "the fare". It is a costly thing to disobey God.
The devil takes but he does not give, and the only wages he pays is death. (Romans 6:23) His service is bad, his "fares" are the highest, and his wages are the worst: yet strange to say, he always has a mighty following.
Jonah - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 9690
It is always going down when we seek to leave the Lord. This was Jonah's first outward step down, but it was by no means his last. The outward step is generally preceded by an inward or spiritual step down. It is easier to go down than to go up, whether it be for body or soul. Beware dear fellow-Christian, when the path begins to go downward, when the travel is easy, and there is no hill to climb! We can be sure then that we have got on the wrong road.
Notice, too, that apparently with no difficulty or delay, he "found a ship going to Tarshish." Perhaps he thought, "this is quite providential! This is surely a sign that I am being prospered in my way." It is wonderful how easy the devil makes our downward pathway. He is always ready to provide all we need to get away from the Lord. Do not let us think for a moment that because the downward road is an easy one, therefore it must be right. The ship already "going to Tarshish" was absolutely no proof that God had "prepared " it. Quite the reverse was the truth, and we ever need to bear in mind that things made ready to our hand to help us to do our own will, are by no means prepared for us by God, but very possibly prepared for us by the devil. "So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah."
"So he paid the fare thereof." A terribly high fare it must have been for that long journey. The Lord asks, "Who goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges" (1 Corinthians 9:7). If we are going in the service of the Lord, we may be quite sure that He will see about "the fare;" but if we are going to please ourselves, or in the service of the devil, "the fare" must be paid!
Friends, how very costly is that fare at times! There is many a man who has refused the call of God, and turned to his own way and "the fare" has been his peace of mind, the rest of heart that the Lord alone can give as we bear His yoke and perhaps the eternal loss of family, comfort and possessions. All these cannot begin to make up for the price we had to pay for "the fare". It is a costly thing to disobey God.
The devil takes but he does not give, and the only wages he pays is death. (Romans 6:23) His service is bad, his "fares" are the highest, and his wages are the worst: yet strange to say, he always has a mighty following.
Jonah - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 9690
September 4
John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this Man were true. John 10:41
You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.
John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he. (Luke 7:28)
John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ. (John 1:23)
Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.
Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.
We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting stream-lets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say: "He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." George Matheson.
N.J. Hiebert - 9691
You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.
John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he. (Luke 7:28)
John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ. (John 1:23)
Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.
Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.
We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting stream-lets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say: "He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." George Matheson.
N.J. Hiebert - 9691
September 5
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:21
This is the season when migratory birds are winging their way toward warmer climates. What is it that prompts them to fly for hundreds of miles each year to the balmy southland and to return again in the springtime to the exact spot which they left in the autumn?
For want of a better term, we call it instinct. One authority states that the word means "inward impulse"; "a natural propensity that incites animals to the actions that are essential to their existence and development"; or, "a propensity prior to experience and independent of instructions."
The authorities in charge of one of the oldest missions on the Pacific Coast state the swallows, which make their homes in the walls of this historic institution, migrate with the utmost regularity. During a record of sixty-eight years, it is said they have never been a day late or early in their arrival at this mission. One press reporter affirms that "For the first time in the known mission history, the swallows were several hours late in arriving." This was supposed to have been due to a storm at sea.
How can man doubt that there is an all-wise God who has placed within these tiny creatures such mysterious powers? It is only because of the taint of sin and deception of Satan that men do not obey a higher instinct and seek protection and rest "under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Mountain Trailways
"I like to watch the swallow turn its face to the ocean and set fearlessly over the waters. If I had no other proof of lands beyond the sea, the instinct of the swallow would satisfy me." F. W. Boreham
N.J. Hiebert - 9692
This is the season when migratory birds are winging their way toward warmer climates. What is it that prompts them to fly for hundreds of miles each year to the balmy southland and to return again in the springtime to the exact spot which they left in the autumn?
For want of a better term, we call it instinct. One authority states that the word means "inward impulse"; "a natural propensity that incites animals to the actions that are essential to their existence and development"; or, "a propensity prior to experience and independent of instructions."
The authorities in charge of one of the oldest missions on the Pacific Coast state the swallows, which make their homes in the walls of this historic institution, migrate with the utmost regularity. During a record of sixty-eight years, it is said they have never been a day late or early in their arrival at this mission. One press reporter affirms that "For the first time in the known mission history, the swallows were several hours late in arriving." This was supposed to have been due to a storm at sea.
How can man doubt that there is an all-wise God who has placed within these tiny creatures such mysterious powers? It is only because of the taint of sin and deception of Satan that men do not obey a higher instinct and seek protection and rest "under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Mountain Trailways
"I like to watch the swallow turn its face to the ocean and set fearlessly over the waters. If I had no other proof of lands beyond the sea, the instinct of the swallow would satisfy me." F. W. Boreham
N.J. Hiebert - 9692
September 6
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles". Isaiah 40:31
In 1909 Bleriot, the aviator, was obliged to use crutches as the result of an accident, and, when mounting his plane to make the flight across the English channel, remarked to his companions, "I cannot walk, but I can fly."
"I cannot walk, but I can fly;" no roof can house me from the stars, No dwelling pen me in its bounds, nor keep me fast with locks and bars; No narrow room my thoughts can cage, no fetters hold my roving mind; From these four walls that shut me in my soaring soul a way can find.
With books and pictures at my side all lands, all ages, are my own; I dwell among the master minds, the best and greatest earth has known; I flee to strange and storied scenes of long ago and far away, And roam where saints and heroes trod in Time's forgotten Yesterday.
With every wandering butterfly or singing bird on vagrant wing My fancy takes the airy trail, and follows it adventuring, Higher than their highest flight, where cloud-ships drift and star-beams shine, I rise on tireless pinions fleet, and all the realms of space are mine.
From out the paling sunset skies the Twilight Angels come to me On dusky wings to bear me swift to shadowy haunts of Memory Where 'mid the gardens and the graves, I wander, smiling through my tears, With all the dear and deathless dead, the loved and lost of vanished years.
And when the long, long day is done, I clasp the dearest Book of all And through the dim, sweet silences I hear my Father's accents fall; Then, though in chains, yet am I free. Beyond the pressure of my care, Above Earth's night my spirit mounts on eagle wings of faith and prayer.
Annie Johnson Flint
N.J. Hiebert - 9693
September 7
Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
Suppose you give a piece of land to another person. You give it up, then and there, entirely to that 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 now 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 wasteland which he will take into full cultivation only by degrees, space wasted for want of draining or by over-fencing, and odd corners lost for want of enclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than they might, because of hedges too wide and shady, and trees too many and spreading, and strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for want of defined paths.
Just so is it with our lives. The transaction of, so to speak, turning 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).
We have not a notion what an amount of waste of power there has been in our lives 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 scanty 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 - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 9694
Suppose you give a piece of land to another person. You give it up, then and there, entirely to that 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 now 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 wasteland which he will take into full cultivation only by degrees, space wasted for want of draining or by over-fencing, and odd corners lost for want of enclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than they might, because of hedges too wide and shady, and trees too many and spreading, and strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for want of defined paths.
Just so is it with our lives. The transaction of, so to speak, turning 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).
We have not a notion what an amount of waste of power there has been in our lives 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 scanty 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 - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 9694
September 8
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15
How serious are we in our reading and study of God's Word?
- Do we diligently "search the scriptures"?
- Do we "seek . . . out the book of the Lord, and read"?
- Do we "study to show [ourselves] approved unto God . . . rightly dividing the Word of truth?"
God says that "if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding . . .if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
God says to us, "Receive My words. . . hide My commandments . . .incline thine ear . . .apply thine heart."
To those who do so is the promise "then shalt thou understand." Can we say with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
"I opened my mouth and panted: for I longed for thy commandments." And thus shall we testify of God's Statutes, that "more to be desired are they than gold . . . sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
Is God's Word precious to your heart? Do you love it above fine gold?
Does it fill your heart with gladness, with hope and with peace untold?
Comfort of the Scriptures
John 5:39 ~ Isaiah 34:16 ~ Proverbs 2:1-6 ~ Psalm 119:97 ~ Psalm 119:131 ~ Psalm 19:10
N.J. Hiebert - 9695
How serious are we in our reading and study of God's Word?
- Do we diligently "search the scriptures"?
- Do we "seek . . . out the book of the Lord, and read"?
- Do we "study to show [ourselves] approved unto God . . . rightly dividing the Word of truth?"
God says that "if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding . . .if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."
God says to us, "Receive My words. . . hide My commandments . . .incline thine ear . . .apply thine heart."
To those who do so is the promise "then shalt thou understand." Can we say with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.
"I opened my mouth and panted: for I longed for thy commandments." And thus shall we testify of God's Statutes, that "more to be desired are they than gold . . . sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."
Is God's Word precious to your heart? Do you love it above fine gold?
Does it fill your heart with gladness, with hope and with peace untold?
Comfort of the Scriptures
John 5:39 ~ Isaiah 34:16 ~ Proverbs 2:1-6 ~ Psalm 119:97 ~ Psalm 119:131 ~ Psalm 19:10
N.J. Hiebert - 9695
September 9
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10
Shun the man who tempts. Avoid the woman who allures to evil. A ship or a boat laden with gunpowder hoists a red flag, and other vessels give her a very wide berth. Do the same in respect of moral peril. Never run into danger.
There was a boy named Robert, whose father had for some time noticed a change for the worse in his conduct. One day he saw him with a number of bad boys. This suggested to him the cause.
That evening he brought in from the garden six beautiful apples, put them on a plate, and gave them to Robert. He was thankful for his father's kindness. "Now", said his father, "you must lay them aside for a few days to ripen."
Just as he was putting them away his father laid on the plate a seventh apple, which was much decayed, and desired him to allow it to remain there.
"But the rotten one will spoil the others." "Oh, do you think so? Why should not the first apples make the bad one good?" And with these words he went out of the room.
The lad understood it all; no interpreter was required; he took the wise hint, and often it was helpful to him in resisting sin.
The incident is apparent, but impressive. Lay it to heart, young friends. Do sinners entice? "Refrain thy foot from their path, walk not thou in the way with them." (Proverbs 1:15). Stories on the Book of Proverbs - J. L. Nye
Those who are young, O God, make them thine own;
Hear from Thy blest abode, make them Thine own;
Now in their early days, turn them to Thy blest ways,
Save from the giddy maze, make them Thine own. A Midlane
N.J. Hiebert - 9696
Shun the man who tempts. Avoid the woman who allures to evil. A ship or a boat laden with gunpowder hoists a red flag, and other vessels give her a very wide berth. Do the same in respect of moral peril. Never run into danger.
There was a boy named Robert, whose father had for some time noticed a change for the worse in his conduct. One day he saw him with a number of bad boys. This suggested to him the cause.
That evening he brought in from the garden six beautiful apples, put them on a plate, and gave them to Robert. He was thankful for his father's kindness. "Now", said his father, "you must lay them aside for a few days to ripen."
Just as he was putting them away his father laid on the plate a seventh apple, which was much decayed, and desired him to allow it to remain there.
"But the rotten one will spoil the others." "Oh, do you think so? Why should not the first apples make the bad one good?" And with these words he went out of the room.
The lad understood it all; no interpreter was required; he took the wise hint, and often it was helpful to him in resisting sin.
The incident is apparent, but impressive. Lay it to heart, young friends. Do sinners entice? "Refrain thy foot from their path, walk not thou in the way with them." (Proverbs 1:15). Stories on the Book of Proverbs - J. L. Nye
Those who are young, O God, make them thine own;
Hear from Thy blest abode, make them Thine own;
Now in their early days, turn them to Thy blest ways,
Save from the giddy maze, make them Thine own. A Midlane
N.J. Hiebert - 9696
September 10
Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou Me? John 18:23
No one is able to attribute evil words to the Lord Jesus. Even when officers were sent to arrest Him, they returned empty-handed, excusing themselves with the assertion "Never man spake like this Man" (John 7:46).
The few words that Christ uttered at His trials before both Jews and Gentiles were peerless indicators of His innocence.
What is more, His statements from the cross manifested divine love, mercy, and holiness (in contrast to the reviling spectators and the cursing malefactors).
The Father registered His verdict on His Son's words and works by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him to His own right hand (Acts 2:33,36).
K. R. Keyser
Thy lips the Father's name to us reveal;
What burning power in all Thy words we feel,
When to our raptured hearts we hear Thee tell
The heavenly glories which Thou knowest so well.
That precious stream of water and of blood
Which from Thy pierced side so freely flowed,
Has put away our sins of scarlet dye,
Washed us from every stain, and brought us nigh.
J. G. Deck
N.J. Hiebert - 9697
No one is able to attribute evil words to the Lord Jesus. Even when officers were sent to arrest Him, they returned empty-handed, excusing themselves with the assertion "Never man spake like this Man" (John 7:46).
The few words that Christ uttered at His trials before both Jews and Gentiles were peerless indicators of His innocence.
What is more, His statements from the cross manifested divine love, mercy, and holiness (in contrast to the reviling spectators and the cursing malefactors).
The Father registered His verdict on His Son's words and works by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him to His own right hand (Acts 2:33,36).
K. R. Keyser
Thy lips the Father's name to us reveal;
What burning power in all Thy words we feel,
When to our raptured hearts we hear Thee tell
The heavenly glories which Thou knowest so well.
That precious stream of water and of blood
Which from Thy pierced side so freely flowed,
Has put away our sins of scarlet dye,
Washed us from every stain, and brought us nigh.
J. G. Deck
N.J. Hiebert - 9697
September 11
LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11
The devil is declared in the Scriptures to be an enemy of God and of all men. Because he is a spirit he is able to "walk up and down in the earth" at his pleasure.
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11
The devil is declared in the Scriptures to be an enemy of God and of all men. Because he is a spirit he is able to "walk up and down in the earth" at his pleasure.
Job 1:7
While we must not underestimate the strength of our foe, we must at the same time recognize that we need not live in constant fear of him! If he cannot make skeptics of us he will make us devil-conscious and thus throw a permanent shadow across our lives, for there is but a hairline between truth and superstition.
We should learn the truth about the enemy, but we must stand bravely against every superstitious notion he would introduce about himself. The truth will set us free but superstition will enslave us!
The scriptural way to see things is to set the Lord always before us, put Christ in the center of our vision; and if Satan is lurking around he will appear on the margin only and be seen as but a shadow on the edge of the brightness. It is always wrong to invert this - to set Satan in the focus of our vision and push God out to the margin. Nothing but tragedy can come from such inversion!
The best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in! The sheep need not be terrified by the wolf; they have but to stay close to the shepherd. The instructed Christian whose faculties have been developed by the Word and the Spirit will practice the presence of God moment by moment!
Renewed Day By Day - A. W. Tozer
N.J. Hiebert - 9698
While we must not underestimate the strength of our foe, we must at the same time recognize that we need not live in constant fear of him! If he cannot make skeptics of us he will make us devil-conscious and thus throw a permanent shadow across our lives, for there is but a hairline between truth and superstition.
We should learn the truth about the enemy, but we must stand bravely against every superstitious notion he would introduce about himself. The truth will set us free but superstition will enslave us!
The scriptural way to see things is to set the Lord always before us, put Christ in the center of our vision; and if Satan is lurking around he will appear on the margin only and be seen as but a shadow on the edge of the brightness. It is always wrong to invert this - to set Satan in the focus of our vision and push God out to the margin. Nothing but tragedy can come from such inversion!
The best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in! The sheep need not be terrified by the wolf; they have but to stay close to the shepherd. The instructed Christian whose faculties have been developed by the Word and the Spirit will practice the presence of God moment by moment!
Renewed Day By Day - A. W. Tozer
N.J. Hiebert - 9698
September 12
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6
I had the inestimable privilege of being brought up in a Christian home. I feel sure the well-being of a nation lies in the proportion of Christian mothers it possesses. The mind of a child is plastic, and takes impression for good or evil at a very early age. One does forget a good deal of what was learned at a mother's knee but the impression lasts through life, and cannot be thrown off.
Many a young person has broken loose from the restraints of a Christian home, who in the end found early impressions too insistent to be disregarded, and live to thank God for the prayers and training of a Christian mother. When I was only eleven years old I made a profession of faith in Christ. Looking back it was a very feeble and shallow start that was made. As I grew up to manhood many a time I was tempted to give up Christianity, but something held me back.
Infidel doubts assailed me. Any attack on the Bible distressed me and shook my confidence. Such questions as, Why does God allow evil? Why does He allow the devil to work such mischief in the world? Why was I born in sin and shapen in iniquity? crowded into my mind and shook my foundations.
But all this only in the end led me to a stronger hold on Christ as my Saviour. It is said that a young sapling gets firmer hold of the soil as the result of fierce winds loosening the roots. When the storm is over, the loosened roots have room to push farther out, and take a firmer grip. The life and safety of a tree lie in the fact that there is as much out of sight below the surface as there is above ground. The taller the tree the longer and more far reaching the roots.
So it is with the Christian. Nothing will stand the assault of the enemy save a true heart-knowledge of the Lord as Saviour, a true faith-grip of the gospel of the grace of God. There must be an out-of-sight hold on divine reality before there can be effective Christian life and testimony. A.J. Pollock
N.J. Hiebert - 9699
I had the inestimable privilege of being brought up in a Christian home. I feel sure the well-being of a nation lies in the proportion of Christian mothers it possesses. The mind of a child is plastic, and takes impression for good or evil at a very early age. One does forget a good deal of what was learned at a mother's knee but the impression lasts through life, and cannot be thrown off.
Many a young person has broken loose from the restraints of a Christian home, who in the end found early impressions too insistent to be disregarded, and live to thank God for the prayers and training of a Christian mother. When I was only eleven years old I made a profession of faith in Christ. Looking back it was a very feeble and shallow start that was made. As I grew up to manhood many a time I was tempted to give up Christianity, but something held me back.
Infidel doubts assailed me. Any attack on the Bible distressed me and shook my confidence. Such questions as, Why does God allow evil? Why does He allow the devil to work such mischief in the world? Why was I born in sin and shapen in iniquity? crowded into my mind and shook my foundations.
But all this only in the end led me to a stronger hold on Christ as my Saviour. It is said that a young sapling gets firmer hold of the soil as the result of fierce winds loosening the roots. When the storm is over, the loosened roots have room to push farther out, and take a firmer grip. The life and safety of a tree lie in the fact that there is as much out of sight below the surface as there is above ground. The taller the tree the longer and more far reaching the roots.
So it is with the Christian. Nothing will stand the assault of the enemy save a true heart-knowledge of the Lord as Saviour, a true faith-grip of the gospel of the grace of God. There must be an out-of-sight hold on divine reality before there can be effective Christian life and testimony. A.J. Pollock
N.J. Hiebert - 9699
September 13
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you . . . let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27.
The favourite song of Bert Frizen's mother was "Jesus Whispers Peace. " During college Bert went to serve in the military during World War 2 and was involved in the famous Battle of the Bulge. This battle took place near the borders of Belgium, Luxembourg and France during December 1944 and January 1945. It was the largest land battle in which USA forces participated, involving more than a million soldiers from Germany, Great Britain and America - 180,000 were wounded, captured, or killed in this terrible battle.
Bert Frizen, wounded during one of the attacks, lay on the battlefield, slipping in and out of consciousness. At one point, with his eyes closed, he started singing his mother's favourite hymn as best he could. When he opened his eyes, he saw a German soldier standing over him with a drawn bayonet. Bert understood enough German to know that the soldier was saying to him, "Sing it again; Sing it again." Sing es noch enimal; sing es noch einmal.
He continued singing this beautiful song:
"There is a name to me most dear, like sweetest music to my ear;
For when my heart is troubled, filled with fear, Jesus whispers peace.
When grief seems more than I can bear, my soul weighed down with heavy care,
And I am sorely tempted to despair, Jesus whispers peace." D. Warren
He felt himself being gently lifted in the arms of the enemy soldier, who carried him to a rock ledge where the American medics found him a short time later.
Mr Frizen returned home and graduated from college in 1947. Even in life's most difficult situations we can call upon Jesus to whisper peace to our hearts. How Sweet the Sound - George Beverly Shea
N.J. Hiebert - 9700
The favourite song of Bert Frizen's mother was "Jesus Whispers Peace. " During college Bert went to serve in the military during World War 2 and was involved in the famous Battle of the Bulge. This battle took place near the borders of Belgium, Luxembourg and France during December 1944 and January 1945. It was the largest land battle in which USA forces participated, involving more than a million soldiers from Germany, Great Britain and America - 180,000 were wounded, captured, or killed in this terrible battle.
Bert Frizen, wounded during one of the attacks, lay on the battlefield, slipping in and out of consciousness. At one point, with his eyes closed, he started singing his mother's favourite hymn as best he could. When he opened his eyes, he saw a German soldier standing over him with a drawn bayonet. Bert understood enough German to know that the soldier was saying to him, "Sing it again; Sing it again." Sing es noch enimal; sing es noch einmal.
He continued singing this beautiful song:
"There is a name to me most dear, like sweetest music to my ear;
For when my heart is troubled, filled with fear, Jesus whispers peace.
When grief seems more than I can bear, my soul weighed down with heavy care,
And I am sorely tempted to despair, Jesus whispers peace." D. Warren
He felt himself being gently lifted in the arms of the enemy soldier, who carried him to a rock ledge where the American medics found him a short time later.
Mr Frizen returned home and graduated from college in 1947. Even in life's most difficult situations we can call upon Jesus to whisper peace to our hearts. How Sweet the Sound - George Beverly Shea
N.J. Hiebert - 9700
September 14
I am the light of the world: He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the the light of life. John 8:12
"THE LIGHT THAT FAILED."
What wonderful ways can God use to bless and refresh His weary ones!
Who would ever dream this glaring advertisement of a play (The Light That Failed) upon a billboard, being employed as a messenger of God! Yet one, who had suffered sore bereavement caught sight of these words, and blessed God for the light that NEVER fails.
Earthly light, be it health or the joy of friends, or the love of husband or wife or parent or child, will fail, but the Christian has a portion that never fails.
Saul of Tarsus was converted by that "Light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun," Acts 26:13, controlled by it, comforted by it and he found it indeed the light that never failed. It is in hours of deepest darkness that it shines with its brightest and most inward light in our hearts.
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18).
Oh! for more of that blessed shining.
A. J. Pollock
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
N.J. Hiebert - 9701
"THE LIGHT THAT FAILED."
What wonderful ways can God use to bless and refresh His weary ones!
Who would ever dream this glaring advertisement of a play (The Light That Failed) upon a billboard, being employed as a messenger of God! Yet one, who had suffered sore bereavement caught sight of these words, and blessed God for the light that NEVER fails.
Earthly light, be it health or the joy of friends, or the love of husband or wife or parent or child, will fail, but the Christian has a portion that never fails.
Saul of Tarsus was converted by that "Light from Heaven, above the brightness of the sun," Acts 26:13, controlled by it, comforted by it and he found it indeed the light that never failed. It is in hours of deepest darkness that it shines with its brightest and most inward light in our hearts.
"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Proverbs 4:18).
Oh! for more of that blessed shining.
A. J. Pollock
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is Thy faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
N.J. Hiebert - 9701
September 15
"Thy brother . . . for whom Christ died." Romans 14:15
Let us say to ourselves, softly and tenderly as such a name requires, "My brother . . . for whom Christ died." My "weak brother . . . for whom Christ died" (1 Corinthians 8:11).
How terrible it is that we can "destroy," or cause to "perish," our brother. Surely it means this much, if not more, a wasted life, that might have been fragrant with Christ, a missing of the mark which God desired for him, a grieving of the heart of the Christ who died for him. Who can measure all this?
Many and diverse are the conditions of our beloved brethren for whom Christ died; many are young and tender; many ignorant and ill-instructed; many sick, sorrowful, weary and heavy laden: many scattered and driven away; many lame, halting and stumbled. Have we tried to help them, have we with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, and forbearing them in love, sought to heal and restore, to teach and to build up, that we may seek to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?
Mark the tenderness of that man of God, Paul: "We were gentle among you, even as a nurse (nursing mother) cherisheth her children."
(1 Thessalonians 2:7)
O God, melt these stony hearts of ours! Cause us in our dealings with our brethren, to reflect some tiny portion of the tender grace which Christ shows every day to us, ever remembering that Christ died for them, and loves them as He loves us. S.L.J. Bible Truth Depot - Los Angeles
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. Fanny Crosby
N.J. Hiebert - 9702
Let us say to ourselves, softly and tenderly as such a name requires, "My brother . . . for whom Christ died." My "weak brother . . . for whom Christ died" (1 Corinthians 8:11).
How terrible it is that we can "destroy," or cause to "perish," our brother. Surely it means this much, if not more, a wasted life, that might have been fragrant with Christ, a missing of the mark which God desired for him, a grieving of the heart of the Christ who died for him. Who can measure all this?
Many and diverse are the conditions of our beloved brethren for whom Christ died; many are young and tender; many ignorant and ill-instructed; many sick, sorrowful, weary and heavy laden: many scattered and driven away; many lame, halting and stumbled. Have we tried to help them, have we with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, and forbearing them in love, sought to heal and restore, to teach and to build up, that we may seek to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace?
Mark the tenderness of that man of God, Paul: "We were gentle among you, even as a nurse (nursing mother) cherisheth her children."
(1 Thessalonians 2:7)
O God, melt these stony hearts of ours! Cause us in our dealings with our brethren, to reflect some tiny portion of the tender grace which Christ shows every day to us, ever remembering that Christ died for them, and loves them as He loves us. S.L.J. Bible Truth Depot - Los Angeles
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. Fanny Crosby
N.J. Hiebert - 9702
September 16
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luke 12:15
Is that beast better, that hath two or three mountains to graze on, than a little bee, that feeds on dew or manna, and lives upon what falls every morning from the storehouse of heaven, clouds, providence?
Whate'er God does is well,
Whether He gives or takes!
And what we from His hand receive
Suffices us to live.
He takes and gives, while yet He loves us still;
Then love His will.
Be content to be a child, and let the Father proportion out daily to thee what light, what power, what exercises, what straits, what fears, what troubles He sees fit for thee. Daily Strength for Daily Needs
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
The wealth in every mine,
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches more than tongue can tell
He is my Father so they're mine as well.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
I know that He will care for me.
John Peterson
N.J. Hiebert - 9703
Matthew 4:4
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luke 12:15
Is that beast better, that hath two or three mountains to graze on, than a little bee, that feeds on dew or manna, and lives upon what falls every morning from the storehouse of heaven, clouds, providence?
Whate'er God does is well,
Whether He gives or takes!
And what we from His hand receive
Suffices us to live.
He takes and gives, while yet He loves us still;
Then love His will.
Be content to be a child, and let the Father proportion out daily to thee what light, what power, what exercises, what straits, what fears, what troubles He sees fit for thee. Daily Strength for Daily Needs
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
The wealth in every mine,
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches more than tongue can tell
He is my Father so they're mine as well.
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills
I know that He will care for me.
John Peterson
N.J. Hiebert - 9703
September 17
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. (Galatians 6:9).
A GLASS OF MILK
Years ago a poor young man was trying to work his way through medical school. His part-time job barely covered college costs and room rent. Not infrequently he went without food for a day.
One day, school and his job had been particularly busy and tiring and he was quite hungry. Walking to his room he became so hungry he decided to buy some food, but he only found one lone nickel in his pocket. Deeply discouraged he began to consider quitting medical school. Passing by wealthy homes, he decided to stop at one and ask for some food.
Going up to a beautiful home he knocked on the side door expecting a servant to answer. Instead a very lovely young girl opened the door.
The young college student, overcome with shyness was unable to ask the beautiful little girl for food. Instead he asked if he might have a glass of water. Seeing his shabby, though neat, clothing and his weary expression the girl immediately went to the kitchen and poured him a glass of milk.
Drinking it he asked; "How much do I owe you?" "Why, nothing", she replied." We are Christians. Mother says we are never to accept money for a kindness".
Thanking her, he left. Robert Smith, though about to quit college, now refreshed and feeling much better, determined to finish his medical school studies.
Some years latter the little girl, now grown into a beautiful young woman, became critically ill with a rare disease. Her family doctor was unable to help her so she was sent to a special hospital in a near by city.
There, Dr. Robert Smith, a specialist in rare diseases was called for consultation. Hearing the name of the town the young woman came from, he went to her room. Though she did not recognize him, he immediately remembered who she was. Dr. Smith took charge of her care and after much effort and a very long time, she was fully restored to perfect health.
The day she was to leave the hospital, a bill was delivered to her room. She feared that the amount of her bill would require many years to repay. Trembling, she opened and looked at the bill. Written in red ink on the side of the paper was: "Paid in full with one glass of milk, (signed) Dr. Robert Smith". The Christian Shepherd - 2009 Doug Nicolet
N.J. Hiebert - 9704
A GLASS OF MILK
Years ago a poor young man was trying to work his way through medical school. His part-time job barely covered college costs and room rent. Not infrequently he went without food for a day.
One day, school and his job had been particularly busy and tiring and he was quite hungry. Walking to his room he became so hungry he decided to buy some food, but he only found one lone nickel in his pocket. Deeply discouraged he began to consider quitting medical school. Passing by wealthy homes, he decided to stop at one and ask for some food.
Going up to a beautiful home he knocked on the side door expecting a servant to answer. Instead a very lovely young girl opened the door.
The young college student, overcome with shyness was unable to ask the beautiful little girl for food. Instead he asked if he might have a glass of water. Seeing his shabby, though neat, clothing and his weary expression the girl immediately went to the kitchen and poured him a glass of milk.
Drinking it he asked; "How much do I owe you?" "Why, nothing", she replied." We are Christians. Mother says we are never to accept money for a kindness".
Thanking her, he left. Robert Smith, though about to quit college, now refreshed and feeling much better, determined to finish his medical school studies.
Some years latter the little girl, now grown into a beautiful young woman, became critically ill with a rare disease. Her family doctor was unable to help her so she was sent to a special hospital in a near by city.
There, Dr. Robert Smith, a specialist in rare diseases was called for consultation. Hearing the name of the town the young woman came from, he went to her room. Though she did not recognize him, he immediately remembered who she was. Dr. Smith took charge of her care and after much effort and a very long time, she was fully restored to perfect health.
The day she was to leave the hospital, a bill was delivered to her room. She feared that the amount of her bill would require many years to repay. Trembling, she opened and looked at the bill. Written in red ink on the side of the paper was: "Paid in full with one glass of milk, (signed) Dr. Robert Smith". The Christian Shepherd - 2009 Doug Nicolet
N.J. Hiebert - 9704
September 18
THE NET-MENDERS
He (Jesus) saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, . . . mending their nets and He called them. Matthew 4:21
James and John were brethren: by the Sea
They sat and searched their fishing nets to find
If there some broken strand or mesh might be,
Which they with patient, skilful hand might bind.
They were experienced fishers, and they knew
That gaping rents let goodly fishes through.
So, while their partners fished, they in the boat
Together sat, a-mending nets; and He
Who could the toil of busy Peter note,
And called the bold apostle, "Follow Me,"
Had also (Perfect Master!) work in view,
Suited for men like James and John to do.
Years have gone past - Still John, with watchful eye,
Observes lest things should fray with wear and strain;
Still seeks the mender's gentle art to ply,
Still seeks to "strengthen things that yet remain."
With cords of Love he threads his needed, Truth;
He heals the schisms who mended nets in youth.
O Lord, I pray that in these latter days,
When many strive, and rashly tear and rend,
Thou would'st raise up such men of tact and grace,
The things that crumble and would part to mend.
Teach us, O Lord, and let us not forget,
Both how to fish for men, and mend the net! Bells and Pomegranates - J. M.Tait
N.J. Hiebert - 9705
He (Jesus) saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, . . . mending their nets and He called them. Matthew 4:21
James and John were brethren: by the Sea
They sat and searched their fishing nets to find
If there some broken strand or mesh might be,
Which they with patient, skilful hand might bind.
They were experienced fishers, and they knew
That gaping rents let goodly fishes through.
So, while their partners fished, they in the boat
Together sat, a-mending nets; and He
Who could the toil of busy Peter note,
And called the bold apostle, "Follow Me,"
Had also (Perfect Master!) work in view,
Suited for men like James and John to do.
Years have gone past - Still John, with watchful eye,
Observes lest things should fray with wear and strain;
Still seeks the mender's gentle art to ply,
Still seeks to "strengthen things that yet remain."
With cords of Love he threads his needed, Truth;
He heals the schisms who mended nets in youth.
O Lord, I pray that in these latter days,
When many strive, and rashly tear and rend,
Thou would'st raise up such men of tact and grace,
The things that crumble and would part to mend.
Teach us, O Lord, and let us not forget,
Both how to fish for men, and mend the net! Bells and Pomegranates - J. M.Tait
N.J. Hiebert - 9705
September 19
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Jude 24
Take that word keep and hold it close to your heart tonight and tomorrow. It is one of the great and magnificent messages of the Gospel - "He is able to keep you from falling." Put into the word you all the weakness, all the unworthiness, all the sinfulness which belongs to man since the fall; yet, He is able to keep you. He does not underrate the disadvantage of its being you when He bids His messengers say He is "able to keep you from falling."
It would be impossible, utterly impossible, were it not undertaken by Infinite love. Look out, and up, then. Look up "from the depth" - the vast depth of your weakness, perhaps of your mysteriously inherited weakness.
Look out of your failure under some temptation, inward or outward, inherited so to speak from yourself, from your own unfaithfulness in the past. Look up, out of your ruined purposes - unto Himself. . .present Saviour, indwelling Power, He is able to keep you, that your feet shall not totter. They shall stand "in a large room;" they shall hold on straight, until at last they enter, step by step - for it is one step at a time even then - "through the gates into the city." H. C. G. Moule .
Each step I take I know that He will guide me;
To higher ground He ever leads me on.
Until some day the last step will be taken.
Each step I take just leads me closer home.
At times I feel my faith to begin waver,
When up ahead I see a chasm wide.
It's then I turn and look up to my Saviour,
I am strong when He is by my side. W. Elmo Mercer
N.J. Hiebert - 9706
Take that word keep and hold it close to your heart tonight and tomorrow. It is one of the great and magnificent messages of the Gospel - "He is able to keep you from falling." Put into the word you all the weakness, all the unworthiness, all the sinfulness which belongs to man since the fall; yet, He is able to keep you. He does not underrate the disadvantage of its being you when He bids His messengers say He is "able to keep you from falling."
It would be impossible, utterly impossible, were it not undertaken by Infinite love. Look out, and up, then. Look up "from the depth" - the vast depth of your weakness, perhaps of your mysteriously inherited weakness.
Look out of your failure under some temptation, inward or outward, inherited so to speak from yourself, from your own unfaithfulness in the past. Look up, out of your ruined purposes - unto Himself. . .present Saviour, indwelling Power, He is able to keep you, that your feet shall not totter. They shall stand "in a large room;" they shall hold on straight, until at last they enter, step by step - for it is one step at a time even then - "through the gates into the city." H. C. G. Moule .
Each step I take I know that He will guide me;
To higher ground He ever leads me on.
Until some day the last step will be taken.
Each step I take just leads me closer home.
At times I feel my faith to begin waver,
When up ahead I see a chasm wide.
It's then I turn and look up to my Saviour,
I am strong when He is by my side. W. Elmo Mercer
N.J. Hiebert - 9706
September 20
Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Whatever your care, remember there is one all-sufficient remedy. It is found, first of all in obeying the injunction, "Be careful for nothing," and then accepting in their full meaning those blessed words, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
Instead of being careful (anxious) we are to rejoice in the Lord, because He has control of every matter. All power is in His hands. "Be not afraid ." Twice the Lord Jesus uttered these reassuring words to His disciples, and under very different circumstances.
Once when they were in a ship on the sea "tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary," and once when three of His disciples were with Him on the Mount surrounded by the glories of the Transfiguration. What a wide field is covered by these two events! The one has to do with everything that is around you, the other with everything that is above you.
Are you tossed on life's tempestuous sea, experiencing much that is contrary to you? "Be not afraid." Is it a question of the coming glories and your fitness for them? The same voice utters the same words. But the Lord Jesus was as much at home in the one as in the other, and He would make us at home. "Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:18
What a wondrous Person the Saviour is! He can make us feel at ease amid divine glories; and equally at ease amid all the circumstances of the path that leads to them."And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." If but we see Him, care will vanish. He is enough for us as to things temporal, and enough for us as to things eternal. Angels in White
N.J. Hiebert - 9707
Whatever your care, remember there is one all-sufficient remedy. It is found, first of all in obeying the injunction, "Be careful for nothing," and then accepting in their full meaning those blessed words, "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
Instead of being careful (anxious) we are to rejoice in the Lord, because He has control of every matter. All power is in His hands. "Be not afraid ." Twice the Lord Jesus uttered these reassuring words to His disciples, and under very different circumstances.
Once when they were in a ship on the sea "tossed with the waves, for the wind was contrary," and once when three of His disciples were with Him on the Mount surrounded by the glories of the Transfiguration. What a wide field is covered by these two events! The one has to do with everything that is around you, the other with everything that is above you.
Are you tossed on life's tempestuous sea, experiencing much that is contrary to you? "Be not afraid." Is it a question of the coming glories and your fitness for them? The same voice utters the same words. But the Lord Jesus was as much at home in the one as in the other, and He would make us at home. "Redeemed with the precious blood of Christ." 1 Peter 1:18
What a wondrous Person the Saviour is! He can make us feel at ease amid divine glories; and equally at ease amid all the circumstances of the path that leads to them."And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only." If but we see Him, care will vanish. He is enough for us as to things temporal, and enough for us as to things eternal. Angels in White
N.J. Hiebert - 9707
September 21
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 5:1
Be careful for nothing . . . and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
There is a vast difference between the "peace of God", and "peace with God". We were lost sinners, and enemies in our mind by wicked works: how could peace with God be made? If I believe on Christ and what He has done, then I can boldly say that for Christ's sake, even my sins are forgiven: therefore I can add: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The value is not in the faith, but in our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot get the blessing without believing, but it is an answer to the worth of Christ in God's sight.
But beside this settled peace which we have through the work of Christ, there is the peace of God, which has nothing to do with the forgiveness of our sins: though that is in one sense the foundation of all our blessing: but this, "the peace of God", is peace amidst the circumstances through which we pass day by day: and it is a peace "surpassing every mind of man".
The Apostle was in prison, bound with a chain to a Roman soldier: yet he was filled with both joy and peace. And, as joy is the second, peace is the third fruit of the Spirit: and like joy it is a legacy left by our beloved Lord, before He returned to His Home in Glory: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you," (John 14:27).
It is, in very truth, a peace that surpasses every mind of man: mind, notice, not knowledge: for "The peace of God" lies in a higher sphere than intellect: a truth we do well to remember today. G. Christopher Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 9708
Be careful for nothing . . . and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:7
There is a vast difference between the "peace of God", and "peace with God". We were lost sinners, and enemies in our mind by wicked works: how could peace with God be made? If I believe on Christ and what He has done, then I can boldly say that for Christ's sake, even my sins are forgiven: therefore I can add: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The value is not in the faith, but in our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot get the blessing without believing, but it is an answer to the worth of Christ in God's sight.
But beside this settled peace which we have through the work of Christ, there is the peace of God, which has nothing to do with the forgiveness of our sins: though that is in one sense the foundation of all our blessing: but this, "the peace of God", is peace amidst the circumstances through which we pass day by day: and it is a peace "surpassing every mind of man".
The Apostle was in prison, bound with a chain to a Roman soldier: yet he was filled with both joy and peace. And, as joy is the second, peace is the third fruit of the Spirit: and like joy it is a legacy left by our beloved Lord, before He returned to His Home in Glory: "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you," (John 14:27).
It is, in very truth, a peace that surpasses every mind of man: mind, notice, not knowledge: for "The peace of God" lies in a higher sphere than intellect: a truth we do well to remember today. G. Christopher Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 9708
September 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
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. James 1:2
"Think it not strange" goes a long way, but "Count it all joy" goes much further. "Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourself hedged in by various trials." Is it not an amazing word?
I am constantly struck by the way the inspired New Testament writers absolutely refuse the natural human point of view where trial is concerned (and of course all other matters also). They have caught the vision of their Master. They talk as He talked, for they think as He thought. "Think through me, thoughts of God".
Let us ask that we may rise to prayer on these lines for one another. I so often find myself praying for relief from trial for those who are being tried, and I think, within limits, we may do this, for we are all our Father's little children and He understands.
But we do need to rise to the "Count it all joy" view. We need to look beyond the present, through the present, to the things that are not seen, and in our prayers for one another, and in our faith for one another, to rise to the highest. Amy Carmichael - Edges of His Ways
N.J. Hiebert - 9709
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. James 1:2
"Think it not strange" goes a long way, but "Count it all joy" goes much further. "Reckon it nothing but joy, my brethren, whenever you find yourself hedged in by various trials." Is it not an amazing word?
I am constantly struck by the way the inspired New Testament writers absolutely refuse the natural human point of view where trial is concerned (and of course all other matters also). They have caught the vision of their Master. They talk as He talked, for they think as He thought. "Think through me, thoughts of God".
Let us ask that we may rise to prayer on these lines for one another. I so often find myself praying for relief from trial for those who are being tried, and I think, within limits, we may do this, for we are all our Father's little children and He understands.
But we do need to rise to the "Count it all joy" view. We need to look beyond the present, through the present, to the things that are not seen, and in our prayers for one another, and in our faith for one another, to rise to the highest. Amy Carmichael - Edges of His Ways
N.J. Hiebert - 9709
September 23
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us . . . comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
Let us our feebleness recline
On that eternal love of Thine,
And human thoughts forget;
Childlike, attend what Thou wilt say,
Go forth and serve Thee while 'tis day,
Nor leave our sweet retreat.
"Who hath despised the day of small things?" We are slow to learn that the importance of any service depends upon God's estimate of it, that the meanest service is worthy of all our devotedness and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it, and if He has put it into our hand.
We cannot have power with men if we have not power with God. The greatest mistake any of us can make is to seek to have power before men without having been in the presence of God.
We are as dependent upon God when we speak to one soul as when we preach to a thousand. I have learned this by experience; I have gone to see a sick person in great self-confidence and found I had nothing to say. And then the Lord taught me I must wait upon Him for the message for a single soul as much as when I was going to preach. May we ever remember this, that there may be no trace of self-confidence remaining in the heart.
Edward Dennett - Footprints for Pilgrims
N.J. Hiebert - 9710
Let us our feebleness recline
On that eternal love of Thine,
And human thoughts forget;
Childlike, attend what Thou wilt say,
Go forth and serve Thee while 'tis day,
Nor leave our sweet retreat.
"Who hath despised the day of small things?" We are slow to learn that the importance of any service depends upon God's estimate of it, that the meanest service is worthy of all our devotedness and zeal if the mind and heart of God are upon it, and if He has put it into our hand.
We cannot have power with men if we have not power with God. The greatest mistake any of us can make is to seek to have power before men without having been in the presence of God.
We are as dependent upon God when we speak to one soul as when we preach to a thousand. I have learned this by experience; I have gone to see a sick person in great self-confidence and found I had nothing to say. And then the Lord taught me I must wait upon Him for the message for a single soul as much as when I was going to preach. May we ever remember this, that there may be no trace of self-confidence remaining in the heart.
Edward Dennett - Footprints for Pilgrims
N.J. Hiebert - 9710
September 24
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14
AT THE CROSS OF JESUS
There is love at the cross of Jesus, an everlasting love That could leave the courts of heaven and the glory of God above, That could come to a world of evil for the sake of the sinner lost,
That could drain the cup of anguish and never count the cost.
There is light at the cross of Jesus, though dark is the world around; It was there He opened heaven, and the way to God was found; It was there the tempest gathered and broke on His thorn-crowned head, When He bore our stripes and sorrows, and suffered in our stead.
There is peace at the cross of Jesus, where God was reconciled, Where we know our sins forgiven and hear Him say," My child"; Where He bore the world's transgressions and all our debt was paid; Where the weight of the Father's anger on His tender heart was laid.
There is life at the cross of Jesus, where the victory was won, Where sin and death were conquered by the sinless, deathless One; O grave, where is thy triumph? O death, where is thy sting? For the Lord of life and glory passed through thy gates a King!
Flint's Best loved poems
N.J. Hiebert - 9711
AT THE CROSS OF JESUS
There is love at the cross of Jesus, an everlasting love That could leave the courts of heaven and the glory of God above, That could come to a world of evil for the sake of the sinner lost,
That could drain the cup of anguish and never count the cost.
There is light at the cross of Jesus, though dark is the world around; It was there He opened heaven, and the way to God was found; It was there the tempest gathered and broke on His thorn-crowned head, When He bore our stripes and sorrows, and suffered in our stead.
There is peace at the cross of Jesus, where God was reconciled, Where we know our sins forgiven and hear Him say," My child"; Where He bore the world's transgressions and all our debt was paid; Where the weight of the Father's anger on His tender heart was laid.
There is life at the cross of Jesus, where the victory was won, Where sin and death were conquered by the sinless, deathless One; O grave, where is thy triumph? O death, where is thy sting? For the Lord of life and glory passed through thy gates a King!
Flint's Best loved poems
N.J. Hiebert - 9711
September 25
DOUBLE ABUNDANCE
God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
God's Grace is not only amazing grace, it is abounding grace. He abounds toward us that we may abound toward Him. There is abundance of grace in order that there may be abundance of good works. "always having all sufficiency in all things" - what could be more satisfying than that?
It is another way of saying, "My grace is sufficient for thee." There is nothing stingy and mean about the grace of God. "Of His fullness have all we received and grace upon grace," Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly.
And as God abounds toward us, we should abound toward Him. Paul was a great example of what he wrote. With all his infirmities, his thorn in the flesh, his opposition and persecution, who ever abounded to every good work as He did?
Our penurious and miserly service today declares that we live cheaply in our souls. We do not lay hold of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. Our output is small because our intake is small. "My God shall supply all your need," and beyond that do more for us than we can ask or think. Let us be doubly abundant, in grace and good works. Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 9712
God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
God's Grace is not only amazing grace, it is abounding grace. He abounds toward us that we may abound toward Him. There is abundance of grace in order that there may be abundance of good works. "always having all sufficiency in all things" - what could be more satisfying than that?
It is another way of saying, "My grace is sufficient for thee." There is nothing stingy and mean about the grace of God. "Of His fullness have all we received and grace upon grace," Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly.
And as God abounds toward us, we should abound toward Him. Paul was a great example of what he wrote. With all his infirmities, his thorn in the flesh, his opposition and persecution, who ever abounded to every good work as He did?
Our penurious and miserly service today declares that we live cheaply in our souls. We do not lay hold of the riches of grace in Christ Jesus. Our output is small because our intake is small. "My God shall supply all your need," and beyond that do more for us than we can ask or think. Let us be doubly abundant, in grace and good works. Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 9712
September 26
O magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3
King David urges us to enlarge our view of God, and it's not a stretch to include the Lord Jesus in the same thought. We really cannot make Them any greater than They already are, but we can always learn more about Them, and the result will be more praise from our hearts; and that exalts Them.
Enlarging our view
We are familiar with binoculars and microscopes. Binoculars and telescopes have the ability to see distant things close up, but the object itself doesn't get any bigger. Same idea with microscopes, that is, tiny specks are made to appear much larger.
In sailing-ship days a common name for a telescope (a brass object about 30 inches or 76 cm. long when extended), was "Bring-'em-near". That certainly didn't have any effect upon the ship coming over the horizon, but permitted much more understanding of its nature and intent.
Always learning
Same for us; we explore the Word, we learn new things about our Lord and our Father, and our appreciation of Their power, love and grace grow in our eyes. The closer we feel They are to us, the more we experience and value Their warmth towards us. Mary said this about the child she was bearing: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47 Lorne Perry
O Jesus Christ most holy - Head of the church, Thy bride,
In us each day more fully Thy name be magnified!
O may, in each believer, Thy love its power display,
And none among us ever from Thee, our Shepherd, stray! C. G. Clemens
N.J. Hiebert - 9713
King David urges us to enlarge our view of God, and it's not a stretch to include the Lord Jesus in the same thought. We really cannot make Them any greater than They already are, but we can always learn more about Them, and the result will be more praise from our hearts; and that exalts Them.
Enlarging our view
We are familiar with binoculars and microscopes. Binoculars and telescopes have the ability to see distant things close up, but the object itself doesn't get any bigger. Same idea with microscopes, that is, tiny specks are made to appear much larger.
In sailing-ship days a common name for a telescope (a brass object about 30 inches or 76 cm. long when extended), was "Bring-'em-near". That certainly didn't have any effect upon the ship coming over the horizon, but permitted much more understanding of its nature and intent.
Always learning
Same for us; we explore the Word, we learn new things about our Lord and our Father, and our appreciation of Their power, love and grace grow in our eyes. The closer we feel They are to us, the more we experience and value Their warmth towards us. Mary said this about the child she was bearing: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47 Lorne Perry
O Jesus Christ most holy - Head of the church, Thy bride,
In us each day more fully Thy name be magnified!
O may, in each believer, Thy love its power display,
And none among us ever from Thee, our Shepherd, stray! C. G. Clemens
N.J. Hiebert - 9713
September 27
I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. Psalm 139:14.
Joseph Carey Merrick (1862-1890) more commonly known as "The Elephant Man" was an English man known for having severe deformities. The first condition was a rare disorder that causes tissue overgrowth and another, a condition in which tumours grow in the nervous system.
As a result of these maladies Merrick began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life. His mother died when he was 11 and his father soon remarried. Rejected by his father and stepmother, he went to live with his uncle. At the age of 17 unable to find work due to his physical appearance and being lame due to a fall suffered as a child, Merrick entered the Leicester Union Workhouse.
Workhouses also know as poorhouses, were essentially group homes where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment. These were not pleasant places, more akin to a jail, in fact residents of workhouses in England were actually referred to as inmates.
In 1884, in order to escape the life of poverty and gruelling work, Merrick agreed to be exhibited as "The Elephant Man" in a traveling freak show.
Merrick's hardships were far from over. In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his road manager and abandoned in Brussels. He eventually made his way back to London where he was allowed to stay at the London Hospital until his death in 1890.
Despite such hardship experiencing almost every conceivable disadvantage in life, Merrick had faith in God. Before his mother had died, she had been a Sunday School teacher and brought him weekly to the local church.
Merrick is credited with penning the following poem, borrowing the last four lines from Isaac Watts, "False Greatness".
'Tis true my form is something odd, but blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew, I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole, or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul; the mind's the standard of the man.
Shared by a friend of the Gems.
N.J. Hiebert - 9714
Joseph Carey Merrick (1862-1890) more commonly known as "The Elephant Man" was an English man known for having severe deformities. The first condition was a rare disorder that causes tissue overgrowth and another, a condition in which tumours grow in the nervous system.
As a result of these maladies Merrick began to develop abnormally during the first few years of his life. His mother died when he was 11 and his father soon remarried. Rejected by his father and stepmother, he went to live with his uncle. At the age of 17 unable to find work due to his physical appearance and being lame due to a fall suffered as a child, Merrick entered the Leicester Union Workhouse.
Workhouses also know as poorhouses, were essentially group homes where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment. These were not pleasant places, more akin to a jail, in fact residents of workhouses in England were actually referred to as inmates.
In 1884, in order to escape the life of poverty and gruelling work, Merrick agreed to be exhibited as "The Elephant Man" in a traveling freak show.
Merrick's hardships were far from over. In Belgium, Merrick was robbed by his road manager and abandoned in Brussels. He eventually made his way back to London where he was allowed to stay at the London Hospital until his death in 1890.
Despite such hardship experiencing almost every conceivable disadvantage in life, Merrick had faith in God. Before his mother had died, she had been a Sunday School teacher and brought him weekly to the local church.
Merrick is credited with penning the following poem, borrowing the last four lines from Isaac Watts, "False Greatness".
'Tis true my form is something odd, but blaming me is blaming God;
Could I create myself anew, I would not fail in pleasing you.
If I could reach from pole to pole, or grasp the ocean with a span,
I would be measured by the soul; the mind's the standard of the man.
Shared by a friend of the Gems.
N.J. Hiebert - 9714
September 28
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon, Genesis 41:14
Having thus destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and brought "to nothing the understanding of the prudent," 1 Corinthians 1:19-20. God falls back on the man (Joseph) of His reserve, "a man in whom the spirit of God is." But God's man is always of little account in the eyes of the world. The man who is destined to wield a power that no mortal, before or since, has ever exercised, is for the moment languishing in a prison and reckoned among "the base things of the world and things which are despised."
Nevertheless, he is the chosen of God to "confound the mighty" and "bring to naught the things that are." So it comes to pass that Joseph is brought from the dungeon into the presence of earth's most powerful monarch. Pharaoh, speaking as a natural man, at once says, "I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." Joseph straightway confesses, "It is not in me." It was no more in Joseph than in the wise men of Egypt. They may indeed be learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
Joseph, on the other hand, is a young man, an Hebrew, a bondman, in a dungeon, but God being with him he can surpass the wisdom of the wise, stand without fear in the presence of the king, and with the utmost confidence say, "God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." (Genesis 41:16). He does not say, "God can give Pharaoh an answer," however true that would have been but faith passing beyond what God can do, definitely states what God will do.
It is still the possession of the Spirit of God that makes the immeasurable difference between the children of God and the wise men of the world. Many indeed may possess giant intellects, well stored with such learning as this world can afford, but unless born again they are mere natural men, without the Spirit, and cannot even see the things that belong to the kingdom of God, much less enter that fair kingdom. Hamilton Smith
N.J. Hiebert - 9715
Having thus destroyed "the wisdom of the wise" and brought "to nothing the understanding of the prudent," 1 Corinthians 1:19-20. God falls back on the man (Joseph) of His reserve, "a man in whom the spirit of God is." But God's man is always of little account in the eyes of the world. The man who is destined to wield a power that no mortal, before or since, has ever exercised, is for the moment languishing in a prison and reckoned among "the base things of the world and things which are despised."
Nevertheless, he is the chosen of God to "confound the mighty" and "bring to naught the things that are." So it comes to pass that Joseph is brought from the dungeon into the presence of earth's most powerful monarch. Pharaoh, speaking as a natural man, at once says, "I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." Joseph straightway confesses, "It is not in me." It was no more in Joseph than in the wise men of Egypt. They may indeed be learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.
Joseph, on the other hand, is a young man, an Hebrew, a bondman, in a dungeon, but God being with him he can surpass the wisdom of the wise, stand without fear in the presence of the king, and with the utmost confidence say, "God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." (Genesis 41:16). He does not say, "God can give Pharaoh an answer," however true that would have been but faith passing beyond what God can do, definitely states what God will do.
It is still the possession of the Spirit of God that makes the immeasurable difference between the children of God and the wise men of the world. Many indeed may possess giant intellects, well stored with such learning as this world can afford, but unless born again they are mere natural men, without the Spirit, and cannot even see the things that belong to the kingdom of God, much less enter that fair kingdom. Hamilton Smith
N.J. Hiebert - 9715
September 29
THE CONSTANCY OF CHRIST
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8
No other quality in the character of Christ elicits our awe or stabilzes our souls in the same way as His constancy. It is the remarkable consistency of His conduct that makes Him stand out as a symbol of strength and integrity above the chaos of human history. (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:10-12).
All around us the earth scene is one of never-ending confusion, change, and calamity. Civilizations emerge, rise and then collapse. Human society stumbles along from failure to failure. The best-laid plans of governments fail. The sophisticated schemes of economic well-being fail. The hopes of nations and people fail. All is change, all is in flux, all is in transition and turmoil.
Amid the ruins, in great, unchanging consistency, Christ stands serene and sure and unfailing. Oh, the majesty of The Monarch of the Universe! Oh, the grandeur of Our Lord! Oh, the splendour of heaven's royal Sovereign!
What assurance He brings to our spirits. What calm repose He bestows upon our souls. What sure strength He injects into our puny lives. He does not fail!. He cannot fail! He will not fail His followers!
This basic truth should put steel in our spines. It should put fire in our faith. It should put peace in our hearts. W. Phillip Keller
We have an anchor that keeps the soul,
Stead-fast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love. Priscilla Owens
N.J. Hiebert - 9716
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever." Hebrews 13:8
No other quality in the character of Christ elicits our awe or stabilzes our souls in the same way as His constancy. It is the remarkable consistency of His conduct that makes Him stand out as a symbol of strength and integrity above the chaos of human history. (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 1:10-12).
All around us the earth scene is one of never-ending confusion, change, and calamity. Civilizations emerge, rise and then collapse. Human society stumbles along from failure to failure. The best-laid plans of governments fail. The sophisticated schemes of economic well-being fail. The hopes of nations and people fail. All is change, all is in flux, all is in transition and turmoil.
Amid the ruins, in great, unchanging consistency, Christ stands serene and sure and unfailing. Oh, the majesty of The Monarch of the Universe! Oh, the grandeur of Our Lord! Oh, the splendour of heaven's royal Sovereign!
What assurance He brings to our spirits. What calm repose He bestows upon our souls. What sure strength He injects into our puny lives. He does not fail!. He cannot fail! He will not fail His followers!
This basic truth should put steel in our spines. It should put fire in our faith. It should put peace in our hearts. W. Phillip Keller
We have an anchor that keeps the soul,
Stead-fast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love. Priscilla Owens
N.J. Hiebert - 9716
September 30
And when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him." Joshua 6:5
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. Hebrews 11:30
The shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrast to the moans of wavering faith, and to the wails of discouraged hearts. Among the many "secrets of the Lord," I do not know of any that is more valuable than the secret of this shout of faith. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
He had not said, "I will give," but "I have given." It belonged to them already; and now they were called to take possession of it. But the great question was, How? It looked impossible, but the Lord declared His plan.
Now, no one can suppose for a moment that this shout caused the walls to fall. And yet the secret of their victory lay in just this shout, for it was the shout of a faith which dared, on the authority of God's Word alone, to claim a promised victory, while as yet there were no signs of this victory being accomplished. According to their faith God did unto them so that, when they shouted, He made the walls to fall.
God had declared that He had given them the city, and faith reckoned this to be true. And long centuries afterwards the Holy Spirit recorded this triumph of faith. Hannah Whitehall Smith
"Faith can never reach its consummation,
Till the victor's thankful song we raise;
In the glorious city of salvation,
God has told us all the gates are praise."
N.J.Hiebert - 9717
By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. Hebrews 11:30
The shout of steadfast faith is in direct contrast to the moans of wavering faith, and to the wails of discouraged hearts. Among the many "secrets of the Lord," I do not know of any that is more valuable than the secret of this shout of faith. The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour."
He had not said, "I will give," but "I have given." It belonged to them already; and now they were called to take possession of it. But the great question was, How? It looked impossible, but the Lord declared His plan.
Now, no one can suppose for a moment that this shout caused the walls to fall. And yet the secret of their victory lay in just this shout, for it was the shout of a faith which dared, on the authority of God's Word alone, to claim a promised victory, while as yet there were no signs of this victory being accomplished. According to their faith God did unto them so that, when they shouted, He made the walls to fall.
God had declared that He had given them the city, and faith reckoned this to be true. And long centuries afterwards the Holy Spirit recorded this triumph of faith. Hannah Whitehall Smith
"Faith can never reach its consummation,
Till the victor's thankful song we raise;
In the glorious city of salvation,
God has told us all the gates are praise."
N.J.Hiebert - 9717
October 1
Husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself, for it. Ephesians 5:25
You cannot go beyond that. That is a self-denying love, a love that makes one willing even to lay down his life for another. You remember that striking story about the wife of one of Cyrus' generals who was charged with treachery against the king. She was called before him and after trial condemned to die.
Her husband, who did not realize what had taken place, was informed of it and came hurrying in. When he heard the sentence condemning his wife to death, he threw himself prostrate before the king and said, "O Sire, take my life instead of hers. Let me die in her place!" Cyrus was so touched that he said, "love like that must not be spoiled by death," and he gave them back to each other and let the wife go free.
As they walked happily away the husband said, "Did you notice how kindly the king looked upon us when he gave you a free pardon?" "I had no eyes for the king," she said; "I saw only the man who was willing to die for me."
That is the picture that you have here. It is as though the apostle can scarcely speak on this subject but that it brings before him the One who has won his own heart, and he must tell us more about Him. This glorious Head of the Church, gave up His own precious life for the Bride of His heart the Church.
H. A. Ironside
The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face;
I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of Grace-
Not at the crown He giveth, but on his piercèd hand:
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel's land.
Mrs. Cousins
N.J. Hiebert - 9718
October 2
RUNNING OR REELING
When thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Proverbs 4:12
This promise does not stand alone; it is reiterated and varied. God knew our constant, momentary need of it. He knew that without it we must stumble, and fall too: that we have not the least power to take one step without a stumble--or rather, that we have no power to take one single onward step at all.
And He knew that Satan's surest device to make us stumble would be to make us believe that it can't be helped. We have thought that, if we have not said it. But "what saith the Scripture?" "When thou runnest" (the likeliest place for a slip), "Thou shalt not stumble." "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved." "He will keep the feet of His saints." "He led them . . . that they should not stumble."
Can we say, "Yea, hath God said?" to all this? Leave that to Satan; it is no comment for God's children to make upon His precious promises. If we do not use the power of faith, we find the neutralizing power of unbelief.
Yes! He knows the way is dreary,
Knows the weakness of our frame,
Knows that hand and heart are weary;
He, in all points, felt the same.
He is near to help and bless;
Be not weary, onward press.
Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 9719
When thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Proverbs 4:12
This promise does not stand alone; it is reiterated and varied. God knew our constant, momentary need of it. He knew that without it we must stumble, and fall too: that we have not the least power to take one step without a stumble--or rather, that we have no power to take one single onward step at all.
And He knew that Satan's surest device to make us stumble would be to make us believe that it can't be helped. We have thought that, if we have not said it. But "what saith the Scripture?" "When thou runnest" (the likeliest place for a slip), "Thou shalt not stumble." "He will not suffer thy foot to be moved." "He will keep the feet of His saints." "He led them . . . that they should not stumble."
Can we say, "Yea, hath God said?" to all this? Leave that to Satan; it is no comment for God's children to make upon His precious promises. If we do not use the power of faith, we find the neutralizing power of unbelief.
Yes! He knows the way is dreary,
Knows the weakness of our frame,
Knows that hand and heart are weary;
He, in all points, felt the same.
He is near to help and bless;
Be not weary, onward press.
Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 9719
October 3
posted by soundwords at
September 01, 2024
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