January 11
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding.”
(Proverbs 3:5)
When my way is hedged about me, hedged with thorns of care;
When the cross I loved so dearly, seems too hard to bear;
When my heart is bowed with sorrow, and no light I see—
Lord, Thy tender mercy pleading, let me lean on Thee.
(Fanny Crosby)
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January 12
Let me see your tongue!
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."
(Luke 6:45)
If your religion does not sweeten your tongue—it has done nothing for you.
If the doctor wants to know the state of your health, he says, "Let me see your tongue!"
There is no better test of the health of the soul,
than to see what is on the tongue!
When it gets cankered with unkind words,
when it turns black with blasphemy,
when it is spotted with impurity—
there is something very bad inside the heart,
you may be quite sure of that!
Let your lips be a fountain from which all streams that
flow shall savour of grace and goodness.
(Charles Spurgeon)
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that
it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
(Ephesians 4:29)
“Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”
(Ephesians 5:4)
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January 13
“A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”
(Proverbs 25:11)
- The Word is not for you to handle, but to handle you.
- The hardest stone we have to throw is grace.
- Joshua was to occupy himself with the Word of God,
and not with the enemy.
- What’s above us lifts us up.
(Hunt’s Sayings - K. M. Hammond)
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January 14
“A GARDEN enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a FOUNTAIN sealed. . . .
Thy plants are an ORCHARD . . . a fountain of GARDENS, a well of living waters.”
(Song of Solomon 4:12-15)
The words “enclosed,” “shut up,” “sealed,” forcibly suggest the thought of the believer’s entire and well-defined separation from the world—like a piece of ground that has been reclaimed; from the common around; well fenced, well planted, well cared for; and kept for the owner’s special use and pleasure.
Though in the world, the Christian is not of the world. As Christ Himself says,
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.”
He is there as the servant of Christ, and should learn to do all things for Him.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.” (Colossians 3:17)
No matter what it is, from the smallest thing to the greatest, he is to do all as service to Christ.
Will this be service to Christ? is the question. Not, merely, what harm is there in doing
this or that? and then doing our own will in place of the Master’s.
(Meditations on the S. of S. - Andrew Miller)
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January 15
“Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation.”
(Psalm 5:1)
How is my daily prayer life? This psalm is a pattern.
Prayer takes thought and is never hurried. Prayer is hallowed.
Remember you are in communion with the Highest.
Mornings are best for placing the unknowns of the coming day into His hands (vs 3).
As to place and length, we can know His presence anywhere and He is not looking for
long speeches, just sincerity in what we say (vs 7).
Come with expectation and steadfastness and His Spirit will bear you up.
Be Thou my guide and companion all the way O Lord.
(Les Rainey)
O how praying rests the weary! Prayer will change the night to day;
So when life seems dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.
(Mary A. Kidder)
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January 16
“Joseph was the governor over the land . . . Joseph’s brethren came, and bowed down themselves before him— Joseph saw His brethren, and he knew them . . . Joseph knew his brethren, but they knew him not. . . Joseph REMEMBERED the dreams . . . they said one to another we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish
of his soul when he besought us . . .”
(Genesis 42:6-9, 21)
Memory is one of the most wonderful processes of our nature.
It is the faculty that enables us to record and recall the past.
If it were not for this power the mind would remain for ever in the blank condition of childhood,
and all that had ever passed before it would leave no more impression than
images do upon the plain surface of a reflecting mirror.
This, however, is the one fact of interest to us—that the mind has universal retentiveness.
Nothing has ever passed across it that has not left a record.
It is important, however, to distinguish between memory and recollection.
We remember all things; there is a record of everything that ever we saw or did, somewhere in
the archives of memory; but we cannot always recollect an incident, or recall it at the required moment.
Supposing you were never to burn your letters, but kept them all in one huge box—that would resemble memory; but supposing you were never to index or classify them, so as to be unable readily to lay your hands on the one required—that would be like failure of recollection; while a ready
recollection would find its analogy in the ease with which you could produce
a required letter at a given time.
. . . our memory really retains everything; and though sometimes our recollection is bad, yet a very trivial thing may excite it and enable it to fetch up things long past from the deep compartment of memory into which they have been cast, and in which they have been unceasingly held.
This was the case with Joseph’s brethren.
(Joseph Beloved—Hated—Exalted - F.B. Meyer 1847-1929)
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January 17
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
(Psalm 46:1)
He is our refuge—let us hide in Him.
He is our strength—let us array ourselves with Him.
He is our help—let us lean upon Him.
He is our ever-present help—let us rest in Him NOW.
(Charles Spurgeon)
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January 18
Sometimes it is a help to remember that we are not the only people who have been tempted to be cast down.
“Let mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved (I fall).”
(Psalm 13:4)
This is as true now as ever it was. But look at the words that follow.
“But I have trusted in Thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because He hath dealt bountifully with me.”
(Psalm 13:5-6)
That is where we are meant to live, and where we can live we will live.
There is no provision in the whole Bible for a despondent Christian.
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ. . . “
(2 Corinthians 2:14)
That is the word for us all.
(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)
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January 19
"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none
upon earth that I desire beside Thee.”
(Psalm 73:24-25)
The author and composer of “God Leads Us Along” was an obscure preacher and carpenter who spent a lifetime humbly serving God in small rural areas. Often the salary was meagre and life was difficult for his family. Through it all, however, George A. Young and his wife never wavered in their loyalty to God and His service.
The story is told that after much struggle and effort, the George Young family was finally able to move into their own small home, which they had built themselves. Their joy seemed complete. But then, while Young was away holding meetings in another area, hoodlums who disliked the preacher’s gospel message set fire to the house, leaving nothing but a heap of ashes.
It is thought that out of that tragic experience, George Young completed this hymn, which reaffirms so well the words of Job 35:10: “God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night.” The words of this hymn have since been a source of great comfort and encouragement to countless numbers of God’s people as they experienced the “night” times of their lives.
In shady green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along;
where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet, God leads His dear children along.
Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright, God leads His dear children along;
sometimes in the valley, in the darkest of night, God leads His dear children along.
The sorrows befall us and Satan oppose, God leads His dear children along;
thru grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes, God leads His dear children along.
Chorus: Some thru the waters, some thru the flood, some thru the fire, but all thru the blood;
some thru great sorrow, but God gives a song, in the night season and all the day long.
(Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotion - Kenneth W. Osbeck)
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January 20
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
(Philippians 4:13)
The context of this well-loved verse is actually a paragraph on the subject of contentment.
Paul is writing from a prison cell and says he has learned how to be content,
no matter what his circumstances.
What is the secret to contentment?
It is not about having all our plans in order, assurance of our next paycheque, etc.
It is facing and accepting life’s hard times and good times through Christ’s strength.
Our circumstances are immaterial.
He is all in all.
We need Him for every detail of life.
(Dennis Easton)
Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
(Karolina W. Sandell-Berg)
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January 21
THE NEW BIRTH
"No man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
(John 10:29)
If you are regenerate, you will remain regenerate.
It seems to me that this is absolutely inevitable because regeneration is the work of God.
Yet there are those who seem to think that people can be born again as the result of
believing the truth, and then if they backslide or fall into sin or deny the truth,
they lose their regeneration, but if they come back again and
believe again, then they are regenerate again—as
if one can be born again and die and be born
again and die an endless number of times!
How important doctrine is! How important it is that we should be clear as to what the
Scripture teaches about these things!
It tells us that regeneration is the work of God Himself in the depths of the soul and that
He does it in such a way that it is permanent.
“No man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand”
(John 10:29).
(Martyn Lloyd Jones)
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