Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Gems from January 1- 10, 2020

January 1

My God shall supply all your need according to 
His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:19

What a source—“God!”   What a supply—“His riches in glory!”
What a channel—"Christ Jesus!”

It is your sweet privilege to place all your need over against His riches,  
and lose sight of the former in the presence of the latter.

His exhaustible treasury is thrown open to you, in all the love of His heart;
go and draw upon it, in the artless simplicity of faith, and you 
will never have occasion to look to a creature-stream, 
or lean on a creature—prop. 
C. H. Macintosh

MY  CUP  RUNNETH  OVER

There is always something over, when we trust our gracious Lord;
Every cup He fills o’erfloweth, His great rivers all are broad.
Nothing narrow, nothing stinted, ever issues from His store;
To His own He gives full measure, running over, evermore.
Margaret E. Barber

N.J. Hiebert - 7684

January 2

Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.  Acts 15:18

But now they (Noah, Abraham, Moses, etc.) desire a better country, 
that is, an heavenly . . .  Hebrews 11:16.

The earth at the beginning was given to the children of men.  
What did they do with it?  They forfeited it. Then what did God do with them? 

Well, He opened heaven to them!  He gave them the earth to enjoy.  They soiled and lost it by sin.
Well said He, I’ll open heaven to you.  This is one way in which 
the grace of God abounds.

What should I say of one who, when I had abused the gift which He put in my hand,
put a better gift in my other hand?  This is God!
Ephesians - J. G. Bellett

N.J. Hiebert - 7685

January 3

A  LEADER  YOU  CAN  TRUST

Ye have not passed this way heretofore.  Joshua 3:4

We have not passed this way heretofore, but the Lord Jesus has.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities.   
Hebrews 4:15 

It is all untrodden and unknown ground to us, but He knows it all by personal experience; the
steep bits that take away our breathe, the stony bits that make our feet ache so, the hot 
shadeless stretches that make us feel so exhausted, the rushing rivers that we 
have to pass through, our Shepherd has gone through it all before us.

Not some but all the the many waters went over Him, 
and yet they did not quench His love.

All Thy waves and Thy billows are gone over Me.  Psalm 42:7 

Many waters cannot quench love, 
neither can the floods drown it. . .  Song of Solomon 8:7  

He was made a perfect Leader by the things He suffered. 

To make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. . . . and being made perfect, He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.  Hebrews 2:10; 5:9.

For now He knows all about it, and leads us softly according as we are able to endure:
For He knoweth our frame  Psalm 103:14.  
Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert - 7686

January 4

Call ye upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55:6

ONE  DAY  AT  A TIME

One day at a time with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes, with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain and its burden of care,
One day at a time we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time to be patient and strong,
To be calm under trial and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall fade and depart and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time and the day is His day;
He has numbered its hours, though they haste or delay.
His grace is sufficient; we walk not alone;
As the day, so the strength that He gives to His own.
Annie Johnson Flint 

N.J. Hiebert  - 7687

January 5

ARE  YOU  LISTENING

Speak; for thy servant heareth.  1 Samuel 3:10 
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  Matthew 11:15
He that hath an ear, let him hear.  Revelation 2:7

It is an oft-recurring word from our Lord, found through-out the Gospels—
“He that hath ears to hear. . .”
Some have ears—period!  Samuel was listening—and God spoke.

God has much to say today, but we have “ears to hear, and hear not” (Ezekiel 12:2).   
Some stop their ears  Acts 7:57.   Some turn their ears from the truth  (2 Timothy 4:4).
Some have itching ears  (2 Timothy 4:3).

Are you tuned in on God?  It is said that John Burroughs, the naturalist,
could walk along a noisy street and overhear a cricket in the hedge.
His ear was tuned to the little voices of nature.

You can make your way through the hubbub and still keep
in touch with heaven.

Samuel was listening.  The boy who listens for God to speak will hear Him,
for God is looking for such boys.  

God’s men have been men of a double resolve: 
“I will hear what God the Lord will speak” (Psalm 85:8); 
and then, “What the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak”  (1 Kings 22:14). 
Vance Havner

N.J. Hiebert  - 7688

January 6

As thy days, so shall thy strength be.  Deuteronomy 33:25

Today is a slender bridge which will bear its own load, 
but it will collapse if we add tomorrow’s.  In every year there are 
365 letters from the Lord, each with its own message—"Bear this for Me."

What shall we do with the letters?  Open them a day at a time.  Yesterday’s seal is broken; lay 
that letter reverently away; yesterday’s cross is laid down, never to be born again.
Tomorrow’s letter lies on the table; do not break the seal.

For when tomorrow becomes today, there will stand beside us an unseen Figure; and His hand 
will be on our brow, and His gaze will be in our eyes, as He says with a loving smile, 
“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” 

The golden summary of our life is to be this: as to the past, a record of gratitude; as to the present, 
a record of service; and as to the future, a record of trust.
D.M. Panton

N.J. Hiebert - 7689

January 7

For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth.  Hebrews 12:6

We find the greatest difficulty often in bringing our sorrow to God.
How can I do so, the soul of some may be saying, as my sorrow is the fruit of my sin? . . .  Can I, in the integrity of my heart towards God, take my sorrows to Him, knowing I deserve them?

Yes;  Christ has been to God about them.  This, then, is the ground upon which I can go. . . .  God can afford to meet me in all my sorrow, because Christ’s work has been so perfectly done. In the main all sorrow is from sin, and all help is grounded upon the atonement.

There is no position a saint can be in but that he may go to God for help.  
Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest -  J. N. D.

N.J. Hiebert - 7690 

January 8

THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SHEEP

The Lord is my Shepherd.  Psalm 23:1

The Good Shepherd— 
I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.  John 10:11.
  
In the Old Testament the lamb died for the shepherd, in
the New Testament, the Shepherd died for the lambs.

While it is true that all we like sheep had gone astray and thus merited only wrath, still the sword awoke, not against us, but against the Shepherd—the Man Who was Jehovah’s Fellow; and by a lovely parable Christ makes known to us the joy which He has in the salvation of the lost.

And while it is also true that “none of the ransomed ever shall know how deep were the waters the Saviour crossed", yet, through grace, they all may know that the waters have been crossed, that the judgment has been borne, and that in consequence -

"Justice now withstands no more
And mercy yields her boundless store.” 
The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson

N.J. Hiebert - 7691

January 9

THE  SHEPHERD  OF THE  SHEEP

1. THE GOOD SHEPHERD - DEATH

2. THE GREAT SHEPHERD - RESURRECTION.

Redemption accomplished, He is now alive for evermore, and so we would have our young 
Christian friends—especially them—observe what He says of them.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand.  John 10:27-29.

In verse 27 He describes the two marks which distinguish all His sheep: 
the mark on the ear—they hear His voice; and the mark on the foot—they follow Him. 

And then, in verse 28, He says: “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand”.

What assurance and comfort do these soul-emancipating words impart!  They tell us that the mighty Hand, which brought the universe into being and guides the planets in their lonely way, upholds and sustains the feeblest lamb in the flock of Christ; that -
“The very hand our sins had pierced
Is now our guard and guide”.   

Because eternal life is a gift, it can never be earned; because it is the gift of God it can never be forfeited  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.  Romans 11:29  
The Lord is thy keeper.  Psalm 121:5
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 
ready to be revealed in the last time.  1 Peter 1:5
The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson

N.J. Hiebert - 7692

January 10

THE  SHEPHERD  OF  THE  SHEEP

1. THE GOOD SHEPHERD - DEATH.
2. THE GREAT SHEPHERD - RESURRECTION.

3. THE CHIEF SHEPHERD - GLORY.

Feed the flock God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.  1 Peter 5:2-4

This passage is one of many in the Word of God which mark the difference between salvation and rewards. An examination of these scriptures reveals the fact that in order to obtain salvation we must look to Christ; and that to secure rewards we must look to ourselves—our ways, our acts, our lives.

"Look unto Me and be ye saved”—that epitomizes the passages which deal with the first theme (Isaiah 45:22); “look to yourselves . . . that ye receive a full reward”—that summarizes those dealings with the second theme (2 John 8).  Salvation is for those who are lost; rewards are given for the faithful services of the saved. 

Salvation may be possessed here and now  (John 3:36); rewards will be dispensed at the coming of the Lord- Behold I come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12  .
The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson 

N.J. Hiebert - 7693

January 11

A man that hath friends must show himself friendly:
and there is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24

None complain so loudly of the lack of love and friendliness on the part of others as those
who manifest very little of either themselves.

He who busies himself to show love will receive it back again.
He who is himself a friend will find friends to reciprocate his kindness.  
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.  Proverbs 17:17. 

But the true Friend is ever such.
His heart is unchanged by the slights of the objects of His devotion. 

There is a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

He always manifested love and grace in a world where all by nature 
were estranged from Him. 

Let those who complain of lack of love on the part of fellow-saints imitate His holy example.
Be concerned, not about receiving kindness, but about manifesting it, and
“good measure, pressed down, shall men give into your bosom.” 
Luke 6:38 .
Proverbs - H. A. Ironside

N.J. Hiebert - 7694

January 12

No comments:

Post a Comment

Gems from May 11- 20, 2024

  "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of  Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6) The disfigured face of Jesus ...