March 10
While He thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. Luke 9:34
This evening the clouds lay low on the mountains, so that some times we could hardly see them, and sometimes the stars were nearly all covered. But always, just when it seemed as though the mountains were going to be quite lost in the mist, the higher peaks pushed out, and whereas the dimmer stars were veiled, the brighter ones shone through.
Even supposing the clouds had wholly covered the face of the mountains, and not a star had shone through the piled-up masses, the mountains would still have stood steadfast, and the stars would not have ceased to shine. Our feelings do not affect God's facts. They may blow up like clouds and cover the eternal things that we do most truly believe. We may not see the shining of the promises, but still they shine; and the strength of the hills that is His also, is not for one moment less because of our human weakness.
How often we fear as we enter into some cloud of the unknown. The unknown year--or perhaps only the unknown day, can make us fear. Shall we be led through it, always caused to triumph? or shall we fail? Or the cloud may be the sorrow which all of us know so well, the grief (that fills the hour like a cloud) over some well-loved soul that has taken the wrong turn. "They feared as they entered into the cloud."
But "there came a Voice out of the cloud saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him", and as we listen we hear. To each heart comes the word it needs most at that moment, and often the first word will be, "Fear thou not", and with the words will come an assurance of His Presence, or a promise of His succour. "And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone." (Luke 9:36) Edges of His ways - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8416
March 11
She laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. . . . They spit in His face, and buffeted Him; and others smote Him with the palms of their hands . . . [Pilate] scourged Jesus, and he delivered Him to be crucified. Luke 2:7 Matthew 26:67,27:26
EYEWITNESSES OF HIS MAJESTY
The common, overwhelming picture we have of Christ in the Gospels is that of the despised, lowly, suffering Servant; however, we do find occasional glimpses of His divine glory and majesty:
1. Even while the infant Jesus was lying in a feed trough in a dark and dirty stable, the glory of the Lord shone down to reveal to the shepherds the glory and majesty that belonged to this wondrous Being (Luke 2:9-14);
2. Later, the wise men visited Jesus and worshipped Him Matthew 2:1-11;
3. Peter confessed Him as "the Christ, the Son of the living God"
Matthew 16:16;
4. The centurion exclaimed, Truly this Man was the Son of God Mark 15:39,
These people accorded to Jesus the honour and place that were rightfully His even though He did not make an outward display of glory and majesty.
But we do find one instance in the Gospels of His divine glory and majesty breaking through the veil of His humanity. We read that "He was transfigured" before Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:2-5). This is the scene Peter refers to in (2 Peter 1:16-18) "We. . . were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
The more we meditate upon the glory, the majesty of our Lord, the more deeply we are impressed with how worthy He is to receive from our lives continual honour, glory, praise, adoration, worship, and obedience. P. L. Canner
N.J. Hiebert - 8417
March 12
Exercise thyself rather unto godliness, For bodily exercise profiteth little (a little while) but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Timothy 4:7,8
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run. 1 Corinthians 9:25,26
Three things to remember when running the race. The first is, while running get your instructions from your Trainer. "Let not your peace be in the mouths of men." (Amy Carmichael) Listen only to what the Trainer says.
The second is, when running the race endeavour to keep your mouth closed, otherwise it will get dry. "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, . . . this man's religion is vain." James 4:26 Oh, what trouble a backbiting tongue causes! It is a sad fact that so many people who once ran so well have got their mouth wide open, as they lag behind. Their tongues are very much like a wasp's sting and leave the poison the devil has given them, wherever they touch. Yes, put the bridle of self-restraint in your mouth, and keep your mouth tight shut.
The third is--never look behind. I have seen races lost by the man turning round to look behind him to see what the other racers were doing. As the man turned he has lost his step; it has been but a little, but the man with his eye straight before him has just caught up and passed him.
The runner, if he be wise, will "forget those things which are behind." Having his eyes fixed upon the goal, he will see that all that irrevocable past, really repented of, is under the blood, and he will "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14,15)
(The Christian Athlete - George Clarke 1887)
N.J. Hiebert - 8418
March 13
Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:7,8.
Where there is peace, such peace as peace wth God and conscience, there can want no pleasure. David goes merry to bed, when he had nothing to eat but the gladness that God by this puts into his heart, and promises himself a better night's rest than any of them all, that are feasted with the world's cheer.
This same peace with God, enjoyed in the conscience, redounds to the comfort of the body. Now David can sleep sweetly, when he lies on a hard bed; what here he says he would do, he has done, "I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me." Psalm 3:5
The title of this psalm (A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.), tells us when David had this sweet night's rest; not when he laid in his bed of down in his stately palace at Jerusalem, but when he fled for his life from his unnatural son Absalom, and possibly was forced to lie in the open field, under the canopy of heaven.
The great care that Christ took for His disciples, when He left the world, was not to leave them a quiet world to live in, but to arm them against a troublesome world: He bequeaths unto them His peace.
The Christian in Compete Armour - William Gurnall (1617-1679)
In Jesus for peace I abide, and as I keep close to His side,
There is nothing but peace doth betide, sweet peace, the gift of God's love.
P. P. Bilhorn
N.J. Hiebert - 8419
March 14
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9.
And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest, . . . it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me. 1 Samuel 21:9
If our Lord does not despair of us, we must not despair of ourselves. A teacher has no chance with a despairing child, nor has a doctor with a despairing patient. If the child says "I can't" often enough, it simply cannot, and nothing any one can do can help.
So we must not say, "I can't. Others can, but they are different. It is not in me to conquer. I shall be defeated to the end."
That is folly, and treachery too, for it is disbelieving the word of our God. His word is always, "fear not; you can." Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage. Is there one discouraging word in our Bible? Not one.
Try using Bible words as a sword with which to fight the devil of discouragement. There is none like that; give it me, David said about the sword of Goliath the Philistine. How much more may we say about the strong word of our God: "There is none like that; give it me."
Ask, and He will. Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8420
March 15
And the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him. Acts 7:9
This is one of the many "But Gods" in the Bible that spell quite a difference. Joseph's brothers sold him into Egypt, but God was with him. Joseph himself put it this way: "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good" (Genesis 50:20). What men thought was overruled by what God wrought. "Man proposes but God disposes."
"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:5,6).
No plotting of men, no combinations of circumstances can defeat the man who has God as his helper. Here is the secret of many a life, conspired against by ill health, poverty, evil men, foes in the household, the world, the flesh and the devil, but victorious, anyway--God was with Him.
The devil and men often overstep themselves, sell Joseph into Egypt, but God makes him Prime Minister! "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
And even in the last dark chapter we need not tremble at our adversary, but triumph with our Ally--"I will fear no evil for Thou art with me." (Psalm 23:4)
But God was with him. What a difference that makes!
Day By Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8421
March 16
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5
What God had done Himself was "very good," (Genesis 1:31) and He made man for His glory. But what glory had man rendered to God? The earth, where man was to have been God's representative, he had "filled with violence," "every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5). "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" (Genesis 6:11). It might well repent God that He had made man, and it might well grieve Him at His heart!
The "very good" has passed away. The image of God and His likeness has gone for ever for the first man, and it repented God that He had made him. It is only judgment that could fall upon such a scene as this--the righteous judgment of a holy God upon man, who had filled the earth with violence, and whose wickedness was great.
"I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth," (Genesis 6:7) said Jehovah. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." (Genesis 6:8). "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith" (Hebrews 11:7).
He who believes what God has said, because God, who cannot lie, has said it, honours God; and He says:
"Them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed." (1 Samuel 2:30)
The Ways of God With Man - W. M. Sibthorpe
N.J. Hiebert - 8422
March 17
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 1:9
"If any man sin" it means, if any man commit a sin at a given point of time, what then? According to the thought that some have, that immediately severs the link that binds the believer to Christ. Oh No. If that were true, not one of us would have the assurance that he was really a Christian for an hour at a time; but see, there are two links that bind us to Christ.
First there is the link of union. That link is so strong that the weight of the world could not break it. Our blessed Lord Himself said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life: and they shall never perish" (John 10:27,28). Nothing can ever break that link when once it has been formed by the Spirit of God. But there is another link that binds the believer to the Lord, and that is the link of communion.
We speak of the finished work of Christ, and rightly so. Our blessed Lord as He hung upon the cross cried, "IT IS FINISHED," John 19:30 and bowed His head and dismissed His spirit. Here the work that saves our guilty souls was completed. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before Him" Ecclesiastes 3:14. That finished work of Christ stands alone in its absolute perfection, and on that finished work we may rest our souls.
It is finished, yes, indeed; finished, every jot!
Sinner, this is all you need! Tell me, is it not?"
So it is with our God and Father. Sin does not touch the question of relationship, but it does touch communion, or fellowship; but our blessed Lord is in the presence of God the Father to plead for His people, and as as a result of His advocacy we are brought to repent and confess, and He graciously restores our souls. H. A. Ironside
N.J. Hiebert - 8423
March 18
Then came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye Him, and crucify Him: for I find no fault in Him. The Jews answered him, we have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God. (John 19:5-7)
What a sad misconception of both Pilate and the Jewish people in evaluating this glorious person, Jesus Christ! Pilate, under Caesar, the appointed governor of this tiny captive nation, presents Jesus as a mere man: yet there was something peculiar, something special about this Man. Pilate would rather not have had to make any decision concerning the life of this Person, but he was forced to. And ever since that time everyone has had to make a personal decision about Christ. Either he accepts Him as Saviour, or rejects Him. Thereby he determines the eternal status of his own soul.
The Jewish leaders were very religious, but were spiritually as bankrupt and dead as the law they promoted and claimed to keep. They called Him a man who "made Himself Son of God," When in actuality He was the Son of God who had become Man! ". . . And the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1,14). Jesus Christ first of all was God, the Eternal Son, sharing all the inherent glories of the God-head; then He became Man, sharing all the temptations peculiar to us, but without sin.
The holiness and sinlessness of His holy nature qualified Him as Man to die a substitutionary death for our sins. He, the Holy One, hated and abhorred sin: yet as Man He was made sin for us and was judged accordingly. Oh what a Saviour is Jesus the Lord! T. Van Ryn
Oh! what a Saviour is Jesus the Lord,
Well might His name by His saints be adored!
He has redeemed them from hell by His blood,
Saved them for ever, and brought them to God.
N.J. Hiebert - 8424
March 19
"I am crucified with Christ." Galatians 2:20
So wondrous--so real--so perfect, is our oneness with Christ, the church's Head, that the apostle says, "I am crucified with Christ." And of all Christians he says, "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him." And in different parts of scripture, he speaks of it under seven distinct aspects, which give us the idea of divine completeness.
1.We are crucified together.
2. Quickened together.
3. Raised up together.
4. Seated together.
5. Heirs together.
6. Sufferers together.
7. Glorified together.
And so precious to the heart of Jesus is this oneness, or identity of the church with Himself, that in each place where our future state is spoken of in scripture, it is defined as being with Christ.
"Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." "Absent from the body, present with the Lord." "Having a desire to depart to be with Christ, which is far better." "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." "In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Amen!
This is rest, perfect rest, to the heart for ever. Refreshed, as if bathed in the ocean of His shoreless love, return to thy meditations on the beautiful Song of Songs, yet still to dwell on the volume of His heart, which only loves.
Song of Solomon - Andrew Miller -1810-1883
N.J. Hiebert - 8425
March 20
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31
The chapter from which the above words are taken is full of wonderful contrasts. God is presented to us in the completeness of His power and majesty, and yet in the most tender, gracious light conceivable. It is this combination which is so marvellous.
He feeds "His flock like a shepherd," and yet, "He measures the waters in the hollow of His hand: He gathers the lambs in His arm and carries them in His bosom;" yet He "weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance; and nations before Him are as nothing;" He "sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers." No wonder the question is raised, "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One."
In this combination of qualities; how a God so immense that He fills all things; so great that He is above and beyond all things; so powerful that He supports all things, can accommodate Himself to creatures such as we? How He who has a universe to uphold and care for can concern Himself with our affairs; and how a Being, who in one respect is so distant, can also be so near?
Yet such is God as He is presented to us in this chapter; complete in power and majesty, and yet, mindful of His creatures, and actually making Himself the servant of their needs. His resources are endless, yet they are at our disposal. His promise is:
"They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Wait upon the Lord, tarrying in His presence--to learn His mind, to hear His message, and to receive His strength? Russell Elliott - Angels in White
N.J. Hiebert - 8426
March 21
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit". John 12:24
Life out of death
The seed in an acorn, ever so small
Dies to produce the next oak so tall.
An example of Jesus who died one day,
Then rose again to open the way.
Witnesses saw and recorded their news,
"He is risen again", said hundreds of Jews.
Never before had this been made true,
God raised Him up for me and for you.
An empty tomb, the evidence plain,
Stone rolled away, so hard to explain,
Unless it was by God's power alone,
Approving the work of the Lord to atone.
We deserved death, there was no other way,
Until Jesus died to take death away.
Resurrection day put the seal on His work,
Not one suspicion can dare to lurk.
Life everlasting is what we now gain,
If we believe, not one sin will remain.
Christ led the way to the glory above.
We soon will follow, led by His love.
What can we say but "Thank-you, Lord",
For being so true to your written Word.
Risen with Christ, our new life begun.
Living with Him in the place He has won.
Lorne Perry
N.J. Hiebert - 8427
March 22
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:19
The Lord that I have known as laying down His life for me, is the same Lord I have to do with every day of my life, and all His dealings with me are on the same principles of grace. How precious, how strengthening it is to know that Jesus is at this moment feeling and exercising the same love towards me as when He died on the cross for me.
His death opened the flood-gates, in order that the full tide of love might flow over poor sinners.
(1 Corinthians 11:26) Impossible to find two words, the bringing together of which has so important a meaning, the death of the Lord. How many things are comprised in that He who is called the Lord had died! What love! what purposes! what efficacy! what results!
O Jesus, Lord, who loved me like to Thee?
Fruit of Thy work, with Thee, too, there to see
Thy glory, Lord, while endless ages roll,
Myself the prize and travail of Thy soul.
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
O what rest for the poor soul when he sees he has to do with One who has conquered all enemies for him. Before he came to the consciousness of this, the book of his daily transgressions appeared to ascend up before God, black with the catalogue of his offences, on every leaf of which was written, Sin, sin, sin; but now these blackened characters are effaced, and on each page is transcribed in letters of blood, in the blood of God's dear Lamb, Love, love, love. Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J.N.D.
N.J. Hiebert - 8428
March 23
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