All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. (John 1:3) For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him" (Colossians 1:16).
When this perfect creation was ruined by the entrance of sin, when man fell and all creation on account of that fall was brought into the bondage of corruption, the work of redemption became a necessity. No creature of God was fitted or fit to do this. Only the Son of God, the Creator Himself, could undertake this mighty work and accomplish it to the Praise and Glory of God. To do this great work, He had to appear on this earth in the form of man.
This work of the Son of God has a threefold aspect. It is a past work, a present work and beyond the present there is His future work. His work and service will terminate when He delivers up the kingdom, so that God will be all in all (1 Corinthians 15: 24-28). It has a special meaning for the church. "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it." (Ephesians 5:25-27) This is His past work.
Since then He is sanctifying the the church by the washing of water by the Word, and in the future He will present it to Himself, a glorious church. In virtue of this threefold work of our Lord, believers are saved, are being saved, and will be saved. A. C. Gabelein - The Work of Christ.
N.J. Hiebert - 8832
May 1
Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. 2 Peter 1:10
Diligence: constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken. The characteristics of diligence are: (1) a destination or objective, (2) the power to get there, and (3) the purpose of heart to continue in spite of whatever looms up to discourage.
If you look up "diligence" in either an English or French dictionary, one of the meanings is "a stage-coach". Diligence was the term applied in Quebec in the days before trains, to a "coach" that ran between towns on a schedule. This was an appropriate use of the word given the characteristics listed earlier.
(1) A destination or objective: Certainly the reason for taking the coach down the bumpy roads of early Quebec was to get to a desired destination town. Each believer has the objective of living out the new life that is in us through the work of Christ; that is, making our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). Not that we are responsible for the fact that it is "sure", but making that fact assured in our own hearts and then demonstrating it to others.
(2) The power to get there: The passenger on a "diligence" had no direct power to get it over the road to their destination. That power resided in sturdy horses, commanding coachman and reliable coach. So for the believer; the power to be diligent in spiritual things does not come from us, it comes from the Lord by His Spirit working within us. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)
(3) The purpose of heart to continue: There was no point in getting off the coach midway in the wilderness. The journey once begun needed to be completed, even if the road was boggy and slow, or the cold penetrated the unheated coach, or highwaymen threatened. For the believer, we need to "Continue thou in the things which thou has learned." (2 Timothy 3:14) Whatever comes our way, it is important to continue thus all the way to our ultimate destination, heaven.
Our coachman is the Lord. He knows the way; He knows the dangers, and HE WILL bring us safely to the end of our journey. Meanwhile, trust Him, to keep us safely on course, while we diligently seek to remain assured of our relationship with Him, and diligently demonstrate this to others by our love, our patience and our words.
Lorne Perry
N.J. Hiebert - 8833
Diligence: constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken. The characteristics of diligence are: (1) a destination or objective, (2) the power to get there, and (3) the purpose of heart to continue in spite of whatever looms up to discourage.
If you look up "diligence" in either an English or French dictionary, one of the meanings is "a stage-coach". Diligence was the term applied in Quebec in the days before trains, to a "coach" that ran between towns on a schedule. This was an appropriate use of the word given the characteristics listed earlier.
(1) A destination or objective: Certainly the reason for taking the coach down the bumpy roads of early Quebec was to get to a desired destination town. Each believer has the objective of living out the new life that is in us through the work of Christ; that is, making our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10). Not that we are responsible for the fact that it is "sure", but making that fact assured in our own hearts and then demonstrating it to others.
(2) The power to get there: The passenger on a "diligence" had no direct power to get it over the road to their destination. That power resided in sturdy horses, commanding coachman and reliable coach. So for the believer; the power to be diligent in spiritual things does not come from us, it comes from the Lord by His Spirit working within us. "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13)
(3) The purpose of heart to continue: There was no point in getting off the coach midway in the wilderness. The journey once begun needed to be completed, even if the road was boggy and slow, or the cold penetrated the unheated coach, or highwaymen threatened. For the believer, we need to "Continue thou in the things which thou has learned." (2 Timothy 3:14) Whatever comes our way, it is important to continue thus all the way to our ultimate destination, heaven.
Our coachman is the Lord. He knows the way; He knows the dangers, and HE WILL bring us safely to the end of our journey. Meanwhile, trust Him, to keep us safely on course, while we diligently seek to remain assured of our relationship with Him, and diligently demonstrate this to others by our love, our patience and our words.
Lorne Perry
N.J. Hiebert - 8833
May 2
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
As we meditate on this first chapter of Jonah, and follow the disobedient servant of Jehovah along his pathway from his home in Gath-Hepher, down, down, down, till he reaches the belly of the fish, and thus saves the heathen sailors, we may realize that all this pathway is a picture of the perfect, obedient Servant of Jehovah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
He went down, down, down--down from His home in the glory, down to the manger, and from thence down to the cross, and down into the grave, and so saves us poor sinners. How marvellously is that pathway traced for us in Philippians.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:5-8
Little wonder that the Spirit of God should then burst forth: "Wherefore God also hath exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Lessons From Jonah - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8834
As we meditate on this first chapter of Jonah, and follow the disobedient servant of Jehovah along his pathway from his home in Gath-Hepher, down, down, down, till he reaches the belly of the fish, and thus saves the heathen sailors, we may realize that all this pathway is a picture of the perfect, obedient Servant of Jehovah, our Lord Jesus Christ.
He went down, down, down--down from His home in the glory, down to the manger, and from thence down to the cross, and down into the grave, and so saves us poor sinners. How marvellously is that pathway traced for us in Philippians.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:5-8
Little wonder that the Spirit of God should then burst forth: "Wherefore God also hath exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Lessons From Jonah - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8834
May 3
NOW OR NEVER
They that were ready went in . . . and the door was shut. Matthew 25:10
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door . . . he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not. (Luke 13:25)
There are plenty of things besides immediate death which may just as effectually prevent your ever coming to Christ at all, if you do not come now. This might be your last free hour for coming.
Tomorrow the call may be less urgent, and the other things entering in may deaden it, and the grieved Spirit may withdraw and cease to give you even your present inclination to listen to it, and so you may drift on and on, farther and farther from the haven of safety (into which you may enter NOW if you will), till it is out of sight on the horizon.
And then it may be too late to turn the helm, and the current may be too strong; and when the storm of mortal illness at last comes, you may find that you are too weak mentally or physically to rouse yourself even to hear, much less to come. What can one do when fever or exhaustion are triumphing over mind and body? Do not risk it. Come now! and "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) .
What will you do without Him, in the long and dreary day
Of trouble and perplexity, when you do not know the way,
And no one else can help you, and no one guides you right,
And hope comes not with morning, and rest comes not with night.
Opened Treasures - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 8835
They that were ready went in . . . and the door was shut. Matthew 25:10
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door . . . he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not. (Luke 13:25)
There are plenty of things besides immediate death which may just as effectually prevent your ever coming to Christ at all, if you do not come now. This might be your last free hour for coming.
Tomorrow the call may be less urgent, and the other things entering in may deaden it, and the grieved Spirit may withdraw and cease to give you even your present inclination to listen to it, and so you may drift on and on, farther and farther from the haven of safety (into which you may enter NOW if you will), till it is out of sight on the horizon.
And then it may be too late to turn the helm, and the current may be too strong; and when the storm of mortal illness at last comes, you may find that you are too weak mentally or physically to rouse yourself even to hear, much less to come. What can one do when fever or exhaustion are triumphing over mind and body? Do not risk it. Come now! and "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18) .
What will you do without Him, in the long and dreary day
Of trouble and perplexity, when you do not know the way,
And no one else can help you, and no one guides you right,
And hope comes not with morning, and rest comes not with night.
Opened Treasures - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 8835
May 4
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set. Proverbs 22:28
Among the property owned jointly by two young brothers who were carpenters was the old tumble-down place of their birth. One of the brothers was soon to be married and the old house was to be torn down and a new one erected on its site. For years neither of the brothers had visited the cottage, as it had been leased.
As they entered now and started the work of demolishing the place, again and again floods of tender memories swept over them. By the time they reached the kitchen they were well-nigh overcome with their emotions. There was the place where the old kitchen table had stood--with the family Bible--where they had knelt every evening. They were recalling now with a pang how in later years they had felt a little superior to that time-honoured custom carefully observed by their father.
Said one: "We're better off than he was, but we're not better men.
The other agreed, saying, "I'm going back to the old church and the old ways, and in my new home I'm going to make room for worship as Dad did."
The strength of a nation lies in the homes of its people. Abraham Lincoln
Says Dr. J. G. Paton: "No hurry for market, no rush for business, no arrival of friends or guests, no trouble or sorrow, no joy or excitement, ever prevented us from kneeling around the family altar while our father offered himself and his children to God." And on his father's life in his home was based Dr. Paton's decision to follow the Lord wholly. "He walked with God--why not I?"
Springs in the Valley
"Stand ye in the . . . old paths, where is the good way." (Jeremiah 6:16)
N.J. Hiebert - 8836
Among the property owned jointly by two young brothers who were carpenters was the old tumble-down place of their birth. One of the brothers was soon to be married and the old house was to be torn down and a new one erected on its site. For years neither of the brothers had visited the cottage, as it had been leased.
As they entered now and started the work of demolishing the place, again and again floods of tender memories swept over them. By the time they reached the kitchen they were well-nigh overcome with their emotions. There was the place where the old kitchen table had stood--with the family Bible--where they had knelt every evening. They were recalling now with a pang how in later years they had felt a little superior to that time-honoured custom carefully observed by their father.
Said one: "We're better off than he was, but we're not better men.
The other agreed, saying, "I'm going back to the old church and the old ways, and in my new home I'm going to make room for worship as Dad did."
The strength of a nation lies in the homes of its people. Abraham Lincoln
Says Dr. J. G. Paton: "No hurry for market, no rush for business, no arrival of friends or guests, no trouble or sorrow, no joy or excitement, ever prevented us from kneeling around the family altar while our father offered himself and his children to God." And on his father's life in his home was based Dr. Paton's decision to follow the Lord wholly. "He walked with God--why not I?"
Springs in the Valley
"Stand ye in the . . . old paths, where is the good way." (Jeremiah 6:16)
N.J. Hiebert - 8836
May 5
And there were also two other, malefactors, led with Him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Luke 23:32-33
These four words describe the most terrible scene enacted upon earth--"THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM." The place, a graveyard; the actors, the whole civilized world; the act, the cruelest and most shameful form of death; the victim, God's own beloved Son! The selected spot was a graveyard--Calvary, Golgotha, "the place of a skull." (Matthew 27:33).
And why there? Had not Jesus talked about life? Had He not raised the dead? Had He not unstopped deaf ears, and given sight to the blind? Had He not done many wonderful miracles? Had He not talked about the Lord of Life coming from glory; and had He not spoken about being the Son of God? He had.
And why did they take Him there? To insult Him in that graveyard. They use the signs of death on every hand to mock Him who was the Lord of Life. They bring Him, who was "the resurrection and the life," (John 11:25), to the scene where there is every evidence of death around Him, as much as to say, Let us see if you can avoid death. It was the most solemn mockery. They had crowned Him with thorns, and now they put Him to death.
But see what that death meant as viewed by God. It was this--that He who was Lord of Life came into the scene of death that He might bring life to us. As regards the world, it was the violent effort to get rid of God and of His Son. And the world is unchanged today; "There they crucified Him" is the declaration of what the world's estimate of Christ is. Seekers for Light - W. T. P. Wolston, M.D.
N.J. Hiebert - 8837
These four words describe the most terrible scene enacted upon earth--"THERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM." The place, a graveyard; the actors, the whole civilized world; the act, the cruelest and most shameful form of death; the victim, God's own beloved Son! The selected spot was a graveyard--Calvary, Golgotha, "the place of a skull." (Matthew 27:33).
And why there? Had not Jesus talked about life? Had He not raised the dead? Had He not unstopped deaf ears, and given sight to the blind? Had He not done many wonderful miracles? Had He not talked about the Lord of Life coming from glory; and had He not spoken about being the Son of God? He had.
And why did they take Him there? To insult Him in that graveyard. They use the signs of death on every hand to mock Him who was the Lord of Life. They bring Him, who was "the resurrection and the life," (John 11:25), to the scene where there is every evidence of death around Him, as much as to say, Let us see if you can avoid death. It was the most solemn mockery. They had crowned Him with thorns, and now they put Him to death.
But see what that death meant as viewed by God. It was this--that He who was Lord of Life came into the scene of death that He might bring life to us. As regards the world, it was the violent effort to get rid of God and of His Son. And the world is unchanged today; "There they crucified Him" is the declaration of what the world's estimate of Christ is. Seekers for Light - W. T. P. Wolston, M.D.
N.J. Hiebert - 8837
May 6
Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips. Psalm 141:3
Let me no wrong or idle word, unthinking say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips--just for today.
Keep still! When trouble is brewing, keep still! When slander is getting on its legs, keep still! When your feelings are hurt, keep still till you recover from your excitement at any rate! Things look different through and un-agitated eye.
In a commotion once I wrote a letter and sent it, and wished I had not. In my later years I had another commotion and wrote another long letter; my life had rubbed a little sense into me, and I kept that letter in my pocket until I could look it over without agitation, and without tears, and I was glad I did--less and less it seemed necessary to send it. I was not sure it would do any harm, but in my doubtfulness I learned reticence, and eventually it was destroyed,
Time works wonders! Wait till you can speak calmly and then perhaps you will not need to speak. Silence is the most powerful thing conceivable, sometimes. It is strength in its grandeur; it is like a regiment ordered to stand still in the mad fury of battle. To plunge in were twice as easy. Nothing is lost by learning to keep still.
Lord, keep me still, Though stormy winds may blow,
And waves my little bark may overflow, or even if in darkness I must go,
Yet keep me still, yet keep me still.
Lord, keep me still, the waves are in Thy hand, the roughest winds subside at Thy command. Steer Thou my bark in safety to the land,
And keep me still, and keep me still.
Lord, keep me still, and may I ever hear Thy still small voice
To comfort and to cheer; so shall I know and feel Thee ever near.
And keep me still, and keep me still. Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 8838
Let me no wrong or idle word, unthinking say;
Set Thou a seal upon my lips--just for today.
Keep still! When trouble is brewing, keep still! When slander is getting on its legs, keep still! When your feelings are hurt, keep still till you recover from your excitement at any rate! Things look different through and un-agitated eye.
In a commotion once I wrote a letter and sent it, and wished I had not. In my later years I had another commotion and wrote another long letter; my life had rubbed a little sense into me, and I kept that letter in my pocket until I could look it over without agitation, and without tears, and I was glad I did--less and less it seemed necessary to send it. I was not sure it would do any harm, but in my doubtfulness I learned reticence, and eventually it was destroyed,
Time works wonders! Wait till you can speak calmly and then perhaps you will not need to speak. Silence is the most powerful thing conceivable, sometimes. It is strength in its grandeur; it is like a regiment ordered to stand still in the mad fury of battle. To plunge in were twice as easy. Nothing is lost by learning to keep still.
Lord, keep me still, Though stormy winds may blow,
And waves my little bark may overflow, or even if in darkness I must go,
Yet keep me still, yet keep me still.
Lord, keep me still, the waves are in Thy hand, the roughest winds subside at Thy command. Steer Thou my bark in safety to the land,
And keep me still, and keep me still.
Lord, keep me still, and may I ever hear Thy still small voice
To comfort and to cheer; so shall I know and feel Thee ever near.
And keep me still, and keep me still. Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 8838
May 7
"ALL THINGS ARE YOURS"
For all things are your's; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23
Then take Him for everything, salvation, strength, guidance, every need of the whole man. "Having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:10)--blessed paradox! I bring Him my nothingness and take His allness. "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling." (Agustus Toplady) From nothing to everything!
And there is power to do. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13) "And 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).
I am not just to enjoy all this for myself. All things are mine except myself. I am not my own, I am "bought with a price: therefore I ought to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
Move out of Nothing into Everything! It is all in Christ and it is all for you. And you are then not a despository but a dispenser. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8
Day by Day -Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8839
For all things are your's; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's; And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23
Then take Him for everything, salvation, strength, guidance, every need of the whole man. "Having nothing, and yet possessing all things (2 Corinthians 6:10)--blessed paradox! I bring Him my nothingness and take His allness. "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy Cross I cling." (Agustus Toplady) From nothing to everything!
And there is power to do. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13) "And 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).
I am not just to enjoy all this for myself. All things are mine except myself. I am not my own, I am "bought with a price: therefore I ought to glorify God in my body and in my spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:19,20).
Move out of Nothing into Everything! It is all in Christ and it is all for you. And you are then not a despository but a dispenser. "Freely ye have received, freely give." Matthew 10:8
Day by Day -Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8839
May 8
SURVIVING THE STRAIN
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. James 5:10
The individual whose life has been exposed to stormy weather and survived the strain is most often the one with a quiet inner calm, a sweet serenity of spirit.
Beyond and above this, the picturesque trees above timberline--the battered, beaten, bent, and beautiful trees of the high country--possess the finest aroma. Their wood is impregnated with pitch and resins that act as lubricants between the flexing fibers of their wind-tossed timber. When this wood is sawn and planed and shaped under the master craftsman's cutting tools, its fragrance fills the air and all the building.
Such perfume is produced only by adversity.
God, give me grace to thank Thee for hardship.
When I do, my life and spirit will grow beautifully winsome--not bitter or cynical.
Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller
N.J. Hiebert - 8840
Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. James 5:10
The individual whose life has been exposed to stormy weather and survived the strain is most often the one with a quiet inner calm, a sweet serenity of spirit.
Beyond and above this, the picturesque trees above timberline--the battered, beaten, bent, and beautiful trees of the high country--possess the finest aroma. Their wood is impregnated with pitch and resins that act as lubricants between the flexing fibers of their wind-tossed timber. When this wood is sawn and planed and shaped under the master craftsman's cutting tools, its fragrance fills the air and all the building.
Such perfume is produced only by adversity.
God, give me grace to thank Thee for hardship.
When I do, my life and spirit will grow beautifully winsome--not bitter or cynical.
Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller
N.J. Hiebert - 8840
May 9
They that dwell under His shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine. Hosea 14:7
The day closed with heavy showers. The plants in my garden were beaten down before the pelting storm, and I saw one flower that I had admired for its beauty and loved for its fragrance exposed to the pitiless storm. The flower fell, shut up its petals, dropped its head; and I saw that all its glory was gone. "I must wait till next year," I said, "before I see that beautiful thing again."
The night passed, and morning came; the sun shone again, and the morning brought strength to the flower. The light looked at it, and the flower looked at the light. There was contact and communion, and power passed into the flower. It held up its head, opened its petals, regained its glory, and seemed fairer than before. I wonder how it took place--this feeble thing coming into contact with the strong thing, and gaining strength!
I cannot tell how it is that I should be able to receive into my being a power to do and to bear by communion with God, but I know it is a fact.
Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. "I will strengthen thee." (Philippians 4:13) Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 8841
The day closed with heavy showers. The plants in my garden were beaten down before the pelting storm, and I saw one flower that I had admired for its beauty and loved for its fragrance exposed to the pitiless storm. The flower fell, shut up its petals, dropped its head; and I saw that all its glory was gone. "I must wait till next year," I said, "before I see that beautiful thing again."
The night passed, and morning came; the sun shone again, and the morning brought strength to the flower. The light looked at it, and the flower looked at the light. There was contact and communion, and power passed into the flower. It held up its head, opened its petals, regained its glory, and seemed fairer than before. I wonder how it took place--this feeble thing coming into contact with the strong thing, and gaining strength!
I cannot tell how it is that I should be able to receive into my being a power to do and to bear by communion with God, but I know it is a fact.
Are you in peril through some crushing, heavy trial? Seek this communion with Christ, and you will receive strength and be able to conquer. "I will strengthen thee." (Philippians 4:13) Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 8841
May 10
And He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. Psalm 23:2
Have you ever felt discouraged in prayer because words would not come? Often our Lord Jesus turned Bible words into prayer. The Psalm book was the prayer book of the early church. It is ours still. We cannot ever fathom the depths of the book.
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. James 5:13
H. Moule said that a hymnbook was a good prayer book, too. Real hymns, like real songs, are born only when the soul is very near God. This is why they have power to help. They offer words to us when we have none of our own.
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19)
Thank God for our hymns and songs and books. Above all, thank God for His Book of books, The Bible. Is there a need it cannot meet? Is there a dryness it cannot refresh? Not one. In a place of green grass, there He has made me dwell. Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael
Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they did all eat and were filled. (Mark 6:38,39,42)
N.J. Hiebert - 8842
Have you ever felt discouraged in prayer because words would not come? Often our Lord Jesus turned Bible words into prayer. The Psalm book was the prayer book of the early church. It is ours still. We cannot ever fathom the depths of the book.
Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. James 5:13
H. Moule said that a hymnbook was a good prayer book, too. Real hymns, like real songs, are born only when the soul is very near God. This is why they have power to help. They offer words to us when we have none of our own.
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19)
Thank God for our hymns and songs and books. Above all, thank God for His Book of books, The Bible. Is there a need it cannot meet? Is there a dryness it cannot refresh? Not one. In a place of green grass, there He has made me dwell. Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael
Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they did all eat and were filled. (Mark 6:38,39,42)
N.J. Hiebert - 8842
May 11
A TRUE SERVANT DOES NOT ATTRACT ATTENTION TO HIMSELF
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14
Daniel could have used the crisis in the palace of Babylon as an opportunity to glorify himself, he studiously avoids doing so. Daniel told the king, "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh know to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the later days. ...But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living. Daniel 2:28.30 Daniel made it his business to ensure that he was given no credit for the revelation, and that glory was ascribed to God alone.
We are living in days when men vie with each other for a place in the lime light. Whether it be in the political arena, the sports field, or wherever, man is always striving for self-glorification. Sadly this spirit is also at work among the people of God. Remember when the Lord was nearing the cross and the disciples were striving among themselves as to "who should be the greatest" (Mark 9:34).
As the servants of God we cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in the frenzied attempt to get the glory. We have to remind ourselves constantly that, at best, we are only servants. The Apostle Paul grasped this when he tells us that everything that man would count as a credit towards self, he counted but dung.
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ...and do count them but dung that I may win Christ...let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:7,8) - (2:5), and he went on to describe the downward path taken by the Lord Jesus, which culminated in the cross.
May God grant us the same spirit of self-effacement that we see in Daniel, refusing to take any glory to ourselves. We are but bond-slaves. The glory belongs to Him whom we serve, and to Him alone. W Burnett - Daniel
N.J. Hiebert - 8843
God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14
Daniel could have used the crisis in the palace of Babylon as an opportunity to glorify himself, he studiously avoids doing so. Daniel told the king, "There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh know to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the later days. ...But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living. Daniel 2:28.30 Daniel made it his business to ensure that he was given no credit for the revelation, and that glory was ascribed to God alone.
We are living in days when men vie with each other for a place in the lime light. Whether it be in the political arena, the sports field, or wherever, man is always striving for self-glorification. Sadly this spirit is also at work among the people of God. Remember when the Lord was nearing the cross and the disciples were striving among themselves as to "who should be the greatest" (Mark 9:34).
As the servants of God we cannot allow ourselves to be caught up in the frenzied attempt to get the glory. We have to remind ourselves constantly that, at best, we are only servants. The Apostle Paul grasped this when he tells us that everything that man would count as a credit towards self, he counted but dung.
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ...and do count them but dung that I may win Christ...let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:7,8) - (2:5), and he went on to describe the downward path taken by the Lord Jesus, which culminated in the cross.
May God grant us the same spirit of self-effacement that we see in Daniel, refusing to take any glory to ourselves. We are but bond-slaves. The glory belongs to Him whom we serve, and to Him alone. W Burnett - Daniel
N.J. Hiebert - 8843
May 12
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; Hear ye Him.
Matthew 17:5
God's beloved Son, the Author of life, entered a scene of disease and death but remained untainted, unspotted, flawless and faultless. He took on Himself human flesh, partook of our humanity and unresistingly went to Gethsemane, Gabbatha (John 19:13) and Golgotha.
There He would make reconciliation between a righteous God and the fallen man He had created in His image!
Drew Craig
Lamb of God! when we behold Thee
Lowly in the manger laid;
Wandering as a homeless stranger
In the world Thy hands had made;
When we see Thee in the garden
In Thine agony of blood,
At Thy grace we are confounded,
Holy, spotless Lamb of God!
When we see Thee as the Victim
Nailed to the accursèd tree,
For our guilt and folly stricken,
All our judgment borne by Thee,
Lord, we own, with hearts adoring,
Thou hast washed us in Thy blood:
Glory, glory everlasting,
Be to Thee, Thou Lamb of God!
J. G. Deck
N.J. Hiebert - 8844
God's beloved Son, the Author of life, entered a scene of disease and death but remained untainted, unspotted, flawless and faultless. He took on Himself human flesh, partook of our humanity and unresistingly went to Gethsemane, Gabbatha (John 19:13) and Golgotha.
There He would make reconciliation between a righteous God and the fallen man He had created in His image!
Drew Craig
Lamb of God! when we behold Thee
Lowly in the manger laid;
Wandering as a homeless stranger
In the world Thy hands had made;
When we see Thee in the garden
In Thine agony of blood,
At Thy grace we are confounded,
Holy, spotless Lamb of God!
When we see Thee as the Victim
Nailed to the accursèd tree,
For our guilt and folly stricken,
All our judgment borne by Thee,
Lord, we own, with hearts adoring,
Thou hast washed us in Thy blood:
Glory, glory everlasting,
Be to Thee, Thou Lamb of God!
J. G. Deck
N.J. Hiebert - 8844
May 13
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20
Not only has my Saviour paid my mighty debt, but He has bought me. I am His, altogether His, and His only. What love! What grace! How can I doubt Him? Yet this is what the Galatians were doing.
God is satisfied with that price, but the senseless Galatians had forgotten. And they wanted to add their own works, circumcision, and the law, to the price that Christ had paid.
If I owe a mighty debt, and my friend pays every cent of it for me, and hands me the receipt, how can I add a further payment? This is what the Galatians were doing. If a man pays a great price to set a slave free, why should the freed slave add to the price that is already completed? But this is what the Galatians were doing.
They could not, or they would not, trust to Christ alone. They wish to add their own wretched works. "O foolish (senseless) Galatians!" (Galatians 3:1) .
This salvation was all "according to the will of our God and Father." On the one hand "Christ gave Himself," (Galatians 2:20) on the other hand "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. (John 3:16)
They have one mind in rescuing poor lost sinners. Well may the Apostle exclaim, "To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen!" (Galatians 1:5) Gladly do we who believe also say "Amen"
Meditations on Galatians - G.C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8845
Not only has my Saviour paid my mighty debt, but He has bought me. I am His, altogether His, and His only. What love! What grace! How can I doubt Him? Yet this is what the Galatians were doing.
God is satisfied with that price, but the senseless Galatians had forgotten. And they wanted to add their own works, circumcision, and the law, to the price that Christ had paid.
If I owe a mighty debt, and my friend pays every cent of it for me, and hands me the receipt, how can I add a further payment? This is what the Galatians were doing. If a man pays a great price to set a slave free, why should the freed slave add to the price that is already completed? But this is what the Galatians were doing.
They could not, or they would not, trust to Christ alone. They wish to add their own wretched works. "O foolish (senseless) Galatians!" (Galatians 3:1) .
This salvation was all "according to the will of our God and Father." On the one hand "Christ gave Himself," (Galatians 2:20) on the other hand "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. (John 3:16)
They have one mind in rescuing poor lost sinners. Well may the Apostle exclaim, "To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen!" (Galatians 1:5) Gladly do we who believe also say "Amen"
Meditations on Galatians - G.C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8845
May 14
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