June 1
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5
The first word, "Let", can be interpreted "Permit"; the thought being that there might be some hindrance to the mind of Christ being very active in us. It is important to realize that from the moment we are saved; having taken the Lord Jesus as personal Saviour, we are indeed possessors of the "mind of Christ". But, sad to say, the habits and responsibilities of life, to say nothing of passions or goals, often crowd out the "voice" of the mind of Christ from being discerned and acted upon.
It is like many of the spiritual blessings, ours from day 1 of our salvation, that are so little appreciated or put into practice, because we are so taken up with the ordinary pattern of life, and the effect it can have in blunting or diminishing the power and benefits of living according to our spiritual blessings. We may know just what those spiritual blessings are, but we do not even begin to appreciate them unless and until we work them into our daily walk.
The children of Israel were told, in Joshua 1:3, that a great territory could be theirs, way beyond the current boarders of Israel, but they first had to walk upon the whole of it; clearing out God's enemies as they went by taking strength from Him. They had some success but, in those historic times, never took it all.
That will actually come about in a future time when the Lord Jesus, in all His power and glory, will obtain the whole territory for Israel, and go on to see that the entire world is under His dominion and benevolent reign.
Lorne Perry (PART 1)
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and, things under the earth..." Philippians 2:10
N.J. Hiebert - 8864
The first word, "Let", can be interpreted "Permit"; the thought being that there might be some hindrance to the mind of Christ being very active in us. It is important to realize that from the moment we are saved; having taken the Lord Jesus as personal Saviour, we are indeed possessors of the "mind of Christ". But, sad to say, the habits and responsibilities of life, to say nothing of passions or goals, often crowd out the "voice" of the mind of Christ from being discerned and acted upon.
It is like many of the spiritual blessings, ours from day 1 of our salvation, that are so little appreciated or put into practice, because we are so taken up with the ordinary pattern of life, and the effect it can have in blunting or diminishing the power and benefits of living according to our spiritual blessings. We may know just what those spiritual blessings are, but we do not even begin to appreciate them unless and until we work them into our daily walk.
The children of Israel were told, in Joshua 1:3, that a great territory could be theirs, way beyond the current boarders of Israel, but they first had to walk upon the whole of it; clearing out God's enemies as they went by taking strength from Him. They had some success but, in those historic times, never took it all.
That will actually come about in a future time when the Lord Jesus, in all His power and glory, will obtain the whole territory for Israel, and go on to see that the entire world is under His dominion and benevolent reign.
Lorne Perry (PART 1)
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and, things under the earth..." Philippians 2:10
N.J. Hiebert - 8864
June 2
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God...made Himself of no reputation...was made in the likeness of men...He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross...God also hath highly exalted Him...that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow...and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:5-11
The mind of Christ has been described for us in very concise terms in the verses above. They trace the Lord's path from the Father's home above, into this world in the form of a man, walking in lock-step with the will of God, being obedient to the judgmental sacrifice of Himself on the cross, concluding with His triumphant resurrection, ascension and return to reign. It is in view of what marvels He accomplished for God and for us that we are instructed and encouraged to take on this same character, living daily according to how He lived.
There are two fundamental ways in which this spirit should be seen in our lives. The first is to demonstrate brotherly love and kindness to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. The second is to reach out beyond that circle to those around us who still need to learn of their need of a Saviour; who He is and what He has done to prepare a way for them to inherit eternal life. The Lord also showed how dependent He was on God, His Father, and how often He was in prayer giving Him thanksgiving and praise. And this becomes another grand way we can act on the Spirit of Christ within us to magnify our Lord and exalt God, who is His and our Father.
Mark 10:13-16 tells of mothers desiring to bring their little children to Jesus. But there was a hindrance. Some of His disciples tried to turn them away so they wouldn't bother the Lord. But Jesus saw them and said "Suffer (or let) the little children to come unto Me". The message is that we need to clear away the difficulties or interruptions that hinder the work of blessing the Lord is ready to do through us. Most often, these difficulties are within ourselves. To let the Lord work through you, "Get out of the way!" Lorne Perry (Part 2)
N.J. Hiebert - 8865
The mind of Christ has been described for us in very concise terms in the verses above. They trace the Lord's path from the Father's home above, into this world in the form of a man, walking in lock-step with the will of God, being obedient to the judgmental sacrifice of Himself on the cross, concluding with His triumphant resurrection, ascension and return to reign. It is in view of what marvels He accomplished for God and for us that we are instructed and encouraged to take on this same character, living daily according to how He lived.
There are two fundamental ways in which this spirit should be seen in our lives. The first is to demonstrate brotherly love and kindness to our brothers and sisters in the Lord. The second is to reach out beyond that circle to those around us who still need to learn of their need of a Saviour; who He is and what He has done to prepare a way for them to inherit eternal life. The Lord also showed how dependent He was on God, His Father, and how often He was in prayer giving Him thanksgiving and praise. And this becomes another grand way we can act on the Spirit of Christ within us to magnify our Lord and exalt God, who is His and our Father.
Mark 10:13-16 tells of mothers desiring to bring their little children to Jesus. But there was a hindrance. Some of His disciples tried to turn them away so they wouldn't bother the Lord. But Jesus saw them and said "Suffer (or let) the little children to come unto Me". The message is that we need to clear away the difficulties or interruptions that hinder the work of blessing the Lord is ready to do through us. Most often, these difficulties are within ourselves. To let the Lord work through you, "Get out of the way!" Lorne Perry (Part 2)
N.J. Hiebert - 8865
June 3
My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Corinthians 12:9
Such words lead straight to a land where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. Gold--the word recalls Job's affirmation, "When He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold"; and Peter's "That the trial of your faith, being much more perisheth than of gold though it be tried with fire" (1 Peter 1:7); and the quiet word in (Malachi 3:3) "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
I have often thanked God that the word is not gold there, but silver. Silver is of little account in the East, and we feel more like silver than gold. But he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, so who need fear?
This picture of the Refiner is straight from Eastern life. The Eastern goldsmith sits on the floor by his crucible. For me, at least, it was not hard to know why the Heavenly Refiner had to sit so long. The heart knows its own dross. Blessed be the love that never wearies, never gives up hope that even in such poor metal He may at last see the reflection of His face. "How do you know when it is purified?" we asked our village goldsmith. "When I can see my face in it," he answered. Rose From Briar - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8866
Such words lead straight to a land where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. Gold--the word recalls Job's affirmation, "When He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold"; and Peter's "That the trial of your faith, being much more perisheth than of gold though it be tried with fire" (1 Peter 1:7); and the quiet word in (Malachi 3:3) "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver."
I have often thanked God that the word is not gold there, but silver. Silver is of little account in the East, and we feel more like silver than gold. But he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, so who need fear?
This picture of the Refiner is straight from Eastern life. The Eastern goldsmith sits on the floor by his crucible. For me, at least, it was not hard to know why the Heavenly Refiner had to sit so long. The heart knows its own dross. Blessed be the love that never wearies, never gives up hope that even in such poor metal He may at last see the reflection of His face. "How do you know when it is purified?" we asked our village goldsmith. "When I can see my face in it," he answered. Rose From Briar - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8866
June 4
RESTORATION BY CHASTISEMENT
He restoreth my soul . . . Psalm 23:3
Chastisement is one of our unpleasant blessings. In the exercise of it God reveals "the graver countenance of love". Correctly to understand its purpose and meaning and value, however, we must remember that it is not always or necessarily the result of sin. It is quite true, as the history of the ages solemnly testifies, that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7); that, as one of our poets expresses it,
". . . Sorrow follows wrong, as echo follows song,
And every guilty deed holds within itself the seed
of retribution and undying pain."
But, admitting all this, the fact remains that retribution does not exhaust the purposes of God in chastisement. He has also lessons of education and soul-culture to teach by its means--lessons which, when learned, will issue in "the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11). It is for this reason that we are exhorted to "despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth" (Proverbs 3:11,12).
Assured, then, that chastisement may be educative as well as retributive, and that in either case it is the evidence of a love which ever has our profit in view, we turn to consider the classic passage which deals with it--(Hebrews 12:5-11). And if we examine that passage carefully we find that chastisement has always one of three effects upon us; we either despise it, or faint under it, or are exercised by it. The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson
N.J. Hiebert - 8867
He restoreth my soul . . . Psalm 23:3
Chastisement is one of our unpleasant blessings. In the exercise of it God reveals "the graver countenance of love". Correctly to understand its purpose and meaning and value, however, we must remember that it is not always or necessarily the result of sin. It is quite true, as the history of the ages solemnly testifies, that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians 6:7); that, as one of our poets expresses it,
". . . Sorrow follows wrong, as echo follows song,
And every guilty deed holds within itself the seed
of retribution and undying pain."
But, admitting all this, the fact remains that retribution does not exhaust the purposes of God in chastisement. He has also lessons of education and soul-culture to teach by its means--lessons which, when learned, will issue in "the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11). It is for this reason that we are exhorted to "despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction: for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth" (Proverbs 3:11,12).
Assured, then, that chastisement may be educative as well as retributive, and that in either case it is the evidence of a love which ever has our profit in view, we turn to consider the classic passage which deals with it--(Hebrews 12:5-11). And if we examine that passage carefully we find that chastisement has always one of three effects upon us; we either despise it, or faint under it, or are exercised by it. The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson
N.J. Hiebert - 8867
June 5
"I am the vine, ye are the branches. John 15:5
It was in connection with the Parable of the vine that our Lord first used the expression, "Abide in Me." That parable, so simple, and yet so rich in its teaching, gives us the best and most complete illustration of the meaning of our Lord's command, and the union to which He invites us.
The parable teaches us the nature of that union. The connection between the vine and the branch is a living one. No external, temporary union will suffice; no work of man can effect it: the branch, whether an original or an engrafted one, is such only by the Creator's own work, in virtue of which the life, the sap, the fatness, and the fruitfulness of the vine communicate themselves to the branch.
And just so it is with the believer too. His union with His Lord is no work of human wisdom or human will, but an act of God, by which the closest and most complete life-union is effected between the Son of God and the believer. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts." (Galatians 4:6) The same Spirit which dwelt and still dwells in the Son, becomes the life of the believer; in the unity of that one Spirit, and the fellowship of the same life which is in Christ, he is one with Him. As between the vine and the branch, it is a life-union that makes them one.
The parable teaches us the completeness of the union. So close is the union between the vine and the branch. Without the vine the branch can do nothing. To the vine it owes its right of place in the vineyard, its life and its fruitfulness. Abide in Christ - Andrew Murray
N.J. Hiebert - 8868
It was in connection with the Parable of the vine that our Lord first used the expression, "Abide in Me." That parable, so simple, and yet so rich in its teaching, gives us the best and most complete illustration of the meaning of our Lord's command, and the union to which He invites us.
The parable teaches us the nature of that union. The connection between the vine and the branch is a living one. No external, temporary union will suffice; no work of man can effect it: the branch, whether an original or an engrafted one, is such only by the Creator's own work, in virtue of which the life, the sap, the fatness, and the fruitfulness of the vine communicate themselves to the branch.
And just so it is with the believer too. His union with His Lord is no work of human wisdom or human will, but an act of God, by which the closest and most complete life-union is effected between the Son of God and the believer. "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts." (Galatians 4:6) The same Spirit which dwelt and still dwells in the Son, becomes the life of the believer; in the unity of that one Spirit, and the fellowship of the same life which is in Christ, he is one with Him. As between the vine and the branch, it is a life-union that makes them one.
The parable teaches us the completeness of the union. So close is the union between the vine and the branch. Without the vine the branch can do nothing. To the vine it owes its right of place in the vineyard, its life and its fruitfulness. Abide in Christ - Andrew Murray
N.J. Hiebert - 8868
June 6
No man can come unto Me, except it were given him of My Father.
John 6:65
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3
The coming was personal and individual; it may have been "in the press," (Mark 5:27) but we had nothing to do with the rest of the throng; we know in ourselves that we, you and I, individually, have come. That personal coming was because of God the Father's personal drawing. I do not know how He drew you, you do not know how He drew me, but without it most certainly neither you nor I ever could have come, because we never would have come.
This personal drawing by personal loving-kindness was because of personal and individual everlasting love. Coming only because drawn, drawn only because loved! Here we reach, and rest on, the firm foundation of the electing love of God in Christ, proved by His drawing, resulting in our coming! When we know that this sun is shining in the heaven of heavens, should we be watching every flicker of our little farthing candle of faith? (2 Timothy 2:13)
From no less fountain such a stream could flow,
No other root could yield so fair a flower:
Had He not loved, He had not drawn us so;
Had He not drawn, we had no will nor power
To rise, to come;--the Saviour had passed by
Where we in blindness sat without one care or cry.
Royal Bounty - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 8869
John 6:65
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3
The coming was personal and individual; it may have been "in the press," (Mark 5:27) but we had nothing to do with the rest of the throng; we know in ourselves that we, you and I, individually, have come. That personal coming was because of God the Father's personal drawing. I do not know how He drew you, you do not know how He drew me, but without it most certainly neither you nor I ever could have come, because we never would have come.
This personal drawing by personal loving-kindness was because of personal and individual everlasting love. Coming only because drawn, drawn only because loved! Here we reach, and rest on, the firm foundation of the electing love of God in Christ, proved by His drawing, resulting in our coming! When we know that this sun is shining in the heaven of heavens, should we be watching every flicker of our little farthing candle of faith? (2 Timothy 2:13)
From no less fountain such a stream could flow,
No other root could yield so fair a flower:
Had He not loved, He had not drawn us so;
Had He not drawn, we had no will nor power
To rise, to come;--the Saviour had passed by
Where we in blindness sat without one care or cry.
Royal Bounty - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 8869
June 7
The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! James 3:5
Many according to the flesh would avoid giving a blow, who cannot restrain a passionate or hard word against a neighbour.
But if no man can restrain the tongue, the grace of Christ can do it, for the inner man on one side is under the yoke of the Lord, and is meek and lowly in heart: Christ fills the heart, and thus precisely because the tongue follows the impulses of the heart, the speech will express this meekness and lowliness.
For this, it is needful that Christ alone should dwell there, and the flesh be so held in check, that when temptation comes it may not stir.
It is difficult not to fail, but it is very useful to see that the tongue shows what is working within, just as the hands of a clock show the hidden workings of its wheels.
Brief Exposition of the Epistle of James - J. N. Darby
N.J. Hiebert - 8870
Many according to the flesh would avoid giving a blow, who cannot restrain a passionate or hard word against a neighbour.
But if no man can restrain the tongue, the grace of Christ can do it, for the inner man on one side is under the yoke of the Lord, and is meek and lowly in heart: Christ fills the heart, and thus precisely because the tongue follows the impulses of the heart, the speech will express this meekness and lowliness.
For this, it is needful that Christ alone should dwell there, and the flesh be so held in check, that when temptation comes it may not stir.
It is difficult not to fail, but it is very useful to see that the tongue shows what is working within, just as the hands of a clock show the hidden workings of its wheels.
Brief Exposition of the Epistle of James - J. N. Darby
N.J. Hiebert - 8870
June 8
If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself. John 7:17
The battle is fought in the citadel of the will. We have intelligence, emotions, and will. We may not be able to understand with the intelligence or feel with the emotions as we would like. We may not be able to understand with the intelligence or feel with the emotions as we would like, but we can take a stand in the will and be true to God, however all else may clamour.
Do not yield to confusion. Are you a man or a mob? Too many today do not have themselves in order and under command. Many a man is not a personality, he is a panic!
Of course, our poor wills, left unaided, are but cotton strings. But when we will the will of God He begins to work in us both to will and do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). We submit to His will: "Thy will be done." (Matthew 26:42) Then we assert His will: "Thy will be done!" It is both passive and active. "Thy will be done" is not mere resignation to the inevitable, it is affirmation of the invincible.
However little the intelligence may understand or emotion feel, we take our stand in the will yielded to His will. Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8871
The battle is fought in the citadel of the will. We have intelligence, emotions, and will. We may not be able to understand with the intelligence or feel with the emotions as we would like. We may not be able to understand with the intelligence or feel with the emotions as we would like, but we can take a stand in the will and be true to God, however all else may clamour.
Do not yield to confusion. Are you a man or a mob? Too many today do not have themselves in order and under command. Many a man is not a personality, he is a panic!
Of course, our poor wills, left unaided, are but cotton strings. But when we will the will of God He begins to work in us both to will and do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). We submit to His will: "Thy will be done." (Matthew 26:42) Then we assert His will: "Thy will be done!" It is both passive and active. "Thy will be done" is not mere resignation to the inevitable, it is affirmation of the invincible.
However little the intelligence may understand or emotion feel, we take our stand in the will yielded to His will. Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8871
June 9
A crown of thorns . . . upon His head. Matthew 27:29
What miserable heroes the soldiers were that day when they mocked God's lovely Son. A king? Then crown Him, and they pressed the thorns into His blessed brow. A king? Then anoint Him, so they spat in His face.
Be not deceived, for beneath that thorny crown lay all the authority of Godhood. One word and He could have forever banished His tormentors. But He loved them, and soon would die for them, and for us.
What a crown! What a king! what a love is this. J. Boyd Nicholson
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed! And did my Saviour die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in,
When the incarnate Maker died for man His creature's sin.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee--'tis all that I can do.
Isaac Watts -1674-1748
N.J. Hiebert - 8872
What miserable heroes the soldiers were that day when they mocked God's lovely Son. A king? Then crown Him, and they pressed the thorns into His blessed brow. A king? Then anoint Him, so they spat in His face.
Be not deceived, for beneath that thorny crown lay all the authority of Godhood. One word and He could have forever banished His tormentors. But He loved them, and soon would die for them, and for us.
What a crown! What a king! what a love is this. J. Boyd Nicholson
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed! And did my Saviour die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in,
When the incarnate Maker died for man His creature's sin.
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself to Thee--'tis all that I can do.
Isaac Watts -1674-1748
N.J. Hiebert - 8872
June 10
They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My Jewels. Malachi 3:17
What do God's children as jewels remind us of?
1. Like jewels, they are rare.
2. Like jewels, they are beautiful, brilliant, ornamental.
3. Like jewels, they are found in strange and unlikely places.
4. Like jewels, they are obtained only with much risk and trouble.
5. Like jewels, they have to be cut and polished to bring out
their beauty and value.
6. Like jewels, they are very valuable; hence they cost a great deal.
7. Like jewels, they are carefully preserved.
8. Like jewels, they will be collected and exhibited.
Sapphires, rubies, opals, precious every one;
The great Lapidary sees His work begun.
He will not relax His care till work is finished there. -- E.E.T.
When He cometh, when He cometh, to make up His jewels;
All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.
He will gather, He will gather the gems for His kingdom;
All the pure ones, all the bright ones, His loved and His own.
Little children, little children, who love their Redeemer,
Are the Jewels, precious Jewels, His loved and His own.
Like the stars of the morning, His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in His beauty, bright gems for His crown,
W. O. Cushing
N.J. Hiebert - 8873
What do God's children as jewels remind us of?
1. Like jewels, they are rare.
2. Like jewels, they are beautiful, brilliant, ornamental.
3. Like jewels, they are found in strange and unlikely places.
4. Like jewels, they are obtained only with much risk and trouble.
5. Like jewels, they have to be cut and polished to bring out
their beauty and value.
6. Like jewels, they are very valuable; hence they cost a great deal.
7. Like jewels, they are carefully preserved.
8. Like jewels, they will be collected and exhibited.
Sapphires, rubies, opals, precious every one;
The great Lapidary sees His work begun.
He will not relax His care till work is finished there. -- E.E.T.
When He cometh, when He cometh, to make up His jewels;
All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.
He will gather, He will gather the gems for His kingdom;
All the pure ones, all the bright ones, His loved and His own.
Little children, little children, who love their Redeemer,
Are the Jewels, precious Jewels, His loved and His own.
Like the stars of the morning, His bright crown adorning,
They shall shine in His beauty, bright gems for His crown,
W. O. Cushing
N.J. Hiebert - 8873
June 11
THE MOST VALUABLE LIFE
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, know and read of all men.
2 Corinthians 3:2
After all, the lives that do the most for the world are the steady, quiet lives. They are like stars; they just stay in their appointed places and shine with the light God has given them. Meteors shoot brilliantly across the sky, and we exclaim and wonder, but long after they have vanished the stars shine on to guide us.
I need not shout my faith:
Thrice eloquent are quiet trees,
And the green listening sod;
Hushed are the stars, whose power is never spent,
The hills are mute: yet how they speak of God.
Charles Hanson Towne
It is not necessarily the busiest, who are ever on the rush after some visible work; It is the lives like stars, which simply pour down upon us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. It is good to know that no man or woman can be strong, gentle, good, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.-- Philips Brooks
"The rose needs no tongue to tell its fragrance; the flower to speak its beauty. The best arguments for Christianity are the Christians themselves".
Calmness is the seal of strength.
N.J. HIebert - 8874
Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, know and read of all men.
2 Corinthians 3:2
After all, the lives that do the most for the world are the steady, quiet lives. They are like stars; they just stay in their appointed places and shine with the light God has given them. Meteors shoot brilliantly across the sky, and we exclaim and wonder, but long after they have vanished the stars shine on to guide us.
I need not shout my faith:
Thrice eloquent are quiet trees,
And the green listening sod;
Hushed are the stars, whose power is never spent,
The hills are mute: yet how they speak of God.
Charles Hanson Towne
It is not necessarily the busiest, who are ever on the rush after some visible work; It is the lives like stars, which simply pour down upon us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. It is good to know that no man or woman can be strong, gentle, good, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.-- Philips Brooks
"The rose needs no tongue to tell its fragrance; the flower to speak its beauty. The best arguments for Christianity are the Christians themselves".
Calmness is the seal of strength.
N.J. HIebert - 8874
June 12
STEADFASTNESS
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:15
If anyone feels, as I did, smitten and penetrated by the force of those two words, looking back, I think you will find cheer from Psalm 25:15. How often, perhaps almost before we knew it, we have looked back; how often we have found ourselves caught in a net of longing. There is one way of deliverance: "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord:"
If only that be so, then not backward longings, not discouragements because of past failure,
"For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes." (Psalm 26:3).
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him." (Psalm 28:7)
So, like all the words of the Lord Jesus, this word goes deeper and deeper the more one thinks of it. All know this temptation, and our Lord, who was tempted in all points like as we are, must have know it too. But He never yielded. "Therefore have I set My face like a flint." (Isaiah 51:7) and, just before He warned others against looking back, it is written of Him, "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51)
Thou Givest...They Gather - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8875
Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Psalm 25:15
If anyone feels, as I did, smitten and penetrated by the force of those two words, looking back, I think you will find cheer from Psalm 25:15. How often, perhaps almost before we knew it, we have looked back; how often we have found ourselves caught in a net of longing. There is one way of deliverance: "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord:"
If only that be so, then not backward longings, not discouragements because of past failure,
"For Thy loving kindness is before mine eyes." (Psalm 26:3).
"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him." (Psalm 28:7)
So, like all the words of the Lord Jesus, this word goes deeper and deeper the more one thinks of it. All know this temptation, and our Lord, who was tempted in all points like as we are, must have know it too. But He never yielded. "Therefore have I set My face like a flint." (Isaiah 51:7) and, just before He warned others against looking back, it is written of Him, "He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51)
Thou Givest...They Gather - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8875
June 13
PRAYER AND INTEGRITY
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18)
Now, when God refuses to hear, we may be sure the Spirit refuses to assist; for God never rejects a prayer which His spirit indite(s). Have you defiled yourself with any known sin? Think not to have Him help you in prayer, till He has helped you to repent; He will carry you to the laver before He goes with you to the altar.
Take heed you pray not with a reservation: be sure you renounce what you would have God remit. . . . He that desires not to be purged from the filth of sin, prays in vain to be eased of the guilt. If we love the work of sin, we must take the wages. A false heart could be willing to have his sin covered, but the sincere desires his heart may be cleansed .
David begged a clean heart as well as as a quiet conscience: "Blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God." (Psalm 51:9,10) In nothing do our hearts more cheat us than in our prayers, and in no request more than those which are levelled against our lusts. That is often, times least intended, which is most pretended. . . . The saint's prayer may miscarry from some secret grudge that is lodged in his heart against his brother.
The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall (1617-1679)
N.J. Hiebert - 8876
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18)
Now, when God refuses to hear, we may be sure the Spirit refuses to assist; for God never rejects a prayer which His spirit indite(s). Have you defiled yourself with any known sin? Think not to have Him help you in prayer, till He has helped you to repent; He will carry you to the laver before He goes with you to the altar.
Take heed you pray not with a reservation: be sure you renounce what you would have God remit. . . . He that desires not to be purged from the filth of sin, prays in vain to be eased of the guilt. If we love the work of sin, we must take the wages. A false heart could be willing to have his sin covered, but the sincere desires his heart may be cleansed .
David begged a clean heart as well as as a quiet conscience: "Blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God." (Psalm 51:9,10) In nothing do our hearts more cheat us than in our prayers, and in no request more than those which are levelled against our lusts. That is often, times least intended, which is most pretended. . . . The saint's prayer may miscarry from some secret grudge that is lodged in his heart against his brother.
The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall (1617-1679)
N.J. Hiebert - 8876
June 14
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