February 1
According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. 2 Peter 1:3
Only worship that is in spirit and in truth is right worship, such worship must come from the overflow of grateful hearts, as we gaze upon our Lord Jesus Christ in all His loveliness and beauty, and as we ponder His love that passeth knowledge. “Looking upon Jesus as He walked” John exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36)That was true worship, right worship: “it is such worshippers that the Father seeks to worship Him.” (John 4:23).
It is only as our hearts are filled with Christ, by gazing upon Him, that our hearts will overflow, and give forth Right Worship to Him and to His Father.
Paul said to the Athenians “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you” (Acts 17:23) May it be that the wondrous grace of God reckoned this ignorant worship of an unknown God, by those who were “feeling after Him” as right worship? But He is not to us an ‘Unknown God,‘ but One whom we know well: One who is our best Friend: One to whom we owe all. As we gaze upon Him, well may our hearts rise up in true worship and adoration, until they overflow! May it be so, more and more!
O fix our earnest gaze so wholly, Lord, on Thee,
That with Thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see.
Hid Treasures - G. C. Willis
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Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord at the presence of the God of Jacob; which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. Psalms 114:7-8
Sometimes we pray, and pray, and pray about a matter. If it’s a request, the answer just never seems to come; if its a problem, it never seems to budge. If that is so, we are still praying to One who has promised, “Ask that ye may receive.” (John 16:24) If there is a delay there is a good reason and perhaps we should try to find it. It is in the hands of the One who turns the hard rock into flowing water.
Through manifold temptation,
My soul holds on its course,
Christ’s mighty intercession
Alone is my resource Choice Supplications
N.J.Hiebert —9476
"It came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land." (1 Kings 17:7)
Week after week, with unfaltering and steadfast spirit, Elijah watched that dwindling brook; often tempted to stagger through unbelief, but refusing to allow his circumstances to come between himself and God. Unbelief sees God through circumstances, as we sometimes see the sun shorn of his rays through smoky air; but faith puts God between itself and circumstances, and looks at them through Him.
And so the dwindling brook became a sliver thread; and the silver thread stood presently in pools at the foot of the largest boulders; and the pools shrank. The birds fled; the wild creatures of field and forest came no more to drink; the brook was dry. Only then to his patient and unwavering spirit, "the word of the Lord came, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath." (1 Kings 17:9)
Most of us would have gotten anxious and worn with planning long before that. We should have ceased our songs as soon as the streamlet caroled less musically over its rocky bed; and with harps swinging on the willows, we should have paced to and fro upon the withering grass, lost in pensive thought. And probably, long ere the brook was dry, we should have devised some plan, and asking God's blessing on it, would have started off elsewhere.
God often does extricate us, because His mercy endures forever; but if we had only waited first to see the unfolding of His plans, we should never have found ourselves landed in such an inextricable labyrinth; and we should never have been compelled to retrace our steps with so many tears of shame. Wait, patiently wait!
(F. B. Meyer)
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"... I (Paul) persecuted the church of God and wasted it... but when it pleased God, who ... called me by His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood ... (Galatians 1:13-16)
- The soul that has found all its springs in God, can, without any demur, retire from all creature streams.
- The moment we confer with flesh and blood, our testimony and service are marred, for flesh and blood can never obey.
- If we merely act from impulse, when the impulse subsides, the acting will subside also.
- True devotedness will ever be founded upon, and governed by, divine principle.
- Whenever devotedness passes beyond divinely appointed bounds, it is suspicious.
- It is easy to make a show of devotedness, when there is no demand for it.
- Nothing can be more thoroughly worthless than a spirit of empty pretension.
(Food for the Desert)
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"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. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." (John 14:2,3)
The description of Heaven - "In my Father's house are many mansions."
The assurance of it - "If it were not so, I would have told you."
The furnishing of it - "I go to prepare a place for you."
The safe conduct to it - "I will come again, and receive you unto Myself."
The glory of it - "That where I am, there ye may be also."
The manna and the springing well
Suffice for every need:
And Eschol's grapes the story tell
Of where our path doth lead.
(From - His Last Words - Henry Durbanville)
N.J.Hiebert —9479
"For whom He did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son.
(Romans 8:29)
- Only melted gold is minted.
- Only moistened clay is molded.
• Only softened wax receives the die.
- Only broken hearts can take and keep the impress of heaven.
If that is your condition, wait beneath the pressure of the Holy Spirit. He shall leave the image of Christ upon you. (Selected)
N.J.Hiebert —9480
"No man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church." (Ephesians 5:29)
There is the special entrance of His mind, His careful interest in those that belong to Him. It is a great comfort that we know this to be true in the present state of the Church, when we think of the ruin of all around.
Does Christ ever cease to nourish that which belongs to Him? Impossible. Spite of all the ruin, He has the same care for His people. We never can pray too much for the Church; but it is another thing to be troubling our minds as if the Lord forgot her, and were not taking adequate care of the saints in their need and sorrow.
The Lord has never failed; and what He here tells us to do in our earthly relationships is no more than what He perfectly does towards His Church. He loves the Church; He nourishes and cherishes it, and He does this because "... we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones." (Ephesians 5:30)
Just as Eve was a part of Adam, so the Church is of Christ. The Lord took out of Adam's side that which He built into his wife. So we stand in this nearness of relationship t Christ." (William Kelly - Lectures on Ephesians)
N.J.Hiebert —9481
"The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10)
The scripture above, is a deeply interesting statement. It is one of the few sentences in Scripture which can be reversed. We can say equally well, "The spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.
It brings out a thought dear to every Christian who understands that prophecy has in all its parts a relation to Christ. This is true, whether the prophecy is direct or indirect as to Christ, whether it has to do with the Church, which is His body; the Jews, who are His earthly people; or the Gentiles over whom He will rule eventually as Son of Man. HE is the Centre of prophecy, and all its predictions are related to that Centre. That being so, how absorbingly interesting the prophetic word becomes.
Alas! the misuse of prophecy is not uncommon. Its details are too often discussed simply as appealing to the intellect, and the conscience is not exercised, and the heart's affections are not stirred. Let us ever remember that God never records the past, nor reveals the future, without designing to affect us by His word in the present.
To see how God will have all things headed up in Christ, to see aright how His ways in grace and government are all leading to this grand goal, is to secure these two things - a conscience exercised and affections deepened. (A.J. Pollock - Things Which Must Shortly Come to Pass)
N.J.Hiebert — 9482
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” James 1:14,15
The strength of a temptation lies in the response of our nature to its suggestions. It is said that the germs of the potato and vine disease are always floating in the air; but they can find no place of operation — no bed — in healthy plants. But directly plants become degenerate and unable to resist their attacks, then they sweep away the farmer’s hopes in dreadful ruin.
So it is with us; if only we were like our Lord, we should pass unscathed through a whirlwind of temptations; they would find nothing in us. It is because our hearts are so desperately wicked that we need to stand in constant watchfulness. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23).
There is no sin in having certain tendencies, appetites, and desires; else there would be sin in hunger, and in drowsiness leading to soft sleep. But the danger lies in the fear that they should be gratified to an immoderate excess, or from wrong and improper sources. Human nature is very liable to this. F. B. Meyer — Joseph
N.J.Hiebert —9483
"And there shall be no night there; and they need no
candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:”
Revelation 22:5
Of Heaven:
The LIGHT of heaven is the face of JESUS;
The JOY of heaven is the presence of JESUS;
The MELODY of heaven is the Name of JESUS;
The HARMONY of heaven is the praise of JESUS;
The THEME of heaven is the work of JESUS;
The EMPLOYMENT of heaven is the service of JESUS;
The FULNESS of heaven is the Person of JESUS HIMSELF
Author unknown
N.J.Hiebert —9484
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. Luke 22:32
Are we concerned for a brother or a sister in trial? Let us pray
for them that their faith may not fail. At the present there are
thousands of God's children depressed to despair. The irretrievable
loss of all possessions does not move them now. But a great dread
hangs over them. Will God allow their little ones to be engulfed in
the overflowing infidelity? Let us pray for these our suffering
fellow saints.
Prayer makes the darkened clouds withdraw,
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw;
Gives exercise to faith and love,
Brings hope and blessing from above.
N.J.Hiebert — 9485
The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23
WHAT IF…?
What if God is real? It’s a common belief that God is not real; that God is a myth from an earlier time. So, just live your life, they say, and get as much enjoyment along the way as you can. But what if God is alive and well and residing in heaven right now? actually, that is true. He’s written a Book about His creation, His love for people, and what He has done to make it possible for people to be in heaven.
Hebrews 1:1-2: “God, who at sundry (various) times and in divers (various) ways spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds.”
But He also sets a very high standard for us that we could never live up to, because: “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). “None can by any means redeem his brother nor give to God a ransom for him.” (Psalm 49:7)
What if I am really such a sinner that I am already condemned? The truth is, you are. God says so in John 3:18 “He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. But, thanks be unto God, He offers us this generous gift. (Romans 6:23) Lorne for Vision 2020 for 2024
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