Bible Gems

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Gems from September 11- 16, 2025

LET GO DISPLEASURE

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Psalm 37:8

Sometimes something happens which recalls great pain. You are not able to find pleasure in that thing. You are oppressed by it and saddened. Suddenly the word comes, "Let go displeasure."

Displeasure is not always wrath; it is not unkindness, or the fretting which the Psalm says so truly, "tendeth only to evildoing." (Psalm 37:8) It is just something that is not pleasure but pain, and so can depress the heart.

Let it go. Do not hold on to it. Let it slip out of mind. Turn to something that does give pleasure and fasten your thoughts on that. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." (Psalm 37:7) "Commit thy way" (and the way of those thou lovest) "unto the Lord" (Psalm 37:5) and thou shalt delight thyself in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)

Prove this word if ever you are tempted in this way. You will find that by an act of will, by His grace, you can "Let go displeasure" and be most tenderly released and refreshed.
Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 10062

September 11

Work out (cultivate) your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Philippians 2:12

It might be of interest to look at a few other passages where this Greek word (work out) might be translated in the same way (cultivate):
- The law cultivates wrath. Romans 4:15
- Tribulation cultivates patience. Romans 5:3
- Godly sorrow cultivates repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10
- The trying of your faith cultivates patience. James 1:3

Cultivate means to loosen the soil so the rain and air can get to the roots so the plants grow strong and bear fruit. Another purpose is to get rid of the weeds.

An important point in this verse is the use Scripture makes of the word "salvation". If we think of the salvation of our souls only, many passages of Scripture will be very hard to understand: that salvation was completed at the cross, and was given to us freely when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

We could not "work out," or even "cultivate" this salvation: for it is complete and perfect for ever: our souls are as safe now as they will be when we are at Home in Glory. But Scripture looks at salvation in various ways. It speaks of the salvation of our bodies as well as of our souls. It looks at salvation of our bodies as past, present, or future: according as redemption, grace, or glory are in view.

For our souls, salvation is past: (1 Peter 1:9). But for our bodies, the Lord keeps us safe day by day, and hour by hour, and this will not be completed until He has us safe at Home, spirit, soul and body: (Romans 5:9,10) "much more being reconciled, we shall be kept safe in His life". This is present salvation; and in Romans 8:23,24 we see future salvation: "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 13:11)...the present guardian care of our God who brings us safely through. Philippians - G.C. Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 10063

September 12

A VITAL TRUTH ILLUSTRATED

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Henry Moorhouse, a British evangelist, once said that he found it difficult for many to take their place as guilty sinners before God. Some time ago a woman had said to him, "I cannot believe that one who has perhaps broken only one law of the commandments can be as bad as another who has broken five or ten laws."

He said to her, "but has it occurred to you that God never gave five or ten laws? He gave only one LAW, and it consists of ten commandments. Look at this watch. Count the wheels and you will find ten or more. It is a broken watch, and will not run. Only one wheel is broken; but it is still a broken watch."

As the woman still could not see it, he said, "Suppose you were hanging by a chain over a precipice. The chain consists of ten links. If someone took a hammer and smashed every link, where would you go?"

"To the bottom, of course."

"But, suppose only one link were broken, where would you go?"

"That would be just as bad; I would fall. And now I see the point. Even for one sin, I am a sinner, and need a Saviour. Thank God for His Son--Jesus, my Saviour Who cleanses from all sin."

It take just as much of the grace of God to save the best people in the world as to save the vilest. Nothing but grace through faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ can give salvation to a lost soul and freedom from the law of sin. Grace Triumphant - Tom Dear

N.J. Hiebert - 10064

September 13

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 His work is finished there. - E.E.T.
From the archives of Tom Dear

'Tis the promise of our Father, given in His Word divine,
Pledge of never failing mercy, those who love Me shall be Mine.

When He gathers up His jewels, every bright and precious gem,
Then shall shine in realms of glory, stars in Jesus' diadem.

Would you be a star in glory, in the Saviour's kingdom shine?
Trust in Him, it is His promise, those who love Me shall be Mine.

[Refrain] Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For His precious love divine!
When He gathers up His jewels I will with the ransomed shine. W. F. Cosmer

N.J. Hiebert - 10065

September 14

So shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11

In the 1930s, Stalin, the Russian dictator, ordered massive purges of segments of the Soviet population to eliminate any whom he considered to be a threat to his rule. Christians (with their Bibles) were among the groups specially marked for elimination. Some historians estimate that over one million Christians died in Stalin's purges.
In Stavropol, Russia, Stalin's order to eliminate all Christians and all Bibles was strongly enforced. Thousands of Bibles were confiscated, while many Christians were immediately executed or set to the gulags (prisons) where most died, branded as "enemies of the state."
Many years later, when Soviet persecution of Christians had greatly eased, a Christian missionary team, was allowed to visit Stavropol to make contact with any Christians living there. However, the Bibles they had ordered from Moscow to distribute in Stavropol had not arrived. A local Russian who knew the history of the Stavropol purges mentioned that the warehouse where the confiscated Bibles had been stored still existed.
A member of the missionary team went to the warehouse to see if the Bibles were still there. The warehouse officials assured him that they were indeed still stored there. A request to remove the Bibles and to distribute them to the people of Stavropol also received official approval.
The next day the missionary team returned with a truck and with several Russian men who had been hired to help load the Bibles. One of these, a young college student, was particularly hostile and arrogant, a self-proclaimed agnostic. It was obvious he had come just to earn a day's wages.
While loading the Bibles one of the missionaries notice that the young man had disappeared. When they found him, he was huddled in the corner of the warehouse holding a Bible in his hands and weeping. He had planned to take one of the Bibles for himself and had stolen away from the truck unnoticed so that none would know that he too wanted a Bible.
Once alone with a pile of Bibles, he had picked up a dusty, well-worn copy. Opening it, he was deeply shaken when he saw, inside the front cover, the faded hand-writing and the name of the Bible's former owner--one of the Christians who had been purged by Stalin so many years before --his own grandmother. (Courtesy of John Kaiser)

N.J. Hiebert - 10066

September 15

Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7

We may well be happy with such a One to care for us. Again we ask: Have you realized that the order which was given about the man in the inn (Luke 10:35)-- "Take care of him"--has been given about you? Let us wake up to the fact that we have SOMEONE to care for us. Why is a babe so happy though so helpless? Because it is the best-cared-for person in the house. Its cry brings immediate aid, its wants are always attended to.

Would that we were content to be the Creator's babes! For are we anything more in the presence of the vast universe that stretches all around us, and of Him who made it? Are there no arms to enfold, no hands to uplift, no bosom to shelter us? Thank God, there are for all those who become as little children.

It will assist us to rise above all our care if we are looking in the right direction. We catch the impress of what we behold. "They looked unto Him and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed" (Psalm 34:5).

During some very costly wars in which England was engaged more than a hundred years ago, it is said that while the then Prime Minister was always elated, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the contrary, was always depressed. The former looked only at the trophies of the war, the latter only at the expense.

Where are we looking? and what do we look for? Upon the answer to these two questions very much of our happiness depends. We often look for that which is bound to bring us disappointment, but if we look as Scripture directs us, we shall be more than satisfied. "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time...unto salvation." "Looking for that blessed hope." "From whence also we look for the Saviour. (Hebrews 9:28; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20)
Angels in White - Russell Elliott

N.J. Hiebert - 10067

September 16

THE UNFATHOMABLE SUFFERINGS OF CHRST

Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow.

Lamentations 1:12

Many and various causes of sorrow are presented in the life of our blessed Lord on earth; one coming on another. And sorrow becoming more and more intense, up to the closing scene on Mount Calvary. Suffering, connected with testimony for God; whoever is for God will be sure to suffer in such a world.

Then there was the peculiarity of sorrow, as being the One to solve that problem which seemed so impossible to solve--how God and the sinner could go together. How could God find anyone to show the bearing of divine glory in connection with mercy towards one covered with sin? He did find One who was to be the perfect measure of what sin was in His presence. That One takes the cup of wrath from God's hand; and in that hour, God cannot look at the One in whom was all His delight. That hour of forsaking, when the "sword" (Zechariah 13:7) was to awake, only came out at the cross. There was but the anticipation of its unsheathing at Gethsemane.

I see there God's estimate of sin when it comes into His presence. That Son of His love had to be treated as if the whole mass of sin was His, and the whole weight of wrath for that sin came upon Him. He had to bear it all there, alone. He may be a Man of sorrows all through His life, but He has God with Him in it. Never till the cross do we find the sense of God's distance from Him--expressed in that cry, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34). He never could taste that before, for only then was He bearing sin in His own body, in God's presence. Not one ray of light came from Him while the Son of His love was there, suffering, the Just for the unjust. (1 Peter 3:18). Man tries to keep sin far away, out of God's presence, but Christ carried it right into His presence. G. V. Wigram

N.J. Hiebert - 10068

September 17

Monday, September 1, 2025

Gems from September 1- 10, 2025

But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night.

Job 35:10

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Acts 16:25

What man arouses to sing in the dark of night? Night is the time when we are more apt to be obsessed with doubts and fears that do not beget songs. Even a song bird does not sing at night. but God has something for man beyond the bird: a capacity to commune with his Maker--and in this communion his Maker gives him a song . . . even in the night.

Throughout the hours of darkness dim, still let us watch and raise the hymn;
And in deep midnight's awful calm pour forth the soul in joyful psalm.

REDEEMED

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
Who cares for me all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty,
The King in whose Word I delight,
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am.
Fanny Crosby

N.J. Hiebert - 10051

https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/222-prayers-of-the-bible/

August 31

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I lay there, unable to move...realizing how very real my situation had become. Unbelievable actually...I asked the Lord, really? Are you sure...?? In the wee hours one morning in the ICU, I struggled..."Lord, is this really gong to be the sum of my life?...Really??..."

A still small voice in my heart said "Mike, it was never yours alone...Remember? You asked me into your heart? It is our life, I only ever wanted to live in you, with you, through you...I wanted to partner with you. I wanted us to live together." I have little time left but I know for sure, I want to live it with Him..."

Happiness is a choice.... Accepting that depending on others is a privilege and is critical to a happy life for me now. I can embrace it and enjoy peace and happiness, or I can let this situation overwhelm me...

When I am weak then am I strong,
Grace is my shield and Christ my song.

Embracing your inability is a prerequisite to God showing you His ability.

There is so much that we do not see, but we see Him.
Musings From My Journey: Mike O'Brien "A brother beloved."

Mike continues to suffer serious disabilities and has spent many years depended on the care of others.

N.J. Hiebert - 10052

September 1

About midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; and sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Acts 27:27-28

Paul was being taken to Rome as a prisoner, but the ship became caught in a major storm. The sailors, in the dark, sensed land was near, so they used a "Fathom" line to measure the depth under the keel. This was a process of heaving a lead weight as far out in front as possible. The line attached had a knot every six feet (two meters). Counting the knots when the weight touched bottom revealed the depth; in this case, 120 feet, shoaling quickly to 90 (27.5 m).

The account in Acts tells us that Paul had direct assurance from God that, although the ship would be lost, every one aboard would arrive safely on land. This suggests that as we see the world situation getting darker, we rely more and more on the promise that all believer will get safely to heaven.

If the water were much deeper, the leadsman would holler, No bottom! meaning, beyond measurement. And this meaning has been used by our hymn writers to describe the sufferings of the Lord Jesus on the cross as unfathomable. One example is mentioned in the hymn where the Lord is nailed to a tree: Unfathomable wonder! And mystery divine! The voice that speaks in thunder says, "Sinner, I am thine! "   William Cowper

Another synonym, appearing in the Psalms and elsewhere, is unsearchable.  Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable, and Ephesians 3:8 Unto me...is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.

The hymn writer (J. Kent - 1827) describes the grace of God this way.
Sovereign grace o'er sin abounding...'tis a deep that knows no sounding...!
Lorne Perry

N.J. Hiebert - 10053

September 2

And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter...and he (Moses) cried unto the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet. Exodus 15:23,25

That He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Hebrews 2:9
Marah is but a picture of this world as a wilderness wild with its bitter waters, under curse due to men's sins. "For the wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23) Death is depicted by the bitter waters. What then is the solution?

"The Lord showed him a tree." The tree had to be shown to Moses through his crying before God. Apart from God's kind intervention, Moses could not see the tree. The tree reminds us of Christ as here in flesh for the will of God, and of the cross. Likewise, unless the Lord shows us His cross, we will never see its profound significance. Not until then can we truly see who our blessed Lord is. May the Lord show us His cross. May we, through His cross, contemplate Him as never before.

The cure of the bitter waters relied on the tree cast into those waters. He was violently and mercilessly "cast" into the place of death so that sweetness might be yielded at the end. Oh, what had He done to merit such a harsh treatment from God? "So that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man" (or "everyone"). Oh, what an unfathomably bitter taste He fully experienced on the cross! Blessed, adorable Lord and Saviour! F.S.W.

The cross! the cross, oh, that's our gain,
Because on that the Lamb was slain:
'Twas there the Lord was crucified,
'Twas there for us the Saviour died.
Miss C. Taylor - 1742

N.J. Hiebert - 10054

September 3

I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. Ezekiel 34:26

What is thy season this morning? Is it a season of drought? Then that is the season for showers. Is it a season of great heaviness and black clouds? Then that is the season for showers. "As thy day so shall thy strength be." (Deuteronomy 33:25)  "I will give thee showers of blessing." The word is in the plural. All kinds of blessings God will send. All God's blessings go together, like links in a golden chain.

If He gives converting grace, He will also give comforting grace. He will send "showers of blessing." Look up today, O parched plant, and open thy leaves and flowers for a heavenly watering.  Spurgeon

"Let but thy heart become a valley low,
And God will rain on it till it will overflow."

Thou, O Lord, canst transform my thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7) into a flower. And I want my thorn transformed into a flower. Job got the sunshine after the rain, but has the rain been all waste? Job wants to know, I want to know, if the shower had nothing to do with the shining. "Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the field: to set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety." (Job 5:10,11)

And Thou canst tell me--Thy Cross can tell me. Thou hast crowned Thy sorrow. Be this my crown, O Lord. I only triumph in Thee when I have learned the radiance of the rain.  George Matheson

And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 2 Samuel 23:4

N.J. Hiebert - 10055

September 4

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. ...moreover by them is thy servant warned." Psalm 19:9,11

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings." (Philippians 2:14) We murmur at a thousand things in our lot, just as the Israelites did in the wilderness, and thereby question the care, the love and the wisdom of Him who orders all our path, and lose the blessed sense of His presence with us.

When people become slaves to a fad they soon become tyrants.

When knowledge enters the head it exalts me. When knowledge enters the heart it humbles me.

May we never bridge over the chasm between the world and us, and we shall never seek to do so if we can adopt the language of the apostle, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." (Galatians 6:14).

"Wisdom and might are His." (Daniel 2:20). A simple utterance, but how profound! For if wisdom and might are God's, they are no where else to be found, and it is in vain to turn for them to any but God.

There are only two channels of testimony--the lip and the life, and the lip should be but the expression of what has been produced in the life. What we should all desire is intense reality, to be possessed and controlled by the truth we profess to hold, and thus to shun the use of phrases and sentences which we have never eaten, digested and found true in our souls.

In this day of grace God would have all men to be saved, and hence we have to beseech (2 Corinthians 5:20)--not denounce--all men. You cannot feed souls with denunciations--even though the things denounced are errors.
Edward Dennett

N.J. Hiebert - 10056

September 5

Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days. Ecclesiastes 11:1

THE PAWNED BIBLE

A young man, born in 1839 left home for college at the age of 17. His mother, a godly Christian woman, gave him a Bible. In the fly-leaf she wrote his name, her name and a Bible verse. The young man competed college and went on to medical school but he began to associate with a bad crowd. One day, in a drunken spree he pawned the Bible for money to buy more liquor.
Though the young Scotsman went on to become a very successful doctor--rising to the head of the largest hospital in Edinburgh--he forsook his upbringing becoming a committed infidel and was elected president of a society of atheists in that city.
One day, an accident victim was brought into the hospital and was placed under his care. The patient learning that he likely had only a few hours to live, requested of the doctor; "Please contact my landlady, and ask her to send me the Book." The doctor agreed, and within a few hours the landlady arrived with "the Book", the dying patient's Bible.
It was not long after that the patient died. The doctor was curious as to what kind of book the patient wanted. He asked the nurse, "Was it his bank book or appointment book?"
The nurse replied, "No, it was neither of those. It is still under his pillow. Go look." Reaching under the pillow the doctor pulled out "the Book". He opened it and to his amazement it was the very Bible he had received from his mother that he had pawned some years before. The fly-leaf still had his name, his mother's name and the Bible verse inscribed on it.
Overwhelmed, he slipped the Bible under his coat and rushed to his private office. There the doctor who had become an atheist, fell on his knees praying that God would have mercy on him, and save him. He remembered one verse his mother had taught him and believing it was brightly saved. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
The doctor immediately contacted his elderly mother who had never ceased to pray for her wayward son. What unspeakable joy was hers as she heard how God had used the very Bible she gave her son years before, in his salvation! The Christian Shepherd - December 2012

N.J. Hiebert - 10057

September 6

And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

Luke 10:34

I remember a man who was overtaken by a bad fall on the road. He fell among thieves who robbed him, took his clothes away, and left him naked, wounded and half dead. I watched the law come by chance down that way, and waited to see the law go and pick up the poor wounded man and set him on the road again; but the law, although it saw him, only passed by on the other side.

Then I watched the Jewish temple service, sacrifices and feasts, (of which the Galatians were so fond). They came and even stopped and looked at him. I thought I heard them say, "Poor man, poor man, be more careful next time." And then they passed by on the other side, like the law. Neither of them seemed able to do a thing for the fallen man. Indeed they did not seem to care very much about him.

Then came my Master. It was this that made Him my Master, for I was the poor man who fell among the thieves. He came all the way from heaven, right to where I was. He got down in the dust on the road, and bound up my wounds, pouring in oil and wine; He put me on His own beast, put His arm around me to hold me so I would not fall, and took me to an inn.

The name of the inn was "The Place That Receives All," and the name of the Inn-keeper was "The One who receives all" (how different from the inn where my Master was born; there was no room for Him there, so He was born in the stable). My Master paid for my keep, and left word with the inn-keeper, "Take care of him." There was no fear of spending too much on me, for my Master said, "Whatever you spend more, when I come again, I will repay you." So now, I am waiting and looking for my Master to come again. (Luke 10:30-37)
Galatians or Beautiful Grace -  G.C. Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 10058

September 7

MEMORIES--TREASURES OR TYRANTS?

Forgetting those thing which are behind.... Philippians 3:13
I remember the days of old.... Psalms 143:5 .

Memories, whether good or bad, must be handled with care. Bad recollections can drive us to despair. Good remembrances can become idols and lead us to wallow in sentimentality.

We can paint the past with glamour it never had and crown dear ones with haloes they never wore. "Distance lends enchantment to the view." Memory can become a tyrant instead of a treasure chest.

From the mistakes of the past, let us learn whatever lessons they teach, then forget them, even as God remembers our sins no more. Let precious memories be benedictions but not bonds. Life must be lived and we must get on with the job. All The Days - Vance Havner

How good is the God we adore,
Our faithful, unchangeable Friend,
Whose love is as great as His power,
And knows neither measure nor end!

'Tis Jesus, the First and the Last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We'll praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that's to come.
Hart - 1750

N.J. Hiebert 10059

September 8

I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me...that beareth fruit, He purges (pruning) it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:1,2

And they said, is this Naomi? and she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty. Ruth 1:19-22

How many pruned ones may read these words! They are inclined to say, like Naomi, that the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with them. Husband and sons buried in a distant land; poverty and want supreme in a deserted and darkened home; only one left of all the merry circle of bygone years: and yet out of all this shall come a golden harvest of blessing; and the little grandson pressed to the heart, and his line to David, the sweet Psalmist (2 Samuel 23:1) and mighty king, shall make the aged heart young again. (Ruth 4:15-22).

"No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:11).

It is a recognized rule, among vine-dressers, that no shoot should have more than one bunch of grapes. All but that one are nipped off. The vine-dresser will obtain a greater weight of better grapes in that one bunch, than he would by permitting two or three clusters to form. And so with merciless hand he picks off bunch after bunch of unformed fruit.

It is thus that we are sometimes shut away from one after another of our chosen directions of Christian activity: not that our Father would diminish our fruit-bearing, but that the strength of our life may be saved from dissipation, and conducted by one channel to a better and richer fruit. Joseph - F. B. Meyer

N.J. Hiebert - 10060

September 9

THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST

When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples. John 18:1

A thousand years before, King David had crossed the brook Kidron and had gone up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives (2 Samuel 15:23,30), rejected by His people and weeping. King David walked this way in consequence of his own guilt; the Lord Jesus went this way because it was the beginning of the path which He trod for the guilt and sins of others. In the darkness of the night, in the place called Gethsemane, the shadow of the cross fell across His path, where the Father would give Him the bitter cup of God's wrath in just judgment of sin. He had come to this earth for the very purpose of drinking this cup.

Before our eyes is the Man Jesus Christ with all His divinely perfect feelings of dependence and obedience. The path leading to the cross lay before Him--the path which He would now have to walk to accomplish God's counsels. He felt keenly what was before Him. He longed for the sympathy and comfort of His disciples, but the only source of his strength was from above with His Father.

Jesus enters deeper into the garden, accompanied by Peter, James, and John, but then He separates even from them, and going a little farther, He falls on the ground, praying, "Abba, Father" (Mark 14:36). This is the only time we hear that intimate expression to the Father from the Lord's lips. His prayer continues,"All things are possible unto Thee; take away this cup from Me: nevertheless not what I will, but what Thou wilt."

No one knew as well as He that this was not possible if He wanted to open the way of salvation for sinners and accomplish the Father's eternal counsel. Thus, He rises from prayer and walks in perfect peace on the way to drink, until empty, that cup which He had taken from the Father's hand. Fritz von Kietzell

N.J. Hiebert - 10061

September 10

LET GO DISPLEASURE

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Psalm 37:8

Sometimes something happens which recalls great pain. You are not able to find pleasure in that thing. You are oppressed by it and saddened. Suddenly the word comes, "Let go displeasure."

Displeasure is not always wrath; it is not unkindness, or the fretting which the Psalm says so truly, "tendeth only to evildoing." (Psalm 37:8) It is just something that is not pleasure but pain, and so can depress the heart.

Let it go. Do not hold on to it. Let it slip out of mind. Turn to something that does give pleasure and fasten your thoughts on that. "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." (Psalm 37:7) "Commit thy way" (and the way of those thou lovest) "unto the Lord" (Psalm 37:5) and thou shalt delight thyself in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)

Prove this word if ever you are tempted in this way. You will find that by an act of will, by His grace, you can "Let go displeasure" and be most tenderly released and refreshed.
Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 10062

September 11

Work out (cultivate) your own salvation with fear and trembling.

September 12

September 13

Monday, August 18, 2025

Gems from August 21- 31, 2025

Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. James 5:7

We are always waiting for the Lord, if we really understand our position; but whatever may be our desire, we cannot command the Lord to come, nor know when He will come. And blessed be His name! the Lord is patient; as long as there is yet one soul to be called by the gospel, He will not come. His whole body, His bride, must be formed; every member must be present, converted and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Then He will come and take us. Christ Himself is seated on the Father's throne. He also is waiting for that moment, with more desire surely than we are; and therefore the patience of Christ is spoken of: this is the true meaning of Revelation 1:9. Thus also in Revelation 3:10, "because thou hast kept the word of My patience;" also in 2 Thessalonians 3:5, "the patience of Christ."

We are taught also in Hebrews 10:12, that Christ is seated at the right hand of God, waiting till His enemies shall be made His footstool. We may well wait if Christ is waiting; but we wait in suffering and conflict. He is waiting to reign, and then He will cause full blessing to flow forth for His own, whether in heaven or on earth, and will banish evil from both.

Thus we need patience, that neither self-will nor weariness of the conflict should take possession of our souls; but in the confidence that the time that God wills is best (for it is that which divine wisdom and His love for us have ordained) let us fix our affections on the Lord and on things above, because we wait for Him with desire of heart, with broken will, and unwavering faith, leaving His return to the decision of God.

Not only in fact we cannot retard it but the heart has entire confidence in His love, assured that the Lord waits for us with greater love than we for Him, calm in confidence, patient in the wilderness-journey. How sweet to wait for Christ--for the fulness of joy with Him! Thanks be to God, He says, "it is at hand." J.N. Darby

N.J. Hiebert - 10041

August 21

THE PRAYER IN THE NIGHT

In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instructions. Job 33:15,16

Sometimes I wake with dark and quiet around me,
And swift across my vision, like a light,
Flashes the face of one I know who suffers,
Or one whom sorrow newly touched last night.

Perhaps, for just that moment and that purpose,
There lacks a link in God's great chain of prayer;
So, lest the chain be weakened by my silence,
Or break because I fail to do my share,
I shape the link, and know the Spirit's fire
Will forge it into place and weld it there.
Annie Johnson Flint

N.J. Hiebert - 10042

August 22

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. John 20:16

The One whom Magdalene called "Rabboni" was coming agin, her unchanged and gracious Lord. He whose voice had so often stilled the fears of His troubled disciples, as He spoke peace or pardon to their hearts, was coming back again. There was unmeasured consolation to the wondering "men of Galilee," (Acts 1:11) when the angels assured them that He who was in heaven, and He who was returning for them again, was the same Jesus.

How marvellous that the Christ of the glory is the Christ of the carpenter shop! How transcendently precious that the Christ of Bethesda, and of Sychar's well, is still the very same. He has the same love, the same longsuffering, the same goodness, though now he sits on the throne of God. The One who cheered us on our pathway, the One who cared for us as a Shepherd for His sheep, is coming back again.

And He will come "in like manner" as He went. Our Lord went away, "while they beheld"; when He returns "we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). With their own eyes they gazed intently upon Him as He went up; with our own eyes we shall see Him without a veil between, when He comes again. It will be a cloud that will bring Him back to this earth as well: (Revelation 1:7).

We read, "And when He had spoken these things" (Acts 1:9). He talked with them as He left them, and how sweet will be His voice when we hear it audibly for the first time: A Plant of Renown Leonard Sheldrake

"Oh, the blessed joy of meeting, all the desert past!
Oh, the wondrous words of greeting, He shall speak at last!
He and I in that bright glory, one deep joy shall share,
Mine to be forever with Him, His that I am there." Francis Bevan

N.J. Hiebert - 10043

August 23

"Then said they unto Jonah, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm? . . . And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea. . . . So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging." Jonah 1:11,15.

I have little doubt that it was a solemn moment on board that ship, as the prophet prepared to die, and the sailors were compelled to carry out that sentence of death on the very man that had first told them of the true and living God, and who had been the means of turning them to Him from their idols. It may well be that a strong bond of love had sprung up between the prophet and the seamen during their stormy passage together. They well knew that he was voluntarily going down into death in order to save their lives.

The result--what was it? It was two-fold; first, "The sea ceased from her raging;" then "The men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows." For these heathen men the result was a complete and entire turning to the true and living God. Jonah could say of himself, "I fear the Lord." The Spirit of God records of the sailors, "The men feared the Lord exceedingly." Then they offered a sacrifice. That tells us of approach to God in God's own way--also, of thanksgiving and worship.

How lovely to trace the work of the Spirit of God in the hearts of these men!  First, they were "afraid" of the storm, verse 5, and crying to their gods; then, they were "exceedingly afraid" as they heard for the first time, of the God of the heavens, Who had made the sea and the dry land.  Thirdly, they cried to the Lord, instead of to their gods; acknowledged His greatness and power, and bowed in submission to His will.  Fourthly, they feared the Lord exceedingly--a very different thing from being "exceedingly afraid." Fifthly, they came into the Lord's presence with a sacrifice, God's own appointed  way, and bowed before Him in worship and thanksgiving; and finally, they made vows-- a public acknowledgement of the debt that they owed to the great God whom they had so lately learned to know.  G. C. Willis.

N.J. Hiebert - 10044

August 24

Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17

God is; and another scripture says, "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6). I have first of all to get in my soul the sense that God is. You may say, I do not know Him. That is quite true, and the question is, how can you know Him? You cannot learn Him from nature; but He reveals Himself by His Son and by His Word. (Hebrews 1:1,2)

The great thing to get hold of is this, that God has spoken. What you and I have to do is to listen, and I am certain of this, if you listen, you will believe, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

If you listen to God's Word, it will have an effect upon you, it will produce a deep, real mark upon you--a mark which reason will not produce, because reason may turn a man away from God, and often does; but faith, the fruit of the reception of the Word of God, always leads a man to God.

Man's heart naturally sets itself against God, but faith accepts His testimony. Very striking that! You must receive first of all what the Lord says of you. "He that hath received His testimony hath set to his seal that God is true." (John 3:33). There I believe you get the real definition of what faith is.

God hath spoken by His Son the Lord Jesus, and the man that receives His testimony, "Sets to his seal that God is true." That is faith. Ask any person who is a believer how they first really got to know that they were saved and they will tell you, by giving God credit for speaking the truth, by taking Him at His word, which is faith. Human reasoning and wisdom of words cannot manufacture faith; it comes by hearing the Word of God.
Seekers for Light - W. T. P. Wolston

N.J. Hiebert - 10045

August 25

His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. Jeremiah 20:9

In many forests, fires burn more fiercely and with greater devastation because brush and brambles and undergrowth become established around the trees. A very clear picture of this is given in Judges 9:15: "And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon."

Lightning also frequently strikes trees that stand out in exposed sites on ridges or open country. If a tree has dead or dry wood it may be set ablaze. Green, vigorous, luxuriant trees are not so apt to burn, though they may be scarred or split or shattered by the electrical discharge that goes to the ground.

The likelihood of such a calamity befalling a strong, green vigorously growing tree is much less than for one which is dried up, diseased, or cumbered with dead wood. The rich, dense foliage of a healthy cedar, moreover, so shades the soil beneath it that it precludes brush and brambles from encircling it. So the chances of its being burned are more remote.

Is my life cluttered with the "underbrush" of the world? Lord, let Thy fires cleanse me! Songs of My Soul - Phillip Keller

Living for Jesus, a life that is true, striving to pease Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad hearted and free, this is the pathway of blessing for me. Thomas Chisholm

N.J. Hiebert - 10046

August 26

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Psalm 23:5

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness they questioned God by asking: "Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?" (Psalm 78:19). This was an act of pure unbelief in their case. God had provided them with a stream of water gushing from the rock and had supplied "angels' food," manna from heaven.

The Lord always prepares a table for His people. In the Shepherd Psalm we see that a table was prepared for King David in the presence of his enemies. We should take note of this because the Lord has spread for us a table as well--the Lord's Table. It is wonderful that we can have fellowship together in all the Christian privileges that flow from the sacrifice of Christ. The Lord's Supper is the highest expression of our fellowship, for it is not an individualistic thing at all--it is the expression of the fact that we are all "one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:16-17).

The Lord's Supper is celebrated (and the Christian life is lived) in the presence of our enemies--they are onlookers. Paul writes that we "show (proclaim) the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26). The word "proclaim" literally means to preach. We are to declare the death of Christ in the very world that crucified and rejected Him--we are on enemy turf. In the Lord's Supper we proclaim, in the presence of the enemy, that the One who has redeemed us has also bought the world. It is His by right and His by purchase and He will yet claim it at His coming!

But not only this. Christ has sealed us with the Holy Spirit and marked us out as His own; He has anointed our heads with oil. But our joy and prosperity is not to be kept exclusively for ourselves but it should be overflowing in gracious testimony to all who are willing to bow the knee to Christ--even to His enemies. Is your cup running over? Brian Reynolds

N.J. Hiebert - 10047

August 27

Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. Exodus 16:4.

The day's portion in its day: Such was the the rule for God's giving and man's working in the ingathering of the manna. It is still the law in all the dealings of God's grace with His children. A clear insight into the beauty and application of this arrangement is a wonderful help in understanding. Now one, who feels himself utterly weak, can have the confidence and the perseverance to hold on brightly through all the years of his earthly course.

A doctor once asked by a patient who had met with a serious accident; "Doctor, how long shall I have to lie here?" The answer, "Only a day at a time," taught the patient a precious lesson. It was the same lesson God had recorded for His people of all ages long before: The day's portion in its day.

It was, without doubt, with a view to this, and to meet man's weakness, that God graciously appointed the change of day and night. If time had been given to man in the form of one long unbroken day, it would have exhausted and overwhelmed him; the change of day and night continually recruits and recreates his powers. As a child, who easily makes himself master of a book, when each day only the lesson for the day is given him, would be utterly hopeless if the whole book were given him at once; so it would be with man, if there were no divisions in time.

Broken small and divided into fragments, he can bear them; only the care and the work of each day have to be undertaken,--the day's portion in its day. The rest of the night fits him for making a fresh start with each new morning; the mistakes of the past can be avoided, its lessons improved. And he has only each day to be faithful for the one short day, and long years and a long life take care of themselves, without the sense of their weight ever being a burden. Abide in Christ - Andrew Murray

N.J. Hiebert - 10048

August 28

TRUSTING JESUS, THAT IS ALL

And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. Luke 12:29.

Our Lord had much to say about taking no anxious thought for our lives, food, drink, or raiment. He spoke of the birds and the lilies as examples of God's care. He said, ". . . be ye [not] of doubtful mind" Luke 12:29.

He told us that the Gentiles worry about such things and, since Christians belong to another race and nation as children of God, we should not worry as they do about such matters. Paul wrote, "Be careful for nothing . . ." (Philippians 4:6).

When we doubt or fear or worry we are not believing. Christ lives within us and He never worries. Faith is the opposite of fuming and fussing. All doubt is sin for it denies God's Word. "According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29).

It takes some of us a long time to stop trying and begin trusting. Some never do. The greatest adventure in this life is to quit merely reading it, talking about it, praying about it, and reach that point where we can actually sing:

Simply trusting every day,
Trusting through a stormy way;
Even when my faith is small,
Trusting Jesus, that is all. (E. Page)

Though I Walk Through the Valley - Vance Havner

N.J. Hiebert - 10049

August 29

Joseph said unto his brethren. . . be not grieved, God sent me before you to save your lives by a great deliverance. Genesis 45:4-7.

THE RELIEF FROM ANXIETY

As to the future no care or anxiety need cloud their horizon, for Joseph can say, in the message he sends to his father, "Thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near to me, thou, and thy children, and thy children's children, and all that thou hast, and there will I nourish thee" (v.10).

THE REALIZATION OF LOVE

Thus with marvellous skill and infinite love, Joseph makes himself known to his brethren, dispels their fears, delivers them from self-occupation, and relieves them from anxiety, by filing their vision with himself and his glories, and engaging their thoughts with his gracious words. "Behold," says Joseph, "your eyes see. . . that it is my mouth that speaks unto you." (v.12)

Fear dispelled, grief assuaged, cares banished, love can flow without hindrance,--"He kissed all his brethren; and after that his brethren talked with him." (v.15). But their** eyes have seen his glories, their ears have been charmed with his words of grace, their hearts have been warmed with his love and, in the warmth of love, they are set free to talk with him. No shade remains to hinder the communion of love between Joseph and his brethren.

"Perfect love casts out fear. (1 John 4:8). All this foreshadows the yet future dealings of Christ with His earthly people who rejected Him in the days of old. But more, the story tells us the way Christ takes to teach us the evil of our hearts, and then dispel all fear by making Himself known in the love of His heart. Joseph - Hamilton Smith

N.J. Hebert - 10050

August 30

But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night.

Job 35:10

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. Acts 16:25

What man arouses to sing in the dark of night? Night is the time when we are more apt to be obsessed with doubts and fears that do not beget songs. Even a song bird does not sing at night. but God has something for man beyond the bird: a capacity to commune with his Maker--and in this communion his Maker gives him a song . . . even in the night.

Throughout the hours of darkness dim, still let us watch and raise the hymn;
And in deep midnight's awful calm pour forth the soul in joyful psalm.

REDEEMED

I think of my blessed Redeemer,
Who cares for me all the day long;
I sing, for I cannot be silent;
His love is the theme of my song.

I know I shall see in His beauty,
The King in whose Word I delight,
Who lovingly guardeth my footsteps,
And giveth me songs in the night.

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child, and forever, I am.
Fanny Crosby

N.J. Hiebert - 10051

https://www.hopefaithprayer.com/prayernew/222-prayers-of-the-bible/

August 31

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