Gems from June 21- 27, 2026

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out [Cultivate] your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.  Philippians 2:12,13 

    It is many years since I worked on a farm, so I asked a dear farmer brother to help me out about "cultivating."  This is what he said:  "I have much enjoyed the thoughts you brought out about Philippians 2:12, and I'm sure it is a verse that has been a puzzle to many, and has been perhaps used in a wrong way by those who think Salvation is by works.
    "I believe the word cultivate means just what you said, to loosen the soil so the rain and air can get to the roots so the plant may grow strong and bear fruit.  One of the main purposes in cultivating too is to get rid of the weeds, for if they are allowed to grow, the tender plant is robbed of its vigour and cannot bear much fruit."  
    "Yes, I have followed the old horse drawn cultivator you speak of and sometimes the sun was pretty hot, and often it was dusty.  Of course corn and soybeans were the main crops we cultivated, and we nearly always cultivate them three times during the season."  
    "Father always said the first cultivation was the main one, when the plants were young and tender, to get rid of the weeds while they were young, for when they get well rooted it is almost impossible to get rid of them, unless by the hoe, which on big acreage is almost never done being impracticable; but the hoe is a tool for cultivation, and a good one too, as one can get close to the plants without harming them."  
    In a crop like strawberries it is about the only tool one can use and very important, for weeds and grass will soon take the strawberries if they aren't hoed. "It seems to me very interesting, and makes the passage much easier to understand, when you see that 'work out' means to cultivate.  The more valuable the crop is, the more carefully the farmer will cultivate it.  How carefully and diligently we should cultivate salvation."  Philippians - G. Christopher Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 20346

June 21

Looking unto Jesus.  Hebrews 12:2 

Unto Jesus and not at the world, its customs, its example, its rules, its judgments;--

Unto Jesus and not at Satan, though he seek to terrify us by his fury, or to entice us by his flatteries.

--Oh! from how many useless questions we would save ourselves, from how many disturbing scruples, from how much loss of time, dangerous dallyings with evil, waste of energy, empty dreams, bitter disappointments, sorrowful struggles, and distressing falls, by looking steadily unto Jesus, and by following Him wherever He may lead us. 

Then we shall be too much occupied with not losing sight of the path which He marks out for us, to waste even a glance on those in which He does not think it suitable to lead us. 

Unto Jesus and not at our creeds, no mater how evangelical they may be.  The faith which saves, which sanctifies, and which comforts, is not giving assent to the doctrine of salvation; it is being united to the person of the Saviour. "It is not enough", said Adolphe Monod, "to know about Jesus Christ, it is necessary to have Jesus Christ."   

To this, one may add, that no one truly knows Him, if he does not first possess Him.  According to the profound saying of the beloved disciple, it is in the Life, there is Light, and it is in Jesus there is Life. (John 1:4) 
(Translated from the French of Theodore Monod by Helen Willis) 

N.J. Hiebert - 20347

June 22

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.  Exodus 12:5 

Israel was to be delivered from the bondage of Egypt by the great power of God. But before taking them out, God required that they must be redeemed by blood.  A sacrifice of a lamb was to take place, and the blood be put on the door posts and lintels of the houses.  Where no blood was applied, at least one person in the house died that night. 

The sacrifice must be a lamb, the figure of lowly submission.  It is a type of the Lord Jesus, the only sacrifice satisfactory to God. 

The lamb must be "without blemish."  Who can possibly fit this requirement among men?  Because of many spiritual and moral blemishes not one of us is suited to be such a sacrifice. The sacrifice must be pure, for no sinner could take away the sins of another.  The Lord Jesus is the only One who can qualify for this. 

The lamb must be a "yearling". It was to be eaten, and of course its tenderness is therefore implied.  Who was tenderhearted enough to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins?  Only the Lord Jesus.  He was not forced to do such a thing, but willingly gave Himself.  Wonderful grace and love! 

The lamb must also be "a male," the stronger of the two genders.  The emphasis therefore is on the fact that the sacrifice must be strong enough for the tremendous work of bearing sin and the sins of multitudes of people.  We may think that one person could only rightly be a substitute for one another.  If the Lord Jesus were merely man, this would be a difficulty. 

But He is the eternal Son of God, not a finite being such as we are, but infinite.  All the finite beings together could never reach an infinite number.  But Christ is strong enough to embrace an infinite number of people, and to redeem them all from their sins, because He Himself is infinite.  Wonderful is this pure, strong, willing sacrifice!  The Lord is Near 

N.J. Hiebert - 20348

June 23

Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.  Luke 18:1

Prayer which takes the fact that past prayers have not been answered as a reason for languor, has already ceased to be the prayer of faith. To the prayer of faith the fact that prayers remain unanswered is only evidence that the moment of the answer is so much nearer. 

From first to last, the lessons and examples of our Lord all tell us that prayer which cannot persevere and urge its plea importunately, and renew, and renew itself again, and gather strength from every past petition, is not the prayer that will prevail.  William Arthur.  

The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose."  By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along;
Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,
God leads His dear children along. 

Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire,
But all through the blood; some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long. 

Some times on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along; sometimes in the valley,
In darkest of night, God leads His  dear children along. 

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along; through grace we can conquer,
Defeat all our foes, God leads His dear children along.  G.A. Young

N.J. Hiebert - 20349

June 24

YE  ARE  NOT  YOUR  OWN

Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.  1 Corinthians 6:19,20 

Let us remember as such who have been reconciled and have redemption through His blood that we are bought with a price. Through His death we are positionally dead; all who believe on Him have died.  We are dead to the law, to the world, to sin.  But are we truly living, walking and acting as such who  have died, dead to sin and alive unto God? 

A child of God who walks after the flesh practically denies the power and value of the blessed finished work of Christ on the cross.

Let us exalt in our ives, by our words and deeds, the cross of Christ.  "But 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.
The Work of Christ - A. C. Gaebelein

N.J. Hiebert - 20350

June 24

YE  ARE  NOT  YOUR  OWN

Ye are not your own for ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.  1 Corinthians 6:19,20 

Let us remember as such who have been reconciled and have redemption through His blood that we are bought with a price. Through His death we are positionally dead; all who believe on Him have died.  We are dead to the law, to the world, to sin.  But are we truly living, walking and acting as such who  have died, dead to sin and alive unto God? 

A child of God who walks after the flesh practically denies the power and value of the blessed finished work of Christ on the cross.

Let us exalt in our ives, by our words and deeds, the cross of Christ.  "But 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.
The Work of Christ - A. C. Gaebelein

N.J. Hiebert - 20350

June 25

I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.  Matthew 11:25

Christ could never lack divine wisdom.  But with us it  is very possible that wisdom may be lacking, even when will is subject, and we truly desire to do the will of God.  Therefore the promise follows, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." (James 1:5) Absence of will, obedience, and the spirit of confiding dependence which waits on God, characterise  the new life.

We pass through tribulation in the world; but this life develops itself in these qualities.  But it is necessary this confidence should be in exercise; otherwise we can receive nothing.  It does not honour God to distrust HIm. 

Such a man is double-minded, like a wave of the sea driven by the wind.  He is unstable, because his heart is not in communion with God; he does not live in a way known to Him; such an one is, of course, unstable (James 1:6-8). 

If a believer keeps in the presence of God, near Him, he knows Him, and will understand His will; he will not have a will of his own, and will not wish to have one; not only on the ground of obedience, but because he has more confidence in the thoughts of God concerning him than he has in his own will. 
James - J.N. Darby

Submission to the will of Him Who guides me still,
Is surety of His love revealed; my soul shall rise above,
This world in which we move; I conquer only where I yield.
C. Austin Miles

N.J. Hiebert - 20351

June 26

God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way...but it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was very angry.  And he prayed.  Jonah 3:10, 4:1

Displeasure and anger do not make a very good beginning to prayer, so perhaps we need not wonder when we hear what he prayed. Though he addressed his words to God, it is only too evident that his eyes were on himself, and on what he fancied were his wrongs.  This is not the first prayer of Jonah to which we have listened. 

How different was this prayer, from the one sent up to God from the belly of the great fish!  At that time his eyes were toward God's holy mountain.  He was looking away from self to God, but now he was looking away from God to self.  It may be that we have prayed in a very similar state of mind.  It may be that we have gone to God to complain or to accuse, instead of to beseech.  It may be that instead of lifting up our eyes to heaven, as our Lord did when He prayed (John 17:1), we have turned our eyes down to ourselves, or around to our brethren, and the sights that we see in either case almost surely make us displeased and angry. 

Let us look for a moment at Jonah's prayer.  Surely it was only grace that could call it a prayer, for we will see that there was little about it that conformed to a true prayer.  He begins: "Ah, Jehovah, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country?" This is a question, not a prayer--and a question put to Jehovah in order to justify himself for the very sin and disobedience that had already brought such terrible chastisement on him, and of which we thought he had truly repented. Then note these words, "my saying...my country." (Jonah 4:2). 

Can we not see the pride of self and pride of country, just, sticking out here?  Are we any better?  Which of us does not naturally like to speak of himself, and repeat "my saying," tell what I have said, and prove that I was right?   It might have been one of us speaking, instead of Jonah the prophet: only then we would not be so hard on the speaker.  And Jonah had quite forgotten that, after all, the country was God's country, and not his.  The Lord had definitely said, of that particular country,
"The land is Mine." (Leviticus 25:23)   Lessons from Jonah - G. C, Willis          

N.J. Hiebert - 20352

June 27

USELESS  OR  USEFUL  OCCUPATION

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer. 
Psalm 19:14 

What about our letter writing?  Have we not been tempted (and fallen before the  temptation), according to our various dispositions, to let the hand that holds the pen move at the impulse to write an unkind thought of another;

- or to say a clever and sarcastic thing,
- or a slightly, exaggerated thing, which will make our point more telling;
- or to let out a grumble or a suspicion;
- or to let the pen run away with us into flippant and trifling words, unworthy of
  our  high and holy calling?

Have we not drifted away from the golden reminder, "Should he reason with unprofitable talk? or with speeches wherewith he can do no good?" (Job 15:3)  Why has this been, perhaps again and again?  Is it not for want of putting our hands into our dear Master's hand, and asking and trusting Him to keep them?  He could have kept; He would have kept!  Whatever our work or our special temptations may be, the principle remains the same, only let us apply it for ourselves. 

I look up to my Father, and know that I am heard,
And ask Him for the glowing thought, and for the fitting word;
I look up to my Father, for I cannot write alone.
'Tis sweeter far to seek His strength than lean upon my own
Opened Treasures - Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert - 20353

June 28

SPIRITUAL  REFRESHMENT  FROM  THE  ROCK

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.  1 Corinthians 10:4 

Water was in the rock, but until smitten, it did not give forth water--so it was with Christ.  And now He is revealed to us in heaven as the eternal Son of God, who was smitten for us.  We can turn to Him and say, "There is our spring of living water; He is ours.  We have got eternal life in Him as a well of water springing up."  All the way through the wilderness, the water flowed to slake their thirst, to refresh them; all the way, and it spoke blessedly of Christ. 

The freshness of heart in Christ was always the same.  You and I get so weary in our experience of the wilderness, but Christ's heart is never wearied.  It is as freshly set on the bride as when God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. 

Whatever the mind is most fixed upon, and is ever turning to, gives its impression to the mind. If my feelings and thoughts are fixed on Christ, I get the imprint of Christ. If I am ever turning to Him in all His heavenly measure of love, I shall get the impression of it.

He does not forget us toiling through the wilderness and the sands of the desert.  He is with us all the way, and all freshness is in Him.  I may be a way-worn pilgrim, but there I shall find freshness--a spring of cold water to refresh me just when fainting in the wilderness.  Oh, that love in the heart of Christ that knows no weariness, no dragging steps, no hanging down of the hands.  Oh, the freshness of Christ's love and the brightness of that water forever flowing in incomparable purity and freshness!   G. V. Wigram

On to Canaan's rest still wending, e'en thy wants and woes shall bring
Suited grace from high descending, thou shalt taste of mercy's spring.   J.N.Darby

N.J. Hiebert - 20354

June 29

June 30

Gems from June 11- 20, 2026

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 - 20335

June 10

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 - 20336

June 11

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 - 20337

June 12

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 - 20338

June 13

For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.  Hebrews 10:37 

Did you get up this morning and from the burnt toast onward you knew that it was going to be "one of those days"?

Nothing came out right, that letter you expected did not come, that prayer you prayed was not answered, your arthritis acted up worse than ever and all you were aware of was the cold hard law of cause and effect.

Not a break in the clouds, not a hint of heaven, everything was of the earth--earthy.  Never mind, dear heart, it may have been "one of those days," but ahead lies "one of these days,"  another kind of day.

If you are in Christ, beyond the snow of winter lies the sunshine of spring, beyond the grave lies resurrection.  Yet a little while and He that shall come will come and will not tarry. . . .  All the Days - Vance Havner

Be not dismayed what'er betide, God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide, God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail, God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail, God will take care of you.

All you may need He will provide, God will take care of you;
Nothing you ask will be denied, God will take care of you.

No matter what may be be the test, God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon His breast, God will take care of you .

REFRAIN: God will take care of you, through every day, o'er all the way;
He will take care of you, God will take care of you.  C. D. Martin 

N.J. HIebert - 20339

June 14

God, Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose  and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light  through the gospel.  

2 Timothy 1:9,10.

The realization of the glory of the Lord and the greatness of the gospel will keep us from being ashamed of the testimony and prepare us to suffer affliction with the gospel.

It becomes clear from these verses that the two great themes of the gospel are salvation and calling.  On the one hand the gospel proclaims the way of salvation; on the other hand it presents to us the purpose of God for which we are saved.  We are apt to limit the gospel to the important question of our salvation; but so doing we miss the far deeper blessing connected with God's eternal purpose, and thus fail to enter into the heavenly calling.

It is plain that the first great object of the gospel is our salvation, and God would have the believer to be in no uncertainty as to this salvation, as we read in this Scripture, He "hath saved us."  The blessed effect of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is to set the believer beyond the judgment due to him on account of his sins, and to deliver him from the course of this world.

So we read, He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4).  Though for the time we are actually in the world, we are, as set free from its power and influence, morally not of it.
The Second Epistle to Timothy - An Expository  Outline by Hamilton Smith

N.J. Hiebert - 20340

June 15

The Lord is my strength and my song, and He is become my salvation. 
Exodus 15:2

He is mine!  This is what rejoices every believer in the Lord Jesus.  He is my beloved, and I am His!  He is my strength.  No other could do it.  He is my song.  No other would do it.  And thus He has put a new song in my mouth.

He is my salvation.  No other did or could do it.  I rest my soul in His completed work by faith, and rejoice in the knowledge that now my salvation is nearer than when I believed. 
E. Van Ryn   

Jesus, my Saviour! Thou art mine, the Father's gift of love divine;
All Thou hast done, and all Thou art, are now the portion of my heart. 

Poor, feeble, wretched, as I am, I now can glory in Thy name;
Now cleansed in Thy most precious blood and made the righteousness of God. 

All that Thou hast Thou hast for me, all my fresh springs are hid in Thee; 
In Thee I live; while I confess I nothing am, yet all possess. 

O Saviour, teach me to abide close sheltered at Thy wounded side,
Each hour receiving "grace on grace," until I see Thee face to face.
J.G. Deck

N.J. Hiebert - 20341

June 16

"And David rose up early in the morning. 1 Samuel 17:20

Like Christ, David is here a true servant.  He "[rises] up early in the morning" (v.20) and takes his charge, so as to accomplish his father's will.  Already anointed, he is the Spirit's man for this service, while at the same time maintaining his character of humility in the pastures of the sheep. 

He comes into the camp, where his brothers accuse his confidence in God and his faith, of being pride and naughtiness of heart (v.28).  We too can ever expect the same treatment ourselves in following the simple path of faith.  Our relatives can no more understand our motives  than the Lord's brothers could understand His.  David answers Eliab: "What have I now done?  Was it not laid upon me?" (v.29). What had he done to deserve being insulted?  Did he not have a reason for going down to his brothers, when the God of Israel was daily being insulted by the enemy? 

David asks what will be done for the man who kills the Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel (v26).  He learns that the king will enrich him with great riches, will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free.   

But it is not to obtain this reward that he enters the campaign; it is for God, for Israel's deliverance, to make the Lord known in all the earth, and that all the congregation should know how the Lord saves (vv.46-47).  Doubtless his victory gives him, like Christ, great riches, a bride, and the liberation of his father's house, but this is the result rather than the purpose of his work. 

David announces to Saul what he is going to accomplish (v.32). The king, who can think of  nothing but human methods, wants to provide him with his own armour; but David cannot go with weapons belonging to the flesh, and he has never even tried them.  He wants no other weapons than those a shepherd uses to defend or regather his sheep.  As for us, the Word is that weapon that faith alone can use; it overthrows Satan. Human labour can have no part in such a conflict. 
1 Samuel - H. L. Rossier

N.J. Hiebert - 20342

June 17

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; fore-bearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.  And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. 
Colossians 3:12-14 

Here is one of the great basic truths of Christianity.  The Christian has Christ as his life.  Christ is all, not simply is his all, but Christ is all.   There is no true Christian character at all in our life except only as Christ, who is our life, produces it. 

The stream flows out in our manners and actions, but the spring is Christ Himself who is our life, dwelling within the heart by faith.  Therefore it goes without saying that this life in us should be characterized by that same divine tenderness that was ever seen in Him as He walked down here in this world.  What is this list here--bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forgiveness, love--if not a perfect portrait of Christ? 

And this is presented here as being what the Christian is to put on and display in his walk and ways, for Christ is his life.  It was natural for Christ, for it is His nature.  It is not natural in the Christian: it is something he has to put on by surrendering himself fully to Christ and letting Him take over his life fully into His own hands and reproduce there His own character of divine tenderness.   

O teach us so the power to know
Of risen life with Thee;
Not we may live, while here below,
But Christ our life may be.  J.G. Deck

N.J. Hiebert - 20343

June 18

Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  John 14:1, 27.   These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world   John 16:33. 

That wonderful discourse recorded for us in John 14,16. begins and ends with a reference to trouble.  In between, there come many references to some of the most profound truths that can occupy the human mind.  Yet Christ ordained that His final utterance to His disciples ere He suffered should begin and end on the same note of comfort. 

This is only another instance of the perfection of all His ways; and His ways are a revelation of Himself.  He knew how careworn those disciples were at that moment; He had perceived the sorrow that had captured their hearts, and filled them with dread; and in His perfect love to them, He applies the balm that would heal their wounds. 

As we have suggested, this ministry of consolation reveals Himself.  He reminds them of His own triumph; and of the double necessity for His going away; (1) to prepare a place for them in the Father's House, and (2) that the other Comforter might come. And the lesson we learn is just this: all comfort in affliction--in sorrow and depression and heart sickness--and all victory over it, come to us through the knowledge of Him. 

What tragedies are constantly happening in the world for want of this knowledge!   There are men and women who have nowhere to turn in their desperate need, and when the world and its pleasures fail them, they give way to despair, or plunge deeper into sin, or, it may be, with their own hands, put an end to their existence.

Christ says to His own, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me."  And again, "Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world."  Faith in Him is the great remedy.  He never fails. Angels in White - Russell Elliott

Our comfort midst all grief and thrall,
Our life in death, our all in all." 

N.J. Hiebert - 20344

June 19

All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.  Psalm 45:8 

Our Lord was renowned for His fragrance in the world where men's mouths were open sepulchres and our tongues had used deceit. His mouth was most sweet, and His lips dropped sweet smelling myrrh, where every imagination of the thoughts or our "hearts was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).  Our Lord did the loveliest deeds in the most lovely way.   

Some give without cheerfulness, but not the Lord Jesus; the love of friends is often mixed with dissimulation, but not His love.  His kindness was lovingkindness, and His mercy tender mercy.  When He cleansed the leper He touched him; when He showed grace to the woman in the temple  (John 8) He did not desire to hear the details of the story of her shame.  When the Lord gives wisdom He does not upbraid us for our ignorance (James 1:5); He does not scold because we know so little.  The Lord Jesus always gave commendation before he administered reproof.  His ways were full of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

The soul of our Lord was like the Holy of Holies where the cherubim stretched their wings above the mercy seat, and where the fragrance of the incense was a continual delight.  His life was like a garden, where springtime beauty in the flowers "gives a good smell."  He was renowned for His lovely words and loving deeds.  There never was one like the Lord Jesus  whose days, like Canaan, flowed with milk and honey.

No person might make a confection to smell like that used in the tabernacle  (Exodus 30:38) for that fragrance was typical of Christ and no loveliness was ever lovely like His.  There was only one such tender plant (Isaiah 53:2) and He was cut off out of the land of the living.  Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like the lily of the field; but all the beauty of all the flowers, and all their fragrance, too, would not suffice to tell how altogether lovely He is. 
A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake

N.J. Hiebert - 20345

June 20

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out [Cultivate] your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.  Philippians 2:12,13 

    It is many years since I worked on a farm, so I asked a dear farmer brother to help me out about "cultivating."  This is what he said:  "I have much enjoyed the thoughts you brought out about Philippians 2:12, and I'm sure it is a verse that has been a puzzle to many, and has been perhaps used in a wrong way by those who think Salvation is by works.
    "I believe the word cultivate means just what you said, to loosen the soil so the rain and air can get to the roots so the plant may grow strong and bear fruit.  One of the main purposes in cultivating too is to get rid of the weeds, for if they are allowed to grow, the tender plant is robbed of its vigour and cannot bear much fruit."  
    "Yes, I have followed the old horse drawn cultivator you speak of and sometimes the sun was pretty hot, and often it was dusty.  Of course corn and soybeans were the main crops we cultivated, and we nearly always cultivate them three times during the season."  
    "Father always said the first cultivation was the main one, when the plants were young and tender, to get rid of the weeds while they were young, for when they get well rooted it is almost impossible to get rid of them, unless by the hoe, which on big acreage is almost never done being impracticable; but the hoe is a tool for cultivation, and a good one too, as one can get close to the plants without harming them."  
    In a crop like strawberries it is about the only tool one can use and very important, for weeds and grass will soon take the strawberries if they aren't hoed. "It seems to me very interesting, and makes the passage much easier to understand, when you see that 'work out' means to cultivate.  The more valuable the crop is, the more carefully the farmer will cultivate it.  How carefully and diligently we should cultivate salvation."  Philippians - G. Christopher Willis

N.J. Hiebert - 20346

June 21

Looking unto Jesus.  Hebrews 12:2 

Unto Jesus and not at the world, its customs, its example, its rules, its judgments;--

Unto Jesus and not at Satan, though he seek to terrify us by his fury, or to entice us by his flatteries.

--Oh! from how many useless questions we would save ourselves, from how many disturbing scruples, from how much loss of time, dangerous dallyings with evil, waste of energy, empty dreams, bitter disappointments, sorrowful struggles, and distressing falls, by looking steadily unto Jesus, and by following Him wherever He may lead us. 

Then we shall be too much occupied with not losing sight of the path which He marks out for us, to waste even a glance on those in which He does not think it suitable to lead us. 

Unto Jesus and not at our creeds, no mater how evangelical they may be.  The faith which saves, which sanctifies, and which comforts, is not giving assent to the doctrine of salvation; it is being united to the person of the Saviour. "It is not enough", said Adolphe Monod, "to know about Jesus Christ, it is necessary to have Jesus Christ."   

To this, one may add, that no one truly knows Him, if he does not first possess Him.  According to the profound saying of the beloved disciple, it is in the Life, there is Light, and it is in Jesus there is Life. (John 1:4) 
(Translated from the French of Theodore Monod by Helen Willis) 

N.J. Hiebert - 20347

June 22

Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.  Exodus 12:5 

Israel was to be delivered from the bondage of Egypt by the great power of God. But before taking them out, God required that they must be redeemed by blood.  A sacrifice of a lamb was to take place, and the blood be put on the door posts and lintels of the houses.  Where no blood was applied, at least one person in the house died that night. 

The sacrifice must be a lamb, the figure of lowly submission.  It is a type of the Lord Jesus, the only sacrifice satisfactory to God. 

The lamb must be "without blemish."  Who can possibly fit this requirement among men?  Because of many spiritual and moral blemishes not one of us is suited to be such a sacrifice. The sacrifice must be pure, for no sinner could take away the sins of another.  The Lord Jesus is the only One who can qualify for this. 

The lamb must be a "yearling". It was to be eaten, and of course its tenderness is therefore implied.  Who was tenderhearted enough to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins?  Only the Lord Jesus.  He was not forced to do such a thing, but willingly gave Himself.  Wonderful grace and love! 

The lamb must also be "a male," the stronger of the two genders.  The emphasis therefore is on the fact that the sacrifice must be strong enough for the tremendous work of bearing sin and the sins of multitudes of people.  We may think that one person could only rightly be a substitute for one another.  If the Lord Jesus were merely man, this would be a difficulty. 

But He is the eternal Son of God, not a finite being such as we are, but infinite.  All the finite beings together could never reach an infinite number.  But Christ is strong enough to embrace an infinite number of people, and to redeem them all from their sins, because He Himself is infinite.  Wonderful is this pure, strong, willing sacrifice!  The Lord is Near 

N.J. Hiebert - 20348

June 23

Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.  Luke 18:1

Prayer which takes the fact that past prayers have not been answered as a reason for languor, has already ceased to be the prayer of faith. To the prayer of faith the fact that prayers remain unanswered is only evidence that the moment of the answer is so much nearer. 

From first to last, the lessons and examples of our Lord all tell us that prayer which cannot persevere and urge its plea importunately, and renew, and renew itself again, and gather strength from every past petition, is not the prayer that will prevail.  William Arthur.  

The motto of David Livingstone was in these words, "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose."  By unfaltering persistence and faith in God he conquered.

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, God leads His dear children along;
Where the water's cool flow bathes the weary one's feet,
God leads His dear children along. 

Some through the waters, some through the flood, some through the fire,
But all through the blood; some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
In the night season and all the day long. 

Some times on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
God leads His dear children along; sometimes in the valley,
In darkest of night, God leads His  dear children along. 

Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose,
God leads His dear children along; through grace we can conquer,
Defeat all our foes, God leads His dear children along.  G.A. Young

N.J. Hiebert - 20349

June 24

I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.  Matthew 11:25

Christ could never lack divine wisdom.  But with us it  is very possible that wisdom may be lacking, even when will is subject, and we truly desire to do the will of God.  Therefore the promise follows, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." (James 1:5) Absence of will, obedience, and the spirit of confiding dependence which waits on God, characterise  the new life.

We pass through tribulation in the world; but this life develops itself in these qualities.  But it is necessary this confidence should be in exercise; otherwise we can receive nothing.  It does not honour God to distrust HIm. 

Such a man is double-minded, like a wave of the sea driven by the wind.  He is unstable, because his heart is not in communion with God; he does not live in a way known to Him; such an one is, of course, unstable (James 1:6-8). 

If a believer keeps in the presence of God, near Him, he knows Him, and will understand His will; he will not have a will of his own, and will not wish to have one; not only on the ground of obedience, but because he has more confidence in the thoughts of God concerning him than he has in his own will. 
James - J.N. Darby

Submission to the will of Him Who guides me still,
Is surety of His love revealed; my soul shall rise above,
This world in which we move; I conquer only where I yield.
C. Austin Miles

N.J. Hiebert - 20351

June 25