“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”
(Psalm 23:1)
Psalm 23 is said to be one of the best known chapters of the Bible.
Our earnest desire is that we may not only know the chapter well, but that
we may also know the Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ in a living and personal way.
Once the question was asked in a large audience who would come forward and recite the 23rd Psalm.
A young man, well trained in public speaking, came forward.
In a flawless manner, and with great emphasis, he recited the psalm.
He was greatly applauded for the excellent job he had done.
After he was finished the question was repeated and an older man came forward.
All eyes were fixed on him and intently they listened while he also recited the 23rd Psalm, but with a difference.
The listeners were wiping tears from their eyes.
The moderator, who had called the two men forward,
declared that the young man knew the psalm, the older man the Shepherd.
Only when we know the Shepherd, as the older gentleman did,
will we be able to appreciate the abundance
which the Shepherd provides.
There is no need that He cannot supply.
He often leads us into unforeseen circumstances that serve Him well.
To us they prove our dependence upon Him, but for Him they serve as
a fresh occasion to show what depth of need His love can satisfy.
Only the Lord can feed the sheep and cause them to lie down in green pastures. What satisfaction
it gives when in company with Himself we have been led to the pastures of His Word.
There is also refreshing for the soul while passing through a dreary land. One
who lives in the enjoyment of this is like a tree planted by the river,
whose leaves do not wither and whose fruit will not fail.
(The Lord is Near - Jake Redekop)
N.J. Hiebert - 6281
June 12
G I V I N G
“. . . freely ye have received, freely give."
(Matthew 10:8)
“I went outside to find a friend, I could not find one anywhere;
I went outside to be a friend and found friends everywhere!”
(Verse 1 - Author unknown)
O why the difference, I now ask, my friend, it’s in the giving;
For many hearts there are in need who weary are of living.
We have a living, loving God, whose giving sent us Jesus;
Though all unworthy, yet God gave, from sin and shame to free us!
Christ gave His life that we might live, God’s gift above all others!
Be blest — receive God’s gracious gift, then share it with another.
Blessings belong to those who give, they simply can’t be silent;
God’s great forgiveness must go forth to young and old and tyrant.
The time is short—do not delay, many dear souls are hurting;
Our saving God will meet their need, find blessing now in giving!
(Charles H. Krause - Sept. 2014)
N.J. Hiebert - 6282
June 13
“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
(Proverbs 15:1)
Isn’t there something in us that immediately gets stirred up when we’re spoken to harshly?
Don’t we want to “fight fire with fire?”
There is a difference between reacting and responding - and reacting is likely our first impulse.
But, as Christ followers, we have the Holy Spirit of God.
He can help us display His fruit.
Part of that fruit is gentleness and self-control.
If you grew up in an argumentative atmosphere, that can be hard to overcome,
but with the Lord’s help we can.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).
“There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword:
but the tongue of the wise is health” (Proverbs 12:18).
“He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life:
but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction” (Proverbs 13:3).
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying,
that it may minister grace unto the hearers” (Ephesians 4:29).
(Lifelines - with thanks to F.P.)
N.J. Hiebert - 6283
June 14
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand
in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
(Ephesians 6:13)
The armour is needed in view of the “evil day”.
In a general sense the whole period of the absence of Christ is for the believer an “evil day”.
There are, however, occasions when the enemy makes special attacks upon the people of God,
seeking to rob them of special truths.
Such attacks constitute for the people of God an "evil day".
To meet such we need to have on the whole armour of God.
It is too late to be putting on the armour in the midst of the struggle.
We need the armour “to withstand” and “to stand”.
Having withstood in resisting the enemy’s offensive in any particular
attack, we shall still need the armour to stand on the defensive.
When we have “done all” we still need our armour in order “to stand”.
It is often when we have gained some signal victory that we are in the greatest danger,
for it is easier to gain a point of vantage than to hold it.
The armour having been “put on” cannot with safety be put off as long as spiritual
wickedness is in heavenly places and we are in the scene of Satan’s wiles.
(Hamilton Smith)
N.J. Hiebert - 6284
June 15
"God for us”.
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
(Romans 8:31)
How much is wrapped up in these few words, “God for us!”
They form one of those marvellous chains of three links so frequently found in Scripture.
We have “God” linked to “us” by that precious little word “for”.
This secures everything, for time and eternity.
There is not a single thing within the entire range of a creature’s necessity that is not
included in the brief but comprehensive sentence.
If God be for us, then it follows, of necessity—blessed necessity—that neither our sins,
nor our iniquities, nor our guilt, nor our ruined nature, nor Satan, nor the world,
nor any other creature can possibly stand in the way of our present
peace and our everlasting felicity and glory.
God can dispose of all—has disposed of them, in such a way as to illustrate His own glory,
and magnify His holy Name, throughout the wide universe, for ever and ever.
(The All-Sufficiency of Christ - C.H. Mackintosh)
N.J. Hiebert - 6285
June 16
“And the Lord God called unto Adam and said . . . Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded that thou shouldest not eat?”
(Genesis 3:9,11)
Ever since the first atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945,
mankind has been plagued by the destructive force of this deadly weapon of warfare.
The concern is so great that world-wide limitations on the production and testing of nuclear weapons
have been in place for years, and international watchdogs exist whose sole purpose is to blow
the whistle on any country that builds anything even remotely resembling the original atom bomb.
But thousands of years before the atom bomb destroyed these two cities in Japan,
Adam’s bomb unleashed a far more damaging force in the world—the power of sin.
Before the Fall, man could enjoy the paradise of God’s wonderful provision.
But after Adam’s sin bomb was dropped, “sorrow” and “sweat” became necessities for sustaining life.
Before the Fall, man walked with God in the garden.
But now, because of sin, death is his portion and eternal separation from God is all he has to look forward to.
The power of the first Adam’s bomb has affected every man since the Fall.
“All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
And man’s inability to control its destructive force results in this payment:
“The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
But God loves His creature, man, so much that He has provided a “Last Adam” who,
seeing the horrible effect of sin upon mankind, came as a “life giving spirit” and as
“the Lord from heaven” to bring victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:45-57).
If you trust Him for your salvation, you don’t have to worry about the destructive force of
either the atomic bomb or the Adamic bomb, because your eternal future is secure in Jesus Christ.
(The Lord is Near - L.J. Ondrejack)
N.J. Hiebert - 6286
June 17
"Now 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)
My finger was caught on a thorn while pruning roses.
It hurt to move my hand in the direction of the thorn but it was the only way I could get free.
Life trials, whether physical or emotional, can seem unbearable at times.
There seems to be no way out, but this is where faith is forged.
Endure.
Go where God is leading, even when there is pain and hurt.
Trust Him. He will make a way.
(Jerry Proctor)
In this world of so much suffering, may we hear Your word anew:
“I will never leave you orphaned; I will not abandon you.”
(C.W. Gillette)
N.J. Hiebert - 6287
June 18
Suppositions
“Supposing Him to be in the company . . .”
(Luke 2:44)
“Supposing Him to be the gardener . . .”
(John 20:15)
They did not miss Him. Ah, they knew it not
That He was absent, or they had forgot.
They careless thought that near them He had been,
Yet all a “three days” distance lay between!
How Mary missed Him! Ah, she knew too well
The Lord was absent, and those weepings tell.
How deep her longing to behold the Face
Which not an angel’s brightness could replace.
They missed Him not, so He remained behind,
She missed and sought Him, and who seeks shall find.
’Tis when we’ve learned His absence, He’s revealed,
If we “suppose” Him here, He’s still concealed.
(Bells & Pomegranates - James M. S. Tait)
N.J. Hiebert - 6288
June 19
“How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power:
who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed
of the devil; for God was with Him.”
(Acts 10:38)
Only good came from the actions and words of the Lord Jesus.
His goodness demonstrated His perfect qualification
to be the sinless sacrifice for the believer.
But what of ourselves?
Has our pilgrim pathway, since we were separated by God’s grace,
always been characterized by the goodness of God reflected in us?
Cleansed, we are called to serve a Lord who is good in the fullest sense.
May God help us to do so.
(Mark Fenn)
How good is the God we adore, our faithful, unchangeable friend,
Whose love is as great as His power, and knows neither measure not end!
(Joseph Hart)
N.J. Hiebert - 6289
June 20
The Faith Rising
“Forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
(Philippians 3:13)
In the final scene (Genesis 50:15-26) between Joseph and his brethren,
the faith of Joseph rises above all the glories of this passing
world and looks on to a better and brighter world that is yet to come.
He thinks and speaks no more of the things that he had suffered,
the power he had wielded, or the good he may have done.
He forgets the things that are behind and reaches
out to the the things that are before.
(Joseph - Hamilton Smith)
N.J. Hiebert - 6290
June 21
“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
(Romans 8:18)
If God should never again send any trials intended to point us and others to Him,
would all our sufferings cease?
NO.
Left to ourselves, with our sinful natures unchecked,
greater harm would result.
But as it is, He gives us only that which works for good
and which will bring us closer to Him.
And there is something else:
If we know Him as our Lord and Saviour,
we will, at His time, go to heaven, where we will never suffer again.
(Corrie Ten Boom)
N.J. Hiebert - 6291
June 22
“And in the morning, rising up a great while before day,
He went out, and departed into a solitary place,
and there prayed.”
(Mark 1:35)
I Met God in the Morning
I met God in the morning, when my day was at its best
And His presence came like sunrise, like a glory in my breast.
All day long His Presence lingered; all day long He stayed with me;
And we sailed in perfecta calmness o’er a very troubled sea.
Other ships were blown and battered, other ships were sore distressed,
But the winds that seemed to drive them brought to us a peace and rest.
Then I thought of other mornings, with a keen remorse of mind.
When I too had loosed the moorings with His Presence left behind.
So I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way;
You must seek Him in the morning if you want Him through the day.
(Ralph Spaulding Cushman)
N.J. Hiebert - 6292
June 23
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