September 8
“Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
(2 Timothy 3:7)
All throughout history the quest for new and different things has been an almost insatiable lust of mankind.
New this, modern this, the latest . . . and the best this, seem to be the mantra of humanity.
2 Timothy 3 is a long series of verses that describe the last days.
That list is ugly but accurate, and the above indictment surely applies.
Granted, there are a lot of advantages to some things new, but when it comes to satisfying the craving of our spirit, only one thing brings the peace so sought after.
Here’s a clue:
“Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”
(Jeremiah 6:16).
The Bible provides us with the truth we long for, the direction we need, the peace that seems to elude us and the joy which is deep and enduring. It introduces us to Jesus, God’s eternal Son, who is the way (path), the truth, and the life.
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28).
Are you standing at the crossroads?
Then “take the road of the cross,” as a friend used to say.
Yes, it may be an ancient path, but it is the only one that counts.
(Lifelines - F.P.)
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September 9
“And the Lord, He it is that doth go before thee; He will be with thee,
He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”
(Deuteronomy 31:8)
Every page in our heart is laid open under His eye.
Does He read you, and occupy Himself with every thought and intent of
your heart? Does He see all in you that is of the flesh judged? or
does He see things germinating for self, and for time?
Ah! if He does read in us what is contrary to His mind, will He turn from us?
No; but He will have us know what sort of a people we are;
He knows all our weakness, and we must know it too.
“And when I (John) saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.
And He laid His right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not; I am
the first and the last."
(Revelation 1:17)
If John is lying at His feet, it is indeed that He may say, “I shall touch you and make
you feel what my strength is; but you must feel your own weakness.”
All who know Christ have a deeper and deeper sense of that as they go on.
But all the way through the wilderness we have Him for us, saying,
“You cannot take a step without me, and I am going before you.”
(G.V. Wigram)
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September 10
“Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, making a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.”
(Psalm 95:2-3)
IN THE SECRET of HIS PRESENCE
“In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide!
Oh, how precious are the lessons which I learn at Jesus' side!
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low;
For when Satan comes to tempt me, to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, ‘neath the shadow of His wing
There is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring;
And my Saviour rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet;
If I tried, I could not utter what He says when thus we meet.
Only this I know: I tell Him all my doubts and griefs and fears;
Oh, how patiently He listens! and my drooping soul He cheers;
Do you think He ne’er reproves me? what a false friend He would be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see.
Would you like to know that sweetness of the secret of the Lord?
Go and hide beneath His shadow; this shall then be your reward;
And when e’er you leave the silence of that happy meeting-place,
You must mind and bear the image of the Master in your face.”
The hymn In the Secret of His Presence was written by a remarkable woman, Ellen Lakshmi Goreh 1853. She was a high-caste native of India, the daughter of of a Christian convert. Her mother died when she was in infancy, and she eventually went to England, where she was educated. When she was twenty-seven she returned to India and engaged in mission work among the women in Alllahabad having set aside the social privileges of her caste. She was found to be a modest, devoted Christian, held in high regard by the missionaries and all who knew her.
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September 11
BED-RIDDEN TRUTH
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
(John 13:17)
Our Lord conditions true happiness not on knowledge alone but on knowledge of His Word plus obedience.
Coleridge says: “Truths, of all others the most awful and interesting, are too often considered as so
true that they lose the power of truth, and lie bed-ridden in the dormitory of the soul,
side by side with the most despised and exploded errors.”
Here lies a fearful peril to us all, that we take for granted the very things God never meant
should become a matter of course, and because we know them so well and have
heard them so often we assume that what is a fact in our
heads is a force in our hearts.
May it not be that this is why we never finish the verse,
“Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only"
by adding the most terrific part of it,
"deceiving your own selves”?
(James 1:22)
We pleasantly assent to a Gospel we ought powerfully to assert.
How it needs to be rescued “from neglect caused by the
very circumstance of its universal admission”!
What great truth lies bed-ridden in the dormitory of you soul?
(Day by Day - Vance Havner)
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September 12
“For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son . . .”
(John 3:16)
If God is such a great and generous Giver, what ought I to be?
The only proper response is that I should be a most willing and grateful receiver—of
either good or ill—since He who so loved me will never send me anything but what
will work for my undeserved good, as well as for His well-deserved glory.
(Nuggets of Truth - J.K.)
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September 13
“These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be if good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”
(In Me . . . peace.)
(John 16:33)
Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one.
He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that someone had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said:
“Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul.” And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul.
It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.
If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.
(Charles Francis Richardson)
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September 14
"He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me;
because He delighted in me.”
(Psalm 18:19)
And what is this “large place”?
What can it be but God Himself, that infinite Being
in whom all other beings and all other streams of life terminate?
God is a large place indeed.
And it was through humiliation, through
abasement, through nothingness that David was brought into it.
(Madame Guyon)
“I bare you on eagle’s wings, and brought you unto Myself.”
(Exodus 19:4.)
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September 15
“I delight to do Thy will, O my God . . .”
(Psalm 40:8)
Machines work best under restraint.
Unbridled power is destructive.
Character is controlled by the same law.
We are most free and most useful when we work
within the will of Another—the will of God.
“We are limited until we lose ourselves in His limitless power.”
“Make me a captive, Lord, and then I shall be free;
Force me to render up my sword, and I shall conquerer be.
I sink in life’s alarms when by myself I stand,
Imprison me within Thy arms and strong shall be my hand.
“My heart is weak and poor, until its master find:
It has no spring of action sure—it varies with the wind:
It cannot freely move till Thou hast wrought its chain;
Enslave it with Thy matchless love, and deathless it shall reign.”
(Mountain Trailways For Youth)
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September 16
“God is love.”
(1 John 4:8)
God loved us—He could not like us.
But He makes us what He likes—in Christ.
“Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my tears into
Thy bottle: Are they not in Thy book?”
(Psalm 56:8)
He tells us not to make much of sorrows and afflictions here.
But He makes much of them:
“All our tears are in His bottle.”
He knows more about our sorrows than we do!
(Hunt’s Sayings)
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September 17
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought
for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
(Matthew 6:34)
“Tomorrow is God’s secret—but today is yours to live.”
All the tomorrows of our lives have to pass Him before they can get to us.
I heard a voice at evening softly say,
“Bear not thy yesterday into tomorrow;
Nor load this week with last week’s load of sorrow.
Lift all thy burdens as they come, nor try
To weigh the present with the by and by.
One step, and then another, take thy way—
live by the day.”
(Julia H. May)
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September 18
“Feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents.”
(Song of Solomon 1:8)
Having learned the true ground and character of christian communion from the word,
we are responsible to guide the young among us into these paths—
the footsteps of the flock of God.
Divine nourishment, suited both to old and young, will be found there.
The lamb soon learns to follow in the footsteps of its mother,
and feed on the same pasture.
The Princely Shepherd of Israel cares for the lambs of His flock.
“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd; He shall gather the
lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom;
and shall gently lead those that are with young.”
(Isaiah 40:11)
The feeblest of the flock were cared for when He led forth
His people Israel out of Egypt, and through the deep.
“Not a hoof was left behind.”
(Exodus 10:26)
And food was found for all, around their tents in the morning,
as they journeyed through the waste, howling wilderness.
(Andrew Miller)
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September 19
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the
same God which worketh all in all.”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)
In these verses we see one God acting in three persons—Spirit, Lord, and God.
Unity and diversity, hand in hand. This is true for believers
as part of the body of Christ. One body.
Many distinct members.
As we learn to reflect this in our assemblies,
we are learning to reflect the very nature of God.
(Jason Bechtel)
Our eyes cannot hear, our ears cannot see,
The hand cannot tell the foot how to function,
Yet if all those members work together in unity,
We like a human body, can learn to function.
(Irene McGough)
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September 20
“Then believed they His words; they sang His praise.
They soon forgat His works; they waited not for His counsel: but
lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.
And He gave them their request; -- but sent leanness into their soul.
(Psalm 106:12-15)
Have you ever known a weakening in the inward places of your soul because
you had let slip the memory of what your God did in the past?
You had believed His words, you had sung His praises,
for in very truth you had seen His words fulfilled.
And then, somehow, the memory faded,
blotted out by a disappointment
perhaps, and you “forgat
His works.”
I have known this happen, and I have proved that after such forgetfulness prayer becomes less adventurous, less brave in faith and expectation. We ask for the smaller rather than the greater things, and then (as in the story from which I am quoting) “leanness" enters into the soul.
May the Lord, by His Spirit, quicken our memories, and help us to do our part by gathering
up the forces of memory. It is worthwhile to do anything that will help us to this.
“We will remember Thy love” (Song of Solomon 1:4).
“And thou shalt remember all the way the Lord
thy God led thee.” (Deuteronomy 8:2)
(Edges of His ways - Amy Carmichael)
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September 21
September 22
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