“Not as though I have already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after,
that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended for Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:12)
In 1856, Charles Spurgeon, the great London preacher, founded the Pastors’ College in 1923.
Today’s college crest shows a hand grasping a cross and the Latin words,
Et Teneo Et Teneor, which means, I hold and am held.
In his autobiography, Spurgeon wrote, “This is our College motto . . . hold forth the Cross of
Christ with a bold hand because that Cross holds us fast by its attractive power.
Our desire is that every man may both hold the Truth, and
be held by it; especially the truth of Christ crucified.
In Paul’s letter to the Philippians he expressed this truth as the bedrock of his life.
"Not that I have . . . already [arrived] . . . but I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (PHILIPPIANS 3:12).
As followers of Jesus, we extend the message of the cross to others as Jesus holds us
fast in His grace and power.
“I am crucified with Christ: yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (GALATIANS 2:20).
Our Lord holds us in His grip of love each day—and we hold His message of love to others.
(DAVID MCCASLAND)
“Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2016), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted pwemission.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
N.J. Hiebert - 6703
May 1
May 2
May 3
May 4
May 5
May 6
May 7
May 8
May 9
May 10
May 11
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night . . . and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”
(2 Peter 3:10)
Talk about global warming! Our world and everything in it is temporary and soon to be dissolved, melted, burned up, finished . . . gone. It vividly remind us of the temporary existence of earthly things.
It makes you wonder why we so passionately expend our lives to attain things that will one day be burned up.
So what does Peter want us to learn? Considering the world’s temporal nature, we should be people of "holy conduct and godliness” (3:11).
(Sid Halsband)
When this passing world is done, when has sunk yon glaring sun,
When I stand with Christ on High, looking o’er life’s history:
Then, Lord, shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe.
(R. M. M.)
N.J. Hiebert - 6704
May 2
“Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together
for the faith of the gospel.”
(Philippians 1:27)
The Apostle (Paul) would have his beloved Philippian brethren standing
together as a regiment of soldiers, not one giving way.
‘In the faith.’ (1 Corinthians16:13).
‘In the liberty! ' (Galatians 5:1).
‘In one spirit.” (Philippians 1:27).
‘In the Lord.’ (Philippians 4:1 & 1 Thessalonians 3:8).
‘In the instructions of Paul (2 Thessalonians 2:15). (N. Trans.)
“To his own Master the servant stands fast or falls." Romans 14:4
Notice how often we get the word ’stand’ in connection with 'the whole armour of God’ in Ephesians 6. It plainly shows how important it is to stand. A beloved brother once said to me,
“All giving up is of the devil.” And I believe he was right.
Let us never give up: for remember we are exhorted to ’stand fast in the Lord.’
“Stand fast in Christ;” ah! yet again He teacheth all the band;
If human efforts are in vain, in Christ it is we stand”.
(G. Christopher Wilis)
N.J. Hiebert - 6705
May 3
Small Stuff
"Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.” (Proverbs 17:24)
"He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.” (Luke 16:10)
As one might look upon his huge and sublime statue by Michael Angelo, and find it difficult to realize so great and god-like a figure being fashioned by such a common-looking uncomely old man; so it is difficult to realize so mighty and stupendous a nature shaped by persons and things thus humble and mean. They were however, but chisels of the divine Sculptor, and little knew what vast eternal work they were doing.
But how little any of us know what we may be doing when we are fulfilling the humblest duty that lies nearest to hand!
Poor Jochebed thought she was only making a rush basket,
when she was in reality making an ark that would save one
nation, and carry an argosy of blessing to all others.
Little Miriam thought she was only ”minding the baby”
when she was watching over the destinies of the world.
(J. C. Bayley - Thanks to John Kaiser)
N.J. Hiebert - 6706
May 4
“I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich.”
(Revelation 3:18)
“Pure gold, like unto clear glass.”
(Revelation 21:18)
When God, the Creator of metals, chooses a metal to signify something He wants us to possess,
His thought includes all which that metal is.
“Of all metals gold is the most malleable and ductile. It can be beaten into plates of leaves so thin that it takes 300,000 of them placed one above another to make one inch, and the gold then is transparent enough to allow rays of light to pass through.”
The word malleable comes from the Latin and means a metal that can be hammered out. Ductile is also from the Latin and means capable of being drawn out into wire; the dictionary gives “tough, tractable, docile” among its meanings.
It is only beaten gold that is like unto clear glass. The hammer has fallen on that gold till there is nothing left but a golden transparency. I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire—pure gold, like unto clear glass.
The fire comes first, then the hammer. Is the price to be paid to buy such gold a willingness for the fire and the hammer?
And ductile, leadable. An Indian goldsmith can draw out a piece of gold in wires as fine as a hair. That quality which Paul calls the meekness and gentleness of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1) is not naturally in us.
We are not “tough” yet “tractable” and “docile.”
I counsel thee to buy of Me.
(Amy Carmichael)
N.J. Hiebert - 6707
May 5
“Ye shall received power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.”
(Acts 1:8)
It is only by the Lord’s own power that the smallest of His precepts can be translated into practice; while it is equally true that His largest requests are as easy of performance as the smallest, inasmuch as adequate power is always at the service of faith.
Unconscious testimony is always the most powerful. At the judgment seat of Christ we shall find a word we have spoken casually, a little sentence dropped, has been more used than all our preaching and lectures.
The humblest believer walking in obedience to the Lord and dependence upon Him is displaying the greatest spiritual power. Power is displayed by the coming out of Christ in daily life.
To be full of the Holy Ghost is the normal state of the believer, and if this is not so with us we should humble ourselves before God.
There is no power except in the Spirit of God, yet how often we depend on human power—eloquence, learning, etc. It is so easy to resort to human expediency when not in a right state of soul.
(Edward Dennett)
N.J. Hiebert - 6708
May 6
“As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.”
(John 20:21)
If any of us look for power or acceptance from anything that is of man, from manner, learning, fervour or eloquence . . . we are at once off the ground of dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit, because we are calling in to our aid that which has its source in man and natural abilities.
A preacher has never to be anxious about results; that is God’s concern.
He has only to be anxious about three things:
(1) the state of his own soul;
(2) being in communion with the mind of God as to those to whom he is speaking; and (3) fidelity in delivering the message.
(Edward Dennett)
N.J. Hiebert - 6709
May 7
“But when His disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying,
To what purpose is this waste?”
(Matthew 26:8)
The Western world is, rightly, concerned about waste and
governments are taking action to reduce it.
It is a major problem.
When the Lord fed 5,000 people, and later 4,000, He took care to ensure nothing was wasted.
The disciples gathered up all the fragments that remained.
But when Mary anointed the Lord’s feet with ointment some cried, “Why this waste?”
They were mistaken: time, effort and gifts to the Lord are never wasted.
He appreciates them.
However, we do need to be careful not
to waste our time or spiritual gifts and talents.
(Roy Hill)
Let every thought, and work, and word, to Thee be ever given;
My life shall be Thy service Lord, and death the gate of heaven.
(M. Bridges)
N.J. Hiebert - 6710
May 8
“Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
(Galatians 6:1)
Paul does not suggest that it is necessary to fall, for it is not.
But he says, “Brothers, if haply a man should even be overtaken by a fall.”
It is as if he said, I do not suppose it will really happen, but even if it should . . .
What grace, what kindness there is in these words.
It reminds us of David’s words in Psalm 103:8,
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.”
Who knew better than David the Lord’s mercy?
David had, indeed, been overtaken by a most terrible
fall, which caused him to commit adultery and murder.
A worse fall could not have overtaken David; yet that is his testimony.
Those of us who have fallen by the way learn to love these words.
Mercy is what we need, and mercy is what we find in the heart of God.
Nothing but mercy will do for me, nothing but mercy, full and free!
Of sinners chief—what but the blood could calm my soul before my God?
(G. C. Willis - Meditations on Galatians)
N.J. Hiebert - 6711
May 9
"So will I also be for thee.”
(Hosea 3:3)
CHRIST FOR US
The typical promise, “Thou shalt abide for me many days,” is indeed a marvel of love.
For it is given to the most undeserving, described under the strongest
possible figure of utter worthlessness and treacherousness—
the woman beloved, yet an adulteress.
The depth of the abyss shows the length of the line that has fathomed it,
yet only the length of the line reveals the real depth of the abyss.
The sin shows the love and love reveals the sin.
The Bible has few words more touching though seldom quoted
than those just preceding this wonderful promise:
“The love of the Lord towards the children of Israel, who
look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.”
(Hosea 3:1).
Put that into the personal application which no doubt underlies it and say, “The love of the Lord towards
me, who have looked away from Him, with wandering, faithless eyes to other helps and hopes and have loved
earthly joys and sought earthly gratifications—the love of the Lord towards even me.”
And then hear him saying in the next verse, “So I bought her to me”,
stooping to do that in his unspeakable condescension
of love, not with the typical silver and barley,
but with the precious blood of Christ.
Then having thus loved us and rescued us and bought us with a price indeed he says,
still under the same figure, “Thou shalt abide for me many days.”
(Kept for the Master’s Use - Frances Ridley Havergal)
N.J. Hiebert - 6712
May 10
“I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my
fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.”
(Psalm 91:2)
“I will put My trust in Him” (Hebrews 2:13),
may be said to have been the language of the life of Jesus.
But His faith was gold, pure gold, nothing but gold.
When tried by the furnace, it comes out the same
mass as it had gone in, for there was no dross.
Saints have commonly to be set to rights by the furnace.
Some impatience or selfishness or murmur has to be
reduced or silenced, as in Psalm 73 and 77.
Job was overcome: trouble touched him, and he fainted,
though often he had strengthened the weak
hands, and upheld by his word them that were falling.
"The stoutest are struck off their legs,” as an old writer says.
Peter sleeps in the garden, and in the judgment hall
tells lies, and swears to them; but there has been
One in whom the furnace, heated seven times
proved to be precious beyond expression.
(The Son of God - J.G. Bellett)
N.J. Hiebert - 6713
May 11
No comments:
Post a Comment