Gems from Sept. 20- 30, 2017

September 20

“Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving,

let your requests be made know unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all 

understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:6-7)

Supplication is prayer intensified; it is importunity; its root idea is the sense of want; 

it is illustrated in the Prodigal Son.

The word is often used by the Apostle Paul; but it must carry no legal, or

cringing, or selfish element; it must be sustained by thanksgiving; 

for remember that the Christian has received infinitely more 

than he can ever request.  

His blessings far exceed his greatest wants.

God loves a thankful suppliant, and in this happy spirit the requests are made know to One who

assuredly knows all about them, but who waits for the cries of the wearied child,

so that He may pour in the flood of His own incomprehensible peace.

As God’s peace enters care departs; the soul is tranquilized.  No direct answer may have been gathered— 

the thorn may remain in the flesh—but the heart and mind are garrisoned by the deep, 

eternal calm that marks the throne on high.

See the reflection of that calm as it shone in the face of Stephen; see it in the words of Paul:

“I am ready to be offered”; recall it in the bold language of the three men who had  

to face the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, when they said:

“We are not careful to answer thee in this matter . . . We will not serve thy gods, 

nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

And witness the Son of God as their companion in that fiery ordeal.

(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)

N.J. Hiebert - 6846

September 21

"Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; And an idle soul shall suffer hunger.”

(Proverbs 19:15)

Many of us fail to realize that idleness is sin.

Time wasted is time to be accounted for at the judgment-seat of Christ.

Needed rest is, of course, very right and proper.

Jesus Himself had to say to His disciples,

“Come ye yourselves apart . . . and rest awhile” (Mark  6:31).

But idleness is quite different.

Slothfulness is trifling away opportunities that will never return.

It is failing to appreciate the value of time.

In a natural sense, the sluggard is made to feel the pinch of want; 

and spiritually, the same is also true.

He who, for lack of godly energy, does not bestir himself to procure suited sustenance  

for his soul, will come to want, and know the pangs of famine. 

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).     

(Proverbs - H. A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert - 6847

September 22

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts.”

(Hebrews 4:7)

Once a man wrote in a book the experiences he had had 

with the Lord, and the blessings received.  When

he was downhearted, he read it.

But the rats, fond of eating paper, found it.

One day he sent his servant for the book, and his servant 

returned and said: “O Master, the rats have eaten up all your experiences!” 

It would be a good thing if some kind rat would eat up all our 

experiences if we are in the least living on them.

The word is always TODAY if ye will hear

His voice, harden not your hearts.   

What about today?  Is all well today?

Is there anything today about which my Lord wants to speak to me?

Let us not harden our hearts, but listen and obey.

(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael)

N.J. Hiebert - 6848

September 23

“And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you:

I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you."

(Isaiah 46:4)

This priceless passage was originally given to the children of Israel.

But by the grace of God we who are also redeemed by the precious blood of the

 Lamb can appropriate the comforting message to ourselves.

Dear child of God are you nearing the end of the journey;

too tired to walk any further?

Take courage!  

Your heavenly Father will 

carry you the rest of the way home.

(E. MacLelland)

“ ’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.”

(Joseph Hart)

N.J. Hiebert - 6849

September 24

"Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see;

for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have."

(Luke 24:39)

Is there not a lesson here?

We are afraid often to look at our troubles, 

and they hover like spectres around and over us.

If we would only grasp them and look at them intently, not only might they appear less 

ominous, but we should see another form behind them, and we 

should hear a voice speaking out of the cloud,

“Handle Me and see.” 

As those disciples did so, their trouble ceased, and their joy knew no bounds—

it was CHRIST!  They had recovered all.

Why has God allowed your grief, your loneliness, your loss?  That you may find Christ.

That out of the gloomy shadow He may arise as a bright reality.

If you are afraid of your grief, you will be its slave, and live in fear of it all your days.

Grasp it, look at it, hold it in your hand, and you will find God in it, and

it will yield you a blessing of which you had never dreamed.

(Russell Elliott)

N.J. Hiebert - 6850 

September 25

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice,

and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.”

(Revelation 3:20) 

Behold the Saviour at the door!

He gently knocks, has knocked before;

Has waited long, is waiting still;

You use no other friend so ill.

Admit Him, for the human breast

N’er entertained so kind a guest;

No mortal tongue their joys can tell,

With whom He condescends to dwell.

(Joseph Grigg)

N.J. Hiebert - 6851

September 26

“For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass.

The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away: 

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.  And 

this is the word which by the gospel 

is preached unto you.”

(1 Peter 1:24-25) 

This quotation from Isaiah 40 is very remarkable. 

Do you think you have a better nature than your neighbour, or your neighbour than you?

God says all flesh is grass, and He says this when  comforting His people.

It is not the way you and I would comfort each other, to tell each other that we are utterly worthless.

That is the way, however, that That God takes to comfort a repentant people.

It is an immense comfort to discover that God knows I am worthless, 

and that He expects no good out of me. 

Nature is like grass, God says, but His Word is abiding and enduring for ever,

and God has put in your soul a principle of blessing that is immutable, 

and unchanging and eternal, for if it is from Himself, 

and like Himself. 

I have told you what you are, Peter says; now I will tell you what God is.

You are grass, whereas God is everlasting, and His Word endures for ever, 

and He has put His Word in your heart, and now you have a nature like Himself. 

(W. T. P. Wolston) 

N.J. Hiebert - 6852 

September 27

"IF ANY MAN SIN”

If any man sin . . .  1 John 2:1. 

If we confess our sins . . . 1 John 1:9.

If we walk in the light . . . 1 John 1:7.

We should not sin, but if we do sin we have an Advocate with the Father.

We have a prosecutor, and an accuser, the devil (Revelation 12:10); 

but we also have a lawyer to plead our case, Jesus Christ

 the righteous (1 John 2:1).

If we confess our sins the Father will forgive and cleanse. (1 John 1:9).

There must be genuine repentance and confession,

but we need not wallow in remorse.

God is our Father, if we believe and we are His children.

And "like as a father pitieth his children, so the

Lord pitieth them that fear Him.”   

(Psalm 103:13) 

"If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another; and 

the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Provision has been made for victory over sin.  

God’s plan is to keep us from sin, not to keep us in sin.

There is no ground for complacent living in iniquity just 

because we are “under the blood.”

It is not that we are not able to sin but that we are able not to sin.

But He also has made provision if we do sin, forgiveness and cleansing if we confess.

(Day by Day - Vance Havner)

N.J. Hiebert - 6853

September 28

“My God shall supply all your need according to His riches

in glory by Christ Jesus.”

(Philippians 4:19)

Every man has a soul, a need, and a future;

and every believer in Christ has the Saviour, the Supplier, and the Security.

Think what opportunities we who know Christ have to minister 

to needy souls every day.

Opportunity is not measured  by obstacles, but by resources.

And our resources are infinite.

(Food for Thought - John Kaiser)

N.J. Hiebert - 6584

September 29

“. . . Their strength is to sit still.”

(Isaiah 30:7)

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side; bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

Leave to thy God to order and provide; in ev’ry change He faithful will remain.

Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly, Friend thro’ thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; all now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know His voice, who ruled them while He dwelt below.

(Katharina von Schlegel)

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in 

fortune or misfortune at their own private pace,

like a clock during a thunderstorm.

(Traveling Toward Sunrise)

N.J. Hiebert - 6855

September 30

“And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar . . . bought him. . . . Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: . . .”

(Genesis 39:1,4) 

Cut off from his (Joseph's) own people in a strange land he becomes a slave in the house of the Egyptian; falsely accused by a wicked woman, and under the stigma of a great sin, he is cast into prison.

There treated with base ingratitude, he is left to languish, a forgotten man.  Suffering dishonour upon dishonour, his path is ever downward. The clouds gather round him and his way grows darker, until apparently his sun has set in hopeless gloom.

But behind all that is apparent to nature, faith can discern the purpose of God to exalt Joseph to a position of supremacy and glory.  If God is set upon the fulfilment of His purpose, Satan will put forth every effort to thwart God’s purpose.

Satan uses the wickedness of the brethren to banish Joseph from house and home; he uses Potiphar’s wicked wife to bring Joseph into prison; and he uses Pharaoh’s ungrateful butler to keep him there.

Every step in the downward path is an apparent triumph for Satan, and would seem to make the fulfillment of God’s purpose more remote.

To the natural view Satan’s plans appear to prosper, and God’s purposes suffer apparent defeat.  Faith, however, can discern the hand of God behind the wiles of Satan.  If Satan is using man to hinder God’s purposes, God is using Satan to carry them out.  Every kind of agent is at God’s disposal.

Angels and archangels, saints and sinners, the devil and his demons, all serve to carry out God’s plans.  The very elements—fire and hail, snow and vapours, and stormy wind—are "fulfilling His word”  (Psalm 148:8).

Nor is it otherwise with the circumstances of life, as we see in the story of Joseph.  

(Hamilton Smith)

N.J. Hiebert - 6856