Gems from November 10- 21, 2017

“I have surely seen the affliction of My people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their task-masters; for I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them.”

(Exodus 3:7-8)

Which particular form of trial is yours at the present moment?

Is it one which everybody can see? 

Is it some serious illness?

Has death come to your household, and are the blinds drawn?
Or is it some commercial disaster?

Well remember this, God sees it: “He that formed the eye, shall He not see?”

“I have surely seen the affliction of My people.”

And is He not the same as ever?

Will He not do for you what He did for His people long ago?

"I am come down to deliver them.”

As surely as Christ of old touched the hand of Peter’s wife’s mother and the fever left her;

as certainly as He brought comfort to the bereaved home at Bethany; 

as effectually as He fed the hungry multitude by multiplying the 

loaves and fishes, so surely can He comfort you, and,

if deliverance is necessary, in due time 

deliver you, if you trust Him.  

(Angels in White - Russel Elliot)

N.J. Hiebert - 6896 

November 10

“O send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me;

let them bring me unto Thy holy hill.”

(Psalm 43:3)

I am a creature of a day. I want to know one thing—

the way to heaven; how to land safely on that happy shore.

God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this very end He came down from Heaven.

He hath written it down in a book.  O give me this Book!  at any price, 

give me the Book of God! I have it; here is 

knowledge enough for me.

Let me be a man of one Book.  Here, then, I am, far from the busy ways 

of men. I sit down alone; only God is here. In His presence I open, 

I read His book; for this end— to find the way to Heaven.    

There is a chart whose tracings show the onward course when tempest blow—

’Tis God’s own Word!  There, there is found directions for the homeward bound.  (H.J.B)

N.J. Hiebert - 6897 

November 11

“Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:

for I am God, and there is none else.”

(Isaiah 45:22)

The whole question of sin is settled by the death of Christ.

He went into death, and annulled it.  He destroyed him who had the power of death.

He took sin upon Him, and put it away; and now at the right hand of God, 

He says, “Look unto me, come unto Me.”  If you come, 

He will give you eternal life on the spot,

and make you a living stone.

Peter then, that day, had life communicated to him from the Son of God.

he "passed from death unto life” as he stood before the Son

of God that day; his soul was forever linked 

with the Lord from that day.

(John 1:42)

I do not say that he followed the Lord then,

but here you get the moment of Peter’s conversion,

he is quickened with the very life of Jesus, and becomes a "living stone.”

This then is the account of his conversion.

(Simon Peter - W. T. P. Wolston)

N.J. Hiebert - 6898 

November 12

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth,

to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.”

(2 Chronicles 16:9)

God is not waiting to show us strong in His behalf but Himself strong in our behalf.

That makes a lot of difference.

He is not out to demonstrate what we can do but what He can do.

But God is on the lookout for candidates with hearts perfect toward Him.

He is not a a talent scout looking for somebody strong enough or good enough.

He is looking for someone with a heart set on pleasing 

Him and an eye single to His glory.

He will do the rest.

What a wonder that God will use our lives to demonstrate Himself!

But we like to demonstrate ourselves and do great exploits in God’s behalf.

That reverses the process and God does not get the glory.

We have seen enough of what men can do for God;

we need to see more of what God can do through men.

He has shown Himself strong in our behalf many a time.

And what He has done for others, 

He will do for you.

(Vance Havner)

N.J. Hiebert - 6899

November 13

“A bruised reed will He not break . . . “

(Matthew 12:20)

After he found himself no longer able to render active Christian service, Austin Phelps wrote, 

“One thought has assumed a new reality in my mind of late, 

as an offshoot of my useless life.

When a man can do nothing else, he can add his little rill to the great river of 

intercessory prayer which is always rolling up to the throne of God.

The river is made up of such rills as the ocean is of drops.

A praying man can never be a useless man.”

Make use of me, my God! Let me not be forgot;

A broken vessel cast aside, one whom Thou needest not.

All things do serve Thee here, all creatures, great and small;

Make use of me, of me, my God—the meanest of them all.

(Dr. Horatius Bonar)

When a man enlists with God, he lets Him choose his rank and uniform.

N.J. Hiebert - 6900

November 14

“And God saw . . . and, behold, it was very good.”

(Genesis 3:1)

"And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.”

(Genesis 3:8)

Sin distorts God’s best.

What started out very good became very bad because of sin.

Man chose to disobey God and the results were catastrophic.

It led to hiding from God, self justification and

living daily with the thorns, sweat and 

sorrow of sin’s consequences.

Oh, dear believer, when you came to Jesus Christ 

your fellowship with Him was very good.

Don’t let sin distort God’s best for you. 

It will only lead to emptiness, sorrow and loss.

“Let us lay aside . . . the sin which doth so easily beset us.” 

(Hebrews 12:1)

(C. Tempest)

  N.J. Hiebert - 6901

November 15

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, 

and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”

(Ezra 7:10)

In devoting himself at an early stage of life to the study and practice of God’s law,

Ezra was laying a good foundation for heavy 

responsibilities which lay ahead.

In every generation, moral and spiritual preparation is vital, 

if we wish to accomplish anything for God.

Give him your best now. 

Today is one piece in His “jigsaw” of your life!

Use it for Him!

(G. Hall)

Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, 

By the power of grace divine;

Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, 

And my will be lost in Thine.

(Fanny Crosby)

N.J. Hiebert - 6902

November 16

“My beloved is gone down into His garden, to the beds of spices,

to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies.”

(Song of Solomon 6:2)

As the seasons pass on, it will seem as if there 

was always more and more to be done; the very fact that He is constantly

showing us something more to be done in it, proving that it is really His ground. 

Only let Him have the ground, no matter how poor or overgrown the soil may be, and then

“He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.”

Yes, even our desert! And then we shall sing:

“My Beloved is gone down into His garden, to the

beds of spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies".

(Kept for the Master’s Use - Frances Ridley Havergal)

N.J. Hiebert - 6903

November 17

“Jesus said unto Him, Forbid him not:

for he that is not against us is for us.”

(Luke 9:50)

"He that is not with Me is against Me; 

and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.”

(Matthew 12:30) 

“If He . . . gather together, then who can hinder Him?”

(Job 11:10)

And God is undisturbed by all this chaos;

His purposes He’s working just the same;

And in this day of ruin and declension,

He’s gathering a people for His name.

As He looks down on all the vast profession, 

He knows each heart, that truly loves His name,

And in His sight, they precious are, and spotless,

Because their trust is placed in God’s own Son.

N.J. Hiebert - 6904

November 18

“And when they saw [Joseph] afar off, even before he came near unto them,

they conspired against him to slay him." 

(Genesis 37:18)

“And [the prodigal] arose, and came to his father.

But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him  

and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

(Luke 15:20) 

Joseph’s touching story foreshadows too what manner of reception 

the world has give to the sent One of the Father.

Having no heart for their father, these men of evil ways have no eyes to discern the sent one of his love.  For them Joseph is only a dreamer whose dreams they would 

fain frustrate by conspiring to slay him.

Even so of Christ, His people said, “This is the heir, come let us kill Him.”

And how eager man is to express his hatred.

“When they saw him afar off . . . they conspired against him to slay him."

But God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways.

If it is a question of the Son of the Father’s love drawing near 

to men, then indeed He will be rejected while yet afar off.

But if it is a question of a sinner being drawn to the Father, then 

we read while “yet a great way off his father saw him, 

and had compassion, and ran, and fell

on his neck and kissed him.”

(Hamilton Smith)

N.J. Hiebert - 6905  

November 19

“The heart knoweth its own bitterness;

And a stranger doth not intermeddle with its joy.” (Proverbs 14:10)

         Every heart has its secret of joy or sorrow that no other ever shares.

Hidden deep down from the sight of the nearest and the dearest are, often,

griefs too deep for utterance, or joys too great for words.

How truly was this the case with our blessed Lord Himself!

Who ever sounded the depths of the anguish of His 

soul, or who can estimate aright His joys? 

To such a High Priest we can go with our own heaviest sorrows, 

and with Him we can share our inmost thoughts of exultation and delight.

(H. A. Ironside)

N.J. Hiebert - 6906

November 20 

“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father . . .  Then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”

(1 Corinthians 15:24, 28)

Yes,  God, by the Son, made the worlds or the ages. And when the worlds or the ages have run their course, and discharged their trust; when dispensations have manifested the counsels and the works and the glories appointed them; the Son, as the One in whom they were laid, and by whom they were ordered, may well be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.

It is the subjection of office, the subjection of Him who had all things put 

under Him to Him who did put all things under Him. 

That is the character of this subjection.

As to the Person, unlike the office, it is eternal.

The Son is of the glory of the Godhead, as

is the Father, and as is the Holy Ghost.

"Thou art the  everlasting Word, the Father’s only Son;

God manifest, God seen and heard, the Heaven’s beloved One.

In Thee, most perfectly expressed, the Father’s self doth shine;

Fulness of Godhead, too; the Blest, Eternally divine.”  

(J. G. Bellett)

N.J. Hiebert - 6907  

November 21

The Glittering Toys of Life!

"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but 

having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, 

and embraced them, and confessed that they  

were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” 

(Hebrews 11:13)

We are pilgrims—we are strangers in a barren land. 

This world is not our portion—it is incapable of satisfying our 

desires. The glittering toys of life are not calculated to afford real enjoyment.

There is nothing in Heaven or earth that can delight our hearts and 

ease us of the heavy load of sin, but God.

Let us not be satisfied with the groveling pursuits of time—but let us look to the 

unchangeable God for a supply of His soul-refreshing grace. 

How much has God done for us individually!  He has made us partakers 

of His grace and redeemed us from eternal destruction. What

shall we render to Him for this abundant mercy? 

O let our future lives evince gratitude—

and let our praises unceasingly 

flow to His throne.

"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain

from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul!” 

(1 Peter 2:11)

(Harriet Newell - Missionary to India) (1793-1812 - B.L.)

N. J. Hiebert - 6908

November 22

“For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness,

and show unto you that eternal life, which which was with 

the Father, and was manifested unto us.”

(1 John 1:2)

Knowledge itself—mere knowledge—puffs up; but, being brought low, 

the Spirit of God can act upon the soul and give 

knowledge in communion with God.

Although the  epistle of John is very abstract, yet it is abstract about

things that the very feeblest saint knows in Christ.

God is brought down to our nature, for God can come down 

to us in our weakness in Christ.

The difference between the writings of Paul and John is this, that Paul unfolds to us

the counsels of God in grace; whereas John may be called more abstract, 

because he speaks of the nature of God Himself.  

The purpose and object of God is to bring us into

full fellowship with Himself.

(J. N. Darby)

N.J. Hiebert - 6909