"Doth not He see my ways, and count all my steps?”
(Job 31:4)
The haft of Satan’s hatchet, with which he lies chopping at the root of the Christian’s comfort,
is commonly made of the Christian’s wood.
First, he temps to sin, and then for it.
Satan is but a creature, and cannot work without tools.
He can indeed make much of little, but not anything of nothing, as we see in his assaulting of Christ,
where he troubled himself to little purpose, because he came and
found nothing in Him (John 14:30).
Though the devil throws the stone, it is the mud in us that disturbs our comfort.
(William Gurnall….1617-1679)
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January 31
February 1
“. . . all my springs are in Thee.”
(Psalm 87:7)
In order to grow in our faith,
we need to be placed into circumstances where
we are forced to reach out to the Source of our strength.
That is the way our spiritual vision is
exercised, and how we discover new dimensions in our God.
(This Day is the Lord’s - Corrie Ten Boom)
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“Greater love hath no man that this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
(John 15:13)
WHEN WE WISH to know the love of God we should go to Calvary.
Can we look upon that scene and say God did not love us?
That cross speaks of the love of God.
Greater love never has been taught than that which the cross teaches.
What prompted God to give up Christ—what prompted
Christ to die—if it were not love?
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
Christ laid down His life for His enemies;
Christ laid down His life for His murderers;
Christ laid down His life for them that hated Him;
and the spirit of the cross, the spirit of Calvary, is love.
When they were mocking Him and deriding Him, what did He say?
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
That is love.
He did not call down fire from heaven to consume them;
there was nothing but love in His heart.
(D. L. Moody)
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February 2
“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith . . .”
(Hebrews 12:2)
We are apprehended of the Lord Jesus distinctly, not for what we are,
but for what we shall be.
It is impossible when we come to know Christ, to stand still;
we pass on from childhood to manhood
and to fatherhood.
Every separate saint is being prepared for a prepared place in the Father’s house.
Seeing this it becomes impossible to settle down here the question of self
and all connected with it as dung and dross—the question of work
—the setting Christ before you, pressing on towards the mark
of the high calling of God in Him; these questions can
only be settled in view of our heavenly
position, our life up there.
Are you saying: “Christ loves me, and I must press on till I see Him;
nothing can satisfy me till I can get to Him”?
Christ has seen exactly where I shall be in the glory;
the jewel will not be lost which is to be put into His crown.
(G. V. Wigram)
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February 3
“The meek will He guide in judgment: and the meek will He teach His way.”
(Psalm 25:9)
“What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall He teach in the way that He shall chose.”
(Psalm 25:12)
“The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.”
(Psalm 25:14)
The willing heart will seek a way,
the obedient heart will find God’s way,
and every other heart will find an excuse.
~~~~~
Forgiveness is power.
The world sees forgiveness as weakness;
but forgiveness is obedience, and obedience is power.
Forgiveness is power.
There is no greater power than moral power because moral power is essentially spiritual power.
There is neither positive moral power nor positive spiritual power apart from God.
With God all things are possible.
What wonderful potential there is therefore in
obedience, submission, and prayer!
(Nuggets of Truth - John Kaiser)
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February 4
“It is manna: for they wist not what it was.”
(Exodus 16:15)
It was small, very small, and reminds us of Christ Who humbled
Himself to the death of the cross . . .
He stands among men at the foot of the list of those who were lowly,
and suffered all loss . . .
It was white, very white, and Christ too was pure,
no evil within Him, no blemish without . . .
His whole life was holy from birth unto death, in sight and
in sentence He was ever devout . . .
It was sweet, very sweet with no bitterness found, and Christ’s
life was sweet and His manner serene . . .
His ways were perfection in God’s holy sight, no envy,
no sourness could ever be seen . . .
It was round, very round, not an angle nor twist. He went
on so smoothly; no corners were there . . .
His life was unruffled, and calm was His heart; His days
were all fragrant with unbroken prayer.
O may we be like Him in each of His ways,
and walk in His footsteps the rest of our day.
(From the archives of Tom Dear)
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February 5
“O how love I Thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.”
(Psalm 119:97)
Wrote James Gilmour of Mongolia:
“When I feel I cannot make headway in my devotion,
I open at the Psalms and push in my canoe, and let myself be carried
along in the stream of devotion which flows thorough the the whole book.
The current always sets toward God, and in most places is strong and deep.
I opened the old, old Bible and looked at a page of Psalms;
Till the wintry sea of my trouble, was soothed as by summer calms,
For the words that have helped so many, and that ages have made more dear,
Seemed new in their power to comfort, and they brought me their word of cheer.
(Marianne Farmingham)
Affliction opens the Bible at the right places.
(Traveling Toward Sunrise)
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February 6
WIND AND WAVES
“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!”
Matthew 8:27
MAN HAS NEVER had dominion over the wind and the sea.
He uses them, but he cannot control them.
The weather is unpredictable, often without rhyme or reason.
Hurricanes and tidal waves with their attendant
destruction and death were not part of
God’s original design.
Weather is the despair of the meteorologists and the forecaster.
Man was given dominion over the creatures of land, sea,
and air, but the wind and the waves were beyond
his jurisdiction from the outset.
Recently a Bible teacher said:
“Then Jesus came and stilled the storm and His disciples cried,
what manner of man is this that the WINDS and the SEA obey Him.”
(All the Days - Vance Havner)
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February 7
The One Indispensable Book!
"Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail.”
(Isaiah 34:16)
The Bible . . . sparkles with the fervour and gladness of youth, celebrates the strength and
glory of manhood, bewails the sorrows and infirmities of old age.
The Bible . . . exults in the mighty deeds of kings and conquerors, sympathizes with the
poor and lowly, lifts up the fallen, delivers the oppressed, and breathes
the blessing of peace upon the quiet homes of domestic life.
The Bible describes with startling clearness . . . the seductions of temptation,
the conflicts of doubt and the miseries of skepticism.
The Bible . . . searches the secret chambers of the heart, brings to light its purest love
and its darkest hate, reveals its highest joy and its deepest grief.
The Bible compasses the utmost range of thought and feeling and desire—and
it sounds the utmost depth of motive and character and passion.
Thus in the Bible, God and man, earth and heaven, time and eternity--
speak with one voice and teach the same truth.
The Bible sets forth the most spiritual and heavenly truths—in the lights and shadows of
earthly scenes and human characters.
Thus the Bible is the one indispensable book . . . for all ages—and all nations, for all classes of
men—and all states of society, for all capacities of intellect—and all necessities of the soul!
(Daniel Marcus - 1870)
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The first part of this message was sent under Gems From My Reading # 6960
February 8
COME, TAKE, LEARN
“Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
(Matthew 11:28-30)
We’ve all gotten an invitation to some event that included the request
for an RSVP. The one inviting wants to know who and and how many to expect.
Matthew 11:28-30 are the words of the Lord Jesus, inviting you and me to come to Him.
The three words of our title are actually in the imperative mood - they are commands.
Have you ever looked at them as such in this verse? Have you COME to Him?
The RSVP in this case is not your promise to come -
it is you actually coming.
Then comes “TAKE;” Take My yoke upon you. Why does a farmer put his animal in a yoke?
So the animal comes under his control. The yoke speaks of submission, submission
to the Lordship of Jesus. Let’s ask ourselves, am I submitting to Jesus’ authority
over me? I’ve come to Him, for sure, but am I letting Him call the shots?
The last key word is “LEARN,” learn from Me, Jesus said. Can you see how there is a logical progression here?
I come to Him, I submit to His Lordship, and then I am in the right attitude to learn from Him.
Sometimes we find we get off track in that progression. Maybe we try to take a shortcut. We try to do the
learning without the submitting. Let’s remember that as Christians we have
the Holy Spirit living in us. He enables us to do that learning.
In fact, we wouldn’t even have come to Jesus in the first place if the Holy Spirit had not convicted
us of our dire need of salvation. We were sinners. We needed a Saviour. It is so beautiful
how the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) work in concert on our behalf . . . always.
Let’s do a little self-examination - how am I doing in this matter of COMING, TAKING AND LEARNING?
(L.I.F.E LINES - Daily Devotions - F.P.)
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February 9
BE FILLED
“But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”
(Luke 8:15)
Once I heard a beautiful prayer which I can never forget; it was this:
“Lord, take my lips, and speak through them;
take my mind, and think through it;
take my heart, and set it on fire.”
And this is the way the Master keeps the lips of His servants,
by so filling their hearts with His love that the outflow
cannot be unloving, by so filling their thoughts
that the utterance cannot be un-Christlike.
There must be filling before there can be pouring out; and if there
is filling, there must be pouring out for He hath said,
“Out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh.”
(Matthew 12:34)
(Opened Treasures - Francis Ridley Havergal)
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February 10
February 11
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