said to Jesus, "and who is my neighbour?"
(Luke 10:29)
WHO IS MY NEIGHBOUR?
Jesus depicted a victim of vicious robbery, in serious trouble, and needing help.
Note the various responses of people who met him—responses which faithfully mirror our own.
To the thieves who robbed him he was a victim to exploit. They did not regard him as a person, but as a thing. To such people (most of whom are not literal thieves) other people exist only to satisfy their own whims and lusts.
They know all the angles about using other people, but know nothing of true friendship.
To the priest and the Levite who passed by on the other side, the needy neighbour was a nuisance to avoid. These men were experts on religion and ritual, but had no time
to get involved with the problems of others.
To the lawyer who originally asked the question, the victim presented an interesting case study.
His contemporary cousins form committees, hold seminars, and pass resolutions.
Meanwhile, on the Jericho road, the victim remains half-dead.
To the Good Samaritan a neighbour represented a person to love and help regardless of the cost.
He came to where the poor wretch was—beaten and bloody. He loved him, dressed his
wounds, and took him to a place where he could receive further care. He even
put him on his own donkey, which meant that he himself had to walk.
Jesus Christ is that Good Samaritan who came to where we were in desperate need and met that need.
His purpose now is to fill the world with people like Himself. Are we among them?
(Grant Steidl)
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April 20
“To the praise of the glory of His grace,
wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved."
(Ephesians 1:6)
Christians stand in an incomparable position of favour
before God—“accepted in the beloved”.
The believer need not wonder whether or not he will be cast out of the Almighty’s sight,
for his acceptance is dependent on Christ’s position.
Since He is the One in whom is all the Father’s delight,
there is no question as to His standing in glory; it is unassailable.
His glorious grace has brought us into the most favoured position possible.
(Keith Keyser)
So near, so very near to God, I cannot nearer be;
For in the person of His Son, I am as near as He.
So dear, so very dear to God, more dear I cannot be,
The love wherewith He loves the Son: such is His love to me.
(C. Paget)
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April 21
“Be careful for nothing . . .”
(Philippians 4:6)
Do you cross rivers before you come to them, dread troubles that never come, expect evil from
the Lord instead of good? In other words is your soul full of unnecessary care?
For that is what the word “careful” means — unnecessary care.
“Do not worry” is a plain and simple command, but it is such a difficult one to follow.
Some one has given a few beneficial suggestions for the person who
feels defeated because of the common ailment of worry.
The anxious Christian hurts more than himself; hurts the faith of those who know Him and the good name of his Lord who has promised to supply all his needs. There is nothing we cannot pray about.
"But in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God.”
What we can take to God we can trust to God. What we put our fidelity into,
He will perfect by His faithfulness. While we work for the best, He works the best for us.
We may not succeeds as we hoped; we may have discipline we little expected,
but the Father knows what His child needs.
What God has for us to do we can do, or to bear we can bear.
Is there not enough in His ocean to fill our pitcher?
With the need of every day will come His promised supply —
“My grace is sufficient for thee.”
(Thoughts For Every-Day Living)
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April 22
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
"Ye are the salt of the earth."
(Matthew 5:13)
With these words Jesus Christ describes the essential character of the Christian.
Salt does at least three things:
There is first of all the task it fulfills—to prevent decay and corruption. Just by being what he is,
the Christian exercises a restraining influence upon evil. This influence may find
expression politically, personally, socially, morally and
spiritually, but such an influence there must be!
There is also the taste it improves.
We have all experienced having a bowl of soup and saying to ourselves,
"a little more salt would improve this.” The fact that a person is a Christian should
improve and enrich his own life, and the lives of those he meets, not impoverish them.
Every experience, every relationship of life will be finer, richer,
better because a man is a Christian.
Lastly, there is the thirst it creates. Salt makes a person thirsty, and to meet a
Christian should make other people thirsty for Christ.
These are three functions that salt performs. If we are Christians in reality, then we would
do well to pause and ask ourselves if these three qualities are found in our lives.
(George Duncan)
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April 23
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but
the end thereof are the ways of death.”
(Proverbs 16:25)
Self-love and self-will lead into self-deception,
whatever be the honesty that would oppose a conscious wrong.
We need therefore to look to Him who is greater than our heart, that we
be guided by a wisdom above ourselves.
How terrible to have trusted what one should have judged, lest, to one
following a way that seemed right, its end
should be only a way of death!
He that hears and knows and follows the voice of Jesus finds
Him not only the way but the truth and the life.
Nor can one be too simple in listening to His words open to all.
This is the Christian highway, and therefore is peace
and joy, whatever the suffering and danger.
(William Kelly)
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April 24
“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. . . . And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” (Matthew 2:13,15)
Was it, then, to save His life that “the young Child” was carried into Egypt? Did Israel of old leave Egypt to save their lives? Did Shadrach and his companions leave the Chaldean furnace to save their lives? Israel’s life was as safe in Egypt as out of it. The Jewish children were as little hurt by fire in the furnace as out of it.
Israel left Egypt to witness the glory of Jehovah their Saviour; and so did Israel’s children the Chaldean fires. In like manner, and for the like end, “the young Child” was taken from Judaea, from the wrath of Herod the king.
The Son of God had taken the form of a servant. He had not come in His own name, but in His Father’s. He had emptied Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and in the fulfilling of that form He began His course while yet but a “young Child”; and He was, among other humiliations, obedient even to a flight into Egypt, as though to save His life from the wrath of the king, for the glory of Him who had sent Him.
(J. G. Bellett)
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April 25
“The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.”
(Romans 15:13)
"The peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
(Philippians 4:7)
Peace that passes understanding is His gift of grace so free;
And the power of His presence is His promise unto me;
Blessed peace, divine contentment from the heart of God above!
All the shadows turn to sunshine, walking with the Lord of love.
(Unknown)
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April 26
“Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.”
(Psalm 119:68)
Some people like bitter chocolate and some prefer sweet. Ancient Mayans in Central America enjoyed chocolate as a beverage and seasoned it with chili peppers. They liked this “bitter water”, as they called it. Many years later it was introduced in Spain, but the Spaniards preferred chocolate sweet, so they added sugar and honey to counteract its natural bitterness.
Like chocolate, days can be bitter or sweet as well.
The seventeenth-century, Brother Lawrence wrote, “if we knew how much God loves us, we would always be ready to receive equally . . . from His hand the sweet and the bitter.“ Accept the sweet and the bitter equally? This is difficult! What is brother Lawrence talking about? The key lies in God’s character. The psalmist said of God, “Thou art good, and doest good.”
The seventeenth-century, Brother Lawrence wrote, “if we knew how much God loves us, we would always be ready to receive equally . . . from His hand the sweet and the bitter.“ Accept the sweet and the bitter equally? This is difficult! What is brother Lawrence talking about? The key lies in God’s character. The psalmist said of God, “Thou art good, and doest good.”
Mayans also valued bitter chocolate for its healing and medicinal properties. Bitter days have value too. They make us aware of our weaknesses and they help us depend more on God. The psalmist wrote, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes (Psalm 119:71).
Let us embrace life today, with its different flavours—reassured of God’s goodness. Let us say,
"Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O Lord, according unto Thy word.” (Psalm 119:65).
(0ur Daily Bread - Keila Ochoa)
(Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2018), Grand Rapids Michigan, Reprinted permission.)
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April 27
"Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
(Isaiah 53:4)
"But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”
(Isaiah 53:5)
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Isaiah 53:6
Alas! and did my Saviour bleed and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
Was it for sins that I have done He suffered on the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut His glories in,
When Christ, the great Redeemer, died for man the creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears.
But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away—’tis all that I can do.
(Isaac Watts - 1674-1748)
We never know how deeply our actions affect the lives of others.
This hymn by Isaac Watts has certainly touched the hearts of millions through the centuries.
After drawing the stark contrasts between the sacrificial death of the mighty Maker and the unworthiness of the sinful creature, he concludes with the consecration, “Here, Lord, I give myself away—’Tis all that I can do.”
A thirty-year-old blind woman heard a revival choir sing this simple hymn.
Stanza after stanza stirred her heart, but when the choir came to the final line,
“Here, Lord, I give myself away,” she gave herself away to the Lord as well.
That blind lady was Fanny Crosby, who went on to become
the greatest writer of gospel songs in the past century.
We never know how deeply our lives will touch the lives of others.
(William J. Petersen & Randy Petersen)
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April 28
“Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 3:20)
“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead
shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed.
(1 Corinthians 15:52)
Our earthen vessels break; the world itself grows old;
But Christ our precious dust will take and freshly mould:
He’ll give these bodies vile a fashion like His own;
He’ll bid the whole creation smile, and hush its groan.
(Mary Bowley)
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April 29
“And when He saw their faith, He said unto him,
Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
(Luke 5:20)
Only a step to Jesus! Believe, and thou shalt live;
Lovingly now He’s waiting, and ready to forgive.
“But where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound.”
(Romans 5:20)
Only a step to Jesus! A step from sin to grace;
What has thy heart decided? The moments fly apace.
“There came unto Him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment,
and poured it on His head, as He sat at meat.”
(Matthew 26:7)
Only a step to Jesus! O why not come and say,
"Gladly to Thee my Saviour, I give myself away.”
(Treasures From Fanny Crosby)
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April 30
Psalm 23
“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”
I shall not want REST. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”
I shall not want REFRESHMENT. “He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
I shall not want REVIVING. “He restoreth my soul.”
I shall not want GUIDANCE. “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
I shall not want COMPANIONSHIP. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.”
I shall not want COMFORT. “Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”
I shall not want SUSTENANCE. “Thou preparest a table before me in the the presence of mine enemies.”
I shall not want JOY. “Thou anointest my head with oil.”
I shall not want ANYTHING. “My cup runneth over.”
I shall not want ANYTHING IN THIS LIFE. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
I shall not want ANYTHING IN ETERNITY. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
(Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock)
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May 1
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