Gems from July 1- 10, 2018

July 1

“Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

and when they looked, they saw that the stone was 

rolled away: for it was very great.”

(Mark 16:3-4)

Another translation states "And looking up they see”.

The sorrowful women were looking down as they walked.

We often do that in sorrow.

They were wondering who would roll away the stone.

They did not see till they looked up that it had been rolled away.

We do not always see the stones that are exceeding great 

rolled back the moment we look up.

“Cast not away therefore your confidence . . .”(Hebrews 10:35) 

you who are, as it seems, looking up in vain.

It “hath great recompense of reward.”  

Only be sure not to look down or even too much at the stone.

Look up.

(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)

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July 2

“I have . . . poured out my soul before the Lord . . . 

for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto."

(1 Samuel 1:15-16)

"Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee,

and thou shalt glorify Me.”

(Psalm 50:15)

And when my heart melts within me and weakness takes control,

He gathers me in His arms; He soothes my heart and soul.

The great “I AM” is with me; my life is in His hand;

The Son of God—all my hope, it is in Him I stand.

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July 3

"Knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad inour hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

But the pathway of trial has a very bright end. 

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”  (1 Peter 1:7) 

Faith’s sphere is on earth, and God tries it.  He never gives faith that He does not prove it;

and this brings forth the fruit that will appear by-and-by, when everything

 is made manifest, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

The trying “by fire,” is a beautiful allusion to the three Hebrew servants who were tried by fire,

whom Nebuchadnezzar cast into the furnace (Daniel 3:12-30).  What was the effect of the fire in their case?

It only burnt off their bonds, and set them free.  The Lord lets us get into the fire oftentimes, and the effect of it is to burn off the cords that bind us,—in our case often self-imposed cords—and we come out free. 

But what have we had in the fire?  A sense of the presence and company of the Lord,

such as we never had before.  So with the Hebrew servants, one walked with them

in the furnace, and the form of that One was “Like unto the Son of God."

“Whom having not seen ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not,

yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

(1 Peter 1:8)

(W. T. P. Wolston)  

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July 4

“How are the mighty fallen!”

(2 Samuel 1:27)

After serving his country for two decades as a helicopter pilot, James 

returned home to serve his community as a teacher.  But he missed helicopters, 

so he took a job flying medical evacuations for a local hospital.  He flew until late in his life.

Now it was time to say goodbye to him.  As friends, family, and uniformed co-workers stood vigil at the cemetery, a colleague called in one last mission over the radio.  Soon the distinctive sound of rotors beating the air could be heard.  A helicopter circled over  the memorial garden, hovered briefly to pay its respects, then headed back to the hospital.  Not even the military personnel who were present could hold back the tears.

When King Saul and his son Jonathan were killed in battle, 

David wrote an elegy for the ages called "the use (lament) of the bow” (2 Samuel 1:18).

“The beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places:

How are the mighty fallen” (2 Samuel 1:19).  

Jonathan was David’s closest friend and brother-in-arms.  

And although David and Saul had been enemies, David honoured them both.

“Weep over Saul . . .”  (v. 24).  “I and distressed for thee my brother Jonathan . . . “ (v. 26).

Even the best goodbyes are oh-so-difficult.  But for those who trust in the 

Lord, the memory is much more sweet than bitter, for it is never forever. 

How good it is when we can honour those who have served others! 

(Tim Gutstafson)

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Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2018) Grand Rapids, MI - Reprinted permission

July 5

“To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Just as summer gives way to fall, then in turn autumn is superseded by winter, so in the life of God’s person there are succeeding steps by which we are led to follow Christ and pass from scene to scene in the grand pageantry of His purposes for us. 

Summer is not fall.  Nor is the autumn winter.  Each is a season to itself.  Each has a special splendour of its own. But likewise each has the fallout of wasted opportunities, squandered time, wrong choices, and willful waywardness that mar the memories of our better moments.

From time to time these demand a drastic change.  There has to be a cleanup of the clutter, a renewal of the soul, a cleansing of the conscience, a fresh radiance of Christ’s life from above.

(Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller)

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July 6

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

(Romans 10:17)

Salvation is of grace; and faith is but the medium through which grace confers its gifts.

Hence, notwithstanding the consequences which are attached to it, there is nothing unreasonable in the conclusion—nay, it is a conclusion to which the Scriptures shut us up—that faith is one of the simplest exercises of which the mind is capable. 

When we pause to enquire how faith comes into existence
we find that the answer is clear and plain.

“Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”  

(Romans 10:17). 

“I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able”  

(2 Timothy 1:12).

.

“Your faith growth exceedingly” 

(2 Thessalonians 1:3).

From these Scriptures we learn that faith comes by acceptance of the testimony of God;

that its value is determined by the trustworthiness of the One in whom it is 

reposed; and that, since it is a living thing, it is capable of 

indefinite expansion and development.  

(George Henderson)

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July 7

“And Moses brought their cause before the LORD.”

(Numbers 27:5)

We are often brought into situations where a dispute is in process, and are asked to help.

Never were the words “slow to speak” more needful.

The patriarch Job was surrounded by opinion, but none mattered but his Lord’s.

Conflict resolution requires the utmost in humility and brokenness,

brought about by tearful acknowledgment 

of the Lord’s  presence. 

If I am unbroken when two believers are at odds,

the second best thing I can do for 

them is say nothing.

The best thing I can do is to pray, pray, and pray some more.

(Rick Morse)

When your heart was filled with anger, did you think to pray?

Did you plead for grace my brother?

That you might forgive another, 

Who had crossed your way.

(M. A. Kidder)

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July 8

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed 

thereto according to Thy Word.”

(Psalm 119:9)

Linnaeus once said of the unfolding of a blossom: I saw God in His glory pass near me,

and bowed my head in worship.”

I SAW GOD WASH THE WORLD

I saw God wash the world last night with His sweet showers on high;

And then when morning came I saw Him hang it out to dry.

He washed each tiny blade of grass and every trembling tree;

He flung His showers against the hills and swept the billowy sea.

The white rose is a cleaner white; the red a richer red

Since God washed every fragrant face and put them all to bed.

There’s not a bird, there’s not a bee that wings along the way,

But is a cleaner bird or bee than it was yesterday.

I saw God wash the world last night; Ah, would He had washed me

As clean of all my dust and dirt as that old white birch tree!

(Dr. W. L.Stidger)

"But 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)

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July 9

“All power is given unto Me.”

(Matthew 28:18)

“Behold, I give unto you power . . . over all the power of the enemy.”

(Luke 10:19)

"God has been glorified in Man; Man sits at God’s right hand:

Obedient in the race He ran, Can now all power command.”

We are not to be occupied with evil, or be in any way terrified with the adversary,

as if the Lord had not the upper hand.  He has overcome and is leading

on to a full blessing, when the enemy will be bound.

We must go on in the confidence that power belongs to Him and is in His hands.

In every case it is where God would have us to be that we find His precious blessing.

Without Him we can do nothing.  When He works in His grace, how

happy one is to be the instrument of His power and goodness!

The exercises of our hearts even, in the difficulties of the work, lead us to Him, 

and everything that does this is in blessing for us.

There is power in Christ, there is sufficiency in Christ 

for all He would have you to do or be. 

(J. N Darby)

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July 10

THANKS FOR VICTORY

"Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory 

through our Lord Jesus Christ."

(1 Corinthians 15:57)

Observe the source of our victory— “Thanks be unto God.”

The Blesser is greater than the blessing.

Consider the nature of our victory—“which giveth us the victory.”  

It is the gift of God.  "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable

  gift.”  And behold the means of our victory—

"through Jesus Christ our Lord.” 

It is total victory over sin, death, and the grave.  

It is daily victory.  Every heart ought to be a “victory garden.”  And it is final victory.

“This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith,”

It does not explain the world, nor endure it, nor enjoy it—it overcomes the world.

But not just any kind of faith.  It must be faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, for our victory is through Him. 

Every day is V-Day when our faith is in Him.

And every day is Thanksgiving Day for the victory through Him.

(Vance Havner)

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July 11