“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.”
(Isaiah 1:18)
One day I went out to walk alone in the silence that follows heavy snowfall. I climbed a remote ridge that stood sentinel above a broad upland basin of rolling hills. The whole world was wrapped in white, pensive, pure, and still unmarked by man or his machines.
It was a morning to think long thoughts—as far-reaching as the distant views that stretched fifty miles to the far horizons of the sky edge. There were precious moments to muse over the meaning of life. They provided a gentle interlude in which I could be open and receptive to the soft, still impulses of God’s gracious, Holy Spirit.
It came home to me with intense clarity, equal to the brightness all about me, that just as the earth needed this great snowfall to make it utterly lovely, so, too, my life needed the unfolding purity of Christ’s life to cover all my deficiencies. The ancient prophet of old, Isaiah, spoke of this in eloquent and moving language when he declared on God’s behalf:
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18)
“The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
(Phillip Keller - Songs of My Soul)
N.J. Hiebert - 7236
October 11
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of man.”
(Matthew 4:19)
We are not all called, as Peter was here, to abandon an earthly calling to follow the Lord,
but the principle is the same.
When grace is known, and peace and joy fill the heart, as the fruit of hearing the divine words,
“Fear not”— which always come to the soul after honest confession,— then to follow
the Lord fully is the only safe and right path, for the new-born soul.
We must make a clean break with the world if we are going to have
the enjoyment of the Lord’s favour.
Out-and-out decision for Christ is of the utmost importance.
(W. T. P. Wolston)
N.J. Hiebert - 7237
October 12
“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich,
yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”
(2 Corinthians 8:9)
“O Master, make me not to seek so much to be consoled—as to console; to be understood—as to understand; to be loved—as to love; for, it is in giving—that one receives; it is in self-forgetingness— that one finds; it is in dying—that one wakes to life eternal.”
When we cease to hold the balance between communion with God and loving ministry to our fellow-men, we become a prey to the wild beasts of morbidity and depression.
“Gloom and despondency; undue and unwholesome introspection; unnatural craving after spiritual emotions and inward frames instead of the daily doing of the will of God for our lives; beclouding of assurance and the in swarming of hosts of doubts and questionings which the normal faith-life and love-life fling off with ease and quickness—all these wild beast foes possess our inward selves and harass our inward souls.
And then when men come to drink at our wellsprings they find the fountains dry, transformed into a den of spiritual foes; and they turn away disappointed and unrefreshed. Yea, verily, child of God, there is nothing that will keep your life so well-balanced, so symmetrical, so free from morbidness, so happy in the Lord, as for you to incarnate in your daily, everyday life this simple yet sweeping teaching of our Lord about going in and going out.
Try it, and see what a wondrous far-reaching cure it is for all your inner doubt and darkness.”
(Heaven’s Cure for Earth’s Care - George Henderson)
N.J. Hiebert - 7238
October 13
“The Lord will command His loving-kindness in the day time,
and in the night His song shall be with me.”
(Psalm 42:8)
As we travel through life’s shadowed valley, fresh springs of His love ever rise,
And we learn that our sorrows and losses are blessings just sent in disguise.
So we’ll follow wherever He leadeth, though pathways be dreary or bright,
For we’ve proof that our God can give comfort; our God can give songs in the night.
N.J. Hiebert - 7239
October 14
VICTORY OVER DISCOURAGEMENT
"Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way.”
(Hebrews 12:12-13)
“Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down.” Discouragement in serving: You lament that the ground is barren; that there is no fruit on the trees. Whether serving the Lord in a foreign land; or a stay-at-home mother; or serving in the local assembly; inevitably discouragement will come.
Our encouragement then must be the Lord and His word who said of His own labours: "I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely My judgment is with the Lord, and My work with My God” (Isaiah 49:4).
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye . . . always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
“And the feeble knees.” Discouragement in praying: You have been praying for the salvation of a loved one; for healing of a broken relationship; about a situation that is beyond your power to change.
Like Elijah, you have cast yourself down upon the earth, and put your face between your knees, and you have looked, but there is nothing. But you must “Go again seven times,” for “men ought always to pray and not to faint” (1 Kings 18:42-46; Luke 18:1). By and by you will see “a little cloud” which shall turn to showers of blessing.
“And make straight paths for your feet.” Discouragement q2`xxsxssin walking: We are called to walk worthy of our vocation. However, a besetting sin has dogged our pathway, and defeated us time and again, until we are ready to give up.
This is what Satan wants, for he knows that to give up renders us useless to God; but we must pick ourselves up and press on, for the path, no matter how daunting, will end in glory.
(Richard A. Barnett)
N.J. Hiebert - 7240
October 15
"I HAVE NO MAN . . ."
“Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.”
(John 5:7)
This poor man had been waiting for his chance to get into the healing waters for a long, long time. Today a crippled and infirm world crowds the pools of Bethesda.
But how many never quite make it to healing and release! Whatever they seek, somebody else beats them to it.
In the presence of the Son of God this man was bemoaning the fact that he had no one to help him: “Sir, I have no man . . .“ Are you waiting for human help to get you to your heart’s desire? Better than all angel-troubled waters, better than the vain help of man, there stands One saying, "Wilt thou be made whole?”
Never were earth’s pools of Bethesda as crowded as today. But you do not have to wait for an angel—some strange unearthly intervention—nor for a man—mere human assistance.
Greater than angels or men, Jesus is at hand. Put your case in His hands and do His bidding. Men turn today to the supernatural in unguided mysticism and to the human in unspiritual psychiatry. All that you need is Jesus.
(Day by Day with Vance Havner)
N.J. Hiebert - 7241
October 16
“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
(1 Peter 1:16)
God’s ultimate plan for each believer is absolute holiness.
In the meantime He asks that we daily pursue practical holiness.
- Knowing He is holy, we yearn to be like Him.
- Knowing He is God, we choose to obey Him.
- Knowing this delights Him, we strive to please Him.
We have the resources: the Scriptures to enlighten us, the Holy Spirit to comfort,
convict, and encourage us and Christ our faithful High Priest.
May we daily be a pleasing reminder to Him of His beloved Son.
(George Ferrier)
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
(William D. Longstaff)
N.J. Hiebert - 7242
October 17
“. . . stand fast in the Lord . . . “
(Philippians 4:1)
“In Christ it is we stand.”
He is our righteousness. He Himself, the crucified, risen, exalted, glorified Christ.
Yes; He is our righteousness.
To be found in Him is proper Christian standing.
It is not Judaism, Catholicism, nor any other ism.
It is not the being a member of this church, that church, or the other church.
It is to be in Christ.
This is the great foundation of true practical Christianity.
In a word, this is the standing of the Christian.
(C. H. Mackintosh)
N.J. Hiebert - 7243
October 18
“. . . if thou canst believe,
all things are possible to him that believeth.”
(Mark 9:23)
Seldom have we heard a better definition of faith than was given once in one of our meetings by a dear old woman as she answered the question of a young man, how to take the Lord for needed help.
In her characteristic way, pointing her finger toward him, she said with great emphasis:
“You’ve just got to believe that He’s done it, and it’s done.”
The great danger with most of us is that, after we ask Him to do it, we do not believe that it is done, but we keep on “helping Him,” and getting others to help Him; and waiting to see how He is going to do it.
Faith adds its “Amen” to God’s “Yea,” and then takes its hands off, and leaves God to finish His work. Its language is “Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass."
(Psalm 37:5).
(Psalm 37:5).
"I simply take Him at His word, I praise Him that my prayer is heard,
And claim my answer from the Lord; I take, He undertakes.”
(Mountain Trailways for Youth)
N.J. Hiebert - 7244
October 19
REST ASSURED
"For he that is entered into His rest,
he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.”
(Hebrews 4:10)
After forgiveness there comes a thought of great comfort in our freshly felt helplessness, rising out of the very thing that makes us realize this helplessness.
Just because our influence is to such a great extent involuntary and unconscious, we may rest assured that if we ourselves are truly kept for Jesus, this will be, as a quite natural result, kept for Him also.
It cannot be otherwise, for as is the fountain, so will be the flow; as the spring, so the action;
as the impulse, so the communicated motion.
Thus there may be, and in simple trust there will be, a quiet rest about it, a relief from all
sense of strain and effort, a fulfilling of the words, “For he that is entered into His
rest he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His.”
It will not be a matter of trying to have good influence, but just of having it,
as naturally and constantly as the magnetized bar.
Resting on the faithfulness of Christ our Lord,
Resting on the fullness of His own sure word;
Resting on His power on His love untold;
Resting on His covenant secured of old.
Resting and believing, let us onward press,
Resting in Himself, the Lord our Righteousness;
Resting and rejoicing, let His saved ones sing,
Glory, glory, glory be to Christ our king!
(Opened Treasures - F. R. Havergal)
N.J. Hiebert - 7245
October 20
ALL THE WAY MY SAVIOUR LEADS ME
"For this God is our God for ever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death”
(Psalm 48:14).
(Psalm 48:14).
Often we become discouraged because we cannot see God’s long-range plan of guidance for our lives. We need to remember that God has promised to guide our steps, not the miles ahead.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in His way” (Psalm 37:23). This beloved hymn came from the grateful heart of FANNY J. CROSBY after she had received a direct answer to her prayer.
One day when she desperately needed five dollars and had no idea where she could obtain it, Fanny followed her usual custom and began to pray about the matter. A few minutes later a stranger appeared at her door with the exact amount. "I have no way of accounting for this,” she said, "except to believe that God put it in the heart of this good man to bring the money. My first thought was that it is so wonderful the way the Lord leads me, I immediately wrote the poem". The hymn was first published in 1875.
No one knows the importance of guided steps as much as a blind person like Fanny Crosby, who lost her sight at six weeks of age through improper medical treatment. A sightless person is keenly aware that there will be stumbling and uncertainty as she continues on her way. As Fanny wrote, “cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for every trial,” she has reminded us that God has never promised to keep us from hard places or obstacles in life. He has assured us, however, that He will go with us, guide each step, and give the necessary grace.
All the way my Saviour leads me-what have I to ask beside? Can I doubt His tender mercy, who thru life has been my guide? Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, here by faith in Him to dwell! for I know what’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well . . .
All the way my Savour leads me-cheers each winding path I tread, gives me grace for ev’ry trial, feeds me with the living bread. Though my weary steps may falter and my soul athirst may be, gushing from the Rock
before me, Lo! a spring of joy I see . . .
All the way my Saviour leads me-oh the fullness of His love! Perfect rest to me is promised in my Father’s house above. When my spirit, clothed immortal, wings its flight to realms of day, this my song thru endless ages: Jesus led me all the way . . .
(Kenneth W. Osbeck)
N.J. Hiebert - 7246
October 21
“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down,
and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in white . . .”
(John 20:11-12)
Care may press very heavily upon some because of a sense of failure in a trying and responsible post. Or there may be some secret in your life you cannot communicate to anyone—the skeleton in the cupboard. Or some great disappointment has befallen you, and you are inclined to let these blighted hopes darken the remainder of your own life and that of others.
It may be that you are suffering from the sin and disgrace of those near and dear to you, and truly this brings enough care to weigh down the stoutest heart. Care will often arise, too, from the thought of what might have been. This reflection will sometimes cause the bitterest pang.
Let it be said at once that all regrets of this kind are useless. In many such cases it is impossible to tell what might have been the issue, even if a different course had been adopted; and even if you could tell, yet, being done, you cannot alter it.
Our advice is, get forgiveness from God or man, or both, if necessary,
and make the best use of present opportunities.
Act, act in the living present, Heart within, and God o’erhead.
Forgetting the things that are behind, reach forth unto those thing that
are before, and press toward the mark.
(Angels in White - Russell Elliott)
N.J. Hiebert - 7247
No comments:
Post a Comment