"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound:
every where and in all things I am instructed both
to be full and to be hungry, both to
abound and to suffer need.”
(Philippians 4:12)
If you are content with any food, any
raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude,
any interruption by the will of God—that is victory.
(This Day is the Lord’s - Corrie Ten Boon)
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February 22
TREASURES ALREADY COINED
"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)
Yes, through His poverty the unsearchable riches of Christ are for you.
Sevenfold riches are mentioned, and these are no unminted
treasure or sealed reserve, but already coined for our
use, and stamped with His own image and
superscription, and poured freely
into the hand of faith.
The mere list is wonderful.
"Riches of goodness,” “riches of forbearance and long-suffering,”
“riches both of wisdom and knowledge,” “riches of mercy,”
“exceeding riches of grace,”and “riches of glory.”
And His own Word says, “All are yours.” Glance on in faith, and think of eternity flowing
on and on beyond the mightiest sweep of imagination, and realize that all His
riches in glory and the riches of His glory are and shall be for you.
In view of this, shall we care to reserve anything
that rust doth corrupt for ourselves?
(Francis Ridley Havergal)
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February 23
"Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
(Hebrews 4:13)
“If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous.”
(1 John 2:1)
But Thy pure eyes do read me through;
My soul is naked unto Thee;
And yet—oh wonder ever new—
Thou, my Lord, lovest me.
And so, O Lord, I come to Thee,
Confess my faults—name them all,
Well knowing Thou shalt gracious be,
Thou lover of my soul.
(Christian Calendar)
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February 24
“Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto Me, and drink.”
(John 7:37)
Think of poor things like you and me sitting down before Christ as an open fountain,
saying, “I am athirst;” and then your heart gets full of happy thoughts.
You see another coming in, a poor, weary old saint—well, he gets happy too,
Christ letting happy thoughts into his mind, and he begins to talk
of those thoughts to a neighbour coming in.
Such thoughts are a river of living water flowing out; and it is Christ in heaven who gives
the water to thirsty souls. Is it not enough to make the heart leap for joy to hear
Christ saying , "Come to me and drink: I am come for thirsty people”?
Let your first thought be to drink in before giving out; not occupied with brethren,
not about gifts, nor of having a place in the body,
but of living waters flowing out.
(Gleanings - G. V. Wigram)
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February 25
“The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands,
lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.”
(Judges 7:2)
What an unusual complaint by God Himself—that there where too many
to do the work. There were reasons behind this.
First, if Israel won the battle with their great army, they would think
that they could do without God.
Secondly, God wanted to show that He can do great things through the few that
are dependant on Him. Things haven’t changed.
God would have us rest on Him and not our own resources.
Also our weakness does not excuse inaction. By the
Spirit, He will do glorious things through us still.
(W. H. Burnett)
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart.
(J. Pigott)
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February 26
“When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes,
lacked ye anything?”
(Luke 22:35)
Remember the way the blessed Lord was with His disciples,— and said:
"Lacked ye anything?”—and is not the Spirit with us,
now in even a nearer way?
"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
(John 12:24)
“If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
Not the Church only, but the whole redeemed family,
springs from the “Corn of wheat.”
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way,
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.”
(Matthew 7:13)
The "way “ has now become a great broad road, instead of a path.
“He leadeth me the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.”
(Psalm 23:3)
(Hunt’s Sayings - K. M. Hammond)
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February 27
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go My way, and ye shall seek Me,
and shall die in your sins: whither I go ye cannot come.”
(John 8:21)
The question, “Is there a second chance for salvation after death?” is a very serious one. It is raised at times even by real Christians when some of their own loved ones close their eyes in death without giving any evidence of repentance or of personal saving faith in the Lord Jesus.
No matter how orthodox one may be or how thoroughly one may be indoctrinated in respect to the hopelessness of the state of the unsaved dead, this question will come up to the surface. People who have never thought of it before, think seriously of it when one of their own has gone out into eternity in this hopeless condition.
And their hearts cry out, “May it not be true that after all, when men live and die out of Christ, there may be some way by which God will save men on the other shore after He has failed to reach them on this side?”
The only way we can get a true answer to this question is by turning directly to the Word of God itself. And here we have the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is very solemn and serious.
“Then said Jesus again unto them, I go My way, and ye shall seek Me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.”
(H. A. Ironside) Part 1
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February 28
“Then said the Jews, Will He kill Himself? because He saith, whither I go, ye cannot come. And He said unto them, ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.”
(John 8:22-24)
He was addressing men who had seen His works of power, who had heard His marvellous teaching, who had been urged to receive Him in faith, the Living Bread, that they might find life eternal.
And now He says to them, "I am not going to be here forever. I have come for an appointed service. The hour of my crucifixion is just before Me. I go My way back to the presence of the Father. I go My way through the gates of death into resurrection and up to the glory, and after I have left you, after I have gone, many of you will begin to be concerned. You will seek Me, and want to listen to My message, but you will not be able to find Me. You will not be able to hear Me. Ye shall seek Me, but ye shall die in you sins.”
And He adds, “And whither I go, ye cannot come.” There is something very, very tragic about that. I have often said that every time I am asked to speak at a funeral service where the deceased has given no evidence of knowing Christ, I would like to believe that there is something so purifying about death, so wonderful about dissolution, that when men pass from this life into the next they will immediately have their eyes opened and they will see how foolish they have been in rejecting Christ, and then they will gaze upon His face and will trust Him.
I would like to believe that. I would like to believe that no one will be lost. So would any compassionate person. . . . but when we turn to this blessed Book and are prepared to bring our thoughts to the test of “Thus saith the Lord,” we do not find that this Word diffuses any ray of hope for the one who dies unsaved. Nothing could be clearer than our Lord’s Word here. He says, “Ye shall die in your sins.”
(H. A, Ironside)
N.J. Hiebert - 7377 (PART 2)
March 1
“And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.”
(Matthew 11:6)
All of us are sometimes troubled by questions.
Why is the secret of healing not opened more fully?
Why is that key not put into wise and loving hands?
Why does He whose touch has not lost its ancient power not come immediately and touch and heal?
Why have the wicked such awful power?
Why are we ourselves sometimes like the little ship on the sea of Galilee beaten by the winds?
And even after we have heard our dear Lord’s Peace, be still, why is it
that there is not always instantly a great calm, a lasting calm?
Why do the winds return again?
We could go on forever, piling question on question. Why? Why? Why?
But faith is not “trusting God when we understand His ways” — there is no need for faith then.
Faith is trusting when nothing is explained.
Faith rests under the Unexplained.
Faith enters into the deep places of our Lord’s words,
And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
Faith, having entered into those deep places, stays there in peace.
(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael)
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March 2
"Our days on earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding."
(1 Chronicles 29:15)
“Remember how short my time is.”
(Psalm 89:47)
“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”
(Psalm 90:12)
But Thou, O God, hast life that is eternal;
That life is mine, a gift through Thy dear Son;
Help me to feel its flush and pulse in all,
Assurance of the morn when life is done.
Help me to know the value of these hours;
Help me the folly of all waste to see;
Help me to trust the Christ who bore my sorrows,
And thus to yield for life or death to Thee.
(Christian Calendar)
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March 3
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