“I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, 'The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him'.”
(Ezra 8:22)
The journey was 900 miles and dangerous. Yet Ezra was ashamed to ask for soldiers, for in doing so he would have lowered his testimony of faith in the king’s eyes.
Divine insurance policies have a far greater coverage than earthly policies.
“The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them
that fear Him, and delivereth them.”
(Psalm 34:7)
"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
(Hebrews 13:5)
Embrace these wonderful promises today.
(R. Surgenor)
Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way,
Even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all.
(E. P. Stites)
N.J. Hiebert - 7409
April 2
“According to your faith be it unto you.”
(Matthew 9:29)
“Praying through“ might be defined as praying ones way into full faith, emerging while yet praying into the full assurance that one has been accepted and heard, so that one becomes actually aware of receiving, by firmest anticipation and in advance of the event, the things for which he asks.
Let us remember that no earthly circumstances can hinder the fulfillment of His Word if we look steadfastly at the immutability of that Word and not at the uncertainty of this ever-changing world.
God would have us believe His word without other confirmation, and then He is ready to give us “according to our faith.”
When once His Word is past,
When He hath said 'I will,’ (Hebrews 13:5)
The thing shall come at last;
God keeps His promise still.
(2 Corinthians1:20)
(Streams in the Desert)
N.J. Hiebert - 7410
April 3
LIVING PERMANENCE
"He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.”
(Psalm 1:3)
THE RIGHTEOUS MAN is not like a tombstone but like a tree.
A tombstone is permanent, but it is dead permanence.
A tree has living permanence, it is planted, not merely put,
by the rivers of water.
The Psalmist said, “My heart is fixed.” Some saints have fixed heads,
they are steadfast and unmovable, but it is the fixity of stubbornness and obstinacy.
“Nothing is more like real conviction than simple obstinacy."
So much of orthodoxy is the tombstone kind.
We tend to petrify.
Religious movements run a certain course—a man, a movement, a machine, a monument. Churches tend to become like trees in the Petrified Forest instead of living trees by the rivers of water.
Our faith, too, must be like seed, not sand, for living permanence
endures because it perpetuates itself.
A stone remains a stone.
The Gospel reproduces itself from life to life.
Christ lives from generation to generation, not only in heaven but in the hearts of His people.
(Day by Day with Vance Havner)
N.J. Hiebert - 7411
April 4
“We glory in tribulations . . . knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed.”
(Romans 5:3-5)
A story is told of the great artist Turner, that one day he invited Charles Kingsley to his studio to see a picture of a storm at sea. Kingsley was rapt in admiration. “How did you do it, Turner?” he exclaimed. Turner answered: “I wished to paint a storm at sea; so I went to the coast of Holland, and engaged a fisherman to take me out in his boat in the next storm.
The storm was brewing, and I went down to the boat and bade him bind me to its mast. Then he drove the boat out into the teeth of the storm.
The storm was so furious that I longed to be down in the bottom of the boat and allow it to blow over me. But I could not: I was bound to the mast. Not only did I see that storm, and feel it, but it blew itself into me until I became part of the storm. And then I came back and painted the picture.
His experience is a parable of life: sometimes cloud and sometimes sunshine; sometimes pleasure, sometimes pain. Life is a great mixture of happiness and tragic storm. He who comes out of it rich in living, is he who dares to accept it all, face it all, and let it blow its power, mystery and tragedy into the inmost recesses of the soul.
A victory so won in this life will then be an eternal possession.
(Charles Lewis Slattery)
N.J. Hiebert - 7412
April 5
“The Lord is my Shepherd.”
(Psalm 23)
I never shall want: for the Lord is my Shepherd,
And who ever lacked that was under His care?
He makes me lie down in the fairest of pastures,
Where soft flow the waters, He leadeth me there.
At times, by the way, I am listless and weary;
How gently He then doth my spirit restore!
And oft brings me back, when afar I have wandered,
To walk in the paths of the righteous once more.
Yea, though I should pass through the Valley of Shadows,
I’ll not be afraid: Thou art there by my side.
Thy rod to correct and Thy staff to support me
Shall still be my comfort, whatever betide.
Though dangers beset and though foes may surround me,
My table Thou spreadest in face of them still.
With the oil of thy gladness my head Thou anointest,
And brimful with blessings my cup dost Thou fill.
O surely Thy goodness, Thy mercy, shall follow
Attending my footsteps with grace all my days,
Till folded secure in the House of Jehovah
I’ll evermore utter my good Shepherd’s praise!
(Bells & Pomegranates - James M. S. Tait)
N.J. Hiebert - 7413
April 6
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
There is nothing in all this world more deeply blessed
than to lead a life of habitual dependence upon God.
than to lead a life of habitual dependence upon God.
There is a vast difference between God's using the creature to bless us, and our leaning on the creature to the exclusion of Him. In one case, we are blessed, and He is glorified; in the other, we are disappointed and He is dishonoured.
How often do we speak of living by faith, and of trusting only in God, when, at the same time, if we would only look down into the depths of our hearts, we should find there a large measure of dependence upon circumstances.
(Food for the Desert)
N.J. Hiebert - 7414
April 7
“ . . . Looking unto Jesus . . .”
(Hebrews 12:2)
“Henceforth—not unto Themselves”
HENCEFORTH
“He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again.”
(2 Corinthians 5:15)
OH, the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be,
When I let the SAVIOUR'S pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered:
‘All of self, and none of Thee.’
Yet He found me: I beheld Him
Bleeding on the accursed tree,
Heard Him pray: ‘Forgive them, Father;’
And my wistful heart said faintly:
’Some of self, and some of Thee.’
Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered:
'Less of self, and more of Thee.’
Higher than the highest heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
LORD, Thy love at last hath conquered;
Grant me now my supplication:
’None of self, and all of Thee.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(Translated from the French of
Theodore Monod (1874) - by Helen Willis)
N.J. Hiebert - 7415
April 8
“For the wages of sin is death; But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
God's justice stands forever against the unrepentant sinner in utter severity!
The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions!
It hushes their fears and allows them to practice all kinds of iniquity—while damnation draws every day nearer, and the command to repent goes unregarded. As responsible moral beings, we dare not so trifle with our eternal future!
“Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup." (Psalm 11:6)
"Woe unto the wicked!”
(Isaiah 3:11)
“To fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”
(1 Thessalonians 2:16)
"And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
(Revelation 6:16-17)
“The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:10)
(A.W. Tozer) - (With thanks to B.L.)
N.J. Hiebert - 7416
April 9
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
(John 3:3)
Jesus made it clear that to be a member of His heavenly kingdom, people must be twice-born-recipients of God’s Spirit and possessors of eternal life. Such a person then begins to live by a new dimension and a new direction.
He has a new disposition, a new nature, a new commitment, and a new purpose for living. A so-called Christianity that does not involve a personal conversion and change is not an authentic Christianity in the New Testament sense.
Eternal life is a quality of life that begins with the new birth experience and continues in daily fellowship with God and His people both now and forever. But the new birth experience can never be adequately explained. It is more than knowledge and mental assent. To be understood, it must ultimately be experienced.
A ruler once came to Jesus by night to ask Him the way of salvation and light;
The Master made answer in words true and plain, "Ye must be born again.”
Ye children of men, attend to the word so solemnly uttered by Jesus the Lord;
and let not this message to you be in vain, “Ye must be born again.”
O ye who would enter that glorious rest and sing with the ransomed the song of the blest,
the life everlasting if ye would obtain, “Ye must be born again.”
A dear one in heaven thy heart yearns to see, at the beautiful gate may be watching for thee;
then list to the note of this solemn refrain, "Ye must be born again.”
Chorus: Ye must be born again, ye must be born again;
I verily, verily say unto thee, "Ye must be born again.”
(George C. Stebbins, 1846-1945)
N.J. Hiebert - 7417
April 10
“Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me.”
(Isaiah 44:21)
"I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even
My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
and all their host have I commanded.”
(Isaiah 45:12)
"Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there
anything too hard for Me?”
(Jeremiah 32:27)
The very storms that beat upon
Our little boat so frail,
But manifest Thy power to quell
All forces that assail.
Each trial may to us become
The means that will display
How o’er what seems impossible
Our God has perfect sway!
(Christian Calendar)
N.J. Hiebert - 7418
April 11
Words Like No Other
“No man spake like this Man.”
(John 7:46)
These words were spoken by officers of Jerusalem who were sent by the chief priests and Pharisees to arrest the Lord and bring Him before them. This was their only excuse for having failed in their duty, and for returning without their prisoner.
When those officers left the Sanhedrin, they were filled with blind prejudice against Christ. It seemed to them that all the holiest and the greatest men of the city took Jesus of Nazareth for a deceiver and a malefactor. Among the Pharisees He was listed as a blasphemer; He was called a Samaritan; He was accused of casting out demons through Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
There was no name too vile to give to Christ; there was no motive too base to ascribe to Him. This was the atmosphere in which these officers lived. These were the opinions they heard expressed about Jesus Christ day after day. The position of leadership the priests occupied, and the reputation for holiness and truth they possessed, made it practically impossible that these uninstructed officers should think anything different of Him.
The prejudiced minds of these commissioned servants of the temple caused them to feel they were going to arrest one who was guilty of scattering blasphemies among the people.
Why were these temple officers so powerless to take our Lord? What so completely changed their attitude that they dared return to those who sent them without the Man they were to arrest? How could they brave the scorn of the chief priest and Pharisees? What excuse did they have to give? It was the words of the Lord Jesus that had wrought the change; their only excuse was: “Never man spake like this Man.”
All the words those officers heard numbered thirty one. Just thirty one words and each of them a word so simple that a child could understand it.
“If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”
(John 7:37-38).
(A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake)
N.J. Hiebert - 7419
April 12
April 13
No comments:
Post a Comment