WHILE WE ARE WAITING
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord . . .
Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
(James 5:7,8)
Give us joy of the thought of Thy coming ‘mid all the griefs that encompass us here,
‘Mid awful anguish and dread desolation, voices of wailing, of madness and fear;
Fulness of joy shall we have in Thy presence, when the long tale of earth’s sorrow shall close;
Give us the earnest of that blessed gladness; joy of the world, be our strength in these woes.
Give us the peace of the thought of Thy coming ‘mid raging war and the rumours of war,
Safe in the clefts of the rock do Thou hide us, shelter us far from the tempests’ wild roar;
Under Thy wings shall no evil betide us; in Thy strong arm shall our confidence be;
Who can make trouble when Thou givest quiet? Peace of the world, we are trusting in Thee.
Give us the light of the thought of Thy coming; Dark is the night, and its shadows are nigh,
Dim, flaring lamps of man’s genius and learning—all, all have failed us; they flicker and die.
Dark is the night, but above and beyond it soon shall the day break and shadows all flee;
Soon shall we see Thine ineffable glory; light of the world, we are following Thee.
(Flint’s Best-Loved Poems)
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July 11
“That Christ should suffer, and that He should be the first that should rise from the dead,
and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day,
were both almost, and altogether such as I am.”
(Acts 26:23,27-29)
“Almost persuaded": come, come today!
“Almost persuaded”: turn not away!
Jesus invites you here;
List to His voice so clear
Now falling on your ear:
Come, wanderer, come!
(P. P. Bliss)
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July 12
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith.”
(Philippians 3:7-9)
Few believers ever learn to truly love the cross of Christ.
For though it offers great deliverance, it also demands great sacrifice.
Isaac Watts drives this truth home through the words and music of this powerful hymn.
He composed more than six hundred hymns, all designed to call the congregation to a deeper
knowledge and worship of God. This hymn was written in 1707. Its rich, grave tones call
those who sing it to realize the seriousness of Christ’s sacrificial death.
What shall we offer to God in grateful return for His gracious gift?
All that we are and have is but a small offering in return for such great love.
~~~~~~~~~~~
When we survey the wondrous cross on which the Lord of Glory died,
Our richest gain we count but loss, and pour contempt on all our pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that we should boast, save in the death of Christ, our God;
All the vain things that charm us most, We'd sacrifice them to His blood.
There from His head, His hands, His feet, sorrow and love flowed mingled down;
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature ours, that were an offering far too small;
Love that transcends our highest powers, demands our soul, our life, our all.
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
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July 13
“The just shall live by faith.”
(Hebrews 10:38)
Believe God’s word and power
more than you believe your own feelings and experiences.
Your rock is Christ, and it is not the Rock which ebbs and flows,
but your sea.
(Samuel Rutherford)
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July 14
“When He prepared the heavens, I was there . . .
I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him.”
(Proverbs 8:27,30)
“And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull" (Mark 15:22).
“. . . there they crucified Him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left" (Luke 23:33).
The Delight of God—crucified. He who was as the Jewel set in the heart of that pure glory,
when the God of heaven and earth prepared the sunrise for this earth; He to be hanged in shame
between two thieves, that our eyes might see His salvation, which He had prepared before the face of all people; a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of His people Israel: that we, who sat in darkness, might see a great light; that to us who sat in the region and shadow of death, light might spring up—words fail, thoughts fail, before such love.
“O come, let us worship and fall down: and
kneel before the LORD our maker.”
(Psalm 95:6)
(Thou Givest They Gather - Amy Carmichael)
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July 15
“And of Benjamin he said, the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him;
and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he
shall dwell between his shoulders.”
(Deuteronomy 33:12)
Born into a large and remarkable family,
he was the baby brother to eleven fractious and strong willed men.
His father undoubtedly loved him but his birth would always be associated with the loss of his adored Rachael.
His only natural brother was soon betrayed and gone. Perhaps worst of all,
never once did he experience his mother’s kiss or caress.
But he was beloved of God.
God loves the lacking.
He will keep them by Him, protect them and
bear them on His shoulders through all of life’s distresses and trials.
(S. McEachern)
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!
(Horatius Bonar)
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July 16
REASONABLE INFERENCE
“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh,
and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”
(Genesis 41:44)
As exalted and vested with glory, all are called to “bow the knee” to Joseph,
and no man is to act independently of him.
“Without thee,” says Pharaoh, “shall no man lift up his hand in all the land of Egypt.”
If Joseph is supreme all are called to submit.
And so today, if God has exalted the Lord Jesus and given Him a Name which is above every name,
it is “that at the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow” (Philippians 2:10).
The Christian delights to bow during the plenteous years of grace;
the world will be compelled to bow
in the years of famine.
(Hamilton Smith)
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“And Elijah . . . said unto Ahab,
As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”
(1 Kings 17:1)
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.”
(Matthew 26:41)
If we do not bow before the LORD at the morning we will
bow before the world by nightfall.
Jesus was praying to the Father while Peter was sleeping, then Jesus was
witnessing a good confession before the world, as Peter
was denying Him before the fires of the world.
Elijah could stand before Ahab because he had first stood
in the presence of the LORD.
(With thanks - Dan Hopkins)
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July 18
“Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud:
and He shall hear my voice."
(Psalm 55:17)
"Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and He shall sustain Thee:
He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”
(Psalm 55:22)
Ere you left your room this morning did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ, our Saviour, did you ask for loving favour, as a shield today?
When you met with great temptation did you think to pray?
By His dying love and merit did you claim the Holy Spirit as your guide and stay?
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?
When sore trials came upon you did you think to pray?
When your soul was bowed in sorrow, Balm of Gilead did you borrow at the gates today?
REFRAIN:
O how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day;
So, when life seems dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.
(Mary Ann Kidder)
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July 19
“How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth,
and thy want as an armed man.”
(Proverbs 6:9-11)
Sleeping in time of labour is out of place in a scene where man has been
commanded to eat his bread by the sweat of his face.
No one has a right to count on God to undertake for him in temporal matters,
who is not himself characterized by energy and wakefulness.
Poverty and want follow slothfulness; as in a spiritual sense,
endless woe must follow the one who sleeps on in
this the day of grace, refusing to be awakened.
“A little more sleep, a little more slumber,
and thou shalt wake in hell to sleep no more forever!”
(Proverbs - H. A. Ironside)
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July 20
“I called upon the LORD in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”
(Psalm 118:5-6)
“Thou hast set my feet in a large room. Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble."
(Psalm 31:8-9)
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
(Romans 8:31)
I know not what the future holds,
No, not one single hour;
But I know One who knoweth well,
And has it in His power;
Because I trusted in the blood
Poured out on Calvary,
In Him my future is secure
For all eternity.
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July 21
July 22
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