THE BLIND MAN
“And He took the blind man by the hand,
and led him out of the town."
(Mark 8:23)
Lead me, my Saviour; take me by the hand,
For Thou can’st see those steps unseen by me.
I cannot walk by sight; ’tis well that Thou hast planned
How I may walk secure by faith in Thee.
Lead me, my Master; let me feel Thy hand,
E’en while Thy face as yet I cannot see.
What though “without the city” I must take my stand,
No-one is lonely while in touch with Thee.
Lead me, Lord Jesus, till at last Thy hand
From my dark blindness sets me gladly free.
The way Thou leadest now I then shall understand,
And, best and brightest, then I’ll gaze on Thee.
(Bells and Pomegranates - James M. S. Tait)
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August 2
“He shall dwell on high: His place of defence shall be the [fortresses]
of rocks: . . . Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty:
they shall behold the land that is very far off.”
(Isaiah 33:16-17)
Up yonder on the rocky cliff in a rough nest of sticks lies an egg.
The eagle’s breast-feathers warm it; the sky bends down and
invites it; the abysses of the air beckon it saying:
“All our heights and depths are for you; come and occupy them.”
And all the peaks and the roomy places up under the rafters of the sky, where the twinkling stars
sit sheltered like twittering sparrows, call down to the pent-up little life, “Come up hither!”
and the live germ inside hears through the thin walls of its prison, and is coaxed out of
its shell, and out of the nest, and off the cliff, and then up and away into the wide
ranges of sunlit air, and down into the deep gulfs that gash mountains apart.
(A Pilgrim of the Infinite)
I stand upon the mount of God with sunlight in my soul;
I hear the storms in vales beneath, I hear the thunders roll.
But I am calm with Thee, my God, beneath these glorious skies;
And to the height on which I stand, no storms, nor clouds, can rise.
O, THIS is life! O, this is joy! My God, to find Thee so;
Thy face to see, Thy voice to hear, and all Thy love to know.”
(Horatius Bonar)
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August 3
“For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews . . .
seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”
(Esther 10:3)
In these days of selfishness and greed, it is refreshing to read of a man who used his elevated position to bless others.
God’s hand protected Mordecai and saw him saved from what seemed to be certain death and lifted to a place of political power and influence.
Instead of using it for his own benefit, Mordecai sought the wealth of his people.
May God help us to be generous and selfless with God’s blessings to us.
(G. S.)
As we receive, so let us give, with ready, generous hand,
Rich fruitage from the lives we live, to bless our home and land.
(P. A Chub)
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August 4
“And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered
. . . Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan. . . . Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan,
and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners
before the LORD exceedingly.”
(Genesis 13:10-13)
What testimony was Lot in Sodom? A very feeble one indeed, if one at all.
The very fact of his settling himself there was the death-blow to his testimony.
To have spoken a word against Sodom and its ways,
would have been to condemn himself, for why was he there?
But, in truth, it does not by any means appear that to testify for God formed any
part of his object in “pitching his tent toward Sodom.”
Personal and family interests seem to have been the leading springs of action in his heart;
and though, as Peter tells us, “ . . . his righteous soul was vexed with the filthy
conversation of the wicked, from day to day, ”(2 Peter 2:7) yet had
he but little power to act against it, even if inclined to do so.
It is important, in a practical point of view, to see that we cannot be
governed by two objects at the same time.
(C. H. Macintosh)
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August 5
“. . . fathers, provoke not your children to wrath:
but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
(Ephesians 6:4)
Mark you broad and rapid stream! brilliant though its surface seem,
Mingling in its depth below, poisonous currents surely flow.
Christian parents, pause to think, on that treacherous river’s brink,
Ere you launch your tiny bark on those waters deep and dark.
Yours the path of Jesus here, seek it for your children dear.
Though you cannot life impart, cannot bow the stubborn heart;
Do not help to weave a chain you would gladly break again.
Shall not He who for you died, food and raiment still provide?
He who has your children given, He can bless for earth and heaven.
Seek then first His holy will, seek His pleasure to fulfill.
Constant still in faith and prayer, that this blessing they may share.
And when by the Spirit’s power comes the gladly welcomed hour;
When the lips you love so well, of a Saviour’s grace shall tell,
They will have no cause to say that you turned their feet astray;
Rather, from their earliest youth, taught and nurtured in the truth,
May their light unhindered shine, to the praise of grace divine.
(The Christian Shepherd - Doug Nicolet April 2010 - Anon)
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August 6
TRUSTING JESUS
"Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be
fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.”
(Psalm 37:3-5)
“Simply trusting every day” along a ”stormy way,” “in danger” when “the path is drear” or "if the way
is clear”—what a valuable lesson for each of us to learn. We are so prone to look ahead
in life to see how our problems will be solved or where our path will lead.
We waste much time and energy in worrying instead of simply trusting, delighting, and
committing our ways to the Lord. That’s how to find His strength and wisdom to
face our problems and responsibilities for tomorrow and all the days ahead.
Edgar Page Stites, author, had learned that spiritual lesson. He discovered that “While He leads I
cannot fall.” God’s way in our lives is always far superior to the path we might have chosen.
Simply trusting ev’ry day, trusting through a stormy way;
even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus—that is all.
Brightly does His Spirit shine into this poor heart of mine;
while He leads I cannot fall, trusting Jesus—that is all.
Singing if my way is clear, praying if the path be drear;
if in danger, for Him call, trusting Jesus—that is all.
Chorus: Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by;
trusting Him what’er befall, trusting Jesus—that is all.
(Edgar Page Stites)
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August 7
’TIS THE NIGHT THAT REVEALS THE STARS . . . AND THE BLESSINGS AND FAITHFULNESS OF GOD
“He made the stars also.”
(Genesis 1:16)
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; what is man, that Thou art mindful of him?”
(Psalms 8:3,4)
When the astronomer Edwin Frost of the Yerkes Observatory was nearing his death, he was asked, “Doctor, are you afraid to die?” Frost, who had lost his eyesight, smiled and shook his head, "I’ve seen too many stars to be afraid of the night.”
Most people think of the night as something negative, or something of absence. But to an astronomer, night is the time of revelation, of mysteries, and fullness.
It’s the night that reveals the stars.
It’s the night that reveals the stars.
Take this attitude of the astronomer to every part of your life. See the dark times of your life in a new way. They are there to reveal the blessings and faithfulness of God - even the lights of God. For the righteous shine as stars. (Daniel 12:3). When? At night.
For stars and astronomers, the night is the time of shining and blessing. Therefore, don’t fear the dark times, the hard times, or the bad times. For it’s in the night when the stars shine most bright. Don’t focus on the dark, but focus on shining.
And remember that it’s at night when God’s blessings and faithfulness also shine. And you’ve seen too many stars to be afraid of the night.
(With thanks - Dr. F. Charters)
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August 8
THE PLANTING OF THE LORD
“And I will raise up for them a plant of renown . . .”
(Ezekiel 34:29)
Plants are renowned for their fruit; all fruit is from plants. Christ was God’s plant of renown in fulfillment of the promise of Jehovah: (Ezekiel 34:29). He was that choice Vine whose fruit cheered both God and man (Judges 9:13; see also John 15:1-8).
He is also the wheat that grew in God’s field, to make the bread to strengthen man’s heart (Psalm 104:15). The fig tree was renowned for its sweetest, and the upright palm for its luscious dates.
The cedar of Lebanon was renowned for its majesty, and even the hyssop that sprang out of the wall had its own renown as the agent in the hand of the priest sprinkling precious blood on the leper to make him clean (Leviticus 14:6-7).
All the fruit that ever grew, or herbs for the service of man, must be united into one volume of preciousness to present the glory and grace of Christ; who was raised up for us, as well as for Israel, to be God’s plant of renown.
(A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake)
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August 9
FOR HIS TIME
“Our times are in Thy hand.” (Psalm 31:15)
When South African pastor Andrew Murray was visiting England in 1895, He began to suffer pain
from a previous back injury. While he was recuperating, his hostess told him of a woman
who was in great trouble and wanted to know if he had any counsel for her.
Murray said, “Give her this paper which I have been writing for my own [encouragement].
It may be that she will find it helpful.” This is what Murray wrote:
"In time of trouble say:
First—God brought me here. It is by His will I am in this strait place. In that I will rest.
Next—He will keep me in His love and give me grace in this trial to behave as His child.
Then—He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me lessons He intends me
to learn, and working in me the grace He means to bestow.
Last—In His good time He can bring me out again—
how and when He knows.
I am here—by God’s appointment, in His keeping,
under His training, for His time.”
We want the instant solution, the quick fix,
but some things cannot be disposed of so readily;
they can only be accepted. God will keep us by His love.
By His grace, we can rest in Him.
When God permits suffering, He also provides comfort.
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August 10
**Psalm 7 Title: Shiggaion [a song] of David, which he sang unto the Lord,
concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.
O LORD my God, in Thee do I put my trust: save me from all them
that persecute me, and deliver me.
Psalm 7:1
I will praise the Lord according to His righteousness: and will sing
praise to the name of the Lord most high.
Psalm 7:17 *
Cush is mentioned in the title** of Psalm 7, and we see that disagreeable person doing exactly as people sometimes do to us. We see, too, what we should do when distressed by them. David sang unto the Lord. He told Him all about it and then he turned from it and sang those happy words at the end of the Psalm 7:17.*
If a Cush springs up among us, with his unkind and untrue accusations, let us try David’s way. According to Matthew 5:23-24 the first thing to do is to go to Cush and try to get things straight.
If that fails, the right thing to do is not to discuss it with others, or to be miserable about it, brooding over it in a dreadful gloomy silence. The right thing is to sing.
The wicked pleasure of hurting another is hateful, devilish. The Lord make us pure all through, like those of whom it is written in Revelation 3:4, They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.
(Whispers of His Power - Amy Carmichael 1867-1951)
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August 11
Let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us.
Psalm 90:17
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD.
Psalm 27:4
How great is His goodness, and how great is His beauty!
Zechariah 9:17
And this God is our God. Let us be glad in Him today,
and stay where we can see His beauty.
One thing have I desired, my God, of Thee,
That will I seek—Thine house be home to me.
I would not breathe an alien, other air,
I would be with Thee, O Thou fairest Fair.
For I would see the beauty of my Lord,
And hear Him speak, Who is my heart’s Adored.
(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)
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August 12
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