Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
John 20:29
How strong is the snare of the things that are seen, and how necessary for God
to keep us in the things that are unseen!
If Peter is to walk on the water he must walk; if he is going to swim, he must swim, but he cannot do both. If the bird is going to fly it must keep away from fences and the trees, and trust to its buoyant wings. But if it tries to keep within easy reach of the ground,
it will make poor work of flying.
God had to bring Abraham to the end of his own strength, and to let him see that in his own body he could do nothing. He had to consider his own body as good as dead, and then take God for the whole work; and when he looked away from himself, and trusted God alone, then he became fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform.
That is what God is teaching us, and he has to keep away encouraging results until we learn to trust without them, and then He loves to make His Word real in fact as well as faith.
A. B. Simpson
I do not ask that He must prove His Word is true to me,
And that before I can believe He first must let me see.
It is enough for me to know ’tis true because He says ’tis so;
On His unchanging Word I’ll stand and trust till I can understand.
E. M. Winter
N.J. Hiebert - 7602
October 12
Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye
see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy
unspeakable and full of glory.
1 Peter 1:8
Sorrow is a good thing, and makes God a more abundant
source of joy.
The true affect of real joy in the things of God is to empty us of
ourselves and to make us think little of ourselves.
(Philippians 4:4)
The apostle . . . exhorts Christians to rejoice: it is a testimony
to the worth of Christ.
Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - J. N. D.
N.J. Hiebert - 7603
October 13
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1
The story below appeared in the "Congressional Record.” It included the Scripture, quoted above. A 19 year old G.I. who had been awarded a medal for bringing in a large group of Japanese prisoners, single-handed, during World War 2 tells his own story:
“I want someone to know that I don’t deserve that medal. It happened this way. I was captured by the Japanese, with five of my pals. We were marched through the jungle with bayonets at our backs. I had to see my comrades one by one killed and mutilated. I said the 23rd Psalm. I said the Lord’s prayer. Die I must, but I determined not to let my captors see my fear.
Trembling from head to foot, marching in mud up to my ankles, with a bayonet sticking in my back, I began to whistle the way I used to when I was a small boy, and had to go through a dark street. So I whistled,” ’We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing; He chastens and hastens His will to make known; the wicked oppressing cease then from distressing, sing praises to His name, He forgets not His own.’
Suddenly I became aware that someone had joined me in my whistling—it was my Japanese captor! He, too, was whistling the hymn. Soon I felt his gun fall back into place. He walked beside me then, and suddenly I jumped when, in perfect English, he said to me, ‘I never cease to wonder at the magnificence of Christian hymns.’ And a few minutes talk revealed that the Japanese soldier had learned English in a mission
school to which I had contributed in my Sunday school days.
The Japanese boy spoke of war and how the Japanese Christians hated it. We both agreed on the power of Christianity, and what would happen if people really dared to live it; and then we began to talk of our families and our homes. Finally, at the suggestion of the Japanese, we knelt in the mud and prayed for suffering humanity around the world, and for ‘His peace that passeth understanding’ among all men on earth.
When we arose, he asked me if I could take him back as a prisoner to the American headquarters. He said that it was the only way that he could live up to his Christianity, and thus help Japan to become a Christian nation; and on the way back he found in various fox-holes other Japanese Christians, and they too joined me. I shall never forget the hope and joy that came into their eyes as my friend unfolded to them, one by one, how we found each
other, and why and where they were being taken. All the way back we talked of the Christian faith.
When we neared camp, by mutual agreement they put on poker-faces and somber looks, and I, gun in hand, marched them into camp. So you see I don’t deserve a medal for the most wonderful experience in my life.
(As related in “Streams in the Desert)
N.J. Hiebert - 7604
October 14
My meditation of Him shall be sweet.
Psalm 104:34
ISAAC went into the fields to meditate.
Jacob lingered on the eastern bank of the brook Jabbok after all his company had passed over;
there he wrestled with the angel and prevailed.
Moses, hidden in the clefts of Horeb beheld the vanishing glory
which marked the way by which Jehovah had gone.
Elijah sent Ahab down to eat and drink while he himself withdrew to the lonely crest of Carmel.
Daniel spent weeks in ecstasy of intercession on the banks of Hiddakel, which once had watered Paradise.
And Paul, no doubt in order that he might have an opportunity for undisturbed meditation and prayer,
was minded to go afoot from Troas to Assos.
Have you learned to understand the truths of these great paradoxes: the blessing of a curse,
the voice of silence, the companionship of solitude?
Springs in the Valley
N.J. Hiebert - 7605
October 15
UNDER HIS WINGS I AM SAFELY ABIDING
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psalm 91:1-4
"O Lord, give me something to do for Thee.” That was the cry of William O. Cushing when he suddenly lost his voice. Then a paralysis affected his voice so he could no longer preach.
Not yet fifty years old, Cushing wondered how God could possibly use him. But God did.
Cushing wrote texts for more than three hundred hymns and gospel songs.
When he was seventy-three, this prolific hymn writer was moved by the words of Psalm 17:8, Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings,” and thought about God’s care for him even when everything seemed dark. This song was the result. Though he could not speak with an audible voice, God multiplied his words for generations to come.
Under His wings I am safely abiding; though the night deepens and tempests are wild,
Still I can trust Him—I know He will keep me; He has redeemed me and I am His child.
Under His wings, what a refuge in sorrow! How the heart yearningly turns to His rest!
Often when earth has no balm for my healing, there I find comfort and there I am blessed.
Under His wings, O what precious enjoyment! there will I hide till life’s trials are o’er;
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me; resting in Jesus I’m safe ever more.
REFRAIN: Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever?
Under His wings my soul shall abide,
Safely abide forever.
William Orcutt Cushing 1823-1902
N.J. Hiebert - 7606
October 16
Many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
John 11:19
They came every one from his own place . . . for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him (Job).
Job 2:11
He hath sent Me to bind up the broken hearted . . . to comfort all that mourn.
Isaiah 61:1-2
There is no sorrow that He will not share,
No cross, no burden, for our hearts to bear
Without His help, no cares of ours too small
To cast on Jesus: let us tell Him all—
Lay at His feet the story of our woes,
And in His sympathy find sweet repose.
Author Unknown
N.J. Hiebert - 7607
October 17
FOR A TIME OF SORROW
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is
in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are
bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God’s.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Sorrow is one of the things that are lent, not given.
A thing that is lent may be taken way; a thing that is given is not taken
away. Joy is given; sorrow is lent. We are not out own, we are bought with a price.
"Sorrow is not our own” (Samuel Rutherford said this a long time ago), it is lent to us for just a little
while that we may use it for eternal purposes. Then it will be taken away and everlasting joy
will be our Father’s gift to us, and the Lord God will wipe away all tears from off all faces.
So let us use this “lent” thing to draw us nearer to the heart of Him, Who was once a Man of Sorrows
(He is not that now, but He does not forget the feeling of sorrow).
Let us use it to make us more tender with others,
as He was when on earth and is still, for He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities.
(Edges of His Ways - Amy Carmichael)
N.J. Hiebert - 7608
October 18
A Thanksgiving
Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15
For all Thy blessings given there are many to thank Thee, Lord,
But for the gifts withholden I fain would add my word.
For the good things I desired that barred me from the best,
The peace at the price of honour, the sloth of a shameful rest;
The poisonous sweets I longed for to my hungering heart denied,
The staff that broke and failed me when I walked in the way of pride;
The tinsel joys withheld that so content might still be mine,
The help refused that might have made me loose my hand from Thine;
The light withdrawn that I might not see the dangers of my way;
For what Thou hast not given, I thank Thee, Lord, today.
Flint’s Best-Loved Poems
N.J. Hiebert - 7609
October 19
THE SON REPUDIATED
And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren,
that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colours that was on him;
and they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
And they sat down to eat bread . . .” Genesis 37:23-24
The father had distinguished him by a coat of many colours, the brethren
degrade by stripping him.
So on many illustrious occasions when Christ is distinguished above all others by some special display of divine power, wisdom and grace, man will at once strip Him of His coat of many colours and seek to degrade Him to the level of a mere man by asking, “is not this the carpenter’s son,” or “Is not this the carpenter?”
As in the case of Joseph, the stripping was only the prelude to the pit, so with Christ,
the rejection of every witness to His glory, led man at last with
wicked hands to deliver Him to death.
Hamilton Smith
N.J. Hiebert - 7610
October 20
SOARING WITH SERENITY
We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about
in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of
Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
Probably the thing that impresses anyone who has watched eagles soaring the most is the apparent ease and utter serenity with which they fly. Of course this would be impossible without the skill that comes from long practice.
The demands made upon the Christian who would lead a triumphant and serene life are no less exacting. The believer will often grow weary. He or she will be tempted to relax vigilance. One will be impulsive and prone to a faltering up-and-down experience.
Like a young eagle, one will do a good deal of flapping and and flopping around before he or she has mastered the art of continuous soaring. In fact, one might become quite exhausted and downcast on occasion from trying so hard to fly on one’s own strength instead of just resting on God’s faithfulness.
Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller
N.J. Hiebert - 7611
October 21
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