Gems from September 1- 10, 2020

September 1

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.  Titus 2:13

Would you not have your hope strong?  Then keep thy conscience pure.  Thou canst not defile one, without weakening the other.  Living godly in this present world, and looking for the blessed hope laid  up for us in the other, are both conjoined.    Can a bird fly, when one of its wings is broken?  Faith and a good conscience are hope's two wings; if, therefore, thou hast wounded thy conscience by any sin, repent, that so thou mayest exercise faith for the pardon of it, and redeem thy hope.

If a Jew had pawned his bedclothes, God provided mercifully, that it should be restored before night; "For that is his covering; wherein shall he sleep?"  (Exodus 22:27).  Truly, hope is the saint's covering, wherein he wraps himself, when he lays his body down to sleep in the grave: "My flesh also shall rest in hope" (Psalm 16:9).  A sad going to the grave he hath, who hath no hope of a resurrection to life.

Hope is the handkerchief that God puts into His people's hands, to wipe the tears from their eyes, which their present troubles, and long stay of expected mercies, draw from them "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy.  And there is hope in thine end." (Jeremiah 31:16-17).

"The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ" (2 Thessalonians 3:5).  It is a way you will never find, a work you will never be able to do of yourselves thus to wait patiently till Christ come, "The Lord" therefore, "direct your heart's" into it.  Love Him, and you will wait for Him. "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 21. 
The Christian in complete armour - William Gurnall  (1617-1679)   

N.J. Hiebert - 8226

September 2

We love Him, because He first loved us.  1 John 4:19

The spiritual depth of "My Jesus I Love Thee" is made all the more remarkable by the knowledge that it was written by a teenager.  William Ralph Featherstone of Montreal, Canada, is thought to have written these lines of heart felt gratitude to Christ at the time of his conversion when only sixteen.  He sent the poem to his aunt in Los Angeles, who then sent it to England, where it appeared in The London Hymnbook of 1864.  How marvellous are the workings of God in bringing together expressions such as these, providing a hymn that has been used in a remarkable way for more than a century to direct Christians to a deeper relationship with their Lord.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine -
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer my Saviour art Thou:
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow:
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I'll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou givest me breath;
And say when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,
"If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, 'tis now."

In mansions of glory and endless delight,
I'll ever adore Thee in heaven so bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow,
"If ever I loved Thee, My Jesus, 'tis now."
William Ralph Featherstone  (1846-1873)

N.J. Hiebert - 8227       

September 3

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:3-4

No words are more glorious than these, "Christ came"  (Romans 9:5).  "Christ both died, and rose, and revived"  (Romans 14:9).  This is the grandest proclamation that ever has been made in human language.  These stupendous facts will be the wonder of all holy intelligences forever.

- That the great God should become a man,
- Should be charged  with the dreadful sins of men,
- Should take on Himself not merely the matter of the results of sins, but even those sins themselves.

This is the foundation and the fullness of the gospel.  "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures." 

- May His cross be our glory.
- May His precious blood be our confidence and joy.
- May His conscious presence be our most coveted possession.
- May His Word strengthen our faith.
- May His coming again be our daily hope and expectation. 

"Calvary, O Calvary!  Mercy's vast unfathomed sea;
Love, eternal love to me; Saviour, we adore Thee."  

The death of Christ was the great revelation of God.  The work of the cross infinitely transcends even the whole work of creation.  Calvary was the master stroke of victory, assuring defeat both final and forever to all the mighty projects of Satan and his kingdom of darkness.  The blood of Christ brings peace to our souls, and it will eventually bring peace founded upon righteousness in heaven and on earth.    Our Lord Jesus Christ a Plant of Renown 

N.J. Hiebert - 8228 

September 4

THINE

I am Thine . . .  Psalm 119:94

This is a wonderful stone for the sling of faith.  It will slay any Goliath of Temptation, if we only sling it out boldly and determinately at him.

When self tempts us (and we know how often that is), let it be met with "not your own" (1 Corinthians 6:19), and then look straight away to Jesus with "I am Thine."

If the world tries some lure, old or new, remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said: "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; . . . but I have chosen you out of the world;" and lest the world should claim us as "his own", look away to Jesus, and say, "I am Thine."

Is it sin, subtle and strong and secret, that claims our obedience?  Acknowledge that "ye were the servants of sin;"  (Romans 6:17-18)  but now, being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness," and conquer with the faith-shout, "I am Thine!"       

Is it a terrible hand-to-hand fight with Satan himself, making a desperate effort to reassert his old power?  Tell the prince of this world that he hath nothing in Jesus, and that you are "in Him that is true," (1 John 5:20) a member of His body, His very own; and see if he is not forced to flee at the sound of your confident "I am Thine!"
Royal Bounty

I am Thine O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee.
Fanny J. Crosby

N.J. Hiebert - 8229

September 5

And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.    
Isaiah 30:21

This is the season when migratory birds are winging their way toward warmer climates.  What is it that prompts them to fly for hundreds of miles each year to the balmy southland and to return again in the springtime to the exact spot which they left in the autumn?

For want of a better term, we call it instinct.  One authority states that the word means "inward impulse"; "a natural propensity that incites animals to the actions that are essential to their existence and development"; or, "a propensity prior to experience and independent of instructions."

The authorities in charge of one of the oldest missions on the Pacific Coast state the swallows, which make their homes in the walls of this historic institution, migrate with the utmost regularity.  During a record of sixty-eight years, it is said they have never been a day late or early in their arrival at this mission.  One press reporter affirms that "For the first time in the known mission history, the swallows were several hours late in arriving."  This was supposed to have been due to a storm at sea.

How can man doubt that there is an all-wise God who has placed within these tiny creatures such mysterious powers?  It is only because of the taint of sin and deception of Satan that men do not obey a higher instinct and seek protection and rest "under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1).     Mountain Trailways 

"I like to watch the swallow turn its face to the ocean and set fearlessly over the waters.  If I had no other proof of lands beyond the sea, the instinct of the swallow would satisfy me."   F. W. Boreham

N.J. Hiebert - 8230

September 6

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles".  Isaiah 40:31

In 1909 Bleriot, the aviator, was obliged to use crutches as the result of an accident, and, when mounting his plane to make the flight across the English channel, remarked to his companions, "I cannot walk, but I can fly."

"I cannot walk, but I can fly;" no roof can house me from the stars,
No dwelling pen me in its bounds, nor keep me fast with locks and bars;
No narrow room my thoughts can cage, no fetters hold my roving mind;
From these four walls that shut me in my soaring soul a way can find.

With books and pictures at my side all lands, all ages, are my own;
I dwell among the master minds, the best and greatest earth has known;
I flee to strange and storied scenes of long ago and far away,
And roam where saints and heroes trod in Time's forgotten Yesterday.

With every wandering butterfly or singing bird on vagrant wing
My fancy takes the airy trail, and follows it adventuring,
Higher than their highest flight, where cloud-ships drift and star-beams shine,
I rise on tireless pinions fleet, and all the realms of space are mine.

From out the paling sunset skies the Twilight Angels come to me
On dusky wings to bear me swift to shadowy haunts of Memory
Where 'mid the gardens and the graves, I wander, smiling through my tears,
With all the dear and deathless dead, the loved and lost of vanished years.

And when the long, long day is done, I clasp the dearest Book of all
And through the dim, sweet silences I hear my Father's accents fall;
Then, though in chains, yet am I free. Beyond the pressure of my care,
Above Earth's night my spirit mounts on eagle wings of faith and prayer.
Annie Johnson Flint

N.J. Hiebert - 8231

September 7

Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.  (Hebrews 12:2)

Suppose you give a piece of land to another person.  You give it up, then and there, entirely to that other; it is no longer in your own possession; you no longer dig and sow, plant and reap, at your discretion or for your own profit.  His occupation of it is total; no other has any right to an inch of it; it is his affair now what crops to arrange for and how to make the most of it.

But his practical occupation of it may not appear all at once.  There may be wasteland which he will take into full cultivation only by degrees, space wasted for want of draining or by over-fencing, and odd corners lost for want of enclosing; fields yielding smaller returns than they might, because of hedges too wide and shady, and trees too many and spreading, and strips of good soil trampled into uselessness for want of defined paths.

Just so is it with our lives.  The transaction of, so to speak, turning them over to God is definite and complete.  But then begins the practical development of consecration and here He leads on "softly, according as the children be able to endure." (Genesis 33:14).  

We have not a notion what an amount of waste of power there has been in our lives and it never occurred to us what good fruit might be grown in our straggling hedges, nor how the shade of our trees has been keeping the sun from the scanty crops.

And so, season by season, we shall be sometimes not a little startled, yet always very glad, as we find that bit by bit the Master shows how much more may be made of our ground, how much more He is able to make of it than we did; and we shall be willing to work under Him and do exactly what He points out, even if it comes to cutting down a shady tree or clearing out a ditch full of pretty weeds and wild flowers.   Kept for the Master's Use - Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert  - 8232

September 8

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

How serious are we in our reading and study of God's Word? 
- Do we diligently "search the scriptures"? 
- Do we "seek . . . out the book of the Lord, and read"?
- Do we "study to show [ourselves] approved unto God . . . rightly dividing the Word of truth?"

God says that "if thou wilt receive My words, and hide My commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding . . .if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

God says to us, "Receive My words. . . hide My commandments . . .incline thine ear . . .apply thine heart."

To those who do so is the promise "then shalt thou understand."  Can we say with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law!  It is my meditation all the day.

"I opened my mouth and panted: for I longed for thy commandments." And thus shall we testify of God's Statutes, that "more to be desired are they than gold . . . sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb."

Is God's Word precious to your heart?  Do you love it above fine gold?
Does it fill your heart with gladness, with hope and with peace untold? 
Comfort of the Scriptures

John 5:39 ~ Isaiah 34:16 ~ Proverbs 2:1-6 ~ Psalm 119:97 ~ Psalm 119:131 ~ Psalm 19:10

N.J. Hiebert - 8233

September 9

My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.   Proverbs 1:10

Shun the man who tempts.  Avoid the woman who allures to evil.  A ship or a boat laden with gunpowder hoists a red flag, and other vessels give her a very wide berth.  Do the same in respect of moral peril.  Never run into danger.

There was a boy named Robert, whose father had for some time noticed a change for the worse in his conduct.  One day he saw him with a number of bad boys.  This suggested to him the cause. 

That evening he brought in from the garden six beautiful apples, put them on a plate, and gave them to Robert.  He was thankful for his father's kindness.  "Now", said his father, "you must lay them aside for a few days to ripen."

Just as he was putting them away his father laid on the plate a seventh apple, which was much decayed, and desired him to allow it to remain there.

"But the rotten one will spoil the others."  "Oh, do you think so?  Why should not the first apples make the bad one good?"  And with these words he went out of the room. 

The lad understood it all; no interpreter was required; he took the wise hint, and often it was helpful to him in resisting sin.  

The incident is apparent, but impressive.  Lay it to heart, young friends.  Do sinners entice?  "Refrain thy foot from their path, walk not thou in the way with them." (Proverbs 1:15).  Stories on the Book of Proverbs - J. L. Nye

Those who are young, O God, make them thine own;
Hear from Thy blest abode, make them Thine own;
Now in their early days, turn them to Thy blest ways,
Save from the giddy maze, make them Thine own.  A Midlane

N.J. Hiebert - 8234

September 10

Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou Me?   John 18:23 

No one is able to attribute evil words to the Lord Jesus.  Even when officers were sent to arrest Him, they returned empty-handed, excusing themselves with the assertion "Never man spake like this Man"  (John 7:46).   

The few words that Christ uttered at His trials before both Jews and Gentiles were peerless indicators of His innocence. 

What is more, His statements from the cross manifested divine love, mercy, and holiness (in contrast to the reviling spectators and the cursing malefactors).

The Father registered His verdict on His Son's words and works by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him to His own right hand  (Acts 2:33,36).
K. R. Keyser

Thy lips the Father's name to us reveal;
What burning power in all Thy words we feel,
When to our raptured hearts we hear Thee tell
The heavenly glories which Thou knowest  so well.

That precious stream of water and of blood
Which from Thy pierced side so freely flowed,
Has put away our sins of scarlet dye,
Washed us from every stain, and brought us nigh.
J. G. Deck

N.J. Hiebert - 8235  

September 11

LEARN THE TRUTH ABOUT THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.  2 Corinthians 2:11

The devil is declared in the Scriptures to be an enemy of God and of all men.  Because he is a spirit he is able to "walk up and down in the earth" at his pleasure.  Job 1:7

While we must not underestimate the strength of our foe, we must at the same time recognize that we need not live in constant fear of him!  If he cannot make skeptics of us he will make us devil-conscious and thus throw a permanent shadow across our lives, for there is but a hairline between truth and superstition.

We should learn the truth about the enemy, but we must stand bravely against every superstitious notion he would introduce about himself.  The truth will set us free but superstition will enslave us!

The scriptural way to see things is to set the Lord always before us, put Christ in the center of our vision; and if Satan is lurking around he will appear on the margin only and be seen as but a shadow on the edge of the brightness.  It is always wrong to invert this - to set Satan in the focus of our vision and push God out to the margin.  Nothing but tragedy can come from such inversion!

The best way to keep the enemy out is to keep Christ in!  The sheep need not be terrified by the wolf; they have but to stay close to the shepherd.  The instructed Christian whose faculties have been developed by the Word and the Spirit will practice the presence of God moment by moment!
Renewed Day By Day - A. W. Tozer

N.J. Hiebert - 8236

September 12