He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him.
Luke 8:25
Even. Is there anything you find quite impossible to command in your circumstances or character? Something as deaf to command as the winds and the water? Something that has baffled you a thousand times, and appears as if it would win in the end? Do not despair. Better hath He been for years than thy fears. Better can He be, far better. He can command even this that seems as if it would not be commanded. Let that "even" be a comfort to you. "He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39).
Is there one who is facing something that seems impossible? Does the appointed burden feel too heavy to be carried? The disappointment too sharp to be welcomed? The duty too toilsome to be performed with joy? You have not to do it in your unaided strength: it is God who is all the while supplying the impulse, giving you the power to resolve, the strength to perform, the execution of His good pleasure. And so, I am equal to every lot through the help of Him who gives me inward strength. (Philippians 4:13)
And here is another beautiful word written down long, long ago for us: "Thy God hath commanded thy strength." (Psalm 68:28) So we need never be weak. We can be sure that every day strength is sent forth for us. So we need never be defeated, but can always be strong in the strength of our mighty God.
All the tremendous forces of Nature in the world today are at the call of our God, and are only a faint shadow of the spiritual power that is His, and that He is ready to put forth for us. Is it not amazing? How utterly foolish it is to plead weakness when we, even we, may (if we will) move into the stream of that power. Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8437
April 1
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion (fellowship) of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
1 Corinthians 10:16,17
A young man in New Guinea who had been away to school and had gotten a good education after his conversion, returned to his own island and to his own village. On the Lord's Day the group of missionaries and believers were gathered together to observe the Lord's Supper.
As this young man sat by one of the older missionaries, the missionary recognized that a sudden tremor had passed through the young man's body and that he had laid his hand upon the arm of the other in a way that indicated he was under a great nervous strain. Then in a moment all was quiet again. The missionary whispered, "What was it that troubled you?"
"Ah," the young man said, "it is all right. But the man who just came in killed and ate the body of my father. And now he has come in to remember the Lord with us. At first I was so shocked to see the murderer of my own father sit down with us at the table of the Lord, I didn't know whether I could endure it. But it is all right now. He is washed in the same precious blood." And so together they had communion. Does the world know anything of this? It is a marvellous thing, the work of the blessed Holy Spirit of God.
I think of Saul of Tarsus seated there with that little group of believers around him. And I think of them looking over and saying, "That is the man that arrested my father. That is the man that threw my mother into prison. That is the man that tried to make me blaspheme the name of the Lord Jesus. There he sits, a humble, contrite believer, receiving the bread and the wine in commemoration of the Lord who died." What a wonderful fellowship! H. A. Ironside
N.J. Hiebert - 8438
April 2
He (a certain Samaritan) set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. (Luke 10:33,34)
A certain man went down from Jerusalem, to Jericho, the city of the curse. But on the way he fell among thieves, who left him naked and wounded and half dead. A priest and a Levite passed by, but did nothing to help the wretched man. Then came "a certain Samaritan", and as he journeyed, he came where he was; and he had compassion on him, and went right down into the ditch with him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. I am sure he clothed him with his own clothes and he put him on his own beast, and he took him to an inn.
Will there be room for him in this inn? Yes, Thank God, there is room, abundance of room, for him: for the Greek name of this inn is pan-docheion: 'the place that receives all.' Not one has ever been turned away from this inn.
Poverty, wretchedness, sin will never keep a person outside the inn called 'Pan-docheion.' It is God's own inn. Never yet has an applicant been told there is 'no room.' It 'receives all'. "Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out," (John 6:37) is inscribed over that door.
And this inn has a "Host," and the Spirit of God tells us His name: "Pan-docheus": "The person who receives all." And the Samaritan only stayed a short time, for He went away the next day; but before He left, He promised to come back, and in the meantime, He left orders with the "Host": to take care of this poor man. He left Him two pence, but added, Whatsoever Thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay Thee. Luke 10:35.
Since He only paid "two pence" the poor man knew that his good Friend meant to come again soon; and I am sure he kept watching down the road to see if He was coming. "Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, Come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20). Hid Treasures - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8439
April 3
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
THE KING AND QUEEN OF ENGLAND
King George VI and the Queen of England were visiting President and Mrs. Roosevelt in the White House. The Queen later became known to us as the Queen Mother after her husband passed away and her daughter Elizabeth ascended the throne. The Queen mother lived to be 101, passing away in 2002.
On that particular visit to the United States, a well-known Native American singer, Chief Whitefeather, was invited to sing for the king and queen and President and Mrs. Roosevelt. After singing two operatic arias, for which his small audience showed great appreciation, the chief asked, "May I sing something from deep within my heart?"
Soon they were hearing the beautiful words of "I'd Rather Have Jesus." When he finished, in the silence of the moment, the queen said to him, "This song bespeaks the sentiment of my heart--and that of my husband."
The inspiring and challenging words of this hymn, written by Rhea F. Miller, so influenced twenty-three year-old George Beverly Shea that they determined the direction of his entire life. As he began to compose a melody for these moving lines, he decided to devote his singing talents to God's glory alone.
Growing up with devoted Christian parents, Bev was encouraged to use his fine singing voice as his career. One Sunday as Bev went to the family piano to prepare a song he found there the poem "I'd Rather Have Jesus." His mother, who collected beautiful quotations and literary selections, had begun to leave some of them around the house for her son to read, hoping to guide him spiritually. Bev was deeply moved with the challenging message of this text. Immediately he began to compose the music for the lines and used the song the same day.
I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand.
I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause; I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than world-wide fame; I'd rather be true to His holy name.
He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He's sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He's all than my hungering spirit needs, I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead.
CHORUS:
Than to to be the king of a vast domain and be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything this world affords today.
N.J. Hiebert - 8440
April 4
And the (thief) said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:42,43
There is not a more striking instance of grace--the grace of Christ--in all Scripture, than in the case of the dying robber. In all the pages of the Word of God you cannot find anything more touching, or more expressive, of the blessed grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, than the way in which He deals with this man; for every person must admit it was a desperate case.
He was a pest on earth, and he certainly was not fit for heaven. His faults nailed him to the tree. He was a man whose history was of such a character, that he was going out of the world in ignominy and shame, a sinner in his sins, to meet God. He was within six hours of his death, and Christ met him, and saved him.
Has He met you yet? Has He saved you yet? Perhaps--nobody knows--you may be within six hours of your death. Who can tell? I am not a prophet, but I am a physician, and I have in my day seen many a healthy man, and know that he has been cut off in less than six hours. If you have never met that robber's Saviour, if you have never met my Saviour, do not let the few minutes that we shall spend together pass without your coming into contact with Him now. Seekers of light - W. T. P. Wolston, MD
Behold the Saviour at the door! He gently knocks--has knocked before;
Has waited long--is waiting still: You use no other friend so ill.
Admit Him, ere His anger burn, lest He depart and n'er return;
Admit Him or the hour's at hand when at His door denied you'll stand.
REFRAIN Open the door, He'll enter in,
And and sup with you , and you with Him. Joseph Grigg
N.J. Hiebert - 8441
April 5
But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart. Luke 2:19 And they remembered His words. Luke 24:8
The only writing of our Lord was with His finger, and that in the loose sand of the ground. (John 8:6) Other men who spoke words acclaimed by their fellows wrote in books to preserve to themselves a perpetual memorial of literary glory. Not so the Son of God. When He expired, forsaken on the cross, His words only remained sown on the hearts of men. There the Holy Spirit, like the sun and the rain, made them bear fruit after His resurrection.
When the Lord Jesus died, His works were doubted; His disciples seemed hopeless, and His words appeared lost, like the seed of the harvest, in the cold ground during the frozen winter. Peter had said, "Thou hast the words of eternal life," (John 6:68) but those words were not written, and now Peter has denied Him in the presence of His enemies.
The officers testified, "Never man spake like this man." (John 7:46) but now they have seen Him answering not a word, "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth." (Isaiah 53:7). All His friends were disappointed, and despaired when He was crucified. Who now would care about His words? The tree is cut down; how can it now bear any fruit? No other person's words have been so cherished as the words of the Lord Jesus; no other person's words would be remembered at all, were they not written when he was living.
Imperishable words! Here then is one of the wonders of words of Christ. His words are indestructible. He said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away" (Mathew 24:35). Millions of people lived when He lived. Countless millions had lived and died before Him. How very few of them spoke words that have survived the centuries! But of Him they said, "How knoweth this man letters, having never leaned?" (John 7:15)
Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake
N.J. Hebert - 8442
April 6
Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." Matthew 7:24,25.
The wise man is the believer whose life is built upon the Rock, "Christ".
Looking at the trees at timberline we see a dimension to their growth not often recognized by the casual passerby.
It is the rare and elegant quality of the actual wood produced within the wind-tossed trees. Its grain is of exquisite texture interspersed with whorls and curving lines of unusual gracefulness. The stresses and strains of being tossed and twisted by the wind and sleet and deep snows of winter produce an extra flow of resins in the tree. Not only does this give the fibres a remarkable tight-grained texture but it gives off also an exquisite fragrance.
An expert violin maker, who is a master craftsman, tells me that he spends weeks each summer searching for special trees above timberline. From these he takes his choicest materials to create musical instruments of the finest quality and tone.
Wood produced in the high and tough terrain above the usual timber bears within it a rare timbre and lovely resonance not found in ordinary lumber cut at lower elevations. The fury of storms, the shortness of the growing season, the wrenching of the winds, the strain of survival in such an austere setting--all these combine to produce some of the toughest, choicest, most wondrous wood in all the world. Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller
Make us Thy mountaineers; we would not linger on the lower slope.
Fill us afresh with hope, Thou God of hope, that undefeated,
We may climb the hill, as seeing Him who is invisible. Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 8443
April 7
" . . . For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name." Revelation 3:8
A preacher was walking along Madison Square, New York, where a number of street meetings can always be found in session. He came across a group of extraordinary size, to which a speaker, mounted on a box, was airing his religious views. He was shouting at the top of his voice: "There is no God!--and there never was a God!" I dare anyone here to stand up on this box and prove that there is a God!"
The speaker flung the taunt at the crowd: "God hasn't a friend among you!" A fresh young voice rang out: "YES, HE HAS!" A young lad elbowing his way through the center of the throng was welcomed by his challenger and asked to state his proofs.
The young lad, throwing back his head and straightening his shoulders, began: "This man here says that there ain't no God. He tells an untruth! I know there IS a God! He says that God hasn't a friend in this crowd. He tells an untruth! I am a friend of God! He says that no one can prove that there is a God. Again, he tells an untruth, and I can prove it. God is in here right now," he said as he put his hand on his heart; "HE LIVES! He lives in ME! I hear His voice saying to me right now, 'Don't let that man put such lies over on this crowd!' "
It was truly a dramatic scene! In one solitary moment the leadership had passed from this blatant unbeliever to the boy of faith and vision! The infidel orator was unable recapture his crowd.
Someone in the crowd started to sing the old familiar hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." The preacher said, "It swelled from lip to lip, until a mighty chorus rolled up agains the great tower, and broke in a benediction upon every heart!"
Mountain Trailways for Youth.
N.J. Hiebert - 8444
April 8
And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull . . . and they crucified Him. Mark 15:22,25
Golgotha was the place where the death penalty was usually carried out. The Romans called it Calvary-- ("The place of a skull"). Here an alleged criminal named Jesus was crucified. Who was He? He was the Creator! (Colossians 1:16), the Son of God.
At about age 30, He began His public ministry. That is when all His troubles with the Jewish religious authorities began--His teaching and His claims for Himself put Him on a collision course with them. They had Him arrested and, after a mock court, turned Him over to the Roman authorities to be crucified--they themselves did not have the authority to do this. The Roman judge found Him not guilty, but then folded under pressure and turned Him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:20,26; Luke 23;21-25)
Who is to blame for this greatest crime ever committed? Well, the religious leaders and the people were certainly to blame; the Roman authorities and soldiers were to blame because they actually crucified Him, an innocent Man; but most of all, we are guilty! It was our sins that caused Him to be nailed to the cross-- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." (1 Peter 3:18). But death and the grave could not hold Him--HE AROSE!
And, He will come back again to take all the redeemed to spend eternity with Him. God has turned the worst crime ever committed into a way of blessing for all who will come to Him! R. Salcido
My conscience felt and owned the guilt, and plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins His blood had spilt and helped to nail Him there. . . . Jesus said:
This blood is for your ransom paid, I died that you may live. John Newton
N.J. Hiebert - 8445
April 9
". . . Henceforth . . . unto Him, . . . " 2 Corinthians 5:15
In the cemetery of an English town there is a tombstone which attracts the attention of many visitors. It marks the grave where the celebrated Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, known as the Swedish Nightingale, was buried, and upon the stone is the text, "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Job 19:25
Jenny Lind was born 1820. When only seventeen she came from her native land, and her lovely voice took the concert-loving people by storm. Queen Victoria often was found in her audience and signally honoured "the girl with a marvellous voice,"as she was called, by throwing to her a bouquet of flowers.
Jenny Lind received honour, and gifts were showered upon her from all sides. Wealth poured in, but her success did not make her proud as is so often the case, and she humbly wrote to a friend in later years, "My unceasing prayer is that what I gave others may continue to live on through eternity and that the Giver of the gift and not the creature to whom He lent it may be acknowledged."
Nothing is more astonishing about the career of Jenny Lind than its comparative shortness. She sang in the English opera for only two years and retired in five years after her first appearance in London. To many it would seem strange circumstances which led a young girl to abandon such a promising career and retire to the quietness of an English country home.
On one occasion she sat on the seashore, reading a Bible, when one who greatly admired her beautiful voice saw her and asked, "How is it, madam, that you abandoned the stage at the very height of your success?" Jenny Lind replied: "When every day it made me think less of this"--laying her hand upon the open Bible, "what else could I do?" What a beautiful answer and how convincing! It was the knowledge of a Saviour's love which led her to abandon what the world counts of such value--riches, honour and popularity. Selected
N.J. Hiebert - 8446
April 10
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice . . . Romans 12:1
"By the mercies of God." What does that mean? It is like this. One evening you are walking quietly home from your place of business. Suddenly the fire alarm rings out; your heart leaps with fear as the thought of home and loved ones flashes upon you. As you near home your worst fears are realized: your house is in flames. You rush thither and find that your wife and children have been saved, except for one little one who is still in the house. The next instance a brave fireman hurries past and dashing into the burning house, finds his way to the little one, carries her out through the flames and smoke, and puts her in your arms--safe.
Weeks go by, and then one day this same brave man comes to you and showing his hands, says, "Behold my love and mercies to you. See these burned and blistered hands; see this scarred face, and these scorched feet. I am in need. I want help. I beseech you, by my mercies to your child, that you help me." There is nothing in the world you would not give to that man.
Even so, Jesus Christ, our loving Lord, stands here tonight. He stretches forth His hands, pierced with cruel nails for you and me. He points to the wound in His side, made by the blood-thirsty spear. He shows you the scars on His forehead, made by the crown of thorns. He says, "My child, behold, My mercies to you. I saved you from the guilt of sin; I brought you from death unto life; I gave you the Spirit of God.
Some day I will glorify your body and will make you to sit down with Me on My throne. My child, by My mercies, I beseech you." You say, "Lord, what do you want from me?" He answers, "I want you for My service. I beseech you, by My mercies to you, give your life to Me."
James McConkey
N.J. Hiebert - 8447
April 11
Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Jonah 1:3
It is always going down when we seek to leave the Lord. This was Jonah's first outward step down, but it was by no means his last. The outward step is generally preceded by an inward or spiritual step down. It is easier to go down than to go up, whether it be for body or soul. Beware dear fellow-Christian, when the path begins to go downward, when the travel is easy, and there is no hill to climb! We can be sure then that we have got on the wrong road.
Notice, too, that apparently with no difficulty or delay, he "found a ship going to Tarshish." Perhaps he thought, "this is quite providential! This is surely a sign that I am being prospered in my way." It is wonderful how easy the devil makes our downward pathway. He is always ready to provide all we need to get away from the Lord. Do not let us think for a moment that because the downward road is an easy one, therefore it must be right. The ship already "going to Tarshish" was absolutely no proof that God had "prepared " it. Quite the reverse was the truth, and we ever need to bear in mind that things made ready to our hand to help us to do our own will, are by no means prepared for us by God, but very possibly prepared for us by the devil. "So he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of Jehovah."
"So he paid the fare thereof." A terribly high fare it must have been for that long journey. The Lord asks, "Who goeth a warfare at any time at his own charges" (1 Corinthians 9:7). If we are going in the service of the Lord, we may be quite sure that He will see about "the fare;" but if we are going to please ourselves, or in the service of the devil, "the fare" must be paid!
Friends, how very costly is that fare at times! There is many a man who has refused the call of God, and turned to his own way and "the fare" has been his peace of mind, the rest of heart that the Lord alone can give as we bear His yoke and perhaps the eternal loss of family, comfort and possessions. All these cannot begin to make up for the price we had to pay for "the fare". It is a costly thing to disobey God.
The devil takes but he does not give, and the only wages he pays is death. (Romans 6:23) His service is bad, his "fares" are the highest, and his wages are the worst: yet strange to say, he always has a mighty following.
Jonah - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 8448
April 12
John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this Man were true. John 10:41
You may be very discontented with yourself. You are no genius, have no brilliant gifts, and are inconspicuous for any special faculty. Mediocrity is the law of your existence. Your days are remarkable for nothing but sameness and insipidity. Yet you may live a great life.
John did no miracle, but Jesus said that among those born of women there had not appeared a greater than he. (Luke 7:28)
John's main business was to bear witness to the Light, and this may be yours and mine. John was content to be only a voice, if men would think of Christ. (John 1:23)
Be willing to be only a voice, heard but not seen; a mirror whose surface is lost to view, because it reflects the dazzling glory of the sun; a breeze that springs up just before daylight, and says "The dawn! the dawn!" and then dies away.
Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.
We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting stream-lets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say: "He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ, which led me to know Him for myself." George Matheson.
N.J. Hiebert - 8449
April 13
He [God] that spared not His own Son [Jesus], but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32
Fiorello H. La Guardia was the mayor of New York City from 1933 to to 1945. Previously he had served in the United States Congress. He was known as a man of honesty and integrity. His tenure as mayor was marked by a constant fight against various forms of corruption which plagued New York City.
Mayor La Guardia made a habit of making unannounced visits to night courts which were held during those years in the city. One of the poorest wards of the city had a reputation of judicial corruption, specially the night courts. One night in 1935 he unexpectedly appeared at a night court in that impoverished ward of the city. A news reporter who happened to be there phoned others and before long the court room was filled with curious spectators.
Mayor La Guardia dismissed the night court judge for that evening and took over the bench. The cases were routine and the 'judge' passed fair and legal judicial rulings in each case that came before him.
During the course of the night court one case came up which involved an elderly woman. She had been caught stealing bread to feed her grandchildren. The courtroom waited in expectancy--knowing well the kind heart of the mayor, all wondered what sentence he would pass on the guilty old grandmother.
Weeping, she explained to him that she was in charge of caring for her grandchildren. She had run out of money, they were hungry and in desperation she had stolen the bread in order to give them a little food. Mayor La Guardia listened sympathetically, but when she was done speaking said, "I'm very sorry ma'am, but I still have to punish you for stealing. Your sentence is ten dollars or ten days in jail." The elderly lady broke down sobbing as he spoke.
Mayor La Guardia pulled out his billfold, picked up his hat and placed a $10 bill in it. Handing it to the court clerk he then 'fined' everyone in the packed courtroom .50 cents for "living in a city where a person has to steal bread so her grandchildren can eat." His hat was passed around the room and the grandmother was able to leave with her fine paid and with an additional $47.50 to provide for her family. The Christian Shepherd - August 2011
N.J. Hiebert - 8450
April 14
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