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
God hath showed Pharaoh what He is about to do. Genesis 41:25
The wise men of Egypt doubtless had their theories as to the future of Egypt, and shaped their policies and made their plans in accordance with their own ideas--even as today the leaders of this world, whether political, religious, intellectual, capitalist, or labour, have their various theories of future government of the world. But from the most exalted imperialist through all shades of thought to the most degraded Bolshevist, there is one thing in common--all the theories of men leave God out of God's world.
Men will not own God as "the God of heaven and earth." God is welcome to heaven, about which man knows nothing and cares less, but as for earth, the centre of all man's affections, it must be governed according to man's ideals, an ideal which enthrones the will of man as supreme to the total exclusion of God. Nevertheless, God has His plans for the future government of the world, and of these plans He has not left us in ignorance. In Pharaoh's day, "He showed Pharaoh by a dream what He was about to do."
God was going to govern Egypt by one who had been rejected by his brethren, cast out, and forgotten by the world. And God has disclosed to us that according to His good pleasure He has purposed to head up all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth.
The One, who when He entered the world, found "no room" even in a wayside inn, who, as he passed through it, was "as a stranger in the land" and a "wayfaring man" with not where to lay His head, who when He went out of the world was nailed to a cross between two thieves, is the One of whom God has decreed, "The government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of peace. (Isaiah 9:6). Hamilton Smith
N.J. Hiebert - 8451
April 15
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9
What do we know of the riches of our Lord Jesus Christ? Except that we have the Word of God, we would not be able to form a realistic opinion of His riches. But as we turn to the only reliable source for information, we are amazed at what we find. In the book of Job, probably the oldest book of the Bible, God interviews Job.
God asked Job rhetorical questions. By asking these questions, the answer is obvious. For example in Job 38:4: "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?" Revelation 4:11: "Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Psalm 50:10: "For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills." Haggai 2:8: "The silver is mine, and the gold is Mine, saith the LORD of hosts."After Job had heard God speaking to him, he was humbled and said, "I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:6)
It is becoming for us to take a low place as we consider the surpassing riches of the Lord Jesus and then hear the words of the apostle, "Yet for your sakes He became poor" (2 Corinthians 8:9). "The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" in the world He had created. On another occasion He said, "Show Me a penny," for He had none of His own. Then after being taken from the cross, He was buried in a rich man's tomb (Matthew 8:20, 27:52,60).
The Lord of glory stooped down to such great depths in search for a goodly pearl, and when He found it He sold all that He possessed in order to purchase the pearl of great price (Matthew 13:46). We have been made rich beyond measure according to His estimate, for "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32) Jacob Redekop
N.J. Hiebert - 8452
April 16
RICH AND HEALTHY
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2
John is not conditioning Gaius' prosperity and health on the state of his soul, but rather is assuming his soul's prosperity as a fact. Nevertheless, it is true that God wants no man to be richer than his soul, and the spiritual condition is the true gauge of a man's real success. No man with a sick soul is really prosperous. Even the medical world stresses as never before the connection between health and faith in God.
Prosperity, health, and spirituality are here joined, and well they may be. The man who is right with God and men, is in a fair way to being in good health. Even if the outer man decay, the inner man is renewed from day to day. And a changed body is guaranteed as part of his salvation. (Philippians 3:21). And prosperity is assured, for whatsoever the righteous man doeth shall prosper. (Psalm 1:3).
The man who is rich toward God is truly rich, and he who is healthy in his soul is truly healthy. Along with it, we shall have such material prosperity and physical health as we need--and why should we want more? (Luke 12:21).
Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 8453
April 17
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me. John 11:41,42
This is a very strange and unusual order. Lazarus is still in the grave, and the thanksgiving precedes the miracle of resurrection. I thought that the thanksgiving would have risen when the great deed had been wrought, and Lazarus was restored to life again.
But Jesus gave thanks for that which He was about to receive. The gratitude breaks forth before the bounty has arrived, in the assurance that it is certainly on the way. The song of victory is sung before the battle has been fought. It is the sower who is singing the song of the harvest home. It is thanksgiving before the miracle!
We think of announcing a victory-psalm when the crusaders are just starting out for the field? Where can we hear the grateful song for the answer which has not yet been received? And after all, there is nothing strange or forced, or unreasonable in the Master's order.
Praise is really the most vital preparatory ministry to the working of the miracles. Miracles are wrought by spiritual power. Spiritual power is always proportioned to our faith. Dr. Jowett
N.J. Hiebert - 8454
April 18
My peace I give unto you. John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you" is much; "My peace I give unto you" is more. The added word tells the fathomless marvel of the gift--"My peace". Not merely "peace with God;" Christ has made that by the blood of His cross, being justified by faith we have it through HIm. But after we are thus reconciled, the enmity and the separation being ended, Jesus has a gift for us from His own treasures; and this is its special and wonderful value, it is His very own.
How we value a gift which was the giver's own possession! What a special token of intimate friendship we feel it to be! To others we give what we have made or purchased; it is only to very near and dear ones that we give what has been our own personal enjoyment or use. And so Jesus gives us not only peace made and peace purchased, but a share in His very own peace,--divine, eternal, incomprehensible peace,--which dwells in His own heart as God, and which shone in splendour of calmness through His life as Man. No wonder that it "passeth all understanding." (Philippians 4:7)
But how? Why does the sap flow from the vine to the branch? Simply because the branch is joined to the vine. Then the sap flows into it by the very law of its nature. So, being joined to our Lord Jesus by faith, that which is His becomes ours, and flows into us by the very law of our spiritual life. If there were no hindrance, it would indeed flow as a river. Then how earnestly we should seek to have every barrier removed to the inflowing of such a gift! Let it be our prayer that He would clear the way for it, that He would take away all the unbelief, all the self, all the hidden clogging of the channel.
Then He will give a seven-fold blessing: "My peace," "My joy," "My love," at once and always, now and for ever; "My grace" and "My strength" for all the needs of our pilgrimage; "My rest" "My glory" for all the grand sweet home-life of eternity with Him. 1 Thessalonians 4:17 France Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 8455
April 19
But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant (slave), and was made in the likeness of men. Philippians 2:7.
There are three special marks that should characterize "a slave of Jesus Christ." Redemption, Ownership, and Devotedness. We were slaves of sin and Satan, but our Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us.
Perhaps you recall the story of the man who bought a slave at a very high cost: and when he had paid the price, and the slave was his own, he took the chains from his hands and feet, and threw them away, and said: "I bought you to set you free. You are a free man!" He was redeemed. The freed slave fell at the feet of him who bought him crying: "I am your slave for ever!" It was love, the bonds of love which are stronger than the bonds of steel, that made that freed man once again a slave, "a slave for ever."
Only one other of Paul's friends bears the honourable title of "slave": and that was Epaphras, Colossians 1:7,4:12, who is called slave of Christ Jesus." (Greek). Note the peculiar beauty of the salutation of James and Jude, if they are the brothers of our Lord; and we may see that each salutation is a proof of His Deity, by those who had probably been "brought up" with Him.
And so we read: "Paul and Timotheus, slaves of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:1) Slaves, because they were bought with a price: (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23): but slaves also because they were bound to their Master, Christ Jesus, with the strongest of all bonds, the bonds of love.
Can I, Can you, truthfully be called "slaves of Christ Jesus"? That men may be His slaves, we can in measure understand: but when we come to Chapter 2 and find that Christ Jesus has taken upon Himself the form of a slave: when we find that He is "a slave forever", that is beyond us: and we joyfully fall at His feet, and cry: "Whose I am, and Whom I serve (Acts 27:23). Well may we sing, "I am His, and He is mine, for ever and for ever!" C. Willis - Philippians
N.J. Hiebert - 8456
April 20
What man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God, knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
1 Corinthians 2:11.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS IN THE BIBLE WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND.
This is as we should expect. If man could fully understand the Bible that would prove it to be written by men. If man could fully understand the Bible, then man must be God, or God must be man.
I remember looking at a busy ant colony on a broiling summer day in Australia. My thoughts ran as follows. The distance between a man and an ant is very great, but after all it is but a finite distance. You can weigh the substance of a man and that of an ant, and you can find out how much heavier a man is than an ant. But can an ant understand what is passing through a man's mind? Can an ant understand the achievement of men? We know it cannot.
But the distance between God and man is infinitely greater than that between man and ant. God is the Creator. Man is the creature. The distance between them is infinite. No arithmetic is of any use here. Is it possible that the mind of man can understand and comprehend God? He is the "only potentate, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen" (1 Timothy 6:15,16).
Zophar said: "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." (Job 11:7-9)
That there are mysteries insoluble is what my faith feeds upon. They are darkness to my intellect, but sunshine to my heart." A. J Pollock
N.J. Hiebert - 8457
April 21
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God. Romans 8:28
How wide is this assertion of the Apostle Paul! He does not say, "We know that some things,"or "most things," or "joyous things," but "ALL things." From the minutest to the most momentous; from the humblest event in daily providence to the great crisis hours in grace. And all things "work"--they are working; not all things have worked, or shall work; but it is a present operation.
At this very moment, when some voice may be saying, "Thy judgments are a great deep," the angels above, who are watching the development of the great plan, are with folded wings exclaiming, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His work." (Psalm 145:17) And then all things "work together." It is a beautiful blending. Many different colours, in themselves raw and unsightly, are required in order to weave the harmonious pattern.
Many separate tones and notes of music, even discords and dissonances, are required to make up the harmonious anthem. Many separate wheels and joints are required to make the piece of machinery. Take a thread separately, or a note separately, or a wheel or a tooth of a wheel separately, and there may be neither use nor beauty discernible. But complete the web, combine the notes, put together the separate parts of steel and iron, and you see how perfect and symmetrical is the result. Here is the lesson for faith: "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." Macduff.
In one thousand trials it is not five hundred of them that work for the believer's good, but nine hundred and ninety-nine of them, and one beside. George Müeller
"God meant it for good"- (Genesis 50:20) O blest assurance,
Falling like sunshine all across life's way,
Touching with heaven's gold earth's darkest storm clouds,
Bringing fresh peace and comfort day by day. Freda Hanbury Allen
N.J. Hiebert - 8458
April 22
"Then being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were . . . came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when He had so said He showed unto them His hands and His side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. John 20:19-21
On the first day of the week, the resurrection day, the disciples were together and suddenly Jesus was in their midst--for neither doors not locks exist for the glorified body of the Risen One! Now He says, "Peace be to you!" And to let them see why they could now have peace, peace with God, He lets them see His nail-pierced hands and His spear-pierced side. This is the basis for peace with God: "And, having made peace through the blood of the cross" (Colossians 1:20)
Peace with God! In Genesis 6:3, The Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man." As long as there is something in man that is opposed to God's holiness and righteousness, indeed, opposed to anything that is of God, there can be no peace with God. But now the Man Christ Jesus has not only borne the sins of all who believe on Him, but also has glorified God exceedingly upon the cross. The love and grace of God, the righteousness and holiness of God, yes, all the attributes of God have been gloriously revealed through the work of the Lord Jesus. God has been glorified in the Man Jesus and can look down upon Him with pleasure.
Now all who believe on Him are seen as one with Him--we are united with the glorified Man in heaven. And the pleasure that God has in the Son on the basis of His work on the cross rests also upon those who are united with Him. We have peace with God! H. L. Heijkoop
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. Catesby Paget
N.J. Hiebert - 8459
April 23
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