I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Philippians 4:13
The story is told of a beloved servant of the Lord who, in his own right, was very wealthy. One night in the prayer meeting he asked prayer for a brother who had had a great calamity.
A friend walking home with him enquired who the brother was for whom they had been praying. He replied, "Myself". "Oh," the other asked, "if it is not too inquisitive, may I know what the calamity is?" "I have just had word of a large legacy that has been left to me and the responsibility to use it aright is so heavy."
I believe that brother had learned the lesson how to abound. He and his devoted wife had a large and beautiful home in London, where they lived on the top floor, devoting the rest of the house to the Lord's people who were in need. My mother has told me how her widowed mother, with a young family, homeless for Christ's sake, were taken into that home and tenderly cared for.
But these are lessons that we may see in perfection only in Him "though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9) How it bows our hearts in adoration to know that "Though He were a Son, yet learned HE obedience by the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8).
In (Philippians 2:8) We have the same word: "to run low:" but there it is He Himself who made Himself low. It is one of those amazing steps downward that we saw our Lord voluntarily take, for our sakes. So if we, like Paul, must learn the lesson of being brought low: let us remember our Lord knows all about it: He has walked that road before us; and none ever went so low as He.
G. Christopher Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 19193
January 20
And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on Him, saying, if Thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this Man hath done nothing amiss.
Luke 23:39-41
Is not the testimony of this recent convert beautiful? "This Man hath done nothing amiss." (Luke 23:41) He confesses his own sin, and judges it too, and at the same moment gets a glimpse of, and proclaims the glories of the Saviour's character. This man, in the very jaws of death himself, and when every possible evidence was against Christ, discovers His worth, and proclaims alike His excellences, His Lordship, and His Kingly rights, "...He hath done nothing amiss." (Luke 23:41) He is Lord and King, and although He is dying now, He will rise and come in His kingdom. Splendid testimony of faith!
The next moment he says, "Lord remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom." (Luke 23:42). That is all the length his faith got then; but mark the Lord's answer, "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise." (Luke 23:43).
Oh! look at the Saviour's grace to the man who confides in Him. That other thief, hand and glove with the world, was railing against Him--infidelity, rationalism, and reason were working in all save one, as they stood, or hung, taunting Him to save Himself, if He were the Christ, and if He were the King. The poor thief sees that He is a King; sees that He is the Christ the Son of God, and then owns that He is his Lord! Seekers for Light - W. T. P. Wolston, M. D.
N.J. Hiebert - 19194
January 21
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but My Father giveth you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. John 6:32-33
Of the manna, we read that "they gathered it every morning" (Exodus 16:21). Viewed typically and spiritually, these words present a philosophy of life for the Christian believer. They constitute the secret of safety, of certainty, and of enjoyment. To the holy habit of daily feeding on the heavenly manna, which is set before us in the sacred page of Scripture, is attributable our joy (Jeremiah 15:16), our peace (Psalm 119:165), our fruitfulness (Psalm 1:2,3), our security in the hour of peril (Psalm 17:4).
Christian men and women must read and study the Word of God. No pressure of Christian work, in all the manifold activities of the present day, should prevent the daily, devotional perusal of God's Holy Word. Christian effort cannot be substituted for thoughtful and serious attention to what we are taught of God in His Holy Book, and by which we are to be renewed and sanctified. We must be filled with divine truth if we are to grow in the divine life. Our Christian activities, furthermore, can only be sustained and enlarged by much communion with Christ through His Word.
The sources of great rivers are hidden away in mountain and glen. Fountains burst out in secluded places, and gentle brooks run through shaded ravines. They meet at length, and, mingling in their onward flow, set at work industrial activity in a thousand shapes and forms. But would keep all these activities in motion if the fountains should fail, and the brooks be dried up? What shall sustain steadily the long-continued effort of the Church of Christ to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, save the feeding of each member of the elect body in the green pastures of the divine Word? The real power to do great things for Christ must come from secluded places, where men commune with God and gather motives, convictions and incitements to effort, from His word. The Pearl of Psalms - George Henderson
N.J. Hiebert - 19195
January 22
And when he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father . . . Luke 15:17,18
The eager father welcomes back the returning prodigal. But we should not overlook the fact, that it was when the ungrateful youth "came to himself" (Luke 15:17) and took the position of self-judgment because of his wicked folly, and actually turned his face homeward, that the father ran to him, though still a great way off, and fell on his neck and kissed him.
He did not wait for his boy to ring the door bell or knock in fear and anxiety on the gate. But, on the other hand, he did not offer him the kiss of forgiveness while he was down among the swine. He hastened to meet him when, in repentance, he turned homeward with words of confession in his heart.
Does all this becloud grace? Surely not. Rather it magnifies and exalts it. For it is to unworthy sinners who recognize and acknowledge their dire condition that God finds delight in showing undeserved favour. H.A. Ironside
In rags and in ruin, without and within, one terrible mass of pollution and sin;
By false friends deserted, of fortune bereft, he turns to the home he once eagerly left.
O! none can restore, nor such deep sin efface, but the One who comes forth in such infinite grace;
For grace is above all his sin and distress, and he's nothing to do--save his sin to confess!
What an earnest and seal of unspeakable bliss Is conveyed in the Father's affectionate kiss!
The lost one is found, and the servants must bring, at the Father's command, the shoes and the ring.
And the very best robe, and the fatling and wine, What a change from the rags, the husks, and the swine
With music and dancing-tis something so new, such a fullness of blessing-and nothing to do!
N.J. Hiebert - 10196
January 23
A PROMISE TO MEET EVERY FEAR
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper. Isaiah 54:17
Man's curse shall be turned into God's blessing: Jehovah Himself, watering His vineyard every moment, says: "Lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." (Isaiah 27:3) Again, the promise, with a solemn condition, takes an even stronger form: "Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing." (Ecclesiastics 8:5)
Is not all this enough? It might well be, but His wonderful love has yet more to say--not only that nothing shall hurt us, but that "all things work together for our good; (Romans 8:28) not merely shall work, but actually are working. All things, if it means all things, must include exactly those very things, whatever they may be, which you and I are tempted to think will hurt us, or, at least, may hurt us.
Now will we trust today our own ideas, or God's Word? One or the other must be mistaken. Which is it? Christ, my own Master, my Lord, my God, has given a promise which meets every fear; therefore, "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety." (Psalm 4:8) Opened Treasures - Francis Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 10197
January 24
Lord, dost Thou not care? Luke 10:40
Could the man in the inn have addressed such words to the Samaritan? (Luke 10:33-35) Had he not heard the injunction "take care of him"? Had Martha known the teaching of that parable could she have ever used the words she did? Can we, who profess to believe that Christ was really drawing a picture of Himself, ever question His care?
Is not the whole parable of the Good Samaritan just an answer to this touching appeal of Martha's? And in the light of this fact, the story Christ tells assumes a meaning wonderful and grand in the extreme. For does it not assure us there is One Who cares, and that the deepest cry of the human heart has been anticipated? There is One Who thinks of us and is capable of providing for our every need.
Another point in connection with Martha's utterance is anticipated by the parable. She felt her loneliness. "Dost Thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?" Alone and uncared for! This is what she felt at that moment; and hers is not an isolated case. Deep down in the innermost recesses of every human spirit the same thing is felt, until the truth is known that God cares. Man has lost God, and he is bound to feel alone until God is met with again. He is to be met with in the person of the One Who portrayed Himself as the Good Samaritan.
"A certain Samaritan, as He journeyed, came where he was." The underlying truth here is that God is ever seeking man, and seeking him in order to help. Martha's utterance therefore expresses the truth, however much we try to disguise it. A feeling of loneliness and neglect will steal over us some time or other, and it is just this feeling of loneliness and neglect that is the fruitful source of all care. Life is too great for us alone, its strain too severe, its demands more than we can meet, and the final issue too wonderful and far reaching for any of us unaided. Angels in White - Russell Elliott
N.J.Hiebert - 10198
January 25
Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law. Psalm 119:18
No one should be in bondage regarding the hour of the day, or the amount of time, which should be set aside for the reading of the Word of God and prayer; for these vary with individuals. Mothers, nurses, and many others have duties in the morning hours which they may not neglect; but experience shows that for Christians generally, and young preachers in particular, the morning hour is the most helpful one. The daybreak blessing is the daylong gain.
Recognizing, then, the absolute necessity for daily communion with our Father through His Word and in prayer, let me now speak to you of how we may make the most of of the time at our disposal.
Begin by an act of faith, realizing that you are in the presence of God. "For He that cometh to God must believe that He is" (Hebrews 11:6). Ask Him, "Open Thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law."
A young lady was asked to explain what was meant by the devotional reading of the Bible. She replied, "Yesterday morning I received a letter from one to whom I have given my heart and devoted my life. I freely confess to you that I have read that letter five times; not because I did not understand it at first reading, nor because I expected to commend myself to the author by frequent reading of his letter. It was not with me a question of duty, but simply one of pleasure. I read it because I am devoted to the one who wrote it."
To read the Bible with the same motive is to read it devotionally; and to the one who reads in that spirit it is indeed a love letter.
The Wonderful Word - George Henderson
N.J. Hiebert - 10199
January 26
For there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into His rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from His. Hebrews 4:9,10
Of ourselves we may have but little weight, no particular talents or position or anything else to put into the scale; but let us remember that again and again God has shown that the influence of a very average life when once really consecrated to Him may outweigh that of almost any number of merely professing Christians.
Such lives are like Gideon's three hundred, carrying not even the ordinary weapons of war but only trumpets and lamps and empty pitchers by whom the Lord wrought great deliverance while (Judges 7:7-22) he did not use the others at all. For He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Should not all this be additional motive for desiring that our whole selves should be taken and kept?
I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Therefore we may rejoicingly say "ever" as well as "only" and "all for Thee." For "the Lord is thy Keeper" (Psalm 121:5) and He is the Almighty and the Everlasting God, with whom "is no variableness neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). He will never change His mind about keeping us, and "no man is able to pluck us out of His hand." (John 10:28)
Neither will Christ let us pluck ourselves out of His hand, for He says, "Thou shalt abide for me many days." (Hosea 3:3) And "He that keepeth us will not slumber" (Psalm 121:3) Once having undertaken His vineyard He will keep it night and day, till all the days and nights are over and we know the full meaning of the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time unto which we are kept by His power. And then, forever for Him! Passing from the gracious keeping by faith for this little while to the glorious keeping in His presence for all eternity. Kept for the Master's Use - Frances Ridley Havergal
N.J. Hiebert - 10200
January 27
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:8
The Father commanded His beloved Son to die the death of the cross. What glorious obedience was this. (Philippians 2:8).
Such a commandment could never have been given to a creature. The commandment to die for the sheep was given by the Father to the Son. "I lay down My life for the sheep. . . this commandment have I received of My Father (John 10:15,18). When the Lord Jesus entered the world, He said, "Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God" (Hebrews 10:9). When our Lord came to Gethsemane, the words of Isaiah the prophet were fulfilled.
"The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting"
(Isaiah 50:5-6).
What confidence the Father must have had in the Son's love and faithfulness to give Him such a commandment as this! What love the Son must have had for the Father, to bear at His commandment the curse and death of the cross!
A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake
"Crowned with thorns upon the tree;
Silent in Thine agony;
Dying crushed beneath the load,
Of the wrath and curse of God."
H. Grattan Guinness
N.J. Hiebert - 10201
January 28
