. . . Jesus said, let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on Me...She hath done what she could. Mark 14:6,8
A striking story of W W II was recounted by an airman who was part of a crew that flew a B-17 bomber over Germany during that awful conflict. The particular bombing run which he recounted was targeted over the German city of Kassel.
As usual, the flak from German antiaircraft weapons was heavy and terrible. The shells most often used were 20mm, armour piercing shells with explosive charges in their tips. If they hit an aircraft in the right place the exploding charge would set off a far greater explosion, destroying the aircraft. During the raids, many allied bombers were lost after being hit by these shells. Yet, on this particular mission, though the shells actually pierced the fuel tanks of the bomber the airman was in, strangely, the aircraft did not explode. It was able to complete its mission and get back to its base before it ran out of fuel.
The pilot later told his aircrew the amazing story of that particular bombing run. The morning following the bombing run, he had requested that the air crew ground chief who was in charge of repairing the bomber's fuel tanks would give him one of the enemy shells as a souvenir of the what seemed a miracle. It was them the pilot learned that eleven shells had been found in the fuel tanks! All eleven shells were un-exploded even though just one should have caused the bomber to explode in flames.
The shells had been sent to the armorers to have their explosive tips defused, but then, Allied intelligence men had taken them away. Eventually the pilot received word that when the armorers opened each of the shells to defuse them, they found no explosive charges in any of shell tips. All eleven shell tips were empty.
Yet, not all of the shells were really empty! They found one shell which contained in its hollow tip a carefully rolled piece of paper with a note scrawled on it in the Czech language. The Allied intelligence people located a man who could read Czech and was able to decipher the note. It caused the whole bomber crew to marvel! The translated note read: This is all we can do for you for now. TCS - July 2013
N.J. Hiebert - 10205
January 31
There shall come in the last days scoffers...saying, where, is the promise of His coming? 2 Peter 3:3,4 For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Hebrews 10:37 Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Rev. 22:20
Where is the promise of His coming?
It is settled in the counsel of the Lord;
By prophets, saints and sages through the slow march of the ages
It was blazoned on the pages of His Word.
Where is the promise of His coming?
It was given unto Israel of old,
And through sore humiliation it is still their consolation
While they wait the restoration long foretold.
Where is the promise of His coming?
It is hidden in the hearts of His redeemed;
In the gloom of shadowed spaces 'tis a light on lifted faces
From the radiant heavenly places whence it streamed.
Where is the promise of His coming?
It is written in the records of the past,
In the evils unabated, in the blood-lust still unsated,
In the woes reiterated to the last.
Where is the promise of His coming?
It is shouted by the thunder of the guns,
By the flaming forges burning, where the plows to swords are turning,
By the weeping mothers yearning for their sons.
Where is the promise of His coming?
It is flashed around the world with every sun;
Every day's event a token that God's purpose stands unbroken,
And the things that He has spoken shall be done.
Where is the promise of His coming?
All the sentient earth with joy electric hums;
On the waves of air 'tis flowing, on the winds of heaven blowing,
Sign on sign its surety showing, till He comes. Annie Johnson Flint
N.J. Hiebert - 10206
February 1
So the shipmaster came to him, (Jonah) and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not. Jonah 1:6
I love those words. True, he did not know God as Jonah knew Him, for who could give a truer and more glorious character to God than Jonah: "I knew that Thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving-kindness and repentest Thee of the evil." (Jonah 4:2) but the shipmaster did not know a God of such a character. The heathen knew nothing of a God like this: but he does venture to hope:
"Arise call upon thy God, Perhaps God will think upon us, that we perish not." (Jonah 1:6) Later we hear them pray, not every man to his god, but this time to Jehovah Himself, and they say, "Ah, Jehovah, we beseech Thee, let us not perish for this man's life." (Jonah 1:14)
Later again, we hear the king of Nineveh, another heathen, exhorting his people to turn from their sins, "Who knoweth but that God will turn . . . that we perish not." (Jonah 3:9). There may have been but the feeblest, and most ignorant turning to the true God, the object before them being only that they should not perish, but how richly did God meet them in each case.
Can we read those words "perish not," repeated three times, without thinking of that most glorious of verses, "God so loved the world, that He gave, His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"? (John 3:16)
Truly God has found a way so that the vilest of sinners should not perish. How can we, who have tasted of such grace and love, ever cease to praise Him? How can we refuse or neglect to tell out such glorious news to those who have never heard? How can we let them go on and perish in their sins? Jonah the Prophet - G. C. Willis
N.J. Hiebert - 10207
February 2
My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Psalm 22:1
The greatest of all the Lord's sufferings were from God. With hushed breath, we must speak of this. It is the Holy of Holies of the great work on the cross; the impenetrable mystery of the atoning work of the Son of God. From the darkness which enshrouded the cross and the blessed Sufferer on the accursed tree, there came the mournful cry: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
It made known the awful suffering, which the Lamb of God, the substitute of sinners, endured from the hand of a Holy God. He was smitten and afflicted of God. Have you noticed that in Psalm 22 this cry of the Sufferer on the cross stands first?
Man would have written the sufferings of Christ in a far different way. All the agony of the cross and its shame would have been described first by man. Then how the multitude mocked and darkness came over the entire scene--then last of all, it would have been stated, He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"
But the Holy Spirit in this great Prophecy puts the cry of deepest agony first. Why? Because in that hour the great work of atonement, propitiation, sin-bearing, judgment and wrath enduring, was once and for all accomplished. In this same Psalm we read what men energized by Satan's power, did unto Him.
But man could not put Him to death. It is written, "Thou (God) hast brought me into the dust of death." (Psalm 22:15). God's own hand rested upon Him. "God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). "It pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief." (Isaiah 53:10).
But what it all meant for the Son of God! Never shall we fully discover the greatness of the price which was paid. The Work of Christ - A. C. Gaebelein
N.J. HIebert - 10208
February 3
THE SPIRIT-CONTROLLED MIND
For it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13
If I wish to have a Christian mind marked by the qualities of the mind of Christ, it is proper for the production of such a mind to come about by the inner working of the gracious Spirit in my mind. My appetites, my desires, my ambitions, my motives, will be molded and made up of impulses which had their origins with Him. The degree to which this is done daily in my life is proportional to the degree to which I deliberately allow Him to control my mind, emotions, and will.
Not only will this result in my thinking upon those things which are pure and lovely and of good report, (Philippians 4:8) but it will mean my entire life exudes a wholesome aura of decency and uplift and integrity. To be with me will be akin to walking amid the cedars of Lebanon--which are both noble and fragrant--trees of the high places. This is to know something of the secret growth in godliness.
When we accept Christ as our Saviour we are in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit. "In Whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the Word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in Whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." (Ephesians 1:13)
The question is, have I ever sincerely and earnestly invited the Holy Spirit to take control of my mind in this manner? He desires to fill my soul and begin His own winsome work of growth. It is He who will give me a godly disposition. Songs of My Soul - W. Phillip Keller (Read Philippians 2:12-18)
N.J. Hiebert - 10209
February 4
At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I (Gabriel) am come to show thee. Daniel 9: 23
Daniel's prayer was answered in a remarkable way. Before he had even finished his supplication, Gabriel appeared by his side and made a remarkable statement. We are living in an era of unprecedented speed of communications. We are able to send a message around the world in a matter of seconds. We are able to sit in our homes and watch events on the other side of the world as they happen. But never has a communication system been devised that can approach the miracle of prayer.
Think about it. Millions of Christians around the world can be praying at the same time. All these prayers wing their way across the infinite expanses of a universe whose limits scientists have not been abe to define, save only to know that what has been discovered is, in some cases, millions of light years away from our tiny insignificant planet. Yet across such infinitudes, the prayers of the sons of light ascend to the presence of deity, and an answer can be back before we rise from our knees. Now that is communication worth having.
Daniel had this communication available to him in that ancient era, and Gabriel, one of the most powerful angelic beings in the armies of heaven, was dispatched to speak to God's praying servant and to bring him an answer. Do we really believe in the miracle of prayer? Just imagine the interest around the globe if, for example, we advertised a two-way communication system being demonstrated at a certain time and place, which would put us in touch with dwellers on the furthest reaches of the universe.
Yet this two-way communication miracle is experienced millions of times every day by the people of God. Sadly, we have become so accustomed to it that personal prayer is often neglected, and the prayer meetings are often the poorest attended of all assembly meetings. Let us recapture the wonder of the miracle of prayer, and the fact that God is willing to dispatch His holy angels to our side to bring His answers to our prayers. Daniel - William Burnett
N.J. Hiebert - 10210
February 5
The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Proverbs 11:3 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. 2 Peter 1:5
Often, the two words, 'integrity' and 'virtue' have similar meanings. We might say that they both have the sense of moral virtue and uprightness. Another way in which they might be used would be that they both express having the courage to stand for your convictions, clinging without flinching to what you firmly believe is right.
It may require that a person has to stand alone, but if their thoughts are guided by the precious Word of God, they will not be the loser, though they may not be understood. Sometimes it becomes necessary to speak out - patiently and in love, but firmly - against what you know is wrong.
We recently heard of this excellent example of virtue and integrity in use. A new, young surgical nurse was on her first surgical procedure with a well known surgeon in a highly respected hospital. She was understandably both nervous and quite determined to do her very best work in her first surgery.
As the surgeon was closing up the patient's incision after a successful surgery, the new young nurse, responsible for counting the surgical sponges used and removed, said to the surgeon, "Doctor, you have only removed eleven sponges. However we have used twelve on this patient." Staring at the new nurse the experienced surgeon curtly replied, "No, I've removed them all. We will continue to close the incision". "No", rejoined the nurse in a quiet but firm voice. She went on, "We used twelve sponges and only eleven of them have been removed".
Acting rather annoyed, the surgeon snapped, "I'll take the responsibility, nurse. Now we will suture". "But doctor", the nurse said in a very grim, emphatic tone; "You can't do that! Think of the patient. You are leaving a sponge inside the incision!" The doctor stared at the new nurse. Then a smile covered his face. He lifted his foot under which the12th sponge had been hidden. Grinning at her he said, You'll do fine, nurse. Welcome to my team!" Christian Shepherd.- 2014
N.J. Hiebert - 10211
February 6
February 7
