I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee. Job 42:5
Job was a good man already. He feared God and eschewed [shunned] evil, and God called him "My servant Job" and said of him, "There is none like him in the earth." (Job 1:8)
Job had heard and had believed. That is good enough to start with. "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). Moreover, Job had lived an exemplary life. But, like many who have come that far, he needed to see God, not in a vision or manifestation to the senses but in a personal, overwhelming, humbling, pride-shattering consciousness of the very presence of God Himself.
Through the ages, such an experience, though wide and diverse in its patterns, has marked the men God has used most. Too many have heard and believed and lived but have not seen. God brings us to where we can say, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth Thee" (Job 42:5)
Faith is a very simple thing, tho' little understood;
It frees the soul from death's dread sting, by resting on the blood.
It looks not on the things around, nor on the things within;
It takes its flight to scenes above, beyond the sphere of sin.
It sees upon the the throne of God a victim that was slain;
It rests its all on His shed blood, and says, "I'm born again."
Faith is not what we see or feel; It is a simple trust
In what the God of love has said of Jesus as the Just. Asa Hull
Day by Day with Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 20387
August 1
BEING USABLE
"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work. 2 Timothy 2:21
Have we any prayer like "Use me, O Lord," in the Bible? We have it in hymns; I expect we have often prayed to be used. But as I looked through my Bible for an answer to this strange question, I could not find any such prayer anywhere.
The word in 2 Timothy 2:21 simply says that if the vessel be clean it will be ready for the Master to use; and in Isaiah 6, the "Send me" was in answer to the question,"Who will go?"
It is at least interesting and suggestive to find many other verbs occurring in prayer--Teach me, lead me, bless me, and so on--and not this verb which we would naturally expect. Is it that there is no need for it?
If the vessel be clean and ready to hand, the Master will use it. It is not necessary that it should ask Him to do so. The Captain will use the soldier if he be prepared for use; words of beseeching on the soldier's part are not required. The one thing that matters is that we should be usable.
Each day brings us, like a new gift, a quite new opportunity. Our precious handful of days may be partly or almost wholly spent, but God does not, as earthly masters often do, pay off a worker saying, "You are no use to me now"; He gives us each day a new chance.
Thou Givest...They Gather - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 20388
August 2
August 3
No comments:
Post a Comment