There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
The Occasion Of Temptation. The least passage of your life may prove an occasion of sin to you: at what a little wicket (small door) many times a great sin enters! David's eye did but casually light on Bathsheba, and the good man's foot was presently in the devil's trap: you have need to pray that God would set a guard about your senses wherever you go, and to cry with Him, "Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity"? (Psalm 119:37)
It should be our care, if we would not yield to the sin, nor to walk by, or sit at the door of the occasion: parley (discuss) not with that in your thoughts, which you do not mean to let into your heart. If we mean not to be burnt, let us not walk upon the coals of temptation. You tempt God to suffer your locks to be cut, when you are so bold as to lay your head in the lap of a temptation. (Judges 16:19)
Set a strong guard about your outward senses: These are Satan's landing-places especially the eye and the ear. Take heed what you import at these; vain discourse seldom passes without leaving some tincture upon the heart. And for your eye, let it not wander; wanton objects cause wanton thoughts. Job knew his eye and his thoughts were likely to go together, and therefore to secure one he covenants with the other. "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why should I think upon a maid." Job 31:1 The Christian in Complete Armour - William Gurnall (1616-1679)
N.J. Hiebert - 20428
September 11
My son, let them (scriptures - Psalm 119:11) not depart from thine eyes: Keep sound wisdom and discretion;
So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.
Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble.
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Proverbs 3-21-24
Some one has said, "It is not enough that one hold the truth, if the truth hold not him." To so take hold of what God has revealed as to have it control the heart and life, is what is continually insisted on in this most practical of all books.
Thus, to "keep sound wisdom and discretion," gives one to lay hold on what is really life, and ornaments the neck with grace. The foot, too, will be kept from stumbling, and the disciple will be guided in the way of truth.
Rest and refreshment become likewise the portion of all who esteem the Word of God above all the thoughts of men. Notes on Proverbs - H.A. Ironside
N.J. Hiebert - 20429
September 12
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2
"Acceptable" in Tamil means lovable, beloved: and in the preceding verbs I found something strengthening and comforting: "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind."
It would fare ill with us if He tired of renewing that which does so often faint and fail; for though we do truly choose to prove that good, acceptable, perfect will, and declare it to be beloved, yet sometimes we slip just there, and then comes discouragement. Here is the word for such an hour. We have a God who renews, renews day by day.
(The same verb is used in 2 Corinthians 4:16 "The inward man is renewed day by day.") Renewed in the spirit of our minds--renewed in the inward man, not once a year or at some special meeting, but day by day--we can conquer, we can rejoice in the will of God, and we can find it so lovable that we shall never for one moment want anything else.
"For even Christ pleased not Himself; but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached Thee fell on Me." (Romans 15:3)
Thou Givest...They Gather - Amy Carmichael
N.J. Hiebert - 20430
September 13
Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3
Bill and Jack, two Christian young men, had attended an important meeting of the company they worked for. Though both had families they were on the 'fast track' moving up in the company and disregarded the first hurricane warning to stay until the end. Now, just a few miles from home, the hurricane overtook them with its 90 mile-per hour winds.The darkness and torrential rain hid the raging flood of water that suddenly swept their car off the road and down into a flooded farm field. Slowly sinking in the water and mire they struggled out of the car only to find themselves neck deep in fiercely turbulent flood waters with darkness disorienting them.
"Where are you Bill?" yelled Jack into the storm. I'm over here, Jack," came a faint reply. Jack could barely see Bill almost 50 feet away. Bill yelled, "This current is murder. If we don't get our of here we'll drown." But I can't see you, Jack." "Follow the sound of my voice," Jack yelled again. "I'm over here. Work your way over to me."
Jack and Bill began to pray, crying to the Lord for help. Thoughts of their families had suddenly become far more important than job success. Just then Jack felt Bill grab his hand and start pulling. "Wait, Bill. Where are you going?" "I don't know. Just hold on tight" came the reply. Jack felt his friend pull him through the mud and swirling water. Finally the water began getting shallower--it was only to his waist--then to his knees. As he stumbled onto firm ground he felt Bill's hand let go. Turning to thank him, Jack could just barely see him about 40 yards away climbing up to the safety of a grass knoll. He must have been swept away just before they reached safe high ground.
Finally back together Bill said, thanks for pulling me out. I didn't know which way to go. You saved my life." Jack laughed. "Bill, you had my hand. You pulled me out. I was about to thank you for saving my life." There was a long silence. Then Bill quietly said "Jack you were quite a distance away from me when we found this bank. You said that I pulled you but I know I didn't. I was being pulled. The fact is neither of us pulled the other. Jack if we were that far apart from each other than who was holding our hands?" Doug Nicloet - October 2008
N.J. Hiebert - 20431
September 14
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed. . .
Romans 1:16,17
An unsaved lawyer lay dying. He was known to be a man of unimpeachable integrity. He lay there facing eternity, troubled and distressed. Upright as he had been before men, he was a sinner before God. His awakened conscience brought to his memory sins and transgressions that had never seemed so heinous as now, when he knew that shortly he must meet his Maker. A friend put the direct question, "Are you saved?" "No," he replied, shaking his head sadly. The other asked, "Would you not like to be saved?" "I would indeed," was his reply, "But I do not want God to do anything wrong in saving me!"
His remark showed how deeply he had learned to value the importance of righteousness. The visitor turned to his Bible and there read how God had Himself devised a righteous way to save unrighteous sinners. In fact God has no other possible way of saving anybody. If sin must be glossed over in order that a sinner may be saved, he will be forever lost. God refuses to compromise His own character for the sake of anyone, much as He yearns to have all men be saved. H.A. Ironside
The perfect righteousness of God
Is witnessed in the Saviour's blood;
'Tis in the cross of Christ we trace
His righteousness, yet wondrous grace.
God could not pass the sinner by,
His sin demands that He must die;
But in the cross of Christ we see
How God can save, yet righteous be.
The sinner who believes is free,
Can say, "the Saviour died for me":
Can point to the atoning blood,
And say, "This made my peace with God." A. Mildlane
N.J. Hiebert - 20432
September 15
The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. 2 Timothy 4:13
Paul was reduced to a few bare necessities. As the Christian grows older and as we draw nearer to the end of our earthly days and to the end of the age, only a few things really matter and we are amazed at how much we can do without.
After disaster has wrecked house and home, the survivors clutch a few things they manage to recover, which take on a new value. As when a dear one leaves us for heaven, little things become doubly precious because of tender memories.
As when one looks through the other end of a telescope, the small becomes large and the large becomes small. Cloak and parchments, food and raiment, let us be content therewith!
(Philippians 4:11, 1 Timothy 6:6, 1 Timothy 6:8, Hebrews 13:5)
All The Days - Vance Havner
N.J. Hiebert - 20433
September 16
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." 1 John 5:13
The fact of our salvation does not depend upon our own feelings. They are the least reliable of all things to rest upon, they are treacherous and not to be trusted.
As surely as we rest upon these frauds--our feelings--the Lord will see fit to withdraw them, in order that we may learn to rest upon Him. Therefore stay your faith upon Christ, not upon your most hallowed feelings, but on Christ Himself and His written promises.
Whenever you are in doubt, perplexed, and unhappy, go at once to the Lord and His unfailing Word, and God's truth will disperse any mists of darkness which surround your soul.
Let us learn to lean more upon the fact and less on our apprehension of it. We are to walk by faith and not by feelings.
Believe! and the feeling may come or may go,
Believe in the Word, that was written to show
That all who believe their salvation may know;
Believe and keep right on believing.
By believing, we do not make anything true that was not true before. We simply bring ourselves into accord with what is and has always been the truth. Robert E. Speer
N.J. Hiebert - 20434
September 17
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18,24
It becomes clear from these verses that the two great themes of the gospel are salvation and calling. On the one hand the gospel proclaims the way of salvation; on the other hand it presents to us the purpose of God for which we are saved.
We are apt to limit the gospel to the important question of our salvation; but so doing we miss the far deeper blessing connected with God's eternal purpose, and thus fail to enter into the heavenly calling.
It is plain that the first great object of the gospel is our salvation, and God would have the believer to be in no uncertainty as to this salvation, as we read in this Scripture, He "hath saved us." The blessed effect of the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is to set the believer beyond the judgment due to him on account of his sins, and to deliver him from the course of this world.
So we read, He "gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4). Though for the time we are actually in the world, we are, as set free from its power and influence, morally not of it.
2 Timothy - Hamilton Smith.
N.J. Hiebert - 20435
September 18
Take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. Genesis 19:16,17
In the history of the times of Lot there was not only Lot himself, and the people of Sodom, but also Lot's wife. She perished not in Sodom, but between Sodom and Zoar. To her the departure from Sodom was exile, not deliverance.
Many of the camp in the wilderness treated separation from Egypt with the same mind. And this yields a solemn, practical question for us. How do our souls entertain the thought of separation from the world? In the esteem of our hearts is it exile or redemption?
Are we singing over that thought, like Israel at the Red Sea; or, like Israel afterwards, are we remembering the fish of Egypt, its onions, its leaks, and its cucumbers? (Numbers 11:5). Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. She sighed as an exile from Sodom.
Do we sing as the ransomed of the Lord, out of it? "Remember Lot's wife," (Luke 17:32) was the Saviour's weighty word in the midst of this discourse on the kingdom of God. And it is a weighty and serious word to lie on our hearts. J. G. Bellett
N.J.Hiebert - 20436
September 19
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31
Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, neither for the body, what ye shall put on. The life is more than meat: and the body is more than raiment. Consider the ravens: for they neither sow not reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: How much more are ye better that the fowls? Luke 12:6,7;22,24
We are bound, of course, to use all proper means. But it will generally be found that it is not what we can do that brings the care, but what we cannot do. And it is just here we have to trust in God, simply resting in the words, "Your Father knoweth." If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? Do all you can do but never be troubled about what you cannot do.
And then let us remember that a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. It is astonishing, when we are put to the test, how little of real happiness depends upon things or circumstances. Christ had no money, and sometimes not where to lay His head, and yet He could speak of His peace and His joy. Angels in White - Russell Elliott
N.J. Hiebert - 20437
September 20
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6
He would have us, in the intimacy of His love, to be without reserve before Him--all told out, nothing kept back. Our danger never lies in telling Him too much, but just in the opposite direction.
He loves to hear the cry of His children, for He well knows that it is the expression of their confidence in Him. It may be, as it often is, a foolish cry, but still it is the cry of His own children, and He never wearies of listening to it.
God never spares His rod if thereby He can bless His children.
But, He lifts it up on high,
With pity in His heart,
That every stroke His children feel
May peace and joy impart.
To enter into this will make an immense change in our experience. Meeting with trials and difficulties we shall instantly ask, "What has the Father to say to us through these things?" In this way we shall receive nothing but blessing through the most adverse circumstances.
Like vines, our poor hearts send out tendrils in all directions, winding themselves around this and that object, and then it is that the Father permits trials...to come in to snap these ties to objects other than Christ, and by the discovery of Himself and His love to us in these chastenings He seeks to wean us from everything that might hinder our progress, and to attract us more fully to Himself. Footprints for Pilgrims - Edward Dennett
N.J. Hiebert - 20438
September 21
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