Gems from December 11- 21, 2019

December 11

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

Psalm 102:7

The man who wrote that must have known sparrows well.  A sparrow alone would indeed be a lonely bird. Who can read those words without seeing that solitariness of the soul which all of us by nature most dread?

Surely the Spirit guided the sequence of the Psalms, for the next, Psalm 103, opens a certain and glorious way of escape for that sparrow on the house top.  Fly into that air and there is instant deliverance from that which gives loneliness its power to crush and weaken. 

There is a sense in which every soul that follows hard after its God must find itself alone.

“He who follows Him the nearest needs must walk alone.”

It is part of the discipline of life.

It is not explained.

Let us rest our hearts on our Lord’s words about the sparrows, not one of whom, 

not even the one on the house top, is unregarded. 

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? . . .

Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.  

Luke 12:6-7

Whispers of His Power - Any Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 7663  

December 12

The flowers appear on the earth . . .  Song of Solomon 2:12

God who gave the flowers gave His Son to be a plant of renown on earth that by it He might reveal the life of heaven.  Life and light are the source of all the fragrant beauty of the garden, which brings such gladness to appreciative hearts.

Like the herb of the field, He was for the service of man.  Like the leaves of the tree, 

He was for the healing of the nations.  Like the fruit of the vine, He cheered God and man. 

Like the myrrh, the aloe, the cassia, He grew and suffered and died to fill the presence of God 

and the joy of His people with the most delightful fragrance.

Like the flowers appearing on the earth, His coming brought the springtime when the birds sing,

and when He and His people could walk together in a fellowship 

that shall one day be unbroken and unending.

A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake

N.J. Hiebert - 7664

December 13

THE  WARNING  OF  A  SILENT HEAVEN

To day thy servant knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, my Lord,

O king, in that the king hath fulfilled the request of his servant.

2 Samuel 14:22 

An answered prayer makes us glad for its own sake.  But there 

is grace behind the gift which is better and more gladdening than the gift itself.

For which is most valued, the engagement ring, or the favour of which it is the token?

Setting aside judicial answers to unspiritual prayers, which an honest conscience will have no difficulty in distinguishing, the servants of the King may take it that His answers to their requests are 

proofs and tokens of His grace and favour—of His real, and present, 

 and personal love to themselves individually.

When they are receiving few or none, they should search for the cause, 

lest it should be some hidden or unrecognized sin.  

For “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” Psalm 66:18;   

 So never let us go on comfortably and easily when He is silent to us. And 

instead of envying others who get such wonderful answers,

“let us search and try our ways.”  Lamentations 3:40

And evermore the Father sends radiantly down

All-marvellous responses, His ministers to crown;

The incense-cloud returning as golden blessing-showers,

We in each drop discerning some feeble prayer of ours,

Transmuted into wealth unpriced, by Him who giveth thus

The glory all to Jesus Christ, the gladness all to us!

Opened Treasures - Frances Ridley Havergal

N.J. Hiebert - 7665   

December 14

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth:

And a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

Proverbs 15:23

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.

Proverbs 25:11

The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than 

the cry of him that ruleth.

Ecclesiastes 9:17

’Tis the little kindly acts you do that heartens one along,

And sends the friend away from you with glad and happy song.

’Tis the little word you’re led to say which touched that other life,

And gave it nerve and strength again to conquer in the strife.

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December 15

KEEPING  IT  SIMPLE

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,

so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:3

The word “simplicity” from our passage may also be translated as “sincerity,” so we can say there is both a simplicity and a sincerity associated with the things of Christ.  Yes, there are difficulties.  

Even the apostle Peter had to admit that some of the apostle Paul’s writings on the subject of 

salvation, for example, were "hard to understand”   (2 Peter 3:16).

Paul himself said that we don’t understand all biblical mysteries and we only see things 

“through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

However, the apostle Paul is simple when it comes to the central facts relating to Christ. 

In Titus 2:11-13 we learn three simple things: 

(1) God’s grace and salvation has appeared to to all men;  

(2) accordingly, we should live in a godly manner; 

(3) the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back. 

Don’t ever let the devil deceive you in this.  Never let what you don’t understand rob from you what 

you do know to be true.  God has made it simple and it is for us to simply believe and obey.

Brian Reynolds

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December 16

THE  UPWARD  LOOK

They looked unto Him and were lightened.

Psalm 34:5

O Lord! we would delight in Thee, and on Thy care depend,

To Thee in every trouble flee, our safe unfailing Friend.

When human cisterns all are dried, Thy fulness is the same, 

May we with this be satisfied, and glory in Thy name.

Ryland

God would have us to . . . count it a peculiar privilege to be whole-hearted for the Son of His love.

Remember that there is no path for us smoother or broader than the path of the Son of man while in the world. You may have gone through deep waters, and many a furrow, grief may have left on your forehead, but as you passed through the trouble which did you find most—the trial or Christ who passed through it with you?

I judge that the great thing is to own God and be still.  

“I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it,“ Psalm 39:9, said David. . . . 

There is rest in this—giving to God His own place.

I am sure it is better for us . . . for Divine Wisdom and Love to sit at the helm 

and decide for us than for us to have to decide.

G. V. Wigram

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December 17

PRAISE  the  LORD

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament showeth his handiwork.

Psalm 19:1

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the earth hear Hs voice!

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

Let the people rejoice! 

O come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

And give Him the glory, great things 

He hath done. 

The Treasures of Fanny Crosby

N.J. Hiebert - 7669  

December 18

The word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not,

Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.

Genesis 15:1

The Lord was to be Abram’s “Shield,” as he passed through this scene—his

“Great reward,” both now, and hereafter.

How often a soul makes alarming discoveries as to itself—and says. "I didn’t think it would come to that!”  But God makes no discoveries.  It is all know to HIM.

It isn’t that man stands as a sinner with an inexhaustible store of grace at his command;

but that he has a new life.

A Christian is not “let off” (so to speak).  

But all the claims of God against him have been met to the very utmost in Christ.

The enemy knows all the history, and he knows the turns of the road where he can meet us and harass us: and unless we know God is for us, we have no answer to give Him. 

If I bring a bit of myself, it’s unholiness.  It is very humbling. 

But we can’t have Christ any way but by the low door,—when it’s all up with you. 

Hunt’s Sayings

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December 19

Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, 

that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because straight 

is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.    

Matthew 7:13-14

Will the road you are traveling bring you to the place you hope to reach?

On Barr’s Trail up the slope of Pike’s Peak, there is a place where the trail divides.

One marker reads: “To the Summit”; the other, “To the Bottomless Pit.” A step decides the goal.

We too often do some shabby living and expect to reach nobleness.

We take short cuts in morality and expect to develop character.

The way we are living and the road we are traveling 

determine the kind of character we will have in the end.

The road that nations take decides the goal at which the world will arrive.

The path of unrighteousness will not create a righteous world.

Right ends do not justify wrong means, for wrong means bring us to wrong ends.

To life a righteous life, we must do righteous deeds.

He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to.

Those who live on the mountain top have a much longer day. 

Traveling Toward Sunrise

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December 20

For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the 

ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect 

any person: yet doth He devise means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.

2 Samuel 14:14 

The action being altogether without precedent serves to show 

that Israel perceived what was morally suitable to the circumstances of the 

moment.  Such an acknowledgement of weakness cannot fail to bring blessing from God.

In the spiritual realm, felt weakness is power, as the Apostle lets us know in 2 Corinthians 12:10 "When I am weak, then am I strong".

As Hannah also said, “they that stumbled are girded with strength” 
1 Samuel 2:4. Is it not a singular lesson to have to learn that our self-sufficiency is our undoing?

God can use those who are “not anything,” [nothing] 1 Corinthians 3:7.

God alone counts, whether now or in ages past.

When weakness calls Him in, all is well.

Samuel - W.W. Feredy

N.J. Hiebert - 7672 

December 21

FALLING   APART

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, 

that I might not sin against Thee.  Psalm 119:11

Somebody passed on to me recently a precious nugget:

"If you see a Bible that is falling apart, it probably belongs to someone who isn’t!”

A well-worn Bible speaks volumes.

Through the centuries, the old Book has kept unnumbered 

millions from coming unstuck, cracking up, and going to pieces. 

It has saved marriages from collapse, families from destruction,

and many a battered soul has made it through a stormy life with the help of a ragged 

Bible thumbed with reverence and sobbed over in the small night hours when everything seemed lost. 

It has healed more hearts than all the counsellors and prevented more breakdowns that all the psychiatrists.

Reading it until it falls apart will hold us together!  

All the Days - Vance Havner

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December 22

. . . Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the Lord? . . . 

1 Samuel 15:22

No one can trust God who does not obey Him.

Obedience is the root of trust.

In Jesus’ life, trusting went quite without saying, because,

for Him, obedience went without saying.

Corrie Ten Boom

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Gems from December 1- 10, 2019

December 1

THIS   MOMENT 

A very present help.   Psalm 46:1 

He’s helping me now—this moment, though I may not see it or hear,

Perhaps by a friend far distant, perhaps by a stranger near,

Perhaps by a spoken message, perhaps by the printed word;

In ways that I know and know not I have the help of the Lord.

He’s keeping me now—this moment, however I need it most,

Perhaps by a single angel, perhaps by a mighty host,

Perhaps by the chain that frets me, or the walls that shut me in;

In ways that I know and know not, He keeps me from harm and sin.

He’s guiding me now—this moment, in pathways easy or hard,

Perhaps by a door wide open, perhaps by a door fast barred,

Perhaps by a joy withholden,  perhaps by a gladness given; 

In ways that I know and know not,

He’s using me now—this moment, and whether I go or stand,  

Perhaps by a plan accomplished, perhaps when He stays my hand,

Perhaps by a word  in season, perhaps by a silent prayer;

In ways that I know and know not, His labour of love I share. 

Flint’s Best Loved Poems

N.J. Hiebert -  7653

December 2

THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him,

he had compassion on him, and went to him. . . . Luke10:33-34.  

Have we made the acquaintance of One Who can remove our guilt, give us strength, and relieve our care? In the words of the parable, “he bound up his wounds;” “he set him on his own beast;”  “he brought him to an inn. ”  If so, shall we not have less care?

God would not have us bear our cares any more than He would have us bear our sins.

"Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you.”  1 Peter 5:7

Does not this one verse of scripture meet the twofold need, that of being lonely and uncared for,

expressed in Martha’s appeal—“Dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?”  

“Casting all your care upon Him”—this meets the loneliest—“for He careth for you”—

this meets the care.  We have Him, whoever else may go, and He cares.

“Never alone and always cared for” describes the happy condition of the man in the inn while 

he waited to see the face of his friend.

It may be and ought to be, the experience of those who wait to see His face.  

Angels in White - Russell Elliott

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December 3

How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance (weight), and your burden, 

and your strife?  Deuteronomy 1:12

Moses was overwhelmed with the burden of leading Israel through the 

wilderness to the Promised Land.

We, too, are often overwhelmed with the burdens of daily life whether they be family, 

work place, or the local assembly.

Thankfully we are not called upon to bear that burden alone.

There are godly men and women around us to help “bear one another’s burdens”

and a plurality of leadership in the local assembly for that same purpose.

And most importantly, we always have the Saviour! 

Cast your cares on Him today.

Wm. H. Gustafson

I must tell Jesus all of my trials, I cannot bear these burdens alone;

In my distress He kindly will help me, He ever loves and cares for His own.

Elisha A. Hoffmann

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December 4

Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly

in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

 Matthew 11:29

The Lord always does His work thoroughly, if we will only let Him do it;

if we put our case into His hands, He will search and probe fully and firmly, though very tenderly.

Very painfully, it may be, but only that He may do the very thing we want—cleanse us and heal us

thoroughly, so that we may set off to walk in real newness of life.

But if we do not put it unreservedly into His hands, it will be no use thinking or talking about

our lives being consecrated to Him.

The heart that is not intrusted to Him for searching, will not be undertaken by Him for cleansing;

The life that fears to come to the light lest any deed should be reproved, can

never know the blessedness and the privileges of walking in the light.

But what then?  When He has graciously again put a new song in our mouth, and we are singing,

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, 

Who like me His praise should sing?

and again with fresh earnestness we are saying, 

Take my life, and let it be 

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee!

Kept for the Master’s Use - Frances Ridley Havergal 

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December 5

After he (Paul) had been "caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is 

not lawful for a man to utter . . . lest I should be exalted above measure  through the

abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh . . .”      

2 Corinthians 12:4-7. 

Such high privilege exposed him to a subtle snare, which at the time he did not see, but which the Lord knew, and from which He would save His faithful servant at all costs.  For this “a thorn in the flesh “ was needful.

There have been many conjectures as to what the thorn was, but they are only conjectures at their best, and therefore of no value.  God has not told us, so it is not necessary that we should know.

But it was something hard to bear—as men speak—and which Paul earnestly prayed might be taken away. “What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter,” is a saying which applies to such a case as his.

Think of that dear saint and devoted servant of Christ!  Think of him as he bows his knees to the Lord, and asks in fervent prayer that this distressing infirmity might depart from him!  But no answer came, though he may have long and patiently waited for it.

Again he prays, and again no answer.  For the third time he prays, then the silence is broken, the tarrying time is over, the suspense is ended, and the answer comes.  But there is no taking away of the thorn—that is left to rankle,  to be felt always, and always to be endured with pain and patience. 

The answer to Paul’s cry came in a form which was better than the removal of the distressing thing:

And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect in weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:9  

Comforted of God - A. J. Pollock

N.J. Hiebert - 7657

December 6

But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, 

Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man left handed.    Judges 3:15

James Strong, in his excellent concordance,

 indicates that one way of translating “left handed” in this context is “impeded".

Probably Ehud was disabled in that he had a weak right hand.

Do you have some physical or other deficiency and feel that it limits you in the Lord’s service?

Remember that the Lord can use what appears to be a weakness as an amazing tool to do His work.

For example, Fanny Crosby’s blindness resulted in her memorizing much of the

Bible and writing some of our greatest Scripture based hymns.

Brian Russell

Thou knowest Lord how very weak I am, and how I fear to stray;

For strength to serve I look to Thee alone, the strength Thou must supply!

James McGranahan

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December 7

O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the 

man that trusteth in Him.  Psalm 34:8

Often you cannot get at a difficulty so as to deal with it aright

and find your way to a happy result.

You pray, but have not the liberty in prayer which you desire.

A definite promise is what you want.

You try one and another of the inspired words,

but they do not fit.

You try again, and in due season a promise presents itself which seems to 

have been made for the occasion; it fits exactly as a well-made

key fits the lock for which it was prepared.

Having found the identical word of the living God, you hasten to plead it at

the throne of grace, saying, “Oh, Lord, Thou hast promised this good 

thing unto Thy servant; be pleased to grant it!” 

The matter is ended; sorrow is turned to joy; prayer is heard.

C.H. Spurgeon

Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone,

Laughs at impossibilities, and cries, “It shall be done.”

Try all your keys!  Never despair!

God leaves no treasure-houselocked against us.

N.J. Hiebert - 7659   

December 8

And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS:

for He shall save His people from their sins.  Matthew 1:21

There is no name so sweet on earth, no name so sweet in heaven, the name, 

before His wondrous birth, to Christ the Saviour given.  

George W. Bethune 

Counsellor—Isaiah 9:6   Emmanuel—Matthew 1:23

Helper—Hebrews 13:6   Messiah—Daniel 9:25

Judge—John 5:22   Sun of Righteousness - Malachi 4:2

But the sweetest name of all to every believer is JESUS. (Luke 2:21)  When He was eight days old, Mary’s infant Son was circumcised and given the Hebrew name Joshua (Jesus in Greek), which literally means “the Lord saves.”  And the Scriptures affirm without qualification that “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.

I know of a Name, a beautiful Name, that angels brought down to earth;

they whispered it low, one night long ago, to a maiden of lowly birth.

I know of a Name, a beautiful Name, that unto a babe was giv’n;   

the stars glittered bright thruout that glad night, and angels praised God in heav’n.

The One of that Name my Saviour became, my Saviour of Calvary;

my sins nailed Him there; my burdens He bare, He suffered all this for me.

I love that blest Name, that wonderful Name, made higher than all in heav’n;

'twas whispered, I know, in my heart long ago—to Jesus my life I’ve giv’n.

Chorus:  That beautiful Name, that beautiful Name from sin has pow’r to free us!

That beautiful Name, that wonderful Name, that matchless Name is Jesus!

Jean Perry  1865 - 1935

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December 9

. . . How much owest thou unto my Lord?    Luke 16:5

WHERE  IS  THY  TALENT?

Many talents are being hid “in the earth” today.  And it is not just the one-talent men and women who are doing it! Afraid of being considered peculiar and unwilling to be reproached for Christ’s sake, countless numbers are letting the “earth” have their ability.

Living for the things of this world, which must end with time, is as surely hiding talents in the earth

as literally burying them far beneath the surface of the ground would be.

Every note in the organ is needed for the full expression of noble harmony.

Every instrument in the orchestra is required unless the music is to be lame and broken.

Sir Michael Costa was once conducting an orchestra in London.  One of the instrumentalists, 

playing a piccolo, was suddenly impressed with his own unimportance as a minor 

contributor to the mighty volume of harmonious sound.

So he stayed his fingers and the piccolo was silent.

Immediately Sir Michael raised his hand and cried, “Stop!  Where’s the piccolo?"

Every other instrument in the orchestra was incomplete without the co-operation of the piccolo!

God has endowed no two souls alike, and every soul is needed to make the music of

“The realm of the blest.”  

What is that in thine hand?  Is it a musical instrument, or the gift of song?  Is it a ledger, 

or a school book?  A typewriter or a telegraph instrument?  Is it

an anvil or a printer’s rule?  Whatever it is, 

give it to God, in loving service!

Mountain Trailways for Youth    

 N.J. Hiebert - 7661

December 10

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:

He turneth it whithersoever He will.

Proverbs 21:1

There is no monarch so great that he can act in independence of God.

Whether he owns it or not, Jehovah is controlling him as He controls the flow of the water brooks.

He who “hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm” (Nahum 1:3) and can make the 

wrath of man to praise Him, and restrain the remainder thereof. (Psalm 76:10)

The book of Esther is the fitting illustration of this, especially Esther 6:1-10 regarding 

Haman’s plan that Mordecai should be destroyed.  The Lord reversed the 

intent and Haman was destroyed and Mordecai honoured.

H. A. Ironside - Proverbs

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December 11

I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.

Psalm 102:7

The man who wrote that must have known sparrows well.  A sparrow alone would indeed be a lonely bird. Who can read those words without seeing that solitariness of the soul which all of us by nature most dread?

Surely the Spirit guided the sequence of the Psalms, for the next, Psalm 103, opens a certain and glorious way of escape for that sparrow on the house top.  Fly into that air and there is instant deliverance from that which gives loneliness its power to crush and weaken. 

There is a sense in which every soul that follows hard after its God must find itself alone.

“He who follows Him the nearest needs must walk alone.”

It is part of the discipline of life.

It is not explained.

Let us rest our hearts on our Lord’s words about the sparrows, not one of whom, 

not even the one on the house top, is unregarded. 

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? . . .

Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.  

Luke 12:6-7

Whispers of His Power - Any Carmichael

N.J. Hiebert - 7663  

December 12

The flowers appear on the earth . . .  Song of Solomon 2:12

God who gave the flowers gave His Son to be a plant of renown on earth that by it He might reveal the life of heaven.  Life and light are the source of all the fragrant beauty of the garden, which brings such gladness to appreciative hearts.

Like the herb of the field, He was for the service of man.  Like the leaves of the tree, 

He was for the healing of the nations.  Like the fruit of the vine, He cheered God and man. 

Like the myrrh, the aloe, the cassia, He grew and suffered and died to fill the presence of God 

and the joy of His people with the most delightful fragrance.

Like the flowers appearing on the earth, His coming brought the springtime when the birds sing,

and when He and His people could walk together in a fellowship 

that shall one day be unbroken and unending.

A Plant of Renown - Leonard Sheldrake

N.J. Hiebert - 7664