Gems for the Week
March 29 - 31
"Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find."
(Matthew 7:7)
"Seek, and ye shall find." The remedy is not so simple as it seems. The command to ask seems simple enough. "Ye have not, because ye ask not," (James 4:2) What could be simpler than that? And yet the Scripture speaks of it as toil and labour. Prayer demands earnestness of mind and heart. Our Lord Jesus wrought many mighty works without any sign of effort. There was in His marvelous works the ease of omnipotence, but of His prayers it is said, He "offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears." There was no visible strain in healing diseases, in raising the dead, and stilling the tempest; but in prayer we read of real labour and agony.
Nowadays, in the open life of the Church, and in the fellowship of believers there is seemingly little power in prayer. There is a marked absence of travail. There is much phrasing, but little pleading. The powerlessness of the Church needs no other explanation, and we need seek no other cause. To be prayerless is to be both passionless and powerless.
(Believer's Bookshelf Inc.)
N.J. Hiebert # 2566
"And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given
Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a
sweet-smelling savour." (Ephesians 5:2)
It is easy to love those that love us. But what if someone doesn't love us, do we still love them? It was this very type of love that Christ walked in. He loved us when we hated Him. He loved us without condition. It was a love that comes only from above. This is what this Scripture means when it calls for you and me to walk in love. Is there someone today that you are finding very hard to love? Ask the Lord to give you this love, the love that He had. (Paul Robertson)
Love is good wishes for the gain of another,
Love suffers long with the fault of a brother.
(Choice Gleanings)
N.J. Hiebert # 2567
"He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."
(Colossians 1:17)
Three unlimited things which are the privilege of every believer:
- The inexhaustible resources of God to draw upon.
- The infinite glories of the Lord Jesus Christ to gaze upon.
- The unfathomable depths of the Word of God to feed upon.
(From "Singing pilgrim" by Dick Gorgas, February 12, 2004)
N.J. Hiebert # 2568
