Gems for the Week
July 11 - 14
"Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path."
(Psalm 27:11)
Dear Master, for this current year
This one request I bring;
I do not pray for happiness,
Or any earthly thing.
I do not ask to understand
The way Thou leadest me;
But this I ask, "Teach me to do
The thing that pleaseth Thee."
A quiet lot in life is mine,
Made up of little things;
Teach me to do as unto Thee
The duties each day brings.
Faithful in that which is the least,
Dear Master, I would be;
Thus making all my daily work
"The thing that pleaseth Thee."
(Author unknown)
N.J. Hiebert # 2670
"These things therefore the soldiers did." (John 19:24)
They mocked Him and scourged Him. They stripped Him and spat on Him. They robed Him in purple and crowned Him with thorns. They smote Him on His thorn-crowned head, and they buffeted Him, and, without finding fault in Him, they crucified Him. These things the soldiers did, and like a lamb led to the slaughter, the Saviour endured it all silently, and uttered not one word of complaint. (Jim Flanigan)
N.J. Hiebert # 2671
"Keep yourselves in the love of God." (Jude 21)
A compromise is fatal. The devil, who is a liar, tells you that a little bit of "yes, but . . ." is so much easier than "yes, Jesus." That is a lie! Every day with Jesus is better than the day before, but He is not willing for you to be only a member of a spiritual insurance company. He is our Saviour. He has bought you with His blood - a very high price. he is the King of kings, the Son of God. (Corrie Ten Boom - This Day is the Lord's)
N.J. Hiebert # 2672
"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5:4)
What do we mean by falling from grace? Here we have the expression in Scripture, "Ye are fallen from grace." - Really, a better translation is, "Ye are fallen away from grace" - you have turned away from grace. Does this mean that if a man is once a Christian but falls into some kind of sin, he loses his salvation and is no longer a Christian? If it meant that, every believer ceases to be a Christian every day, because there is not a person anywhere that does not fall into some kind of sin every day - sins of thought, of word, or of deed. But falling from grace is not sinking into sin, into immorality or other evil-doing, but it is turning from the full, clear, high Christian standard of salvation by grace alone to the low level of attempting to keep one's salvation by human effort. Therefore, a man who says, "I am saved by grace, but now my continuance depends on my own effort," has fallen from grace. that is what it is to "fall from grace." (H.A. Ironside - Epistle to the Galatians)
N.J. Hiebert # 2673
