Gems for the Week
August 11 - 16
"Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
(Matthew 11:28-30)
People do not end up in a counselor's office, nor do they become fanatical, judgmental, or self-righteous through carrying the yoke of Jesus! Taking on the yoke of Jesus means becoming His willing disciple, that is, a lifelong learner. It means totally trusting Him with our lives. It may mean difficulty; it may mean facing rejection; it may mean a great deal of hard work - but it will not burn you out. The yoke of Jesus also means rest, peace, and fulfillment in a life linked with His.
The first reason we don't become burned-out is because we are not acting contrary to our real identities. We are merely living out who we are: new creatures in Christ! "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) We have become, partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16) We don't feel a conflict with the moving of the Spirit in our lives (though the flesh may resist). Our souls experience the greatest peace and harmony imaginable when we are responding to the urgings of God through the Holy Spirit.
The second reason that we don't burn out is because we are not producing the life on our own; Christ Himself is producing His life in and through us. "Whereunto I also labour, striving according to His working, which worketh in me mightily." (Colossians 1:29) (Bob George)
N.J. Hiebert # 3062
"Be ye also ready. . . ." (Matthew 24:44)
Not only ready for His coming or ready to die but ready for anything - ready to give an answer for the hope within us ". . . be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." (1 Peter 3:15), ready to preach the Gospel, "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel." (Romans 1:15). The Christian should live in a state of constant readiness to live or die, to spend or be spent. Ready to die and therefore ready to live. Ready to live and therefore ready to die. Paul had only two days on his calendar, "TODAY" and "THAT DAY." The Christian who is right and rich and radiant is ready, come what may! (Vance Havner - All the Days)
N.J. Hiebert # 3063
"Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me,
and to finish His work." (John 4:34)
No one was ever, on earth, so happy as Christ, because of His seeing everything in connection with God's purpose and God's will; and the greater the sorrow, the higher its wave broke over His heart, the more this is seen. There was always some expression of praise, some reference to the Father, showing the joy within untouched, as a spring of water hidden for refreshment. His was straitened till the Father's will was accomplished in the death upon the cross. (Gleanings From the Teaching of G.V. Wigram)
N.J. Hiebert # 3064
"Pray [continually] without ceasing." (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
FOR OUR CHILDREN
Father, hear us, we are praying,
Hear the words our hearts are saying,
We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril,
From the whirlpool that would suck them,
From the treacherous quicksand, pluck them.
From the worldlings hollow gladness
From the sting of faithless sadness
Holy Father, save our children
Through life's troubled waters steer them,
Through life's bitter battle cheer them,
Father, Father, be Thou near them.
Read the language of our longing,
Read the wordless pleadings thronging,
Holy Father, for our children.
And wherever they may bide,
Lead them Home at eventide.
(Amy Carmichael)
N.J. Hiebert # 3065
"And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for
this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall
from the head of any of you." (Acts 27:33,34)
Fourteen days is a long time to go without food! They had been so pre-occupied with the terrible storm, that they had not taken time to eat. Perhaps the storm, that has assailed your life has not allowed you the opportunity or the desire to feed on God's Word. But that is the very meat that you must have to regain your spiritual strength. Be sure to spend time every day, diligently feeding on the precious Word of God. It is for your health.
If your desire is to come back to the Lord, be encouraged! "There shall not an hair fall from your head." The Lord has promised that "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand." (John 10:28,29) Though you may have suffered a ship-wreck, when there is repentance, God can and will bring you to another ship. Take heart and take meat! (D.N. - The Journey of Life)
N.J. Hiebert # 3066
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
Faith in Christ. Faith is that act of the soul whereby it rests on Christ crucified for pardon and life, and that upon the warrant of the word. The person of Christ is the object of faith as justifying: secondly, Christ as crucified. First, the person of Christ, not any axiom or proposition in the word; - this is the object of assurance, not of faith. Assurance saith, I believe my sins are pardoned through Christ: faith's language is, I believe on Christ for the pardon of them. . . . Not every one that assents to the truth of what Scripture saith of Christ doth believe on Christ. This believing on Christ implies trusting decumbency (reclining) on Christ. It is no the sight of a man's arm stretched out to a man in the water will save him from drowning, but the taking hold of it. "Let him take hold of my strength." (Isaiah 27:5) (William Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armour - 1665)
N.J. Hiebert # 3067
