Gems for the Week
July 29
"Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." (Daniel 6:5)
What a testimony from his bitterest enemies! Would that it could be said of all of us! He had never taken a bribe, he had never been connected with a "ring." Ah, how his name shines! He had commenced to shine in his early manhood, and he shone right along. Now he is an old man, an old statesman, and yet this is their testimony. Character is worth more than money. Character is worth more than anything else in the wide world. I would rather in my old age have such a character as that which Daniel's enemies gave him than have raised over my dead body a monument of gold reaching from earth to sky. (Selected)
N.J. Hiebert # 3415
July 30
"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught."
(Luke 5:4)
The Word had authority in the conscience. Peter and Andrew had seen Jesus before, but had not yet stayed with Him. There had not been sufficient power in their faith to attach them to Christ. There are many now, as ever, who own the authority of the Word, yet are not attached by its power to His person; many absorbed by their everyday pursuits, the Word not having laid hold of their souls so as to make them walk thoroughly with Christ. It is one thing simply to hear His word when spoken to them; quite a different thing when the Word reaches them and becomes the spring and motive of all their ways. So here these men had spent a little time with Jesus, had heard Him speak, and owned Him as Messiah; so now also we see obedience to His word when it comes to them. They launch out at His word, and at His word they let down their nets. "And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net brake." (J.N. Darby - The Man of Sorrows)
N.J. Hiebert # 3416
July 31
July 31
"I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
(Habakkuk 3:18)
God takes us through many things to purify us. His desire is to make us both dependent and obedient upon Him, the best for us. We must learn to lean upon Him in spite of circumstances that surround us no matter how dim or deceiving. He is able to lift us up above our circumstances leaving us to rejoice in Him alone as our Saviour. (B.R. - Meditations on Habakkuk)
N.J. Hiebert # 3417
