Gems for the Week
November 27 - December 5
"But if ye bite and devour one another,
beware lest you be consumed by one another!"
(Galatians 5:15)
When we say something unkind to a fellow Christian, he may become defensive, and often an argument will develop. We may look on our disagreement as nothing more than a question of our rights. The Lord sees the total picture, however, and knows we would be better off if we held our tongue and trusted Him for the outcome. If we don't, we may find to our regret that by our biting words we are "consumed by one another."
I was reminded of this when I read an interesting account about sake-eating sakes. According to zookeepers, two reptiles will sometimes grab different ends of the same piece of food. Sooner or later their struggle for that last bite brings them nose to nose. But then comes the surprise. The snake with the widest bite will keep right on going and actually swallow the other!
In the area of people problems, it's easy to assume that we're too mature to let things go that far. We're sure we wouldn't actually harm others. But Paul reminds us that words and emotions can get our of hand even among Christians. When this happens, feelings get hurt, friendships are destroyed, the church becomes divided, and the whole body of Christ suffers.
How important it is that we ask the Lord daily to help us to "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another" (Ephesians 4:32). Only as we rely on Him will the love of Christ in our hearts replace the man-eating impulses of a sharp tongue and a bitter spirit. (M.R.D.II)
It's only a word! But a word may harm
And open a wound with its lingering smart;
And a word may heal or a word may charm
If it comes direct from a loving heart.
(Anon)
It's better to bite your tongue than to allow it to bite someone else.
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright February 1987,
Grand Rapids, MI, Reprinted permission.
N.J. Hiebert # 2444
"The Lord was also angry with me [Moses] for your sakes, saying, 'Even you shall not go in there; but Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.' "
(Deuteronomy 1:37-38)
Francois Arago, a 19th-century French astronomer, attributed his success to words he found written on the paper cover of his book at a time when he was greatly discouraged. These words, written by French mathematician and philosopher Jean d'Alembert, were, "Go on, sir; go on! The difficulties you meet will resolve themselves as you advance. Proceed, and light will dawn and shine with increased clearness on your path." Following these simple words made Arago the first astronomical mathematician of his age.
God knew that Joshua would need encouraging words as well. Moses had become so discouraged with the grumbling people that he himself sinned against the Lord and lost his opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Numbers 20:8-20). Therefore, God instructed Moses to challenge all the people to encourage his young understudy. If Joshua were to fulfill his mission, the monumental task of leading Israel into the land of Canaan, the people needed to support him with their encouragement.
You and I are much the same. We need encouragement, too, whether we're a leader or a follower. George M. Adams observed that "encouragement is oxygen to the soul." If we plan to go on living, we need oxygen; if we plan to go on serving the Lord, we need encouragement.
Do you have the gift of encouragement? Whom can you comfort today? What simple word can you say that will go a long way in motivating your friends or family? Make it your ministry to lift the spirits of those around you so that they can serve the Lord more effectively.
If you want to be encouraged, encourage someone else. (Submitted by Richard K. Gorgas - September 17, 2004)
N.J. Hiebert # 2445
"The blood of Jesus Christ (God's) Son
cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
We are by Christ redeemed: The cost - His precious blood;
Be nothing by our souls esteemed Like this great good.
Were the vast world our own, With all its varied store,
And Thou, Lord Jesus, wert unknown, we still were poor.
(Mary Bowley - 316 LF)
N.J. Hiebert # 2446
"We are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:16-17)
You ask me how much I am worth. I don't know. You may go and find out how much the Vanderbilts are worth, and the Astors, and Rothschilds, but you can't find out how much a child of God is worth. Why? Because he is a joint-heir with Jesus Christ. (Moody's Latest Sermons - Copyright 1900)
N.J. Hiebert # 2447
"Jesus our Lord . . . according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue." (1 Peter 1:2-3)
Some Christians start out with Jesus Christ, then go looking for something better, some kind of "advanced Christianity." We will stray into all kinds of tangents looking for the "something more" that will transform our dull existence into spiritual reality. Sometimes it's a desire for something "deeper." 1 Peter 1:3 says that we have received "everything we need for life and godliness."
Christian maturity is not starting out with Jesus, then graduating to something better. The Christen life is starting with Christ, then spending the rest of eternity discovering more and more of what we already have in Him, more and more of the wonders of this Person "in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:3) (B. George)
N.J. Hiebert # 2448
Apply thine heart unto knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips." (Proverbs 22:17,18)
The Spirit will never bring a scripture to our lips for use unless we have first possessed it in our hearts. (Edward Dennett)
N.J. Hiebert # 2449
"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil." (Ephesians 4:26,27)
Righteous anger is communion with God in His indignation against evil (See Mark 3:5), but even if anger produced in us by the Holy Ghost be nursed, it will soon pass into a natural feeling, and thus we are told, "Let not the sun go down upon thy wrath." And then the injunction follows, "Neither give place to the devil." To cherish a feeling against any one is to give place to the devil. (Edward Dennett)
N.J. Hiebert # 2450
"And they came to John, and said to him, Rabbi, He who was with Thee beyond the Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, He baptizes, and all come to Him." (John 3:26)
Here was something calculated to test the heart of John the Baptist. Could he bear to lose all his disciples? Was he really, as he said, merely a voice, a nothing and a nobody? It is one thing to talk humbly and another to be humble, to speak about self-emptiness and to be self -emptied! John replied: "A man can receive nothing unless it be given him out of heaven." Let us seize and hold fast this great practical truth that nothing we have comes from ourselves, that we can do nothing and are nothing but what we are given. This realization would ever keep us humble.
The Baptist continued his reply by saying that he was not the Christ, the Bridegroom, but merely the friend of the Bridegroom and that in this role his joy was fulfilled. "He must increase but I must decrease." (John 3:28-30) Here lay the deep and precious secret of John's happiness and peace. His joy was not in his own work, not in gathering a number of disciples around himself, not in his personal influence or popularity. His pure and holy joy was to stand and hear the voice of the Bridegroom and to see others, to see his own disciples, to see all, flocking to that blessed One and finding all their joys in Him.
The abiding sense of God's goodness would ever keep us happy, and the remembrance that whatever goodness be in us or around us comes from God would ever keep us looking up. To be near Him, to have Him before the heart, to serve in His holy presence is the true secret of peace, the unfailing safeguard against envy and jealousy. (C.H. Mackintosh)
N.J. Hiebert # 2451
"And Elisha. . . cried, My father, my father. . .
and he saw (Elijah) no more;
and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in pieces.
He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him."
(2 Kings 2:12,13)
Elijah's mantle fell down upon him (Elisha), because his servant had seen him going up to heaven. Now this mantle belonged to Elisha. Likewise we shall always have the power of the spirit with us if we are attached to Christ and if our eyes follow Him on high.
Elisha tears his own garments in two. They will henceforth serve him no longer, for he possesses Elijah's mantle, the double portion of his spirit. It is in this power that he will walk in the midst of Israel. May it be likewise with us! May we tear up our old garment after having put on Christ, that we may present Him in testimony to the world! (H.L. Rossier - Meditations on 2 Kings)
N.J. Hiebert # 2452
