Gems for the Week
August 20 - 22
"But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him . . . Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands." (Exodus 17:12)
"Bear ye one another's burdens . . ." (Galatians 6:2)
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Moses was the key figure in this battle with Amalek. Aaron and Hur were role players, yet if they would have been more interested in their own comfort, schedule and recreation, the battle would have been lost, for on this particular day Moses was not able to bear all the burden himself. Look around. Do you know someone who is struggling under a burden? "Then lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees" (Hebrews 12:12), because they may be in a serious battle and you could make the difference. (Charlie Tempest - Choice Gleanings)
O may we feel each brother's sigh, and with him bear a part:
May sorrows flow from eye to eye, and joy from heart to heart.
N.J. Hiebert # 2710
"And you yourselves be like men who wait for their Master." (Luke 12:36)
Dean Frederic Farrar was a personal friend of Queen Victoria of England. On one occasion he told of a conversation he had with Her Majesty after she had heard one of her chaplains preach a message on Christ's return. She said, "Oh, Dean Farrar, how I wish the Lord would come during my lifetime!" When he asked why she desired this, her countenance brightened, and with deep emotion she replied, "Because I would love to lay my crown at His blessed feet in reverent adoration!"
There are at least two ways in which Christians "wait" for the Lord's return. Some are completely unmoved by this coming event because they have only a cold, theological knowledge of the facts. This attitude is superficial - a mere mental assent to a doctrine that does not cause them to be faithful to the Lord. Other believers, however, look expectantly as did Queen Victoria, longing for the Saviour's second advent with holy zeal. They are living for his glory and want to give Him praise and adoration for all He has done for them. This way of thinking touches the heart and motivates a person to godly living and a hopeful expectation of seeing Jesus face to face. The apostle John said that everyone who has the hope of Christ's return burning brightly in his heart "purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1 John 3:3) Is that true of you? (Selected)
N.J. Hiebert # 2711
"Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue."
(Psalm 120:2)
Overheard recently, when someone spoke of a friend's long absence, "It's been forever and a day since I saw her." Another phrase glibly spoken and often heard is, "I was scared to death." Really? These idioms may seem insignificant, but often exaggeration takes the form of willfully speaking beyond the bounds of truth. Joni Eareckson Tada says, "We play into the hands of Satan, the Father of lies, when we distort the facts." God is pleased when we say what we mean and mean what we say. May our prayer be, "Set a watch, O Lord, at my mouth; keep the door of my lips" (Psalm 141:3). (E. Dyck)
N.J. Hiebert # 2712
