Gems for the Week
March 25 - 31
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." (Psalm 55:22)
"Thy burden" or what thy God lays upon thee lay thou it "upon the Lord." His wisdom casts it upon thee, it is thy wisdom to cast it upon Him. He cast thy lot for thee, cast thy lot on Him. He gives thee thy portion of suffering, accept it with cheerful resignation, and then take it back to Him by thine assured confidence. He shall sustain thee! Thy bread shall be given thee, thy waters shall be sure. Abundant nourishment shall fit thee to bear all thy labours and trials. "As thy days so shall thy strength be."
(C.H. Spurgeon)
Be sure, however, dear child of God, that when by prayer you cast your burden on the Lord, you leave it there, and do not go back to take up and carry thyself the load you have given to God to carry. In prayer learn to commit things to God. The definite promise that He will sustain us and that He will never suffer the righteous to be moved should greatly encourage us to cast all our care upon Him.
N.J. Hiebert # 2926
"And the King's servants said unto the King, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the King shall appoint." (2 Samuel 15:15)
Begin at once; before you venture away from this quiet moment, ask your King to take you wholly into His service, and place all the hours of this day quite simply at His disposal, and ask Him to make and keep you ready to do just exactly what He appoints. Never mind about to-morrow; one day at a time is enough. Try it to-day, and see if it is not a day of strange, almost curious peace so sweet that you will be only too thankful, when tomorrow comes, to ask Him to take it also, - till it will become a blessed habit to hold yourself simply and "wholly at Thy commandment for any manner of service." . . . "Ready" implies something of preparation, - not being taken by surprise. Let us ask Him to prepare us for all that He is preparing for us. (Francis Ridley Havergal)
N.J. Hiebert # 2927
"So Hannah rose up, after they had eaten in Shiloh,
and after they had drunk. . . . And she was in bitterness of soul,
and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore." (1 Samuel 1:9,10)
God inspires her prayer, and then answers it, dictates the language, and then satisfies the petition. So that persons who are asking for what may be called a little ordinary daily blessing, may, in reality, be asking for a gift the influence of which shall reach through ages, shall palpitate through eternity. Hannah says, Give me a man child! She knows not the destinies that are involved in that prayer. (Joseph Parker)
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above
all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.
Unto Him be glory in the church by Jesus Christ, throughout all ages, world without end . Amen." (Ephesians 3:20,21)
N.J. Hiebert # 2928
"Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king (Nebuchadnezzar), True,
O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they
have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is
like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:24,25)
God's presence in the trial is much better than exemption from the trial. The sympathy of His heart with us is sweeter far than the power of His hand for us. The Master's presence with His faithful servants, while passing through the furnace, was better far than the display of His power to keep them out of it. (Food for the Desert)
N.J. Hiebert # 2929
"He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love." (Ephesians 1:4)
There is a great comfort in knowing that God has chosen us. We are not His redeemed because we are the most intelligent, but because He has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. We are not heirs because we are people of inherent honour, but because He extends to us His glory. We are not His children because we are strong, but because we are weak. Not only do these things prevent us from boasting in anything but Christ, they also offer us a confidence in living out our lives.
No longer do we need to be achievement-driven; we were not chosen because of some special ability or gifting. No longer do we need to please people for a sense of acceptance; we are the apple of His eye. No longer do we need to fear the future, for we are held in the arms of One who holds everything in His hands. Defeat need not be a word in our vocabulary - not because we are go-getters and succeed at all costs - but because we are confident that God is using all that happens in our lives to weave a beautiful tapestry. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
Living as Christ's own, we live with the assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. And we live with the reminder that nothing is ordinary in the life of those who are called according to God's purposes. As we go about the seemingly mundane and sometimes frustrating scenes in the drama of life, there is still value in it because we know that God is at work in every scene. There is the hope of God's sovereignty in all that confronts us. There is the comfort of God's omnipresence throughout the stories of our lives. Even in our shortfalls and bad choices God is still at work, going about the process of sanctification, urging us onward toward the prize. And He who began a good work in us will be certain to bring it to completion. (Selected)
N.J. Hiebert # 2930
"Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man
then understand his own way?" (Proverbs 20:24)
Dependence on God alone secures a clean or righteous walk. So it was of old; so it is now. Man needs direction from above, and grace too, that in this world of pitfalls and confusion his ways may please the Lord. (William Kelly)
N.J. Hiebert # 2931
"Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel
thou shalt become a plain." (Zechariah 4:7)
Whatever mountains of difficulty may appear, God can remove them, or make a way round about them, as He sees good and fitting. We need more simple and childlike faith as we read in Zechariah 4:7.
Our true Zerubbabel can and will meet all our difficulties. In trusting Him we can be at rest. (Christian Truth - Vol. 20 - February 1967)
N.J. Hiebert # 2932
