Gems from January 23-25, 2005
January 23
"Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat... my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." (John 6:31,32)
- If I am walking with God through the desert, I shall be satisfied with the food which He provides, and that is Christ.
- The only provision which God has made, is the heavily manna, and on this the true believer should ever feed.
- As in nature the more we exercise, the better the appetite; so in grace: the more our renewed faculties are called into play, the more we feel the need of feeding each day upon Christ. (Food for the Desert)
N.J. Hiebert # 2138
January 24
"To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)
Has it ever come into your mind what sort of a thrill the delight of God in Christ must cause in heaven? And is it indeed true that we are accepted in the Beloved, and that God loves us as He loves Christ, because we are in Him and He is in us? What in you can interfere with the delight of God in His Son? His delight in believers is not in themselves, but in connection with Christ and redemption. His blood has washed all my sin away, my soul is in Him - one with Him; all my guilt and misery judged on the cross. Oh, it makes one feel very little; it sinks one into insignificance as being nothing and Christ everything; God looking on His Son with ever the same delight, seeing His members and loving them as such! It is pure grace from first to last. (G.V. Wigram - Gleanings)
N.J. Hiebert # 2139
January 25
"And Jonathan (King) Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God." (1 Samuel 23:16)
God make us all His Jonathans. There is a great hunter abroad in the world. Like Saul who sought David every day, he seeks souls every day, never a day's respite, always the hunt is on. Although the words stand for ever, "but God delivered him not into his hand" (v.14), yet sometimes souls tire of being hunted, and like David they are in a wilderness in a wood. Then is Jonathan's chance. But notice what he does, he does not so comfort David that he becomes necessary to him. "He strengthened his hand in God." He leaves his friend strong in God, resting in God, safe in God. He detaches his dear David from himself and he attaches him to his "Very Present Help" (Psalm 46:1). Then Jonathan went to his house, and David abode in the wood - with God. (Amy Carmichael - Edges of His Ways)
N.J. Hiebert # 2140
