Gems to consider
June 29 - 30
"And He (Jesus) said to the woman, thy faith hath saved thee;
go in peace." (Luke 7:50)
A devoted heart is only one that has discovered the worth of Christ, and no one can be devoted until he has discovered it. It is not a question of time or attainment; the immediate and necessary consequence of this secret being divulged to your heart is to make it true to the One to whom it is so deeply indebted. Love makes much of its object, and counts it not self-sacrifice. Self drops off when my Saviour becomes the one Object of my heart. (Selected)
N.J. Hiebert # 2294
"Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy and truth's sake."
(Psalm 115:1)
Unbelief is not humility, but thorough pride. It refuses to believe God because it does not find in self a reason for believing. This is the very height of presumption. If, when God speaks, I refuse to believe, on the ground of something in myself, I make make (God) a liar. (1 John 5:10) When God declares His love, and I refuse to believe because I do not deem myself a sufficiently worthy object, I make Him a liar, and exhibit the inherent pride of my heart. The bare supposition that I could ever be worthy of aught save the lowest pit of hell, can only be regarded as the most profound ignorance of my own condition and of God's requirements. And the refusal to take the place which the redeeming love of God assigns me, on the ground of the finished atonement of Christ, is to make God a liar, and cast gross dishonour upon the sacrifice of the cross. God's love flows forth spontaneously. It is not drawn forth by my deserts, but by my misery. Nor is it a question as to the place which I deserve, but which Christ deserves. Christ took the sinner's place on the cross, that the sinner might take His place in the glory. Christ got what the sinner deserved, that the sinner might get what Christ deserves. Thus self is totally set aside, and this is true humility. No one can be truly humbled until he has reached heaven's side of the cross; but there he finds divine life, divine righteousness, and divine favour. (C.H. Macintosh)
N.J. Hiebert # 2295
