Gems worth pondering
May 18
"Put that on mine account." (Philemon 18)
Recently I was buying an item for $4.50 with a friend. At the counter I could not find my wallet. I said to the cashier, "I'm sorry, I forgot my money." A total stranger behind me immediately said, "I'll pay that for you." When I told him about my friend in the store, he repeated very earnestly, "I will pay that for you." I thanked him and waited for my friend. I thought of how we stood before God - sinners, with nothing to pay. Yet there was One, the Lord Jesus, who paid the debt for us. What grace! (Ben Tuininga)
He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away;
And now I sing a brand new song,
Amazing grace! Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.
(Choice Gleanings)
N.J. Hiebert # 3708
May 19
"Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)
There are four great passages in the New Testament which set forth Christian character in all its winsomeness and power:
- Matthew 5:3-12 with its nine beatitudes;
- 1 Corinthians 13, with its sixteen matchless qualities;
- Galatians 5:22,23, with its ninefold cluster of heavenly fruit;
- 2 Peter 1:5-8, with its description of fully developed Christian manhood.
- The words in Matthew 5 present a character schooled in humility, matured by suffering, instinct with gentleness, and purity, and love. "Blessed are the poor in spirit ... they that mourn ... the meek ... they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ... the merciful ... the pure in heart ... the peacemakers ... they which are persecuted ... blessed are ye, when men shall revile you ... rejoice and be exceeding glad: for your reward is in heaven ..."
- 1 Corinthians 13 is perhaps the noblest assemblage of beautiful thoughts extant in this our world. "And now abideth faith, hope, and charity (love); but the greatest of these is love."
- The paragraph in Galatians 5 unfolds the secret whereby we may have days of heaven upon earth. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."
- 2 Peter 1, assuming faith as the foundation rises majestically, step by step, until the structure is crowned with that love which is the fulfilling of the Law. " . . . giving all diligence ... add to your faith virtue ... knowledge ... temperance ... patience ... godliness ... brotherly kindness ... love ... neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Henry Durbanville - Winsome Christianity)
N.J. Hiebert # 3709
May 20
"Chasten thy son (seeing) there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying."
(Proverbs 19:18)
The young twig is pliant, and may be bent aright or pruned to bear fruit. Love is not indifferent but takes pains; and chastening is a greater sorrow to a father than to the son that needs it. To allow evil, whatever the plea, is to set one's soul on causing "him to die." We, Christians on earth, endure chastening, which, though painful for the moment, afterward yields peaceful fruits of righteousness to those exercised thereby. (William Kelly - The Proverbs)
N.J. Hiebert # 3710
May 21
"Casting all your cares upon HIM; for HE careth for you."
(1 Peter 5:7)
The Saviour Can Solve Every Problem
The Saviour can lift every burden, The heavy as well as the light;
His strength is made perfect in weakness, In Him there is power and might.
The Saviour can bear every sorrow, In Him there is comfort and rest;
No matter how great the affliction, He only permits what is best.
The Saviour can strengthen the weary, His grace is sufficient for all;
He knows every step of the pathway, And listens to hear when we call.
The Saviour can break sin's dominion, The victory He won long ago;
In Him there is freedom from bondage, He's able to conquer the foe.
The Saviour can satisfy fully The heart that the world cannot fill;
His presence will sanctify wholly The soul that is yielded and still.
The Saviour can solve every problem,
The tangles of life can undo;
There is nothing too hard for Jesus,
There is nothing that He cannot do.
(Oswald J. Smith)
N.J. Hiebert # 3711
