Gems worth pondering
June 6
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
(Isaiah 41:10)
A SONG
All those tasks which fret and try thee,
Chafe thy spirit, seem so long,
With thy Saviour close beside thee,
Undertake them with a song;
Jesus knows and understands,
Ne'er too much His love demands;
With thy Saviour close beside thee,
Undertake them with a song.
(Unknown)
N.J. Hiebert # 3727
June 7
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."
(Colossians 3:23)
We must give Him unreserved control of our lives.
John Spencer says that in the Gospels we find that Christ had a four-fold entertainment among the sons of men.
- Some received Him into house, but not into heart, as Simon the Pharisee who gave Him no kiss nor water for His feet.
- Some into heart, but not into house, as Nicodemus.
- Some into neither heart nor house, as the graceless Gadarenes.
- Some into both house and heart, as Lazarus.
When He has unrestricted access to the many-roomed house of life, a thousand difficulties will automatically solve themselves. When this is done we no longer divide our life into two artificial sections, one of which is secular and the other sacred; for, from this point of view, all life is sacred. Whether it be to sweep a crossing or preach to the multitudes, to serve behind a counter or to rule a kingdom - whatsoever we do, we will do it heartily as unto the Lord (Colossians 3:23). The sense of duty will be lost in the delight. (George Henderson - Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)
N.J. Hiebert # 3728
June 8
"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead." (2 Corinthians 5:14)
The whole story of the cross is involved in this constraining love. Its first effect upon us is to compel us to a right judgment. "We thus judge." Have we a right judgment of our selves? We are prone to judge others; how very easily we sit in the critic's chair; but if we know the constraining love of Christ, we judge ourselves.
What is this judgment we are constrained to accept? "That if one died for all, then were all dead." Thanks be to God for the largeness of the extent of the benefits and blessing of Christ's death; certainly, He "died for all." The teaching here is that His death for all evidenced that all were dead.
Christ's death for all does not put all there, it proves that all are there, and if that is true, then that is our condition - DEAD. I am sure that it is good for us to be constrained to this judgment. The love of Christ brings us to it - the grand starting point from which we can go forward in the things of God.
(N. Anderson)
N.J. Hiebert # 3729
