Gems worth pondering
August 2
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)
There are words that heal and words that hurt. An article told of a little, left-handed girl who was teasingly told that left-handed people don't go to heaven. This wounded the child's sensitive spirit and took her years to overcome. James 3:11 asks, "Does a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" Harsh or condemning words are cruel and intimidating, whereas good words will inspire and build up. May we carefully think, before blurting careless words.
May we use our speech in an honourable way. (E. Dyck - provided by a reader B.R.)
Hurtful words oh, let them never,
From our tongues unbridled slip,
May we heed the Spirit's warning,
Set a guard at heart and lip. (Anon)
N.J. Hiebert - 3784
August 3
"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." (Luke 1:46,47)
Here was a spontaneous burst of praise and worship, occasioned by Mary's understanding that she was to be the mother of the Lord. Notice that both components of Mary's inner self - soul and spirit together - formed this exaltation. There is a need for both in our worship. May our soul's emotion and our spirit's understanding combine that there might be fullness in our adoration. Paul said, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also," (1 Corinthians 14:15).
O Lord, we know it matters not how sweet the song may be;
No heart but of the Spirit taught makes melody to Thee.
N.J. Hiebert - 3785
August 4
"Jesus saith unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6)
"Without the way there is no going;
Without the truth there is no knowing;
Without the life there is no living.
I am the way which thou oughtest to follow,
The truth which thou oughtest to trust,
The life which thou oughtest to live":
The inviolable way,
The infallible truth,
The endless life.
He is the way in the practical sphere,
The truth in the intellectual sphere,
The life in the spiritual sphere:
The way out of sin, The way through life, The way home to God.
The claims implicit in the words of verse 6 are exclusive, absolute, universal; and they demonstrate the truth that Christianity is Christ.
Platonism could exist without Plato,
Buddhism without Buddha, Confucianism without Confucius;
But Christianity could not exist without our risen Lord.
He not only sets forth the ideal, but is Himself the dynamic Power by which alone it can be realized (Galatians 2:20). (Henry Durbanville - His Last Words)
N.J. Hiebert - 3786
.
.
