Gems worth pondering
August 12
"They looked unto Him, and were lightened."
(Psalm 34:5)
O Lord! we would delight in Thee,
And on Thy care depend,
To Thee in every trouble flee,
Our safe unfailing Friend.
When human cisterns all are dried,
Thy fulness is the same,
May we with this be satisfied,
And glory in Thy name.
(RYLAND -1777)
Which would you rather have, a smooth path, or a path so rough that the Lord is compelled to show His face to you every step of the way?
Christ wept; but He wept as in the sight of God. . . . Let us see to it that the sorrows we have flow from Himself, and flow toward Him in God; they will be all the deeper, I am sure, but what is from God and to God is sustained by God, and so we can give thanks always for all things.
"What pleases Thee, Lord, pleases me" is a grand motto for rest and peace and quiet, and for the stopping of all repining about what we have not got.
It is a great thing for each to be . . . ready to act on and from his own responsibility, but never going beyond that which he sees to be his own duty, never acting under the light which others have. . . . I would rather act under God's measure of light vouchsafed to me, or not act, because I had none such, than be the one to carry out the mind of any man, without my being assured his mind was God's mind for me. (G.V. WIGRAM - FOOTPRINTS for PILGRIMS)
N.J. Hiebert - 3794
August 13
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
(Luke 14:11)
GOD'S WAY
"The way to be master is to be servant;
The way to get up is to get down;
The way to receive is to give;
The way to be rich is to be poor;
The way to be wise is to be a fool;
The way to be exalted is to abase one's self;
The way to live is to die."
(ANON)
N.J. Hiebert - 3795
August 14
"And some said, what will this babbler say? other some, he seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he (Paul) preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection."
(Acts 17:18)
CHANGED
Christ's resurrection:
- Changed Mary from a mourner into a messenger;
- Changed Thomas from a doubter into a believer;
- Changed Peter from a denier into a preacher, and,
- Changed Paul from a persecutor into a missionary.
The early Christians went forth preaching "Jesus, and the resurrection" (Acts 17:18). Some mocked, some procrastinated, and some believed. For those who believed, the event became a personal experience, a cleansing, life-changing, transforming experience!
From the empty tomb of our Lord Jesus Christ has flowed the a warm gulf stream of salvation which has changed the lives of millions of people. Has it changed yours? (SELECTED)
N.J. Hiebert - 3796
August 15
"Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out."
(John 6:37)
No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as He will not do it at first, so He will not to the last.
But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but He will "purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; He will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow;" "From all iniquities will I cleanse them."
"Once in Christ, in Christ for ever,
Nothing from His love can sever."
"I give unto My sheep," saith He, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to one who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but He will receive thee and make thee His bride, and thou shalt be His for ever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out." (DAILY READINGS - C.H. SPURGEON)
N.J. Hiebert - 3797
