Bible Gems

December 18

"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. . . ."  (Revelation 1:19)

When I was a boy in school, my record in arithmetic was deplorable.  But I always remembered that the answers were all in the back of the book!  In my Bible, there are many things I do not understand and "the things which are" puzzle me these days.  But this little Book of Revelation tells me not only about that, but also that which is to be.  If we know where we are going, we are better prepared for where we are today.  This little book closes with the victory of Christ, the new heaven and earth and all things made new.  I read in the papers what man is doing, but I read in this little book what God is going to do.  I may not fully comprehend all I read, but I get the message.  The answers are all there and they are good!  (Vance Havner - All the Days)

N.J. Hiebert # 3557

December 19

"JOSEPH is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. . . ."  (Genesis 49:22)

"This God shall be my God for ever and ever; He shall be my Guide even unto death."  If this were so, these impressions were deepened by three deaths in Joseph's life.  When they reached the family settlement they found the old nurse Deborah dying.  She was the last link to those bright days when her young mistress Rebekah came across the desert to be Isaac's bride; and they buried her with many tears under an ancient but splendid oak. 
And he could never forget the next.  The long caravan was moving slowly up to the narrow ridge along which lay the ancient village of Bethlehem: suddenly a halt was called; the beloved Rachael could go not another step; there as the sun was westering, amid scenes where in after-years Ruth met Boaz, and David watched his sheep, and the good Joseph walked beside the patient donkey with its precious burden - there Rachael, Joseph's mother, died.  This was the greatest loss that he had ever known . . . after a space of twenty seven years, he was to place the remains of his father, Jacob in the same grave.
These things made Joseph what he was.  And the little sympathy that he received from his family only drove him more apart, and compelled him to live "by the well" and to strike his roots deep into the life of God.
It may be that these words will be read by youths of seventeen who have passed through experiences not unlike Joseph's.
- They have lost sainted friends. 
- They have been emptied from vessel to vessel. 
- They feel lonely in the midst of their home.
Let me solemnly ask them if they have entered into covenant with God.  Have you avouched God to be your God?  Have you put your hand into the hand of "the mighty God of Jacob"?  It is an urgent question, for the answer to it may mark the crisis of your lives.  Choose Christ; and, in choosing Him, choose life, and blessedness, and heaven.  And when you have chosen Him, cleave close to Him, and send the rootlets of your existence deep down into the hidden wells of communion and fellowship. 
(F.B. Meyer - Joseph - Beloved - Hated - Exalted)

N.J. Hiebert # 3558