Gems from Scripture

May 7, 2008 at 18:02 o\clock

Gems for May - wk 2

by: dondegr

May 8

"As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." 
(Acts 13:2)
Fasting and prayer is the way to obtain guidance from God.  To be ready to receive instruction from Him one must be without distraction, a clean vessel waiting to be filled and used.  Self judgment and especially self discipline could prove useful in future endeavors should the Lord require such trials.  It is always good to live within our needs and not spend time in desiring our wants.  The Lord provides amply for His own.  (B.R. - Meditations in Acts)
N.J. Hiebert # 3332 

May 9

"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might."  (Ephesians 6:10) 
- In a world of constant change, you can trust in God's unchanging word. 
- Once we've feasted on the goodness of God, nothing else will satisfy.
- Serving the Lord is an investment with eternal dividends.
- When a Christian hits rock bottom, he'll find that Christ is a firm foundation.
- The best way to renew our minds is to read God's Word daily.
- What you do with Jesus now determines what He will do with you later.
- Don't study the Bible to quote it; study it to obey it.  (R.K. - Some Thoughts to Consider)
N.J. Hiebert # 3333
May 10
"That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."  (Ephesians 4:14) 
 
    Some people are like rowboats: they have to be pulled wherever they go.  Sometimes it is a struggle to keep them pointed in the right direction.
    Others are like sailboats: they are inclined to follow every wind of emotion and popular sentiment.
    Others, however, are like steamboats: they can drive against wind and storm and tide, and in the face of great difficulties can keep an even course because they have the power within.  (Selected)
 
N.J. Hiebert # 3334
May 11
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man:  but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that  that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." 
(1 Corinthians 10:13) 
 
We never have more than we can bear.  The present hour we are always able to endure.  As our day, so is our strength.  If the trials of many years were gathered into one, they would overwhelm us; therefore, in pity to our little strength, He sends first one, then another, then removes both and lays on a third heavier, perhaps than either; but all is so wisely measured to our strength that the bruised reed is never broken.  We do not enough look at our trials in this continuous and successive view.  Each one is sent to teach us something, and, altogether, they have a lesson which is beyond the power of any to teach alone.  (H.E. Manning)
 
We are never without help.  We have no right to say of any good work, it is too hard for me to do; or of any sorrow, it is too hard for me to bear; or of any sinful habit, it is too hard for me to overcome.  (E. Charles)  
 
N.J. Hiebert # 3335
May 12
"It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing."  (Galatians 4:18)
 
A vexation arises, and our expressions of impatience hinder others from taking it patiently.  Disappointment, ailment, or even weather depresses us, and our look or tone of depression hinders others from maintaining a cheerful and thankful spirit.  We say an unkind thing, and another is hindered in learning the holy lesson of love that thinks no evil.  We say a provoking thing, and our sister or brother is hindered in that day's effort to be meek.  How sadly, too, we may hinder without word or act.  For wrong feeling is more infectious than wrong doing; especially the various phases of ill-temper, - gloominess, touchiness, discontent, irritability, - do we not know how catching these are?  (Francis Ridley Havergal)
 
N.J. Hiebert # 3336 

May 2, 2008 at 19:40 o\clock

Gems for May - wk 1

by: dondegr

May 1

"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 
(Romans 10:17) 
    Does faith come by reason, and reason by the word of man? It would seem that many think so, and that the rare and exquisite touches of the pen of inspiration must be tried by the clumsy rules of arithmetic, or the far more clumsy rules of the infidel's moral sense; and the precious sacrifice of the Son of God must be treated more as a subject for a doctor's case-book than as a holy mystery revealed in the pages of the Book of God.
    May God preserve His saints in these perilous times!  May He fill our hearts with a very deep sense of the solemnity of the present moment, and lead us to keep close to Himself and to His Word!  Then shall we be safe from every hostile influence.  Then shall we not regard the sneer of the skeptic or the arguments of the infidel.  We shall know whence all such things come and whither they tend.  Christ will be our enjoyed portion, His Word and Spirit our guide, His coming the hope of our hearts.  (Christian Truth - Vol. 23 - November 1970) 
N.J. Hiebert # 3325

May 2

"Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."
(Psalm 119:11)
Here lies the great moral safeguard for the soul in this dark and evil day.  To have God's Word hidden in the heart is the divine secret of being preserved from all the snares of the enemy, and from all the evil influences which are at work around us.  Satan and his agents can do absolutely nothing with a soul that reverently clings to Scripture.  The man who has learned in the school of Christ the force and meaning of that one commanding sentence, "It is written,"  is proof against all the fiery darts of the wicked one.  (C.H. Mackintosh)
N.J. Hiebert # 3326

May 3

"For so was it charged (commanded) me by the word of the Lord." 
(1 Kings 13:9)
    An experiment with teenagers showed how they handle peer pressure.  Groups of 10 adolescents were brought into a room and instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the longest line on three charts.  Nine of the people had been told ahead of time to vote for the second-longest line.  But one person in the group had not been told.
    The experiment began with nine teenagers voting for the wrong line.  The tenth person would typically glance around, frown in confusion, and slip his hand up with the group because he lacked the courage to challenge them.
    In 1 Kings 13, and unidentified man of God performed miraculous signs at the altar in Bethel (vv.1-6).  But then, after this great victory, he took the word of another prophet to be the truth even though he knew it was contrary to what God had told him (vv.15-19).  Because of his disobedience, he was killed by a lion (vv.20-24).
    The story teaches us that God's Word is superior to anyone else's word and therefore should be obeyed.  When we're tempted to buckle under pressure, it's then that we must stand firm.  God's Word - the truth - can always be relied on.  (Anne Cetas)
O help, us Lord, to heed Thy Word,
Its precepts to obey;
And may we fight the tendency
To walk in our own way. - Sper 
God's Word is the compass that keeps us on course.
N.J. Hiebert # 3327 

May 4

"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like Me . . . My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure."  (Isaiah 46:9,10) 
The wildest mistake which a man can possibly fall into is to act without taking God into his account.  Sooner or later, the thought of God will force itself upon him, and then comes the awful crash of all his schemes and calculations.  At best, everything that is undertaken independently of God, can last but for the present time.  It cannot, by any possibility, stretch itself into eternity.  All that is merely human, however solid, however brilliant, or however attractive, must fall into the cold grasp of death, and molder in the dark, silent tomb.  The clod of the valley must cover man's highest excellencies and brightest glories; mortality is engraved upon his brow, and all his schemes are evanescent (passing away).  On the contrary, that which is connected with and based upon God, shall endure forever.  His name shall endure forever, and His memorial unto all generations (Exodus 3:15).  (C.H. Mackintosh)    
N.J. Hiebert # 3328
May 5
"I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."  (Psalm 4:8)  
The Psalmist was "in distress" (verse 1), but by putting his trust "in the Lord" (verse 5), he could sleep "in peace" and live "in safety."  We read of peace and safety together in only one other verse in the Bible - "When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them" (1 Thessalonians 5:3).  What a contrast!  Truly, "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."  Which peace and safety are you counting on?  (W.P.W. McVey)
He that hath made his refuge God,
Shall find a most secure abode;
Shall walk all day beneath His shade,
And there at night shall hide his head.
N.J. Hiebert # 3329
May 6
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  (Matthew 3:17)
Sin is directly opposed to the nature of God.  The measure of this is the fact that the Son, in whom the Father was well pleased, was the Person whom Satan hated and whom his subjects maltreated and abused.  His perfections appalled the evil one and repelled sinners.  His obvious insight into the self-righteous heart, hit the mark and stirred up the wrath of men against Himself.  Wonderfully that wrath was changed to glory and His death brought forgiveness and ushered us into an intimate relationship with God Himself.  (Garry W. Seale)
Monarch of the smitten cheek,
Scorn of both the Jew and Greek,
Priest and King, divinely meek,
He shall bear the glory.
(William Blane)
N.J. Hiebert # 3330
May 7
"And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth (shuns) evil?"  (Job 1:8) 
It is not the amount of truth that any man knows, on which his state before God turns, but the using of it excellently.  You will find men who know a great deal of truth utterly without principle; utterly without the fear of God.  You will find men who know a great deal, and all they use it for is merely to exalt themselves.  Sometimes for money, sometimes for a name.  But all that is most hateful to God.  Here we find a man (Job) that did not and could not know much in those days, but still he made the best use of it.  He lived in the faith of it, in the faith of God Himself; and the result was there was none like him in the earth - a perfect man and an upright man, "one that feared God and eschewed evil."  (W. Kelly) 
N.J. Hiebert # 3331
 

Apr 25, 2008 at 19:01 o\clock

Gems for April - wk 4

by: dondegr

April 26

"Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee." 
(Psalm 119:11)
    The word of God should not only be a check on our thoughts, but the source of them, which is a far deeper thing.  We see it in Christ, the only perfect one.  He only could say, "By the word of Thy lips I have kept me from the path of the destroyer."  "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."  There is preserving power in the word, to keep the feet from sliding, which those only know who receive the truth in the love of it.  Merely having the word hid in the memory and mind will not do.  There must be the action of the truth on the heart and conscience, separating from all defilement, otherwise its preserving power cannot be experienced.
*      *     *
    There is nothing more dangerous than to use the Word when it has not touched my conscience.  I put myself into Satan's hands if I go beyond what I have from God, handling the Word apart from the guidance of the Spirit.  I know of nothing that separates more from God than truth spoken out of communion with God. (J.N.Darby)
N.J.H. # 3320

April 27

"Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher."  (John 20:11)
When Mary Magdalene (Mary of Magdala) sought her Lord at the sepulcher, she saw "two angels in white" sitting in the tomb where Jesus had lain.  After telling them of her sorrow and search, she "turned herself back" - back from the angels.  They could not satisfy the heart of one who was seeking the object of her affections.  (Selected) 
N.J.H. # 3321
April 28
"And say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry which thou hast received
in the Lord, that thou fulfill it."  (Colossians 4:17) 
Are you fulfilling the place where the Lord has put you?  Are you walking  before His eye?  Are you taking heed to fulfill what has been committed to you?  It is possible for us to have received a distinct commission from the Lord for a certain work we are to do for Him.  It is possible to receive that, and not do it.  Archippus was in danger of  becoming careless and giving up.  Perhaps he was thinking, "This little work I am doing is not very important after all."  He was slipping, and the Apostle by the Spirit says, "Archippus, take heed."  (C.H. Brown)
N.J.H. # 3322
April 29
"Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together."  (Genesis 22:8)
"Can two walk together, except they be agreed?"  (Amos 3:3)
Abraham and Isaac were united as they made their trek to the altar on the top of Mount Moriah.  So too, in that long walk from heaven to Calvary, that place of divine sacrifice for our sin, God the Father and God the Son were in perfect harmony and total agreement in the great plan of salvation.  Who were the objects of this unified, unsurpassed, and undeserved love?  You and me!  How much we owe!  (D. Logan)  
Lest I forget Gethsemane; lest I forget Thine agony;
Lest I forget Thy love for me, lead me to  Calvary.
(J.E. Hussey)
N.J.H. # 3323
April 30
"God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power
belongeth unto God."  (Psalm 62:11)
    The Bible is the only book that gives me certain information as to God, as to the creation, as to how man comes to be in the state of sin and misery in which he is found today.  It is the only book that makes known to me God's remedy for sin - a remedy which  no man could ever have invented or dared to propose - but which nevertheless the whole moral being recognizes  as altogether worthy of God.
    But what is man to say, " the only God I would accept is a God of love, and not a God of vengeance"?  Imagine a prisoner saying this in open court, "the only judge I will accept, etc."  Such a one would very soon learn that government has authority and power.  And is God, the source of all supreme power, to be dictated to by His creatures?  It is absurd.  "Power belongeth unto God."  (A.H. Barry)
N.J.H. # 3324
"Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." 
(Romans 10:17) 
    Does faith come by reason, and reason by the word of man? It would seem that many think so, and that the rare and exquisite touches of the pen of inspiration must be tried by the clumsy rules of arithmetic, or the far more clumsy rules of the infidel's moral sense; and the precious sacrifice of the Son of God must be treated more as a subject for a doctor's case-book than as a holy mystery revealed in the pages of the Book of God.
    May God preserve His saints in these perilous times!  May He fill our hearts with a very deep sense of the solemnity of the present moment, and lead us to keep close to Himself and to His Word!  Then shall we be safe from every hostile influence.  Then shall we not regard the sneer of the skeptic or the arguments of the infidel.  We shall know whence all such things come and whither they tend.  Christ will be our enjoyed portion, His Word and Spirit our guide, His coming the hope of our hearts.  (Christian Truth - Vol. 23 - November 1970) 
N.J.H. # 3325
 

Apr 21, 2008 at 18:45 o\clock

Gems for April - wk 3

by: dondegr

April 14

"O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is." (Psalm 63:1)
 
Christian, see carefully to it, that you are not only saved by Christ, but also living on Him.  Make Him the daily portion of your soul.  Seek Him "early," seek Him "only."  When anything solicits your attention, ask the question, "Will this bring Christ to my heart?  Will it unfold Him to my affections, or draw me near to His Person?"  If not, reject it at once.  (Food for the Desert) 
 
N.J.H. # 3308 

April 15

"It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the Ghost."
(John 19:30)
"It is finished."  These three words signal the completion of the great act of redemption.  The Word "finished" was taken from Greek commercial life and indicated the completion of a transaction when a debt had been discharged.  In that victorious moment, "He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever." (Hebrews 10:12)  Today may we worship Him with grateful hearts, as we recall our great debt has been paid and we are bound for Glory to see Him seated at God's right hand.  (Arnot P. McIntee)

N.J.H. # 3309 

April 16

"I (Paul) have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." 
(1 Corinthians 3:6)
    Remember in speaking to any one you wish to help, that the more earnest and unconscious of self you are, the better you will help them.  Probably the words you think most telling will affect them least, while those you think nothing of, God will use for their good.  Leave all results with God.  You are not always digging up the seeds in your garden to see how they are growing.  Trust all to God, and He will bless your work. . . .
    Remember, God always works, very slowly and very surely; the bud is formed slowly, opens slowly.  We must work as God works, not with great strides self-love would like to work with.  (H. Monsell) 

N.J.H. # 3310 

April 17

"Whosoever will come after me (Jesus Christ), let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."  (Mark 8:34)
 
We need as much the cross we bear
As air we breathe, as light we see;
It draws us to Thy side in prayer,
It binds us to our strength in Thee.
(A.L. Waring)
 
N.J.H. # 3311 

April 18

"For the love of Christ constraineth us."  (2 Corinthians 5:14)
 
There cannot be a secret Christian.  Grace is like ointment in the hand, it betrays itself.  If you truly feel the sweetness of the Cross of Christ, you will feel constrained to confess Christ before men.  (Christian Life)
 
N.J.H. # 3312 

April 19

"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious."  (Proverbs 12:27) 
The mark of a slothful man is that he ". . . roasteth not that which he took in hunting."  He may associate with God's people, hear the Word ministered with freshness and power, and may even be struck with its blessedness and suitability to himself; but when he retires, he is so absorbed with earthly things that he takes no further interest in it.  Like the huntsman's prize, it is of no real benefit to him, because he is too indolent to occupy himself with it by meditating on the truth for his present profit.  How strikingly this describes the state of many today!  To read or to hear the Word is one thing, but to "meditate on it day and night" (Psalm 1:2) for our souls profit is another thing. (H.H.S.) 
 
N.J.H. # 3313 

April 20

"Beware . . . Lest when thou hast eaten and art full . . . and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up."  (Deuteronomy 8:11-14)
The times of marvelous help are times of danger.  Unclasp the ivy from the elm and it is prostrate at once.  Thank God if He keeps us realizing amid the busiest work and the pleasantest success that we have no power at all of ourselves to help ourselves. Then there will be nothing to hinder His continual help.  As long as we say quite unreservedly, "My help cometh from the Lord," the help will come.  As long as we are saying, "Thou art my help," He is our help - a very present help.  Then we shall not be helped with a little help, which is too often all we really expect from our Omnipotent Helper, just because we do not feel that we have no might.  Peter was a good swimmer but he did not say, "Lord, help me to swim."  He said, "Lord, save me."  And so the Master's help was instant and complete.  "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."   (Francis Ridley Havergal - Opened Treasures)
 
N.J.H. # 3314 

April 21

"By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed."  (Hebrews 11:8)
 
Whither he went, he knew not; it was enough for him to know that he went with God.  He leaned not so much upon the promises as upon the Promiser.  He looked not on the difficulties of his lot, but on the King, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, who had deigned to appoint his course, and would certainly vindicate Himself.  O glorious faith!  This is thy work, these are thy possibilities; contentment to sail with sealed orders, because of unwavering confidence in the wisdom of the Lord; willing to rise up, leave all, and follow Christ, because of the glad assurance that earth's best cannot bear comparison with Heaven's least.  (F.B. Meyer)
 
N.J.H. # 3315 

April 22

"There they crucified Him . . .  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for
they know not what they do." (Luke 23:33-34)
There!  And then!  He had come to the place, and the time had come for Him to die.  There as He was bleeding, He was also interceding, praying for those who put Him to death.  True, they did not know what they were doing, but He knew.  He also knew what He Himself was doing, suffering for our sakes and dying for our sins.  So He has both prayed for our forgiveness, and also paid for it with His own life.  (W.P.W. McVey) 
The blood that purchased our release,
And purged our crimson stains
We challenge earth and hell to show
A sin it cannot cleanse.
(A.M. Toplady) 

N.J.H. # 3316 

April 23

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me."  (Galatians 2:20)  
 
Christ in us! Who can reach the depth and height,
The length and breadth, of such a gift as this?
In weakness He is strength, in darkness light;
Amid the world's distress, and untold bliss;
Treasures of wisdom to a simple mind;
Riches of grace, the contrite heart to bless;
A clear and open vision to the blind;
And to the naked soul, a comely dress.
Compared with this, all other gifts are dim:
Poor in ourselves, yet we have all in Him.
(In Pastures Green - George Henderson)
 
N.J.H. # 3317

April 24

"And God said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fled from the face of Esau thy brother."  (Genesis 35:1)
 
Walking in obedience and sanctification brings protection causing fear and respect by enemies.  God does His part but expects responsibility on the part of the believer to "clean up his act".  Jacob returns to the place of his first revelation and God rehearses the blessing He gives through the patriarchs.  Jacob repeats all that he did previously including calling the place Bethel.  We often must return to where we left off with God to continue after straying away from the path.  (B.R. - Meditations in Genesis)
 
N.J.H. # 3318

April 25

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good."  (Romans 12:21)
    "Overcoming evil with good" is the greatest moral victory that can ever be upon the earth.
    I remember being in a group of about a dozen miners around a small mine.  One of then was an older man of about sixty.  He worked around the surface of the mine.  He was very religious and often mentioned the Lord and salvation to the men.  But I noticed that they did not make fun of him or show any disrespect for him at any time.  They were about the usual type of worldly men commonly found at such places, and showed in their ordinary speech but little respect for God or Christians in general.
    Puzzled, I asked one of the men why it was that they never showed any resentment toward the old man.  I was told that about a year before he had done something that had offended one of the men, who struck him in the face and knocked him down to the ground.  He arose and turned the other side of his face to his attacker, who walked away in disgust, mumbling something about being an old fool.
    From that time on, no one ever made fun of him, and all showed great respect for him.  He won the battle with a victory far greater than one won by sword or gun.  It was patterned after his Lord.  When the Lord gets the right place in the Christian's soul, He forms the thoughts and desires, and the Christian acts for Him.  (J.B.S.)  
N.J.H. # 3319 

Apr 7, 2008 at 22:23 o\clock

Gems for April - wk 2

by: dondegr

April 7
"Take no thought saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Where withal shall we be clothed? . . . for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall  be added unto you."  (Matthew 6:31-33) 
In other words, Put God first and self last, and God will see that you are honoured in His own time.  The Lord Jesus made this the object of His life - to seek to glorify the One who sent Him.  (H.A. Ironside)  
 
N.J.H. # 3301
April 8
"And he (Mephibosheth) bowed himself, and said, What is thy servant, that thou shoudest look upon such a dead dog as I am?  (2 Samuel 9:8) 
 
When Mephibosheth was five years old, an unfortunate accident caused him to become lame on both feet.  Today we would extend every effort to make such a one have a quality of life as normal as possible.  But Mephibosheth's estimation of himself was "a dead dog" as he stood before the king.  Are we any different as we stand before the King of kings?  We come dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2) and the Lord gives us life.  But more! David made Mephibosheth sit at his table and enjoy the bounty of the king.  Our Lord makes the same offer.  May we accept His invitation today.  (Charlie Tempest)  
 
N.J.H. # 3302 
April 9
"Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I (Jesus) am MEEK and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."  (Matthew 11:29)
 
Theodore Roosevelt said once, "I hate a meek man."  He probably did not realize that the boldest man, the most utterly unafraid man ever seen on earth, our Lord Jesus Christ, was in the fullest sense a meek man.  Meekness is not inconsistent with bravery, and enables one to suffer and be strong when the world would "turn aside the way of the meek."  (Amos 2:7)  (Selected)
 
N.J.H. # 3303 
April 10
"Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord." (Colossians 3:20)
 
In childhood days parents stand in relation to their children as God Himself in relation to the parents.  Children who do not obey their parents when young will not obey God when older.  The natural heart is ever rebellious against authority, and perhaps never more strikingly has this been manifested than in these democratic days in which we live.  But Christian children should be examples of godly submission to father and mother or whoever may be in authority over them, and parents are responsible to instill into their hearts the divine requirement of obedience.  For young people professing piety, to ignore this principle of obedience is to manifest utter insubjection to the One they own as Lord.  (TCNL)
 
N.J.H. # 3304 
April 11
"The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him." (Psalm 25:14)
"Show me now, that I may know Thy way." (Exodus 33:13)
"I will guide thee with Mine eye."  (Psalm 32:8)
God's Word gives us the great principles.  God's Spirit forms our hearts in these principles; and the little details fall into line with them.  We exercise our judgment; but it is the judgment of a "sound mind"; that is, a mind formed in its workings by the Word of God.  Then "I have set the Lord always before Me."  This Object forms and governs the motives.  It is akin to "the fear of the Lord."  He gets His rightful place in the soul, and He forms our thoughts and desires, and we act for Him.  (A.H. Rule) 
 
N.J.H. # 3305
April 12
"Consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds."  (Hebrews 12:3)
I once heard a marathoner tell how there comes a point in a race when the runner "hits the wall," meaning that his body cannot go on, and every muscle is crying out to give up.  He said that at that point it is the mind that will determine if the race will continue.  So it is spiritually.  If our minds have not been disciplined and directed by the Word of God on an ongoing basis, when we "hit the wall' in our spiritual life, we will fail.  May we determine to fill our minds with His Word, and so to discipline our thought life in such a way that we will have victory in the crises of life. (Wm. Burnett)
N.J.H. # 3306
April 13
"Joy unspeakable."  (1 Peter 1:8)
 
    The thing that hinders our rejoicing is not trouble, but being half and half.  If in the world his conscience reproaches the Christian, if he meets spiritual Christians he is unhappy there; in fact, he is happy nowhere.
    Ours ought not to be a religion of regrets, but a rejoicing of heart continually.

    "Rejoice evermore: pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks."    (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)  There is a closer connection between these three than our souls are willing to acknowledge.  Joy will ever rise in proportion to prayer and thanksgiving.

    Where His will is there is happiness. . . . Christ is my happiness . . . but it is in the path of His will that we find the enjoyment of His love. . . .  Thus I find in Him a source of profound and ineffable joy . . .  our treasure is Himself.  (Pilgrim Portions for the Day of Rest - JND)
 
N.J.H. # 3307