Gems for May - wk 4
May 25
"I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." (Philippians 3:13)
It has been said that if we look at ourselves, we shall become discouraged; if we look at others, we shall be perplexed; But if we look at Christ, we shall walk in the light of victory.
Forgetting, and remembering! "Forgetting the things which are behind!" Reaching forward to the prize before us! Remembering that in mercy He has buried our sins in the sea of His forgetfulness! "Forget not all His benefits."
(Zelma Argue - Garments of Strength)
N.J.H. # 2986
May 26
"Mary . . . sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word." (Luke 10:39)
"Lord, teach us to pray." (Luke 11:1)
God and Father, we Thy children
Would in meekness hear Thy word;
Undistracted, hearts responsive,
As Thy Spirit strikes the chord.
All Thy mind we would be learning,
As the desert path we trace;
Thine we are, and would be leaning,
Ever on Thy boundless grace.
(GUSTAFFSON)
N.J.H. # 2987
May 27
"And they shall see His face." (Revelation 22:4)
Wendell Phillips greatly loved his invalid wife. At the close of a lecture, friends urged him not to start for home in stormy weather. "It will be difficult," he agreed, "but at the end of my trip, I shall see my beloved Anne." The child of God travels life's difficult road, but does so excitedly, anticipating the welcoming face of his beloved Lord. "As for me, I shall behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness." (Arnot P. McIntee)
Face to face! O blissful moment!
Face to face - to see and know;
Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loved me so.
(Mrs. F.A. Breck)
N.J.H. # 2988
May 28
"Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." (John 11:5)
In this very chapter Martha does nothing save to blunder, and exhibit her blindness to the glory of the Person of her Lord, and yet the chapter is prefaced by the statement that Jesus loved her. It touched me deeply as I saw a little of the significance of the statement, and it taught me that the Lord's love to us rises above all our failures, and that, therefore, we may count upon it and rest in it at all times. (Edward Dennett)
N.J.H. # 2989
May 29
"See that ye fall not out by the way." (Genesis 45:24)
Nothing perhaps has been a more common source of . . . falling out by the way than the holding of favourite religious opinions, or the undue, dis-proportioned estimation of certain doctrines or points of truth. (J.G. Bellett)
N.J.H. # 2990
May 30
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him (God): for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)
The sight of the eyes is constantly tending to dim the estimate which faith forms; and if faith is not nourished by the word, it sinks down and fades away. If I am not feeding on the word, faith is not fed, for it cannot be fed by sight of things all around. (J.N. Darby)
N.J.H. # 2991
May 31
"But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which
by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1:25)
The only thing that endures for ever is "the word of the Lord." The wisdom of this world is against it - human reasoning is against it; but it is the only thing worth waiting upon diligently; and if Christians reason about the things of God instead of appealing to the word, they are sure to be going down. (Selected)
N.J.H. # 2992
