Gems for October - wk 1
October 1
"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
The infinite LORD of Glory requests to communicate with sinful man. "Deity stoops to speak to dust." Look again at Calvary and see our Saviour, bearing in our stead, the "consuming fire" of judgment that we deserved. Now the scarlet sins have been forgiven and God sees us as white as snow. Listen now to the Saviour, "Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee" (Matthew 9:2). (Milton Haack)
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul,
When at the cross the Saviour made me whole;
My sins were washed away, and my night was turned to day,
Heaven came down and glory filled my soul. - John Peterson
N.J.H. # 3113
October 2
"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12)
There is a day coming when the trust that we have committed to God's keeping will be returned to us a millionfold more. We shall find what a good investor of our treasures God is, when the pleasure we laid down and the friendship we committed to Him, shall come back to us from His hands multiplied, when our teardrops shall have been crystallized into diamonds, our cups of cold water shall have turned into heavenly wine, and He shall say, "Ye did it unto Me." (TCN - March - April 1992)
N.J.H. # 3114
October 3
"And He (Jesus) said unto then, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." (Mark 2:27,28)
Holy as is the Sabbath, I have no hesitation in saying that the Lord's day, with which the Church has to do, is founded on a deeper sanctity. The believer has not to beware, on the one hand of confounding the Sabbath with the Lord's day, and on the other of supposing that, because the Lord's day is not the Sabbath, it may therefore be turned to a selfish or worldly account. The Sabbath is the holy memorial of creation and of the law, as the Lord's day is of grace and of the new creation in the resurrection of the Saviour. As Christians we are neither of the old creation nor under the law, but stand on the totally different ground of Christ dead and risen. The Sabbath was for man and the Jew - the last day of the week, and one simply of rest, to be shared with the ox and the donkey. This is not the Christian idea, which begins the week with the Lord, gives the best to Him in worship, and is free to labour for Him to all lengths in the midst of the world's sin and misery. (William Kelly)
N.J.H. # 3115
October 4
"Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money." (Acts 8:20)
A missionary to the people of the Philippines was trying to explain salvation to a wealthy woman, but the woman didn't understand that she couldn't pay for it.
So the missionary gave her this illustration: "If you wanted to give your daughter a big, beautiful mansion as a gift, how would you feel if she said, 'Mother, you must let me help you pay for the gift. You know I work for the mission hospital and don't make much money, but I think I can squeeze out $8 a month.' "
She went on: "That's what you are saying to God. You want to help pay for what Jesus has already paid for. A home in heaven is a gift. It is an insult to try to help pay for it."
All over the world devout, well-meaning people - rich, poor, and in-between - struggle to understand that Jesus paid it all. Convinced that they have to do something to earn God's favor, they attempt to pay for salvation as best they can.
We need to understand that when God gave His Son Jesus as a sacrifice, the bill for out sin was paid. For us to try to pay for God's gift is insulting to Him. Genuine trust is believing that God has already taken care of the payment. We don't need to buy something that has already been purchased with Jesus' death on the cross. (David Branon)
Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain -
He washed it white as snow.
(Hall)
If we could earn our salvation, Christ would not have died to provide it.
Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries, Copyright (2006), Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted permission
N.J.H. # 3116
October 5
"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:21)
- Christianity is a battle not a dream.
- Faith makes a Christian. Life proves a Christian. Trial confirms a Christian. Death crowns a Christian.
- One ABC of Christianity: "Always Be Cheerful." (1 Thessalonians 5:16)
-I am ready to meet God face to face tonight and look into those eyes of infinite holiness, for all my sins are covered by the atoning blood.
- When death overtakes us; all that we have is left to others; all that we are we take with us. (Some Thoughts to Consider - R.K.)
N.J.H. # 3117
October 6
"For I know that this shall turn to my salvation (deliverance) through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:19)
"I'm praying for you" can be as frightening a thought as it is encouraging. Someone is standing at the throne of God with your name on his heart. This introduces an entirely new set of concerns: Is he praying for me the way I'm praying for myself? Is he asking God for the answer I'm longing for? When my Dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I was livid when someone told me they were praying that God would take him home quickly -- despite the fact that in between our cries for healing, we were praying God's will would be done. As someone once noted, prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. Knowing that someone is standing before God on your behalf is powerful not because he is standing with you but because he is standing with God.
The apostle Paul often voiced in his letters gratitude for the prayers of believers on his behalf. In and out of jail, in abundance and in lack, he saw them participate in bringing about God's purposes in his life through their prayers for him. He did not thank them for praying that what had happened to him would be altogether reversed, but that the purposes of God would be accomplished in all things. Paul saw the power in prayers that hope and expect with all boldness that Christ will be exalted whether by life or by death.
As one has said, "Prayer is not about overcoming God's reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness." Perhaps the best studies in prayer are in the lives of those who see that its power lies wholly in the One in whom we pray. (Selected)
N.J.H. # 3118
October 7
"Thy hidden ones" (Psalm 83:3)
"And many resorted unto Him (Jesus), and said, John did no
miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. And many believed on Him there." (John 10: 41-42)
Do the commonest and smallest things as beneath His eye. If you must live with uncongenial people, set to their conquest by love. If you have made a great mistake in your life, do not let it becloud all of it; but, locking the secret in your breast, compel it to yield strength and sweetness.
We are doing more good than we know, sowing seeds, starting streamlets, giving men true thoughts of Christ, to which they will refer one day as the first things that started them thinking of Him; and, of my part, I shall be satisfied if no great mausoleum is raised over my grave, but that simple souls shall gather there when I am gone, and say, "He was a good man; he wrought no miracles, but he spake words about Christ which led me to know Him for myself." - George Matheson.
(Submitted by Dick Gorgas, The Singing Pilgrim (February 24, 2001) - Hidden Workers)
N.J.H. # 3119
