Gems for December - wk 1
December 1
"The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." (Matthew 8:20)
He was a divine visitor to this world, a heavenly stranger among men. . . . He had not where to lay his head while He was visiting their necessities with all the resources of God. This is the ideal of a saint of God - to be independent of all this world can give, while with open heart and lavish hand bestowing upon it all the benefits and blessings of God. (J.G. Bellett)
N.J.H. # 3174
December 2
"The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary." (Isaiah 1:4)
His faithfulness to His church and people who trust in Him is infallible, and He cannot but help you in all for which you look to Him. (J.N. Darby)
N.J.H. # 3175
December 3
"Serving the Lord with all humility (lowliness) of mind." (Acts 20:19)
Happy the person who has an empty vessel and God ever ready to fill. Unhappy they who have no empty vessel . . . I doubt whether many know the sweetness of going into the presence of God as a channel or pipe to be filled in order to bring out what is wanted for others, saying, "I have got the ear and heart of Christ."
(G.V. Wigram)
N.J.H. # 3176
December 4
"The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. And they remembered His words." (Luke 24:7,8)
The women in their grief forgot the Lord's words and had to be reminded by the angels. God has many ways to bring His word to remembrance and it is often at times when we are at our lowest that He comforts us with thoughts of Him. Often we find that others are unable to share in our blessing for their hearts were not where ours were. God blesses us sometimes as individuals with thoughts only for ourselves and sometimes with thoughts for the blessing of others as we learn to be channels. (B.R.)
N.J.H. # 3177
December 5
"And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren . . . and Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, Oh that Thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested." (1 Chronicles 4:9,10)
Jabez was the child of sorrow; his name was the standing memento of the bitterness in which his mother bare him. He "was more honourable than his brethren" - not that he was honoured by them or by his nation, but the Spirit of God registered him as one of God's honourables. And why? Because his heart was toward God; he honoured the God of Israel, and called upon His name. He has no record but the sorrow of his conception, and his prayer to Jehovah. His parentage, his genealogy, his locality - all are denied us. He sprang out of Judah, and was closely connected with Bethlehem - a passing shadow thus of One that was to come. More we do not know, except the breathings of his heart God ward. He cries, with deep earnestness and with touching pathos, to the God of Israel.
His resource is in God, nor has he any other. It is He whom he counts upon for blessing indeed, and to enlarge his coast, and to give him His presence, and to keep him from the evil. He has learned, at least, that every good and perfect gift, is from above. This alone he values, the gift which comes from God; and this alone he dreads, the evil which God hates. His heart was right with God. He was in fellowship with the heart of God; he honoured the God of Israel, and God honoured him, and he being dead yet speaketh.
"And God granted him that which he requested," for he met the heart of God and refreshed His spirit in a dry and thirsty land more than the hosts of Israel; and the Spirit of the Lord has given an eternal testimony of his words; the child of his mother's sorrow is ennobled by the God of Israel, and his honour shall never decay! (W.R. - Christian Truth - Vol. 23 - September 1970)
N.J.H. # 3178
December 6
