December 13
"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)
If we are really, and always, and equally ready to do whatsoever the King appoints, all the trials and vexations, arising from any change in His appointments, great or small, simply do not exist. If He appoints me to work there, shall I lament that I am not to work here? If He appoints me to wait indoors today, am I to be annoyed because I am not to work out of doors? If I meant to write His messages this morning, shall I grumble because He sends interrupting visitors, rich or poor, to whom I am to speak them, or "show kindness" for His sake, or at least obey His command, "Be Courteous"? If all my members are really at His disposal, why should I be put out if today's appointment is some simple work for my hands or errand for my feet, instead of some seemingly more important doing of head or tongue? (Francis Ridley Havergal - 1902)
N.J.H. # 3186
December 14
"Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall."
(1 Corinthians 10:12)
Had anyone told Peter on the day of his enthusiastic confession of the Master as "the Christ, the Son of the living God" that the moment would come when he would repudiate Him with oaths and curses, he would have been disposed to reply, in the words of another: "What, is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?" (2 Kings 8:13). But he did!
It was first a simple denial, in answer to the challenge of the maid who kept the High-Priest's door (Matthew 26:69-70). In answer to the questions of several in the porch, he added an oath to his second denial. Then, being identified by a relative of the man whose ear he cut off in the garden (John 18:26), he broke out into a regular volley of oaths and curses. "I know not this man of whom ye speak" (Mark 14:71).
Surely the Spirit of God had His reasons for giving us a fourfold (recorded in all the four gospels) account of Peter's miserable fall. It is an abiding warning against self-sufficiency in any of us. What Peter did yesterday, we may do tomorrow, unless upheld by infinite grace. (W.W. Fereday - Peter The Apostle)
N.J.H. # 3187
December 15
"And they gathered it (manna) every morning, every man according to his eating." (Exodus 16:21)
There is no time like the early morning hour for feeding on Christ by communion with Him, and pondering His words. Once lose that, and the charm is broken by the intrusion of many things, though it may be they are all useful and necessary. You cannot remake the broken reflections of a lake swept by wind. How different is that day from all others, the early prime of which is surrendered to fellowship with Christ! Nor is it possible to live to-day on the gathered spoils of yesterday. Each man needs all that a new day can yield him of God's grace and comfort. It must be daily bread. (F.B. Meyer)
N.J.H. # 3188
December 16
"She looketh well to the ways of her household . . ." (Proverbs 31:27)
It isn't the chairs, and the books, and things,
Or the pictures that hang on the walls;
And it isn't the bird, although gaily he sings,
It's the laughter that rings in the halls.
It's the smile on the face of the mother at night,
And the joy in the little ones' eyes,
And our love for each other with all its delight
That make up the home that we prize.
(Taken from "The Christian Home" by R.K. Campbell)
N.J.H. # 3189
December 17
"Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed." (1 Peter 2:24)
I see in the cross the power which meets everything in me. If I turn to the cross, saying, "How horribly unlike I am to that Christ who died there!" the answer is, it is because you are so that He died there. Was not the death of Christ the perfect expression of God's holiness? All the perfect attributes of God shine out through the cross of Christ. If Satan had got man into a position in which it was impossible for God to bless him, and all was broken up in connection with the first Adam, it was only that it might all drop into the hands of the last Adam (Christ). All was accomplished at the cross. (Gleanings From the Teaching of G.V. Wigram)
N.J.H. # 3190
December 18
"Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)
The rest that the Lord Jesus gives freely to all who come to Him is rest of conscience in regard to the sin question. The distressed soul, burdened with a sense of guilt, comes to Him and finds peace when he trusts Him as the great Sin-Bearer. The second rest is rest of heart. Adverse circumstances may rise up to alarm and fill the heart with fear and anxiety, but he who takes Christ's yoke and learns of Him is able to be calm in the midst of the storm. He finds perfect rest as he trusts all to Him who sitteth over the waterfloods and is Lord of all the elements. These two rests are the same as the two aspects of peace presented in the epistles. Rest of conscience is the equivalent of that peace with God which is the portion of all who are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Rest of soul is the same as that peace of God which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:6,7), and is enjoyed by all who learn to commit everything to the Lord. (H.A. Ironside - Notes on Matthew)
N.J.H. # 3191
December 19
"He hath set the world (eternity) in their heart."
(Ecclesiastes 3:11)
You may cage the eagle in the most spacious of aviaries, but the infinite expanse of the heavens is in his heart, and he will pine for it. You may imprison the little fish in the most beautiful water vessel, but the ocean is in his being and he will yearn for it. You may make the rabbit as comfortable as possible in his little hutch, but at the first opportunity he will, to the dismay of the children, demonstrate that the veld (open country) is in his very nature. Which things are a parable.
Christian men and women have begun to experience the thrill and the throb of a life which is eternal; and they will find deliverance from this sense of inner loneliness, which ever and anon overtakes them as they journey to its native sphere, only by living fellowship with Him Who is its source. Nothing can take the place of this; for it remains abidingly true that God has made us for Himself and that we are restless till we rest in Him. (George Henderson - Heaven's Cure for Earth's Care)
N.J.H. # 3192
December 20
"Be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you." (2 Corinthians 13:11)
In our divided times, wherein there is so much difference of judgment, had there been less wrangling among ourselves and more wrestling with God, we had been in a fairer way to find the door of truth, which so many are yet groping for. The way of controversy is dusty, and contentious disputes raiseth this dust, and blows it most into their eyes that gallop fastest in it, so that they miss the truth, which humble souls find upon their knees at the throne of grace. . . . Sinning times have ever been the saint's praying times: this sent Ezra with a heavy heart to confess the sin of his people (Ezra 9). And Jeremiah tells the wicked of his degenerate age that his "soul should weep in secret places for their pride." (Jeremiah 13:17) (William Gurnall - The Christian in Complete Armour - 1665)
N.J.H. # 3193
December 21
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
The poet, Cowper, was subject to fits of depression. One day he ordered a cab, and told the driver to take him to London Bridge. Soon a dense fog settled down upon the city. The cabby wandered about for two hours, and then admitted he was lost. Cowper asked him if he thought he could find the way home. The cabby thought that he could, and in another hour landed him at his door. When Cowper asked what the fare would be the driver felt that he should not take anything since he had not gotten his fare to his destination. Cowper insisted, saying, "Never mind that, you have saved my life. I was on my way to throw myself off London Bridge." He then went into the house and wrote:
"God moves in a mysterious way
His Wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps on the sea,
And rides upon the storm."
(TAKEN FROM "SPRINGS IN THE VALLEY)
N.J.H. # 3194
