January
January 2
A PURPOSEFUL PRESSURE
Thy hand presseth me sore.
Psalm 38:2
Have you ever watched the exceedingly delicate and yet firm pressure of the hand of a skillful tuner of string instruments?
He will make the string produce a perfectly true note, vibrating in absolute accord with his own never changing tuningfork.
The practiced hand is at one with the accurate ear, and the pressure is brought to bear with most delicate adjustment to the resistance; the tension is never exceeded, he never breaks a string; but he patiently strikes the note again and again, till the tone is true and his ear is satisfied, and then the muscles relax and the pressure ceases.
The string may be a poor little thin one, yielding a very small note; but that does not matter at all ; it is wanted in its place just as much as a great bass one that can yield a volume of deep sound.
The tuner takes just the same pains with it, and is just as satisfied when it vibrates true to the pitch retaining its own individual tone.
That string could not tune itself, and no machine was ever invented to accomplish it; nothing but the firm and sensitive pressure of the tuner's own living hand can bring it into tune.
Will you not trust your Tuner, and begin a note of praise, even under the pressure?
'Tis Thy dear hand, O Saviour, that presseth sore.
The hand that bears the nail-prints for evermore.
And now beneath its shadow, hidden by Thee, The pressure only tells me. Thou lovest me!
January 3
IS YOUR HEART IN IT?
Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.
Colossians 3:23
In Second Chronicles 31 :21 we read of Hezekiah that in every work that he began he did it with all his heart and prospered.
It is not merely much pleasanter to be bright and brisk about everything, but it is actually one of God's commands, written in His own Word.
I know this is easier to some than to others.
Perhaps it comes natural to you to do everything heartily.
But even that is not enough. What else?
"Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not
unto men." He knows whether you are seeking to please Him or whether He is forgotten all the while and you think only of the smiles of others.
But perhaps it is hard for you to do things heartily.
You like better to take your time, and so you dawdle, and do things in an idle way, especially what you do not much like doing.
Is this right?
Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily !
Is it not just as much disobeying God as breaking any other command?
Are you not guilty before Him?
Very likely you never thought of it in this way, but there the words stand, and neither you nor I can alter them. May the Lord give us strength to obey this word of His. And then the last word of the verse about Hezekiah will be true of us too — we will be "prospered."
Jesus, Master! Wilt Thou use .
. One who owes Thee more than all?
As Thou wilt!
I would not choose, .
. Only let me hear Thy call.
Jesus, let me always be ...
In Thy service glad and free.
January 4
LET THE LORD DO
Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly .
. and let the Lord do that which is good in his sight.
1 Chronicles 19:13
Here Joab finds a double army "set against him before and behind." He makes the wisest arrangements he can think of, and encourages his brother; and then he says, ".
. And let the Lord do that which is good in His sight." And what the Lord did was to give him a splendid victory.
It does not seem that he had to fight or suffer any loss at all ; the Syrians and Ammonites simply fled before him (verses 15-16). "And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city.
Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river." Did not these things happen unto them for ensamples?
If he, in the dim old days of type and veil, could so trust the God of Israel, should we, who have the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, hesitate to utter the same expression of submissive confidence?
Do what Thou wilt!
Yes, only do what seemeth good to Thee:
Thou art so loving, wise, and true, it must be best for me.
Send what Thou wilt; or beating shower, soft dew, or brilliant sun; Alike in still or stormy hour, my Lord, Thy will be done.
January ^
DROP IT — OR USE IT
What is that in thine hand?
Exodus 4:2
Let US examine honestly whether it is something which He can use for His glory or not.
If not, do not let us hesitate an instant about dropping it.
It may be something we do not like to part with ; but "the Lord is able to give thee much more than this," and the first glimpse of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord will enable us to count those things loss which were gain to us.
But if it is something which He can use. He will make us do ever so much more with it than before. Moses little thought what the Lord was going to make him do with that rod in his hand !
The first thing he had to do with it was to cast it on the ground, and see it pass through a startling change.
After this he was commanded to take it up again, hard and terrifying as it was to do so.
But when it became again a rod in his hand, it was no longer what it was before, the simple rod of a wandering desert shepherd.
Henceforth it was "the rod of God in his hand"
(Exodus 4:20), wherewith he should do signs, and by which God Himself would do marvelous things
(Psalm 78:12).
The Lord commanded, "Give ye them to eat,"
Five loaves and two small fishes all their store For hungering crowds. He knew they had no more,
And He had called them to that wild retreat.
They gave it as He gave them, piece by piece.
Where on the green grass grouped the great and small Till all were filled.
So not theirs at all But His, the glory of that grand increase.
Master, I have not strength to serve Thee much, The "half-day's work" is all that I can do.
But let Thy mighty, multiplying touch Even to me the miracle renew.
Let five words feed five thousand, and Thy power Expand to life-results one feeble hour.
January 6
REFLECTING OR REJECTING
He will beautify the meek with salvation.
Pj^alm 149:4
Thy beauty .
. was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16:14
Look at a poor little colorless drop of water, hanging weakly on a blade of grass.
It is not beautiful at all ; why should you
stop to look at it?
Stay till the sun has risen, and now look.
It is sparkling like a diamond ; and if you look at it from another side, it will be glowing like a ruby, and presently gleaming like an emerald.
The poor little drop has become one of the brightest and loveliest things you ever saw.
But is it its own brightness and beauty?
No!
If it slipped down to the ground out of the sunshine, it would be only a poor little dirty drop of water.
So, if the Sun of Righteousness, the glorious and lovely Saviour, shines upon you, a little ray of His own brightness and beauty will be seen upon you.
Sometimes we can see by the happy light on a face that the Sun is shining there; but if the Sun is really shining, there are sure to be some of the beautiful rays of holiness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, making the life, even your life, very lovely.
Jesus, Lord, I come to Thee, Thou hast said I may; Tell me what my life should be, take my sins away.
Jesus, Lord, I learn of Thee, in Thy W^ord divine; Every promise there I see, may I call it mine!
January 7
TREASURES ALREADY COINED
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9
Yes, through His poverty the unsearchable riches of Christ are for thee.
Sevenfold riches are mentioned, and these are no unminted treasure or sealed reserve, but already coined for our use, and stamped with His own image and superscription, and poured freely into the hand of faith.
The mere list is wonderful.
"Riches of goodness,"
"riches of forbearance and longsuffering," "riches both of wisdom and knowledge," "riches of mercy," "exceeding riches of grace," and "riches of glory."
And His own Word says, "All are yours."
Glance on in faith, and think of eternity flowing on and on beyond the mightiest sweep of imagination, and realize that all His riches in glory and the riches of His glory are and shall be for thee.
In view of this, shall we care to reserve anything that rust doth corrupt for ourselves?
Oh, what shining revelation of His treasures God hath given!
Precious things of grace and glory, precious things of earth and Heaven.
Holy Spirit, now unlock them with Thy mighty golden key, Royal jewels of the kingdom let us now adoring see!
January 8
WHY SERVICE
IS REASONABLE
The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Out of the realized "for me" grows the practical "for Thee."
If the former is a living root, the latter will be its living fruit.
"For Thee!"
This makes the difference between forced or formal, and therefore unreasonable service, and the reasonable service, which is the beginning of the perfect service where they see His face.
This makes the difference between slave work and free work.
For Thee, my Redeemer; for Thee who hast spoken to my heart; for Thee, who hast done for me — what?
Let us each pause, and fill up that blank with the great things the Lord hath done for us.
For Thee, who art to me what?
Fill that up, too, before Him!
For Thee, my Saviour Jesus, my Lord and my God!
Help us lovingly to labor, looking tor Thy present smile, looking for Thy promised blessing, thro' the brightening
"little while."
Words for Thee in weakness spoken. Thou wilt here accept and own.
And confess them in Thy glory, when we see Thee on Thy throne.
January 9
GOD—CHRIST—YOU
We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
Hebrews 4:1.5
Think of Jesus not merely entering into the fact, but into the feeling of what you are going through.
"Touched with the feeling" — how deep that goes!
When we turn away to Him in our wordless weariness of pain which only He understands,
Ave find out that we have to do with Him in quite a different sense from how we have to do with anyone else. We could not do without Him, and thank God we shall never have to do without Him.
And we are answerable only to Him in everything.
To our own Master we stand or fall ; and that latter alternative is instantly put out of the question, the apostle adding, "Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand," i.e., he who is his "own Master's" servant.
To Him we have to give account, if from Him we take our orders.
We have to do with Him directly.
So directly that it is difficult at first to grasp the directness.
There is absolutely
nothing between the soul and Jesus, if we will but have it so. We have Himself as our Mediator with God, and the very characteristic of a mediator is, as Job says, "that he might lay his hand upon us both"
; so the hand of Jesus, who is Himself "the Man of [God's] right hand," is laid upon us with no intermediate link and no intervening distance. We do not need any paper and print, let alone any human voice, between us and Himself.
To Thee, dear, dear Saviour, My spint turns for rest.
That turning is instinctive and instantaneous when we have once learned what it is to have direct and personal dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. Life is altogether a different thing then, whether shady or sunshiny, and a stranger intermeddleth not with our hidden joy.
Perhaps it is just this that makes such a strangely felt difference between those who equally profess and call themselves Christians.
"My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest!"
A promise sweetly tender, soothing the anxious breast.
He knows the lonely spirit, and all its hidden woe; He knows the weary yearnings no earthly friend can know.
Encompassed by that Presence thou wilt not be alone.
And thou may'st safely rest thee 'neath the sliadow of His throne.
January 10
OLD AGE NO BARRIER
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
Psalm 92:13-14 Some of the fruits of the Spirit seem to be especially and peculiarly characteristic of sanctified older years; and do we not want to bring them all forth?
Look at the splendid ripeness of Abraham's faith in his old age ; the grandeur of Moses' meekness when he went up the mountain alone to die; the mellowness of Paul's joy in his later Epistles; and the wonderful gentleness of John which makes us almost forget his early character of "a son of thunder" wanting to call down God's lightnings of wrath.
And the same Spirit is given to us, that we, too, may bring forth "fruit that may abound," and always more fruit.
Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing; Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot!
Afterward, the plenteous bearing Of the Master's pleasant fruit.
January 11
CHRIST'S WILL
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am.
John 17:24
Thou hast given him his heart's desire.
Psalm 21:2
That where I am, there ye may be also.
John 14:3
No more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.
"And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick."
No more sunsets, no more days of mourning!
The troubling of the wicked and the voice of the oppressor ceased forever.
No more memory of troubles; no more tears!
No more anything that defileth!
All this only the negative side of our dear one's present blessedness.
Then, the rest for the weary one, the keeping of the Sabbath that remaineth, and yet the service free and perfect and perpetual.
The crowns of life, of righteousness, and of glory!
The great reward in Heaven full of love-surprises to the consciously unprofitable servant!
The far more exceeding weight of glory borne by some to whom the grasshopper had been a burden
The scene of all the blessedness—the better country, the continuing city, the King's palace, the Father's house, the prepared mansions
(perhaps full of contrasts to the past pilgrimage)—all summed up in the transcendent simplicity and sublimity of His words,
"That where I am, there ye may be also."
Our fairest dream can never outshine that holy light, Our noblest thought can never soar beyond that word of might.
Our whole anticipation, our Master's best reward, Our crown of bliss, is summed in this: "Forever with the Loid!"
January 12
MAKE IT PERSONAL
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.
Exodus 34:6
Every part of God's Word is a revelation, more or less clear, of Himself. When we do not see this, it is only that we miss it, not that it is not there. Do we not know how very possible it is to read the historical parts merely as history, and the prophetical merely as prophecy, and the doctrinal merely as doctrine, and miss the vision of God which everywhere shines through the glass darkly, if only His good Spirit opens our
eyes to see it!
And even when we do trace out God Himself in His recorded works and ways, how often we miss the personal comfort of remembering our own close and personal interest in what we see of His character and attributes.
I question if there is a single chapter, from the first of Genesis to the twenty-second of Revelation, which will not reflect the light of this beautiful little lamp. Whether your gaze is turned upon a promise which reveals Him as the loving One, or a warning which reveals Him as the Just and Holy One
; whether you read a history which shows His grand grasp in ordering the centuries, or a verse which shows His delicate touch upon the turn of a moment—as you admire say, "This God is our God." When you read, "Great things doeth He which we cannot comprehend," and the splendid variety of His Book gives a glimpse of His power and glory in upholding the things which are seen, from the hosts of million-aged stars to the fleeting flakes of the "treasures of the snow," say, "This God is our God."
Glorious in holiness, fearful in praises.
Who shall not fear Thee, and who shall not laud?
Anthems of glory Thy universe raises, Holy and Infinite!
Father and God!
January 13
BE FILLED
That on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15
Once I heard a beautiful prayer which I can never forget; it was this: "Lord, take my lips, and speak through them; take my mind, and think through it; take my heart, and set it on fire."
And this is the way the Master keeps the lips of His servants, by so filling their hearts with His love that the outflow cannot be unloving, by so filling their thoughts that the utterance cannot be unChristlike.
There must be filling before there can be pouring out ; and if there is filling, there must be pouring out for He hath said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."
He is listening; does He hear you speaking of the things of earth, Only of its passing pleasure, selfish sorrow, empty mirth?
He has spoken words of blessing, pardon, peace, and love to you.
Glorious hopes and gracious comfort, strong and tender, sweet and true; Does He hear you telling others something of His love untold.
Overflowing of thanksgiving for His mercies manifold?
January 14
UPHELD BY GODS POWER
Upholding all things by the word of his power.
Hebrews 1:3
Uphold me according to thy word.
Psalm 119:116
Jesus is now "upholding all things by the word of His power."
Shall we then not say, "Uphold me according to Thy word"?
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us use them.
Let us turn them into prayers of faith.
"Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not."
(Did David add the whisper, "but nevertheless, of course, they will slip"?) "Hold Thou me up and I shall be safe."
"When I said. My foot slippeth. Thy mercy, Lord held me up"
(not picked me up) .
Then comes the New Testament echo : "Yea, he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand."
But take "all the counsel of God," for this too is needed: "And thou standest by faith.
Be not high-minded, but fear."
Now, if these promises are worth the paper they are written on, ought we not to believe and accept and give thanks for them and go on our way rejoicing, claiming His upholding power not once for all, not for tomorrow, but always for the next step of the way?
Thou knowest not how I uphold the little thou dost scan; And how much less canst thou unfold My universal plan.
Where all thy mind can grasp of space is but a grain of sand The time thy boldest thought can trace, one ripple on the strand!
January D
DEBTORS TO MERCY ALONE
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
Lsaiah 43:2.5
There was once a deaf mute, named John.
Though he never heard any other voice, he heard the voice of Jesus, knew it, loved it, and followed it.
One day he told the lady who had taught him, partly on his fingers and partly by signs, that he had had a wonderful dream.
God had shown him a great black book; and all his sins were written in it, so many, so black. And God had shown him hell, all open and fiery, waiting for him, because of all these sins.
But Jesus Christ had come and put His red hand, red with the blood of His Cross, all over the page, and the red hand had blotted out all his sins; and when God held up the book to the light. He could
not see one left!
His word to us today is:
"I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions."
It is no fancy or mere feeling, but God's truth, that Jesus Christ's blood has been shed—nothing can alter that; and that His precious blood blotteth out our transgressions, as Paul says (Colossians 2:14),
"Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us." And oh, how much there is to blot out! — sins that you have forgotten, and sins that you did not think were sins at all, besides those you know of—today, yesterday, all the past days of your life.
Do you M^ant to know them blotted out?
David said, "Blot out all mine iniquities."
Take God's word about it, and just believe that it is true, and true for you "I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins ; return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee."
Nothing to pay; yes, nothing to pay!
Jesus has cleared all the debt a-.vay; Blotted it out with His bleeding hand!
Free and forgiven and loved you stand.
Hear the voice of Jesus say, "Verily thou hast nothing to pay!
Paid is the debt, and the debtor free!
Now I ask thee, lovest thou Me?"
January 16
EVEN YOU ARE A MESSENGER
Then spake Haggai the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the Lord.
Haggai 1:13
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to them that send him: for he refresheth the soul of his masters.
Proverbs 25:13
We are not all called to be the King's ambassadors, but all who have heard the message of salvation for themselves are called to be the Lord's messengers, and day by day, as He gives us opportunity, we are to deliver the Lord's message unto the people.
That message, as committed to Haggai, was, "I am with you, saith the Lord."
Is there not work enough for any lifetime in unfolding and distributing that one message to His own people?
Then, for those who are still far off, we have that equally full message from our Lord to give out, which He has condensed for us into the one word, "Come!"
Yes, we have a word for Jesus! We will bravely speak for Thee, And Thy bold and faithful soldiers. Saviour, we would henceforth be:
In Thy name set up our banners, while Thine own shall wave above.
With Thy crimson Name of Mercy, and Thy golden Name of Love.
January 17
A FIXED GAZE MAKES A SURE STEP
For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Proverbs 3:26
You cannot keep from stumbling at all, but He is "able to keep you from falling," which in the Greek is strongly and distinctly "without stumbling."
The least confidence in or expectation from yourself not only leads to inevitable stumbling but is itself a grievous fall.
"But, how shall I be kept?"
Jesus Himself has answered:
"If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world."
"Walk in the light,"
"looking unto Jesus," and so shall we be "kept by the power of God through faith." We tell a little child to look where it steps and pick its way, but Christ's little children are to do just the opposite; they are to look away to Him.
"Let thine eyes look (not down, but) right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee," and it is on Him, the Light of the world, that the gaze must be fixed.
Look away to Jesus, look away from all; Then we need not stumble, then we shall not fall.
From each snare that lureth, foe or phantom grim, Safety this ensureth: look away to Him.
January 18
HE SAID HE WOULD
Who is a God like unto thee?
Micah 7:18
God granted him that which he requested.
1 Chronicles 4:10
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked.
1 Kings ?,: V) All God's goodness to us is humbling.
The more He does for us, the more ready we are to say, "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shewed unto Thy servant."
The weight of a great answer to prayer seems almost too much for us.
The grace of it is "too wonderful" for us.
It throws up in such startling relief the disproportion between our little, poor, feeble cry and the great, shining response of God's heart and hand, that we can only say, "Who am I, Lord God, that Thou hast brought me hitherto?
Is this the manner of man, O Lord
God?"
But it is more humbling still, when we stand face to face with great things which the Lord hath done for us and given us, which we never asked for at all, never even thought of asking, with which not even a prayer had to do.
It is so humbling to get a view of these, that Satan tries to set up a false humility to hinder us from standing still and considering how great things the Lord hath done for us.
Thus he also contrives to defraud our generous God of the glory due unto His Name.
I stood amazed, and whispered, "Can it be That He hath granted all the boon I sought?
How wonderful that He for me hath wrought!
How wonderful that He hath answered me I"
O faithless heart!
He said that He would hear And answer thy poor prayer, and He hath heard And proved His promise. Wherefore didst thou fear?
Why marvel that thy Lord hath kept His word?
More wonderful if He should fail to bless Expectant faith and prayer with good success!
January 19
HIS PLACE BY RIGHT
Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
1 Peter 3:22
He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself in this inner kingdom which we cannot govern at all. We are so glad to take Him at His Word, and give up the government into His hands, asking Him to be our King in very deed, and to set up His throne of peace in the long-disturbed and divided citadel, praying that He would bring every thought into captivity to His gentle obedience. We have had enough of revolutions and revolts, of tyrants and traitors, of lawlessness and of self-framed codes.
Other lords (and, oh, how many!) have had dominion over us.
He has permitted us to be their servants, that now, by blessed and restful contrast, we may know His service.
Now we only want "another King, one Jesus." He has made us willing in the day of His power, and that was the first act of His reign, and the token that "of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end" in our hearts.
Reign over me. Lord Jesus, oh, make my heart Thy throne.
It shall be Thine forever, it shall be Thine alone.
January 20
FIRST THINGS FIRST
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
2 Corinthians 8:12
It is important to remember that there is no much or little in God's sight, except as relatively to our means and willingness.
He knows what we have not, as well as what we have.
He knows all about the low wages in one sphere, and the small allowance, or the fixed income with rising prices in another. And it is not a question of paying to God what can be screwed out of these, but of giving Him all, and then holding all at His disposal, and taking His orders about the disposal of all.
Oh, let me give Out of the gifts Thou freely givest; Oh. let me live With life abundantly because Thou livest; Oh, make me shine In darkest places, for Thy light is mine; Oh. let me be A faithful witness for Thy truth and Thee.
January 21
GODS SIDE — THE BRIGHT SIDE
And thine age shall be clearer than the noonday; thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning.
Job 11:17
I suppose nobody ever naturally did like the idea of getting older, after he had at least left school.
There is a sense of oppression and depression about it.
The irresistible, inevitable onward march of moments and years without the possibility of one instant's pause—a march that even while on the uphill side of life is leading to the downhill side—casts an autumnlike shadow over even many a spring-birthday. But how surely the Bible gives us the bright side of everything.
In this case it gives three bright sides of a fact which, without it, could not help being gloomy.
First, it opens the sure prospect of increasing brightness to those who have begun to walk in the light.
Even if the sun of our life has reached the apparent zenith and we have known a very noonday of mental and spiritual being, it is no poetic western shadows that are to lengthen upon our way but "our age is to be clearer than the noonday." The second bright side is increasing fruitfulness.
Do not let us confuse between works and fruit.
Even when we come to the days when "the strong men shall bow themselves," there may be more pleasant fruits for our Master, riper, fuller, and sweeter than ever before.
For "they shall still bring forth fruit in old age." The third bright side is the brightest of all, "Even to your old age, I am He"
. "even to hoar hairs will I carry you."
For we shall always be His little children and doubtless He will always be our Father, The rush of years cannot touch this.
But when the sun draws near in westering might, Enfolding all in one transcendent blaze Of sunset glow, we trace them not. but gaze And wonder at the glorious holy light.
Come nearer, Sun of Righteousness! that we, Whose swift short hours of day so swiftly run.
So overflowed with love and light may be.
So lost in glory of the nearing Sun.
That not our light, but Thine, the world may see, New praise to Thee through our poor lives be won.
January 22 "AND"
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness .
. that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Romans 3:25, 26 Till heaven and earth pass, one Jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Matthew 5:18
How precious that little word "and" becomes as we read, "He is just, and having salvation." "A merciful and faithful High
Priest."
"A just God and a. Saviour." We do not half value God's little words.
His justice is, if we may reverently say so, the strong point of His atoning work.
The costly means of our redemption were paid for at full price. He fulfilled the Law.
There was nothing wanting in all the work which His Father gave Him to do.
He finished it. And His Father was satisfied.
Thus He was just towards His Father, that He might be faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
It is no weak compassion, merely wrought on by misery, but strong, grand, infinite, and equal justice and mercy, balanced, as they never are in human minds.
For only the ways of the Lord are thus equal.
In Thy sovereignty rejoicing, we Thy children bow and praise.
For we know that kind and loving, just and true, are all Thy ways.
While Thy heart of sovereign mercy, and Thine arm of sovereign might, For our great and strong salvation, in Thy sovereign grace unite.
January 25
HE SPEAKS TO YOU
Have not I written to thee excellent things?
Proverbs 22:20
If I had something very special to tell you, and instead of saying it with my voice I wrote it down on a piece of paper, and gave it to you to look at, would not that be exactly the same as if I had told you with my lips? And you would take the paper eagerly to see what it was that I had said to you.
So today, when you read your Bible, either alone or with the family, watch to see what Jesus will say to you in it.
You will never watch in vain. You will see some word that seems to come home to you, and that you had never noticed so much before.
Oh, listen lovingly to it, for that is what He says to you!
Or if you are really watching and wishing for a word from Him, some sweet text will come into your mind, and you wonder what made you think of it!
That is the voice of Jesus speaking to your heart.
Listen to it, and treasure it up, and follow it; and then watch to see what else He will say to you.
Say to Him, "Master, say on."
But as I lay and waited for the sleep That had been asked, the Book beside my hand Lured me to glance at lightly opening leaves.
Did not Thy loving Spirit guide the glance That fell upon the unsought word of power:
"He is thy Lord!"
So simple, yet so strong.
So all-embracing! oh, it was enough To chase away all mists and glooms of life.
January 24
UNKNOWN PATHS ARE CLEAR TO HIM
And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them.
Mark 6:48
In perplexities: when we cannot understand what is going on around us, cannot tell whither events are tending, cannot tell what to do, because we cannot see into or through the matter before us, let us be calmed and steadied and made patient by the thought that what is hidden from us is not hidden from Him.
If He chooses to guide us blindfold, let Him do it!
It will not make the least difference to the reality and rightness of the guidance.
In mysteries: when we see no clue, when we cannot understand God's partial revelation, when we cannot lift the veil that hangs before His secret counsel, when
we cannot pierce the holy darkness that enshrouds His ways, or tread the great deep of His judgments where His footsteps are not known, is it not enough that even these matters are not hid from our King? "My Father will do nothing, either great or small, but He will show it me."
"For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth Him all things that Himself doeth."
Our King could so easily reveal everything to us, make everything so clear!
It would be nothing to Him to tell us all our questions. When He does not, cannot we trust Him, and just be satisfied that He knows, and would tell us if it were best?
He has many things to say unto us, but He waits till we can bear them.
May we be glad that even our sins are not hid from Him?
Yes, surely, for He who knows all, can and will cleanse all.
He has searched us and known us, as we should shrink from knowing ourselves, and yet He has pardoned, and yet He loves!
Not yet thou knowest how I bid each passing hour entwine Its grief or joy, its hope or fear, in one great love-design; Nor how I lead thee through the night, by many a various way, Still upward to unclouded light, and onward to the day.
January 2J>
WHAT IS HIS IS OURS
I am the vine, ye are the branches.
John 15:5
Why does the sap flow from the vine to the branch?
Simply because the branch is joined to the vine.
Then the sap flows into it by the very law of its nature.
So, being joined to our Lord Jesus by faith, that which is His becomes ours, and flows into us by the very law of our spiritual life.
If there were no hindrance, it would indeed flow as a river.
Then how earnestly we should seek to have every barrier removed to the inflowing of such a gift.
Let it be our prayer that He will clear the way for it, that He will take away all the unbelief, all the self, all the hidden cloggings of the channel.
Then He will give a sevenfold blessing: My peace. My joy. My love, at once and always, now and forever; My grace and My strength for all the needs of our pilgrimage; My rest and My glory for all the grand, sweet home-life of eternity with Him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with such blessings all uncounted and unpriced!
Let our high and holy calling, and our strong salvation be, Theme of never-ending praises, God of sovereign grace, to Thee!
January 26
DO YOU NEED MORE PROOF?
I have loved you, saith the Lord.
Malachi 1:2
How different these words are from what we should have expected! We should have expected God to say, "I will love you, if you will love Me."
But, no!
He says, "I have loved you."
Yes, He has loved you already, poor, restless heart, that wants to be loved !
He loves you now, and will love you always.
But you say, "I wish I knew whether He loves me!"
Why, He tells you so; and what could He say more?
There it stands—"I have loved you, saith the Lord."
It is true, and you need only believe it, and be glad of it, and tell Him how glad you are that He loves you.
"God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
He says nothing about good people, but tells you that He loved you so much, while you were sinful, that He sent the Lord Jesus, His own Son to die for you. Could He do more than that? He says in the same verse (Malachi 1:2), "Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us?"
Wherein? Oh herein! not that you loved God, but that He loved you, and sent His Son to suffer instead of you.
Think how many answers you can find to that question, "Wherein hast Thou loved us?"
See how many proofs of His love you can count up; and then rest on this soft, safe pillow, "I have loved you, saith the Lord."
Thou art Mine! oh, therefore fear not!
Mine forever now; And the flame shall never kindle on thy sealed brow.
Thou art precious, therefore fear not, precious unto Me!
I have made thee for My glory, I have loved thee.
January 21
Vl^HEN GOD MEETS OUR SUBSTITUTE
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd.
Zechariah 13:7
Not the hand of an impotent foe, but the sharp sword of the omnipotent Lord of Hosts was lifted to smite His Shepherd our Shepherd-King, the Great, the Chief, the Good (and the Beautiful as the original implies).
Think of the words, "stricken, smitten of God," with their unknown depths of agony, and then of Jesus, Him whom we love, fathoming those black depths of agony alone!
"Jesus smitten of God!"
Can we even say the words, and not feel moved as no other grief could move us? Do not let us shrink from dwelling upon it; let us rather seek that the Holy Spirit, even now, might show us a little of what this awful smiting really was—to show us our dear Lord Jesus Christ, in this tremendous proving of His own and His Father's love — to whisper in our hearts as we gaze upon the Crucified One, "Behold your King." We can only stand afar off, bowed and hushed in shuddering love, as the echoes of the awful stripes that fell on Him float down through the listening centuries, while each throb of the healed heart replies, "For me!
For me!"
"I have trodden the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with Me."
I suffered much for Uiee, More than thy tongue can tell Of bitterest agony.
To rescue thee from hell.
I suffered much for thee; What canst thou bear for Me?
January 28
ENJOYING GOD'S JOYS
Who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.
1 Timothy 6:17
"Richly."
So richly, that if you tried to write down half His gifts to you, your hand would tire long before you had done.
You might easily make a list of gifts given to you by others, but you could not make a list of what God gives you every day of your life.
"All things."
All the things you really need, and a great many more besides.
All the things that will do you good, a great many more than you would ever have thought of.
All the things that He can fill your hands with, and trust you to carry without stumbling and falling.
All things, everything that you have.
"To enjoy." Now how kind this is!
Not only to do us good, but to enjoy.
So you see He means you to be happy with what He gives you, and not to be dismal and melancholy.
If you do not enjoy what He giveth, that is your own fault, for He meant you to enjoy it.
Look up to Him with a bright smile, and thank Him for having given you richly all things to enjoy!
My joys to Thee I bring, The joys Thy love hath given, That each may be a wing To lift me nearer Heaven.
I bring them.
Saviour, all to Thee, For Thou hast purchased all for me.
January 29
FILL YOUR MIND WITH HIM
When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Psalm 63:6
Memory is never so busy as in the quiet time while we are waiting for sleep; and never, perhaps, are we more tempted to useless recollections and idle reveries than in the night watches.
Perhaps we have regretfully struggled against them perhaps yielded to effortless indulgence in them and thought we could not help it and were hardly responsible for vain thoughts at such times.
But here is full help and bright hope.
This night let us "remember Thee." We can only remember what we already know.
Oh, praise Him, then, that we have material for memory!
There is enough for all the wakeful nights of a lifetime in the one word "Thee." It leads us straight to "His own self."
Dwelling on that one word "Thee," faith, hope, and love wake up, and feed, and grow.
His Spirit shines upon His Word, and makes it sweet indeed, Just like a shining lamp held up beside me as I read; And brings it to my mind again alone upon my bed.
Till all abroad within my heart the love of God is shed.
January 30
A "LIMITLESSFOLD" RETURN
Why should the king recompense it me with such a reward?
2 Samuel 19:36
Barzillai had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at Mahanaim, exiled from his royal city.
When the day of triumphant return came, David said to him, "Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in Jerusalem."
This was the reward.
But what a privilege and delight it must have been to the loyal old man ! And to come nearer, what a continual joy it must have been to the women who ministered to the exiled King of Heaven of their substance. How very much one would have liked a share in that ministiy!
Why should the king recompense it me with such a reward? Why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
For there is such a tremendous disproportion between the work and the reward, though such a glorious proportion between His love and His reward. And yet there is a beautiful fitness in it.
The banquet of everlasting joy for those who gave Him
meat; the river of His pleasures for those who gave Him drink; the mansions in the Father's home for those who took the stranger in; the white robes for those who clothed the naked ; the tree of life and no more pain for those who visited the sick; the glorious liberty for those who came unto the prisoner ; the crown of all, the repeatedly promised "with Me," for those who were content to be with His sorrowful or suffering ones for His sake. Why all this?
I suppose we shall keep on asking that forever!
What shall I render to my glorious King?
I have but that which I receive from Thee; And what I give, Thou givest back to me, Transmuted by Thy touch; each worthless thing Changed to the preciousness of gem or gold.
And by Thy blessing multiplied a thousandfold.
January 31
LOOK FULL IN HIS WONDERFUL FACE
Who will shew us any good?
Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
Psalm 4:6
Thus the light of His countenance shall save us.
In Psalm 44:3, we see it as the means of past salvation, and in Psalm 42:5, the Psalmist anticipates praise for its future help; while the two are beautifully linked by the marginal reading of the latter, which makes it present salvation :
"Thy presence is salvation."
Then follows peace.
The waves are stilled, and the storm-clouds flee away noiselessly and swiftly and surely, when He lifts up the light of His countenance upon us, and gives us peace.
For this uplifting is the shining forth of His favor — the smile instead of the frown ; and as we walk in the light of it, the peace will grow into joy, and we shall be even here and now exceeding glad with His countenance, while every step will bring us nearer to the resurrection joy of Christ
Himself, saying with Him, "Thou shalt make me full of joy with Thy countenance."
So we shall find day by day, that in the light of the King's countenance is cleansing, salvation, peace and joy — and do not these make up life, the new life, the glad life of the children of the King?
The fullness of His blessing encompasseth our way; The fullness of His promises crowns every brightening day;
The fullness of His glory is beaming from above.
While more and more we realize the fullness of His love.