Saturday, December 1, 2001

Diligence!

The Bible has a great deal to say about diligence, and of profound blessings associated with it, which is evident from the following exhortations and examples:

A study of these passages shows that whether our business is spiritual or secular, or both, we should be found putting our very best in whatever our hands find to do. A diligence inspired of God enables us to achieve our best.

“Seest thou a man diligent in business, he shall stand before kings,” Prov 22:29.

Diligence

A Danish proverb says, “Diligence makes an expert workman.”

Work and despair not, give thy mite,
Nor care how small it be.
God is with all that serve the right,
The holy, true, and free.

“That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in, and the best of me is diligence,” King Lear.

The Opposite to Diligence is Not Forgotten in the Bible

Indolence, laziness, and slothfulness, with their promises of impoverishment and sorrow, are not forgotten.

Scripture also takes cognizance of the fact that ulterior motives can inspire diligence. There can be no true industry apart from the fear of the Lord. Avarice is the spur of industry.

Diligence Without the Fear of the Lord

The Lord Jesus Christ described one who was most industrious, laboring most diligently at his work, but who was yet destitute of any fear of God. He thought only of amassing greater wealth. Because the rich farmer allowed himself to work industriously merely to lay up more riches for himself and failed to be rich in the Lord, the very night of his boast was the night of his sudden death.

If, through our diligence we are blessed with an increase of goods, we must not forget the Blesser’s share of glory and gain.

God-Given Provision of Defense

God’s coverage and protection of His own is described for us in so many interesting ways. It would seem as if He ransacks the range of suitable metaphors to reveal His ability and willingness to shelter and preserve those who are covered with His wings.

Scores of Promises are connected with our Lord, such as:

It would take more space than you can hold on your computer to fully quote all the passages dealing with these most profitable metaphors. So, a few selected samples must suffice to convince us that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, One whose omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience makes possible for us the most perfect protection for the weakest of all believers.

Make each Promise of Divine preservation your own and include them in your prayers.

We rest upon Thy Promise Lord,
Thy Word Thou will not break.
Thou never failest and we know,
Thine own will never forsake.
Lord, keep us looking, trusting Thee,
Our helplessness our only plea.

“He is a Rock ... my Defense ... I shall not be moved,” Psa 62:6, 89:18.

Our Divine Defense

With this array of wonderful Promises before us, how can we possibly be afraid of what the present or the future may hold for us?

With the Lord as our Canopy, we are safe, and we should be serene and satisfied. Because He is between us and our foes and trials, we can rest in the assurance that “not a shaft can hit till He sees fit,” 1 Pet 3:13, Prov 3:24, Isa 43:2.

I know these are a lot of Promises, but can you get too much of a good thing, a Grace thing? Too much Grace?

Thought for the Day in Light of a Terrorist Attack

“Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and with gladness of mind, by the reason of the abundant of things, therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies, which the Lord God shall send against you, in hunger, in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things, and He shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck,” Deut 28:47-48.

Sunday, December 2, 2001

“He Kept Them as the Apple of His Eye,” Deuteronomy 32:10

Moses described in a most accurate fashion God’s care of ancient Israel. When the people groaned under oppressive slavery and writhed under the heartless taskmasters:

1. “He found him in a desert land,
2. In the waste howling wilderness,
3. He led them about,
4. He instructed him,
5. He kept him as the apple of His eye.”

First God found the people. His eye of love was fixed on them. Then He led them, sometimes along a straight, sometimes a circuitous path from Egypt to the Promised Land. He instructed them by providential dealings, mercies, warnings, judgments, frequent interpositions of His power, by signal proof of His determination to bless them according to His Promise.

Yes, and He kept them as the apple of His eye. Meaning, He shielded the people in their hour of peril, manifesting Himself strong on their behalf. Such privileged and promised watchful guardianship.

Have you been found of God? Is He leading you? Are you being instructed by Him? Then rest calmly and unhesitantly upon the sure Promise that you will be kept by His mighty power. John 10:28-29.

Lord, You are my Shelter from the heat,
In every stormy gale,
Thou art my Hiding Place, and so,
My foes can never prevail.
Lord, keep me thus, tills storms shall cease,
Within Thy house of endless peace.

“He kept them as the apple of His eye,” Deut 32:19.

“As an Eagle ... so the Lord,” Deuteronomy 32:11, 12

Because the eagle has undisputed supremacy over the birds of the air, being known as the king of the skies, it is used in many interesting ways. For instance, its speed is remarkable.

“Swift as an eagle flieth,” Deut 28:49, Job 9:26, Prov 30:19.

None among the feathered creatures can surpass the eagle in speed of flight. How swift God is in His deliverance of His own!

Many bird nests are robbed simply because they are in easy reach. The eagle, however, endowed of God with wisdom, builds her nest on the highest crag of the rock where she knows her eggs and young will be safe.

The symbol of America is an eagle ... swift deliverance.

“Make Thy Nest as High as the Eagles,” Jeremiah 49:14, Job 38:27

In this passage, Jeremiah reminds Edom that her high and haughty spirit will be crushed. Who is higher than an eagle’s nest and Who knows how to bring the mighty from their nest?

As a symbol of Divine activities, the ways of an eagle are very expressive. Exodus 19:4, Jer 48:40. Moses used the eagle’s tenderness and care of its young to describe God’s kindness and provision.

The stirring up of the nest, fluttering over the young, spreading abroad the wings, can all be applied to the Promise of God’s consideration of His own, as well as a manifestation of Grace to us.

“The Name of the Lord is a Strong Tower: the Righteous Runneth Into It and is Safe,” Proverbs 18:10

“Thou hast made the most high Thy habitation,” Psa 91:9.

How invincible and impregnable God is as our Tower and Habitation! Having a promise of such a sure defense, we can sing, “A safe Foundation our God is still.”

Sheltered in Him and by Him, we can laugh to scorn all the embattled hosts of hell. The proud onslaught of the enemy is doomed to defeat. Who can harm us if we be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ? Promises of His protection are stars of Heaven kindled for our comfort in the darkest night.

“Lead Me to the Rock That is Higher Than I,” Psalm 61:2

How great is our need of “someone” Who is above ourselves, our cares, our trials, and our needs. Provoking and perplexing troubles assail us, but “This Mighty Rock in a weary land” is both above all the trouble and the turmoil of Earth. Look at Psalm 130 in this connection.

How happy we are if we have found the lofty and peaceful Retreat.

In the Lifted Rock I am resting,
Safely, sheltered, I abide.
There are no foes nor storms to molest me,
While within the Cleft I hide.

“Thou Art in the Clefts of the Rock,” S.O.S. 2:14

We are here promised, as the bride of Christ, several privileges. To Him we are as a dove, harmless and blameless. As the Rock, He was cleft at Calvary and we hide in Him.

“The secret places of the stairs” speak of our intimate, spiritual fellowship with Him, Who causes His face to be seen and His voice to be heard in His precious Word.

Because He waits to meet us in the secret places of the stairs, never let us disappoint our Beloved.

He hideth my soul in the Cleft of the Rock
And shelters me there with His hand.

“In the Shadow of Thy Wings Will I Make My Refuge,” Psalm 57:1

“As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem,” Isaiah 31:5.

What a comforting Promise this is. It is indeed heartening to know that as the birds flutter over their nests with quivering and palpitating wings, so the Lord protects us.

No matter what perils may shadow us, even though it be the last shadow of death, all is well if we enjoy the shadow of God’s guardian wings. He shelters, protects, and preserves His children. In the shadow of His wings we may have power and peace and Heaven itself.

Monday, December 3, 2001

“I Am Thy Shield,” Genesis 15:1

“The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield,” Psa 84:11

Safety and protection are suggested by the simile of a Shield and the Lord promises to be our Shield. All who believe are blessed with believing Abraham, and so the promise God made to him He will fulfill to us and we certainly need Him as our Shield.

Are we not surrounded by foes? Do not fiery darts fly in every direction? But the Lord interposes Himself as our Shield. So mighty a Defender. And because He is our Defense, we must expect His protection. He Himself, His salvation, and our faith, form the Shield. So when alarm and dangers afright, let us look to Him as our Protector.

Because He is “a Sun and a Shield, He gives Grace and glory.”

“And there is no good thing He will withhold from those who walk uprightly,” Psa 84:11.

“God is Our Refuge and Our Strength,” Psalm 46:1

“I flee to Thee to hide me,” Psa 143:9

The provision of a refuge implies several things:

1. There is the presence of danger. The Christian is ever in danger of self and Satan.
2. There is fear. Often when one is pursued, they are afraid. But for those who have the Lord as a Refuge, all fears are groundless.
3. A refuge suggests foresight. The Lord knew all about distant storms and provided Himself a covert accordingly.
4. On our part, seeking the Refuge speaks of prudence. We hide in Him before the storm breaks.
5. From the Lord’s side, the provision of a refuge reveals His laudable concern for our safety and comfort.

How privileged we are to have the Lord as our Eternal Refuge. When hounded by sin, the world, or our problems, we can flee to Him knowing that His ear is open to our cry and His hand is ready to help and deliver us.

His throne is our asylum, His Promise is our comfort, and His omnipotence is our guard.

The Test of Endurance

Go on, go on, go on,
Go on, go on, go on,
By the Grace that saved me,
I mean to go on.

Although such repetition does not have much substance in it, it does emphasize one thought. Namely, the need of endurance in the Christian way of life. Too many of us are like the builder the Lord Jesus Christ depicted, Who began to build, but was not able to finish.

Paul wrote Galatians for those who lacked this Grace of endurance. They began in the Spirit and drifted into the flesh. The Bible holds out many rich Promises for those who endure, and the passages are evident in Scripture.

Endurance

An ancient proverb has it, “He that endures is not overcome.” The above exhortations coupled as they are with promised blessings and reward, reveal how Spirit-inspired endurance can make us more than conquerors.

Think of the Further Encouragement We Have in the Exercise of This Grace Perseverance

While these Scriptures and others we could cite, set forth the Christian’s eternal security in the Lord Jesus Christ, they do not provide Him with any license to live carelessly, indolently, and despairingly. While we never can be lost because we are saved by Grace, lack of determination to be true to the Lord Jesus Christ in spite of adversary can result in loss of reward.

That is what Paul meant when he voiced his fear about being a “castaway,” or disapproved, not counted worthy of a prize from the Lord Jesus Christ’s hand in the grand day of rewards.

Remember December Seventh – December 7, 1941

And thank your Father in Heaven,
When Pearl Harbor was attacked,
And America came fighting back.

Japanese politicians were in Washington.
They bombed us and thought they won.

But America’s sons fought and died,
And our freedom is still alive.

Remember December seven,
Thank your Father in Heaven,
For the victory He did win,
And America is free once again.

The Next Event on the Lord’s Calendar

“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

Tuesday, December 4, 2001

Endure

Longfellow reminds us that “patient endurance is God-like,” to which Scripture agrees. See Lam 3:25-27, Heb 10:36, James 5:8, 1 Pet 2:20, Prov 10:28. In a good many cases the word “endure” carries with it the idea of continuance, abiding.

In other passages, however, endure means to bear up courageously under trials and testings, to be steadfast, long-tempered, to bravely tolerate. For this kind of endurance, Promises are offered.

“Then shalt thou be able to endure,” Ex 18:23.

Endure

“He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved,” Matt 24:13.

Since this statement of the Lord Jesus Christ has been misconstrued to teach what is called “the falling away from Doctrine,” it is necessary to examine it in the light of the context.

The Lord Jesus Christ was not referring to a spiritual salvation when He spoke. As verse 22 makes it clear, He had in mind a “physical deliverance.”

The shortening of the Tribulation period will mean that many believers will be saved from suffering and martyrdom.

Endure

We do not endure to be saved at some future date. We endure “because we are saved.”

The foregoing passages exhibiting both Divine and human endurance and the promised reward of them would serve to nerve us for the challenge of life. If we remain true and steadfast in the fight of faith, the dross vanishes and we retain the gold.

As believers, we endure not for any material gain, but that a full reward will be ours at Christ’s judgment day.

A Bunch of “Everlastings”

How blessed it is to live with eternity’s values in view!

We are like Bunyan’s man with the muckrake, seeing what is only at our feet, and not as conscious as we ought to be about the crown of gold above our head.

They said of Corot, the renowned artist, he always began the painting of his immortal landscapes with the skies. May it be with skies and with the Lord that we are careful to begin, not with the Earth and with its tarnish and rust.

To gather under one heading all the Promises of “eternal life,” “reward,” and “blessedness” is a profitable exercise for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal and Everlasting!

For a confirmation of your faith, go over all the passages related to eternal or everlasting life. You will be surprised as you collate all promised future joys and blessings.

The Power of Faith

Since there are over 500 references to “faith” and its kindred term “believe” in the Bible, it is difficult to list all of these verses so we will briefly expound the majority of them.

In fact, exposition is not necessary because the passages speak for themselves. Each passage is a Promise. Attached to them are numerous Promises as to the power and reward of faith.

If we would be strong in faith, one way sure of gaining great faith is to prayerfully study every passage where “faith” and “believe” and “trust” are found in Scripture.

The Power of Faith

“Faith in God.” Faith is a transitive verb and all the merit is in the Object of faith, which is God.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,” Acts 16:31.

Thought for the Day!

All things animate and inanimate are on the Lord’s side. All things are the friends and servants of him who is the friend and servant of the Lord.

And since this is true, that the “all” is an ordered whole which is obedient to the touch and to the will of the Divine Commander, then all His servants must be on the same side. And they cannot turn their arms against each other.

Thought for the Day!

Now how is that possible?

Well, everything is my friend. And everything is for me and not against me that helps me to get nearer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Wednesday, December 5, 2001

Among the 300 References to “Believe,” “Believers,” “Believed,” We Have Chosen a Couple of Them to Keep Us “Believing”

The world says “seeing is believing.” But the Christian axiom is “believing is seeing.” Did not the Lord Jesus Christ say, “Blessed are they who have not seen, yet have believed?”

Belief or faith, means taking God at His Word. “Faith is the evidence of things not seen.” Unbelief, of which the Bible has a great deal to say, is the root of all sin. It rejects the miraculous and stumbles over the clear statements of God’s Word. “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

“For by Grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; It is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast,” Eph 2:8-9.

The Call to Faithfulness!

To be “faith full” means more than being full of faith. The term means fidelity, steadfast, stability. When used of God, “faithfulness” expresses the attribute of Deity by which He infallibly fulfills His purposes and His promises of His Word.

All the writers of Scripture unite to magnify God for His faithful fidelity, which runs as a golden thread through Scripture.

We can name this great Psalm “The Psalm of Divine faithfulness.”

Faithfulness!

All of these testimonies are heavy with the promise of God’s unfailing care and provision for His own. There has never been the least flicker in the lamp of Divine loyalty.

“Thou art the same.” As the faithful God, He must be true to His own nature, Isa 25:1. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us from all iniquity,” 1 John 1:9.

We Have the Same Quality of “Faithfulness” in the Life of the Lord Jesus Christ Exhibited For Us Who Came Revealing the Divine Attributes

Solomon asked the question, “But a faithful man who can find?” The Man, the Lord Jesus Christ was faithful in all things. If ever “one” was faithful unto death, it was the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then We Have in Scripture Examples of Those Who Believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and Served Him, “the Faithful One”

These saints at Smyrna sealed their faithful witness like those described for us in Hebrews chapter eleven, with their life’s blood.

“The just shall live by faith.”

Faithfulness For Us as Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ Carries Many Promises of Divine Favor, Preservation, and Reward

Faithfulness is Obedience to a Divine Command

“Be thou faithful unto death,” Rev 2:10. There are many privileges we enjoy in the Christian way of life and faithfulness is a debt that must be discharged in a three-fold way – Godward, among ourselves, and toward a lost world. Here are some of the aspects of faithfulness:

Faithlessness!

Oppositely, the promise of condemnation is attached to faithlessness.

Happily we are not let to ourselves to produce the faithfulness God commands and commends. What He commands He supplies.

In describing the varied fruit of the Spirit, Paul says that “The fruit of the Spirit if faithfulness.” Thus we do not and cannot produce it. We only bear it. As we constantly walk in the Spirit, He makes possible the loyalty and fidelity that is pleasing to our faithful Lord and that brings us at the end of the day the promised reward.

“Well done thou good and faithful servant.”

Thought for Today!

Now how did your pastor explain this passage?

“But thy friends,” literally, they that love you, “will be like the sun as he rises in his might.”

The sun is radiant and full of energy, light, and might. Those who love the Lord will be full of radiance, energy, light, and might.

The comparable New Testament passage is that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are “the light of the world.” Once in darkness, now light in the Lord, so walk in the light.

Thursday, December 6, 2001

The Tyranny of Fear!

In our action dealing with the physical realm, we draw attention to “fear” as a despot of the emotions of the soul. Enumerating the passages on fear – many of our fears are groundless. And they are a form of distrust in our Lord’s ability to undertake for us as He has promised us.

Often we are guilty of fearing things that are safe. The foundation of all our hopes and fears are in a future life. But to the Christian there should be no fear regarding either this present or the future, because the Lord has promised to take care of both.

Fear has a thousand eyes, that all agree,
To plague her beating heart.

“There is no fear in love,” 1 John 4:18. If our hearts have been warmed by that Divine love and our lives are absorbed by it, then all fear as to the future is cast out.

“Only fear JEHOVAH,” 1 Sam 12:24, Psa 128:1, Prov 1:7.

The basis of a godly fear, the only fear we should have, is all that God is Himself, and all that He has accomplished on our behalf.

“My Heart Will Not Fear,” Psalm 27:3

I backward cast my eye on prospects drear,
And forward, though I can see, I guess and fear.

But guesses and fears should have no place in a Christian’s thinking. Certainty is written all over the sure Promises of God.

”Fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed.
“For I am thy God. I will give thee aid,
“I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
“Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.”

“When I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.”

The Joy of Fellowship!

“Fellowship” and all that it represents to a Christian is confined to the New Testament. It occurs only twice in the Old Testament.

In both cases the fellowship is of the wrong kind, and it is akin to the evil companionship referred to by the apostle Paul.

Used in a right sense, the communion of the saints is a most privileged and precious experience. An animate, filial fellowship, this is none of the half-faced fellowship Shakespeare spoke about. It is full communion here and now with the promise of eternal communion.

Breaking Up the Word “Fellowship,” We Find it to Mean Exactly That, the Other Fellow in the Ship

We sadly confess the lack of this many-sided fellowship among professing Christians today. Isolated in our own sphere of worship we sing, “Bless be the ties that bind, Our hearts in Christian love.”

But the fact remains that we appear to be hopelessly divided, with this group refusing to have any fellowship with another group. How far removed we are from the “fellowship one with another” which the apostle wrote about.

The Bearing of Fruit!

As branches of the vine, it is our responsibility to bear fruit to God’s praise and glory. If fruitless, then there must be obstruction in the life which prevents the sap in the vine from reaching her branches.

We have been promised a fruit-bearing life, for which live provision has been made. Peter makes it clear that as the life, so the fruit.

“If these things,” see the list in verses 5-7, “be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 2 Pet 1:8. What a Promise for a Christian to claim!

Peter enumerates the virtues forming the soil, producing the fruit. Such fruit is the overflow of life, and we must be full before we can overflow. If we realize that we have been fruitless professors, let us closely observe the graces so essential to fruit bearing. There must be fruit within if we are to bear fruit without. All the graces and the fruit are Divinely provided.

“From Me is thy fruit,” Hosea 14:5.

Only as I abide in Thee,
Can fruit in me be found.
But for Thy Grace I long have been
Destroyed, by God cut down.
But Thou hast bled, and Thou hast died,
Thy Grace do so abound.
Or I had perished long ago,
A cumberer of the ground.

Fruit and Fruitfulness

Over 200 passages are taken up with fruit and fruit bearing, which cover natural fruit, moral, physical, and spiritual fruit, or blessings. Look at these passages carrying their own Promise, encouragements, and warning.

Our speech and testimony are a part of the fruit the Husbandman expects.

Let us never be guilty of the folly of trying to have fruit without root.

Fruit Bearing

How variegated is the fruit we are to bear. It represents every phase of life. May we be spared from functioning as empty vines.

“Without Me ye can do nothing.”

Dead unto sin, alive in Thee,
More and more fruitful would I be.
A branch of Thee, Thou living vine,
My soul around Thee would entwine.
Abiding in Thy mighty power,
O make me fruitful every hour.

“I am the Vine. Ye are the branches!”

Thought for the Day!

When you spend time with a person and you have a relationship with them, others say, you know they look like one another. When they saw the disciples, “They knew that they had been with the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Love always tends to likeness.

“When we see Him, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

Friday, December 7, 2001

“Every Branch in Me That Beareth Not Fruit He Taketh Away,” John 15:2

This is a statement that has caused some believers some concern. Does it teach as some affirm, that we can be saved today but lost tomorrow? Certainly not. First of all, notice where the believer as a branch is “in Me.” Once an integral part of the Lord Jesus Christ, such a union can never be dissolved.

Fellowship may be severed, but union never. The words “taken away” are literally lifted up. A gardener noticing a branch trailing in the dust where it cannot enjoy the sun and the full benefit of the forces of nature, lifts it up, and gives it a higher position.

Often fruit is not ours because we live too close to the Earth. Our affections are not set on high so the Divine Gardener comes along and separates us from worldly pursuits and raises us up from fleshly desires. Are we trailing along with the world?

“The Branch Cannot Bear Fruit of Itself Except it Abide in the Vine,” John 15:4

An aspect of the Truth our Lord enfolds in this chapter is that He is not the Root or the Stem only, He is the whole Vine. Thus, what the Lord Jesus Christ covers is every branch, every leaf, every tendril of the whole plant.

The same idea is presented where the name “Christ” is given to the whole body, 1 Cor 12:12. The Christian is to abide in Christ, as the branch abides in the Vine. The function of the branch is to maintain connection with the stem, to receive the life-sap at one end and to bear fruit at the other end.

“We Should Bring Forth Fruit Unto God,” Romans 7:4

Our Father is glorified when we bear much fruit – fruit of holiness, fruit of devotion in Him, fruit of witnessing, fruit of soul-saving. No abiding – no fruit.

Paul is writing about being married to the Lord Jesus Christ, which means we have renounced our own name, and have taken His, that we may live upon His fullness, and walk by His Word, and seek to please Him in all things. Our good works represent the fruits of our oneness with Him.

The Bond of Friendship

Because all of us are in need of human friends, it is most important to be wise and careful in the choice of friendships. Is this not one of the most serious responsibilities of life?

It is essential to have those friends who will not fail us at any point, but who are at hand to help in time of need, and also ready to share our happiness. Such a tie of personal friendship is not a tie of duty merely, or of obligation, but a bond more close and intimate.

We have all had experience with those fair weather friends. The friends whose friendship we revere are those who act as an elixir of life. A true friend redoubles joy and cuts grief in half.

We come to what the Bible has to say about the choice and function of friends, and of the promised friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bond of Friendship

The English word, “friend,” suggests different things in the original language. In some cases it denotes the idea of “loving as well as being loved,” a term of endearment. Then there is the idea of comradeship or partnership, as when the Lord Jesus Christ said to Judas, “Friend (companion) wherefore art thou come,” Matt 26:50.

What a false partner Judas proved himself to be. He failed to realize that the true friendship is love without wings. Drop the “r” out of friend and you have “fiend,” which Judas appeared to be.

We often think of Abraham as one of the most privileged men in the Bible because of his friendship with the Eternal.

The Bond of Friendship!

Moses was another who experienced similar intimate friendship, for it is said of him, “that the Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend,” Ex 33:11.

But the patriarchs are not alone in such a blessed heavenly friendship. Did not the Lord Jesus Christ describe those who love and trust Him as His friends?

But this promise of exalted friendship carries the condition of obedience to the wishes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

“The Rich Hath Many Friends,” Proverbs 14:20, 19:4

Sad these so-called friends often vanish with the riches. As the prodigal discovered when all was spent and not one companion in his riotous living days was at hand to give him a meal!

Who finds himself with friends is like a body without a soul.

What guidance the above cameos of friendship provide for those who seek companionship, or those friends which Shakespeare describes in Julius Caesar. “He was my friend faithful and just to me.” If we are blessed with loyal and true friends, let us value them and follow this advice. A man should keep his friendships in repair.

The Fact Remains, However, That No Matter How Dead and Beneficial an Earthly Friend May be, the Best Cannot Bring Us as Much as the Lord Jesus Christ

Who wants to be a Friend and whose friendship is pure and heavenly

2 Tim 4:10. There is not a Friend like the lowly Lord Jesus Christ.

Human friendships cannot go all the way, but the friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ is an eternal one.

Whatever other friendships you may miss, miss not the friendship of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may miss me, but don’t miss the Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever else you may leave out of your life, let no one leave the Lord Jesus Christ out of his life.

It is Quite Understandable That a True Friend Should be Ready to Sacrifice His Life For One He is Bound to With Cords of Deep Affection

But the marvel of marvels is that our heavenly Friend died on the Cross, not for the few close friends around Him, but for His enemies.

It is not somewhat striking that after the Lord Jesus Christ had been delivered up to death, Pilate and Herod, hitherto at enmity, became friends, Luke 21:12. What a reconciliating factor the Cross is. But what a friendlessness was His at the end.

Thought for the Day – Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941!

Breathes there a man with soul so dead,
Who never to himself hath said,
“This is my own, my native land.”
Whose heart hath never within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned,
From wandering on a foreign strand.

If such there breathe, go, mark him well,
For him no minstrel raptures swell.
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim.

Despite those titles, power and pelf,
The wretch, concentrated all in self.
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down,
To the vile dust from whence he sprang,
Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.

Thought for the Day – December 7, 1941!

“It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better.

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes short again and again.

“Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”

Those in the Military!

Away in foreign fields they wondered how,
Their simple words had power.
At home, some Christians, two or three, had
Not forgot to pray an hour.

We are always wondering, wondering how
Because we do not see,
Someone, perhaps unknown and far away
On bended knee.

Be not afraid to pray, to pray is right,
Pray if you can, with hope, but ever pray.
Though hope be weak, or sick with long delay,
Pray in the darkness if there be no light.

Satur

A Friend

The Lord Jesus Christ offers Himself not only as a Saviour to those who are lost, but as a Friend to those who are saved by Grace.

He is a friend that loves us at all times and who sticks closer than a brother. Prov 17:17, 18:24.

Is it not condescending of Him to allow us to call Him Friend? May we understand increasingly all that is implied in this covenant of eternal relationship with Him.

Such a privileged friendship should purify life and nerve us to the best and noblest service. In the Lord Jesus Christ we have the Friend who never leaves our side. In all times, and under all circumstances He is at hand to console, succor, and relieve.

If we could only think always of the Lord Jesus Christ as we do a friend, as One who unfeignedly loves us, even more than we do ourselves, whose heart is set upon us to do us good.

The Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour-Friend!

I would converse with thee from day to day,
With heart intent on what Thou hast to say.
And through my pilgrim walk, whatever may befall,
Consult with Thee, O Lord, about it all.

Since Thou art willing thus to condescend,
To be my intimate, familiar Friend.
Oh let me to the great occasion rise,
And count Thy friendship life’s most gracious prize.

The One Who Never Forsakes!

An aspect of Divine companionship is that of the Promise of the companion Himself never to forsake us, Heb 13:5. Here, the word “forsake” means “to leave behind” in any state or place. He will never abandon us, no matter how we may be.

Irrespective of our straits, He is there to undertake. Paul was heartbroken over the way his close friend had treated him. “Demas hath forsaken me,” 2 Tim 4:10, see 4:16. In the Lord Jesus Christ, however, we have One who will never treat us like that.

Earthly friends may fail or leave us,
One day soothe, the next day grieve us.
But this Friend will never deceive us,
Oh, how