Month: April 2014

Jesus Only

“When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only” (Matthew 17:8).

“Jesus only with themselves” (Mark 9:8).

What a sight! Three scared men looked up and saw only Jesus there on the top of the mountain with themselves. If you get a view of Jesus only, young person, life will take on a different perspective. As the song says,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.

Jesus brightens the view of heaven and the things of this life seem less important. As you meet with others today in the worship of the Lord, let Him lift your eyes up so that you can see only Him. You’ll worship — you won’t be able to help it.

“Looking unto Jesus…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

 

Nothing To Do

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

People talk about the help of Christ in their salvation. In other words, if they do their part Christ will do His. They forget that the Lord Jesus Christ “by HIMSELF purged our sins” (Hebrews 1:3), and that their part is simply to accept what has been done.

Salvation by faith in Christ alone is repeatedly declared in the Bible to the present possession, not merely future, of every believer. The Lord Himself stressed this vital truth, as on one occasion He declared, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

 

Sure Support

“I will uphold thee” (Isaiah 41:10).

I have seen both a sapling and its supporting stake blown over. Neither was strong enough to withstand a strong wind or heavy storm. How often the Christian feels the need of support when the winds of trouble blow, and how comforting it is to know that there is such a support.

Isaiah 31:1 says: “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help.” This is always a temptation to believers — to look to the world for help. That help is something that seems sufficient and able apart from God’s provision for His people whom He loves so much.

However, instead of turning to the world, we must turn rather to God’s Word in Isaiah 41:10 where we read, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”

It is in the God of Israel that the trembling soul finds a sure support today, as all God’s people have in every age.

 

The Twelve Apostles – Part 4

Thaddaeus

He is referred to by different names.

In Matthew he is called, “Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus” (Matthew 10:3).

Mark simply refers to him as, “Thaddaeus” (Mark 3:18).

Luke mentions him as, “Judas the brother of James” (Luke 6:16).

John calls Him, “Judas…not Iscariot” (John 14:22).

There is little known of him from Scripture. He is the one who asked the Lord, “Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22).

Secular history tells us that he was a man of great national zeal, more interested in making Christ known to the world as a powerful King rather than a suffering Saviour. This seems to be confirmed by his question. However, secular history also records that after the ascension of Christ and the establishment of Christianity by the descent of the Holy Spirit, he preached the gospel faithfully in many parts of the known world, and that he was killed by arrows at Ararat.

He is assumed to be the writer of the Epistle of Jude.

 

Crossroads

There are many crossroads in our life, and many ways the Lord directs us. We need much prayer but we need to couple it with consistent orderly reading of the Word of God. We read, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). According to this verse, this is the main way that God directs us. It is not just reading here and there, but in an orderly way. As we come to steps and decisions in our life, if we are prayerfully reading our Bibles, the Lord will speak to direct us, so that when we take the step we can do it with confidence because we have a scripture that we feel has directed us.

If we do not have what we feel is definite direction from the Lord then it is best to wait, and waiting is one of the hardest lessons that the Lord tries to teach us…and we probably never learn it fully this side of heaven. Over and over in the Psalms David talks about waiting on the Lord. For example: “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way” (Psalm 37:34).

 

Always

Christianity is a very practical thing. It takes daily exercise, spiritual energy, and diligence. Here are seven things that we should always be doing…

“Rejoice in the Lord alway” (Philippians 4:4).

“Giving thanks always” (Ephesians 5:20).

“Praying always” (Ephesians 1:18).

“Let you speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6)

“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10).

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

This is just a sample list of the many things that should occupy a Christian in the path of faith and service.

 

Dear Young Christian:

Do you feel overwhelmed or overcome at the beginning of another week of school, work, or just the daily grind of life? King David had the answer for such a problem when he said, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2).

We don’t have to feel overwhelmed when we have a Lord who is greater and higher than any problem or difficulty that we will face this week. That’s not to say there won’t be troubles and hard situations ahead, but we can commit each one to Him, knowing that He is able. The Apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). Is the resource of power and strength any less for us today…not a bit! It is the same mighty strength and limitless supply that Paul and so many others have experienced over the centuries. Will you draw on this resource this week?

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to jhyland@primus.ca

The Garden

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher”
(John 20:1).

Mary’s heart had never left the garden. Over the years Jesus had won her affections and although the Sabbath routine had to be kept, I’m sure Mary’s heart was not in it. In heart she was still in the garden, at the mouth of the sepulcher. Her Lord had died. What would she do? As soon as custom would allow she came back to the garden. This is devotion. Nothing would come between her and her Lord — even if He was dead. She wanted to be close to Him, even if it just meant being close to His dead body.

Are we that devoted to Him? Is the remembrance of His death that drawing power that brings us together every Lord’s Day morning?

Later on we read of the early believers, “Upon the first day of the week…the disciples came together to break bread” (Acts 20:7). The Lord has requested, “This do in remembrance of Me” (1 Corinthians 11:24).

 

A New Heart

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).

Your heart, if normal, is about the size of your doubled fist. The average weight of the heart of a man over 20, is 10.59 ounces, with a calculated increase of about 1 ounce for every 22 pounds of added weight to the body. The average heart beats at 72 beats a minute, about 2,500,000,000 times in a lifetime, or 103,680 times a day. Every day 9,000 quarts of blood are pumped through your heart. At top speed it can pump more than 16 quarts a minute.

Amazing! But God wants to give the sinner a new heart. Wonderful things are done to the human heart with surgery in this day of medical advancement, even to transplanting this vital organ, but the greatest heart transplant a person can have is the one that only God can perform because of the work of His Son at Calvary. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

Comfort

“Nevertheless I am continually with thee: Thou hast holden me by my right hand” (Psalm 73:23).

One day in 1932, pianist, singer, and songwriter Thomas A. Dorsey discovered his need for God’s comfort. He left his pregnant wife Nettie at home in Chicago while he drove to St. Louis to sing. At the end of the performance, he received a telegram with the tragic news that his wife had died in childbirth. Within hours, the baby boy also died.

Filled with grief, Dorsey sought answers. Should he have stayed in Chicago and not gone to St. Louis? Had God done him an injustice? A few days after Nettie’s death, he sat down at the piano and began to play and compose. Finally sensing God’s peace and closeness, he commenced to sing some new words and play a new song:

Precious Lord, take my hand,

Lead me on, let me stand;

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn;

Through the storm, through the night,

Lead me on to the light;

Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.