Author: BTP

Dear Young Christian:

Are you praying about something special this week? I was encouraged by reading about some young men who were taken directly from school to the National Service training camp. Life became tough. The only bright spot was on Lord’s Day mornings when the Christians were able to meet together to encourage each other in the Lord. Then came the shattering blow — a new commanding officer. “No more religious services in this camp,” he shouted on his first Monday on duty. The young men took the matter to a higher authority — THEY PRAYED! Before the end of the week the Lord had this godless officer transferred — he lasted only a week, but the Lord’s Day gatherings continued without a break.

If you are praying about something that seems insurmountable, remember God our Father is greater and higher than any problem you encounter. “The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to [email protected]

The Cross

“He bearing His cross went forth” (John 19:17).

“Who for the joy that was set before Himenduredthe cross” (Hebrews 12:2).

“He…became obedient untodeath, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).

“Having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20).

“Thepreaching of the cross…is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

I love the cross of Jesus,

For there my Saviour died;

For there His blood, so precious,

Flowed from His spear-pierced side.

The cross is all my glory,

In nothing else I boast;

It made me fit for heaven,

With all the ransomed host.

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

 

The Future

We often remark that we can’t predict the future, and that we never know what the next moment may bring. The course of life can change very quickly, and the unexpected happen momentarily.

However, we do know what is ahead in eternity. For the ones who know Christ as their Saviour there are no uncertainties when it comes to their future eternity. The Father’s House is our final destination — no question about it!

David said, at the end of the Shepherd Psalm, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6). What a wonderful certainty he had.

There is also a certainty regarding the future to the one who rejects Christ. We read of a man who lived for himself with no thought of God or the next life in Luke’s gospel. “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments” (Luke 16:23).

We spend so much time preparing for the future as far as this life is concerned, but how many there are who neglect to prepare for the future concerning the next life.

 

Shortest Verses

The two shortest verses in the English Bible stand in sharp contrast to one another.

“Jesus wept” (John 11:35).

“Rejoice evermore” (1 Thessalonians 5:16).

The Lord Jesus was the “Man of Sorrows” here in this world so that we could rejoice for all eternity. We read of Him, “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared” (Hebrews 5:7).

Now we can rejoice because of what we have in Him, and both He and we will rejoice together for all eternity. Again we read of Him in a future day, “He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). The Man of Sorrows will become the Man of Joy when He has His own around Himself forever.

 

Plain But Wholesome

“Beauty is vain” (Proverbs 31:30).

Colorless is an adjective applied to some people. Mushrooms are colorless compared with the brilliance of many toadstools, but give me a dish of mushrooms every time. We need to beware of the flashy highly colored, for though it may have sensual appeal it may also hide a deadly poison.

Satan knows how to attract by the brilliant and spectacular, and has allured many to destruction by glitter and glamour.

The prophet wrote of Christ “there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

Call to remembrance the wearied Saviour making His painful way to Calvary, bleeding and battered, to be crucified. Not an attractive sight.

Yet He it was who said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever” (John 6:51). Here is wholesome food.

 

Practice

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

I was quite impressed by reading about how a Christian in a Korean village learned the whole of the “Sermon on the Mount” by heart, and then tramped 100 miles over rough terrain to recite it to the resident missionary who was living and working in that area. When he had finished, he was exhorted to put it into practice.

“But that is the way I learned it,” he replied. “At first I tried simply to commit it to memory, and it would not stick. So I tried this plan: I would learn a verse, and then go out and find a heathen neighbor and practice that verse on him. Then I found it would stick!”

Wouldn’t it be good if we all learned the Word of God in that way. It certainly would make it stick, and it would certainly make it real in our personal lives and in our testimony to others. Let’s be like David who prayed, “Teach me Thy way, O Lord; I will walk in Thy truth” (Psalm 86:11).

 

In Everything

In everything give thanks!

At all times give Him praise!

Thank Him for all His love and care

And wisdom of His ways.

In everything give thanks!

At all times give Him praise!

Rejoice in Him forevermore,

Through bright or dismal days.

In everything give thanks!

At all times give Him praise!

No matter what the circumstance,

A cheerful anthem raise.

In everything give thanks!

At all times give Him praise!

Now, in this life, as soon above,

When on His face we gaze.

“In everything give thanks” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

 

Dear Young Christian:

I saw this quote recently and thought it was worth passing on.

“Feed on the Word, not the World.”

It shows how one letter can change a lot of things. So, the question is “what are you feeding on?” Are you feeding on the world or the Word of God? One will feed your lust, the other will feed your soul. One will lead you to spoil your spiritual appetite, the other will encourage you in the Lord.

As this week begins, why not make a conscious effort to feed on the Word of God more, and the things of the world less? And when you come home at night and you have had to hear, read and see things that are defiling all around you all day, make sure you feed “the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” (Colossians 3:10). At the end of the week you will be spiritually healthier as a result.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you. Send your comments or questions to [email protected]

Glory

“And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of His loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake” (Ezekiel 1:26-28).

Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord (or at least a likeness to it) and he fell on his face. When we come together today to remember the Lord in His death He will be there in person. Falling on our faces should be our response, too. We probably won’t literally fall down, but in our hearts we bow and worship the God of the universe who planned our salvation through the death of His own Son.
Incredible!

 

One Word

“He being dead yet speaketh” (Hebrews 11:4).

I was walking through a graveyard one day when a word on one of the headstones caught my eye; it was simply the word — SAVED. It caught my eye because it was the only word on the stone.

In Louisiana, a woman lies beneath a grove of 150-year-old oak trees in a quiet, old cemetery. There is just one word carved on her tombstone — WAITING. The person in the tomb was evidently a believer, and although they have died, they are simply waiting in a better place for the same thing that believers who are alive are waiting for…the coming of the Lord Jesus, or what we often refer to as, the rapture.

In the Evergreen Cemetery near New York City stands a gravestone. On it is carved one solitary but charming word — FORGIVEN. No name, no date, nothing but one word is seen on each of these stones, and no doubt there are many more like them.

Suppose you had to truthfully chose one word as an epitaph to sum up your life, to be chiseled on the stone placed over your lifeless body, what would it, and what could it, be?