Month: August 2015

Waiting

Waiting is not my strongest attribute. In fact if it exists at all it is pretty far down the list. When I was growing up my mother always said that I wanted things yesterday, and my wife has confirmed it.

In the Old Testament we find that David talks a lot about waiting. I suspect he was a person like myself who found it very hard to sit still and wait God’s time. In many of the Psalms that he penned he reminds us of the importance of waiting on the Lord. Here are just two examples:

“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).

I am still trying to learn this great lesson, and trust that I have made at least some little progress. The more we learn to submit to God’s timetable, the less frustrated we will be. David waited many years for the fulfilment of God’s promise that he would one day be king of Israel. Are you and I willing to wait for His time, knowing His time is the very best, and that He will fulfill all His promises to us as well?

Minor Prophets — Habakkuk

Prophetically, Habakkuk represents the faithful remnant in Israel, and as such is very burdened over the sin of the people and the judgment that is going to result. “For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs” (Habakkuk 1:6).

In a practical way we learn from this prophet the blessing of waiting on God with faith and hope, even in dark and difficult times. He watches and waits for God’s answer from the watchtower, and declares: “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me…” (Habakkuk 2:1-2).

The book concludes with a prayer of faith full of confidence and joy in the Lord in spite of the circumstances. “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:18).

Chapter 2:4, is quoted three times in the New Testament (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).

More Precious — Part 2

“The word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9).

The Hindu jeweler was absolutely astounded; he spoke to many about his “find” and constantly inquired, “Why did I not know this before? Why did nobody every tell me of this great news?”

The Word of God took root and grew in his heart, by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Surely,” he said, “this means me…whosoever…this salvation is for me and it is mine for the taking.”

By faith in Christ Jesus he accepted it; he told others of it; until when a missionary went to that place some time later, expecting to find only heathens in spiritual darkness, he found a large gathering of Indian Christians.

This true story illustrates the power of the Bible, God’s Word, and the truth of the verse that states: “For the word of God is quick [living], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

More Precious — Part 1

“The Word of the Lord was precious in those days”
(1 Samuel 3:1).

Holy Scripture is precious because it, and it alone, contains CHRIST, and therefore the faith that saves. A diamond merchant, packing some precious gems which he was sending to a trader in India, wrapped each one separately with great care. Coming to the last and costliest of all, he used as its coverings the first three chapters of John’s gospel, tearing them, as he had done other gospel portions, from a waste volume in his office. This he often did as the soft paper made an ideal wrapping.

The Hindu buyer, to whom this precious stone was sent, received with it what was infinitely more precious to him than the diamond which it covered — a leaf from the precious Word of God, whereon he found these wonderful, life-giving words, so familiar to most of us: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Dear Young Christian:

Sometimes the question is raised: What is a saint? The answer is that every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is a “saint.” I read recently of a boy who was attracted by the stained glass windows in Westminster Abbey in London, England, and the beautiful colors they reflected. He was told that the figures in the windows were those of the old time saints. Some time after he was asked who saints are, and replied, “People through whom the light shines.” How much is this true of you and me? Here is what is to characterize us as saints of God: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Another young person was asked what they thought the definition of a saint was, and their answer was, “A person who does good when nobody’s looking.” How much is this true of us also? We are told, “Eschew evil, and do good” (1 Peter 3:11).

All believers are saints, but do we act like saints?

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Jesus Only

“And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light…And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only”
(Matthew 17:1-2,8).

Three of the Lord’s disciples had just experienced one of the most spectacular events in their lives, there on the Mount of Transfiguration. But they didn’t realize just how important Jesus was in the eyes and thoughts of God until Peter, James and John saw “Jesus only.” Everything else, and everyone else, no matter how wonderful and how important, was shut out from their view.

When we meet with the Lord to remember Him in His death, is He the only person we see? Quite often we are occupied with the happenings of yesterday or last week, or, like the disciples with Moses and Elijah, we are more occupied with other believers, present or absent. Let’s really try on this special day to shut out everything else and see “Jesus only.”

Receive Him

“This Man receiveth sinners” (Luke 15:2).
“And He [Zacchaeus] made haste…and received Him joyfully” (Luke 19:6).
“Christ also received us to the glory of God”
(Romans 15:7).

If we receive Christ, He will receive us: “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12). King David received Mephibosheth to his royal table as one of the king’s sons. “As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons…So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king’s table; and was lame on both his feet” (2 Samuel 9:11,13).

The sinner is brought into a far superior relationship through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are received into the royal family of heaven by the “King of kings, and Lord of lords” (1 Timothy 6:15), and we shall enjoy His royal bounty and pay homage to Him in that wonderful, heavenly city forever. Have you received Him?

All

“The unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8).

If we have Christ, we have ALL — without Christ we have nothing! You can be happy without money, without liberty, without health, without friends and without parents, but only if you have Christ, and if Christ is the object and delight of your heart.

If you do not have Christ, neither money, liberty, health, friends, or parents can make you happy. In fact often these things will make us all the more miserable, because they leave the heart empty and the soul unfulfilled.

Christ with a ball and chain is liberty; liberty without Christ is a ball and chain.

Christ without anything is riches — all things! Without Christ, it is poverty indeed!

The Apostle Paul had very little of this world’s goods, and was a prisoner of Nero and the Romans. Yet he declared, “But I have all, and abound: I am full” (Philippians 4:18). He also stated, when writing to the Christians at Colosse, “Christ is all, and in all” (Colossians 3:11).

Non-Trusters

Someone has well said, “We are a generation of non-trusters.” We are taught not to accept anything without solid proof or to trust anyone, even if we know them, without questioning their integrity and being on our guard at all times. Certainly this is a day when on the surface this seems to be sound advice. No one seems to be completely above-board anymore, and honesty seems to be in short supply. However in my opinion this way of thinking has made us a very paranoid and jittery generation.

How good that there is one person and one book that we can trust without question.King Solomon reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart” (Proverbs 3:5). The writer of the 119th Psalm said, “I trust in Thy Word” (Psalm 119:42). The writer of Hebrews states: “It was impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). So, we may have to be vigilant and wary when it comes to who we trust and what we read, except when it comes to confidence in the Lord and reading His Word. In that context we don’t want to be a non-truster, we want to be wholehearted trusters.

Harps

I heard an orchestra play a few evenings ago and it was absolutely beautiful. What I especially enjoyed was the harp. It got me thinking about the music of heaven and what it will be like, and of course it brought to mind the verse that says, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints” (Revelation 5:8).

Then I thought about the hymn written by William Cowper over 200 years ago, and the verses that say:

Lord, we believe Thou hast prepared
(Unworthy though we be)
For us a blood-bought, free reward,
And harps of minstrelsy.

Harps strung and tuned for endless years
And formed by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears,
No other name but Thine.

What a wonderful music that will be!