Author: BTP

Monthly Scripture Reading

Psalm 24

1 A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2 For He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place?

4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

5 He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6 This is the generation of them that seek Him, that seek Thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

7 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.

Resignation or Acceptance?

“And Samuel told him (Eli) every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good” (1 Samuel 3:18).

Eli was resigned to the will of God. Resignation is better than rebellion or a stiff upper lip, but it is not the highest attitude. We acquiesce and resign to the inevitable because we have to! After all, there isn’t much we can do about it.

Resignation may bring a martyr complex and a selfish pride at putting up with whatever comes. Better than all this is acceptance: accept the will of God when adversity comes, learn whatever lessons are in it and believe that it works for our good. That is a wholesome and healthy spirit. Rebellion or a mere endurance of affliction may wreck us. Resignation may make us “proud that we are humble.” Acceptance falls in with God’s plan and purpose and enables us to safely trust, even though we may not fully understand.

Some things, of course, are never meant to be accepted. They are the will of the devil and must be resisted and defeated. But that which cannot be changed may be turned to God’s glory and our good if accepted and transformed from a burden into a blessing.

Dear Young Christian:

The Lord said, “Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are” (Matthew 6:5). What is a hypocrite? Someone who pretends to be something that they are not. Jesus condemned hypocrisy very strongly simply because the hypocrite put on a show for others to think that he was righteous when, in fact, his heart was not right with God. Perhaps it is best summed up in the Lord’s own words, “Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:28).

Are you the same every day of the week? This is a very searching question that also needs to be answered by those of us who are not young any more. Often we tend to be one thing on Sunday and another on Monday; one thing in front of our family or other believers, and another thing when we are at school or work. The Lord does not want our lives to be a cover-up. He wants genuine reality and righteousness. “The wisdom that is from above is … without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).

Your Christian Friend,

                     Jim Hyland

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

His Name

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in His fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is His name, and what is His son’s name, if thou canst tell?” (Proverbs 30:4).

These questions were raised by “Agur the son of Jakeh” (Proverbs 30:4). As far as we know he never got the answer, and many times he must have wondered about what he had written. Later on Isaiah gives us some further light on the matter, by telling us, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel … and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6). Then we have the further revelation given to Joseph in the New Testament: “Fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

What a Saviour, and what glorious names have been revealed to us in light of His becoming a man in incarnation!

What Shall I Do?

Have you tried everything and yet failed to find the peace you long for? Do you sometimes say in your heart: “No one could ever feel as I feel”? Maybe you say, “Oh! I wish that I had never been born! There is happiness for others, but not for me. I am afraid to live, and I am afraid to die.”

The cause of this long and continuous distress of mind is found in the very question, “What shall I do?” If we realized our need as a sinner, and our complete helplessness to satisfy God, we would cease from our own efforts to obtain peace with God.

The question, “What shall I do?” was asked of the Lord when He was here on earth. “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent” (John 6:28-29).

Thankfully there is nothing to do, for the work of salvation is all done. I can have peace by simply believing and accepting what Christ has done for me. “For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).

You are…

“By the grace of God I am what I am”
(1 Corinthians 15:10).

You are what you eat … Feed on Christ.

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world … .This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever” (John 6:51, 58).

You are what you read … Read God’s Word.

“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13).

You are what you watch … Be careful what you see.

“Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity” (Psalm 119:37).

You are the company you keep … Choose your friends wisely.

“I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts” (Psalm 119:63).

Practical Applications
of God’s Word

Part 8 — Refreshment

“O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly”
(Song of Solomon 5:1).

Have you had a drink from the Word of God today? If not, you are a thirsty Christian, your soul is parched and you are spiritually dehydrated. What a sad condition to be in when there is so much refreshment available on a daily basis! Stop now and take a drink of “cold waters to a thirsty soul” (Proverbs 25:25). When the Lord was talking to the woman at Sychar’swell, He said: “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst” (John 4:13-14).

A thirsty person seeks to have his thirst quenched. The “living water” satisfies our thirst completely, not just for a moment but for eternity. And more than that, it is free. The Lord Jesus says: “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Revelation 21:6).

Learn to drink from the Word of God every single day … yes, more than just once a day. You don’t take a glass of water in the morning and expect it to last all day. Discipline yourself to drink again and again … and again!

Contentment

“Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit” (Ecclesiastes 4:6).

In the past weeks and months we have mentioned the need for contentment several times. Here is another word on this relevant and important subject:

Frustration is the opposite of contentment. Solomon’s wisdom tells us that to be content with a little is so much better than to be rich but frustrated and with troubles. The Apostle Paul said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11). We are further exhorted, “Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:15). One of the more difficult things to resist today is the desire for more. You may have to find out on your own that to be full of this world’s goods does not fill your heart. Only Christ can do that. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10). Be content with what the Lord has given you and be filled with Him.

“I Will … ”

Here are some things that the Lord has promised that He will do for each one of us:

“I WILL remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

“I WILL bless thee” (Genesis 22:17).

“I WILL strengthen thee” (Isaiah 41:10).

“I WILL help thee” (Isaiah 41:10).

“I WILL uphold thee” (Isaiah 41:10).

“I WILL instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go” (Psalm 32:8).

“I WILL guide thee with Mine eye” (Psalm 32:8).

“I WILL give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“I WILL never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

“If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I WILL do it” (John 11:14).

“I WILL come again, and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3).

What a wonderful God and Saviour we have! Claim His promises, and remember, “There hath not failed one word of all His good promise” (1 Kings 8:56).

Dear Young Christian:

Do you ever feel that your unsaved fellow-students, coworkers, neighbours, and acquaintances, look at you with pity and say, “You don’t know what you are missing or losing out on”? There may have been those in the court of Pharaoh who thought that about Moses. Yet we read, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26). Moses saw something better in the future than the wealth and fame of Egypt. He saw that which was of eternal value. So while the unsaved of this world pity us, they are really the ones that need to be pitied, and we can say of them, “You don’t know what you are missing or losing out on.” We can face this week with eternity in view, knowing that we have the best of both worlds.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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