Month: May 2015

Dear Young Christian:

Spoiled — another word for, I’ve come to expect it.

This is about as good a definition of being spoiled as I have ever heard. Often we hear it said about someone that he or she is a “spoiled brat.” We know what it means. It means they are selfish, self-centered, and think the world revolves around them.

In our society we have come to expect it. Whatever we want, when we want it, and how we want it. But as believers we need to be careful that we don’t fall unconsciously into that way of thinking. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2). The unbeliever puts himself as the center of his world, but for us, Christ and His interests are to be our center. Let’s check ourselves as another week starts, and instead of expecting something from others, let’s do something for others.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

The Name

 “We will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7).
“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Psalm 34:3).

The name of Jesus is still despised, hated, and sneered at in this Christ-rejecting world. But for us who have come to know the preciousness of that name it is the most wonderful name that we have ever known and ever will know. We can say, like the bride in the Old Testament, “Because of the savour of Thy good ointments Thy name is as ointment poured forth” (Song of Solomon 1:3).

Then as we have that name before us in remembrance, praise, worship, and thanksgiving, we can go to the lost and tell them of the saving power of that name.We can gladly declare, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The more that name means to us the more we will want others to know the wonders of that name as well.

 

The Gospel

“Therefore they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4).

The gospel is going out around the world in many places where it has never been heard before. This is due to modern technology and the zeal and energy of many sincere believers, both young and old.

While we rejoice to hear of the work of God, by His Spirit, in so many dark corners of the world, yet what about places like Canada, the United States, and Europe, where the gospel has been preached for many centuries? And let’s make it even more personal, what about YOU? Sometimes when people hear that they need to get saved, they say, “But what about the heathen, or those that have never heard, what will happen to them?” Don’t worry about the heathen, God is just and righteous, and He will take care of them. We need to realize that we are responsible to act on the light that God has given us, and if we don’t accept His offer of salvation through His Son and the work of Calvary, He has no choice but to send us to Hell. What about you? Are you saved? “Repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

 

Faith

“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26).

The subject of the book of James can be summed up in two words, PRACTICAL FAITH, or in three words, FAITH IN OPERATION. It is not the faith that saves, but the faith that gives proof that we are saved.

The above verse is a real challenge for those who say they are Christians. Does their life show it? “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone” (James 2:17). A profession that you are saved, without showing it from day to day in your life just doesn’t add up. Sure we don’t expect to see you suddenly drop everything and rush off as a missionary to some foreign land, and we aren’t looking for perfection either. But we do expect to see something of Christ shine out in your life. You have the new nature now, and along with the new nature comes godly living and service for the Lord. Don’t say you are a believer and then not act like one. Others can’t read your heart, but they can read your life, and the only way they know you are really a child of God is by your actions. What will your life say to others today?

 

Another Hive of Bees

“Be of the same mind one toward another” (Romans 12:16).

“Be strong in the Lord” (Ephesians 6:10).

“Be ye thankful” (Colossians 3:15).

“Be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22).

“Be ye steadfast, unmovable” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

“Be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness” (Philippians 3:9).

“Be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools” (Ecclesiastes 5:1).

“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).

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers” (Hebrews 13:2).

“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines” (Hebrews 13:9).

“Be ye also ready” (Matthew 24:44).

 

A Hive of Bees

“Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

“Be content with such things as ye have” (Hebrews 13:5).

“Be careful for nothing” (Philippians 4:6).

“Be ye all of one mind” (1 Peter 3:8).

“Be pitiful” (1 Peter 3:8).

“Be courteous” (1 Peter 3:8).

“Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).

“Be ye kind one to another” (Ephesians. 4:32).

“Be kindly affectioned one to another” (Romans 12:10).

“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

“Be ye separate, saith the Lord” (2 Corinthians 6:17).

“Be not conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2).

“Be sober” (1 Peter 5:8).

“Be vigilant” (1 Peter 5:8).

 

Content

“Be content…for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

Content to be with Jesus,
Each hour of every day;
Content to have His presence,
Each step along life’s way;
Content to know He’s with me,
And never will forsake,
No, never, never leave me,
Nor any promise break.

Content to know He loves me,
With everlasting love,
Content to know He’s watching,
From His bright home above,
Content, and fully resting,
Faith every doubt doth quell
Yes, He’s my Friend, my Saviour,
He doeth all things well.

 

Dear Young Christian:

Every phase of life and every area of the world has its unique problems and difficulties. When I was a young person, I thought if I could only be further along in life things would be so much easier. But I have found out that life doesn’t get easier as we get older. In fact in some respects it only gets more difficult and complicated.

I also used to think, if I only lived somewhere else I wouldn’t have all these circumstances to deal with. But having traveled and visited Christians in different parts of the world I realize there are problems and trials no matter where we live. That’s why it is important to be satisfied and content with whatever our lot is. No matter where we are in life, or where the Lord has placed us, He has a purpose and plan, and if we submit to His will, He will preserve us and use us in blessing to others. The Apostle Paul said, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11), and also, “Godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6).

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

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

Think on Me

“But think on me when it shall be well with thee” (Genesis 40:14).

Often we turn to the Lord when the going gets tough and we have requests and needs. However, it is quite another thing to think about Him when everything is going well.

In the above verse, Joseph, who was in prison, asked the chief butler to remember him when he was back in his old job and doing well. But the butler forgot. This is just a little lesson to us that we too would forget all about the Lord unless we had something to remember Him by. That is why the Lord Jesus took a loaf and a cup, and said to His disciples, “This do in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19).

The loaf and the cup remind us of Him in His death. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:26). The Lord knew that we would need a reminder and that we would need it often. Remember Him today by eating of the bread and drinking of the cup, and remember Him in your heart all this coming week.

 

Rescue from the Sea

“He is able also to save them to the uttermost” (Hebrews 7:25).

The flight from Nassau to Miami usually took Walter Wyatt 65 minutes. But on December 5, 1986, he attempted it with only a compass and a hand-held radio. When his compass began to gyrate, he flew below the clouds hoping to spot something, but knew he was lost. He radioed a Mayday call, which brought a Coast Guard search plane. But then his right engine died, and the plane crashed in the water. Wyatt survived, but his plane sank, leaving him with a leaky life vest. With blood on his forehead, he floated on his back. Suddenly he felt a hard bump. A shark had found him. Wyatt kicked the intruder, and stayed afloat for ten hours. In the morning, he saw a dorsal fin was headed for him. In a moment, two more sharks sliced through the water. He kicked the sharks, and they veered away, but he was nearing exhaustion. Then he heard the sound of an aircraft and waved his orange vest. The pilot radioed a nearby boat. As the boat pulled alongside him Wyatt climbed wearily onto the ship. Nothing less than outside intervention could have rescued him from sure death. How much we are like Walter Wyatt!