Grace Gems

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A love-letter sent to you from God

(Thomas Watson, "Body of Divinity")

"Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly." Colossians 3:16

STUDY the Scripture. It is a copy of God's will. Be Scripture-men, Bible-Christians. Search the Scripture as for a vein of gold. This blessed Book will fill your head with knowledge, and your heart with grace!

There is majesty sparkling in every line of Scripture.

There is a melody in Scripture. This is that blessed harp which drives away sadness of spirit. How sweetly does this harp of Scripture sound, what heavenly music does it make in the ears of a distressed sinner, especially when the finger of God's Spirit touches this instrument!

There is divinity in Scripture. It contains the marrow and quintessence of true religion. It is a rock of diamonds--and a manual of piety. The lips of Scripture have grace poured into them. The Scripture speaks of faith, self-denial, and all the graces which, as a chain of pearls, adorns a Christian.

Oh, then, search the Scripture! Had I the tongue of angels, I could not sufficiently set forth the excellency of Scripture. It is a spiritual telescope, in which we behold God's glory! It is the tree of life, the oracle of wisdom, the rule of godliness, the heavenly seed of which the new creature is formed.

'The two Testaments,' says one, 'are the two breasts which every Christian must suck, that he may get spiritual nourishment.' These holy leaves of Scripture are for the healing of our souls.

The Scripture is profitable for all things. If we are downcast--here is spiced wine that cheers the heavy heart. If we are pursued by Satan--here is the sword of the Spirit to resist him. If we are diseased with sin's leprosy--here are the waters of the sanctuary, both to cleanse and cure. Oh, then, search the Scriptures!

Read the Bible with reverence. Think, in every line you read--that God is speaking to you. The ark wherein the Word was put was overlaid with pure gold, and was carried on bars, that the Levites might not touch it. Exodus 25:14. Why was this--but to give reverence to the Word?

Read with seriousness. It is matter of life and death; by this Word you must be tried and judged.

Read the Word with affection. Get your hearts quickened with the Word. Labor that the Word may not only be a lamp to direct--but a fire to warm. Read the Scripture, not only as a history--but as a love-letter sent to you from God, which may affect your hearts. Pray that the same Spirit who wrote the Word, may assist you in reading it; that God's Spirit would show you the wonderful things of His law, so that the Word will become effectual.

"Oh, how I love Your law! I meditate on it all day long!" Psalm 119:97

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When you come to creep into your hole

(Thomas Boston, "Death")

"For I know that you will bring me to death, and  to the house appointed for all living." Job 30:23

Behold the vanity of the world, and of all those things in it, which men so much value and esteem; and therefore set their hearts upon.

The rich and the poor are equally intent upon this fleeting world--they bow the knee to it, yet it is but a clay god. They court the bulky vanity, and run eagerly to catch this shadow.

The rich man is hugged to death in the world's embraces; while the poor man wearies himself in the fruitless pursuit for the world.

But look into the grave, O man! Consider and be wise! Listen to the doctrine of death; and learn, that, hold as hard as you can, you shall be forced to let go your hold of the world at length! "He will take nothing with him when he dies" Psalm 49:17

Though you load yourself with the fruits of this earth--yet all shall fall off when you come to creep into your hole--the house, under ground, appointed for all living. When death comes, you must bid an eternal farewell to all your worldly enjoyments.

If you lie down on the grass, and stretch yourself at full length, and observe the print of your body when you rise--you may see how much of this earth will fall to your share at last. It may be that you shall get a coffin and a shroud--but you are not sure of that; many who have had abundance of wealth, yet have not had this much when they took up their new house in the land of silence.

It was a sobering lesson, which Saladin, when dying, gave to his soldiers. He called for his standard bearer, and ordered him to take his shroud upon a pole, and go out to the camp with it, and declare that of all his conquests, victories, and triumphs--he had nothing now left him, but that piece of linen to wrap his body in for burial.

This world is a false friend, who leaves a man in time of greatest need, and flees from him when he has most to do. When you are lying on a deathbed, all your friends and relations cannot rescue you; all your substance cannot ransom you, nor procure you a reprieve for one day; no, not for one hour!

"Naked I came from my mother's womb,  and naked I will depart."  Job 1:21

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Prayer is

(Hannah More, "Practical Piety", 1811)

Prayer is . . .
  the application of need, to Him who alone can relieve it;
  the voice of sin, to Him who alone can pardon it;
  the urgency of spiritual poverty;
  the prostration of pride;
  the fervency of penitence;
  the confidence of trust.

Prayer is . . .
  not eloquence, but earnestness;
  not the confession of helplessness, but the feeling of it;
  not figures of speech, but compunction of soul.

Prayer is the "Lord, save me! I am perishing!" of drowning Peter.

Prayer is the cry of faith to the ear of divine mercy.

Adoration is the noblest employment of created beings.
Confession is the natural language of guilty creatures.
Gratitude is the spontaneous expression of pardoned sinners.

Prayer is the earnest desire of the soul. It is not mere conception of the mind, nor a mere effort of the intellect, nor an act of the memory; but an elevation of the soul towards its Maker; a pressing sense of our own ignorance and infirmity. Prayer is a consciousness . . .
  of the majesty of God,
  of His readiness to hear,
  of His power to help,
  of His willingness to save.

Prayer is the outpouring of the heart unto our loving heavenly Father.

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Only the eternal is important

(J. R. Miller, "Counsel and Help" 1907)

"Set your minds on things above--not on earthly things." Colossians 3:2

Over the doorway of a church is the inscription: "Only the eternal is important".

There are a great many things which are not worth our while to do. Some of us spend our days in poor trivialities which bless no one, and which will add no luster to our crown.

Waste no opportunity.

Despise no privilege.

Squander no moment.

One hour lost will leave a flaw.

There is just enough time for you to live your life well--if you spend every moment of it in earnest, faithful duty. A life thus lived in unbroken diligence and faithfulness, will have no regrets when the end comes. Its work will be completed.

"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18

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What a beautiful picture of my poor, weak, hungry soul

(Theodore Cuyler, "God's Light on Dark Clouds")

God's strength is "made perfect in our weakness." This means that the Divine power is most conspicuous, when our weakness is the most thoroughly felt. We have got first to be emptied of all self-conceit and self-confidence. A bucket cannot hold air and water at the same time. As the water comes in--the air must go out. The reason why God give us some hard trials--is to get the accursed spirit of SELF out of our hearts! When we have been emptied of self-trust, then we are in the condition to be filled with might in the inner man, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A Christian must not only realize his own utter feebleness--but he must give up what worldlings rely on, and admit that "vain is the help of man." That poor woman who had tried all the doctors, and had only grown worse in body, and poorer in purse--is a touching illustration of our invalid souls. She, having despaired of human help--came crouching to the feet of the Son of God. One touch of His garments sent a new tide of health through her veins. Just so--contact with Christ brings currents of the Divine power into our souls--so that we can do all things through Christ who strengths us!

This is the real office of faith. It is simply the linking of our utter weakness--to the omnipotence of Christ! We furnish the weakness--and He furnishes the strength--and that makes the partnership! The baby furnishes a hungry little mouth--and the mother furnishes the nourishing milk. The mother is happy that she can give the full supply--and the rosy darling is happy as it draws in the sweet contentment. What a beautiful picture of my poor, weak, hungry soul--resting on the bosom of the Infinite Love! There is no danger that the supply will ever give out, for my Lord, my Feeder, my Supporter--is constantly saying unto me, "My grace is sufficient for you!" In this way we are strengthened with all might according to His glorious power.

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Strength equal to the day

(Theodore Cuyler, "Beulah-Land" or, Words of Cheer for Christian Pilgrims)

"Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:34

Faith does not shed tears over sorrows which may never come. God never made a Christian strong enough to stand the strain of today's duties--and all the load of tomorrow's anxieties piled upon the top of them. The apostle Paul himself would have broken down, if he had attempted the foolish experiment. We have a right to ask our Heavenly Father for strength equal to the day--but we have no right to ask him for one extra ounce of strength beyond it! Faith . . .
  carries present loads,
  meets present battles,
  feeds on present promises, and
  commits the future to a faithful God!

We should not penetrate into the secrets which tomorrow hides--if we could. It is far better to know Whom we trust, and that He is able to keep all that we commit to Him, until the last great day.

We cannot live on yesterday's meals. As the children of Israel gathered fresh manna every morning--so must we look upward for a fresh supply of heavenly rations for the day's march. The secret of happy days is not in our outward circumstances--but in our own heart life. A large draught of Bible taken every morning, a throwing open of the soul's windows to the precious promises of the Master, a few words of fervent prayer, a deed or two of kindness to the first person you meet--will brighten your countenance and make your feet "like hinds feet" for the day's march.

"As your days--so shall your strength be." Deuteronomy 33:25

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God's ideal for His children

(J.R. Miller, "The Secret of Gladness")

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" Philippians 4:4

For most of us it is not easy to be always joyful; yet we should learn our lesson so well that whether amid circumstances of sorrow or of gladness--our song shall never be interrupted.

Joy is God's ideal for His children. He means for them to be sunny-faced and happy-hearted. He does not wish them to be heavy-hearted and sad. He has made the world full of beauty and full of music. The mission of the gospel is to start songs wherever it goes. Its keynote is joy--good tidings of great joy to all people. We are commanded to rejoice always.

This does not mean that the Christian's life is exempt from trouble, pain, and sorrow. The gospel does not give us a new set of conditions with the hard things left out. The Christian's home is not sheltered from life's storms--any more than the worldly man's home is. Sickness enters the circle where the voice of prayer is heard, with its hot breath--as well as the home where no heart adores and no knee bends before God. In the holiest home sanctuary, the loving group gathers about the bed of death, and there is sorrow of bereavement.

Nor is grief less poignant in the believer's case, than in that of the man who knows not Christ. Grace does not make . . .
  love less tender,
  the pang of affliction less sharp,
  the sense of loss less keen, or
  the feeling of loneliness less deep.

God does not give joy to His children by making them incapable of suffering. Divine grace makes the heart all the more tender, and the capacity for loving all the deeper; hence it increases rather than lessens the measure of sorrow when afflictions come.

But the joy of the Christian is something which lies too deep to be disturbed by the waves and tides of earthly trouble. It has its source in the very heart of God. Sorrow is not prevented by grace, but is swallowed up in the floods of heavenly joy. That was what Jesus meant when He talked to His disciples of joy just as He was about to go out to Gethsemane. He said their sorrow would be turned into joy, and that they would have a joy which the world could not take from them; that is, a joy which earth's deepest darkness could not put out. God's joy is not the absence of sorrow, but divine comfort overcoming sorrow--sunshine striking through the black clouds, transfiguring them!

"You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy!" John 16:20

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Nothing is more helpful and practical in Christian living

(J.R. Miller)

Nothing is more helpful and practical in Christian living--than the habit of getting a verse or phrase of Scripture into the mind and heart in the morning. Its influence stays through the day, weaving itself into all the day's thoughts and words and experiences.

Every verse in the Bible is meant to help us to live--and a good devotional book opens up the precious teachings which are folded up in its words.

A devotional book which takes a Scripture text, and so opens it for us in the morning, that all day long it helps us to live, becoming a true lamp to our feet, and a staff to lean upon when the way is rough--is the very best devotional help we can possibly have. What we need in a devotional book which will bless our lives, is the application of the great teachings of Scripture to common, daily, practical life.

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The divinest ministries

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." Matthew 20:28

We must not make the mistake of thinking that Christian service consists merely in prayers, devotions, and acts of worship.

The divinest ministries of each day are the small services of love which God sends across our way. The half-hour the busy man takes from his business . . .
  to comfort a sorrow,
  to help a discouraged brother to start again,
  to lift up one who has fainted by the way,
  to visit a sick neighbor and minister consolation, or
  to give a young person needed counsel--
is the half-hour of the day that will shine the most brightly when the records of life are unrolled before God.

The secret of abundant helpfulness, is found in the desire to be a help, a blessing, to all whom we meet. We begin to be like Christ only when we begin to wish to be helpful. Where this desire is ever dominant, the life is an unceasing benediction. Rivers of water are pouring out from it continually to bless the world.

"Serve one another in love." Galatians 5:13

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It is not your work that He wants most--it is you!

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

"Arise, My darling, My beautiful one, and come with Me!" Song of Songs 2:10

"He said to them, "Come with Me by yourselves to a quiet place" Mark 6:31

G. Campbell Morgan tells of a friend of his who had a little daughter that he dearly loved. They were great friends, the father and daughter, and were always together. But there seemed to come an estrangement on the child's part. The father could not get her company as formerly. She seemed to shun him. If he wanted her to walk with him, she always had something else to do. The father was grieved and could not understand what the trouble was.

His birthday came and in the morning his daughter came to his room, her face radiant with love, and handed him a present. Opening the parcel, he found a pair of exquisitely made slippers.

The father said, "My child, it was very good of you to buy me such lovely slippers."

"O father," she said, "I did not buy them--I made them for you!"

Looking at her he said, "I think I understand now, what long has been a mystery to me. Is this what you have been doing for the last three months?"

"Yes," she said, "but how did you know how long I have been at work on them?"

He said, "Because for three months I have missed your company and your love. I have wanted you with me--but you have been too busy. These are beautiful slippers--but next time buy your present, and let me have you all the days. I would rather have my child herself, than anything she could make for me."

Just so, we are in danger of being so busy in the Lord's work that we cannot be enough with the Lord in love's fellowship. He may say to us, "I like your works, your toils, your service--but I miss the love you gave Me at first."

There is real danger that we get so busy in striving to be active Christians, so absorbed in our tasks and duties, our efforts to bring others into the church--that Christ Himself shall be less loved, and shall miss our communing with Him.

Loyalty to Christ means first of all devotion. Has Christ really the highest place in your heart? It is not your work that He wants most--it is you! It is beautiful to do things for Him--it is still more beautiful to make a home for Him in your heart.

A young man, at great cost, brought from many countries the most beautiful materials he could find, and built an exquisite little chapel as a memorial to his dead wife. Only a few men could do anything so rare, so lovely. But the poorest of us can enthrone Jesus in our hearts--making a little sanctuary in our hearts for Him.

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love!" Revelation 2:4

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A mother's prayers

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

We do not realize what the daily home-life means in the future of the children. A consistent and godly example is most important.

A Christian man tells of what happened in his own childhood home over and over again. As he lay quietly at night in his little room before sleep came on, there would be gentle footsteps on the stairs, the door would open noiselessly, and in a moment the well-known form, softly gliding through the darkness, would appear at his bedside.

First, there would be a few gentle and affectionate inquiries, gradually deepening into words of counsel. Then kneeling, her head touching his, the mother would begin in gentle words to pray for her boy, pouring forth her whole soul in desires and supplications. Mothers will know how her pleadings would run, and how the tears would mingle with the words. "I seem to feel the tears still," he writes in advanced years, "where sometimes they fell on my face.

Rising, then, with a good-night kiss, she was gone. The prayers often passed out of thought in slumber, and did not come to mind again for years--but they were not lost. They were safely kept in some most sacred place of memory, for they reappear now with a beauty brighter than ever. I truly believe that my mother's prayers secretly preserved me while I moved carelessly amid numberless temptations, and walked on the brink of vice and crime."

    ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Another says of his mother: "My mother's habit was, every day, immediately after breakfast, to withdraw for an hour to her own room, and to spend that hour in reading the Bible, in meditation and in prayer. From that hour, as from a pure fountain, she drew the strength and the sweetness which enabled her to fulfill all her duties, and to remain unruffled by all the worries and pettinesses which are so often an intolerable trial in a home with many children. As I think of her life, and of all that it had to bear, I see the absolute triumph of Christian grace in the lovely ideal of a Christian mother. I never saw her temper disturbed; I never heard her speak one word of anger, or of complaint, or of idle gossip. I never observed in her any sign of a single sentiment unfitting to a soul which had drank of the river of the water of life, and which had fed upon manna in the barren wilderness."

    ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

A Christian man said that the evening family worship had saved his home and its affection. The days were full of little frictions and irritations. He was a man of quick temper and hasty speech, and often was the home music jangled and unhappy. But the evening prayer set all things right again. The father and mother knelt, side by side, with their little children, and as they prayed, "Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us," they were drawn close together again in love. The little strifes were healed, and their domestic joy was saved. The sun was not allowed to go down upon their differences. This is one of the blessings of family prayer. Christ comes to us beside the sacred home altar, diffuses His love, and speaks His word of peace.

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A mother and her child

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

A mother and her child sat side by side. Both love Christ and are following Him.

The teenage girl is sweet and beautiful, a picture of gracefulness. She never has known a struggle, has scarcely ever been called to make a sacrifice, has never found it hard to do right. Her face is unblemished, without a line.

The mother has had many cares, struggles, and fights with evil. She has endured wrongs, has carried burdens, has suffered, has had bitter sorrows, has been misunderstood, has poured out her life in love's sacrifices.

One would say that the child is the more beautiful--the lovelier in her life and appearance. But as the two appear in the eyes of Christ, while both are beautiful, the mother wears the holier loveliness. She has learned in the furnace of suffering. She has grown stronger through her enduring of struggle. The lines of her face, which seem to be blemishes on her fair beauty, are the refining marks of Jesus Christ.

"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering!" Isaiah 48:10

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Eat into the very soul of the Bible

(Charles Spurgeon)

"Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart!" Jeremiah 15:16

Oh, that you and I might get into the very heart of the Word of God--and get that Word into ourselves! As I have seen the silkworm eat into the leaf, and consume it--so ought we to do with the Word of the Lord--not crawl over its surface, but eat right into it until we have taken it into our inmost parts! It is idle merely to let the eye glance over the words, or to recollect the poetic expressions, or the historic facts; but it is blessed to eat into the very soul of the Bible until, at last . . .
you come to talk in Scriptural language,
your very life is fashioned upon Scripture models, and,
what is better still, your mind is flavored with the words of the Lord.

"Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God!" Matthew 4:4

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As we grow older

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

"Even to your old age and gray hair I am He; I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you!" Isaiah 46:4

As we grow older, there should be a constant gaining, never a losing in our spiritual life. Every year should find us living on a higher plane than the year before. Old age should always be the best of life, not marked by spiritual emptiness and decay--but by nobler fruitfulness and more gracious beauty. Paul was growing old, when he spoke of forgetting things which are behind, and reaching forth to things ahead. His best was yet to be attained. So it should always be with Christian old age. We must ever be turning heavenward, toward nobler life and holier beauty!

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green!" Psalm 92:12-14

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A place of spiritual refreshment

(J.R. Miller, "The Glory of the Commonplace")

"He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters" Psalm 23:2

A young Christian who had been for many weeks in a hospital, undergoing a painful operation and then slowly recovering, wrote me in the days of her convalescence, "I have found my little white bed here in the hospital a bit of God's green pasture." Not only had it proved a place of rest and peace to her--but also a place of spiritual refreshment.

The hard things are not meant to mar our life--they are meant to make it all the braver, the worthier, the nobler. Adversities and misfortunes are meant to sweeten our spirits, not to make them sour and bitter.

"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word." Psalm 119:67

"It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes." Psalm 119:71

"I know, O LORD, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75