Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
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        April 30.

        "One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was leaning on Jesus' bosom." John 13:23

        I like the word leaning. John leaned his weight on Jesus, on his bosom, near his heart. We need to learn better our privilege of leaning, nestling, in the bosom of divine love. We think of giving a few of our burdens to Christ; but he wants to carry both us and all our load!

        A gentleman was moving his library, and his boy was helping him. The child had gathered his arms full of books, and had gone off proudly with his load. Presently, however, the father heard a call for help. The little fellow had gotten half-way up the stairs when the load proved too heavy, and he sank down. The father heard the call, and, coming up the stairs, lifted and carried both the boy and his load.

        That is like what Jesus will do for us. He takes our sins—and forgives them. He takes our wicked heart—and changes it. He takes our ruined life—and restores it. He takes all our mistakes and faults—and corrects them. He takes into his hands the ordering of our steps, the shaping of our circumstances, the ruling and overruling of the events of our days, our deliverance in temptation. We really have nothing whatever to do with our own life—but our simple duty day by day, hour by hour.

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        MAY

        May 1.

        "Do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19

        A young man came to me one morning, holding a letter in his hand. Opening it, he showed me some pressed flowers and leaves. "My sister gathered these from my mother's grave," he said, with a voice soft and tender. Then he told me about his mother, her beautiful life, her deeds of self-denial, her loving counsels, her prayers, lingering especially on her long illness, when she faded like a flower.

        "It was ten years ago," he said, "ten years ago, this very day, that she died; but it seems as if it were only yesterday." The faded flowers and leaves from her grave, had brought back the memories in all their vividness.

        Perhaps you have in your home, some memento of a departed friend. Every time you see it—it recalls your friend. This suggests why Jesus gave us the Last Supper. He would keep his love and death always fresh in our mind. "My people will forget me, and what I have suffered for them. The memory of my sacrifice will fade out as the years pass. I will give them this memorial, so that each time they take the bread and the cup, they may freshly remember me." So all these centuries, the Lord's Supper has kept the memory of the love and sacrifice of Christ fresh in the hearts of his people, and this memory has made all the world sweeter and gentler.

[nChrist]

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From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 2.

        The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household—and go to the land I will show you." Genesis 12:1

        All noble life begins with sacrifice. To gain the higher—the lower must be given up. We must leave our own country—before we can get into God's country. We can have the better—only by giving up the less valuable. God calls us all to leave the old—in order to enter the new. It may not be literally to leave country, kindred, and home—and go out into a strange land; but in a spiritual sense it always is just this. If we would follow Christ—we must cut loose from the world, and go out with him.

        Perhaps there is too great a tendency in these days—to try to follow Christ without cutting loose from the world. Too many people imagine that they can take the pilgrimage to Canaan—without leaving Ur! But this is quite impossible. We can get to our land of promise—only by leaving all, and following where Christ leads. This means that we must give up this world as our portion, and take the heavenly inheritance instead; we cannot keep both. The rich man who came to Christ could not sacrifice his earthly possessions, and therefore could not get the heavenly riches.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 3.

        "I will bless you; and you will be a blessing." Genesis 12:2

        This God's offer and message to all of us. He wants to bless us, and then he wants us in turn to be a blessing to others. God's way is to send very many of his good things, through human mediators. When he would bless a little child, he puts a gift of wondrous love into a mother's heart. When he would bless a class of young people or children, he sends a teacher with a heart full of warm sympathy and earnest interest in life. When he would bless a community, he raises up a good man, and touches his heart, that he may scatter benefits among the people.

        When God enriches us with gifts of whatever kind, he wants them to be blessings to others. Nothing that we have, is ours for ourselves alone; we receive—that we may dispense. When God gives a man money—he intends him to use it so as to make it a blessing to the world. When God bestows upon anyone the gift of song, of eloquence, of the artist's power—he desires these gifts to be used to make men better and happier. We should never live for ourselves. We should seek always to live—so as to make the world purer, truer, holier, sweeter.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 4.

        "So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak." Genesis 32:24

        We are all having our Jabboks continually. We are coming face to face with wrestlers in the darkness. We go away from our wrestling, too, many a time, carrying the marks of wounding; and yet in the experience, we have gotten blessing.

        That touch on the hollow of Jacob's thigh—was the touch that withered the old boasted strength. You say Jacob was victorious. Yes; but when? Not while he wrestled—but after his thigh was out of joint and he could wrestle no more. He clasped his sinewy arms about the neck of his antagonist, and clung, saying, "I will not let you go—unless you bless me." That was the way he prevailed; not in the old way of cunning—but by having the old man crippled, defeated, and then by the new way of trust and clinging.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 5.

        "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you—unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:35

        If we have truly received divine forgiveness—we will be forgiving toward others. As one says, "If you get pardon from God, you will give it to a brother; if you withhold it from your brother, you thereby make it manifest that you have not gotten it from God."

        So we are brought face to face with a most solemn practical teaching which we dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? Can we sincerely pray, "Forgive us our sins—as we forgive those who sin against us"? No doubt the lesson is hard, for it is so against nature; yet we all know by experience that the cherishing of resentment never brings peace to our hearts. People say, "Revenge is sweet;" but it is not true. It really makes bitterness for him who cherishes it. The gratification of a moment, becomes pain afterward.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 6.

        "Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume?" Mark 14:4

        There are some who think that every sacrifice for Christ's sake, is a waste. They think that money which is given to build churches, or to send missionaries to the heathen, is wasted. They think that lives are wasted which are devoted to Christ and sacrificed in his service. But is it so? Is it really the money that is spent in advancing Christ's kingdom, which is wasted? Are they the wasted lives, that are emptied out in love for Christ?

        There is money that is wasted; but it is that which is used for selfish and sinful purposes, or squandered in the mere extravagances of worldliness. There are lives that are wasted; but they are those which are thrown away in evil courses, sacrificed in pleasure, in dissipation, in lust, in passion's fires.

        Indeed, all lives are wasted—which are not lost for Christ's sake; for did he not say, "He who saves his life—shall lose it"? To withhold one's life from Christ—is therefore to waste it. It has been noted as very suggestive, that our Lord uses the self-same word for "wasted" when he describes Judas as a "son of perdition." Judas had wasted that which was more precious than the ointment of spikenard, even the gift of eternal life which once had been within his reach. What we give to Christ—is indeed all that we do not waste of our life and of our substance.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 7.

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

        The Bible insists upon JOY as an element of Christian life. Christ spoke of his desire that the disciples should have his joy fulfilled in themselves. Paul exhorts Christians to rejoice always, and speaks of joy as one of the fruits of the Spirit.

        Christian joy is not hilarity. One maybe sorrowful, and yet have the joy of the Lord in the heart. It is an inner joy—a fountain in the heart, supplied from heaven. Every Christian should have this joy. It belongs to the ideal of the complete Christian character. It is very evident, however, that there are many Christians who do not have it. Their spirits go up and down like the mercury in the thermometer, varying with the atmosphere. When things are pleasant—they have joy. When circumstances are hard or painful—they have no joy.

        We ought to know how to get the joy of Christ. One secret is absolute devotion to the will of God. Another is serving others. Only as we learn to live the life of love, "Not to be ministered unto—but to minister" can we find true, deep joy. Every self-denial or sacrifice of love for another's sake, adds to the Christian's joy. We reach the ideal life—only as joy lives in our heart, and shines out in our life.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 8.

        "See how the lilies of the field grow." Matthew 6:28

        God looks up at us—from every sweet flower that blooms. The beauty that fills our earth—is a pledge to us of God's thought and love for us. We all know the familiar story of the great traveler who was saved from perishing on the desert where he had fallen, faint and famishing for water, by seeing a little speck of green moss peeping up out of the hot sand. This gleam of life assured him that God must be near, thus putting new hope into his heart, and giving him strength to rise and struggle on until he found water. Every plant or flower should remind us of God, and make us reverent.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 9.

        "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God." Isaiah 40:1

        Comfort is a very sweet word. It has music in it—for those who are in trouble. And most people have some trouble. This verse was spoken first to captives. There are a great many captives—people carried away from home into a strange land. Many people are in bondage of sorrow; it is hard to find a home without its grief. Many are in bondage of circumstances; life is too hard for them. There is a great deal of poverty in the world.

        But here is God's gospel: "Comfort my people." Few words are more misunderstood, however, than the Bible word 'comfort'. Many people think it means mere condolence to sit down with sufferers and weep with them, pitying them—but doing nothing to lift them up. But God's comfort is no such weak, sentimental thing as this. He never merely sits down with us, in passive yielding to trouble. He comes to deliver us, to lead us out of our bondage, to make us victorious over trial or sorrow. There is always in Bible comfort, the thought of strength. No bondage is hopeless, under the skies of divine love. The stars shine into the deepest dungeon. There is not in any prison in this world, a captive to whom the gospel does not come with its "Speak comfortably."

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 10.

        "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts!" Isaiah 55:8-9

        It is well indeed, that God's ways differ from ours. For example, if God's forgiveness were like ours—it would do us little good. We hold our petty grudges and resentments; we remember men's smallest unkindnesses to us, allowing them to embitter our love, and stop the flow of our affections. We profess to forgive—but retain the grudge in our heart.

        But God's ways of forgiving are not as our ways. He forgives the worst of sinners, the greatest of sins, and the largest number of transgressions. In the parable, it was God who forgave the ten thousand talents; and it was a man who would not forgive his fellow, a miserable pittance. The most wonderful thing in this universe, is God's forgiveness. We ought to be thankful for it; for if it were less—we could not be saved. Then, when we have received it, we ought to let its spirit work in our heart, to change us into its own image. We pray, "Forgive us—as we forgive others." If we mean this, we should look well to the kind of forgiveness we show to others.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 11.

        "For I was hungry—and you gave Me nothing to eat;
        I was thirsty—and you gave Me nothing to drink;
        I was a stranger—and you did not take Me in;
        I was naked—and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not take care of Me." Matthew 25:42-43

        The 'not doing' of things they ought to have done—here determines the doom of the unrighteous. They had not been cruel or unkind to any of Christ's little ones—no such charge is made. They had not wronged anyone. Only neglects are mentioned. They had seen "little ones" hungry, and had not fed them; thirsty, and had not given them drink; naked, and had not clothed them; sick, and had not visited them. They had merely "passed by on the other side" when they saw human need and misery which they might have relieved. Yet their omissions and neglects, count as actual sins.

        Many of us are apt to neglect opportunities of helping others, and of relieving distress, never thinking that we are sinning against Christ; that is, are leaving him unhelped and unrelieved in distress, when we might have given him comfort. The result of the teaching should be to make us more thoughtful of others, and more alert to embrace every opportunity of ministry to others in Christ's name. It is because we do not think—that we fail so often in love's duty.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 12.

        "Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

        Instead of keeping our eye ever on others, looking for faults and mistakes in them—we are to look to our own example, lest something we do may hurt others' lives, or cause them to do wrong. If everyone would do this, it would go far toward making a paradise of this world of thorns and briers. We easily get in the habit of overlooking our own faults, or imagining that we are well-near perfect, while in reality our life is full of inconsistencies. We poke at our neighbor's eye, to pull out some little mote we imagine we see in it, while at the same time we have a great beam in our own eye which sadly disfigures us, and is a reproach to us in the sight of others! "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Matthew 7:3

        The habit of judging and condemning others—is usually a great deal more serious blemish, than are the things we so glibly point out as flaws or faults. The first duty of every Christian is to make sure that he lays no stumbling-block in others' way. It is said that Rutherford Hayes did not carry a watch. When he was a young man his watch was twice stolen, and the thief each time was arrested and imprisoned. Mr. Hayes then resolved never to wear a watch, because twice his carrying one had made a temptation for another. We may call this excessive conscientiousness—but we can scarcely overdo in this duty.

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 13.

        "An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:4-5

        It is related of a saintly man, that by his own request his only epitaph was "Kept!" All Christians are kept by the power of God unto final salvation. Only those who overcome at last get home to glory. Only Christ can help us to be conquerors. And important as was his death for us, his real work in saving us is that which he does with us, one by one, in keeping us, guiding us, giving us grace for living, lifting us up when we have fallen, bringing us back when we have wandered away. Were it not for the patient, watchful, never-wearying love of Christ—not one of us would ever get home. We are kept!

        This divine keeping comes to us in many ways. We believe in angel guardianship. Then there is human guardianship. The mother is her child's first keeper. The old rabbis used to say that God could not be everywhere present, and therefore he made mothers. All through life God gives human guardians who become helpers of our faith. Then we have ever the real divine presence in which we find perfect keeping. "The Lord is your keeper." Psalm 121:5

[nChrist]

__________________________________________
From Grace Gems - Free and Public Domain:
Devotionals By J.R. Miller, 1895
http://www.gracegems.org/19/literature.htm
___________________________________________

        May 14.

        "I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 3:8

        "Weeping may endure for a night—but joy comes in the morning." The night may grow very dark—but the morning will break. "We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God;" but notice the word "through." "The valley of the shadow of death" lies in the path; but we are to pass through it, and beyond comes, "I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!" After Egypt and its bondage—comes the "good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey." So it is always. After winter, with its death and desolation, comes spring with its flowers, fruits, harvests, and life. After earth with its sorrows, comes heaven, where joy shall be eternal!