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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        August 10.

        "Turn my eyes from looking at what is worthless." Psalm 119:37

        We must be always turning—if we would keep our life true and according to God's commandments. There are some flowers which always turn toward the sun. There was a little potted rose-bush in a sick-room which I visited. It sat by the window. One day I noticed that the one rose on the bush was looking toward the light. I referred to it; and the sick woman said that her daughter had turned the rose around several times toward the darkness of the room—but that each time the little flower had twisted itself back, until again its face was toward the light. It would not look into the darkness.

        The rose taught me a lesson—never to allow myself to look toward any evil—but instantly to turn from it. Not a moment should we permit our eyes to be inclined toward anything sinful. To yield to one moment's sinful act—is to defile the soul. One of the main messages of the Bible is, "Turn from the wrong, the base, the crude, the unworthy—to the right, the pure, the noble, the godlike." We should not allow even an unholy thought to stay a moment in our mind—but should turn from its very first suggestion, with face fully toward Christ, the Holy One.

        "I will set before my eyes no vile thing!" Psalm 101:3

        "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things!" Philippians 4:8

        But we should train ourselves to turn also from all discouragements. There is always a bright side, and we should find it. Discouragement is full of danger. It weakens and hurts the life.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 11.

        "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold; for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." Proverbs 8:10-11

        It is hard to convince people in these days, that anything is or can be better than silver or gold or rubies. The best way, however, to look at this subject—is to think of some of the greater and deeper needs of life, and ask what these earthly gems can do to meet them.

        One writer represents a party of emigrants wrecked on a desert island, far from the tracks of men. They have food to last for a time. The soil is rich and the climate fine. Soon, however, they find gold, and instantly they all begin to search for the precious metal. They gather much, and are rich; but they have not sown a grain of seed, and no harvest is coming, for the season for sowing was now past. Famine is upon them, and their gold will not feed their hunger.

        This illustrates the value of godly wisdom. In the great needs of life, riches and jewels amount to nothing; only the grace of God will do then. In the time of great sorrow, no one turns to gold or diamonds for comfort. In the sore struggles of life, in its temptations, trials and perplexities, these symbols of earthly wealth will not meet the needs of the soul. When death comes, these things are utterly worthless, are indeed bitter mockeries! We need a help greater than earth's glittering baubles, in these solemn experiences!

        "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs!" 1 Timothy 6:8-10

[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
___________________________________________

        August 12.

        "All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia." Psalm 45:8

        We cannot guard too carefully, the influences which we allow to play upon our life, for all of them leave their hue and impress upon us, either for beauty or for marring. A great artist refused to look upon the works of inferior artists, saying that they would affect his style. We should seek continual fellowship with the good, the pure, the holy; for in close, sympathetic mingling with them, we unconsciously receive into our own spirit something of their sweetness, their beauty, and the aroma of heavenliness that surrounds them. We absorb something of whatever we see or touch.

[nChrist]

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

        August 13.

        "Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing." Psalm 143:10

        There are so many possibilities in life, in attainment and achievement, and so many opportunities of doing good, that it is a glorious thing to live. Surely, then, we ought to make the most of our life, not failing to become what Christ would have us to be, or to do the sweet things he would have us do—as we pass along the way.

        Yet life's lessons must always be learned slowly. Paul was well on in life when he said, "I have learned, in whatever state I am, therein to be content." The words suggest that the lesson was not easily learned; that it required time and struggle. It is only fair to infer that Paul could not have written thus in his earliest epistles. These is comfort in this for us common mortals, who in younger or middle life grow discouraged because we have not Paul's contentment. If only we are really learning the lesson, there is hope that some day we shall be able to say we have learned it.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 14.

        "Each one helps the other, and says to another, Take courage!". Isaiah 41:6

        It was Charles Kingsley who said, "We become like God—only as we become of use." The saying is truer than at first we may think. Every glimpse we have of heaven's life—is a glimpse of usefulness, helpfulness. In olden days, angels sometimes came down to earth, and they always came on some errand of service to men. Then, we are told in our New Testament, that the mission of the angels to earth is "to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation." Thus these pure creatures of heaven live only to serve. God himself is revealed on every Scripture page, and always in the same character of helpfulness. Christ came as God incarnate; and his whole life is summed up in the words, "He went about doing good." Thus the divine life finds its expression in serving, doing good. "God is love;" and love cannot but minister and bless, even to the point of utter self-sacrifice.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 15.

        "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

        Has God taught you some great truth, or revealed to you, in deep personal experience, some new, sweet thought of his love? What is the next thing? Is it not that you shall whisper the blessed secret to some other soul? After Peter's strange vision, he sat pondering what it could mean; and while he thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, "Behold, three men seek you." The picture is very suggestive. When we have gotten anything from God—there is always someone waiting to get from us what God has just given to us. Heavenly visions are not shown to us, only to be absorbed in our own soul—but to be translated into some form that will bless the world. That is what the artist does with his visions. That is what we should do with ours.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 16.

        "We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is!" 1 John 3:2

        Thoburn tells a beautiful story about a picture of his dead child. It seemed a very imperfect photograph, so blurred that scarcely a trace of the beloved features could be seen in it. But one day he took the picture to a photographer, and asked him if he could do anything to improve it. In three weeks he returned; and as he saw the picture in its frame on the wall, he was startled. It seemed as if his child were living again before him. The image had been in the old picture—but was concealed beneath the blurs and mists that were there also. The photographer, however, had brought it out in strong, living beauty, until it was life-like in its tender charm.

        In every true disciple of Christ, there is the image of the Master, It may be very dim. Its features are overlaid by blurs and blemishes, and are almost unrecognizable by human eyes. It is the work of Christ in our lives to bring out this likeness, more and more clearly, until at last it shines in undimmed beauty. This is what Christ is doing in many of his ways with us.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 17.

        "While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

        "Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to Me!" Mark 14:3-6

        Usefulness is not the only test. Acts may be beautiful in Christ's sight, even though they do not seem to be immediately helpful to others. Mary's deed fed no poor, relieved no sick, clothed no shivering child—and yet Jesus commended it. He is pleased when offerings are made from love to Him, even though the things offered may not be necessary to His work.

        We may not measure all our services to Christ, by the standard of direct helpfulness to others. Mary's ointment, spilled over Christ's head and feet, was not a really useful ministry, and yet it was good and beautiful in Christ's sight. What shall we say of the loveliness which God lavishes everywhere in nature? Does the beauty of the flowers, of the skies—feed the hunger of the poor? Evidently it was Mary's love for Christ which pleased him, and made her deed beautiful. She had indeed wrought a good work on Him, one that blessed Him; for in the great sorrow of His heart as He drew near His cross, nothing could so strengthen Him, as love! It made Him stronger for the journey to His cross! Likewise, nothing else that we can give another, will be such a blessing, as love.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 18.

        "About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, 'Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?' Jesus called a small child over to Him and put the child among them." Matthew 18:1-2

        When the disciples wanted to know who was greatest, Jesus called a little child, and took him on his knee. The disciples were clustered around him, and saw what he did. A little child in the midst, is used ofttimes to teach great lessons to older people. When a new baby comes into a home, God sets it in the midst of a family as a teacher. Parents suppose they are training their children—but the children are also teaching and training them.

        I learned more of the meaning of the fatherhood of God, and pf the way he feels toward his children, in one week after the first baby came into my home, than I had learned from teachers and books, even from the Bible, in all the preceding years of my life. Every child's life is a book—a new page of which is turned over each day.

        Children are not angels, and yet they bring from heaven to earth many fragments of loveliness. Their influence in a home is a blessing. They soften hearts; they change the whole thought of life in their parents. It is no more SELF; they begin to live for their children. The children open love's chambers. They train their parents in patience, gentleness, thoughtfulness. While a young child is in a home—a school of heaven is set up there. Sad is it for those within, if they miss the chance of learning such blessed lessons.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 19.

        "We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patience." Romans 5:3

        Patience is a great lesson to learn. Any school in which we can learn it, is a good school, and the lesson can scarcely be too costly. Few things mean more in life, than patience. Many people wreck the best hopes of their life, for lack of patience. To be impatient in certain conditions, is to lose all; and to be patient, to be able to keep quiet and still in the presence of things that try us, is to gain all. Thus patience becomes the very key to success in living. It is surely worth while to learn the lesson!

        Patience is ofttimes learned in the school of suffering. We are there trained to endure; not to cry out in the hour of anguish—but to sing instead. Richter tells of the little bird that is shut away in the darkness, to learn new strains, which afterward it sings in the light. Many Christians are taken into the darkness, and kept there for a time, while they are taught the songs of patience. We look at patient people with admiration, not knowing what it has cost them to get this pearl of the graces.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 20.

        "The Lord gave—and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." Job 1:21

        God's love is the same in the brightness—and when the brightness fades into gloom. It is the same in joy—and when the joy turns to grief. It is the same when blessings are given—and when the blessings are recalled.

        It does not seem so to us; we easily believe that while God showers favors upon us—he loves us; but when he gives suffering and sorrow, we almost feel that he does not love us as before. Yet it may be, that there are even richer blessings in the things which make us grieve—than in those which give us gladness. We know at least that the same love sends both. That should be comfort for us. It is always love that comes from God—in whatever form or guise it comes. We need never doubt that this is true, "For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6

[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
___________________________________________

        August 21.

        "The Word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time." Jonah 3:1

        Jonah had failed the first time—but God gave him a second chance. This shows the divine patience. Strict justice would have left Jonah at the bottom of the sea, or in the jaws of the great fish; but God was merciful to him. He had now gone through a discipline which left him ready to obey.

        That is the way God often deals with people. When they rebel or disobey him—he does not cast them off—but puts them under some discipline, sometimes sore and painful, to teach them obedience, and then tries them again. Many of us have to be whipped to duty; but what a blessed thing it is that God is so patient with us! Most of us owe all we are, to God's disciplines. "For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12:6. Thus even our sins may become blessings to us.

        We should be very thankful to God for these second chances that God gives us, when we have failed to improve the first chance. Very few people make of their life, what God first wanted them to make. Then he sets them another lesson, that they may try again. Perhaps the second is not so beautiful nor so noble as the first; still it is good, and if they are faithful and diligent, they can make something worthy even yet of their life. Most of us have to be sent more than once, on our errands for God. Happy are we if we obey even at the second bidding, although it is far better that we go at first.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 22.

        "So Jonah got up and went to Nineveh, according to the Lord’s command." Jonah 3:3

        Jonah had learned his lesson well. We are not told where he was after his deliverance—but no doubt he had a quiet time for thought. He thought over the story of his wilfulness and disobedience, no doubt, and was ashamed of his conduct. Thus he learned humility, and was ready now to do as God might command him. Indeed, he became eager for another opportunity to do the work which at first he had refused to do.

        There is a story of a regiment of soldiers which in some war had been dishonored on a certain battle-field. In the next war the same regiment was again in the service, and at the first opportunity they displayed most heroic courage, thus "burning out the shame" of the former field. So Jonah in his penitence, would long for another chance to go for God to Nineveh, that he might wipe out the dishonor of his former disobedience.

        So we see prompt obedience this time, no quibbling, no running away. We ought to get the lesson. When we have failed in any task that God has set for us, or broken any command that he has given to us, not only should our repentance lead us to sorrow and confession—but we should eagerly prepare ourselves for burning out the shame of our past sin and dishonor—by a service and an obedience worthy of sincere love for Christ. Thus alone do we make our repentance worthy.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 23.

        "Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died." 2 Kings 13:14

        A death-bed is a good place from which to look at one's past life. In the strange, dim light that pours in from eternity, things do not appear as they did in the common sunlight. Many things that gave pleasure as life went on—now give pain and shame in the retrospect, and appear calamitous. This is true of all sins and follies, of all gains and pleasures that did not have God's blessing, of all things done for SELF and not for Christ, of all quarrels and strifes.

        Many things also that seemed hard when they came, and that cost pain and self-denial, in the light of the death-chamber, now appear radiant and beautiful. Thus the dying hour—is the place to test life. If we would always ask, before doing any doubtful thing, "How will this look—when I am dying?" it would save us from many a mistake and sin!

        "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

        But the death-bed is also a good place for other people to study a man's life. When a man is engaged in the affairs of the world, he suffers more or less from the envy of others. The more active and influential he is, the more are men about him envious of him. But when a man lies dying, all this unjust feeling vanishes. All men feel kindly toward him. Whatever has been faulty in him is forgotten in the glow of tenderness that his dying enkindles; and whatever has been beautiful in him shines out in still fairer beauty.

[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
___________________________________________

        August 24.

        "Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet!" 2 Kings 13:21

        The bones of Elisha had no more power in themselves to give life—than any other dead man's bones. Yet we may get here the lesson of posthumous influence. No man ever wholly dies. We have nothing to do with superstitious nonsense about relics, saints' bones, and bits of holy men's clothing or of their coffins; but it is true that a really godly man has influence after he dies. He leaves behind him something which cannot die. His name has power. If he writes good books, these live after him, and give life to the souls that their words touch. We ought ever to seek to live—so as not only to be missed and mourned when we die—but to live on after death in our works, our name, our influence.