by J R Miller
February 1
Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. - Romans 5:1
Peace with God is the beginning of all Christian peace.
Mount Etna casts a shadow every morning over all the fair and beautiful island of Sicily. The people, as they go on with their work or their pleasure, do not allow themselves to think of the shadow or to speak of it. It seems ominous of doom as it moves silently over their gardens and homes. The shadow reminds them that within the terrible mountain slumber the fires which any hour may pour ruin over every lovely scene. It is a more ominous shadow than that of Etna, which lies over this world - the curse of sin.
No one can be at peace until he is reconciled to God. But when we believe on Jesus Christ we are safe from condemnation, and have peaces with God. Then all good things follow.
We are God's friends and He is our Friend. We are at home now with Him. His power is our refuge, a shelter for our feebleness amid all life's perils.
February 2
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you. - Isaiah 66:13
Every one knows how a mother comforts her child. It is not so much by words as by love's tenderness.
In great sorrow we do not care to hear arguments and reasons - not even verses of Scripture; we want simply to rest in silence on the bosom of love. Jesus put God's comfort among the Beatitudes: "Blessed are they that morn, for they shall be comforted." There must be something very precious, very rich in comfort that makes it worth while even to have sorrow to get it.
Some of us think we are comforting people when we sit down beside them in their trouble and sympathize with them, as we call it, going down into the depths with them, but doing nothing to lift them up. To comfort is to strengthen.
We comfort others truly when we make them stronger to endure, when we enable them to pass through their sorrows victoriously. That is the way Christ comforts. He sympathizes with them, but it is that He may make them strong to endure.
February 3
The word of the Lord came, … Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me an house? - 2 Samuel 7:4-5
The Lord did not reprove David for his desire to build Him a temple.
Elsewhere God said to him, "thou didst well that it was in thine heart." If we are desirous of doing for God some service, which is not His will we should do, He is pleased with our wish to serve Him, though He declines the proffer.
Another suggestion here is that every one has his own particular part to do in the Lord's work. David was not to build the temple - that was Solomon's mission - but he had other things to do which were equally important. Part of David's mission was to be the hymn-writer for the ancient Church. Who thinks it would have been a grander thing for David to build a temple of stone and gold and cedar?
That gorgeous house - where is it now? But David's psalms are living yet and are sung everywhere. To every man his work. And we please God best when we accept, and do well and cheerfully, that which is given to us to do.
February 4
They told David, saying, That the men of Jabesh-gilead were they that buried Saul. - 2 Samuel 2:4
This word about the men of Jabesh-gilead calls up a tender little episode amid the cruelties of ancient war.
When the Philistines found the bodies of Saul and his sons on the battlefield, they carried them away and hung them on the walls of the town of Beth-shan, exposing them to public gaze. Jabesh-gilead was a town, which Saul had once helped when it was in trouble. The people remembered this old-time kindness, and now, when the bodies of the king and his sons were exposed in such an inhuman way, they rescued them from dishonor.
We should never forget a favor done by another to us, and if we have an opportunity we should be careful to return kindness for kindness. It is a good thing for us to keep our heart warm in the midst of all this world's coldness and hardness.
This we can do by cherishing always gentle feelings and by doing at every opportunity deeds of kindness.
February 5
And David perceived that the Lord had established him king… for His people Israel's sake. - 2 Samuel 5:12
All good gift's come to us from God.
Does the wind waft our bark forward? God sent the wind. Do friends help us to get onward and upward? God gave us the friends. Are there favourable circumstances in our lives and happy outcomes from our ventures? God shaped the circumstances.
Then whatever prosperity God gives us, He gives it that with it we may bless the world. The honor He puts upon us is not a bit of laurel for our own brow, but is bestowed for the sake of others. Joys are bestowed that the world may get the brightness, the joy, and the inspiration.
"God sent His singers upon earth,
With songs of gladness and of mirth,
That they might touch the hearts of men,
And bring them back to heaven again."
February 6
Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? - Luke 6:41
An old writer says, "Men are more apt to use spectacles to behold other men's faults, than looking-glasses to behold their own."
A man can see a very small speck of dust in his neighbor's eye, while he is entirely unaware of the great spot on his own. We should imagine that a beam in a man's eye would so blind him that he could not see the mote in his brother's eye.
As Jesus expresses it, however, the man with the beam is the very one who sees the mote and thinks himself competent to pull it out.
A vain man is the first to detect vanity in another. A bad-tempered person is most apt to be censorious toward another who displays irritability Hold other men's. Rude people are the first to be hurt by the rudeness of others.
If we are quick to perceive faults in others, the probability is that we have far greater faults ourselves. This truth ought to make us exceedingly careful in our judgement and modest in our expression of censure.
February 7
My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord. - Proverbs 3:11
It is not possible that we should really enjoy being chastened. Indeed the Bible says, "No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous." Not even the grace of God in our heart can take the sting out of chastening.
We are not expected, then, to like it. But we are told not to despise it. That is, we are to accept it without murmuring, without complaining, and reverently, as God's messenger to us, bringing a blessing.
It should help us to accept chastening to remember that it is our Father's chastening. He would not take pleasure in causing us pain, nor would He do it at all, were it not in some way for our good.
We should not despise any instruction our Father gives us, however costly and painful it may be. He lets us suffer because He loves us, and would make our lives beautiful and holy.
We should be willing to endure any pain or trial in order to have the likeness of Christ fashioned in our life.
February 8
There met him two possessed with devils. - Matthew 8:28
It looks as if Jesus crossed the sea just to heal these demoniacs. At least He returned as soon as He had done this one act of mercy.
It is worth a great effort to show even one little kindness to a person in trouble. These demoniacs were a terror to the neighborhood. But Jesus left them sitting, clothed and in their right mind. He can take the most hopeless moral ruin and restore it to spiritual beauty.
The healing of the paralytic was wrought through vicarious faith. The man was carried to Jesus by his friends, and it was when He saw "their faith" that He gave the man a blessing.
There is great power in intercessory prayer. Our deepest need is not the curing of bodily ills, but the forgiving of our sins. These men wanted their friend's palsy healed, but Jesus saw a trouble worse than that, and first forgave the man's sins.
When we are sick it is not enough to ask that we be made well - we should ask first that our sins be forgiven.
February 9
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. - Hebrews 13:5
There is a striking word in the book of Ecclesiasticus: "Look at the generations of old, and see: did ever any trust in the Lord, and was confounded? or did any abide in His fear, and was forsaken? or whom did He ever despise, that called upon Him?"
God has said He will never leave us nor forsake us.
The word "never" is emphatic. It covers every possible condition and all circumstances. God will never, never forsake us. The closest human friendship is not absolutely sure; even a mother may forsake her child. But God's love never fails.
Each believer in Christ is sure of a place all his own in the heart of the Redeemer.
"Drooping, we journey on alone,
We only mark the heavy stone:
We do not see the helping love
Which moves before us as we move,
Which chides our faithless, vain dismay,
And rolls for us the stone away."
February 10
Neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more questions. - Matthew 22:46
Those who tried to entangle Christ by their questions and quibbles altogether failed.
In modern days there are always those who are trying to throw doubt about Christ's teachings by pointing out contradictions and inconsistencies. But from all such criticisms the words of Christ come without discredit, shining in the clearness and brightness of truth.
"And so the Bible anvil of God's word,
For ages sceptic blows have beat upon;
And though the noise of Paine, Voltaire, was heard,
The anvil is unworn, the hammers gone.
Apprentice blows of ignorance, forsooth,
May awe with sound and blinding sparks death-whirled;
The Master holds and turns the iron, His truth,
And shapes it as He wills, to bless the world."
February 11
They twain shall be one flesh. - Matthew 19:5
One of the best ways we can bless the world is to make our own home sweet and happy. If we can restore one little spot of earth into Edenic happiness we have done something toward the regaining of the lost Paradise.
It begins in marriage. For anything so sacred, the choice should be made deliberately and wisely. Loyalty in the marriage relation is an essential of home happiness. "what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
This word of Christ is too easily and too often disregarded. It is not God's will that any who are joined in marriage should be separated. It is meant to be till death.
Jesus loved little children and the children loved Him. When the disciples, misunder-standing their Master, thought it was kindness to Him to keep the babies away, He rebuked them sharply. "Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me."
Since children are so dear to Christ, the home where little children are is especially dear to Him.
February 12
O taste and see that the Lord is good. - Psalm 34:8
We can learn of God's goodness only by experience.
When Nathanael doubted that any good thing could come out of Nazareth, Philip did not argue with him. He said quietly, "Come and see." Nathanael went with Philip, saw Jesus, heard His words, and was convinced.
Some people will not believe that God is good, that all the blessings Christians tell about are really to be found in Him. There is little use in reasoning with such people, trying to prove what we say. But if we can get them to try our God for themselves, they will soon learn that the half had not been told them.
If we would find more and more of the good there is in Christ, we must learn by experience. It is good to take the words He has spoken and put them to the test. We shall find in every one a treasure of blessing.
God is always bidding us to try Him by trusting and obeying Him. "Taste and see that the Lord is good."
February 13
I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. - Psalm 34:1
It is not hard to bless the Lord at some times. There are days when all is bright. There is no sickness in our house. No recent sorrow has left our heart sad. It is easy then to bless the Lord.
But there are other times when things are different. Business is not prosperous. Or, health is broken. We begin to say this verse, but we cannot get through it. "I will bless the Lord at _____."
We cannot bless the Lord for the broken health, for the empty chair. Yet there the words stand. We cannot make them read: "I will bless the Lord at some times: His praise shall be in my mouth on certain days - days when the sun shines."
It is not our business to write Bible verses; it is our business rather to bring our lives up to the standard of the inspired words. So we must learn to say the verse just as it is written.
We must learn to bless the Lord on the dark days as well as the bright days. We must learn to praise God in pain as well as in pleasure.
February 14
I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. - Romans 1:14
In one place St. Paul advises that we should owe no man anything.
Here, however, he tells us that he is in debt to everybody. Is he content? He makes one exception in speaking of debt - we are to owe nothing but love. That is a debt we can never pay off. If we go to bed at night owing no man, we shall wake up in the morning to find ourselves in debt again to everybody.
Love is the debt. St. Paul said he owed to every one. We meet no one on the street, rich or poor, enemy or friend, to whom we are not in debt. We must be sure also to pay him what we owe him, and not pass by on the other side.
Remember the story of the wounded man on the Jericho road. During the time he lay there, three men came by. Each one of them owed him a debt, but two of them did not pay it. Then came one who paid his debt, stopping and ministering to his wounded neighbor. We should recognize our debt to every one and pay it.
February 15
His disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. - Matthew 14:12
When one dies in our home, and our hearts are breaking, we should go and tell Jesus. It will do us good to tell Him.
We may not care to tell our trouble to any human friend. Some sorrows are too sacred to be unveiled to any eyes. But we need never shrink from telling Jesus. He can understand our grief, for He knows all human pain, not alone as God, but as man, for He experienced all sorrow. He will treat our sorrow, too, with most delicate gentleness.
The very words spoken in love to comfort us fall ofttimes with rude impact upon our bruised heart and give fresh pain. The gentlest touch of a human hand hurts where it is meant to help. But the voice of Jesus is so gentle that its tones fall like soothing music on the quivering heart, and the hand of Jesus is so skilful that its touch gives healing.
We need never fear to tell Jesus of our sorrow: He is the truest Comforter and the wisest Healer of hurt hearts.
February 16
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye righteous. - Psalm 32:11
Joy is a Christian duty. God wants all His children to be happy. Do they never have any troubles? Yes, many. Still God wants us to rejoice.
We must notice, however, what kind of joy it is which we are so earnestly urged to have. It is not the world's joy - "Be glad in the Lord." Those whose gladness depends only on earthly things have no assurance of its lasting long, for all earthly things are transitory.
When it is the love of Christ that gives us gladness, our joy is sure beyond failure, for He loveth us to the end. To be glad in the Lord is to do day by day our simple duty, leaving to Him all the care, all providing, all protecting, never allowing a shadow of anxiety to cross our mind.
"And should the twilight darken into night,
And sorrow grow to anguish, be thou strong;
Thou art in God, and nothing can go wrong
Which a fresh life-pulse cannot set aright."
February 17
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. - 1 Kings 3:5
Solomon was beginning his reign. God came to him in a dream. The question the Lord asked Solomon is one He asks every young person. Some one says, "If God gave me my choice out of all the things that people desire, I would make a wise choice too."
God does give to you the same privileges, your choice of all good things. Does not Christ say, "Ask, and ye shall receive"?
The days are like messengers from God, and we do not know what they carry and offer to us. We take a few simple things and let the divine messenger pass on.
"But why must I make a choice?" some one asks. "God is wiser than I am. He knows what is the best thing in all the world for me. Why does He not Himself choose for me, giving me that which is best? Why must I in my ignorance and inexperience choose for myself?"
One of the strange things about our life is that we must make our own choice. Even God cannot choose for the feeblest of His children.
February 18
If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me; but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will come and help thee. - 2 Samuel 10:11
Here we get a good lesson on the duty of helping each other.
If one army saw that the battle was too much for their brethren in another division, they were to hasten to their help. The duty is the same always. If I am strong and you are struggling in weakness, I must hasten to your help.
Loving our neighbor as ourself means helping him when he is in trouble. There is a Christian communism, which uses its abundance of whatever kind to supply the lack in others.
"If I should see
A brother languishing in sore distress,
And I should turn and leave him comfortless,
When I might be
A messenger of hope and happiness -
How could I ask to have what I denied,
In my own hour of bitterness supplied?"
February 19
The king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may shew the kindness of God unto him? - 2 Samuel 9:3
Remembering kindness is a mark of a noble mind.
True friendship never forgets. Yet it looks as if David had forgotten his friend for a good while. It was fifteen years after Jonathan died when David looked up this son of Saul. Meanwhile the lame boy had been getting along as best he could, over at Lodebar.
A good many more of us show the same tardiness in doing the kindnesses we owe to others. We delay until our return has lost half its meaning. Indeed some of us never get the return made at all. We wait till the friend is dead, and then we send flowers for his coffin.
Is there one to whom you are indebted, waiting now, somewhere, in the shadow, for you to come to show him the kindness of God? Is there a child of someone dead who befriended you at a time when kindness meant much to you, now needing a friend? Should you not repay to the living the debt you owe to the dead?
February 20
David prepared abundantly before his death. - 1 Chronicles 22:5
We all build on foundations laid by others. It is the part of some to plan and prepare, while others carry out the plans.
The temple was born in David's heart; it was one of his thoughts. Then he made costly preparations for it. Solomon had little to do but to build the house; the materials were ready to his hand.
We are apt to under-value preparatory work. It is like the foundation of a building; it is buried away, and no one sees it or admires it. Yet there can be no house for men to praise, unless there is first a foundation, strong and secure. Without David's part, it is not likely that there would have been a temple.
The same thing goes on continually. One sows, another reaps. One plans, another executes. I know a teacher who says her mission is to bring scholars in the rough into a Sunday school, and, when she has tamed them, to pass them over to another teacher and to go out and look for more.
February 21
If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. - Matthew 16:24
Not only was the way of suffering the divinely appointed way for Jesus Himself, but it is the way also in which His followers must walk. He walked among the thorns and through the dark valleys, because along these ways lay His path to glory.
We cannot do Christ's will and refuse to walk in the hard paths in which He walked. We must deny ourselves, if we would be Christ's disciples. Self-denial means the dethroning of self and the seating of Christ upon the heart's throne. When we deny ourselves we do not go our own way, we accept Christ and follow Him.
Taking up the cross is also important in discipleship. The cross stands for anything that is a hard or painful duty. There is no merit in carrying a cross merely for the sake of the cross; it must be taken up because it comes in the way of obedience. There is no merit in making crosses for ourselves; the only cross that brings blessing is that we find in following Christ.
February 22
Simon Peter answered and said; Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. - Matthew 16:16
Under the power of the Holy Spirit Peter had a glimpse of Jesus in His glorious beauty. He saw Him as the Messiah who had been promised so long. At last the Promised One had come, and now Peter saw and believed in Him as the Christ. Not only so, but he saw Him, too, as divine - the Son of the living God.
This confession shows us what we ought to think about Christ. He is the Messiah, God's Anointed One. He became man, thus coming down close to us.
Then He is the Son of God, divine; possessing all power, infinite in His love and grace, able to do for us all that we need, and to lift us up to eternal life and glory. So we have here a most comprehensive creed.
If our belief is like Peter's, and if Christ is all to us in our life that we make Him in our creed, we are resting on the rock. But we must make sure that we have Christ in our life as well as in our creed.
February 23
Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. - Matthew 23:14
Usually we see the gentle phases of Christ's character and teaching. He is compassionate toward suffering and sorrow. He is so gentle that He will not break a bruised reed nor quench a dimly burning wick.
But here we see Him in a severe and stern aspect. He speaks to the Pharisees in scathing denunciation. They taught the truths of God, but did not live them. They made great display of devoutness, but it was only that men might think them religious.
The Master's arraignment of the Pharisees was terribly severe. But the same lips uttered these woes that uttered the Beatitudes and the gracious invitations to the weary and the heavy-laden.
Christ is holy as well as loving. Penitence is welcomed to His feet, but hypocrisy is denounced. In the last verses of this chapter we see both aspects. He arraigns Jerusalem for the murder of the prophets and the rejection of heaven's messengers, and then tells how He would have gathered the people in love, but they would not.
February 24
He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. - Matthew 24:13
This is a world of peril and danger.
The day, which opens with calmness and beauty may end in disaster and trial. The words of the Master here tell of great calamities - wars and rumors of wars, the clashing of nations, famines, earthquakes, and these, He says, would be but the beginning of troubles. There would be persecution for His friends, which would try their loyalty, and in the testing(s) many would fail.
But in all these dark days one clear light would shine.
Those who would endure to the end should be saved. We have this comfort in all life's trials. We cannot avoid suffering. We must meet temptation, but we know that if only we continue faithful, resisting even unto blood, no temptation can harm us. If we endure to the end we shall be saved. Nothing can wrest us out of Christ's hands, nothing but unfaithfulness.
If we endure, we shall come out victors over every enemy and every danger, through Him who loves us.
February 25
Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. - Matthew 24:46
In the great events, which shall mark the end, not one of Christ's own shall be lost. While the sun shall be darkened, and the stars fall, and the heavens be shaken, the angels shall be gathering out God's chosen ones from all quarters.
As a ground of confidence for those who have committed themselves to Christ, we have the assurance that no word He ever spoke shall fail of accomplishment.
The time of Christ's coming again is among the secret things, which belong to God. We are not to trouble ourselves to try to know when it will be. There will be no time to prepare when the event occurs, for it will be sudden and unexpected; hence we must always be ready.
Our Lord when He comes would find all His friends quietly and methodically doing their work. This is the only true preparation, and the only way to live so as to be always ready for Christ's coming, whether He come to us in what we call death, or in His own glorious appearing.
February 26
They that were ready went in. - Matthew 25:10
Ruskin's motto was "Today." It was graven on a piece of chalcedony, which lay always before him on his desk. No duty must every be postponed.
The difference in the virgins in our Lord's parable was that the wise did every duty at the right time, while the foolish deferred things. The wise were not taken by surprise. They had no need to stay awake; they were ready for their Lord, however suddenly He might come. The others slept without preparation, and the bridegroom's coming smote dismay to their hearts.
We cannot prepare for life's great emergencies at the moment when they arise, but faithfulness to duties as they come fits us for any emergency, however suddenly we may have to face it.
There is a difference in the gifts and opportunities of men, but all may win reward by faithfully using what they have. We should not forget that condemnation of one man comes here, not for crimes, but for not making use of what had been entrusted to him.
February 27
He shall separate them one from another. - Matthew 25:32
Our Lord's parable of the Judgement is wonderfully suggestive.
There will be a great separation on that day of days. Men's relation to Christ will determine their destiny. Great crimes are not charged against those who are assigned to the King's left hand - the charge is that they have failed to be kind to those who needed kindness. They are condemned for not doing.
This is a startling truth. We sin against Christ when we pass by those who are suffering or are in need of help.
Another wonderful revelation here is that Christ puts Himself in the place of His friends in this world, so that what we do to them we do to Him, and when we neglect one of His, even the lowliest, we neglect Him. "I was hungry, and ye gave Me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink."
This should make us kind to every needy or suffering one who comes before us. It may be Christ. It will be very sad if we turn Him hungry from our doors.
February 28
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? - Acts 1:11
The last glimpse this earth had of Jesus before He went away was as His hands were stretched out over His friends in the act of blessing them. That is always His attitude toward the world.
Jesus ever lives before God as our Intercessor. As such He has all our interests in His hands. He is also with us always, though we see Him not. Christ's going away into heaven was not a loss to earth. His disciples stood gazing up after Him when He had been received up, but they were called away from this gazing. "Why stand ye gazing up into heaven?" Duty was waiting for them on the earth. They were summoned to prayer, and then presently, in answer to prayer, the Holy Spirit was given and the disciples went forth to their work.
We need to be diligent in duty, not wasting a moment in idle gazing. We do not have to climb to the stars to find Christ. He is ever near us, closer than our nearest friend.
February 29
It came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord. - 2 Samuel 2:1
For many years David had been waiting to become king.
He knew God's plan - that he should be Saul's successor. Now Saul was dead, and David knew that the kingdom was his. Still he shows the most patient spirit, not taking a step until he has asked God what he should do.
We should always wait for God, never hurrying His providences. We should not enter upon any course until we have sought His direction. The Bible exhorts us to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, promising that then He will direct our paths.
We should move reverently through this world, ever praying, "Show me Thy way." Even in the most common matters we should seek to know God's will. A beautiful prayer in one of the psalms is, "Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk."
"Let every day
Be modelled still
By Thine own hand; my will
Be only Thine, however deep
I have to bend, Thy hand to keep."
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