by J R Miller
November 1
The grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant. - 1 Timothy 1:14
Some one has said that to him the greatest wonder in the story of divine grace was that he himself had been saved. Paul seems to have felt the same wonder regarding himself. He had been a blasphemer, a persecutor; yet Christ had chosen him for His service. In this the grace of Christ abounded exceedingly.
Note also that the apostle says as to the reason why he had been thus saved: "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me as chief - chief of sinners - might Jesus Christ shew forth all His longsuffering, for an ensample of them that should thereafter believe on Him." That is, the reason Paul was forgiven and made a preacher was that no other sinner need ever despair. If he could be forgiven, after all he had done against Christ, anybody could be forgiven. Christ saved the chief sinner that lesser sinners ever after might have confidence as they sought mercy. But every one of us may also wonder why we are saved, for not one of us is worthy.
November 2
That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God. - 1 Timothy 3:15
It is important that those who occupy official positions in the Church shall be worthy, and that they fittingly "behave themselves in the house of God." The minister should be without reproach. His name should be like ointment poured forth. He should be "temperate," using the word in its broader sense; he should have his temper, his speech, his feelings, his appetites, under complete mastery. He should be soberminded - not long-faced, but serious, reverent. He should be apt to teach; gentle, not contentious. He should be well spoken of among those who are outside.
Other church officers are under scarcely less holy sanctions. Deacons must be grave, not double-tongued, not greedy for money, holding faith in a pure conscience, and living a blameless life. Holiness becometh God’s house, and all who are active in its affairs should be reverent, sincere, and worthy examples to all who look to them as their leaders. Unfit behavior in official church members hurts Christ’s cause.
November 3
Neglect not the gift that is in thee. - 1 Timothy 4:14
We should make the best possible use of our gifts and talents. Timothy was exhorted not to neglect the gift that was in him, referring to his ordination to the ministry. When a man is thus set apart his holy office is a gift. Then there are gifts which are part of one’s natural endowment or come through education and experience. Whatever gifts of any kind we possess, we should use, not neglecting them.
In another place Paul exhorts Timothy to stir up the gift of God that was in him. The words suggest a fire banked up, not burning brightly, needing to be stirred up. Timothy was not living at his best, was not making the most of his life.
There are many Christian people who are good, but not nearly so good as they might be. They are useful, doing good service, but they are capable of doing a great deal more. The fires of their love, their earnestness, their enthusiasm, need stirring up. No gift or capacity of ours should be neglected or buried.
November 4
Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father. - 1 Timothy 5:1
It takes a great deal of tact to tell others of their faults so that good will come from the telling. Not many people accept reproof or criticism kindly. Many resent any and every suggestion of fault or blame. One would think that children would be glad to have their parents tell them of their mistakes, but even children are too often vexed by words of reproof, however gently given.
If only we could see how we might be benefited by learning of our faults, we should rejoice when anyone points out something in us that is unbeautiful. But most of us are proud, and it hurts us for any person to tell of anything in us that is a blemish. So it requires all the wisdom and delicacy of touch we can command to administer reproof. Some people just blurt it out, without any attempt to do it gently. If we have to give reproof, we would better do it in as kindly a way as possible. Paul suggested that an elder should not be rebuked but exhorted, and that gently.
November 5
Godliness with contentment is great gain. - 1 Timothy 6:6
Contentment does not mean satisfaction - with our great natures we never can be satisfied. Being contented does not mean that a person enjoys discomforts, hardships, narrow circumstances, sufferings. That would be unnatural. To be contented is to accept one’s condition and circumstances, whatever they may be for the time, without complaining or fretting, making the best of them.
In another place Paul speaks about his own experience in attaining this grace. He says, "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content." He had learned to be independent of conditions. He had in his own heart the resources for quiet and peace, so that in the barest circumstances he did not fret. It is interesting to notice that Paul says he had learned to be content. This suggests that it did not come to him naturally, but with something he had to learn. He intimates to Timothy that he who is contented is rich, though he have only godliness. Discontent is poverty, though a man have millions.
November 6
The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice. - 2 Timothy 1:5
There is something in genealogy, after all. It is a fine thing for a young man to have had a good mother and a godly grandmother. This does not mean that a man is necessarily good because of the faith that dwelt in his grandmother and his own mother. Goodness cannot be passed down like an estate. Some very bad men have had most pious ancestry. At the same time, it is fitting when in successive generations piety is found. A young man with worthy ancestors owes it to them to be worthy. He should keep unspotted the white name he receives. We are responsible for the carrying on of the work which they have begun.
Paul was persuaded that the faith of his grandmother and mother was also in Timothy. It should always be so with young people with Christian parents. Those who have a noble inheritance, of memories, influences and teachings, should be better than those who have not had these blessings.
November 7
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. - 2 Timothy 2:1
One of the secrets of a true life is readiness to endure. Anybody can begin well - it is he who continues to the end who wins success. We are to be soldiers of Christ; soldiers must know how to endure. Softness and luxury belong not to a true life. Some mothers would keep their boys out of all hardness, away from all struggle, but that is not to make men of them. Imagine a soldier in training, who is kept out of battles, lest he might get hurt! Paul spoke of himself as one who contended in the games. He wished to reach heaven, but he knew that heaven had to be won on the battle-field of life. "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him."
In the letters to the seven churches, in Revelation, all the blessings offered to the faithful lie beyond lines of battle, and the only way to reach them is by entering the struggle and enduring till we receive the crown. Nothing worthy can be reached by him who has not learned to endure.
November 8
From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures. - 2 Timothy 3:15
It is a great thing to be brought up on the Holy Scriptures. No other book can do for a life what the Bible can do. It is able to make one wise in the truest way - with a wisdom that saves one by bringing him into fellowship with Jesus Christ.
The Word of God has in it an efficacy no other book in the world has. It is profitable for teaching - instructing in holy things, the things of God and eternal life. It is profitable for reproof, convicting us of sin and declaring God’s judgement against evil. It is profitable for correction, not only showing us our faults, but leading us away from them, freeing our lives from errors and making straight what was crooked. It is profitable for instruction in righteousness, telling us how God would have us live, what qualities of character He would have us attain. One who is trained under the tuition of the Scriptures will come to a complete man, furnished for usefulness and prepared for doing whatever good work he may be called to do.
November 9
I am now ready to be offered. - 2 Timothy 4:6
In this chapter we have the last words of Paul sent from his dungeon. But they are not the words of a defeated man; rather, they tell of victory and triumph.
He was lonely. He was suffering from the chill of his dungeon, and wanted his cloak. He tells of his standing before the emperor, when all forsook him, and no one took his part. Yet he was not alone in that trying hour, for the Lord stood by him and strengthened him. He knew he would soon meet death, but he knew where he was going - "The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom." He spoke of his life under three figures - a fight, a course, a trust. He looked backward with consciousness of approval - he had fought well in the battle; he had been faithful to the trust committed to him. He looked forward with joy and confidence; there was a crown waiting for him.
November 10
They will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. - Matthew 6:10
Some people quote this petition always as if it meant only submission to some painful providence. They suppose it refers only to losing friends or money, or to adversity or calamity. But it is for the doing of God’s will, not the suffering of it, that we here pray. It is easier, however, to make prayers like this for other people than for ourselves. We all think others ought to do God’s will, and we do not find it a difficult prayer to make that they may do so. If, however, we offer this prayer sincerely, it is for ourselves, that we may do God’s will. We can pray it, therefore, only when we are ready for implicit, unquestioning obedience. Or it may mean the giving up of some sweet joy, the losing of some precious friend, the sacrifice of some dear presence, the going in some way of thorns and tears.
We should learn always to make the prayer and then to hold our life close to the divine will, never rebelling or murmuring, but sweetly doing or bearing what God gives us to do or bear.
November 11
The Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two. - Luke 10:1
Christ has a great business in hand. He wants the gospel carried to every home in the world. He needs human messengers for this work. No doubt angels would be glad to go on such errands, but angles would not do. Only those who have been saved by Christ can tell others of Christ. He would send us out, and we should be ready to respond, "Here am I," when we hear His call.
To go in Christ’s name is to represent Him. We need to have that love in our hearts that Jesus had when He went among the people. Then when Christ sends us, He will care for us and help us in giving our message. If we do not go where Christ wants us to go, people will miss the blessing. Some one said to a boy, "If God really loves you, why does He not tell somebody to give you a pair of shoes, or coal to keep you warm this cold weather?" The boy said, "I guess He does tell somebody, but somebody forgets." We need to be ever quick to go on our Master’s errands, "Lest we forget!"
November 12
Who is my neighbor? - Luke 10:29
Love to our neighbor seems at first an easy lesson to learn. But when we begin to study it, it grows harder. There is more of the lesson than we thought. We like to pick our neighbors, and we are sure to choose people who are congenial.
How to love our neighbor is taught in the parable. It is easy to have a sort of universal love - a love for everybody, a love we can exercise in our quiet home, looking at people in the distance, but not coming near to anyone. It is not just the same, however, when we go down among the people, and find our neighbor in some disagreeable person we cannot like, but waiting for our help, or in some enemy in need. The Good Samaritan found his neighbor in a hated Jew bleeding by the wayside. He had to get down in the dust and stanch his wounds, and then carry the man to an inn and pay the bills. It often costs a great deal to love a neighbor. The lesson is written out in full at the close: "Go, and do thou likewise."
November 13
When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven. - Luke 11:12
It is a great thing to know that we really may pray. The name Father is assurance enough. Certainly if God is our Father He will hear, and love to hear, His children’s cries.
The Lord’s Prayer teaches us that we are not to put our needs first. Count how many petitions there are before we get to "daily bread." Most of us put our own wants first and then God’s name, kingdom, and will far down the list.
We must also earnest in praying. The man wanting bread got it, not because it was his friend’s door at which he was, but because he would not stop knocking. He knew there was bread in that house, and he was bound to get it. So our Master would have us stay at our Father’s door, asking, seeking, knocking. The blessings we need are in His hands, and we can get them if we continue in our importunity. We are sure of our Father’s love, too - that He wants to give us what we need, that He will never offer us anything but the best.
November 14
I wish the finger of God cast out devils. - Luke 11:20
We need to have One stronger than the strongest to guard us against danger. There are robbers who go about seeking to take from us the treasures of our lives. It will not do to have a pigmy on guard. If we do, the robbers will overpower him and rob us. The only safe thing is to have Christ as the Guardian of our lives. He is able to defend us against all enemies.
It is not enough to have the devil in us driven out; an empty house is not protected. The evil will return and take possession again. That is the way some persons try to change their lives. They cease doing things that are wrong, but put nothing in the empty place. Soon they tire of the new way of living, and go back to the old evil things. The only way to give up the evil and fill life and heart with good things. Empty the heart of hatred, bitterness, envy, and jealousy, and let Christ in and live there and make it His home. Napoleon used to say, "to replace is to conquer."
November 15
When the Pharisee saw it, he marvelled that He had not first washed before dinner. - Luke 11:28
Some persons are a good deal more careful about manners than morals. Jesus disregarded a conventional custom at the Pharisee’s dinner that day, and the host took the matter very much to heart. If he spoke his criticism in the hearing of Jesus, he gravely violated the law of courtesy. A host must show the greatest regard for the feelings of his guest, and must take no notice of mere violations of etiquette.
The answer the Master gave to the Pharisee’s criticism made it clear that morals are very much more important than manners. He told His host that the Pharisee’s were more careful about outside matters - forms and ceremonials; but meanwhile their inward part was full of extortions and wickedness. It is all right for us to be refined in our manners, to conform to the conventionalities of society, but in showing contempt for those who neglect these niceties of etiquette, we sin against them and grieve the Holy Spirit.
November 16
There is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed. - Luke 12:2
Christ wants genuineness in His friends and followers. The sin which He condemned most unsparingly when He was on the earth was hypocrisy - men trying to pass for what they were not. There is still a great deal of hypocrisy in the world, and there is still the same need for insisting upon genuineness and sincerity.
Jesus shows how useless and unavailing it is to try to cover up things and to seem to be what we are not. There is nothing covered up that shall not be revealed, nothing hid that shall not be made known. People commit sins in the darkness, sins that would blacken their names if they were known. They suppose nobody suspects what they are doing in secret. But some day everything will come out. Even now secret evil works out, and blots and stains the life. The only safe way to live is to be sincere, genuine, true down to the bottom of one’s heart, always as good and true in the secret things as in the most public things of life.
November 17
Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink. - Luke 12:29
Worry makes a great deal of unhappiness in the world, and does a great deal of harm. Jesus says, too, that we need never to be anxious about anything. He gives reasons, also, why we should not be. We need not worry about food and raiment. God feeds the birds, and His children are more value than His birds. He clothes the lilies in matchless beauty, and we are certainly dearer to Him than the loveliest flowers.
Worry does not take away the things which trouble us. It unfits us for the best service. If our brain is feverish through anxiety, and our hand unsteady, we cannot do anything well. If we are really God’s children, we need not give ourselves any concern about the things we need. All we have to do is to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness - that is, do our simple duty, as it is made known to us - and then God will take care of us. We often concern ourselves about God’s care of us, while we neglect our duty to Him.
November 18
Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. - Luke 12:43
All things in life are uncertain. We never know what will be on any tomorrow. We expect to live for many years, but we may die to-night. We have large plans for work in the future - plans which will take us many years to complete. That is right. Because we may die to-morrow is no reason why we should not lay out work that it will take us a long while to finish. At the same time we should live every day so that if that day should be our last, it will be a good day for the ending of our life.
That is what Jesus meant when He said we should always ready for His coming. The only way a servant can be surely ready for his Master, not knowing when He may appear, is to do his work faithfully every day, keeping all things continually in perfect order, so that he may never be surprised, however suddenly the Master may come, and so that when the Master comes He will not find things unfinished or in disorder.
November 19
Suppose ye that these Galil? were sinners above all Galil?, because they suffered. - Luke 13:2
There is a mystery in suffering which no one can fathom or understand. In ancient times the belief was that troubles were punishment for wrongs committed. We cannot tell why there is so much pain in human life. We may be sure, however, that if we accept our trouble, it will leave a blessing in our lives.
There are many sufferers who are blessed above measure through their pain. I remember a woman who for fourteen years had not walked a step. She sat in her chair, unable to lift hand or foot. Every joint in her body was drawn, and she suffered excruciating pain continually. Yet, I never saw such patience, such uncomplaining quietness. Her face shone as if it had been transfigured by a holy light burning within. She was a benediction to her household. There poured out from her room an influence which softened all the home hearts. There is a blessed ministry of suffering whose influence we never can realizes in this world.
November 20
He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem. - Luke 13:22
Jesus was always going about doing good. He did a great many miracles, but there is reason to believe that, for every miracle he wrought, He performed a thousand little common kindnesses. Our verse for the day tells the story of we know not how many of these little kindnesses as He went through the hamlets and country places. No doubt each of the villages through which He passed was enriched by His coming. He left sicknesses healed, sorrows comforted, homes brightened, children blessed. For weeks and months the people would talk about His visit and the kindnesses He wrought.
Sometimes Jesus would take a long journey just to help one person. For example, His visit to Nain was made for the purpose of meeting a mother on her way to the grave with the body of her only son. He met the funeral procession and restored the boy to his mother. We should be ready to go leagues just to wipe away a tear or give relief to a sufferer.
November 21
Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple. - Luke 14:27
The condition of discipleship is absolute devotion to our Master. Jesus does not mean that anyone is really to hate father or mother, or wife, or children, but that all other persons and all interests shall take second place. Christ Himself must have the first.
The great want of Christian life is a more complete surrender. We cannot serve two masters. If we choose to serve the world, we cannot serve Christ, for He accepts no half-hearted devotion. When Jesus says that if we will not renounce all we have we cannot be His disciples, He means everything that stands in the way of our discipleship. If He bids us give up anything, we are to do it. He means also, that all we are and all we have shall be absolutely His, at His disposal. This kind of Christian life is what is meant by good salt. The salt that has lost its savor is nominal Christian life, with so much of the world mixed in it that the Christian part of it is scarcely distinguishable.
November 22
When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran. - Luke 15:20
It seems strange to us that any son should be so foolish as to leave a good home of love and happiness for a far country, with its disappointment, debasement, and degradation. But it is always the story of human sin. The part of the teaching which concerns us most is the return of the lost boy, and the way he was received by his father when he came back. A vision of the old home came to him in his want and wretchedness, and that drew him back. He came to himself and saw his folly. He was then brave enough to confess it and come home.
The boy’s reception is a picture of the way God receives those who come back from sin’s wanderings. The father was watching, and saw his returning boy far off. He ran to meet him. God is ever watching for the first thought and act of penitence, and hastens to meet the returning one. We may be glad that this parable is in the Gospel, for no one need ever be afraid now to come back to God.
November 23
There was a certain rich man. … And there was a certain beggar. - Luke 16:20
In this world the rich man seemed to have the better of it. He had all that human heart could wish, of wealth, splendor, luxury, and power. The beggar had a hard time. Nobody cared for him in his need - the only friends he had were the dogs.
But things were changed when the two men crossed the line. The beggar died first. Nobody mourned him, and there were no flowers, but he was carried by the angels into the place of blessedness. The rich man died too - death cannot be bribed. He had a great funeral, with pageant and splendor. He was lauded as a prosperous man, generous to his friends and charitable toward the poor. But meanwhile the man was in Hades, in torment, seeing the beggar now far above him, in blessedness.
The lesson is that not what one has, but what one is, counts with God. A poor man who loves God and his fellow man and is faithful in all duty is richer by far than the millionaire who never thinks of God nor cares for his fellows.
November 24
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint. - Luke 18:1
We are all in danger of growing careless in the matter of prayer. Many people never pray at all. Even many of those who say prayers regularly do not pray. As the flowers and plants on the earth need sunshine and rain from the heavens, so human lives need the benediction of God’s love and grace continually.
The special lesson in prayer taught here is earnestness, importunity. We ought always to pray, and not to faint - that is, we should never get discouraged in our praying. Some people, after pleading for something for a long time, give it up just when God is about to send the answer.
It seems strange to have this unjust judge taken as an illustration of God, in any sense, or to have the judge’s selfish acts used to show us how we can win blessings from God. But the meaning is, that if an unjust judge can be so influenced by persistent pleading, much more will the kind, loving Father be influenced by the importunate pleadings of His own needy children.
November 25
They brought unto Him also infants. - Luke 18:15
Does Christ care for babies? Some people say no; they are too small for Christ to be interested in them. The disciples seem to have thought almost this, for they tried to keep the mothers from coming to Him with their infants, to get His blessing upon them. But Jesus rebuked the disciples and bade them let the children come.
Francis Xavier once was so weary in his missionary work that he said he must have sleep or he would die. He went to his tent and bade the servant to let nobody disturb him until he could get sleep. Scarcely had the tent door been closed when the attendant saw the monk beckoning him. Then he said, "I made a mistake. If a little child comes, waken me."
This seems very much like Jesus. He was never so busy or so weary that He would turn away a little child or even keep it waiting. The Christ who loved little children in those days loves them still. He loves also all childlike ones, all who have the spirit of little children.
November 26
He sought to see Jesus. - Luke 19:3
Charles Wagner, in one of his sermons in this country, preached about Zacch?. First, he said that Zacch? was so little that he could not see Christ, and had to get up a little higher so that he could look at Him. A good many people are like Zacch?. They are little and cannot see over people’s heads, and must get up higher before they can get a good view of Jesus Christ. They must leave their worldliness, their selfishness, and their sin, so as to get faith’s look from higher ground.
The second thing about Zacch?, Mr. Wagner said, was that he had to come down from his high place before he could receive Christ. There are people also in these days who are too high up and have to get to lower ground before they can take Christ into their hearts and lives. We have to leave our pride, our self-confidence, our self-esteem, our own works, and come in penitence, in humility, in entire dependence upon Christ, before we can take Him into our hearts and know Him as our Saviour and Friend.
November 27
The Lord hath need of him. - Luke 19:31
It would be well for us if we would learn to hold everything we have at Christ’s disposal. When the owner of the colt asked the disciples, "Why loose ye the colt?" they said, "The Lord hath need of him." Then the owner let the beast go.
This is the way we ought to hold all we have. Whenever the Lord needs anything we own, we are to let Him have it. Sometimes He asks for things that are very dear to us, things that it almost breaks our hearts to part with. But we are instantly to let Him take what He will.
When a young Christian girl was about to start for a foreign field as a missionary, a neighbor said to her mother, "I should think it would almost kill you to give up your daughter to go to China." The mother replied quietly: "I gave my daughter to Christ when she was born. I did not know until lately what Christ wanted to do with her. But now that I have learned, I must let Him have His way."
November 28
He saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. - Luke 21:2
In our modern days most financial transactions are made in large figures. Men deal in millions, and not in shillings and pence. It seems hardly worth while to give a shilling or half a crown to God, when we read of some other person giving five or ten thousand pounds. But God takes as careful note of the smallest gifts as of the largest. That day in the temple the widow’s mite amounted to more in His sight than all the large gifts which the rich men gave. She gave all, and had nothing left; they gave large sums, and had large sums remaining.
God is pleased with the smallest things that are done for Him, if they are done in love and faith. Some one said that Jesus built three monuments when He was on the earth - one for the widow who gave the two mites, one for the man who gave a cup of cold water to another who was thirsty, and the third for the woman who brought the alabaster box, of whom He said, " She hath done what she could."
November 29
But there shall not an hair of your head perish. - Luke 21:18
Jesus spoke of great troubles, persecutions, and trials which should come upon His disciples, but He assured them that in the midst of all these perils they should be safe. Some of them would be delivered up by parents, brethren, kinsfolk, and friends, to endure persecution, and even to suffer death. But He added, "Not an hair of your head shall perish."
It is possible for men to be torn to pieces as to their bodies, and yet not hurt as to their lives. They may suffer the worst kind of physical suffering, but so long as their souls are without sin, they have received no real harm.
There is only one evil in the world - sin. No matter how much we may have to endure, if we are only faithful, nothing can harm us. We should set our way, therefore, in life, not to miss the things that are hard, but in the worst of experiences to be loyal and true to Christ. Then He will shelter us and protect us, so that no evil can befall us.
November 30
I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not. - Luke 22:32
It ought to give us a new sense of strength to know that Jesus is watching and interceding for us. He had His eye on His disciples that night, and when they were about to pass through sore temptation, He made intercession for the one who was most in danger. Satan asked that he might have all the disciples, but the Master’s prayer was for one of them. "Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat; but I made supplication for thee, Simon."
Weakness makes Christ’s solitude for us more tender, more loving. The harder it is for us to live, the more earnestly does Christ pray for us, and the more powerfully does He help us.
It will do us good always to remember that this little story of Christ’s intercession for one of His disciples is a sample of what is going on all the while. He watches form heaven, and when one of us is in danger, lifts up His hands before God and pleads for us.
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