TFTD - March 2017

[Resource Manager]

01 March 2017

"One of the first of the changes which come when we have passed through the waters of baptism is in connection with friendships. To walk in newness of life clearly involves a change of associations. “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but the companion of fools shall be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20) Our mental make up is only partly a matter of inheritance. Very largely it comes from our contact with other minds. We see, we read, we hear, and moved by these impressions we think. It is a natural law mentioned in Scripture that as a man thinketh in his heart, so will he be. Appearance and words and even actions may all be deceptive. The real character of the man is moulded by those deep-seated thoughts which may rarely find full expression in words."

 

- Islip Collyer

Newness of Life (1947)

[Resource Manager]

02 March 2017

 

"The Redeemer will soon be with Israel, turning them from transgression. His face will not be hidden from them for they will look upon him whom they pierced. He shall lead them back to God in a spirit of true repentance, and then God will make a new covenant with them, based upon the forgiveness of their sins: “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land” [isaiah 14:1]. No longer hiding His face from the house of Jacob, God will make His face to shine upon them and be gracious to them."

 

- Spencer L. Hale

Thoughts on Isaiah (1978)

[Resource Manager]

03 March 2017

 

"We who share a common faith are “in the truth”, almost as though it were a state in which one were in, or not in. It is a pity if by this we convey the idea that one comes into the truth and stops, for the Scripture urges constantly to spiritual growth and development. We are to aim constantly to measure up to the stature of Christ, ... to reach after perfection and to grow towards him. We are to work at our characters, seeking all the time to cultivate the fruit of the spirit alien to our natures but an essential to the life that please God:

 

“Wherefore let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ”, says the apostle having dealt with them fairly fully in earlier chapters, “and press on unto perfection (mg. ‘full growth’) …” (Hebrews 6:1)."

 

- John S. Roberts

In the Truth (1979)

[Resource Manager]

04 March 2017

 

"Unity begins with God, who is one. And Moses in the famous passage known among the Jews as the Shema (Hear.) sounded the keynote of all truth when he declared this oneness of God and the undivided loyalty which He demands of all whom He chooses, or who turn to Him: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

 

Unity also ends with God, for there will be a moment beyond the Kingdom when time, measured in human terms, will have no meaning, for mortality will vanish and His Son, as well as a great host of His children, will be “subject unto him ... that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28)."

 

- John Marshall

The Living Ecclesia (1971)

[Resource Manager]

05 March 2017

 

"God’s compassions are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23) for God watches over His servants always. Man must sleep, but God is always awake, never withdrawing His life-giving spirit for the benefit of all flesh. The Angel of His Presence keeps us (Isaiah 63:9). Remember the fresh manna from heaven which the Jews found every morning except the Sabbath, without fail (Exodus 16:15,35; Numbers 11:9). In the Lord’s prayer we are taught to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. Like the manna in the wilderness: this daily bread points to the True Bread from heaven, the Truth of God, His promises which shall never fail, to give us encouragement each day!"

 

- G. Booker and T. Haltom

The Lamentations of Jeremiah 

[Resource Manager]

06 March 2017

 

"... His power is ever near to us to give us strength to bear us through the coming day. Let us pray, and trust, and walk by His guidance until that day when it shall be sung, "Awake and sing, you that dwell in dust: for your dew is like the dew of herbs" (Isaiah 26:19); that day when a concourse mightier, far vaster, than this great concourse will be like the dew of Hermon, each drop by God's mercy reflecting the brightness and warmth of that "Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings" (Malachi 4:2), and when we shall be satisfied, awaking, by His mercy, with His likeness."

 

- H.A. Twelves

The Mercies of the Lord (1965)

[Resource Manager]

07 March 2017

 

"Joy is included by Paul among the fruit of the Spirit because, like love, it is a response to the action of God so wonderfully shown in and through His Son: "We also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement" (Romans 5:11).

 

Joy is for us all. It is a product of faith, the word heard and kept—"the joy and rejoicing of mine heart" (Jeremiah 15:16). As love makes possible reverence for life, so joy gives it meaning, and both affect it totally."

 

- Claud Lamb

Fruit of the Spirit (1980) 

[Resource Manager]

08 March 2017

 

"... yet if the Lord can look upon our failures, and see them merely as blemishes upon hearts which beat with his, and know that there is nothing upon earth which we desire above him; then he will be able to say of us at all our Lord’s Suppers until he come, that we are among them who continue with him in all his temptations. And when he comes, he will be able to repeat to us the remainder of the blessing: “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom” (Luke 22:29-30)."

 

- Alfred Norris

The First Last Supper" (1953)

[Resource Manager]

09 March 2017

 

"The counsel of God is not like the purposes of men, neither in character nor uncertainty of accomplishment. Men contrive, and will to perform, and fail; it may be sometimes through human inability to realise all the difficulties, or lack of resources to accomplish that which is designed; it may be also because man’s purpose is contrary to God’s purpose. "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing. He makes the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect. The counsel of the LORD stands fast forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations" (Psalm 33:10-11)."

 

- John Carter

The Letter to the Ephesians (1931)

[Resource Manager]

10 March 2017

 

"Let us appreciate and realise our peace with God which we have in being justified by faith: it is very precious, for it comes from the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ—a gift derives value from the giver; and peace coming from such a wonderful source is a guarantee of its genuineness and worth. All through the ages, God as a loving Father has sought to restore and to reconcile His erring children to Himself: being justified we have been restored to that state of sonship with God which made Eden the untroubled garden in which the Father came and walked at eventide. God walks with us—He is our Father, and we are to Him as children. Weak and sinful as we are, we can think of God with calm assurance, being reconciled to Him by the death of His son. Here in this life we have peace and fellowship with God; access to grace and strength; no fear of evil in the dark valley; and afterward an abundant entrance into the Kingdom."

 

- Anthony Higginson 

Grace, Mercy and Peace (1977)

[Resource Manager]

11 March 2017

 

"We are told in the Bible in so many words what is the object of our being from God’s point of view. A passage of Scripture which expresses a very profound thought, but which, like most other profound thoughts, in final analysis is shown to be very simple, is found in Revelation 4, in the song of adoration given by the living creatures and the twenty-four elders in this vision to the One who sits upon the throne: “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for your pleasure they are and were created”. For what other reason could things be created? What other reason can we assign except that in some way they minister to the pleasure of the Creator? There is no reason for their existence apart from that. There is no reason in our life apart from that."

 

- Islip Collyer

The Object of Our Being

[Resource Manager]

12 March 2017

 

"We speak of one another, and to one another, as brethren, and sisters; because we rejoice in the thought that if we are faithful followers of our Master and Lord, we may regard ourselves as his brethren, and therefore brethren to each other. In our familiar use of the word “brother” we must not forget that if we would be regarded by our Lord as his brethren now, we must be doers of his Father’s will, for so he has defined that heavenly kinship, saying, “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother” (Matthew 12:50); and, if we would be accepted of him as his brethren in the day of his appearing, we must be his disciples now, constantly learning of him, for a disciple is a learner—that is the meaning of the word."

 

- F.W.L. Dagg

Our Discipleship (1935)

[Resource Manager]

13 March 2017

 

"... God’s glory was to be revealed by the proclamation of His name. From chapter 34 we learn that the name of God consists in fact of those attributes by which God wishes to be known. Although the “severity” of God is not excluded from His name, the great emphasis is upon “goodness”. Thus the name that the Lord proclaimed—His own name—is: “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7)."

 

- Peter Watkins

The Still Small Voice (1961)

[Resource Manager]

14 March 2017

 

"To know God is to realise the insignificance of self and its fallibility. And that surely calls for complete submission to God, the creature’s duty towards his Creator, “trust” (Proverbs 3:5), acknowledgement (Proverbs 3:6), fear (Proverbs 3:7)—which “is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7)."

 

- Claud Lamb

Clothed with Humility (1990)

[Resource Manager]

15 March 2017 

 

"Let us ... be bountiful in every aspect of our service for the Lord. Because God’s grace has abounded unto us, it is good that we "always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work ... Being enriched in everything to all bountifulness" (2 Corinthians 9:8-11)."

 

- Stanley Owen

The Pursuit of Excellence (1987)

[Resource Manager]

16 March 2017

 

“... it is natural that Bible lovers ask, “How much longer, Lord?” Will God for ever hold His peace, when man’s arrogance has reached out into space in preparation for an even greater era of violence? “The wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.” There is peace in abundance, however, at a time appointed, and Isaiah with his inspired poetry depicts that time (Isaiah 2:14). It will be a time when “the pride of men shall be brought low; and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day”. Forcibly the prophet depicts the fear of men confronted with the majesty of the Lord (Isaiah 2:18-21), and leaves us with that unforgettable exhortation. “Turn away from man, in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” Isaiah’s call to the nation, therefore, was “Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.”

 

- K.C. Clark

Peace and Safety (1960)

[Resource Manager]

17 March 2017

 

"What should be written ... about a man like Paul? He was, quite simply, the greatest man ever to follow the Lord Jesus Christ—a man whose heart throbbed always with love for God and love for his brethren, despite their failings, despite even their sins against him. He was a man who truly “filled up”, or completed, that which was lacking in the sufferings of Christ (Colossians 1:24); for he surely took up the cross and followed his Saviour, even unto death. With no pride or arrogance, but in simple truth ..."

 

- T. Haltom and G. Booker

Godliness with Contentment

[Resource Manager]

18 March 2017

 

"What is God’s purpose? To reveal His glory through the salvation of those who become the objects of His love, and so to unite them under the headship of Christ that His name will be hallowed throughout the earth. In that purpose we may place our whole trust, and since that purpose rests upon the salvation of individual men and women, "the just shall live by his faith."

 

- L.G. Sargent

Faith as a Grain of Mustard Seed (1950)

[Resource Manager]

19 March 2017

 

"Our first century brethren had thus Jesus as Lord ever before them as one whom they must serve and follow, With what freshness and zeal they would learn the details of the life of the Saviour. At first limited to the oral instruction, the need for authoritative instruction was met by the inspired gospels. Copied for each ecclesia, treasured maybe by a few who could copy or pay for copies for themselves, they were read as brethren gathered in their meetings to learn of Christ as the gospels were read. Here was their life; and called from the despair and corruption of the world they found joy and consolation, instruction and edification as they grew in knowledge of the one who was meek and lowly, gentle and gracious, strong for the right, fearless for truth, brave and enduring in the afflictions that came upon him."

 

- John Carter

Learning of Christ (1953)

[Resource Manager]

20 March 2017

 

"If we rightly reverence the Lord we shall see ourselves in the true light. Arrogance and haughtiness are to be found among sinners, but saints are clothed in humility. Righteous Abraham laid claim only to “dust and ashes” when praying to the Lord, and even the Son of God sees himself as “a worm and no man” (Psalm 22:6) when nailed to the tree. Little wonder, then, that the psalmists speak of spending life “as a tale that is told” (Psalm 90:9) and being “a stranger with you, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were” (Psalm 39:12). The frailty of our frame and the short span of our lives, when wisely considered, teach us our urgent and pressing need of God’s help."

 

- H. Tennant

Thoughts on the Psalms (1952)

[Resource Manager]

21 March 2017

 

"We must be taught of God and try with all our powers, at whatever cost of loss of friends or of personal humiliation, to take the course which Christ would approve so that if we have to go before him this year we shall be able to claim that we have really tried to be faithful stewards."

 

- Islip Collyer

Principles and Proverbs

[Resource Manager]

22 March 2017 

 

"There is a time fixed. God is not working haphazardly or without plan. But for this time His people must wait in patience and trust. God waits His appointed time and man must wait for Him. As Isaiah says (Isaiah 30:18), "And there fore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment; blessed are all they that wait for him." 

 

- John Carter

A Psalm Study (1928)

[Resource Manager]

23 March 2017 

 

"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter, so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it" (Jeremiah 18:4). We all need the finishing touches of the Master craftsman. The supreme illustration of this truth is seen in the day God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house and to the potter’s hand to learn of the truth of life. Two things at least made a great impression on Jeremiah: a marred vessel and a skilled hand. The patient persistence of the potter in executing his plan was a parable of life."

 

- Claud Lamb

Finishing Touches (1983)

[Resource Manager]

24 March 2017

 

"The truth of God’s creative activity is so powerful and self-evident that it cannot be hidden. It is so convincing that those who try to escape from truth and present evidence to the contrary are forced to use language which belies what they are saying. This is not surprising for, as Paul writes, the evidence for God is "clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made."

 

- Alan Fowler

No Escape from Truth (1983)

[Resource Manager]

25 March 2017

 

"If we say that we are the children of God, we ought to love one another, for “every one that loveth has been born of God” (1 John 4:7). This is the true test of our love for God, for how can we say that we are God’s children if we are not striving to be like him? John goes much further than saying that God loves; he says, God is love. This fact can only be apprehended through knowledge and experience—knowledge of God’s dealings in history, and experience of his love in our lives. God has created the heavens and the earth. He is a righteous Judge. He gave to his people precious promises. He guided them through all their difficulties and succoured them when in danger. These acts of God revealed his attributes to his people, for they were acts of love, and testified to his concern for their salvation."

 

- Harry Sheppard 

Children of God (1961)