Choice Gleanings

Judges 11:29-12:15; Isaiah 32:1-20; 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1

For I am the Lord, I change not. Malachi 3:6
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. Heb. 13:8

In our fast-changing world, there is little stability, confidence, or hope. Thank God, we have “Jesus Christ, the Same!” J. N. Darby felt that “the Same” is a divine title and should be capitalized. Truly He is the immutable one, who can never differ from Himself. He is our solid rock. Samuel Rutherford wrote: “Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock which ebbs and flows, but the sea.” No matter your circumstance, rest in the One whose love and goodness towards
us never changes. —Jim Comte

I change – He changes not; the Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting place; His truth, not mine, the tie. —Horatius

Judges 10:6-11:28; Isaiah 31:1-9; 1 Corinthians 9:24-10:13

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8

A person living for God reveals Christ through their new Spirit led life. Their integrity and faithfulness to God will be lights in the darkness. This is all by the grace of God. Grace brings joy, liberty, and the glory of living in God’s presence. Grace enables us to preach salvation. Through God’s grace we can meet the needs of others and see God’s blessings abound when grateful hearts take what God’s grace offers. All the grace necessary to do what He wills is ours in Him. Praise the Lord! —Gaius C. Goff

Grace taught my soul to pray,
And made my eyes o’erflow.
‘Twas grace which kept me to this day,
And will not let me go. —Philip Doddridge

Judges 9:1-10:5; Isaiah 30:1-33; 1 Corinthians 9:1-23

O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me… whither shall I flee from thy presence? … marvellous are thy works. Psalm 139:1, 7, 14

How great is our God! He is described in this psalm as being omniscient, He sees everything; omnipresent, He is everywhere; and also omnipotent, He is all-powerful. These truths are not just mental concepts. They are a comfort to all who trust in their loving heavenly Father. How good to remember that God knows all that we are passing through, and is with us in the trials and difficulties of life. Better still, He is able to bring us through the storm to the
other side. Why should we fear? —Clark Logan

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee:
How great Thou art! How great Thou art! —Carl Boberg

Judges 8:1-35; Isaiah 29:1-24; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour … Heb. 2:9

Our anxious eyes often dart here and there, causing worry and distress. Hebrews is an urgent plea for despairing Christians to refocus — “But we see Jesus.” We are enjoined to fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder, and perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2). If what I see, is all I see, how discouraging that will be! Paul fixed his gaze on the unseen, the eternal (2 Cor. 4:18), and his soul was renewed day by day. And so shall ours. —Peter Ramsay

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace. —Helen Lemmel

Judges 7:1-25; Isaiah 28:1-29; 1 Corinthians 7:1-40

Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Mark 2:5
And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. Luke 7:48
Through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. Acts 13:38

In Nazareth’s synagogue the Lord read of His own ministry (Isa. 61) and said it included, “deliverance to the captives” and “to set at liberty them that are bruised” (Luke 4:18). The words ‘deliverance’ and ‘liberty’ both translate the Greek word rendered ‘forgiven’ and ‘forgiveness’ in the verses above. Thus, forgiveness means ‘righteous
release’ from our sins. That forgiveness is full (Ps. 103:3); it is free (Eph. 1:7), and it is final (Heb. 10:17). Hallelujah! —Phil Coulson

Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who, like me, His praise should sing? —Henry Lyte

Judges 6:1-40; Isaiah 27:1-13; 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. Psalm 77:11

In this psalm, the author is consumed with his troubles and the silence of God. In the first ten verses, personal pronouns occur 20 times. From that point he changes his perspective and looks back to what God has done, and recognizes His greatness and faithfulness to him. Where is our focus? The psalmist looked at the past works, wonders and manifestations of God’s protection and provision. For us, the answer is to look into the Word and to the Lord and see that He has done the same for us. —Gary McBride

The King of love my Shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am His, and He is mine forever.  —H. W. Baker

Judges 5:1-31; Isaiah 26:1-21; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

They gape at me with their mouth, They strike me reproachfully on the cheek, They gather together against me. Job 16:10 NKJV
Behold and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow. Lamentations 1:12 NKJV

Jesus was rejected by those who should have recognized His Messiahship. They mocked and humiliated Him. They gathered against Him because “It was expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14). His sorrow was unlike any other sorrow as He bore the sins of the whole world. Isaiah called Him “a Man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3). We call Him our blessed Saviour and rejoice in the salvation He accomplished for us. —Annette Baal

Man of sorrows what a name for the Son of God who came,
Ruined sinners to reclaim. Hallelujah! What a Saviour! —P. P. Bliss

Judges 4:1-24; Isaiah 25:1-12; 1 Corinthians 4:1-21

I alone am left; and they seek my life … so he departed from there. 1 Kings 19:10, 19 NKJV

Darkness can rapidly overtake us when our eyes are set on the circumstances we see and know. But we forget our God is in control of everything: the seen and unseen, the known and unknown. Nothing suggests Elijah was ever fortified by any of the 7,000 who never bowed to Baal. But his reluctance and discouragement faded when he re-established his dependence upon God. Only then could Elijah depart from both the darkness of the cave and
his unwarranted fear. The same is true of us. —David J. Reed

Why should I fear the darkest hour,
Or tremble at the tempter’s pow’r?
Jesus vouchsafes, to be my tow’r. —John Newton

Judges 3:5-31; Isaiah 24:1-23; 1 Corinthians 3:1-23

Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

This beautiful verse of Scripture is priceless. Casting means taking an object and throwing it as far as you can. We should take all our cares and throw them on the Lord. Because He cares, He will carry them for you! Are the circumstances of life weighing you down? Cast your burden on the Lord and He will sustain you (Psalm 55:22). —Jim Paul

He is here, when cares beset us, when our spirits they bend low,
He it is who lifts those spirits, that His love we’d always know.
He is here in all life’s moments, be they sad or be they gay,
And He gives us leave to call Him, in each moment of each day.  —Audrey Morrow

Judges 2:6-3:4; Isaiah 22:15-23:18; 1 Corinthians 2:1-16

God called the dry land Earth … and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10
God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. Gen. 6:5

Passengers on a recent commercial space expedition expressed their observations of Earth. One said, “From here Earth sure looks like a perfect world.” The picture is far different morally! “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). By the mercy of God, we can become good — new creatures, “If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor. 5:17). Come to Christ today! —Brian Powlesland

He died that we might be forgiven, He died to make us good,
That we might go at last to Heaven, saved by His precious blood. —C. Alexander