The Builder

By Bible Names of God


"For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house." Hebrews 3:3

Christ is here set forth as "the Builder" or "Establisher" of the house. He is the Apostle. He is the High Priest. The foundation of the house is laid in Him. "Ye are God's building," Paul says in 1 Cor 3:9. We are temples of the Holy Spirit now. Christ dwells within us. We are to be built up into holy temple from which will go forth the voices of millions of the redeemed as they sing the Hallelujah Chorus. Let Christ have His way in fitting us for our appointed places in the Temple of God, for He is the master Builder and we are to share with Him in the coming day.


Grant unto us, Lord, submission to thy Holy will in all things this day. Amen.

The grand secret of daily comfort in Christianity!

(J.C. Ryle, "Do You Have a Priest?")

"We have a great High Priest who has entered Heaven, Jesus the Son of God." Hebrews 4:14

Christ, the great High Priest in Heaven, is ever doing the work of a Friend, a Protector, a Counselor, and an Advocate, on behalf of His redeemed people. He is ever watching over the interests of His people, and providing a continual supply of all that they need. To . . .
   sympathize with them in all their troubles,
   guide them in their perplexities,
   strengthen them for their duties,
   preserve them in their temptations —
all this is part of Christ's present priestly office.

Note His tenderness and sympathy — so that He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Note His forbearance and patience — so that He can bear with our weaknesses and pity our mistakes. Note His wisdom, His faithfulness, His readiness to aid — who can describe or number up these things?

Christ, as our great High Priest, is ever interceding for us in Heaven. It is written, "He is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him, because He ever lives to make intercession for them!" (Hebrews 7:25.) It is asked by Paul, "Who then is the one who condemns? No one! Christ Jesus who died — more than that, who was raised to life — is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us!" (Romans 8:34.) Jesus is carrying believers safely from grace to glory, by His almighty intercession!

Reader, let us thank God daily that Christ is doing the work of a Priest for us in Heaven. Let us be thankful for the "precious blood" of Christ — but let us not be less thankful for His precious intercession.

Christ's continual Priesthood is the grand secret of a saint's perseverance to the end. Left to ourselves, there would be little likelihood of our getting safely home to Heaven. We might begin well — and end ill.
So weak are our hearts,
so busy is the devil,
so many and ensnaring are the temptations of the world
 — that nothing could prevent our making shipwreck!

But, thanks be to God, the Priesthood of Christ secures our safety. He who never slumbers and never sleeps is continually watching over our interests, and providing for our needs. While Satan pours water on the fire of grace, and strives to quench it — Christ pours on oil, and makes it burn more brightly.

Christ's continual Priesthood is the grand secret of daily comfort in Christianity. Oh, what an unspeakable comfort it is to remember that we have a great High Priest in Heaven, who never forgets us night or day, and is continually interceding for us, and providing for our safety! Christian, that great High Priest who died for you and intercedes for you — will never forget His people, or allow one lamb of His flock to perish! The merciful and faithful High Priest who began a work for you on the cross, will bring that work to a triumphant conclusion.

Reader, think of Jesus Christ as a loving Friend, to whom you may go morning, noon, and night, and  receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. Of all the offices that Christ exercises on behalf of His people, none will repay thought and study so richly, as that of His present priesthood.

   ~  ~  ~  ~

My God shall supply all your need

By D.L. Moody


Precious Jesus! I have found Thee,
All my utmost need required:
In Thyself, dear Lord, Thou'st found me,
All Thy loving heart desired.
I would praise Thee,
From my soul, by love inspired!

All my sins were laid upon Thee,
All my guilt was on Thee laid;
For the blood of Thine atonement,
All my utmost debt was paid.
Dearest Saviour,
I believe, for Thou hast said.

Both Thine arms are clasped around me,
And my head is on thy breast.
For my weary soul has found Thee
Such a perfect, perfect rest
Dearest Saviour,
Now I Know that I am blest.

Alone In The Desert

By Mrs. Charles E. Cowman


"And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place" (Luke 9:10).

In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.--Andrew Bonar

"Come ye yourselves apart and rest awhile,
Weary, I know it, of the press and throng,
Wipe from your brow the sweat and dust of toil,
And in My quiet strength again be strong.

"Come ye aside from all the world holds dear,
For converse which the world has never known,
Alone with Me, and with My Father here,
With Me and with My Father not alone.

"Come, tell Me all that ye have said and done,
Your victories and failures, hopes and fears.
I know how hardly souls are wooed and won:
My choicest wreaths are always wet with tears.

"Come ye and rest; the journey is too great,
And ye will faint beside the way and sink;
The bread of life is here for you to eat,
And here for you the wine of love to drink.

"Then fresh from converse with your Lord return,
And work till, daylight softens into even:
The brief hours are not lost in which ye learn
More of your Master and His rest in Heaven."

Seeing the Master

By Mary Wilder Tileston


I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy word.
--PSALMS 119:16

Which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard His word.
--LUKE 10:39

Lo! at Thy feet I wait Thy will,
Let that alone my being fill,
All earthly passions calm and still.
--C. S.

WHATEVER happens let us not be too busy to sit at Jesus' feet. We shall not really lose time by enjoying this; nay, we shall redeem the time; for there is usually much more time and strength forfeited by friction than by toil, and we shall gain in blessedness and enjoyment of our work, and gain in the quality of our work; and, above all, we shall gain in that we shall give Him pleasure where otherwise we might only grieve Him. And this is indeed the crown of all our endeavors. He who pleases Him does not live in vain.
--WM. HAY M. H. AITKEN


A low standard of prayer means a low standard of character and a low standard of service. Those alone labor effectively among men who impetuously fling themselves upward towards God.
--CHARLES H. BRENT

Discovering Divine Designs

By Oswald Chambers


'I being in the way, the Lord led me...'
Genesis 24:27

We have to be so one with God that we do not continually need to ask for guidance. Sanctification means that we are made the children of God, and the natural life of a child is obedience - until he wishes to be disobedient, then instantly there is the intuitive jar. In the spiritual domain the intuitive jar is the monition of the Spirit of God. When He gives the check, we have to stop at once and be renewed in the spirit of our mind in order to make out what God's will is. If we are born again of the Spirit of God, it is the abortion of piety to ask God to guide us here and there. "The Lord led me," and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design, which, if we are born of God, we will credit to God.

We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the culture of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never allow that the haphazard is anything less than God's appointed order, and be ready to discover the Divine designs any where.

Beware of making a fetish of consistency to your convictions instead of being devoted to God. I shall never do that - in all probability you will have to, if you are a saint. There never was a more inconsistent Being on this earth than Our Lord, but He was never inconsistent to His Father. The one consistency of the saint is not to a principle, but to the Divine life. It is the Divine life which continually makes more and more discoveries about the Divine mind. It is easier to be a fanatic than a faithful soul, because there is something amazingly humbling, particularly to our religious conceit, in being loyal to God.

Faith in God's Faithfulness

By J. Hudson Taylor


"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God" (Mark 11:22).

Hold God's faithfulness. Abraham held God's faith, and offered up Isaac, accounting that God was able to raise him up. Moses held God's faith, and led the millions of Israel into the waste howling wilderness. Joshua knew Israel well, and was ignorant neither of the fortifications of the Canaanites, nor of their martial prowess: but he held God's faithfulness, and led Israel across Jordan. The Apostles held God's faith, and were not daunted by the hatred of the Jews, nor by the hostility of the heathen. And what shall I saw more, for the time would fail me to tell "of those who, holding God's faithfulness, had faith, and by it subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of aliens."

All God's giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them. See the cases of David, of Jonathan and his armour-bearer, of Asa, Jehoshaphat, and many others. Oh! beloved friends, if there is a living God, faithful and true, let us hold His faithfulness. Holding His faithfulness, we may go into every province of China. Holding His faithfulness, we may face, with calm and sober but confident assurance of victory, every difficulty and danger. We may count on grace for the work, on pecuniary aid, on needful facilities, and on ultimate success. Let us not give Him a partial trust, but daily, hourly serve Him, "holding God's faithfulness".

Filled With the Knowledge of God's Will

By William Henry Griffith Thomas


"For this cause we also...do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding"
(Col. 1:9).


The difficulty with so many people today is that they are superficial in their knowledge and shallow in their experience, and so are a prey to various errors, "carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Eph. 4:14). We may safely aver, then, that to be "filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" means for its complete realization a constant touch with those writings which present the clearly expressed plan of God. 

The divine will is in that Book, and when it, the Word of God, is illuminated by the Spirit of God we, His children, come to know His will concerning us. Indeed, no one will ever have the full knowledge of that will, no one can possibly be mature in Christian experience, if the Word of God is not his daily, definite, direct study and meditation. It purifies the perceptive faculties by its cleansing power, it illuminates the moral faculties with its enlightening power, it controls the emotional faculties with its protective power, and it energizes the volitional faculties with its stimulating power. 

Thus, in the constant, continuous use of the Word of God in personal practice, with reverent meditation and earnest prayer, we shall indeed, to paraphrase the apostle's words "become filled with the full knowledge of His will in every avenue of perception and in their spiritual applications."