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June 22—Morning Devotion
"And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with a cluster of grapes."—Numbers 13:23 Was not this single cluster of God's earnest to the people of the sure possession of the land where those delicious fruits grew? And was not the size and weight of this one branch a sample how full and extensive all the blessings, both of the covenant and of the promised land, should be to the after possession of God's people? My soul, dost thou not see in it then a precious representation of Jesus, that one branch, and of all that cluster of blessings which are in him? Well might the church cry out concerning the Redeemer, "My beloved is unto me as…
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A Present Brought To The Lord
It is not certain which land Isaiah is referring to in these verses though it is generally assumed the African nations of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan are intended. These nations occupied the land of Cush, named after Noah’s grandson. The reference to vessels of bulrushes likely supports this theory. Boats of this structure were used on the river Nile and perhaps along the Red Sea coast. The inclusion of these nations shows the broad scope of the prophet’s ‘burdens’ and ‘woes’. Scattered and peeled! Again, there is a question as to the identity of the people called ‘a nation scattered and peeled’. Some identify it as the Cushites, being descriptive of their tall height and shaved bodies. They have a ‘terrible’ reputation perhaps because they…
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A Present Brought To The Lord
FOR A COMPLETE ORDER OF WORSHIP, INCLUDING BIBLE READING, HYMNS AND SERMON...
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He Cares For You
“He Careth For You.”—1 Peter 5:7 Dear Friend, and Brother in the Lord,—This comes in covenant love to you and your’s, hoping it will find you much better, with your harp taken down from the willows, and a new song put into your mouth, and your feet firm upon the rock, believing you are an inhabitant of Jerusalem. Isaiah says, “Let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains; let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise in the islands. For I will bring the blind by a way that they know not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known; I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight;…
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June 17—Morning Devotion
"He restoreth my soul."—Psalm 23:3 Yes, Lord, it is indeed thou that bringest back the strayed sheep; for as no man ever quickened, so none can keep alive his own soul. It was indeed thy promise, and most graciously dost thou fulfil it!—"As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep, so will I seek out my sheep, and bring again that which was driven away." Ezek. xxxiv. 11-16. My soul, mark this trait of character in thy Jesus for thy morning meditation. It is well for thee that restoring work, reclaiming work, reviving work, all is with Jesus; begins in him, and is carried on and completed by him, and through his grace in thee. And it…
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June 16—Morning Devotion
"He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom."—Isaiah 40:11 My soul, mark in this sweet scripture how Jesus is described, in not only attending to all the various wants of his fold, but to the very method of imparting to their several wants in a way corresponding to his own character and their state. In the fold of Jesus, like the sheepfold among men, some are sheep and some are lambs: some of advanced age, and some of younger standing. Well, where will Jesus put the lambs and the weaklings of his fold? Certainly, if there be one place in the heart of Jesus softer and more tender than another, there the lambs shall lay. And as Jesus himself…
