7137 No Promise Verse, Only God
Years ago a young missionary had to flee from western China. An infuriated mob hotly pursued him. He hastily boarded a river boat. The mob, too, came on the boat. Then he jumped into the river. The mob began to throw spears at him. Miraculously he escaped, unharmed. When he was telling of the ordeal later, a friend asked him, “What verse from the Bible came to you as you were darting beneath the boat to escape the spears of the mob?” “Verse?” he asked in astonishment, “why, the Lord Himself was with me!”
—Selected
7138 “In His Steps” Book
In In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon, some people in a certain church decided that for the coming year they will always ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” before settling upon any course of action. The various people have different experiences.
The editor of the daily paper, Edward Norman, who thought he was already following Jesus wholeheartedly, begins to think about some of his practices. He wonders if Jesus would allow liquor and tobacco advertising if He were the editor. Some people would argue that someone else would do it if he did not, but Norman turns it down. Then he finds he must take a stand in the election where the liquor interests are involved. Many of his subscriptions are canceled, and he loses money in advertising. He is criticized by even his own employees. Is he right? How far should we go in following Jesus? You know the answer. Do you follow him?
7139 Nearer The Hand Handling Rod
A Christian friend, visiting a good man under great distress and afflictions, which he bore with such patient and composed resignation as to make his friends wonder and admire, inquired how he was enabled so to comfort himself. The good man said, “The distress I am under is indeed severe; but I find it lightens the stroke very much to creep near to Him who handles the rod.”
—Denton
7140 To Make Sure Of Visits
One of Rabbi Ben Jochai’s scholars once asked him, “Why did not the Lord furnish enough manna to Israel for a year, all at one time?”
The teacher said, “I will answer you with a parable. Once there was a king who had a son to whom he gave a yearly allowance, paying him the entire sum on the fixed date. It soon happened that the day on which the allowance was due was the only day in the year when the father ever saw his son. So the king changed his plan and gave his son day by day that which sufficed for the day; and then the son visited his father every morning. How he needed his father’s unbroken love, companionship, wisdom and giving! Thus God dealt with Israel and deals with us.”
7141 Why Enoch Never Returned
In a sermon on “Enoch walked with God,” Dr. Campbell Morgan gave the following illustration:
A little child gave a most exquisite explanation of walking with God. She went home from Sunday School, and the mother said, “Tell me what you learned at school.” And she said: “Don’t you know, Mother, one day they went for an extra long walk, and they walked on and on, until God said to Enoch, “You are a long way from home; you had better just come in and stay.” And he went.”
—Current Anecdotes
7142 Fragrance Of His Presence
Dr. Charles Weigle composed the favorite “No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus.” One day he visited Pasadena, California. Early that morning he had an opportunity to walk through some of the famous rose gardens when the full fragrance of the flowers filled the air.
Later in the day he arrived at the hotel where a Bible conference was being held. As he took his seat, a man turned to him and said, “Dr. Weigle, I know where you’ve been. You toured one of our lovely gardens, for I can smell the pleasing aroma on your clothing.” “My prayer is that I may walk so closely with the Lord that the fragrance of His grace will pervade my being. I want them to know by my words, actions, and songs that I have been with Jesus.”
—H. G. Bosch
7143 To Dwell With The Rose
A Persian fable says: One day
A wanderer found a lump of clay
So redolent of sweet perfume
Its odors scented all the room.
“What art thou?” was his quick demand.
“Art thou some gem from Samarkand,
Or spikenard in this rude disguise,
Or other costly merchandise?”
“Nay, I am but a lump of clay.”
“Then, whence this wondrous perfume, say!”
“Friend, If the secret I disclose—
I have been dwelling with the rose.”
7144 Fifteen Minutes After Communion
In a bulletin of a Roman Catholic church in Wisconsin this amazing statement by a priest was printed: “There have been a number of people leaving the church a few minutes after they have received holy communion. … This is a great dishonor to our blessed Lord. The Church tells us Jesus remains in our bodies fifteen minutes after we have received holy communion. That means that our thanksgiving should be at least fifteen minutes long. … We should not leave the church until our Lord is no longer with us!”
—J. Wilbur Smith
7145 Mismatched Feet
Fortunately most of us have feet that are closely enough matched that both take the same shoe size. There’s a real problem, however, for those whose feet are mismatched.
But there are services which come to the rescue. One such service, the National Odd Shoe Exchange in Santa Monica, California, has been in business for more than 25 years. Another, Mismate Shoe Service in Kitchener Ontario, is just getting underway.
If your right foot is size six and your left foot is size seven, for instance, you are linked up with someone whose left foot size is six and whose right foot size is seven. The shoe partners contact each other and decide on style and price. Then one buys a pair of size six and the other a pair of size seven, and they split the two pairs.
The plan obviously works for amputees also, where one has a left leg and the other right.
7146 Where Nelson Fell
A Yankee tourist was out sightseeing in London. They took him aboard the old battleship Victory, which was Lord Nelson’s flagship in several of his famous naval triumphs. An English sailor escorted the Yank over the vessel, and coming to a raised brass tablet on the deck, he said, as he reverently removed his hat:
“Ere, sir, is the spot where Lord Nelson fell.”
“Oh, is it?” replied the American blankly. “Well, that ain’t nothing, I nearly tripped on the thing myself.”
7147 Epigram On Walking with God
• Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows.
—Helen Keller
• A little girl was walking home with her father one night. As they trudged along in the darkness she said, “Take my hand, Papa! I can take only a little piece of yours, but you can take the whole of mine.”