Bible Truths Illustrated # 1

Bible Truths Illustrated # 1

A Roman emperor, after a successful military campaign, was returning in triumph to Rome. Great throngs filled the city to welcome the mighty hero. While passing through one of the crowded thoroughfares, a little girl, wild with joy, dashed toward his chariot.

The officer stopped her and said: "That is the chariot of the emperor, and you must not attempt to reach him."

The little girl replied: "He may be your emperor - but he is my father!" In a moment she was not only in the chariot, but also in the arms of her father.

It is even so with true believers. While God is the Emperor of all men - He is that, and infinitely more, to us - He is our Father!

"This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in Heaven..." (Matt. 6:9).
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"He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!" (Psalm 147:3-5).

He who counts the stars and calls them by their names, is in no danger of forgetting His own children! He knows you case as thoroughly as if you were the only creature He ever made, or the only saint He ever loved! It is most important for us to learn, that the smallest trifles are as much arranged by the God of Providence, as the most startling events. He who counts the stars - has also numbered the hairs of our heads. Our lives and deaths are predestined - but so, also, are our sitting down and our rising up!

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Heavenly Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered!" (Matt. 10:29-30).
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The eternal God is your refuge - and underneath are the everlasting arms!" (Deut. 33:27).

If we are held in the clasp of the everlasting arms - we need not feat that we shall ever be separated from the enfolding. "Underneath". The are always underneath us. No matter how low we sink in weakness, in fainting, in pain, in sorrow - we never can sink below these everlasting arms. We can never drop out of their clasp!

God's love is deeper than human sorrow. Sorrow is very deep,but still and forever, in the greatest grief - these arms of Divine love are underneath the believing sufferer.

God's love is deeper than death. When every earthly support is gone from beneath us, when every human arm unclasps and every face fades from before our eyes, and we sink away into what seems darkness and the shadow of death - we shall only sink into the everlasting arms!

Drop your plummet into the deepest sea of sorrow, and at the end of your soundings: "Underneath are the everlasting arms!"

What abiding consolation! What all-embracing, never-failing strength!
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Among the truly popular girls I have known, one stands out preeminently. I never knew one person who did not find her just lovable.

Once during her sophomore year in high school, a group of her friends were discussing mottoes and naming their favorites. "Hitch your wagon to a star!" and "To the stars through difficulties!" were favored.

Turning to Jessie, someone said, "Haven't you a motto?"

"Yes", she said; "it is this: 'Me last!' "

"What do you mean by that?" the others asked.

"That's my motto, and I think it is a good one."

"But what does it mean?"

Then Jessie explained: "It means just what it says - 'me last.' That is, I am to think of myself last. I am to put everyone else ahead of me, and then can look after myself when everybody else is taken care of."

The girls saw, and they knew that right there lay the secret of her popularity.

"Jesus called the twelve and said: If anyone wants to be first - he must be the very last, and the servant of all" (Mark 9:35).

"Jesus got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him."

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet - you also should wash one another's feet. I have given you an example that you should do as I have done for you" (John 13:4-5, 14, 15).

~J. C. Pittman~

(continued with # 2)