June 1

"Is not this the carpenter?" (Mark 6:3). Is not this the young Man who mends the broken things of life and whose body was nailed to a piece of wood? How ironic, the tools of His death...! Is not this the carpenter who, for years, earned His own bread, this carpenter Who is the very Bread of Life for others? Jesus made honorable the mechanical trades. No one should be ashamed of the labor of his or her hands, or of getting dirty. The listeners in the synagogue asked the question in derision. How unfortunate that familiarity breeds such contempt! Have we passed over young carpenters of wisdom and work?

June 2

At the Last Supper Jesus gave the cup to His disciples, and told them it was the new covenant in His blood, and He asked them to drink it from henceforth in remembrance of Him. When we lose our loved ones we often do things in remembrance of them. Indeed, the very thought of what they might think of our actions were they back with us has causes us to pause and reconsider what we are saying and doing. It is so much more important with the remembrance of Jesus and what He died for: us, that we might have everlasting life with Him. The remembrance of our loved One and ones helps us to live better lives.

June 3

"Lord...if you had been here, my brother would not have died" (John 11:21). If you had been here! Our "if onlys" of life can crush us. As one unknown author has stated, "Chance is the god of atheism, and will minister no comfort in the time of trouble." Time is full of chances to be met with faith that a higher Power rules for a good that seems so evil at the time. But Martha does have faith: "But I know that even now [and my brother has been dead four days] God will give you whatever you ask" (V.22). All is possible with our God and Savior and Friend. There are no "ifs" but "whens" with the Father and Son.

June 4

Friends! Oh, the joy of kindred spirits! But friendship goes beyond this, even, in that we would be willing to sacrifice all for one we love so deeply. In The Tale of Two Cities, Sidney Carton spirits Charles Darney out of the Bastille and takes his place to die for a crime neither of them committed. William Ellery Channing long ago asked the question, "Is mutual service the bond of friendship?" In that glorious book of the Bible, Isaiah, there are several passages where Jesus is called Servant: chapters 42:1-9; 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12. He was crushed for our iniquities and our Friend gave up His very life.

June 5

"Strangely do some people talk of `getting over' a great sorrow. Not so. No one ever does that; at least, no nature which has been touched with the feeling of grief at all. The only way is to pass through the ocean of affliction, solemnly, slowly, with humility and faith, as the Israelites passed through the Red Sea. Then its very waves of misery will divide and become to us a wall on the right side and the left, until the gulf narrows and narrows before our eyes, and we land safe on the opposite shore" (D.M. Craik). "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you...they will not sweep over you" (Isaiah 43:2).

June 6

"Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29). This is the only description Christ gives of Himself. It is significant that He views Himself as meek and lowly. Ask any student with a brilliant teacher and he will say he hasn't learned much. If the teacher is unsympathetic, too, this can paralyze motivation and mental faculty. But Jesus has patience with us. For the spiritually, mentally and physically weary, He does not so much give us rest, as He is our rest. The burden is light, for He carries us who carry our duties and pains of mind and body.

June 7

"But Jesus remained silent" (Matthew 26:63). This verse has saved many relationships for the Christian who wants to preserve harmony and love. How tempted we are to rake the one who has just insulted our dignity; how dare he or she tell us we are less than perfect. But there He stood, the perfect One, in the de profundus of His life, unjustly examined and accused and unmercifully degraded. In this storm of abuse, Jesus held His peace and answered nothing. The meek and lowly One would not defend His words and work, He whose words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35) and whose works abide forever. Be silent, be silent!

June 8

"So the people grumbled...saying, `What are we to drink?'" (Exodus 15:24). It isn't only water that can be brackish; we humans can become quite distasteful when both major and minor irritations upset us. The people thought the fault belonged with Moses because he persuaded them to leave Egypt. We are masters at blaming others for our problems. Perhaps it is our attitude that needs adjustment (someone calls this another AA). We may have to drink the bitter waters of life. Let us pray that we do not become embittered by the experiences. "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:39).

June 9

How good it is to know that our God rules, but it is just as necessary to believe that He overrules, as well. When the world seems about to turn upside down, Hebrews 1:3 assures us that He "upholds all things by the word of His power." How pompous of Satan to say to Jesus when He was in the wilderness, "All this will I give you...if you will bow down and worship me" (Matthew 4:9). "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth," (Matthew 28:18) says our Lord, and even Satan cannot rule or overrule in our lives, for "...The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

June 10

Have we a breach of love or confidence that we need to repair? Are we allowing misunderstandings to stand in the way of happiness, our own and another's? Then let us ask the Repairer of the breach (Isaiah 58:12) for His guidance in mending our fractured relationship, whether it is someone at home, at work, or at church. "Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept" (Genesis 33:4). Jacob wrestled with God that the breach with his brother might be repaired and he was assured that all would be well. Are we wrestling with God that we may mend our broken bonds of love?

June 11

"And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled...hands, they found fault" (Mark 7:2 KJV). "`They found fault.' Not a difficult thing to do. It does not require much education...brains...money...spirituality, nor much of anything usually prized by respectable folks. It only demands a little, mean, spiteful nature, and a determination not to be pleased, to pick a flaw, or to hold up an unworthy motive respecting everything which another may do. It is the one thing in which we can all become experts. Anybody can find fault" (Anna D. Bradley, Christian Standard). Father, deliver us from petties!

June 12

Many years ago Dr. Samuel Smiles made an interesting observation: "While in a large-natured man, solitude will make the pure heart purer, in the small-natured man it will only serve to make the hard heart still harder; for though solitude may be the nurse of great spirits, it is the torment of small ones." "And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there" (Mark 1:35). Jesus could be no more pure than He was, yet He sought the solitary place. Solitude is a gift that protects man's mind and heart from mediocrity and melancholy.

June 13

"But realize this, that in the last days... men will be...ungrateful..." (2 Timothy 3:1,2). Gratitude threads through the exquisite psalms of David. He knew personally the forgiveness of God. He had sinned awfully and, like Mary, he, too, knew the joy of being forgiven much. We are all sinners who have come short of God's goals as well as our own. We know the delight of having our sinful hearts cleansed and the encouragement that comes with knowing that we can now begin again. Some born-again souls think this is a corny expression, but consider it: born again to start a new life in Him. Thank You, Father!

June 14

"In the last days...men will be...arrogant..." (2 Timothy 3:1,2). This is one of the most hated of sins, hated by both God and man. Webster defines arrogance: "Insolent pride; intolerable presumption; overbearing manner...presuming on one's rank or power; haughty...to take upon one's self without authority; to demand overbearingly..." We saints presume that God will give us health and wealth and happiness; we imagine ourselves so secure in our possessions and self-respect, but "I will also break down your pride of power..." (Leviticus 26:19). Arrogance does not give thanks, but always wants more of it all. Let us beware.

June 15

"God is not so unjust as to forget your work..." (Hebrews 6:10). The discouraged need to know that God observes good works. His inspections take in the good as well as the bad. Any worthy parent knows that the child who is constantly harangued about his or her shortcomings will never give the best, and understandably so, for the child knows that the best will never satisfy simply because the parent is looking for the worst. How sad! Let us remember that God's inspection considers the good things we do in relation to our capacities and our possibilities. He calls that very good that which we think may not be worthy.

June 16

Smile--anyway! Let's face it, there are mornings when we would love to slip even further under the covers; there's no way we can face the world with a cheerful look today. There is a story about the king who wanted to win his fair lady but he had a cruel and hard face. He consulted a friend who told him he must have kind thoughts and do kind deeds. The friend made a wax mask for him that showed him to be kind. Each day the king tried to be more loving and gentle until it was finally a part of him, and he won both subjects and his lady. He no longer needed the mask. So let us smile--anyway--and the world will smile back.

June 17

In 1831 he failed in business; in 1832 he was defeated for the legislature; in 1833 he again failed in business; in 1835 his sweetheart died; in 1836 he had a nervous breakdown; in 1843 he was defeated for Congress; in 1855 he was defeated for the Senate; in 1856 he lost the race for the vice presidency; in 1858 he was defeated for the Senate; in 1860 he was elected President of the United States. Of course we are talking about Abraham Lincoln, one of the finest men to rule this country. Finally he was successful. We can't be president, but we can achieve in our corner of the world.

June 18

"There is so much you could do if you would:/Evil to turn into channels of good;/Lives to brighten and hearts to be warmed;/Neighborhood services to be performed;/Old folks to visit, and young folks to guide;/Somebody somewhere for whom to provide./Wide is the field if you're willing to do/Something for others less favored than you./Lamps of affection to trim and delight./Wherever you look there are wrongs to put right,/People and problems to be understood./There is so much you could do--if only you would!" (Anonymous). When is enough enough? Only when there is no one left who needs our services....

June 19

Notice Christ's way of dealing with Peter when he cursed and lied the night he should have supported his Friend. After the resurrection Jesus utters not a single word of condemnation to Peter; rather, He encourages him. God tells us, "I will cover your iniquity ...I will blot out your transgressions...Go, and sin no more." He asks us to forget what is behind, and go on with His love and mercy. We would wonder about the man who drops a glass bottle on the sidewalk, then gets down and so carefully collects all the jagged little pieces and then hugs them to his bosom until he bleeds. This is what we do when we spurn God's forgiveness.

June 20

We are afflicted with spiritual indigestion. The violence that permeates earth is making us literally heartsick. The papers are filled with bad news and the gossip rags are atrocious. It isn't inquiring minds but unsound minds that want to know the latest garbage and lies in another's life. We become what we behold and what we read. It's repulsive to watch one sinner (and we are all sinners) crawl and dig through another's life to glean the tiny bits of chaff just to titillate the public and finally destroy the person. What in this sad world has happened to common decency? "In the last days...men will be...malicious gossips..." (2 Timothy 3:1,2).

June 21

Paul lamented, "The good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish" (Romans 7:19). Then are we to despair and presume that we cannot overcome this body of sin? Is God's grace and power so limited that it covers the sins of the past and gives a heart that hates evil and loves good but can go no farther? No! "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one" (2 Thessalonians 3:3). "Now to Him who is able to keep [us] from stumbling, and to make [us] stand in the presence of His glory blameless and with great joy..." (Jude 24) let us pray to do all good for God.

June 22

Abraham Lincoln gave the following advice to a young officer who had been court-martialed for quarreling: "No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for your right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite." "It is only fools who cherish wrath" (Ecclesiastes 7:9 Moffatt).

June 23

"`Do it with thy might'--This is the first injunction, and most needful. If Christians would put a tithe of the energy into their religion which they put into their business, what vast results would accrue! Somehow or other it seems almost discreditable, in the view of many of Christ's disciples, to be chargeable with an intense and vehement zeal for God. `Strike the iron while it is hot,' everywhere but in religion, there keep a cool and suitable respectability, is the voice of multitudes who call themselves the servants of Christ...If we would save men, we must serve the Lord with all diligence" (Anonymous).

June 24

Satan has many and varied servants working for him. Some we can spot right away; others are reasonable and sociable. He has other servants in the form of everyday rationales: "There's no danger"; "It won't hurt this one time"; "Everybody does it, why shouldn't I", and "There's time to make your decision for Christ; for now, enjoy life," to cite a few. There are many dangers; it will indeed hurt this one time; we may think everybody is doing it and then find that others were much wiser; and there isn't time to make our decision for Christ, for today is the day of salvation; tomorrow may be too late for us.

June 25

"Many church members think that if they do nothing wrong and make no trouble they are all right. Not at all, sir, not at all. We have a chariot, and we are all engaged to drag it. Some of you do not put out your hands to pull; well then, the rest of us have to labor so much the more, and the worst of it is, we have to draw you also. While you do not add to the strength which draws, you increase the weight that is to be drawn. "It is all very well for you to say, `I do not hinder you.' You do hinder, and you cannot help hindering. If a man's leg does not help him in walking, it certainly hinders him" (Charles Haddon Spurgeon).

June 26

Jeffrey Burton Russell wrote a book titled The Devil. In it he gives us a guideline of the devil's work. Sometimes we wonder who and what is behind some terrible thing that is happening in our lives: "Evil is meaningless, senseless destruction. Evil destroys and does not build; it rips and it does not mend; it cuts and it does not bind. It strives always and everywhere to annihilate, to turn to nothing. To take all being and render it nothing is the heart of evil." Those who try to live by the God standard sometimes come up against someone who is bent on destroying, and we can't understand it. Mr. Russell has explained it well.

June 27

The stranger rose to begin services and several of the congregation rose to leave the church. The substitute preacher told them, "Wait and I'll go with you." So down the aisle he came, with the rest of them. The abrupt closing of the services showed these rude people that here was one minister who would not be treated with such contempt. Another preacher who took the place of a sick minister also was equal to the occasion: "All who came to worship the minister may leave; those who came to worship God will sing hymn 432." "I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth" (1 Corinthians 3:6). There may be an angel in the pulpit so let us beware how we treat the angel.

June 28

Don't judge! Don't judge a man: 1) by the clothes he wears. His heart may be clothed in spun gold we cannot see; 2) by his family, for Abel and Cain belonged to the same parents; 3) by his speech, if it seems uneducated, for his opportunities may have been few; 4) by what we perceive to be failure in his life. The Sanhedrin and His disciples thought Christ was a failure; 5) by the neighborhood he lives in. Gold has been found in unusual places and rats and roaches are found in kings' palaces.

June 29

The following is from Scientific American, 1881: "Another fact which tells that `high pressure' living tends to unhinge the mind may be found in the source of the larger portion of the inmates of the insane asylums. The records...show that most of the insane come, not from the busy professional, mercantile, and manufacturing classes, but from those whose lives are a monotonous round of petty drudgery, or, what is equally killing, petty inaction, unfruitful idleness, and dissipation. Frivolity probably leads more men and women to the insane asylum than the hardest and intensest pursuit of mental or material wealth."

June 30

"My young friends, the influence of your lives, for good or evil, cannot be gathered up by your friends after your eyes are closed in death, no matter how earnestly you may plead in your last moments on earth. Your influence has gone out from you; you alone were responsible; you had the power to govern, to shape; your influence no human being can withdraw. Such a request cannot be fulfilled. It is impossible. Your relatives and friends cannot gather up your influence and bury it with you. Young [people], live noble, true, heroic lives. Possess this `moral courage' in full proportions, and at all times--everywhere" (W.H. Baldwin).