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Billy Graham Daily Devotional for 2024

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Tuesday, December 31, 2024 God Loves You! We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love . . . —1 John 4:16 (TLB) Never question God’s great love, for it is as unchangeable a part of God as is His holiness. Were it not for the love of God, none of us would ever have a chance in the future life. But God is love! And His love for us is everlasting. The promises of God’s love and forgiveness are as real, as sure, as positive, as human words can make them. But, like describing the ocean, its total beauty cannot be understood until it is actually seen. It is the same with God’s love. Until you actually possess true peace...More Monday, December 30, 2024 Why We Have the Bible These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God . . . —John 20:31 God caused the Bible to be written for the express purpose of revealing to us God’s plan for His redemption. God caused the Book to be written that He might make His everlasting laws clear to His children, and that they might have His great wisdom to guide them, and His great love to comfort them as they make their way through life. For without the Bible this world would indeed be a dark and frightening place, without signpost or beacon. The Bible easily qualifies as the only book in which God’s...More Sunday, December 29, 2024 We Cannot Out-Give God A tenth of the produce of the land . . . is the Lord's. —Leviticus 27:30 (TLB) We are to be stewards of our money. When it is invested and shared for the glory of God, it can be a boon and a blessing. I know a businessman in Detroit, Michigan, who made a promise to God that he would tithe his entire income to the work of the Lord. He said his business had tripled, and that God had more than fulfilled His end of the bargain. Some time ago I heard from a laborer in the San Joaquin Valley of California who said that he and his wife agreed to give one tenth of their income to the Lord. At the time...More Saturday, December 28, 2024 Cure for Our Troubles . . . preaching peace by Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all). —Acts 10:36 Would it not be wonderful if we could find an absolute cure for the troubles of human nature? Suppose we could give a shot in the arm to the whole human race that would fill people with love instead of hate, with contentment instead of greed. Suppose, also, a cure could be found for the past mistakes, failures, and sins of mankind. Suppose by some miracle all the past could be straightened out, all of life’s tangles could be unraveled, and the broken strings of life could be repaired. The most thrilling news in all the world...More Friday, December 27, 2024 Find Peace With God The Lord will bless his people with peace. —Psalm 29:11 How do we find peace with God? We must stop fighting! We must surrender! We must serve! Of course, these steps will be motivated by faith and mingled with love. Having found peace with God, next we experience the peace of God. This peace of God is not a mere abstraction advocated by preachers and theologians. Thousands of people can witness that they have actually experienced the peace of God and have found it wonderfully adequate for this present day. “For He is our peace.” Prayer for the day Father, I thank You...More Thursday, December 26, 2024 Where Does Your Hope Lie? Blessed is the man who trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. —Jeremiah 17:7 The Scriptures predict that a new day is coming. There will be a golden age of prosperity when all perplexing problems-religious, social, or political-will find their complete solution. It will be a marvelous time for this mixed-up world. However, the Bible teaches that man will not bring about this coming golden age. Man alone cannot. The flaw in human nature is too great. Man has no ability to repair this damaged planet. God is our only hope! His plans are already formed, and they are perfectly stated in the...More Wednesday, December 25, 2024 What Does ‘Merry’ Mean? And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God . . . —Luke 2:13 When at this season of the year we wish our friends a “Merry Christmas,” it is essential to realize that true merriment of heart is contingent upon the recognition of the truth that Christ was born in Bethlehem for our salvation. The word “merry” is from an old Anglo-Saxon word which sometimes meant “famous,” “illustrious,” “great,” or “mighty.” Originally, to be merry did not imply to be merely mirthful, but strong and gallant. It was in this sense that gallant soldiers were called...More Tuesday, December 24, 2024 Christmas Is Not a Myth When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth . . . his Son . . . —Galatians 4:4 Christmas is not a myth, not a tradition, not a dream. It is a glorious reality. It is a time of joy. Bethlehem’s manger crib became the link that bound a lost world to a loving God. From that manger came a Man who not only taught us a new way of life, but brought us into a new relationship with our Creator. Christmas means that God is interested in the affairs of people, that God loves us so much that He was willing to give His Son. Prayer for the day Lord Jesus, as I remember Your birth in...More Monday, December 23, 2024 What Is in a Gift? For unto us a child is born . . . and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. —Isaiah 9:6 To Christians the joy of Christmas is not limited to His birth. It is built even more on the triumph of His death and resurrection—that gave meaning to His birth. The mysterious spirit of generosity which possesses us at Christmas is the afterglow of Calvary. The fact of the cross illuminates this day and hallows it. As we exchange our gifts, let us remember that they are symbolic of the unspeakable gift of God’s love. I do not believe...More Sunday, December 22, 2024 The Giver of the Gift He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not . . . freely give us all things? —Romans 8:32 God is the Giver of the gift. The capability of the donor usually gauges the value of the gift. We don’t usually think of a person as a gift, but actually interpersonal relationships are the most valued and cherished gifts of all. But the Bible teaches that God gave a Person as a gift to every one of us, and that Person is Jesus Christ. One day a six-year-old boy in a southern town answered a knock at the door. It was his father, just returned from Southeast Asia. He...More Saturday, December 21, 2024 Neglect of Soul “Blessed is the man who reveres God, but the man who doesn't care is headed for serious trouble.” —Proverbs 28:14 (TLB) All Christians believe in God, but many Christians have little time for God. They are too busy with everyday affairs to be taken up with Bible reading, prayer, and being thoughtful to their fellowmen. Many of them have lost the spirit of a zealous discipleship. If you ask them if they are Christians, they would probably answer, “I think so,” or, “I hope so.” They may go to church at Easter and Christmas and on other special occasions, but otherwise they have little time for...More Friday, December 20, 2024 The Spiritual Realm He was zealous for my sake . . . —Numbers 25:11 It is strange that the world accepts enthusiasm in every realm but the spiritual. The world appreciates and understands emotion and enthusiasm, until it becomes a religious fervor—then immediately it is suspect. When you bring a grand and glorious abandon to your dedication to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are thought by many of your neighbors to be mad, to have “gone too far” in religion. The whole history of missionary enterprise is filled with names like William Carey, Hudson Taylor, John Paton, David Livingstone, and others, who were thought...More Thursday, December 19, 2024 A God of Justice What joy there is for anyone whose sins are no longer counted against him by the Lord. —Romans 4:8 (TLB) A number of years ago I was stopped for driving too fast in a speed zone, and in the courtroom I pleaded guilty. The judge was not only friendly but embarrassed for me to be in his court. The fine was ten dollars. If he had let me go free, it would have been inconsistent with justice. The penalty had to be paid either by me or someone else! Judgment is consistent with love. A God of love must be a God of justice. It is because God loves that He is just. His justice balances His love and makes His acts of...More Wednesday, December 18, 2024 The Finished Work Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. —John 3:3 A person is saved by trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross, and not by bodily sensations and religious ecstasy. But you will say, “What about feeling? Is there no place in saving faith for feeling?” Certainly, there is room for feeling in saving faith. But we are not saved by it. Whatever feeling there may be is the result of saving faith, but feeling never saved a single soul. Love is feeling. Joy is feeling. Inward peace is feeling. Love for others is a feeling. Concern for the lost is a feeling. But these feelings...More Tuesday, December 17, 2024 The Prince of Peace Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. —Proverbs 10:12 To hate, to discriminate against those who look different, who talk different, who have different national backgrounds, or who act differently from the dominant group, is a universal trait of human nature. I say that there is only one possible solution and that is a vital experience with Christ on the part of all races. In Christ the middle wall of partition is broken down, the Bible says. There is no Jew or Gentile, or black or white or yellow or red. We could be one great brotherhood in Christ. However, until we come to recognize Him...More Monday, December 16, 2024 Why the Righteous Suffer God will tenderly comfort you when you undergo these same sufferings . . . —2 Corinthians 1:7 (TLB) This question, “Why must the righteous suffer?” is as old as time. There is only one place that we can find an answer, and that is in the Bible. You do not need to study the Scriptures long to learn why sinners meet reverses and anguish. They are apart from God. Their sorrow is the result of their sins. But why do Christians suffer? Scripture teaches that many Christians suffer so that they may fellowship with others who are in affliction. Only those who have known sorrow and suffering can have...More Sunday, December 15, 2024 Not Too Young Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers . . . —1 Timothy 4:12 Lord Chesterton once said, “I believe in bedside repentance, but I do not want to depend upon it.” During a serious illness a person’s mind does not function normally. Getting right with God is something one should do in the bloom of health. However, as far as the Lord is concerned, “His ear is not heavy that He cannot hear, nor His arm shortened that He cannot save.” He loves us equally, in sickness or in health; while we are living, or while we are dying. In my experience, I have not known of too many...More Saturday, December 14, 2024 He Hears You If we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. —1 John 5:14 God has said, “If my people . . . pray . . . then will I hear from heaven.” Before three thousand people were brought into the Church on the day of Pentecost, the disciples had spent ten days in prayer, fasting, and spiritual travail. God desires that Christians be concerned and burdened for a lost world. If we pray this kind of prayer, an era of peace may come to the world and the hordes of wickedness may be turned back. Prayer for the day Almighty God, burden my heart for those in the world who have not...More Friday, December 13, 2024 What God Has Done With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy redeemer. —Isaiah 54:8 If God is all-powerful and all-loving, it would seem inconsistent with His nature to allow anyone to be lost. Here again we rationalize because we do not understand the nature of God. God cannot go against His own laws and against His own nature. God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. He created us free to choose how we would live. He invites us to come His way, but leaves us free to pursue our own ends with tragic, natural consequences. We glibly say, “Surely a loving God would not allow a person...More Thursday, December 12, 2024 Loving One Another And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men . . . —1 Thessalonians 3:12 One of the growing psychological problems facing people today is loneliness. One of the greatest ministries that a person can have today is just being a good listener. Many people are longing not only to be loved but to have someone who will listen to them. When we love God with all our hearts, then we have the capacity to love our neighbor. The greatest need in the world today is not more science, not more social engineering, not more teaching, not more knowledge, not more power, not even...More Wednesday, December 11, 2024 What Is Idolatry? Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father . . . —Matthew 10:33 What is idolatry? Idolatry is anything that comes between us and God. Joshua told his people that their nation would be destroyed if they persisted in idolatry, and their souls would suffer eternal death. He said, “You must make your decision today. You must decide whether you want to serve the idols of this life, or the living God.” “Choose you this day,” said Joshua, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” What about you? Are you taking your stand with Joshua? No matter what the cost? I am...More Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Steadfast Love Your steadfast love, O Lord, is as great as all the heavens . . . —Psalm 36:5 (TLB) Young people talk a lot about love. Most of their songs are about love. . . . “The supreme happiness of life,” Victor Hugo said long ago, “is the conviction that we are loved.” “Love is the first requirement for mental health,” declared Sigmund Freud. The Bible teaches that “God is love” and that God loves you. To realize that is of paramount importance. Nothing else matters so much. And loving you, God has a wonderful plan for your life. Who else could plan and guide your life so well? Prayer...More Monday, December 9, 2024 Word Made Flesh The Word was made flesh . . . full of grace and truth. —John 1:14 On the cover of your Bible and my Bible appear the words “Holy Bible.” Do you know why the Bible is called holy? Why should it be called holy when so much lust and hate and greed and war are found in it? It is because the Bible tells the truth. It tells the truth about God, about man, and about the devil. The Bible teaches that we exchange the truth of God for the devil’s lie about sex, for example; and drugs, and alcohol, and religious hypocrisy. Jesus Christ is the ultimate truth. Furthermore, He told the truth. Jesus said that He was...More Sunday, December 8, 2024 The Throne of Grace Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace . . . —Hebrews 4:16 Praying is simply a two-way conversation between you and God. Thousands of people pray only when they are under great stress, or in danger, overcome by uncertainty. I have been in airplanes when an engine died; then people started praying. I have talked to soldiers who told me that they never prayed until they were in the midst of battle. There seems to be an instinct in man to pray in times of trouble. We know “there are no atheists in foxholes,” but the kind of Christianity that fails to reach into our everyday lives will never...More Saturday, December 7, 2024 The Manifestation of Faith . . . we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust . . . —1 John 3:21 (TLB) The Bible teaches that faith will manifest itself in three ways. It will manifest itself in doctrine—in what you believe. It will manifest itself in worship—your communion with God and the fellowship of the church. It will manifest itself in morality—in the way you live and behave. . . . The Bible also teaches that faith does not end with trust in Christ for your salvation. Faith continues. Faith grows. It may be weak at first, but it will become stronger as you begin to read the Bible, pray, go to church, and...More Friday, December 6, 2024 Relying on Grace Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. —1 Corinthians 15:10 Let us face this fact: We came into the world with nothing, and we will leave it with nothing. Where do we get the notion that man’s idea of success and God’s are the same? You have written a book; you are a clever manager and promoter; you are a talented artist; you are independently rich; you have achieved fame and fortune. Without the gifts of intelligence, imagination, personality, and physical energy—which are all endowed by God—where would you be? Are we not born poor? Do we not die poor? And would we not be poor indeed...More Thursday, December 5, 2024 A Thousand Anxieties I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. —Psalm 34:4 Man has always been beset by worry, and the pressures of modern life have aggravated the problem. To men of all time Jesus said, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow . . . but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33-34). Many of you are filled with a thousand anxieties. Bring them to Jesus Christ by faith. He will bring peace to your soul and your mind. Prayer for the day Knowing You hear me, Lord, as I talk with You...More Wednesday, December 4, 2024 No Reason to Hurry When your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character . . . —James 1:4 (TLB) This is a high-strung, neurotic, impatient age. We hurry when there is no reason to hurry—just to be hurrying. This fast-paced age has produced more problems and less morality than previous generations, and it has given all of us jangled nerves. Impatience has produced a new crop of broken homes, or more new ulcers, and has set the stage for more world wars. Prayer for the day May my heart be still amid all the turmoil, as I remember Your patience with me,...More Tuesday, December 3, 2024 What About Love? Let love be your greatest aim . . . —1 Corinthians 14:1 (TLB) What about love? How can you be certain you’re in love? I suggest these simple measures that you can apply to yourself. Is your love patient? Is it considerate? Can it wait until marriage for physical fulfillment? Experience says that true love’s patience is inexhaustible. True love does not assert itself, claim rights, or demand privileges. It always thinks first of the other person. The biblical phrase is it “is not self-seeking.” True love never thinks evil of the beloved. It is never suspicious, but always supportive and inspiring....More Monday, December 2, 2024 All He Requires Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? —John 11:40 If you are a young man or young woman hooked on dissent or despair, ready to split, then lend me your attention. My answer concerns your dreams, and the element in your make-up called “faith.” All that God requires of anyone in taking his first step toward Him and toward total self-fulfillment is faith—faith in His Word, that teaches that God loves you and that you were alienated from Him by sin, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you, that when you make a personal surrender to Him as Lord and...More Sunday, December 1, 2024 The Broken Home “There is sin in their homes, and they are polluted to the depths of their souls. But I will call upon the Lord to save me—and he will.” —Psalm 55:15,16 (TLB) The broken home has become the number one social problem of America, and could ultimately lead to the destruction of our civilization. Since the basic unit of any society is the home, when the home begins to break, the society is on the way to disintegration. It is a threat to the American way of life. It does not make screaming headlines; but, like termites, it is eating away at the heart and core of the American structure. It is...More Saturday, November 30, 2024 His Presence That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings . . . —Philippians 3:10 W.C. Burns of India wrote, “Oh to have a martyr’s heart, if not a martyr’s crown.” Popularity and adulation are far more dangerous for the Christian than persecution. It is easy, when all goes smoothly, to lose our sense of balance and our perspective. The important thing is to walk with Christ, to live for Christ, and to have one consuming passion—to please Him. Then, whatever happens, we know that He has permitted it in order to teach us some priceless lesson and to perfect us for His...More Friday, November 29, 2024 Satan at Work In whom we have redemption . . . the forgiveness of sins. —Ephesians 1:7 Satan is at work in our world. The Bible is my authority. He exists and he has control over thousands of young people, whose hearts have never been captured by Jesus Christ. He has hundreds of agents writing pornographic literature and producing sex movies to pollute young minds. He has intellectuals in high positions teaching a hedonistic and permissive philosophy. Daily I come in contact with mixed-up people who are caught in the anguish of their own unpreparedness, intellectuals who have been seduced by false science, and...More Thursday, November 28, 2024 The Sufficiency of God I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. —John 10:10 In God’s economy, you must go down into the valley of grief before you can scale the heights of spiritual glory. You must become tired and weary of living alone before you seek and find the fellowship of Christ. You must come to the end of “self” before you can begin to live. The happiest day of my life was when I realized that my own ability, my own goodness, and my own morality were insufficient in the sight of God. I am not exaggerating when I say that my mourning was turned to joy, and my sighing into...More Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Realities of Life Casting down imaginations . . . and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. —2 Corinthians 10:5 Thousands of people have made plans to escape from the realities of life. A new word has come into common usage the last few years. That word is “escapism.” The dictionary defines it as “a retreat from reality into an imaginary world.” The escape of imagination. Solomon spoke of the unregenerate heart as one which is inclined to excessive fantasy. The dream world Satan promotes always ends with disillusionment. Thousands of people live in an unreal dream world, while shirking...More Tuesday, November 26, 2024 Enjoy Life Now you are happy with the inexpressible joy that comes from heaven itself. —1 Peter 1:8 (TLB) Christians are to enjoy life and enjoy one another. When children see no joy in their home, no joy in your Christianity, they will not be attracted by it. When they see you excited about going to a ball game, or watching television, and then dragging around to do spiritual things, they will soon get the idea that Christianity does not mean much to you. Your attitude will rub off. My wife says that the best way to get a child to eat his food is to see his parents enjoying theirs. Our children will not be attracted...More Monday, November 25, 2024 Whose Son Is He? To us there is but one God, the Father . . . and one Lord Jesus Christ . . . —1 Corinthians 8:6 Ultimately, in one way or another, or at one time or another, we shall be faced with this question: What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? If Jesus Christ is not who He claimed to be, He is a deceiver, or an egomaniac. We must answer this question with both belief and action. We must not only believe something about Jesus, but we must do something about Him. We must accept Him, or reject Him. Jesus made clear who He was, and why He came into the world. He asked His disciples, “Whom do men say that...More Sunday, November 24, 2024 Being Grateful in Word and Deed O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. —Psalm 118:1 This year as we observe our season of thanksgiving, let us be grateful not only in word but also in deed. Let our gratitude find expression in a resolve to live a life more unselfish and more consecrated to Jesus Christ. When we sit around our tables laden with sumptuous delicacies, let us not forget that half the world will go to bed hungry. As we enjoy the comforts of our cozy homes, let us not forget that great numbers in other parts of the world have no homes to go to. When we step into our sleek...More Saturday, November 23, 2024 The Abundant Life He that eateth, eateth to the Lord; for he giveth God thanks . . . —Romans 14:6 Do you think that God would have bothered to send His Son to the world, if man had been able to face life and eternity alone? Christ’s coming to the world proved that God was not happy with man’s unhappiness. He sent Him not only that we might have eternal life but that we might have life here and now, and that we might have it more abundantly—Life with a capital L! Jesus’ teaching was unique and different. He took religion out of the theoretical category and placed it in the practical. He spoke with...More Friday, November 22, 2024 Thanksgiving with Meaning The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. —Psalm 34:18 (TLB) It is the custom of many Christians to bow their heads in public places and give thanks for the food that has been placed before them. I have had scores of waiters and waitresses tell me that when we bowed our heads, it was the first time they had ever seen that happen in their restaurant. Millions never pause to give a word of thanks to God for the food provided. Few homes have a moment of thanksgiving at the beginning of the meal or at any other time of the day. Even at...More Thursday, November 21, 2024 Life Worth Living . . . ye might have life through his name. —John 20:31 “Is life worth living?” To scores of people life has ceased to be worth living. To all of you I have good news. God did not create you to be a defeated, discouraged, frustrated, wandering soul, seeking in vain for peace of heart and peace of mind. He has bigger plans for you. He has a larger orb and a greater life for you. The answer to your problem, however great, is as near as your Bible, as simple as first-grade arithmetic, and as real as your heartbeat. Upon the authority of God’s Word, I tell you that Christ is the answer to every...More Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Stumbling in Darkness The one who is the true Light arrived to shine on everyone coming into the world. —John 1:9 (TLB) The world is stumbling in darkness from one crisis to another. The crises are getting worse and worse, and are coming closer and closer to home. Inflation, population explosion, hunger, dominate vast areas of the world. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. You follow me and give your life to me and I’ll take you out of the darkness of this world, out of this confusion, out of this mess that you’re in, and I’ll give you peace and joy. A light will burn in your heart and mind that you never had...More Tuesday, November 19, 2024 Bridge the Gap Keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right . . . —1 Timothy 4:16 (TLB) In searching for ways to bridge the generation gap, there is no doubt that we, as parents, will have to practice what we preach, by striving more and more to bring our conduct into line with our code of beliefs. No mother can demand that her daughter abstain from sleeping around when she herself is flirting and on occasion compromising her own moral conduct. No father, who wavers between heavy social drinking and occasional binges to the edge of alcoholism, and who can’t speak a pleasant word...More Monday, November 18, 2024 Pure Hearts Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. —Philippians 2:5 It is impossible to live pure lives until we have pure hearts. Many people today are trying to put the cart before the horse. They are teaching purity of motives, desires, and actions to old, deceitful hearts! No wonder we have ended up such moral failures, in spite of our vaunted knowledge and psychological approaches. Pure motives, desires, and actions stem from pure hearts. Pure hearts will be Christlike. It is God’s desire that we be conformed to the image of His Son. If Christ lives within us and our bodies...More Sunday, November 17, 2024 Integrity Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do . . . —Philippians 4:9 Integrity is the glue that holds our way of life together. What our young people want to see in their elders is integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and faith. What they hate most of all is hypocrisy and phoniness. That is why it is important for us to go to church, to read the Bible, and to say grace at the table. Let them see us doing what we would like them to do. Prayer for the day Take away the “front,” Father, that so often creeps into my life. I would live in such a way...More Saturday, November 16, 2024 Real Security The foundation of God standeth sure . . . —2 Timothy 2:19 On campus the quickest way to security is through the crowd. Precisely where students talk about being independent and on their own, you will find them practicing the most rigid conformity in dress, in speech, in moral attitudes, and in thinking. Sometimes they follow fashion at the expense of integrity. They dread to be alone. They do not want to stand out or be different. They want to conform. After they graduate from college, many of these young people want nothing more than a good job with a big firm, and a home somewhere in suburbia....More Friday, November 15, 2024 Divine Artistry Yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. —2 Corinthians 12:5 Dr. Edward Judson, in speaking of the life of his father, Adoniram Judson, at the dedication of the Judson Memorial Church in New York City, said, “Suffering and success go together. If you are succeeding without suffering, it is because others before you have suffered; if you are suffering without succeeding, it is that others after you may succeed.” Happy are they that mourn. They can be happy because they know that their pain, their distress, and their privation are the travail of a new creation, the birth pangs...More Thursday, November 14, 2024 Unbreakable . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. —Joshua 24:15 The basic unit of any society is the home. When the home begins to break, the society is on the way to disintegration. Thousands of homes are almost on the rocks. Many couples are fearful lest their home, too, will be broken some day. There is one great insurance policy that you can take out, in order to guarantee the unity and happiness of your home. It is simple: Make Christ the center of your home. A home is like a solar system. The center, the great sun, holds the solar system together. If it were not for the sun, the...More Wednesday, November 13, 2024 Heart Trouble I beg you to keep away from the evil pleasures of this world . . . —1 Peter 2:11 (TLB) We all know there is no such thing as absolute freedom. We cannot drive down the street at 100 miles an hour. You can’t swing your fist at me, because your freedom stops at the end of my nose. We can say that we want freedom to publish pornography, to push harmful drugs, to have unrestricted sex, to lie, to cheat; but if we continue with that kind of permissive freedom, we shall destroy ourselves. Man can remain free only so long as he has the moral power to restrain his appetites. Basically, our problem is...More Tuesday, November 12, 2024 Good Things Are Costly In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. —John 16:33 You should not expect the easy way, for if you do you are certainly destined for disappointment. Any person who knows the Bible knows that the Christian life is likened to an athletic contest or to warfare, and neither one is easy. Jesus warned His followers to count carefully the cost, and that certainly does not speak of an easy way. But there is no good thing that comes without cost. The Christian life is the most satisfying, but only when we actually go all out and all the way. It is the...More Monday, November 11, 2024 A Creative God For we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. —Romans 8:26 John Knox, with an all-consuming soul-concern for his country, prayed, “Give me Scotland, or I die!” His earnest travail was rewarded with a spiritual rebirth in his land. This is what is termed “praying in the Spirit.” It is the manifestation of a deep spiritual concern for others, and it is instilled by the Spirit of God. This kind of prayer can leap over oceans, speed across burning deserts, spring over mountains, bound through...More Sunday, November 10, 2024 The Mysteries of God Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. —1 Corinthians 2:5 The word “mystery” is used many times in Scripture. Some of the mysteries of the past have been fathomed by science. Others still bewilder mankind. This fact remains: All of the garnered wisdom of the ages is only a scratch on the surface of man’s search for the knowledge of the universe. For the most part, God retains His secrets, and man standing on his intellectual tiptoes can comprehend only a small fraction of the Lord’s doings. This inability to comprehend fully the mysteries of God does...More Saturday, November 9, 2024 What Is Conscience? Having a good conscience . . . —1 Peter 3:16 What is conscience? God has put within each one of us something that cries aloud against us, whenever we do that which we know to be wrong. Conscience is the detective that watches the direction of our steps and decries every conscious transgression. Conscience is a vigilant eye before which each imagination, thought, and act, is held up for either censure or approval. I believe there is no greater argument for the existence of God in the world today than conscience. There is no greater proof of the existence of a moral law and Lawgiver in the universe...More Friday, November 8, 2024 Limitless God The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy . . . —Zephaniah 3:17 The world’s millions could come down to the beach and reach out their hands to be filled with sea water. They could each take as much as they wanted, as much as they needed—and still the ocean would remain unchanged. Its might and power would be the same, the life in its unfathomable depths would continue unaltered, although it had supplied the needs of every single person standing with outstretched hands along its shores. So it is with God. He can be everywhere at once,...More Thursday, November 7, 2024 Compassion for Others Let us love one another; for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. . . . And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also. —1 John 4:7,21 If you want to know the measure of your love for God, just observe your love for your fellowman. Our compassion for others is an accurate gauge of our devotion to God. Some time ago, with some friends, I went through a museum in San Francisco. Among other things, we saw a collection of instruments of torture which were employed by religious people to force other people to believe as they...More Wednesday, November 6, 2024 God Knows Your Needs "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength . . . " —Isaiah 40:31 It is an exhilarating experience to live the new life, with Christ inside me enabling me to live it. As a man was riding along in his Ford, suddenly something went wrong. He got out and looked at the engine, but he could find nothing wrong. As he stood there, another car came in sight, and he waved it down to ask for help. Out of a brand new Lincoln stepped a tall, friendly man who asked, “Well, what’s the trouble?” “I cannot get this Ford to move,” was the reply. The stranger made a few adjustments under the hood...More Tuesday, November 5, 2024 Human Nature Who so trusteth in the Lord, happy is he. —Proverbs 16:20 There is much in our nature that perplexes us. Many people are disturbed as they confront the troubling riddle of their own existence. They are bewildered by their proneness to sin and evil. They quake and tremble at the thought of their inability to cope with their own lives. Christ can give you satisfying answers to such questions as “Who am I?” “Why was I born?” “What am I doing here?” “Where am I going?” All of the great questions of life can be measured when you come by faith to Jesus Christ and receive Him as your...More Monday, November 4, 2024 A New Birth We started out bad, being born with evil natures. . . . But God is so rich in mercy . . . he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead . . . —Ephesians 2:3,4 (TLB) I am reminded of a period when all the agonies that afflict modern minds were felt by another generation, the young people who lived during the first century after Christ. They too sought change, but they directed their efforts at individuals, not at the Roman Empire, not at City Hall. And eventually the whole social and political structure felt their impact. In short, those renewed men and women became filled with a unique...More Sunday, November 3, 2024 The Love of God Keep yourselves in the love of God . . . —Jude 21 The Bible is a revelation of the fact that God is love. Many people misunderstand the attribute of God’s nature which is love. “God is love” does not mean that everything is sweet, beautiful, and happy, and that God’s love could not possibly allow punishment for sin. When we preach justice, it is justice tempered with love. When we preach righteousness, it is righteousness founded on love. When we preach atonement, it is atonement planned by love, provided by love, given by love, finished by love, necessitated because of love. When we...More Saturday, November 2, 2024 God With Us There is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. —Proverbs 18:24 How many lonely people there are today! God did not create man to live in miserable inner loneliness. In that first Eden, God Himself came down to keep the man He had made from being lonely. One of the most heartening things Jesus said to His disciples was, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He came to restore fellowship between man and God, and to take away human loneliness. Jesus Christ will take away loneliness from your soul. He will be your companion and...More Friday, November 1, 2024 Triumph in Affliction You don't understand now why I am doing it; some day you will. —John 13:7 (TLB) May I remind you that physical illness is not the worst thing that can happen to you? Some of the most twisted, miserable people I have ever met had no physical handicap. Some of the world’s greatest and most useful people have been handicapped. “The Messiah” was composed by Handel, who was suffering from a paralyzed right side and arm. Catherine Booth, in the last year of her life, said that she could not remember one day free from pain. Helen Keller has written, “I thank God for my handicaps, for...More Thursday, October 31, 2024 Hope for the Future For our citizenship is in heaven; from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. —Philippians 3:20 (NASB) If you are moving to a new home, you want to know all about the community to which you are going. And since we will spend eternity some place, we ought to know something about it. The information concerning heaven is found in the Bible. When we talk about heaven, earth grows shabby by comparison. Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less, when we have keen anticipation of the future. In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul,...More Wednesday, October 30, 2024 God Is Love! Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . . —Jeremiah 31:3 As I read the Bible, I find love to be the supreme and dominant attribute of God. The promises of God’s love and forgiveness are as real, as sure, as positive, as human words can make them. But the total beauty of the ocean cannot be understood until it is seen, and it is the same with God’s love. Until you actually experience it, until you actually possess it, no one can describe its wonders to you. Never question God’s great love, for it is as unchangeable a part of God as His holiness. Were it not for the love of God,...More Tuesday, October 29, 2024 Battle of the Spirit Let the peace of God rule in your hearts . . . —Colossians 3:15 When we examine the problems that confront us in our world today, we find that every one of them resolves into a problem of “inner space,” a problem of the dark side of the human spirit. From thousands of letters we receive, it is evident that a large proportion of the population is facing deep personal problems. They vary from person to person, but they do exist, and they are all problems of “inner space.” Yes, we are the people who have been conquering outer space, but are in danger of losing the battle of the spirit. But...More Monday, October 28, 2024 Genuine Love . . . being knit together in love . . . —Colossians 2:2 Thousands of young couples go through with a loveless marriage because no one ever told them what genuine love is. I believe we need to read the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, in which the Apostle Paul gives us a definition of love. He says, “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never...More Sunday, October 27, 2024 True Colors God carefully watches the goings on of all mankind . . . —Job 34:21 (TLB) There is an old story that tells about a pig. . . . The farmer brought the pig into the house. He gave him a bath, polished his hooves, put some Chanel No. 5 on him, put a ribbon around his neck, and put him in the living room. The pig looked fine. He made a nice and companionable pet for a few minutes. But as soon as the door was opened, the pig left the living room and jumped into the first mud puddle that he could find. Why? Because he was still a pig at heart. His nature had not been changed. He had changed outwardly but not...More Saturday, October 26, 2024 Bread of Life I am the living bread that came down from heaven . . . —John 6:51 In John 6:48 we read that Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus had just fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fishes. They were all excited and thrilled over the great miracle that had occurred, [but] Jesus was talking about something more important than social needs. Bread in the Scriptures is a symbol of spiritual life. Man has an inborn hunger for God. He cannot be satisfied with anything less than God. God alone can supply the bread which satisfies the inner longing of your soul and the hunger of your heart. . ....More Friday, October 25, 2024 Cure Discouragement Wait on the Lord, be of good courage . . . —Psalm 27:14 Discouragement is nothing new. Many of the great Bible characters became discouraged. Moses in the Sinai desert; Elijah when he heard Jezebel was searching for him to take his life; and David when his son Absalom rebelled against him. It is as old as the history of man. There is often a cause for discouragement. It comes many times when we don’t get our way, when things don’t work out the way we want them to. Discouragement is the opposite of faith. It is Satan’s device to thwart the work of God in your life. Discouragement blinds our...More Thursday, October 24, 2024 Prejudice Is Weakness Judge not, that ye be not judged. —Matthew 7:1 The word prejudice means “prejudging” or “making an estimate of others without knowing the facts.” Prejudice is a mark of weakness, not of strength. Prejudice is measured by computing the distance between our own biased opinions and the real truth. If we would all be perfectly honest before God, there would be no prejudice. Prayer for the day You love each one of us with a love that breaks through all prejudicial barriers, Father. Forgive me for the times I judge others. Purify my heart, that I may be used to draw people together...More Wednesday, October 23, 2024 Where Is Heaven? I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me. —Luke 22:29 Many people have asked, “Where is heaven?” We are not told in the Scripture where heaven is. Some students have tried to take some Scriptures and put them together and say that heaven is in the north. They quote Psalm 48:2, “The joy of the whole earth is . . . on the sides of the north . . . ” The magnetic needle points north. Perhaps the Celestial City is in the north. We do not know. But no matter where heaven is, it will be where Christ is. Many people ask, “Do you believe that heaven is a literal...More Tuesday, October 22, 2024 All Have Sinned So it is that we are saved by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do. —Romans 3:28 (TLB) Many people still cling to the notion that man is naturally good. We did not get this from the Greeks. Aristotle said, “There is no good in mankind.” We did not get it from Judaism. Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). We did not get it from Christian teachings. The Apostle Paul said, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We got this illusion, I believe, from the philosophers and...More Monday, October 21, 2024 A Need for God Christ in your hearts is your only hope of glory. —Colossians 1:27 (TLB) The age-old issue, “Can man save himself, or does he need God?” is still raging across the world as furiously as ever. As long as the world goes on, people will build towers of Babel, fashion their graven images, and invent their own ideologies. Now, as in every period of history, people think they can manage without God. Economically, they may manage; intellectually, they may manage; socially, they may get by. But down underneath the surface of rational man is a vacuum-a void that can be met only through Jesus Christ....More Sunday, October 20, 2024 Victory Over Temptation . . . tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed . . . —Romans 5:3–5 God never promised to remove temptation from us, for even Christ was subject to it. The Bible says that “He was tested in all things, like as we, yet without sin.” There is no good reason why you should seek to escape, for such times of testing have beneficial effects. There is a sense of achievement and assurance that results from victory over temptation that cannot come to us otherwise. Temptation shows what people really are. It does not make us Christian or...More Saturday, October 19, 2024 Joy in Sorrow In the day when I cried, [you] answered me, and strengthened me ... —Psalm 138:3 At some time in life all of us feel the loneliness of sorrow. Mary and Martha were saddened by the death of their brother, Lazarus, and Martha said to Jesus, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Theirs was a loneliness of sorrow. The shortest verse in the Bible tells us that at the tomb of Lazarus “Jesus wept.” He enters into our sorrows. When we come to Jesus Christ, He does not promise to exempt us from trouble or sorrow. Tears will come, but deep inside there will be a joy that is...More Friday, October 18, 2024 Blessed Are Peacemakers I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety. —Psalm 4:8 In a materialistic world which has tried to sever diplomatic relations with God, we have nowhere to retreat except within ourselves. We are like turtles in a traffic jam—the best we can do is to pull our heads into our shells and shut our eyes. But that’s a good way to get the life crushed out of us, as any dead turtle can attest. Man’s conflict with man has been but an expression on the human level of his conflict with God. Until man finds an armistice with God, he cannot know peace with...More Thursday, October 17, 2024 Searching for Peace? Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee ... —Isaiah 26:3 Are you searching for peace? Are you longing for it? You thought you would find it if you made a lot of money, but you didn’t find it. You thought you would find it in getting and accumulating a lot of knowledge, so you got all the degrees you could, but you didn’t find it, this peace. You’ve searched the religions of the world, but you haven’t found it. There are a thousand ways you’ve turned, trying to find peace, but you haven’t found it. When you come to Christ by an act of faith, He gives you the...More Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Loneliness My heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. —Psalm 84:2 Loneliness is one of the greatest problems people face today. It is a leading cause of suicide-that is now the third greatest killer of students in the United States. People feel various kinds of loneliness. One of the most common is the loneliness of solitude. Or there is the loneliness of suffering. Many people experience loneliness in society, or there is the loneliness of sorrow, guilt, and judgment. All of us feel at times a loneliness for God. Someone has called it cosmic loneliness. We don’t know what it is. It makes us...More Tuesday, October 15, 2024 Experience Jesus The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. —John 6:63 To one of the most religious men of His day, Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7). Nicodemus could not substitute his profound knowledge of religion for spiritual rebirth, and neither can we. I have read a book on water skiing, and it did not take long for me to learn that I could never learn to water ski by reading a book—I would have to experience it. I have read a number of books on golf, but none of them seems to improve my game; I must get out on the golf course and play. You may study theology...More Monday, October 14, 2024 Pure in Heart He that walketh righteously . . . shall dwell on high. —Isaiah 33:15,16 Being pure in conduct also includes honesty and integrity in dealing with our fellowmen. A Christian should be known in his neighborhood or place of business as an honest person, a person who can be trusted. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Do you want to be happy? All right, apply this Beatitude to your heart. Take it to yourself. The pure in heart are the only ones who can know what it means to be supremely happy. Their hearts are pure toward God and, as a result are pure toward their fellowmen. They are...More Sunday, October 13, 2024 True Freedom . . . believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable . . . —1 Peter 1:8 Christ is the answer to sadness and discouragement. This is a world of thwarted hopes, broken dreams, and frustrated desires. G.K. Chesterton says, “Everywhere there is speed, noise and confusion, but nowhere deep happiness and quiet hearts.” A Hollywood columnist wrote about a famous movie star, “The bright, carefree radiance has gone from her pretty face.” Optimism and cheerfulness are products of knowing Christ. If the heart has been attuned to God through faith in Christ, then its overflow will be joyous optimism and...More Saturday, October 12, 2024 Christianity Is Serious Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only . . . —James 1:22 Jesus indicated that there will be a permissive society just before He comes back. “As in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the coming of the Son of man.” The world today is on an immoral binge that has not been known since the days of Rome. We are in a hedonistic society, and what we are seeing is human nature expressing itself without God. Many have fallen into an antinomianism in which they believe intellectually and then go out and live like the devil, imagining that God will forgive them and take them to...More Friday, October 11, 2024 The Problem of Boredom . . . knowing what lies ahead for you, you won't become bored with being a Christian . . . —Hebrews 6:12 (TLB) Do you know what nearly all the sociologists say today in their study of young people? The greatest problem facing young people today is not sex—it is boredom. Did you know that when they had the riot at Hampton Beach in New Hampshire they asked the young people what was wrong, why did they do it? Many of them said, “Just for the hell of it.” Bored—life has no purpose, life has no meaning. Give your life to Christ and you will never spend another bored minute. Prayer for the...More Thursday, October 10, 2024 Satisfied by Righteousness But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. —Philippians 4:19 Man hungers for food, and God sends the sun and rain upon the golden fields of grain. The grain is made into flour, and flour into bread, and man’s physical hunger is satisfied. Man hungers for love; and God ignites the fire of affection in another heart, and two hearts are made complete in the bonds of holy matrimony. Man hungers for knowledge, and God raises up institutions of learning, calls men to be instructors, puts it into the hearts of the rich to endow them; and men are satisfied...More Wednesday, October 9, 2024 The Real Source of Power But seek ye first the kingdom of God . . . —Matthew 6:33 A man or a woman who has been focusing all attention on financial gains, or business, or social prestige, or who has centered all his affection on some one person, experiences a devastating sense of loss when denied the thing that has given life its meaning. In these tragic moments, the individual recognizes how terribly and completely alone he is. In that moment the Holy Spirit may cause the worldly bandages to fall from his eyes so that he sees clearly for the first time. He recognizes that God is the only source of real power, and the...More Tuesday, October 8, 2024 How to Love These things I command you, that ye love one another. —John 15:17 How are we to love? We are to love as God loves us . . . we are to show acceptance and appreciation . . . [to] accept each other as God accepts us. Too many parents refuse to accept and appreciate their children for what they are. That is why a million American children ran away from home last year. A team of Yale researchers has concluded that the majority of these runaways were attempting to escape an unhappy family situation. They yearned to be appreciated. The causes of delinquency, we are told, are broken homes, poverty, lack...More Monday, October 7, 2024 Forever Linked . . . this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. —John 4:42 History, philosophy, theology, and—in many centers of learning—even the sciences are being studied to discover what they have to say about Jesus Christ. The records of the Early Church are being reexamined for their testimony to Him. Archaeologists are digging to discover new evidence. Some say that Jesus Christ is a myth, and He never existed in history. Others say that He was merely a man, that there was nothing supernatural about His birth, and that His resurrection was a hallucination. Others talk about a Christless...More Sunday, October 6, 2024 Longings of the Soul Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled. —Matthew 5:6 It has been my privilege to know what it means to walk in the way of Christ. What a thrilling, joyous experience it is to wake up every morning and know His presence in the room! What a thrilling, joyous experience it is to know in the evening, when the sun is setting, the peace of God as you go to bed and to sleep, and to sleep the sleep of only those who know Christ! What a joy it is to walk in the eternal and permanent experience of Christ! Do you hunger for such a walk? Do you long for such...More Saturday, October 5, 2024 Suffering as a Christian Blessed is the man whom [the Lord] chasteneth . . . —Psalm 94:12 God sometimes allows Christians to suffer, in order that they might learn the secret of obedience. The Psalmist said, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept thy word” (Psalm 119:67). It was not until after great sorrow and much affliction that David learned obedience to God. My dear Christian friend, if you are today suffering at the hand of God and you have asked a thousand times, “Why?” I beg of you to be patient and quiet before God, and listen to the still, small voice. Bow under His loving hand and...More Friday, October 4, 2024 Respect for Authority And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All [authority] is given unto me in heaven and in earth. —Matthew 28:18 Have respect for authority. Jesus Christ was under the authority of His Father in heaven . . . He lived for one thing: to fulfill the will of the Father. Everyone is subject to some kind of authority. There is one chain of command and the ultimate authority at the top is God. What is the authority in your life? Is it your selfishness? Your lust? Your greed? Or have you turned it all over to God and said, “Lord, You are going to be my authority?” When you are under authority, you...More Thursday, October 3, 2024 Science and Religion He reveals profound mysteries beyond man's understanding. He knows all hidden things, for he is light . . . —Daniel 2:22 (TLB) The fact of the matter is that science and faith complement each other, and there is no conflict between true science and true religion. Together they give the best foundation for wholesome faith and courage for daily living. When Galileo, the father of modern science, discovered that the earth revolved, instead of the sun moving around the earth, certain religious leaders were greatly disturbed, for they held another theory. But eventually they were reconciled. Since...More Wednesday, October 2, 2024 A Daily Process He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. —Philippians 1:6 Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion. It is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ. When you start out, you start out as a baby. You must be fed on the simple things of the Bible, and you learn to walk in your Christian life gradually. At first you will fall down and make many mistakes, but you are to continue growing. However, there are many people who have stopped growing. They remain spiritual babes all their lives. I am afraid that this experience is...More Tuesday, October 1, 2024 Our Defeated Foe For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword . . . —Hebrews 4:12 How do we overcome the devil in everyday life? First, we need to recognize that the devil is a defeated foe. The Son of God came to undo the work of the devil. The crucifixion of Christ, which looked like a mighty victory for Satan, turned out to be a great triumph for God, because it was on the cross that Jesus took your sins and my sins. God laid our sins on Christ, so that when our Lord bowed His head and said, “It is finished,” He was referring to the plan of redemption and salvation. Then . . . we...More Monday, September 30, 2024 Our Greatest Need I stretch forth my hands unto thee; my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land... —Psalm 143:6 Not long ago I visited the dean of a great American university. We looked out the window of his office and watched hundreds of students walking to their classes. I asked the dean, “What is the greatest problem at this university?” He thought a moment and answered, “Emptiness.” So many people today are bored, lonely, searching for something. You can see it in their faces. One girl home from college told her wealthy father, “Father, I want something but I don’t know what it is.”...More

Friday, September 27, 2024 The Holy Spirit Your body is the home of the Holy Spirit . . . —1 Corinthians 6:19 (TLB) Who is the Holy Spirit? He is God, just as God the Father and God the Son are also God. We speak of them as the Trinity. You ask me to explain the Trinity. Our minds can but dimly grasp these great spiritual facts, because we are finite and God is infinite. It may help to remember that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have all existed from eternity. The work of creation was given to the Son and we are told that, “All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made.” But...More Thursday, September 26, 2024 You Can Preach! And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world . . . —Matthew 24:14 (TLB) We are stewards of the Gospel. The power to proclaim the greatest news in heaven or on earth was not given to the angels. It was given to redeemed men. This was addressed to humble laymen. Some think that only ministers are to preach, but that is wrong. Every Christian is to be a witness; every follower of Christ is to preach the Gospel. We can preach by sharing our experience with others. We can preach by exalting Christ in our daily lives. Sermons which are seen are often more effective...More Wednesday, September 25, 2024 Symptoms of Guilt Cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again. —Psalm 51:2 (TLB) Guilt is a prominent word among psychoanalysts, psychiatrists, and ministers too. The dictionary calls guilt “the act or state of having done a wrong or committed an offense.” The symptoms of guilt are many, but the root cause is one. We have broken the moral law of the universe as expressed in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount. So we have a sense of guilt. This guilt causes a variety of psychological problems such as insecurity, tension, hunger for approval, struggles for recognition. A sense of...More Tuesday, September 24, 2024 A Living Presence A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. —Luke 2:32 If we could look through mighty telescopes or listen to electronic soundings, we could hear and see the metallic stars which both Russia and America have put into space in the past years. None of these synthetic stars have brought peace to the world. But God’s star promised peace to the whole world, if man would believe and trust. Too often man’s synthetic stars bring fear and anxiety. Our gadget-filled paradise, suspended in a hell of international insecurity, certainly does not offer us the happiness of which...More Monday, September 23, 2024 How to Handle Temptation . . . who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able . . . —1 Corinthians 10:13 It is Satan’s purpose to steal the seed of truth from your heart by sending distracting thoughts. It should encourage you to know that the devil considers you a good enough Christian to use as a target. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is: though they both may have good and evil thoughts, Christ gives His followers strength to select the right rather than the wrong. You see a man going to prayer meeting with a Bible under his arm. That man was undoubtedly tempted to stay at home,...More Sunday, September 22, 2024 Salvation Is An Act of God There is salvation in no one else! Under all heaven there is no other name for men to call upon to save them. —Acts 4:12 (TLB) Salvation is an act of God. It is initiated by God, wrought by God, and sustained by God. The faith that saves the soul is described as faith in Christ as the Son of God—not as a good man or a great man, but as the uniquely begotten Son of the living God! This is consistent with the witness of the entire New Testament and with the proclamations of the first preachers of the Gospel. All proclaim the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ as deity. Prayer for...More Saturday, September 21, 2024 Why We Can’t Fully Comprehend God Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power . . . —Romans 1:20 (TLB) If you try to rationalize God exhaustively, you will fail. There are mysteries about God that we will never understand in this life. How can the small and finite, limited to time and space, understand an infinite God! We should not think it strange that it is impossible to explain many mysteries in the realm of matter. Who can explain why objects are always attracted to the center of the earth? Who can fathom the law of gravity? Newton discovered...More Friday, September 20, 2024 Do You Surrender? It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. —Ephesians 2:10 (TLB) Happiness and all of the unlimited benefits which flow from the storehouse of heaven are contingent upon our relationship to God. Absolute dependency and absolute yieldedness are the conditions of being His child. Only His children are entitled to receive those things that lend themselves to happiness; and in order to be His child, there must be surrender of the will to Him. We must admit we are poor before...More Thursday, September 19, 2024 Change Yourself, Change the World Every one of us shall give account of himself to God. —Romans 14:12 I do not quarrel with Karl Marx’s statement that “religion is the opiate of the people.” I never try to defend religion. Religion has spawned wars. Many so-called religious people have been characterized by prejudice, pride, bickering, and even tolerance for slavery. However, I would call you to a simple faith in Jesus, who said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Are you really concerned? Are you disappointed with society? If you are, I challenge you to take the first step. I challenge you to look at yourself. Prayer...More Wednesday, September 18, 2024 Infinite Desires For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. —Hebrews 13:14 One of the basic desires of the soul is to live on and on. Self-preservation is the first law of nature. People may grow tired of aches and pains and the decrepitude of old age, but they do not grow tired of life itself. God has arranged to satisfy this yearning of the soul to live forever, and the desire to be free from pain and sickness and trouble. People are little creatures with big capacities, finite beings with infinite desires, deserving nothing but demanding all. God made people with this huge capacity and desire...More Tuesday, September 17, 2024 The Power of Words The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do . . . —James 3:5 (TLB) There is a story of a woman in England who came to her vicar with a troubled conscience. The vicar knew her to be a habitual gossip—she had maligned nearly everyone in the village. “How can I make amends?” she pleaded. The vicar said, “If you want to make peace with your conscience, take a bag of goose feathers and drop one on the porch of each one you have slandered.” When she had done so, she came back to the vicar and said, “Is that all?” “No,” said the wise old minister, “you must go now and gather...More Monday, September 16, 2024 The Madness of the Gospel We preach Christ crucified . . . —1 Corinthians 1:23 One of the great needs in the church today is for every Christian to become enthusiastic about his faith in Jesus Christ. This is the essence of vital spiritual experience. The apostles had been with Christ, and they could not help but testify to that which they had seen and heard. Every Christian should become an ambassador of Christ with the splendid abandon of Francis of Assisi. Every Christian should be so intoxicated with Christ and so filled with holy fervor that nothing could ever quench his ardor. The Gospel that Paul preached seemed madness to...More Sunday, September 15, 2024 Is It Well With Your Soul? And how does a man benefit if he gains the whole world and loses his soul in the process? For is anything worth more than his soul? —Mark 8:36,37 (TLB) In the world in which we live, we give most attention to satisfying the appetites of the body and practically none to the soul. Consequently, we are one-sided. We become fat physically and materially, while spiritually we are lean, weak and anemic. The soul actually demands as much attention as the body. It demands fellowship and communion with God. It demands worship, quietness, and meditation. Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and...More Saturday, September 14, 2024 True Friendship By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. —John 13:35 The human soul is a lonely thing. It must have the assurance of companionship. Left entirely to itself, it cannot enjoy anything. God said in the beginning, “It is not good that man should dwell alone” (Genesis 2:18). The creation of Eve was the beginning of human companionship. God’s people are a body, not intended to function separately, not intended to be unconcerned for one another. The only true body in the world is the Church. The world may talk grandly of brotherhood, but in reality its philosophy...More Friday, September 13, 2024 Where Is Jesus Christ? Everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus . . . —Philippians 3:8 (TLB) “Where is Jesus Christ?” Innumerable students are studying Him and deciding whether or not Christ and the Gospel really matter—whether He is relevant in this modern age. C.S. Lewis, a professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Oxford and later at Cambridge, had to do the same thing. He spent his life exploring the great literature of centuries. In his remarkable autobiography, Surprised by Joy, he tells of his pilgrimage from atheism to Christianity. His turning point came...More Thursday, September 12, 2024 Be Meek—Be Happy Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. —Matthew 5:5 In His characteristic way Jesus was saying something quite shocking and revolutionary to His listener with these words, “Happy are the meek.” He was saying something quite the opposite of our modern concept of the way to happiness. We say, “Happy are the clever, for they shall inherit the admiration of their friends”; “Happy are the aggressive, for they shall inherit a career”; “Happy are the rich, for they shall inherit a world of friends and a house full of modern gadgets.” Jesus did not say, “Be meek and you shall...More Wednesday, September 11, 2024 Only Jesus God . . . is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, even Christ our Lord. —1 Corinthians 1:9 (TLB) The question remains, “How can God be just—that is, true to Himself in nature and true to Himself in holiness—and yet justify the sinner?” Because each man had to bear his own sins, all mankind was excluded from helping, since each was contaminated with the same disease. The only solution was for an innocent party to volunteer to die physically and spiritually as a substitution before God. This innocent party would have to take man’s judgment, penalty, and death. But...More Tuesday, September 10, 2024 Dream Great Dreams Be thou faithful unto death . . . —Revelation 2:10 In our day much of the world believes little or nothing. People are broad but shallow. Agnosticism, anxiety, emptiness, meaninglessness, have gripped much of the world—and even the church. Our youth are desperately searching for a purpose and a meaning in their lives. They are searching for fulfillment which they are not finding in sex and drugs. By contrast, our Pilgrim forebears stand as shining examples of men who were narrow but deep, certain of what they believed, unswerving in their loyalty, and passionately dedicated to the God they trusted, and...More Monday, September 9, 2024 Science & Faith He . . . has given you a full understanding of the truth. —1 Corinthians 1:5 (TLB) There is never any conflict between true science and our Christian faith. It is my own feeling that when all of the truth is known, it will be found that the Genesis story is a wonderfully accurate record of what took place when the world was created. This may be a telescoped record, giving only major points, but I believe it is scientifically accurate. To discard the Bible because we do not understand everything in it, or in the world, would be a foolish thing to do. Let me also suggest that teachers should confine...More Sunday, September 8, 2024 Be Honest with God God loveth a cheerful giver. —2 Corinthians 9:7 The greatest blessing of giving is not on the financial side of the ledger but on the spiritual side. You receive a sense of being honest with God. You receive a consciousness that you are in partnership with God—that you are doing something constructive—that you are working with Him to reach the world for Jesus Christ. You are also enabled to hold on to this world’s goods loosely because the eternal values are always in view. How do you give? Is it liberally and cheerfully? Or is it sparingly and grudgingly? If you have been giving God the leftovers of...More Saturday, September 7, 2024 The Mystery of Heaven I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. —Psalm 23:6 What will heaven be like? Just as there is a mystery to hell, so there is a mystery to heaven. Yet I believe the Bible teaches that heaven is a literal place. Is it one of the stars? I don’t know, I can’t even speculate. The Bible doesn’t inform us. I believe that out there in space where there are one thousand million galaxies, each a hundred thousand light years or more in diameter, God can find some place to put us in heaven. I’m not worried about where it is. I know it will be where Jesus is. Christians don’t have to go around...More Friday, September 6, 2024 Born Again Clothe yourself with this new nature. —Ephesians 4:24 (TLB) In Texas they tell a story about a man who used to hitch his horse every morning in front of the saloon. One morning the saloonkeeper came out and found that the horse was hitched in front of the Methodist church. He saw the man walking down the street and called out, “Say, why is your horse hitched in front of the Methodist church this morning?” The man turned around and said, “Well, last night I was converted in the revival meeting, and I’ve changed hitching posts.” That’s what it means to be born again. That’s what it means to be...More Thursday, September 5, 2024 The Truth Sets Us Free Come unto me, all ye that labor . . . —Matthew 11:28 The mark of a true Christian is found in his personal relationship to the Person of Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ. Christ is Christianity. I speak reverently when I say that Jesus is more than His ideas. All that He said was true, but without Him even the truth would have been powerless. Men know the power of truth, and truth is that which sets men free. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Prayer for the day Thank You, Jesus, for the shackles that have been broken in my life! More Wednesday, September 4, 2024 The Greatest Work of Christ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. —Ephesians 6:12 Jesus worked all His life. But the greatest work that Jesus did was not in the carpenter’s shop, nor even at the marriage feast of Cana where He turned the water into wine. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He made the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, nor even the dead to rise. The greatest work that Jesus did was not when He taught as One having authority, or when He...More Tuesday, September 3, 2024 The Responsibility of Discipleship Even while we were still there with you we gave you this rule: 'He who does not work shall not eat.' —2 Thessalonians 3:10 (TLB) One of the Christian’s responsibilities in following Christ is to have a new attitude toward work. So many young people want Christ without responsibility. Jesus was not a drop-out. As a carpenter, He worked hard with His hands. The Apostle Paul made tents for a living while he carried on the work that God assigned him. Whatever work a Christian does is done unto the Lord. He should do his best at whatever his trade or vocation. He should be faithful, clean, and...More Monday, September 2, 2024 The Struggles of Life Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree ... —1 Peter 2:24 All life is a struggle—that is the nature of things. Even within our physical bodies, doctors tell us, a conflict for supremacy is going on. The bacteria in our bloodstream are waging a constant war against alien germs. The red corpuscles fight the white corpuscles constantly in an effort to maintain life within the body. A battle is also raging in the spiritual realm. “We fight,” the Bible says, “against the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Darkness hates light. I have a dog that would rather dig up a moldy carcass...More Sunday, September 1, 2024 The First Missionary Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. —Matthew 4:19 Jesus Himself was the first missionary! He did not sit by passively and let those who happened to be interested in His teaching come to Him. He went out where the sick, the sorrowing, and the sad were, and expounded His message of joy, healing, and salvation. Even at a tender age, He went to the Temple and “taught” the doctors and lawyers who were entrenched in the old traditions. He found His way to the seaside and intruded upon the life of the commonest of laborers, saying, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Wherever He...More Saturday, August 31, 2024 Hope Beyond Death The righteous hath hope in his death. —Proverbs 14:32 We don’t like to talk about death; it’s the forbidden subject of our generation. Yet it’s real for all of us. Sometimes on television I see motion pictures featuring actors who are no longer living. They seem very much alive in the picture, but they are dead. Some of them were my personal friends. Death is real, and when we die, that is a battle we have to fight all alone. Nobody can be with us in that hour, but David said he had found an answer that would take the fear of death away. David said that there is an answer to death, there is a hope...More Friday, August 30, 2024 Make Room in Your Heart Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven . . . —Matthew 5:43–45 When H. G. Wells summed up the influence of Jesus in history, he said, “Is it any wonder that this Galilean is too much for our small hearts?” And yet the heart of man, though small, is big enough for Christ to live in, if man will only make room for Him. Christ...More Thursday, August 29, 2024 Just As I Am You are living a brand new kind of life . . . more and more like Christ who created this new life within you. —Colossians 3:10 (TLB) A long-haired blonde from a southern university seemed to be enjoying a satisfactory student career when her grades began to slip. “Life had become one long case of the blahs,” she confessed later. “I wasn’t walking around with a steady load of blues, but I wasn’t enjoying life. Small things made me blow up. I met some kids who seemed to know something I didn’t know, but I couldn’t get in on it. We went to several meetings, and one night the speaker said that we...More Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Grace and Peace Unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. —Ephesians 4:7 The Christian life is never spoken of in the Bible as a bed of roses. It is uphill, because society is coming one way and the Christian is going the opposite way. But Jesus said that in the midst of your problems, in the midst of your difficulties, He will be there to give you grace and peace. Underneath all the troubles, will be the “still waters” that the Great Shepherd can provide. Many people are trying to steady themselves by taking tranquilizers. Jesus is the greatest tranquilizer of all. He can...More Tuesday, August 27, 2024 The Secret of Surrender Just as you used to be slaves to all kinds of sin, so now you must let yourselves be slaves to all that is right and holy. —Romans 6:19 (TLB) We have heard the modern expression, “Don’t fight it—it’s bigger than both of us.” Those who are meek do not fight back at life. They learn the secret of surrender, or yielding to God. He then fights for us! Instead of filling your mind with resentments, abusing your body by sinful diversion, and damaging your soul by willfulness, humbly give all over to God. Your conflicts will disappear and your inner tensions will vanish into thin air. Then your...More Monday, August 26, 2024 Unspeakable Joy And the disciples were called Christians . . . —Acts 11:26 In the third century Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, wrote to his friend Donatus, “It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world. But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people, who have learned a great secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times better than any of the pleasures of our sinful life. They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are Christians . . . and I am one of them.” If you have repented of your...More Sunday, August 25, 2024 The Purity of Marriage Whatsoever things are pure . . . think on these things. —Philippians 4:8 Nowhere does the Bible teach that sex in itself is a sin. Man in his sinful nature has taken what was intended to be a glorious and complete act of love between two people and has made it something low, cheap, and dirty. The Bible is one of the world’s outspoken books on the subject of sex, and the Bible condemns sex outside the bonds of matrimony. The fact that immorality is rampant throughout the nation doesn’t make it right; the fact that some clergymen may condone it doesn’t make it right. The Bible says, “There is a way...More Sunday, August 25, 2024 What have you promised God? ‘And you will pay your vows.’ Job 22:27 NKJV When God makes a promise to us, we have every right to expect Him to keep it. And when we make God a promise, He has every right to expect us to keep it. ‘You will make your prayer to Him, He will hear you, And you will pay your vows. You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways’ (Job 22:27-28 NKJV). This Scripture could be your doorway to blessing and a key to the breakthrough you have been praying for. Go back and revisit the promises you have made to God. Why? Because He wants you to feel confident...More Saturday, August 24, 2024 Root of Sin Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. —Romans 8:37 (TLB) The basic problem facing our world is not just social inequity, or lack of education, or even physical hunger. We are finding that highly educated and well-fed people have greeds, hates, passions, and lusts that are not eliminated by education. The root of sin in each of our hearts is extremely deep, and this is the basic cause of the world’s problems; only the fire of the Lord can burn it out. This is precisely what Christ came to do. He didn’t come to treat symptoms. He came to get at the very heart of...More Friday, August 23, 2024 We Must Decrease Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. —Lamentations 3:40 Our modern philosophy of self-reliance and self-sufficiency has caused many to believe that we can make the grade without God. “Religion,” they argue, “may be all right for certain emotional people, but you can’t beat a man who believes in himself.” But this self-confident generation has produced more alcoholics, more dope addicts, more criminals, more wars, more broken homes, more assaults, more embezzlements, more murders, and more suicides than any other generation that ever lived. It is time for all of us to take...More Thursday, August 22, 2024 This World Is Not Our Home For we know that when this tent we live in now is taken down-when we die and leave these bodies-we will have wonderful new bodies in heaven, homes that will be ours forevermore, made for us by God himself, and not by human hands. —2 Corinthians 5:1 (TLB) Death, to the Christian, is the exchanging of a tent for a building. Here we are as pilgrims or gypsies, living in a frail, flimsy home; subject to disease, pain, and peril. But at death we exchange this crumbling, disintegrating tent for a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The wandering wayfarer comes into his own at death and is given the...More Wednesday, August 21, 2024 What Heaven Will Be Like And there shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him. —Revelation 22:3 The Bible indicates that Heaven will be a place of great understanding and knowledge of things that we never learned down here. Sir Isaac Newton, when an old man, said to one who praised his wisdom, “I am as a child on the seashore picking up a pebble here and a shell there, but the great ocean of truth still lies before me.” And Thomas Edison once said, “I do not know one millionth part of one percent about anything.” Many of the mysteries of God—the...More Tuesday, August 20, 2024 3 Kinds of Pleasure The disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost. —Acts 13:52 The Bible speaks of three kinds of pleasure. There is lustful pleasure, the lust of the flesh, and Scripture says it is sinful and wrong. There is legitimate pleasure, which is not wrong, but we are not to become so preoccupied with its activities that it takes the place of God. Then there is a third kind of pleasure, lasting pleasure. Do you have that kind? It does not depend on circumstances or feelings. It is the pleasure that runs deep and comes from the Spirit of God. Prayer for the day Almighty God, may my...More Monday, August 19, 2024 Be Not Anxious Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. —Colossians 3:16 Christians are to rejoice. To do that, you need only to think of the great things God has done for you. Then we are told not to be anxious, but in our prayers to make our requests known to God. In your biggest problems you have One to whom you can go; and before Him you can pour out your heart with the assurance that He will not leave you without an answer to that great problem. Then we are to fill our minds...More Sunday, August 18, 2024 Where Is Your Treasure? Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . —Matthew 6:20 Many young people are building their lives on the rock of materialism. I find across the country a deep economic discontent among people in every walk of life. People want more and more things. They forget that we are enjoying the highest standard of living the world has ever known. We still have poverty, and hundreds of agencies are trying to do something about it; but we are dissatisfied. We want more, more, more. But Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and money.” He said that a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things...More Saturday, August 17, 2024 Cast Your Cares Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat-they don't need to sow or reap or store up food-for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. —Matthew 6:26 (TLB) Some section hands on a British railroad found a thrush’s nest under a rail. Peacefully sitting on her eggs, the hen was undisturbed by the roar of the fast trains above and around her. Someone has written a little verse which goes: “Said the robin to the sparrow, ‘I should really like to know, Why these anxious human beings Rush about and worry so.’ Said the...More Friday, August 16, 2024 Hunger for Righteousness I will give to the thirsty the springs of the Water of Life—as a gift! —Revelation 21:6 (TLB) God says that only those who hunger after righteousness will receive it. God thrusts this heavenly manna on no one. You must desire it, above everything else. Your yearning for God must supersede all other desires. It must be like a gnawing hunger and a burning thirst. Prayer for the day Almighty God, my soul is parched and I'm so hungry without the spiritual food You so desire to give me. Take away anything in my life that would cause me not to give You pre-eminence. More Thursday, August 15, 2024 Wonders of Nature These things that were written in the Scriptures so long ago are to teach us . . . —Romans 15:4 (TLB) In the wonders of nature we see God’s laws in operation. Who has not looked up at the stars on a cloudless night and marveled in silent awe at the glory of God’s handiwork? Who has not felt his heart lifted in the spring of the year, as he sees all creation bursting with new life and vigor? In the beauty and abundance around us we see the magnitude of God’s power and the infinite detail of His planning; but nature tells us nothing of God’s love or God’s grace. Conscience tells us in our innermost...More Wednesday, August 14, 2024 The Beginning of Wisdom But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom . . . —1 Corinthians 1:30 I believe we ought to get all the education we can, but we dare not make it our god. John Dewey once defined education as the systematic, purposeful reconstruction of experience; but so much of modern education leaves out God. What we are actually doing is reconstructing our sins. We expand our sins, enlarge them, multiply them. We need education, but not just for the mind and the body; we also need education for the spirit. Man has a spirit, and in our educational system today we need a spiritual emphasis. If we...More Tuesday, August 13, 2024 His Resurrection Changes Everything Christ died and rose again . . . so that he can be our Lord both while we live and when we die. —Romans 14:9 (TLB) With a frequency that is amazing, the Bible affirms the fact of the bodily resurrection of Christ. Perhaps the most direct of all its statements is Luke’s account in the book of Acts, where he reports, “To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days” (Acts 1:3). What are we going to do with these “many infallible proofs”? Someone asked my colleague George Beverly Shea how much he knew about God. He said, “I don’t...More Monday, August 12, 2024 Poverty of Soul For my people [are] foolish, they have not known me . . . —Jeremiah 4:22 No man is more pathetic than he who is in great need and is not aware of it. Remember Samson? Standing there in the valley of Sorek, surrounded by the lords of the Philistines, ” … he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.” It has been truly said, “No man is so ignorant as he who knows nothing and knows not that he knows nothing. No man is so sick as he who has a fatal disease and is not aware of it. No man is so poor as he who is destitute, and yet thinks he is rich.” The pitiable thing about the Pharisees was not so...More Sunday, August 11, 2024 The Unmerited Favor of God For by grace are ye saved . . . —Ephesians 2:8 “Grace,” according to the dictionary, is the unmerited favor of God toward mankind. The word “grace” is used over 170 times in the New Testament alone. Grace is not bought. It is a free gift of almighty God to needy mankind. When I picture Jesus Christ dying on the cross, I see the free gift of God’s grace in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. I sing with the songwriter, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see.” Your human mind, with its philosophy of an...More Saturday, August 10, 2024 A New World Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. —1 Corinthians 2:9 At the close of the Bible we encounter these words, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” A new world is coming! Each time we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come,” we should remember that that prayer will be answered. Heaven is described as a new creation in which we shall move in new bodies, possessed of new names, singing new songs, living in a new city, by a new...More Friday, August 9, 2024 The Eternal Fact And all who trust him—God's Son—to save them have eternal life . . . —John 3:36 (TLB) Currently, Christianity is being compared with other religions as never before. Some so-called Christian leaders even advocate the working out of a system of morals, ethics, and religion that would bring together all the religions of the world. It cannot be done. Jesus Christ is unique. Why insist on the uniqueness of Christ? What did Christ bring into the world that had not appeared before? The Christian answer is that He is the supreme manifestation of God. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself”...More Thursday, August 8, 2024 Unity in Scripture . . . holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. —2 Peter 1:21 Although one can derive inspiration from any portion of the Scripture, it is better to have an understanding of the general structure of the Bible to get the most out of it. The Old Testament is an account of a nation, Israel. Out of that nation came Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. The New Testament is an account of a Man, the Son of man, the Savior. God Himself became a man, so that we might know what He is like. His appearance on the earth was the central, most important event of history. The Old Testament gives the...More Wednesday, August 7, 2024 The Mind of Christ For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. —2 Timothy 1:7 Many diseases of both body and mind are self-inflicted. For example, ulcers are often caused by worry and anxiety. Heart attacks are caused many times by overexertion. Unjustified worry, fear, prejudice, hatred, and envy can contribute to mental stress, which could lead to mental illness. So one way to have a healthy mind is to avoid those practices. But the Bible way to a healthy mind is this, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” If you have the mind of Christ, worry will...More Tuesday, August 6, 2024 Ills of the Human Race Set thy house in order . . . —2 Kings 20:1 Man condemns himself by his refusal of God’s way of salvation. In love and mercy, God is offering to men and women a way of escape, a way of salvation, a hope and anticipation of better things. Man in his blindness, stupidity, stubbornness, egotism, and love of sinful pleasure, refuses God’s simple method of escaping the pangs of eternal banishment. Suppose you were sick and called a doctor who came and gave you a prescription. But after thinking it over you decided to ignore his advice and to refuse the medicine. When he returned a few days later, he might...More Monday, August 5, 2024 Love One Another But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin. —1 John 1:7 (TLB) I received a letter from a man in Charlotte, North Carolina. He said that, until our Charlotte Crusade, he was filled with hatred, bitterness, and prejudice toward people of another race. He had joined one of the extremist organizations and was on the verge of engaging in violence. Out of curiosity he came to the meetings, and one night he was gloriously converted. He said, “All bitterness, hatred,...More Sunday, August 4, 2024 Guard Against Greed You cannot serve two masters: God and money. —Matthew 6:24 (TLB) Tell me what you think about money, and I will tell you what you think about God, for these two are closely related. A man’s heart is closer to his wallet than anything else. It is a staggering fact that for the past few years people have spent ten times as much for luxuries and non-essentials as they have for all charitable and religious purposes. This is a commentary on our shallow and superficial religious faith. While the Bible warns us against greed and selfishness, it does encourage frugality and thrift. Even Jesus said to...More Saturday, August 3, 2024 Sufficient to Save There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. —Proverbs 14:12 A line of human thought that seems right to many people is the idea of self-redemption. Man thinks he must work at righteousness to save himself. After all, it was man who sinned and as we say, “God helps those who help themselves.” But a greater truth than this emerges from the Bible-the truth that God helps those who cannot help themselves. We cannot save ourselves. It is noble to be upright if we can. It is admirable to be honest, kind, and compassionate. It would seem that these characteristics...More Friday, August 2, 2024 Demands of the Soul And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought . . . —Isaiah 58:11 The soul demands as much attention as the body. It demands fellowship and communion with God. It demands worship, quietness, and meditation. Unless the soul is fed and exercised daily, it becomes weak and shriveled. It remains discontented, confused, restless. Many people turn to alcohol to try to drown the cryings and longings of the soul. Some turn to a new sex experience. Others attempt to quiet the longings of their souls in other ways. Nothing but God ever completely satisfies, because the soul is made for...More Thursday, August 1, 2024 Internal Strife Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall. —Proverbs 16:18 (TLB) David, king of ancient Israel, found himself in the midst of a confused national situation. His kingdom was torn by internal strife. Slave hated master; master hated slave. People blamed the government, and government blamed the people. David looked about him and saw that every man thought himself perfect. Each individual placed blame upon other individuals. David knew that if sinful pride continued to increase, his nation would collapse spiritually. He knew that economic depression, moral disintegration, or...More Wednesday, July 31, 2024 Molding You When we suffer and die for Christ it only means that we will begin living with him in heaven. —2 Timothy 2:11 (TLB) I have a friend who during the Depression lost his job, a fortune, a wife, and a home. But he tenaciously held to his faith—the only thing he had left. One day he stopped to watch some men doing stonework on a huge church. One of them was chiseling a triangular piece of stone. “What are you going to do with that?” asked my friend. The workman said, “See that little opening away up there near the spire? Well, I’m shaping this down here, so it will fit in up there.” Tears filled the...More Tuesday, July 30, 2024 A Covenant With Eyes Keep thyself pure. —1 Timothy 5:22 Someone has said, “You cannot help the first look, but the second is sin.” Jesus indicated that you can engage in immorality by a look. The Bible places the “lust of the eye” right along with other major sins. Listen: “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Peter spoke of having “eyes full of adultery.” No wonder Job said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?” Your eyes see only what your soul allows them to...More Monday, July 29, 2024 Faith Pleases God You can never please God without faith, without depending on him. Anyone who wants to come to God must believe that there is a God and that he rewards those who sincerely look for him. —Hebrews 11:6 (TLB) Faith pleases God more than anything else. The Christian life is dependent upon faith. We stand on faith; we live on faith. Faith is loved and honored by God more than any other single thing. The Bible teaches that faith is the only approach that we have to God. No man has sins forgiven, no man goes to heaven, no man has assurance of peace and happiness, until he has faith in Jesus Christ. You may be...More Sunday, July 28, 2024 Truth and Fiction . . . make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. —Psalm 145:12 Some years ago I heard about a clergyman who had a friend who was an actor. The actor was drawing large crowds of people, and the clergyman was preaching to a few in the church. He said to his actor friend, “Why is it that you draw great crowds, and I have no audience at all? Your words are sheer fiction, and mine are unchangeable truth.” The actor’s reply was quite simple. “I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.” I fear that so often...More Saturday, July 27, 2024 Give and Take Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. —Ephesians 6:24 Certain relationships in life require from the parties involved only moderate degrees of devotion. A certain degree of reserve and distance seems to be suitable in such relations as these. But there are other relationships in life where all this is changed when friendship becomes love. Two hearts give themselves to each other to be no longer two, but one. Instead of being separated, their interest and paths are now together. The reserve and the distance suitable to mere friendships is fatal in real love. Love gives all and...More Friday, July 26, 2024 The End of Life . . . willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. —2 Corinthians 5:8 A little boy was riding alone on a train on a hot day when the travelers were extremely uncomfortable; and the scenery was not too interesting as they passed through the desert of Arizona. A lady sitting beside the boy asked him, “Are you tired of the long ride?” The little boy smiled and said, “I’m a little tired, but I don’t mind it much. You see, my father is going to meet me when I get to Los Angeles.” Sometimes we get a little tired of the burdens of life, but it is exhilarating to know that...More Thursday, July 25, 2024 Sanctity of Marriage How I need your help, especially in my own home . . . —Psalm 101:2 (TLB) In the marriage ceremony, after the vows are said, the minister solemnly and reverently remarks, “What God hath joined together let no man put asunder.” Is not God the third part in a marriage? Should He not be taken into account in the marriage, and in the home that emerges from that marriage? If God joins the couple together at the outset, should not His presence be recognized in the home continually? Many homes are on the rocks today because God has been left out of the domestic picture. With the clash of...More Wednesday, July 24, 2024 What God Expects He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much . . . —Luke 16:10 What God expects, and all God expects, is that we dedicate completely all of our talents and gifts to Him. That is the meaning of the parable of the talents in Matthew, chapter 25. Read this parable, and you will see that we are always rewarded because of our faithfulness. You can be just as faithful as anyone and have the commendation of the Lord. Take the one talent you have and invest it in eternal things. Some talented people lose their reward because they do things to be seen of men. Some untalented people lose their...More Tuesday, July 23, 2024 Sufficient to Meet Your Needs I am with you, that is all you need. My power shows up best in weak people. —2 Corinthians 12:9 (TLB) A director of a camp whose purpose is to lead young hoodlums to Christ says, “Being a Christian is the toughest thing in the world. What’s tougher than loving your enemy?” One boy, who developed into a rugged disciple of Christ at this camp, said, “In this outfit we’re all brothers and we’re all men. It was too tough for me at first, but then I heard that through Christ everything is possible. Then the roughness went away. I say a man is not a man, not a full man, until he gets to know Jesus...More Monday, July 22, 2024 Establishing Peace Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. —Romans 5:1 Before the Big Four Conference in Geneva I watched President Eisenhower kneel in a chapel and ask God for divine guidance in the deliberations to follow. I felt sure that God would answer his earnest prayer. I believe that He did, for President Eisenhower during those days displayed the spirit of a true peacemaker on the international level. The only corrective measure in establishing peace is for men as individuals to know the peace of God. Though I am not wholly averse to movements which strive in one way or...More Sunday, July 21, 2024 Talk vs. Action Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. —Matthew 5:20 In a decadent society the will to believe, to resist, to contend, to fight, to struggle, is gone. In place of this will to resist, there is the desire to conform, to drift, to follow, to yield, and to give up. This is what happened in Rome, but it also applies to us. The same conditions that prevailed in Rome prevail in our society. Before Rome fell, her standards were abandoned, the family disintegrated, divorce prevailed, immorality was...More Saturday, July 20, 2024 No Strings Attached Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. —2 Corinthians 9:15 A gift is not a gift unless it is accepted. God has given you His Son, but ownership is conditional on acceptance. God does not force His gift on us, but He asks us to receive by faith the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. A person who deliberately refuses God’s offer of love, mercy, and forgiveness is lost. Most people gratefully receive a gift when given in love. The greatest sin that a person can commit is to refuse God’s love. Prayer for the day I reached out for Your gift of Jesus and received forgiveness and...More Friday, July 19, 2024 Words to Count On Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts . . . —Zechariah 4:6 (TLB) After the crucifixion the beleaguered disciples despaired and said, “We had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:21, RSV). There was anguish, despair, and tragedy in their midst. Life had lost its meaning and purpose. But when the resurrection became apparent, life took on a new meaning. It had purpose and reason. David Livingstone once addressed a group of students at Glasgow University. When he rose to speak, he bore on his body the marks of his African struggles. Several...More Thursday, July 18, 2024 Satisfaction of Soul Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee . . . —Deuteronomy 26:11 Often the Church has banged away negatively at evils without reminding us that God is tremendously interested in our finding a satisfying way of life here and now. We Christians have talked so much of the negative side of Christian experience that we have forgotten to emphasize the positive, joyous, thrilling, and victorious experience of daily fellowship with Christ. God declared that things will not satisfy. God satisfies! This is the secret of soul-satisfaction: Let your soul delight itself in...More Wednesday, July 17, 2024 Jesus to the Rescue God is our refuge and strength, a tested help in times of trouble. —Psalm 46:1 (TLB) Scripture tells us that God tempts no one. Temptation always comes from the devil. God will test us and allow us to endure the temptation, but the devil does the tempting. How do we overcome it? A little girl once told her method. “When the devil comes knocking at the door,” she said, “I don’t answer it. I send Jesus to the door.” And that is exactly the way to take care of it. Send Jesus to the door! Prayer for the day Lord Jesus, help me to remember the power of Your holy name! More Tuesday, July 16, 2024 Solving the Problem Lord, grant us peace; for all we have and are has come from you. —Isaiah 26:12 (TLB) Only a few years ago children were delighted at the prospect of a trip to the wharves to see the great ships come in. Today they are blasé about helicopters and jet planes. We who once marveled at the telegraph now take for granted the far greater miracle of television. Not so long ago many of the physical diseases were termed hopeless and incurable. Today we have drugs so effective that age-old diseases are becoming rare. We have accomplished much, of that there is no doubt. But with all this progress, we have not solved...More Monday, July 15, 2024 Disappointment Becomes Joy They shall see his face . . . —Revelation 22:4 (TLB) One of the great bonuses of being a Christian is the great hope that extends beyond the grave into the glory of God’s tomorrow. A little girl was running toward a cemetery as the darkness of evening began to fall. She passed a friend who asked her if she was not afraid to go through the graveyard at night. “Oh, no,” she said, “I’m not afraid. My home is just on the other side!” We Christians are not afraid of the night of death because our heavenly home is “just on the other side.” The resurrection of Christ changed the midnight of...More Sunday, July 14, 2024 An Upside Down World Follow not that which is evil, but that which is good . . . —3 John 11 We must get this fact firmly fixed in our minds: we live in an upside-down world. “, fight when they should be peaceful, wound when they should heal, steal when they should share, do wrong when they should do right. I once saw a toy clown with a weight in its head. No matter what position you put it in, it invariably assumed an upside-down position. Put it on its feet or on its side, and when you let go it flipped back on its head. Unregenerate people are just like that! Do what you may with them and they always revert to an...More Saturday, July 13, 2024 The Power of Choice The Lord hath anointed me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. —Isaiah 61:1 Viktor Frankl in his book, “Man’s Search for Meaning,” describes the reactions of two brothers with the same heredity, the same environment, in the same concentration camp under the Nazis. One became a saint and the other a swine. Frankl tells us the reason why. He said, “Each man has within him the power to choose how he will react to any given situation.” God has given us the power of choice. Some people today do not wish to accept the responsibility for their...More Friday, July 12, 2024 A Genuine Hero Jesus saith . . . I am the way, the truth, and the life . . . —John 14:6 With much of society a disappointment, young people have begun to search for answers on their own. Everywhere I travel, I find young people who are asking: What is truth? Who says so? What is right and what is wrong? Is there a final authority? Yes! There is an authority! There is a moral law! It has been exemplified in a real Person. There is a genuine Hero in whom you can believe, who will never let you down. His name is Jesus Christ. He was born into a world as jumbled and riddled with injustice as yours, but He changed it...More Thursday, July 11, 2024 Encouragement Looking for that blessed hope... —Titus 2:13 One of the best ways to get rid of discouragement is to remember that Christ is coming again. The most thrilling, glorious truth in all the world is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. When we look around and see pessimism on every side, we should remember the Bible is the only Book in the world that predicts the future. The Bible is more modern than tomorrow morning’s newspaper. The Bible accurately foretells the future, and it says that the consummation of all things shall be the coming again of Jesus Christ to this earth. If your life is dismal, depressed,...More Wednesday, July 10, 2024 Time for Us Do not worry about your life . . . —Matthew 6:25 (NIV) Some people ask, “Do you think God has time for me? You don’t know how mixed up my life is, how confused it is; the pressures, the tension at home, the business problems, so many things I couldn’t possibly tell you about, including the sins in my life that I somehow cannot seem to give up.” Yes, God has time for you. When Jesus was dying on the cross, He had time for a thief who turned to Him and said, “Lord, remember me.” That’s all the record tells us that the thief said, “Lord, remember me.” But what he was really saying was,...More Tuesday, July 9, 2024 Thoughts and Actions May my spoken words and unspoken thoughts be pleasing even to you, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. —Psalm 19:14 (TLB) Robert Browning said, “Thought is the soul of the act.” Emerson said, “Thought is the seat of action. The ancestor of every action is thought.” If God destroyed the world once for its continually evil imaginations, is it not reasonable to believe that all of the sin, lust, and licentiousness that is rampant today grieves His heart just as it did in that day? Many people dream of sin, imagine sin, and-if granted the opportunity-would indulge in sin. All they lack is the occasion to...More Monday, July 8, 2024 Released From Selfishness He must increase, but I must decrease. —John 3:30 Self-centeredness is the basic cause of much of our distress in life. Hypochondria, a mental disorder which is accompanied by melancholy and depression, is often caused by self-pity and self-centeredness. Most of us suffer from spiritual nearsightedness. Our interests, our loves, and our energies are too often focused upon ourselves. Jesus underscored the fact that His disciples were to live outflowingly rather than selfishly. To the rich young ruler He said, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have...More Sunday, July 7, 2024 Our Many Blessings Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. —Psalm 85:12 The great economic and material prosperity we are enjoying in the United States today is a gift of God’s hand. The Bible tells us that the very goodness of God should lead us to repentance. All of these material blessings are gifts from God, given in order that we might humble ourselves, fall upon our knees before Him, and call upon His name. We should thank God, too, for the spiritual blessings that are beyond the power of the human tongue to describe. Here in North America we still have freedom of...More Saturday, July 6, 2024 The Peace of Jesus These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. —John 16:33 The peace that Jesus came to bring was not the peace of appeasement, or the peace of compromise and conformity. It was a spiritual peace. The world doesn’t give peace, for it doesn’t have any peace to give. It fights for peace, it negotiates for peace, it maneuvers for peace, but there is no ultimate peace in the world. But Jesus gives peace to those who put their trust in Him. If you have received His peace, then you are in His camp....More Friday, July 5, 2024 A Clear Message The law of the Lord is perfect . . . —Psalm 19:7 The Bible is the constitution of Christianity. Just as the United States Constitution is not of any private interpretation, neither is the Bible of any private interpretation. Just as the Constitution includes all who live under its stated domain, without exception, so the Bible includes all who live under its stated domain, without exception. God’s laws for the spiritual world are found in the Bible. Whatever else there may be that tells us of God, it is more clearly told in the Bible. Nature in her laws tells us of God, but the message is not too clear....More Thursday, July 4, 2024 Religious Freedom Fear God and honor the government. —1 Peter 2:17 (TLB) On this Independence Day we should be on our knees thanking God for all He has given us. The United States is a country in which everyone has an equal opportunity. Thank God for a country where there is no caste or class to keep a man from going to the top. If a man has a will to work and study, he can go ahead regardless of his background. In addition, thank God, He has given us freedom of religion. Whatever you may believe, no one can close your church because your religion does not coincide with his. A few people meeting in a small, out-of-the-way...More Wednesday, July 3, 2024 The Highest Law All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable... —2 Timothy 3:16 The men who framed our Constitution knew they were writing the basic document for a government of free men; they recognized that men could live as free and independent beings only if each one knew and understood the law. They were to know their rights, their privileges, and their limitations. They were to stand as equals before the court of law, and few judges could be unfair; for the judge, too, was bound by the same law and required to try each case accordingly. . . . As the Constitution is the highest law of the land, so...More Tuesday, July 2, 2024 True Unity Love one another, as I have loved you. —John 15:12 As I study the subject of “separation” in the Old and New Testaments, I discover that the weight of Scripture lies in the direction of fellowship rather than separation. What is the great overwhelming evidence that we have passed from death unto life? It is love! Jesus Christ clearly was speaking of visible unity, such as can be seen by the world. His motive for praying was that the world might believe and the world might know. He prayed for unity among believers. God, who wills man’s unity in Christ, is a God of variety. So often we want everyone to...More Monday, July 1, 2024 A Global Best-Seller His every word is a treasure of knowledge and understanding. —Proverbs 2:6 (TLB) It is small wonder . . . the Bible has always been the world’s best-seller! No other book can touch its profound wisdom, its poetic beauty, or the accuracy of its history and prophecy. Its critics who claimed it to be filled with forgery, fiction, and unfulfilled promises are finding that the difficulties lie with themselves, and not the Bible. Greater and more careful scholarship has shown that apparent contradictions were caused by incorrect translations, rather than divine inconsistencies. It was man and not the Bible that...More Sunday, June 30, 2024 Prayer Is a Conversation And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. —Matthew 21:22 Prayer is a two-way conversation; it is our talking to God, and His talking to us. As a Christian, you have a heavenly Father who hears and answers prayer. Jesus said, “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Every man or woman whose life has counted for the church and the Kingdom of God has been a person of prayer. You cannot afford to be too busy to pray. A prayerless Christian is a powerless Christian. Jesus Christ spent many hours in prayer. Sometimes He spent the night...More Saturday, June 29, 2024 The Hands of Jesus . . . I was hungry, [and] you gave me food . . . —Matthew 25:35 (NEB) During the war a church in Strasburg, Germany, was totally destroyed; but a statue of Christ which stood by the altar was almost unharmed. Only the hands of the statue were missing. When the church was rebuilt, a famous sculptor offered to make new hands; but, after considering the matter, the members decided to let it stand as it was—without hands. “For,” they said, “Christ has no hands but our hands to do His work on earth. If we don’t feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, entertain the stranger, visit the imprisoned,...More Friday, June 28, 2024 Refining Fire And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself . . . —2 Chronicles 33:12 Why do Christians suffer? Rest assured that there is a reason for Christian people being afflicted. One reason why God’s people suffer, according to the Bible, is that it is a disciplinary, chastening, and molding process. From the Scriptures we learn that the chastening of affliction is a step in the process of our full and complete development. Affliction can also be a means of refining and of purification. Many a life has come forth from the furnace of affliction more beautiful and more useful...More Thursday, June 27, 2024 Who Am I? What a glorious Lord! He who daily bears our burdens also gives us our salvation. —Psalm 68:19 (TLB) Edward Dahlberg, the writer, observed, “At 19, I was a stranger to myself. At 40, I asked, ‘Who am I?’ At 50, I concluded I would never know.” This unexplored personal wilderness is the home of millions of people. Ninety-two percent of all Canadian university students, according to June Callwood, the Toronto sociologist, don’t really know who they are. The Bible says that man is an immortal soul. When God made man in the first place, He created him and “breathed into his nostrils the breath of...More Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Energy Under Control You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you . . . —Romans 8:9 (TLB) A harnessed horse contributes much more to life than a wild donkey. Energy out of control is dangerous; energy under control is powerful. God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition us for a life of usefulness and blessedness. In His wisdom He knows that an uncontrolled life is an unhappy life, so He puts reins on our wayward souls that they may be directed into the “paths of righteousness.” That is what God seeks to do with us; to tame us, to bring us under proper control, to redirect...More Tuesday, June 25, 2024 True Happiness And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward . . . —Luke 12:42 It is not wrong for men to possess riches. But the Bible warns that money cannot buy happiness! Money cannot buy true pleasure. Money cannot buy peace of heart. And money certainly cannot buy entrance into the Kingdom of God. Often money is a hindrance to these things. Money takes our minds off God. Riches, when used selfishly rather than for the glory of God, tend to corrupt in our hands. Money cannot be a substitute for God. If God has given you more wealth than your neighbors, dedicate it to Christ. Realize that you are only...More Monday, June 24, 2024 An Angry World The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. —James 3:17 The world, in the last few years, has reverted to a sort of barbarism. As practical Christianity has declined, rudeness and violence have increased. Neighbors quarrel with neighbors. Fighting is a major problem in our schools and the “gang wars” of the teenagers have come to present a serious menace in our cities. Fathers and mothers wrangle and bicker. Homes are disintegrating. High government officials in Washington engage...More Sunday, June 23, 2024 Educating the Mind But Not the Soul God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. —John 3:17 (TLB) You can put a public school and university in the middle of every block of every city in America—but you will never keep America from rotting morally by mere intellectual education. Education cannot be properly called education which neglects the most important parts of man’s nature. Partial education throughout the world is far worse than none at all if we educate the mind but not the soul. To think of civilizing men without converting them to Christ is about as wise as to think about transforming wolves into lambs...More Saturday, June 22, 2024 The Most Unique Person Worthy is the Lamb . . . to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. —Revelation 5:12 H.G. Wells wrote, “Christ is the most unique person of history. No man can write a history of the human race without giving first and foremost place to the penniless teacher of Nazareth.” Rabbi Stephen Wise said concerning Jesus, “You will find that He is divinely human. It is no mean joy to us of the house of Israel to recognize, to honor and to cherish among our brethren, Jesus the Jew, who has influenced the world more than any other man.” This person called Jesus...More Friday, June 21, 2024 Tears of Repentance Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord. —Acts 3:19 (TLB) There is a certain amount of sorrow involved in repentance that we don’t see much of today. That word means moaning and even groaning. I don’t mean that we have to have a great emotional experience, but I do believe that we need some tears of repentance. We need to be sorry for our sins, and to say, “Oh, God, I have sinned against You, and I’m sorry.” I am not an emotional person. I don’t know why, but I...More Thursday, June 20, 2024 Forgiveness in Marriage If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. —1 John 1:9 It is unfortunate in a marriage if there is an array of sordid memories of past sins on the part of either partner. If young people could only realize that a happy marriage depends not only on the present, but upon the past, they would be more reluctant to enter into loose, intimate relations with anyone and everyone. Many a marriage has been imperiled by the backlash of past sins, which were not just confessed, but “found out.” As to the necessity of confessing past...More

Tuesday, June 18, 2024 Comfort in Mourning What a wonderful God we have . . . who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us . . . —2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (TLB) The Bible teaches unmistakably that we can triumph over bereavement. The Psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Self-pity can bring no enduring comfort. The fact is, it will only add to your misery. And unremitting grief will give you little consolation in itself, for grief begets grief. Sorrow, or mourning, when it is borne in a Christian way, contains a built-in comfort. “Happy are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” There is comfort...More Monday, June 17, 2024 Fully Surrender Those who still reject me are like the restless sea. . . . There is no peace, says my God, for them! —Isaiah 57:20,21 (TLB) Faith has legs . . . I heard about a man some years ago who was rolling a wheelbarrow back and forth on a tightrope across Niagara River. Thousands of people were shouting him on. He put a 200-pound sack of dirt in the wheelbarrow and rolled it over, and then he rolled it back. He turned to the crowd and asked, “How many of you believe that I can roll a man across?” Everybody shouted! One man in the front row was very excited in his professed belief. The man pointed to this excited...More Sunday, June 16, 2024 Look Deeply Open my eyes to see wonderful things in your Word. —Psalm 119:18 (TLB) Some, who doubt that the Bible is the true Word of God, doubt it because they are unwilling to ascribe to God anything they cannot themselves achieve. If you have any uncertainty about the inspiration of the Bible, go back and look at it again. Look at it in the light of a person who has been staring at a mud puddle all his life, and who is confronted for the first time by a view of the ocean! Perhaps you are only now catching your first glimpse of God’s unlimited power. Perhaps you are only now beginning to understand Him...More Saturday, June 15, 2024 Practice Good Stewardship Redeeming the time . . . —Ephesians 5:16 We are stewards of our time. God has given each one of us a little “chunk of eternity” called time. These golden moments of opportunity are doled out to us for our benefit and for God’s glory. If we use them wisely, they are woven by God’s omnipotent hand into the fabric of eternity. Henry Thoreau cautioned, “You cannot kill time without injuring eternity.” “He who has no vision of eternity,” said Carlyle, “has no hold on time.” “Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last” is the sentiment of every man who...More Friday, June 14, 2024 Who Is He? . . . for they have rejected the word of the Lord . . . —Jeremiah 8:9 (TLB) The Apostle Paul once asked, “Who art thou, Lord?” That is a question each of us has to face. If Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, knowing He was not, then He was a deceiver, the greatest liar the world has ever known. If He thought He was God and didn’t know the difference, then He was a mental case. But if He was who He claimed to be, then He is rightfully the Lord of our lives. What keeps us from acknowledging this Christ, if He is what the Bible tells us He is? Each of us has to face the question that Pilate...More Thursday, June 13, 2024 Believe in the Holy Spirit . . . I [have] raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee . . . —Romans 9:17 Walter Knight tells the story about a little boy who had recently received Christ. “Daddy, how can I believe in the Holy Spirit when I have never seen Him?” asked Jim. “I’ll show you how,” said his father, who was an electrician. Later Jim went with his father to the power plant where he was shown the generators. “This is where the power comes from to heat our stove and to give us light. We cannot see the power, but it is in that machine and in the power lines,” said the father. “I believe in electricity,”...More Wednesday, June 12, 2024 The Wisdom of God Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5 To know the will of God is the highest of all wisdom. Living in the center of God’s will rules out all falseness of religion and puts the stamp of true sincerity upon our service to God. You can be miserable with much, if you are out of His will; but you can have peace in your heart with little, if you are in the will of God. You can be wretched with wealth and fame, out of His will; but you can have joy in obscurity, if you are in the will of God. You can have agony in good health, out of His will; but you can be...More Tuesday, June 11, 2024 We Are God’s Children Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the [children] of God . . . —1 John 3:1 As God’s children, we are His dependents. The Bible says, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.” Dependent children spend little time worrying about meals, clothing, and shelter. They assume, and they have a right to, that all will be provided by their parents. Because God is responsible for our welfare, we are told to cast all our care upon Him, for He careth for us. Because we are dependent upon God, Jesus said,...More Monday, June 10, 2024 His Love Is Obvious . . . the love of God toward us . . . —1 John 4:9 Notice God’s love. The Bible teaches that God is love. You and I were sinners. We were aliens from God. We were enemies of God. We had rebelled against God. We deserved hell, but in spite of the fact that we resisted God, we rebelled against God, we sinned against God, we were enemies of God—the Bible says God loved us anyway with an everlasting love so that He was willing to give His Son to die on the cross for our sins. There is not a person who has the ability to love that way unless he comes to Christ. You don’t have the power to...More Sunday, June 9, 2024 Gladness on Sunday I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. —Psalm 122:1 A lot of people get what I call “Sunday-itis” on Sunday mornings. Do you know what Sunday-itis is? It attacks the victim shortly before breakfast on Sunday morning. It is accompanied by a feeling of weakness and lethargy. Sometimes the victim has a slight headache which is aggravated by the ringing of the church bells in the community. But the disease is of short duration, usually disappearing about noon, when the victim is able to eat a full dinner and play golf in the afternoon. But the symptoms usually appear again...More Saturday, June 8, 2024 Courage to Stand It is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being in Christ's family and being called by his wonderful name! —1 Peter 4:16 (TLB) A great problem in America is that we have an anemic and watered-down Christianity that has produced an anemic, watered-down, and spineless Christian who is not willing to stand up and be counted on every issue. We must have a virile, dynamic, aggressive Christian who lives Christ seven days a week, who is ready to die, if necessary, for his faith. We need Christians who are ethical, honest, gracious, bold, strong, and devoted followers of the...More Friday, June 7, 2024 Reconciliation For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son . . . —Romans 5:10 The word “reconcile” means literally “bring into a changed relationship.” It means to bring together two parties who should have been together all along. The Bible speaks of the human race as enemies of God. You may say that you are no “enemy” of God, but according to Scripture we are either passive or active enemies of God, apart from Christ. Reconciliation means “brought back into full relationship and fellowship with God.” This is what Christ accomplished on the cross. What a thrilling...More Thursday, June 6, 2024 His Best for You . . . do the good things that result from being saved, obeying God . . . —Philippians 2:12 (TLB) It takes no poll for those of us who have communicated with young people to know the devastation that permissive sexual activity generally causes. It becomes a cancer in the bodies and minds and characters of those who indulge, almost without exception. And there are other victims, such innocent bystanders as parents, grandparents, old family friends, teachers, and advisers, all much more concerned than you can understand. They want only the best for you. Anything less than a happy marital voyage gives them...More Wednesday, June 5, 2024 Light and Shadow Stand steady, and don't be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ . . . —2 Timothy 4:5 (TLB) All the masterpieces of art contain both light and shadow. A happy life is one filled not only with sunshine, but one which uses both light and shadow to produce beauty. The greatest musicians, as a rule, are those who know how to bring song out of sadness. Fanny Crosby, her spirit aglow with faith in Christ, saw more with her sightless eyes than most of us do with normal vision. She has given us some of the great gospel songs which cheer our hearts and lives. In a rat-infested jail in Philippi,...More Tuesday, June 4, 2024 Salvation Through Trust Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him . . . —Genesis 6:22 One day God spoke to Noah about the wickedness of the human race. The actions of men and women grieved Him to the heart. God said that He intended to send a flood that would destroy mankind, and He told Noah to build an ark to save his household and the animals. The Bible says that Noah believed God. Now Noah had never seen a flood. He had never seen a 40-day rain. He had no weather map, no satellite photograph or meteorologist to tell him that a big storm was coming. All he had to go on was the Word of God. But when the flood came,...More Monday, June 3, 2024 Being Rich Real life and real living are not related to how rich we are. —Luke 12:15 (TLB) There are two ways of being rich—have a lot, or want very little. The latter way is the easier for most of us. Many people make themselves miserable by wanting more than they can ever have. They suffer from “thing-itis,” the insatiable desire for more, better, and newer things. Jesus was the most satisfied man that ever lived, and He had less than most of us. “The foxes have their holes, and the birds their nests, but the Son of man has no place to lay His head.” He had learned the secret of adjusting His wants to His...More Sunday, June 2, 2024 No Regrets If we are living now by the Holy Spirit's power, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. —Galatians 5:25 (TLB) When Bill Borden, son of the wealthy Bordens, went out to China as a missionary, many of his friends thought he was foolish to “waste his life,” as they put it, trying to convert a few heathens to Christianity. But Bill loved Christ and he loved men! He hadn’t been out there very long before he contracted an oriental disease and died. At his bedside they found a note that he had written while he was dying. It read, “No reserve, no retreat, and no regrets.” Bill...More Saturday, June 1, 2024 Where Is Your Hope? This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself . . . —Hebrews 6:19 (TLB) What are you placing your hope in for the future? Your country’s government, educational system, some plan or organization? My hope is in a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of God. I have hope and know that I’m going to heaven. And, right here and now in this present life, I have God’s presence to help me. Suppose we had no Bible. Suppose there were no cross, no salvation, no empty tomb. Suppose we had nothing to hang...More Friday, May 31, 2024 Need for Inner Change Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. —2 Corinthians 5:17 The world says that all we need to do is be decent, respectable, and reasonable. True, that is all one needs to do to be a member of the Great Society, but to be a member of the Kingdom of God, there must be an inner change. A Communist in Hyde Park, London, pointed to a tramp and said, “Communism will put a new suit on that man.” A Christian standing nearby said, “Yes, but Christ will put a new man in that suit!” Prayer for the day Thank...More Thursday, May 30, 2024 Salvation Is Free Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. —Romans 3:24 Salvation is free! God puts no price tag on the Gift of gifts—it’s free! Preachers are not salesmen, for they have nothing to sell. They are bearers of Good News—the good tidings that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Money can’t buy it. Man’s righteousness can’t earn it. Social prestige can’t help you acquire it. Morality can’t purchase it. It is, as Isaiah said, “without money and without price.” God is not a bargaining God. You...More Wednesday, May 29, 2024 Keep Moving Forward For in him we live and move and are! —Acts 17:28 (TLB) When I was seven years old, my father bought me my first bicycle. I had never ridden one. Patiently, my family and friends tried to teach me the art of cycling. I soon found out there was one thing I must do if I was to stay on the bicycle—keep moving forward. If I ceased to go forward, I would fall and hurt myself. So it is in the Christian life. We can never live this life on the highest plane unless we are continually growing and moving forward. You should be closer to God today in heart, soul, and body, than at any other time so far in your...More Tuesday, May 28, 2024 Invest Your Talents Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above . . . —James 1:17 God, in His mercy and goodness, has endowed every man with certain gifts, talents, and capabilities. These are not to be used selfishly for our own profit, but for the glory of God and for the building of His kingdom. Our personalities, our intelligence, and our capabilities are gifts from His own bountiful hand. If we divert their use for our own profit, we become guilty of selfishness. It is good business for an employee or junior partner in the firm to work for the profit and interest and glory of the owner. When the owner...More Monday, May 27, 2024 A Sacred Institution Follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. —Romans 14:19 The home is basically a sacred institution. The perfect marriage is the uniting of three persons—a man and a woman and God. This is what makes marriage holy. Faith in Christ is the most important of all principles in the building of a happy marriage and a successful home. The secret strength of a nation is found in the faith that abides in the hearts and homes of the country. Prayer for the day May we so love one another, through You, Lord Jesus--that our homes will be reflections...More Sunday, May 26, 2024 Jesus Is Matchless You have your life through Christ Jesus. He showed us God's plan of salvation; he was the one who made us acceptable to God . . . —1 Corinthians 1:30 (TLB) More and more I am becoming aware of the truth that people change people as much as ideas change people. The power of personality is strong. One could find many illustrations to prove that often personality is greater than the idea. Such is the case with Christianity. The secret of the power of Christianity is not in its ethics. It is not in Christian ideas or philosophy, although Christianity has a philosophical set of ideas. The secret of Christianity...More Saturday, May 25, 2024 His Indwelling Presence . . . to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. —Ephesians 3:19 To appreciate art, one must either be born with an artistic sense or develop it by training. Only a relatively few people have an innate sense of color, form, and harmony. To such, a love for art comes naturally. Without an artistic appreciation in one’s soul, visiting an art gallery can be a boring affair. Likewise, to appreciate good music one must have music “in him” or develop it. Without a sense of music appreciation, it is possible to sleep through a symphony concert...More Friday, May 24, 2024 Count Your Blessings . . . when troubles come . . . sing his praises with much joy. —Psalm 27:5,6 (TLB) Christians are not altogether immune from depression. The fact is: the trend of events and the mounting tide of evil are enough to give one sobering thoughts—Christian or not. David, the sweet singer of Israel, was not always on top of his depression. Sometimes his glad song was turned to a depressive mourning. “My tears have been my meat day and night, while continually they say unto me, Where is thy God? Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in me?” I find that the cure for depression is...More Thursday, May 23, 2024 An Answer to Problems . . . Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor . . . —Matthew 22:37–39 Here is the answer to the world’s problems today—”Thou shalt love the Lord thy God” and “Thou shalt love thy fellowman.” That teaching is not out of date; it is absolutely relevant today. It is the only way in which the problems of the world today can be solved, whether the problems are those of individuals or of nations. If we love God with all our heart, we will have capacity to love our neighbors. True love will find an outlet in service—not merely in singing hymns, attending church, or even...More Wednesday, May 22, 2024 God Made Us Unique Our soul waiteth for the Lord . . . —Psalm 33:20 I am a soul—and I have a body! The body is the house in which the soul lives. When Oliver Wendell Holmes was in his 80th year, a friend hailed him and asked, “How are you?” “I’m fine,” said Holmes, “the house I live in is tottering and crumbling, but Oliver Wendell Holmes is fine, thank you.” In this materialistic age we often forget that the real, the abiding part of us is invisible. Much time, money, and effort are expended to perpetuate the physical part of us, and too many are unconcerned about their spiritual health and nurture. Hence...More Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Jesus Is Transcendent Come to Christ, who is the living Foundation of Rock upon which God builds; though men have spurned him, he is very precious to God who has chosen him above all others. —1 Peter 2:4 (TLB) No personality in history stands above Jesus Christ. Agnostics and atheists have found fault with Christian ideas, but they can never find fault with the Person of Jesus Christ. They have found fault with Christians, but not with Christ. Jesus of Nazareth transcends methods, ideas, and followers. He stands at the turning point of time. Men everywhere must bow to His superiority. Since Christianity is Christ, those who wish...More Monday, May 20, 2024 Complete Victory . . . greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. —1 John 4:4 Paul once wrote, “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). This is the battle or the tension that is present in us to a greater or lesser degree. So, you see, the spiritual lag that you feel is explained in the Bible. That does not mean that you accept it as the way it should be. You should make all necessary preparations for this battle which the Bible says “is not against flesh...More Sunday, May 19, 2024 Commitment and Purpose . . . serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope . . . —Romans 12:11,12 Each generation becomes more addicted to the sedatives of life, to dull the pain of living. Oppressed by a sense of triviality and thwarted purpose, men find no great goal or commitment to draw them, and no inner stimulation to give meaning to their existence. Christ can save you from the bane of boredom. He waits to give you a fresh sense of direction and to take dissatisfaction out of your life. I talked recently with a man in my own community who was converted to faith in Christ. “I hadn’t known what to do with my leisure time,” he...More Saturday, May 18, 2024 Love Covers . . . Let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. —1 John 3:18 (TLB) The Bible declares that we who follow Christ should be just as much in love with each other as God was in love with us when He sent His Son to die on the cross. The moment we come to Christ, Scripture says, God gives us supernatural love that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The greatest demonstration of the fact that we are Christians is that we love one another. Why not go out of our way to be a friend to someone whose skin is a different color from ours? Love does more to...More Friday, May 17, 2024 Faith Produces Works . . . doing service as to the Lord . . . —Ephesians 6:7 A true sacrament is not a mere creed, or ordinance, or form, but it is a life of service to God and to man. The most eloquent prayer is the prayer through hands that heal and bless. The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless. There must be a practical outworking of our faith here in this present world, or it will never endure the world to come. The Pharisees majored on show but minored on service. We need fewer words...More Thursday, May 16, 2024 Mindful of the Leading of God Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. —Galatians 3:24 When God gave the law, He knew that man was incapable of keeping it. Many persons are confused as to why God gave the law, if He knew man could not possibly keep it. The Bible teaches that the law was given as a mirror; I look into the law and see my spiritual condition. I see how far short I come, and this drives me to the cross of Christ for forgiveness. The Bible teaches that this is why Christ came—to redeem them that were under the law. Man could not keep the law; he was condemned by...More Wednesday, May 15, 2024 Love Despite Ourselves . . . all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags . . . —Isaiah 64:6 The Bible teaches that all our righteousness—falling short of the divine standard as it does—is as filthy rags in the sight of God. There is absolutely no possibility of our manufacturing a righteousness, holiness, or goodness that will satisfy God. Even the best of us is impure to God. I remember one day when my wife was doing the washing. The clothes looked white and clean in the house, but when she hung them on the line they appeared soiled and dirty, in contrast to the fresh-fallen snow. Our own lives may seem at times to...More Tuesday, May 14, 2024 Live Creatively for Christ Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love . . . —Romans 12:10 Living creatively for Christ in the home is the acid test for any Christian man or woman. It is far easier to live an excellent life among your friends, when you are putting your best foot forward and are conscious of public opinion, than it is to live for Christ in your home. Your own family circle knows whether Christ lives in you and through you. If you are a true Christian, you will not give way at home to bad temper, impatience, fault-finding, sarcasm, unkindness, suspicion, selfishness, or laziness. Instead, you will reveal...More Monday, May 13, 2024 God Provides Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. —John 13:13 He (the Spirit) will never lead you contrary to the Word of God. I hear people saying, “The Lord led me to do this. … The Lord told me thus and so …” I am always a little suspicious unless what the Lord has said is in keeping with His Word. God never directs us to do anything contrary to His Word. The prophet Samuel once said, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” The Scripture teaches, “He that willeth to do His will shall know the doctrine.” When you find yourself up a blind alley, not knowing which way to turn, if you...More Sunday, May 12, 2024 He Changes Us . . . that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. —Ephesians 6:19 The word “mystery” means beyond human knowledge or understanding. God’s mysteries baffle the unbelieving, but bless the believer. The mystery of righteousness, like some of the other great mysteries of God, we cannot comprehend, but we know it works. We stand amazed at this great mystery which enables God to change the human heart, its attitudes, its desires, and its nature. God, a holy God, who loves righteousness and hates wickedness, through a process of redemption has refashioned us in the...More Saturday, May 11, 2024 The Need for Wisdom Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. —Matthew 24:35 Time is running out. The seconds are ticking away toward midnight. The human race is about to take the fatal plunge. Which way shall we turn? Is there any authority left? Is there a path we can follow? Can we find a code book that will give us the key to our dilemmas? Is there any source of authority to which we can turn? Have we just been placed here by some unknown creator or force without any clue as to where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going? The answer is “no.” We do have a code book....More Friday, May 10, 2024 The Purpose of God for You Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power, and everything is for his glory. To him be glory evermore. —Romans 11:36 (TLB) Have you ever wondered why God placed us on this planet? What our purpose is in being here? It is because God is love. There may be life on other planets, but I believe man is unique in the sense that he was created in the image of God. God created on this planet as it were “little gods” whom He could love and who would return love to Him. Reverently speaking, God was lonely. He wanted someone to love and who would return love to Him. That sounds...More Thursday, May 9, 2024 New Heaven, New Earth The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. —Revelation 11:15 Christianity is a Gospel of crisis. It proclaims unmistakably that this world’s days are numbered. Every graveyard and every cemetery testify that the Bible is true. Our days on this planet are numbered. The Apostle James says that life is only a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes (James 4:14). The prophet Isaiah says that our life is like the grass that withers and the flower that fades (Isaiah 40:6,7). There is no doubt that nations also...More Wednesday, May 8, 2024 The Influence of a Mother Her children arise up, and call her blessed... — Proverbs 31:28 Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children. Someone has said, “Like mother, like children.” Most of the noble characters and fine leaders of history have had good, God-fearing mothers. We are told that George Washington’s mother was pious, and that Sir Walter Scott’s mother was a lover of poetry and music. On the other hand, we are told that Nero’s mother was a murderess and that the dissolute Lord Byron’s mother was a proud and violent woman. The influence of a...More Tuesday, May 7, 2024 Truth Brings Freedom If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. —John 8:36 The mark of a true Christian is found in his personal relationship to the Person of Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ. Christ is Christianity. I speak reverently when I say that Jesus is more than His ideas. All that He said was true, but without Him even the truth would have been powerless. Men know the power of truth, and truth is that which sets men free. Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Prayer for the day Thank You, Jesus, for the shackles that have been broken in my life! More Monday, May 6, 2024 Seek God For Yourself Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves . . . —Psalm 100:3 Whenever anyone asks me how I can be so certain about who and what God really is, I am reminded of the story of the little boy who was out flying a kite. It was a fine day to go kite-flying, the wind was brisk, and large billowy clouds were blowing across the sky. The kite went up and up until it was entirely hidden by the clouds. “What are you doing?” a man asked the little boy. “I’m flying a kite,” he replied. “Flying a kite, are you?” the man said, “How can you be sure? You can’t see...More Sunday, May 5, 2024 The Need for Love Keep yourselves in the love of God . . . —Jude 1:21 A husband and wife visited an orphanage where they hoped to adopt a child. In an interview with the boy they wanted, they told him in glowing terms about the many things they could give him. To their amazement the little fellow said, “If you have nothing to offer except a good home, clothes, toys, and the other things that most kids have—why, I would just as soon stay here.” “What on earth could you want besides those things?” the woman asked. “I just want someone to love me,” replied the little boy. There you have it! Even a little boy knows...More Saturday, May 4, 2024 Everlasting Peace But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace . . . —Ephesians 2:13,14 Meaningless mouthings about peace will not bring it to the world. In Glasgow, Scotland, we watched the Communists march around St. George’s Square carrying their banners with the words, “Our motto is PEACE!” My thoughts raced back to Korea, where I had seen the havoc and suffering caused by these people who now use “peace” as their motto. Peace is more than five little white letters painted on a piece of red cloth, carried by a goose-stepping zealot in a Red...More Friday, May 3, 2024 Seeing Our Need Only a fool would say to himself, ‘There is no God.' And why does he say it? Because of his wicked heart, his dark and evil deeds. His life is corroded with sin. —Psalm 53:1 (TLB) We live like a little ant on this little speck of dust out in space. We get a Ph.D. degree and we strut across the stage and say, “Well, I don’t know whether or not there is a God.” And we can’t even control ourselves. We can’t even keep from blowing ourselves apart. We can’t even keep from manufacturing nuclear weapons that could destroy the world. We can’t even keep from hating each other, and fighting with each...More Thursday, May 2, 2024 God Is in Nature When I consider thy heavens . . . —Psalm 8:3 To look into a microscope is to see another universe so small that only the electronic microscope can even find it. For instance, it is revealed that one single snowflake in a snowstorm with millions of other snowflakes is the equivalent of twenty billion electrons. Scientists are learning that the miniature world of a single living cell is as astonishing as man himself. God says that we can learn a great deal about Him just by observing nature. Because He has spoken through His universe, all men are without excuse for not believing in Him. This is why the...More Wednesday, May 1, 2024 God, the Peacekeeper He will keep in perfect peace all those who trust in him, whose thoughts turn often to the Lord! —Isaiah 26:3 (TLB) You have an ego-a consciousness of being an individual. Of course, you do. But that doesn’t mean that you are to worship yourself, to think constantly of yourself, and to live entirely for yourself. Common sense tells you that your life would be miserable if you followed that course. God is infinitely more concerned about your happiness than you could possibly be. He says, “Deny yourself, and follow me.” There is many a person in the insane asylum today who thought excessively about...More Tuesday, April 30, 2024 Always Be Vigilant Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. —1 Peter 5:8 When I was in the hospital in Hawaii, I read again of the shocking events which led up to the destruction of the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor. On that fateful day of December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked. We know now that that attack was invited by our failure to be always vigilant. The result was the destruction of our fleet-the cause was tragic indifference. When comfort and ease and pleasure are put ahead of duty and conviction, progress is always set...More Monday, April 29, 2024 Questioning Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. —Psalm 51:12 (TLB) It is not unusual for persons in their early twenties to defect from their early teaching. The reasons are many. Perhaps their exposure to unbelief “took” better than their exposure to belief. This is often the case, for the Bible says, “The heart of man is deceitful above all things.” The human heart is as prepared by sin to accept unbelief as faith. Some person they regard highly has undoubtedly influenced their thinking; and for the time being they look on their early training as...More Sunday, April 28, 2024 The Unpayable Debt Who gave himself for our sins . . . —Galatians 1:4 Years ago King Charles V was loaned a large sum of money by a merchant in Antwerp. The note came due, but the king was bankrupt and unable to pay. The merchant gave a great banquet for the King. When all the guests were seated and before the food was brought in, the merchant had a large platter placed on the table and a fire lighted on it. Then, taking the note out of his pocket, he held it in the flames until it was burned to ashes. The king threw his arms around his benefactor and wept. Just so, we have been mortgaged to God. The debt was due, but we were...More Saturday, April 27, 2024 God, Our Helper I am like a sheltered olive tree protected by the Lord himself. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. —Psalm 52:8 (TLB) Turn to your Bible and read the wonderful stories of men who were alone in godless surroundings but who, by the help and presence of the living God, made a marvelous contribution to their own times. Joseph was surrounded by sin and intrigue in Egypt. His master’s wife tried to seduce him. He was tested by imprisonment, but through it all he trusted in God and sought to know and do His will; and he stands today as a wonderful example of the keeping and strengthening power of God...More Friday, April 26, 2024 The Miracle of Life The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. —Psalm 19:1–3 There is a language in nature that speaks of the existence of God. It is the language of order, beauty, perfection, and intelligence. Some time ago a scientist told me that when he gave serious thought to the majestic order of the universe and its obedience to unchanging law, he could not help but believe in God. He had become aware that God was speaking through...More Thursday, April 25, 2024 Joy in Sharing We . . . offer our sacrifice of praise to God by telling others of the glory of his name. —Hebrews 13:15 (TLB) Jesus knew that one of the real tests of our yieldedness to God is our willingness to share with others. If we have no mercy toward others, that is one proof that we have never experienced God’s mercy. Emerson must have been reading the gauge of human mercy when he said, “What you are speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.” Satan does not care how much you theorize about Christianity, or how much you profess to know Christ. What he opposes vigorously is the way you live...More Wednesday, April 24, 2024 He Is Alive! Because I live, ye shall live also. —John 14:19 For personal Christianity, the resurrection is all-important. There is a vital interrelation to the existence of Christianity itself, as well as to the individual believer, in the message of the Gospel. The Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, said, “Do you want to believe in the living Christ? We may believe in Him only if we believe in His corporeal resurrection. This is the content of the New Testament. We are always free to reject it, but not to modify it, nor to pretend that the New Testament tells something else. We may accept or refuse the message, but we...More Tuesday, April 23, 2024 He Died for Us But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5:8 As we stand at the cross of Christ we see a glorious exhibition of God’s love. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, “While we were powerless to help ourselves . . . Christ died for sinful men.” In human experience, it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of God’s amazing love is this: that it was “while we were sinners Christ died for us.” A...More Monday, April 22, 2024 The Promises of God Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. —Philippians 4:6 (TLB) Historians will probably call our era “the age of anxiety.” Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us. When we make anything else our goal, frustration and defeat are inevitable. Though we have less to worry about than previous generations, we have more worry. Though we have it easier than our forefathers, we have more uneasiness. Though we have less real cause for anxiety than our predecessors,...More Sunday, April 21, 2024 Love in Action Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ . . . —Ephesians 5:2 (TLB) There is no doubt that we need social reform. If success is ever to be realized, our generations must work together and listen to each other, which is one of the first requirements of cooperation. At this point, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant as the great reconciler. The Apostle John, in his first epistle, declared, “To you, young men, I have written,” and, “To you, fathers, I have written.” This is to the young activists and to the old guard, “It is by this that we know what love is: that Christ laid...More Saturday, April 20, 2024 Our Basic Need . . . he hath set his love upon me . . . —Psalm 91:14 A basic need of mankind is affection. Those who “abide in Him” are objects of God’s affection and love. You cannot say that you are friendless when Christ has said, “Henceforth I call you not servants … but I have called you friends” (John 15:15). To you who lament the fact that you have been bereft of affection and love in this life, I happily commend Christ. He loved you enough to lay down His life for you. Not only that, but by His atonement upon the cross, He purchased the favor of God in your behalf, and now through Him you may be the...More Friday, April 19, 2024 Depend on Him I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit's instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won't always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. —Galatians 5:16 (TLB) To walk in the Spirit is a challenging and inspiring exercise, for it combines activity with relaxation. To walk means to place one foot in front of the other. If you stop doing this, you are no longer walking-you are standing still. Walking always implies movement, progress, and direction. Sin shall no longer rule or dominate you when you are allowing the Holy Spirit to live Christ’s life through...More Thursday, April 18, 2024 Christ Is Our Comforter . . . realize that your heavenly Father will . . . give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for him. —Luke 11:13 (TLB) Before He left His disciples, Christ promised that He would send a Comforter to help them in the trials, cares, and temptations of life. This word comforter means “one that helps alongside.” He is the Holy Spirit, the powerful Third Person of the Trinity. The moment you are born again, He takes up residence in your heart. You may not emotionally feel Him there, but you must exercise faith. Believe it! Accept it as a fact of faith! He is in your heart to help you. We are told that He sheds...More Wednesday, April 17, 2024 The Ability to Believe . . . believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead . . . —Romans 10:9 It is impossible to believe anything into existence. The Gospel did not come into being because men believed it. The tomb was not emptied of Christ’s body that first Easter because some faithful persons believed it. The fact preceded the faith. We are psychologically incapable of believing without an object of our faith. The object of Christian faith is Christ. Faith means more than an intellectual assent to the claims of Christ. You are not called upon to believe something that is not credible, but to believe in the...More Tuesday, April 16, 2024 Wisdom to Understand Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. —Genesis 28:15 When Jesus uttered His words of comfort in the first few verses of the fourteenth chapter of John’s Gospel, concluding with, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:4), Thomas said unto Him, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Jesus answered him with a statement which has in it the ring of eternity. It was sublimely simple and yet profoundly deep. Its surface meaning was clear to all, and yet the great theologians have never completely sounded...More Monday, April 15, 2024 Evidence of Jesus I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore . . . —Revelation 1:18 Certain laws of evidence hold in the establishment of any historic event. Documentation of the event in question must be made by reliable contemporary witnesses. There is more evidence that Jesus rose from the dead than there is that Julius Caesar ever lived, or that Alexander the Great died at the age of 33. It is strange that historians will accept thousands of facts for which they can produce only shreds of evidence. But in the face of the overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they cast a...More Sunday, April 14, 2024 The Return of the Lord Our homeland is in heaven, where our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ is; and we are looking forward to his return . . . —Philippians 3:20 (TLB) The Scriptures indicate that we are living in man’s day. But there is coming a day that will be called the Day of the Lord. In the midst of hopelessness, there is hope! And that hope is centered in the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the will of man runs riot in the earth. Then the will of the Lord will alone be done. Until that time, we are under orders from the King of kings to proclaim His message. When we engage in evangelism, we are obeying His great command...More Saturday, April 13, 2024 Looking for a Cause? Brethren . . . present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. —Romans 12:1 In a book called “The Age of Longing” we read that an American girl married a radical revolutionary in Paris. She had lost her faith at an American University—lost all the religious faith she had, and all the things her parents had told her. She was asked why she married him. She said, “He’s the first person I have ever known who believes something strong enough to die for it. Although I don’t believe exactly as he does, I was attracted to this man who had found a...More Friday, April 12, 2024 Shine Your Light Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. —Matthew 5:16 One faithful witness is worth a thousand mute professors of religion. Tom Allan, Scotland’s famous young preacher, was brought to Christ while a black soldier was singing, “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” He said it was neither the song nor the voice, but the spirit in which that soldier sang—something about his manner, something about his sincerity of expression—that convicted him of his wicked life and turned him to the Savior. Our faith grows by...More Thursday, April 11, 2024 Transformed By Grace He hath made him to be sin for us . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God . . . —2 Corinthians 5:21 Augustine was one of the greatest theologians of all time. He was a wild, intemperate, immoral youth. In spite of his mother’s pleadings and prayers, he grew worse instead of better. But one day he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ that transformed his life. His restlessness and the practice of sin disappeared. He became one of the great saints of all time. John Newton was a slave trader on the west coast of Africa. One day in a storm at sea he met Jesus Christ. He went back to England...More Wednesday, April 10, 2024 What Is Most Important? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead. And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless. . . . The fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead . . . —1 Corinthians 15:13,14,20 (TLB) I was invited to have coffee one morning with Konrad Adenauer before he retired as the Chancellor of Germany. When I walked in, I expected to meet a tall, stiff, formal man who might even be embarrassed if I brought up the subject of religion. After the greeting, the Chancellor suddenly turned to me and said, “Mr....More Tuesday, April 9, 2024 Do Not Trust Your Heart And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him . . . —Luke 23:33 One of the ironies of human nature is that it often has a way of rejecting the best and accepting the worst. Why did the crowd ask for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus? The answer is in the biblical statement, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jesus is just as divine today and just as much alive as He was on that first Good Friday. Yet millions today don’t accept Him. His goodness is still a rebuke to our badness; His purity still shows up our...More Monday, April 8, 2024 Unchanging Human Nature Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the world's sin. —John 1:29 (TLB) At the cross of Christ, sin reached its climax. Its most terrible display took place at Calvary. It was never blacker or more hideous. We see the human heart laid bare and its corruption fully exposed. Some people have said that man has improved since that day, that if Christ came back today, He would not be crucified but would be given a glorious reception. Christ does come to us every day in the form of Bibles that we do not read, in the form of churches that we do not attend, in the form of human need that we pass by. I am...More Sunday, April 7, 2024 What Makes Christianity Different? He is not here, but is risen. —Luke 24:6 Something distinguishes Christianity from all the religions of the world. Not only does it carry the truth of the redemption, by the death of our Savior for our sins on the cross, but it carries the fact that Christ rose again. Only the Christian faith claims that its Leader died and rose again and is alive at this moment. Many gravestones carry the inscription, “Here lies . . . ,” but on Christ’s tomb are emblazoned the words, “He is not here.” Christianity has no shrines to visit, no dusty remains to venerate, no tombs at which to worship. Many good men...More Saturday, April 6, 2024 Know the Bible Search the Book of the Lord . . . —Isaiah 34:16 (TLB) A knowledge of the Bible is essential to a rich and meaningful life. For the words of this Book have a way of filling in the missing pieces, of bridging the gaps, of turning the tarnished colors of our life to jewel-like brilliance. Learn to take your every problem to the Bible. Within its pages you will find the correct answer. But most of all, the Bible is a revelation of the nature of God. The philosophers of the centuries have struggled with the problem of a Supreme Being. Who is He? What is He? Where is He? If there is such a Person, is He...More Friday, April 5, 2024 What a Savior! It was written long ago that the Messiah must suffer and die and rise again from the dead on the third day. —Luke 24:46 (TLB) What was the power and influence that changed the cross from an instrument of bloody torture into the most glorious and beloved of all symbols? The Romans crucified thousands of people before and after Calvary. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, no right-minded person would have glorified anything so hideous and repulsive as a cross stained with the blood of Jesus. By the miracle of His rising from the grave, Jesus placed the seal of assurance upon the forgiveness of our...More Thursday, April 4, 2024 Die to Yourself The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. —Psalm 34:18 (TLB) In God’s economy, you must go down into the valley of grief before you can scale the heights of spiritual glory. You must become tired and weary of living alone before you seek and find the fellowship of Christ. You must come to the end of self before you begin to live. The mourning of inadequacy is a weeping that catches the attention of God. The Bible says, “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” The happiest day...More Wednesday, April 3, 2024 Not Just a Man And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. —Colossians 1:17 Napoleon was right when he said, “I know men, and I tell you, Jesus is more than a man. Comparison is impossible between Him and any other human being who ever lived, because He was the Son of God.” Emerson was right when he replied to those who asked him why he did not include Jesus among his Representative Men, “Jesus was not just a man.” Arnold Toynbee was right when he said, “As we stand and gaze with our eyes fixed upon the farther shore, a simple figure rises from the flood and straightway fills the whole horizon of...More Tuesday, April 2, 2024 Use Your Mind And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind . . . —Mark 12:30 Christ touches every area of our lives. He touches our minds and we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. God invites people to use their minds, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). We are told in Scripture not to be like the horse or mule, “which have no understanding” (Psalm 32:9). Christ declared that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. We are told to fear God, to love Christ, and to hate sin....More Monday, April 1, 2024 Glory in the Cross As for me, God forbid that I should boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. —Galatians 6:14 (TLB) What glory is there in the cross? It was an instrument of torture and shame. Why did Paul glory in it? He gloried in it because the most selfless act ever performed by men or angels took place upon it. He saw-emanating from that rough, unartistic beam upon which the Son of God had been crucified—the radiant hope of the world, the end of the believer’s bondage to sin, and the love of God shed abroad in the hearts of men. A lone man dying on a cross did more to restore man’s lost...More Sunday, March 31, 2024 The Hope of Resurrection He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus . . . —2 Corinthians 4:14 The resurrection of Christ brings hope. The late Emil Brunner once said, “What oxygen is for the lungs, such is hope for the meaning of human life.” As the human organism is dependent on a supply of oxygen, so humanity is dependent on its supply of hope. Yet today hopelessness and despair are everywhere. Peter, who himself was given to despair during the episode of Calvary, writes in a triumphant note, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us...More Saturday, March 30, 2024 Endless Forgiveness For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us . . . —1 Thessalonians 5:9,10 Look at Christ’s death. In one biography of the great American, Daniel Webster, 863 pages deal with his career and just five pages are devoted to his death. In Hay’s life of Abraham Lincoln there are 5,000 pages but only 25 are devoted to the dramatic story of his assassination and death. In most biographies the deaths of the subjects are mere incidents at the close of the books. But when we come to the four “biographies” of Jesus, the four Gospels, we are...More Friday, March 29, 2024 Cleansed by the Blood . . . unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood. —Revelation 1:5 Blood is mentioned 460 times in the Bible. Fourteen times in the New Testament Jesus spoke of His own blood. Why? Because by the shedding of His blood, He accomplished the possibility of our salvation. He paid the penalty for our sin and redeemed us. The penalty for our sin and rebellion is death; Jesus stepped out and said, “I’ll take that death.” He voluntarily laid down His life and took the penalty we deserve. That’s what the cross is all about. The blood of Jesus Christ not only redeems us, it...More Thursday, March 28, 2024 The Light of the World The Lord is my light and my salvation . . . —Psalm 27:1 Under the picture of Peter Milne, hanging in the church he founded on the little New Hebrides Island of Nguna, these words are found: “When he came, there was no light. When he died, there was no darkness.” When Christ came into the world, there was no light. Matthew (quoting Isaiah) said of Him, “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Matthew 4:16). Harry Lauder once said that during his boyhood, he could tell where the lamplighter was “by the trail of...More Wednesday, March 27, 2024 The Greatest Act of Humility ...he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. —Matthew 23:12 In almost every instance in the Bible, as well as in life, pride is associated with failure, not success. We hear a great deal about the inferiority complex, but the superiority complex of pride is seldom spoken of. It was pride that caused the fall of Lucifer, and he became Satan, the devil. It was pride that led King Saul down to a shameful and untimely death. It was pride that caused Peter to deny his Lord. The greatest act of humility in the history of the universe was when Jesus Christ stooped to die on the cross of Calvary....More Tuesday, March 26, 2024 Turn Darkness to Light . . . light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light . . . —John 3:19 The world’s difficulty is summed up in the words, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness understood it not.” The light of Easter is shining, but men refuse to turn to its healing rays for forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. Thus Christ is being rejected by the overwhelming majority of humanity today. As a result, men stumble on in spiritual darkness blindly toward destruction, judgment, and hell. In the midst of the darkness and “void” at the creation of the world, God said,...More Monday, March 25, 2024 Be Sensitive If a person isn't loving and kind, it shows that he doesn't know God—for God is love. —1 John 4:8 (TLB) Jesus wept tears of compassion at the graveside of a friend. He mourned over Jerusalem because as a city it had lost its appreciation of the things of the Spirit. His great heart was sensitive to the needs of others. To emphasize the importance of man’s love for men, He revised an old commandment to make it read, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart . . . and thy neighbor as thyself.” This generation is rough and tough. I heard a little boy boasting one day about how tough he was....More Sunday, March 24, 2024 The Endless Love of God But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. —John 1:12 (TLB) Who can describe or measure the love of God? God is love. But the fact that God is love does not mean that everything is sweet, beautiful, and happy, and that God’s love could not possibly allow punishment for sin. God’s holiness demands that all sin be punished, but God’s love provided a plan of redemption and salvation for sinful man. God’s love provided the cross of Jesus Christ by which man can have forgiveness and cleansing. It was the love of God that sent Jesus Christ to the cross. No matter...More Saturday, March 23, 2024 Jesus Never Changes Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. —Hebrews 13:8 The Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die,” and to the average person this seems a stark and hopeless situation. Hundreds of philosophies and scores of religions have been invented to circumvent the Word of God. Modern philosophers and psychologists are still trying to make it appear that there is some way out other than the path of Jesus. But people have tried them all, and none of them leads anywhere but down. Christ came to give us the answers to the three enduring problems of sin, sorrow, and death. It is Jesus...More Friday, March 22, 2024 A Pure Heart Keep thyself pure. —1 Timothy 5:22 The Pharisees were not happy men. They had furrowed brows, nervous tension, frustration. They were full of resentments, bitterness, prejudices, and hatreds. Why? Simply because they had lost sight of God’s conception of the pure in heart. They thought that as long as they kept the letter of the law that was enough. But this was not God’s plan. This did not produce purity of heart. This did not bring about happiness of soul. Jesus taught that God looks deeper than the outside actions of an individual. He searches and ponders the heart. God judges not so much the outside...More Thursday, March 21, 2024 Satisfaction in Him I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. —Psalm 17:15 Is it not logical to believe that the only one who can recreate us is the One who created us in the first place? If your watch were out of order, you wouldn’t take it to a blacksmith. If your car needed overhauling, you wouldn’t go to a machine shop. Our spiritual problems can be solved only by the God who created us originally. He created us in His own image and likeness; today, by the grace of His Son, He can recreate us in the likeness of His resurrection. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are recreated and become partakers of His...More Wednesday, March 20, 2024 Standing Firm So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up. —Ephesians 6:13 (TLB) Daniel and his companions were tempted to forsake their godly heritage, but they refused. They even faced a fiery furnace rather than compromise. God honored their faith and mightily used them. Moses was surrounded by the luxury and godlessness of the Egyptian court, but cast in his lot with his own people. Lot lived in Sodom and saw the obscenities of that doomed city. God saved him out of it because he trusted in Him. Every one of our Lord’s apostles...More Tuesday, March 19, 2024 We Need Faith And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. —Mark 11:22 Dr. Wernher von Braun, the guiding scientist in the development of our great space rockets, has said, “The materialists of the 19th century and the Marxist heirs of the 20th tried to tell us that as science yields more knowledge about the creation, it makes us able to live without faith in a Creator. Yet so far, with every new answer we have discovered new questions. The better we understand the intricacies of the atomic structure, the nature of life and the master plan for the galaxies, the more reason we have found to marvel at the...More Monday, March 18, 2024 Tame Your Temper Doest thou well to be angry? —Jonah 4:4 You have a temper. There is nothing unique about that. Most people have tempers, in varying degrees, of course. God does not ask that you get rid of that temper. But He does say that if you are to be happy, it must be brought under control and rechanneled to proper use. God cannot use a man without a temper as well as one with a controlled temper. Too many professed Christians never get “wrought up” about anything; they never get indignant with injustice, with corruption in high places, or with the godless traffics which barter away the souls and bodies of...More Sunday, March 17, 2024 Sight for the Blind . . . one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see. —John 9:25 I try to explain to you the joy of following Christ: the thrill, the excitement, the exhilaration—knowing where I’ve come from, why I’m here, where I’m going! There’s a reason for existence. There’s a reason for getting up every morning of the year. I try to tell you what I’ve found in Jesus Christ, and in studying the Scriptures and walking with Him, and you say, “I can’t see that!” Of course, you can’t. You are blind. Try to explain television to a blind man. He can understand a little of it, but it doesn’t...More Saturday, March 16, 2024 The Secret of Contentment I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great his power is to help those who believe him. It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead . . . —Ephesians 1:19,20 (TLB) Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them. They would be “as sheep in the midst of wolves.” They would be arrested, scourged, and brought before governors and kings. Even their loved ones would persecute them. As the world hated and persecuted Him, so it would treat His servants. Thousands of Christians have learned the secret of contentment and joy in trial. Some of the happiest Christians I...More Friday, March 15, 2024 Ready for a Breakthrough . . . may the God of peace . . . produce in you through the power of Christ all that is pleasing to him . . . —Hebrews 13:20,21 (TLB) When I was a boy, radio was just coming of age. We would gather around a crude homemade set and twist the three tuning dials in an effort to establish contact with the transmitter. Often, all the sound that came out of the amplifier was the squawk of static; but we knew that somewhere out there was the unseen transmitter, and if contact was established and the dials were in adjustment, we could hear a voice loud and clear. After a long time of laborious tuning, the far distant voice...More Thursday, March 14, 2024 Happiness So don't be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time. —Matthew 6:34 (TLB) King George V wrote on the flyleaf of the Bible of a friend, “The secret of happiness is not to do what you like to do, but to learn to like what you have to do.” Too many think of happiness as some sort of will-o’-the-wisp thing that is discovered by constant and relentless searching. It is not found by seeking. It is not an end in itself. Pots of gold are never found at the end of the rainbow, as we used to think when we were children; gold is mined from the ground or panned...More Wednesday, March 13, 2024 God of Order The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust . . . —Psalm 18:2 The trouble with our modern thinking is that we have a conception that God is a haphazard God with no set rules of life and salvation. Ask the astronomer if God is a haphazard God. He will tell you that every star moves with precision in its celestial path. Ask the scientist if God is a haphazard God. He will tell you that His formulas and equations are fixed, and that to ignore the laws of science would be a fool’s folly. If the laws in the material realm are so fixed and exact, is it...More Tuesday, March 12, 2024 Growing as a Christian Dear brothers, I have been talking to you as though you were still just babies in the Christian life . . . —1 Corinthians 3:1 (TLB) Some people have received Christ but have never reached spiritual maturity. They have been in church all their lives, and yet they have never become mature Christians. They are still considered “spiritual children” and “babes in Christ.” They know little Scripture. They have little desire to pray, and bear few of the marks of a Christian in their daily living. To say, “I will resolve to do better, I will muster all my will power and revise my way of living,”...More Monday, March 11, 2024 The Power of Speech Submit yourselves therefore to God . . . —James 4:7 You have a tongue and a voice. These instruments of speech can be used destructively or employed constructively. You can use your tongue to slander, to gripe, to scold, to nag, and to quarrel; or you can bring it under the control of God’s Spirit and make it an instrument of blessing and praise. The 20th-century version of James 3:3 says, “When we put bits into the horses’ mouths to make them obey us, we control the rest of their bodies also.” Just so, when we submit to the claims of Christ upon our lives, our untamed natures are brought under His...More Sunday, March 10, 2024 Not Good Enough . . . not having mine own righteousness . . . —Philippians 3:9 People go through many doors which do not lead to the Kingdom of God. Some try the door of good works. They say, “I can get to heaven if I only do enough good things, because God will honor all the good things I do.” It’s wonderful to do good things, but we cannot do enough good things to satisfy God. God demands perfection, and we’re not perfect. If we’re going to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to be absolutely perfect. You ask, “Well, how will I ever be perfect?” We need to be clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus....More

Friday, March 8, 2024 Spiritual Sensitivity Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love these things you show that you do not really love God . . . —1 John 2:15 (TLB) There are certain elements of daily life which are not sinful in themselves but which have a tendency to lead to sin if they are abused. Abuse literally means “extreme use” and, in many instances, overuse of things lawful becomes sin. Ambition is an essential part of character, but it must be fixed on lawful objects and exercised in proper proportion. Thought about the necessities of life and taking care of one’s family is absolutely essential; but...More Thursday, March 7, 2024 The Divine Standard For salvation that comes from trusting Christ . . . is already within easy reach of each of us . . . —Romans 10:8 (TLB) Christ said there is a happiness in that acknowledgment of spiritual poverty which lets God come into our souls. Now, the Bible teaches that our souls have a disease. It causes all the troubles and difficulties in the world. It causes all the troubles, confusions, and disillusionments in your own life. The name of the disease is an ugly word. We don’t like to use it. It is “sin.” All of us have pride. We do not like to confess that we are wrong or that we have failed. But...More Wednesday, March 6, 2024 A Heart of Belief If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. —Romans 10:9 The heart is the blood-pump of the body. It is also used metaphorically when we speak of affections and feelings. Since it is the central organ of the body and one of the most vital, the Bible speaks of it as the wellspring of life. Hence, it is used synonymously with “life.” When the Bible says, “Son, give me thine heart,” it doesn’t mean that we are to cut out our actual hearts and give them to God. It means that we are to give Him our...More Tuesday, March 5, 2024 The Life of a Servant So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord . . . —1 Kings 17:5 As messengers of God, we will often lead lonely lives. “All men forsook me,” said Paul. It is a price we have to pay; there is a loneliness in the Gospel. Yet you will not be alone, because you will be ministered to by the Spirit of God, as Elijah was ministered to at the brook Cherith. A true messenger lives a burdened life. If he is the Lord’s vessel, he carries in his heart a burden for souls none can share but those who know it firsthand. Prayer for the day Just as Your Spirit took care of Elijah, I...More Monday, March 4, 2024 Jesus Is Coming But don't forget this, dear friends. . . . He isn't really being slow about his promised return, even though it sometimes seems that way. But he is waiting, for the good reason that he is not willing that any should perish, and he is giving more time for sinners to repent. —2 Peter 3:8,9 (TLB) Many people are asking, “Where is history heading?” A careful student of the Bible will be led to see that God controls the clock of destiny. Amid the world’s confusion, God’s omnipotent hand moves, working out His unchanging plan and purpose. Jesus Christ is coming to earth again. It is Christ who is in...More Sunday, March 3, 2024 God Is the Life Giver He made the world and everything there is. —Hebrews 1:2 (TLB) There are many arguments we could marshal to give evidence of the existence of God. There is scientific evidence pointing to God’s existence. For example, whatever is in motion must be moved by another, for motion is the response of matter to power. In the world of matter there can be no power without life, and life pre-supposes a being from which emanates the power to move things, such as tides and the planets. Or there is the argument that says nothing can be the cause of itself. It would be prior to itself if it caused itself to be, and that...More Saturday, March 2, 2024 Be Truthful You deserve honesty from the heart; yes, utter sincerity and truthfulness. Oh, give me this wisdom. —Psalm 51:6 (TLB) The Bible teaches that purity of conduct includes truthfulness. The Bible teaches that we should be truthful in our representation of ourselves. With what scorn Christ denounced the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees! In the Sermon on the Mount He rebuked all hypocritical giving, praying, and fasting. We should also be truthful in speaking of our past achievements in our particular vocation. God does not ask us to understate the facts—that might even be untruthfulness—but neither...More Friday, March 1, 2024 Meditate on Scripture How can a young man stay pure? By reading your Word and following its rules. —Psalm 119:9 (TLB) Many of the difficulties we experience as Christians can be traced to a lack of Bible study and reading. We should not be content to skim through a chapter merely to satisfy our conscience. Hide the Word of God in your heart! A little portion well digested is of greater value to the soul than a lengthy portion scanned hurriedly. Do not be discouraged because you cannot understand it all. Go on reading. As you read, the Holy Spirit will enlighten the passages for you. Reading the Bible has a purifying effect upon...More Thursday, February 29, 2024 You Are Not Alone "... for the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." -Deuteronomy 31:6 Loneliness is no respecter of persons. It invades the palace as well as the hut. Many turn to drink because of loneliness. Others lose their sanity because of loneliness. Many commit suicide because of the despair of loneliness. Thousands have found Christ to be the answer for their loneliness. The Hebrew children were not alone when they were hurled into the fiery furnace of persecution. There was One with them like unto the Son of God. Moses wasn't alone in the Midian Desert...More Wednesday, February 28, 2024 He Gives Us Life Eternal These things have I written unto you that believe . . . that ye may know that ye have eternal life . . . -1 John 5:13 Recently I read that it will cost this country a hundred billion dollars to get one man safely to Mars. It cost God the priceless blood of His only Son to get us sinners to heaven. By tasting death for every man, Jesus took over our penalty as He erased our guilt. Now God can forgive. In a moment of thanksgiving, Paul once exclaimed, "He loved me and gave Himself for me!" Will you repeat these words right now, even as you read? If you do, I believe you will have cause to be...More Tuesday, February 27, 2024 God Our Comforter I, even I, am he that comforteth you . . . -Isaiah 51:12 There is also comfort in mourning, because in the midst of mourning God gives a song. His presence in our lives changes our mourning into song, and that song is a song of comfort. This kind of comfort is the kind which enabled a devout Englishman to look at a deep dark hole in the ground where his home stood before the bombing and say, "I always did want a basement. Now I can jolly well build another house, like I always wanted." This kind of comfort is the kind which enabled a young minister's wife in a church near us to teach her...More Monday, February 26, 2024 Practice the Fruits of the Spirit But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control . . . -Galatians 5:22,23 (TLB) Christ can rid you of inner conflict. Man without God is always torn between two urges. His nature prompts him to do wrong, and his conscience urges him to do right. Antagonistic desires and crossed-up emotions keep him in a state of personal instability. Medical men have almost concluded that this conflict is the basis of much physical breakdown and nervous collapse. Many doctors now believe...More Sunday, February 25, 2024 Change of Heart Christ taught you! If you have really heard his voice . . . then throw off your old evil nature-the old you that was a partner in your evil ways . . . -Ephesians 4:20-22 (TLB) Paul before his conversion was not meek. Proudly and brutally, he apprehended all Christians and sought to destroy them. He was bigoted, selfish, and vaunted. But when he wrote his warm and affectionate letter to the churches of Galatia, he said, among other things, "The fruit of the Spirit is . . . gentleness, goodness . . . meekness." His meekness was something God-given, not something man-made. It is not our nature to be...More Saturday, February 24, 2024 He Is Merciful Who is a God like unto thee . . . he delighteth in mercy. -Micah 7:18 Many people want to hear what God says just out of curiosity. They want to analyze and dissect it in their own test tubes. To these people, God may remain the great cosmic silence "out there somewhere." He communicates to those who are willing to hear and receive Him, and willing to obey Him. Jesus said that we must become humble as little children, and God has most often revealed Himself to the meek and the humble - to a shepherd boy like David, to a rough desert man like John the Baptist, to shepherds watching their...More Thursday, February 23, 2024 Living in His Power I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. —Philippians 4:13 Jesus had a humble heart. If He abides in us, pride will never dominate our lives. Jesus had a loving heart. If He dwells within us, hatred and bitterness will never rule us. Jesus had a forgiving and understanding heart. If He lives within us, mercy will temper our relationships with our fellowmen. Jesus had an unselfish heart. If He lives in us, selfishness will not predominate, but service to God and others will come before our selfish interests. You say, "That's a big order!" I admit that. It would be impossible if you had...More Wednesday, February 22, 2024 The Enemy Deceives Us In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. —Ephesians 6:16 (TLB) Many jokes are made about the devil, but the devil is no joke. If a short time ago I had talked about Satan to university students, they would have made light of him, but no longer. Students today want to know about the devil, about witchcraft, about the occult. Many people do not know they are turning to Satan. They are being deluded because, according to Jesus Christ, Satan is the father of lies and the greatest liar of all times. He is called a deceiver. In order to accomplish his...More Tuesday, February 21, 2024 Wisdom for Today If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . and it shall be given him. —James 1:5 Peace with God and the peace of God in a man's heart and the joy of fellowship with Christ have in themselves a beneficial effect upon the body and mind, and will lead to the development and preservation of physical and mental power. Thus, Christ promotes the best interest of the body and mind as well as of the spirit—in addition to inward peace, the development of spiritual life, the joy and fellowship with Christ, and the new strength that come with being born again. There are certain special privileges...More Monday, February 20, 2024 Overcome Temptation Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. —Psalm 119:11 When temptations come, let me suggest that you ask God for strength—and also to show you the way He has prepared for your escape. One other word of counsel; be very sure that you do not deliberately place yourself in a position to be tempted. All of us are not subjected to the same weaknesses and temptations. To one, alcohol may be the temptation; to another, it may be impure thoughts and acts; to another, greed and covetousness; to another, criticism and an unloving attitude. Regardless of what it may...More Sunday, February 19, 2024 Tame Your Tongue "If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. —James 1:26 The problems of the world could be solved overnight if men could get victory over their tongues. Suppose there was no anger, no profanity, no lying, no grumbling or complaining; suppose there were no dirty stories told, no unjust criticism—what a different world this would be! The Bible teaches that a man who can control his tongue can control his whole personality. We should ask ourselves three questions before we speak: Is it true? Is it kind? Does it...More Saturday, February 18, 2024 How Will You Live? And Jesus said, . . . and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. —Mark 14:62 The world in which we live is full of pessimism. No Christian has the scriptural right to go around wringing his hands wondering what we are to do in the face of the present world situation. The Scripture says that in the midst of persecution, confusion, wars, and rumors of wars, we are to comfort one another with the knowledge that our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back in triumph, glory, and majesty. Many times when I go to bed at night I think to myself that before...More Friday, February 17, 2024 Our Eternal Home I create new heavens . . . —Isaiah 65:17 What kind of place is heaven? First, heaven is home. The Bible takes the word "home" with all of its tender associations and with all of its sacred memories and tells us that heaven is home. Second, heaven is a home which is permanent. We have the promise of a home where Christ's followers will remain forever. Third, the Bible teaches that heaven is a home which is beautiful beyond every imagination. Heaven could not help but be so, because God is a God of beauty. Fourth, the Bible teaches that heaven will be a home which is happy, because there will...More Thursday, February 16, 2024 Living Enthusiastically for God By Good salt is worthless if it loses its saltiness; it can't season anything. So don't lose your flavor! —Mark 9:50 (TLB) Columbus was called mad because he decided to sail the uncharted ocean. . . . Martin Luther was called mad because he presumed to defy the entrenched religious hierarchy of his time. Patrick Henry was considered mad when he cried, "Give me liberty, or give me death!" George Washington was thought to be mad when he decided to continue the war after the winter at Valley Forge, when thousands of his men had died and other thousands had deserted, leaving him only a handful of men. We...More Wednesday, February 15, 2024 The Ultimate Peace Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you . . . —John 14:27 Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." Where does peacemaking begin? How can we become peacemakers? Can peace be discovered within ourselves? Freud has told us that peace is but a mental attitude. Cast off our phobias, shed our neuroses, and "bingo!"—we'll have the coveted peace we long for. I respect psychiatry for what it can do. Unquestionably, it has helped many. But it certainly is not satisfactory as a substitute for the peace which can come only from God. If psychiatry...More Tuesday, February 14, 2024 The Mystery of His Love I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . . —Jeremiah 31:3 No human experience can fully illustrate the imputed righteousness of God, as conceived by His infinite love. It is a mystery-incomprehensible and inexplicable. Like the mystery of the sun's heat and light, we cannot measure it or explain it, and yet we could not live without it. Writing of the mystery of completed righteousness, Paul said, "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. . . . But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered...More Monday, February 13, 2024 Chosen by God . . . you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life . . . —Colossians 3:12 (TLB) Modern writers depict the pessimism of our time and many of them throw up their hands in despair and say, "There is no answer to man's dilemma." Hemingway once said, "I live in a vacuum that is as lonely as a radio tube when the batteries are dead, and there is no current to plug into." Eugene O'Neill in "Long Day's Journey Into Night" typifies the philosophical attitude of our day. He says, "Life's only meaning is death." I say to Hemingway and to O'Neill, who have already gone on, "There is more to...More Sunday, February 12, 2024 Feeling the Hurts of Others He that loveth his brother abideth in the light . . . —1 John 2:10 This age in which we live could hardly be described as conducive to a sensitiveness of the needs of others. We have developed a veneer of sophistication and hardness. Abraham Lincoln once said, characteristically, "I am sorry for the man who can't feel the whip when it is laid on the other man's back." Much of the world is calloused and indifferent toward mankind's poverty and distress. This is due largely to the fact that for many people there has never been a rebirth. The love of God has never been shed abroad in their hearts. Many...More Saturday, February 11, 2024 His Timing Is Perfect . . . that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. —Romans 12:2 God has a plan for the life of every Christian. Every circumstance, every turn of destiny, is for your good. It is working together for completeness. His plan for you is being perfected. All things working together for your good and for His glory. As a young Christian, Ruth, my wife, wanted to be a missionary, as were her father and mother. But God had other plans for her life. Changing circumstances revealed God's will to her, and she was happy where God had placed her. So many of us ask God to change the...More Friday, February 10, 2024 God Made You Our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. —1 John 1:3 God made you! You were fashioned in His own image! You were made in the image and likeness of the Creator. God had a purpose in making you. His primary purpose is that you would have fellowship with Him. If man does not have fellowship with God, he is lost, confused, and bewildered. Since he does not find his place, he has a sense of not fitting. There are thousands of people who admit and confess that they are unhappy. Economic security, recreation, pleasure, and a good community in which to live have not brought about the...More Thursday, February 9, 2024 Life-Changing Power I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. —Galatians 2:20 One day, by a simple act of faith, I decided to take Jesus Christ at His word. I could not come by way of the intellect alone; no one can. That does not mean that we reject reason. God has given us minds and the ability to reason wherever reason is appropriate, but the final and decisive step is taken by faith. I came by faith. Does it work when a person comes, repenting of his sins, to receive Christ by faith? I can only tell you that it worked in my own life. Something did happen to me. I didn't become...More Wednesday, February 8, 2024 Power Over Sin Those who belong to Christ have nailed their natural evil desires to his cross and crucified them there. —Galatians 5:24 (TLB) The strength for our conquering and our victory is drawn continually from Christ. The Bible does not teach that sin is completely eradicated from the Christian in this life, but it does teach that sin shall no longer reign over you. The strength and power of sin have been broken. The Christian now has resources available to live above and beyond this world. The Bible teaches that whosoever is born of God does not practice sin. It is like the little girl who said that when the...More Tuesday, February 7, 2024 Giving Back What Is His "But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him - how can God's love be within him?" —1 John 3:17 (TLB) You know that the hardest thing for you to give up is your money. It represents your time, your energy, your talents, your total personality converted into currency. We usually hold on to it tenaciously, yet it is uncertain in value and we cannot take it into the next world. The Scripture teaches that we are stewards for a little while of all we earn. If we misuse it, as did the man who buried his talent, it brings upon...More Monday, February 6, 2024 The Cleansing Power of Christ For if the blood of bulls and of goats . . . sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, . . . purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? —Hebrews 9:13,14 To have a guilty conscience is an experience. Psychologists may define it as a guilt complex and may seek to rationalize away the sense of guilt; but once this has been awakened through the application of the law of God, no explanation will quiet the insistent voice of conscience. Many a criminal has finally given himself over to the authorities because the accusations of a guilty conscience...More Sunday, February 5, 2024 The Importance of Corporate Worship Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . —Hebrews 10:25 I will not argue with you about nature inspiring thoughts of God. David said, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork." But at the same time, I would give you no comfort about absenting yourself from the house of God. The Bible says, "Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it." If our Lord loved it enough to die for it, then we should respect it enough to support and attend it. I like what Theodore Roosevelt once said, "You may worship God anywhere, at any time, but the chances are that...More Saturday, February 4, 2024 What Is God Like? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there . . . —Psalm 139:8 I believe it is possible to know what God is like. The Bible declares that God is Spirit, that He is not limited to body; He is not limited to shape; He is not limited to force; He is not limited to boundaries or bonds; He is absolutely immeasurable. Thousands of people are trying to limit God to certain spheres, and relegate Him to certain categories that are the product of their own speculation. There is no limit to God. There is no limit to His wisdom. There is no limit to His power. There is no limit to His love. There is no limit to His...More Friday, February 3, 2024 In His Image Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires. —Psalm 51:10 (TLB) You were created in the image and likeness of God. You were made for God's fellowship, and your heart can never be satisfied without His communion. Just as iron is attracted to a magnet, the soul in its state of hunger is drawn to God. Though you, like thousands of others, may feel in the state of sin that the world is more alluring and more to your liking, some day—perhaps even now as you read these words—you will acknowledge that there is something deep down inside you which cannot...More Thursday, February 2, 2024 Life Is Eternal In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began. —Titus 1:2 Life is a glorious opportunity, if it is used to condition us for eternity. If we fail in this, though we succeed in everything else, our life will have been a failure. There is no escape for the man who squanders his opportunity to prepare to meet God. Our lives are also immortal. God made man different from the other creatures. He made him in His own image, a living soul. When this body dies and our earthly existence is terminated, the soul lives on forever. One thousand years from this day, you will be...More Wednesday, February 1, 2024 Working Together for Good We know that all things work together for good to them that love God . . . —Romans 8:28 We might never have had the songs of Fanny Crosby had she not been afflicted with blindness. George Matheson would never have given the world his immortal song, "O Love That Will Not Let Me Go," had it not been for his passing through the furnace of affliction. The "Hallelujah Chorus" was written by George Frederick Handel when he was poverty-stricken and suffering from a paralyzed right side and right arm. Affliction may be for our edification and Christian development. Sickness is one of the "all things" which...More Tuesday, January 31, 2024 He Can Use Anyone For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. —Philippians 1:21 Helen Keller, who is a classic example of handling life's handicaps, said, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I have found myself, my work, and my God." Some people with handicaps drown themselves in self-pity, and thus limit their usefulness and service to mankind and to God. The Apostle Paul knew the pangs of suffering. He used his infirmity rather than allowing his infirmity to use him, and he used it for the glory of God. He seized everything, even death, to glorify his Lord. No matter which way fate turned, he was one...More Monday, January 30, 2024 Use Your Time Wisely For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. —James 4:14 Nothing takes God by surprise. Everything is moving according to a plan, and God wants you in that plan. The devil also has a plan for the world. God has a plan and the devil has a plan, and you will have to decide which plan you are going to fit into. Scripture says that God allows us 70 years and some beyond. The first 15 are spent in childhood and early adolescence. Twenty years are spent in bed, and in the last five, physical limitations start to curtail our activities. That gives us...More Sunday, January 29, 2024 Share What He Has Done I will declare thy name unto my brethren . . . —Psalm 22:22 There are those near you in your own community who need the regenerating power of Christ. You can call them by name. I suggest that you make a list and begin by spending time in prayer for them. Ask God to show you how to witness to them and how to win them. Their lives can be transformed by the message you give them. You are to share this Gospel you have received. If Christ has done anything for you, then share it. In so doing, you are showing mercy! As you have received the mercy of God by the forgiveness of sin and the promise of eternal...More Saturday, January 28, 2024 Jesus Is Our Comforter . . . our Lord Jesus Christ . . . which hath loved us . . . comfort your hearts . . . —2 Thessalonians 2:16,17 Christ is the answer to sorrow. When Harry Lauder, the great Scottish comedian, received word that his son had been killed in France, he said, "In a time like this, there are three courses open to man: He may give way to despair and become bitter. He may endeavor to drown his sorrow in drink or in a life of wickedness. Or he may turn to God." In your sorrow, turn to God. There are thousands of people who have turned to God, but you may be still carrying your burdens. God begs of you, "Cast all...More Friday, January 27, 2024 Responsibility of Family Bless me and my family forever! —2 Samuel 7:29 (TLB) Apart from religious influence, the family is the most important unit of society. It would be good if every home were Christian, but we know that it is not so. The family and the home can never exert their proper influence while ignoring the biblical standard. The Bible calls for discipline and a recognition of authority. If children do not learn this at home, they will go out into society without the proper attitude toward authority and law. There is always the exceptional child, but the average tells us that the child is largely what the home has...More Thursday, January 26, 2024 Plan for Suffering We work hard and suffer much in order that people will believe it, for our hope is in the living God who died for all. —1 Timothy 4:9,10 (TLB) Our life has its beginning in suffering. Life's span is marked by pain and tragedy, and our lives terminate with the enemy called death. The person who expects to escape the pangs of suffering and disappointment simply has no knowledge of the Bible, of history, or of life. The master musician knows that suffering precedes glory and acclaim. He knows the hours, days, and months of grueling practice and self-sacrifice that precede the one hour of perfect rendition...More Wednesday, January 25, 2024 Don't Lose Sight . . . when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem . . . —Luke 2:45 We might as well face it, strife has even infiltrated our church life. It is true enough that the Church is now the Church militant. But, as such, its warfare ought to be that of dedication to revealed truth and divine holiness, and not intramural bickering and carnal disputes. We read in the second chapter of Luke that Joseph and Mary lost Jesus one day. Where did they lose Him? They lost Him in the most unlikely place in all the world-the Temple. I have seen many people lose Jesus right in the church. I have seen them...More Tuesday, January 24, 2024 Meeting Spiritual Needs Go and make disciples in all the nations . . . —Matthew 28:19 (TLB) Christian missions is unique in the aggressive movements of history. Christianity in its pure form has no "axe to grind," no system to foster, and no profit motivation. Its job is simply to "seek and to save that which is lost." Nothing more, nothing less. The words "apostle" and "missionary" mean the same thing: "One who is sent." The word apostle is from the Greek; and the word missionary is from the Latin. The New Testament is a book of missions. The Gospels tell of Jesus' missionary accomplishments, and the Acts tell of...More Monday, January 23, 2024 Wait Upon the Lord Glory in the Lord; O worshipers of God, rejoice. Search for him and for his strength, and keep on searching! —Psalm 105:3,4 (TLB) Jerome, one of the early Christians, said, "Ignorance of the Bible means ignorance of Christ." Job once said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food." Jeremiah said, "Thy words were found and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." To read the Bible one needs a "quiet time." Christian students often ask, "How do you maintain your spiritual high? What do you do on a daily basis?" I tell them about my "quiet...More Sunday, January 22, 2024 Angels Around Us But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth . . . —Acts 5:19 Demonic activity and Satan worship are on the increase in all parts of the world. The devil is at work more than at any other time. The Bible says that because he realizes his time is short, Satan's activity will increase. But his evil activities are countered for the people of God by His ministering spirits, the holy ones of the angelic order. Christians should never fail to sense the operation of angelic glory. It forever eclipses the world of demonic powers, as the sun does a candle's...More Saturday, January 21, 2024 Victory Over Death O death, where is thy sting? . . . —1 Corinthians 15:55 Death is the most democratic experience in life for we all participate in it. We think of its happening only to other people. We don't like to grow old and we don't like to die. The Bible teaches that death is an enemy of man and God. But it also teaches that this enemy, death, will ultimately be destroyed forever; that in fact it has already been defeated at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death, for a Christian, brings permanent freedom from evil. It also means the believer will be like Jesus. We shall be like Christ in love. So much...More Saturday, January 20, 2024 Who Are You? For he knoweth our frame . . . Psalm 103:14 It is significant that our first astronauts, while being trained for their moon flights, were required to give twenty answers to the query, "Who are you?" Take the same test yourself. When you have made your list and run out of things to add, ask yourself if you have truly answered. Do you really know who you are? Scientists agree that our desperate search leads all humans to seek heroes and to imitate others, to "paste bits and pieces of other people on ourselves." We make love as some actor would. We play golf in the style of Jack Nicklaus. Part of...More Thursday, January 19, 2024 The Joy of Knowing Happy is he . . . whose hope is in the Lord his God. —Psalm 146:5 Happy is the man who has learned the secret of coming to God in daily prayer. Fifteen minutes alone with God every morning before you start the day can change circumstances and remove mountains! But all of this happiness and all of these unlimited benefits which flow from the storehouse of heaven are contingent upon our relationship to God. Absolute dependency and absolute yieldedness are the conditions of being His child. Only His children are entitled to receive those things that lend themselves to happiness; and in order to be His...More Wednesday, January 18, 2024 The blind man, Bartimaeus... To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light... —Acts 26:18 The blind man, Bartimaeus, threw off his cloak and ran trembling to Jesus. And Jesus said, "What do you want me to do for you?" He said, "Lord, that I may receive my sight." In that moment as he said, "Lord," his spiritual eyes were opened. And Jesus said, "Your faith has made you whole." Notice—not your intellectual understanding, not your money, not your works—but your faith. Faith! That's all it takes! Immediately Bartimaeus, who had been blind all of his life, began to open his eyes, and the first thing he saw...More Tuesday, January 17, 2024 Truth And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. —John 8:32 Ours is an age of philosophical uncertainty, and we no longer know what we believe. We stand uncommitted. Everywhere I go, I ask students, "What is controlling you?" When I was a student, I had to face Christ. Who was He? He had made the astounding claim, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." I wrestled with the inescapable fact that either Jesus Christ was who He claimed to be, or He was the biggest liar, fraud, and charlatan in history. Which was it? Buddha said toward the...More Monday, January 16, 2024 Rejoice in Him I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation. —Habakkuk 3:18 Christians are supposed to be happy persons! Our generation has become well versed in Christian terminology, but is remiss in the actual practice of Christ's principles and teachings. Hence, our greatest need today is not more Christianity but more true Christians. The world can argue against Christianity as an institution, but there is no convincing argument against a person who, through the Spirit of God, has been made Christlike. Such a person is a living rebuke to the selfishness, rationalism, and materialism of...More Sunday, January 15, 2024 Lean on the Rock When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. —Psalm 61:2 When you become a Christian, it doesn't mean that you will live on a perpetual "high." The Psalmist David went down to the very depths, and so did the Apostle Paul. But in the midst of all circumstances God's grace, peace, and joy are there. The tears will still come, the pressures will be felt, and so will the temptations. But there is a new dimension, a new direction, and a new power in life to face the circumstances in which you live. Prayer for the day David and Paul have given me the example...More Saturday, January 14, 2024 Do You Know God? I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. —John 10:14 Unless God is revealed to us through personal experience, we can never really know God. Most of us know about God, but that is quite different from knowing God. We learn about God through the agencies of the church, the Sunday school, the youth activities, the worship services. Many people stop in their quest for God at this point. It is one thing to be introduced to a person, but quite another thing to know him personally. Prayer for the day Lord, You are, indeed, the good Shepherd, who leads me each...More Friday, January 13, 2024 You Can Have Peace in the Storm And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee. —Psalm 39:7 The sea was beating against the rocks in huge, dashing waves. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, the wind was blowing; but the little bird was asleep in the crevice of the rock, its head serenely under its wing, sound asleep. That is peace—to be able to sleep in the storm! In Christ, we are relaxed and at peace in the midst of the confusion, bewilderments, and perplexities of life. The storm rages, but our hearts are at rest. We have found peace—at last! Prayer for the day Thank You,...More Thursday, January 12, 2024 God Never Makes Mistakes Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. —2 Corinthians 12:9 God is especially close to us when we are lying on a sickbed. God will make the bed soft and will freshen it with His presence and with His tender care. He makes the bed comfortable and wipes away our tears. He ministers to us with special tenderness at such a time and reveals His great love for us. Tell me why the gardener trims and prunes his rosebushes, sometimes cutting away productive branches, and I will tell you why God's people are afflicted. God's hand never slips. He...More Wednesday, January 11, 2024 Eternity What we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. —Romans 8:18 (TLB) Nowhere does the Bible teach that Christians are to be exempt from the tribulations and natural disasters that come upon the world. It does teach that the Christian can face tribulation, crisis, calamity, and personal suffering with a supernatural power that is not available to the person outside Christ. The early Christians were able to experience joy in their hearts in the midst of trials, troubles, and depression. They counted suffering for Christ not as a burden or misfortune, but as a great honor, as...More Tuesday, January 10, 2024 The Unchanging God From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. —Psalm 90:2 Have you ever thought about the collapse of time? From the days of the Lord Jesus Christ until about 1830, man could not travel any faster than a horse. In 1960, a man went into space and traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles an hour. Look how far we have come in so short a time! Sometimes when I read the papers, I think we are trying to run the Space Age with horse-and-buggy moral and spiritual equipment. Technology, you see, has no morals; and with no moral restraints man will destroy himself ecologically, militarily, or in some other way. Only...More Monday, January 9, 2024 Get in the Word Despise God's Word and find yourself in trouble. Obey it and succeed. —Proverbs 13:13 (TLB) As Christians, we have the Spirit of God in us. But ours is the responsibility to keep sin out of our lives so that the Spirit can produce His fruit in us. Become grounded in the Bible. As Christians, we have only one authority, one compass: the Word of God. Abraham Lincoln in a letter to a friend said, "I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book upon reason that you can, and the balance upon faith. You will live and die a better man." Begin the day with the Book; and as the day comes to...More Sunday, January 8, 2024 He Hears Us What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe... —Mark 11:24 We are to pray in times of adversity, lest we become faithless and unbelieving. We are to pray in times of prosperity, lest we become boastful and proud. We are to pray in times of danger, lest we become fearful and doubting. We need to pray in times of security, lest we become self-sufficient. Sinners, pray to a merciful God for forgiveness. Christians, pray for an outpouring of God's Spirit upon a willful, evil, unrepentant world. Parents, pray that God may crown your home with grace and mercy. Children, pray for the salvation of your...More Saturday, January 7, 2024 Angels Have Charge Over Us He is my refuge... —Psalm 91:2 Modern psychiatrists say that one of the basic needs of man is security. In the 91st Psalm we are assured that in God we have the greatest of security, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." If you read and reread this beautiful Psalm, you will discover that in Him we have a permanent abode and residence, and that all of the comfort, security, and affection which the human heart craves is found in Him. Perhaps no visible angels will appear in your life...More Friday, January 6, 2024 He Is Coming Back Keep a sharp lookout! For you do not know when I will come. . . . Watch for my return! —Mark 13:35, 36 (TLB) The great Dwight L. Moody used to say, "I never preached a sermon without thinking that possibly the Lord may come before I preach another." Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, the distinguished British clergy-man, said, "I never begin my work in the morning without thinking that perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin His own. I am not looking for death. I am looking for Him." That is the way a Christian should live his life—in the constant anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ! If we could...More Thursday, January 5, 2024 The Home Love never faileth... —1 Corinthians 13:8 The first essential for a happy Christian home is that love must be practiced. Homes that are built on animal attraction and lust are destined to crumble and fall. Love is the cohesive force that holds the family together. True love contains an element of spiritual mystery. It embodies loyalty, reverence, and understanding. Love imposes a tremendous responsibility on all members of a family, but it is a responsibility accompanied by glorious rewards. "Love," says the Bible, "even as Christ . . . loved the church, and gave Himself for it." How did Christ love...More Wednesday, January 4, 2024 Assurance of His Love The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? —Psalm 27:1 Today many people are living in the bondage of fear. In a recent study a psychiatrist said that the greatest problem facing his patients was fear. Fear of going insane, committing suicide, being alone, or fear of heart disease, cancer, disaster, or death. We are becoming a nation of fearful people. Down through the centuries in times of trouble, temptation, trial, bereavement, and crisis, God has brought courage to the hearts of those who love Him. The Bible is crowded with assurances of God's help and comfort in every kind of...More Tuesday, January 3, 2024 A Simple Message As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. —John 15:9 The great Swiss theologian, Dr. Karl Barth, was probably in his generation the greatest theologian in the world, and a great philosopher as well. I did not always agree with him, but he was my friend and I respected him. While he was in this country, a student at one of the seminaries said, "Dr. Barth, what is the greatest truth that ever crossed your mind?" All the seminary students were sitting on the edge of their seats to hear some great, profound, deep, complicated answer. Dr. Barth slowly raised his great shaggy...More Monday, January 2, 2024 The Secret of Real Living O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee... —Psalm 63:1 Some Christians have learned little of a daily devotional life. Some time ago a policeman asked me what the secret of victorious living was. I told him that there is no magic formula that can be pronounced. If any word could describe it, I would say surrender. The second word I would say would be devotion. Nothing can take the place of a daily devotional life with Christ. Your quiet time, your prayer time, the time you spend in the Word, is absolutely essential for a happy Christian life. You cannot possibly be a...More

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Tangible Love   Thoughts on the gospel of John 169   Hearts of Worship 2   The Giver of the Gift   Do not disturb

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