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Monday, March 31, 2025 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 Sunday, March 30, 2025 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 Saturday, March 29, 2025 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 Friday, March 28, 2025 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 light...More Thursday, March 27, 2025 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 Wednesday, March 26, 2025 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 Tuesday, March 25, 2025 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 Monday, March 24, 2025 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 Sunday, March 23, 2025 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 Saturday, March 22, 2025 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 Friday, March 21, 2025 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 Thursday, March 20, 2025 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 Wednesday, March 19, 2025 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 Tuesday, March 18, 2025 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 Monday, March 17, 2025 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 Sunday, March 16, 2025 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 Saturday, March 15, 2025 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...More Friday, March 14, 2025 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 Thursday, March 13, 2025 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 Wednesday, March 12, 2025 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,” is noble,...More Tuesday, March 11, 2025 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 Monday, March 10, 2025 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 Sunday, March 9, 2025 The Real You That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith . . . —Ephesians 3:17 Experts have told us that society is sick. Their solutions have treated human frailty with infusions of low-income housing, welfare payments, integrated education, and psychological conditioning. But we are learning that this is not the total answer. The world does need changing, society needs changing, the nation needs changing, but we never will change it until we ourselves are changed. And we never will change until we look into the mirror of our own soul and face with candor what we are inside. Then freely acknowledge that there is a...More Saturday, March 8, 2025 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 Friday, March 7, 2025 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 God says,...More Thursday, March 6, 2025 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 Wednesday, March 5, 2025 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 Tuesday, March 4, 2025 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 Monday, March 3, 2025 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 Sunday, March 2, 2025 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 |
Thursday, February 27, 2025 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 Sunday school...More Wednesday, February 26, 2025 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 that among...More Tuesday, February 25, 2025 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 meek....More Monday, February 24, 2025 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 Sunday, February 23, 2025 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...More Saturday, February 22, 2025 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 Friday, February 21, 2025 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 that only...More Thursday, February 20, 2025 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 be, be sure that...More Wednesday, February 19, 2025 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 glorify...More Tuesday, February 18, 2025 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 I...More Monday, February 17, 2025 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 Sunday, February 16, 2025 Living Enthusiastically for God 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 have...More Saturday, February 15, 2025 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 Friday, February 14, 2025 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 Thursday, February 13, 2025 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...More Wednesday, February 12, 2025 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....More Tuesday, February 11, 2025 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 Monday, February 10, 2025 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 peace...More Sunday, February 9, 2025 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 Saturday, February 8, 2025 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 devil...More Friday, February 7, 2025 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 us the...More Thursday, February 6, 2025 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 were...More Wednesday, February 5, 2025 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...More Tuesday, February 4, 2025 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 Monday, February 3, 2025 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 be...More Sunday, February 2, 2025 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...More Saturday, February 1, 2025 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”...More Friday, January 31, 2025 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 Thursday, January 30, 2025 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 about...More Wednesday, January 29, 2025 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 |
Monday, January 27, 2025 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 made...More Sunday, January 26, 2025 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 Saturday, January 25, 2025 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 lose...More Friday, January 24, 2025 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...More Thursday, January 23, 2025 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...More Wednesday, January 22, 2025 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 light. If you are...More Tuesday, January 21, 2025 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 Monday, January 20, 2025 ‘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 this...More Sunday, January 19, 2025 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 child,...More Saturday, January 18, 2025 Eyes to See 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...More Friday, January 17, 2025 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 end of...More Thursday, January 16, 2025 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 the...More Wednesday, January 15, 2025 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...More Tuesday, January 14, 2025 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 day....More Monday, January 13, 2025 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, dear Lord, for...More Sunday, January 12, 2025 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 Saturday, January 11, 2025 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 evidence...More Friday, January 10, 2025 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 God...More Thursday, January 9, 2025 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 Wednesday, January 8, 2025 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 Tuesday, January 7, 2025 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...More Monday, January 6, 2025 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 Sunday, January 5, 2025 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...More Saturday, January 4, 2025 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 trouble...More Friday, January 3, 2025 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 Thursday, January 2, 2025 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 Wednesday, January 1, 2025 Filled With Christ . . . Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. —Philippians 3:13 (TLB) As we flick the calendar to a new year, we come face to face with the fact that our days on earth are numbered. As the Psalmist wrote, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” No thoughtful person can approach New Year’s Day without some introspection. We are reminded of the brevity of time. We also look back over our failures, mistakes, and missed opportunities, and vow that we will make better use of our time during the coming year. We should take time to be pleasant,...More |
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