Month: September 2015

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 22; Jeremiah 33; Hebrews 4:14 to 5:10

 

Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of  understanding?  Job 28:20
Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. Job 28:28
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God… James 1:5

Modern man is well described as those who are “ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). The simple reason for this is that he is looking for wisdom and understanding in the wrong place. Someone has well said, “We have education without truth.” Job wanted the true source of both wisdom and understanding. Do you? —William Gustafson

The Bible stands ev’ry test we give it, for its Author is divine;
By grace alone I expect to live it, and to prove it and make it mine.
—Haldor Lillenas

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 21; Jeremiah 32:26-44; Hebrews 4:1-13

 

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said…Who touched Me?  Mark 5:30-31

Often we see our Lord reaching out to touch others, yet here a needy woman touched Him. Our story assures us though that reaching towards Him in faith is always a blessed choice. The sinner reaches forth and grasps the lifeline of salvation. The believer must reach out and appropriate all the promises of God. Once saved if we wish to do something for the glory of God, we cannot do it in our own strength, but must reach out to the promise of Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  —Vernon Markle

Afflicted saint, to Christ draw near—Thy Saviour’s gracious promise hear,
His faithful Word declares to thee, that as thy days thy strength shall be.
—John Fawcett

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 20; Jeremiah 32:1-25; Hebrews 3

 

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof… 1 John 2:17

The world in this passage is not God’s beautiful creation, but the system of fallen humanity. It is the world the devil showed the Lord Jesus and said, “for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:6). The Lord refused that world and its glory, and so should we. This is the world that John says, “passeth away, and the lust thereof”. For the believer, to love this world is like taking a journey towards a mirage, which never existed. The excitement of this world’s attraction is soon to pass away, but how great the contrast! “He that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17). —Milton Haack

Take the world, but give me Jesus, all its joys are but a name;
But His love abideth ever, through eternal years the same.
—Fanny J. Crosby

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 19; Jeremiah 31; Hebrews 2

 

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here…While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.  Matthew 17:4-5

Peter stood in the brilliance of the glory of God in Christ. He spoke of the awe of the moment and expressed a desire to build three tabernacles for the men he saw standing there. God the Father dispelled all other focus save His beloved Son. We must be careful not to interpret every Bible passage as being about us and what we must do. Instead of focusing on ourselves, let us read God’s Word listening carefully to what the Scriptures say of Him. —Jared Fraser

More about Jesus let me learn, more of His holy will discern: 
Spirit of God, my teacher be, showing the things of Christ to me.
—E. Hewitt

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 18; Jeremiah 30; Hebrews 1

 

For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.  Psalm 119:89

It’s encouraging to read in God’s Word of past promises kept by our Lord. We are thankful for them and also for the many promises that we may claim today so that we may live fruitful, holy and joyful lives. However we can equally thank God for His promises that we have yet to realize. Our eternal God is not bound by time and from His vantage point all His promises are already completed. He has said it and it is done. —George Ferrier

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.
—R. Kelso Carter

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 17; Jeremiah 29; Philemon

 

Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.  Psalm 12:1

Help Lord! These may be the most important words of the whole psalm. David places his complete focus on the Lord, before he gets on with his prayer. Notice the two objects of his intercession: the state of the godly generation and the state of the ungodly generation. In the former case, he sees the shrinking testimony of the godly generation. And in the latter instance, he is consumed with just how evil and perverse the godless generation is. David’s prayer is really our prayer, namely, a call for a new generation of godly men and women to rise up in the midst of a perverse and crooked world. —N. C. Funston

O God, our Help in ages past, our Hope for years to come,
Be Thou our Guide, while life shall last, and our eternal home.
—Isaac Watts

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 15:33-16:34; Jeremiah 27-28; Col. 4:2-18

 

…why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.  Psalm 22:1-2

Most Christians have felt the sorrow of what we mistakenly feel to be unanswered prayer. Bound by short-term thinking and false expectations, we can begin to harbour doubt and despair. Our Lord Jesus was tempted in all points like as we (yet without sin), and this part of our experience is no exception. How reassuring it is to know that there is a great High Priest that we can go to with our deepest and most personal hurts. —Rick Morse

Be still my soul, the waves and winds still know; 
His voice who ruled them, while He dwelt below.
—Katharina von Schlegel

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 15:1-32; Jeremiah 26; Colossians 3:5 to 4:1

 

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.  John 4:16
…they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13

Jesus offered this woman living water, but she could only think of earthly water. To foster a desire for the water which He offered, Jesus reminded her of her “broken cisterns”. “Go, call thy husband.” It exposed the brokenness of her life but thankfully Jesus specializes in brokenness. She recognized in Him a Saviour and left her waterpot behind. He had become her fountain of living waters. What is your broken cistern? Let the Lord Jesus replace it with “a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). —Tom Steere

Open wide the living fountain, whence the healing waters flow;
Be Thyself our cloudy pillar all the dreary desert through.
—W. Williams

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Kings 13:33 to 14:31; Jer. 24-25; Col. 2:8 to 3:4

 

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  1 John 3:2

Who of us can fully appreciate the truths that John reveals to us here. To think that one day we shall be like Him is beyond our comprehension. William Alexander tells of an incident when translating these verses. When the native scribe came to the words, “We shall be like Him,” he laid down his pen and exclaimed, “No, it’s too much; let us write, ‘We shall kiss His feet.’” But will it be too much? Is it too much that “sons” shall one day be like Him? “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness” (Ps. 17:15b). —Jim Comte

And is it so—I shall be like Thy Son? 
Is this the grace which He for me has won?
—John Nelson Darby