Month: January 2018

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 38:1-30; Psalms 15:1-16:11; Matt. 21:33-22:14

They fled unto Lystra and Derbe…and unto the region that lieth round about: and there they preached the gospel. Acts 14:6-7

The real mission field is just outside our front door. It isn’t always overseas or on the other side of the equator. We have neighbours, friends, colleagues, even family members, who need the Saviour and need Him now. I pray that I will find the courage today to speak to one of them; to humbly remind them that they need to be saved, that they can be saved, and how to obtain God’s salvation through repentance and faith. —Rick Morse

When He has found you, tell others the story;
That my loving Saviour is your Saviour too. —S. O’Malley Clough

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 37:1-36; Psalms 11:1-14:7; Matt. 21:1-32

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity. Ecclesiastes 9:9

If you are married, do you enjoy being together? Your spouse ought to be your companion and best friend. When a husband or wife is too busy to fulfill their responsibilities of marriage and family life, they are busier than God intended! Have you told your beloved lately that you love them? It is so vital to spend quality time together, to communicate, to listen to each other and to share in one another’s interests. —Pete Smith

Whate’er in life shall be their share, of quickening joy or burdening care,
In power to do and grace to bear, may they in Thee be one. —William Vaughan Jenkins

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 36:1-43; Psalms 9:1-10:18; Matt. 20:17-34

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Romans 4:20

Humanly speaking it was impossible for Abraham to have a son by his wife Sarah. The circumstances seemed to make the whole idea ridiculous. He was old and his wife was elderly too. Throughout their lives they had been continually barren. Yet Abraham focused his attention not on his situation but upon God and His promise. He believed God and God fulfilled His promise. Today when conditions seem to be so pointedly against the Gospel we must look up and see God and remember He has promised to bless His Word and answer the prayers of His people. —Paul Young

My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Saviour divine!
Now hear me while I pray, O let me from this day, be wholly thine—R. P.

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 35:1-29; Psalms 7:1-8:9; Matt. 19:16-20:16

The cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their face towards one another. Exodus 37:9

The cherubim never took their gaze off the blood sprinkled mercy seat. “There I will meet with thee” (Ex. 25:22), was God’s promise to Israel. As those redeemed by Christ, we now focus our gaze at Calvary and see His blood shed there for us. We also see Him in our midst as we gather (Matt. 18:20). May God help us to never turn our gaze from the cross nor from the Lamb who shed His blood and is in our midst. Oh what wonders grace has wrought! —Vernon Markle

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood, which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead, for me, e’en for my soul, was shed. —Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 33:18-34:31; Psalms 4:1-6:10; Matt. 19:1-15

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments. 1 Corinthians 12:28

The word “governments” refers to those who govern in the local church. W. E. Vine gives “steering or pilotage” as root meanings. These men are the spiritual shipmasters or helmsmen. This describes what spiritual leaders do. They do not chart a new course but keep the ship on course, in the channel, away from dangers. God sets the course—not us. That course is laid out in the “navigational chart” of His Word. We are to steer and stay in it. —Carl Knott

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou, shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on! —John H. Newman

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 32:1-33:17; Psalms 1:1-3:8; Matt. 18:15-35

Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not. Genesis 28:16

Are you in the desert, with the hardness of the terrain and the coldness of the stones your only comfort? Look up! He is here! Not— He was here and left—or passed by and is gone. He is here! God brings the ladder of hope and the vision of His majesty into our darkest places. The sun may have set and the blackness of night may encircle us, but He is here! He revives us with the fragrance of His presence, the balm of His fellowship and the sweetness of His joy. Take heart. God is here—and near—in your place today! —Deborah Manera

Our Faith must be tested. God builds no ships but what He sends to sea. —D. L. Moody

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 31:1-55; Job 42:1-17; Matt. 17:14-18:14

What have I to do with you, O man of God? 1 Kings 17:18a, NKJV

Elijah had left the brook Cherith, the place of quiet days and consistent miracles, for a bigger and broader sphere. He was simply obeying God’s call on his life. In that new place, for probably the better part of two years, a widow had turned to him for support, but now she turned on him. How he must have longed for the simple solitude of the steady stream! Sometimes God enlarges our jurisdictions, but things generally get more stressful. Bigger, broader spheres often mean more demands on our time, energy, finances, and soul. Elijah’s great confidence was that the God who had called him would be the God who would sustain him. —N. C. Funston

Jesus never fails, Jesus never fails,
Heav’en and earth may pass away, but Jesus never fails. —A. Luther

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 30:1-43; Job 40:1-41:34; Matt. 16:13-17:13

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. Psalm 8:1

God is the creator of all things and He has built a wonderful order into the vast complexity of His creation. Above all else, God reigns supreme and mankind was meant to love and obey Him. But man disobeyed, and sin and death followed. But God has brought us back to Himself through the sacrifice of His own Son. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). What a wonderful promise! Have you believed? —G. Frear

O Lord, our Lord, how excellent You are!
How perfect Your order, how great is Your fame,
As creation sings to Your excellent Name! —G. F.

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 29:1-35; Job 38:1-39:30; Matt. 15:29-16:12

When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Isaiah 1:15, NKJV

The Scriptures give several reasons why prayers can be hindered:

• Rejecting or not yielding to God’s Word (Prov. 28:9; 1 John 3:22).
• Husbands not properly caring for their wives (1 Peter 3:7).
• Fostering selfish motives (Jas. 4:3).
• Having an unforgiving heart (Mark 11:25).
• Doubting God’s faithfulness (Jas. 1:6-7; Mark 11:24).
• Praying for what is contrary to God’s will (1 John 5:14-15).

May we take these warnings to heart. —W. A. H.

When we pray for the Spirit’s help, we will simply fall down at the Lord’s feet in our weakness. There we will find the victory and power that comes from His love. —Andrew Murray

DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 28:1-22; Job 36:1-37:24; Matt. 15:1-28

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. John 15:14

Hard times often reveal the truth as to who our friends are. Are we grateful for the friends who have stayed with us through the highs and the lows, the thick and the thin, the smiles and the tears? Friends such as these should never be taken for granted as they are very rare. The Lord Jesus Christ is such a friend. We can take all our cares and problems to Him, and He will stand by us through all our trials and tribulations. —Ken Gunnell

Sweet the moments, rich in blessing,
Which before the Cross we spend:
Life, and health, and peace possessing,
From the sinners’ dying Friend. —Walter Shirley