Friday, November 30, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 30:1-27; Ezekiel 46:1-24; John 21:1-25

The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Psalm 12:6-7

Pure and eternal. What a powerful description of God’s words! How much we can depend on them, even after all these thousands of years since they were written! We are to esteem of the highest value this glorious book. In doing so, we will be abundantly blessed. The challenge is, how much do we treasure these pure words and the one who wrote them? —G. Frear

We praise You for the radiance,
That from the Scripture’s page,
A lantern to our footsteps,
Shines on from age to age. —W. W. How

Thursday, November 29, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 29:1-36; Ezekiel 45:1-25; John 20:19-31

But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. Phil. 3:13

What does this mean for the Christian? It means that whatever is behind us, good or bad, is not to be trusted or relied on for the future. Only our faith in Jesus matters and the fact that we’ll spend eternity in heaven with Him. Our focus and priority should be about our relationship with the Lord, not on earthly things. Wise is the Christian that makes intimacy with God their number one objective. That’s a worthy goal surely to be rewarded by Him! —Deborah Manera

Others may deny the Lord and live in sin,
But the race that I have entered, I must win,
Through the pearly gates, I mean to enter in,
I have settled the question forever. —H. Lillenas

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 27:1-28:27; Ezekiel 44:1-31; John 20:1-18

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

It is estimated that every year, almost a billion dollars worth of gift cards go unused. Bought and paid for, they lie inactive by millions of people. “What a waste,” you might think. But, friend, have you accepted the gift God Himself has given you? Bought and paid for by the death of His only Son, the Lord Jesus, does this priceless gift remain “unopened” in your life? —Lynn Shatford

Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. —Elvina M. Hall

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 26:1-23; Ezekiel 43:1-27; John 19:17-42

And the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:25

No doubt a snowflake is one of the weaker things God has made. Touch it and it disintegrates. Breathe on it and it evaporates. Yet snowflakes have often proven to be stronger than men. They can stop cars and trucks, close roads, schools and businesses and even stop men’s armies. Snow played a significant part in the destruction of Napoleon’s Grande Armee, and even Hitler’s formidable panzer divisions had to come to a standstill when confronted with God’s frail snowflakes. —P. W.

Unresting, unhasting and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might.
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above;
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. —Walter C. Smith

Monday, November 26, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 25:1-28; Ezekiel 42:1-20; John 18:28-19:16

In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works. Titus 2:7

For the Christian, every circumstance is an opportunity for the Lord—to speak for Him, to represent Him, to be His ambassadors in a world that does not know Him. Our constant aim should always be to do those things that please Him (Heb. 13:20-21), to be accepted of Him (2 Cor. 5:9) and found in Him (Phil. 3:10). In a day when everyone is encouraged to make their personal lives public, let us use every opportunity to honour Him by showing ourselves a pattern of good works. —Mark Kolchin

You are writing a Gospel, a chapter each day;
By things that you do; by things that you say.
Others read that Gospel, whether faithless or true!
Say! What is the Gospel according to you? —Leroy Brownlow

Lord’s Day, November 25, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 23:1-24:27; Ezekiel 41:1-26; John 18:1-27

I give it all. 1 Chronicles 21:23

Here and in 2 Samuel 24, we read of the plague of divine chastisement upon Israel and how David was instructed to set up an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Ornan offered David everything he needed for the urgent sacrifice, saying, “I give it all.” David purchased and sacrificed, and the plague ceased. Centuries later on this very mount, our Lord Jesus Christ died in sacrifice that the plague of sin and death might cease. Truly He can say, “I gave it all.” —Carl Knott

Life: life of love poured out, fragrant and holy!
Life: ‘mid rude thorns of earth, stainless and sweet!
Life: whence God’s face of love, glorious, but lowly,
Shines forth to bow us, low at Thy feet! —F. Allaben

Saturday, November 24, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 21:1-22:12; Ezekiel 40:1-49; John 17:1-26

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Ephesians 3:1
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord. Ephesians 4:1

Paul was chained in a Roman prison but instead of complaining he recognized himself as being a prisoner—not of the Roman emperor but of Christ—the one anointed by God. In whatever circumstances we may find ourselves, praise God, we are on the winning side. —David Croudace

Jesus shall reign where’re the sun,
Does His successive journeys run.
His kingdom spread from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.  —Isaac Watts

Friday, November 23, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 20:1-37; Ezekiel 39:1-29; John 16:16-33

Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility. Titus 2:6-7, NKJV

Drunkenness was forbidden by the Law (Lev. 10:9), but had become prevalent in Isaiah’s day. Drunkards pursue their own pleasures; “they do not regard the work of the Lord, Nor consider the operation of His hands” (Isa. 5:12, NKJV). In like manner today, God’s people can become intoxicated by many things and devalue what God deems noble, just and needful. May we indeed stay soberminded and prove ourselves “a pattern of good works” to properly reflect Christ to a lost world. —W. A. H.

Man created in God’s image, failed to represent Him in the earth.
Now fallen man can only bear that image, through a second birth. —WAH

Thursday, November 22, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 18-19; Ezekiel 38; John 15:17 to 16:15

Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride. Job 41:33

What a formidable creature this leviathan (v. 1) must have been. The fossil record is clear that enormous animals once shook the ground of this world. The Biblical record tells us that these beasts once walked the earth concurrently with humans and not in the imagined millions of years before. The darkness of the human mind is thus revealed, in its readiness to twist fact into fiction; all in a vain attempt to deny God. Yet His truth stands firm and unbroken. —Rick Morse

O blessed God how kind, are all Thy ways to me,
Whose dark benighted mind, was enmity with Thee. — John Kent

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 16:1-17:19; Ezekiel 37:1-28; John 15:1-16

Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 1 Pet. 3:15

Recently in a town near where we live, a young man collecting for a charity stepped up to me and asked. “Where are you headed?”. “I’m heading for heaven,” I replied, “and what about you?”. Momentarily he seemed taken aback and then replied. “I hope so, but just not as soon as you.” I was able to share with that young man why it is that I am going to heaven. May God help us to speak up today and tell others of His saving work in Christ Jesus. —Janet Fleming

Give me a vision of the lost, who walk the road to hell,
And grant me courage for today, those words of life to tell;
That neighbors, friends, acquaintances, and family may hear,
The message that can change their lives, and bring them hope and cheer. —Janet Fleming