Month: November 2019

2 Chronicles 14:1-15:19; Ezekiel 36:16-38; John 14:15-31

Yea, they turned back and tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. Psalm 78:41

In our daily Christian walk, are we guilty of limiting the Holy One we love and serve? How easy and how human of us to put the Lord into a finite box that lines up with our own understanding. Yet, Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”. Be still, beloved, and let God be God. —Annette Baal

Guide us, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrims thro’ this barren land;
We are weak, but Thou art mighty;
Hold us by Thy pow’rful hand. —William Williams

2 Chronicles 12:1-13:22; Ezekiel 35:1-36:15; John 13:31-14:14

Seek that ye may excel. 1 Corinthians 14:12

Michael Phelps excelled at swimming. He won 28 Olympic medals (23 of those being gold), all before he retired at the ripe old age of 31! But the Lord has called His people to “excel” at something of far higher importance: “Seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church” (1 Cor. 14:12). Notice, the command is not to just be “engaged” in the building up of the church, but to “excel”. Doing the bare minimum renders us unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10). When asked why he was willing to sacrifice so much, Phelps pointed to his medals and said, “It was worth it”. What motivates the Christian to excel unto the building up of the church? We point to the Lord and declare, “He’s worth it”. —Brian Cretney

Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane;
But the Church of Jesus constant will remain. —S. Baring-Gould

2 Chronicles 10:1-11:23; Ezekiel 34:1-31; John 13:1-30

Blessed is every one that feareth the Lord, that walketh in his ways. Psalm 128:1
Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. Psalm 1:1
This is the way, walk ye in it. Isaiah 30:21

Daily we make a deliberate choice as to how and where we will walk. The Lord Jesus enables us to walk in ways that please Him, bearing testimony to His grace and mercy extended to the believer. “Walk worthy of the vocation to which ye are called” (Eph. 4:1). —Wm. H. Gustafson

Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow,
Walking everyday, walking all the way;
Walking with Jesus alone. —Author Unknown

2 Chronicles 8:1-9:31; Ezekiel 33:1-33; John 12:20-50

He saw the heavens opened (lit. rent). Mark 1:10
Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain. Matthew 27:51

When Jesus was baptized God rent heaven open to publicly announce His complete affection and satisfaction with His Beloved Son. He had come to open the way into God’s presence. When Jesus died on the cross, God rent the veil in the temple from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51) to signify the way into His presence was now made open (Heb. 10:19-22). Let us enter this day into His presence and worship Him. —K. C. Ung

By Him, our Sacrifice and Priest, we enter through the veil.
Within the holiest of all, cleansed by His precious blood,
Before Thy throne, Thy children fall, and worship Thee, our God.
—K. C. Ung

2 Chronicles 7:1-22; Ezekiel 32:1-32; John 11:55-12:19

Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. 1 Corinthians 4:5

At the Lord’s coming nagging questions will have their answer. The unsolved will be resolved. Many issues are impossible to understand this side of heaven. Other matters are obscured by foolishness and carnality. Don’t compound folly by prejudging. The sweet psalmist maintained a sunny uplook, viewing that day when “He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds…clear shining after rain” (2 Sam. 23:4). —J. A. Bjorlie

And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. —Horatio G. Spafford

2 Chronicles 6:12-42; Ezekiel 30:20-31:18; John 11:28-54

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:13

Here is a manual on winning a race. And not just any race, but the race of service that is set before us as servants of the Lord. First of all we must gird our mind, making sure that our thought life does not trip us. We must also be sober and serious minded, recognizing that the race is of the utmost importance. Finally, we must be focused, keeping our eyes on our blessed hope, letting this motivate us to serve and finish well. Let’s not be distracted by the world or faithless fears, but instead let us exhibit a girded, sober, and focused mind. —George Ferrier

May I run the race before me, strong and brave to face the foe,
Looking only unto Jesus as I onward go. —Kate B. Wilkinson

2 Chronicles 5:1-6:11; Ezekiel 29:1-30:19; John 11:1-27

Where hast thou gleaned to day? Ruth 2:19

Naomi asked her daughter-in-law Ruth a searching question that could well be directed to the saints in our day. Could it be possible that we would allow the things of the world to encroach upon those sacred moments when we glean daily from the Word of God? Paul, in writing to young Timothy, was careful to emphasise the importance of the Word of God in his life. He exhorts him to read it, to meditate upon it, to give himself entirely to it and to preach it. May we carefully protect these sacred moments from anything that would displace them. —W. H. Burnett

We taste of Thee Thou living bread,
And long to feast upon Thee still,
We drink of Thee the fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from Thee to fill. —Bernard Palmer

2 Chronicles 3:1-4:22; Ezekiel 28; John 10:19-42

Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. Malachi 3:16

The faithful believers in Malachi’s day met to encourage one another in the Lord. The Lord hearkened and heard what they said. He is the unseen listener to every conversation. When they spoke of Him, He took note of it. He opened His unique “book of remembrance” and wrote down what they said. Will He make any entries today? May we speak well of Him. —Rex Trogdon

Though high, yet He accepts the praise,
His people offer here;
The faintest, feeblest lay they raise,
Will reach the Saviour’s ear. —Thomas Kelly

2 Chronicles 1:1-2:18; Ezekiel 27:1-36; John 10:1-18

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me…on thee do I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5

Late in 2017, the bell tower of the clock at Westminster in London, Big Ben, was silenced to allow a prolonged period of refurbishment. The clock has five bells—four of them sound the quarter hours to a chime to accord with the lyrics of Handel’s Messiah— “All through this hour, Lord, be my guide; And by Thy power, no foot shall slide”. It is a reminder to seek the Lord’s help and guidance for every moment of every hour of the day and to be receptive to His leading and His teaching. —Brian Powlesland

God will take care of you through all the day,
Shielding your footsteps, directing your way;
He is your Shepherd, Protector and Guide,
Leading His children where still waters glide. —Fanny J. Crosby

1 Chronicles 29:1-30; Ezekiel 26:1-21; John 9:18-41

Let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Ephesians 4:28

We need not look far to acknowledge that our world is a needy place. The disasters of hurricanes, earthquakes and floods cause much loss and suffering. And the increase in crime adds its share too. The Christian life is exemplified by giving. “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16, NKJV). He saw us, pitied us, then did something about it. Can we say we love God and not give to a need? May we let our compassion dictate our generosity and help according to our ability and devotion to the Lord. —E. Dyck

Give as was given to you in your need,
Love as the Master loved you;
Be to the helpless a helper indeed
Unto your mission be true. —Ira B. Wilson