Author: Gospel Folio Press

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 6; Ezekiel 8-9; John 2:1-22

Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have desired, And you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen.  Isaiah 1:29 (NASB)

This verse offers a sobering warning for us all. Oak trees take considerable time to mature. Gardens take considerable effort to maintain. As we examine our own lives, we can ask, what things do we use our time on? What things do we expend our effort on? Let us live in such a way that when we stand before the Lord, we will not be ashamed of our “oaks” nor embarrassed at our “gardens”—the things in which we have chosen to invest our time and effort.  —L. Shatford

Give of your best to the Master; give Him first place in your heart;
Give Him first place in your service, consecrate every part.
—H. B. Grose

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 4:24 to 5:26; Ezekiel 7; John 1:19-51

And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree.  Acts 13:29

It was a moving experience in the cathedral in Antwerp to view the painting by Rubens entitled “The Descent from the Cross”. The artist seeks to portray how Christ’s loved ones might have managed to take Him down. It is evident loving hands are engaged in this arduous task. What a contrast to the wicked hands that had nailed Him there. As He suffered, the crowd had tempted Him to come down. He declined to do so, but rather suffered the punishment due to us for our sin.  —Brian Powlesland

Was it the nails, O Saviour, that bound Thee to the tree?
Nay, t’was Thine everlasting love, Thy love for me, for me.
—K. Kelly

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 3 to 4:23; Ezekiel 5-6; John 1:1-18

Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.  Revelation 1:19

Qualified, holy men of God were moved by the Spirit to write the Scriptures (2 Pet. 1:21). The goal of the Bible is to establish fellowship between us and with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3). John the closest disciple to the Lord bears record to the truth of Christ’s flawless life and sin atoning death, so that we might believe in Him (John 19:35). These “eyewitnesses of His majesty” eliminate any “cunningly devised fables” (2 Pet. 1:16). How good to know that our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Cor. 2:5). —Milton Haack

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted, ’mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal, and they glow with a light sublime.
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation, for the Bible stands.
—Haldor Lillenas

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 2; Ezekiel 3:16 to 4:17; 2 Timothy 4

And you, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

In too many cases fathers have abdicated their responsibility of being the leader or head of the home. Business consumes too many, to the point where fathers are not home for supper, nor able to attend their children’s events. Do they see that your faith is real? Have they ever walked in and found you reading the Word or on your knees praying? Do you take time to have a “family altar” at the supper hour? A recent article as to why many youth leave the church cited that they fail to see “the commitment of (their) parents.” They don’t see authentic faith! Is your faith real and demonstrable? —Jim Comte

O give us homes where Christ is Lord and Master,
Where pray’r comes first in peace or in disaster. —B. B. Hart

 

DAILY?READINGS: 1 Chronicles 1; Ezekiel 2 to 3:15; 2 Timothy 3

Howbeit I believed not their words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me: for thou exceedest the fame that I heard.  2 Chronicles 9:6

The queen of Sheba confessed before Solomon that she had doubted the witness of his greatness, but when she saw she believed and confessed the half had not been told. What will we say when we see the King of kings and His kingdom? How we yearn for the day when we enter into His presence. “Whom having not seen we love; in whom, though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet. 1:8).  —D. Pickup

The half cannot be fancied this side the golden shore;
O there He’ll be still sweeter than He ever was before. —W. C. Martin

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Kings 25; Ezekiel 1; 2 Timothy 2

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.  John 8:4

Some people think they are too sinful, too far gone to ever be forgiven of God. Our Lord ministered to this woman who had been found in the act of adultery. One of the last people He comforted was a condemned thief. God loves you no matter what sin you have committed. He wants you to turn to Him. The thief asked the Lord Jesus to remember him and Jesus heard his cry and told him that he would be with Him in paradise. Turn to the Lord Jesus and accept the salvation He lovingly offers.  —M. Robins

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me;
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God I come! I come. —Charlotte Elliot

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Kings 24; Lamentations 4-5; 2 Timothy 1

It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.  Psalm 119:71

Afflictions, sufferings or persecutions need not be bad. Some are good. They teach us lessons that God wants us to learn. The caterpillar struggles to come out of the cocoon with strengthened wings to enable it to soar into the sky. Without that struggle it will just drop to the ground. God answered Paul’s prayer to have his thorn in the flesh removed—not removing it but  providing His grace to bear it. Are you learning precious lessons from God through sufferings? Look up to Him. His grace is sufficient.  —K. C. Ung

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. —John Rippon

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Kings 23; Lamentations 3; 1 Timothy 6

So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.  Jonah 1:6

The tempest threatened to engulf the pagan mariners, who were more awake to their mortal peril than was the backsliding, sleeping prophet. He knew the God “who made the sea and the dry land” (Jon. 1:9), yet he only shared this knowledge when circumstances forced him. Are we also asleep to the perishing ones all around us? The Lord disciplined disobedient Jonah until he proclaimed His message to Nineveh. Despite the messenger’s reluctance, God saved an entire city from certain destruction. Let us gladly testify to the lost, so that many might share in God’s gift of salvation. —K. R. Keyser

Salvation! O ascended Lamb, to Thee the praise belongs,
Salvation shall inspire our hearts, and dwell upon our tongues. —I. Watts