God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:9
These words were addressed to the carnal church of Corinth in a period of extreme crisis. In chapter after chapter the apostle Paul had to deal with matters of faith and order that were seriously wrong there. His theme is the Lordship of Christ. The Lord’s Supper expresses it; the love of Christ exalts it; the power and wisdom of God enshrines it and the resurrection establishes it. How beautiful is the plan of God’s salvation. Have you received it? —Les Rainey
Faithful one, so unchanging; Ageless one, You’re my rock of peace; Lord of all I depend on You, I call out to You, again and again. —Brian Doerksen
The parables were a powerful teaching tool that our Lord used often. Doctrine presented in abstract terms may seem dry and cold. The parables make doctrines come alive, fleshed out, vibrant, pulsating with life. They fasten themselves upon one’s memory and are embedded in our heritage. Parables such as The Good Samaritan and The Prodigal Son are often quoted in literature. It is hoped that this book will help the reader understand better and appreciate the message our Lord wished to give. Paul: Ambassador to the Nations by: John Williams
“Another book about the Apostle Paul?”—you may ask. Yes, but one written from a different perspective. This is not a biography, nor is it an outline of Pauline theology. In these chapters we shall see Paul “wearing his many different hats,” and functioning in a wide variety of settings. Hopefully, we shall identify with the Apostle, at least to some degree, then seek to follow his noble example. Do you aspire to be a preacher, a teacher, a pastor, an elder, a deacon, a Sunday School helper or youth worker? Do you sense God is calling you to missionary service? Are you gifted as a church planter or a pioneer in some corner of the harvest field? Has God gifted you as a writer or a thinker, someone able to help us understand the great concepts of Scripture and Christian theology? Or, perhaps you see yourself as, “just one of those ordinary members of the Body of Christ,” who help make things tick. However you choose to answer those questions, please be assured that Paul, the bond-slave of Jesus, has something important to say to you.
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: Genesis 49:22
Jacob’s blessing to Joseph reflects what he was and what he was to become—his early years and his later life, if you will. The years in his father’s home, Potiphar’s house, the prison cell, and, finally, Pharaoh’s palace, were all used to shape and mold him into one of the Scripture’s greatest characters. Through them Joseph was growing up, digging deep, and spreading out. May there be progression in our lives too as we seek to be fruitful for the Lord. —N. Craig Funston
You are my strength when I am weak, You are the treasure that I seek; You are my all in all. —Dennis Jernigan
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, made this observation as he contemplated the affairs of life. How important it is for us to realize this, and to plan our lives accordingly. We see this in the life of the Lord Jesus. He knew not only what to do, but the time, when it should be done. At the wedding in Cana, He said to Mary, who was anxious that he should act immediately, “Mine hour is not yet come”. But eventually nearing the cross, the Lord is heard to say, “Father, the hour is come”. May the Lord grant us that same sensitivity to His timing for our lives. —W. H. Burnett
Until the race is run, until the journey done, Until the crown is won, teach me Thy way. —B. Mansell Ramsay
DAILY READINGS: 1 Kings 13:33 to 14:31; Jer. 24-25; Col. 2:8 to 3:4
And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. Ezekiel 43:4 So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house. Ezekiel 43:5 And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me. Ezekiel 43:6
What makes the gatherings of saints so uniquely appealing? The singing? The praying? The preaching? The fellowship? For all of the blessing of these things, no assembly is really an assembly if the glory of God isn’t foremost. Rather than enhancing, anything which distracts from God’s glory is superfluous and harmful. —Rick Morse
O fix our earnest gaze, so wholly, Lord, on Thee, That with Thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see.—Anon.
Those that be planted in the house of the LORD….shall bring forth fruit in old age. Psalm 92:13,14
Many years had passed since seeing those present at a cousins’ 80th birthday. It was disheartening to see a vibrant step replaced by a walker and another in a wheelchair, but the spirit kept strong. Vance Havner wrote, “The body we got from old Adam is disintegrating and some of them look unsightly before they are laid away". Perhaps we need these earthly struggles and tears so we more deeply long for the eternal City. There the new body will be unhampered by the ravages of time. May the Spirit move us to eagerly await the “joy forever more” when we see our Saviour face to face. —E. Dyck
What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, When I look upon His face, the One who saved me by His grace.—J.H.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? Genesis 4:9
God asked, “Where is Abel thy brother?” But Cain was a murderer and refused to accept his responsibility towards his brother. God observes how we treat our brothers. He calls us to help in keeping one another. We are to watch for each other’s souls: to consider one another; to provoke to good works; to bear one another’s burden; to convert the wanderer from the path of the destroyer; and to wash one another’s feet. Cain asked, “Am I my brothers keeper?” The answer is yes, but the sad story is instead of keeping him he destroyed him. Are we touching the lives of our brother? —Milton Haack
Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is love and His Gospel is grace. —P. Cappeau
Behold My servant…in whom My soul delighteth. Isaiah 42:1
Jehovah has had a multitude of choice servants. Abraham and Moses, David and Job, Peter and Paul, James and John, and a host of others, have all served Him faithfully and well. But when He says, “Behold My servant,” every believer knows that there is only one Servant whom Jehovah would have us contemplate. There is but one Servant who did the will of God perfectly. “My servant in whom My soul delighteth” can be none other than the Servant-Son, our Lord Jesus. —Jim Flanigan
The vow was on Thee—Thou dids’t come To yield Thyself to death; And consecration marked Thy path, And spoke in every breath. —Macleod Wylie
O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. Psalm 136:1
Every verse in this psalm assures us that God’s mercy endures forever. The stress and strain of life often brings us to a place where we wonder if we can go on. At those moments it is good to be reminded again that His mercy endures forever and that our brief moment of need is well within His infinite ability to carry us through. He is always there, always available, always loving, always caring. Our God is good. His mercy endures forever. —L. Tempest
He gives more grace when the burdens grow greater. He sends more strength when the labours increase, To added affliction He addeth His mercy, To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace. —Annie Johnson Flint
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). Ephesians 2:5
The Bible study had been on grace, but the behaviour of the young people rude. My husband concluded the study earlier than usual and announced he would be taking the teenagers home. “Shall I prepare supper?” I asked, to which my husband replied, “Yes”. One of the girls involved turned to our younger daughter and whispered that they did not deserve any supper. Our daughter replied, “That’s what grace is—getting what you don’t deserve.” —J. Fleming
Grace is what God did for me when Jesus set me free; Mercy what He spared me from, when Christ bore the wrath for me; Peace, God’s wondrous gift He gave, it brought me liberty; Mercy, grace and peace, all three, obtained through Calvary.—J. F.
