Author: Gospel Folio Press

Exodus 22:1-23:9; Psalms 64:1-65:13; Acts 12:1-25

None shall appear before Me empty. Exodus 34:20 NKJV

Would a delivered people possibly come before God empty? Could the worship of those redeemed by precious blood be stale or stilted? In Malachi, honour and reverence for God were lacking. Priests offered blind, lame, sick, and stolen offerings. They kept their best animals and gave God their blemished animals (Mal. 1:6-14). Does our Lord
receive our best thoughts when we gather together to worship Him? Predictable lines, random references, and uninspired worship add up to appearing before Him “empty”. In a coming day we’ll be overwhelmed eternally with insights into our Saviour’s sufferings and glories. Why not grasp all we can now? — David W. Oliver

The mention of Thy name shall bow, our hearts to worship Thee;
The chiefest of ten thousand Thou! The chief of sinners we.  —Mary Peters

Exodus 21:1-36; Psalms 62:1-63:11; Acts 11:19-30

Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations. Psalm 82:8

There is coming a day when God is going to judge the world.  All those who have refused Him will stand before Him and hear these dreadful words, “I do not know you…depart from Me” (Luke 13:27). Let us make sure that we are ready to meet Him. If we have trusted in His Son for the forgiveness of our sins we need not fear (1 John 1:9). We will be ready to meet Him with confidence and joyful anticipation. —Gwenyth Frear

And when, before the throne,
I stand in Him complete,
“Jesus died my soul to save,”
My lips shall still repeat.  —Elvina M. Hall

Exodus 20:1-26; Psalms 60:1-61:8; Acts 11:1-18

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 NKJV

Jesus Christ, He who did no sin, took upon Himself all the sin of the world, dealt with it and was done with it once and for all! He was, in effect, “dead to sin” (v. 10). Paul, in his letter to the believers in Rome, tells them to “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin…”. But Jesus Christ is God! How can we who daily battle sin, reckon ourselves to be “dead” to it? Christ identified us with Himself on Calvary, created all things new and removed us from the “old Adam” into Himself, the new Adam. Now, “alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord”, we too can have victory over sin! —Ray Jones

Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed His tender last farewell,
A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed with us to dwell. —Harriet Auber

Exodus 19:10-25; Psalms 59:1-17; Acts 10:34-48

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…and offer him there for a burnt offering… Genesis 22:2

God had promised Abraham, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Gen. 21:12). This request seemed to contradict what God had promised. But Abraham believed that God would never go back on His promise, and in the meantime, he must obey, and leave the future with God. There are times in our experience when we may feel that things happening in our lives do not seem to make sense, but we can be sure that God will honour all His promises, and we can enjoy the peace that this brings. —Willie H. Burnett

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God we shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God. —R. Kelso Carter

Exodus 19:1-9; Psalms 58:1-11; Acts 10:24-33

Therefore, the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18 NKJV

God is waiting for the needed moment to be gracious to us. Likewise, we are blessed as we learn to wait on Him. His grace, mercy and justice are fully revealed between the divine waiting and human waiting, and for this He is exalted. —Sam Thorpe

O God of matchless grace,
We sing unto Thy name!
We stand accepted in the place
That none but Christ could claim.  —Hannah Burlingham

Exodus 18:1-27; Psalms 56:1-57:11; Acts 10:1-23

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Isaiah 25:4

Need help? How many times do we resort to our own abilities or other earthly resources, thinking, “I’ve got this”, and in so doing, exercise independence of my loving God? Each of the above challenges and promised remedies are in the context of counting oneself as poor and needy. Independence from God leads us to the pride of self-assurance. Dependence upon God is an attitude, a virtue and a grand privilege. Become dependent upon God and find the joy of
taking His yoke upon you. —Doug Lewis

The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide, a shelter in the time of storm. —V. Charlesworth

Exodus 17:1-16; Psalm 55:1-23; Acts 9:32-43

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth. 2 John 1:1

It was Warren Wiersbe who said “As goes the home, so goes the church and the nation”. How important it is to show godliness in the home. To be different in the church and the world than you are in the home or vice versa is sheer hypocrisy. God save us from being duplistic believers and may the Lord give us the wisdom to be consistent wherever we are. —Brian Russell

Search me, O God! My actions try,
And let my life appear
As seen by Thine all searching eye—
To mine my ways make clear.  —Francis Bottome

Exodus 16:1-36; Psalm 52:1-54:7; Acts 9:1-31

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Luke 7:15-16

My father cherishes a book containing thank you letters written by South Korean children. Praising Korean war veterans with words like “brave hero”, these youngsters were taught that there was a cost to their freedom. Their gratitude brings tears to his eyes. The Lord appreciated the one leper who returned to give thanks and today treasures our corporate remembrance of Him. In obedience we must thankfully remember Him. —George Ferrier

Oh, to see my name written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live;
Won through Your selfless love. —Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Exodus 15:1-27; Psalm 51:1-19; Acts 8:5-40

Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Psalm 71:18

In this verse, the psalmist petitions God to continue to supply his strength so he can proclaim the mighty deeds of God to the next generation. In the world, we work with the hope of one day retiring and resting from our labour. But as believers, our retirement from His labour should only be when “face to face” with our Lord. Press on for Him. —Luke Urban

I love to tell the story;
’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
More wonderfully sweet.  —Katherine Hankey

Exodus 14:5-31; Psalms 49:1-50:23; Acts 7:30-8:4

Delight thyself also in the Lord. Psalm 37:4

The book of Psalms begins with the statement that the blessed man will delight himself in the law of the Lord. Later the psalmist states that his delight is to do the will of God (Ps. 40:8). In Psalm 119 his delight is in God’s statutes, the commandments, and law. What is your delight? What brings joy, satisfaction, and peace to your soul? —Wm. H. Gustafson

The Word of God, a river of pleasure,
The Word of God, ’tis food for the mind,
The Word of God, its light faileth never,
The Word of God, what treasures we find.  —A. E. Smith