Category: Uncategorised

Numbers 8:1-26; Proverbs 5:1-6:19; Mark 15:24-47

O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97

During a visit to China, Dr. Paul Freed paused at the side of a university student at work in the school library. “Will you please show me a Bible?” asked the then President of Trans World Radio. “What is a Bible?” responded the sincere young man. How sad! Can we, who are privileged to have the Word of God, honestly say with the Psalmist “O, how I love thy law!” Loving it and meditating on it assures spiritual growth and maturity. Neglecting it assures spiritual malnutrition and deformity. —Arnot P. McIntee

Mine to tell of joys to come, and the rebel sinners doom:
O thou holy book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine. —John Burton, Sr.

Numbers 7:1-89; Proverbs 4:1-27; Mark 15:1-23

And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand…for they cried to God in the battle, and he was entreated of them; because they put their trust in him. 1 Chronicles 5:20

These valiant men of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh teach us an important lesson. As we face the world, the flesh and the devil, and are engaged in spiritual battles, let us not trust in ourselves to overcome, but in our God. Remembering too, the effectiveness of prayer and the encouragement—that our God hears. —Pete Smith

Jehovah is our strength, and He shall be our song;
We shall o’ercome at length, although our foes be strong.
In vain then Satan doth oppose, for God is stronger than His foes. —Samuel Barnard

Numbers 6:1-27; Proverbs 3:1-35; Mark 14:53-72

And they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords. Ezekiel 16:40

“Our son…is a glutton and a drunkard…the men…shall stone him” (Deut. 21:20). In the Old Testament, we see how God punished His people for sin. Stoning and thrusting through with a sword are mentioned here. In the New Testament, we read of the Lord Jesus, who never sinned, suffering the same things. “They took up stones to cast at him” (John 8:59), “the soldiers with a spear pierced his side” (John 19:34). Oh how He suffered for our sin! —Mary Robins

Surely He has born our sorrows
And with His stripes we are healed. —Lois Irwin

Numbers 5:1-31; Proverbs 2:1-22; Mark 14:27-52

And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. Exodus 16:14

Manna, a picture of feeding on God’s Word, is rich with His wise counsel. Gathered in the morning after dew had risen upward, leftovers were not helpful. It took work by each individual to collect a pot full. But most importantly, it lay on the ground, gathered only with a humble heart bowed low in worship. —Sam Thorpe, Jr.

Bread of our souls, where-on we feed!
True manna from on high!
Our guide and chart, where-in we read,
Of realms beyond the sky! —Bernard D. Barton

Numbers 4:1-49; Proverbs 1:1-33; Mark 14:1-26

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me…Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. Psalm 51:10, 12

The Psalmist’s cry for a clean heart and a right spirit infers his recognition of the absence of these in his life. What had robbed him of this? He acknowledges that sin had (v. 3). We cannot experience the freedom of a cleansed heart and right spirit while harbouring sin in our lives. But our fellowship and joy can once again be restored upon confession (1 John 1:9). Why delay? —E. V.

See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from ev’ry sin and set me free. —J. Edwin Orr

Numbers 3:1-51; Psalms 148:1-150:6; Mark 13:1-37

How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? Genesis 39:9

We live in an age of celebrity, an era of personality, where character is sacrificed and considered valueless. Joseph, in the Old Testament, knew that integrity was important to God and when Potiphar’s wife tried to entice him he lost his coat but kept his character. He refused to compromise his principles, even under the greatest pressure, and is held up as a great testimony of faithfulness to God. He risked his status, his occupation, his freedom and even his life to maintain righteous living before God. Are we prepared to do the same? —Paul Young

Preserve the power of faith alive, in those who love Thy name;
For sin and Satan daily strive to quench the sacred flame. —J. Newton

Numbers 2:34; Psalms 146:1-147:20; Mark 12:18-44

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts 26:28

This quote from Agrippa ranks as one of the saddest verses of Scripture. Certainly the one who said it has regretted it a thousand times over. He was one for whom Christ died. Salvation was within his reach. He had to decide. Paul could not decide for him. Paul had done his job. The Holy Spirit had done His convicting work (John 16:8). Agrippa resisted both. How about you? Will you choose salvation? —Ken Gross

“Almost persuaded” now to believe;
“Almost persuaded” Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say, “Go, Spirit, go Thy way,
Some more convenient day, on Thee I’ll call.” —Philip P. Bliss

Numbers 1:1-54; Psalms 144:1-145:21; Mark 11:27-12:17

Blessed are you among women…why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Luke 1:42-43, NKJV

Elizabeth had a beautiful spirit! The astounding news that, finally, she would be a mother, was suddenly upstaged by even bigger news. She harboured no resentment that her younger cousin would bring the Messiah into the world. No jealousy hampered her ability to rejoice over Mary’s news. No bitterness. In humility, she wonders why Mary would even bother to knock on her door. When Christ is the ultimate object of our desire, a beautiful spirit will radiate from our lives too. —Peter Ramsay

Join all the glorious names, of wisdom, love and power,
That mortals ever knew, that angels ever bore:
All are to poor to speak His worth, too poor to set my Saviour forth. —Isaac Watts

Leviticus 27:1-34; Psalms 142:1-143:12; Mark 11:1-26

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. Matt. 8:9

Listen to the logic of the centurion. He understood the Lord’s authority because he had soldiers to whom he said: Go, Come and Do. We have one who is far greater. When He says, do this in remembrance of me, do we gather faithfully to worship? When He says, come to Me and I will give you rest, do we come, or do we keep exhausting our own resources? And finally, when He says, go into all the world and preach the Gospel, do we go? —Shane Johnson

Am I a soldier of the Cross— follower of the Lamb?
And shall I fear to own His cause, or blush to speak His name?—I. Watts

Leviticus 26:1-46; Psalm 140:1-141:10; Mark 10:32-52

I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Revelation 1:18

God took on flesh and dwelt among men for the suffering of death. He was God’s sacrifice and substitute for us in a death that we could not die, for He was bearing our sins in His own body on the cross. But death could not keep Him and three days later He rose again, triumphant over death and the grave. Today He lives to soon return for those who are His and to raise their bodies to be with Him forevermore. Even so come Lord Jesus. —K. C. Ung

Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified, freely forever;
One day He’s coming—O glorious day! —J. W. Chapman