Category: Uncategorised

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 16-17; Ezekiel 37; John 15:1-16

A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Psalm 84:10

How shall we live this short life allowed us? One author refers to the race between birth and death as the snap of a finger. James describes it as a vapour. Job compares it to the rapidity of a weaver’s shuttle. David says it is as an hand breadth. Peter sums it up as “All flesh is as grass…the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away” (1 Pet. 1:24). The Westminster Catechism states, “The chief aim of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” In light of the brevity of time, we should be a living testimony of God’s saving grace and make each day count for eternity. —E. Dyck

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me. —H. F. Lyte

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 14-15; Ezekiel 36:16-38; John 14:15-31

Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.  1 John 3:1

Jacob gave what he thought was best for the son he favoured to the envy of his siblings (Gen. 37:3-4); Eli gave his sons freedom to do as they wished (1 Sam. 2:12); and the prodigal’s father gave him the right to live his life his way (Luke 15:12). All these sons were later beset with problems because of their father’s pampered love. God the Father’s love is a pure and righteous love. He so loved the world that He gave His beloved Son to die and thus provide salvation to all who will come to Him. —K. C. Ung

Fill me, Lord, with Your Holy Spirit,
That I may know and do Your will;
Grant me the grace to trust You daily,
And love within my heart instill. —R. M. Cullinan

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chron. 12-13; Ezekiel 35-36:15; John 13:31-14:14

Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.  1 Peter 2:7

This verse doesn’t say what the Lord should be to us, but rather what He is! Love for Christ is a result of having believed and is one of the unmistakeable signs of regeneration. John says that “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Paul declares that anyone who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, “Let him be anathema,” which means “accursed”. Friends, there is no middle ground. The saved love the Lord Jesus and the unsaved don’t. The Redeemer is precious to all the redeemed. What does He mean to you?  —Carl Knott

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now. —William R. Featherston

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 10-11; Ezekiel 34; John 13:1-30

For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.   Acts 11:24

This reference is to Barnabas, one of the few described in Scripture as “good”. Like ourselves, he was, by nature, “not good” (Rom. 3:12). Our text, however, shows that the Holy Spirit had made a change. The result was that Christ-like features were now seen in him (Acts 10:38). Let us, like both our Lord and Barnabas, “do good” wherever we go. —George Hall

Lives of great men all remind us,
We may make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us,
Foot-prints on the sands of time.
—H. W. Longfellow

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 8-9; Ezekiel 33; John 12:20-50

The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.  Joshua 24:24
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes.  Judges 21:25

The book of Joshua ends with a marvelous statement of purpose on the part of the Israelites. It should be the ambition of every believer. We’ve been bought at tremendous price, therefore it is only reasonable to serve and obey Him. But the human heart is fickle, for the book of Judges ends with a statement of reality from God’s perspective. How sad the decline! What a solemn note of warning to all of us.  —Wm. H. Gustafson

O how happy are they, who the Saviour obey,
And have laid up their treasure above!
Tongue cannot express the sweet comfort and peace,
Of a soul in its earliest love. —C. Wesley

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 7; Ezekiel 32; John 11:55 to 12:19

And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre. Mark 15:46

The shame and suffering of Calvary are finished. The body of the Lord Jesus Christ has been prepared for burial. At this point the Holy Spirit draws our attention to the perfections of Christ in the details of the linen burial cloth. Matthew records the condition of the cloth as “clean”. Mark speaks of the quality of the linen as “fine”. These words, used in a figurative sense, point to the sinless, righteous perfections of the Lord Jesus Christ.  —S. B.

Oh, what wondrous love and mercy;
Thou didst lay Thy glory by,
And for us didst come from heaven,
As the Lamb of God, to die! —J. G. Deck

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chron. 6:12-42; Ezekiel 30:20-31:18; John 11:28-54

Now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  1 Corinthians 15:20

What reassuring words from the pen of Paul, declaring the truth of the resurrection of Christ. It is an historical fact! And so many wonderful blessings flow from it. Not the least of which is the glorious prospect that the bodies of those who have died in Christ will be raised. Take comfort today, for we will meet our loved ones again! —Jim Paul

How joyful is the thought that lingers,
When loved ones cross death’s sea;
That when our labours here have ended,
With them we will ever be.
—E. Ewan

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chron. 5 to 6:11; Ezekiel 29 to 30:19; John 11:1-27

He hath made us accepted in the beloved.  Ephesians 1:6

Christ’s vicarious work on the cross so completely satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that He is willing to bring us into the very body and identity of His Son. And what is God’s opinion of the Beloved? In simple but eloquent terms—God is well pleased with His Beloved Son. In Him, God extends His well pleased love to us because of Christ’s work. —J. D. Fraser

No longer far from Him,
But now by precious blood made nigh.
Accepted in the well-beloved,
Near to God’s heart we lie.
—R. Boswell

 

DAILY?READINGS: 2 Chronicles 3-4; Ezekiel 28; John 10:19-42

But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.  1 Thessalonians 2:4

Paul rightly described the Gospel in terms of a treasure—something that only important, responsible emissaries may carry. The word for “allowed” carries the thought of passing a test (it is the same word at the end of the verse for “trieth”). Before sending them, God evaluated them and after they were sent, He continued to test their hearts. Accordingly, Paul carefully preached the gospel free of ulterior motives. May we likewise witness, with an eye on the coming evaluation and reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ. —K. R. Keyser

I am trusting Thee for power; Thine can never fail.
Words which Thou Thyself shalt give me must prevail.
—Frances Ridley Havergal