Category: Uncategorised

DAILY READINGS: Ezra 6; Daniel 7; Revelation 2:18 to 3:6

And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah…out of thee shall come
a Governor, that shall rule My people Israel. Matthew 2:6
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the
prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My son. Matt. 2:15b
And He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. Matthew 2:23a

Jesus Christ fulfilled over 300 Messianic prophecies. This was no
mere coincidence. He was the Messiah! To be at once from Bethlehem,
Egypt and Nazareth could not have been humanly arranged. Only
God could have done such a thing. We worship Him today—the fulfillment
of all of God’s promises and plans. —Jason Bechtel

Sweetly rest Thou promised Saviour, by the prophets long foretold;
Brightly beams the Father’s favour, now all men His love behold.—A. Hoppe

 

DAILY READINGS: Ezra 5; Daniel 6; Revelation 2:1-17

See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16

Recently I heard someone say “I’ve only ten more years to retirement.”
They clearly hoped that the years would quickly pass.
Assessing too highly an unknown future, can make us fail to cherish
the moments we have. Time is a valuable gift from God and it is so
brief. We’ll never know the status of our account until all our minutes
are gone. Beloved, seize the opportunity today to buy back time from
your normal activities and use it to share the Gospel, pursue good
works, and encourage the saints. It will pay dividends now and for
all eternity. —George Ferrier

Only this hour is mine, Lord. May it be used for Thee;
May every passing moment count for eternity. —Avis B. Christiansen

 

DAILY READINGS: Ezra 3-4; Daniel 5; Revelation 1

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

“Friends,” is a lovely term that is quickly losing its true meaning.
What is true friendship and even further, how can we be friends with
God? The apostle James wrote; “Abraham believed God, and it was
imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the friend of
God”. Jesus said: “Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command
you”(John 15:14). Faith and obedience are the keys to a relationship
with God and a good basis for earthly friendships too.
—Jerry Proctor

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! —J. Scriven

DAILY READINGS: Ezra 1-2; Daniel 4; 3 John

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit
which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

The man with the strongest body never appreciated this truth.
Samson was unaware of the sacredness of his body. To whom much
is given, much is required. We have a responsibility to be holy. The
higher our spiritual desire, the lower we should walk before our God.
The higher our opinion of ourselves the greater will be the enemy’s
advantage. Paul was ever conscious of the price paid to redeem us
and lived in the light of it. May we as well. —Jim Pizzulli

Ask the Saviour to help you, comfort, strengthen and keep you,
He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through. —Anon.

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 36; Daniel 3; 2 John

Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests
have delivered Thee unto me: what hast Thou done? John 18:35
And he went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus,
Whence art Thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. John 19:9

During the trial of Jesus, Pilate asked these two questions: “What
have you done?” and “Where are you from?” John’s Gospel gives the
answers. He came from eternity with God (John 1:1). While here He
turned water to wine, fed a multitude from very little, gave sight to a
blind man, raised a man from the dead, pointed people to living
water and challenged them to be born again. The Man from above
has done all things well. —Jack Innes

All worlds His glorious power confess, His wisdom all His works express;
But oh! His love what tongue can tell? My Jesus has done all things well.—Anon.

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 35; Daniel 2:24-49; 1 John 5

Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me? John 21:16

Tradition has painted, by brush and pen, portraits of the man
called Peter. He is memorialized by magnificent cathedrals. But we
must look elsewhere for a memorial engraved where time cannot
erase it. These words move the heart of every sinner saved by grace
who has felt the pulse of Peter’s passion, known some sad failure,
and the pardoning grace of the Saviour. The words touch the wellsprings
of our tears and we fain would make them ours: “Lord Thou
knowest all things; Thou knowest I love Thee.” —J. Boyd Nicholson

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:
’Tis Thou who art worthy, Lord Jesus, ’tis Thou. —W. R. Featherstone

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 34; Daniel 2:1-23; 1 John 4

For I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have
done to you. John 13:15

Two top chess kids faced off in my classroom. Other students
crowded to watch. I had taught one of the students, and it brought
joy to my heart to see her faithfully following her training. What I
saw were my tactics and principles in action. She was playing like
me. It brings joy to God's heart when He sees us obeying our training,
using His tactics and strategies, and copying His actions in our
daily battle. Then others will witness His glory in our life. —D. Lee

And is it so, I shall be like Thy Son?
Is this the grace which He for me has won?
Father of glory—thought beyond all thought!
In glory, to His own blest likeness brought! —J. N. Darby

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 33; Daniel 1; 1 John 3

Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand,
O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:6

When the potter gets to work upon his wheel, he expects the clay
to be completely pliable under the pressure of his hand. Speaking
with a potter one day, he told me that the hand that does the shaping
is the hand inside the vessel, and that the shaping takes place from
the inside outwards. Surely this is the Lord’s desire for us, that we
should be fashioned according to his desires, and that we should recognize
that the work must begin on the inside, rather than with the
outward appearance. We must allow the Spirit to do his work within
to produce the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. —W. H. Burnett

Have thine own way Lord! Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay. —Adelaid A. Pollard

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 32; Ezekiel 48; 1 John 2:12-29

And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him
whom Thou wilt send. Exodus 4:13

Moses was trying to evade his God-given task, to go to Egypt. As
young believers we would sometimes joke with each other by asking,
“Are you praying this prayer? ‘Here am I Lord, send my sister!’”
However, when today, one sees so many single sisters on the mission
fields of the world, one wonders whether many young fellows actually
seriously prayed that prayer! Then, happy to see their sisters go,
they themselves settled down to lives of ease, wealth and pleasure.
The Lord says, “Go ye.” —David Croudace

My Father’s home of light, my glory circled throne,
I left for earthly night, for wanderings sad and lone;
I left it all for thee; hast thou left ought for Me? —Frances Havergal

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 31; Ezekiel 47; 1 John 1 to 2:11

Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as
ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1 Corinthians 5:7

"Lump” is one of those phonetically appealing words that seems
to perfectly describe something just in the pronouncing of it—a
shapeless, featureless, useless lump. And here the Holy Spirit uses it
in reference to the local church! Once established and gathered unto
the Lord though, the “lump” becomes a “lamp". Godliness is an
inward adornment accomplished by the Holy Spirit, both in our lives
and in our assemblies, despite all the lumps. —Rick Morse

Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth,
Her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth. —Samuel John Stone