Category: Uncategorised

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 30; Ezekiel 46; John 21

Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
Psalms 32:7b
He that trusteth in the LORD, mercy shall compass him about.
Psalms 32:10b
The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear
Him, and delivereth them. Psalms 34:7

It’s a very disheartening thing to be in hostile territory and realize
you’re surrounded by the enemy. But we can rejoice in a far greater
power. This very day we are compassed about with songs of deliverance,
abundant mercy and the angel of the Lord. Would we wish to
be anywhere else? —Wm. H. Gustafson

Safe am I, safe am I, in the hollow of His hand.
Sheltered o’er, sheltered o’er, with His love forevermore.—Mildred L. Dillon

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 29; Ezekiel 45; John 20:19-31

And God remembered Noah…and God made a wind to pass over
the earth, and the waters assuaged. Genesis 8:1

God remembers us in our trouble and draws close to express His
love. The floods but bear us nearer to His heart. The ark was
designed to take Noah through the judgment, not for him to remain
there forever. Noah had obeyed God’s commands and left the consequences
to Him, and God did not forget him. He rode the waters with
His child. God said, “Come thou into the Ark.” Then He closed the
door and made it secure. The Scriptures confirm for us, “He will not
leave thy soul in hades.” —Milton Haack

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, from Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure; save from wrath and make me pure. —A. Toplady

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 27-28; Ezekiel 44; John 20:1-18

May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God. Ephesians 3:18-19

We live in a three dimensional world. Why then does Paul use four
dimensions to measure the love of Christ? Imagine you are in the
depths of the ocean. If you could be in the very centre, there would
not only be a breadth and length to the mighty waters, but there
would be a depth below you and height above you. God desires that
we comprehend the measureless dimensions of his love and realize
we are in its very centre. —Ken Gross

O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast unmeasured, boundless, free;
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me. —S. Trevor Francis

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 26; Ezekiel 43; John 19:17-42

Then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? Jeremiah 12:5b

Entering the swelling of Jordan is a picture of entering death. Men
enter different ways. Voltaire cried out most desperately, “I am abandoned
by God and man! I will give you half of what I am worth if you
will give me six months of life.” The nurse that attended him
exclaimed, “For all the wealth in Europe I would not see another infidel
die.” As Stephen was martyred he calmly said, “Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.” How will you enter? —R. E. Surgenor

Will your anchor hold in the floods of death?
When the waters cold chill your latest breath?
On the rising tide it can never fail,
While our hopes abide within the veil. —Priscilla Owens

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 25; Ezekiel 42; John 18:28 to 19:16

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour,
wherewith shall it be salted? Matthew 5:13a

To lose one’s savour is to become ineffective. The phrase “lost his
savour” suggests that one can be effective and useful, then lose that
effectiveness and usefulness. Living examples include Abraham with
Pharaoh, Lot with his next-of-kin, and Samson with the Philistines.
The parallel passage in Luke speaks of first being “tasteless,” then
“useless”. God is in the business of recovering and restoring savourless
believers. May we always remain salty! —N. Craig Funston

Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide. —J. Edwin Orr

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 23-24; Ezekiel 41; John 18:1-27

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God…Beloved now are we the
children of God. 1 John 3:1, 2a

The perfect tense verb rendered “hath bestowed” means God’s
love will always continue in the believer’s life. Why? Because all who
have trusted Christ as Saviour are the children of God forever. John
continues, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” We possess it
already. Security in Christ liberates believers from fear-based
bondage to love-motivated service for God. “There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 Jn. 4:18). —Warren Henderson

Behold, what love, what boundless love, the Father hath bestowed,
On sinners lost, that we should be now called the sons of God. —R. Boswell

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 21-22; Ezekiel 40; John 17

O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted,
and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto
Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD. Micah 6:5
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten
thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah 6:7

Micah’s burden was sins, both personal and national. How could
he ever atone for them? Would many offerings, both animal and
human, be enough? Praise God that we have no such problem, for
our Saviour has answered fully on our behalf. The debt is paid!
—G. Hall

What mighty sum paid all my debt, when charged with guilt I stood,
And hath my soul at freedom set? ‘Tis Jesus’ precious blood! —Anon.

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 20; Ezekiel 39; John 16:16-33

Hezekiah…broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had
made. 2 Kings 18:4

It is always good to look back on times of blessing and deliverance.
There is, however, a danger of remaining there and living on past
blessings. The children of Israel had even come to worship the brazen
serpent, the provision, rather than the provider. God wants us to
move on and experience His enabling and deliverance today and in
the future, as we endeavour to serve Him. Remember, His mercies are
new every morning. —Brian Russell

New mercies, each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray;
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven. —John Keble

DAILY READINGS: 2 Chronicles 18-19; Ezekiel 38; John 15:17 to 16:15

And the government shall be upon His shoulder…And of the
increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. Is. 9:6,7

Isaiah anticipates Christ’s kingdom and reveals two characteristics
of His millenial reign—its strength and its duration. We live in days
of weak and changing governments, but all this will change when the
Lord establishes his Kingdom. It will be characterized by strength,
“And he shall rule them with a rod of iron” (Rev. 2:27). Not only so,
but, “His government and peace shall endure forever”. We, as the
Lord’s people, enjoy the beneficence of his reign in our hearts in the
present, and we look forward to that day when the entire cosmos will
bow the knee to Him. —W. H. Burnett

Grant us Thy peace, bid dangers cease, and Thou, Thy mercy sending,
Christ, give us rest, where, with the blest, Thy reign is never ending.—Anon.