Category: Uncategorised

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 30 to 31:13; Amos 9; Luke 16

Why is thy heart grieved? Am I not bett er to thee than ten sons?
And she was in bitt erness of soul and prayed to the LORD.
1 Samuel 1:8, 10

Elkanah, Hannah’s husband, meant well with his comments, but did
not understand. We do not read that Hannah snapped back at him,
but rather prayed and wept to the Lord. It is very easy for others not
to appreciate our particular predicament. But our Lord always does.
Take it to Him. Not only does He understand but He is the only One
who can bring peace. —Brian Russell

Thy love O Saviour dries our tears;
Expels our griefs, and calms our fears;
Sheds light and gladness o’er the heart,
And bids each anxious thought depart.—Anon.

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 29; Amos 7-8; Luke 15:11-32

He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not. John 1:10

Dr. A. Gaebeline says this about an old Latin inscription which
means, “the God-man”. “The inscription presents the eternal Word,
as though speaking of Himself, the Word made fl esh, and declares:
‘I am what I was—God. I was not what I am—man. I am now called
both, God and Man.’” What a wonderful thing Christ’s coming is! It
brought a glory within range of human perception that had never
been seen before. He is the brightness, or eff ulgence, the out-shining
of God’s character, the glory of the One and Only. Jesus is God! Oh I
learn to worship! —Les Rainey

Didst Thou not in person twine, the natures human and divine,
That God and man might be, henceforth one, inseparably? —C. Wesley

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 28:38-68; Amos 5-6; Luke 14:25 to 15:10

What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
1 Peter 4:17b
Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like
his! Numbers 23:10b

At one time when I was a teenager, we had neighbours who pursued
the beliefs of a cult. I shall never forget the terrible story related
to my mother from the lady of that house. She said that her
mother at the very end of her life let out the most awful scream! No
doubt she saw the horrors of a lost eternity before her. Oh, what a
vast diff erence is the end of the child of God. With a peaceful expression
it is, “Absent from the body and present with the Lord.”
—E. MacLelland

Saved or lost? Saved or lost? One or the other you must be!
Saved or lost? Where will you spend eternity? —A. P. G.

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 28:1-37; Amos 3-4; Luke 14:1-24

For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten
my darkness. Psalms 18:28

In his early life David was relentlessly pursued by Saul and in later
years his own son rebelled against him. His private life also disappointed
and as he considered these things there is no doubt that
darkness enveloped him. But it is the desire of the Lord that His
saints do not dwell in darkness but in the light. In this verse David
expresses great confi dence that the Lord will light his lamp and enlighten
his darkness. Christ gave us the light when He saved us. We
may be confi dent that in our lives the lamp has been lit and the path
going forward will surely be illuminated. —Roy Hill

I would seek Thee still to give, by night my sleep, by day my bread,
And that the counsel of Thy word, should shine and show the path to tread.
—Anon

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 26:16 to 27:26; Amos 1-2; Luke 13:22-35

Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the
truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:5, 6

Those who do not embrace truth put gain ahead of all else, and then
they do a litt le wishful thinking—in eff ect concluding that gain is
godliness. But it isn’t. Material gain is not related to godliness, but
contentment is. Count your blessings and with them be thankful to
the Lord. For contentment with the Lord’s blessings does constitute
great gain and in that gain is godliness. —Doug Kazen

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
—R. Robinson

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 25 to 26:15; Jon. 3-4; Luke 13:1-21

The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the
dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16

What a comfortless world we live in! For the believer, the heavens
are not as brass, but the world certainly is. Thank God for His care!
The subject of our Lord’s return, which Paul speaks of in this passage,
is sure, and therefore utt erly eff ective in the comfort it bestows.
“So shall we ever be with the Lord!” May God give us the grace to
fully enjoy the surety of the Lord’s coming and its practical eff ect on
our lives! —Mark Fenn

My Father’s house on high, home of my soul how near,
At times to faith’s foreseeing eye, the golden gates appear!
—James Montgomery

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 23:9 to 24:22; Jon. 1-2; Luke 12:41-59

Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to
His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself. Eph. 1:9

God is a wonderful revealer of secrets. What was not previously
shown to man is now unveiled in Christ. The Lord told the disciples
that the Spirit would guide them “into all truth” (Jn. 16:13).
These sacred secrets—the eternal plans centred in Christ—are now
openly displayed in God’s Word. What He planned within Himself,
He now shares with His own. Explore these spiritual depths in the
Bible today! —K. R. Keyser

Yea, He has told us the wonderful secrets,
Father of glory, once hidden from man;
Fully revealed now to us by Thy Spirit,
All Thou desirest, eternity’s plan. —H. Sattler

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 22 to 23:8; Joel 3; Luke 12:22-40

The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another,
and toward all men, even as we do toward you. 1 Thess. 3:12

Paul’s concern is that the believers should make progress spiritually.
It is easy to become complacent and to regard our present level of
maturity as satisfactory. How needful, then, is the call to “increase
and abound in love”! In 1 Thessalonians 4:1 the appeal is to “abound
more and more”. However we may have progressed in the past, as
our school reports used to say, there is always room for improvement!
—George Hall

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know
And seek, more earnestly, His face —John Newton

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 20-21; Joel 2; Luke 12:1-21

His mouth is most sweet: yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my
beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem.
Song of Solomon 5:16

The bride’s words to her beloved, express the Church’s desire for
the Lord Jesus. Two Hebrew words make up the word translated
here “beloved”. One means “all” and the other means “a delightful
or desired thing”. Combined they mean that our Beloved is all
lovely and all desirable. The psalmist rightly concludes, “There
is none upon earth that I desire beside thee” (Ps. 73:25). Our love
for Christ should cause worship to spring up in our hearts today!
—Warren Henderson

All that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me.
And the fairest of ten thousand, in my blessed Lord I see. —T. H.

DAILY READINGS: Deut. 18:9 to 19:21; Joel 1; Luke 11:37-54

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished:
and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. John 19:30

This was a cry of triumph from the victor, not a cry of defeat from a
victim! All was complete. Prophetic writings concerning His suff erings
had been fulfi lled. The price for sin had been fully and utt erly
paid and none other would be necessary forever. Done is the work
that saves, once and forever done! Praise God there will never have
to be another Calvary. Are you resting in this fi nished work today?
—John M. Clegg

Done is the work that saves, once and for ever done;
Finished the righteousness, that clothes the unrighteous one,
The love that blesses us below, is fl owing freely to us now. —Horatius Bonar