July 21 “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Pet. 5:7) It is possible to live a long, long life as a believer and yet never learn to cast our care on the Lord. We can memorize the verse and even preach it to others, yet never really practice it…
July 20 “A man that hath friends must show himself friendly.” (Prov. 18:24) Even though all modern versions translate this verse differently, the King James Version enshrines the valuable truth that friendships must be cultivated. They thrive on attention but die through neglect. An editorial in Decision Magazine said, “Friendships don’t just happen; they have…
July 19 “…as he is, so are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17b) Here is one of those New Testament truths that shocks us by its sheer audacity. We would not dare to utter the words if we did not see them in the Bible. But they are gloriously true, and we can revel…
July 18 “Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.” (2 Sam. 6:23) David was ecstatic when he brought the ark to Jerusalem and when it was placed in the tent that he had specially prepared for it. Sensing that this was one of his greatest achievements and…
July 17 “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” (Gen. 12:3) When God first called Abraham to be the head of His chosen earthly people, He promised to bless the friends of that nation and to curse its enemies. In the intervening centuries the Jewish people have suffered…
July 16 “Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.” (Psa. 12:1) Faithful people are an endangered species; they are rapidly vanishing from the human race. If David mourned their demise in his day, we often wonder how he would feel if he lived today. When…
July 15 “But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice.” (Mt. 9:13) God is far more interested in how we treat other people than in how many religious ceremonies we go through. He prefers mercy to sacrifice. He places practical morality above ritual. It might seem strange to…
July 14 “(We) have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Cor. 4:2) On the previous page, we noted three areas in which the cults expose themselves…
July 13 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1 NASB) We live in a day when cults are multiplying with amazing rapidity. Actually there are no new cults; they are just variations…
July 12 “The battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15) If a man is a soldier of the Cross, he can expect to be attacked sooner or later. The more courageously he declares the truth of God and the more accurately he exemplifies the truth in his own life, the more he will…