January 16 “The word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time.” (Jonah 3:1) Here is a message that glows with hope and promise. Just because a man has failed does not mean that God has put him on the shelf. David’s failures are recorded with stark realism. As we read them, we sit…
January 15 “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.” (Gal. 5:13) The liberty of the child of God is one of his priceless possessions. Made free by the Son, he is free indeed. But he is called to…
January 14 “All things are yours.” (1 Cor. 3:21-23) The unsaintly saints in Corinth had been squabbling over human leaders in the church. To some Paul was the ideal. Others made Apollos their favorite. And still others felt that Cephas was superlative. Paul is telling them that it is ridiculous to limit their choice to…
January 13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.” (Phil. 4:13) It is easy to misunderstand a verse like this. We read it and immediately think of hundreds of things that we cannot do. In the physical realm, for instance, we think of some ridiculous stunt requiring superhuman power. Or we think…
January 12 “…what hast thou that thou didst not receive?…” (1 Cor. 4:7) This is a good question because it reduces us all to size. We do not have anything that we did not receive. We received our physical and mental equipment through birth. What we look like and how brainy we are is something…
January 11 “…that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” (Matt. 18:16). As far as the Bible is concerned, there must be the testimony of two or three witnesses in order to form a valid judgment. If we would only observe this principle, we would save ourselves oceans of…
January 10 “…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Heb. 12:1, NASB) Many people have a view of the Christian life that is excessively idealistic. They think it should be one uninterrupted series of mountaintop experiences. They read Christian books and magazines and hear personal testimonies of dramatic events…
January 9 “…Show piety at home…” (1 Tim. 5:4) You’ve heard the expression, “A devil at home, a saint abroad.” It describes the horrible tendency to be gracious and outgoing to those in the outside world and yet be harsh and unkind at home. This is a failing that is not confined to any particular…
January 8 “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently.” (Jer. 48:10 ASV) The work of the Lord is so important, pressing, sublime and awebegetting that a curse rests upon anyone who does it negligently. The God who wants and deserves the best cannot bear with sloth, delays, halfheartedness, or slipshod methods. When…
January 7 “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7) Did you ever stop to wonder why a baseball game is more exciting to most people than a prayer meeting? Yet comparative attendance records prove that it is so. Or we might ask, “Why is the Presidency of the United States more appealing…