Evening, February 28
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Bible League: Living His Word
For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

What are your eyes fixed upon---the seen or the unseen, the trouble or the glory? The Apostle Paul does not literally mean we should "fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen." That would be, obviously, impossible. What he means is that we should direct our lives toward a goal which cannot be seen. What goal is that? The goal is the complete fulfillment of our salvation. The goal is to become legal residents of the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God that shall be fully revealed in the future. This includes the mansion Jesus is preparing for us in his Father's house (John 14:2), which is itself located in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2-3). All this is the priceless inheritance which is now being kept in heaven for us (I Peter 1:4), but shall one day descend to earth (Revelation 21:2). These things cannot be seen now, but one day we will see them and they shall last forever.

Our lives should be directed to this goal and, as a consequence, we should not "look at the troubles we can see now." Obviously, if we see them we have looked at them. What Paul means is that we should not pay them so much attention that we allow them to keep our lives from being directed toward the goal that "vastly outweighs them." These temporary troubles have been designed by the enemy to keep us from the goal. Although at present they seem large, in comparison to the eternal goal, they are small. We should not direct our lives toward the alleviation of these troubles at the expense of our eternal reward.

When you are troubled by the troubles you are going through, remember what they are doing for you. They are producing the glory of the future goal. You cannot see it yet, but your inheritance in heaven has been increasing in glory.

Bible in a Year
Old Testament Reading
Numbers 22, 23, 24


Numbers 22 -- Balak Sends for Balaam; Balaam and the Angel

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Numbers 23 -- The Prophecies of Balaam

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Numbers 24 -- The Prophecy from Peor

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New Testament Reading
Mark 8:1-21


Mark 8 -- Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand, Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida; Peter's Confession of Christ

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Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.
Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
        you forgive them all.
Insight
Although we may feel overwhelmed by the multitude of our sins, God will forgive them all if we ask sincerely.
Challenge
Do you feel as though God could never forgive you, that your sins are too many, or that some of them are too great? The good news is that God can and will forgive them all. Nobody is beyond redemption, and nobody is so full of sin that he or she cannot be made clean.
Morning and Evening by Spurgeon
1 Kings 17:16  The barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.

See the faithfulness of divine love. You observe that this woman had daily necessities. She had herself and her son to feed in a time of famine; and now, in addition, the prophet Elijah was to be fed too. But though the need was threefold, yet the supply of meal wasted not, for she had a constant supply. Each day she made calls upon the barrel, but yet each day it remained the same. You, dear reader, have daily necessities, and because they come so frequently, you are apt to fear that the barrel of meal will one day be empty, and the cruse of oil will fail you. Rest assured that, according to the Word of God, this shall not be the case. Each day, though it bring its trouble, shall bring its help; and though you should live to outnumber the years of Methuselah, and though your needs should be as many as the sands of the seashore, yet shall God's grace and mercy last through all your necessities, and you shall never know a real lack. For three long years, in this widow's days, the heavens never saw a cloud, and the stars never wept a holy tear of dew upon the wicked earth: famine, and desolation, and death, made the land a howling wilderness, but this woman never was hungry, but always joyful in abundance. So shall it be with you. You shall see the sinner's hope perish, for he trusts his native strength; you shall see the proud Pharisee's confidence totter, for he builds his hope upon the sand; you shall see even your own schemes blasted and withered, but you yourself shall find that your place of defence shall be the munition of rocks: "Your bread shall be given you, and your water shall be sure." Better have God for your guardian, than the Bank of England for your possession. You might spend the wealth of the Indies, but the infinite riches of God you can never exhaust.

Daily Light on the Daily Path
Proverbs 20:27  The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.

John 8:7,9  But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." • When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court.

Genesis 3:11  And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

James 4:17  Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

1 John 3:20,21  in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. • Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

Romans 14:20,22  Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who eats and gives offense. • The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.

Psalm 139:23,24  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; • And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org.

Morning February 28
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