Evening, January 14
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Bible League: Living His Word
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

There are a lot of very intelligent people in this world who do not believe in God or the gospel of Jesus Christ. The reason for this is that they have made a commitment as to what the criterion should be for them to believe anything at all---it must make sense to them. It must be able to be verified in some way by reason based on empirical evidence apart from faith in biblical revelation.

The trouble with this commitment, however, is that it places faith in a human faculty that has some rather severe limitations. Human reason is limited to what it can access within the created order, but it has no access to what lies outside the created order. As a result, it has difficulty determining the true source of the created order and even more difficulty determining how to get into proper relationship to the true source.

For answers to these ultimate questions humans and human reason are dependent upon revelation from above, from outside the created order. We need the wisdom of God, the source and origin of the created order, rather than the wisdom of the wise. We need the perspective of the one who set up everything, rather than the perspective of those who are merely part of everything.

We need the message of the cross, because it is revelation from the Creator of all things on how to get into proper relationship with Him. For those who accept the message by faith, it is "the power of God to salvation" (Romans 1:16). It may be foolishness to the wise, but the wise are in no position to say one way or the other. God, on the other hand, is in that position. That's why the foolishness of God is better than the wisdom of the wise.

Bible in a Year
Old Testament Reading
Genesis 33, 34, 35


Genesis 33 -- Jacob Meets Esau, Settles in Shechem

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Genesis 34 -- Shechem Defiles Dinah and is Avenged by Jacob

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Genesis 35 -- Jacob Returns to Bethel; Jacob Named Israel; Deaths of Rachel and Isaac

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


New Testament Reading
Matthew 11


Matthew 11 -- John's Disciples and Jesus' Tribute; Woe to Unrepentant Cities; Rest for the Weary

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.
Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion
Honor your father and mother, as the LORD your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Insight
Obeying our parents is our main task when we are young, but honoring them should continue even beyond their deaths. Honoring involves all that sons and daughters do with their lives—the way they work and talk, the values they hold, and the morals they practice.
Challenge
What are you doing to show respect to your parents? Are you living in a way that brings honor to them?
Morning and Evening by Spurgeon
Matthew 14:30  Beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Sinking times are praying times with the Lord's servants. Peter neglected prayer at starting upon his venturous journey, but when he began to sink his danger made him a suppliant, and his cry though late was not too late. In our hours of bodily pain and mental anguish, we find ourselves as naturally driven to prayer as the wreck is driven upon the shore by the waves. The fox hies to its hole for protection; the bird flies to the wood for shelter; and even so the tried believer hastens to the mercy seat for safety. Heaven's great harbor of refuge is All-prayer; thousands of weather-beaten vessels have found a haven there, and the moment a storm comes on, it is wise for us to make for it with all sail.

Short prayers are long enough. There were but three words in the petition which Peter gasped out, but they were sufficient for his purpose. Not length but strength is desirable. A sense of need is a mighty teacher of brevity. If our prayers had less of the tail feathers of pride and more wing they would be all the better. Verbiage is to devotion as chaff to the wheat. Precious things lie in small compass, and all that is real prayer in many a long address might have been uttered in a petition as short as that of Peter.

Our extremities are the Lord's opportunities. Immediately a keen sense of danger forces an anxious cry from us the ear of Jesus hears, and with him ear and heart go together, and the hand does not long linger. At the last moment we appeal to our Master, but his swift hand makes up for our delays by instant and effectual action. Are we nearly engulfed by the boisterous waters of affliction? Let us then lift up our souls unto our Saviour, and we may rest assured that he will not suffer us to perish. When we can do nothing Jesus can do all things; let us enlist his powerful aid upon our side, and all will be well.

Daily Light on the Daily Path
Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

Isaiah 52:14  Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men.

Isaiah 53:5  But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.

Luke 22:53  "While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours."

John 19:11  Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

1 John 3:8  the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

Mark 1:34  And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Matthew 28:18  And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Mark 16:17  "These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;

Romans 16:20  The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

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 January 14
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