Dawn 2 Dusk The Open Door at the End of the StoryThe Bible’s final chapter doesn’t end with a puzzle to solve, but with an invitation to receive. Heaven’s chorus makes room for your voice, and the last word is not “try harder,” but “come”—for anyone who knows what it is to be thirsty. The Invitation That Reaches You Revelation 22:17 is stunning because of who’s speaking: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”” God Himself is inviting, and His people are inviting, as if the Lord is saying, “You’re not just a spectator—you’re part of the welcome.” Then it gets even more personal: “And let the one who hears say, “Come!”” If you’ve heard the gospel, you’ve been entrusted with an echo. That means your faith isn’t meant to be a private sip you hide in the corner; it’s meant to become an open-handed summons. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) And the promise is not fragile or exclusive: “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:13) Thirst Is Not a Flaw The verse doesn’t scold thirst; it addresses it: “And let the one who is thirsty come.” Thirst is simply the honest confession that something is missing—and that you can’t manufacture what you need. Scripture treats spiritual longing as a kind of mercy, an alarm that keeps you from settling for dust when living water is offered. So don’t despise the ache; bring it to the only One who can satisfy it. “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1) Jesus put it plainly: “But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” (John 4:14) The goal isn’t to become a person who never wants; it’s to become a person who knows where to go when you do. Water of Life, Without Price The invitation keeps going: “let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” (Revelation 22:17) “Without price” doesn’t mean it was worthless; it means you’re not the payer. Grace isn’t a discount you negotiate—it’s a gift you receive with empty hands and honest faith. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith… not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) And God has always been this way: “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat!” (Isaiah 55:1) Today, you can stop pretending you can earn what your soul craves. Come again—freely—and then turn outward and say to someone else, with warmth and courage, “Come.” Father, thank You for the free gift of the water of life in Christ; draw me to come without hesitation, and make me bold to invite others to come too. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Someone Is ThereWherever faith has proved itself to be real, it has inevitably had upon it a sense of the present God. The holy Scriptures possess in marked degree this feeling of actual encounter with a real Person. The men and women of the Bible talked with God. They spoke to Him and heard Him speak in words they could understand. With Him they held person-to-person converse, and a sense of shining reality is upon their words and deeds. This sense of Someone there filled the members of the early Christian church with abiding wonder. The solemn delight which those early disciples knew sprang straight from the conviction that there was One in the midst of them-they were in the very Presence of God! This sense of Someone there makes religion invulnerable to critical attack. It secures the mind against collapse under the battering of the enemy. Those who worship the God who is present may ignore the objection of unbelieving men! Music For the Soul I Have SinnedAgainst Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in Thy sight. - Psalm 51:4 Do not let us lose ourselves in generalities. All means each, and each means me. We all know how hard it is to bring general truths to bear with all their weight upon ourselves. That is an old common phase. "All men think all men mortal but themselves"; and we are quite comfortable when this indictment is kept in the general terms of universality - " all have sinned." Suppose I sharpen the point a little - God grant that the point may get to some indurated conscience! - suppose, instead of reading " All have sinned," I beseech each one of my readers to strike out the general word, and put in the individual one, and to say, " have sinned." You have to do with this indictment just as we have to do with the promises and offers of the Gospel - wherever there is a "whosoever, " put your pen through it, and write your own name over it. The blank cheque is given to us in regard of the promises and offers, and we have to fill in our own names. The charge is handed to us in regard to this indictment, and if we are wise we shall write our own names there, too. I leave this on your conscience, and I will venture to ask that you would put to yourself the question, " Is it I?" And sure I am that, if you do, you will see a finger pointing out of the darkness, and hear a voice sterner than that of Nathan saying, " Thou art the man." The people in one crowd that gathered about Christ were not all diseased. Some of them He taught; some of them He cured; but that crowd, where healthy men mingled with cripples, is no type of the condition of humanity. Rather, we are to find it in that Pool of Bethesda, with its five porches, wherein lay a multitude of impotent folk, tortured with varieties of sickness, and none of them sound. Blessed be God! we are in Bethesda, which means " house of mercy," and the Fountain that can heal is perpetually springing up beside us all. There is a disease which affects and infects all mankind - sin. Sin is universal, and it is personal - " have sinned." I ask you to go into the depths of your own heart, and to be honest in recalling your own experience, and to say if, notwithstanding all the gladness of a godless life, there does not lie, grim and silent for the most part, but there, and felt to be there all the same, a great yearning and consciousness of unrest. Every good has in it some fatal flaw and incompleteness. There is always a break in the circle; always a stone missing out of the bracelet. There is always one unlighted window in the Aladdin’s palace. There is always a Mordecai sitting dark as a thunder-cloud and nonparticipant of the common emotion, who makes Haman say, "All this availeth nothing." There is always disappointment in earthly fruition. The fish never proves so big when it is lying panting on the grass as it did in the water, when the fisher was struggling with it. The chase is always better than the capture. In all earthly good there is a fatal disproportion between it and the heart that seeks to solace itself with it; so that after all satisfactions, there is the old cry of the heart, "I hunger still." And, above all, there is the certainty which pushes itself in- like the skeleton at the feasts of the Egyptian kings, or the mocking slave that walked behind the conqueror in his triumph as he went up the steps of the capitol - the certainty that we have to leave them all behind us. And what is the naked soul going to do when it "flares forth into the dark? " Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Psalm 56:9 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back: this I know; for God is for me. It is impossible for any human speech to express the full meaning of this delightful phrase, "God is for me." He was "for us" before the worlds were made; he was "for us," or he would not have given his well-beloved son; he was "for us" when he smote the Only-begotten, and laid the full weight of his wrath upon him--he was "for us," though he was against him; he was "for us," when we were ruined in the fall--he loved us notwithstanding all; he was "for us," when we were rebels against him, and with a high hand were bidding him defiance; he was "for us," or he would not have brought us humbly to seek his face. He has been "for us" in many struggles; we have been summoned to encounter hosts of dangers; we have been assailed by temptations from without and within--how could we have remained unharmed to this hour if he had not been "for us"? He is "for us," with all the infinity of his being; with all the omnipotence of his love; with all the infallibility of his wisdom; arrayed in all his divine attributes, he is "for us,"--eternally and immutably "for us;" "for us" when yon blue skies shall be rolled up like a worn out vesture; "for us" throughout eternity. And because he is "for us," the voice of prayer will always ensure his help. "When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies be turned back." This is no uncertain hope, but a well grounded assurance--"this I know." I will direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up for the answer, assured that it will come, and that mine enemies shall be defeated, "for God is for me." O believer, how happy art thou with the King of kings on thy side! How safe with such a Protector! How sure thy cause pleaded by such an Advocate! If God be for thee, who can be against thee? Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Implicit TrustBehold the protecting power of trust in God. The great men of Jerusalem fell by the sword, but poor Ebed-melech was secure, for his confidence was in Jehovah. Where else should a man trust but in his Maker? We are foolish when we prefer the creature to the Creator. Oh, that we could in all things live by faith, then should we be delivered in all time of danger! No one ever did trust in the LORD in vain, and no one ever shall. The LORD saith, "I will surely deliver thee," Mark the divine "surely." Whatever else may be uncertain, God’s care of believers is sure. God Himself is the guardian of the gracious, Under His sacred wing there is safety even when every danger is abroad. Can we accept this promise as sure? Then in our present emergency we shall find that it stands fast. We hope to be delivered because we have friends, or because we are prudent, or because we can see hopeful signs; but none of these things are one-half so good as God’s simple "because thou hast put thy trust in me." Dear reader, try this way, and, trying it, you will keep to it all your life. It is as sweet as it is sure. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Behold, I Have Given Him for a Leader to the PeopleTHIS was in consideration of our ignorance. We know not the way to our heavenly Father’s house, but Jesus is sent to lead the blind by a way which they knew not. On account of the difficulties of the way, they are many and great, but Jesus comes as our leader, saying, "I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you." It manifests our heavenly Father’s concern for our safety, comfort, and confidence. He sent His only Son, because He could trust us in His hands; He being infinitely wise, gracious, forbearing, and powerful. He came to lead us from the world to the church, from the law to the gospel, from sin to holiness, from wrath to love. He leads all His people to the throne of mercy, the house of prayer, the pastures of Jehovah’s love, and the mansions of endless glory. He leads us against Satan, and we overcome; against lust, and we conquer. He leads us in the way He went Himself; in the footsteps of His flock: as we are able to bear; so as to cross and crucify the old man, and revive and strengthen the new. Lead me on, Almighty victor, Scatter every hostile band; Be my guide and my protector, Till on Canaan’s shores I stand: Shouts of victory Then shall fill the promised land. Bible League: Living His Word Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!— Psalm 37:7 ESV Turning on the television news in today's world can almost be hazardous to one's emotional health. It appears that unrighteousness is excelling on every front, much of it in direct confrontation to any voice of righteousness being upheld by Christians. Though difficult to believe, appearances are deceiving, because we know God will ultimately have the final say. But, until then, we are called to let our patience rule the day, not only regarding our personal circumstances and relationships, but also those larger cultural and governmental movements in our world. Psalm 37 is a wisdom poem contrasting the way of godliness over against the way of the wicked. Before such contrasts are made by David (beginning at verse 10), he begins with a series of exhortations that will help the believer to not only survive but thrive amid wrongful perversity. Our verses for today provide a summarized transition from the practical exhortations given in the first six verses&mdashin light of the way we ought to conduct our lives as believers, we ought also to exercise a restful trust in the Lord. God wins in the end! Carefully read again verses 7-9 to capture the bit of wisdom that helps us to cope amidst the turmoil. The word "wait patiently" (a single word expressing intent) in verse seven is different than the word "wait" in verse nine. In verse seven, the word carries forth the meaning of collecting our thoughts, so as to bring them under control. We can only do this when we are "still" (restful) before the Lord. Amid all the noise of wickedness surrounding us we need to come before God with a quiet, restful spirit, intent on collecting our many thoughts and concerns for life and patiently bringing them before Him, believing in His full control over all the circumstances of our lives. This type of daily appointment before God places us in the best position to have the exasperations of our life&mdashthe pressures of contending with a fallen world where wickedness prospers&mdashmelt away before us. Twice in these verses we are told not to fret (to seethe with anger). The word "fret" is a play on words (a rhyming word in the original language) with the word used for "wait" in verse nine (to linger with eager expectation). In other words, to place ourselves before God at appointed times, intent on collecting our worrisome thoughts and laying them at His feet provides the best opportunity to rise above the circumstances of an ungodly world and experience the fullness of God's blessing to us in this world and the next (the "inheritance" of the land of verse 9)! The stressors of a world, fallen and still spiraling downward, have tempted many to find release through medications, sedatives, and reckless lifestyles. Still, nothing satisfies the rage within. Only God can satisfy the exasperation of the human heart. Make an appointment with Him today. Be intent on resting in His presence and patiently sharing with Him the concerns of your life. By William Niblette, Ph.D., Bible League International staff, Pennsylvania Daily Light on the Daily Path Isaiah 34:16 Seek from the book of the LORD, and read: Not one of these will be missing; None will lack its mate. For His mouth has commanded, And His Spirit has gathered them.Deuteronomy 11:18 "You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. Joshua1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Psalm 37:31 The law of his God is in his heart; His steps do not slip. Psalm 17:4 As for the deeds of men, by the word of Your lips I have kept from the paths of the violent. Psalm 119:11 Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You. 2 Peter 1:19 So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 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. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?Insight Nothing material can compensate for the loss of eternal life. Jesus' disciples are not to use their lives on earth for their own pleasure—they should spend their lives serving God and people. Challenge If this present life is most important to you, you will do everything you can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger your safety, health, or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is most important, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy, and uncomfortable places. You will risk death, but you will not fear it because you know that Jesus will raise you to eternal life. Devotional Hours Within the Bible The Golden RuleWhen someone asked Raphael how he made his wonderful pictures, he replied, “I dream dreams and I see visions and then I paint my dreams and visions.” The teachings of Christ, if reverently received, fill our mind with dreams and visions of spiritual beauty. But there is something we must do if we would receive from these teachings the good they are intended to impart we must get them wrought into our own life . The lesson on judging is not an easy one. We may as well confess that most of us are quite prone to the fault which is here reproved. Of course, the teaching is not that we should never have any opinions concerning the actions of others we cannot avoid having judgments either of approval or disapproval. It is not understood either that we shall never express condemnation of the acts of others; we are required to censure men’s evil courses. A little later in this same Sermon on the Mount, Jesus bids His disciples beware of false prophets which come in sheep’s clothing, while in reality they are ravenous wolves. It is not an easy-going acceptance of all sorts of people and behavior, which is taught. What we are forbidden to do is to be censorious. Rather, we are to treat others as we would have them treat us. There are reasons enough why we should not judge others. One is that it is not our duty. We are not our neighbor’s judge. He does not have to answer to us. God is his Master, and to Him he must give account. Another reason is that God is patient with men’s faults, and we represent God. If he bears with a man’s shortcomings, surely we should do so, too. He is patient with people in their indifference to Him, in their disobedience, in their selfishness. Should we be more exacting with others than God is? Should we exercise severity where He shows leniency? Another reason we should not judge others is because we cannot do it fairly. We see but the surface of people’s lives. We do not know what has been the cause of the disagreeable features, the faults, we see in them. Perhaps if we knew all we would praise, where we now condemn. A young man was blamed by his fellow clerks for what they called his stinginess. He did not spend money as they did. They did not know that an invalid sister in another part of the country, shut away in her room, with none but her brother to care for her, received nearly all of his monthly salary! Another reason for not judging others, is that we have faults of our own which should make us silent about the failings of others. When we glibly condemn our neighbor’s shortcomings, we assume that we ourselves are without shortcomings. But quite likely we have a beam in our own eye at the very time we are pointing out to our brother the mote in his eye. A mote is a mere speck; a beam is a great log. The meaning is, that we make more of a little speck we see on another’s life or in his conduct than we make of a very large fault in ourselves. Our first business certainly is with ourselves. We shall not have to answer for our brother’s faults but we must answer for our own. It is not our business to look after his blots and blunders but we must look after our own. We should be severe in dealing with our own faults and then we will be able to help in curing the faults of others. Another reason against judging, is that the law of love requires us to look charitably at the faults and sins of others. “Love covers a multitude of sins” (see 1 Peter 4:8). An artist placed his friend in the chair in such a position, that the blemish on one side of his face would not show in the picture. That is the way love prompts us to see our friends and neighbors, and show them to others exhibiting the noble things in them and throwing a veil over their defects . Still another reason for not judging others, is that when we do, we are setting a standard for the judging of ourselves. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others you will be judged.” If you criticize others you must expect them to criticize you, and they will. Those who deal gently with the acts of others may expect gentle treatment by others in return. People will give back to you exactly what you give to them. The Master has more to say here about prayer. The promise is very large. “Ask and it shall be given you.” Thus our Father throws wide open the doors of all His treasure houses! There seems to be nothing of all His vast possessions, which He is not ready to give His children for the asking. “All things are yours, and you are Christ’s” (1 Corinthians 3:21-23). We need not try to trim down the promise, and yet we must read into it other teachings about prayer. Elsewhere we are taught that in all our praying we must say, “May Your will be done” (6:10). That is, we must submit all our requests to God’s love and wisdom. We do not know what things will really be blessings to us. What would not be our Father will withhold. We get an important lesson here, too, on the manner of prayer, in the words “ask,” “seek,” “knock.” They teach importunity and growing earnestness. Much that is called praying is not worthy of the name is not praying at all. We have no burning desire, and there is neither importunity nor intensity in our asking. What did you pray for this morning? Do you even remember? The Father-heart of God is unveiled in the words about bread and a stone; a fish and a serpent. It is far more likely to be the other way, however what we ask would be a stone to us, would not be a blessing; and God, knowing what we really need, gives us a loaf instead of the stone we cried for! We know certainly that our Father is kinder to His children, than earthly parents are to theirs as much kinder as His love and His ability to give is greater than the largest human love and ability. Yet we must emphasize the words “ask,” “every one who asks ,” etc. Some people never ask and then wonder why they do not receive. Then, we must ask with the highest motives. “You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). Selfishness in prayer gets no answer. The Golden Rule, as it is called, is wonderfully comprehensive. It bids us to consider the interests of others, as well as of ourselves. It bids us to set our neighbor alongside of ourselves and think of him as having the same rights we have, and requiring from us the same fairness of treatment that we give to ourselves. It is in effect a practical way of putting the command, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). It gives us a standard by which to test all our motives and all our conduct bearing on others. We are at once in thought to change places with the person toward who duty is to be determined, and ask: “If he were where I am and I were where he is how would I want him to treat me in this case?” The application of this rule would instantly put a stop to all rash, hasty actions, for it commands us to consider our neighbor and question our own heart before doing anything. It would slay all selfishness, for it compels us to regard our neighbor’s rights and interests in the matter, as precisely equal to our own. It leads us to honor others, for it puts us and them on the same platform, as equal before God, and to be equal, too, before our own eyes. The true application of this rule would put a stop to all injustice and wrong, for none of us would do injustice or wrong to ourselves, and we are to treat our neighbor precisely as if he were ourselves. It would lead us to seek the highest good of all other men, even the lowliest and the humblest for we surely would like all men to seek our good. The thorough applying of the Golden Rule, would end all conflict between labor and management, for it would give the employer a deep, loving interest in the men he employs and lead him to think of their good in all ways. At the same time it would give to every employee a desire for the prosperity of his employer and an interest in his business. It would put an end to all quarreling and strife in families, in communities, among nations. The perfect working of this rule everywhere would make heaven, for the will of God would then be done on earth as it is in heaven! Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 10, 11, 12 Psalm 10 -- Why do you stand far off, O Lord? NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 11 -- In the Lord I take refuge NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 12 -- Help, O Lord; for the godly man ceases NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 17:16-34 Acts 17 -- Paul at Thessalonica, Berea and Athens NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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