Dawn 2 Dusk When Love Gives You a New Last Name1 John 3:1 invites you to pause, look up, and take in something too big to rush past: the Father’s love doesn’t just comfort you—it redefines you. This isn’t sentimental language or religious poetry; it’s a new identity with a new way to live. Behold the Kind of Love This Is John starts with a command to your attention, because this love is not “normal.” “Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). God doesn’t merely tolerate you or allow you to visit; He names you, brings you in, and says, “Mine.” And notice the direction of it: the Father “has given.” You don’t climb into this family—you’re carried in. “He predestined us for adoption as His sons through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will” (Ephesians 1:5). If you’re tempted to think God is reluctant toward you, adoption answers that: He chose you on purpose. Let the Name Shape the Day If you’re His child, then today isn’t about proving yourself; it’s about living from what He has already declared. “But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). Faith isn’t just agreeing with facts—it’s receiving a new status and letting it settle into your bones when you wake up, when you fail, when you try again. This also means His commands are family business, not cold demands. A good Father trains His children because He loves them. “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives” (Hebrews 12:6). So when God corrects you, it’s not rejection—it’s belonging. Walk Like Family in a World That Doesn’t Recognize You John is realistic: “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him” (1 John 3:1). If you feel out of step, you may be seeing clearly. You’re not crazy for wanting holiness, truth, and joy that isn’t performative—you’re learning the family resemblance. So don’t hide the family name; wear it brightly and gently. “So that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). You were brought in not just to be safe, but to be sent—“that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). Father, thank You for Your astonishing love that makes me Your child. Help me live today in obedience and confidence, loving others and shining clearly for You. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Faith Identification With ChristIf we would be followers of Christ indeed we must become personally and vitally involved in His death and resurrection. And this requires repentance, prayer, watchfulness, self-denial, detachment from the world, humility, obedience and cross carrying. That is why it is easier to talk about revival than to experience it.
To avoid personal involvement with the cross we have become adept at finding or creating religious projects to soothe our conscience and make things look good. Among these may be named evangelism and foreign missions. These are good, scriptural activities, incumbent upon all Christians, but all presuppose that they who engage in them should be holy, Spirit-filled and totally committed to God. To carry on these activities scripturally the church should be walking in fullness of power, separated, purified and ready at any moment to give up everything, even life itself, for the greater glory of Christ. For a worldly, weak, decadent church to make converts is but to bring forth after her own kind and extend her weakness and decadence a bit further out. Music For the Soul A Triumphant AssuranceThou hast made the Most High thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent. - Psalm 41:9-10 We shall understand God’s dealings with us, and get to the very throbbing heart of such promises as these in this 91st Psalm, far better if we start from the certainty that whatever it means it does not mean that, with regard to external calamities and disasters, we are going to be God’s petted children, or to be saved from the things that fall upon other people. No! no! we have to go a great deal deeper than that. If we have felt a difficulty, as I suppose we all have sometimes, and are ready to say with the half-despondent Psalmist, " My feet were almost gone, and my steps had well-nigh slipped "; when we see what we think the complicated mysteries of the Divine providence in this world, we have to come to this belief, that the evil that is in the evil will never come near the man sheltered beneath God’s wing. The physical external event may be entirely the same to him as to another, who is not covered with His feathers. Here are two partners in a business, the one a Christian man, and the other is not. A common disaster overwhelms them. They become bankrupts. Is their insolvency to the one the same as it is to the other? Here are two men on board a ship, the one putting his trust in God, the other thinking it all nonsense to trust anything but himself. They are both drowned. Is drowning the same to the two? As their corpses lie side by side among the ooze, with the weeds over them, and the lobsters at them, you may say of the one, but only of the one, " There shall no evil befall thee, neither any plague come nigh thy dwelling." For the protection that is granted to faith is only to be understood by faith. It is deliverance from the evil in the evil which indicates, as no exaggeration, nor as merely an experience and a promise peculiar to the old theorizing of Israel, but not now realized - the grand sayings of this psalm. The poison is all wiped off the arrow by that Divine protection. It may still wound, but it does not putrefy the flesh. The sewage water comes down, but it passes into the filtering bed, and is disinfected and cleansed before it is permitted to flow over our fields. And so, if any of you are finding that the psalm is not outwardly true, and that through the covering wing the storm of hail has come and beaten you down, do not suppose that that in the slightest degree impinges upon the reality and truthfulness of this great promise, "He shall cover thee with His feathers." Anything that has come through them is manifestly not an " evil." "Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good?" "If God be for us, what can be against us?" Not what the world calls, and our wrung hearts feel that it rightly calls, "sorrows" and "afflictions." These all work for our good; and protection consists, not in averting their blows, but in changing their character. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening 2 Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if we are not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting to Jesus only? If not, whatever you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not "suffering with Christ," and have no hope of reigning with him in heaven. Neither are we to conclude that all a Christian's sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essential that he be called by God to suffer. If we are rash and imprudent, and run into positions for which neither providence nor grace has fitted us, we ought to question whether we are not rather sinning than communing with Jesus. If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord's battles with the devil's weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream that we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, and the leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering which God accepts must have God's glory as its end. If I suffer that I may earn a name, or win applause, I shall get no other reward than that of the Pharisee. It is requisite also that love to Jesus, and love to his elect, be ever the mainspring of all our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in meekness, gentleness, and forgiveness. Let us search and see if we truly suffer with Jesus. And if we do thus suffer, what is our "light affliction" compared with reigning with him? Oh it is so blessed to be in the furnace with Christ, and such an honor to stand in the pillory with him, that if there were no future reward, we might count ourselves happy in present honor; but when the recompense is so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to expect, shall we not take up the cross with alacrity, and go on our way rejoicing? Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook A Guide All the WayWe need a guide. Sometimes we would give all that we have to be told exactly what to do and where to turn. We are willing to do right, but we do not know which one of two roads we are to follow. Oh, for a guide! The LORD our God condescends to serve us as guide. He knows the way and will pilot us along it till we reach our journey’s end in peace. Surely we do not desire more infallible direction. Let us place ourselves absolutely under His guidance, and we shall never miss our way. Let us make Him our God, and we shall find Him our guide. If we follow His law we shall not miss the right road of life, provided we first learn to lean upon Him in every step that we take. Our comfort is that as He is our God forever and ever, He will never cease to be with us as our guide. "Even unto death" will He lead us, and then we shall dwell with Him eternally and go no more out forever. This promise of divine guidance involves lifelong security: salvation at once, guidance unto our last hour, and then endless blessedness. Should not each one seek this in youth, rejoice in it in middle life, and repose in it in old age? This day let us look up for guidance before we trust ourselves out-of-doors. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Their Heart Is DividedTHIS is a very serious charge, for God demands the whole heart, and his people profess to surrender it. But have we not reason to fear that many are guilty on this point? They appear so undecided, that we must think that the heart is divided between God and the world; between sin and holiness; between truth and error; or between Christ and self. What are the symptoms of a divided heart? Habitaul cleaving to earth. Being satisfied with a form of godliness. Backwardness to examine ourselves. A dislike to plain, close, soul-searching, rousing preaching. Putting away eternal things to a distance. Beloved, how is it with you? God rejects half the heart; He will have all or none. Do you fear on this point? There is a remedy. Thoroughly examine your heart. Condemn whatever you detect amiss in it. Take it to Jesus, and beseech Him to heal it. Expose it to the keen edge of God’s word. Endeavour to keep up a constant sense of the presence of God. Converse much with eternal realities. As the heart is, so will the life be; so will the comfort and peace be. O Lord, unite my heart to fear thy name! Let me, according to Thy word, A tender, contrite heart receive, Which grieves at having grieved its Lord, And never can itself forgive; A heart Thy joys and griefs to feel, A heart where Christ alone may dwell. Bible League: Living His Word Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats.— 1 Peter 3:13-14 NLT Under normal circumstances, people will not want to harm you when you do good. People who lead good lives can typically expect to experience peace and tranquility in their dealings with other people. After all, the Bible says if you "Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper" (Psalm 37:3). Under normal circumstances, a good person can expect to receive good in return. There are times when you may suffer for doing what is good. In fact, you may suffer precisely because you are doing what is good. That's what happened to Jesus. Although He led a life of unqualified good, He was persecuted and ultimately crucified by wicked people. And that's what happened to the apostles as well. They suffered and died because they did nothing more than follow Jesus' example. Jesus Himself said, "... Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you..." (John 15:20). Although persecution is evil, the Apostle Peter says that good will come from it. He says that you will be rewarded for it. In saying this, he was alluding to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, "God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (Matthew 5:10). Further, the Apostle Paul promised that "...God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28). One might say that good is going to be returned to the good person – no matter what. Since good is going to be returned to you no matter what, there is no reason to worry or be afraid of the threats of the persecutors. When it happens, don't let it get the better of you. Instead, do what Jesus said to do. "Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven..." (Matthew 5:12). Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 1:28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,Acts 2:7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, "Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Matthew 4:18,19 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. • And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Acts 4:13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2:4,5 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, • so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. John 15:16,5 "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. • "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 2 Corinthians 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; 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 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.Insight People were flocking to hear Jesus preach and to have their diseases healed, but Jesus made sure he often withdrew to quiet, solitary places to pray. Challenge Many things clamor for our attention, and we often run ourselves ragged attending to them. Like Jesus, however, we should take time to withdraw to a quiet and deserted place to pray. Strength comes from God, and we can only be strengthened by spending time with him. Devotional Hours Within the Bible The Walk to EmmausSometime in the afternoon of the day on which Jesus rose, two of His disciples, not apostles but friends, took a long walk into the country. We are not told why they went to Emmaus. Perhaps they had given up hope. Thus it is too often with Christ’s friends in these days, when trouble comes upon them. The bright dreams fade, they grow disheartened and turn away as if the sacred beliefs they had cherished so long were only delusions. We see here, however, how needless was the discouragement. No hope really had faded. What they thought was cause for sorrow was the secret of the most blessed hope the world ever has known. As these men walked along the way, they talked together of the strange things which had happened. This was natural. Their hearts were full of these things, and they could not but talk about them. If the conversation of Christian people is sometimes vapid and trivial, it must be because their hearts are not filled with the holy themes which ought to occupy them. Is there much truly pious conversation? What did you talk about yesterday, or last evening, in the long walk you took with your friend? This example suggests to us, at least the value of good, earnest, wayside conversation. Most of us walk more or less with our friends. Why should two sincere Christians talk together for an hour or longer, and neither of them say one word better than the idlest chitchat about the merest nothings ? Now a most interesting thing occurred. As they went on talking together, Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them. That is always the way. Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them.” We are met in His name when love for Him draws us together. Then He will always join us. If only idle words are on our lips, if we are gossiping about our neighbors, saying mean and disagreeable things about them; if we are talking of things which are not beautiful and good we have no reason to expect Christ to draw near and join us. He would not be interested in our conversation, nor would we care to have Him listening to what we are saying. In order to have Christ go with us in our walk our talk must be of things which will be congenial to Him. This, therefore, is the test Would Jesus want to enter into this conversation with us? Would He be pleased to hear the words we are saying drop from our lips? Sometimes we join a group of busy talkers, and suddenly the conversation ceases. They do no want to go on with it, in our presence. Would we keep on with this talk of ours without embarrassment or sense of unfitness, if Jesus were to come in and sit down visibly in our circle? He walked with these friends unrecognized. They did not know him. This is often the way with us Jesus draws near to us and we fail to know that it is He. He comes to us in our sorrow, and we do not see Him by our side. We go on weeping and breaking our hearts, while if we saw the glorious form that is close to us, and knew of the love that is throbbing against our breasts we would put away our tears and rejoice. Many people fail to recognize the divine love and comfort in their grief and go on as if there were no stars shining in the sky. How may of us are conscious of the presence of Christ with us, or get from it the full comfort, inspiration, and help which we might get? Sir Launfal, in Lowell’s poem, wandered over all the earth in search of the Holy Grail. When at last, after long years had passed, he returned, aged and bent, to his old home there under his own castle walls did he find the object of his search! Just so, often we would find close beside us, in the Scriptures we already possess, in the circumstances in which we are place, in the human tenderness that is about us the help we are seeking and the truth we need, if only we had eyes to see. The Stranger showed a deep interest in the two men. The sorrow in their faces and tones touched His heart. Jesus always has a quick ear and sensitive heart for human grief or need. He knows when we are sad; when our burden is greater than we can bear. Then He is quick to express sympathy. He wants to give help. This conversation shows that Jesus desires His friends to confide in Him. It does good for a burdened heart to tell out its trouble to Him. So when these men spoke to Him of the things that filled their hearts that day, He asked, “What things?” He knew, of course; but He wanted them to speak out their fears and doubts and ask their questions. So, when we are in sorrow, Christ wants us to tell Him of all that troubles or perplexes us. The telling will do us good. Then, by bringing them to Him we shall have the tangles unsnarled . Jesus spoke to these disciples out of a loving heart, telling them how slow they were in believing in what the prophets had spoken. He then told them that it befit the Messiah, to suffer the very things which this Jesus they were grieving over, had suffered. He told them that if they had only understood the Scriptures, their hearts never would have been cast down by the things which had befallen Him. God’s way is always the true one. Our way would not bring us to the glory we desire any more than the disciples’ idea of the Messiah would have brought salvation to the world. When God sets aside our plans for our lives we may know that His plan, however different from ours it may be, and however it may seem to thwart our plans is the right one. These two men enjoyed a rare privilege that day in having Jesus as an interpreter of the Scriptures concerning Himself, “He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning Himself.” It would be interesting if we could read the interpretations he gave. What a wonderful talk that was! We may be quite sure that He quoted the passages which depicted the sufferings of the Messiah, showing that the cross was part of the divine plan of redemption. Doubtless He quoted the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Thus He went over the Old Testament, interpreting it and showing how he had fulfilled these ancient predictions. No wonder their hearts burned within them as He opened to them the Scriptures. At length they came to the place where their journey ended. He was disposed to go on farther but they urged Him to abide with them. If they had not thus constrained Him, He would have passed on. Think what they would have missed if He had not gone in with them. We do not know how much of the revealing of divine love and grace we miss continually, because of the tameness of our praying. We ought to get a lesson from the example of these disciples, who constrained the Stranger to go in with them and were rewarded by finding in Him the Friend for whom they were so hungering. When they sat down together at the table for their evening meal, the Stranger took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. Perhaps it was these familiar acts which revealed Him to them. Or they may have seen the nail mark in the hand which broke the bread. We are not told how but in some way they came to understand that the Guest at their table was Jesus Himself, whom they were mourning as dead but who was now risen and living! What if our eyes would be opened to see Jesus every time He is beside us, eating with us, walking with us? How radiant would all life then become! Another suggestion from this Emmaus story, is that often it is only as they leave us that we learn the value of our blessings. “Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight.” How often it is rue that only in their vanishing, do our friends reveal themselves to us. Somehow our eyes are blinded, and we do not see the loveliness. Faults seem larger and blemishes greater, while our friends are close to us. But as they leave us the faults appear faults no longer, “just odd ways,” and blemishes are transfigured into shining marks. Why wait for the hour of departing to see the beauty and the good? Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 26, 27, 28 Job 26 -- Job Declares the Greatness of God NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 27 -- Job Affirms His Own Righteousness; The wicked Will be Cursed NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 28 -- Wisdom Is Harder to Obtain than Earth's Treasures NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 11 Acts 11 -- Peter's Defense in Jerusalem; The Church at Antioch NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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