Dawn 2 Dusk Come Up the Mountain AgainPsalm 99:9 calls us to lift our eyes and our worship—upward toward the Lord who reigns, toward the place of His presence, and toward a life shaped by reverent obedience. It invites more than a moment of admiration; it summons us into a posture where awe becomes action and praise becomes the atmosphere we breathe. The God Who Is Both Near and High We don’t worship an idea or a vague force—we worship the living God who is exalted and personal at the same time. He sits above every storyline that feels too tangled, every headline that feels too heavy, every burden that feels too private. “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). When we remember where He is, we remember who we are: not abandoned, not forgotten, not left to figure life out alone. And yet His height doesn’t create distance; it creates confidence. The One who rules is the One who listens. “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). Exaltation means He’s worthy; access means He’s welcoming. Today, bring Him the real you—without editing. Worship That Climbs Psalm 99 doesn’t picture worship as casual background noise; it pictures worship as ascent. To “exalt” the Lord is to intentionally lift Him above your mood, your schedule, your plans, and your preferences. Jesus said, “God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That kind of worship costs something—in the best way—because it insists He gets first place, not leftover space. So ask yourself: what would it look like to climb today? Maybe it’s turning a commute into praise, a complaint into gratitude, a temptation into a whispered “No” because He is better. “Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship” (Romans 12:1). Worship isn’t only what we sing; it’s what we surrender. Holy Means Trustworthy God’s holiness isn’t a cold perfection that keeps you out; it’s a blazing purity that makes Him safe to run to. He is never shady, never unpredictable, never compromised. “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). When you’re tired of mixed motives—yours or others—His holiness is oxygen. And His holiness is not only something to admire; it’s something He intends to reproduce in His people. “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15). That can sound intimidating until you remember He also supplies what He commands. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). Holiness becomes a daily yes: yes to truth, yes to repentance, yes to obedience, yes to worship. Father, thank You that You are holy and worthy of all praise; lift my heart to exalt You today, and help me live in worshipful obedience in every choice. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Faith and FictionCredulity and faith are like toadstools and mushrooms respectively, near enough in appearance to be mistaken for each other, but so wholly unlike that their effects are exactly opposite. The true man of faith is seldom credulous, and the credulous man seldom has real faith. Faith belongs to the simple-hearted, credulity to the simple-minded. They are worlds apart. The one honors God by believing His promises against all evidence; the other is a child of superstition and honors nobody. Rather, he reveals untidy mental habits and lack of spiritual insight.
It is astonishing what some people will believe when they get going. They properly hold it a sin to doubt the Bible, so they refuse to doubt anything that is served up along with the Bible, however ridiculous and unscriptural it may be. If the story has a flavor of wonder about it, these uncritical friends will accept it without question and repeat it in an awed voice with much solemn shaking of the bowed head. Multiply such people in any given church, and you have a perfect soil for the growth of every kind of false teaching and fanatical excess.
Music For the Soul The Discipline of HopeWherefore, girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. - 1 Peter 1:13. "Gird up the loins of your mind." I suppose I do not need to do more than remind you that that figure, applied to travellers, to soldiers, to any men who have a hard task upon their hands, simply expresses the gathering together of all one’s powers, the training one’s self for given tasks. It suggests that there is a great deal in this life that makes it very difficult for us to keep firm hold of the facts on which alone a perfect hope can be built. Unless we tighten up our belt, and so put all our strength into the effort, the truths of the resurrection which beget to a lively hope, of the great salvation wrought by Jesus Christ, of the meaning and end of all our trials and sorrows, will slip away from us, and we shall be left at the mercy of the varying anticipations of good or evil which may emerge from the varying circumstances of the fleeting moment. We have, then, to gather ourselves up and set our teeth in the effort to keep hold of Christ, of His work, of its bearing upon ourselves, of the meaning of our sorrows, if we would not have like fluctuations in our heavenly to those which necessarily belong to our earthly hopes. "Be sober." That means, not only gather yourself together with a consecrated effort, but "keep your heel well down on the necks of lower and earthly desires." The word, of course, points, first, to temperance - not, as we use it, only in respect to one form of sensual indulgence, but to temperance - in regard of all the animal necessities and desires. The fleshly lusts that belong to everybody must be subdued. That goes without saying. But, then, there are others more subtle, more refined, but not less hostile to the perfectness of a heaven - directed hope than are these grosser ones. We must keep down all the desires and appetites of our nature, both of the flesh and of the spirit. For we have only a certain quantity of energy to expend, and if we expend it upon the things of earth there is nothing left for the things above. If you take the river, and lead it all out into the gardens that are irrigated by it, or into the stream that drives your mills, its bed will be left bare, and little of the water will reach the great ocean which is its home. If a gardener wants a tree to grow high, he strips off the side shoots. Our hopes follow our desires. What we deem good is what we hope for; and if our desires all go trailing and grovelling along the earth, our hopes will never rise to the heavens. A gorged eagle cannot soar. Christian men whose heads and hearts are stuffed full of the trivialities of earth have little of the perfect hope which fastens on Christ. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening John 6:37 Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. No limit is set to the duration of this promise. It does not merely say, "I will not cast out a sinner at his first coming," but, "I will in no wise cast out." The original reads, "I will not, not cast out," or "I will never, never cast out." The text means, that Christ will not at first reject a believer; and that as he will not do it at first, so he will not to the last. But suppose the believer sins after coming? "If any man sin we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." But suppose that believers backslide? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." But believers may fall under temptation! "God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it." But the believer may fall into sin as David did! Yes, but he will "Purge them with hyssop, and they shall be clean; he will wash them and they shall be whiter than snow;" "From all their iniquities will I cleanse them." "Once in Christ, in Christ forever, Nothing from his love can sever." "I give unto my sheep," saith he, "eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." What sayest thou to this, O trembling feeble mind? Is not this a precious mercy, that coming to Christ, thou dost not come to One who will treat thee well for a little while, and then send thee about thy business, but he will receive thee and make thee his bride, and thou shalt be his forever? Receive no longer the spirit of bondage again to fear, but the spirit of adoption whereby thou shalt cry, Abba, Father! Oh! the grace of these words: "I will in no wise cast out." Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Promise of Future MeetingSurely He will come a second time, and then, when He sees us and we see Him, there will be rejoicings indeed. Oh, for that joyous return! But this promise is being dainty fulfilled in another sense. Our gracious LORD has many "agains" in His dealings with us. He gave us pardon, and He sees us again and repeats the absolving word as fresh sins cause us grief. He has revealed to us our acceptance before God, and when our faith in that blessing grows a little dim, He comes to us again and again and says, "Peace be unto you," and our hearts are glad. Beloved, all our past mercies are tokens of future mercies. If Jesus has been with us, He will see us again. Look upon no former favor as a dead and buried thing, to be mourned over; but regard it as a seed sown, which will grow, and push its head up from the dust, and cry, "I will see you again." Are the times dark because Jesus is not with us as He used to be? Let us pluck up courage; for He will not be long away. His feet are as those of a roe or young hart, and they will soon bring Him to us. Wherefore let us begin to be joyous, since He saith to us even now, "I will see you again." The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer He That Glorieth, Let Him Glory in the LordIT is unlawful to glory in ourselves, our descent, our possessions, our connections, or doings; if we glory it must be in the Lord. We must glory in Him as gracious and merciful, exercising loving-kindness and tender mercies in the earth; in what He is to His people, their God, their portion, and their Friend; in what He has for us, has already given to us, and will without doubt bestow upon us. In Christ, as crucified for our sins, raised for our justification, and ascended to heaven in order to plead our cause, and take possession of the kingdom in our names. In our relation to Him, interest in Him, and oneness with Him, this is our glory, that we are one with Christ, and one with the Father through Him. That we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ; that all things are for our sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God. Beloved, let us glory in the Lord, in His free grace, eternal love, well-ordered covenant, precious promises, splendid mansions, and glorious name. In Christ my full salvation stands, In Him alone my glorying be; Nothing shall pluck me from His hands, From condemnation I am free: Be holiness my costly dress, And my best robe His righteousness. Bible League: Living His Word "... as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come."— Joshua 5:14 NKJV It was a critical juncture in the history of the Israelites, the old covenant people of God. They had left Egypt. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They had finally crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. Now they were about to go to war against the city of Jericho. It would be the first and the most important battle in the promised land. If ever they needed help from the Lord, it was now. If ever they needed instructions on how to conduct a battle, it was now. In the history of the people of God, some times are more significant than other times. At those times the opposition is strong and the stakes are high. For the Israelites, a loss at Jericho would have cast them out of the promised land. It would have been a major disaster and a failure of God's promises to them. That's why Jesus showed up. The pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, the commander of the army of the Lord, showed up personally to help. This time, He did not stay in heaven. This time, He came to personally lead and direct the battle. The stakes were too high and the opposition too strong to leave it to His underlings. He gave Joshua the instructions for battle that He needed and it resulted in a miraculous victory (Joshua 6). Jericho was not the only critical juncture in the history of the people of God. There have been, and there will be, other ones. When the early church, for example, was undergoing severe persecution from the hand of Saul, Jesus showed up personally again. He appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus and He stopped the persecutions by blinding him. He graciously turned Saul's heart around and later healed him. Saul the persecutor was turned into Paul the Apostle of the Gospel. In our own day, the critical junctures seem to be coming in swarms and they seem to be happening all over the world. The people of God are under severe duress. No doubt, Jesus is showing up personally to help. No doubt, He comes as commander of the army of the Lord. He helps His people overcome. He will not allow the spread of the Gospel and the advance of the Kingdom of God to be stopped by the opposition (Acts 1:8). Indeed, one day He will come back on the clouds and lead the army of the Lord in the definitive and final battle against the enemies of the people of God (Revelation 19:11-21). Daily Light on the Daily Path John 7:50 Nicodemus (he who came to Him before, being one of them) said to them,Matthew 26:58 But Peter was following Him at a distance as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and entered in, and sat down with the officers to see the outcome. John 12:42,43 Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; • for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. Isaiah 42:3 "A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice. Matthew 17:20 And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 2 Timothy 1:7,8 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. • Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 1 John 2:28 Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. Matthew 10:32 "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 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 When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven't done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”But when the man heard this he became very sad, for he was very rich. Insight This man's wealth made his life comfortable and gave him power and prestige. When Jesus told him to sell everything he owned, Jesus was touching the very basis of his security and identity. The man did not understand that he would be even more secure if he followed Jesus than he was with all his wealth. Jesus does not ask all believers to sell everything they have, although this may be his will for some. He does ask us all, however, to get rid of anything that has become more important than God. Challenge If your basis for security has shifted from God to what you own, it would be better for you to get rid of those possessions. Devotional Hours Within the Bible A Lesson on Forgiveness“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked: Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Perhaps no other lesson is harder to learn than to be forgiving. It never gets easy, to bear injury or wrong. Yet the lesson is essential. We can ask Divine forgiveness for our own sins only when we are ready to forgive those who sin against us. Jesus had been speaking to His disciples about forgiving others. He said that if anyone sin against us, we should first go and talk the matter over with him privately. Mutual explanations will likely settle the matter. It will be still better if the two kneel and pray together, before they begin to talk about their differences. If the matter cannot be settled between the two then one or two witnesses are to be taken along. If one man still remains implacable, the other has done his part. It was always Peter who spoke first, and when he heard the Master’s words, he asked Jesus how often his brother should sin against him and he forgive him. This question still troubles many people. In some people’s minds, patience quite soon ceases to be a virtue. If they have forgiven another two or three times they think they have really acted very generously. Peter supposed he was going to the very extreme of Christian forgiveness, when he suggested that seven times would be a good limit for Christ’s disciples. The rabbis said, “Forgive the first offense, the second, the third time; and punish the fourth time.” But the answer of Jesus showed that there should be no limit in our forgiveness. That is what seventy - seven means not any definite number, however great but infinitely. We are to forgive others as God forgives us, and He does not keep account of the number of times. He forgives all the multitude of our transgressions. The time never comes therefore when we may say: “I have exhausted the requirements of Christian love. I cannot forgive you anymore.” Jesus told a little story to illustrate and enforce His teaching. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.” We must never forget that there will be a reckoning with God. We are told that on the last day, the books will be opened the books which record men’s acts, words, motives, dispositions, tempers. But we do not have to wait until the judgment day, to have these reckonings. But God reckons with us also as we go along in this world. He is constantly calling men to give account to Him. Sometimes the call is given by the preaching of the Word which convicts them of sin and makes them stand trembling before the bar of conscience. Sometimes it is by an affliction which compels men to stop and think of their relations to God, revealing to them their sinfulness. Sometimes it is by a deep searching of heart, produced by the Holy Spirit. There is no man who some time or other is not called, even in this present life, before God for a reckoning . The final reckoning is individual each one must stand before the judgment seat and give an account of his own life. Among the king’s servants “one was brought unto him that owed him ten thousand talents.” We need not trouble ourselves about the exact monetary equivalent of these figures. It is enough to know that the figures stand for our debt to God, and that this is immense and unpayable. This makes us think of sin as a debt. We owe to God perfect obedience in act, word, thought, and motive. Duty is what is due to God and the obligation is beyond computation. We may flatter ourselves that we are fairly good people, because we stand well in the community; but when we being to reckon with God the best of us will find that our debt to Him is of infinite magnitude! It was seen at once, that this servant had nothing to pay for his infinite debt. There was no possibility that he ever could make up the amount that he owed to his king. So it is with those who are called to make a reckoning with God. There is no possibility that they can ever make up to Him their enormous debt. Many people imagine that in some way, they can get clear of their guilt though they do not try to know how. Some suppose they can do it by tears of repentance ; but being sorry that we are in debt does not cancel the debt. Some imagine that because their sins do not trouble them anymore, therefore the debt has been overlooked. But forgetting that we owe a man a thousand dollars will not release us from our debt to him. We are hopelessly in debt to God and have nothing with which to pay. If the law had been enforced, the servant would have been sold into slavery, along with his wife and family and all that he had. But this servant came to his king and begged for time. “Be patient with me and I will pay back everything.” This appeal to the king touched his generous heart. “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” This is a picture of the Divine forgiveness. We never can pay the enormous debt we owe to God but His infinite mercy is sufficient to wipe it all away. Bankrupt people sometimes pay so many cents on the dollar, and are allowed by their creditors to go free. But that is not the way God forgives. He does not require anything on our part, because we have nothing to give. We are justified freely by His grace. One would think that this servant, after being forgiven such an enormous debt, would have gone out with a heart kindly disposed toward all men. But the reverse was the case. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.” He had forgotten how much he had been forgiven. A little while ago he was at his master’s feet, pleading for time and for patience. But the memory of this wonderful forgiveness, had failed to soften his heart. What his servant owed him was a mere trifle in comparison with his infinite debt to the king yet he demanded payment and refused to show mercy. How is it with us ? This morning we knelt at God’s feet, implored His forgiveness, and received from Him the assurance that all our sins were blotted out. Then we went out, and someone said a sharp word to us, or did something to irritate s, or injured us in some way. How did we treat our fellow who did these little wrongs to us? Did we extend to him the same patience and mercy that God had shown to us in the morning? Soon again the servant was before his king. His harsh treatment of his fellow servant had been reported. Very stern was the judgment the unforgiving man now heard: “You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt… should not you also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?” The king was right in his severe censure. The man who had received such kindness at his hand should certainly have been kind to his neighbor who had wronged him in such a little matter. An old Spanish writer says, “To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is godlike.” Jesus makes the application of His parable very plain: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” This does not mean that God actually revokes the forgiveness He has once granted. In fact, the person who acts thus never has been truly forgiven at all. “If you get pardon from God you will give it to your brother; if you withhold it from your brother you thereby make it manifest that you have not received it from God.” Thus we are brought face to face with a most definite practical teaching which we dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? An old proverb says, “Revenge is sweet!” But this is not true. “The unforgiving spirit is a root of bitterness from which there springs a tree whose leaves are poisonous, and whose fruit, carrying in it the seeds of fresh evil, is death to all who taste it!” Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 59, 60, 61 Psalm 59 -- David's Psalm of Deliverance (1Sa 20) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 60 -- David's Psalm of Victory (2Sa 8) NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 61 -- Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 28:16-31 Acts 28 -- Paul Ashore at Malta; Preaches at Rome NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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