Dawn 2 Dusk When God Breathes on Your PlansSome days our calling feels bigger than our capacity. In Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian believers, he asks God to shape them into people whose lives match the call they’ve received—and to supply the power to complete what faith dares to begin. That’s not pressure; it’s promise. Worthy, Not by Strain but by Grace Paul prays that God would “count you worthy of your calling” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). That word “worthy” can sound intimidating until you remember who does the counting. God isn’t asking you to audition for His love; He’s forming you into someone who fits the life He has already invited you into. So instead of waking up thinking, How do I prove myself today?, we can ask, Lord, what does a life shaped by Your call look like in my ordinary hours? He already prepared good works for you to walk in: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10). Your calling isn’t a trophy you earn—it’s a path you walk with Him. Good Purposes That Heaven Loves to Complete Paul also prays that God would “fulfill every good purpose of yours” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). Not every impulse, not every daydream—good purposes. The kind that align with God’s heart: truth told with love, repentance that becomes change, generosity that costs something, purity that guards your future, courage that refuses to compromise. And notice the engine: “by His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). If you’ve been stuck between desire and follow-through, this is your lifeline. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches… For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Abiding isn’t passive; it’s the most productive posture there is—because what God births, God sustains. Acts of Faith That Don’t Fizzle Out Paul includes “every act prompted by your faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11). Faith isn’t only what you believe; it’s what you’re willing to do because you believe. Sometimes the “act” is a hard conversation, a quiet apology, a decisive boundary, a step toward serving, a refusal to return to old sin, a prayer when you feel dry. Faith gets practical. But faith also needs endurance. Scripture doesn’t pretend the race is easy: “let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1–2). The same Jesus who begins faith in you also perfects it—so today, pick one obedient step you’ve been postponing, and take it looking at Him, not at your weakness. Father, thank You for calling me and supplying what You command. Empower me today to take obedient steps of faith and finish the good You’ve put in my heart, for Your glory. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Those Museum PiecesNow I do not think that Satan much cares to destroy us Christians physically. The soldier dead in battle who died performing some deed of heroism is not a great loss to the army but may rather be an object of pride to his country. On the other hand the soldier who cannot or will not fight but runs away at the sound of the first enemy gun is a shame to his family and a disgrace to his nation. So a Christian who dies in the faith represents no irreparable loss to the forces of righteousness on earth and certainly no victory for the devil. But when whole regiments of professed believers are too timid to fight and too smug to be ashamed, surely it must bring an astringent smile to the face of the enemy; and it should bring a blush to the cheeks of the whole Church of Christ. The devil's master strategy for us Christians then is not to kill us physically (though there may be some special situations where physical death fits into his plan better), but to destroy our power to wage spiritual warfare. And how well he has succeeded. The average Christian these days is a harmless enough thing. God knows. He is a child wearing with considerable self-consciousness the harness of the warrior; he is a sick eaglet that can never mount up with wings; he is a spent pilgrim who has given up the journey and sits with a waxy smile trying to get what pleasure he can from sniffing the wilted flowers he has plucked by the way. Such as these have been reached. Satan has gotten to them early. By means of false teaching or inadequate teaching, or the huge discouragement that comes from the example of a decadent church, he has succeeded in weakening their resolution, neutralizing their convictions and taming their original urge to do exploits; now they are little more than statistics that contribute financially to the upkeep of the religious institution. And how many a pastor is content to act as a patient, smiling curator of a church full (or a quarter full) of such blessed spiritual museum pieces. Music For the Soul The Saint’s Gift to His LordAnd they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in the day that I do make, even a peculiar treasure. - Malachi 3:17 What is the surrender of the man that receives the love of God? In what region of my nature is that giving up of myself most imperative and blessed? In my will. The will is the man. The centre-point of every human being is the will, and it is no use for us to talk about our having given ourselves to God, in response and in thankfulness to His gift of Himself to us, unless we come and say, " Lord, not my will, but Thine "; and bow ourselves in unreluctant and constant submission to His commandments and to all His will. We give ourselves to God when, moved by His giving of Himself to us, we yield up our love to Him; and love never rests until it has yielded up its will to the Beloved. He indeed gives, asking for nothing; but He gives in a still deeper sense, asking for everything - and that everything is myself. And I yield myself to Him in the measure in which I cast my thankful love upon Him, and then bow myself as His servant, in humble consecration, to Himself, with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. " They shall be My people." That is wonderful! It is strange that we can imitate God, in a certain fashion, in the gift of self; but it is yet more strange and blessed that God accepts that gift, and counts it as one of His treasures to possess us. One of the psalmists had a deep insight into the miracle of the Divine condescension when he said, "He was extolled with my tongue." Strange that the loftiest of creatures should be lifted higher by the poor, tremulous lever of my praises; and yet it is so. He takes as His such poor creatures, full of imperfection and tremulous faith and disproved love, as you and I know ourselves to be, and He says, " My people." " They shall be Mine "; my jewels, says He, " in the day which I make." Oh! it sometimes seems to me that it is more wonderful that God should take me for His than that He should give me Himself for mine. Have you given yourself to Him? Have you begun where He begins, taking first the gift that is freely given to you of God, even Jesus Christ, in whom God dwells, and who makes all the Godhead yours, for your very own? Have you taken God for yours, by faith in that Lord "who loved me, and gave Himself for me"? And then, smitten by His love, and having the chains of self melted by the fire of His great mercy, have you said: " Lo! truly I am Thy servant. Thou hast loosed my bonds"? You never own yourself till you give yourself away; and you never will give yourself to God, to be His, unless, with all your heart and strength, you cling to the rock-truth, that God has given Himself to every man that will take Him, in Jesus Christ, to be that man’s God for ever and ever. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Daniel 9:8 O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face ... because we have sinned against thee. A deep sense and clear sight of sin, its heinousness, and the punishment which it deserves, should make us lie low before the throne. We have sinned as Christians. Alas! that it should be so. Favoured as we have been, we have yet been ungrateful: privileged beyond most, we have not brought forth fruit in proportion. Who is there, although he may long have been engaged in the Christian warfare, that will not blush when he looks back upon the past? As for our days before we were regenerated, may they be forgiven and forgotten; but since then, though we have not sinned as before, yet we have sinned against light and against love--light which has really penetrated our minds, and love in which we have rejoiced. Oh, the atrocity of the sin of a pardoned soul! An unpardoned sinner sins cheaply compared with the sin of one of God's own elect ones, who has had communion with Christ and leaned his head upon Jesus' bosom. Look at David! Many will talk of his sin, but I pray you look at his repentance, and hear his broken bones, as each one of them moans out its dolorous confession! Mark his tears, as they fall upon the ground, and the deep sighs with which he accompanies the softened music of his harp! We have erred: let us, therefore, seek the spirit of penitence. Look, again, at Peter! We speak much of Peter's denying his Master. Remember, it is written, "He wept bitterly." Have we no denials of our Lord to be lamented with tears? Alas! these sins of ours, before and after conversion, would consign us to the place of inextinguishable fire if it were not for the sovereign mercy which has made us to differ, snatching us like brands from the burning. My soul, bow down under a sense of thy natural sinfulness, and worship thy God. Admire the grace which saves thee--the mercy which spares thee--the love which pardons thee! Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook He Constantly AbidesGod’s choice of His people is the reason for His abiding by them and not forsaking them. He chose them for His love, and He loves them for His choice. His own good pleasure is the source of their election, and His election is the reason for the continuance of His pleasure in them. It would dishonor His great name for Him to forsake them, since it would either show that He made an error in His choice or that He was fickle in His love. God’s love has this glory, that it never changes, and this glory He will never tarnish. By all the memories of the LORD’s former lovingkindnesses let us rest assured that He will not forsake us. He who has gone so far as to make us His people will not undo the creation of His grace. He has not wrought such wonders for us that He might leave us after all. His Son Jesus has died for us, and we may be sure that He has not died in vain. Can He forsake those for whom He shed His blood? Because He has hitherto taken pleasure in choosing and in saving us, it will be His pleasure still to bless us. Our LORD Jesus is no changeable lover. Having loved His own, He loves them to the end. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer As Thy Days, So Shall Thy Strength BeNO man can possibly tell what is before him: but our God knoweth, and He has promised His people strength proportioned to their trials. We should not be anxious, for with the trial comes the strength. Our troubles are very generally to be numbered amongst our mercies. Temporal prosperity without a special blessing from God, will prove to be a curse; and it always brings a solemn responsibility with it. We have always found our God faithful; He always has given strength according to the day; and why should we now doubt? We may look forward and suppose the worst, and then say, "I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my STRENGTH and my song; He also is become my salvation." We go from strength to strength, and every true believer shall appear in Zion before God. He will perfect that which concerneth us, but will never forsake the work of His own hands. Let us then expect the Lord to give WHEN we want, AS we want, ALL we want; let us believe that our strength will be equal to our burden, to our day. The promise is plain, it is positive, it is sure, and our God is faithful. God is love, and will not leave you, When you most His kindness need; God is true, nor can deceive you, Though your faith be weak indeed. Bible League: Living His Word Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish and caught nothing. But you say I should put the nets into the water, so I will.”— Luke 5:5 ERV Get ready for a miracle from God. In Luke 5, Jesus used Peter's boat to teach the people from the shore. When His sermon was finished, He told Peter to go and cast his nets into the deep, and he would catch a great quantity of fish. Peter was a professional fisherman; he had been fishing all night and had caught nothing. But when he heard the Word of Jesus, he did not discuss it. Peter decided to obey and went back out and tried again. The result was surprising for Peter and everyone else. He caught so many fish that his nets began to break. “They called to their friends in the other boat to come and help them. The friends came, and both boats were filled so full of fish that they were almost sinking.” (Luke 5:7). Peter was blessed because he obeyed the Word of Jesus. Because he obeyed, he had favor. But notice, the favor didn't stop there. He had so many fish that his colleagues, who were connected to him and happened to be there at that moment, took the overflow. When you are associated with someone who is blessed, someone who is favored, as they grow, you will grow. God has already lined up the people you need for the new thing. Be ready to obey and open to see, accept and benefit from the anointing of God's anointed. It may not happen the way you expect, but I want to encourage you: God's way will be better, greater, more rewarding, more fulfilling. Don't limit what's coming in the future to what you've seen in the past. God will do something wonderful in your future. God never does His greatest works in your yesterdays; they are always in your tomorrows. By Pastor Sabri Kasemi, Bible League International partner, Albania Daily Light on the Daily Path Luke 10:41 But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things;Luke 12:24,27,29,30 "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! • "Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. • "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. • "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. 1 Timothy 6:8-10 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. • But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. • For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. Mark 4:19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.Insight Jesus performed some miracles as signs of his identity. He used other miracles to teach important truths. But here we read that he healed people because he “had compassion on them.” Jesus was, and is, a loving, caring, and feeling person. Challenge When you are suffering, remember that Jesus hurts with you. He has compassion on you. Devotional Hours Within the Bible A Dead Girl and a Sick WomanJAIRUS was an important man in Capernaum. He was one of the elders. People looked up to him. He was influential in affairs, perhaps rich. But as we see him, we think of none of these things what strikes us in him is his anguish of heart. Grief brings all men to the same level. A father, as we see him battling with the world, may seem sometimes to lack the tender emotions. But let his child become dangerously sick, and his heart is revealed a heart of tender love! The next interesting thing in Jairus, is his going to Jesus with his grief. Perhaps he would never have gone to Jesus if this trouble had not come to his own home. Not many men of his class favored Jesus, would invite Him to their homes, or care to be considered among His friends. But the sore sickness of his child, and the fact that Jesus was healing so many who were sick made him ready to go to Jesus, in the hope that his child might be spared to him. We cannot know in this world how much we owe to painful things. Many a father has been driven to Christ by the sickness of his child. Many a mother has been taught to pray and to cling to God by the anguish of her little one. What Jairus said when he come to Jesus, shows that he had faith in His power to heal the sick child. With trembling speech he told Him that his little daughter lay at the point of death but if only Jesus would come and lay His hands on her, she would not die. We may pray for our children, when they are sick. Not always is it God’s will that they should recover. This may not be the best thing for them. We should pray in faith but should then leave our request in God’s hands, knowing that He will do what is best. It is right that we should go to Christ with every case of sickness in our home or among our friends. We should send for the physician, too; for God wants us to use human help so far as this will avail. At the same time we should pray; for whether through or independently of human means it is Christ who is the Healer! Jesus is always quick to hear the cry of human distress. He went at once with Jairus. He did not have to be urged. But on the way there, was an interruption. A poor woman, wasted by long sickness, crept up behind Jesus as He was hastening to the ruler’s house, and very shyly and stealthily touched the hem of His garment with her trembling fingers. There was a prayer in that touch, a heart’s cry, which Jesus heard though no word was spoken. There was also faith in the touch. The woman may not have understood the theology of prayer. She knew, however, that the One who was passing so near to her had power to heal and to heal her! So she did the best she knew, and touched the fringe of His garment, believing that in some way she would be healed. So she touched the hem of the garment, and instantly healing flowed from Jesus into her body and she was made well. She had meant to slip away and lose herself in the crowd, not letting it be known that she was healed; but Jesus called her. He would not allow her to go away without His speaking to her. He wished her to have a full blessing, not a half blessing only. Her disease had been cured but He wished to give her also a spiritual blessing. Many people in their sickness have only one desire to get well again. They send for physicians and faithfully use their medicines and try the remedies they prescribe but they think of no other blessing to be sought. If they pray, it is only for physical healing. But this is most imperfect faith, most meager, inadequate prayer. When we are SICK, there are two blessings we should seek: We should desire to recover, if that is God’s will. It is our duty to try to get well, that we may take up again our work and go on with it. But at the same time we should try to get some curing of faults, some enrichment of life, some new vision of God, some fresh strength for service from our sickness, before it leaves us. It has some mission to us. It would be a great misfortune to us if we should fail to get from it the good, the benefit, the enriching it was meant to bring to us! This woman had received her healing but she was on the point of missing the greater help the Master wanted her to have. She was recalled by the Master, came to His feet and told Him all, and received salvation as well as physical healing . This was a bit of our Lord’s wayside ministry. He was going with the ruler to heal his child. We would say that in view of the fact that the case was so urgent; the Master would pay no heed to the woman’s appeal but would hasten on to the home of the ruler. The little girl was at the point of death, the father had said. Surely there was no time to lose. The child might die if He lingered even a moment. Yet Jesus was not hurried by the urgency of the ruler’s importunity. He did not tell the woman, that He could not wait to heal her. Nor did He ignore the pressure there was in her touch and leave her unhealed. At once healing came to her. That was all the woman wanted, and He might have hastened on with the ruler. But he stopped and turned to speak to her. “Who touched My clothes?” The work of healing was only half done and He would complete it. So abundant is His grace that He never has failed to do one act of love because He is in the midst of another. No harm came from the interruption and the delay. True, the child had died before Jesus reached the ruler’s home. It seemed, indeed, that Jesus had lingered too long on the way. If only He had not stopped to talk with the woman in the crowd! Now it was too late for Him to come. “Do not trouble the Master,” the servants said; “your daughter is dead.” Jesus heard what the messengers said, and comforted Jairus by saying to him, “Do not be afraid, only believe.” Jesus had made no mistake. He never makes a mistake He never comes too late . Jesus went on with Jairus and soon gave back the child to her parents, alive. Some, whose little ones are dead, as they read this part of the story, may say: “If only Jesus had restored our child after it had died! But He did not!” He did not literally restore your dead, yet He comforted you in a way which wonderfully sustained you. Since Christ has died and risen again, dying in Christ means only passing into fuller, richer life. Your believing child is not dead. You see her not but she never lived in this world so really as she does now. You have the comfort of knowing also that in the hands of Christ all is well. Then you have the assurance of meeting her again by and by. Christ has a heart of sympathy and love which will lead Him to take a tender interest in every need or sorrow of ours, and to help us in the best way. Our need is our strongest claim on Him. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzra 6, 7, 8 Ezra 6 -- Decree of Darius; Temple Work Resumed; Dedication of the Temple; Passover Observed NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezra 7 -- Ezra Journeys to Jerusalem, Commissed by Artaxerxes NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezra 8 -- The Companions of Ezra; Treasure Delivered to the Temple NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 21 John 21 -- The Miraculous Catch at the Sea of Galilee; "Feed my Sheep" NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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