Dawn 2 Dusk A Daily Knock on the Door of the HeartHebrews 3:13 presses the urgency of “today,” reminding us that faith isn’t merely something we believe in private—it’s something we protect in community, day by day, before our hearts quietly stiffen under the weight of sin’s subtle pull. Today Is Not a Throwaway Word God keeps bringing us back to the present because this is where obedience lives. Yesterday can’t be repaired by worry, and tomorrow can’t be obeyed in advance; but “today” is open in front of you like a door. That’s why Scripture repeats the warning and the invitation: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” (Hebrews 3:15) So ask yourself: What is God saying to me right now—about my attitudes, my secret habits, my schedule, my words? Hardness rarely arrives with a bang; it forms like plaque, one neglected conviction at a time. But the Spirit is faithful to nudge, and grace is ready for immediate response when we don’t postpone surrender. Sin Lies; Encouragement Interrupts the Lie Sin doesn’t usually dare us; it deceives us. It tells us we’re fine, that we deserve it, that no one will know, that we can stop anytime, that holiness can wait. Hebrews puts it plainly: “But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:13) Encouragement isn’t fluffy—it’s spiritual warfare against a skilled liar. This is where loving believers become a gift from God: not to manage your life, but to help you see clearly. Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) Sometimes that truth comes through a friend who loves you enough to ask real questions and “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) when your own heart is making excuses. Build One Another Up on Purpose The Bible doesn’t call us to vague goodwill; it calls us to intentional strengthening: “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11) Building up means more than compliments—it can look like a timely text, a Scripture shared, a gentle warning, a prayer on the spot, or sitting with someone long enough to help them take a next faithful step. And it also means humility. “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed.” (James 5:16) That kind of honesty invites real change—because light breaks sin’s spell. So choose one person today to encourage, and choose one place in your own life to bring into the light; as you do, you’ll find God shaping you through His people—“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) Father, thank You for Your patient voice and Your faithful Word; help me respond to You today, reject sin’s lies, and courageously encourage someone toward Christ—starting now. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Worshiping the GiverIn the love which any intelligent creature feels for God there must always be a measure of mystery. It is even possible that it is almost wholly mystery, and that our attempt to find reasons is merely a rationalizing of a love already mysteriously present in the heart as a result of some secret operation of the Spirit within us, working like a miner, toiling unseen in the depths of the earth? (Fenelon). But so far as reasons can be given, they would seem to be two: gratitude and excellence. To love God because He has been good to us is one of the most reasonable things possible. The love which arises from the consideration of His kindness to us is valid and altogether acceptable to Him. It is nevertheless a lower degree of love, being less selfless than that love which springs from an appreciation of what God is in Himself apart from His gifts. Thus the simple love which arises from gratitude, when expressed in any act or conscious utterance, is undoubtedly worship. But the quality of our worship is stepped up as we move away from the thought of what God has done for us and nearer the thought of the excellence of His holy nature. This leads us to admiration. Music For the Soul The Beggar’s PetitionAnd when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say: Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me. - Mark 10:47 Jesus was now on His last journey to Jerusalem. That night He would sleep at Bethany: Calvary was but a week off. He had paused to save Zacchaeus, and now He has resumed His march to His Cross. Popular enthusiasm is surging round Him, and for the first time He does not try to repress it. A shouting multitude are escorting Him out of the city. They have just passed the gates, and are in the act of turning towards the mountain gorge through which ran the Jerusalem road. A long file of beggars is sitting, as beggars do still in Eastern cities, outside the gate; well accustomed to lift their monotonous wail at the sound of passing footsteps. Bartimaeus is amongst them. He asks, according to Luke, what is the cause of the bustle, and is told that "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." The name wakes strange hopes in him, which can only be accounted for by his knowledge of Christ’s miracles done elsewhere. It is a witness to their notoriety that they had filtered down to the talk of beggars at city gates. And so, true to his trade, he cries, "Jesus, . . . have mercy upon me! " In the cry there throbs the sense of need, deep and urgent; in it there is also the realization of the possibility that the widely flowing blessings of which Bartimaeus had heard might be concentrated and poured, in their full flood, upon himself. He individualizes himself, his need, Christ’s power and willingness to help him. And, because he has heard of so many who have, in like manner, received His healing touch, he comes with the cry, " Have mercy upon me." All this is upon the low level of physical blessings, need, and desire. But let us lift it higher. It is a mirror in which we may see ourselves, our necessities, and the example of what our desire ought to be. Ah, brother! the deep consciousness of impotence, need, emptiness, blindness, lies at the bottom of all true crying to Jesus Christ. If you have never - knowing yourself to be a sinful man, in peril, present and future, from your sin, and stained and marred by reason of it - gone to Jesus Christ, you never have gone to Him in any deep and adequate sense at all. Only when I know myself to be a sinful man am I driven to cry, "Jesus! have mercy on me." And I ask you not to answer it to me, but to press the question on your own consciences - " Have I any experience of such a sense of need; or am I groping in the darkness and saying, I see; weak as water, and saying I am strong?" "Thou knowest not that thou art poor, and naked, and blind "; and so that Jesus of Nazareth should be passing by has never moved thy tongue to call, " Son of David! have mercy upon me." Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Hebrews 12:27 That those things which cannot be shaken may remain. We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can be shaken, and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet, we have certain "things which cannot be shaken," and I invite you this evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken, which will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation. You are standing at the foot of his cross, trusting alone in the merit of Jesus' precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Although by losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, "He is my Father still. In my Father's house are many mansions; therefore will I not be troubled." You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and Man loves you with all the strength of his affectionate nature--nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can sing, "My Beloved is mine, and I am his." Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose. Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel's land, our hope is above the sky, and therefore, calm as the summer's ocean; we will see the wreck of everything earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook He with Us; We with HimThere is no doubt about it. The fear of the LORD leads to virtuous habits, and these prevent that waste of life which comes of sin and vice. The holy rest which springs out of faith in the LORD Jesus also greatly helps a man when he is ill. Every physician rejoices to have a patient whose mind is fully at ease. Worry kills, but confidence in God is like healing medicine. We have therefore all the arrangements for long life, and if it be really for our good, we shall see a good old age and come to our graves as shocks of corn in their season. Let us not be overcome with sudden expectation of death the moment we have a finger-ache, but let us rather expect that we may have to work on through a considerable length of days. And what if we should soon be called to the higher sphere? Certainly there would be nothing to deplore in such a summons but everything to rejoice in. Living or dying we are the LORD’s. If we live, Jesus will be with us; if we die, we shall be with Jesus. The truest lengthening of life is to live while we live, wasting no time but using every hour for the highest ends. So be it this day. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer God Is FaithfulTHIS is the believer’s sheet anchor; without this his comforts would droop, and hope would give up the ghost. We are at times shaken to pieces by unbelief, and filled with tormenting doubts. We feel nothing of the presence, power, or comforts of the Holy Ghost; faith, hope, and love seem to be quite extinguished. We have no power, and scarcely any inclination to pray; and we feel only hardness, fretfulness, and misery. We are tempted by Satan, and harassed with tormenting thoughts, so that we feel tired of this miserable life. But God is faithful; He never fails us; but appears again and again, restoring us to peace, joy, and satisfaction; and our most miserable times are often succeeded by peculiar joys. The Scriptures are opened up to our understandings, the promises are applied to our souls, and we are filled with the comforts of the Holy Ghost. Then our souls melt before God in contrition and holy penitence; we feel crumbled into dust before Him, and can only admire and adore the riches of free and sovereign grace. Beloved, in the darkest night, remember, "GOD IS FAITHFUL." He will not His great self deny; A God all truth can never lie: True to His word, God gave His Son To die for crimes which men had done: Blest pledge! He never will revoke A single promise He has spoke. Bible League: Living His Word Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the Lord without wavering.— Psalm 26:1 ESV Integrity. Job’s wife urged her husband to let go of his integrity to end his pain; but he would not, and the Lord boasts about the strength of Job’s integrity to Satan (Job 2:3). Satan was trying to break Job’s confidence in God by attacking his health and wealth, but he did not succumb. He said in reply to his accusing friends, “Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me” (Job 27:5). What is this “integrity”? The word is used nearly 30 times in the Bible (mostly in the Psalms and Proverbs), and it is always given a good connotation. It means to be consistent and uncompromising, to adhere to a strict moral and ethical code, to be honest and truthful and accurate in one’s actions. A person with integrity acts in accord with what she says she believes; she is not a hypocrite. In Scripture, this character quality is equated with wisdom and contrasted with crookedness: “The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them” (Proverbs 11:3). The concept of integrity is certainly under attack in our modern era. It used to be a laudable character quality, but now it is viewed almost as a handicap to success. How many times do we see politicians promise one thing and then do another? Or they condemn the action of an opponent while the same scandal can be found in their own house. How about climate activists who fly around in private jets that spew more toxins than the gas-powered cars they condemn? As followers of the God of truth, we also must walk in truth, upholding and demonstrating integrity. Scripture promises reward for those who keep their integrity – Proverbs 20:7, 28:18. And Paul commands Titus to show integrity as a part of being a good example to the new converts in Crete (Titus 2:7). It is easy to point out the lack of integrity in unbelievers, but we really need to turn the microscope on our own hearts. If we are to be salt and light for this world, we need to preserve integrity and show the unbelieving world how invaluable it is. So, can you boast about your integrity as David did in Psalm 26? David was not sinless, but he claims he never wavered from trusting the Lord. Do your actions say, “I trust the Lord without wavering”? Do you pay your taxes in full? Your tithe? Have you compromised your stance on God’s moral code because someone you love has chosen to live a sinful lifestyle? These little compromises chip away at our integrity. Let us examine ourselves and pray that we would not be conformed to this world, but that we would be transformed with renewed minds to be like Christ, steadfast in all things. By Grace Barnes, Bible League International volunteer, Michigan USA Daily Light on the Daily Path John 11:36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"2 Corinthians 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. John 14:2 "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. John 14:3 "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. John 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us. 2 Corinthians 5:14,15 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; • and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. John 15:10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. 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 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”Insight Some people in the crowd were looking for evidence to use against Jesus; others truly wanted to learn and grow. Jesus' words were for the honest seekers. Challenge We hear with our ears, but there is a deeper kind of listening with the mind and heart that is necessary in order to gain spiritual understanding from Jesus' words. Devotional Hours Within the Bible The Two Great CommandmentsThis scribe admired the way Jesus had answered the questions that were put to Him by His enemies. Jesus always answered well. He never got confused in His replies, as often human teachers do. He never erred in His answers to men’s questions, for He knew all truth. We know only fragments of the great body of truth, and therefore frequently find ourselves entangled when we attempt to explain difficult matters or to answer questions that are put to us. But Jesus knew truth in all its relations, and those who sought to catch Him in His words could never lead Him into any inconsistency of statement. The practical lessons from this are important. One is that Christianity has nothing to fear from enemies who try to make its teachings appear self-contradictory. Amid all the assaults of skepticism, Christianity stands ever unharmed and secure. Their hammers are shattered and worn out but the anvil of truth is unbroken. The other lesson is that we may take to Christ all our own questions, our fears, our doubts, our ignorance, our perplexity, and He will always have for us a wise and satisfactory answer. It is the fashion in these days, in some quarters, to decry creeds. ”Little matter what we believe ,” says one, “if only we live right.” But if we do not believe right we will not be likely to live right. The duty of loving God is based upon the truth that there is only one God to be loved. If there were more gods than one, there would be little use in teaching us to love God with all our heart. “Which God?” we might ask. So the doctrine of one God is a most practical one. There is only one God, and this one God is our Lord. What a comfort it is for us to know that the God in whom we trust is the great God of the universe! He is our God. The little word “our” links Him to us and us to Him in closest relations. If He is our God we are under obligations to obey Him, to do His will. We belong to Him. Then, if He is our God, He belongs to us, and we have a claim on Him. “The Lord is the portion of my inheritance” (Psalm 16:5). Every child of a good father knows with what pride he points to his parent and says, “That is my father!” Still greater comfort to a believer is that he is able to point to God and say, “He is my God!” All He is, is ours His love, His grace, His goodness, His truth, His mercy. If God is our God we should love Him. He is the God to whom we owe everything, from whom we came, to whom we go with our needs, who cares for us, watches over us, provides for us, and keeps us. He is our Father with all a father’s love! We ought to love God for Himself, for what He is in His character merciful, gracious, holy, loving, good. We ought to love Him, too, for what He has done for us. Surely the commandment is reasonable . Notice that it is LOVE which God asks. Obedience is not enough. One might obey every divine command, and not have love for Him whom he obeys. Homage is not enough. We might pay homage to God, and yet have no affection for Him. God must have our love. Nor will a little love do. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart .” Our love for God must be greater than our love for father, mother, sister, brother, husband, wife, child, or friend. It must fill not our heart only but our soul, our mind, and our strength. That is, it must draw all the powers of our life with it. It must lead us to obedience, to service, to complete consecration. If we love God supremely, He must be the Master of our life. We must be ever ready for whatever duty or service He asks of us. Some people’s religion seems compulsory ; they do right because they must not because they want to do so. All their work has the character of unwilling service. God says, “I want you to love Me!” And if we truly love Him, we will fly at His bidding to duty or to sacrifice with eager alacrity. “But how can I learn to love God?” asks someone. “I want to love Him but I cannot compel myself to do it. I love my father, my mother, my sister; but I cannot see God, and He seems great and awesome when I think about Him. He does not appeal to my heart as my mother does. I feel awe toward Him but not affection . It is important to know how we can learn to love God. The incarnation was God coming down near to us, that we might love Him. The glory of Sinai did not make its appeal to men’s hearts. But when Jesus went among the people, touching them with His compassion, being their friend, comforting their sorrows it was not hard for them to love Him. We must get to know God if we would learn to love Him. We should read about Him in the Bible until we know His character, His feelings toward us, what He has done for us, especially in redeeming us. Another way to learn to love God is to begin to trust Him. “How shall I learn to love God?” asked one. “Trust Him,” was the answer. “I thought I must love Him before I could trust Him.” “No begin to trust Him and you will soon learn to love Him.” No other duty comes before this duty of love to God. “This is the first commandment.” Until we begin to love God, no other obedience is pleasing to Him. We may do a great many things we ought to do and yet if we do not love Him all of our doings amounts to nothing. A child may obey all a father’s bidding but if there is no love in his heart, what does the father care for the obedience? A man may be very good so far as his acts are concerned but if he does not love God, all his good acts count for nothing. When Jesus tested the young ruler’s love by asking him to give up all he had for His sake, the young man went away sad. He had kept all the commandments from his youth but he did not love God; at least he loved his possessions more, and gave God up while he clung to his property. Love to our fellow men is a very important duty but it avails nothing unless love to God is behind it and in it. Two comes after one. The second commandment can come only after the first. A good many people boast of their love for men, their humanitarianism. They take the Good Samaritan as their model. They are humane, charitable, and philanthropic. But this is the whole of their religion. They do no love God, nor worship Him, nor recognize Him in any way. They put the second commandment high up but they have no first. They do not know God, do not recognize Him, and do not love Him. The things they do are very beautiful, and if they first loved God and lived all their life inspired by love for Him, their charities and humanities would be pleasing to Him, and not the smallest of them would go unrewarded. But since they do not love God there can be nothing pleasing to Him, in their love for their neighbors. The second comes after the first. After we have begun to obey the first commandment, the second presents itself and must also be obeyed. He who loves God will also love his neighbor. The two loves are linked together, and are inseparable. John says distinctly that he who claims to love God while he hates his brother is a liar (1 John 4:20). The love of God that does not overflow in love for our brother is not true Christian love. Jesus was pleased with the scribe’s insight. He said to him, “you are not far from the kingdom of God.” If he would only do the truth he knew he would enter into the kingdom; he was yet outside, although so near. There are a great many people who are almost but not quite, Christians. There are those who know the way of salvation but do not with their hearts accept Christ. There are those whose character is good and beautiful. They do many of Christ’s sayings. They try to keep the second commandment, and seek to be gentle, kind, loving in temper, disposition, and act. They lack only one thing but that one thing is vital. They are not far from the kingdom of God. Then there are those who are under conviction of sin and have a deep sense of spiritual need. They become honest inquirers, like the scribe, asking what they must do. They hear the answer of Christ and still stand hesitating, indecisive, on the point of submitting yet not yielding to Him. They are not far from the kingdom of God, and yet they are not in it. At the door, with the hand on the latch is still outside, and outside is lost! There are thousands now in eternal perdition who have been almost Christians, and yet have perished forever! Jesus then turned to the people and said some plain things to them about the scribes. “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces, and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely!” The scribes were the official interpreters of the Scriptures. It was their duty to make plain to the people, the Word and will of God. But Jesus said they were not trustworthy leaders. They professed to be guides to the people but they were not safe guides. They were fond of wearing the garb and having the honor of saintly men. They like to have people greet them as holy men ; they took the chief seats in the synagogue and at feasts; but in their private lives they were bad men. Instead of being the defenders of widows, they used on themselves, the widow’s money which was entrusted to them. Then, to balance their embezzlement; they would make longer prayers than ever in the streets. They were the most despicable hypocrites ! The beautiful story of one of these widows and her suffering, shows who were the really godly people in those days not the scribes and Pharisees, who put on the saintly airs which covered lives of shameful baseness, hardness, and evil but the poor, who were despised and robbed. This poor widow had higher honor before God than any of the rulers. Her gifts, though too small to be counted, weighed far more in God’s sight than all the great shining coins they cast into the treasury. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEsther 4, 5, 6 Esther 4 -- Mordecai Informs Esther of Haman's Plot NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 5 -- Esther Prepares a Banquet; Haman's Rage NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Esther 6 -- The King Honors Mordecai, Haman Compelled to do so NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 5:17-42 Acts 5 -- Deaths of Ananias and Sapphira; Apostles Imprisoned, Released by an Angel; Gamaliel Speaks NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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