Dawn 2 Dusk The Hidden Harvest of Hard DaysHebrews 12:11 reminds us that God’s training rarely feels good in the moment. It can sting, humble, and slow us down. Yet Scripture insists there is a real outcome on the other side—something steady, clean, and life-giving that pain alone could never produce. When Discipline Feels Like Loss “No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful.” (Hebrews 12:11) God doesn’t pretend it’s pleasant. He names it. If you feel the ache of correction, the discomfort of limits, or the grief of what’s being removed, you’re not failing—you’re being treated like a son or daughter who matters. And God’s love is not soft indifference; it’s purposeful care. “My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke; for the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights.” (Proverbs 3:11–12) The very thing that feels heavy may be the proof you’re not abandoned to yourself. Trained, Not Merely Restrained Hebrews says discipline blesses “those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11) Training is more than stopping bad behavior; it’s forming new reflexes—learning to pray before you panic, to obey before you understand, to forgive before you feel ready. God is shaping instinct, not just managing outcomes. That’s why some seasons feel like pruning. “He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes to make it even more fruitful.” (John 15:2) Pruning can look like closed doors, exposed motives, or a smaller platform—but it can also be God making room for real, lasting fruit. The Peaceful Fruit on the Far Side “Later on, however, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness…” (Hebrews 12:11) Peaceful fruit means you start to want what God wants, and you’re not fighting Him all day long. Righteousness stops being a performance and becomes a path—steady steps, clean conscience, quiet strength. God often grows that fruit through pressure. “Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3–4) So don’t waste today’s discomfort. Ask, “Lord, what are You forming in me that comfort could never form?” Father, thank You for loving me enough to train me; give me a willing heart to obey today, trust You in the pain, and walk in the peaceful fruit You’re growing in me. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Confessing Our LoveConsider with me the appealing Old Testament story of the beautiful young woman in the Song of Solomon. Deeply in love with the young shepherd, she is also actively sought out by the king, who demands her favor. She remains loyal to the simple shepherd, who gathers lilies and comes to seek her and calls to her through the lattice. In many ways, this is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus, of His love and care for His Bride, the Church. In the scriptural account, she does turn her loved one away with simple excuses. But condemned in heart, she rises to go out and search for him. As she seeks, she is asked: What is he above others that you should seek him? Oh, he is altogether lovely, she replies. He came and called for me, and I had not the heart to go! But at last she is able to confess, I have found him whom my soul loveth! He had been grieved but He was not far away. So it is with our Beloved-He is very near to us and He awaits our seeking! Music For the Soul The Master’s CallThe Master is here, and calleth thee. - John 11:28 "He stood still, and commanded him to be called ". Remember that. He was on His road to His Cross, and the tension of spirit which the Evangelists notice as attaching to Him then, and which filled the disciples with awe as they followed Him, absorbed Him, no doubt, at this hour, so that He heard little of the people’s shouts. But He did hear the blind beggar’s cry, and He arrested His march in order to attend to it. That pause of the King, and the quick ear which discerned the difference between the unreal shouts of the crowd and the terrible sincerity in the cry of the beggar is still open. He is in the heavens, surrounded by its glories, and, as I think Scripture teaches us, wielding providence and administering the affairs of the universe. He does not need to pause in order to hear you and me. If He did, He would - if I may venture upon such an impossible supposition - bid the hallelujahs of heaven hush themselves, and suspend the operations of His providence if needs were, rather than you or I, or any poor man who cries to Him, should be unheard and unhelped. The living Christ is as tender a friend, has as quick an ear, is as ready to help at once, to-day, as He was outside the gate of Jericho. And every one of us may lift his or her poor, thin voice, and it will go straight up to the throne, and not be lost in the clamor of the hallelujahs that echo round His seat. Christ still hears and answers the cry of need. Send you it up, and you will find that true. Notice the suppliant’s response. That is a very characteristic right-about-face of the crowd, who one moment were saying, " Hold your tongue, and do not disturb Him," and the next moment were all eager to encumber him with help, and to say, " Rise up! be of good cheer! He calleth thee." No thanks to them that He did. And what did the man do? "Sprang to his feet " - as the words rightly rendered would be - and flung away the frowsy rags that he had round himself for warmth and softness of seat, as he waited at the gate; "and he came to Jesus." Brother! "casting aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, let us run’’ to the same refuge. You have to abandon something if you are to go to Christ to be healed. I daresay you know well enough what it is. I do not, but certainly there is something that entangles your legs and keeps you from finding your way to Him. And if there is nothing else there is yourself, and your trust in self, and that is to be put away. Cast away the garment spotted with the flesh, and go to Christ, and you will get succor, Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Genesis 8:9 The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot. Reader, can you find rest apart from the ark, Christ Jesus? Then be assured that your religion is vain. Are you satisfied with anything short of a conscious knowledge of your union and interest in Christ? Then woe unto you. If you profess to be a Christian, yet find full satisfaction in worldly pleasures and pursuits, your profession is false. If your soul can stretch herself at rest, and find the bed long enough, and the coverlet broad enough to cover her in the chambers of sin, then you are a hypocrite, and far enough from any right thoughts of Christ or perception of his preciousness. But if, on the other hand, you feel that if you could indulge in sin without punishment, yet it would be a punishment of itself; and that if you could have the whole world, and abide in it forever, it would be quite enough misery not to be parted from it; for your God--your God--is what your soul craves after; then be of good courage, thou art a child of God. With all thy sins and imperfections, take this to thy comfort: if thy soul has no rest in sin, thou are not as the sinner is! If thou art still crying after and craving after something better, Christ has not forgotten thee, for thou hast not quite forgotten him. The believer cannot do without his Lord; words are inadequate to express his thoughts of him. We cannot live on the sands of the wilderness, we want the manna which drops from on high; our skin bottles of creature confidence cannot yield us a drop of moisture, but we drink of the rock which follows us, and that rock is Christ. When you feed on him your soul can sing, "He hath satisfied my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle's," but if you have him not, your bursting wine vat and well-filled barn can give you no sort of satisfaction: rather lament over them in the words of wisdom, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook A Staircase to HeavenYes, to our faith this sight is plain even at this day. We do see heaven opened. Jesus Himself has opened that kingdom to all believers. We gaze into the place of mystery and glory, for He has revealed it to us. We shall enter it soon, for He is the way. Now we see the explanation of Jacob’s ladder. Between earth and heaven there is a holy commerce; prayer ascends, and answers come down by the way of Jesus, the Mediator. We see this ladder when we see our LORD. In Him a stairway of light now furnishes a clear passage to the throne of the Most High. Let us use it and send up by it the messengers of our prayers. We shall live the angelic life ourselves if we run up to heaven in intercession, lay hold upon the blessings of the covenant, and then descend again to scatter those gifts among the sons of men. This choice sight which Jacob only saw in a dream will turn into a bright reality. This very day we will be up and down the ladder each hour: climbing in communion and coming down in labor to save our fellowmen. This is Thy promise, O LORD Jesus; let us joyfully see it fulfilled. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer What Manner of Persons Ought Ye to Be?THE people of God are expected to be different from the world; they profess to have another Spirit in them, and to be the sons of God. They believe the present frame of things is to be dissolved. They look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. They are strangers and pilgrims here. What manner of persons then ought we to be? Surely we ought to set light by the things of time, and aim at the things which are eternal. We ought to be watchful, prayerful, diligent, holy, patient, thankful, and expectant. We ought to be contented with such things as we have; to give all diligence to prove our title, make sure of our election, and rejoice in our destination. We ought to walk as Jesus walked. To live as Paul lived, dying daily. Let us ask, this morning, Do we habitually believe that present things will soon be dissolved? If so, are we acting according to the same? Are we laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven? Are we doing good, that we may be rich in good works, and an honour to religion? Is the coming of Jesus the object of our desire and hope? Then let us wait the sound That shall our souls release; And labour to be found Of Him in spotless peace, In perfect holiness renew’d, Adorn’d with Christ, and meet for God. Bible League: Living His Word “The One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD at their head.”— Micah 2:13 NIV Humanity needs someone to break open a way through the captivity of Satan, his demonic henchmen, and the people of earth that they influence and control. Who will that someone be? It is the “One,” the “King,” the “Lord,” of our verse for today. That someone, of course, is the Messiah. It is Jesus Christ. He initially broke open the way before us and He will continue to break open every gate that remains in Satan’s prison. Wherever there is righteousness and healing, wherever there is goodness and freedom, wherever there is wealth and justice, Jesus Christ has led a breakthrough. Apart from His leadership, the people of earth would know nothing other than Satan’s prison. Jesus led the breakthrough when He was born of a virgin, lived a righteous life, paid the penalty for our sin at the cross, and was raised to the throne of heaven. From there He rules and reigns over the earth. No more does Satan monopolize the earth. No more does he stand unchallenged as the “prince of this world” (John 16:11). Wherever the knowledge of Jesus Christ is spread abroad, breakthroughs begin to happen. Maybe you need a breakthrough today. Maybe Satan still has his clutches on you in some area of your life. It’s like a gate that keeps you locked up. If so, then take heart! There’s a leader able to break open a way before you. There’s a leader who can break through the gate and set you free. Look for Him. He’s there, just ahead of you – leading the way to your breakthrough. Daily Light on the Daily Path Zechariah 13:7 "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, And against the man, My Associate," Declares the LORD of hosts. "Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered; And I will turn My hand against the little ones.Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, Psalm 89:19 Once You spoke in vision to Your godly ones, And said, "I have given help to one who is mighty; I have exalted one chosen from the people. Isaiah 63:3 "I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. 1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh, Was vindicated in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory. Isaiah 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son He says, "YOUR THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM. Hebrews 1:6 And when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM." Revelation 19:16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." 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 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?Insight Many people spend all their energy seeking pleasure. Jesus said, however, that a world of pleasure centered on possessions, position, or power is ultimately worthless. Challenge Whatever you have on earth is only temporary; it cannot be exchanged for your soul. If you work hard at getting what you want, you might eventually have a “pleasurable” life, but in the end you will find it hollow and empty. Are you willing to make the pursuit of God more important than the selfish pursuit of pleasure? Follow Jesus, and you will know what it means to live abundantly now and to have eternal life as well. Devotional Hours Within the Bible WatchfulnessOur Lord often taught the lesson of watchfulness. The duty is one which cannot too frequently be impressed. We are all apt to grow negligent concerning things which we do over and over, day after day, through many years. We need to have our thoughts often called to the duty of unceasing watchfulness in service, instant readiness for anything that may come. The lesson opens with a wise counsel: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning .” These figures suggest readiness for instant and intense action. The loose garments must be kept drawn up and tied, so that without a moment’s delay we may be ready for the march, and may not be impeded in our journey. The lamps must be kept always burning, so that whenever the Master may come, we shall be ready to rise and go with Him. A characteristic phrase more than once reappearing in Paul’s epistles is, “I am ready .” Every Christian should hold himself ready at a moment’s notice to do anything or go anywhere at the bidding of his Master. Men looking for their absent master, waiting for his return is the figure used to illustrate the waiting of the Christian for his Lord. No promise of Christ’s was given more often, or repeated more impressively, than that He will come again. The time of the return is indefinite and unknown; but of the fact that He will come there is not the slightest doubt. His coming is always imminent any hour He may come. These truths are presented in the parable we are now studying. The master is away, and his servants are left in charge of his house. When he will come back, tonight or a month hence, they do not know. But they are so to conduct themselves that, at whatever moment he may return they will not be confused, and he will not be disappointed. It is high honor which the Master shows to the servants whom He finds faithful. “It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.” No honor could ever be higher than this that the master should bid his servants sit at the table, while he himself takes the servant’s place and waits on them. Yet this is just what Jesus will do for His faithful ones, at the heavenly feast. He did it, indeed, at the Last Supper, when He washed His disciples’ feet. He said also to them, “I am among you as he who serves” (Luke 22:27). We cannot understand this but we know that heaven holds for us surprises of blessedness far beyond our highest dreams. The picture suggests to us also the dignity and nobleness of service. We may think it menial and degrading to serve but in Christ’s kingdom those who serve are the highest. Love always serves, and love is divine. Christ sought to make it very plain to His people that the time of His coming to them cannot be known. He may come in the second watch, or in the third watch, or in the dawning of the morning. The value of this uncertainty as a factor in life is to press the duty of incessant watchfulness. “If the good man of the house had known in what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have left his house to be broken through.” Of course. But that is just what men cannot know when the thief will come. Thieves do not send, beforehand, a notice of the hour when they intend to break into a man’s house. They come when the master of the house is least likely to be watching. So Christ will come as a thief in the night. This means that His coming in the last days will be entirely unexpected and will be a surprise! The great lesson impressed in this passage, is the duty of readiness for the coming of Christ. While the words had special reference to the great and final return of Christ to the world the lesson applies to every coming of Christ. We never can foretell any future, even the nearest to us. We never know what may happen in the next hour. We should so live that any moment of our days and nights we may be ready for any coming of Christ, ready for any duty that may be most suddenly given to us; or ready to die if the call to go home should come to us. What does this mean? For one thing, it means that we must be at peace with God, reconciled to Him. It means that we must be faithfully following Christ, doing our work day by day, hour by hour as it is given to us. One who is not saved is not ready for Christ’s coming. DEATH is a coming of Christ to men, for it ends their probation and ushers them into the presence of God. No one is prepared for death who has not accepted Christ as Savior, and is not living in Him. There is a beatitude in our lesson which we should take into our lives. “Blessed is that servant whom the master finds so doing when he returns.” “So doing” how doing? Doing his work with fidelity. If a man went away and left a servant in charge of a certain piece of work, fixing no time for his returning, what should the servant do in the master’s absence? Sit in the doorway and watch to see his return? That is not the kind of watching that will please his master. He wants his servant to attend to the duties assigned him and desires to find him, on his return, not idly gazing out at the window but busy at his work! The way to be ready for Christ’s coming, whenever and in whatever way He may come is not to sit down in idleness and watch for His appearance but to keep at one’s tasks with unceasing diligence, so that when He comes He may find our work all finished! Again and again is repeated the warning to those who are unfaithful. “The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers!” There are several things said about this servant. For one thing, he is unbelieving. “My master is taking a long time in coming.” As a result of his unbelief he is unfaithful to his duties and to the trust reposed in him. Then, besides unfaithfulness in duty, he is unjust to his fellow servants. He becomes selfish, grasping, domineering, and cruel. Then in his own moral habits he becomes debased. He is found eating, drinking, and drunken. The punishment of the unfaithful and evil servant is stated clearly in the last verses, “He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows!” It is a fearful thing to disregard life’s solemn responsibilities. We should compare these two pictures the faithful and the unfaithful servant and know positively which one of the two is our own portrait . Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 4, 5, 6 Job 4 -- Eliphaz Reproves Job NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 5 -- Eliphaz Shows that God Is Just NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 6 -- Job's Reproves His Friends of Their Unkindness NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 7:20-43 Acts 7 -- Stephen's Speech, Stoning and Death NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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