Dawn 2 Dusk The Sacred Space You CarryIt’s easy to think of worship as something we go to, but 1 Corinthians 6:19 turns that idea inside out. God isn’t looking for a building to inhabit—He’s claiming you, right where you are, as His dwelling place. Do You Realize Who Moved In? Paul asks, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). That’s not poetry; it’s reality. The Holy Spirit doesn’t visit—He indwells. When you wake up, walk into work, sit in traffic, or wash dishes, you’re not “away from God.” His presence is already there because He is already in you. And this isn’t a sterile, fragile holiness that makes you afraid to breathe. Jesus promised, “We will come to him and make Our home with him.” (John 14:23). Home means closeness, familiarity, daily life. The question isn’t whether God is near—it’s whether you’ll live today like His nearness matters. You Are Not Your Own—And That Is Good News The verse keeps going: “You are not your own.” (1 Corinthians 6:19). Our culture calls that limiting, but Scripture calls it freeing. If you belong to the Lord, you don’t have to be owned by appetite, impulse, approval, or shame. Right after this, Paul adds, “You were bought at a price.” (1 Corinthians 6:20). God didn’t claim you because you were cheap—He claimed you because you were worth redeeming. That changes how you talk to yourself about your body and your past. If you’re in Christ, your story isn’t “damaged goods”; it’s grace on display: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). You can say with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” (Galatians 2:20). Belonging to Jesus isn’t the loss of self—it’s the rescue of it. Worship That Shows Up in Real Life If your body is God’s temple, then holiness isn’t theoretical—it’s physical, practical, and daily. “Therefore I urge you… to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” (Romans 12:1). That includes what you do with your eyes, your hands, your sexuality, your schedule, your sleep, your speech. Not because your body is bad, but because it’s sacred. And when temptation feels loud, God’s will is still clear: “For it is God’s will that you should be sanctified: You should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3–4). You’re not fighting for acceptance—you’re living from it. You’re not trying to earn God’s presence—you’re protecting the space where He already lives. Father, thank You for making my life Your home by Your Spirit; help me honor You with my body today—give me courage to turn from sin and choose what pleases You. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer The Power of Godly LivingThe most effective argument for Christianity is still the good lives of those who profess it. A company of pure-living and cheerful Christians in the community is a stronger proof that Christ is risen than any learned treatise could ever be. And a further advantage is that, while the average person could not be hired to read a theological work, no one can evade the practical argument presented by the presence of holy men and women. To the sons and daughters of this tense and highly mechanized age a holy life may seem unpardonably dull and altogether lacking in interest, but among all the fancy, interest-catching toys of the world a holy life stands apart as the only thing slated to endure. The stars make no noise, says the Italian proverb; yet they have outlived all man's civilizations and in their unassuming silence have shone on through the centuries, preaching their simple doctrine of God and enduring things. Francis of Assisi composed some sublime hymns and preached some quaint sermons, but for none of these is he known and by none of these has he captured the moral imagination of mankind. The utter purity of his life it is which has won him a lasting place in the hearts of every seeker after God. Music For the Soul The One Rule of Conduct" Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us." - Ephesians 5:1-2 People have always been apt to think of the Gospel more as a message of deliverance than as a practical guide. And we all need to make an effort to prevent our natural indolence and selfishness from making us forget that the Gospel is quite as much a rule of conduct as a message of pardon. It is both by the same act. In the very facts on which our redemption depends lies the law of our lives. Do not always be looking at Christ’s Cross only as your means of acceptance. Do not only be thinking of Christ’s Passion as that which has barred for you the gates of punishment, and has opened for you the gates of the Kingdom of Heaven. It has done all that; but if you are going to stop there, you have only got hold of a very maimed and imperfect edition of the Gospel. The Cross is your pattern, as well as the anchor of your hope and the ground of your salvation - if it is anything at all to you. And it is not the ground of your salvation and the anchor of your hope unless it is your pattern. It is the one in exactly the same degree in which it is the other. So all self-pleasing, all harsh insistence on your own claims, all neglect of suffering and sorrow and sin around you, comes under the lash of this condemnation. If Christian men and women would only learn to take away the scales from their eyes and souls, - not looking at Christ’s Cross with less absolute trustfulness, as that by which all their salvation comes, but also learning to look at it as closely and habitually as yielding the pattern to which their lives should be conformed, - and would let the heart-melting thankfulness which it evokes when gazed at as the ground of our hope prove itself true by its leading them to an effort at imitating that great love, and so walking worthy of the Gospel, how their lives would be transformed! It is far easier to fetter your life with yards of red-tape prescriptions - do this, do not do that; far easier to out-pharisee the Pharisees in punctilious scrupulosity, than it is honestly, and for one hour, to take the Cross of Christ as the pattern of your lives, and to shape yourselves by that. One looks round upon a lethargic, a luxurious, a self-indulgent, a self seeking, a world-besotted professing Church, and asks, " Are these the people on whose hearts a cross is stamped? " Do these men - or rather let us say, do we live as becometh the Gospel which proclaims the divinity of self-sacrifice, and that the law of a perfect human life is perfect self-forgetfulness, even as the secret of the Divine nature is perfect love? " Walk worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Hebrews 12:11 Afterward. How happy are tried Christians, afterwards. No calm more deep than that which succeeds a storm. Who has not rejoiced in clear shinings after rain? Victorious banquets are for well-exercised soldiers. After killing the lion we eat the honey; after climbing the Hill Difficulty, we sit down in the arbour to rest; after traversing the Valley of Humiliation, after fighting with Apollyon, the shining one appears, with the healing branch from the tree of life. Our sorrows, like the passing keels of the vessels upon the sea, leave a silver line of holy light behind them "afterwards." It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil which once reigned in our tormented, guilty souls. See, then, the happy estate of a Christian! He has his best things last, and he therefore in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are "afterward" good things, harsh ploughings yielding joyful harvests. Even now he grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied; if, then, his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life, what shall be the full vintage of joy "afterwards" in heaven? If his dark nights are as bright as the world's days, what shall his days be? If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven! If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol him before the eternal throne! If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then? Oh, blessed "afterward!" Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown which cometh afterwards? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for today, nor the triumph for the present, but "afterward." Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Losses OvercomeYes, those wasted years over which we sigh shall be restored to us. God can give us such plentiful grace that we shall crowd into the remainder of our days as much of service as will be some recompense for those years of unregeneracy over which we mourn in humble penitence. The locusts of backsliding, worldliness, lukewarmness, are now viewed by us as a terrible plague. Oh, that they had never come near us! The LORD in mercy has now taken them away, and we are full of zeal to serve Him. Blessed be His name, we can raise such harvests of spiritual graces as shall make our former barrenness to disappear. Through rich grace we can turn to account our bitter experience and use it to warn others. We can become the more rooted in humility, childlike dependence, and penitent spirituality by reason of our former shortcomings. If we are the more watchful, zealous, and tender, we shall gain by our lamentable losses. The wasted years, by a miracle of love, can be restored. Does it seem too great a boon? Let us believe for it and live for it, and we may yet realize it, even as Peter became all the more useful a man after his presumption was cured by his discovered weakness. LORD, aid us by Thy grace. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer And Went and Told JesusWHEN Herod beheaded John, his disciples took up his body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. Let us imitate their example, and carry all to Jesus. He loves to listen to the tale of human woe. He can and will sympathise with us in all our trials and troubles. He is our Father, and to whom should the child tell his troubles, but to his kind and tender parent? He will direct our steps, avenge our wrongs, and turn all things to our advantage. Does business go wrong? Are enemies active? Is corruption strong? Does faith flag? Are you tried in your family? Go and tell Jesus. It will ease your mind; prevent sin; ensure supplies; manifest relation; and frustrate the designs of Satan. Do not sit poring over your miseries; go not to creatures; neither murmur, complain, nor fret; but go to Jesus; go with speed; go in hope; go and tell Him all, without reserve. Go this morning, with all thy complaints, desires, and fears; lay them all before Him, and beseech Him to undertake for you. He loves to hear you, has promised to help you, and will certainly bless you. It is your duty, and your privilege, to pour out your heart before Him, and find Him a refuge for you. Our sorrows and our tears we pour Into the bosom of our God; He hears us in the mournful hour, And helps to bear the heavy load. Bible League: Living His Word Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.— Proverbs 4:23 NLT I've often heard people greet me and ask, "How's life treating you today?" Greeting someone this way may sound cool, but it assumes that you are a victim of "life." But God's Word says our own heart determines the course of our lives. Our own heart got us to the place we are in today. I recently purchased some mangos from the supermarket. They looked beautiful and juicy and very tempting. But when I cut them open at home, much of the fruit was rotten inside. I was so disappointed. Prior to knowing God, I too was like this mango. I was kind, compassionate, and loving on the outside for the world to see, but my heart was rotten. That rottenness was determining the course of my life, leading me toward a life of failure, frustration, anger, pride, jealousy, and depression. As imperfect and sinful humans, our hearts are influenced by the experiences derived from our five physical senses. Our senses determine our thoughts, and our thoughts influence our hearts. Imagine your heart as a garden. It's a vibrant and thriving space where the seeds of your thoughts, emotions, and desires are planted. Just like a gardener tends to her garden, God calls us to be diligent guardians of our hearts. Why? Because everything we do, every action and reaction, flows from the condition of our hearts. Picture yourself driving in heavy traffic, running late for an important meeting. Someone cuts you off, and frustration builds up within you. Your initial reaction might be to honk the horn or mutter some choice words under your breath. In this moment, your heart is exposed, and the condition of your heart influences your response. Guarding your heart means choosing a different response. Instead of letting frustration take root, you could take a deep breath, say a quick prayer, and extend grace to the driver who cut you off. In doing so, you're tending to the garden of your heart, ensuring that love, patience, and understanding flourish, even in challenging situations. The verse for today is a call to make guarding our hearts a priority in our daily lives. So, practically, how do we guard our hearts? 1. Stay rooted in God's Word. Just as a plant in a garden needs water and nourishment to grow, our heart needs the Word of God to thrive. Regularly spending time in Scripture allows it to shape our thoughts which in turn influence our hearts. Not doing so will allow worldly experiences to shape our thoughts and hearts. 2. Choose your influences. Be mindful of what you watch on TV and social media. Be mindful of the people you allow into your life. Be mindful of the words you speak and the songs you listen to. 3. Pray continuously. Develop a habit of talking to God throughout the day. It is like regularly watering your heart's garden, ensuring it remains fertile and vibrant. 4. Guard your thoughts. Be intentional about the thoughts you entertain. Replace negative and condemning thoughts with positive affirmations rooted in God's promises. Guarding your heart is a daily, ongoing process. It's about making conscious choices that align with God's principles in the midst of life's ups and downs. By doing so, you'll find that the fruits of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control—flourish in your heart and overflow into every aspect of your life. As you go about your day, take a moment to reflect on Proverbs 4:23. How can you actively guard your heart in various situations today, ensuring that the love and wisdom of God guide your thoughts and actions? By Santosh Chandran, Bible League International staff, New Zealand Daily Light on the Daily Path Galatians 5:26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.Judges 8:24,25,27 Yet Gideon said to them, "I would request of you, that each of you give me an earring from his spoil." (For they had gold earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) • They said, "We will surely give them." So they spread out a garment, and every one of them threw an earring there from his spoil. • Gideon made it into an ephod, and placed it in his city, Ophrah, and all Israel played the harlot with it there, so that it became a snare to Gideon and his household. Jeremiah 45:5 But you, are you seeking great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for behold, I am going to bring disaster on all flesh,' declares the LORD, 'but I will give your life to you as booty in all the places where you may go.'" 2 Corinthians 12:7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-- to keep me from exalting myself! Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 1 Corinthians 13:4,5 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, • does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, Matthew 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God.Insight Daniel stood alone. Although he knew about the law against praying to anyone except the king, he continued to pray three times a day as he always had. Daniel had a disciplined prayer life. Challenge Our prayers are usually interrupted not by threats, but simply by the pressure of our schedules. Don't let threats or pressures cut into your prayer time. Pray regularly, no matter what, for prayer is your lifeline to God. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Sin, the Cause of SorrowHosea was one of the prophets of the Ten Tribes, near the end of the Northern Kingdom. Most of his prophecies refer to the condition and destiny of his kingdom. Little is known personally of the prophet. The first three chapters of the book contain a history or parable of the prophet’s marriage, in which the love of God for Israel is graphically depicted, and the treatment of Him by His people is shown in all its blackness. The remaining portion of the book contains prophecies against the people’s sins. In the chapter for our present study, we are reminded of the splendid opportunities Israel had had, and of the reckless misuse or abuse of these opportunities. “Israel is a luxuriant vine.” The picture is of a vine that makes a great show in leaves but in the time of fruit has no grapes on it. It represents a life of much religious profession yet lacking in the fruits of righteousness, of character. We understand its meaning as referring to Israel in Hosea’s time. The nation made a great show of religion but its religion was idolatrous. Possibly, too, we could find people or Churches in these very modern days that might have sat for the picture. It will be of more practical help to ourselves and a fitter use of the Bible, if we make careful scrutiny of our own personal lives to see whether this vine with luxurious leaves and no fruit is in any sense a picture of US. We profess to be good people. There is a great deal of religious privilege and profession in our lives. We have had fine opportunities. Have we the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Have we the love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness, faith which are given as samples of these fruits! Are we pure in heart, lowly in spirit, meek, peacemakers, as the Beatitudes paint the true Christian life? Have we the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians in our heart and disposition and life? The secret of this failure in the true results of life, is given in the words, “Their heart is divided.” They thought they were very pious, with great show of devotion. But it was not really worship. They were only half - hearted, at the best. A divided heart is an abomination to the Lord. We remember what our Lord said about it. Indeed, what he really said was that a divided heart was an impossibility. That is, only part of a heart does not count at all with God. Unless the heart is His altogether, it is not His at all. “No man can serve two masters.” “You cannot serve God and mammon!” There is room in a human heart for a great many things but there is not room for two Gods. If one loves father or mother or son or daughter or anything else more than Christ, he is not worthy of Him. We need to look carefully into this matter for ourselves not troubling ourselves much at present about the ancient Israelites. Are OUR hearts divided between Christ and something else? Is our worship sincere and spiritual? The ancient emblem of prayer was fragrance. The incense that was burned on the golden altar was rich in its perfume. God spoke of smelling a sweet savor from acceptable sacrifices. Does God find our worship fragrant? Is there love in it? Is there hearty praise ? Is there sincere penitence ? A nation without God is like a ship adrift, without a rudder on the sea. This was the condition of the nation of Israel at this time. They were facing great perils and had no Pilot. They had cut themselves off from God by their own sin. They had a king in name but what could their king do for them in their danger? He could not save them from their enemies. There are many people who give up God for a human friend, or for money, or honor, or place. But in time of sore trial, what can their friend, or their money, or their fame do for them? This world’s trusts are frail and poor dependences, when sore need comes. They are refuges of lies, even the best of them. What could Israel’s king do to save his people from the Assyrians? What can friend or gold or honor do for a human soul in time of great struggle, in temptation, in sorrow, in the hour of death, in the day of judgment? A man was found dead at the foot of a precipice. He had fallen from the top. In his hand, clutched tightly, was a dried blade of grass. In his fall he had grasped this but of what help was it to him? Of no more use will earth’s trusts be to him who in life’s great and sore needs clutches at them. They will be only dry straws in his hand. It is a fearful thing to give up God. They thought they had gods but they were only calves of gold. They had a very elaborate ritual of worship but it was all only an empty form. There was no might, no heart of love, no power to help in these calves. Indeed, they could not even take care of themselves, and the people were now in dread lest their enemies should carry away their very deities. “The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.” Instead of turning to their gods for deliverance in their danger, they were in terror lest the gods might be carried away. There is something even ludicrous in the picture the prophet here paints yet it is so true that it has its startling lesson for us. Anything that can be carried away into captivity is not fit to be a god to an immortal soul. Israel’s calf-idol was to be carried to Assyria as a present to the king. Think of one’s god being given as a present to one’s enemy. Toward the close of the chapter, comes a call to repentance. God yearns over His apostate people with all tenderness. He pleads with them to do what is right. “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek Jehovah, until He comes and showers righteousness on you.” It is never too late to repent. At least God never shuts the door on this side of the grave. Here amid the predictions of ruin and sorrow the prophet breaks off to call the people to repentance, and paints for them a vision of hope. Even yet God would have mercy upon them if they would but return to Him. But the returning must be sincere and real. They must sow righteousness, if they would reap mercy. Mercy never can come to the sinner until he comes to God in the way of holiness. The fallow ground must be broken up, before there can be any harvest. The hard heart must be broken with penitence, to receive the good seed of the kingdom. “It is time to seek Jehovah.” Surely it is! The prophet reminds them of what their sin had brought upon them. “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors.” “Whatever a man sows that shall he also reap,” is as sure and fixed a law of the spiritual as of the natural kingdom. Those who sow righteousness, shall reap mercy. Then it is just as true, that they who sow wickedness, shall reap iniquity; and that they who sow lies, shall reap a harvest of lies. No man should hope to live in sin, doing wrong things and then have the reward of the godly man, peace, joy, and blessing. No one should hope to be untruthful, false, faithless and then have a name of honor, to be trusted and believed by others. One who forms the habit of lying must expect to be regarded as a liar in the community where he lives. As a general rule, we get about what we deserve from our fellow-men, in the way of reputation. Especially in God’s distributions, we may be sure that sooner or later that we shall reap as we have sown! The prophet warned the people of Israel of the doom that was coming upon them if they went on in their evil way. “The roar of battle will rise against your people, so that all your fortresses will be devastated as Shalman devastated Beth Arbel on the day of battle, when mothers were dashed to the ground with their children. Thus will it happen to you, O Bethel, because your wickedness is great. When that day dawns, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.” Thus the coming of the calamity was foretold. Judgment was sure. Judgment is sure likewise, for every one who is living in sin! It may be delayed, for God is very merciful and waits to be gracious. But it will surely come. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading2 Kings 20, 21, 22 2 Kings 20 -- Hezekiah's Life Lengthened, Shows Treasures to Babylon NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 21 -- Manasseh's and Amon's Wicked Reigns NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 2 Kings 22 -- Josiah's Good Reign; Repair of the Temple; Finding the Lost Book of the Law NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 6:45-71 John 7 -- Jesus Teaches at the Feast of Tabernacles; Diverse Opinions of Him among the People NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
Jump to: Bible League • Daily Light • Daily Remembrancer • Devotional Hours • Faith's Checkbook • Morning and Evening • Music for the Soul • Tozer • Tyndale • Reading Plans
    |