Dawn 2 Dusk Perfected, Still Being ShapedSome days you feel steady; other days you feel like a construction zone. Hebrews points us to a stunning comfort: Jesus did not make repeated attempts to save you—He completed something decisive, and yet He is still doing something personal in you. A Single Offering, a Settled Verdict Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.” Let that land: not “almost,” not “until you mess up,” not “as long as you keep up.” God’s courtroom verdict over you is anchored in Christ’s cross, not your fluctuating performance. When Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), He wasn’t announcing a break—He was announcing completion. This is why Romans 8:1 can be so fearless: “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The cross doesn’t merely improve your chances; it removes condemnation. If your conscience keeps reopening what God has closed, you’re not being humble—you’re forgetting where your standing comes from. Perfect for All Time, Yet Growing in Real Time Hebrews holds two truths together: you are “made perfect for all time,” and you are “being sanctified.” In Christ, God sees you clothed in a righteousness you didn’t earn: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). That is your position—secure, settled, unshakeable. But your daily life is still being reshaped to match your new identity. Sanctification is not God’s doubt about you; it’s God’s devotion to you. He’s not trying to decide if you belong—He’s teaching you how to live like you do. “He who began a good work in you will continue to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Confidence That Walks, Not Just Agrees This verse is not meant to win arguments; it’s meant to produce bold obedience. When you truly believe Christ’s offering is enough, you stop bargaining with God and start trusting Him—especially when it costs you. You can step toward holiness not to become accepted, but because you already are: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Ephesians 2:10). So what does action look like today? It looks like bringing your sin into the light quickly, because you’re not trying to protect a fragile status. It looks like resisting temptation with hope, not panic. It looks like getting back up when you fall, because your Savior actually bore your sins: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Confidence in the finished work turns into courage in the next step. Father, thank You for Jesus and His sufficient sacrifice. Help me live today from Your finished verdict—repenting quickly, obeying gladly, and walking in holiness by Your Spirit. Amen. Evening with A.W. Tozer Truth TestsWe need to cultivate a healthy skepticism toward everything that cannot be supported by the plain teaching of the Bible. Belief is faith only when it has God's revealed truth for its object; beyond that it may be fully as injurious as unbelief itself. Many of the stories brought forward to justify the ways of God to men actually prove nothing except the unsoundness of the speaker's intellectual fiber. Yet if all chimney-corner Scripture and old wives? tales were forbidden, many a preacher would have to get out of the ministry. It is a deep pity that the Christian public must be forced to listen to so much nonsense and be helpless to do anything about it.
The point is, the Word of God needs no support from men. It stands alone, strong and majestic as the Matterhorn. When we call in the aid of childish stories and shaky illustrations to prove its truth, we do no more than to reveal our hidden unbelief and air our weak credulity.
Music For the Soul Following Afar OffBut Peter followed Him afar off. - Matthew 26:58 Many women were there beholding from, afar. - Matthew 27:55 The consciousness of God’s presence with us is a very delicate thing. It is like a very sensitive thermometer, which will drop when an iceberg is a league off over the sea, and scarcely visible. We do not want His company, or we are not in harmony with His thoughts, or we are not going His road, and therefore, of course, we part. At bottom there is only one thing that separates a soul from God, and that is sin - sin of some sort, like tiny grains of dust that get between two polished plates in an engine, that ought to move smoothly and closely against each other. The obstruction may be invisible, and yet be powerful enough to cause friction which hinders the working of the engine and throws everything out of gear. A light cloud, that we cannot see, may come between us and a star, and we shall only know it is there because the star is not visibly there. Similarly, many a Christian, quite ignorantly, has something or other in his habits or in his conduct or in his affections which would reveal itself to him, if he would look, as being wrong because it blots out God. Let us remember that very little divergence will, if the two paths are prolonged far enough, part their other ends by a world. Our way may go off from the ways of the Lord at a very acute angle. There may be scarcely any consciousness of parting company at the beginning. Let the man travel on upon it far enough, and the two will be so far apart that he cannot see God or hear Him speak. Take care of the little divergences which are habitual, for their accumulated results will be complete separation. There must be absolute surrender if there is to be uninterrupted fellowship. Such, then, is the direction in which we are to look for the reasons for our low and broken experiences of communion with God. Oh! dear friend, when we do as we sometimes do, wake with a start, like a child that all at once starts from sleep and finds that its mother is gone - when we wake with a start to feel that we are alone, then do not let us be afraid to go straight back. Only be sure that we leave behind us the thing that parted us. You remember how Peter signalized himself on the lake, on the occasion of the second miraculous draught of fishes, when he floundered through the water, and clasped Christ’s feet. He did not say then, " Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord! " He had said that before on a similar occasion, when he felt his sin less; but knew that the best place for the denier was with his head on Christ’s bosom. So, if we have parted from our Friend, there should be no time lost ere we go back. May it be with us all that we walk with God, so that at last the great promise may be fulfilled about us, " that we shall walk with Him in white," being, by His love, accounted " worthy," and so " follow," and keep company with, " the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Proverbs 30:26 The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. Conscious of their own natural defencelessness, the conies resort to burrows in the rocks, and are secure from their enemies. My heart, be willing to gather a lesson from these feeble folk. Thou art as weak and as exposed to peril as the timid cony; be as wise to seek a shelter. My best security is within the munitions of an immutable Jehovah, where his unalterable promises stand like giant walls of rock. It will be well with thee, my heart, if thou canst always hide thyself in the bulwarks of his glorious attributes, all of which are guarantees of safety for those who put their trust in him. Blessed be the name of the Lord, I have so done, and have found myself like David in Adullam, safe from the cruelty of my enemy; I have not now to find out the blessedness of the man who puts his trust in the Lord, for long ago, when Satan and my sins pursued me, I fled to the cleft of the rock Christ Jesus, and in his riven side I found a delightful resting-place. My heart, run to him anew tonight, whatever thy present grief may be; Jesus feels for thee; Jesus consoles thee; Jesus will help thee. No monarch in his impregnable fortress is more secure than the cony in his rocky burrow. The master of ten thousand chariots is not one whit better protected than the little dweller in the mountain's cleft. In Jesus the weak are strong, and the defenceless safe; they could not be more strong if they were giants, or more safe if they were in heaven. Faith gives to men on earth the protection of the God of heaven. More they cannot need, and need not wish. The conies cannot build a castle, but they avail themselves of what is there already: I cannot make myself a refuge, but Jesus has provided it, his Father has given it, his Spirit has revealed it, and lo, again tonight I enter it, and am safe from every foe. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Hunger SatisfiedIt is well to have longings, and the more intense they are the better. The LORD will satisfy soul-longings, however great and all-absorbing they may be. Let us greatly long, for God will greatly give. We are never in a right state of mind when we are contented with ourselves and are free from longings. Desires for more grace and groanings which cannot be uttered are growing pains, and we should wish to feel them more and more. Blessed Spirit, make us sigh and cry after better things and for more of the best things! Hunger is by no means a pleasant sensation. Yet blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Such persons shall not only have their hunger relieved with a little food, but they shall be filled. They shall not be filled with any sort of rough stuff, but their diet shall be worthy of their good LORD, for they shall be filled with goodness by Jehovah Himself. Come, let us not fret because we long and hunger, but let us hear the voice of the psalmist as he also longs and hungers to see God magnified. "Oh, that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men." The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer My Peace I Give Unto YouPeace is an invaluable blessing, it is the gift of Jesus. None but believers know the sweetness of the peace He bestows. He made it by shedding His blood. He proclaims it in the everlasting gospel. He bestows it upon us when we believe, and it is enjoyed in the heart under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is peace with God. A peaceful conscience. The beginning of heaven in the soul. He gives it often when in the midst of trouble; and it makes every burden light, every trouble less, and the sinner happy in every situation. O Jesus! give us Thy peace this morning! Let it reign and rule in our hearts this day. Believer, look only to Jesus for peace, for "He is our peace." Believe His word, receive His atonement, trust in His perfect work, aim to show forth His praise, and peace which passeth all understanding shall fill your mind. Let it be your daily prayer, that you may enjoy this peace in death; for then you will die happy, honourably, and safely. Seek it as a gift of grace, and you shall enjoy it to the honour of God. Close to my Saviour’s bloody tree, My soul untired shall ever cleave; Both scourged and crucified for me, With Christ resolved to die and live: My prayer, my grand ambition this, Living and dying to be His. Bible League: Living His Word Then the LORD asked him, "What is that in your hand?" "A shepherd's staff," Moses replied.— Exodus 4:2 NLT Like Moses, you have a call from God on your life. For Christians, there's nothing unusual about that. We all have callings from God. They may not be as prominent as Moses' calling, but they're callings nonetheless. God is Lord over all things and every area of life. He has need of servants to advance His Kingdom in each and every area. He calls you to a part of that. Your job is not to question God's call or to complain about it, but to fulfill it. That means you shouldn't react the way Moses did when he was called. After forty years of doing nothing more than tending sheep in the desert, he didn't think he was good enough for the job God called him to do. He didn't think he could get Pharaoh to release the people of Israel from bondage. He said, "Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:11). He also didn't think that the people of Israel would believe that he had been called by God. He said, "What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say, 'The LORD never appeared to you.'?" (Exodus 4:1). From Moses' story, we learn that God is not sending you out to fulfill the call on your own. He will go with you and help you. He can make use of what you are and what you have to get the job done. He was able to turn the lowly shepherd staff that Moses held in his hand into the mighty "staff of God" that turned into a snake and that parted the Red Sea (Exodus 4:20). He's able to turn the mundane things you have into mighty tools and instruments of His redemptive purposes as well. If you think you're not good enough for the call or that you don't have the necessary resources for it, then don't forget Moses' story. Don't forget that God is more than able to use you, such as you are, to fulfill His call on your life. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! Galatians 3:20 Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Psalm 106:6,7,23 We have sinned like our fathers, We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly. • Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; They did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. • Therefore He said that He would destroy them, Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, To turn away His wrath from destroying them. Hebrews 3:1-3 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; • He was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. • For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. Hebrews 8:6,12 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. • "FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE." 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 Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.Insight In opposition to the false teachers, Paul affirmed that everything God created is good. We should ask for God's blessing on his created gifts that give us pleasure and thank him for them. This doesn't mean that we should abuse what God has made (for example, gluttony abuses God's gift of good food, lust abuses God's gift of love, and murder abuses God's gift of life). Challenge Instead of abusing, we should enjoy these gifts by using them to serve and honor God. Have you thanked God for the good gifts he has given? Are you using the gifts in ways pleasing to you and to God? Devotional Hours Within the Bible The TransfigurationThe Transfiguration was one of the most remarkable events in our Lord’s life. The object, so far as the disciples were concerned, probably was to restore their confidence in Christ’s Messiahship, after the staggering blow to their faith which had come to them in the announcement by Himself, that He must suffer and be killed. So far as Jesus Himself was concerned, the object of the Transfiguration would seem to have been to strengthen and encourage Him as He set out on His last journey to the cross. For companions and witnesses on this occasion, Jesus had Peter, James and John. These were His special friends, admitted by Him to His closest friendship. On several occasions we find Him choosing the same three for special companionship. There must have been something in these three men, which fitted them for the place of honor to which they were admitted. We know that the holiest people will get nearest to Christ. We know, too, that faith always brings us near, while doubt and unbelief separate us from Him. Purity of heart brings us close the pure in heart see God. Likeness to Christ fits us for personal friendship. Jesus said that those who serve most self-forgetfully, are first in His kingdom. Selfishness keeps us far off from Jesus. No doubt the eye of Christ saw in the three favored disciples, reasons why they were best fitted to be witnesses of His glory that night. It was not an accident that these, and not three other men were with their Lord on that occasion. It is a special comfort to find that Peter, through such a faulty disciple, was one of those who were admitted to closest fellowship with his Master that night. Luke tells us that Jesus was engaged in prayer when the wonderful change in His appearance took place. From this we learn that prayer has a transforming power. Communion with God, brings heaven down into our life. Tennyson said, “Prayer is to me the lifting up of the sluice-gate between me and the Infinite.” Prayer lets God’s own life into our souls. While we pray we are in the very presence of God! When Moses had spent forty days on the mountain alone with God, and then returned again to the plain, the people saw the dazzling brightness of heaven on his countenance. When Stephen was looking up into heaven at the glory of God as revealed now in holy vision, even his enemies saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Only the upward look can give heavenly beauty. Our communing makes our character. If we think of earthly things we will grow earthly. If we dote on gold our lives will harden into sordidness. If we look up toward God we shall grow like God. A life of prayer will transform us into spirituality, and bring down upon us the beauty of the Lord. Another strange thing happened that night. There appeared unto Jesus and His disciples two men from heaven, not mere apparitions but actual men, not men either from the earth but from heaven Moses and Elijah. There was something very wonderful in this. For more than nine hundred years Elijah had been in heaven, and for more than fourteen hundred years Moses had been away from this world; and now both reappear, still living, speaking, and working. There are many proofs of immortality but here is an illustration of the truth. Here we see two men, long centuries after they have left the earth still living and active in God’s service! It will be the same with us and our friends. Thousands of years after we have vanished from earth we shall still be alive and active somewhere. If only we can get this great truth into our heart, how much more grand it will make all life for us! We are told that these men had a talk with Jesus. One of the Gospels gives us the subject of the talk it was about Christ’s decease, His exodus from this world. These men were sent from heaven to comfort and strengthen Jesus for the journey to His cross. He would have bitter sorrows and great sufferings, and they came to cheer Him. We are not told that He was afraid or that He was in danger of growing faint-hearted before He reached His cross but the bravest and strongest are better for encouragement and cheer. So the heavenly messengers were sent to earth to talk with Jesus about His death, to show Him what it would mean to the world, that He might be strengthened for it. No doubt all the way unto the end of life, Jesus was braver and stronger because of this heavenly visitation. No doubt He had such a vision of redemption as He went to His cross that He rejoiced to suffer, that He saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied. May there not be a hint in this, of the kind of employment that shall occupy the redeemed in the next life? Possibly we may be sent to distant worlds on errands of love to carry help to weary ones. At least we are sure that heaven is not merely a place of inactive rest. Praise will not be the only employment of the glorified ones. They will have opportunity to serve . The hearts of the disciples were filled with strange ecstasy that night. So absorbed were they in the blessedness of the vision, that Peter proposed that they should stay there, offering to build three tabernacles, one for Jesus and one for each of the heavenly visitors. Peter was right it was good to be there. But at that very moment, human need was waiting at the foot of the mountain for the Master’s coming. Then, farther on, were Gethsemane and Calvary for Jesus; and for Peter there was Pentecost, with years of earnest service, and then martyrdom. It is very sweet to commune with Christ in the closet, at the Lord’s Table; but we must not spend all our time in these holy exercises. While raptures fill our hearts human needs are crying to us for help and for sympathy, and we must hasten away from our peaceful enjoyment, to carry blessing and comfort to those who need. Another element of the Transfiguration, was the witness from heaven. It was the Father who spoke and said, “This is My Son, whom I love. Listen to Him!” The disciples had been greatly shocked by what Jesus had told them six days before that He must suffer and be killed. Now from heaven the Father speaks, assuring them that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, and that they should listen to His voice and to His voice only. Even if they could not understand, and the things He said seemed to destroy all their hopes they must be content to hear. There are times when God’s ways with us seem very hard, when we think disaster is coming to ever fair prospect in our lives. In all such hours, we should remember that He who rules over all is the Son of God, our Friend and Savior and our trust in Him should never fail. We should listen always quietly and submissively to what He says, and when everything seems strange and dark we should never doubt or be afraid. What so staggered the disciples then we now see to have been the most glorious and loving wisdom. Through the cross there came to the world the most wonderful blessing the world ever received. So in our strangest trials there are the truest wisdom and the highest love. As Jesus and the disciples came down from the mountain the next morning, He charged them that they should tell no man what they had seen until after He had risen from the dead. Just so, there are many things that it is hard or even impossible for us to understand at the time but which become clear enough when the other events follow and cast their light upon them. One riding along a road approaches a building which has no beauty and which seems to be only a confused pile. But when he has passed by and looks back at it, he sees a structure graceful, impressive, and beautiful. He saw it first from the wrong side. One looks at an artist at work on his canvas and sees only rude daubs. The picture has not yet been completed. By and by it is finished and is a rare work of art. We must wait for finished work before we judge. A boy enters the academy, and a page of Greek is put before him but it has no meaning for him. He cannot read it. He spends a few years in the study of the language, and again the same page is presented to him. Now he reads it off with ease, and every word glows with some high thought. We are in Christ’s school now, and there are many things we cannot understand until we get farther on and learn other things, and then the former will be made plain and clear. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingEzekiel 22, 23 Ezekiel 22 -- A Catalogue of Sins in Jerusalem NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Ezekiel 23 -- Oholah and Oholibah's Sin and Judgment NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading James 2 James 2 -- The Sin of Favoritism; Faith and Deeds NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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