Dawn 2 Dusk From Death’s Shadow to Living LightThe words of Jesus in John 5:24 are like a doorway standing wide open. He speaks of hearing His word, believing the Father who sent Him, and passing out of death into life. It’s not a vague spiritual upgrade or a someday-hope; it’s a present reality that changes how you stand before God right now, and how you walk through this particular day. This is about certainty in a world that only offers “maybe.” Hearing That Goes Deeper Than Noise Jesus is not impressed by crowds who merely listen with their ears. When He says, “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word…” (John 5:24), He is talking about a hearing that sinks into the heart, a hearing that humbles you and brings you to surrender. Many heard His voice in the streets of Galilee and never changed; others heard the same words and found their entire lives reoriented around Him. Which kind of hearing marks you today? Scripture presses this point again and again. Jesus said, “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27). Real hearing produces following. It means His word has more weight than your feelings, more authority than the culture, more influence than your fears. As you open your Bible today, don’t just skim. Ask the Lord to give you that deeper hearing—a heart that trembles at His word and moves when He speaks. Believing That Crosses a Line Jesus goes on: “…and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). This believing is not a shallow nod of agreement; it is staking everything on the Father’s testimony about the Son. God has declared that life is in Christ alone. To believe Him is to renounce every other hope—your goodness, your religion, your record—and to cling to Jesus as your only Savior and Lord. The Bible describes this as a real transfer of status and realm. “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13). There is a line, and in Christ you have crossed it. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Today, let that assurance steady you. You are not walking toward life, trying to earn it; in Christ, you walk from life already given, from judgment already removed. Living Like Someone Already Alive If you have crossed from death to life, your lifestyle should show it. God “made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!” (Ephesians 2:5). Alive people don’t live like corpses. Grace doesn’t excuse sin; it frees you from its chains. You were not just forgiven to stay the same—you were resurrected to live differently, to love what God loves and turn from what nailed Jesus to the cross. This new life is not vague or mystical; it is centered on the Son. “And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life” (1 John 5:11–12). If you have the Son, then today you can choose obedience when temptation calls, courage when fear shouts, hope when the news is dark. Live as someone already alive: confess sin quickly, forgive freely, speak of Christ openly, and order your priorities around the One who brought you out of death into life. Lord Jesus, thank You for bringing me from death to life. Today, help me listen to Your voice, trust Your word, and deliberately live as someone who already belongs to You. Morning with A.W. Tozer Joy or Burden?I think we make two mistakes in our attitude toward our Christian leaders, one in not being sufficiently grateful to them and the other in following them too slavishly.
The first is a sin of omission, and because it is something that is not there it is not so likely to be noticed as a sin that is plainly present. For instance, it is a sin to be ungrateful to a man who has befriended us, but it is not as bad or as obvious a sin as stealing his pocketbook.
To be grateful to God's servants is to be grateful to God. The benefits we receive from them result from God's working through them, but as free agents they could have refused to cooperate. That they cheerfully yielded their members to the Spirit for our good puts us under continual obligation to them. Because they are so many, and because the vast majority of them have long fallen asleep we cannot make a like return to them in person; the only way we can discharge our obligation is to be thankful. Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it. Music For the Soul Faith: The Path to GloryHe shall come , , . to be marvelled at in all them that believed. - 2 Thessalonians 1:10 That is to say, they who on earth were His, consecrated and devoted to Him, and in some humble measure partaking even here of His reflected beauty and imparted righteousness, - these are they in whom He shall be glorified. They who "believed": poor, trembling, struggling, fainting souls, that here on earth, in the midst of many doubts and temptations, clasped His hand; and howsoever tremulously, yet truly put their trust in Him, these are they in whom He shall " be wondered at." The simple act of faith knits us to the Lord. If we trust Him, He comes into our hearts here, and begins to purify us and to make us like Himself; and, if that be so, and we keep hold of Him, we shall finally share in His glory. What a hope, what an encouragement, what a stimulus and exhortation to humble and timorous souls there is in that great word, "In all them that believed"! Howsoever imperfect, still they shall be kept by the power of God unto that final salvation. And when He comes in His glory, not one shall be wanting that put their trust in Him. It will take them all, each in his several way reflecting it, to set forth adequately the glory. As many diamonds round a central light, which from each facet give off a several ray and a definite colour, so all that circle round Christ, and partaking of His glory, will each receive it, transmit it, and so manifest it in a different fashion. And it needs the innumerable company of the redeemed, each a several perfectness, to set forth all the fulness of the Christ that dwells in us. So, beginning with simple faith in Him, partially receiving the beauty of His transforming Spirit, seeking here on earth by assimilation to the Master in some humble measure to adorn the doctrine and to glorify the Christ, we may hope that each blackness shall be all changed into brightness, our limitations done away with, our weakness lifted into rejoicing strength; and that we shall be like Him, seeing Him as He is, and, glorified in Him, shall glorify Him before the universe. You and I will be there. Choose whether He shall be revealed and the light of His face be to you like a sword whose flashing edge means destruction, or whether the light of His face shall fall upon your heart, because you love Him and trust Him, like the sunshine on the Alpine snow, lifting it to a more lustrous whiteness, and tinging it with an ethereal hue of more than earthly beauty, which no other power but an indwelling Christ can give. He shall come with "everlasting destruction from the face "; and " He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be wondered at in all them that believed." Choose which of the two shall be your portion in that day. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Job 29:2 Oh that I were as in months past. Numbers of Christians can view the past with pleasure, but regard the present with dissatisfaction; they look back upon the days which they have passed in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known, but as to the present, it is clad in a sable garb of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near to Jesus, but now they feel that they have wandered from him, and they say, "O that I were as in months past!" They complain that they have lost their evidences, or that they have not present peace of mind, or that they have no enjoyment in the means of grace, or that conscience is not so tender, or that they have not so much zeal for God's glory. The causes of this mournful state of things are manifold. It may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied with something else, more than with God; the affections have been set on the things of earth, instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; he must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of his presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted instead of lying low at the foot of the cross. Christian, if you are not now as you "were in months past," do not rest satisfied with wishing for a return of former happiness, but go at once to seek your Master, and tell him your sad state. Ask his grace and strength to help you to walk more closely with him; humble yourself before him, and he will lift you up, and give you yet again to enjoy the light of his countenance. Do not sit down to sigh and lament; while the beloved Physician lives there is hope, nay there is a certainty of recovery for the worst cases. Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Waiting, Not RunningBlessed posture! Waiting truly and only upon the LORD. Be this our condition all this day and every day. Waiting His leisure, waiting in His service, waiting in joyful expectation, waiting in prayer, and content. When the very soul thus waits, it is in the best and truest condition of a creature before his Creator, a servant before his Master, a child before his Father. We allow no dictation to God, nor complaining of Him; we will permit no petulance and no distrust. At the same time, we practice no running before the cloud and no seeking to others for aid: neither of these would be waiting upon God. God, and God alone, is the expectation of our hearts. Blessed assurance! From Him salvation is coming; it is on the road. It will come from Him and from no one else. He shall have all the glory of it, for He alone can and will perform it. And He will perform it most surely in His own time and manner. He will save from doubt, and suffering, and slander, and distress. Though we see no sign of it as yet, we are satisfied to bide the LORD’s will, for we have no suspicion of His love and faithfulness. He will make sure work of it before long, and we will praise Him at once for the coming mercy. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Heirs of the KingdomHE raised the poor from the dust, and the beggar from the dunghill; such were we by nature, but through rich grace we shall inherit the throne of glory. He has prepared for us, promised to us, and will bestow upon us a KINGDOM. A kingdom in which His glory will be seen, felt, and enjoyed for ever. In which all His riches of grace, mercy, and glory will be displayed. In which peace, joy, and pleasure will eternally reign. A kingdom which cannot be moved, and will never know a change. But who are the acknowledged heirs? The poor of this world, who are poor in spirit. The rich in faith, who believe in God, in Jesus, who exercise faith on the precious promises, and whose faith is proved to be good by the works they produce. Those who love God from a knowledge of His love to them, and as the effect of His love being shed abroad in their hearts, by the Holy Ghost. Am I an heir? Are you, my friend? If so, rejoice and be exceeding glad; imitate those who through faith and patience now inherit the promises, and the end will crown the whole. There shall your eyes with rapture view The glorious Friend who died for you; That died to ransom, died to raise To crowns of joy, and songs of praise; Jesus, to Thee I breathe my prayer! Reveal, confirm my interest there. Bible League: Living His Word And so, the little boy John grew up and became stronger in spirit. Then he lived in areas away from other people until the time when he came out to tell God's message to the people of Israel.— Luke 1:80 ERV We were all born as children of our mothers. Job 14:1 says, "Man who is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble" (NKJV). Job is taking us to where this fully grown human being originated and affirms what Psalm 139 says. According to 1 Corinthians 13:11, it tells us that a child talks, thinks, and plans as a child. All this progresses to a stage of maturity. John's background has the divine, invisible hand of God all over it. Luke records the life of John as a prophet who prepared a way for Jesus' ministry to flourish in the hearts of people. He preached the well-known message of repentance and baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (Luke 3:21-22). John was born a few months before Jesus by parents that were already advanced in years. John's birth brought joy to Elizabeth and Zachariah and the community of Judea. The facts surrounding this miraculous birth captured the hearts of many, and they wondered what the child would become in the future (Luke 1:59-66). Zachariah answered this wondering community saying, "Now you, little boy, will be called a prophet of the Most High God. You will go first before the Lord to prepare the way for him" (Luke 1:76). The verse of today, tells us that the child John grew up, meaning he matured to be a man who was strong in spirit. 1 Corinthians 14:20 says, "Brothers and sisters, don't think like children. In evil things be like babies, but in your thinking, you should be like full-grown adults." The man John lived away from ordinary life, he lived in the wilderness. David Guzik's commentary says, "The promise of God came to fruition in John's life. John was in the desert until the day of his manifestation because that is where God trains many of His prophets." Whatever assignment a believer must fulfil in the Kingdom of God, he or she must allow the maturity process (training) to take effect and allow the environment to sculpt into the divine purpose and calling. May each of us mature to what God has designed us to be in Christ (Ephesians 2:10) and bear fruits of eternity! Reference: David Guzik, 2018, The Birth of John the Baptist. By Christopher Thetswe, Bible League International staff, South Africa Daily Light on the Daily Path Hebrews 2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,2 Timothy 1:10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, Isaiah 25:8 He will swallow up death for all time, And the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, And He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; For the LORD has spoken. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. • "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" • The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; • but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 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 As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.Insight Jesus was alluding to an Old Testament view of the Messianic kingdom in which all people are taught directly by God. He was stressing the importance of not merely hearing, but learning. Challenge We are taught by God through the Bible, our experiences, the thoughts the Holy Spirit brings, and relationships with other Christians. Are you open to God's teaching? Devotional Hours Within the Bible The Last JudgmentThis passage gives us a wonderful picture of the last judgment. It is not a parable but a prophetic presentation of the great scene. The sheep and goats are used as representing the good and evil. Christ will be the Judge. He will appear as the Son of man, that is, in His humanity. It is a comfort to think of this, that it will be our Brother whom we shall see on the throne of glory. Christ came first in lowly form. He was born in a stable and cradled in a manger. No retinue of angels then attended Him except the host that sang their song in the shepherd’s ears. In His first coming, He was lowly and despised. He was so poor that often He had nowhere to lay His head. He had but few followers and made but little name for Himself on the earth. But He will not come this way the second time. He will appear in glory, and will be attended by hosts of angels. For once the whole human family will be together. “All the nations will be gathered in his presence.” Yet in our thought of the grandeur of this scene we must not lose sight of the individuality of the judgment. We shall be there but none of us will be lost in the crowd; each one shall have personal judgment. During a war the telegraphic reports from the field say that in a great battle ten thousand men were slain. Not knowing any of them personally, we think only of the vast aggregate number. But suppose some friend of ours brother or father was among the slain; we think no more then of the ten thousand but of the one. And every one of the ten thousand is mourned in some home is somebody’s father, husband, brother, son, friend. From that battlefield ten thousand cords stretch to ten thousand homes. The heaps of slain are simply ten thousand individuals. So in that countless throng on judgment day, not one person will be lost in the multitude. “Everyone must bear his own burden.” There will be a division that day the whole human family will not be as one. “All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.” Our Lord’s teachings are full of this thought of final separation. The tares and the wheat will grow together until the harvest; but then there will be an infallible separation not a tare will be gathered into the barn with the wheat. The net draws good and bad fish to the shore but there the two classes are separated. The ten virgins were together during the time of waiting but the midnight cry caused an instant, final and irrevocable separation, as the door opened for those who were ready to enter and shut upon those who were unprepared. Nothing is more plainly taught in the Word of God, than that the evil and the good, the believing and the rejecting, the righteous and the unrighteous shall be separated at the last day, each going to his own place. These separations will cut very close in many cases. “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.” When we are sure of our place on Christ’s right hand, we should never rest until we are sure also that all those whom we love shall be in the same company. The King speaks to the people as if He had personally lived among them, “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat.” It seems from this picture of the judgment, that the eternal destiny of men shall be settled by their works. Feeding the hungry and giving drink to the thirsty, are mentioned as reasons for the favor shown to those upon the right hand. But a careful study of the passage shows that in the judgment, all will turn upon one question how men have treated Jesus Christ. If they have believed on Him, loved Him, honored Him, and lived for Him they will be honored by Him, gathered at His right hand and admitted to His kingdom of glory. But if they have not believed on Him, have not honored Him, have not lived for Him in this world they will be rejected by Him at the last and shut out of the heavenly kingdom. In other words, all will depend upon whether men believe or do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But believing in Christ means more than giving assent to a correct creed it means also a life of obedience and service. The whole of Christian life is love, not only love for Christ but love for Christ’s own. If we love God we will love our brother also, says the beloved disciple. If we do no love our brother, it is evident that we do not love God. If we have the love of Christ in our heart, it will show itself to all those who belong to Christ. While there is love for all the world, there should be a special love for those who belong to the Master. The King speaks as if He had come to the people in the great company, in many experiences of personal suffering and need. “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.” There is something very pathetic in this thought of Jesus as a stranger, as hungry, or as sick, coming to our doors in those whose appeals are made to us. If we allowed it to enter our heart and exercise its proper effect upon us it would inspire in us sympathy and love, and would make us very gentle to all who are in need. Mr. Wesley, one winter day, met a poor girl in one of the schools under his care. She seemed almost frozen. He asked her if she had no clothing but the thin garments she was wearing. She said she had not. His hand was in his pocket in an instant but there was no money there. He went to his room but the pictures on the wall seemed to upbraid him. He took them down, saying to himself: “How can the Master say to you, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’? You have adorned your walls with the money which might have screened this poor creature from the bitter cold! O justice! O mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of the poor maid?” So he sold the pictures to get money to relieve the girl’s distress. Those to whom the King spoke, could not understand what He meant. “Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison and help You?” Their surprise need not seem remarkable. The truest greatness, is not conscious of itself. Moses knew not, that his face shone. The best Christians put the lowest value upon their own good works. No doubt many of the commendations and rewards of the righteous in the judgment, will indeed be surprises to them. They keep no record of their good deeds. Their sense of personal unworthiness hinders them from seeing anything worthy in what they do. We do not dream of the real value and helpfulness of the things we do. Besides, we do not indeed see Christ in the lowly and suffering ones who come before us, needing love and help we see only poor, sick, unfortunate people, with no marks of glory, no hints of nobility, no traces of heavenly beauty. We do not see things as they are. Jesus Himself is ever before us, in lowly guise. We are unconsciously serving the Master, whenever we do in His name the holy things of love. Every lowly, faithful Christian is preparing for himself many a blessed surprise in glory. Jesus is still in this world. Once He was here in human form, as the Son of man. Now He is here in His Church. “You are the body of Christ” (1 Corinthians 12:27), said the apostle. The smallest kindness shown to a Christian, even the least, Christ accepts as done to Himself. Parents understand this. Any honor shown to a child a father receives as shown to himself. If a son is in a strange land and meets with some misfortune, or is sick, and someone finding him there as a stranger in trouble shows him kindness, no greater act done to the parents at home would be as pleasing to them as is that little ministry to their child in a foreign land. Christ loves His people so much, that whatever is done to any of them He accepts as if He Himself had been the recipient of the kindness. The same is true, on the other hand, of any unkindness or any lack of kindness shown to another. “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me.” We must beware how we treat the lowliest Christian, for if we neglect him in his need it is as if Christ were in the same need, and we had neglected Him! We must learn that we are judged not only by the things we do but by the things we fail to do. These people had not been cruel or unkind to any of Christ’s little ones no such charge is made against them; they had not done the kindnesses which they ought to have done. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, neither the priest nor the Levite did any harm to the wounded man, and yet they are severely condemned. They sinned against him grievously by not doing the things of love which he needed to have done for him. “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 90, 91, 92 Psalm 90 -- BOOK 4: Lord, you have been our dwelling place for all generations. NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 91 -- He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Psalm 92 -- It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Romans 11:1-21 Romans 11 -- The Remnant Chosen by Grace; Ingrafted Branches; All Israel Will Be Saved NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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