Bible League: Living His Word Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said that His disciples should keep watch and should pray (Matthew 26:40-41). He knew that Satan was about to come and His suffering was about to begin. He knew that His disciples would be tested by everything that was about to happen. They needed to be ready. They needed to keep watch and to pray so that they would be able to stand in the time of trial. Like the disciples of old, Christians need to keep watch and we need to pray. We need to stay sober-minded so that we will be ready to handle whatever comes our way. We need to keep watch so that we will not be caught by surprise. We can't just waltz through life in blissful ignorance of its true state of affairs. This does not mean that we should walk through life in abject fear of the future, but it does mean that we must be ready for anything. We need to be ready because Satan is still prowling around like a roaring lion and he is still looking for someone to devour. He creates the trials, troubles, and tribulations of life as a means to snatch us from the flock of Jesus Christ and swallow us whole. He knows that the troubles of life will test us to the limit and cause us to question everything we believe. Like a lion on the prowl, he will stalk us by trying to sneak up on us. We must be ready when he pounces. We must not fall into the trap of thinking that it's just us that must be ready. We must not fall into the trap of self-pity. It's not just us. Every Christian must stay awake, stand watch, and pray. Every Christian throughout the world, more or less, is attacked by Satan with trials and troubles. If we keep watch, if we are ready, then we will be in a better position to resist Satan when he makes his move against us. We will be in a better position to use our faith and thwart him when he springs into action. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingPsalm 119:105-176 Psalm 119 -- Blessed are those whose ways are blameless NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Corinthians 5 1 Corinthians 5 -- Expel the Wicked Man NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end.Insight Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, disowned by another, and deserted by all of them for a time. Still, he “loved them to the very end.” God knows us completely, as Jesus knew his disciples. Challenge He knows the sins we have committed and the ones we will yet commit. Still, he loves us. How do you respond to that kind of love? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Isaiah 65:19 The voice of weeping shall be no more heard.The glorified weep no more, for all outward causes of grief are gone. There are no broken friendships, nor blighted prospects in heaven. Poverty, famine, peril, persecution, and slander, are unknown there. No pain distresses, no thought of death or bereavement saddens. They weep no more, for they are perfectly sanctified. No "evil heart of unbelief" prompts them to depart from the living God; they are without fault before his throne, and are fully conformed to his image. Well may they cease to mourn who have ceased to sin. They weep no more, because all fear of change is past. They know that they are eternally secure. Sin is shut out, and they are shut in. They dwell within a city which shall never be stormed; they bask in a sun which shall never set; they drink of a river which shall never dry; they pluck fruit from a tree which shall never wither. Countless cycles may revolve, but eternity shall not be exhausted, and while eternity endures, their immortality and blessedness shall co-exist with it. They are forever with the Lord. They weep no more, because every desire is fulfilled. They cannot wish for anything which they have not in possession. Eye and ear, heart and hand, judgment, imagination, hope, desire, will, all the faculties, are completely satisfied; and imperfect as our present ideas are of the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, yet we know enough, by the revelation of the Spirit, that the saints above are supremely blessed. The joy of Christ, which is an infinite fulness of delight, is in them. They bathe themselves in the bottomless, shoreless sea of infinite beatitude. That same joyful rest remains for us. It may not be far distant. Ere long the weeping willow shall be exchanged for the palm-branch of victory, and sorrow's dewdrops will be transformed into the pearls of everlasting bliss. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." Daily Light on the Daily Path Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.2 Thessalonians 2:13,14 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. • It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Timothy 1:9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, Psalm 139:16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 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. |
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