Dawn 2 Dusk Built on a Word That Will Not BreakAs the year winds down, it can feel like everything around us is moving and changing—opinions, trends, even what people call “truth.” Psalm 119:160 calmly stands in the middle of all that noise and says that God’s word, taken as a whole, is truth, and that His righteous judgments are not temporary; they last. That means Scripture is not a grab bag of inspirational sayings, but a complete, trustworthy foundation that will still be standing long after this year—and every other year—is gone. The Sum, Not Just the Snippets We love favorite verses. A line of comfort here, a promise there, something encouraging to post or memorize. But this psalm pushes us deeper: truth is found in the sum of God’s word. It is all of a piece. We are not safe if we cling to the comforting verses while quietly ignoring the ones that confront our sin, reset our priorities, or challenge our assumptions. The same God who says, “I am with you,” also says, “Repent,” and, “Deny yourself.” To believe Him is to receive all that He says, not just the parts that feel easy. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Notice He did not say God’s word is merely helpful or inspirational; He called it truth—the standard that changes us. When we come to Scripture, the question is not, “What parts feel true to me?” but, “Where must I bend, because this is God’s truth?” Letting the whole counsel of Scripture speak—Law and Gospel, warning and promise, command and comfort—is how we grow into a faith that will not collapse when life gets hard. Forever Means Forever The psalmist also says that all God’s righteous judgments “endure forever.” That means God’s standards do not expire with cultural trends or personal preferences. What He calls sin does not become acceptable because the majority approves it. What He calls good does not become optional because it is inconvenient. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). Everything else ages; His verdicts do not. Jesus echoed the same certainty: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35). When we feel pressure to soften what God says about holiness, sexuality, marriage, forgiveness, generosity, or truth-telling, this verse quietly insists: God has not changed His mind. His judgments are not cruel; they are righteous. They are the wise boundaries of a loving Creator who knows what leads to life and what leads to destruction. To stand with His Word—even when it costs us socially—is to stand with what will still be true a million years from now. Living Like His Word Is Really True If God’s entire word is truth and His judgments endure forever, then Scripture is not a side hobby; it is our lifeline. We do not read it merely to “get a thought for the day,” but to let God tell us what is real, what matters, and who we are. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for instruction, for conviction, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, fully equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Every page is breathed out by God for the purpose of shaping you into someone who actually does His will. That means opening the Bible expecting it to search you, not just soothe you. “For the word of God is living and active… It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). As this year closes, ask: Where has God’s Word been contradicting me, and I have been dodging it? Where is He calling me to trust His promise, even when my feelings protest? To live like His Word is really true is to repent quickly, obey promptly, and build our decisions, calendars, relationships, and hopes on what He has said—not what we or the world wish were true. Lord, thank You that Your Word is truth and that Your righteous judgments endure forever. Today, help me to submit every thought and choice to Scripture, and give me courage to live out what You say. Morning with A.W. Tozer The Danger of EloquenceThere are few things in religious circles held in greater esteem than eloquence. Yet there are few things of less actual value or that bring with them greater temptation or more harm. One qualification everyone expects a preacher to have is the ability to discourse fluently on almost any religious or moral subject. Yet such ability is at best a doubtful asset and unless brought to Christ for cleansing may easily turn out to be the greatest enemy the preacher faces here below. The man who finds that he is able to preach on a moment's notice should accept his ability as an obstacle over which he must try to get victory before he is at his best for God and His kingdom.
Music For the Soul Our Unrevealed FutureFor I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. - Romans 8:18 The fact of sonship makes us quite sure of the future. I am not concerned to appraise the relative value of the various arguments and proofs, or, it may be, presumptions, which may recommend the doctrine of a future life to men, but it seems to me that the strongest reasons for believing in another world are these two: first, that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and has gone up there; and, second, that a man here can pray and trust and love God, and feel that he is His child. We are the children of God now, and if we are children now, we shall be grown up some time. Childhood leads to maturity. The infant becomes a man. That is to say, he that here, in an infantile way, is stammering with his poor unskilled lips the name "Abba! Father! " will one day come to speak it fully. He that dimly trusts, he that partially loves, he that can lift up his heart in some more or less unworthy prayer and aspiration after God, in all these emotions and exercises, has the great proof in himself that such emotions, such relationship, can never be put an end to. The roots have gone down through the temporal, and have laid hold of the eternal. Anything seems to me to be more credible than that a man who can look up and say, " My Father! " shall be crushed by what befalls the mere outside of him; anything seems to me to be more believable than to suppose that the nature which is capable of these elevating emotions and aspirations of confidence and hope, which can know God and yearn after Him, and can love Him, is going to be wiped out like a microscopic insect by the finger of Death. The material has nothing to do with these feelings, and if I know myself, in however feeble and imperfect a degree, to be the son of God, I carry in the conviction the very pledge and seal of immortality, "That is a thought whose very sweetness yieldeth proof that it was born for immortality." "We are the sons of God," therefore we shall always be so, in all worlds, and whatsoever may become of this poor wrappage in which my soul dwells. The consciousness of belonging to another order of things, because I am God’s child, will make me sure that when I have done with earth, the tie that binds me to my Father will not be broken, but that I shall go home, where I shall be fully and for ever all that I so imperfectly began to be here, where all gaps in my character shall be filled up, and the half-completed circle of my heavenly perfectness shall grow like the crescent moon into full-orbed beauty. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Ecclesiastes 7:8 Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. Look at David's Lord and Master; see his beginning. He was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Would you see the end? He sits at his Father's right hand, expecting until his enemies be made his footstool. "As he is, so are we also in this world." You must bear the cross, or you shall never wear the crown; you must wade through the mire, or you shall never walk the golden pavement. Cheer up, then, poor Christian. "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." See that creeping worm, how contemptible its appearance! It is the beginning of a thing. Mark that insect with gorgeous wings, playing in the sunbeams, sipping at the flower bells, full of happiness and life; that is the end thereof. That caterpillar is yourself, until you are wrapped up in the chrysalis of death; but when Christ shall appear you shall be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Be content to be like him, a worm and no man, that like him you may be satisfied when you wake up in his likeness. That rough-looking diamond is put upon the wheel of the lapidary. He cuts it on all sides. It loses much--much that seemed costly to itself. The king is crowned; the diadem is put upon the monarch's head with trumpet's joyful sound. A glittering ray flashes from that coronet, and it beams from that very diamond which was just now so sorely vexed by the lapidary. You may venture to compare yourself to such a diamond, for you are one of God's people; and this is the time of the cutting process. Let faith and patience have their perfect work, for in the day when the crown shall be set upon the head of the King, Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, one ray of glory shall stream from you. "They shall be mine," saith the Lord, "in the day when I make up my jewels." "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof." Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Loved to PerfectionThis fact is essentially a promise; for what our LORD was He is, and what He was to those with whom He lived on earth, He will be to all His beloved so long as the moon endureth. "Having loved": here was the wonder! That He should ever have loved men at all is the marvel. What was there in His poor disciples that He should love them? What is there in me? But when He has once begun to love, it is His nature to continue to do so. Love made the saints "his own"--what a choice title! He purchased them with blood, and they became His treasure. Being His own, He will not lose them. Being His beloved, He will not cease to love them. My soul, He will not cease to love thee! The text is well as it stands: "to the end." Even till His death the ruling passion of love to His own reigned in His sacred bosom. It means also to the uttermost. He could not love them more: He gave Himself for them. Some read it, to perfection. Truly He lavished upon them a perfect love, in which there was no flaw nor failure, no unwisdom, no unfaithfulness. Such is the love of Jesus to each one of His people. Let us sing to our Well-beloved a song. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer A Friend Loveth at All TimesWhere shall we find such a friend? He that redeems from slavery, and delivers from bondage, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He that restores to the favour of the judge who condemned, or the Lord who delivered over to bondage, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He that admits to intimacy with himself, out of pure love, notwithstanding disparity of condition, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He who counsels in trouble, and gives the best advice in perplexity, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He who rescues from foes and renders their attempts to injure us abortive, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He who takes in the rejected and homeless, who clothes the naked and feeds the hungry is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He who exposes himself to pain, injury, insult, and death, to do us good, is such a friend - but Jesus has done this. He who expends all his property for our welfare, is such a friend - but Jesus did this. He who kindly reproves our faults in prosperity, and visits, comforts, and relieves in adversity, is such a friend - but Jesus does this. He who loves us through life, in death, and forever, is such a friend - but Jesus doth so. He is the friend who loveth at all times; changing scenes change not His affection. His friendship flows from purest love, and is founded in a perfect knowledge of our persons - wants - dispositions - and propensities; His friendship is maintained by infinite patience - boundless pity - and the prospect of our being glorified with Him forever. He knows our frame, consults our welfare, and is determined to do us good. He will not allow us to lose by any of His dispensations; but will increase our spiritual wealth by all means. The friendship of Jesus secures all good, and prevents all evil; He will never fail us nor forsake us. He commenced His friendship with a view to extend it through eternity; and it is the same at the close of the year as it was in the beginning. O Jesus! let us love Thee with pure affection - walk with Thee in sweetest friendship--and prove ourselves Thy friends in every place! Be thou our Friend--Counsellor--Brother--Lord--and God--in life, death, and forever. Amen. One there is, above all others, Well deserves the name of Friend : His is love beyond a brother’s, Costly, free, and knows no end : They who once His kindness prove, Find it everlasting love. Which, of all friends, to save us, could or would have shed his blood? But our Jesus died to have us Reconciled in Him to God! This was boundless love indeed, Jesus is a friend in need! Amen! Bible League: Living His Word "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."— Hosea 6:3 NIV When life goes on day to day with no extremes, it can be easy to ignore the Lord. But this passage calls us to something different. We should freely acknowledge that He matters to us and that He's the chief benefactor of our lives. After all, if He is what He says He is, you can't simply look past that. You have to acknowledge Him and give Him His due. Indeed, the Lord God of heaven and earth demands acknowledgment. Only fools say in their hearts, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). We should, in fact, do more than acknowledge the Lord. We should press on to acknowledge Him. We should make it the top priority of our lives. We should set aside everything else until we have done it properly. You court trouble when you ignore the Lord. If you really think He's not needed, then you've taken a stand on shaky ground. Pressing on to the full acknowledgement of the Lord, in contrast, moves life forward. The full acknowledgement of the Lord leads to the blessings of the Lord. When we acknowledge the Lord, when we press on to acknowledge Him, then as "surely as the sun rises He will appear." That is, He will show up in our lives and be everything one could expect from the Lord God of heaven and earth. The Bible says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you" (James 4:8). On the other hand, the Bible says, "if we disown him, he will also disown us" (2 Timothy 2:12). If we acknowledge the Lord, then He will "come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." He will come to us with abundant blessings. He will come to us with everything that we need to flourish in life, rather than perish. Today, then, let us surrender our pride and press on to acknowledge the Lord. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 Corinthians 1:8 who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.Colossians 1:21-23 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, • yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach-- • if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister. Philippians 2:15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 2 Peter 3:14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, Philippians 1:10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; Jude 1:24,25 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, • to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 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 He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.Insight Sometimes it is difficult to forgive those who wrong us. Imagine how hard it would be to forgive everyone, no matter what they had done! Challenge This is what God has done in Jesus. No one, no matter what he or she has done, is beyond forgiveness. All a person has to do is turn from his or her sin, receive Christ's forgiveness, and commit his or her life to him. Devotional Hours Within the Bible A Lesson on Forgiveness“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked: Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Perhaps no other lesson is harder to learn than to be forgiving. It never gets easy, to bear injury or wrong. Yet the lesson is essential. We can ask Divine forgiveness for our own sins only when we are ready to forgive those who sin against us. Jesus had been speaking to His disciples about forgiving others. He said that if anyone sin against us, we should first go and talk the matter over with him privately. Mutual explanations will likely settle the matter. It will be still better if the two kneel and pray together, before they begin to talk about their differences. If the matter cannot be settled between the two then one or two witnesses are to be taken along. If one man still remains implacable, the other has done his part. It was always Peter who spoke first, and when he heard the Master’s words, he asked Jesus how often his brother should sin against him and he forgive him. This question still troubles many people. In some people’s minds, patience quite soon ceases to be a virtue. If they have forgiven another two or three times they think they have really acted very generously. Peter supposed he was going to the very extreme of Christian forgiveness, when he suggested that seven times would be a good limit for Christ’s disciples. The rabbis said, “Forgive the first offense, the second, the third time; and punish the fourth time.” But the answer of Jesus showed that there should be no limit in our forgiveness. That is what seventy - seven means not any definite number, however great but infinitely. We are to forgive others as God forgives us, and He does not keep account of the number of times. He forgives all the multitude of our transgressions. The time never comes therefore when we may say: “I have exhausted the requirements of Christian love. I cannot forgive you anymore.” Jesus told a little story to illustrate and enforce His teaching. He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.” We must never forget that there will be a reckoning with God. We are told that on the last day, the books will be opened the books which record men’s acts, words, motives, dispositions, tempers. But we do not have to wait until the judgment day, to have these reckonings. But God reckons with us also as we go along in this world. He is constantly calling men to give account to Him. Sometimes the call is given by the preaching of the Word which convicts them of sin and makes them stand trembling before the bar of conscience. Sometimes it is by an affliction which compels men to stop and think of their relations to God, revealing to them their sinfulness. Sometimes it is by a deep searching of heart, produced by the Holy Spirit. There is no man who some time or other is not called, even in this present life, before God for a reckoning . The final reckoning is individual each one must stand before the judgment seat and give an account of his own life. Among the king’s servants “one was brought unto him that owed him ten thousand talents.” We need not trouble ourselves about the exact monetary equivalent of these figures. It is enough to know that the figures stand for our debt to God, and that this is immense and unpayable. This makes us think of sin as a debt. We owe to God perfect obedience in act, word, thought, and motive. Duty is what is due to God and the obligation is beyond computation. We may flatter ourselves that we are fairly good people, because we stand well in the community; but when we being to reckon with God the best of us will find that our debt to Him is of infinite magnitude! It was seen at once, that this servant had nothing to pay for his infinite debt. There was no possibility that he ever could make up the amount that he owed to his king. So it is with those who are called to make a reckoning with God. There is no possibility that they can ever make up to Him their enormous debt. Many people imagine that in some way, they can get clear of their guilt though they do not try to know how. Some suppose they can do it by tears of repentance ; but being sorry that we are in debt does not cancel the debt. Some imagine that because their sins do not trouble them anymore, therefore the debt has been overlooked. But forgetting that we owe a man a thousand dollars will not release us from our debt to him. We are hopelessly in debt to God and have nothing with which to pay. If the law had been enforced, the servant would have been sold into slavery, along with his wife and family and all that he had. But this servant came to his king and begged for time. “Be patient with me and I will pay back everything.” This appeal to the king touched his generous heart. “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” This is a picture of the Divine forgiveness. We never can pay the enormous debt we owe to God but His infinite mercy is sufficient to wipe it all away. Bankrupt people sometimes pay so many cents on the dollar, and are allowed by their creditors to go free. But that is not the way God forgives. He does not require anything on our part, because we have nothing to give. We are justified freely by His grace. One would think that this servant, after being forgiven such an enormous debt, would have gone out with a heart kindly disposed toward all men. But the reverse was the case. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.” He had forgotten how much he had been forgiven. A little while ago he was at his master’s feet, pleading for time and for patience. But the memory of this wonderful forgiveness, had failed to soften his heart. What his servant owed him was a mere trifle in comparison with his infinite debt to the king yet he demanded payment and refused to show mercy. How is it with us ? This morning we knelt at God’s feet, implored His forgiveness, and received from Him the assurance that all our sins were blotted out. Then we went out, and someone said a sharp word to us, or did something to irritate s, or injured us in some way. How did we treat our fellow who did these little wrongs to us? Did we extend to him the same patience and mercy that God had shown to us in the morning? Soon again the servant was before his king. His harsh treatment of his fellow servant had been reported. Very stern was the judgment the unforgiving man now heard: “You wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt… should not you also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?” The king was right in his severe censure. The man who had received such kindness at his hand should certainly have been kind to his neighbor who had wronged him in such a little matter. An old Spanish writer says, “To return evil for good is devilish; to return good for good is human; to return good for evil is godlike.” Jesus makes the application of His parable very plain: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.” This does not mean that God actually revokes the forgiveness He has once granted. In fact, the person who acts thus never has been truly forgiven at all. “If you get pardon from God you will give it to your brother; if you withhold it from your brother you thereby make it manifest that you have not received it from God.” Thus we are brought face to face with a most definite practical teaching which we dare not ignore. Have we the forgiving spirit? An old proverb says, “Revenge is sweet!” But this is not true. “The unforgiving spirit is a root of bitterness from which there springs a tree whose leaves are poisonous, and whose fruit, carrying in it the seeds of fresh evil, is death to all who taste it!” Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingZechariah 13, 14 Zechariah 13 -- The Fountain of Cleansing for Jerusalem; Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Zechariah 14 -- The Destroyers of Jerusalem Destroyed; The Lord shall be king over all the earth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Revelation 21 Revelation 21 -- The New Heaven and Earth; The New Jerusalem NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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