Morning, February 28
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Bible League: Living His Word
For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

What are your eyes fixed upon---the seen or the unseen, the trouble or the glory? The Apostle Paul does not literally mean we should "fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen." That would be, obviously, impossible. What he means is that we should direct our lives toward a goal which cannot be seen. What goal is that? The goal is the complete fulfillment of our salvation. The goal is to become legal residents of the New Jerusalem and the Kingdom of God that shall be fully revealed in the future. This includes the mansion Jesus is preparing for us in his Father's house (John 14:2), which is itself located in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2-3). All this is the priceless inheritance which is now being kept in heaven for us (I Peter 1:4), but shall one day descend to earth (Revelation 21:2). These things cannot be seen now, but one day we will see them and they shall last forever.

Our lives should be directed to this goal and, as a consequence, we should not "look at the troubles we can see now." Obviously, if we see them we have looked at them. What Paul means is that we should not pay them so much attention that we allow them to keep our lives from being directed toward the goal that "vastly outweighs them." These temporary troubles have been designed by the enemy to keep us from the goal. Although at present they seem large, in comparison to the eternal goal, they are small. We should not direct our lives toward the alleviation of these troubles at the expense of our eternal reward.

When you are troubled by the troubles you are going through, remember what they are doing for you. They are producing the glory of the future goal. You cannot see it yet, but your inheritance in heaven has been increasing in glory.

Bible in a Year
Old Testament Reading
Numbers 22, 23, 24


Numbers 22 -- Balak Sends for Balaam; Balaam and the Angel

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Numbers 23 -- The Prophecies of Balaam

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Numbers 24 -- The Prophecy from Peor

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New Testament Reading
Mark 8:1-21


Mark 8 -- Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand, Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida; Peter's Confession of Christ

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Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.
Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion
Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
        you forgive them all.
Insight
Although we may feel overwhelmed by the multitude of our sins, God will forgive them all if we ask sincerely.
Challenge
Do you feel as though God could never forgive you, that your sins are too many, or that some of them are too great? The good news is that God can and will forgive them all. Nobody is beyond redemption, and nobody is so full of sin that he or she cannot be made clean.
Morning and Evening by Spurgeon
Psalm 62:5  My expectation is from him.

It is the believer's privilege to use this language. If he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor "expectation" indeed. But if he looks to God for the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual blessings, his "expectation" will not be a vain one. Constantly he may draw from the bank of faith, and get his need supplied out of the riches of God's lovingkindness. This I know, I had rather have God for my banker than all the Rothschilds. My Lord never fails to honor his promises; and when we bring them to his throne, he never sends them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at his door, for he ever opens it with the hand of munificent grace. At this hour I will try him anew. But we have "expectations" beyond this life. We shall die soon; and then our "expectation is from him." Do we not expect that when we lie upon the bed of sickness he will send angels to carry us to his bosom? We believe that when the pulse is faint, and the heart heaves heavily, some angelic messenger shall stand and look with loving eyes upon us, and whisper, "Sister spirit, come away!" As we approach the heavenly gate, we expect to hear the welcome invitation, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." We are expecting harps of gold and crowns of glory; we are hoping soon to be amongst the multitude of shining ones before the throne; we are looking forward and longing for the time when we shall be like our glorious Lord--for "We shall see him as he is." Then if these be thine "expectations," O my soul, live for God; live with the desire and resolve to glorify him from whom cometh all thy supplies, and of whose grace in thy election, redemption, and calling, it is that thou hast any "expectation" of coming glory.

Daily Light on the Daily Path
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.

2 Corinthians 5:18-21  Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, • namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. • Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. • He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

1 John 4:8-11  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. • By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. • 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. • Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

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.

Evening February 27
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