Dawn 2 Dusk Steady Steps in a Shaking WorldSome days feel like you’re just reacting—another email, another crisis, another unexpected twist. Psalm 37:23 reminds us that, for the one who belongs to the Lord, none of this is random. Our steps are not left to chance; they are upheld, arranged, and steadied by a God who is personally involved and deeply pleased to guide us. This means even the ordinary Tuesday errands and the life‑altering decisions are under His careful, loving hand. God Plans the Path Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are ordered by the LORD, who takes delight in his journey.” This is not a cold, mechanical control; it is a Father’s joyful oversight. God is not merely tolerating you as He directs your way—He delights in your journey. When your heart is surrendered to Him, your life is not a string of accidents; it is a path He has thoughtfully laid out, step by step. Even when you feel stuck or behind, He is not confused or late. This truth harmonizes with Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” Plan, yes. Think, prepare, and be responsible—but do it with an open hand. As you submit your calendar, dreams, and fears to Him, you can rest knowing that His sovereignty stands over every detail. He is weaving your story into “good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10). He is not improvising; He is fulfilling a wise design. Walking Even When You Can’t See God’s ordering of your steps does not mean you always see five years ahead. Often, you barely see the next twenty-four hours. That’s by design. The Lord calls you to trust, not to omniscience. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). A lamp lights the next few steps, not the whole highway. The question is not, “Do I see the whole plan?” but, “Will I obey the next clear step He’s given?” This is where faith turns from theory to practice. Maybe you don’t know where your job is heading, how a relationship will resolve, or what the outcome of a diagnosis will be. But you do know this: “We know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). You keep walking in obedience today—telling the truth, forgiving, serving, praying—because you trust that a faithful God is ahead of you, arranging what you cannot yet see. Delighting the One Who Directs Your Steps If God delights in our journey, how do we respond? We learn to delight in His will. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” As you enjoy Him—His presence, His Word, His ways—He reshapes your desires so that His path is no longer a burden, but a joy. Surrender stops feeling like loss and starts feeling like alignment with what you were made for. This doesn’t mean the path is painless, but it is purposeful. Philippians 1:6 encourages us: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God did not redeem you to leave you wandering. Every step of obedience—small acts of faithfulness that no one else sees—is part of His completing work in you. Today, you can get up, trust Him, and intentionally choose, “Lord, I want my next step to please You,” knowing that He is already at work directing your way. Lord, thank You for ordering my steps and delighting in my journey. Today, help me to trust Your leading and to obey the next step You show me, that my walk would bring joy to Your heart. Morning with A.W. Tozer A Career and ChristIt is a beautiful New Testament story that tells us of Lydia of Philippi, a career woman in her own right, long before there were laws and proclamations to set women free. A seller of purple, Lydia traveled to the market of her day, and undoubtedly she had found freedom and satisfaction in that era when women were not counted at all. But Lydia heard the Apostle Paul tell of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Lord opened her heart. In Christ she found an eternal answer, which career and position had never been able to give. Now, about conditions today. Our society has set women free to be just as bad as the men-and just as miserable. We have set them free to swear and curse and to set their own morals. Politically, women are now free to vote just as blindly as the men do. But I hope women today will find what Lydia found: that their careers will lack the word "eternal" until they find their answer in the eternal Christ, our Lord Jesus! Music For the Soul The Need of a Divine RevelationYe search the Scriptures because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of Me. - John 5:39 We want another than our own voice to lay down the law of conduct, and to accuse and condemn the breaches of it. Conscience is not a wholly reliable guide, nor either an impartial nor an all-knowing judge. Unconsciousness of evil is not innocence. It is not the purest of women that "wipes her mouth and says, I have done no harm." My conscience says to me, "It is wrong to do wrong"; but when I say to my conscience, "Yes, and pray what is wrong?" there is a large variety of answers possible. A man may sophisticate his conscience, and bribe his conscience, and throttle his conscience, and sear his conscience. And so the man that is worst, who, therefore, ought to be most chastised by his conscience, has most immunity from it; and where, if it is to be of use, it ought to be most powerful, there it is weakest. What then? Why this, then - a standard that varies is not a standard; men are left with a leaden rule. My conscience, your conscience, is like the standard measures which we at present possess, which by their very names - foot, hand-breath, nail, and the like - tell us that they were originally but the length of one man’s limb. And so your measure of right and wrong, and another man’s measure, though they may substantially correspond, yet have differences due to your differences of education, character, and a thousand other things. So that the individual man’s standard needs to be rectified. You have to send all the weights and measures up to the Tower now and then, to get them stamped and certified. And, as I believe, this fluctuation of our moral judgments shows the need for a fixed pattern and firm, unchangeable standard, external to our mutable selves. A light on deck which pitches with the pitching ship is no guide. It must flash from a white pillar founded on a rock and immovable amid the restless waves. Our need of such a standard raises a strong presumption that a good God will give us what we need, if He can. Such a standard He has given, as I believe, in the revelation of Himself which lies in this book of God, and culminates in the life and character of Jesus Christ our Lord. There, and by that, we can set our watches. There we can read the law of morality, and by our deflections from it we can measure the amount of our guilt. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Psalm 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee. Care, even though exercised upon legitimate objects, if carried to excess, has in it the nature of sin. The precept to avoid anxious care is earnestly inculcated by our Saviour, again and again; it is reiterated by the apostles; and it is one which cannot be neglected without involving transgression: for the very essence of anxious care is the imagining that we are wiser than God, and the thrusting ourselves into his place to do for him that which he has undertaken to do for us. We attempt to think of that which we fancy he will forget; we labor to take upon ourselves our weary burden, as if he were unable or unwilling to take it for us. Now this disobedience to his plain precept, this unbelief in his Word, this presumption in intruding upon his province, is all sinful. Yet more than this, anxious care often leads to acts of sin. He who cannot calmly leave his affairs in God's hand, but will carry his own burden, is very likely to be tempted to use wrong means to help himself. This sin leads to a forsaking of God as our counsellor, and resorting instead to human wisdom. This is going to the "broken cistern" instead of to the "fountain;" a sin which was laid against Israel of old. Anxiety makes us doubt God's lovingkindness, and thus our love to him grows cold; we feel mistrust, and thus grieve the Spirit of God, so that our prayers become hindered, our consistent example marred, and our life one of self-seeking. Thus want of confidence in God leads us to wander far from him; but if through simple faith in his promise, we cast each burden as it comes upon him, and are "careful for nothing" because he undertakes to care for us, it will keep us close to him, and strengthen us against much temptation. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee." Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Commonest Things BlessedWhat a promise is this! To serve God is in itself a high delight. But what an added privilege to have the blessing of the LORD resting upon us in all things! Our commonest things become blessed when we ourselves are consecrated to the LORD. Our LORD Jesus took bread and blessed it; behold, we also eat of blessed bread. Jesus blessed water and made it wine: the water which we drink is far better to us than any of the wine with which men make merry; every drop has a benediction in it. The divine blessing is on the man of God in everything, and it shall abide with him at every time. What if we have only bread and water! Yet it is blessed bread and water. Bread and water we shall have. That is implied, for it must be there for God to bless it. "Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy waters shall be sure." With God at our table, we not only ask a blessing, but we have one. It is not only at the altar but at the table that He blesses us. He serves those well who serve Him well. This table blessing is not of debt but of grace. Indeed, there is a trebled grace; He grants us grace to serve Him, by His grace feeds us with bread, and then in His grace blesses it. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Let a Man Examine HimselfTHIS is necessary, that we may know upon what we are resting; and whether we are growing or declining. Let us examine this morning upon what foundation we are building for eternal life, and from what does our hope arise? What is the source of our satisfaction, pleasure, and peace? What do we possess to prove the reality of our religion? Have we been quickened by the Holy Spirit? Is Christ our life, and is He living in us? Are we enlightened to see sin, in its nature, character, and actings? Have we living faith which receives Christ, believes His word, and lives to Him? Have we a good hope through grace? Is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost? Do we love God because He first loved us, and walk with Him in peace and holiness? Have we the earnest and witness of the Spirit in our hearts? Are we conflicting with sin, and praying to be delivered from it, as from a tyrant, a plague, the most fearful evil? Let us examine carefully, deliberately, prayerfully; taking God’s word for our rule and guide. Let us prove our own work, so shall we have rejoicing in ourselves alone, and not in others. Searcher of hearts! oh, search me still; The secrets of my soul reveal; My fears remove: let me appear To God and my own conscience clear: Each evidence of grace impart, And deeply sanctify my heart! Bible League: Living His Word Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. — 2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV Imagine being in a remote village surrounded by natural beauty and no access to TVs, radios, or the internet. Shut yourself out from all the preaching, teaching, and evangelism you get from the television, crusades, conferences, and seminars. If you started with reading this book, The Bible, and then compared what you read with what you see in Christianity today, would it thrill you or disturb you? Do you see similarity in the faith of the early Christians and today's Christians? Are we more like Christ today or were the disciples in the Bible more like Christ than us? I hope you see a committed people who got so excited when they knew that their sins were forgiven, that they were now reconciled to God and made citizens of heaven. They were so excited to experience a brand-new life that was totally free from the power of sin, and they eagerly wanted to get this Good News out into all the world. This world's idea of success, position, possessions, and pleasures didn't matter so much anymore. They encouraged one another, teaching people to have faith in Christ; they shared all things with each other so that nobody lacked anything, and nobody had an excess of anything and called such a gathering "a church." There was a noticeable difference between the people who professed to be Christians and the people of the world. This is the ideal. Unfortunately, today, people prefer "listening" and "watching" rather than reading the Word of God and meditating on it for themselves. Today, it's easy to be swayed by popular preachers and their interpretations, but Paul reminds us not to idolize them. Instead, we should rely on the same source they do: the Word of God. When Christ returns, titles and positions won't matter; we'll all stand as equals before Him. In a church, when believers get together, the one thing that should really stand out is love for one another. Jesus said, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). The early believers were marked by their humility and commitment to one another, sharing everything and spreading the Gospel fervently. They lived lives distinct from the world, attracting attention for their radical love and unity. But today, there's often little difference between the church and the world. If we, proclaiming to be Christ-followers, blend into the darkness, how can we expect to dispel it? Yet, amidst this, there are still genuine believers—the true Church—who shine brightly in the darkness. Believing in Christ is not only an "intellectual" understanding of Jesus as the son of God who came and died on the cross for our sins, and who rose again. On the contrary, it is fully understanding the purpose of His death and resurrection, and wholly relying on His finished work for our peace, provision, spiritual health, abundant life here, and eternal life ahead. It is about walking in the newness of life. "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4). So, let us examine ourselves. Are we truly walking in faith? Are our beliefs and actions aligned with the Word of God? Let's prioritize personal time with God, diving into His Word daily and communing with Him in prayer. This intimate relationship with Christ is paramount—far more needful than attending church events or programs. I encourage you to strive for holiness and run as if to win the race, so that we may approach His throne of grace with boldness and confidence. By Santosh Chandran, Bible League International staff, New Zealand Daily Light on the Daily Path Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord,1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. John 10:14,27, 28 "I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, • "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; • and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. Psalm 23:1-3 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. • He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. • He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Isaiah 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. Ezekiel 34:16 "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment. 1 Peter 2:25 For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls. 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 This vision is for a future time.It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. Insight Evil and injustice seem to have the upper hand in the world. Like Habakkuk, Christians often feel angry and discouraged as they see what goes on. Habakkuk complained vigorously to God about the situation. God's answer to Habakkuk is the same answer he would give us: “Be patient! I will work out my plans in my perfect timing.” Challenge It isn't easy to be patient, but it helps to remember that God hates sin even more than we do. Punishment of sin will certainly come. As God told Habakkuk, “Wait patiently.” To trust God fully means to trust him even when we don't understand why events occur as they do. Devotional Hours Within the Bible The Birth of JesusNot much is told in secular history, about the period in which the event of the birth of Jesus belongs. It is said, however, that there are distinct traces that such a census as Luke describes took place. The great emperor commanded that an enrollment of all the world should be made. The emperor did not know when he issued this decree, that long before he was born, there had gone forth another decree from a more glorious King, which unwittingly he was now helping to execute. It had been written by the prophet under divine inspiration, that the Messiah should be born in Bethlehem. But Joseph and Mary were living at Nazareth, a long distance from Bethlehem. How would they be brought to Bethlehem, so as to fulfill the prophecy? They had no business there. Now comes the emperor’s decree which requires them to appear in the town of David to be enrolled. The birth of this King did not have about it the glamour which usually marks the birth of earthly royalty. He was born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, after the fashion of the children of poverty, and slept His first sleep in a feeding trough. It is pleasant for us to think that our Savior knows all the phases of human life by experience. He looks upon the baby in the mother’s arms with a peculiar interest, for He Himself was once a baby. Many children are born in poverty, and sometimes they think their lot is hard that they have not a fair chance in this world. But here is Jesus, the Son of God, beginning His life in poverty, and therefore He can sympathize with them. The shepherds out in the fields were especially favored that night. While they were keeping watch over their flock, an angel stood by them, and a divine splendor shone about them. Their occupation was lowly but they were faithful in it, and thus honor came to them. If we would have angels visit us, we must stay at our post of duty, no matter how lowly it is. Angels never come to people who are ashamed of their calling or too indolent to be diligent at their proper tasks. The shepherds did not seem to have an easy way of living. They were poor, and had to stay out of doors all night, guarding their sheep. The people in the fine houses, no doubt, if they thought at all of these poor men, thought they had a hard time of it, and pitied them because of their poverty and hardship. The shepherds themselves, it may be, envied the people who lived in the big houses and did not have to work and stay out nights. At least some people in these days whose lot is in the lowly places are envious of those who are rich. But we may be sure that the Bethlehem shepherds were never sorry afterwards, that they had to be out in the field that night. Think what they would have missed if, because of discontent or of self-indulgence, any of them had stayed away from their post. They would not have seen the angels, nor would they have heard the good tidings that came, nor have looked upon the wonderful Child. We need to watch, lest sometimes we miss blessings, by being absent from our place of duty. Then sometimes the place of blessing may not be in a prayer meeting but in a field or in a shop or at home, doing some lowly task-work. We do not know where the place of honor and privilege in this world may be. We may be sure, however, that it will always be in the place of duty . The message the angel brought was a glad one. “I bring you good news of great joy.” Never before had such tidings come to this world. Wherever the gospel now goes it bears the good news. To the soul struggling with temptation, it whispers the assurance of victory. To those crushed in defeat it speaks of hope, saying, “You may rise again, and yet attain a beautiful and noble life!” To those who are sitting in sorrow it brings comfort, telling of the compassion of God. The good tidings were indeed wonderful. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” This was the announcement of the most marvelous fact in all the world’s history. It was not an unusual thing for a baby to be born thousands of infants were born that same night throughout the world. It was not a strange thing that the baby was born in a stable in the East such an occurrence was not unusual. The wonderful thing was that this child was the Son of God. He was the anointed Messiah He was divine. That the glorious God should thus enter human life as a little child was the marvelous thing. The angel told the shepherds how they would know the Child when they found Him. “You shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a feeding trough.” They would not find the Baby robed in purple garments, like the child of a prince but wrapped in swaddling clothes, a child of poverty. They would not find Him sleeping in a palace but in a stable. Thus the very authentications of the divine character and mission of this Child, were the tokens of poverty and humiliation. We see what empty things are the world’s marks of greatness. When Christ came, He disregarded all the emblems of rank by which men indicate greatness, and wore the insignia of poverty and humiliation. Yet, was He less great because He did not bear the world’s stamp of greatness? Greatness is in the character, never in the dress or the circumstances. Do not worry about wearing a crown make sure that you are worthy of a crown. This mark of the infant Messiah shows us also how Christ touched the lowliest places of life, began among the poorest and plainest of the people. He went down and started at the foot of the ladder, that He might understand our life and know how to help us in the best way. Earth paid small heed to the advent of the glorious King but heaven failed not to honor Him even in His humiliation. His birth made no stir in the world’s high places but heaven’s angels came and sang their songs of praise. These holy messengers were intensely interested in the great work of redemption on which the Messiah was then entering. We are told that the angels “desire to look into” (see 1 Peter 1:12) the strange mystery of redeeming love. We know that there is joy in the presence of the angels, when one sinner is saved. We are told further that the angels are as “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). The glimpses we have in the Bible of angels at their everyday work, show them always busy in services on behalf of God’s children. This ministry has not ceased. Angels’ visits are not “rare,” as we sometimes say. The coming of Christ brought peace: “On earth, peace.” Peace is one of the great words in the Bible. The coming of Christ to this world to live and suffer and die for our redemption, was one of God’s thoughts of peace toward us, the most wonderful of them all. It shows how much God loves us, and what He is willing to do and to sacrifice in order to make peace for us. Christ made peace for us first by bearing our sins, putting them away, that we might come to God and find forgiveness. Then from the cross went forth the proclamation, offering peace to all who would accept it. Paul says, “Being therefore justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). If we study the conduct of the shepherds, we shall find an illustration of very simple faith. They said one to another, “Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing!” They did not propose to go to see if what the angel had told them was true but to see the thing which the angel told them they should see. They were so sure that they would find the Babe in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, that they at once went into the town to begin their search. It would be well for us if we had faith as simple, expecting always to find just what God tells us we shall find. We might suppose, after seeing all that the shepherds saw that night the vision of the angels and the infant Messiah they would be too full of ecstasy to think of returning to their own lowly task work at once, at least. We would have been disposed to excuse them if they had not returned to their sheep. Even Peter was once so enraptured with the splendor of the Transfiguration that he begged to be allowed to stay there, beholding the wondrous vision of the mountain. At that very moment, however, human sorrow was waiting at the mountain’s foot for the Master’s coming, and the rapture of communion with God, must be exchanged for the commonplace of duty. The highest, holiest place for us is always the place of duty. Where their task waited for them these shepherds must go. The joy of communion with God must never detain us from life’s common task work. We cannot keep the rapture of devotion if we neglect the routine of lowly service. Worship was meant to fit us for better work, not to make us less ready for our lowly tasks. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Chronicles 17, 18, 19 1 Chronicles 17 -- God's Promise and David's Prayer in Response NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Chronicles 18 -- David Strengthens His Kingdom NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Chronicles 19 -- The Battle against Ammon and Aram NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading John 10:1-21 John 10 -- Parable of the Good Shepherd; Belief and Unbelief of the Jews NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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