Dawn 2 Dusk Joy That Straightens the HeartThere are days when God’s commands can feel like guardrails on a narrow, winding road—necessary, but maybe a bit restrictive. Yet Psalm 19:8 tells a very different story. It shows us that the Lord’s instructions are not heavy chains, but a straight path that actually gladdens the heart and brightens our vision. Today, let this verse reframe how you see God’s Word: not as a cold rulebook, but as a warm, life-giving light that makes sense of a confusing world and a restless soul. God’s Precepts: Straight Paths, Glad Hearts “The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart…” (Psalm 19:8). When God says His precepts are “right,” He doesn’t just mean morally correct; He means they are straight, reliable, and aligned with reality as He designed it. Our culture tells us that joy comes from doing whatever we want, whenever we want. But that path is crooked; it twists, disappoints, and eventually breaks us. God’s path, by contrast, is straight—and the surprise is that this straightness is what produces deep, durable joy. Think of how many times disobedience has promised happiness but delivered regret. Scripture says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Not burdensome. That means when we finally surrender our definition of freedom and receive His, our hearts discover a joy that vagueness and compromise never give. Joy is not found at the edge of God’s boundaries, but in the center of His will. Radiant Commands for Dim Eyes “…the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes” (Psalm 19:8). Think about how often life feels like a dark room—unclear motives, confusing decisions, mixed messages from the world. God’s commands do not just inform; they illuminate. They aren’t dull, gray rules. They shine. They reveal what is really there: the traps of sin, the beauty of holiness, the way forward when we’re stuck in moral fog. Jesus echoed this when He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). Notice the link: follow His ways, and you don’t walk in the dark. Obedience is not blind; disobedience is blind. The more we bring our decisions under what God has clearly commanded—about truth, purity, forgiveness, money, sexuality, worship—the more the “eyes of our hearts” begin to see sharply. What once felt complicated starts to separate into light and darkness, wisdom and folly. Loving the Light Enough to Live in It If God’s Word is so joyful and radiant, why do we still hesitate to obey? Part of us still believes the old lie that life outside His boundaries is more exciting. But Romans 12:2 calls us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you can test and prove what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God”. Notice those words: good, pleasing, perfect. God is not asking you to trade joy for drudgery; He is inviting you to discover that real joy is found in trusting Him more than you trust yourself. Today, try making this very practical. Where is one specific area you’ve been ignoring what God has clearly said? Maybe it’s bitterness you’re hanging onto, compromise in what you watch, how you speak, or how you handle truth. Bring that one place under the radiant command of God. Confess it, turn from it, and step onto the “right” path. As you do, expect this promise to prove true: His precepts will bring joy to your heart, and His commandments will give light to your eyes. Lord, thank You that Your Word is right, joyful, and radiant. Today, help me not just to admire Your commands but to obey them, walking in Your light so others can see Your goodness through my life. Morning with A.W. Tozer What We Are and What We Can BeRemember, we are compared with what we could be, not just what we should be. God being who He is, and Jesus Christ being His risen and all-powerful Son, anything we ought to be we can be. Anything that God has declared that we should be we can be. In the wonderful book of Romans, perhaps the greatest and most profound book in the Bible, 7 tells us of a man who is struggling and wanting to be something that he feels he cannot be. Finally he gives up and says, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (verse 24). Immediately, Paul says, "Thanks be to God! . . . because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death" (25; 8:2). In Galatians 5:22-23 we read, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." That is what we ought to be and what we can be. Now compare that with what we are.
Music For the Soul Divine WisdomIf any of you lacketh wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not. - James 1:5 What does James mean by "wisdom"? He means the sum of practical religion. With him, as with the Psalmist, sin and foil are two names for the same thing, and so are religion and wisdom. He, and only he, has wisdom who knows God with a living heart-knowledge which gives a just insight into the facts of life and the bounds of right and wrong, and which regulates conduct and shapes the whole man with power far beyond that of knowledge, however wide and deep, illuminating intellect, however powerful. "Knowledge" is poor and superficial in comparison with this wisdom, which may roughly be said to be equivalent to practical religion. The use of this expression to indicate the greatest deficiency in the average Christian character just suggests this thought, that if we had a clear, constant, certain God-regarding insight into things as they are, we should lack little. Because, if a man habitually kept vividly before him the thought of God, and with it the true nature and obligation and blessedness of righteous-loving obedience, and the true foulness and fatalness of sin - if he saw these with the clearness and the continuity with which we may all see the things that are unseen and eternal; if he " saw life steadily, and saw it whole "; if he saw the rottenness and the shallowness of earthly things and temptations, and if he saw the blessed issue of every God-pleasing act - why! the perfecting of conduct would be secured. It would be an impossibility for him, with all that illumination blazing in upon him, not to walk in the paths of righteousness with a glad and serene heart. I do not believe that all sin is a consequence of ignorance, but I do believe that our average Christian life would be revolutionized if we each carried clear before us, and continually subjected our lives to the influence of, the certain verities of God’s Word. The thing that we want most is clearer and more vivid conceptions of the realities of the Christian revelation and of the facts of human life. These will act as tests, and up will start in his own shape the fiend that is whispering at our ears, when touched by the spear of this Divine wisdom. So here is our root deficiency; therefore, instead of confining ourselves to trying to cure isolated and specific faults, or to attain isolated and specific virtues, let us go deeper down, and realise that the more our whole natures are submitted to the power of God’s truth, and of the realities of the future and of the present, of Time and Eternity, the nearer shall we come to being " perfect and entire," lacking nothing. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening 1 John 4:13 We dwell in him. Do you want a house for your soul? Do you ask, "What is the purchase?" It is something less than proud human nature will like to give. It is without money and without price. Ah! you would like to pay a respectable rent! You would love to do something to win Christ? Then you cannot have the house, for it is "without price." Will you take my Master's house on a lease for all eternity, with nothing to pay for it, nothing but the ground-rent of loving and serving him forever? Will you take Jesus and "dwell in him?" See, this house is furnished with all you want, it is filled with riches more than you will spend as long as you live. Here you can have intimate communion with Christ and feast on his love; here are tables well-stored with food for you to live on forever; in it, when weary, you can find rest with Jesus; and from it you can look out and see heaven itself. Will you have the house? Ah! if you are houseless, you will say, "I should like to have the house; but may I have it?" Yes; there is the key--the key is, "Come to Jesus." "But," you say, "I am too shabby for such a house." Never mind; there are garments inside. If you feel guilty and condemned, come; and though the house is too good for you, Christ will make you good enough for the house by-and-by. He will wash you and cleanse you, and you will yet be able to sing, "We dwell in him." Believer: thrice happy art thou to have such a dwelling-place! Greatly privileged thou art, for thou hast a "strong habitation" in which thou art ever safe. And "dwelling in him," thou hast not only a perfect and secure house, but an everlasting one. When this world shall have melted like a dream, our house shall live, and stand more imperishable than marble, more solid than granite, self-existent as God, for it is God himself--"We dwell in him." Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Cure for EnvyWhen we see the wicked prosper we are apt to envy them. When we hear the noise of their mirth and our own spirit is heavy, we half think that they have the best of it. This is foolish and sinful. If we knew them better, and specially if we remembered their end, we should pity them. The cure for envy lies in living under a constant sense of the divine presence, worshiping God and communing with Him all the day long, however long the day may seem. True religion lifts the soul into a higher region, where the judgment becomes more clear and the desires are more elevated. The more of heaven there is in our lives, the less of earth we shall covet. The fear of God casts out envy of men. The deathblow of envy is a calm consideration of the future. The wealth and glory of the ungodly are a vain show. This pompous appearance flashes out for an hour and then is extinguished. What is the prosperous sinner the better for his prosperity when judgment overtakes him? As for the godly man, his end is peace and blessedness, and none can rob him of his joy; wherefore, let him forgo envy and be filled with sweet content. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer Pray Without CeasingIN prayer we must approach God as a Father, ask of Him what we really need, and expect to receive according to His wisdom and word. Our wants are constantly returning, therefore our prayers should be constantly ascending. The ear of God is always open. He is ever ready to listen to us. He invites, exhorts, and commands us to pray always, in everything. Every object that meets the eye, every circumstance that occurs, every employment in which we engage, would afford matter for prayer if properly viewed. The believer should acquire the HABIT of prayer. He should look up to his God for all he needs, through all he sees, whenever he has a moment to spare. The prayers of a Christian are pleasant to his God; He says, “Let me hear thy voice, let me see thy countenance; for sweet is thy voice and thy countenance is comely.” The believer should pray as naturally and as constantly as he breathes; for prayer is the breath of the soul. Beloved, if prayer dwindle into a mere duty, is but occasionally offered, or become burdensome, it is clear that you are in a most unhealthy state. Through the skies when the thunder is hurl’d, The child to its parent will flee; Thus, amid the rebukes of the world, I turn, O my Father, to Thee; The spirit of prayer in Thy mercy impart, And take up Thy constant abode in my heart. Bible League: Living His Word I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.— 3 John 4 NKJV This verse came to my mind this weekend because my newest grandson is being baptized on Sunday. He will be among the fourth generation to wear a baptismal gown hand-made by my great aunt in the 1940s. Some who see such a display (it is a long, fancy, lacy thing) comment that it is a very nice family tradition. To me, it means much more than tradition. To me, it is a symbol, a little bit like that of baptism itself, of the covenant faithfulness of God to generations of my biological family. God intended for fathers to pass down the knowledge of God to their children (Deuteronomy 6:7). We have the examples of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah; and when our children take up the faith of their parents as their own, we praise the Lord. I rejoice and thank the Lord that my biological family has a history of faith. I treasure it. John, the beloved disciple and gospel writer, was not speaking of his biological children when he penned this verse in a letter to Gaius. John also references children in his other two letters (1 John 2:1, 2 John 1). Whose children is he talking about? Just as Paul called Titus "a true son in our common faith," I believe John is referring to his spiritual children. He is using this endearing term for the members of the Church. He has taught them and discipled them as a father would, and now he rejoices more than anything else that they have taken up the faith as their own and walk in the truth. But are they really John's children, and then whose child is John? All believers are heirs together with Christ, the Son of God. That means we are all God's children. And we know He rejoices to see His children walk in truth. "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels and of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:10). We are adopted sons of God, not begotten like Jesus, but that did not make us less in God's sight. In fact, He gave His only begotten Son up to death on a cross so that the adopted sons could join the family. And Jesus did not scorn this task either. He did not resent that He had to suffer for a motley crew of adopted sinners. No, but "Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross..." (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus saw it as joy that His Father was adopting all of these children at His expense. Those of us who are parents (or have been children raised by parents) know that raising children in the Lord is a high calling and difficult task, and at the end of it, true faith is not guaranteed. However, when by the grace of God it comes through, it's brilliant! By Grace Barnes, Bible League International volunteer, Michigan U.S. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.Isaiah 45:21 "Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Isaiah 42:21 The LORD was pleased for His righteousness' sake To make the law great and glorious. 2 Corinthians 5:19 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. Romans 3:25,26 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; • for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. Romans 8:33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; Romans 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 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 But for those who are righteous,the way is not steep and rough. You are a God who does what is right, and you smooth out the path ahead of them. LORD, we show our trust in you by obeying your laws; our heart's desire is to glorify your name. Insight At times the path of the righteous doesn't seem smooth and it isn't easy to do God's will, but we are never alone when we face tough times. God is there to help us through difficulties, to comfort us, and to lead us. God does this by giving us a purpose and giving us provisions as we travel. God provides us with relationships of family, friends, and mentors. God gives us wisdom to make decisions and faith to trust him. Challenge Don't despair; stay on God's path. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Ezra’s Journey to JerusalemEZRA is an interesting character. He was a priest and scribe who was commissioned to return from Persia to Jerusalem, and so took an active part in the civil and religious affairs of the Jews at Jerusalem. He led a fresh company of exiles back with him. A royal edict had been issued by Artaxerxes, clothing Ezra with authority. He was the bearer of offerings for the temple made by the king and by the Jews. He led a caravan. He was influential in enforcing the Mosaic law among the people, who had become indifferent to many features of it. Before setting out, he gathered his company together and spent three days in making preparation for the journey. The first thing he did was to seek God’s guidance. He says, “I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.” We should begin every new journey, every new undertaking, every new piece of work by asking God to show us the way. The Bible very significantly begins with the words, “In the beginning God.” At the beginning of everything, God should be recognized and honored. No friendship ever reaches its best unless God is in it and God’s blessing is on it. No business ever can have the fullest success unless the hand of God is in it and God’s guidance be sought. The things we cannot ask God’s blessing upon we would better not do. The place into which we cannot ask God to guide us we never should enter. Ezra asked the Lord to show him a safe journey to Jerusalem. We need always to seek guidance of God, for only He can show us the right way. Ezra is very frank in giving the reason why he cast himself so completely upon God. He was seeking the honor of God, and wished therefore, as far as possible, to be independent of human help. “For I was ashamed to ask of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way.” He had told the king that the hand of God would be upon all them that sought Him for good, and he wished to give the king proof of this in his own experience. It was a dangerous journey upon which he and his company were about to set out. No doubt the king, with his kindly interest in the expedition, would have furnished an escort if Ezra had asked for it. But Ezra felt that this would be dishonoring God. A life of faith is a life of dependence upon God. Part of our witnessing for God before the world is showing that our trust is not in human strength but in God Himself. We say, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want.” Do we prove our faith in this confession? When need is upon us, do we show ourselves trustful because the Lord is our Shepherd! We say, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” We sing the words with a measure of triumph in our voices. But do we live as if God were indeed our refuge, as if He were indeed a very present help in all trouble? Many of us are too easily frightened in time of danger or trouble. With such a God as ours we ought to be ashamed to be afraid of anything. We ought not to turn to the world’s help after we have declared so strongly that God is our defense and our refuge. We should show by the way we meet difficulties, dangers, losses, sorrows, that there is a divine reality on which we are leaning. Ezra was taking up with him a great quantity of silver and gold and the sacred vessels for the house of God. He took special care for the safety of these treasures. He set apart twelve of the chiefs of the priests. .. and weighed unto them the silver, and the gold, and the vessels.” First, these were godly men, honest and trustworthy, whom Ezra selected. This was important. Sometimes sufficient care is not taken in choosing those who are to be the custodians of money belonging to others. In this case, the money and the treasures were all carefully weighed and the amount set down. Again, at the end of the journey, the men were required to account for everything they had received. Some people are very careless about money matters. Young people should learn that it is part of their religion to be strictly honest. If others put money into their hands for any purpose it should be accounted for to the last cent. In societies of different kinds, there is money to be handled, and certain people have to act as treasurers. Those who accept this position should realize their responsibility. No matter if only a few cents a month are to be handled, there should be the same careful putting down of the amount and the same accuracy in accounting for it at the end as if the sum were thousands of dollars. The charge of Ezra to these men who were entrusted with the treasures, is worthy of careful study. He said unto them, “You as well as these articles are holy to the LORD. The silver and gold are a freewill offering to the LORD, the God of your fathers. Guard them carefully until you weigh them out in the chambers of the house of the LORD in Jerusalem before the leading priests and the Levites and the family heads of Israel.” The men themselves were holy; that is, they had been set apart to a holy service. The treasures entrusted to them were holy. The money and the vessels did not belong to any man but to God. The men were now to carry them safely through all the dangers of the thousand-mile journey. They would be held responsible for their safe-keeping, until they deposited them in the house of God in Jerusalem. Then the treasures would be weighed again, to see that they had been carefully guarded and that nothing, not even a fraction of an ounce, had been lost. This was a very solemn trust. But every one is continually receiving trusts which he is to guard amid the world’s dangers, and deliver at last at God’s feet. A Christian convert in a missionary country said of something he was guarding with special care, “It is God’s but I am in charge of it.” This is a true statement of our position regarding many of our responsibilities. It is true not only of the religious funds entrusted to our custody but just as really of money of any society or institution or corporation or business that may be entrusted to us. It is true of anything for which we may be responsible. Our own life is a sacred trust committed to us, for which we must give account. There are many applications of this principle. Other people are continually putting into our hands the gold and silver of their love, their confidence, their friendship, trusting us with things which we are to guard and keep for them. Do you ever think, for example, of the responsibility of being a friend ? One confides in you and comes under your influence. How careful must you be lest you harm the life that thus entrusts itself to you. We accept friendships and confidences eagerly, and sometimes perhaps thoughtlessly, not asking ourselves if we can care for them, guard them, keep them. We forget that we must answer to God for every touch and teaching and for every impression we put upon any other life. Our own good name also is a trust committed to us to be kept unspotted. We must guard it and live so every day that no stain may ever fasten upon it through any act or conduct of ours, or any association with evil. So the good names of others are in our keeping. We must be careful never to tarnish another’s name by any careless word we may speak concerning the person. Ezra testifies to the faithfulness of God in caring for him and his company on the way. “Then we departed. .. and the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy.” At the beginning of his journey Ezra committed the care of himself and other pilgrims, to the good hand of God. He was glad to say that without any help from the king, without escort of soldiers to guard them, they had come to the end of the long journey, through manifold dangers yet without harm. We never know how much good we owe every day and every night to the good hand of God that guards us amid life’s dangers. We think we are keeping ourselves by our own tact or shrewdness, or that we owe our safety in our journeys to the perfection of the railways and vessels on which we travel, or to some sort of chance that favors us. We leave God out too often when we are thinking of our safety, our protection, our comfort, the countless favors of our lives. Always the eye of God is upon us and the good hand of God is over us. This is our Father’s world, and we have children’s care in it. Bible in a Year Old Testament Reading1 Kings 12, 13 1 Kings 12 -- Israelites Rebel against Rehoboam; Kingdom Divided; Jeroboam begins Idol Worship NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB 1 Kings 13 -- Jeroboam's Hand Withered and Restored; Prophet Reproved NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Luke 24:36-53 Luke 24 -- The Resurrection; Road to Emmaus; Appearances to disciples, Ascension NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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