Dawn 2 Dusk All My Good in YouIn Psalm 16:2, David quietly settles something in his heart: the Lord is not just his God in a general way, but his Lord in a personal, exclusive way. He realizes that every real good in his life flows from this one relationship. On a day when so many “good things” compete for our attention, this verse invites us to ask: Do I really believe that anything truly good, lasting, and satisfying is found only in Him? The One from Whom Every Good Thing Flows When David says to the Lord that apart from Him he has no good thing, he is not denying that there are blessings like family, work, beauty, or friendship. He is saying that without God Himself, even those blessings lose their meaning and their sweetness. God is not one more good among many; He is the source and standard of all that is good. “I said to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing’” (Psalm 16:2). To treat God as optional while clinging to His gifts is to cut ourselves off from the spring and then wonder why the streams are drying up. Scripture keeps pressing this same truth into our hearts. James tells us, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17). Paul declares, “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36). If all things are “from Him” and “through Him,” then to enjoy anything rightly is to receive it back through Him—thanking Him, submitting to Him, and using it for His glory. Letting Go of the Illusion of “Good Without God” Deep down, our flesh loves the idea that we can have “good” without God—success without surrender, pleasure without purity, comfort without obedience. The world preaches it constantly: you can build a full, rich life on career, romance, experiences, or recognition, and God can be an accessory if you want Him. But Jesus cuts through that lie: “I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). “Nothing” doesn’t mean we can’t stay busy; it means nothing of eternal worth, nothing truly good in God’s sight. This is why the godliest believers talk the way Asaph does: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26). That is Psalm 16:2 lived out. It is not a denial that lesser blessings exist, but a declaration that none of them can be my portion, my anchor, my identity. When God is your portion, losses hurt—but they do not hollow you out. Disappointments sting—but they do not define you. You already possess the One Good you can never lose. Living Today as If He Is Your Only Good How do we live this out on an ordinary day? We start by naming our “functional goods”—those things we quietly treat as ultimate. Maybe it is financial security, approval from others, a certain relationship, or a dream for your future. Then, in prayer, we bring each one under the lordship of Christ, echoing David: “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” We don’t have to throw away God’s gifts; we have to dethrone them. Jesus calls us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33). Put Him first, and every other good finds its proper place. This also means consciously enjoying every true pleasure as coming from His hand. A meal, a conversation, a sunrise, a solved problem at work—each becomes an opportunity to say, “Thank You, Father. This is from You.” Paul writes of God “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Timothy 6:17). Enjoyment, then, is not the rival of devotion; it is deepened by it. Today, let Psalm 16:2 be your quiet refrain: in temptation, in disappointment, in success, in small joys—remind your heart that there is no good for you outside of Him, and that in Him you already have every good you truly need. Lord, thank You that every real good in my life flows from You. Help me today to treat You as my only ultimate good and to receive every gift with open hands, obedience, and praise. Morning with A.W. Tozer Savior but Not Lord?In the New Testament salvation and discipleship are so closely related as to be indivisible. They are not identical, but as with Siamese twins they are joined by a tie which can be severed only at the price of death. Yet they are being severed in evangelical circles today. In the working creed of the average Christian salvation is held to be immediate and automatic, while discipleship is thought to be something optional which the Christian may delay indefinitely or never accept at all.
It is not uncommon to hear Christian workers urging seekers to accept Christ now and leave moral and social questions to be decided later. The notion is that obedience and discipleship are unrelated to salvation. We may be saved by believing a historic fact about Jesus Christ (that He died for our sins and rose again) and applying this to our personal situation. The whole biblical concept of Lordship and obedience is completely absent from the mind of the seeker. He needs help, and Christ is the very one, even the only one, who can furnish it, so he takes Him as his personal Savior. The idea of His Lordship is completely ignored. Music For the Soul Christ’s Voluntary SufferingsTherefore doth the Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. - John 10:17-18 All the suffering and solitude of Christ were voluntarily endured, and that for us. All man’s sorrow He experienced. Every ingredient that adds bitterness to our cup was familiar to His taste, ind He tasted them, as He tasted death, "for every man," that His experience of them might make them less hard for us to bear, and that the touch of His lips lingering on the cup might sweeten the draught for us. His endurance of this, as of all the sorrows of human life, was at every moment a fresh act of willing surrender of Himself for us. He wore our manhood and He bore manhood’s griefs, not because He must, but because He would. He willed to be born. He willed to abide in the flesh. He willed, pang by pang, to bear our sorrows. He could have ended it all. But His love held Him here. That was the cord which bound Him to the stake. His enemies were wiser than they knew, when they mocked at Him, and said He saved others - and precisely, therefore - Himself He cannot save. So all that drear solitude in which He groped for a hand to grasp and found none was voluntarily borne and was as truly a part of His bearing the consequences of man’s sin, as when He bowed His head to death, and, therefore, to be gazed on by us with thankfulness as an element in the suffering wherewith He has redeemed us. These thoughts may encourage us all to bear the necessary isolation of life, and in a special manner may strengthen some of us whom God in His providence has called upon to live outwardly lonely lives. But after all companionship, we have to live alone. Each man has to live his own life. We come singly into the world; and though God setteth the solitary in families, and there are manifold blessings of love and companionship for most of us, yet the awful burden of personality weighs upon us all. Alone we live in the depths of our hearts; alone we have to front joy and sorrow. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, and, if thou scornest, thou alone shall bear it. The heart knoweth its own bitterness. All human love feels its own limitations in presence of the impossibility of sharing the bodily sicknesses of those nearest to us. Two hearts shall be bound in closest love, and the one shall beat languidly in a wasted frame and the other throb in ruddy health. Two hearts shall be knit in tender sympathy, and the one shall have a sense of guilt from some dark passage in its past history, of which no shadow falls on the other. For some of us solitary days are appointed. We may think of Christ and see the prints of His footsteps before us on the loneliest road. If any of us are called to know the pain of unsatisfied longings for earthly companions, let us stretch out our hands to lay hold on the hand of that solitary Man who knew this, as He knows all, sorrow. He felt all the bitterness of having to stand alone, with no arm to lean upon and no heart to trust. If we are left alone, let us make Christ our companion. We shall not be utterly solitary if He is with us. Perhaps God takes away earthly props that our love and desires may reach higher, and twine round the throne where Christ sits. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. No doubt a part of the wonder which is concentrated in the word "Behold," is excited by the unbelieving lamentation of the preceding sentence. Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me." How amazed the divine mind seems to be at this wicked unbelief! What can be more astounding than the unfounded doubts and fears of God's favored people? The Lord's loving word of rebuke should make us blush; he cries, "How can I have forgotten thee, when I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands? How darest thou doubt my constant remembrance, when the memorial is set upon my very flesh?" O unbelief, how strange a marvel thou art! We know not which most to wonder at, the faithfulness of God or the unbelief of his people. He keeps his promise a thousand times, and yet the next trial makes us doubt him. He never faileth; he is never a dry well; he is never as a setting sun, a passing meteor, or a melting vapor; and yet we are as continually vexed with anxieties, molested with suspicions, and disturbed with fears, as if our God were the mirage of the desert. "Behold," is a word intended to excite admiration. Here, indeed, we have a theme for marvelling. Heaven and earth may well be astonished that rebels should obtain so great a nearness to the heart of infinite love as to be written upon the palms of his hands. "I have graven thee." It does not say, "Thy name." The name is there, but that is not all: "I have graven thee." See the fulness of this! I have graven thy person, thine image, thy case, thy circumstances, thy sins, thy temptations, thy weaknesses, thy wants, thy works; I have graven thee, everything about thee, all that concerns thee; I have put thee altogether there. Wilt thou ever say again that thy God hath forsaken thee when he has graven thee upon his own palms? Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook True Humility RewardedIt ought not to be difficult for us to humble ourselves, for what have we to be proud of? We ought to take the lowest place without being told to do so. If we are sensible and honest, we shall be little in our own eyes. Especially before the LORD in prayer we shall shrink to nothing. There we cannot speak of merit, for we have none; our one and only appeal must be to mercy: "God be merciful to me a sinner." Here is a cheering word from the throne. We shall be exalted by the LORD if we humble ourselves. For us the way upward is downhill. When we are stripped of self we are clothed with humility, and this is the best of wear. The LORD will exalt us in peace and happiness of mind; He will exalt us into knowledge of His Word and fellowship with Himself; He will exalt us in the enjoyment of sure pardon and justification. The LORD puts His honors upon those who can wear them to the honor of the Giver. He gives usefulness, acceptance, and influence to those who will not be puffed up by them but will be abased by a sense of greater responsibility. Neither God nor man will care to lift up a man who lifts up himself; but both God and good men unite to honor modest worth. O LORD, sink me in self that I may rise in Thee. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer As Having Nothing, and Yet Possessing All ThingsThe Lord’s family are generally poor; men may look at them as having nothing valuable, important, or calculated to make them happy; but in reality they possess all things, because God is theirs. Our God has said, "I am their inheritance," and we say, "Thou art my portion, O Lord." His eternity is the date of our happiness; His unchangeableness, the rock of our rest; His omnipotence, our constant guard; His faithfulness, our daily security; His mercies, our overflowing store; His omniscience, our careful overseer; His wisdom, our judicious counsellor; His justice, our stern avenger; His omnipresence, our sweet company; His holiness, the fountain from which we receive sanctifying grace; His all-sufficiency, the lot of our inheritance; and His infinity, the extent of our glorious portion. This is the blessedness of the people of the Lord: they have God for their God, and all His perfections engaged to make them blessed. O love the Lord! Live upon the Lord! Glorify God in the day of visitation! Make Him your portion and everlasting all! To us the privilege is given To be the sons and heirs of heaven; Sons of the God who reigns on high, And heirs of joys beyond the sky: Oh, may our conduct ever prove Our filial piety and love. Bible League: Living His Word Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. — Psalm 100:4—5 ESV Scientists and psychologists of the previous century have studied and recognized that gratitude is a positive attribute of life, generally improving one's sense of well—being and cultivating generosity in many ways throughout society. Research in the last two decades of the 21st century has both verified and clarified this idea. A study just two years ago by the Mayo Clinic confirmed that behavior changes biology. Evidently, the expression of gratitude more rapidly dispenses the hormone oxytocin from the posterior pituitary gland (a hormone more generally related to both male and female reproductive functions). Scientists are finding expanded considerations of the hormone in the improvement of the immune system, of sleep, and of mood in cultivating relationships with other people. The summary article concluded that those who determine to express thanksgiving benefit from very positive results. God, of course, knew of this from the beginning! Throughout Scripture, God reminds His people to be thankful and to express thanksgiving close to 140 times. In our verses for today, through the psalmist, He reminds those who would go through the eight gates of the temple court to begin to set their mind on gratitude. Even while they were walking into the courtyard, they were to begin giving thanks for all the goodness of the Lord. Then, as they entered in, they would be prepared to bless His name; and if they needed any ideas as to what to offer as a blessing, they could remember the constancy and endurance of God's love and faithfulness upon His people throughout all time! Obviously, what was true for God's people of an earlier era is true for His people today. Begin expressing thanks for the very goodness of the Lord in your life and discover your ability to give praise more readily to God who loves you and desires to draw you closer to Himself. Glenn Sunshine of the Colson Center recently reviewed the history of the German Lutheran pastor Martin Rinkart (1586—1649) who served in the region of Ellenburg during the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, a time of destruction more dire than that of World War 1. As a city of refuge during the war, because of its surrounding wall, it also became a hotbed of disease and death because of the years of plague throughout Europe. Many sick people found their way and lay at the doors of the church, with Rinkart left alone to tend them and bury the dead. In all, he tended to over 4,500 people who would die, including his wife. It is said that there were days he performed up to 50 funerals. Surprisingly, amid such daily difficulties, Rinkart penned prayers and hymns of worship that were full of praise, trust, and constant thanksgiving for God's goodness to him. One such table prayer we know well, for it is found in every hymnal of every denomination since its writing: "Now thank we all our God, with heart and hands and voices. Who wondrous things hath done, in whom His world rejoices. Who from our mother's arms hath blessed us on our way with countless gifts of love, and still is ours today." Rinkart joins the chorus of many others both in the Scripture and throughout the history of the church who found joy in their faith by learning to express deep gratitude to God who loves, protects, and provides for His children throughout the ages. May we continue this habit of the heart throughout this season of thanksgiving. By Bill Niblette, Ph.D., Bible League International staff, Pennsylvania U.S. Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 107:8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! Psalm 31:19 How great is Your goodness, Which You have stored up for those who fear You, Which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You, Before the sons of men! Isaiah 43:21 "The people whom I formed for Myself Will declare My praise. Ephesians 1:5,6,12 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, • to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. • to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. Zechariah 9:17 For what comeliness and beauty will be theirs! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine the virgins. Psalm 145:9-12 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. • All Your works shall give thanks to You, O LORD, And Your godly ones shall bless You. • They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom And talk of Your power; • To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom. 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 So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.Insight Paul told the Colossian Christians not to let others criticize their diet or their religious ceremonies. Instead of outward observance, believers should focus on faith in Christ alone. Our worship, traditions, and ceremonies can help bring us close to God, but we should never criticize fellow Christians whose traditions and ceremonies differ from ours. More important than how we worship is that we worship Christ. Challenge Don't let anyone judge you. You are responsible to Christ. Devotional Hours Within the Bible Beneficial Warnings“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin.” It was not easy for Christ to be our Redeemer. He was in this world as the Captain of our salvation, and His work here was a conflict. He came to destroy the works of the Devil. He met sin and sin’s influences everywhere. It was not easy for Him to fight the battle. He resisted unto blood, striving against sin. He went to the cross for us, bearing our sin. We are His followers, and should be inspired by His example should arm ourselves with the same mind. Jesus taught that not only He must bear His cross but that every one that would follow Him must likewise take up the cross. He taught that the only way to save one’s life is to lose it, to hate it, to be ready to sacrifice it. We never can get through life victoriously, unless we fight. The armor we need is not something to put on outside but a holy heart and mind within. That was Christ’s armor as He went through life. He had no helmet of brass, no sword of steel; His holy purpose was His armor, and He was victorious. If we have a pure heart and a holy life, the world will have no power over us. The best armor is the armor of the soul. We are not to understand that the Christian who has died with Christ, shall never sin any more but that he has given up his sins, repented of them, and renounced them. He used to make his sins part of the aim of his life. He loved them; his heart ran to them greedily. Now he is a Christian, he has taken Christ as his Savior, he has found mercy. Hence he gives up the sins which he used to commit. Instead of following the devices and desires of his own evil heart he now lives according to the will of God. This is the way every Christian should live. We should crucify the flesh the old evil things, and let Christ live in us. This is the change that Christ works in every life that is given to Him. That is what the new birth means. There is an old legend of an instrument which hung upon a castle wall. Its strings were broken and it was filled with dust. No one understood it, and no one could put it in order. But one day a stranger came to the castle. He saw the instrument on the wall. Taking it down, he quickly brushed the webs of dust from it, and with gentle hand reset the broken strings and began to play upon it. The chords long silent awoke, beneath his touch, and the castle was filled with rich music. Every human life, in its unrenewed state, is such a harp, with broken strings, tarnished by sin. It is capable of giving forth music marvelously rich and sweet but first it must be restored, and the only one who can do this is the maker of the harp, the Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can bring the jangled chords of our life into tune, so that when played upon, they shall give forth sweet music. If we would make our lives beautiful, we must surrender them into the hands of Him who alone can repair and restore them. “As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.” Not a moment of life should ever be given up to sin. Life is too precious to be stained and wasted in evil. Those who are thus throwing away their life should instantly abandon all that is wrong, and turn to God and to the life to which He invites them. The time past which has been spent in sin is surely enough for such a ruinous waste. Few things are sadder, than the story of one who lives in sin all his days and then, at the last, creeps back to God’s feet to find mercy. One such, lying in a hospital, and near unto death, was very happy, for he had found Christ and had the assurance of eternal life. A friend said to him, “You are not afraid to die?” “No,” answered the man, “but I am ashamed to die.” He was ashamed because he had nothing to bring to God but a wasted life forgiven at last but of no service in the world. The words used in the third verse, which describe the life of wickedness, are black with shame. We turn away from them with loathing, if we are walking in Christ’s way. But we must not forget that these very words describe what is going on continually in thousands of places. Modern life is no better than was the life of men nineteen hundred years ago. This is the end to which sin leads. We need not go to the slums to find this picture realized; we can find it in many places which are regarded as respectable and high-toned. The encouraging note in this sad verse, is that the evil things he named were things of the past of those to whom Peter wrote. The gospel of Christ saves men. It turns men’s Sodoms into Edens ! “They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you!” Those who find their pleasures in sin’s evil and debasing ways, cannot understand the secret of the Christian’s joy. They think it must be dreary and dismal to be a Christian. They cannot conceive of any happiness in the life which turns away from sinful indulgences, which restrains evil appetites and passions, which curbs the natural sinful desires. To them it seems impossible that there should be any real joy in living a holy life, in walking with God, in prayer and Bible reading and hymn singing or in Christian work and fellowship. The blessedness of the Christian life is all a mystery to those who know only this world’s detestable life, and find their pleasures in lust or passion. A prayer meeting would be to them intolerably dreary, because they know not God and have no fellowship with Him. “But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” It is not only in this world, that the superiority of the Christian’s exalted position is seen; the world to come will also reveal this. This world does not mean the end of life; it goes on into the unseen future, and things begun here are finished there. We are sowing now, and there will be a harvest by and by, when we shall reap there what we have sown. Those who sow in the flesh shall reap corruption from the flesh. Those who live in unrestrained lust and unbridled passion must give account to God. They are without excuse, for the gospel was preached “even to the dead.” Some people trouble themselves about the heathen who have died without hearing the gospel. But we may safely leave them in God’s hands. We need never fear that He will be unjust to any soul He has made. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right!” We need not fret ourselves over any such questions. Our only care need be that we who have the gospel shall live worthily of the gospel. We, too, shall have to give an account of our privileges and how we have used them. We must remember, too, that to whom much is given of the same shall it be required. “The end of all things is near! Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.” In view of the eternity on whose edge we are living all the while, we should walk thoughtfully and prayerfully. We do not know when the end of this life for us may be. This should not sadden us and spoil this world for us that is not the way God wants us to be affected by thoughts of eternity. But we should look at life seriously and learn to live earnestly. If any day may be our last, we should make every day beautiful enough and complete enough to be a fitting last day. We should leave none of its duties undone, none of its tasks unfinished. We should live unselfishly and kindly, so as to leave no pain or bitterness in any heart. Then, we should live in constant communion with God a life of prayer. We need God at every point, at every step, and no day can be beautiful or complete, without its portion of divine help. A day without prayer is never a good day. “Above all, LOVE each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” Above all things, we must be loving. Love is always the most important thing. One may be honest and truthful and just and upright and diligent and sound in the faith and yet if he has not love his life shows a great lack. Paul tells us this in the wonderful thirteenth chapter of Corinthians. Christians should be affectionate among themselves. Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Love makes us patient with others. We all have our faults our friends have their faults but if we love them we do not see their faults. We overlook the things that are not beautiful, and see them as Christ sees them. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJeremiah 46, 47, 48 Jeremiah 46 -- Jeremiah Prophesies the Overthrow of Pharaoh's Army at Euphrates NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Jeremiah 47 -- Prophecy against the Philistines NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Jeremiah 48 -- Prophecy against Moab NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Hebrews 4 Hebrews 4 -- The Sabbath-Rest; Jesus the Great High Priest NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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