Morning, October 12
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Bible League: Living His Word
John replied, "No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven."

John the Baptist knew who he was as a man of God and he knew what God had called him to do in life. He knew that he was not the Messiah. He knew that he was only sent by God to prepare the way for the Messiah. He said, '"It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows"' (John 3:29). Since, by analogy, he was just the "best man," he accepted his position and was happy to do what he was called to do in life.

John also knew who Jesus was as a man of God. He knew that Jesus was the Messiah. He said, '"I saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him"' (John 1:32). This was the sign God promised him He would send in order to identify the Messiah. When John actually saw it, he knew Jesus was the true Messiah. He knew that Jesus was the "Chosen one of God" (John 1:34).

Given what he knew, John also knew that there was a time limit on his ministry. His disciples were upset that people were going over to Jesus rather than coming to John (John 3:26). He did not allow this to disturb him, however, because he knew that Jesus' ministry must become greater and that his ministry must become less (John 3:30). His disciples were jealous of Jesus for John, but John knew better.

John was a true man of God. He knew that a person cannot do anything for God unless God sends the person and bestows the necessary spiritual gifts for the mission. It doesn't matter what a person thinks he should do for God. What matters is what God thinks a person should do for Him. A true man or woman of God does not go beyond the call of God, does not go beyond the gifts that have been given. There is no place for jealousy, envy, and covetousness about someone else's ministry in the Kingdom. Like John, we should be satisfied with what God has given us to do for Him.

John's message to us today is this: Be you and not somebody else. Be at peace and happy with the special tasks and callings God has given to just you in His Kingdom.

Bible in a Year
Old Testament Reading
Isaiah 48, 49


Isaiah 48 -- Israel's Obstinacy and Deliverance

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Isaiah 49 -- The Servant of the Lord; Restoration to Zion

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


New Testament Reading
Colossians 4


Colossians 4 -- Let Your Conversation be Full of Grace; Final Greetings

  NIV   NLT   ESV   NAS   GWT   KJV   ASV   ERV   DRB


Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library.
Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion
Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.
Insight
The apostles were referring to the poor of Jerusalem. While many Gentile converts were financially comfortable, the Jerusalem church had suffered from the effects of a severe famine in Palestine and was struggling. So on his journeys, Paul had gathered funds for the Jewish Christians. The need for believers to care for the poor is a constant theme in Scripture. But often we do nothing, caught up in meeting our own needs and desires.
Challenge
Perhaps we don't see enough poverty to remember the needs of the poor. The world is filled with poor people, here and in other countries. What can you do to help?
Morning and Evening by Spurgeon
Psalm 119:15  I will meditate in thy precepts.

There are times when solitude is better than society, and silence is wiser than speech. We should be better Christians if we were more alone, waiting upon God, and gathering through meditation on his Word spiritual strength for labor in his service. We ought to muse upon the things of God, because we thus get the real nutriment out of them. Truth is something like the cluster of the vine: if we would have wine from it, we must bruise it; we must press and squeeze it many times. The bruiser's feet must come down joyfully upon the bunches, or else the juice will not flow; and they must well tread the grapes, or else much of the precious liquid will be wasted. So we must, by meditation, tread the clusters of truth, if we would get the wine of consolation therefrom. Our bodies are not supported by merely taking food into the mouth, but the process which really supplies the muscle, and the nerve, and the sinew, and the bone, is the process of digestion. It is by digestion that the outward food becomes assimilated with the inner life. Our souls are not nourished merely by listening awhile to this, and then to that, and then to the other part of divine truth. Hearing, reading, marking, and learning, all require inwardly digesting to complete their usefulness, and the inward digesting of the truth lies for the most part in meditating upon it. Why is it that some Christians, although they hear many sermons, make but slow advances in the divine life? Because they neglect their closets, and do not thoughtfully meditate on God's Word. They love the wheat, but they do not grind it; they would have the corn, but they will not go forth into the fields to gather it; the fruit hangs upon the tree, but they will not pluck it; the water flows at their feet, but they will not stoop to drink it. From such folly deliver us, O Lord, and be this our resolve this morning, "I will meditate in thy precepts."

Daily Light on the Daily Path
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.

Colossians 1:19,20  For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, • and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Psalm 85:10  Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

Jeremiah 29:11  'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Isaiah 1:18  "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

Micah 7:18  Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.

Job 22:21  "Yield now and be at peace with Him; Thereby good will come to you.

Philippians 2:12,13  So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; • for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Isaiah 26:12  LORD, You will establish peace for us, Since You have also performed for us all our works.

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 October 11
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