Dawn 2 Dusk Peace That Refuses to Be ShakenThere is a kind of peace that does not evaporate when the headlines are frightening, when the diagnosis is bad, or when people disappoint us. The psalmist tells us that those who love God’s law are given an abundant peace and a steadiness that keeps them from falling. This is not about pretending life is easy; it’s about a deep, inner calm rooted in God’s unchanging Word. Today, the Lord invites you to see His commands not as cold rules, but as a path into a life where your heart no longer has to be tossed around by every storm. Loving God’s Law, Not Just Liking It We can admire Scripture from a distance and still lack the peace this verse describes. The promise is for those who love God’s law—who treasure His Word, cling to it, and submit to it even when it cuts across their preferences. Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). Love for God and love for His law rise and fall together. When we treat His commands as suggestions or negotiate with them, we are also negotiating away our own peace. But when we receive His law as the gracious wisdom of a loving Father, it steadies us. “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7). Loving His law means we let Scripture set the agenda for our thoughts, our habits, our media intake, our relationships. The more His Word moves from our bookshelf to our bloodstream, the more we find that our hearts are not easily rattled—even when everything around us seems unstable. The Deep Calm of a Mind Stayed on God The peace God offers is not the fragile calm that comes from everything going our way. It is a supernatural stability born of trust. “You will keep in perfect peace the steadfast of mind, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). When your mind is anchored to God—who He is, what He has said, what He has promised—your emotions don’t have to control the narrative. God’s truth becomes the ballast that keeps you from capsizing. Jesus left us this very kind of peace: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled; do not be afraid” (John 14:27). This peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of Christ. As you pray, obey, and meditate on Scripture, the Holy Spirit applies these truths to your heart. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). The world’s peace needs explanations; God’s peace often defies them. Nothing Can Make Them Stumble “Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble” (Psalm 119:165). This does not mean believers will never sin or never suffer. It means that those who cling to God’s Word will not finally be overthrown; they will not be destroyed by the trials that come. God’s wisdom keeps our steps from paths that destroy the soul: “Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble” (Proverbs 3:23). The more we submit to Scripture, the fewer avoidable pitfalls we create for ourselves. Even when we do stumble, the Lord’s grip on us is stronger than our weakness. “Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, for the LORD is holding his hand” (Psalm 37:24). Our ultimate security rests not in how tightly we hold onto God, but in how tightly He holds onto us. “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy” (Jude 24). Grounded in His Word, upheld by His hand, we can walk through this broken world without being shattered by it. Lord, thank You for the abundant peace You give to those who love Your Word. Today, help me to cherish Your commands, obey them by Your Spirit, and walk in a way that refuses to stumble; teach me to run to Scripture first, that my heart would be steady and my life would honor You. Morning with A.W. Tozer Majesty and MeeknessWhen the prophets try to describe for me the attributes, the graces, the worthiness of the God who appeared to them and dealt with them, I feel that I can kneel down and follow their admonition: "He is thy Lord-worship thou Him!" They described Him as radiantly beautiful and fair. They said that He was royal and that He was gracious. They described Him as a mysterious being, and yet they noted His meekness. The meekness was His humanity. The majesty was His deity. You find them everlastingly united in Him. So meek that He nursed at His mother's breast, cried like any baby and needed all the human care that every child needs. But He was also God, and in His majesty He stood before Herod and before Pilate. When He returns, coming down from the sky, it will be in His majesty, the majesty of God; yet it will be in the majesty of the Man who is God! This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Before His foes He stands in majesty. Before His friends, He stands in meekness! Music For the Soul The Cure for AnxietyCasting all your anxiety upon Him, because He careth for you. - 1 Peter 5:7 "By prayer": that does not mean, as a superficial experience of religion is apt to suppose it to mean, actual petition that follows. For a great many of us the only notion that we have of prayer is asking God to give us something that we want. But there is a far higher region of communion than that, in which the soul seeks and finds, and sits and gazes, and aspiring possesses, and possessing aspires. Where there is no spoken petition for anything affecting outward life, there may be the prayer of contemplation such as the burning seraphs before the Throne do ever glow with. The prayer of silent submission, in which the will bows itself before God; the prayer of quiet trust, in which we do not so much seek as cleave; the prayer of still fruition, - these, in Paul’s conception of the true order, precede ’’supplication." And if we have such union with God, by realizing His presence, by aspiration after Himself, by trusting Him and submission to Him, then we have the victorious antagonist of all our anxieties, and the "cares that infest the day shall fold their tents" and "silently steal away." For if a man has that union with God which is effected by such prayer as I have been describing, it gives him a fixed point on which to rest amidst all perturbations. It is like bringing a light into a chamber when thunder is growling outside, which prevents the flashing of the lightning from being seen. Years ago an ingenious inventor tried to build a vessel in such a fashion as that the saloon for passengers should remain upon one level, howsoever the hull might be tossed by waves. It was a failure, if I remember rightly. But if we are thus joined to God, He will do for our inmost hearts what the inventor tried to do with the chamber within his ship. The hull may be buffeted, but the inmost chamber where the true self sits will be kept leveled and unmoved. Brother! prayer in the highest sense, by which I mean the exercise of aspiration, trust, submission - prayer will fight against and overcome all anxieties. " By prayer and supplication." Actual petition for the supply of present wants is meant by "supplication." To ask for that supply will very often be to get it. To tell God what I think I need goes a long way always to bringing me the gift that I do need. If I have an anxiety of which I am ashamed to speak to Him, that silence is a sign that I ought not to have it; and if I have a desire that I do not feel I can put into a prayer, that feeling is a warning to me not to cherish such a desire. Spurgeon: Morning and Evening John 6:67 Will ye also go away? Many have forsaken Christ, and have walked no more with him; but what reason have you to make a change? Has there been any reason for it in the past? Has not Jesus proved himself all-sufficient? He appeals to you this morning--"Have I been a wilderness unto you?" When your soul has simply trusted Jesus, have you ever been confounded? Have you not up till now found your Lord to be a compassionate and generous friend to you, and has not simple faith in him given you all the peace your spirit could desire? Can you so much as dream of a better friend than he has been to you? Then change not the old and tried for new and false. As for the present, can that compel you to leave Christ? When we are hard beset with this world, or with the severer trials within the Church, we find it a most blessed thing to pillow our head upon the bosom of our Saviour. This is the joy we have today that we are saved in him; and if this joy be satisfying, wherefore should we think of changing? Who barters gold for dross? We will not forswear the sun till we find a better light, nor leave our Lord until a brighter lover shall appear; and, since this can never be, we will hold him with a grasp immortal, and bind his name as a seal upon our arm. As for the future, can you suggest anything which can arise that shall render it necessary for you to mutiny, or desert the old flag to serve under another captain? We think not. If life be long--he changes not. If we are poor, what better than to have Christ who can make us rich? When we are sick, what more do we want than Jesus to make our bed in our sickness? When we die, is it not written that "neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord!" We say with Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" Spurgeon: Faith’s Checkbook Harvest of Light, GladnessRighteousness is often costly to the man who keeps to it at all hazards, but in the end it will bear its own expenses and return an infinite profit. A holy life is like sowing seed: much is going out, and apparently it is buried in the soil, never to be gathered up again. We are mistaken when we look for an immediate harvest; but the error is very natural, for it seems impossible to bury light. Yet light is "sown," says the text. It lies latent: none can see it; it is sown. We are quite sure that it must one day manifest itself. Full sure are we that the LORD has set a harvest for the sower of light, and they shall reap it, each man for himself. Then shall come their gladness. Sheaves of joy for seeds of light. Their heart was upright before the LORD, though men gave them no credit for it, but even censured them: they were righteous, though those about them denounced them as censorious. They had to wait, as husbandmen wait for the precious fruits of the earth: but the light was sown for them, and gladness was being prepared on their behalf by the LORD of the harvest. Courage, brothers! We need not he in a hurry. Let us in patience possess our souls, for soon shall our souls possess light and gladness. The Believer’s Daily Remembrancer I Am JesusImmanuel presents Himself this morning, and tells us He is exactly suited to us, whatever may be our circumstances, or feelings; He says, "I am Jesus." Are you seeking the Lord? He is Jesus, the gracious, powerful, tender-hearted, ready and willing Saviour. Are you tried, troubled, and cast down? He is Jesus, the constant, sympathizing, present, wise and unchangeable Friend. Are you a returning backslider, filled with your own ways? He is Jesus, and He says, "I will receive you; I will heal you; I will restore you; I will rejoice over you, as the shepherd over the sheep he had lost." Beloved, Jesus is the Lord our God, our all in all; our God is Jesus the Saviour, merciful, kind, and tender; this proclamation is cheering to the sinner, and delightful to the saint. Let us remember, whoever may change, whatever may change, He is Jesus still; still touched with the feeling of our infirmities; still able and willing to help us; still full of compassion and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon Him; still ready to forgive, waiting to be gracious, full of pity, and pledged to receive us. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil; On Christ the solid Rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand. Bible League: Living His Word Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!— Isaiah 5:21 ESV Our verse for today tells us about people who are "wise in their own eyes." Although they think they are enlightened, they're actually fools. They have a mistaken and sinful understanding of what constitutes wisdom. According to the prophet Isaiah, they get everything wrong. They are those who call "evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20)! From Isaiah's point of view, they turn the wisdom of God upside down. Even though they get everything wrong, they claim to be wise. They claim to be someone whose wisdom qualifies them for leadership. They truly believe their backwards declarations are reality. Anyone who goes against them will suffer their wrath. Anyone who tries to tell them they've got it backwards will be ostracized from their inner circles, from their leadership ranks, and from their polite company. It's a difficult thing to go against people with the pride to be wise in their own eyes. The temptation, then, is to give in to them. The temptation is to follow them. After all, not following them makes you a fool in their eyes. Who wants to be considered a fool? Who wants to be ostracized from the group that claims to be in the know? It takes great courage to stand for the wisdom of God in the midst of those who are wise in their own eyes. Those who are ostracized and mocked can take comfort, because it does not end well for these self-proclaimed wise men. Isaiah pronounces woe on them. You can't upend God's wisdom and expect His blessing. You can't turn everything backwards and expect reality to come along. So, then stand firm against those who are wise in their own eyes, and fill your mind with the wisdom of God. Daily Light on the Daily Path Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, "Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions."Psalm 37:16 Better is the little of the righteous Than the abundance of many wicked. Proverbs 15:16 Better is a little with the fear of the LORD Than great treasure and turmoil with it. 1 Timothy 6:6,8 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. • If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. Proverbs 30:8,9 Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, • That I not be full and deny You and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God. Matthew 6:11 'Give us this day our daily bread. Matthew 6:25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Luke 22:35 And He said to them, "When I sent you out without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?" They said, "No, nothing." Hebrews 13:5 Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," 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 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.Insight Obscenity and coarse joking are so common that we begin to take them for granted. Paul cautions, however, that improper language should have no place in the Christian's conversation because it does not reflect God's gracious presence in us. Challenge How can we praise God and remind others of his goodness when we are speaking coarsely? Devotional Hours Within the Bible Paul on the Grace of GivingPaul wanted to stimulate the Corinthian church to give generously, and he told them what other churches had been doing. Giving merely not to be behind other people, is not good giving. At the same time we should be desirous of imitating every good thing we see in others, for its own sake, because it is beautiful and like Christ. The early Christian givers were poor but they gave liberally, and “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” They were in trouble, and yet the joy did not die out of their hearts. So it is in a true Christian life. The floods of trouble do not drown the songs of joy. Another proof of grace in this people to whom Paul refers, was that in their deep poverty their liberality still abounded. They were poor but their poverty did not prevent them from giving to others who were poorer than themselves. A story is told of Henry Thornton. An appeal was made to him for missions, and he made out a check for five pounds. Before the ink was dry a telegram was handed to him. He opened it and turned ashy white. He said to the visitor, “I have just received bad news. I have lost thousands of pounds. Give me back the check.” The visitor supposed that now the check would be canceled. But Mr. Thornton altered the five pounds to fifty, saying, “God has just taught me that I may not much longer possess my property, and that I must use it well.” In time of poverty, if we must retrench in our expenses, we should not begin with the gifts which God asks of us for His cause. These Corinthian givers did not say, “I can spare this and not miss it.” They gave what it seemed they could not spare beyond their power. Then they “gave of their own accord.” They did not have to be urged and begged to give but were eager to give, and gave gladly, cheerfully. But “first they gave their own selves to the Lord.” That is where all true consecration must begin. God does not care for our gifts, while He has not our hearts. It is much easier to give a little money, or to pay a visit now and then to some poor person, or even to do Christian work of other kinds, than it is to give ourselves to the Lord. But nothing comes of such giving or such work. We are first of all to present our body a living sacrifice to God and then God will receive the things we offer and the service we render in His name as part of our consecration. After telling the Corinthian Christians of the good example of others, Paul spoke in praise of them. He told them, “You abound in everything.” It is right to praise people when they do well. Hearty, cheerful, sincere commendation is good everywhere. It is good in homes. Parents would better always commend their children when they have done well. Approval encourages and stimulates to better service in the future. It is good for teachers, also, to commend their pupils who are doing what they can. Our Lord commended Mary, saying, “She has done what she could,” while His disciples were condemning her and finding fault. Too many people seem afraid ever to say a kindly word to others about what they have done. When a person dies, there is no lack of commendation; but what does the dead man care for such words? Many a time along his years, when he was weary and overburdened, if the thousandth part of the kindly things spoken by his coffin had been spoken in his ear he would have been cheered and strengthened by the approval. Paul wisely used commendation as an introduction to further appeals. “You abound in everything,” he had said. “See that you abound in this grace also,” he concluded. So giving is a grace. Paul puts it down here in the same cluster with faith, knowledge, earnestness, love. Many of us make our Christian ideal only a very small fraction of the full image of Christ. We pick out one or two virtues or graces which we think are important, and magnify these, overlooking and leaving out other things which are quite as essential. Liberality is one of the graces of the Holy Spirit which must be found in the complete ideal. A miserly Christian is a misnomer. One who is greedy, grasping, covetous, is not the kind of follower Christ wants. A Jesuit priest testified that while thousands had come to him with confession of all manner of sins, no one had ever come confessing the sin of covetousness. Does “this grace of giving” abound in us, alongside of our faith, love, meekness, gentleness and patience? Christ is the highest of all examples. He was rich but He became poor. We know the story of His humiliation. He touched the deepest depths of pain and suffering. Then, the object of it all we know, too it was that we might be made rich. He lifts up all His people from the depths of sin, shame and curse to the glories of heaven. In comparison with this great giving, how small are our little penny contributions to the cause of Christ or for the relief of the poor! It is comforting to know that Christ judges gifts by the heart: “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according as a man has, not according as he has not.” The widow’s two mites were of more value than the largest offerings cast that day into the treasury. They were, in fact, the very smallest offerings; none gave as little as the poor widow. What Jesus meant was that in proportion to her means she had given more than anyone else of all the givers that day. The rich gave out of their abundance and had much left. She gave little out of her extreme poverty, and had nothing left. Christ’s eye is always on the treasury, and He rates the contributions, not by their monetary value but by their largeness in proportion to the person’s ability. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJeremiah 9, 10 Jeremiah 9 -- Jeremiah Laments over Zion NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Jeremiah 10 -- The Lord Speaks on Idolatry and Coming Destruction; Jeremiah Prays NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading 1 Timothy 3 1 Timothy 3 -- Bishops and Deacons NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. |
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