Verse of the day — Matthew 28:20
teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:20(NASB)
Open Windows by T. Austin-Sparks
Spiritual Effectiveness
I don have any silver or gold for you. But Il give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk! (Acts 3:6 NLT)
The members of the new heavenly Israel are people who have been delivered from self-interest into God's interest, who have been put on their spiritual feet by Jesus Christ and are walking in strength in the way of the Lord. Do you not think it is a very significant thing that the first miracle after the Day of Pentecost was the raising of an impotent man at the gate of the temple in Jerusalem? These are not just pretty stories put together to make an interesting book. God knows what He is doing, and when He makes the first miracle of the Christian era the raising of an impotent cripple, He is saying that the people of this new Israel are people who have been delivered from this impotence and put on their feet spiritually.
There are a lot of Christian cripples about! They cannot get on their own feet, nor can other people put them there. You try to pick them up! They may take a step or two, and then down they go again. There are many like that, and you can spend your life trying to get them up on their feet. What is it that is eating the very life out of them? What is it that is making them such helpless cripples that they cannot walk? It is self-centeredness. Make no mistake about it, it is self in some form. It is self that wants to be taken notice of. It is self in the form of pride. This poor man was delivered because he knew his own helplessness and he believed what Jesus said. He believed on to Jesus Christ, which means that he believed out of himself. Yes, that is the secret that we shall turn from our miserable selves and cease to be occupied with them, saying once and for all: "I am done with you, wretched self. I throw myself on to Jesus Christ. I take the one great step of committal." Jesus never lets such a person down.
Morning Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken.
The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised.
Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.—David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.—“God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”—“‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them.’ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”—Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.
He who promised is faithful.—Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”—The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Gen. 21:1; Ps. 62:8; 1 Sam. 30:6; Gen. 50:24; Acts 7:34, 36; Josh. 21:45; Heb. 10:23; Num. 23:19; Matt. 24:35; Isa. 40:8
Evening Daily Light by Samuel Bagster
The eyes of all look expectantly to You.
He gives to all life, breath, and all things. § The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. § Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
The same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? § Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God.
The Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him. § It will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” § If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
Ps. 145:15; Acts 17:25; Ps. 145:9; Matt. 6:26; Rom. 10:12; Ps. 121:1; Ps. 123:2; Isa. 30:18; Isa. 25:9; Rom. 8:25
None but the Hungry Heart by Miles Stanford
My Father Cares!
I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear" (Job 42:5).
The heart that is hungry to have God's purpose worked out in his life is going to be neither disappointed, nor pampered. When it comes to seeing self for what it is, there can be no pampering; when it comes to seeing the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is, there can be no disappointment.
"Why are the people of God suffering? - that they may be conformed to the image of His Son. Of course, we may not need a world upheaval to do this, but God is going to use all conditions to that end, and, tragically enough, there are multitudes of the Lord's people who do need a world shaking.
"They are so bound up with the externalities of Christianity, with its whole structure and system, that nothing but that which will overthrow, disintegrate, destroy, and raise tremendous questions about the whole business, will bring them to the place where the Spirit of God can begin really to do the work He has come to do in them." -T. A-S.
"Job was a true servant of God; but he needed to learn himself, as we all do. He needed to have the roots of his moral being laid bare in his own sight so that he might really abhor himself, and repent in dust and ashes. And furthermore, he needed a truer and deeper sense of what God was, so that he might trust Him and justify Him under all circumstances." -C.H.M.
"But now mine eye seeth Thee" (Job 42:5).
Devotional Studies by Elizabeth Haworth
The Scandalous Truth - Growing In Grace (16)
Growing In Grace - STUDY
If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged
1 Corinthians 11:31
Staggering Truth
The gospel is so shocking to unbelievers, that God’s word of truth is generally rejected. The gospel is shocking. God’s standard is scandalous. His word of truth is staggering. But God’s word is also shocking to believers, who often will not accept its disturbing truth, and are unprepared to view themselves through God’s eyes.
Substitute Standards
Scriptural truth are so staggering, and God standard so scandalous that we often substitute our own preferred thoughts in preference to His word. And yet we are told by Paul: if we would judge ourselves (by God’s standard) we would not be judged.
Muddy Truth
God has set one criterion for salvation in His word, and it is, believe on the Lord Jesus. If only we would trust His word. But legalism, works of the flesh, skewed doctrine, and false perceptions too often muddy the truth.
Sanctification Steps
God has also set out His method for sanctification, and we are to grow in the Christian life the way He dictated, and not try to do it our own way. If only we would believe His word – but self-effort, wrong doctrine, and inappropriate church requirements often hinder our progress. God has set one singular requirement for spiritual growth, which is by grace through faith.. which is all of God and none of me, but legalism, self, false doctrines, and wrong perceptions so often cause confusion.
Simple Yardstick
God has set a simple yardstick for growth and it is easy to obey. He has set it out in the New Testament epistles, but a wrongly divided the word of truth, living by self-effort or ignoring His directives, rather than abiding in Christ and submitting to the Spirit, often causes regression.
Single Standard
We are told that the only standard for pleasing God, is faith. Confidence and conviction in all God’s promised word, whether it be visible or invisible, present or future. But too often we allow sight, feelings, or circumstances to
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Knowing Jesus Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth
His Way is Best
Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will instruct him in the way that he should go.
Psalm 25:12And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,”
Isaiah 30:21I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself – that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Jeremiah 10:23
God’s Best Way
The Lord’s lessons are often difficult to learn. Sometimes we balk at the very idea, that the way God chooses for us is His best for our lives – that the path we tread, though often counter to our desires, is for our good! Yet all things, however difficult.. all things however frustrating.. all things however hurtful… all things are used by God, to work together for our eternal benefit. God will make all things, even the impossible obstacles that litter our way… He will make all things serve His best purpose in us.
Problems in Life
I have mountains in my life, as you have in yours. Heavy obstacles that threaten to bar our way to the Celestial City. Happenings that seek to frustrate our peace and threaten our progress. Things that block our rest in Him. Things that mar our vision and endanger our hope. Such things lay a heavy claim on our abiding in Him and resting in His love. That uncongenial employment – that lack of occupation or financial burden – that irritating relative – that frustrating neighbour or disappointing child. That broken friendship – that shattered relationship – that cruel word. That monotonous daily round, that thorn in the flesh – that daily cross to bear. Oh, how we long that they be cut off and how we pray for their removal, and yet these are the very conditions for which we have prayed so earnestly! Conditions that He uses for our spiritual improvement!!
God’s Tools
These are the means that God chooses to impart to us the graces we so desire. These are the situation He uses to conform us into the likeness
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