Author: admin

2/28/24

”And the word of the LORD came unto him…“ 1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭8‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Elijah sat patiently by the drying brook, he could not understand God’s plan in this. No doubt many questions came to his mind. He knew God was His provider and yet now there is no water. But what a joy it was for him to hear God’s voice! He knew that as long as God continued to speak to him all would be well. One of the things we miss in Elijah’s story is that he was always listening for God’s voice. Several times it is written, “And the word of the LORD came unto him.” Through all of the questions he may have had, he was still listening for God to speak. This quality is one that is desperately needed in our generation. We all will face times when we can’t understand God’s ways. We will face some drying brooks in our lives. But let us realize, what we need most of all is to always be listening for God to speak. It is God’s voice we hear through His Word. It is His voice that speaks peace to our troubled souls. It is God’s voice that gives us direction and assurance. But in this day filled with so many other voices, we must learn to be still in our soul, so we can hear the one voice that matters most.

2/27/24

”And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.“ 1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭7‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we consider this passage we should keep in mind that the prophet Elijah was in the center of God’s will. He had received instruction from the Lord to go to this place and he promptly obeyed. Without question, he believed God would be faithful to take care of his needs. And for many days the ravens miraculously brought him food and he was able to drink of the water from the brook. But now the brook is dry. And he knows he can’t survive long without water. Certainly in those last few days as the brook dried up his faith was being tested. But what he couldn’t understand yet, was that God was preparing him for greater things. This time of testing was to increase his faith and trust in God. He needed to realize that his provision was not from a place or a thing, but from God Himself. But let us think of those times when we, like Elijah, are doing God’s will and yet our provision is lacking. We are where God wants us to be and yet, the brook we depend upon is running dry. Let us know in these times of testing, that God is still our faithful provider and He will supply all of our needs. By His grace, let us trust Him even when the brook runs dry.

2/26/24

(Part 2) “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.”Psalm‬ ‭119:130‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we have faith in what God has spoken and open our spirits to it, His Word will enter into our hearts. And what a profound effect His Word has when we are willing to receive it. The psalmist here reminds us that one of the things God’s Word gives is light. And certainly we need the light of His Word everyday in this world so darkened by sin. We all go through dark valleys and sometimes we pass through periods where it seems the darkness is overwhelming. We face situations that are so dark we wonder how could there be any light remaining. So how important it is for us in these times, to open God’s Holy Word and let it enter in to our souls! This is how it can be a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path! It is sad that so many people go through dark times and they choose to keep their Bible closed and to stay away from church where they can receive the light of God’s Word. But in these times, we should recognize how desperately we need the light of God’s Word. By God’s grace, let us choose to open the Word and let it’s light enter in to our needy souls.

2/25/24

(Part 1) “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; It giveth understanding unto the simple.”Psalm‬ ‭119:130‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Most people feel that simply reading and hearing God’s Word is enough. They believe that they have spiritual understanding because of what they have heard or read. But God is reminding us here, that His Word must also ENTER our hearts for us to have true understanding. It is not enough to have only an intellectual grasp of spiritual things. We must open our hearts and allow the Word of God to penetrate into the very depths of our being. We must accept it’s divine authority over our lives. Only then can it bring light to our soul! Only then can we experience it’s life giving power. And for us to do this, we must have faith in what God has said. “Through faith we understand…” Only through faith in God’s Word will we open our hearts to it in the way that we need. As we realize this, it becomes clear why there is such an attack upon God’s Word in recent generations. For many years now, liberal religious people have been trying to discredit and water down the pure Word of God. And the enemy’s purpose through all of this is, to cause people to doubt God’s Word! His purpose is to hinder our faith in what God has spoken. Let us have the faith in God to believe all that He says to us, so His Word can enter into our hearts and lives.

2/24/24

(Part 2) ”A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we recognize the truth that Jesus calls us to be His friends, we should also understand this means we are to be friends with all of God’s children. Some have the mistaken idea that we can love our Christian brothers and yet not be their friend. That is a tragic error. How can I be the friend of Jesus and you be His friend, unless we are friends also? So these words obviously are true in our relationships within the body of Christ. As a Christian friend, our love should be constant and faithful. We should love at all times. This is one of the things our enemy battles constantly against. He knows if he can hinder our love for each other then he will also hinder the work of the church. For this reason he is always pointing out the faults and failures of others, as if that is why we can’t love them. But may God help us to understand, our love for others is never to be based on their spiritual performance. Our faithful love for them is based entirely on the love Christ has for us! This is His command, that we love others AS He has loved us. By God’s grace, may we open our hearts more fully to His love, so we can love one another as He loves us.

2/23/24

(Part 1) ”A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭17‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As Solomon wrote these words he could have been considering the faithful love his father David had received from his close friend, Jonathan. Jonathan was King Saul’s son and yet his love for David, his friend, was so constant that he was willing to risk his life and stand against his own father. But what we can be sure of is that the Holy Spirit of God was anointing Solomon’s mind as he wrote these words. And while Solomon could not see the future, the Holy Spirit was preparing these words as a prophecy of the coming Messiah. While we strive to live up to them in light of the New Testament truth on love, Jesus fulfilled these words completely. He came to this fallen world to be ‘The Friend of sinners’. And His love was faithful in every degree. He loved us before the foundation of the world. He loved us knowing we would sin and rebel against Him. And thank God, even after we have come to Him, He has been faithful to love us through all of our faults and failures. And no matter what comes, He will never cease loving us, because His love endures all things. How thankful we should be for the faithful love of Christ for our unworthy souls! By God’s grace, let us love Him with that same faithful love that endures all things.

2/22/24

”And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.“ ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. In this great chapter on Christian love, the apostle begins by making very clear that nothing else will matter if we do not have our hearts filled with God’s love. All through history there have been religious people rise up with gifts that seemed to distinguish them. Some had great knowledge, some claimed to be prophets, others boasted of great faith. But Paul says that all of that means nothing without love. Though we may be able to do many things and impress people, yet if we do not have love we are nothing. Think of this, in the great balances of eternity, we are absolutely NOTHING without love! That means we know nothing about real salvation, nothing about God’s mercy and grace. It means nothing genuine has happened in our hearts. May God help us to always keep our attitudes in check. Jesus said this is the one distinguishing mark of His true children: That we love one another. This should remind us that love is to be the most important thing in our lives. By His grace, let us love God and love others as Christ has loved us.

2/22/24

”And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.“ Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭39‬ ‭KJV‬‬. What an amazing moment that was for the disciples. There, as they were helpless and fearing for their lives because of the terrible storm, Jesus simply rises up and speaks, “Peace be still”. And then there was perfect calm. How this must have strengthened their faith in Him and caused them to see more clearly Who He truly is. But should it be any different with us today? We all face storms of life. We all feel at times much like those disciples. And yet, because He is with us, we have the same privilege they did. We can always cry out to Jesus and He will arise for our help. And how amazing it is, when He speaks peace to our fearful and troubled hearts! Many times the storm may still be raging around us. The difficult circumstances may still be real. But Jesus speaks peace to us right in the midst of the storm. In some ways, this is as great a miracle as what took place then. Let us praise our glorious Saviour today, that He is still able to give perfect peace in the midst of the storm. As the song says, “There is peace in the time of trouble. There is peace in the midst of the storm”.

2/20/24

(Part 2) ”But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!“ Matthew 8:27 KJV. One of the important things to notice here is that this new discovery of ‘Who Jesus is’ was made in the middle of a terrible storm. These disciples faced a storm so bad that they feared for their lives. But how often we are like those disciples. We come to know Jesus and He changes our hearts and lives. We follow and learn more of Him and experience so much of His goodness. And yet, it is often in our storms, when we become desperate, that we make some new discovery of Who He is and what He is able to do. Most of the time we will never learn about Jesus in these ways until we experience our own inadequacy in the storm we are facing. But God, in His mercy, allows the storms to come. He knows we will never truly learn of Jesus until we go through the storm with Him. But thank God, there we find Him to be that Fourth Man in the fire with us, protecting us by His mighty power. In the storm, we find that however strong the waves may be, we have One Who will not allow them to overflow us. May God help us to realize, the next time we face a storm, it could be God’s way for us to experience more of the wonder of Who Jesus is. And as we do, we can bow in adoration once again, thankful that Jesus is so much more than our minds can ever comprehend.

2/19/24

(Part 1) ”But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!“ Matthew 8:27 KJV. After Jesus had calmed the raging sea with only His Word, the disciples were so amazed at Him they responded with these words, “What manner of Man is this”. These words should catch our attention because the men who asked this thought they knew Him. They had followed Him for the past year, listening to His gracious words. They had seen Him do many mighty miracles. He had cleaned lepers, made the lame to walk, cast out devils and many other profound works of healing. But here they discovered something more that caused them to gaze in awe and amazement at Jesus. But let us ask ourselves, do we still have these moments when we make some discovery of Who Jesus is that it leaves us amazed? Have we allowed ourselves to become so familiar with the things we know of Him that we are never amazed at Who He is and what He’s done for us? One of our old hymns says, “I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how He could love me, a sinner condemned unclean.” But are we still amazed? By God’s grace, let us never lose that sense of wonder. Let us look afresh upon His sacrifice and be amazed that He did so much for me.