Daily Devotionals for April 24, 2024

"Bring ye all of the tithes into the Storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine House, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." Malachi 3:10

Many read and plead this promise without noticing the condition upon which the blessing is promised. We cannot expect heaven to be opened or blessing...

In the resurrection of Christ, as in our salvation, there was put forth nothing short of a divine power. What shall we say of those who think that conversion is wrought by the free will of man, and is due to his own betterness of disposition? When we shall see the dead rise from the grave by their own power, then may we expect to see ungodly sinners of their own free will turning to Christ. It is not the word preached, nor the word read in itself; all quickening power proceeds from the Holy...

From whom? From him whose commandments I have so flagrantly violated, and whose authority I have set at nought. From him whose countless benefits I have clutched without noticing the hand that bestowed them. From the thrice-holy One at whose reproof the pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished; and by whose command the fallen angels are kept under the chains of darkness. Perdition has overtaken myriads of beings who went not so far in the contempt of God, as I did; yet salvation cometh...

For Reading and Meditation:     Acts 15:1-11

Now that we understand what Scripture means by the term "heart" - the core of our being - we ask ourselves another important question: What does our Lord mean when He uses the word "pure"? "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The word "pure" (Greek: katharos) means a heart that is clean or clear....

JESUS proposeth Himself to be our daily sustenance--we need bread for the soul as well as the body. In Jesus is all we need to refresh, strengthen, and satisfy us; but He must be received by faith. He must be daily received. Feeding upon Jesus yesterday will not do for today. We must go to Him afresh this morning. He presents Himself; He says, "Eat, O friends; yea, satisfy yourselves, O my beloved." If the Holy Spirit has given us a spiritual appetite, if we are hungering after...

In this verse, the temple of God refers to the local assembly. Paul is not speaking to individual Christians but to believers collectively when he says "which temple ye (plural) are." The saints in Corinth comprised a temple of God.

It is also true, of course, that individual believers are a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle brings this out in 1 Corinthians 6:19 : "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which...

The love of Christ both wounds and heals, it fascinates and frightens, it kills and makes alive, it draws and repulses, it sobers and enraptures. There can be nothing more terrible or more wonderful than to be stricken with love for Christ so deeply that the whole being goes out in a pained adoration of His person, an adoration that disturbs and disconcerts while it purges and satisfies and relaxes the deep inner heart. This love as a kind of moral fragrance is ever detected upon the...

Our fruit is found from our God as to union. The fruit of the branch is directly traceable to the root. Sever the connection, the branch dies, and no fruit is produced. By virtue of our union with Christ we bring forth fruit. Every bunch of grapes have been first in the root, it has passed through the stem, and flowed through the sap vessels, and fashioned itself externally into fruit, but it was first in the stem; so also every good work was first in Christ, and then is brought forth in...

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...

2 Kings 5:1-14

The story of Naaman is interesting in several ways. It gives us a glimpse of the times. The country of Israel was subject to incursions from hostile tribes. In these raids not only was property carried away - but women and children were ofttimes taken as captives. Naaman himself was a great man in his country; he was commander-in-chief of the army of Syria. He was...

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,...

I once wrote in an editorial that Christian believers are not orphans in this world, making the point that the divine Shepherd goes before us and that we travel an appointed way. A reader wrote to question my allusion to our traveling an "appointed" way, asking: "I was brought up a Methodist. In your comments, do you mean this to be foreordination" That is what the Presbyterians believe. Just what did you mean"" I replied that I had not meant to go down that deep into doctrine-that I had not...