Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

It probably comes as a shock to anyone reading this verse that the fearful and unbelieving are listed together with what we would think of as outrageous, vile sinners, and that they will share the same punishment for all eternity.

It probably comes as an added surprise to note that the fearful are listed first. This should be tremendously sobering to any who excuse their timidity as a trifling matter. Perhaps they are afraid to accept the Lord Jesus because of what their friends might...

God never leaves Himself without a witness. In the darkest days, a voice sounds out for Him in clear, articulate tones. Often in the most unusual circumstances, He raises up some unexpected confessor to speak His Name boldly.

In the days before the flood, the earth was gripped by violence and immorality. But Noah was there to take a valiant stand for the Lord.

It seemed to Elijah that all Israel had sunk in idolatry, but God had 7000 men that had not bowed to Baal.

In the...

Paul's experience with the Christians in Galatia reminds us that we often make enemies of our friends when we tell them the truth. The apostle had introduced these people to the Lord and nurtured them in the faith. But later when false teachers infiltrated their Christian assemblies, Paul had to warn believers that they were forsaking Christ for the law. That caused them to become hostile toward their father in the faith.

It was also true in Old Testament times. Elijah was always...

Laban had learned by experience that the Lord had blessed him for Jacob's sake. It was a good lesson to learn. Experience is a great teacher.

I am impressed by the way that experience often helps us to understand verses in the Bible. We may be acquainted with the verses intellectually, but when we pass through some new experience, the verses come alive. They seem to stand out in neon lights. We have a new appreciation of them.

Martin Luther's wife said that she would never have...

These words are found in Jacob's blessing of his sons. When he thought of the cruelty which Simeon and Levi showed to the men of Shechem, he said, "O my soul, come not thou into their secret."

I would like to borrow the words and use them in a broader sense. There are secrets connected with sin which it is better never to know.

Temptation puts on its best face and suggests that we can never be happy until we have been initiated into its mysteries. It offers thrills, physical...

Amen is an extremely useful word with which to express hearty approval of what is being said. Many congregations could afford to use it more often in their services.

The word is found 68 times in the Bible. From 1 Corinthians 14:15-16 it is clear that it was used in the meetings of the early church. So we can be assured that the use of the Amen is eminently scriptural.

Not only so, it is imperative. The sublime nature of the...

"…them also that love his appearing." For many years I thought that this expression referred to those believers who had kindly, sentimental feelings about the coming of the Lord. They would be rewarded with a crown of righteousness because their hearts glowed warm when they thought about the Rapture.

But surely it means more than this. To love His appearance means to live in the light of His coming, to behave as if He were coming today.

Thus, to love His appearing means to live...

The natural tendency is to want to hobnob with the upper crust. In every human heart there is the lust to associate with those who are prominent, wealthy and aristocratic. So Paul's advice in Romans 12:16 really cuts across the grain of nature. He says, "Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position" (NIV). There are no castes in the Church. Christians should live above class distinctions.

A story that illustrates...

Christ did not come to call the righteous nor did He die for good people. It was not for decent, respectable, refined people that He went to the Cross. He died for the ungodly.

Of course, from God's standpoint, all mankind is ungodly. We were all born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Like lost sheep, we have gone astray and turned to our own way. In God's pure eyes, we are depraved, unclean and rebellious. Our best efforts to do what is right are nothing but filthy rags.

The...

The Lord Jesus healed ten lepers but only one returned to thank Him, and that one was a despised Samaritan.

One of the valuable experiences for us in life is to encounter ingratitude, for then we can share in a small degree the heartbreak of God. When we give generously and do not receive so much as an acknowledgment, we have a greater appreciation of Him who gave His beloved Son for a thankless world. When we pour out ourselves in tireless service for others, we join the fellowship of...

The mark of the beast! During the Tribulation period a powerful and evil ruler will arise, ordering all people to receive a mark in their forehead or in their right hand. Those who refuse will suffer the wrath of the beast. Those who submit will suffer the wrath of God. Those who refuse will reign with Christ in His millennial glory. Those who submit will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.

As we read this, we can...

We live in a permissive society. Especially in the area of child-training, people listen to the advice of psychologists and sociologists rather than to the teachings of God's Word. Many adults who were brought up by parents who dared to discipline them determine to allow their children freedom and self-expression. What are the results?

Such children grow up with a deep sense of insecurity. They are misfits in society. They find it difficult to cope with problems and troubles, and seek...

Sometimes words in the Christian vocabulary have a different meaning than they have in ordinary usage. "Hope" is one of those words.

As far as the world is concerned, to hope often means to look forward to something unseen but with no certainty of fulfillment. A man in deep financial trouble may say, "I hope everything will turn out all right," but he has no assurance that it will. His hope may be nothing but wishful thinking. The Christian hope also looks forward to something unseen,...

Earlier in his reign, Saul had decreed that all mediums and spiritists should be cut off from the land. But then things went from bad to worse in his personal and public life. After Samuel's death, the Philistines massed against Saul's army at Gilboa. When he couldn't get any word from the Lord, he consulted a witch in Endor. She fearfully reminded him that he had ordered the removal of all witches from the land. It was then that Saul reassured her, "As the Lord lives, there shall no...