The time for open air work has come. Are you ready for it? The Bible you love is an open air book. The great revival under Ezra began in the open air, as from his pulpit of wood he read the Scriptures and expounded their meaning. The angels gave a snatch of heaven’s music and announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds in the open air. Christ preached His greatest sermon in the open air and proclaimed the gospel to the woman by Jacob’s well in the open air. Most of His miracles and teaching took place …
If you have ever climbed a high mountain, you remember that you started in the shadow of trees at the base, where there was little or no outlook. You could see a few hundred yards around you; but after a while you rose above the tops of the trees and looked out upon a beautiful landscape. As you climbed higher, the fields and the running streams appeared, but you could see only one-half of the horizon, the other half was shut off by the mountain. But when you reached the top, you found yourself in a great circular room, bounded …
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall mediate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”—Joshua 1:8
Most of us wish that God would work on us while we’re asleep so that we could wake to face the day with unwavering confidence and faith! We wish that good intentions, combined with attending church once a week, would bring about permanent changes in …
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”—Deuteronomy 6:6-7
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter …
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”—Deuteronomy 6:5
Love is not an emotion that can be turned on or off like a faucet. Love—true love—involves a deep abiding commitment to the one who is loved. Of course it involves the emotions but it is also rooted in the mind and the will; it means we surrender our lives for the good of someone else. In fact, in this text, as in so many other places in the Bible, we are exhorted to …
“Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”—Romans 8:33-34
There are millions of people who go to church on Sunday and confess their sins, but they are not converted as a result of this exercise. If we had to confess all of our sins in order to be saved, salvation would be beyond reach. For one thing, we can’t remember …
There is great danger that the good may exclude the best. If Satan can keep us so busy doing good that we neglect to pray, he is satisfied. He can counteract our good works, but he cannot counteract our prayers, for God works in answer to prayer. If a prayer meeting is filled with talk, though it be good talk, Satan is pleased. His birds of the air are ready to pick up the good seed and much of it falls on stony ground or among thorns to be choked, but when the hour is filled with genuine prayer, Satan …
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”—Romans 8:18, 23
Our suffering is a challenge to our faith. After all, we think if God loved us, He’d remove the obstacles that bring us so much anguish and pain. Most of us aren’t good at suffering. The German theologian Helmut Thielicke observed, “Americans don’t know …
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”—Romans 8:14-17
God has given us many benefits through faith in Christ. Among …
Today’s Reading: Mark 14:32-34 Today’s Reference: Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Here in Gethsemane, we have the gift of seeing Jesus’ humanity most clearly. He was “greatly distressed and troubled,” going through emotional turbulence so painful He couldn’t even stand up under it. He knew He was about to have the full wrath of God unleashed upon Him because of your …