Month: December 2011

Three invitations are given by the Lord personally and sent to you. The first concerns our sins, though like scarlet, they can be as white as snow. The second call is to rest. We are without peace until we find rest in Christ. The third invitation is in parable form. It’s an invitation to a great supper—God’s great salvation by His grace. All is prepared and ready for you. Don’t pass up God’s gracious invitations given in His Word. —Rex Trogdon

What a wonderful prayer of thanksgiving to start every new day. Whoever we are, whatever we have achieved is solely due to the goodness and grace of God. Pride is a dreadful sin, and the Christian should be in a perpetual state of humility. We deserve absolutely nothing!—Brian Russell

The blowing of the silver trumpets was not only to marshal Israel for war, but it was also an appeal to the Lord to save them from their enemies. When the day of grace commenced, the trumpets were blown against the powers of darkness. Paul exhorts us to, “Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a soldier,” (2 Tim. 2:3-4). Lord, help in the battle.—R. Surgenor

The sorrows of this suffering Man permeated His lovely life. There was the sorrow of the Incarnation; to leave His home and become a man was itself a sorrow. The sorrow of Identification; to be identified with beings in the universe who were moral criminals. He suffered the sorrow of Compassion; having all power to heal and to comfort, yet on so many occasions to withold that power, for His hour was not yet. The sorrows of rejection, humiliation, and ultimately isolation, all gathered upon that tender soul, so that of all the experiences of life, it was sorrow that most identified His humanity. —J. B. N.

Faith, hope, and love are the cardinal virtues of the Christian life, and they are the three greatest evidences of salvation. Positively, genuine faith leads to works for our Lord (Eph. 2:8-10); love publicly evidences salvation (Rom. 5:5); and hope expresses an alert expectation of Christ’s return (1 Thess. 1:10). Negatively, without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), we are without hope if without Christ (Eph. 2:12), and if anyone loves not the Lord Jesus he is accursed (1 Cor. 16:22). —W. Ross Rainey

What exciting words revealing to us Jesus Christ, the Source and Giver of eternal life! Amazing grace available for everyone irrespective of race, culture, or language! It cannot be earned or attained by merit. It is gained only by faith, receiving the gift He has provided through His death on the cross. Will you become the possessor of eternal life today? —Jim Paul

In childhood, the medicine administered by mother may have been good, but was seldom pleasant. In those days, our chosen confectionery was pleasant, though our elders thought it not good! Today, as maturing Christians, are we fully committed to that which is both good and pleasant—harmonious relationships with fellow-believers? “Let there be no strife…for we be brethren,” (Gen 13:8). —George Hall