Month: February 2024

Exodus 19:10-25; Psalms 59:1-17; Acts 10:34-48

Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest…and offer him there for a burnt offering… Genesis 22:2

God had promised Abraham, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called” (Gen. 21:12). This request seemed to contradict what God had promised. But Abraham believed that God would never go back on His promise, and in the meantime, he must obey, and leave the future with God. There are times in our experience when we may feel that things happening in our lives do not seem to make sense, but we can be sure that God will honour all His promises, and we can enjoy the peace that this brings. —Willie H. Burnett

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God we shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God. —R. Kelso Carter

Exodus 19:1-9; Psalms 58:1-11; Acts 10:24-33

Therefore, the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. Isaiah 30:18 NKJV

God is waiting for the needed moment to be gracious to us. Likewise, we are blessed as we learn to wait on Him. His grace, mercy and justice are fully revealed between the divine waiting and human waiting, and for this He is exalted. —Sam Thorpe

O God of matchless grace,
We sing unto Thy name!
We stand accepted in the place
That none but Christ could claim.  —Hannah Burlingham

Exodus 18:1-27; Psalms 56:1-57:11; Acts 10:1-23

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Isaiah 25:4

Need help? How many times do we resort to our own abilities or other earthly resources, thinking, “I’ve got this”, and in so doing, exercise independence of my loving God? Each of the above challenges and promised remedies are in the context of counting oneself as poor and needy. Independence from God leads us to the pride of self-assurance. Dependence upon God is an attitude, a virtue and a grand privilege. Become dependent upon God and find the joy of
taking His yoke upon you. —Doug Lewis

The Lord’s our rock, in Him we hide, a shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide, a shelter in the time of storm. —V. Charlesworth

Exodus 17:1-16; Psalm 55:1-23; Acts 9:32-43

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth. 2 John 1:1

It was Warren Wiersbe who said “As goes the home, so goes the church and the nation”. How important it is to show godliness in the home. To be different in the church and the world than you are in the home or vice versa is sheer hypocrisy. God save us from being duplistic believers and may the Lord give us the wisdom to be consistent wherever we are. —Brian Russell

Search me, O God! My actions try,
And let my life appear
As seen by Thine all searching eye—
To mine my ways make clear.  —Francis Bottome

Exodus 16:1-36; Psalm 52:1-54:7; Acts 9:1-31

And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. Luke 7:15-16

My father cherishes a book containing thank you letters written by South Korean children. Praising Korean war veterans with words like “brave hero”, these youngsters were taught that there was a cost to their freedom. Their gratitude brings tears to his eyes. The Lord appreciated the one leper who returned to give thanks and today treasures our corporate remembrance of Him. In obedience we must thankfully remember Him. —George Ferrier

Oh, to see my name written in the wounds,
For through Your suffering I am free.
Death is crushed to death, life is mine to live;
Won through Your selfless love. —Keith Getty & Stuart Townend

Exodus 15:1-27; Psalm 51:1-19; Acts 8:5-40

Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come. Psalm 71:18

In this verse, the psalmist petitions God to continue to supply his strength so he can proclaim the mighty deeds of God to the next generation. In the world, we work with the hope of one day retiring and resting from our labour. But as believers, our retirement from His labour should only be when “face to face” with our Lord. Press on for Him. —Luke Urban

I love to tell the story;
’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
More wonderfully sweet.  —Katherine Hankey

Exodus 14:5-31; Psalms 49:1-50:23; Acts 7:30-8:4

Delight thyself also in the Lord. Psalm 37:4

The book of Psalms begins with the statement that the blessed man will delight himself in the law of the Lord. Later the psalmist states that his delight is to do the will of God (Ps. 40:8). In Psalm 119 his delight is in God’s statutes, the commandments, and law. What is your delight? What brings joy, satisfaction, and peace to your soul? —Wm. H. Gustafson

The Word of God, a river of pleasure,
The Word of God, ’tis food for the mind,
The Word of God, its light faileth never,
The Word of God, what treasures we find.  —A. E. Smith

Exodus 13:1-14:4; Psalms 47:1-48:14; Acts 7:1-29

Adam…where are you? Genesis 3:9 NKJV
For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. Luke 19:10
I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 NKJV

God longs to fellowship with you! Throughout Scripture, we see how God desires to draw people to Himself. He has myriads of angels who worship Him, so why seek you and me? He created us to have intimacy, and a daily walk with us. How humbling this is and how precious to think that I can make Him happy today by my worship, love, and devotion. The whole story of Calvary is for us to be reunited with Him. Let’s give Him our best today! —Eleanor Isaacson

I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me;
But I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee.  —Fanny Crosby

Exodus 12:21-51; Psalm 45:1-46:11; Acts 6:1-15

For the love of Christ constraineth us. 2 Corinthians 5:14

Wuest’s translation gives us a lovely expansion of this verse: “For the love which Christ has [for me] presses on me from all sides, holding me to one end and prohibiting me from considering any other, wrapping itself around me in tenderness, giving me an impelling motive”. If you need extra motivation this year as you serve the Lord and His people, give careful consideration to this verse, and to the many others that give expression to God’s impelling love. The great love of Christ should always be our motive for serving Him.—Elizabeth C. Bishop

Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above, would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky.  —Frederick Lehman

Exodus 11:1-12:20; Psalm 44:1-26; Acts 5:12-42

Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded. Proverbs 13:13

It has been well said that how a person responds to the Word of God will accurately indicate who they are. If a person’s Bible is neglected and unused, it will reflect an individual who is godless and indifferent to His truth. How differently two kings, Josiah and his son Jehoiakim, treated the Scriptures. Josiah rent his clothes and inquired of the Lord when he read its warnings (2 Kgs. 22:11-13).  In contrast, his son cut it up and burned it (Jer. 36:23)! How much do we value and obey the Scriptures? —Pete Smith

Lord, Thy Word abideth,
And our footsteps guideth;
Who its truth believeth,
Light and joy receiveth. —H. W. Baker