Daily Devotionals for April 3, 2026

Psalms 143:8-11

"Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble."

Some people never pray....

A. P. Gibbs used to say, "You are not what you think you are, but what you think - this is what you are." This means that the mind is the spring from which behavior flows. Control the source and you control the stream that flows from it.

Therefore control of the thought-life is basic. That is why Solomon said, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23) Here the heart is used as a synonym for the...

The Lord is not slow to fulfil His promises as some count slowness.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your...

I think a lot of people in our congregations get confused when some learned brother advises us that we must all join in a fervent fight against "materialism." If men and women do not know what materialism is, how can they be expected to join the battle" Materialism in its crisis form occurs when men and women created in the image of God accept and look upon matter as "the ultimate"-the only reality. The advice, "We must fight materialism," does not mean that everyone should get a sword, and...

Does Christ receive us when we come to him, notwithstanding all our past sinfulness? Does he never chide us for having tried all other refuges first? And is there none on earth like him? Is he the best of all the good, the fairest of all the fair? Oh, then let us praise him! Daughters of Jerusalem, extol him with timbrel and harp! Down with your idols, up with the Lord Jesus. Now let the standards of pomp and pride be trampled under foot, but let the cross of Jesus, which the world frowns...

We modern Christians seem to be a strange breed in many of our ways. We are so completely satisfied with earthly things and we enjoy our creature comforts so much that we would just rather stay on here for a long, long time! Probably most of us do not tell God about that kind of desire when we pray. But for years I have made a practice of writing many of my earnest prayers to God in a little book - a book now well worn. I remind God often of what my prayers have been. One prayer in the book...

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" (Gal. 4:19).

A ministry of life, whether it be at the kitchen sink, or from the First Church pulpit, must flow from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That life must be developed in and shared...

Who is this that spends his time with a company of poor despised sheep, seeking for them appropriate pastures, leading them beside still waters, defending them from evil beasts with his crook, carrying the lame ones in his bosom, studying all the peculiarities in the condition of each; apparently wrapped up in them, with no wisdom, no power, no resources save such as are needed for their welfare? Why! this is He that measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, meted out heaven with his...

THIS implies DANGER. The Christian may be in danger from sin, self, foes. FEAR--his fears may be groundless, but they are often very painful. INABILITY--to defend himself or overcome his opposers. FORESIGHT--he sees the storm in the distance, and looks out for the covert. PRUDENCE--he hides before the storm, ere the enemy comes upon him. A laudable CONCERN for safety and comfort. The believer, if wise, will at all times flee to Jehovah. Jacob flies to Laban; the manslayer to the refuge; the...

For Reading and Meditation:     Genesis 1:1-12

We focus on what without doubt is the most noble and loftiest of themes - the nature and character of God. I have noticed that Christians, generally speaking, seem to be preoccupied with knowing more about themselves rather than knowing more about God. Ask any Christian bookshop manager: "What are the best-selling...

Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound. This morning it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his...

"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the LORD, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the LORD." 2 Kings 22:19

Many despise warning and perish. Happy is he who trembles at the Word of God. Josiah did so, and he was spared the...

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” § We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us. § The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our...