Daily Devotionals for August 10, 2024

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree" (Gal. 3:13).

 

The legal Christian considers the law to be his best friend who will enable him to live righteously. But in reality the law, in the hands of the Holy...

Worshippers at the temple were wont to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be burned upon the altar of God: but Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became ungenerous, and made but few votive offerings to her Lord: this was an evidence of coldness of heart towards God and his house. Reader, does this never occur with you? Might not the complaint of the text be occasionally, if not frequently, brought against you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted none the...

"Thy LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up." 1 Samuel 2:7

All my changes come from Him who never changes. If I had grown rich, I should have seen His hand in it, and I should have praised Him; let me equally see His hand if I am made poor, and let me as heartily praise Him. When we go down in the world, it is of the LORD, and so we may take it patiently: when we rise in the world, it is of the LORD, and...

Hast thou considered well, O John the son of Zebedee, the beloved disciple, what is implied in these words of thine? These words fly in the face of all human philosophies, and give a picture of the world such as all the world is sure to abhor. They will laugh thee to scorn, with thy description of mankind as being without life save as they find it in Christ. For thy words, if they mean anything, declare that all the world have become obnoxious to the everlasting wrath of God, and are going...

Blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. § You are the salt of the earth … the light of the world. § Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.I also withheld you from sinning against Me.The Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one. § I did not do so, because of the fear of...

Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a divine confidence. He did not say, "I have grace enough to perfect that which concerneth me-my faith is so steady that it will not stagger-my love is so warm that it will never grow cold-my resolution is so firm that nothing can move it; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages, our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover...

THE prayer of faith is generally short, and always to the point. It takes the soul and places it before God, in its real state and true character. It pleads with Him for what is really needed, what must be had. The believer often needs deliverance, and faith cries to God for it. His language is, "O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul from doubts and fears, which continually beset me; from a spirit of bondage, which would daily entangle me; from Satan who worries, harasses, and hinders me;...

For some reason, religious activity and godliness do not always go together. To discover this, it is only necessary to observe the current religious scene. There is no lack of soul-winning effort surely, but many of the soul-winners give one the impression that they are little more than salesmen for a brand of Christianity that simply does not lead to saintliness.

If this should strike you as being uncharitable, make this little test: kneel down and read reverently the Sermon on the...

When Christ Jesus died on that unholy, fly-infested cross for mankind, He never divided the Godhead!

We are assured from the earliest church fathers that the Father in heaven, His eternal Son, and the Holy Ghost are forever One - inseparable, indivisible - and can never be anything else. Not all of Nero's swords could ever cut down through the substance of the Godhead to cut off the Father from the Son.

It was Mary's son who cried out, "Why hast Thou forsaken me"" It was the...

Matthew 25:31-46

This passage gives us a wonderful picture of the last judgment. It is not a parable - but a prophetic presentation of the great scene. The sheep and goats are used as representing the good and evil. Christ will be the Judge. He will appear as the Son of man, that is, in His humanity. It is a comfort to...

God had just spoken from heaven in clear, articulate tones. Some said that it thundered. They gave a naturalistic explanation for what was divine and miraculous. That is one attitude we can take toward miracles today. We can try to explain them away as nothing more than natural occurrences. Or we can say flatly that the age of miracles has passed. We can conveniently relegate them to a dispensational pigeonhole.

A third attitude is to go to the other extreme and claim to experience...

For Reading and Meditation: Ecclesiastes 12:2-4

We are now drawn into a vivid picture of very old age. Solomon's purpose is to point out the advantages of serving God while young, and to convince us of his counsel to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. We can serve God in old age (as we have seen), but the reality is that very old age slows us down somewhat and we can't give...

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high. § The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens … He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes.God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in...