Daily Devotionals for October 22, 2026

One important insight we gather from this verse is that Moses appointed Joshua as his successor, knowing that his own ministry would be coming to an end. In doing so, he set a good example for others who are in places of spiritual leadership. Some may think that this is too elementary to emphasize but the fact is that there is often gross failure to train successors and to turn work over to them. There seems to be an innate resistance to the idea that we are replaceable.

Sometimes this...

Most readers will remember (some with just a trace of nostalgia) his or her early struggles to learn the difference between the active and the passive voice in English grammar, and how it finally dawned that in the active voice, the subject performs an act; in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon. Thus, "I love" is active, and "I am loved" is passive.

A good example of this distinction is to be found at the nearest mortuary. There the undertaker is active and the dead are...

The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and the search more persevering when a thing is sought out. We were mingled with the mire: we were as when some precious piece of gold falls into the sewer, and men gather out and carefully inspect a mass of abominable filth, and continue to stir...

It is difficult to conceive of higher testimony than that which was borne to the character of Job. To be distinguished among a few, is as much honor as men generally dare to aspire to. But the mere thought of being distinguished above all men dwelling on the face of the earth, is enough to intoxicate the soul of man. Now of Job, it was deliberately stated, that there was not his like upon the earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God and eschewing evil. And by whom was this testimony...

Beware of light thoughts of sin. At the time of conversion, the conscience is so tender, that we are afraid of the slightest sin. Young converts have a holy timidity, a godly fear lest they should offend against God. But alas! very soon the fine bloom upon these first ripe fruits is removed by the rough handling of the surrounding world: the sensitive plant of young piety turns into a willow in after life, too pliant, too easily yielding. It is sadly true, that even a Christian may grow by...

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. § He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. § In the time of trouble He shall hide me in...

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

Paul wanted to stimulate the Corinthian church to give generously, and he told them what other churches had been doing. Giving merely not to be behind other people, is not good giving. At the same time we should be desirous of imitating every good thing we see in others, for its own sake, because it is beautiful and like Christ.

The early Christian givers were poor - but they gave liberally, and "Out of the most...

"Thou, O LORD God, hast spoken it: and with Thy blessing let the house of Thy servant be blessed for ever." 2 Samuel 7:29

This is a promise pleaded, and so it yields double instruction to us. Anything which the LORD God has spoken we should receive as surely true and then plead it at the throne.

Oh, how sweet to quote what our own God has spoken! How precious to use a "therefore," which the promise suggests, as David does in...

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. § If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these...

Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. . . sanctification" (1 Cor. 1:30).

If we keep in mind that the Lord Jesus is our Sanctification, the seemingly difficult subject will clearly unfold for us day by day.

"Many fall into the Methodistic, or Quaker, or...

I believe there is a positive warning in the gospels that a person's faith may stand in the revealed Bible text-and still be as dead as the proverbial door nail! Consider the prayer of our Lord in Matthew 11: "All things are delivered unto me of my Father; and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." There is more than a body of truth - and if we do not...

Being baptized into the death of Christ, and participating in His resurrection, they should walk as influenced by new principles; the free grace, holy truth, and divine power of God, should lead them to newness of life. They should walk by new rules, no longer following custom, or imitating the world; they should walk according to God's word, the Saviour's golden rule, and bright example.

The love of God, gratitude to God, and zeal for His glory, should be the motives from which they...

For Reading and Meditation:     Mark 15:16-39

I cannot believe that God would write a law of "saving by sacrifice" within our hearts and evade it Himself. The psalmist asks: "Does he who formed the eye not see?" (Psalm 94:9). And Browning said: "He that created love, shall He not love?" We might add: "He that created...