Daily Devotionals for November 20, 2023

The word which Phillips translates "intellectualism" here is the one from which we get the word "philosophy." Basically it means the love of wisdom, but then it has acquired a further meaning, namely, the search for reality and the purpose of life.

Most human philosophies are expressed in complicated, highsounding language. They are above the head of the common man. They appeal to those who like to use their intellectual powers in clothing human speculations with words that are...

Ever to be remembered is that best and brightest of hours, when first we saw the Lord, lost our burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on our way in peace. It was spring time in the soul; the winter was past; the mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment. Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love,...

Now are ye light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:8a).

It takes us a long time to realize that all is darkness outside the Light of heaven and earth.

"The moment we begin to rest our peace on anything in ourselves, we lose it. And this is why so many saints have not settled peace. How can you...

"For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." Psalms 107:9

It is well to have longings, and the more intense they are the better. The LORD will satisfy soul-longings, however great and all-absorbing they may be. Let us greatly long, for God will greatly give. We are never in a right state of mind when we are contented with ourselves and are free from longings. Desires for more grace and groanings...

For Reading and Meditation:     Matthew 12:1-14

We continue reflecting on the thought that Jesus Christ is not like anyone else who has ever lived. Take the claim which He made in our text today: "One greater than the temple is here." Jesus in effect compared Himself with the temple's grandeur and significance as the center of Jewish life and said: "I am greater...

A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is his living biography, written out in the words and actions of his people. If we were what we profess to be, and what we should be, we should be pictures of Christ; yea, such striking likenesses of him, that the world would not have to hold us up by the hour together, and say, "Well, it seems somewhat of a likeness;" but they would, when...

Peace is an invaluable blessing, it is the gift of Jesus. None but believers know the sweetness of the peace He bestows. He made it by shedding His blood.

He proclaims it in the everlasting gospel. He bestows it upon us when we believe, and it is enjoyed in the heart under the influence of the Holy Spirit. It is peace with God. A peaceful conscience. The beginning of heaven in the soul. He gives it often when in the midst of trouble; and it makes every burden light, every trouble less,...

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! § A mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember the multitude of Your mercies … Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.Therefore, holy brethren,...

Matthew 18:1-14

Jesus' interest in children appears throughout all the Gospels.

It was a strange question which the disciples brought to Jesus, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" These men, although occupying so sacred a place in their Lord's family, were still very human, and had their natural human ambitions. They even seem not to have been free from the passion for official or political...

God is represented to us as the God of all patience and consolation, the God of peace, the God of hope, the God of grace, the God of comfort, all expressions denoting his relations to his people, and designed to reveal him to them as the all-sufficient and inexhaustible fountain of peace, patience, and comfort. As often as the word comfort is mentioned, and how often it is! our thoughts should be spontaneously turned from the petty, the misnamed comfort of earth, to the infinite Comforter....

Some of you will object to my saying this, but it is my opinion that in Christianity we have over-emphasized the psychology of the lost sinner's condition. We spend time describing the sinner's woes and the great burden he carries until we almost forget the principal fact that the sinner is actually a rebel against properly constituted authority! That is what makes sin SIN! We are rebels, we are sons of disobedience. Sin is the breaking of the Law and we are fugitives from the just laws of...

We need to cultivate a healthy skepticism toward everything that cannot be supported by the plain teaching of the Bible. Belief is faith only when it has God"s revealed truth for its object; beyond that it may be fully as injurious as unbelief itself.

Many of the stories brought forward to justify the ways of God to men actually prove nothing except the unsoundness of the speaker"s intellectual fiber. Yet if all chimney-corner Scripture and old wives" tales were forbidden, many a...

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. § I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.Yea,...