1 Peter 3:15-16

For Reading and Meditation:     James 1:12-20

Yesterday we saw that the first step the psalmist took, the step which helped to save him from spiritual disaster, was most surprising. In the midst of overwhelming temptation, he says to himself: "If I give expression to my doubts and speak out of my envious, discouraged heart, I will put a stumbling-block in someone...

For Reading and Meditation:     Deuteronomy 30:1-20

We spend one last day meditating on the eighth and final Beatitude. Some feel that the verses which follow this Beatitude (verses 11,12) constitute a ninth Beatitude, but really they are an amplification of what our Lord has been saying in verse 10. It must be pointed out in passing that more is said about this...

For Reading and Meditation:     1 Peter 3:13-22

As Christians we ought never to forget that the message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the understanding; it enables us to understand life. Because of the Bible, we are able to give a reason for the hope that is within us. The psalmist found the truth of this. In the sanctuary he discovered an explanation for...

The conscience is a monitoring mechanism which God has given to man to approve right conduct and to protest against what is wrong. When Adam and Eve sinned, their consciences condemned them and they knew they were naked.

Like all other parts of man's nature, the conscience was affected by the entrance of sin so that it is not always completely reliable. The old maxim "Let your conscience be your guide" is not an invariable rule. However, even in the most depraved, the conscience still...

Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts" (1 Pet. 3:15).

Many sincere believers are apt to put up an insincere front in order to "protect the Gospel," so as not to "let the Lord down." But He will increase, if we but decrease. There is nothing like being nothing!