1 Thessalonians 2:11-20

For Reading and Meditation:     John 1:1-14

We ended yesterday by saying that the first step toward mental and spiritual health is self-renunciation and receptivity. I must be willing to acknowledge my need of Christ, stop striving to find happiness and instead receive Him into my life then, like the disciples we talked about the other day, I have reached the shore...

GOD hath call us with a holy calling, to enjoy a holy Saviour, believe a holy Gospel, possess a holy nature, and walk in a holy way. All the provisions of free grace, all the promises of infinite love, and all the precepts of reigning holiness, unite to require us to be a holy people unto the Lord our God. We are to imitate the conduct of our God. He feeds His foes, loves His people, and always acts becoming His glorious character. Enemies will lie in wait to deceive you, errors will be...

Since the first hour in which goodness came into conflict with evil, it has never ceased to be true in spiritual experience, that Satan hinders us. From all points of the compass, all along the line of battle, in the vanguard and in the rear, at the dawn of day and in the midnight hour, Satan hinders us. If we toil in the field, he seeks to break the ploughshare; if we build the wall, he labours to cast down the stones; if we would serve God in suffering or in conflict-everywhere Satan...

In the Christian life it is a question not only of what we hear but also of how we hear.

It is possible to hear the Word of God with an attitude of indifference. We can read the Bible as we would read any other book, seemingly unconcerned that the Almighty God is speaking to us in it.

We can hear with a critical attitude. Here we put human intellect above the Scriptures. We sit in judgment on the Bible instead of letting the...

It is quite normal and understandable for us as Christians to wonder if we will know our loved ones in heaven. While there is no Scripture that deals specifically with the subject, there are several lines of reasoning that lead us to a positive conclusion.

First of all, the disciples recognized Jesus in His resurrected, glorified body. His physical appearance was unchanged. There was no mistaking that it was "this same Jesus." This suggests that we too will have our own distinctive...

You know how we exhorted … and charged every one of you … that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. § You may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of...

My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight … but now My kingdom is not from here. § Waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever! § You . . . have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth. § I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgement was committed to them. And they lived and...

There is none righteous, no, not one… There is none who does good, no, not one. § There is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. § How can he be pure who is born of a woman?Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me… Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.The Lord… has put away...