2 Timothy 2:1-9

For Reading and Meditation:     Romans 11:1-24

We continue reflecting on the meaning of grace. Illion T. Jones, a famous Welsh preacher, said that "The word 'grace' is unquestionably the most significant single word in the Bible." I agree. But it must be understood right away that grace is a characteristic of God which is exercized only toward those who are seen as...

For Reading and Meditation:     John 6:25-33

It is because God is so utterly trustworthy and reliable that the Christian life at heart is a life of trust. In the passage before us today our Lord is asked: "What must we do to do the works God requires?" (v. 28). His answer was entirely different from that which you would receive if you posed the question to...

For Reading and Meditation:     Colossians 2:1-15

We are seeing the suffering and persecution we experience can be due to our own tactlessness and folly. Today I want to go a stage further, and suggest that in relation to this matter of suffering and persecution, some Christians have developed a "martyr complex". A "martyr complex" is an attitude of mind that finds...

For Reading and Meditation:     Matthew 22:23-33

We spend one more day considering the proposition that apart from a relationship with God and an understanding of the Scriptures, we are unable to see life as a whole. The man or woman who knows and understands the Bible will be acquainted with the facts he or she needs to have in order to come to right and sound...

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 76:1-12

We touched yesterday on the truth that the reason why the ungodly are set in eminent places is because God arranges it. The psalmist goes on to say that not only does God raise up the ungodly, but He also brings them down: "You cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed –" (

Christ has grace without measure in himself, but he hath not retained it for himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied out his grace for his people. "Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace." He seems only to have in order to dispense to us. He stands like the fountain, always flowing, but only running in order to supply the empty pitchers and the thirsty lips which draw nigh unto it. Like a tree, he bears sweet fruit, not to hang on...

The Christian has been enlisted by the Lord, and is on active service for Him. He must not entangle himself in the affairs of everyday life. The emphasis here is on the word entangle. He cannot completely divorce himself from worldly business. He must work in order to provide the necessities of life for his family. There is a certain amount of involvement in everyday interests that is unavoidable. Otherwise he would have to go out of the world, as Paul reminds us...

Faithful people are an endangered species; they are rapidly vanishing from the human race. If David mourned their demise in his day, we often wonder how he would feel if he lived today.

When we speak of a faithful person, we mean one who is trustworthy, reliable, dependable. If he makes a promise, he keeps it. If he has a responsibility, he fulfills it. If he has honorable allegiances, he is staunchly loyal to them.

The unfaithful man makes an appointment, then either fails to...

If you are a disciple of Christ, you are a soldier of Christ. If you are an expectant of salvation, you are a follower of the captain of salvation. When it was proposed to you to become his follower, it was distinctly intimated that you were to follow him to a field of conflict.

Endure hardness - that is, endure things hard to he endured. The army of Christ resembles not a Northern army rushing down from its inhospitable home into the fertile plains and genial climate of Italy,...