Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

The rich fool in Luke's gospel had so much wealth he didn't know what to do with it. So he decided to tear down his barns and silos and build bigger ones. Then he thought he would feel satisfied, not knowing that he would die as soon as his building project was completed. His wealth wouldn't save him from death and the grave.

Sider says, "The rich fool is the epitome of the covetous person. He has a greedy compulsion to acquire more and more possessions, even though he does not need...

Yesterday we considered a passage that often proves distressing to sincere Christians. Today we will look at three verses in John's first epistle that also disturb believers who are all too aware of their sinfulness. There is the verse already quoted at the top of the page. Then there is 1 John 3:9 : "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." And

This is one of several verses in the New Testament which proves extremely unsettling to many earnest, conscientious Christians. They reason this way: I am faced with a temptation to sin. I know it is wrong. I know I shouldn't do it, and yet I go ahead and do it anyway. I deliberately disobey. It seems to me that I am sinning willfully. Therefore, it sounds from this verse as though I have lost my salvation.

The problem arises because they take the verse out of its context and make it...

The church occupies a place of tremendous importance in the mind of Christ, and it should be extremely important in our estimation as well.

We sense its importance by the prominent space it occupies in the New Testament. Also it claimed a significant place in the ministry of the apostles. Paul, for instance, spoke of his twofold ministry - to preach the Gospel and to declare the truth of the church (Ephesians 3:8-9). The apostles spoke of...

We are often told that it isn't the circumstances of life that are important; it's how we react to those circumstances that really matters. This is true. Rather than always trying to change our circumstances, we should think more about changing ourselves.

There are several ways in which people respond to adverse happenings. The first is stoically. This means that they are completely impassive, gritting their teeth, and showing no emotion. Their policy is to "cooperate with the...

The Word of God is not only eternal; it is absolutely sure of fulfillment. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus said that not one jot or tittle will pass from the law until all be fulfilled. A jot is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet that resembles a comma or an apostrophe. A tittle is a stroke of a Hebrew letter; we might compare it to the bottom stroke of a capital E that distinguishes the E from the F. In other words, Jesus was saying that God's word will be...

God pronounces a woe on those who reverse moral standards, making sin respectable and suggesting that purity is something less than desirable. Herbert Vander Lugt cited three contemporary illustrations of how men tamper with moral distinctions. "First, I read an article which treated lightly the bad results of pornography, but deplored the 'puritanical attitude of religionists.' Second, I came across a newspaper account that told about a group of concerned parents who were trying to get an...

Two men are quarreling. One delivers an angry blast and the other answers with a sharp retort. One charges heatedly and the other countercharges with equal vehemence. Neither is willing to stop lest his silence be counted as weakness or defeat. And so the fire increases in intensity and billows of hate roll back and forth.

But change the picture. One man levels a verbal barrage at his opponent, but receives no fire in return. He tries to aggravate, to irritate, to slander and to shame....

One of the compound names of God is Jehovah-Rapha, meaning "I am the Lord that healeth thee" (Exodus 15:26 b). It is God who heals us. He heals us of all kinds of diseases, and will ultimately deliver us permanently from every form of sickness.

Sometimes He heals us through the tremendous recuperative powers which He has placed in our bodies. This is why doctors often say, "Most things are better by morning." Sometimes He heals through...

In Psalms 126:1-6 the children of Israel are reminiscing about their return to the land after their captivity in Babylon. It had been as if they were in a dream world, filled with laughter and singing. Even their pagan neighbors had commented on the great things the Lord had done for His people.

Now that they were back in their own land, they had to start planting crops. But this posed a problem. They had brought back only a limited...

One of the great tragedies of our existence is to see men and women living wasted lives. Man, after all, was made in the image and likeness of God. He was destined for a throne, not for a bar stool. He was created to be a representative of God, not a slave of sin. In answer to the question, "What is the chief end of man?," the Shorter Catechism reminds us that "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." If we miss that, we miss everything.

J. H. Jowett weeps as...

It is possible to be so busy that our souls become barren. Too much activity causes us to be occupied too much with our work and too little with our God. Preachers who do not spend much time alone in meditation and communion with the Lord soon give out second-hand messages that have little or no spiritual power. We should all pray, "Lord, deliver me from the barrenness of a busy life." Many believers are afraid to be alone. They must be with others, talking, working or traveling. No time is...

What does it mean to tempt the Lord? Is it something of which we can be guilty?

The children of Israel tempted the Lord when they complained about the lack of water in the wilderness (Exodus 17:7). In saying, "Is the Lord among us, or not?" they doubted not only His divine presence but His providential care for them as well.

Satan tempted the Lord when he challenged Him to jump down from the peak of the Temple (Lu. 4:9-12). Jesus would...

Today's verse is incomplete without the three verses that follow, and so we quote them here: "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of...