Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

The Lord Jesus cautions us to be careful what we hear. We are responsible to control what enters through the eargate, and equally responsible to put what we do hear to proper use.

We should not listen to what is blatantly false. The cults are spewing out their propaganda in unprecedented volume. They are always looking for someone who is willing to listen. John says we should not receive cultists into our house or even greet them. They are against Christ.

We should not listen to...

Here is both a rewarding encouragement and a warning that should bring us up short. Whatever we do to Christ's brethren is reckoned as being done unto Himself.

We can show kindness to the Lord Jesus any day by showing kindness to a fellow-believer. When we show hospitality to God's people, it is the same as if we entertain Him in our homes. If we give them the master bedroom, we are giving it to Him.

Almost anyone would be quick to do everything possible for the Savior if He came...

One of the surface lessons we learn from this passage is that Christians should not be prone to engage in lawsuits. It is a natural reaction to rush to court to seek redress for grievances and damages. But the believer is guided by higher principles than natural reactions. The will of God often cuts across the grain of nature.

Our law courts today are glutted with accident claims, malpractice suits, divorce cases and inheritance claims. In many cases, people rush to the lawyer in the...

The preferred rendering of this last fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Temperance has become associated particularly with restraint in the use of intoxicating drinks. Self-control carries the thought of moderation or abstinence in every area of life.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, the believer is enabled to exercise self-control over his thought life, his appetite for food and drink, his speech, his sex life, his temper and every other power that God has given him. He need not be...

When we think of meekness, we are apt to think of Caspar Milquetoast, the comic strip character who was the embodiment of timidity and weakness. But this fruit of the Spirit is something very different. It comes from supernatural power, not from weakness.

It refers first of all to a believer's loving submission to all God's dealings in his life. The meek man bows to the will of God without rebellion, questioning or complaint. He reckons that "God is too wise to err and too loving to be...

This fruit of the Spirit is generally understood as being faithfulness. It is not the faith that saves, or the trust we exercise in God day by day (although it may include that). Rather it is our fidelity and dependability in our dealings with the Lord and with one another. Someone has defined it as being "true to oneself, to one's nature, to any promise given, to any trust committed."

When we say that a man's word is his bond, we mean that in dealing with him, no written contract is...

Goodness means excellence of character. Someone has defined it as "virtue equipped at every point," which simply means that the person possessing it is kind, virtuous and righteous in every area of life.

Goodness is the opposite of badness. A bad man may be deceitful, immoral, treacherous, unjust, cruel, selfish, hateful, covetous, and/or intemperate. The good man, though not perfect, exemplifies truth, justice, purity and other similarly desirable traits.

The Apostle Paul...

The King James Version has the word "gentleness" here but almost all modern versions read "kindness." "The fruit of the Spirit is…kindness."

Kindness describes the gentle, gracious, generous disposition that results in the doing of favors, the showing of mercies, and the bestowing of benefits on others. The kind person is gracious, not harsh; sympathetic, not indifferent; and helpful, not uninvolved. He is considerate, compassionate and charitable.

There is a natural kindness...

Longsuffering is the virtue that bears up patiently and even triumphantly under the aggravations of life. While it may refer to a patient response to adverse circumstances, it usually refers to a merciful endurance of the provocations of people.

God is longsuffering with man. Think for a moment of the gross sinfulness of the human race at the present time - the legalization of prostitution, the popularization of homosexuality, the laws permitting abortions, the breakdown of marriage...

As soon as we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). That means that the hostility between ourselves and God has ceased since Christ has effectively dealt with the cause of that hostility - our sins.

We also have peace of conscience knowing that the work is finished, Christ has paid the penalty of our sins, and God has forgotten...

Man never finds real joy till he finds the Lord. Then he enters in to what Peter calls "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).

Anyone can rejoice when circumstances are favorable, but the joy which is the fruit of the Spirit is not the result of earthly circumstances. It springs from our relationship to the Lord and from the precious promises He has given to us. Christ would have to be dethroned before the Church could be finally...

The phrase "the fruit of the Spirit" teaches us at the outset that the virtues that follow can be produced only by the Holy Spirit. An unconverted man is incapable of manifesting any of these graces. Even a true believer is powerless to reproduce them by his own strength. So when we think of these graces, we must remember that they are supernatural and other-worldly.

The love spoken of here, for instance, is not the eros of passion, or the

When Jesus suggested going back to Judea, the disciples were terrified. The Jews had tried to stone Him there only recently, and now He was talking about a return visit. In answer to the disciples' apprehension, Jesus said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" At first glance, the question seems to be completely disconnected from the conversation. But what the Savior was saying was this! The working day is made up of twelve hours. When a person is yielded to God, every day has its...

One of the great themes of the New Testament is the lordship of Jesus Christ. Over and over we are reminded that He is Lord and that we should give Him that place in our lives.

To crown Jesus as Lord means to surrender our lives to Him. It means to have no will of our own, but to want His will supremely. It means the willingness to go anywhere, do anything, and say whatever He desires. When Joshua asked the captain of the Lord's army, "Are you for us or against us?" the captain...