Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 7:36-50

Jesus did not turn His back on social pleasures. Herein He differed from the Baptist. We are almost certainly right in saying that John would not have gone to the wedding feast in Cana - Jesus went, and went gladly. John, we are quite sure, would not have gone to diner at the Pharisee's house - Jesus accepted the invitation without a question and without hesitation. His heart was full of gracious...

Luke 6:39-49

The Sermon on the Mount tells us the kind of people Christians should be. The Beatitudes with which it opens, show us pictures of the character that is like God.

There is a legend which says that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Eden, an angel broke the gates into pieces, and the fragments flew all over the earth. The gems and precious stones which are picked up now in different parts of...

Luke 6:27-38

There is a great similarity between the discourse in Luke - and that given in Matthew. There are also such marked differences that many writers think they were spoken at different times. It matters not, for our purpose, whether they are the same or a different sermon.

The law of love...

Luke 6:20-26 Luke 16:19-31

The Beatitudes are glimpses of heaven ; that is, the conditions they describe - are qualities which belong to the heavenly life. Those who live there are lowly, are meek, are pure in heart, hungering after righteousness, and are merciful. We cannot think of any people in heaven who are proud, resentful, or...

Mark 3:7-19

"Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed." Mark 3:6-7

We can hardly realize how wide the influence of Jesus was at this time. The multitude that followed Him, came not only from Galilee - but also from Judea,...

Mark 2:23 to Mark 3:6

One of the most important questions which Christian people have to consider in these days - is that of the proper use of the Lord's Day. What is its purpose? What place should it occupy among the days? What should it mean to us? How should it be observed? It would be a great calamity to us - if we were to lose our Sabbath altogether. We would then...

Mark 2:13-22

The first year of Christ's public ministry - was a year of obscurity. He was not yet well-known. Then, as He spoke and served - His fame grew. We are now in His year of popular favor - His second year. One scene of enthusiasm follows another. After the healing of the paralytic the people were amazed, and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"...

Mark 2:1-12

Luke 5:1-11

The scene of this lesson is the Lake of Gennesaret. "Although God has created seven seas," said the rabbis, "yet He has chosen this one as His special delight." No body of water on the earth is so sacred to the hearts of Christians, as this little inland sea. Along its shores Jesus walked, wrought, and talked. At that time its shore was a garden, without break, covered with pleasant towns and villages. Desolation now reigns...

Mark 1:9-13 Matthew 4:1-11

For thirty years the beautiful life of Jesus had gone on in Nazareth. He differed not from the other children, with whom He played and attended school, except in the stainlessness and sinlessness of His life. He grew up among plain people. The village where He lived was small, and everyone knew all the neighbors. Jesus was a carpenter, as Joseph had been. We may be...

Mark 1:1-8 Luke 3:1-20

Mark's gospel opens with the title of the book, "The beginning of the gospel." It was not a very promising beginning from an earthly point of view. As we look at the gospel now, it is a great river, whose streams run through all Christian lands and into many portions of heathendom. For centuries men sought in vain for the source of the Nile, at last finding it in the...

Luke 2:40-52

After the presentation in the temple, came the incident of the visit of the Magi, recorded only in the Gospel according to Matthew, followed by the flight into Egypt, and then Herod's massacre of the children. When Mary and Joseph and the Holy Child returned from Egypt, they went to Nazareth, where they remained until Jesus was thirty years of age. Of these years we have no record, excepting this...

Matthew does not tell us much of the infancy of Jesus. There is something very beautiful, however, in the little we have in this first Gospel. It gives us a glimpse of the way the world, outside of His own country, received Him. There was no room for Him in the inn, and He was born in a stable; but Matthew shows the Far East waiting for Him and honoring Him. A little later, too, it shows Egypt sheltering Him. Jerusalem was the place where...

Luke 2:22-39

The first Jewish rite which was observed in the case of a child, was circumcision. Jesus was circumcised. The time was when He was eight days old. At that time, also, He received His name, Jesus, as the angel had directed. The next religious observance was His presentation in the temple. This was forty days after His birth. An offering was required in connection with...