Psalm-11:1-7-asv

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 5:18-25

We pick up from where we left off yesterday with the thought that "wrath" is not a defect in the divine character; rather, it would be a defect if wrath were absent from Him. Those who see God's wrath as petulance or retaliation, inflicting punishment for the sake of it, or in return for some injury received, do not...

Where the Lord gives grace, He always tries it; therefore His own people must expect to pass through the fire. He will try our faith, of what sort it is; our love, of what strength it is. He will also try our patience and our constancy.

Let us not therefore be surprised at trials, nor let us be discouraged by them; for He tries out of pure love, with the best design, according to a wise rule, and at the fittest season.

He considers our frame, our circumstances, and our foes; He...

All events are under the control of Providence; consequently all the trials of our outward life are traceable at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God's ordinance the armies of trial march forth in array, clad in their iron armour, and armed with weapons of war. All providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys...

The Lord Himself is righteous and loves to see His people acting in a righteous manner. He is pleased when believers instinctively make choices that are consistent with divine or moral law.

But it is not always easy in a world such as ours. We are constantly tempted to compromise in the areas of morals and ethics. Some or the temptations are blatant; others are insidious. It takes both discernment and backbone to walk a straight line.

It would not be possible to catalog all the...

Now the God of peace . . . make you perfect [complete, mature] in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ" (Heb. 13:20; 21).