Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

After Saul of Tarsus was converted, the churches of Judea heard that this arch-persecutor of the Christian faith had become an ardent preacher and defender of the faith. It was a remarkable reversal.

In more recent times, there have been spectacular incidents where men have done a similar about-face.

Lord Littleton and Gilbert West decided jointly that they would overthrow the faith of those who defended the Bible. Littleton would disprove the records of the conversion of Saul,...

Singing here is linked to the filling of the Spirit, as if song is one of the sure results of the filling. Perhaps this is why almost all the great revivals of history have been accompanied by singing. The Welsh revival is a notable example.

No people have as much to sing about as Christians, and no people have such a rich heritage of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Our hymns express in majestic language what we so often feel but cannot express. Some hymns express thoughts that may...

If a rumor circulated that the people of a city in Israel had forsaken God for idols, there had to be an intensive investigation before any punitive action could be taken.

We should be no less careful when we hear a rumor or gossip, but should apply the six tests: Is it hearsay? Have I inquired? Have I made search? Have I asked diligently? Is it true? Is it certain?

In fact, it would be a good idea if we used the same thoroughness and caution before passing on sensational news...

A casual reading of these two verses might easily convince a person that they present a glaring contradiction. The first says we should bear one another's burdens, the second that we must bear our own burden.

The word translated "burdens" in verse 2 means anything that weighs a person down spiritually, physically and emotionally. In its immediate context it refers to the heavy weight of guilt and despondency that has come into the life of a man who has been overtaken in a fault (v. 1)....

Twice in John 5:1-47 the Lord Jesus says that He can do nothing of Himself. In verse 19, He says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself…" Then again in verse 30 He says, "I can of mine own self do nothing…"

When we first read these verses, we are apt to feel disappointed. They seem to say that Jesus was limited in His power, just like ourselves. But if He is God, as He claimed to be, He must be omnipotent. How...

One of the self-inflicted agonies of life is trying to be someone you were never intended to be. Everyone is a unique creation of God. As someone has said, "When He made us, He threw away the pattern." He never intended us to try to change it.

Maxwell Maltz wrote, "'You' as a personality are not in competition with any other personality simply because there is not another person on the face of the earth like you, or in your particular class. You are an individual. You are unique. You...

As we approach the end of the age, it is predictable that many will abandon the hope of Christ's any-moment return. But the truth is still there whether men hold it or not.

The fact is that the Lord Jesus may come at any time. We do not know the day or hour of the Bridegroom's return for His bride; this means that He could come today. There is no prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before we hear His shout, the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. True, the church expects to...

The first part of today's verse is "Where there is no vision, the people perish." This is usually taken to mean that people must have goals toward which they are working. They must have a definite program in mind with a clear picture of the results desired and the steps leading to them.

But the word vision here means "a revelation from God." And the word "perish" means "cast off restraint." So the thought is that where the Word of God is not known and respected, the people run...

A thankful heart adds sparkle to all of life. At the close of a dinner, one of the children said, "That was a good meal, Mother." That remark created a new sense of warmth in an already happy house.

Too often we fail to express our thanks. The Lord Jesus healed ten lepers, but only one returned to give thanks, and that one was a Samaritan (Lu. 17:17). Two lessons emerge. Gratitude is rare in a world of fallen men. And when it does appear, it often comes from the least-expected...

A bishop was walking alone in his garden one day, meditating on the activities of the past week. When the memory of a very embarrassing incident flashed across his mind, he let out a string of expletives that were rather salty, to say the least. One of his parishioners, walking on the other side of the high garden wall, heard the unministerial language and gasped in disbelief.

It was a case of private profanity - a heartbreaking trial in the life of many an earnest child of God....

If proof were needed that the way of transgressors is hard, we would only need to pick out a daily newspaper at random and we would find plenty of illustrations. I did that just as an experiment and here are the results:

A Nazi war criminal who had escaped detection and capture in South America for 35 years committed suicide. The fear of trial and probable execution made further living unendurable.

A 74 year old man was kidnapped at gunpoint by three men who demanded $90,000...

After a young soprano had made her debut on the opera stage, a critic wrote that her brilliant performance would have been even better if she had ever loved. He detected the absence of love. Apparently her singing was technically correct but it lacked warmth.

We too can go through life, doing everything according to the rules. We can be honest, dependable, righteous, generous, energetic and humble. Yet all these virtues cannot compensate for a lack of love.

Many of us have a hard...

What a scene that will be! Every knee in the universe bowing to the sacred name of Jesus! Every tongue confessing that He is Lord! God has decreed it and it will surely come to pass.

This is not universal salvation. Paul is not suggesting here that all created beings will eventually embrace Christ as their living, loving Lord. Rather he is saying that those who refuse to make the great confession in this life will be compelled to make it in the next. All created beings will eventually...

The word which Phillips translates "intellectualism" here is the one from which we get the word "philosophy." Basically it means the love of wisdom, but then it has acquired a further meaning, namely, the search for reality and the purpose of life.

Most human philosophies are expressed in complicated, highsounding language. They are above the head of the common man. They appeal to those who like to use their intellectual powers in clothing human speculations with words that are...