Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

Seven times in His letters to the churches of Asia, the Lord Jesus says "I know" and usually those words are used in a favorable sense. "I know thy works…thy labour…thy patience…thy tribulation…thy poverty…and charity…and faith." In those words "I know" there is tremendous comfort and sympathy and encouragement for God's people.

Lehman Strauss points out that when Jesus said "I know," "He did not use the word ginoske, which frequently means to know in the...

One important element of practical wisdom is tactfulness. The Christian should learn how to be tactful. This means that he should develop a delicate sensitivity as to what to do or say so as to avoid offense and cement good relations. The tactful person puts himself in the other fellow's shoes and asks himself, "How would I like to have that said or done to me?" He seeks to be diplomatic, considerate, gracious and discerning.

Unfortunately the Christian faith has had its share of...

There was no question as to what God required in sacrificial animals. They had to be without spot or blemish. He expected His people to offer the choicest animals from their herds or flocks. God wants the best.

But what were the Israelites doing? They were offering blind, lame and sick animals. The choice animals would bring a high price in the market, or would be desirable for breeding. So the people offered the culls, saying in effect, "Anything is good enough for the...

Dr. P. J. Van Gorder used to tell about a sign over a woodworker's shop which said, "All kinds of twisting and turning done here." It is not only woodworkers that are good at that; many professing Christians twist and turn the Scriptures when it suits them. Some, as our verse says, even wrest the Scriptures to their own destruction.

We are all fairly expert at rationalizing, i.e., at excusing our sinful disobedience by giving creditable explanations or assigning worthy motives to our...

Ordinarily when we read these words, we tend to think that Paul was speaking about his past sins. He knew that these sins had been forgiven, that God had put them behind His back, and that He would never remember them again. So Paul was determined to forget them too and to "press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

I still think that is a valid application of the verse. But Paul is not thinking about his sins in this passage. Rather he is thinking...

There are two kinds of greatness in the New Testament and it is helpful to distinguish them. There is a greatness associated with one's position and another greatness linked with one's personal character.

In speaking of John the Baptist, Jesus said that there was no greater prophet than he (Luke 7:28). Here the Savior was speaking about the greatness of John's position. No other prophet had the privilege of being the forerunner of the...

A verse like this raises an interesting question. If we have not because we ask not, what great things are we missing in life simply because we do not pray for them?

A similar question arises from James 5:16, ""The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." If this righteous man doesn't pray, then does it not follow that little is accomplished through him?

The trouble with most of us is that we do not pray enough, or...

The first part of this verse points out a failing that is common to most of us - we invariably present evidence in such a way as to put ourselves in the best possible light. It comes quite naturally to us. For instance, we withhold facts that would prove damaging to us and concentrate on our good points. We compare ourselves with others whose failings are more obvious. We pass the blame for our actions on to others. We assign pious motives to actions that are patently wrong. We twist and...

Living Bible paraphrases this verse, "What a shame - yes, how stupid! - to decide before knowing the facts!" This pinpoints an important lesson. You cannot make an intelligent decision until you hear all the facts. Unfortunately many Christians do not wait to hear both sides of an issue. They form a judgment on the basis of one man's story, and often that judgment is totally wrong.

In 1979 Gary Brooks (fictitious name) was a member of the Board of Deacons of an evangelical church. He...

One of the laws that operates in the physical realm is that things tend to lose momentum or unwind or burn out. That is not a scientific statement of the law, but it gives the general idea.

We are told, for instance, that the sun is burning at a furious rate, and that although it can continue for a long time, its time-span is declining.

Bodies age, die and return to dust. A pendulum set in motion by hand slows down and then stops. We wind a clock or watch and soon it needs to be...

James does not say that the man in today's verse has faith. The man himself says he has faith, but if he really had saving faith, he would have works also. His faith is a matter of words only, and that kind of faith cannot save anyone. Words without works are dead.

Salvation is not by works. Neither is it by faith plus works. Rather it is by the kind of faith that results in good works.

Why then does James say in verse 24 that a man is justified by works? Isn't this a flat...

When a person becomes a Christian, he might think that he has to make a clean break with everything associated with his former life. To correct this thinking, the Apostle Paul lays down the general rule that a person should remain in the same calling in which he was at the time of his conversion. Let us consider this rule and suggest what it means and what it does not mean.

In its immediate context, the verse applies to a special marriage relationship. It is the case where one partner...

When we are first saved, we think it is so simple, so wonderful that all our relatives will want to believe on the Savior when we tell them. Instead we find in some cases that they are resentful, suspicious and hostile. They act as if we had betrayed them. Finding ourselves in such an atmosphere, we often respond in ways that actually hinder their coming to Christ. Sometimes we lash back at them, then become distant, moody and withdrawn. Or we criticize them for their unChristian lifestyle,...

In its setting, this prophecy of Isaiah looked forward to the joyous return of God's chosen people from their seventy-year captivity in Babylon.

It may also refer to Israel's still-future restoration when the Messiah will regather them to the land from all over the world. That too will be a time of great jubilation.

But in its widest sense, we are justified in applying the verse to the rapture of the Church. Awakened by the shout of the Lord, the voice of the archangel, and the...