Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

Paul had a narrow scrape with death in the province of Asia. We cannot be sure exactly what happened, but it was so serious that if we had asked him, "Is it going to be life or death?" he would have said, "Death."

Most people whom God uses have had a similar experience at one time or another in their lives. Biographies of great men of God record marvelous deliverances from disease, from accidents, from personal attacks.

Sometimes God uses this kind of experience to get a man's...

Stephen had been brought up on the mission field. He professed faith in Christ at an early age and had been the means of leading several to the Lord. When he first came back to the States to attend college, he maintained a good testimony. But then he began to drift. Coldness set in. He compromised with sin. Soon he began to dabble in Eastern religions.

When his parents came home on furlough, they were heartsick. They pled, reasoned, and entreated, but he was adamant. Finally they went...

It is a bad bargain to exchange a fountain for cisterns, and especially for broken cisterns. A fountain is a spring of cool, pure, refreshing water, gushing forth from the earth. A cistern is an artificial reservoir for storing water. The water in it may become stagnant and foul. When the cistern is broken, the water leaks out and pollution seeps in.

The Lord is a Fountain of living waters. His people can find lasting satisfaction in Him. The world is a cistern, and a broken cistern at...

One of the much-loved hymns for children says, "I think when I read that sweet story of old,/ When Jesus was here among men,/ How He called little children as lambs to His fold,/ I should like to have been with Him then." Probably most of us have shared that sentimental desire at one time or another. We think how nice it would have been to enjoy the personal companionship of the Son of God during His earthly ministry.

But what we should realize is that it is better to know Him today,...

The subject here, of course, is the use of tongues without interpretation in the meetings of the church. Paul is opposed to the practice. He insists that what is spoken must be intelligible, otherwise no one is edified.

But the verse can be applied in a broader sense. When we speak, we should speak loudly enough for everyone to hear, otherwise we might just as well be speaking in a foreign language. In almost every audience there are people who are hard of hearing. It is a great trial...

The words chastening, chasteneth, chastisement and chastened occur seven times in the first 11 verses of Hebrews 12:1-29. As a result it is easy for the casual reader to get a wrong impression. He might easily picture God as an angry Father who is forever whipping His children. This misconception arises from thinking of chastening as nothing but punishment.

It is a great relief to learn that chastening in the New Testament has a much...

When God gave the Law to Moses, He included a specific prohibition against speaking reproachfully or disrespectfully of those who hold positions of authority. The reason for this is clear. These rulers and leaders are representatives of God. "There is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1). The ruler is a "minister of God to thee for good" (Romans 13:4). Even though...

Although these words were spoken by a wicked king, Ahab, they are words of truth. Even ungodly men sometimes lapse into truth.

The king of Syria had made insulting, degrading demands of Ahab, threatening military disaster if he did not obey. But in the battle that followed, the Syrians were forced to retreat and their king had to flee for his life. His performance didn't match his boast.

Today's text would have been good advice for Goliath also. When he saw David approaching, he...

One of the many ways in which we can honor the Lord is by standing true to divine principles and by steadfastly refusing to compromise.

During his early years Adam Clarke worked for a silk merchant. One day his boss showed him how he should stretch the silk when measuring it out for a customer. Adam said, "Sir, your silk may stretch but my conscience won't." Years later God honored that honest clerk by enabling him to write the Bible commentary that bears his name.

Eric Liddell...

Few Christians take these words seriously, yet they are as truly the Word of God as John 3:16. They tell us to be satisfied with food and covering. That word "covering" includes a roof over our heads as well as the clothes we wear. In other words, we should be content with the minimum essentials and put everything above that into the work of the Lord.

The man who has contentment has something that money cannot buy. E. Stanley Jones said,...

Covetousness is the excessive desire for wealth or possessions. It is a mania that grips people, causing them to grasp for more and more. It is a fever that drives them to crave things they don't actually need.

We see covetousness in the business man who is never satisfied. He says he will stop when he has accumulated a certain amount, but when that time comes, he is greedy for more.

We see it in the housewife whose life is one unending shopping spree. She squirrels away tons of...

There is nothing more beautiful in God's spiritual creation than a believer who demonstrates a true spirit of brokenness. Even God Himself finds such a person irresistible; He can resist the proud and haughty (James 4:6), but He can't resist the broken and humble.

In our natural condition, none of us is broken. We are like a wild donkey's colt - rebellious, stubborn, impetuous. We resist the bit, the bridle and the saddle of God's will. We...

When Jesus spoke these words, He was referring to a meeting of the church convened to deal with a sinning member who refuses to repent. Other efforts to handle the offender have failed and now he is brought before the church. If he still refuses to repent; he must be disfellowshipped. The Lord Jesus promises His presence at such a meeting called to deal with a matter of church discipline.

But the verse surely has a wider application. It is true wherever and whenever two or three are...

When we think of a heretic, we usually think of someone who holds and propagates views that are contrary to the great fundamental truths of the faith. We think of men like Arius, Montanus, Marcion and Pelagius who lived in the second and third centuries AD.

I do not propose to reject that definition of heretic but to broaden it. A heretic, in the New Testament sense, also includes anyone who obstinately promotes a teaching, even of secondary importance; that causes division in the...