The Spirit of God has impelled me to preach and write much about the believer's conscious union with Christ-a union that must be felt and experienced. I will never be through talking about the union of the soul with the Savior, the conscious union of the believer's heart with Jesus. Remember, I am not talking about a "theological union" only. I am speaking also of a conscious union, a union that is felt and experienced. I have never been ashamed to tell my congregations that I believe in feelings. I surely believe in what Jonathan Edwards termed "religious affections." That is man's perspective. I am aware also that from God's perspective there are qualities in the Divine Being that can only be known by the heart; never by the intellect! Long ago John wrote: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us" (1 John 3:16). So it is best for us to confess that as humans we have difficulty in understanding what God has said when He says that He loves us!

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

UNITED WITH CHRIST

For Reading and Meditation:      Hebrews 10:19-25In every religion in the world apart from Christianity there is a note of uncertainty concerning this matter of personal salvation. Many modern religious attitudes are expressed in the limerick: For as much as without Thee We are not able to doubt Thee, O grant us Thy grace To inform the whole race That we know nothing whatever about Thee. Can we be satisfied with this? St. Augustine said he wished to be as certain of things unseen as that seven and three make ten. The human heart longs for certainty - it needs to know without a shadow of doubt that the salvation of the soul is secure. The good news is that in Jesus Christ such security is found. When we turn from other religions to the Word of God, it is like stepping out of thick fog into clear and brilliant sunlight. Our text today talks not just of assurance but full assurance - the full assurance of faith. What is faith? Faith is simply taking God at His Word, accepting what He asserts and acting accordingly. Listen to just one of the many things God says concerning this matter: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13). Have you called on Christ and received Him into your heart? Then you have scriptural warrant for believing on that basis alone, quite apart from personal feelings, that you are a child of God, and that you are going to spend eternity with Him. What a salvation! What a Savior! My Father and my God, what a joy it is to know that You make available to me not just assurance but full assurance. Fill the cup of my heart until it is overflowing with the sense of divine assurance. And keep it full, dear Father. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>1 Thessalonians 1:1-10</li><li>1 John 2:3-6</li><li>1 John 3:16-20</li><li>1 John 4:13-16</li><li>1 John 5:10</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is a recurring theme in 1John?</li><li>Why not make the same confession to someone today?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"... let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith ..." (v. 22) 

We need not take this verse as a prohibition against any and every kind of debt. In our society we cannot escape telephone bills, gas and light bills, and water bills. Also under certain circumstances, it may be better discipleship to buy a house on a mortgage, thus building up equity, than to pay out the same monthly amount in rent. And it is impossible to run a business today without contracting some debts.But the verse certainly does forbid other practices. It forbids going into debt when there is slim chance to repay. It forbids borrowing to purchase a product that depreciates in value. It forbids getting into arrears. It forbids going into debt for nonessentials. It forbids plunging into debt over our heads, the temptation to overspend on impulse because we have credit cards. It forbids wasting the Lord's money by paying exorbitant interest charges on the unpaid balance.The verse is designed to save us from dunning creditors, from marital problems caused by overspending, and from bankruptcy court, all of which are devastating to the Christian testimony.In general, we should practice financial responsibility by living modestly and within our means, always remembering that the borrower is slave to the lender (see Proverbs 22:7).The one debt that is always in order for the Christian is the obligation to love one another. We are obligated to love the unconverted and to share the Gospel with them (Romans 1:14). We are obligated to love the brethren and to lay down our lives for them (1 John 3:16). This kind of indebtedness will never get us in trouble with the law. Rather, as Paul says, it is the fulfilling of the law.

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"Owe no man anything, but to love one another." (Romans 13:8)

John 14:15-27Everything in Christian life is love. "The fruit of the Spirit is love." There are other things that are mentioned as fruit - but love is named first, and all the others are only parts or qualities of love. The one white ray of light is resolved into the seven colors of the rainbow. Just so does love, the white ray that shines from the face of God, separate itself into all the heavenly graces. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23).Love is the one essential in the life which the Holy Spirit produces. Paul tells us we may have great eloquence, tongues of angels, the gift of prophecy, faith that can move mountains, generosity that will give all we possess, the martyr's spirit; and yet, if we have not love - we are nothing. Men have been champions of orthodoxy, and yet, lacking love - are given to anger, evil temper, and resentment. There are those who are devoted to the institutions of religion and who yet fail to show love at home. These do not meet the highest requirement of the gospel. Nothing but love can satisfy the demands of the Holy Spirit.<div class="center-it mtb10">We must prove our love - by our life. "If you love me - you will keep my commandments." We cannot live truly, except by loving - but we cannot love and not live worthily. It is very easy to say we love a person - but our conduct is the only true index. In one of his epistles John, the disciple of love writes: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue - but with actions and in truth ." (1 John 3:16-18). John is speaking of the proof of love to our fellow men - but the same principle applies to our profession of love to Christ. It is not enough that we sing it in our hymns and say it in our prayers and recite it in our creeds ; we must show it in our life by obedience to His commandments. A fruit tree proves its usefulness, by bearing fruit. If there is "nothing but leaves," the tree's profession is empty. The rosebush must prove its right to the distinction, by putting forth beautiful roses in the season for roses. When we claim to be Christ's friends, we must show it by doing what Christ bids us do.</div>"If you love me - you will obey what I command." Promise follows requirement. Then he says, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth." The "and" is important. It links the promise back to the previous verse. There are four links in the chain. If we love Christ, we will keep His commandments; then He will ask the Father, and the Father will give us another Comforter. The disciples thought they would be sore losers by Christ's leaving them, and so they were, in a sense. It broke their hearts to part from Him. But He assures them that instead of His personal presence, another heavenly Friend would be sent to them.The name "Comforter" is a very precious one. Even in the common usage of the English word it is sacred. One who is a comforter to us, ministers to us in our sorrows, consoles us when we are in grief. Then the word "another" shows what kind of comforter the Spirit would be - Jesus had been a comforter, and the Spirit would be one just like Him. We sometimes wish we had lived when Jesus was on earth, and feel that those who knew Him in the flesh had a privilege no other believers ever again can have. But this word tells us that the Holy Spirit, who came in Christ's place - is all to us that Jesus was to His friends. He may not take away our sorrows from us - but if not, He gives us strength so that we can bear them. That is part of what the Holy Spirit does for us. He is not, however, merely a comforter in the sense that the word is now used. The word is "Paraclete," which has not precise equivalent in English. The same word is translated "Advocate" in one of John's epistles, which means one who stands by or stands for one. We may put all our affairs into the hands of this Advocate. He will defend us, intercede for us, and be our comrade and friend.The world does not want to receive the Holy Spirit - "Whom the world cannot receive." It has no love for Him, no eyes to behold His beauty, no ears to hear His words. The world does not want the Holy Spirit as guest. Only those who desire to be holy, have any yearning for Him. It is one of the most wonderful proofs of the love of God, that the Holy Spirit is wiling to live in a corrupt, defiled, loathsome human heart, amid all its sin and impurity, for the purpose of cleansing it and making it holy and fit for heaven! It was one of the qualities of the love of Christ, that it went out in compassion and longing to the most unworthy. Someone defined the love of God as "loving people He did not like." The Spirit of God takes up His abode in the worst heart - that He may make it clean and holy.It is wonderful how gently Christ dealt with His disciples that night. He talked with them as a mother about to leave her children would talk to them - mingled counsel, with words of love. He knew how lonely they would be when He was gone away from them. They would indeed be desolate in their sorrow and bereavement. We remember how it was with them those days that He lay in the grave. Then for forty days they saw Him occasionally, receiving sweet consolation from Him. After this He went away - but soon He came again in the Holy Spirit, and after that the disciples were never lonely anymore, for they had their Master's presence with them in close and loving tenderness all the while. We ought never to feel desolate if we have Christ. Everything else may be stripped off, and we may be driven out into the world, orphans, and homeless; but if we have Christ, we are rich in love and in all heavenly blessing.The proof of love for God - is obedience to His commandment. Then, when love for God is in our lives, God Himself is with us. "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." It is a wonderful truth that is declared to us here - that God actually desires to have our love and longs to make His home in our hearts."Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." One of the great words of the Bible is peace. Our heart hungers for it. Everywhere men search for it - in paths of pleasure, in the avenues of fame. But peace does not come by finding a quiet place to hide in, away from the world's storms. It must begin in the heart. Indeed, the peace a Christian has - must be a peace that will hold the heart quiet in spite of the world's storms .Two artists went out to paint each a picture of peace. One painted a silvery lake embosomed deep amid the hills, where no storm ever could touch it. The other painted a wild sea, swept by tempests, strewn with wrecks - but rising up out of it a great rock - and in the rock, high up, a cleft with herbage and flowers, amid which, on her nest, a dove was sitting. The latter is the true picture of Christian peace. "In the word you shall have tribulation," but "In me you shall have peace" (see 16:33). The peace of Christ is a peace that holds the heart quiet - in the very heart of the world's trials. This peace is offered to us here as a gift, as Christ's legacy to us. We can get it only by taking Christ Himself into our heart.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

John 14:15-27

The Comforter Promised

The love of Christ … passes knowledge. § Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. § You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. § Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. § Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. § [Bear] with one another, and [forgive] one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you. § For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. § Christ … suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. You also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. § We also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. 

<blockquote>
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (<a id="verse_1632880485877475" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/39">Rom. 8:39</a>).
</blockquote><a id="verse_1632880485661660" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/John/3/16">John 3:16</a>: The Saviour laid down His life for His enemies. <a id="verse_1632880485488820" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-John/3/16">1 John 3:16</a>: We are to "lay down our lives for the brethren." The death of the Cross spells love for both friend and enemy."If we get a wrong idea about the inward working of the Cross we shall lose our own enjoyment of God's love and fail to manifest that love to others. We have no doubt that, for the sinner, the Cross is the outstanding expression of God's love, but when we realize that it brings us, as believers, into a very personal experience of being crucified together with Christ, we are apt to lose sight of the love of God."We set our teeth, as though making up our minds that from now on everything is going to be grim and harsh. It almost seems that the carnal Christian may be cheerful and happy, but the crucified ones must expect to pass into a gloomier experience. Nothing is farther from the truth. The Cross will always bring us back to the love of God in ever-increasing fulness.""The challenge of the Cross, the insistence that we have been crucified with Christ, may sometimes appear to be a dark and forbidding message. The Cross is not the end: It is the way through to His end. God is working for something beyond the immediate; He is working towards the glory." -H.F."I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (<a id="verse_1632880485772782" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Jeremiah/29/11">Jer. 29:11</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Cross Of Love 

<blockquote>For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh" (<a id="verse_1632877386943494" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/11">2 Cor. 4:11</a>).</blockquote>The growing Christian is often accused of passivity by the doing Christian. The Lord Jesus was not passive; the Apostle Paul was not passive; nor is the believer passive who seeks to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" (<a id="verse_1632877386405812" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Peter/3/18">2 Peter 3:18</a>). Compulsive activity is not necessarily fruitful, as the "works of the flesh" attest."The Lord keep you in the freshness of faith in Himself, going forth in His work, not undertaking more than He gives you grace for. I have pressed upon my brethren not to give up their secular employment until the work of the Lord so increased upon them that they must give up one or the other.""The one who knows best the Father's love will be the best exponent of that love - the best qualified servant for the Father to send on a mission of interest to those who are ignorant of it. Abide in Him. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him' (<a id="verse_1632877386574293" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/John/1/18">John 1:18</a>).""Under the Mosaic law-system, love for others was to be in the degree in which one loved himself; under grace it is to be in the degree in which the Lord Jesus has loved the believer and given His life for him (<a id="verse_1632877386303631" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-John/3/16">1 John 3:16</a>)." -L.S.C."Perversion of truth takes its rise from having the eye turned to man, and seeking to make the truth suit him, and not to conform man to the truth; so that the way to resolve this difference is by the simple question, Is it God-ward I am looking, or man-ward?""If you only know the work of the Lord Jesus you are prepared to make sacrifices, but if you know Him as your life then you are ready to suffer for Him.""So then death worketh in us, but life in you" (<a id="verse_1632877386620338" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/12">2 Cor 4:12</a>).

 Sacrificial Service 

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.<cr>1</cr> And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.<cr>2</cr>

1 John 3:16

 16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.   And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.   And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  

Bible Verse of the Day

November 27, 2021

1 John 3:16 NIV

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