From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] daily devotional
Evening...
Ecclesiastes 11:6 In the evening withhold not thy hand.
In the evening of the day opportunities are plentiful: men return from their
labour, and the zealous soul-winner finds time to tell abroad the love of
Jesus. Have I no evening work for Jesus? If I have not, let me no longer
withhold my hand from a service which requires abundant labour. Sinners are
perishing for lack of knowledge; he who loiters may find his skirts crimson
with the blood of souls. Jesus gave both His hands to the nails, how can I keep
back one of mine from His blessed work? Night and day He toiled and prayed for
me, how can I give a single hour to the pampering of my flesh with luxurious
ease? Up, idle heart; stretch out thy hand to work, or uplift it to pray;
heaven and hell are in earnest, let me be so, and this evening sow good seed
for the Lord my God. The evening of life has also its calls. Life is so short
that a morning of manhood's vigour, and an evening of decay, make the whole of
it. To some it seems long, but a four-pence is a gr eat sum of money to a poor
man. Life is so brief that no man can afford to lose a day. It has been well
said that if a great king should bring us a great heap of gold, and bid us take
as much as we could count in a day, we should make a long day of it; we should
begin early in the morning, and in the evening we should not withhold our hand;
but to win souls is far nobler work, how is it that we so soon withdraw from
it? Some are spared to a long evening of green old age; if such be my case, let
me use such talents as I still retain, and to the last hour serve my blessed
and faithful Lord. By His grace I will die in harness, and lay down my charge
only when I lay down my body. Age may instruct the young, cheer the faint, and
encourage the desponding; if eventide has less of vigorous heat, it should have
more of calm wisdom, therefore in the evening I will not withhold my hand.
September 21
Morning...
Jeremiah 32:41 I will rejoice over them to do them good.
How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God has in His
saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure
in us; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have to groan, being
burdened; conscious of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness; and we
fear that God's people cannot take much delight in us, for they must perceive
so much of our imperfections and our follies, that they may rather lament our
infirmities than admire our graces. But we love to dwell upon this transcendent
truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride,
so does the Lord rejoice over us. We do not read anywhere that God delighteth
in the cloud-capped mountains, or the sparkling stars, but we do read that He
delighteth in the habitable parts of the earth, and that His delights are with
the sons of men. We do not find it written that even angels give His soul
delight; nor doth He say, concerning cherubim and seraphim, "Thou shalt be
called Hephzibah, for the Lord delighteth in thee"; but He does say all that to
poor fallen creatures like ourselves, debased and depraved by sin, but saved,
exalted, and glorified by His grace. In what strong language He expresses His
delight in His people! Who could have conceived of the eternal One as bursting
forth into a song? Yet it is written, "He will rejoice over thee with joy, He
will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing." As He looked upon
the world He had made, He said, "It is very good"; but when He beheld those who
are the purchase of Jesus' blood, His own chosen ones, it seemed as if the
great heart of the Infinite could restrain itself no longer, but overflowed in
divine exclamations of joy. Should not we utter our grateful response to such a
marvellous declaration of His love, and sing, "I will rejoice in the Lord, I
will joy in the God of my salvation?"
Matthew 25:15
(15) And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to
another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway
took his journey.
To a few chosen servants, God gives five talents to fulfill special
needs in the church. These may be evangelists, pastors, or teachers, and their
knowledge of spiritual truths along with their gift to preach carries great
responsibility (James 3:1). As a result, God expects more of them than others
less gifted (Romans 12:6; Ephesians 4:11-12; Luke 12:48).
Perhaps most members of God's church have two talents. They may be
deacons with a natural desire to serve the church in physical ways. Maybe they
are those who give opening and closing prayers or have a musical talent to help
others offer up praise to God the Father and Jesus Christ. They may have a gift
in organizing activities or in helping children or the elderly. As gifts, these
are somewhat less notable than the more evident ones (Romans 12:8).
The servant with one talent describes the potential sluggard in
Christ's service (Proverbs 6:6). Yet those of us who have the least must serve
God with what we have, and if we serve Him faithfully with the little He has
given, honor and reward will be ours. We must support the church in less
noticeable yet vital ways, such as in prayer, encouragement, contributions, and
positive attitudes (Acts 12:5; Lu ke 11:9-13).
Martin G. Collins
From Parable of the Talents (Part Two)
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daily devotional
Evening...
Psalm 26:9 Gather not my soul with sinners.
Fear made David pray thus, for something whispered, "Perhaps, after all, thou
mayst be gathered with the wicked." That fear, although marred by unbelief,
springs, in the main, from holy anxiety, arising from the recollection of past
sin. Even the pardoned man will enquire, "What if at the end my sins should be
remembered, and I should be left out of the catalogue of the saved?" He
recollects his present unfruitfulness-so little grace, so little love, so
little holiness, and looking forward to the future, he considers his weakness
and the many temptations which beset him, and he fears that he may fall, and
become a prey to the enemy. A sense of sin and present evil, and his prevailing
corruptions, compel him to pray, in fear and trembling, "Gather not my soul
with sinners." Reader, if you have prayed this prayer, and if your character be
rightly described in the Psalm from which it is taken, you need not be afraid
that you shall be gathered with sinners. Have you the two virtues which David
had-the outward walking in integrity, and the inward trusting in the Lord? Are
you resting upon Christ's sacrifice, and can you compass the altar of God with
humble hope? If so, rest assured, with the wicked you never shall be gathered,
for that calamity is impossible. The gathering at the judgment is like to like.
"Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but
gather the wheat into my barn." If, then, thou art like God's people, thou
shalt be with God's people. You cannot be gathered with the wicked, for you are
too dearly bought. Redeemed by the blood of Christ, you are His for ever, and
where He is, there must His people be. You are loved too much to be cast away
with reprobates. Shall one dear to Christ perish? Impossible! Hell cannot hold
thee! Heaven claims thee! Trust in thy Surety and fear not!
Morning...
Psalm 149:2 Let Israel rejoice in him.
Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that thy gladness has its spring
in the Lord. Thou hast much cause for gladness in thy God, for thou canst sing
with David, "God, my exceeding joy." Be glad that the Lord reigneth, that
Jehovah is King! Rejoice that He sits upon the throne, and ruleth all things!
Every attribute of God should become a fresh ray in the sunlight of our
gladness. That He is wise should make us glad, knowing as we do our own
foolishness. That He is mighty, should cause us to rejoice who tremble at our
weakness. That he is everlasting, should always be a theme of joy when we know
that we wither as the grass. That He is unchanging, should perpetually yield us
a song, since we change every hour. That He is full of grace, that He is
overflowing with it, and that this grace in covenant He has given to us; that
it is ours to cleanse us, ours to keep us, ours to sanctify us, ours to perfect
us, ours to bring us to glory-all this should tend to make us glad in Him. This
gladness in God is as a deep river; we have only as yet touched its brink, we
know a little of its clear sweet, heavenly streams, but onward the depth is
greater, and the current more impetuous in its joy. The Christian feels that he
may delight himself not only in what God is, but also in all that God has done
in the past. The Psalms show us that God's people in olden times were wont to
think much of God's actions, and to have a song concerning each of them. So let
God's people now rehearse the deeds of the Lord! Let them tell of His mighty
acts, and "sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously." Nor let them
ever cease to sing, for as new mercies flow to them day by day, so should their
gladness in the Lord's loving acts in providence and in grace show itself in
continued thanksgiving. Be glad ye children of Zion and rejoice in the Lord
your God.
Amos 9:1-6
(1) I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said,
Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the
head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that
fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be
delivered. (2) Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them;
though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: (3) And though
they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out
thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence
will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: (4) And though they go into
captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall
slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. (5)
And the Lord GOD of hosts is he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt, and
all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood;
and shall be drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. (6) It is he that buildeth his
stories in the heaven, and hath founded his troop in the earth; he that calleth
for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The
LORD is his name. Tools
The vision in Amos 9 is different from the four visions in
chapters 7 and 8. There is no conversation between God and the prophet. The
time for talk is over; God simply acts. The situation has moved beyond Amos'
ability to intercede—God's time to act has come, and He will not relent.
The background of this final vision is interesting. To make
his rule more secure, Jeroboam I devised what the Bible calls "the sin of
Jeroboam," the use of religion in the service of politics. Using the system in
place in Judah, he counterfeited the holy days, the priesthood, and the temple
ritual. On his altar his priests offered sacrifices to the two golden calves,
and the king stood by the altar to burn incense (I Kings 12:26-13:1). It
apparently became a custom for the king to stand at the right-hand side of the
altar at his counterfeit feast in the eighth month.
Who is standing beside the altar in Amos 9? Not Jeroboam,
but the Lord! Instead of officiating, God is destroying everything in sight!
Amos also draws on the story of Samson destroying the
temple of Dagon by toppling the supporting pillars. If a man tries to pull a
house down with his bare hands, he has to undermine it from the bottom, but God
is not restricted like a man. He strikes the house down from the top! God, as
the Supreme Omnipotent One and the Sovereign Lord, has every right to crush the
house of Israel. Since the people had ignored all the numerous warnings He had
sent for them to repent, He is now fulfilling His promise.
In the type, the temple of Dagon fell on everyone's head;
no one survived (Judges 16:30). The same holds true in this destruction. No
matter where the people of Israel flee in the day of calamity, they will not
find any rest, ease, safety, or security (Amos 9:2-6). They had tried to get
security by building multiple homes for themselves, but God will wipe away this
assurance by smashing their houses to bits. Anything that they thought would
provide them security in the day of punishment God will destroy.
God is omnipotent. When He decides to judge His people in
this very painful way, there is no escaping it. He reminds His people of the
covenant they made with Him, that He called them to His service, yet He is also
the God of all the earth and Lord of every nation (verse 7). In other words, He
has the same responsibility to judge and punish them as He has to the other
nations of the world. The Philistines and Syrians, by the way, are two of the
nations He judges in Amos 1. God is judging Israel in the same manner.
We find a manifestation of Israel's problem—false reliance
that the covenant would save them—in modern-day "Christianity." Many professing
Christians believe in eternal security, commonly called "once saved, always
saved," a devastatingly subtle deception of Satan the Devil. It is a belief
that one can never fall out of favor with God, no matter what one's behavior or
attitude.
As members of the true church, we need to beware lest we
bring this false idea into the church with us. When God called us, chose us,
and granted us repentance, we were baptized. But that does not exclude us from
His scrutiny. He is no respecter of persons; He will judge us as justly as He
does anyone else on earth.
That we chose to follow God's way of life is good, but
having that fact on our spiritual resumé is not enough. God is not interested
in past actions but in present performance. What is happening today? Are we
living righteously each day? Or, have we fallen from our past performance and
profession? What God did in the past to give us the opportunity for salvation
does not absolutely bind Him to work everything out to our benefit, if we do
not produce the corresponding good works, character growth, and obedience He
expects (Ezekiel 18).
He wants us to see that we should not make the same mistake
ancient Israel made—that is, take His salvation for granted. We can rely on Him
and trust Him, but we also have a responsibility to submit to and obey Him. We
must strive to produce the best character possible and be a light so He can say
of each of us, "That's My son! He looks and acts like Me! He is definitely part
of My Family."
John W. Ritenbaugh
From Prepare to Meet Your God! (The Book of Amos) (Part
Two)
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