"But what did you go out to see? " [Luke 7:26(RAV)]
2025-03-01
“But what did you go out to see? “. Folk will look at what interests them. The crowd on this hill were there to see or hear any new thing that was going. The inhabitants of Gadara went out to see what was done to the demoniac who lived in the tombs. The mass visitors to Jerusalem at the Feast of Pentecost went along to see and hear unlearned men speak the gospel fluently in their own language. An inquisitive crowd later gathered around the cripple in the Gate Beautiful who had been healed.
But Jesus asked His hearers what they saw in John the Baptist. He was a forerunner or messenger sent by God to announce the Messiah. John had no modern gimmicks, his message was simply, ‘Repent’. John had none of the usual attractions of modern-day promotion. But his message pertains if we would prepare for receiving the Lord.

"only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life" [Revelation 21:27(RAV)]
2025-03-02
“only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. No better analogy of the Great Judgment Day than that the books will be opened. In our age of information technology it should be no surprise to realise that God keeps a record of all that has taken place. The gospel message has been proclaimed for many years and an accurate record has been kept of all who have responded. We may not know if a decision to trust Christ is real or not, but God knows.
Here at the end of the Scriptures we read of the Lamb’s book of life holding the names of those who have received Christ – the Lamb of God slain for sinners on the Cross.
The cry of the sinner “Lord save me” must undoubtedly be the sign for the angel in charge to inscribe a new name in that book of honour and glory.

"Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out" [Matthew 25:8]
2025-03-03
“Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out”. This request voiced by the foolish maidens ranks among those not granted. “Go and buy it for yourselves” was the quick reply, but regrettably it was too late.
“Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue” was another unfulfilled request that Jesus described. So was “Send him to my father’s house that he may warn my brothers”.
Make sure you have the real experience for yourself. It’s folly to expect someone will give you theirs.

"my tongue is the pen of a ready writer" [Psalm 45:1]
2025-03-04
“my tongue is the pen of a ready writer”. So is everyone’s who has tasted of the good things of the Lord. When the blessing of God is yours you ought to be able to talk freely about it.
The tongue that speaks fearlessly in the Lord’s Name has sometimes lost its owner a lot of friends who would not listen: it has seemed to set barriers even in the same household. It has attracted criticism and abuse that has often hurt. In some parts it has resulted in imprisonment and separation from one’s family.
But still the tongue of the disciple will not be silent and as a result the Gospel has spread everywhere.
After all, the Gospel is just what men and women need. Be sure the Holy Spirit oils your tongue today.

"Man shall not live by bread alone" [Matthew 4:4]
2025-03-05
“Man shall not live by bread alone”. These words are Jesus’ reply to the Devil’s temptation.
Firstly, they tell us quite clearly that any life that exists for physical and fleshly satisfaction alone is incomplete and inadequate. In fact, it is little more than existence if it has no spiritual dimension above the satisfying of carnal desires. Those seeking to help the underprivileged and underfed without caring for the soul should note this need.
But these words are also a glorious promise taken by our Lord from the Old Testament. It is as though the Lord is telling us that God the Father offers more than bread for the stomach. Jesus is the bread that came down from heaven and as the heavenly bread, gave life to the soul. All may feed on Him by faith. We are fools indeed if we do not partake of it.

"How can you believe? " [John 5:44 (NIV)]
2025-03-06
“How can you believe? “. By removing the obstacles to faith. A reminder of some of them may help:
Doubt – a deadly exercise dependent upon looking for the weaknesses instead of jumping on the passing opportunity.
Reason – a misguided notion that the mental process is more valid than the counsel of God.
Unwillingness – (particularly to relinquish some besetting sin) – a dead weight, which until it is removed, prevents
any advance along the path of faith.
Pride – the lie that tells you how important you are and the lie that makes out you can by-pass simple faith.
Continue to build the list and then dispose of the lot in deference to faith, without which it is impossible to please God.

"What must I do to be saved? " [Acts 16:30]
2025-03-07
“What must I do to be saved? “. First, you need to admit you are lost. The Philippian jailer’s question arising out of his unusual circumstances shows that he recognised his need.
Second, you need to know that the Lord Jesus Christ can save you and is ready to do so. His atoning death on the Cross was for your sin and satisfied demands you could never hope to meet. Often someone needs to tell this to you: in the case of the jailer it was his prisoners Paul and Silas.
Third, you need to put your trust in Christ. Ask Him to save and believe He will. He will fulfil His promise. Expect His reassurance on the matter. The way the jailer attended to the wounds inflicted on Paul and Silas and was baptised, gives us some indication of the joyful assurance of salvation he received.

"Pharoah was wroth with his servants" [Genesis 41:10]
2025-03-08
“Pharoah was wroth with his servants”. Some men’s wrath boils up quickly and disappears just as fast. It is what happens between the two that gives cause for concern. In the case of Pharoah, his exiled butler had his job back while his exiled baker went to the gallows.
To some extent we all suffer from the unpredictable wrath of man. While this is unpleasant, it does give the one whose trust is in the Lord Jesus opportunity to show his true colours by patiently suffering wrongfully.
We have a good example in the three Hebrew boys in Daniel’s day who told the king they would not change and worship his image – or in Daniel too, who proved God to be with him in the lion’s den.

"How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? " [Hebrews 2:3]
2025-03-09
“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? “. There’ll be too many of us to punish – there won’t you know. What percentage were drowned in the Flood or
perished in the Red Sea?
God is a God of love and He’ll be merciful to us – He won’t you know. His mercy extends to all in this generation but
Jude says the Lord is coming to execute judgment upon all.
We’ll ask him to save us and He’ll let us escape – but He won’t you know. Jesus said when the door is shut it is too late.
Behold, now is the day of salvation – don’t neglect it.

"Will a man make gods for himself" [Jeremiah 16:20(RAV)]
2025-03-10
“Will a man make gods for himself”. Over and again he will! And when they are worn out he will replace them. The following is a short list of the gods man will fabricate. You may wish to add to it :
self another person pleasure
secret sin money attaining fame
anything occupying the throne of our heart.
They may all fill our mind and rule our heart, yet can do nothing of lasting value for us: rather they are our downfall.
Better to be rid of them before the Lord takes more drastic measures to bring us to our senses.

"one pearl of great price" [Matthew 13:46]
2025-03-11
“one pearl of great price”. Outstanding! Nothing like it before! Worth selling all to get possession of it – and many are ready to do this!
Such is the description that Jesus gave of admission to the kingdom of heaven. It is priceless and worth disposing of all else in order to get it.
When once you recognise its value you realise what a lot of time is spent chasing lesser stones that will slip through the fingers and be lost.
This pearl is unique. Look what it is – eternal life and bliss. Look who this pearl is – the Lord Jesus by His atoning sacrifice at Golgotha. Note to whom it is offered – it is offered to whoever will recognise its worth and claim its prize.

"From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised" [Psalm 113:3(RSV)]
2025-03-12
“From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised”. So it is! Throughout the day, as disciples of Jesus commit their work to Him, they praise Him.
Their prayer of gratitude for His faithfulness every night praises Him.
Great companies praise Him; individuals praise His Name as the Holy Spirit transports them into heavenly places.
From prison cells and parish churches, aboard ship and in the bowels of the earth as well as on the surface men will be praising His mighty Name.
All are agreed that the Lord has done great things for them. It is because the heart overflows that it flows over like this.
Be sure you are numbered among the praising people of the Lord.

"I will pray the Father … he will give" [John 14:16(RAV)]
2025-03-13
“I will pray the Father … he will give”. Completion is only effected when you receive.
Shortly after saying this, Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. It was a symbolic and prophetic act. Jesus must have come to be attached to His disciples in a special way. He did not want them to feel bereft in any way when He left them. There was no need. If they would receive the Holy Spirit they would be guided aright, and empowered to accomplish God’s purpose as well as experience the fullness of the Lord in their lives.
It is when there is no room for Him that problems arise.
Pride is the main thing that fills our hearts to the exclusion of a Spirit-filled life.

"my kindness shall not depart from thee" [Isaiah 54:10]
2025-03-14
“my kindness shall not depart from thee”. God will not stop loving His children. If His love reached them when they were away from Him, it is inconceivable that it will desert them when they turn to Him.
God will not begin a work He is unable to finish, not disinterestedly turn away to do something else.
He may need to chastise and speak severely. The rod of correction will at times be applied: invariably it will be unpopular. In His wisdom the Lord may withhold what we in our ignorance consider essential, but it is only for our eventual good.
As did the Israelite in Isaiah’s day, so today, the believer may know that God’s kindness is shining through whatever vicissitudes of life may befall him.

"one of these little ones" [Matthew 18:6]
2025-03-15
“one of these little ones”. Jesus warns about the seriousness of harming innocent children – the deserved punishment being a millstone round the neck and thrown into the sea.
He said that a young child – presumably one who has not yet attained the years of moral responsibility – has the protection of a guardian angel. This protection He describes as angelic representation before His Father in heaven.
We live in a day when Aids, congenital diseases, famine and bloodshed mean that many become innocent victims and premature deaths in infants and young children are common.
Jesus assures us that none go unheeded and we can be sure that those who so suffer in this life will be rewarded in heaven and that those who molest will not go unpunished.

"strive lawfully" [II Timothy 2:5]
2025-03-16
“strive lawfully”. Put simply – don’t get disqualified.
When the writer was young he belonged to an athletic club and well remembers an occasion when running the last leg of a relay race. He took the baton well down in the order and to his surprise noticed that the runner in front was cutting inside the marked track. There was no way of overtaking him if he did this. He reached the finishing line first but was disqualified.
There are rules in the Christian race and not everyone who appears to be running successfully is adhering to them. That is what the Judgment Seat of Christ is all about and many “unknowns” will be recognised there. Really, you know, it will give those a chance who spend all their life playing second fiddle.

"they may forget, yet will I not forget" [Isaiah 49.15]
2025-03-17
“they may forget, yet will I not forget”. We live in a world where anything can happen. Who can tell what a day will bring forth?
The strongest may weaken and the straightest bend. Put all your eggs in the safest basket and you run the risk of losing them all in one jolt.
It is a timely reminder that God operates on a different plane altogether. Our friends may forsake us, God will never do so. Trust in man and he may let you down: trust God and you will never be confounded. Let a mother forget the child she has weaned, God will not forget any of His children.
Pause to thank God for remembering you. Praise Him for His love and concern. Rest in the assurance that He cares for you, that He has said He will not forget you.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you" [Luke 6:38]
2025-03-18
“Give, and it shall be given unto you”. These words are part of Jesus’ ‘Sermon on the Plain’ – a lengthy discourse recorded for us by Luke in his Gospel. Like the Sermon on the Mount it contains injunctions that are difficult to put into practice, such as loving your enemies, turning the other cheek and giving to everybody who asks something of you.
These sayings accurately describe a spiritual turnover God would have in our lives. God will fill the hungry soul with goodness but unless there is a movement – giving out to the blessing of others and then accepting and doing the same with more – there can be no real or spiritual advance.
Keep the ‘pot boiling’: give and get replenished from God’s limitless supply.

"if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners" [Galatians 2:17]
2025-03-19
“if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners”. Justification by faith does not allow the believer to continue in sin. If it did, Christ would become the administrator of sin.
Christ paid the penalty for my sin and by believing I receive the gift of eternal life offered to me.
If I continue in sin something is wrong. A new creature in Christ Jesus means that all things are made new.
Who might find us to be sinners? The Lord knows, certainly. But would not the man with whom we rub shoulders detect it too? It’s on the parade ground of life that we put into effect the Christian drill.
Justification by faith is the theory: no longer found sinners is the practical. Am I putting what I believe into practice in my life today?

"Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever" [I Chronicles 28:7]
2025-03-20
“Moreover I will establish his kingdom for ever”. This was God’s promise to David in relation to the accession of his son, Solomon, to the throne. It was, however, a promise with conditions attached that Solomon could not or would not keep, to be constant in keeping God’s commandments.
The law of the Lord conveyed in the Old Testament was an excellent foundation but proved an impossible hurdle.
It is to Jesus we must look for the establishment of a kingdom that will never end. Following His successful mission to earth culminating in His atoning death and glorious resurrection, God the Father has exalted Him to the highest place and given Him all power and authority.
His is the kingdom that will know no end and eternally blessed are all who have a part in it.

"It is the Spirit who gives life" [John 6:63(RAV)]
2025-03-21
“It is the Spirit who gives life”. Without the Holy Spirit, the church is like a club, the Bible is antiquity and the Christian life the mere adoption of high ideals.
The Holy Spirit makes the church the Body of Christ, the Bible the Word of God and the Christian life a life in the Spirit.
Without the Spirit you may have enthusiasm, a degree of wisdom and moral uprightness worthy of emulation. But without the Spirit you will never ascend to the hill of the Lord or stand in His holy place: the joy of the Lord will not permeate your being and you’ll never know the meaning of worship: power will be missing, prayer will go unanswered and salvation will drop from the syllabus.
It is the Holy Spirit Who gives life.

"Neither did" [Judges 1:27,29,30,31,33]
2025-03-22
“Neither did”. The rot set in on the premise that if enough fall, failure is not so bad after all. Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali all joined the “neither did” failure club. They didn’t drive the enemy out of the territory God had given them.
It’s an insidious evil, this comparing ourselves one with the other instead of striving to make the summit.
Let everyone else give up and join the “neither dids” if they will. By relying on God’s strength you can succeed today and drive out all evil to His glory.

"all my fears" [Psalm 34:4]
2025-03-23
“all my fears”. Many will think they could compete with the Psalmist in the list of their fears. But it is not how many, but how terrifying your fears are.
It is not really important how well-founded your fears are: fear causes pain and pain is unpleasant and can in extreme instances become unbearable.
The Psalmist had found the answer to fear and we all do well to take note and follow his advice. He sought the Lord – laid the matter before Him, listened for His counsel, heeded His word and received His peace. This course of action delivered him from all his fears.
If you can’t help being afraid, you can know the peace that Jesus gives and this turns trembling into tranquillity because the Lord is in control.

"Each day has enough trouble of its own" [Matthew 6:34 (NIV)]
2025-03-24
“Each day has enough trouble of its own”. Without our adding to it, that is.
Some unnecessary troubles include everybody else’s problems, troubles that threaten to break tomorrow, dreamt-up troubles, illusions, misunderstandings.
God will give you strength to solve today’s problems, overcome today’s difficulties, resist today’s temptations and triumph over today’s evil. Jesus’ teaching was: “Take no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”
You’re a happy man if you can sort out today’s troubles. So go for that and put tomorrow’s on ice.

"bind this line of scarlet thread in the window" [Joshua 2:18]
2025-03-25
“bind this line of scarlet thread in the window”. It’s a line that ran through the Old Testament from the time that animals were slain to provide covers of skin for Adam, down to the daily sacrifices offered in the Temple in Jerusalem.
It broke out into a fountain at the Cross of Calvary when the blood of Jesus was spilled. It has become a flood-tide in which many have washed and found cleansing from sin’s stain.
The line of scarlet points to the blood of Jesus. Nothing else removes sin from the human heart.
If you have this experience – bind the line of scarlet in the window – let everyone who cares to enquire know what it means.

"see a man who told me all things that I ever did" [John 4:29 (RAV)]
2025-03-26
“see a man who told me all things that I ever did”. Something of an exaggeration? It is unlikely that Jesus told the woman at the wellside all she had done but He obviously told her enough to make her think He could tell her it all, and she was right.
The same holds for anything to do with the Lord Jesus. If He keeps one person, He’ll keep them all. If He helps you in one tight corner, He’ll not desert you in the next. If He met your need yesterday, why do you think He’ll leave you today?
When you know the Lord, this woman reminds you what you should be doing – you should be telling others about Him.

"Moses took the bones of Joseph with him" [Exodus 13:19(NIV)]
2025-03-27
“Moses took the bones of Joseph with him”. Moses’ life, like any one of our lives, was making history.
He demonstrated his belief in the prophetic last words of Joseph years before. The bones of Joseph represented the hope of Israel.
Could the bones of a premier who died years before live again? The hope they expressed never died and as Moses packed them the hope became a reality. Many years later Ezekiel saw a vision of the valley of dead bones and that God could make them live again. Job said though worms destroyed his body, yet in his flesh would he see God.
We are part of a long line fulfilling the purpose of God: just be careful that the bones you carry are not merely relics. Take God’s promise: go forward in His Name.

If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it" [I Corinthians 12:26(RAV)]
2025-03-28
“If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it”. Do you experience this? It is more than a being concerned for the plight of others – more than being moved when seeing pictures of those in famine stricken areas, or being sorry and saddened when children suffer needlessly.
The Apostle is comparing the body of Christ with our natural body. You cannot close your mind to pain in a limb – shut it out and forget about it. So it should be within the body of Christ.
When one member suffers, all others should suffer with it.
Regretfully it is not so. We can and do shut out the suffering and need of others and we become used to it and, in the case of sin, even accept it. It was not meant to be like this.

"One thing is needful" [Luke 10:42]
2025-03-29
“One thing is needful”. A clean home? I’ve worked unceasingly since dawn this morning.
A meal worthy of the occasion? I’ve done nothing but plan and prepare ever since I knew you were coming.
A bit of help from someone? Well that would be appreciated, but I’ve let you know what I think about my lazy sister, Mary.
More care on my part? Why, you yourself said, Lord, that I’m careful and take trouble about many things.
Martha made an excellent servant and we can learn from her. But Jesus wanted her heart’s devotion and that could only be given in adoration at His feet.

"Her children arise and call her blessed" [Proverbs 31:28(NIV)]
2025-03-30
“Her children arise and call her blessed”. We must be grateful for this epilogue in the Book of Proverbs that gives us the characteristics of a godly wife. It is worth reading in full. Here are some important points:
Skilful with her hands, she gets up while yet dark to prepare the day’s food.
She has a business head and knows the price of things and is careful not to trade at a loss.
She is on call at night when needed.
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
She embroiders coverings and is clothed in fine linen.
She is clothed with strength and dignity.
She can laugh, can speak with wisdom and her instruction is invaluable.
No wonder the writer says she is worth far more than rubies and her children arise and call her blessed.
