Luke 14:12-14

Children aren’t the only ones who like to get rewards. Our Creator knows that adults are also motivated by incentives. His Word makes exciting promises for those who walk in His way.

Some of these benefits are available here on earth–like fulfillment, joy, and good favor–and other blessings will be bestowed in heaven. As believers, we need never fear the judgment (Rom. 8:1); we are clothed in righteousness through the blood of Jesus and will not face divine wrath. But the Lord will weigh the substance of our works and decide upon the reward we deserve.

To help us understand this, Scripture describes four crowns. The first, which is called incorruptible, is given to those whose great desire is to walk obediently before God. Through struggles and even failures, they continue to die to the flesh and follow the Spirit. Second, the crown of life is granted to believers who stand firm, enduring trials without giving up or losing heart. Third, the crown of righteousness is bestowed upon those who long for Christ’s appearing and walk godly lives through Him. Fourth, God will give the crown of glory to those who share His Word with others. And as the Bible tells us, we will be awed by Jesus’ glory and honored just to lay our crowns at His feet.

The supreme reward is for us to manifest God’s glory throughout eternity. We will experience ultimate joy in His presence forever, but we don’t have to wait: we can invest today by serving Him obediently and humbly. Done with the right motive, service blesses us now and in our life to come.

 Lifting weights once seemed to me very unnecessary—a curious activity for people who wanted to feel like athletes, while the real exercisers were off somewhere running. But as it turns out, I was wrong. Incorporating weight training into your exercise routine is beneficial on many levels: raising metabolism, increasing strength, reducing the risk of injury, heart disease, and other illness. I even read recently that lifting weights can help lift depression. Far from my initial theory, I have no doubt that using weights properly is a necessary part of building both muscle and health. I have also found it a helpful illustration even as I am discovering it physically true.

 Counting to ten with a weight in my hand recently, I found myself worrying about upcoming events, things I needed to do, things didn’t do well enough, and so forth. To be honest I can’t remember exactly what I was worrying about that day. But I remember thinking about the weight I was physically lifting and the weight I was mentally carrying—and connecting with illustration in my hand.

 What if it’s possible to use life’s resistances to build character, hope, and even faith? I believe it’s quite possible. Yet even so, as it is in weight lifting, a weight is only beneficial to the body when it is lifted and released. Muscles grow during times of rest; to never release a weight would forfeit the benefits of weight lifting and only make way for serious injury. When it comes to worrying, it might resemble a person lugging around a barbell, stubbornly refusing to set it down for whatever reason or benefit they think they hold by perpetually carrying it.  

 F.W. Boreham tells a story about a woman who spent her entire life as a worrier. As a small child she would sit in her father’s lap and momentarily lay aside the weight of worry as he took his thumb and smoothed out the wrinkles on her forehead. “Now keep it smooth,” he would say. “Don’t let it pucker again.” But it was of little help. Now a grown woman facing the final days of her life, she sat confessing to pastor Boreham—without seeing anything ironic in her words—that it worried her that she had been such a worrier all her life. I suspect in some way we can all be something like this poor woman, failing to see the absurdity of many of our worries.        

 I can find many places in Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount where reacting with a sense of worry seems almost appropriate, and I would guess in this assessment I am not alone: You have heard that it was said, “Do not murder.” But I tell you that anyone who is even angry with his brotheris subject to judgment. Or, You have heard that it was said, “Do not commit adultery.” But I tell you that anyone who even looks at someone lustfully has already done so.(1)

 Can anyone stand in the kingdom Jesus describes in this sermon? Is it worth even trying? For worriers, there seems a great deal of material. But this is exactly what is so startling about Jesus’s words about worrying, which come as almost a hiatus in the middle of his sermon. In between an exhortation to be perfect and a description of the narrow gate, he proclaims gently but confidently, “Do not worry!”  To those trembling with the fear of certain failure, it is an impossible, strange command. Yet it is one over which he seems to proclaim: It is my life that makes all things possible. He says: 

 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?(2)

 Worrying is something like picking up the weight that Jesus has removed and deciding to carry it around again anyway, causing injury with your refusal to set it down. If it is truly “for freedom that Christ has set us free,” we can truly stand firm, not letting ourselves be burdened again by the slavery of worry. What if we can approach life’s worries with the thought of building hope and even faith, growing closer to the God who lifts the burden? What if it is a matter of letting go, setting the weight we would carry again and again before the Cross? What if the only benefit of worry comes in lifting it up and setting it before the God who will hold it?

 Of course, I realize this is easier to say than it is to do. But perhaps it is a reminder akin to Jesus pausing in the middle of his weighty sermon and smoothing out the wrinkles on our foreheads. Over each weight and worry, he repeats the resounding benefit: I will give you rest.   

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

 (1) Matthew 5:21-22; Matthew 5:28-29. 
(2) Matthew 6:25-27.

Morning  “Ephraim is a cake not turned.”   Hosea 7:8

 A cake not turned is uncooked on one side; and so Ephraim was, in many respects,

untouched by divine grace: though there was some partial obedience, there was

very much rebellion left. My soul, I charge thee, see whether this be thy case.

Art thou thorough in the things of God? Has grace gone through the very centre

of thy being so as to be felt in its divine operations in all thy powers, thy

actions, thy words, and thy thoughts? To be sanctified, spirit, soul, and body,

should be thine aim and prayer; and although sanctification may not be perfect

in thee anywhere in degree, yet it must be universal in its action; there must

not be the appearance of holiness in one place and reigning sin

 in another, else thou, too, wilt be a cake not turned.

 A cake not turned is soon burnt on the side nearest the fire, and although no

man can have too much religion, there are some who seem burnt black with bigoted

zeal for that part of truth which they have received, or are charred to a cinder

with a vainglorious Pharisaic ostentation of those religious performances which

suit their humour. The assumed appearance of superior sanctity frequently

accompanies a total absence of all vital godliness. The saint in public is a

devil in private. He deals in flour by day and in soot by night. The cake which

is burned on one side, is dough on the other.

If it be so with me, O Lord, turn me! Turn my unsanctified nature to the fire of

thy love and let it feel the sacred glow, and let my burnt side cool a little

while I learn my own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from thy

heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded man, but one entirely under

the powerful influence of reigning grace; for well I know if I am left like a

cake unturned, and am not on both sides the subject of thy grace, I must be

consumed forever amid everlasting burnings.

Evening “Waiting for the adoption.” Romans 8:23

 Even in this world saints are God’s children, but men cannot discover them to be

so, except by certain moral characteristics. The adoption is not manifested, the

children are not yet openly declared. Among the Romans a man might adopt a

child, and keep it private for a long time: but there was a second adoption in

public; when the child was brought before the constituted authorities its former

garments were taken off, and the father who took it to be his child gave it

raiment suitable to its new condition of life. “Beloved, now are we the sons of

God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” We are not yet arrayed in the

apparel which befits the royal family of heaven; we are wearing

 in this flesh and blood just what we wore as the sons of Adam; but we know that

“when he shall appear” who is the “first-born among many brethren,” we shall be

like him, we shall see him as he is. Cannot you imagine that a child taken from

the lowest ranks of society, and adopted by a Roman senator, would say to

himself, “I long for the day when I shall be publicly adopted. Then I shall

leave off these plebeian garments, and be robed as becomes my senatorial rank”?

Happy in what he has received, for that very reason he groans to get the fulness

of what is promised him. So it is with us today. We are waiting till we shall

put on our proper garments, and shall be manifested as the children

 of God. We are young nobles, and have not yet worn our coronets. We are young

brides, and the marriage day is not yet come, and by the love our Spouse bears

us, we are led to long and sigh for the bridal morning. Our very happiness makes

us groan after more; our joy, like a swollen spring, longs to well up like an

Iceland geyser, leaping to the skies, and it heaves and groans within our spirit

for want of space and room by which to manifest itself to men.

Why do I go mourning?   Hebrews 12:27 

We have many things in our possession at the present moment that can be shaken, and it is not good for a Christian to rely upon them, for there is nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things. Yet we have certain “things that cannot be shaken,” and I invite you this evening to think of them—that if the things that can be shaken should all be taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken and that will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present salvation.

You are standing at the foot of Christ’s cross, trusting alone in the merit of His precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can interfere with your salvation in Him; no breaking of banks, no failures and bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Even if by loss you are brought to poverty and stripped bare, you can still say, “He is still my Father. In my Father’s house are many rooms; therefore I will not be troubled.” You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus Christ. He who is God and man loves you with all the strength of His affectionate nature—nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and the flocks may dwindle and wander from the field, but it does not matter to the man who can sing, “My Beloved is mine, and I am His.” Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not like little children cast down by what happens to us in this poor fleeting state of time. Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is fixed in heaven, and therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean, we will see the wreck of everything earthborn and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

Family Reading Plan   Isaiah 54  Matthew 2

Hebrews 6:10

In His grace, God freely gives salvation to those who believe in Jesus. We cannot earn this gift, nor do we deserve it. Our Father does notice our good works, though. And He promises to reward us according to what we have done for Him.

True service occurs when we allow the Lord to work through us for His glory and honor. True ministry occurs when divine resources meet human need through loving channels.

Revelation 22:12 encourages us, “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” Whether large or small, all service done in Jesus’ name will be blessed. We must be careful, though, that our actions are for Christ’s glory. If motives are self-serving, the only benefit we receive is the praise (if any) that we hear from people in this life. And we know that men’s approval is not satisfying or lasting.

While some rewards will be given in heaven, other blessings can be experienced now. For example, we know great joy when we allow God to bless others through us. And there is deep satisfaction in realizing that we are pleasing Christ. In addition,there’s a profound sense of fulfillment when we lead a person to Jesus and teach him how to walk by faith.

Serving others is both a great benefit and a responsibility for Christians. We should prayerfully consider our motives to make sure that our goal is to glorify Christ. Only then will we receive God’s full blessings–rewards given not only in eternity but on earth as well.

 What are you looking at? Where are the anchors in your life? I imagine for many of us these questions are more than rhetorical or philosophical; they are truly heartfelt. 

 Recently I was struck by this announcement in John’s Gospel: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29). John says, “Look, the Lamb of God.” The question is posed, what are you looking at? John emphatically directs our focus: “Look at Jesus.” In fact, he makes this declaration fifteen times in his gospel. This word is translated in the King James Version as Behold. Fifteen times he exhorts his readers to look at Jesus. Will you behold? This is astonishing. This is amazing. Look at Jesus.

 My favorite hymnwriter is Charles Wesley and one of my favorite of his hymns is called, “Jesus! The Name High Over All.” In the final verse of his hymn, he sings,

 Happy, if with my latest breath

I may but gasp His Name,

Preach Him to all and cry in death,

“Behold, behold the Lamb!”

 Now an account of John’s death tells us that that is exactly what happened. As John lay dying, he uttered those words, “Behold the Lamb,” and then took his last breath. John is telling us to look at Jesus—for our hope, for our provision, for our very lives.

 In his gospel he invites us to behold Jesus through the lens of seven signs or miracles. That is, John deliberately chooses seven out of the many miracles that Jesus performed in order to give us a particular perspective of who this Jesus is. And the fourth miracle that he records is Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand. Jesus himself beholds the crowd—he looks attentively at their need—and he responds with compassion and provision. We encounter a dramatic miracle: Jesus multiplies fives loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people. Then John tells us, “When they had all had enough to eat, [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten” (6:12-13). What a picture of amazing abundance: the Son of God demonstrating the abundance of God to a hungry people.

 Perhaps as you look at our world today you wonder if God is still at work in such a way. I want to encourage you that God is, for in my work and ministry I have seen this provision. Having been involved in Bible smuggling in China, I was intrigued to learn of a man named Chris who had gone out from the UK to do the same. Every three seconds someone in China becomes a Christian, but there’s a real lack of the Word of God there. This is what happened to Chris: he and his team stood at the pickup point in China where they were to meet their contact, who would utter a password, and they would deliver their Bibles. They arrived with only minutes to spare, but the contact didn’t show up. Knowing they were being watched, the team started walking towards the edge of town as though leaving. Hot and tired, they stopped at a nearby park for a drink of water, rest, and prayer. It was hard to understand why after all the difficulties God had brought them through that something had gone so wrong. They had looked to God for provision and direction, and yet their mission had seemingly failed.

 Soon the team became aware of three very ragged and dirty men under a tree behind them. Chris felt the Lord leading him to go over with some water. When he offered it, one of the men suddenly spoke the password very clearly in English. The rest of the team hurried over in amazement and pieced together the men’s story from the little Chinese that they knew. Two years earlier, God had given a word to these Chinese men in one of their services that they should plan for this trip. God would lead them to this park, on this date, and have Bibles ready for them, which would be brought by white men from far away. Since they were all poor farmers, it had taken a long time for them to save the money for food and shoes for the trip. The men had walked for two and a half months, mostly at night to keep from being arrested. Coming from the far north of China near Mongolia, they had climbed a range of snowcapped mountains, traveled through the desert, and crossed several rivers without a compass or any knowledge of the country. All they could explain was that God had shown them where to go.

 How did they know the password? How could they speak it in English when they knew no English? How did they survive the heat and the snow without protective clothing? It could only be God.

 When the men saw the Bibles, they cried and praised the Lord for a long time. They had brought cloth bags with them to carry the Bibles home, and inside each one was a small watermelon that they had carried all those miles as a gift of appreciation. Even though they had been without food for several days, they didn’t eat a single watermelon. The team exchanged clothes with them and Chris explained what an honor it was to put on those dirty rags. The shoes were completely worn out, but the team chose to go barefoot and give up their own shoes. Many tears were shed as the team prayed for the Chinese and sent them back home with food and money for their journey.

 Jesus is the God of abundance. He is the one within whom this provision, this abundance, is located. Look to him, behold him, and you will be amazed.

 Amy Orr-Ewing is director of programmes for the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics and UK director for Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Oxford, England.

Morning “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory.”

 Zechariah 6:13

 Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple, and he has built it on

the mountains of his unchangeable affection, his omnipotent grace, and his

infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon’s temple, so in this; the

materials need making ready. There are the “Cedars of Lebanon,” but they are not

framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those

planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the

Lord’s house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry,

they must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ’s own work. Each

individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his

 place in the temple; but Christ’s own hand performs the preparation-work.

Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by him to this end. Our

prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of

Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.

 As in the building of Solomon’s temple, “there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor

any tool of iron, heard in the house,” because all was brought perfectly ready

for the exact spot it was to occupy–so is it with the temple which Jesus

builds; the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will

be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with

suffering. No, we must be made meet here–all that Christ will do beforehand;

and when he has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream

of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in

the temple of our Lord.

  “Beneath his eye and care,

 The edifice shall rise,

 Majestic, strong, and fair,

 And shine above the skies.”

Evening “That those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” Hebrews 12:27

 We have many things in our possession at the present moment which can be shaken,

and it ill becomes a Christian man to set much store by them, for there is

nothing stable beneath these rolling skies; change is written upon all things.

Yet, we have certain “things which cannot be shaken,” and I invite you this

evening to think of them, that if the things which can be shaken should all be

taken away, you may derive real comfort from the things that cannot be shaken,

which will remain. Whatever your losses have been, or may be, you enjoy present

salvation. You are standing at the foot of his cross, trusting alone in the

merit of Jesus’ precious blood, and no rise or fall of the markets can

 interfere with your salvation in him; no breaking of banks, no failures and

bankruptcies can touch that. Then you are a child of God this evening. God is

your Father. No change of circumstances can ever rob you of that. Although by

losses brought to poverty, and stripped bare, you can say, “He is my Father

still. In my Father’s house are many mansions; therefore will I not be

troubled.” You have another permanent blessing, namely, the love of Jesus

Christ. He who is God and Man loves you with all the strength of his

affectionate nature–nothing can affect that. The fig tree may not blossom, and

the flocks may cease from the field, it matters not to the man who can sing, “My

Beloved is  mine, and I am his.” Our best portion and richest heritage we cannot lose.

Whatever troubles come, let us play the man; let us show that we are not such

little children as to be cast down by what may happen in this poor fleeting

state of time. Our country is Immanuel’s land, our hope is above the sky, and

therefore, calm as the summer’s ocean; we will see the wreck of everything

earthborn, and yet rejoice in the God of our salvation.

Why do I go mourning?  Psalm 42:9 

Can you answer this, believer? Can you find any reason why you are so often mourning instead of rejoicing? Why yield to gloomy anticipations? Who told you that the night would never end in day? Who told you that the sea of circumstances would ebb out till there should be nothing left but long stretches of the mud of horrible poverty? Who told you that the winter of your discontent would proceed from frost to frost, from snow and ice and hail to deeper snow and yet more heavy tempest of despair? Don’t you know that day follows night, that flood comes after ebb, that spring and summer succeed winter?

Be full of hope! Hope forever! For God does not fail you. Do you not know that God loves you in the midst of all this? Mountains, when in darkness hidden, are as real as in day, and God’s love is as true to you now as it was in your brightest moments.

No father chastens always. The Lord hates the rod as much as you do; He only cares to use it for that reason that would make you willing to receive it—namely, it brings about your lasting good. You will yet climb Jacob’s ladder with the angels and behold Him who sits at the top of it—your covenant God. You will yet, amidst the splendors of eternity, forget the trials of time or only remember them to bless the God who led you through them and works your lasting good by them. Come, sing in the midst of tribulation.

Rejoice even while passing through the furnace. Make the wilderness blossom like the rose! Cause the desert to ring with your exulting joys, for these light afflictions will soon be over, and then, forever with the Lord, your bliss shall never wane.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,

He changeth not, and thou art dear;

Only believe and you shalt see,

That Christ is all in all to thee.

Family Reading Plan

Jeremiah 17

Mark 3

Many people hear the word “serve” and feel that they do not have the necessary qualities to make a difference in others’ lives. This is true–apart from God. But He has gifted each of us in unique ways with a purpose in mind. His plan for us involves using these talents to serve Him for the good of others.

Satan would like us to believe otherwise. Our Enemy wants us to notice what others are doing and then to feel inferior. For instance, I have heard women say, “I am just a homemaker.” They see people preaching and singing in the choir and wish they could accomplish something so great for God. Friends, there could be nothing further from the truth. An enormous responsibility rests with those who train their children in righteousness.

In fact, the Holy Spirit has gifted each believer for specific work in God’s kingdom. Scripture explains this idea by a comparison with a human body: each person has gifts and purposes that make the entire system function well. But if the heel wants the eye’s role, the whole being will lose balance.

Each part is crucial, even though some are less noticeable than others. Truthfully, those with less apparent talents have an advantage because pride and self-sufficiency may be less of a temptation.

Notice how Peter defined himself: “a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 1:1). He was no longer a man motivated by self-interest. Once He followed Jesus, he saw himself as a servant of God. We, too, are called to serve the King of Kings with whatever abilities we are given.

 I stand confidently by the passage in the book of Leviticus that states, “Winged insects that have four feet are detestable.” I might even add that insects really in general are detestable, though maybe with the exception of fireflies or ladybugs or praying mantises—the kind of insects we are taught not to fear but to wonder at.

 But there is one kind in particular that I find worth wondering at even as I find them and their invasion thoroughly dreadful. “Periodical cicadas” emerge from their secret bug lairs every 17 years to mate and lay their eggs—500 trillion eggs to be exact. Quite detestably, they come creeping out of the ground in astonishing, invasive populations, in what is the single greatest regular outpouring of insect life on the planet. 

 For a few weeks, periodical cicadas emerge across the country in droves, dodging people and cars, devouring horticulture, and then dying in mass numbers, leaving behind their winged bodies as a stinking reminder of their brief existence and their promised return. In exactly 17 years, like clockwork, they will be back. Scientists have no idea how they mark the passage of time, how they mysteriously know to come creeping out of the ground again like miniature space invaders in a science fiction novel. As one scientific observer notes, the periodic cicada vividly reminds the world that “underneath our tidy gardens and parks lurk vestiges of untamed nature.”  

 Interestingly enough, it is the lurking presence of periodical cicadas, a presence of which we are unaware until they are restlessly stirring among us, that comes to mind whenever I consider a New Testament teaching on speaking. James teaches about the power of the tongue and its unleashed and creeping presence within our lives. And his language is just that evocative. He writes, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (3:7). James is writing so that his audience might see in what is untamed and detestable the dire need for God’s mercy. “For with the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be” (3:9-11).

 Christian thought makes clear a truth to which we can all testify. Words spring forth from our tongues at times unplanned and untamed. Dutch philosopher Benedict Spinoza once noted, “[E]xperience more than sufficiently teaches that people govern nothing with more difficulty than their tongues.” In the Psalms, we read of destructive words emerging from hearts filled with destruction, tongues speaking deceit from throats that are open graves. The psalmist sees the connection between the emerging words and the soil of a heart, also seeing clearly our need for God to cultivate it. “May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord my rock and redeemer.” It is one of our most honest and indispensable prayers—for much lurks beneath the soil.  

 Like insects whose communal emerging reminds us that all is not as tidy and peaceful as it appears within our gardens, so the tongue reminds us that much is lurking within our hearts. The tongue is a detestable creature, a restless evil. In its toxic influence we are reminded of our need for one who hears our words, quiets our tongues, and gives us a better word. We remember the God who made tame the lions that shared a den with Daniel and the ravens which brought Elijah bread both morning and night. It is this God who can tame also our tongues.  

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morning “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” Psalm 45:2

 The entire person of Jesus is but as one gem, and his life is all along but one

impression of the seal. He is altogether complete; not only in his several

parts, but as a gracious all-glorious whole. His character is not a mass of fair

colours mixed confusedly, nor a heap of precious stones laid carelessly one upon

another; he is a picture of beauty and a breastplate of glory. In him, all the

“things of good repute” are in their proper places, and assist in adorning each

other. Not one feature in his glorious person attracts attention at the expense

of others; but he is perfectly and altogether lovely.

 Oh, Jesus! thy power, thy grace, thy justice, thy tenderness, thy truth, thy

majesty, and thine immutability make up such a man, or rather such a God-man, as

neither heaven nor earth hath seen elsewhere. Thy infancy, thy eternity, thy

sufferings, thy triumphs, thy death, and thine immortality, are all woven in one

gorgeous tapestry, without seam or rent. Thou art music without discord; thou

art many, and yet not divided; thou art all things, and yet not diverse. As all

the colours blend into one resplendent rainbow, so all the glories of heaven and

earth meet in thee, and unite so wondrously, that there is none like thee in all

things; nay, if all the virtues of the most excellent were

 bound in one bundle, they could not rival thee, thou mirror of all perfection.

Thou hast been anointed with the holy oil of myrrh and cassia, which thy God

hath reserved for thee alone; and as for thy fragrance, it is as the holy

perfume, the like of which none other can ever mingle, even with the art of the

apothecary; each spice is fragrant, but the compound is divine.

 “Oh, sacred symmetry! oh, rare connection

Of many perfects, to make one perfection!

 Oh, heavenly music, where all parts do meet

 In one sweet strain, to make one perfect sweet!”

Evening “The foundation of God standeth sure.” 2 Timothy 2:19

 The foundation upon which our faith rests is this, that “God was in Christ

reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them.”

The great fact on which genuine faith relies is, that “the Word was made flesh

and dwelt among us,” and that “Christ also hath suffered for sin, the just for

the unjust, that he might bring us to God”; “Who himself bare our sins in his

own body on the tree”; “For the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by

his stripes we are healed.” In one word, the great pillar of the Christian’s

hope is substitution. The vicarious sacrifice of Christ for the guilty, Christ

being made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in

 him, Christ offering up a true and proper expiatory and substitutionary

sacrifice in the room, place, and stead of as many as the Father gave him, who

are known to God by name, and are recognized in their own hearts by their

trusting in Jesus–this is the cardinal fact of the gospel. If this foundation

were removed, what could we do? But it standeth firm as the throne of God. We

know it; we rest on it; we rejoice in it; and our delight is to hold it, to

meditate upon it, and to proclaim it, while we desire to be actuated and moved

by gratitude for it in every part of our life and conversation. In these days a

direct attack is made upon the doctrine of the atonement. Men cannot bear

 substitution. They gnash their teeth at the thought of the Lamb of God bearing

the sin of man. But we, who know by experience the preciousness of this truth,

will proclaim it in defiance of them confidently and unceasingly. We will

neither dilute it nor change it, nor fritter it away in any shape or fashion. It

shall still be Christ, a positive substitute, bearing human guilt and suffering

in the stead of men. We cannot, dare not, give it up, for it is our life, and

despite every controversy we feel that “Nevertheless the foundation of God

standeth sure.”

And immediately they left their nets and followed him. Mark 1:18 

 When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at once without hesitation. If we did likewise and punctually with resolute zeal put into practice what we hear immediately, then our attendance at the means of grace and our reading of good books could not fail to enrich us spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care to eat it immediately; neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the doctrine who has already acted upon it. Most readers and hearers become moved to decide to take action; but sadly, the proposal is a blossom that has not flowered, and as a result no fruit comes from it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget, until, like the ponds on frosty nights, when the sun shines by day, they are only thawed in time to be frozen again.

That fatal tomorrow is blood-red with the murder of good resolutions; it is the slaughterhouse of the innocents. We are very concerned that our little book of “Evening Readings” should not be fruitless, and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers only, but doers of the Word. The practice of truth is the fruit of profitable reading.

Should the reader be impressed with any duty while perusing these pages, let him be quick to fulfill it before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him leave his nets and all that he has rather than be found rebellious to the Master’s call. Do not give place to the devil by delay! Act while opportunity and desire are working in happy partnership. Do not be caught in your own nets, but break the meshes of worldliness, and go where glory calls you. Happy is the writer who will meet with readers resolved to carry out his teachings: His harvest will be a hundredfold, and his Master will have great honor. We can only pray that this might be our reward from these brief meditations and hurried hints. Grant it, O Lord, to Your servant!

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 52

Revelation 22

Jesus commanded that we serve one another, but obeying this mandate in humility is not natural for us. Sure, there are times we like to help others. But service that involves self-sacrifice–especially for someone we deem undeserving–much more difficult to do.

What does it mean to serve? Consider Christ’s example. He gave up everything in heaven to live among us, subjecting Himself to dishonor and human frailty. And He loved even those who rejected Him. Think about how He humbled Himself and washedthe disciples’ feet at Passover. This was a disgusting, lowly task that a slave might be assigned–far from anything a king should do. He even knew these men were about to abandon Him but served them anyway.

Ultimately, Christ gave His life for us. And He did so while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). Serving others was His lifestyle–part of who He was and what He did. As His followers, we should strive to be like Him.

Therefore, service involves first dying to our selfish attitudes and motives. Only then can we live to glorify Christ. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God wholeheartedly and to love others (Matt. 22:37-39). Ironically, it is only when we humbly serve others that we experience God’s fullness in our own lives.

Many try to achieve happiness by striving after their own desires. The result? Tired, unsatisfied people. True contentment happens only when we walk closely with Jesus. He shows where we can humble ourselves and take care of others. These actions, done through His strength, will be blessed.

Most scholars agree that the Enlightenment or Age of Reason, which began in the early seventeenth century, set up the great false dichotomy of our time.(1) The great “dichotomy” of the Enlightenment entailed the separation of the public and private realms. The public realm was the world of ascertained by reason alone. Missiologist Lesslie Newbigin explains, “The thinkers of the Enlightenment spoke of their age as the age of reason…by which human beings could attain (at least in principle) to a complete understanding of, and thus a full mastery of, nature—of reality in all its forms. Reason, so understood, is sovereign in this enterprise.”(2) In the realm of reason, therefore, revelation from a divine realm was not needed. Human reason could search out and know all the facts about reality, and “no alleged divine revelation, no tradition however ancient, and no dogma however hallowed has the right to veto its exercise.”(3)  

 The realm of religious belief was now relegated to the realm of private value and private purpose. It wasn’t that the Enlightenment dichotomy cut out God. Rather, it created a distinction between “natural” religion—God’s existence and the moral laws known by all and demonstrable by reason—and “revealed” religion—doctrines as taught by the Bible and the church. The latter realm, dominant in the Middle Ages and the Reformation, came under increasing attack and was eventually relegated to private expression. 

 Fueled by scientific and philosophical discoveries, the view of the world as the venue of God’s providence and rule, shifted to the view that sovereign reason could discover all that was necessary to advance humanity toward its highest destiny. All of Christianity’s supernatural claims and all of its revelatory content were unnecessary in a world where the creator had endowed human beings with enough reason to discern what was important simply by looking at the great book of nature. The autonomous, rational human became the arbiter of truth and knowledge, and that was enough.

 What emerged from this dichotomy was the belief that the real world was a world of cause and effect, of material bodies guided solely by mathematically stable laws. It was believed, then, that to have discovered the “cause” of something was to have explained it. There was no need to invoke “purpose” or “design” as an explanation any longer. 

 And yet, purpose remains an inescapable element in human life. Newbigin argues: “Human beings do entertain purposes and set out to achieve them. The immense achievements of modern science themselves are, very obviously, the outcome of the purposeful effortsof hundreds of thousands of men and women dedicated to the achievement of something that is valuable—a true understanding of how things are.”(4) Hence, persisting in the belief that science, for example, is value and purpose free belies an intentional rejection of what is really true. The pursuit of science to find causes for effects devoid of any larger purpose will ultimately end in the elimination of all ideals. The very zeal that seeks to explain a world without purpose is a purpose in and of itself.

 Proclaiming that purpose infuses human endeavor, and as such, that purposeful human endeavor points to purposeful design and design to a designer will not necessarily convince those who see a world only of mechanical cause and effect. Yet, scratch below the surface of the most strident materialists, and one uncovers a yearning for something more than what can be understood by reason alone. As atheist Sam Harris wrote: “This universe is shot through with mystery. The very fact of its being, and of our own, is a mystery absolute, and the only miracle worthy of the name. The consciousness that animates us is itself central to this mystery and the ground for any experience we might wish to call ‘spiritual.'”(5) 

 The gospel of John suggests that reason and revelation need not be dichotomized. In his explanation of the significance of Jesus Christ, truth is ultimately and completely revealed in a person: “The Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us.” John describes the divine principle that undergirds all things, as the Greeks understood the Logos, as embodied in the human person, Jesus. True knowledge and purpose meet in the Word made flesh, and in his life, death, and resurrection we have a new starting point for reason. The resurrection is indeed the very basis “for the perpetual praise of God who not only creates order out of chaos, but also breaks through fixed orders to create ever-new situations of surprise and joy.”(6) The risen Jesus breaks the false dichotomy of reason that seeks to imprison revelation, and in his very being embodies purpose and meaning. In the person of Christ, reason finds its hope and reality its purpose.

 Margaret Manning is a member of the speaking and writing team at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Seattle, Washington. 

 (1) Stanley Grenz and Roger Olsen, 20th Century Theology (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 16-17.
(2) Lesslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986), 25.
(3) Ibid., 25.
(4) Ibid., 35.
(5) Sam Harris, The End of Faith (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2004), 227.
(6) Ibid., 150.

Morning “For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations,

like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the

earth.” Amos 9:9

 Every sifting comes by divine command and permission. Satan must ask leave

before he can lay a finger upon Job. Nay, more, in some sense our siftings are

directly the work of heaven, for the text says, “I will sift the house of

Israel.” Satan, like a drudge, may hold the sieve, hoping to destroy the corn;

but the overruling hand of the Master is accomplishing the purity of the grain

by the very process which the enemy intended to be destructive. Precious, but

much sifted corn of the Lord’s floor, be comforted by the blessed fact that the

Lord directeth both flail and sieve to his own glory, and to thine eternal

profit.  

The Lord Jesus will surely use the fan which is in his hand, and will divide the

precious from the vile. All are not Israel that are of Israel; the heap on the

barn floor is not clean provender, and hence the winnowing process must be

performed. In the sieve true weight alone has power. Husks and chaff being

devoid of substance must fly before the wind, and only solid corn will remain.

 Observe the complete safety of the Lord’s wheat; even the least grain has a

promise of preservation. God himself sifts, and therefore it is stern and

terrible work; he sifts them in all places, “among all nations”; he sifts them

in the most effectual manner, “like as corn is sifted in a sieve”; and yet for

all this, not the smallest, lightest, or most shrivelled grain, is permitted to

fall to the ground. Every individual believer is precious in the sight of the

Lord, a shepherd would not lose one sheep, nor a jeweller one diamond, nor a

mother one child, nor a man one limb of his body, nor will the Lord lose one of

his redeemed people. However little we may be, if we are the Lord’s, we may

 rejoice that we are preserved in Christ Jesus.

Evening “Straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.” Mark 1:18

 When they heard the call of Jesus, Simon and Andrew obeyed at once without

demur. If we would always, punctually and with resolute zeal, put in practice

what we hear upon the spot, or at the first fit occasion, our attendance at the

means of grace, and our reading of good books, could not fail to enrich us

spiritually. He will not lose his loaf who has taken care at once to eat it,

neither can he be deprived of the benefit of the doctrine who has already acted

upon it. Most readers and hearers become moved so far as to purpose to amend;

but, alas! the proposal is a blossom which has not been knit, and therefore no

fruit comes of it; they wait, they waver, and then they forget, till, like

 the ponds in nights of frost, when the sun shines by day, they are only thawed

in time to be frozen again. That fatal to-morrow is blood-red with the murder of

fair resolutions; it is the slaughter-house of the innocents. We are very

concerned that our little book of “Evening Readings” should not be fruitless,

and therefore we pray that readers may not be readers only, but doers, of the

word. The practice of truth is the most profitable reading of it. Should the

reader be impressed with any duty while perusing these pages, let him hasten to

fulfil it before the holy glow has departed from his soul, and let him leave his

nets, and all that he has, sooner than be found rebellious to the

 Master’s call. Do not give place to the devil by delay! Haste while opportunity

and quickening are in happy conjunction. Do not be caught in your own nets, but

break the meshes of worldliness, and away where glory calls you. Happy is the

writer who shall meet with readers resolved to carry out his teachings: his

harvest shall be a hundredfold, and his Master shall have great honour. Would to

God that such might be our reward upon these brief meditations and hurried

hints. Grant it, O Lord, unto thy servant!

My beloved is mine, and I am his; he grazes among the lilies. Until the day breathes and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved, be like a gazelle or a young stag on cleft mountains.  Song of Songs 2:16-17 

Surely if there is a happy verse in the Bible it is this—”My beloved is mine, and I am his.” It is so peaceful, so full of assurance, so overflowing with happiness and contentment, that it might well have been written by the same hand that penned the Twenty-third Psalm. Yet though the prospect is very bright and lovely—as fair a scene as earth can display—it is not an entirely sunlit landscape. There is a cloud in the sky, which casts a shadow over the scene. Listen: “Until the day breathes and the shadows flee.”

There is a word, too, about the “cleft mountains,” or “the mountains of division,” and to our love, anything like division is bitterness. Beloved, this may be your present state of mind. You do not doubt your salvation, you know that Christ is yours, but you are not feasting with Him. You understand your vital interest in Him, so that you do not have a shadow of a doubt about being His and of His being yours, but still His left hand is not under your head, nor does His right hand embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord, so that even while exclaiming, “I am his,” you are forced to take to your knees and to pray, “Until the day breathes, and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved.”

“Where is He?” asks the soul. And the answer comes, “He grazes among the lilies.” If we would find Christ, we must get into communion with His people, we must come to the ordinances with His saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of Him! Oh, to eat with Him tonight!

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 51

Revelation 21

Grace is one of God’s most amazing gifts. It provides us with everything we need to live in perfect freedom: pardon for our sins, healing for our hearts, the companionship of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, and access to freely cultivate our relationship with Him. We work, worship, and enjoy life surrounded by His unconditional love. His grace upholds us, fills us, and sustains us.

Since we are forgiven people, the Lord responds to us not as enemies but as His dearly loved children (Rom. 8:15; Eph. 5:1). He hears our prayers, speaks to us, and acts on our behalf.

The knowledge that we live under the covering of God’s grace gives us…

• Security about our position. No one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28).
• Boldness to live for Christ. Nothing anyone does or says can shake our confidence in who the Lord is or who we are in Him.
• Peace for today because we can fully trust in His sovereignty. The Lord is carrying out His perfect will–and we can be sure that nothing is able to thwart His plans when we cooperate with Him.
• Hope for the future. This life is just the beginning. One day we’ll see Jesus face to face, be perfected as the individuals He created us to be, and live with Him in our true home forever.

The Lord is committed to transforming each of us according to His special plan for our lives. Even His correction is an expression of His loving favor (Heb. 12:10). When we falter or fail, we can rest assured that His amazing grace hems us in and always offers us redemption.

 A popular U.S. comic strip once held the attention of millions as it chronicled the misadventures of a boy and his stuffed tiger. The infamous pair was inseparable, lingering energetically in topics both adult and childlike. One day on a walk in the woods, six-year-old boy Calvin announces to Hobbes the tiger that he has decided he doesn’t believe in ethics anymore, because, as far as he’s concerned, “The ends justify the means.” “Get what you can while the getting is good,” Calvin reasons, “Might makes right.” 

At this, Hobbes, who is a stuffed tiger in the eyes of all but Calvin, promptly pushes his human friend into a mud hole.

 “Why’d you do that?” Calvin objects. 

 “You were in my way,” Hobbes replies, “and now you’re not.  The ends justify the means.” 

 Sitting in the mud, Calvin seems to reach a brief moment of enlightenment, until he uncovers a way to reconcile the conflict with self-interest: “I didn’t mean for everyone, you dolt. Just me.” 

 One of the more striking things to confront in each of the four Gospel accounts, besides Jesus himself, is the reactions people had to him. When in his presence, some like Mary and the man with leprosy fell instantaneously at his feet, others like the young rich ruler or the people of Nazareth turned away. In his presence some cried for mercy and others who needed a doctor were confronted with the question of whether or not they wanted to be well. In the presence of Jesus of Nazareth, choices were made, realities were challenged, worldviews were transformed.  

 Ironically, those deemed unrighteous and dishonorable by the social standards of the day were often the most responsive to the demands of Jesus. I have often wondered if this was because they were the ones most willing to see themselves rationally, those most willing to respond to their own inconsistencies with fear and trembling. In the presence of Christ, the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda came to see the contradictions he lived with, his unlivable beliefs, and his need for direction. The Samaritan woman at the well saw not only that Jesus was speaking truth, but that he was truth, and that his way was livable and hers was not. Called into the presence of Christ, Zacchaeus saw the depravity of his methods and the great hunger of his life for something more. Conversely, the rich young ruler walked away from Jesus’s instruction because it was a request and reality that he could not face. 

 Francis Schaeffer called the cultural phenomenon of living unaware or unconcerned with our inconsistencies “the age of non-reason.” He saw humans drifting in a sea of irrationality, willing to live with great contradictions, no longer living as though they had to be reasonable. Yet he also contended that a person’s worldview must be livable, and that we must be willing and able to live out the reality we profess. 

 As the young Calvin once said to his animated tiger, “Reality continues to ruin my life!” Finding himself in the mud, Calvin saw clearly that he could not live with the outworkings of his theory (though he proceeded to mend the belief illogically). It is both brave and essential to confront the belief systems that hold our lives and shape our ways. I believe that the Christian faith makes sense of life’s most foreboding questions, and that it is livable because it is true. Christ gently unearths the dark and fatal inconsistencies of our lives, calling us to consistency, to reality, to truth, to himself. 

 Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.

Morning “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:4

 Rich were the blessings of this day if all of us were filled with the Holy

Ghost. The consequences of this sacred filling of the soul it would be

impossible to overestimate. Life, comfort, light, purity, power, peace; and many

other precious blessings are inseparable from the Spirit’s benign presence. As

sacred oil, he anoints the head of the believer, sets him apart to the

priesthood of saints, and gives him grace to execute his office aright. As the

only truly purifying water he cleanses us from the power of sin and sanctifies

us unto holiness, working in us to will and to do of the Lord’s good pleasure.

As the light, he manifested to us at first our lost estate, and now he reveals

the  Lord Jesus to us and in us, and guides us in the way of righteousness.

Enlightened by his pure celestial ray, we are no more darkness but light in the

Lord. As fire, he both purges us from dross, and sets our consecrated nature on

a blaze. He is the sacrificial flame by which we are enabled to offer our whole

souls as a living sacrifice unto God. As heavenly dew, he removes our barrenness

and fertilizes our lives. O that he would drop from above upon us at this early

hour! Such morning dew would be a sweet commencement for the day. As the dove,

with wings of peaceful love he broods over his Church and over the souls of

believers, and as a Comforter he dispels the cares and doubts which mar

 the peace of his beloved. He descends upon the chosen as upon the Lord in

Jordan, and bears witness to their sonship by working in them a filial spirit by

which they cry Abba, Father. As the wind, he brings the breath of life to men;

blowing where he listeth he performs the quickening operations by which the

spiritual creation is animated and sustained. Would to God, that we might feel

his presence this day and every day.

Evening “My Beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. Until the day

break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved, and be thou like a roe or a

young hart upon the mountains of Bether.” Song of Solomon 2:16-17

 Surely if there be a happy verse in the Bible it is this–“My Beloved is mine,

and I am his.” So peaceful, so full of assurance, so overrunning with happiness

and contentment is it, that it might well have been written by the same hand

which penned the twenty-third Psalm. Yet though the prospect is exceeding fair

and lovely–earth cannot show its superior–it is not entirely a sunlit

landscape. There is a cloud in the sky which casts a shadow over the scene.

Listen, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away.”

 There is a word, too, about the “mountains of Bether,” or, “the mountains of

division,” and to our love, anything like division is bitterness. Beloved, this

may be your present state of mind; you do not doubt your salvation; you know

that Christ is yours, but you are not feasting with him. You understand your

vital interest in him, so that you have no shadow of a doubt of your being his,

and of his being yours, but still his left hand is not under your head, nor doth

his right hand embrace you. A shade of sadness is cast over your heart, perhaps

by affliction, certainly by the temporary absence of your Lord, so even while

exclaiming, “I am his,” you are forced to take to your knees, and to

 pray, “Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my Beloved.”

 “Where is he?” asks the soul. And the answer comes, “He feedeth among the

lilies.” If we would find Christ, we must get into communion with his people, we

must come to the ordinances with his saints. Oh, for an evening glimpse of him!

Oh, to sup with him tonight!

I came to my garden, my sister, my bride.   Song of Songs 5:1 

The heart of the believer is Christ’s garden. He bought it with His precious blood, and He enters it and claims it as His own. A garden implies separation. It is not the open field; it is not a wilderness; it is walled around or hedged in. If only we could see the wall of separation between the church and the world made broader and stronger. It is sad to hear Christians saying, “Well, there is no harm in this; there is no harm in that,” and by this approach getting as near to the world as possible. Grace is at a low ebb in the soul that is always inquiring about how far it may go in worldly conformity.

A garden is a place of beauty; it far surpasses the wild uncultivated lands. The genuine Christian must seek to be more excellent in his life than the best moralist, because Christ’s garden ought to produce the best flowers in all the world. Even the best is poor compared with what Christ deserves; let us not disappoint Him with withering and feeble plants. The rarest, richest, choicest lilies and roses ought to bloom in the place that Jesus calls His own.

The garden is a place of growth. The believer must not remain undeveloped, just mere buds and blossoms. We should grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Growth should be rapid where Jesus is the gardener and the Holy Spirit the dew from heaven.

A garden is a place of retirement. So the Lord Jesus Christ would have us reserve our souls as a place in which He can show Himself, in a way that He does not to the world. As Christians we should be far keener to keep our hearts closely shut up for Christ! We often worry and trouble ourselves, like Martha, with much serving, and like her we do not have the room for Christ that Mary had, and we do not sit at His feet as we ought. May the Lord grant the sweet showers of His grace to water His garden today.

Family Reading Plan

Isaiah 50

Revelation 50