An important manuscript long thought lost was rediscovered hiding in a Pennsylvania seminary on a forgotten archival shelf. The recovered manuscript was a working score for a piano version of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Grosse Fuge,” which means “grand fugue.” Apparently, grand is an understatement. The work is known as a monument of classical music and described by historians as a “symphonic poem” or a “leviathan”—an achievement on the scale of the finale of his Ninth Symphony. The work is one of the last pieces Beethoven composed, during the period when he was completely deaf. The markings throughout the manuscript are in the composer’s own hand.

In fact, such markings are a particular trademark of Beethoven, who was known for near obsessive editing. Unlike Mozart, who typically produced large scores in nearly finished form, Beethoven’s mind was so full of ideas that it was never made up. Never satisfied, he honed his ideas brutally.

A look at the recovered score portrays exactly that. Groups of measures throughout the 80-page manuscript are furiously canceled out with cross-marks. Remnants of red sealing wax, used to adhere long corrections to an already scuffed up page, remain like scars. There are smudges where he rubbed away ink while it was still wet and abrasions where he erased notes with a needle. Dated changes and omissions are scattered throughout the score, many of these markings dating to the final months before his death in 1827.

I believe there is something encouraging about the labored work of a genius. Beethoven wrestled notes onto the page. For him composing music was a messy, physical process. Ink was splattered, wax burned, erasers wore holes in the paper. What started as a clean page became a muddled, textured mess of a masterpiece ever in progress.

At times when I read the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17 I am jarred by the finality of it: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Upon calling on Christ as Lord, the Christian has been made into something new. Before she have even tried to live well, before she has even labored as a disciple, the marred and muddied scene of her hearts has been made clean and new. The Father has handed us the masterpiece of his Son and told us that when He looks at us He sees perfection.

Though I stand amazed at this grace, it is also easy for me to stumble at the thought of it. I imagine God handing me a clean paper and asking me to hold it in a world full of ink and dirt. And I immediately wish I would have been more careful. I picture the white page given to me and think of all of the smudges and eraser marks I’ve added to it, some of them from lessons learned the hard way, others merely from bumping into life as I walk along.

If truth be told, life is far messier than we would like it to be. People get angry and depressed and sick. We struggle with remaining hopeful in the dark and seeing through bouts of self-deception. Our lives don’t turn out how we planned them, and the roads we choose aren’t as straight as we would like them to be. Even so, the Christian’s hope is that God is faithful through the mess. “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Someone has called Beethoven’s masterpieces works of “three-dimensional” art. There is a texture and a character to his manuscripts that display an artist who went beyond merely writing the notes, but stretched himself, and the page itself, to make a symphony. All the more, life in Christ is fleshed out of us. Our scuffs and blotches are wrought with the work of one who descends into the mess of life to shape us. Like a composer willing to labor over his pages, the potter’s hands are not afraid to get dirty. Our lives, which may be glued with corrections and shaped with notations, can be marked with the signs of the master ever at work.

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

 Morning “He arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty

days and forty nights.” / 1 Kings 19:8

 All the strength supplied to us by our gracious God is meant for service, not

for wantonness or boasting. When the prophet Elijah found the cake baked on

the coals, and the cruse of water placed at his head, as he lay under the

juniper tree, he was no gentleman to be gratified with dainty fare that he

might stretch himself at his ease; far otherwise, he was commissioned to go

forty days and forty nights in the strength of it, journeying towards Horeb,

the mount of God. When the Master invited the disciples to “Come and dine”

with him, after the feast was concluded he said to Peter, “Feed my sheep”;

further adding, “Follow me.” Even thus it is with us; we eat the bread of

heaven, that we may expend our strength in the Master’s service. We come to

the passover, and eat of the paschal lamb with loins girt, and staff in hand,

so as to start off at once when we have satisfied our hunger. Some Christians

are for living on Christ, but are not so anxious to live for Christ. Earth

should be a preparation for heaven; and heaven is the place where saints feast

most and work most. They sit down at the table of our Lord, and they serve him

day and night in his temple. They eat of heavenly food and render perfect

service. Believer, in the strength you daily gain from Christ labour for him.

Some of us have yet to learn much concerning the design of our Lord in giving

us his grace. We are not to retain the precious grains of truth as the

Egyptian mummy held the wheat for ages, without giving it an opportunity to

grow: we must sow it and water it. Why does the Lord send down the rain upon

the thirsty earth, and give the genial sunshine? Is it not that these may all

help the fruits of the earth to yield food for man? Even so the Lord feeds and

refreshes our souls that we may afterwards use our renewed strength in the

promotion of his glory.

Evening “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” / Mark 16:16

 Mr. MacDonald asked the inhabitants of the island of St. Kilda how a man must

be saved. An old man replied, “We shall be saved if we repent, and forsake our

sins, and turn to God.” “Yes,” said a middle-aged female, “and with a true

heart too.” “Aye,” rejoined a third, “and with prayer”; and, added a fourth,

“It must be the prayer of the heart.” “And we must be diligent too,” said a

fifth, “in keeping the commandments.” Thus, each having contributed his mite,

feeling that a very decent creed had been made up, they all looked and

listened for the preacher’s approbation, but they had aroused his deepest

pity. The carnal mind always maps out for itself a way in which self can work

and become great, but the Lord’s way is quite the reverse. Believing and being

baptized are no matters of merit to be gloried in–they are so simple that

boasting is excluded, and free grace bears the palm. It may be that the reader

is unsaved–what is the reason? Do you think the way of salvation as laid down

in the text to be dubious? How can that be when God has pledged his own word

for its certainty? Do you think it too easy? Why, then, do you not attend to

it? Its ease leaves those without excuse who neglect it. To believe is simply

to trust, to depend, to rely upon Christ Jesus. To be baptized is to submit to

the ordinance which our Lord fulfilled at Jordan, to which the converted ones

submitted at Pentecost, to which the jailer yielded obedience the very night

of his conversion. The outward sign saves not, but it sets forth to us our

death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus, and, like the Lord’s Supper, is

not to be neglected. Reader, do you believe in Jesus? Then, dear friend,

dismiss your fears, you shall be saved. Are you still an unbeliever, then

remember there is but one door, and if you will not enter by it you will

perish in your sins.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.    Mark 16:16

 Mr. MacDonald asked the inhabitants of the island of St. Kilda how a man must be saved. An old man replied, “We will be saved if we repent and forsake our sins and turn to God.” “Yes,” said a middle-aged woman, “and with a true heart too.” “Yes,” rejoined a third, “and with prayer”; and a fourth added, “It must be the prayer of the heart.” “And we must be diligent too,” said a fifth, “in keeping the commandments.” When each of them made their contribution, feeling that a very decent creed had been made up, they all looked and listened for the preacher’s approval, but they had aroused his deepest pity.

The secular mind always maps out for itself a way in which self can work and become great, but the Lord’s way is quite the reverse. Believing and being baptized are not matters of merit to be gloried in—they are so simple that boasting is excluded. It may be that the reader is unsaved—what is the reason? Do you think the way of salvation as laid down in the text is dubious? How can that be when God has pledged His own word for its certainty? Do you think it too easy? Why, then, do you not obey it?

Those who neglect it are without excuse. To believe is simply to trust, to depend, to rely upon Christ Jesus. To be baptized is to submit to the ordinance that our Lord fulfilled at Jordan, to which the converted ones submitted at Pentecost, to which the jailer yielded obedience on the very night of his conversion. The outward sign does not save, but it portrays our death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus and, like the Lord’s Supper, is not to be neglected. Reader, do you believe in Jesus? Then, dear friend, dismiss your fears—you will be saved. Are you still an unbeliever? Then remember there is only one door, and if you will not enter by it you will perish in your sins.

Family Reading Plan  Ezekiel 38  Psalm 89

1 John 5:14-15

Since praying is such a common practice for believers, over time it’s easy to fall into habits that result in a lifeless and empty prayer life. Instead of a dynamic conversation with thoughtful requests and active listening for God’s response, our prayers can seem more like grocery lists. Because communication with the Lord is such a vital part of the Christian life, we occasionally need to step back and examine how we’re doing.

Begin by asking yourself these questions:

How effective are my prayers? Is God answering my petitions, or does it seem as if they never go past the ceiling?

Who am I praying for? Are most of my requests for myself or others?

What am I asking the Lord to do? Have I looked in the Word to see what He wants, or am I trying to get Him to intervene according to my plans and desires?

When do I pray? Is it only during emergencies or when I need something?

If you discovered any selfishness in your answers, you’re not alone. Most of us struggle to enter God’s presence with our eyes focused on Him instead of our needs. But the only way we’ll be able to pray with impact is to fill our minds with Scripture so we can find out what the Lord wants to do.

Your prayer life can become effective and dynamic if you’ll approach the Lord with a clean heart (Ps. 66:18), align your requests with His will, and believe He will do what He says (Mark 11:24). Then you’ll be able to pray with absolute confidence knowing that He will hear and answer your petitions.

“Day after day pours forth speech,” says the psalmist of nature’s glory. “Night after night reveals his greatness.”

As a Scot, I grew up with a love of the countryside. My parents would take us on drives to Loch Lomond, to places like the Trossacks (a beautiful hill and moor area) and many more. These early encounters evoked something that I did not (as a non-believer then) understand. It was the power of beauty itself to speak, not in an audible voice of course, but in some very real sense.

Recently, I drove from Florida to Georgia as the verdant green and array of colors were exploding. I’d be captivated by trees blooming in all their glory, wisps of white, pink, and other shades all mingling in a medley of splendor, and then surprised by bursts of red (which I learned were Azaleas). It was all quite wonderful! Now lest you think I am some strange, European romantic, I have to say that this “noticing” is a result of the patient, constant, and enthusiastic education granted me by my wife.

She has always loved flowers. In my early days of “serious” ministry and dedication to God, I often wondered how one could be sidetracked by such trivia, such commonalities. Yes, flowers and things pointed out were nice when a passing glance was permitted, but they were not important in my mind. They were not the real thing, the serious thing, the main show!

Perhaps it was age, or more likely a divine breakthrough, but one day I began to notice. These things were splendid; they were so unique. They had such detail, so much grandeur, and they evoked delight and joy. C.S. Lewis describes a childhood encounter with a miniature garden that his brother had made in a tin box. He describes the sense of longing, the experience of what he called joy, though fleeting, which was profound and real. Though he didn’t know what to call it then, Lewis was gradually awakened to the power and role of beauty, an influence he would employ to great effect in his writings.

Similarly, John Calvin reminded the world that God has given his creatures two books: the book of nature and the word of God. For the Christian, they are not equal in authority or revelatory power, and yet it is a serious neglect to focus on one at the exclusion of the other.

In today’s world, many are sincerely inspired by nature. They love long walks, visits to the country, and absorbing the beauties of the world around. They often make nature an end in itself. They celebrate its magnificence, but are left to see it all as a random outcome of chance and necessity. Some Christians, through neglect, do much the same thing. A number of years ago, some monks in an Austrian monastery had gotten used to overlooking a particular painting that hung in their hallways. One day a visitor looked in astonishment and realized it was a Reubens, the prolific seventeenth-century Flemish Baroque painter. A connection was suddenly made between a work of art and its renowned artist. It caused a sensation, an awakening, not the least of which to its value, which was now known.

The psalmist, the Celts, and many others across the centuries learned to see God’s hand in nature and to celebrate God’s goodness and provision from it. Take a few moments today to look at the birds, contemplate the trees, enjoy a walk, and smell the flowers. Perhaps you may just experience a glimmer of God’s glory, too.

Stuart McAllister is vice president of training and special projects at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. 

Morning   “At evening time it shall be light.” / Zechariah 14:7

Oftentimes we look forward with forebodings to the time of old age, forgetful

that at eventide it shall be light. To many saints, old age is the choicest

season in their lives. A balmier air fans the mariner’s cheek as he nears the

shore of immortality, fewer waves ruffle his sea, quiet reigns, deep, still

and solemn. From the altar of age the flashes of the fire of youth are gone,

but the more real flame of earnest feeling remains. The pilgrims have reached

the land Beulah, that happy country, whose days are as the days of heaven upon

earth. Angels visit it, celestial gales blow over it, flowers of paradise grow

in it, and the air is filled with seraphic music. Some dwell here for years,

and others come to it but a few hours before their departure, but it is an

Eden on earth. We may well long for the time when we shall recline in its

shady groves and be satisfied with hope until the time of fruition comes. The

setting sun seems larger than when aloft in the sky, and a splendour of glory

tinges all the clouds which surround his going down. Pain breaks not the calm

of the sweet twilight of age, for strength made perfect in weakness bears up

with patience under it all. Ripe fruits of choice experience are gathered as

the rare repast of life’s evening, and the soul prepares itself for rest.

The Lord’s people shall also enjoy light in the hour of death. Unbelief

laments; the shadows fall, the night is coming, existence is ending. Ah no,

crieth faith, the night is far spent, the true day is at hand. Light is come,

the light of immortality, the light of a Father’s countenance. Gather up thy

feet in the bed, see the waiting bands of spirits! Angels waft thee away.

Farewell, beloved one, thou art gone, thou wavest thine hand. Ah, now it is

light. The pearly gates are open, the golden streets shine in the jasper

light. We cover our eyes, but thou beholdest the unseen; adieu, brother, thou

hast light at even-tide, such as we have not yet.

Evening    “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the

righteous.” / 1 John 2:1

“If any man sin, we have an advocate.” Yes, though we sin, we have him still.

John does not say, “If any man sin he has forfeited his advocate,” but “we

have an advocate,” sinners though we are. All the sin that a believer ever

did, or can be allowed to commit, cannot destroy his interest in the Lord

Jesus Christ, as his advocate. The name here given to our Lord is suggestive.

“Jesus.” Ah! then he is an advocate such as we need, for Jesus is the name of

one whose business and delight it is to save. “They shall call his name Jesus,

for he shall save his people from their sins.” His sweetest name implies his

success. Next, it is “Jesus Christ”–Christos, the anointed. This shows his

authority to plead. The Christ has a right to plead, for he is the Father’s

own appointed advocate and elected priest. If he were of our choosing he might

fail, but if God hath laid help upon one that is mighty, we may safely lay our

trouble where God has laid his help. He is Christ, and therefore authorized;

he is Christ, and therefore qualified, for the anointing has fully fitted him

for his work. He can plead so as to move the heart of God and prevail. What

words of tenderness, what sentences of persuasion will the anointed use when

he stands up to plead for me! One more letter of his name remains, “Jesus

Christ the righteous.” This is not only his character but his plea. It is his

character, and if the Righteous One be my advocate, then my cause is good, or

he would not have espoused it. It is his plea, for he meets the charge of

unrighteousness against me by the plea that he is righteous. He declares

himself my substitute and puts his obedience to my account. My soul, thou hast

a friend well fitted to be thine advocate, he cannot but succeed; leave

thyself entirely in his hands.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.   1 John 2:1

“If anyone does sin, we have an advocate.” Yes, though we sin, we have Him still. John does not say, “If anyone sins, they have forfeited their advocate,” but “we have an advocate,” even though we are sinners. All the sin that a believer ever did or can be allowed to commit cannot destroy his interest in the Lord Jesus Christ as his advocate. The name given here to our Lord is suggestive. “Jesus.” He is the kind of advocate we need, for Jesus is the name of one whose business and delight it is to save. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”1 His sweetest name implies His success.

Next, it is “Jesus Christ”—Christos, the anointed. This shows His authority to plead. Christ has a right to plead, for He is the Father’s own appointed advocate and elected priest. If He were our choice He might fail, but if God has laid help on one who is mighty, we may safely place our trouble where God has laid His help. He is Christ, and therefore authorized; He is Christ, and therefore qualified, for the anointing has fitted Him fully for His work. He can plead in such a way as to move the heart of God and prevail. What words of tenderness, what sentences of persuasion will the anointed use when He stands up to plead for me!

One more aspect of His name remains: “Jesus Christ the righteous.” This is not only His character but His plea. It is His character, and if the Righteous One is my advocate, then my cause is good or He would not have represented it. It is His plea, for He meets the charge of unrighteousness against me by the plea that He is righteous. He declares Himself my substitute and puts His obedience to my account. My soul, you have a friend perfectly fitted to be your advocate—He cannot but succeed; leave yourself entirely in His hands.

1Matthew 1:21

Family Reading Plan      Ezekiel 37       Psalm 88

Psalm 143:5-12

What do you think about when you wake up? Are your thoughts instantly focused on the day ahead, or are they centered on the Lord? Although most of us have busy lives that consume much of our time and attention, the most important and time-saving part of each day is that spent in quiet solitude with God.

Yet many believers feel so rushed that they don’t think there’s time for the Lord. They immediately jump onto the treadmill of life and then wonder why they’re so frustrated, confused, and dissatisfied. Even if their desire is to follow God, they don’t know where He’s going since they haven’t stopped to get directions for the day. There’s also a disconnect because they’ve ignored their relationship with Him. No one can have intimacy with Christ without daily communication.

Perhaps the problem is our own human logic. We think spending time reading the Bible and praying each morning will result in having less time and lower productivity. However, when we seek Christ’s direction and wisdom for the day and invite Him to control our lives, He’ll accomplish more through us than we can do by ourselves. He’ll give us wisdom for good decisions, increase our strength and energy, and free us from time-wasting anxiety.

Are you too busy for the Lord? If so, you’re denying yourself the blessing of an intimate relationship with Christ. When you make time for Him, He’ll fill you with peace and joy, guide your decisions, grant you wisdom, empower you to obey, make you more productive, and comfort you with His love.

Reading an online newspaper the other day, I ended up, as I often do, on the religion pages. My attention was first caught by a long list of various world religions, followed by the descriptions of the beliefs and practices of each one. Interestingly, I thought, atheism was among the many religions listed. And yet in describing the beliefs of atheists, the first sentence declared, “Atheism is not a belief.” Can a belief-system accurately be defined as the absence of belief? Its very inclusion as a belief-system among alternative belief-systems seemed to negate its first belief.

In a very real sense, atheism is a belief. Though it contends disbelief in God, it is rightfully placed among the many belief-systems that inform life. Moreover, as the atheistic worldview offers certain perspectives about the world, like Christianity or Hinduism, it requires certain faith assumptions: that the world exists in ordered, knowable nature, that our senses and intellect are reliable in discovering truth, that there is a uniformity to nature extending from past to future. At the foundation of every worldview, a number of interconnected beliefs are held in faith. The question then becomes, which faith provides the most coherent foundation for understanding the world?

As one author points to the tensions of incoherence in the atheist’s insistence of reason as the foundation of non-belief, “[R]easons require that this universe be a reasonable one that presupposes there is order, logic, design, and truth. But order, logic, design, and truth can only exist and be known if there is an unchangeable objective source and standard of such things….Like all non-theistic worldviews, Darwinism borrows from the theistic worldview in order to make its own view intelligible.”(1) In other words, the very foundation of atheistic faith allows for an unstable structure of interpretation.

Either arrogantly or boldly, Jesus proposes himself as a foundation. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand” (Matthew 7:24-26). It may sound to some archaic or egotistical. But to hear a psychologist speak of moral accountability as a necessary qualifier in understanding human behavior, or a cultural analyst proclaim the effectiveness of setting aside one day out of the workweek for rest is to hear vital remnants of this bold and arrogant foundation, whose thought and life surrounds us.(2)

At the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. there is a large wooden altar from a synagogue that was vandalized by Nazi soldiers who had come to remove the Jewish citizens of the city. Across the altar is a single phrase of Hebrew carved deeply into the wood. Though it bears the hack marks of axes that attempted to delete the words, the phrase is still decipherable. It simply reads: Know before Whom you stand.

We can attempt to eradicate the name of God; we can begin without Christ at the foundation of our belief systems. But it will never negate his presence.

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

(1) Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004), 130.

(2) Cf. Hobart Mowrer, “Sin, the Lesser of Two Evils,” American Psychologist, 15 (1960): 301-304) and Douglas Rushkoff, “Remember the Sabbath: An Argument in Favor of a Day Off,” December 1999.

 Morning    “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who

shall be heirs of salvation?” / Hebrews 1:14

Angels are the unseen attendants of the saints of God; they bear us up in

their hands, lest we dash our foot against a stone. Loyalty to their Lord

leads them to take a deep interest in the children of his love; they rejoice

over the return of the prodigal to his father’s house below, and they welcome

the advent of the believer to the King’s palace above. In olden times the sons

of God were favoured with their visible appearance, and at this day, although

unseen by us, heaven is still opened, and the angels of God ascend and descend

upon the Son of man, that they may visit the heirs of salvation. Seraphim

still fly with live coals from off the altar to touch the lips of men greatly

beloved. If our eyes could be opened, we should see horses of fire and

chariots of fire about the servants of the Lord; for we have come to an

innumerable company of angels, who are all watchers and protectors of the

seed-royal. Spenser’s line is no poetic fiction, where he sings–

 “How oft do they with golden pinions cleave

 The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant

 Against foul fiends to aid us militant!”

 To what dignity are the chosen elevated when the brilliant courtiers of heaven

become their willing servitors! Into what communion are we raised since we

have intercourse with spotless celestials! How well are we defended since all

the twenty- thousand chariots of God are armed for our deliverance! To whom do

we owe all this? Let the Lord Jesus Christ be forever endeared to us, for

through him we are made to sit in heavenly places far above principalities and

powers. He it is whose camp is round about them that fear him; he is the true

Michael whose foot is upon the dragon. All hail, Jesus! thou Angel of

Jehovah’s presence, to thee this family offers its morning vows.

Evening   “He himself hath suffered being tempted.” / Hebrews 2:18

It is a common-place thought, and yet it tastes like nectar to the weary

heart–Jesus was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many times: have

you grasped it? He was tempted to the very same sins into which we fall. Do

not dissociate Jesus from our common manhood. It is a dark room which you are

going through, but Jesus went through it before. It is a sharp fight which you

are waging, but Jesus has stood foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be of

good cheer, Christ has borne the load before us, and the blood-stained

footsteps of the King of glory may be seen along the road which we traverse at

this hour. There is something sweeter yet–Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never

sinned. Then, my soul, it is not needful for thee to sin, for Jesus was a man,

and if one man endured these temptations and sinned not, then in his power his

members may also cease from sin. Some beginners in the divine life think that

they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they mistake; there is no sin in

being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation. Herein is comfort

for the sorely tempted ones. There is still more to encourage them if they

reflect that the Lord Jesus, though tempted, gloriously triumphed, and as he

overcame, so surely shall his followers also, for Jesus is the representative

man for his people; the Head has triumphed, and the members share in the

victory. Fears are needless, for Christ is with us, armed for our defence. Our

place of safety is the bosom of the Saviour. Perhaps we are tempted just now,

in order to drive us nearer to him. Blessed be any wind that blows us into the

port of our Saviour’s love! Happy wounds, which make us seek the beloved

Physician. Ye tempted ones, come to your tempted Saviour, for he can be

touched with a feeling of your infirmities, and will succour every tried and

tempted one.

He himself has suffered when tempted.   Hebrews 2:18

 It is a common thought, and yet it tastes like honey to the weary heart—Jesus was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many times, but have you grasped it? He was tempted by the very same sins into which we fall. Do not separate Jesus from our common humanity. If you are going through a dark room, remember Jesus went through it before you. If you are engaged in a sore fight, remember that Jesus has stood foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be encouraged—Christ has borne the load before us, and the blood-stained footsteps of the King of glory can be seen along the road that we travel at this hour.

There is something sweeter yet—Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never sinned. My soul, it is not necessary for you to sin, for Jesus was a man, and if one man endured these temptations without sin, then in His power His followers may also flee from sin. Some new believers think that they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they are mistaken; there is no sin in being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation. Here is comfort for those who are greatly tempted. There is still more to encourage them if they recall that the Lord Jesus, though tempted, gloriously triumphed; and as He overcame, so may His followers also, for Jesus is the representative man for His people.

The Head has triumphed, and the members share in the victory. Fears are unnecessary, for Christ is with us, armed for our defense. Our place of safety is the embrace of the Savior. Perhaps we are tempted just now in order to drive us nearer to Him. Blessed be any wind that blows us into the harbor of our Savior’s love! Happy the wounds that make us seek the beloved Physician. Tempted ones, come to your tempted Savior, for He can sympathize with your weaknesses and will comfort every tried and tempted one.

Family Reading Plan    Ezekiel 36  Psalm 86

 Nehemiah 2:1-10

After Nehemiah heard about the desperate condition of the Jews who had returned from exile to Jerusalem, his heart was burdened (Neh. 1:3-4). By getting his attention in this way, the Lord could reveal what He wanted Nehemiah was to do. Scripture doesn’t spell out the man’s reaction on realizing that he was to be a part of the solution, but we can imagine a sense of inadequacy probably engulfed him. How could he possibly help? He wasn’t even near Jerusalem, and as a servant of the king, he didn’t have the freedom to pack up and leave.

But whenever God puts a burden on our hearts, He will open a door to accomplish His will. In this case, the Lord used Nehemiah’s sad expression and desperate prayer to prepare a pagan king to send him on his mission.

How do you respond when you sense the Lord is calling you to a task that seems beyond your abilities? Do you list all the reasons you can’t possibly do it? God already knows everything about you and the situation. He’s not asking your permission to proceed; rather, He is calling you to move forward with faith and obedience. He didn’t make an error in choosing you for the task, but you will make a huge mistake if you refuse to do it.

God will equip you for whatever He calls you to do. Because the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer, we have all we need to fulfill the Lord’s mission. Instead of letting inadequacy hinder you from obeying, let it drive you to your knees so you can arise with renewed insight and power

“The story I have to tell is the history of the next two centuries….For a long time now our whole civilization has been driving, with a tortured intensity growing from decade to decade, as if towards a catastrophe: restlessly, violently, tempestuously, like a mighty river desiring the end of its journey, without pausing to reflect, indeed fearful of reflection….Where we live, soon nobody will be able to exist.”(1)

Friedrich Nietzsche penned these words as he looked out onto a world devoid of God. His vision casts a bleak view of humanity and paints a frightening portrait of atheism. Nietzsche’s vision directly contrasts with the optimistic musings of a world without God penned by John Lennon:

Imagine there’s no heaven

It’s easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries

It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace.(2)

In fact, the twentieth century told a far different tale than a life of present bliss and peace without God. Under atheistic regimes like Stalin in Russia or Pol Pot in Cambodia millions of people were slaughtered. Indeed, Nietzsche offers a healthy critique of the optimistic atheism of Lennon or the more recent British slogan that there is probably no God so we should stop worrying about it and enjoy life. In reality, there is great cause for worry if Nietzsche’s picture of a world without God is allowed full sway. That world is a very grim place filled with darkness, amorality, and despair.

Nietzsche’s vision in and of itself helps the theist formulate a healthy offensive to the typical onslaught of the atheist’s critique of religion. But it also provides an impetus to ask additional questions of those who see a positive view of atheism. If there is no God, for example, “the big questions” remain unanswered. Where did everything come from and why is there something rather than nothing? Why is there conscious, intelligent life on this planet and is there any meaning? Does human history lead anywhere or is it all in vain since death is merely the end? How does one come to understand good and evil, right and wrong? If these concepts are merely social constructions or human opinions, where does one look to determine morality?

Second, without belief in God we not only have a crisis of morality, we have a crisis of meaning. Without God, as Nietzsche articulated, meaning becomes nothing more than one’s own self-interests, pleasures, or tastes. Without God, the world is just stuff, thrown out into space and time, going nowhere, meaning nothing.

In addition, the problems of evil and suffering are in no way solved without God. Where does one find hope for the redemption of suffering and evil? Suffering is just as tragic, if not more so, without God because there is no hope of greater meaning. Without God it is neither redemptive nor redeemable, since no interventions in this life or reparations in an afterlife are possible. It might be true that there is no God to blame now, but neither is there a God to reach out to for strength, transcendent meaning, or comfort. There is only madness and confusion in the face of suffering and evil.

Moreover, without God or any sort of transcendent standard, how can atheists critique religions or religious people in the first place? Whose voice will be heard? Whose tastes or preferences will be honored? Without God, human tastes and opinions have no more weight than we give them, and who are we to give them meaning anyway? Societies might make things “illegal” and impose penalties or consequences, but human cultures have at various times legally or socially disapproved of everything from believing in God to believing the world revolves around the sun, from slavery to interracial marriage, from polygamy to monogamy. Human taste or opinion, societal laws or culture are hardly dependable arbiters of truth.

Finally, if there is no God, we don’t make sense. How does one explain human longings and desire for the transcendent? How do we explain human questions for meaning and purpose or inner thoughts of unfulfillment or emptiness? Why do humans hunger for the spiritual? How can we understand these questions if nothing exists beyond the material world? How do we get laws out of luck or predictable processes out of brute chance? If all that makes us different from animals is learning and altruism, why do the brutish still widely outnumber the wise in our world?

Nietzsche argued that the death of God would bring the upheaval of all morality and meaning and not its preservation. At these questions, atheists who see the possibility of morality, meaning, and hope without God are reminded of their own prophetic heritage.

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

(1) As quoted by Erich Heller in The Importance of Nietzsche (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), 5.

(2) John Lennon, Imagine (September, 1971).

Morning   “The hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” / Colossians 1:5

Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of our
joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we
can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is
the land of rest where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker’s
brow, and fatigue shall be forever banished. To those who are weary and spent,
the word “rest” is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we
are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that we have little or
no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be
waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our
Captain say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We have suffered
bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal
where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there
we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no means enter into that
kingdom anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of
celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment
forever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall
soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are
dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify
the present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is
the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous
effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope
in him goes about his work with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his
strength. He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next
world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without present
reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.

Evening “A man greatly beloved.” / Daniel 10:11

Child of God, do you hesitate to appropriate this title? Ah! has your unbelief
made you forget that you are greatly beloved too? Must you not have been
greatly beloved, to have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, as of
a lamb without blemish and without spot? When God smote his only begotten Son
for you, what was this but being greatly beloved? You lived in sin, and rioted
in it, must you not have been greatly beloved for God to have borne so
patiently with you? You were called by grace and led to a Saviour, and made a
child of God and an heir of heaven. All this proves, does it not, a very great
and superabounding love? Since that time, whether your path has been rough
with troubles, or smooth with mercies, it has been full of proofs that you are
a man greatly beloved. If the Lord has chastened you, yet not in anger; if he
has made you poor, yet in grace you have been rich. The more unworthy you feel
yourself to be, the more evidence have you that nothing but unspeakable love
could have led the Lord Jesus to save such a soul as yours. The more demerit
you feel, the clearer is the display of the abounding love of God in having
chosen you, and called you, and made you an heir of bliss. Now, if there be
such love between God and us let us live in the influence and sweetness of it,
and use the privilege of our position. Do not let us approach our Lord as
though we were strangers, or as though he were unwilling to hear us–for we
are greatly beloved by our loving Father. “He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things?” Come boldly, O believer, for despite the whisperings of Satan and the
doubtings of thine own heart, thou art greatly beloved. Meditate on the
exceeding greatness and faithfulness of divine love this evening, and so go to
thy bed in peace.

Man greatly loved.    Daniel 10:11

Child of God, do you hesitate to appropriate this title? Has your unbelief made you forget that you are also greatly loved? Surely you must have been greatly loved, to have been bought with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot? When God crushed His only Son for you, what was this but being greatly loved? You lived in sin and rioted in it; surely you were greatly loved for God to have been so patient with you. You were called by grace and led to a Savior and made a child of God and an heir of heaven. Doesn’t this all prove a very great and superabounding love?

Since that time, whether your path has been rough with troubles or smooth with mercies, it has been full of proofs that you are greatly loved. If the Lord has chastened you, it was not in anger; if He has made you poor, still in grace you have been rich. The more unworthy you feel yourself to be, the more evidence you have that nothing but unspeakable love could have led the Lord Jesus to save a soul like yours. The more disapproval you feel, the clearer is the display of God’s abounding love in choosing you and calling you and making you an heir of heaven.

Now, if such love exists between God and us, let us live in the influence and sweetness of it and use the privilege of our position. We should not approach our Lord as though we were strangers or as though He were unwilling to hear us—for we are greatly loved by our loving Father. “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?”1 Come boldly, believer, for despite the whispers of Satan and the doubts of your own heart, you are greatly loved. Meditate on the exceeding greatness and faithfulness of divine love this evening, and then go to your bed in peace.

1Romans 8:32

Family Reading Plan    Ezekiel 35    Psalm 85

 Nehemiah 1:1-11

Nehemiah was a man who lived on his knees. Whenever he needed guidance, strength, provision, or protection, his first response was prayer. Because of Nehemiah’s humble dependence, God was able to use him greatly to achieve His purposes.

This principle is still true for believers today. God can use us in the most awesome fashion if we’ll seek Him and make ourselves available. He has a calling for each of us and doesn’t want us wasting the opportunities He provides.

To follow Nehemiah’s example of dependent prayer, we must first recognize God as the sovereign Ruler of the universe (v. 5). Although He’s our loving Father and loyal Friend, we must never forget that He is also our high and exalted Creator whose holiness is beyond our comprehension. Never think of the Lord as “the man upstairs” or come into His presence in a frivolous manner.

Because Nehemiah respected the awesome holiness of God, he approached Him with confession, admitting not only his sin, but his father’s and Israel’s as well (vv. 6-7). We cannot hide, deny, or cherish sin and expect the Lord to hear and answer our prayers. Purity of heart and the power of God are linked. We need the sensitivity to instantly recognize when we’ve strayed, and the willingness to deal with sin immediately.

The reason Nehemiah stood so tall and strong was not due to his natural abilities, but because he developed a relationship of dependency on the Lord through prayer. The same can be true for you. Don’t rush into your day without taking time to enter God’s throne room to seek His guidance.

Swedish chemist Alfred Bernhard Nobel was once largely known as a maker and inventor of explosives. In 1866 Nobel invented dynamite, which earned him both fame and the majority of his wealth. At one point in his life he held more than 350 patents, operated labs in 20 countries, and had more than 90 factories manufacturing explosives and ammunition. Yet today he is most often remembered as the name behind the Nobel Prize, the most highly regarded of international awards for efforts in peace, chemistry, physics, literature, and economics.

In 1888 a bizarre incident occurred, which seemed to have afforded Alfred Nobel an unlikely opportunity for reflection. Many believe it was this event that ultimately led to his establishment of the Nobel Prize and subsequent change in his reputation. Alfred’s brother Ludvig died while staying in Cannes, France, but the French newspapers mistakenly confused the two brothers, reporting the death of the inventor of explosives. One paper’s headline read brusquely: “Le marchand de la mort est mort”—the merchant of death is dead.

I can’t imagine reading the headlines of my life written at the hands of my harshest critic, but I do remember laboring over an assignment in middle school in which I was required to write my own obituary. Some of the class was given the task of writing it as if they died well in their eighties; others had to write as if they died that year. The assignment was meant to incite reflection, and in most of us it did—particularly those of us who were designated early deaths. As in the case with Alfred Nobel, my premature obituary suggested headlines I did not want to live with; that I was the one writing them made this all the more sobering.

In a very real sense, I am still (as is each of us) the writer of my own obituary. But I am no longer thinking about the words and headlines in the way I was thinking about them in middle school. As I struggled to find the words, it seemed I had so little with which to work—no graduations, no family, no accomplishments worth mentioning, no overarching purpose for my life. I was imagining all the things I had not done and feeling quite insignificant about the things I had. At that point in time, it seemed clear that a few more years were necessary in order to make a meaningful headline.

Today I realize that a life well lived is not about time at all. The writers of Scripture seem less concerned with the reputation we leave behind as they are with the reputation we are moving toward. “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness” before people, to be seen by them.  If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). There is the sense that our hearts hold the words of an obituary that no one here will fully see. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

The headlines we write on earth are printed on pages that will eventually fade and crumble. But there is one who reads the words imprinted across our hearts, engraved on the lives we have affected, stored up as treasures in a greater kingdom. As he stood with his tempter high on a mountain taking in the kingdoms of the world and all of the splendor that was being offered to him, Jesus considered the reputation of God and not his own. As he hung on the Cross, scorning its shame, he took death instead of glory; he bore the disgrace of man instead of the splendor of God.  His obituary was insignificant to all but a few.  And then he rose from the grave, forever rewriting the headlines of all who would believe.

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

Morning  “Pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.” /
Song of Solomon 7:13

The spouse desires to give to Jesus all that she produces. Our heart has “all
manner of pleasant fruits,” both “old and new,” and they are laid up for our
Beloved. At this rich autumnal season of fruit, let us survey our stores. We
have new fruits. We desire to feel new life, new joy, new gratitude; we wish
to make new resolves and carry them out by new labours; our heart blossoms
with new prayers, and our soul is pledging herself to new efforts. But we have
some old fruits too. There is our first love: a choice fruit that! and Jesus
delights in it. There is our first faith: that simple faith by which, having
nothing, we became possessors of all things. There is our joy when first we
knew the Lord: let us revive it. We have our old remembrances of the promises.
How faithful has God been! In sickness, how softly did he make our bed! In
deep waters, how placidly did he buoy us up! In the flaming furnace, how
graciously did he deliver us. Old fruits, indeed! We have many of them, for
his mercies have been more than the hairs of our head. Old sins we must
regret, but then we have had repentances which he has given us, by which we
have wept our way to the cross, and learned the merit of his blood. We have
fruits, this morning, both new and old; but here is the point–they are all
laid up for Jesus. Truly, those are the best and most acceptable services in
which Jesus is the solitary aim of the soul, and his glory, without any
admixture whatever, the end of all our efforts. Let our many fruits be laid up
only for our Beloved; let us display them when he is with us, and not hold
them up before the gaze of men. Jesus, we will turn the key in our garden
door, and none shall enter to rob thee of one good fruit from the soil which
thou hast watered with thy bloody sweat. Our all shall be thine, thine only, O
Jesus, our Beloved!

Evening  “He will give grace and glory.” / Psalm 84:11

Bounteous is Jehovah in his nature; to give is his delight. His gifts are
beyond measure precious, and are as freely given as the light of the sun. He
gives grace to his elect because he wills it, to his redeemed because of his
covenant, to the called because of his promise, to believers because they seek
it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably,
constantly, readily, sovereignly; doubly enhancing the value of the boon by
the manner of its bestowal. Grace in all its forms he freely renders to his
people: comforting, preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting
grace, he generously pours into their souls without ceasing, and he always
will do so, whatever may occur. Sickness may befall, but the Lord will give
grace; poverty may happen to us, but grace will surely be afforded; death must
come but grace will light a candle at the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it
is as years roll round, and the leaves begin again to fall, to enjoy such an
unfading promise as this, “The Lord will give grace.”

The little conjunction “and” in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the
present with the future: grace and glory always go together. God has married
them, and none can divorce them. The Lord will never deny a soul glory to whom
he has freely given to live upon his grace; indeed, glory is nothing more than
grace in its Sabbath dress, grace in full bloom, grace like autumn fruit,
mellow and perfected. How soon we may have glory none can tell! It may be
before this month of October has run out we shall see the Holy City; but be
the interval longer or shorter, we shall be glorified ere long. Glory, the
glory of heaven, the glory of eternity, the glory of Jesus, the glory of the
Father, the Lord will surely give to his chosen. Oh, rare promise of a
faithful God!

Two golden links of one celestial chain:

Who owneth grace shall surely glory gain.

The Lord bestows favor and honor.    Psalm 84:11

 God is wonderfully generous by nature; to give is His delight. His gifts are immeasurably precious and are given as freely as the light of the sun. He gives grace to His own because He wills it, to His redeemed because of His covenant, to the called because of His promise, to believers because they seek it, to sinners because they need it. He gives grace abundantly, seasonably, constantly, readily, sovereignly; the value of the blessings is doubled by the manner in which it is given.

Grace in all its forms He freely supplies to His people: Comforting, preserving, sanctifying, directing, instructing, assisting grace He generously and constantly pours into their souls, and He will always do so, whatever may happen. Sickness may come, but the Lord will give grace; poverty may descend on us, but grace will definitely be supplied; death must come, but grace will light a candle in the darkest hour. Reader, how blessed it is as years roll on, and the leaves again begin to fall, to enjoy this unfading promise, “The LORD bestows favor and honor.”

The little conjunction “and” in this verse is a diamond rivet binding the present with the future: Favor and honor always go together. God has married them, and no one can separate them. The Lord will never deny a soul honor to whom He has freely granted favor; indeed, honor is nothing more than favor in its Sunday best, favor in full bloom, favor like autumn fruit, mellow and perfected. How soon we may have honor none can tell! It may be that before this month of October has run out we will see the Holy City; but if the interval is longer or shorter, we shall be honored before long. The honor of heaven, the honor of eternity, the honor of Jesus, the honor of the Father—the Lord will certainly give all this to His chosen. What a wonderful promise from a faithful God!

Two golden links of one celestial chain:

Who owns favor shall surely honor gain.

Family Reading Plan    Ezekiel 34   Psalm 83