Morning     “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines.”   Song of Solomon 2:15

A little thorn may cause much suffering. A little cloud may hide the sun. Little

foxes spoil the vines; and little sins do mischief to the tender heart. These

little sins burrow in the soul, and make it so full of that which is hateful to

Christ, that he will hold no comfortable fellowship and communion with us. A

great sin cannot destroy a Christian, but a little sin can make him miserable.

Jesus will not walk with his people unless they drive out every known sin. He

says, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have

kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” Some Christians very

seldom enjoy their Saviour’s presence. How is this? Surely it must be an

affliction for a tender child to be separated from his father. Art thou a child

of God, and yet satisfied to go on without seeing thy Father’s face? What! thou

the spouse of Christ, and yet content without his company! Surely, thou hast

fallen into a sad state, for the chaste spouse of Christ mourns like a dove

without her mate, when he has left her. Ask, then, the question, what has driven

Christ from thee? He hides his face behind the wall of thy sins. That wall may

be built up of little pebbles, as easily as of great stones. The sea is made of

drops; the rocks are made of grains: and the sea which divides thee from Christ

may be filled with the drops of thy little sins; and the rock

which has well nigh wrecked thy barque, may have been made by the daily working

of the coral insects of thy little sins. If thou wouldst live with Christ, and

walk with Christ, and see Christ, and have fellowship with Christ, take heed of

“the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes.” Jesus

invites you to go with him and take them. He will surely, like Samson, take the

foxes at once and easily. Go with him to the hunting.

Evening   “That henceforth we should not serve sin.”   Romans 6:6

Christian, what hast thou to do with sin? Hath it not cost thee enough already?

Burnt child, wilt thou play with the fire? What! when thou hast already been

between the jaws of the lion, wilt thou step a second time into his den? Hast

thou not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all thy veins once,

and wilt thou play upon the hole of the asp, and put thy hand upon the

cockatrice’s den a second time? Oh, be not so mad! so foolish! Did sin ever

yield thee real pleasure? Didst thou find solid satisfaction in it? If so, go

back to thine old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delight thee. But

inasmuch as sin did never give thee what it promised to bestow, but deluded thee

with lies, be not a second time snared by the old fowler–be free, and let the

remembrance of thy ancient bondage forbid thee to enter the net again! It is

contrary to the designs of eternal love, which all have an eye to thy purity and

holiness; therefore run not counter to the purposes of thy Lord. Another thought

should restrain thee from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a

heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures

fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore

be not the serf and bondman of sin. There is yet a higher argument: each time

you “serve sin” you have “Crucified the Lord afresh, and put him to an

open shame.” Can you bear that thought? Oh! if you have fallen into any special

sin during this day, it may be my Master has sent this admonition this evening,

to bring you back before you have backslidden very far. Turn thee to Jesus anew;

he has not forgotten his love to thee; his grace is still the same. With weeping

and repentance, come thou to his footstool, and thou shalt be once more received

into his heart; thou shalt be set upon a rock again, and thy goings shall be

established.

Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.  Joshua 6:26

If the man who rebuilt Jericho was cursed, how much more does the man who works to restore false religion among us deserve the same. In our fathers’ days the gigantic walls of false religion fell by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast of their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would like to rebuild those false systems upon their old foundations.

Lord, we pray, be pleased to thwart these unrighteous endeavors, and pull down every stone that they build. It should be a serious business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error that tends to foster the spirit of falsehood, and when we have made a clean sweep at home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad in the church and in the world.

This we may accomplish only in secret by fervent prayer and in public by faithful witness. We must warn with judicious boldness those who are inclined toward the errors of false religion; we must instruct the young in gospel truth and tell them of the dark doings of falsehood in earlier times. We must assist in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land, for false teachers, like owls, hate daylight.

Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the Gospel? If not, our negligence plays into the hands of the heretics. What are we doing to spread the Bible, which is the antidote to falsehood? Are we sending out good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, “The devil hates goose quills,” and, no doubt, he has good reason; the writer’s pen blessed by the Holy Spirit has damaged his evil kingdom greatly. If the thousands who read this short word tonight will do all they can to hinder the rebuilding of this accursed Jericho, the Lord’s glory shall spread quickly among the sons of men.

Reader, what can you do? What will you do?

The family reading plan for May 29, 2012

Isaiah 30 | Jude 1

1 Corinthians 15:33-34

In an ideal environment, all our relationships would draw us closer to the Lord. However, we live in a fallen world with sinful people, so that is not our reality. God wants us to influence those who aren’t walking obediently with Him, but unless we’re careful, we could easily end up following them. How are we to deal with relationships that drag us down instead of building us up?

Prayer: Your first step is to pray for the people who tend to pull you away from the Lord. It’s not your job to change them, but you can ask God to work in their lives. And don’t forget to ask Him to give you the wisdom and patience you need in your interactions with them.

Separation: You may have to break off a relationship if it’s hindering your Christian walk. However, this should be done only after much prayer and wise counsel. And remember, some relationships are meant to be permanent, so listen carefully to what God is telling you.

Perseverance: If the negative relationship never changes, and the Lord is not calling you to break off association with that person, then He wants you to persevere in the situation. Your goal is to walk faithfully with your heavenly Father despite any hindrances or opposition.

If you struggle with negative relationships, cultivate friendships with godly people who can help you grow in your faith. Spend time in God’s Word, filling your mind with truths that anchor your soul in stormy situations. Persevere in walking faithfully with Christ–you may even influence the other person.

In the days of Mordecai and Queen Esther the people of Israel set themselves to remember an eventful time in their history. Mordecai sent letters throughout the provinces calling for the memorializing of the month that was turned “from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday.”(1) Near and far, the call was sent to annually remember the day the tables were turned and the Jews received relief from their enemies. And so it was determined: “These days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.” These days were weighted with enough hope to press upon them the need to remember forever. Moreover, and most significantly, they saw the certain possibility that they might forget.

There are moments in our lives when we realize that we are beholding the carving of a day into the great tree of history. On the night before my wedding I scribbled anxiously in my journal, “It will never be this day again, but the seventeenth of every August will never be the same either.” I knew from that day forward it would be difficult (and detrimental) to forget that day on the calendar—it would carry the force of forgetting so much more.

Israel’s history is wrought with such commands to remember. God told the Israelites that they would remember the night of Passover before the night had even happened. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever.”(2) Moses and Aaron were told to instruct the whole community of Israel to choose a lamb without defect and slaughter it at twilight. They were then to take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts of their houses. “The blood will be a sign,” the LORD declared. “And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike the firstborns of Egypt.”

From that day onward, celebrating the Passover was nonnegotiable, and with good reason. God had spared his people by the blood of a lamb. From that day onward, the command was passed down from generation to generation: “You shall remember this day as a statute forever.” And so they remembered the Passover each year.

But just as we recall more than the wedding itself on an anniversary, the act of birth on a child’s birthday, or the grave events of a tragic day in history, the Israelites were remembering far more than the act of Israel’s exodus from Egypt; they were remembering the God of that Exodus—the faithful hand that moved and moves among them, the mighty acts which indeed shout of God’s timely remembering of God’s people. They were remembering God among them.

Centuries later, the disciples sat around the table celebrating their third Passover meal with Jesus, an observance they kept long before they could walk. Everything perhaps looked ceremoniously familiar. The smell of lamb filled the upper room; the unleavened bread was prepared and waiting to be broken. Remembering again the acts of God in Egypt, the blood on the doorposts, the lives spared and brought out of slavery, they looked at their teacher as he lifted the bread from the table and gave thanks to God. Then Jesus broke the bread, and gave it to them, saying something entirely new: “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).

I have always wished that Luke would have described a little more of the scene that followed. Did a hush immediate fall over the room? Were the disciples once again confused at his words? Or did their years of envisioning the blood-marked doorposts cry out at the new and faultless Lamb before them?

They had spent their entire lives remembering the power and mercy of God in the events of the Passover, and on this day, Jesus tells them that there was yet even more to see: In this Passover lamb, in this the broken bread is the reflection of me. As you remember God in history, so remember me. For on this day, God is engraving across all of time the promise of Passover: “I still remember you.”

I imagine from that day forward the disciples knew it would be difficult to forget that day on the calendar.  And for us today there is no doubt something that still weights that day with hope. Forgetting what was witnessed in the upper room on that Passover carries the force of forgetting so much more.

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

 (1) Esther 9:22.
(2) Exodus 12:14

Morning   “Thou hatest wickedness.”   Psalm 45:7

“Be ye angry, and sin not.” There can hardly be goodness in a man if he be not

angry at sin; he who loves truth must hate every false way. How our Lord Jesus

hated it when the temptation came! Thrice it assailed him in different forms,

but ever he met it with, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” He hated it in others;

none the less fervently because he showed his hate oftener in tears of pity than

in words of rebuke; yet what language could be more stern, more Elijah-like,

than the words, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour

widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer.” He hated wickedness, so

much that he bled to wound it to the heart; he died that it might die;

he was buried that he might bury it in his tomb; and he rose that he might

forever trample it beneath his feet. Christ is in the Gospel, and that Gospel is

opposed to wickedness in every shape. Wickedness arrays itself in fair garments,

and imitates the language of holiness; but the precepts of Jesus, like his

famous scourge of small cords, chase it out of the temple, and will not tolerate

it in the Church. So, too, in the heart where Jesus reigns, what war there is

between Christ and Belial! And when our Redeemer shall come to be our Judge,

those thundering words, “Depart, ye cursed” which are, indeed, but a

prolongation of his life-teaching concerning sin, shall manifest his abhorrence

of iniquity. As warm as is his love to sinners, so hot is his hatred of sin; as

perfect as is his righteousness, so complete shall be the destruction of every

form of wickedness. O thou glorious champion of right, and destroyer of wrong,

for this cause hath God, even thy God, anointed thee with the oil of gladness

above thy fellows.

Evening   Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city

Jericho.”    Joshua 6:26

Since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, much more the man who labours to

restore Popery among us. In our fathers’ days the gigantic walls of Popery fell

by the power of their faith, the perseverance of their efforts, and the blast of

their gospel trumpets; and now there are some who would rebuild that accursed

system upon its old foundation. O Lord, be pleased to thwart their unrighteous

endeavours, and pull down every stone which they build. It should be a serious

business with us to be thoroughly purged of every error which may have a

tendency to foster the spirit of Popery, and when we have made a clean sweep at

home we should seek in every way to oppose its all too rapid spread abroad

in the church and in the world. This last can be done in secret by fervent

prayer, and in public by decided testimony. We must warn with judicious boldness

those who are inclined towards the errors of Rome; we must instruct the young in

gospel truth, and tell them of the black doings of Popery in the olden times. We

must aid in spreading the light more thoroughly through the land, for priests,

like owls, hate daylight. Are we doing all we can for Jesus and the gospel? If

not, our negligence plays into the hands of the priestcraft. What are we doing

to spread the Bible, which is the Pope’s bane and poison? Are we casting abroad

good, sound gospel writings? Luther once said, “The devil hates

goose quills” and, doubtless, he has good reason, for ready writers, by the

Holy Spirit’s blessing, have done his kingdom much damage. If the thousands who

will read this short word this night will do all they can to hinder the

rebuilding of this accursed Jericho, the Lord’s glory shall speed among the sons

of men. Reader, what can you do? What will you do?

This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.   Lamentations 3:21

Memory is frequently the slave of despondency. Despairing minds remember every dark prediction in the past and expand upon every gloomy feature in the present; in this way memory, clothed in sackcloth, presents to the mind a cup of bitter-tasting herbs.

There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom can readily transform memory into an angel of comfort. That same recollection that on the one hand brings so many gloomy omens may be trained instead to provide a wealth of hopeful signs. She need not wear a crown of iron; she may encircle her brow with a tiara of gold, all spangled with stars.

Such was Jeremiah’s experience: in the previous verse memory had brought him to deep humiliation of soul: “My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me”; but now this same memory restored him to life and comfort. “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.” Like a two-edged sword, his memory first killed his pride with one edge and then slew his despair with the other.

As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more wisely, we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match that would instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort. There is no need for God to create a new thing upon the earth in order to restore believers’ joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine as before.

Let us then remember the loving-kindness of the Lord and rehearse His deeds of grace. Let us open the volume of recollection, which is so richly illuminated with memories of His mercy, and we will soon be happy. Thus memory may be, as Coleridge calls it, “the bosom-spring of joy,” and when the Divine Comforter bends it to His service, it is then the greatest earthly comfort we can know.

The family reading plan for May 28, 2012

Isaiah 29 | 3 John 1

2 Peter 2:1-3

Recognizing a danger for the believers of his day, Peter penned this warning: “There will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies” (2 Pet. 2:1). His words are as true today as they were in the first century.

Spotting false teachers can be difficult, and many people are swayed by their lies. Matthew called them ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt. 7:15). How, then, can we detect deceptive teaching?

First, become familiar with biblical truth, and be vigilant. On the surface, false teaching may seem to align with Scripture, but underneath lies a faulty agenda.

Second, listen for any denial of truth, such as someone who claims to believe in God but argues that the creation story is myth. It is dangerous to pick and choose which parts of the Bible can be taken literally.

Third, notice teachings that promote sensuality. False teachers interpret the Bible in a permissive way: they often make allowances for immorality, misrepresent grace, and justify sin as gratifying “natural desires.” Why do they guide others this way? Some may not realize their mistake. Others are driven by power and greed: if a leader can stir a crowd emotionally, the offering plate will likely be full and the church will probably grow–both for the wrong reasons.

Don’t be led astray by false doctrine. The wise will guard themselves by feasting daily on God’s Word. Then they can compare teachings to Scripture and scrutinize them for the three signs of falsehood listed above. The truth is able to set us free, but lies entangle and lead to much bondage.

It has been said that life is like entering a very long movie that has already started and then learning that you have to leave it before it ends. It is at once an analogy I appreciate and find troubling. As a Christian, it is the reality, and the hope, I profess: “My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.  But you, O LORD, sit enthroned forever; your renown endures through all generations.”(1) Even so, entering a movie already started and leaving before it ends also means that I could entirely miss the point.

Every time I read St. Augustine’s Confessions I seem to come uncomfortably face to face with myself, and with it, the thought that someone has already told my story—or at least very real parts of it. It is this shock of recognition that wakes me to my own pride and makes real the danger of missing the point. In Augustine, as in countless others who have wrestled with God long before me, I am reminded that I am a small character in a much greater story. I have entered a movie that has already started, and to my surprise, it’s not all about me.

What if there is a vast stage full of lives who have wrestled with questions quite similar to your own? Men and women who have gone before you may well have lived with the same doubts and faith, pains and hope. Many have lived aware, often more than we are, of life as it existed before them and time that would march beyond them. Many have lived to “tell the old, old story,” that they might take it in to their own. For they saw with the writer of Ecclesiastes that it is important to realize there is “nothing new under the sun,” lest we miss the sun entirely by focusing only on the shadows we watch it cast. They saw that it is important we see the momentaryness of our lives specifically because there is a permanence to life itself, a story with an end and a beginning.

Jesus once turned to his disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Luke 10:22-23). The disciples were seeing in the present all that kings and prophets looked for at a distance. Yet even those who walked intimately with Christ were not always aware of all there was to see. Chances are good we are missing him too.

If life is like entering a movie that has already started and leaving before it ends, it is important to look both behind us and ahead of us in order to see what is in front of us. There is only one place in Scripture where God is referred to as the “Ancient of Days” but it significantly comes from the lips of one indelibly marked by the present. “As I looked,” says Daniel describing a dream, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.  His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze” (7:9). This one addressing God as sovereign over days long before his own is someone who could have been overwhelmed with the small picture of life before him. Jerusalem was in ruins; God’s people were scattered. Daniel could have easily viewed his situation as being stuck somewhere in the middle of a movie he wasn’t happy with, yet he chose to see beyond the troubling scene in which he was living. And he saw the “Ancient of Days” in the midst of the days he was given.

We, too, have entered a story that has already started and we may very well leave before it ends. But we can still live with sight beyond our own—looking back at lives of faith and God in history, gazing forward at all that God has promised, seeing all that God has placed before us. Though the picture before us seems unfair, or life is not what we bargained for, there is a story. Our lives may be like the evening shadow, but they are lived within a greater tale.

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

(1) Psalm 102:11-12.

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. . . . Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them.  Luke 24:33, 35

When the two disciples had reached Emmaus and were refreshing themselves at the evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them on the road took bread and broke it, made Himself known to them, and then vanished out of their sight. They had constrained Him to stay with them because the day was far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp to their feet, indeed wings also. They forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone, and immediately they headed back the seven miles to tell the wonderful news of a risen Lord who had appeared to them on the road. They reached the Christians in Jerusalem and were received by a burst of joyful news before they could tell their own tale.

These early Christians were all on fire to speak of Christ’s resurrection and to proclaim what they knew of the Lord; they happily shared their experiences. This evening let their example impress us deeply.

We also must bear our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account of the sepulcher needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of something further still; the combined accounts provide us with a complete testimony from which nothing necessary is missing. Each of us has peculiar gifts and personal experiences; but the one object God has in view is the maturing of the whole Body of Christ. We must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them at the apostles’ feet, that we may share all of what God has given to us.

Withhold no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know and declare what you have seen. Do not allow the toil or darkness or possible unbelief of your friends to dissuade you. Let us rise and march to the place of duty, and there declare what great things God has shown to our soul.

The family reading plan for May 25, 2012

Isaiah 26 | 1 John 4

Galatians 1:6-9

The Word of God is truth that’s living and able to penetrate human souls (Heb. 4:12). Consider how powerful Scripture is: it can change hearts, save lives from eternal condemnation, and give hope to the hopeless.

Is it any wonder, then, that the Bible is a battlefield of Satan? The Devil will do his best to destroy its message and truth. In fact, this has been our Enemy’s continuous goal since he chose to turn from God.

Our heavenly Father has graciously let us know in advance the outcome of this ongoing battle: Truth will prevail. But while the Lord has the ultimate victory, Satan can gain ground among individuals. His tactics are dangerous and deceptive to the unsuspecting. For this reason, we should carefully guard against his attacks, which are hard to recognize unless we are prepared.

False teaching is one of Satan’s preferred tactics for leading us astray. At first glance, such instruction often seems to align with Scripture, but do not be misled by the deception. Two things are essential for standing firm against these slippery falsehoods: to be well grounded in the truth of God’s Word and to listen to His Spirit. Only then can we recognize the error and avoid the pitfalls of Satan’s lies.

The Enemy longs to mislead believers so they’ll be ineffective for the kingdom. He also wants to keep all unsaved souls far from salvation through Jesus Christ. Friends, prepare for battle. Grow in the knowledge of truth, and lean on God’s Spirit to guide you moment by moment.

Every thinking reader of the Bible is bound to ask at some point in time, “Does this book actually condone slavery?”  To be sure, slavery is not the only issue the Bible causes us to question. The Old Testament is rife with palace intrigues, polygamy, divorce, violence and the like, and godly people are very often part of the problem. Although the New Testament is decidedly improved, it still seems to fall far short of that which twenty-first century human rights would expect. There are no women among the twelve disciples of Jesus and Christian masters do have slaves working for them.

To address issues of this kind, we need to step back and ask three larger questions: What are the theological, political, and cultural contexts in which the Old Testament narrative unfolds, and how is the behavior of God’s people in the Old Testament expected to be different from those of other cultures?  What are the major developments in the New Testament that give us a clue to interpretation of Old Testament ethics? And are we expected to further extrapolate changes in behavior beyond the New Testament times to the present day?

To begin with, it should not be forgotten that the Old Testament narratives contain codes which are ethical, ceremonial, and social. Therefore, their application to the present day should not always be considered in literal terms. The social elements of those narratives need not apply to us, and the ceremonial ones are largely fulfilled in the completed work of Christ. It is the ethical aspects of Old Testament teaching with which we should be concerned, and there is indeed much to consider.

As an example, on the way to Canaan, God tells his people through Moses that the alien, or foreigner, among them should not be oppressed (Exodus 23:9). The reason given is fascinating: the people of Israel know in their hearts how it feels to be oppressed!  (The word translated “alien” is not the same as slave, but the experience of the Israelites in Egypt was certainly that of slaves.)  Thus, we see the first statement on human rights: the alien was to be treated as a citizen; in fact, he was to be loved as one of their own.(1) Even when Hebrew law and custom shared in the common heritage of the ancient world, there is a unique care in God’s Name for those people who by status were not considered people—something absent from the codes of Babylon and Assyria.

The New Testament further gives us a paradigm to interpret Old Testament practices. In one of their notorious fault-finding missions, the Pharisees test Jesus on the subject of divorce.(2) He initially appears to play into their hands, asking what Mosaic Law has to say on the subject. When they gleefully quote the permission of Moses to divorce one’s wife, Jesus lays down a method of interpretation that has to be taken very seriously. He makes it clear that certain Old Testament commandments were to be understood as concessions to the hardness of the human heart rather than as expressions of God’s holy character. He goes on to reference how this was not the state of affairs in the beginning—that is, before the fall.

The regulation of slavery should therefore be seen as a practical step to deal with the realities of the day resulting from human fall. The aberrations that lead to alienation among individuals, races, and nations are the result of a fundamental broken relationship between humankind and God. Within this tragic scenario, Scripture comes as a breath of fresh air as it seeks to redeem the situation and sets us on a path of ever-increasing amelioration of our predicament. While the Bible does not reject slavery outright, the conclusion that it actually favors slavery is patently wrong. Scripture does reveal that slavery is not ideal, both in Old Testament laws forbidding the enslavement of fellow Israelites, the law of jubilee, and in New Testament applications of Christ. In fact, the Bible teaches that the feeling of superiority in general is sin!(3) The abolition of slavery is thus not only permissible by biblical standards, but demanded by biblical principles. The pre-fall statement that should guide and ultimately abolish such (and any) practices of superiority is the declaration that all humans—men and women—are made in the image of God.

On this principle, the Bible even lays the foundation for progressing far beyond what was possible in New Testament times by addressing the very economic discrimination and favoritism of which slavery is the worst expression.(4) Of course, lamentably, it must be admitted that the Church has taken many centuries to live out what Scripture taught long ago, and no doubt we continue to drag our feet. The time delay between the Word of Scripture and its implementation in society is often due to the “holy huddle” mentality prevailing among Christians who are largely unconcerned about issues outside of their immediate periphery. Another reason many Christians continue to remain silent in the face of injustice is the platonic view of the cosmos we have adopted, implying that life in the hereafter is the only issue to be addressed, while we watch the world go by in its destructive way. Both mentalities are sadly misguided.

Those of us who say that we believe the Bible to be the Word of God have to raise our level of awareness and involvement regarding social issues. Having failed to do so, we have let these issues pass into the hands of those who may not be Christians, but are better informed about social injustice and concerned enough to fight wrong practices through legal means. While they have no logical basis to do what they are doing, the real tragedy is that we who do have a basis to address these issues remain largely indifferent. May the Lord of Scripture open our eyes to see that God is interested in the redemption of the whole of creation and not just disembodied souls and spirits!

L.T. Jeyachandran is executive director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Singapore.

(1) See Leviticus 19:33-34.

(2) See Matthew 19:1-9; Mark 10:2-9.

(3) See Philemon 2:1-8.

(4) See James 2:1-9; 5:1-6.

Morning   “Forsake me not, O Lord.”   Psalm 38:21

Frequently we pray that God would not forsake us in the hour of trial and

temptation, but we too much forget that we have need to use this prayer at all

times. There is no moment of our life, however holy, in which we can do without

his constant upholding. Whether in light or in darkness, in communion or in

temptation, we alike need the prayer, “Forsake me not, O Lord.” “Hold thou me

up, and I shall be safe.” A little child, while learning to walk, always needs

the nurse’s aid. The ship left by the pilot drifts at once from her course. We

cannot do without continued aid from above; let it then be your prayer today,

“Forsake me not. Father, forsake not thy child, lest he fall by the hand of

the enemy. Shepherd, forsake not thy lamb, lest he wander from the safety of

the fold. Great Husbandman, forsake not thy plant, lest it wither and die.

Forsake me not, O Lord,’ now; and forsake me not at any moment of my life.

Forsake me not in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Forsake me not in my

sorrows, lest I murmur against thee. Forsake me not in the day of my repentance,

lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into despair; and forsake me not in the

day of my strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. Forsake me

not, for without thee I am weak, but with thee I am strong. Forsake me not, for

my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot do without thy

guidance. The hen forsakes not her brood; do thou then evermore cover me with

thy feathers, and permit me under thy wings to find my refuge. Be not far from

me, O Lord, for trouble is near, for there is none to help.’ Leave me not,

neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!'”

“O ever in our cleansed breast,

Bid thine Eternal Spirit rest;

And make our secret soul to be

A temple pure and worthy thee.”

Evening   “And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem … and they told

what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them.”  Luke 24:33-35

When the two disciples had reached Emmaus, and were refreshing themselves at the

evening meal, the mysterious stranger who had so enchanted them upon the road,

took bread and brake it, made himself known to them, and then vanished out of

their sight. They had constrained him to abide with them, because the day was

far spent; but now, although it was much later, their love was a lamp to their

feet, yea, wings also; they forgot the darkness, their weariness was all gone,

and forthwith they journeyed back the threescore furlongs to tell the gladsome

news of a risen Lord, who had appeared to them by the way. They reached the

Christians in Jerusalem, and were received by a burst of joyful news

before they could tell their own tale. These early Christians were all on fire

to speak of Christ’s resurrection, and to proclaim what they knew of the Lord;

they made common property of their experiences. This evening let their example

impress us deeply. We too must bear our witness concerning Jesus. John’s account

of the sepulchre needed to be supplemented by Peter; and Mary could speak of

something further still; combined, we have a full testimony from which nothing

can be spared. We have each of us peculiar gifts and special manifestations; but

the one object God has in view is the perfecting of the whole body of Christ. We

must, therefore, bring our spiritual possessions and lay them

at the apostle’s feet, and make distribution unto all of what God has given to

us. Keep back no part of the precious truth, but speak what you know, and

testify what you have seen. Let not the toil or darkness, or possible unbelief

of your friends, weigh one moment in the scale. Up, and be marching to the place

of duty, and there tell what great things God has shown to your soul.

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.  Philippians 1:27

The apostle’s concern is not simply with our talk and conversation with one another, but with the whole course of our life and behavior in the world. The Greek word translated “manner of life” signifies the actions and the privileges of citizenship: And in this way we are commanded to let our actions, as citizens of the New Jerusalem, be worthy of the Gospel of Christ. What “manner of life” is this?

In the first place, the Gospel is very simple. So Christians should be simple and plain in their habits. There should be about our manner, our speech, our dress, our whole behavior that simplicity that is the very soul of beauty.

The Gospel is preeminently true. It is gold without dross; and the Christian’s life will be lusterless and valueless without the jewel of truth.

The Gospel is a very fearless Gospel; it boldly proclaims the truth, whether men like it or not. We must be equally faithful and unflinching.

But the Gospel is also very gentle. We see this in Jesus: “a bruised reed he will not break.”1 Some professing Christians are sharper than a thorn-hedge; such men are not like Jesus. Let us seek to win others by the gentleness of our words and deeds.

The Gospel is very loving. It is the message of the God of love to a lost and fallen race. Christ’s command to His disciples was, “Love one another.” We need more real, hearty union with and love for all the saints, more tender compassion toward the souls of the worst and vilest of men!

We must not forget that the Gospel of Christ is holy. It never excuses sin: It pardons it, but only through an atonement. If our life is to resemble the Gospel, we must shun not merely the grosser vices, but everything that would hinder our perfect conformity to Christ.

For His sake, for our own sakes, and for the sake of others, we must strive day by day to let our manner of life be more in accordance with His Gospel.

1 Matthew 12:20

The family reading plan for May 24, 2012

Isaiah 25 | 1 John 3

 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Some Christians see a fellow believer fall into sin but fail to acknowledge that they, too, could stumble. That’s dangerous. Satan has them right where he wants them: deceived by a false sense of confidence. Three enemies are constantly at work trying to bring us down: the Devil, his world system, and our own treacherous flesh.

Even though believers have a righteous standing before God, we must each, like Paul, acknowledge an internal problem: “sin which dwells in me” (Rom. 7:20). Satan takes full advantage of this weakness, luring us with fleshly and worldly temptations. He stokes our pride so we’ll be blinded to our own vulnerability to stumbling.

Christians need to be continually on guard. Since ignorance–of the nature of sin, the strategies of the Enemy, and our own areas of weakness–sets us up for failure, we cannot afford to be careless in our thinking. Anytime you find yourself excusing, redefining, or rationalizing sin, you’ve lost your sensitivity to the Lord. God’s Word must always fill our minds and direct our steps.

If you’ve drifted from the Lord, turn back to Him by acknowledging your sin and accepting full responsibility for it. Repentance simply means changing your mind and going in a different direction–toward God instead of away from Him.

The next step is harder. Respond with gratitude for the Lord’s chastisement. Every time believers fall into sin, God lovingly works to bring them back into a fellowship with Him. His discipline may be painful, but it’s always good because it brings us to our senses and reconnects us with our Father.

I am notorious for reading sentences—sometimes entire pages—before realizing that that my mind is simply elsewhere. With my eyes moving along the paragraphs, taking in the ordered sentences, it is as if my mind pronounces each word into a room with no vacancy. I am reading in a way that can’t even be called half-hearted. Evidently, the practical spirit of multi-tasking isn’t always practical.  Mentally outlining my to-do list while reading Tolstoy isn’t reading Tolstoy. Hearing the words, I have heard nothing. I walk away from the paragraphs as if never seeing the sentences at all.

So it is distinctly possible, as Jesus once stated, to see without seeing, and to hear without hearing. I do it often, and not only with Tolstoy.

Like all communication there are degrees to which we hear the stories of Scripture, the words of Christ. There are levels of interest, concentration, and understanding. Like all metaphors there are levels in seeing, layers to uncover, depths that call for attentiveness. Jesus’s parables, conversations, and descriptions of reality ring in ears on many wavelengths. We can hear them as moral fables, abstract stories, truthful similes and images, great and awful mysteries at which we do well to pay attention, words we must try our hardest to ignore. Like the Pharisees who fumed as Jesus told the parable of the tenants, we might even recognize ourselves in the storyline. It is how we react to these mirrored images that are of significance.

What does it take to look into a mirror and walk away as if completely forgetting what you have seen? I suspect, as with my less than half-hearted reading, not much. When the Pharisees saw themselves in the words of Jesus’s parable, they were furious. Wholeheartedly, they began scheming a strategy to silence him. Ironically, they were plotting to do exactly what the parable said they would do.

Christianity describes our world with a wealth of detail. But more than a system whereby we believe certain information and thus call ourselves Christians, it is a transforming way; it is intended to be life itself. If we merely hear God’s words, or half-see reflections of truth, we actually miss everything. Such a response cannot even be called half-hearted. Like the pages I have read mindlessly—lifelessly—in seeing we have seen nothing, hearing we have heard nothing. As one writer describes this common self-deception, “[I]f any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like” (James 1:22-24).

As when the Pharisees saw themselves in Jesus’s words, so our own reflections wait to be noticed in his words. A response is inescapable; we will hear and live into a new story, or we will walk away as if never hearing.

Upon Jesus’s telling of the parable of the tenants, his hearers walk away from the mirror holding only vacant memories. Though they saw themselves in the story, they walked away from this knowledge. Furthermore, Mark recounts, “Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away” (Mark 12:12).

In seeing will you see? In hearing will you hear?

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

Morning    “Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer.”    Psalm 66:20

In looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do it honestly, we

shall be filled with wonder that God has ever answered them. There may be some

who think their prayers worthy of acceptance–as the Pharisee did; but the true

Christian, in a more enlightened retrospect, weeps over his prayers, and if he

could retrace his steps he would desire to pray more earnestly. Remember,

Christian, how cold thy prayers have been. When in thy closet thou shouldst have

wrestled as Jacob did; but instead thereof, thy petitions have been faint and

few–far removed from that humble, believing, persevering faith, which cries, “I

will not let thee go except thou bless me.” Yet, wonderful to say, God

has heard these cold prayers of thine, and not only heard, but answered them.

Reflect also, how infrequent have been thy prayers, unless thou hast been in

trouble, and then thou hast gone often to the mercy-seat: but when deliverance

has come, where has been thy constant supplication? Yet, notwithstanding thou

hast ceased to pray as once thou didst, God has not ceased to bless. When thou

hast neglected the mercy-seat, God has not deserted it, but the bright light of

the Shekinah has always been visible between the wings of the cherubim. Oh! it

is marvellous that the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of

importunity which come and go with our necessities. What a God is he thus to

hear the prayers of those who come to him when they have pressing wants, but

neglect him when they have received a mercy; who approach him when they are

forced to come, but who almost forget to address him when mercies are plentiful

and sorrows are few. Let his gracious kindness in hearing such prayers touch our

hearts, so that we may henceforth be found “Praying always with all prayer and

supplication in the Spirit.”

Evening    “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.”   Philippians 1:27

The word “conversation” does not merely mean our talk and converse with one

another, but the whole course of our life and behaviour in the world. The Greek

word signifies the actions and the privileges of citizenship: and thus we are

commanded to let our actions, as citizens of the New Jerusalem, be such as

becometh the gospel of Christ. What sort of conversation is this? In the first

place, the gospel is very simple. So Christians should be simple and plain in

their habits. There should be about our manner, our speech, our dress, our whole

behaviour, that simplicity which is the very soul of beauty. The gospel is

pre-eminently true, it is gold without dross; and the Christian’s life will

be lustreless and valueless without the jewel of truth. The gospel is a very

fearless gospel, it boldly proclaims the truth, whether men like it or not: we

must be equally faithful and unflinching. But the gospel is also very gentle.

Mark this spirit in its Founder: “a bruised reed he will not break.” Some

professors are sharper than a thorn-hedge; such men are not like Jesus. Let us

seek to win others by the gentleness of our words and acts. The gospel is very

loving. It is the message of the God of love to a lost and fallen race. Christ’s

last command to his disciples was, “Love one another.” O for more real, hearty

union and love to all the saints; for more tender compassion towards the

souls of the worst and vilest of men! We must not forget that the gospel of

Christ is holy. It never excuses sin: it pardons it, but only through an

atonement. If our life is to resemble the gospel, we must shun, not merely the

grosser vices, but everything that would hinder our perfect conformity to

Christ. For his sake, for our own sakes, and for the sakes of others, we must

strive day by day to let our conversation be more in accordance with his gospel.

You have not bought me sweet cane with money.   Isaiah 43:24

Worshipers at the temple were keen to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be burned upon the altar of God. But Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became ungenerous and made fewer offerings to her Lord. This was an evidence of coldness of heart toward God and His house.

Reader, does this never happen with you? Is it not possible that the complaint of this text may occasionally, if not frequently, be brought against you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith, will be accepted even though their gifts are small; but, poor reader, do you give in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow’s mite kept back from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the wealth entrusted to him but should not forget his large responsibility, for where much is given, much will be required.

But, rich reader, are you mindful of your obligations, and is your giving to the Lord proportionate to the benefit you enjoy? Jesus gave His blood for us; what shall we give to Him? We are His, and He has purchased us for Himself—can we act as if we were our own? O for more consecration! O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how good it is of You to accept our sweet cane bought with money! Nothing is too costly as a tribute to Your unrivaled love, and yet You receive with favor the smallest sincere token of affection! You receive our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were intrinsically precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild flowers that the child brings to his mother.

Let us never grow stingy toward You, and from this hour may we never hear You complain of us again for withholding the gifts of our love. We will give You the firstfruits of our increase and pay You tithes of all, and then we will confess, “of your own have we given you.”1

11 Chronicles 29:14

The family reading plan for May 23, 2012

Isaiah 24 | 1 John 2

Galatians 6:1-5

The Lord doesn’t want the members of His body to live in isolation; believers are intended to function as a loving family who actively care for each other. One of our responsibilities as part of God’s household is to come alongside a brother or sister who has stumbled. Paul specifies that those “who are spiritual” are to restore the fallen ones to fellowship with the Father and the family. “Spiritual” doesn’t mean some elite group of pious leaders; it refers to any Christians who are living under the Spirit’s control. A key element in this process is the attitude of the one who seeks to restore a fellow Christian.

A Spirit of Gentleness: This isn’t a time for harshness, anger, judgment, or condemnation. Our goal is not to heap pain and guilt upon a hurting brother or sister but to show mercy and forgiveness (2 Cor. 2:5-8).

A Spirit of Humility: Those who have a superior attitude look down on a fallen brother and think, I would never make those mistakes. But the humble know their own vulnerability. Instead of judging others, they examine their own lives in order to recognize and deal with areas of weakness.

A Spirit of Love: When we love others, we’ll willingly sharing their burden. This requires an unselfish investment of our time, energy, and prayer on their behalf.

How do you react when a fellow Christian has stumbled? One of the ugliest human traits is our tendency to feel better about ourselves when another person misses the mark. Instead of sharing the latest gossip about a fallen brother or sister, let your heart break, and come alongside to love and help.

For most of us, the act of remembering or revisiting a memory takes us back into the distant past. We remember people, events, cherished locales and details from days long gone. Of course, not all memories are pleasant, and traveling toward the distant past can also resemble something more like a nightmare than a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Nevertheless, even if we have but a few, all of us have cherished memories or times we periodically revisit in daydreams and remembrances.

Nostalgia is one such way of revisiting these times. It can be defined as that bittersweet yearning for things in the past. The hunger it creates in us to return to another time and place lures us away from living in the realities of the present. Nostalgia wears a shade of rose-colored glasses as it envisions days that were always sweeter, richer, and better than the present day. In general, as Frederick Buechner has said, nostalgia takes us “on an excursion from the living present back into the dead past…” or else it summons “the dead past back into the living present.”(1) In either case, nostalgic remembering removes us from the present and tempts us to dwell in the unlivable past. Without finding ways to remember forward—to bring the past as the good, the bad, and the ugly into the present in a way that informs who we are and how we will live here and now—all we are left with is nostalgia.

It is far from a sense of nostalgia that drives the writer of Psalm 78. Instead, the psalmist recalls the history of Israel as a means of remembering forward, bringing the full reality of the past into a place of honest remembrance not just for the present generation, but for the sake of generations to come. The psalmist exhorts the people to listen and incline their ears to the stories of their collective history; the Exodus, the wilderness wanderings, and the entry into the land of promise in which they currently dwell. “We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength and his wondrous works that he has done….That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep the commandments” (Psalm 78:4-7).

Despite bearing witness to the work of God among them, the people of Israel forgot these crucial aspects of their historical narrative. In so doing, they did not keep the covenant and began to live in ways that went contrary to all that defined them. They forgot the deeds and miraculous signs which bore witness to God’s presence. Moreover, they lost faith and did not trust in God’s salvation. The psalmist acknowledges that they all “grieved God in the desert.” There are no rose-colored remembrances here, no bittersweet yearnings to which they can return. Rather, the darker parts of their story are remembered even as praise is offered up for God’s long-suffering and loving-kindness. The psalmist urges the people to think about this God in the midst of their present circumstances. What had God done among them in the past in spite of their own failings? And how might they now live in light of that past?

Perhaps it is this collective remembering Jesus has in mind when he instructs those closest to him to remember. Jesus instructs his followers during that last supper together saying “this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me” he is not calling them to bittersweet yearnings, or simply to remember events lived long ago (Luke 22:19). Rather, he calls them to remember in a way that would shape their living in the present, and for the future. Surely these intimate friends of Jesus could not have understood fully all that was implied in his call to remember him. Yet, they became his witnesses “in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus, was not just a fact they rehearsed, but a lived reality that gave contour and context for their generation, and for generations to come.

In the face of an uncertain future, or perhaps a painful present, we might be tempted to dwell in a nostalgic remembering. We might wish for the comfort of selective memories. Yet, for those who want to follow Jesus we have the opportunity to ask ourselves how we are remembering forward? What stories do our lives tell? How do our lives enact the great narrative of salvation in our present day? As we think about the kind of remembrance that enlivens our present and gives hope for the future, we can join in the song of praise with the psalmist of old: Yes, we your people and the sheep of your pasture give thanks to you forever; to all generations we will tell of your praise!(2)

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

(1) Beyond Words: Daily Readings on the ABC’s of Faith (Harper: San Francisco, 2004), 252.
(2) Psalm 79:13.

Morning   “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.”   Psalm 138:8

Most manifestly the confidence which the Psalmist here expressed was a divine

confidence. He did not say, “I have grace enough to perfect that which

concerneth me–my faith is so steady that it will not stagger–my love is so

warm that it will never grow cold–my resolution is so firm that nothing can

move it”; no, his dependence was on the Lord alone. If we indulge in any

confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of Ages, our confidence is worse

than a dream, it will fall upon us, and cover us with its ruins, to our sorrow

and confusion. All that Nature spins time will unravel, to the eternal confusion

of all who are clothed therein. The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing

short  of the Lord’s work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is

he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be

complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness

which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence,

the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do

it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have

resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. Unbelief insinuates–“You

will never be able to stand. Look at the evil of your heart, you can never

conquer sin; remember the sinful pleasures and temptations of the world

that beset you, you will be certainly allured by them and led astray.” Ah! yes,

we should indeed perish if left to our own strength. If we had alone to navigate

our frail vessels over so rough a sea, we might well give up the voyage in

despair; but, thanks be to God, he will perfect that which concerneth us, and

bring us to the desired haven. We can never be too confident when we confide in

him alone, and never too much concerned to have such a trust.

Evening   “Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money.” Isaiah 43:24

Worshippers at the temple were wont to bring presents of sweet perfumes to be

burned upon the altar of God: but Israel, in the time of her backsliding, became

ungenerous, and made but few votive offerings to her Lord: this was an evidence

of coldness of heart towards God and his house. Reader, does this never occur

with you? Might not the complaint of the text be occasionally, if not

frequently, brought against you? Those who are poor in pocket, if rich in faith,

will be accepted none the less because their gifts are small; but, poor reader,

do you give in fair proportion to the Lord, or is the widow’s mite kept back

from the sacred treasury? The rich believer should be thankful for the

talent entrusted to him, but should not forget his large responsibility, for

where much is given much will be required; but, rich reader, are you mindful of

your obligations, and rendering to the Lord according to the benefit received?

Jesus gave his blood for us, what shall we give to him? We are his, and all that

we have, for he has purchased us unto himself–can we act as if we were our own?

O for more consecration! and to this end, O for more love! Blessed Jesus, how

good it is of thee to accept our sweet cane bought with money! nothing is too

costly as a tribute to thine unrivalled love, and yet thou dost receive with

favour the smallest sincere token of affection! Thou dost receive

our poor forget-me-nots and love-tokens as though they were intrinsically

precious, though indeed they are but as the bunch of wild flowers which the

child brings to its mother. Never may we grow niggardly towards thee, and from

this hour never may we hear thee complain of us again for withholding the gifts

of our love. We will give thee the first fruits of our increase, and pay thee

tithes of all, and then we will confess “of thine own have we given thee.”