And your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
Matthew 6:18

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 6:1-5

One day the great Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo happened to overhear a group of people admiring his Pietà, a statue of Christ on His mother’s knees after His death on the Cross. One man attributed the work to another sculptor, much to the chagrin of Michelangelo, who took particular pride in the Pietà. Returning to the sculpture after dark that evening, Michelangelo carved his name on it so that no similar mistake would occur in the future.

Sometimes it’s hard not to want the recognition and admiration of those around us. Whether our gift is preaching or teaching, writing or singing, evangelism or leading, we must keep a godly perspective and motivation in everything we do. During His earthly ministry, Jesus certainly knew how to keep Himself from becoming entangled in the praises of men. He gave all the credit to His Father, for He knew His reward was waiting on the other side of the Cross.

If we fall into the trap of working or performing for the rewards of men, we are bound to miss out on our rewards in heaven. Is it worth losing eternal praise from God Himself to have but a moment of earthly glory?

He who merits praise he never receives is better off than he who receives praise he never merits.
Unknown

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
2 Corinthians 1:20

 Recommended Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-4

When the great pastor and hymnist Isaac Watts grew aged and sick, he had a visit from a friend. As they conversed, Watts spoke of once hearing a minister preach about “the same plain promises of the Gospel.” It was a phrase Watts liked. “And so I find it,” he told his friend. “They are the plain promises of the Gospel that are my support, and I bless God they are plain promises, which do not require much labour or pains to understand them, for I can do nothing now but look into my Bible for some promise to support me, and live upon that.”

God has given us His promises to use as a shepherd uses his rod and staff to support himself, as a house uses its foundation to remain solid, and as weary Jacob used a rock for a pillow and had dreams of heaven.

The Lord does not forget His promises. We can cling to them, but even better—we can rest in them. They will never fail.

I’ll read the histories of Thy love, and keep Thy laws in sight, while through the promises I rove, with ever fresh delight.
Isaac Watts

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Set your mind on things above.
Colossians 3:2

 Recommended Reading: 1 Timothy 6:17-19

One of Billy Graham’s oldest friends and trustees made his fortune with the Standard Oil Company. He was a humble man and very serious about God. He would often say, “Shine eternity into time, that the small things would remain small and the great things really great.”

Small things are those things in life that don’t translate to the other side. Great things do. They’re the things you take to heaven with you—the Word of God and other people.

Can you think of anything worse than pouring your life into something that is going to perish in a few months or a few years? Jesus warned, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20).

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t provide for our future financial needs or care for our loved ones. The Bible tells us to be wise stewards and be prudent with worldly goods. But we should take a look at our lives and see if our activities, interests, habits, and hobbies align with the eternal.

Only one life, ’twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last.
C. T. Studd

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

But there is a God in heaven.
Daniel 2:28

 Recommended Reading: Daniel 2:16-23

Day by day, the world is unraveling, becoming more frayed and afraid, more unstable and unsteady. We hear of wars and rumors of war, of false christs, of famines, of earthquakes, and of pestilences. Nations are rising against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms. Christians are attacked and slain at an accelerated pace. But there is a God in heaven.

We needn’t pace the floor at night or run around in a frenzy. We shouldn’t faint, fear, or fret. There is a God in heaven.

Daniel, too, lived in a churning world of change, empires rising and falling. His own nation, Israel, was wiped off the earth like a stain. But Daniel’s spirit remained steady because he understood the sovereign providence of the God of heaven. “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,” he wrote, “for wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings…. The Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (Daniel 2:20-21; 4:17).

In the Last Days perilous times will come, but there is a God in heaven—and if you know Christ as Savior, this God is your God. He rules and reigns, and our times are in His hands (Psalm 31:15).

Nothing is too big for [God] to handle, and nothing is too small to escape His attention.
Jerry Bridges

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

But I will see you again and your heart will rejoice.
John 16:22

 Recommended Reading: Habakkuk 3:3-6

German sculptor Heinrich Dannecker had a reputation early in his career for sculpting beautiful Greek goddesses. But as he got older, he felt he needed to pour all of his strength, talent, and time into a masterpiece; so he set out to sculpt a representation of Christ. It took three tries before he was satisfied with his carving, and it turned out to be so beautiful that when people laid eyes upon it, they could do nothing but love and adore. Hearing of Dannecker’s expertise, Napoleon desired to commission a carving of Venus for the Louvre, to which Dannecker replied, “Sir, the hands that carved Christ can never again carve a heathen goddess.”

For centuries, artists such as Dannecker have been creating beautiful portrayals of Christ that have both inspired and comforted people. But are we really capable of imagining what the risen Savior will look like? Even the most glorious of sculptures and paintings can only depict His human image; they cannot come close to showing the beauty, majesty, love, and perfection we will see on that glorious day when our Lord and Savior returns.

Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime.
Martin Luther

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1:3

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 1:1-7

There’s an old story about a preacher who showed up early for a speaking engagement. Looking around, he noticed a moneybox on the wall. He made a five-dollar contribution to it, thinking it was for the poor. After the service, his host walked him to the door and took the money from the box. “This is where our people contribute to the visiting preacher,” said the man, “and you’ve done better than most. Look, here’s a five-dollar bill.” Later the man told the story to his family. “Dad,” observed his son, “if you had put more into it, you would have gotten more out of it!”

The book of Revelation is like that. The more we put into studying it, the more we’ll get out of it. At first glance, Revelation seems like a complicated book. Many feel they can’t understand it. But its broad outlines are relatively simple, and with repeated study it becomes a blessing. Revelation is meant to be understood, and it offers rich blessings to those who take the time to mine its truths.

It is true of all parts of the Bible that they study it best who come feeling that they are on holy ground.
R. H. Boll

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Matthew 5:18

 Recommended Reading: Isaiah 55:10-11

There have been quite a few wrong predictions in history. In 1901 Wilbur Wright said that man would not fly for fifty years. Henry Ford’s banker was told by a lawyer, “The horse is here to stay, but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad.” The manager of the Grand Ole Opry fired Elvis Presley and said, “You ain’t goin’ nowhere, son.” And a Los Angeles surgeon said, “For the majority of people, the use of tobacco has a beneficial effect.”

Just as the Wright brothers, Henry Ford, Elvis, and the medical community were not afraid to go forward with their visions based upon a skeptic’s opinion, Christians should never be afraid of what critics are saying regarding biblical prophecy. We know that the Bible is infallible and does not contain a single incorrect prophecy; listening to critics should only increase our faith that God will bring His prophecies to pass.

As more and more people try to put down and pick apart what the Bible says will happen in the future, we need to strengthen our faith in the inerrancy of Scripture and believe wholeheartedly that it is true to the letter.

You have to take Bible prophecy literally, just like everything else in the Bible.
Tim LaHaye

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

And I saw thrones…. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:4

 Recommended Reading: Isaiah 40:9-11

No, the “William Tell Overture” (the theme music for the 1950s TV show, The Lone Ranger) was not written by a musician named William Tell. It is the overture, or prelude, to Guillaume Tell (William Tell), an opera in four acts by Gioacchino Rossini, first performed in Paris in 1829.

An overture, or prelude, is an introduction. It precedes that which it introduces, and while important, it is less important than that which it precedes. In that way, the thousand-year Millennium is a prelude to heaven. The Millennium is very important for a number of reasons. It allows God’s promises to Israel to be fulfilled on earth; it rewards those who have been faithful during the Tribulation. It allows justice, peace, and righteousness to fill the earth. It allows Christ to reign on the throne of David, and it prepares for the final judgment of Satan. But the Millennium is not heaven. It is only a foretaste of the glories that will last forever in the eternal state.

If the blessings of the Millennium seem exciting, remember—it’s only a thousand-year prelude to the eternal blessing to come.

We must live and work in the world. Yet we do so as people who know that they are on their way home, and anticipate the joy of return and arrival.
Alister McGrath

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:2

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 20:1-6

When we entered the new millennium 23 years ago, millennium became a popular word. The United Nations came up with its Millennium Development Goals. Chicago boasts its Millennium Park. Numerous businesses have included this word in their titles, such as Millennium Records, Millennium Bank, and Millennium Media.

But the real Millennium is coming—a thousand years of world peace when Satan will be bound, Jesus Christ will reign, and righteousness will rule. The Bible teaches that after the Tribulation, Jesus Christ will physically return to this planet. He will defeat His enemies and set up His Kingdom on earth. And He will reign on the earth for a thousand years. During this time all the promises of the Old Testament concerning the Kingdom will be fulfilled with the redeemed Jews living in their homeland in peace and prosperity.

Too often we overlook the first verses of Revelation 20. But we should long for that day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God!

The Millennium will be the time when there will be the full manifestation of the glory, the power and the will of God over this earth.
J. Vernon McGee

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
Revelation 11:4

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 11:1-6

Beginning with the classic TV series featuring fictional defense attorney Perry Mason, there has been no shortage of courtroom-based dramas. People who have never set foot in a courtroom are thoroughly versed in the procedures and principles of a trial—including the role of the character witness.

A character witness is someone called to establish the believability of a defendant. But often the opposing attorney will call a witness to discredit the reputation of the character witness, hoping to make his testimony unreliable, unbelievable, or irrelevant. If the character witness cannot be trusted, neither can his testimony. God will call two witnesses “to the stand” during the Tribulation to testify for Him—and their character will be beyond reproach. Moses and Elijah will return to the prophetic stage and bear witness to God’s message of judgment on the earth. They are as life-giving as an olive tree and light-giving as a lampstand.

The Bible is filled with witnesses to the words and works of God—witnesses who have never been proved wrong, witnesses you can trust.

Scripture is not only human witness to God, it is also divine self-testimony.
J. I. Packer

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:10

 Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

In the 1995 film that dramatized the story of the near disaster during the Apollo 13 mission, a member of NASA’s Houston team said to Gene Kranz, mission commander, “This could be the worst disaster NASA’s ever faced.” Kranz replied, “With all due respect, sir, I believe this is going to be our finest hour.” And it was.

We tend to think of victories as life’s finest hours, but the opposite is often true. Trials and tribulations call forth faith, perseverance, prayer, and creativity in ways that victory never will. Thankfully, the Church will not be on earth during the seven years of the Tribulation to come. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be increased persecution and a need for perseverance leading up to that hour. In any kind of tribulation we experience, the Christian can have his finest hour by God’s grace. The apostle Paul took pleasure in persecutions for Christ’s sake, knowing that when he was weakest was when God’s grace was strongest.

If you are experiencing trouble, ask God for the grace to make it your finest hour.

The weakness of man sets the stage for the display of God’s strength.
Janet Wise

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world.
Revelation 3:10

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 3:7-13

Years ago when an offshore oil platform in the North Sea caught fire, flames swept over the rig, and workers thought they were doomed. Just in the nick of time, however, a fleet of Scottish helicopters appeared, and all 130 workers were rescued.

We usually thank God for the blessings He gives, but we should also praise Him for the escapes He provides. Take, for example, the period of the Tribulation. If, as we believe, the Church of the Lord Jesus will be raptured prior to the time of God’s wrath, why should we study Revelation 6–18, which describe Tribulation events? Because they show us how thankful we should be for what we’re missing!

Today thank the Lord for His oversight, His protection, and even for the blessings of unanswered prayer. As Christians, we should be thankful for what God has given us by His grace and also for what He withholds by His mercy.

God’s mercy and grace give me hope—for myself and for our world.
Billy Graham

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.
Isaiah 55:6

 Recommended Reading: 1 Samuel 20:1-4

We sometimes discover that a friend had a need that he or she didn’t make known or went through a time of trouble without asking for help. And we say, “Why didn’t you say something? Why didn’t you call me? You know I would have been there.” And the answer is often, “I didn’t want to bother you. This was my problem, and I needed to solve it myself.”

Such a scenario is going to play out on earth during the coming Tribulation. There will be multitudes of people who find themselves in a fix: They will have failed to believe in Jesus Christ before the Rapture, and they will find themselves enduring the pain of the Tribulation on earth. But hopefully they will not fail to call out to God for salvation. We know that many will call upon Him, based on the multitudes “of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues” the apostle John saw in heaven—those who had “come out of the great tribulation” (Revelation 7:9, 14). Even if they lose their life because of persecution on earth, their eternal life is secure. God always delivers those He saves.

Don’t endure alone. Call out to God in your hour of need, and experience God’s comfort.

Calvary is God’s great proof that suffering in the will of God always leads to glory.
Warren Wiersbe

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise…but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
2 Peter 3:9

 Recommended Reading: 2 Peter 3:9-13

Why is it taking so long for Christ to return? In Paul’s writings, we get the impression he expected the Lord to return in his own lifetime. Every subsequent generation of Christians has expected Christ to come back during their day. We ourselves are expecting Him at any moment.

But God keeps time by His own clock, and He keeps to His own schedule. A day is like a thousand years to Him and a thousand years like a day. The Bible warns us against skeptical impatience. God is not slow in keeping His promise. He is patient with us, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

Perhaps Jesus is delaying His coming to give your loved ones a few extra days to be saved. Perhaps He’s extending another hour for you to get your own heart right with Him. That is the one great decision in life that should not be delayed.

Don’t be discouraged if Jesus tarries His coming. Use it to share the Good News and beseech people to be reconciled to God while they still can and while there’s still time.

The delays of God are not meant to discourage our faith but to develop it.
Amy Carmichael

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Revelation 22:20-21

 Recommended Reading: Revelation 22:18-21

These final verses in the Bible contain three great “lasts” of Scripture.

First, the last promise. Jesus said, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Those are the final “red letters” in Scripture, our Lord’s last words. Notice the adverb—“quickly.” He could have said gloriously, triumphantly, or surely. But He chose the word “quickly”; therefore, we’re to watch for Him expectantly. His coming will be so sudden that we’ll have no time to prepare for it, so we should live as though it were today.

Second, we have the last prayer of the Bible: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” How long since you’ve consciously prayed for the sudden return of Christ?

Then we have the final pronouncement of Scripture: “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” Until He comes, we need His grace every day and hour. His abundant grace. His sustaining grace. His all-sufficient grace. It is there, available in all its endless reserves for you today. Draw from His strengthening grace, pray for His return, and live your life today in the light of His final promise to us.

Precisely because we cannot predict the moment, we must be ready at all moments.
C. S. Lewis

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior…who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body.
Philippians 3:20-21

 Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Scottish Presbyterian Robert Baillie learned in 1684 that he would be hanged for his faith, then drawn and quartered. Referring to Philippians 3:20-21, Baillie replied: “They may hack and hew my body as they please, but I know assuredly nothing will be lost, but that all these my members shall be wonderfully gathered and made like Christ’s glorious body.”

At the resurrection, the bodies of Christians will be raised and reconstituted to resemble the risen body of our Lord. When Jesus rose on Easter, He took on a body which was the prototype of the ones we’ll have throughout eternity.

Some things about His glorified body were similar to the one He had before He died. He resembled Himself; He could eat and drink; He could be touched. Yet He could pass through walls, and He appeared in various places without traveling by recognized means. His transformed body no longer aged, nor was it subject to sickness and death.

If you’re battling aches and pains now or if you’re afflicted with illness or disease, take comfort. One day you’ll have a body like His!

Christianity is the religion of the open tomb.
Roy L. Smith

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.
2 Peter 3:12

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 24:1-14

One thought has occupied the minds of some of history’s greatest Christians: the soon return of Christ.

A little book called the Didache is among the earliest documents in Church history. There we read, “Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come.”

Cyril wrote in the fourth century: “But let us wait and look for the Lord’s coming upon the clouds from heaven. Then shall angelic trumpets sound.” Skipping to the sixteenth century, we read this by John Calvin: “We must hunger after Christ until the dawning of that great day when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom.” In the eighteenth century, John Wesley said: “The Spirit in the heart of the true believer says with earnest desire, ‘Come, Lord Jesus.’” And in the twentieth century, evangelist Billy Graham said: “Many times when I go to bed at night I think to myself that before I awaken Christ may come.”

Are you expecting Christ to come today? Perhaps this hour? “Be ready,” Jesus said, “for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44). Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

We are not just looking for something to happen, we are looking for Someone to come!
Vance Havner

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Timothy 3:13

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 24:23-28

In the early 1800s, speculation boiled over as to the exact day and year when Christ would return, and among the speculators was William Miller of New York. He announced that according to his careful calculations Christ would return to earth on October 22, 1844. When that morning dawned, a sense of foreboding fell over New England. People gathered on mountaintops and in churches. Normal activities ceased as everyone awaited the sudden rending of the skies and the end of the world.

When the day passed uneventfully, many Christians grew disillusioned. The unsaved became cynical, and the following years saw a decline in conversions. The event became known as “The Great Disappointment.”

It was forgotten that Christ warned against setting dates for His return (Matthew 24:36). The Bible is filled with rich, true, accurate prophecies, but we must be discerning as we study—and especially as we listen to the theories and teachings of others. There are many false and mistaken Bible teachers in the world today. Ask God for a wise heart and be like the saints in Berea who studied the Scriptures daily “to find out whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11).

The chief means for attaining wisdom…are the holy Scriptures, and prayer.
John Newton

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Romans 5:10

 Recommended Reading: Colossians 1:21-22

“Luv” is a playful, whimsical expression of sentiment. One would never luv one’s enemy or express unconditional luv. One wouldn’t luv someone who didn’t luv one back.

That sets luv apart from the true, biblical meaning of love in Scripture. God’s love—expressed by the Greek word agape—is unconditional love. It is the kind of love that rises above feelings of warmth or affection; it is love based on an act of the will that seeks the best outcome for others. It is a love so strong that it can be expressed toward an enemy (Matthew 5:43-47). In fact, the apostle Paul refers to us as enemies of God who were nonetheless reconciled to God because of His great love for us. We didn’t deserve God’s love, but God so loved us that He sent His Son to reunite us to Himself. That is the kind of love we are to have for one another (Romans 12:10).

Look for opportunities today to love unconditionally—in spite of how others treat you.

Religion that does not glow with love is unsatisfactory.
Richard Glover

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1

 Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 8:1-3

Consider a cobbler who is so busy making shoes for other people that his own children go barefooted. That might speak to pride, selfish ambition, or negligence by the father. At the very least, it shows a lack of love for his children. When love is absent, life is unbalanced.

The apostle Paul began his chapter on love with illustrations of “ministry” replacing love in the church. He cites several commendable activities: using the gift of tongues or prophecy, having spiritual knowledge and faith, being generous to the poor, and dying for the sake of Christ (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). Then he says that if any, or all, of these ministries are performed without love—that is, for carnal or self-promoting reasons—then the ministries themselves are worthless. Better not to undertake such ministries at all than to undertake them without the motivation and practice of love.

Consider this paraphrase of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10:31: “Whatever you do, do it in the Spirit of love.” Clothe your words and deeds today with a cloak of true love.

Every Christian would agree that a man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God.
C. S. Lewis

https://www.davidjeremiah.org