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

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Romans 5:5

 Recommended Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Have you heard of the Great Man-Made River project? It’s the world’s largest irrigation project, a network of pipes and aqueducts that supplies fresh water across Libya. There are vast aquifers under the Sahara desert—enough water to last a thousand years, according to some estimates. Others aren’t so sure how long the supply will last, but this incredible engineering feat keeps the faucets of Libya running.

Have you heard of the great God-Made River project? It’s the outpouring of love, channeled into our heart by the Holy Spirit. When we accept Christ as Savior, God sends us the Holy Spirit—His love in us. This enables us to love others through situations we would have found impossible before. Give a prayer of thanks to God that He chose to send His love into us through the Holy Spirit, and ask Him to enable you to show others the love of Christ in you.

The reality of God’s love in a believer’s heart gives the assurance, even the guarantee, that the believer’s hope in God and His promise of glory is not misplaced and will not fail.
John A. Witmer

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

 Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

We all fail from time to time, even the biblical heroes did. The psalmist said, “My heart pants, my strength fails” (Psalm 38:10). Jeremiah wrote, “My eyes fail with tears” (Lamentations 2:11).

But not God! He never fails! Joshua 21:45 says, “Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken.” Psalm 89:33 says, “My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, nor allow My faithfulness to fail.” Isaiah 42:4 says the Lord “will not fail nor be discouraged, till He has established justice in the earth.” Lamentations 3:22 says, “His compassions fail not.”

His eternal existence cannot fail. We read in Hebrews 1:12 that even the heavens will be folded up like a garment, but as for God: “Your years will not fail.”

Zephaniah 3:5 says plainly: “The Lord is righteous…. He never fails.”

That’s why 1 Corinthians 13:8 says, “Love never fails.” We can be confident that love never fails because God never fails and God is love. Give thanks that we can always count on the love of God to see us through all things.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, in Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail.
Robert Grant

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head…. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid.
Psalm 3:3-6

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 3

King David’s darkest days were when he fled Jerusalem, pursued by his own army, which had come under the control of his rebellious son Absalom. David’s heart was broken by family problems, and his crown was threatened by national rebellion. In this setting, he wrote Psalm 3: “Lord, how they have increased who trouble me!” (verse 1)

But David had evidently been reading Genesis 15:1, where the Lord told Abraham, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield.” David claimed that concept for himself, visualizing his God as a shield that surrounded him in all directions like a globe of grace. Therefore, he could lay down and go to sleep, unafraid. He knew God loved him.

The Bible says love “hopes all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

When a difficulty arises, remember we can remain hopeful because our loving God is a shield around us. There is no situation we cannot face with His divine love around and within us.

The Psalms are inexhaustible, and deserve to be read, said, sung, chanted, whispered, learned by heart, and even shouted from the rooftops.
N. T. Wright

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And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28

 Recommended Reading: Romans 8:35-39

Everything we know about love stems from God. The apostle John wrote that “God is love” and that “we love [God] because He first loved us” (1 John 4:8, 16, 19). Our love for God, as well as our love for others, is a response to the God of love who first loved us. As we abide in God’s love, we respond by obeying His command to love others (John 15:10).

Psalm 91 is a testament to God’s loving protection for those who love Him: “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him” (verse 14). When we get to the New Testament, we find Paul writing that everything works for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28). And in the same chapter (a mirror of Psalm 91), Paul lists all the things in life that might separate us from God’s love and says none of them will (Romans 8:35-39)!

To be loved unconditionally—by God or by others—is a safe harbor. Dwell in God’s love today so you are equipped to love others.

We are called upon to reflect the love of God as much in trial as in tranquility.
John Blanchard

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

[Love] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth.
1 Corinthians 13:6

 Recommended Reading: Proverbs 18:8; 26:20

“Gossip” goes back to the Old English godsibb—a godfather, godmother, or baptismal sponsor. It evolved to refer to anyone who was a close friend, associate, or relative—that is, a person with whom one talks about intimate matters. The idea of “gossip” gradually became that of “idle talk”—the words themselves or the person who speaks them.

Proverbs has much to say about idle talk and those who engage in it. Sin is potential in a multitude of words; the one who restrains his speech is wise (Proverbs 10:19). A gossip’s words are like delectable sweets, going down deep in a person (Proverbs 18:8). The best way to put out a fire is to remove the wood; the best way to stop strife is to remove the gossip (Proverbs 26:20). In a neutral sense, gossip is just words between people—positive or negative words. But biblically, gossip is always viewed in a negative light. Gossip is kept alive by spreading rumors and recounting unsavory news that should remain private. Gossip is the opposite of “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).

Love does not delight in spreading rumors of dark deeds. Love participates only in what edifies and honors others.

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
Unknown

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

 [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:7

 Recommended Reading: Hebrews 12:14-15

Is it possible to “forgive and forget”? We can choose to forgive, but can we choose to forget? Every time we tell ourselves to forget about an offense we have suffered, it refreshes the emotion of that painful event.

It is possible to forgive and not forget an offense, though in time the offense can become a distant memory. The danger in not forgiving is that forgetting becomes impossible. If we don’t forgive, we replay the offense over and over, keeping it alive in our mind as if it happens afresh every day. Then resentment sets in—and resentment gradually transitions into bitterness, a source of trouble and defilement (Hebrews 12:15). So what do we do? First, we choose to forgive when we are hurt. Then we love by bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring all things (1 Corinthians 13:7). We bear the offense and believe and hope that it will never happen again. We begin each day with a clean slate, keeping “no record of wrongs” (1 Corinthians 13:5, NIV).

If you have been hurt, first forgive, then love. Live as if you have no memory of the wrong suffered.

Forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future.
Lewis B. Smedes

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 18:21-22

Love is at the heart of everything—even forgiveness. But not because forgiveness is a loving thing to do (though it is). But because it is a sacrificial thing to do. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says that “love suffers long” (verse 4), which is usually a way of saying that love is patient. But when the need for forgiveness comes often, it can result in longsuffering—patiently enduring the offense that necessitates forgiveness no matter how often it arises.

When Peter asked Jesus how many times he was required to forgive the one who offended him—and suggested seven times would suffice—Jesus surprised him with a different number: seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). Jesus didn’t mean that 490 was the limit; He was suggesting that we are to forgive an infinite number of times. We are to forgive without counting. We wonder if Paul had this teaching in mind when he exhorted the Ephesians to forgive each other “as God in Christ forgave you.”

God puts no limit on the number of times He is willing to forgive us. Neither should we limit our forgiveness for others.

If you are suffering from a bad man’s injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men.
Augustine

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Colossians 3:13, NIV

 Recommended Reading: Colossians 3:12-17

If you’re having trouble getting over an insult, hurt, or injustice, here are two verses that may help. In 1 Corinthians 13:5, we’re told that love “keeps no record of wrongs” (NIV). We have to take that list of grievances, give it to the Lord, then burn it in the fire and turn it to ash, putting it behind us.

Isaiah 43:18-19 contains this counsel: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (NIV).

If someone has done you wrong, your anger might lead you to want to seek revenge. Refusing to forgive another for their transgression can keep you bound by this anger. Choose today to forgive in the power of the Lord who has forgiven you, and free yourself from this sort of anger addiction.

Burn the list of past grievances, and go into the future knowing God is doing a new thing in your life.

Divine love is kind even when misunderstood. Love knows how to take sorrow and heartache victoriously.
George Sweeting

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.
Ephesians 4:26

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 4

What emotion motivated William Wilberforce to campaign tirelessly against England’s participation in the African slave trade? Or, in the same vein, what propelled Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to protest against racial injustice in the United States? Even more importantly, how was Jesus feeling emotionally when He cleared the merchants and money changers from the temple in Jerusalem?

We could say that anger was the motivating emotion—but not sinful anger. Anger in itself is not sinful; it is one of many human emotions that can lead to good or evil outcomes. Anger at injustice can lead to reforms that result in justice or to destructive behaviors that fuel further negative outcomes. The psalmist David warned against being angry in a sinful way. He advised meditation and stillness to sort through the emotion (Psalm 4:4). And the apostle Paul quoted David’s words with advice on relationships: be angry but don’t sin by dwelling indefinitely on your anger. Resolve your anger by the end of the day.

When you feel angry, ask yourself: Is my anger self-centered or will it motivate me to help others? Keeping anger on a short leash will help you decide.

When anger is present, look for the pain.
R. C. Sproul

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:4

 Recommended Reading: Romans 14:17-19

As the Gospel spread from Jerusalem into the world of the Gentiles, cultural issues arose that required a spiritual response. For instance, in the food markets of large cities like Corinth and Rome, meat would be sold that was leftover from sacrifices in pagan temples. In other words, it was meat that had been offered to idols. The question arose as to whether Christians could eat that meat without defiling their conscience.

Paul wrote two lengthy passages addressing this issue in 1 Corinthians 10:14–11:1 and Romans 14:1-23. In short, he said that there was no harm in eating meat from pagan temples, but he left the decision up to the individual. More importantly, he cautioned against letting one’s own conscience be a standard of judgment against others. He said that peace in the church and mutual edification were most important (Romans 14:19). As always, love was to be the guide: “Love…does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5).

In all our relationships—home, work, church—we are to love one another, not judge one another. Pursue peace and edification wherever you go today.

Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
1 Timothy 6:6

 Recommended Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-10

Leaders in various religious movements are often discovered to be living lavish lifestyles: mansions, private jets, expensive belongings, and large salaries. But this is not a modern phenomenon. In the apostle Paul’s day, there were traveling teachers and philosophers who demanded payments before they would dispense their “wisdom.” In fact, some of them criticized Paul because he refused to take payments for his ministry (2 Corinthians 11).

When Paul wrote to the young pastor Timothy, he warned him to have nothing to do with any such teachers who thought that “godliness is a means of gain” (1 Timothy 6:5). Then he reminded Timothy that godliness can be a source of gain if it is coupled with one thing: contentment (1 Timothy 6:6). Paul wrote a long section of his epistle on the subject of riches and contentment and the spiritual gain that comes from finding wealth in Christ, not in the things of this world. Money is not the problem; the love of money is (1 Timothy 6:10). To be content frees us to be “rich in good works” and to lay a foundation for the age to come (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

Are you content in Christ today? In Him we have all we will ever need.

Deep, contented joy comes from a place of complete security and confidence [in God].
Charles Swindoll

https://www.davidjeremiah.org

Add to your faith…brotherly kindness.
2 Peter 1:5, 7

 Recommended Reading: 2 Peter 1:5-8

Earlier this year two police offers in Oklahoma received a report of someone yelling for help. They responded to the call and tracked the voice. When they came upon the distressed individual, they found not a human but a goat. Its cry sounded like “Help!” The animal had become separated from its mate, and the officers kindly guided it back to its companion.¹

If we listen carefully nowadays, we can hear cries for help coming from many different places. People need a kind shoulder to lean on, a kind friend to talk with, a kind word to encourage them, or some help kindly given.

Showing kindness to others is something we as Christians simply do! Proverbs 19:22 says, “What is desired in a man is kindness.” And Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.”

Kindness is among the items we call the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). Praise God today that the kindness of Jesus is available for you to duplicate in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Kindness has been called the small coin of love.
J. R. Miller

1. Alex Portée, “Oklahoma Police Responded to a Cry for ‘Help.’ It Turned Out to Be a Goat,” Today, May 11, 2023.

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You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19:18

 Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 13

If you went through the Bible and drew a circle around every occurrence of the word love, you’d end up with more than 500 circles. It first appears in Genesis 22:2 to describe Abraham’s love for his son Isaac. You’ll have 25 circles in the book of Deuteronomy, 44 in Psalms, and 57 in John’s Gospel. One chapter in the Bible is called the Love Chapter (1 Corinthians 13), and the last reference to love in the Bible is in Revelation 22, although there the word is used in a negative sense, to condemn anyone who “loves and practices a lie” (verse 15).

Love is God’s priority, and it should be ours as well. Nothing is harder than to give up a grudge, overlook an insult, or cast out a root of bitterness from our hearts. But that is God’s way and His will, and we can accomplish those things through His strength and His Spirit.

Look for a way to love someone well today, maybe even someone you’ve recently failed to love very well!

When a human act does not conform to the standard of love, then it is not right, nor good, nor perfect.
Thomas Aquinas

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O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.
Psalm 30:2

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 41:1-3

God revealed Himself to His people Israel by a series of covenant names, one of which was Jehovah Rophe—“the Lord who heals.” Having redeemed His people from Egypt, God told them if they would walk in His statutes they would be spared from the diseases He brought on the Egyptians—“For I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26).

Conversely, if Israel failed to walk in obedience to God, they would suffer the diseases of Egypt and more (Deuteronomy 28:60-61). Part of the covenant expectations that Israel had of God was that He would forgive all their sins and heal all their diseases (Psalm 103:2-3). The coming Messiah would be “bruised for our iniquities” and we would be “healed” by His “stripes” (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24). Healing, or salvation, was considered to be inclusive of both body and soul. So it is no surprise that we find the psalmist David praying for healing in Psalm 30. And it should likewise be no surprise that God answered his prayer (verse 2).

From your head to your toes, if you are in need of wholeness and good health, ask the Lord who heals you. 

Any sinner may be healed if he will only come to Christ. 
J. C. Ryle

https://www.davidjeremiah.org