New studies show that cell phones, amidst other technologies with intentions of furthering social structure and networking, are altering social behavior in ways that would seem counterintuitive. Friends remain on their phones when they are together. Answering a ringing phone at dinner or in a meeting is less likely to be viewed as an interruption (by the answerer) than it was even five years ago. Phones created with the intention of fostering communication now seem to be furthering qualities of poor communication—or in some cases no communication at all. 

 One major company has recently introduced what it refers to an added functionality for their subscribers. A service they are calling “Escape-A-Date” allows users to arrange for their cell phone to ring at a specified time. The call then guides the answerer through an automated “escape script” that allows the individual to talk his or her way out of being with the gullible person across the table any longer. The evening comes to an abrupt end as half of the party is seemingly in need of rushing off to tend to business. If the date is going well, the courtesy call is simply not answered. 

 This added functionality rivals its non-automated partners in crime, “alibi clubs,” in which online members enlist one another to create an alibi. One only has to post a request for an alibi, which is then answered and acted out to maintain a façade of innocence. Complete strangers call each other’s spouses, bosses, or children, explaining the delay, lessening the disappointment, providing an excuse that allows the one in trouble to go free. Even the most ridiculous scenarios need only the compassion of a fellow stranger to keep the lines of communication “open.”

 There is an ancient phrase of the psalmist that leaps out at me as I read of these emerging functionalities that come into our lives and wreck havoc on genuine functionality. Such counterproductive fruit springing up all around us is something like the “grass on a rooftop” the psalmist describes. In psalm 129, the writer is referring to the deceptive or the wicked, those who work against God’s kingdom. Crying out to God he asks that they be like “grass on a rooftop.”(1)

 At first glance it seems at best an odd request. But in the crevices of the flat roofs of Eastern houses grass indeed springs up, seeming almost to boast about its heightened position in rebellious places. Like the tufts of grass that seem to tirelessly fight back to own a place in the cracks of our sidewalks and driveways, grass on the rooftop stubbornly declares its existence and demands attention, lest the roof itself be damaged. Still, why would anyone ask God to make his enemies like the annoying grass with which he unremittingly fights each year? The conclusions seem almost disheartening. Will the corruption and counterproduction that endlessly springs forth in the crevices of society ever cease? Will the deception and wickedness that grows like weeds not be stopped?   

The psalmist’s colorful description reminds us that, for now, it will likely not be stopped. But in the image of grass upon a roof the psalmist wisely elicits us to see—and to pray—these enemies and their schemes that threaten in a less glamorous light. “May they be as useless as grass on a rooftop, turning yellow when only half grown, ignored by the harvester, despised by the binder” (Psalm 129:6-7). 

 The weeds of certain corruption will remain, but like grass on a rooftop it will never be grass as it was intended, or even as it might hope. Communication that is spoken through alibi clubs and escape scripts is not communication and eventually will bear its counterproductive fruit. Grass on a rooftop cannot fill the reapers’ hands, nor can it fill the gatherers’ arms. It may boast in its elevated position and rebellious standing, but having shallow roots and nowhere to grow, it cannot remain standing for long. It bears no fulfillment, nothing to cut or to carry, nothing for the hand to grasp, nothing that will last. 

 In the words of the Count of Monte Cristo, weo therefore “wait and hope.” “For until the day comes when God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these words: Wait and hope.” The Christian waits for the coming kingdom in its fullness and takes hope in its signs in our midst today. And when we pray, we pray that those who work against the kingdom of God in whatever capacity shall be like grass on a rooftop, until the day when weeds and tears shall be no more.  

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

 (1) Psalm 129:6.

 Morning “Brethren, pray for us.” / 1 Thessalonians 5:25

 This one morning in the year we reserved to refresh the reader’s memory upon

the subject of prayer for ministers, and we do most earnestly implore every

Christian household to grant the fervent request of the text first uttered by

an apostle and now repeated by us. Brethren, our work is solemnly momentous,

involving weal or woe to thousands; we treat with souls for God on eternal

business, and our word is either a savour of life unto life, or of death unto

death. A very heavy responsibility rests upon us, and it will be no small

mercy if at the last we be found clear of the blood of all men. As officers in

Christ’s army, we are the especial mark of the enmity of men and devils; they

watch for our halting, and labour to take us by the heels. Our sacred calling

involves us in temptations from which you are exempt, above all it too often

draws us away from our personal enjoyment of truth into a ministerial and

official consideration of it. We meet with many knotty cases, and our wits are

at a non plus; we observe very sad backslidings, and our hearts are wounded;

we see millions perishing, and our spirits sink. We wish to profit you by our

preaching; we desire to be blest to your children; we long to be useful both

to saints and sinners; therefore, dear friends, intercede for us with our God.

Miserable men are we if we miss the aid of your prayers, but happy are we if

we live in your supplications. You do not look to us but to our Master for

spiritual blessings, and yet how many times has He given those blessings

through His ministers; ask then, again and again, that we may be the earthen

vessels into which the Lord may put the treasure of the gospel. We, the whole

company of missionaries, ministers, city missionaries, and students, do in the

name of Jesus beseech you

 “Brethren, pray for us.”

Evening “When I passed by thee, I said unto thee, Live.” / Ezekiel 16:6

 Saved one, consider gratefully this mandate of mercy. Note that this fiat of

God is majestic. In our text, we perceive a sinner with nothing in him but

sin, expecting nothing but wrath; but the eternal Lord passes by in his glory;

he looks, he pauses, and he pronounces the solitary but royal word, “Live.”

There speaks a God. Who but he could venture thus to deal with life and

dispense it with a single syllable? Again, this fiat is manifold. When he

saith “Live,” it includes many things. Here is judicial life. The sinner is

ready to be condemned, but the mighty One saith, “Live,” and he rises pardoned

and absolved. It is spiritual life. We knew not Jesus–our eyes could not see

Christ, our ears could not hear his voice–Jehovah said “Live,” and we were

quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. Moreover, it includes

glory-life, which is the perfection of spiritual life. “I said unto thee,

Live:” and that word rolls on through all the years of time till death comes,

and in the midst of the shadows of death, the Lord’s voice is still heard,

“Live!” In the morning of the resurrection it is that self-same voice which is

echoed by the arch-angel, “Live,” and as holy spirits rise to heaven to be

blest forever in the glory of their God, it is in the power of this same word,

“Live.” Note again, that it is an irresistible mandate. Saul of Tarsus is on

the road to Damascus to arrest the saints of the living God. A voice is heard

from heaven and a light is seen above the brightness of the sun, and Saul is

crying out, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” This mandate is a mandate of

free grace. When sinners are saved, it is only and solely because God will do

it to magnify his free, unpurchased, unsought grace. Christians, see your

position, debtors to grace; show your gratitude by earnest, Christlike lives,

and as God has bidden you live, see to it that you live in earnest.

How many are my iniquities and my sins?  Job 13:23 

 Have you ever really weighed and considered how great the sin of God’s people is? Think how heinous is your own transgression, and you will find that not only does a sin here and there tower up like an alp, but that your iniquities are heaped upon each other, as in the old fable of the giants who piled Pelian upon Ossa,1 mountain upon mountain. What an aggregate of sin there is in the life of one of the most sanctified of God’s children! Attempt to multiply this, the sin of one only, by the multitude of the redeemed, “a great multitude that no one could number,”2 and you will have some conception of the great mass of the guilt of the people for whom Jesus shed His blood. But we arrive at a more adequate idea of the magnitude of sin by the greatness of the remedy provided.

It is the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only and well-beloved Son. God’s Son! Angels cast their crowns before Him! All the choral symphonies of heaven surround His glorious throne. “God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”3 And yet He takes upon Himself the form of a servant and is scourged and pierced, bruised and torn, and at last slain; nothing but the blood of the incarnate Son of God could make atonement for our offenses.

No human mind can adequately estimate the infinite value of the divine sacrifice, for although the sin of God’s people is great, the atonement that takes it away is immeasurably greater. Therefore, even when sin rolls in like a flood, and the remembrance of the past is bitter, the believer can still stand before the blazing throne of the great and holy God and cry, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised.”4 While the recollection of the believer’s sin fills him with shame and sorrow, its very darkness serves to show the brightness of mercy; guilt is the dark night in which the fair star of divine love shines with serene splendor.

1The giant sons of Iphimedia who tried to reach Olympus by piling Mt. Pelian on Mt. Ossa (The Odyssey).

2Revelation 7:9 3Romans 9:5 4Romans 8:34

Family Reading Plan Jeremiah 2Matthew 16

God predestined us to grow into His likeness, but this doesn’t happen at the moment we are saved. While we are redeemed by the Savior’s precious blood and immediately have a new heart, our transformation is a lifelong process.

The Holy Spirit enables this journey. Growth is impossible without Him, regardless of our efforts. Yet we can welcome or hinder His transforming hand.

One way we give God willing access to our lives is by obeying this mandate in Romans 12:2: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

Everyone chooses either a biblical or worldly philosophy as his or her source of truth–and that choice shapes the mind and spirit. Therefore, the Lord tells us to immerse our mind in Scripture, allowing Him to mold us into His beautiful image.

The Bible story about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness illustrates this principle. After saving them from Pharaoh’s abuse, God did not bring them immediately to the Promised Land. The Lord knew doing so would bring sinful ways with them. Instead, He led them to the wilderness and gave the Ten Commandments. Only after they learned to obey and turn to almighty God were they ready for the next step.

The process of sanctification isn’t always pleasant. In fact, it’s often painful for us, just as it was for the Israelites. In God’s amazing wisdom and love, however, He knows what we need to leave our old ways that lead to death. And He builds new character in us–full of life and joy.

 There is a vacuum at the heart of our culture. As Saul Bellow argued in his 1976 Noble Laureate lecture, “The intelligent public is waiting to hear from art what it does not hear from theology, philosophy, and social theory and what it cannot hear from pure science: a broader, fuller, more coherent, more comprehensive account of what we human beings are, who we are, and what this life is for. If writers do not come into the center, it will not be because the center is pre-empted; it is not.” Very simply stated, there is no center to hold things together. Or to put it differently, there is no over-arching story to life by which all the particulars can be interpreted. The pursuit of knowledge without knowing who we are or why we exist, combined with a war on our imaginations by our entertainment industry, leaves us at the mercy of power with no morality. May I illustrate this?

 On many different occasions while driving and listening to music, every now and then a piece comes on that I find either unmusical or jarring. I usually shut the radio off. But then one day I was taken to see a play called The Phantom of the Opera. Suddenly I realized that some of the music I had not quite enjoyed was from this play. I was amazed at the difference knowing the story made, whenever I heard the music subsequently. In fact the music in some portions is utterly magnificent. The love songs, the discourses, yes, even the arguments made sense when you know the story. Life needs a story for one to understand the details. Life needs to hold together at the center if we are to reach to distant horizons. But our culture owns neither a story, nor holds at the center.

 If such is the reality of our culture, where does that leave us? The challenge, as I see it, is this: How do you connect with a generation that hears with its eyes and thinks with its feelings? 

 Ironically, postmodernism may be one of the most opportune thought patterns because it has cleared the playing field.  All disciplines have lost their “final authority.” The hopes that modernity had brought, the triumph of “Reason” and “Science,” which many thought would bring the utopia, have failed in almost every respect. With all of our material gains, there is still a hunger for the spiritual. In virtually every part of the world, students linger long after every session to talk and plead for answers to their barren lives. All the education one gets does not diminish that search for inner coherence and a storyline for one’s own life.  

 As much as postmodernism can confuse language and definitions, there is a yearning that the postmodernist’s cavalier attitude does not weaken. Moreover, there is indeed a story and one who stands at the center who answers this yearning. Only in the gospel message that culminates in worship is there coherence—which in turn brings coherence within the community of believers, where both individuality and community are affirmed. The worship of the living God is what ultimately binds the various inclinations of the heart and gives them focus. A worshipping community in spirit and in truth binds the diversity of our culture, the diversity of our education, the diversity of our backgrounds, and brings us together into a corporate expression of worship.  

 With all that the cultural terrain presents to us, the injunction that “to find one’s self, one must lose one’s self,” contains a truth any seeker of self-fulfillment needs to grasp. Apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, I know of no other hope. The songwriter said it simply: We’ve a story to tell to the nations. The last stanza of that great hymn says:

 We’ve a Savior to show to the nations
Who the path of sorrow hath trod,
That all of the world’s great peoples
Might come to the truth of God.
For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noon-day bright,
And Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth,
The kingdom of love and light.

 Ravi Zacharias is founder and chairman of the board of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

Morning   “Whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of

evil.”  Proverbs 1:33

 Divine love is rendered conspicuous when it shines in the midst of judgments.

Fair is that lone star which smiles through the rifts of the thunder clouds;

bright is the oasis which blooms in the wilderness of sand; so fair and so

bright is love in the midst of wrath. When the Israelites provoked the Most High

by their continued idolatry, he punished them by withholding both dew and rain,

so that their land was visited by a sore famine; but while he did this, he took

care that his own chosen ones should be secure. If all other brooks are dry, yet

shall there be one reserved for Elijah; and when that fails, God shall still

preserve for him a place of sustenance; nay, not only so, the Lord had

 not simply one “Elijah,” but he had a remnant according to the election of

grace, who were hidden by fifties in a cave, and though the whole land was

subject to famine, yet these fifties in the cave were fed, and fed from Ahab’s

table too by His faithful, God-fearing steward, Obadiah. Let us from this draw

the inference, that come what may, God’s people are safe. Let convulsions shake

the solid earth, let the skies themselves be rent in twain, yet amid the wreck

of worlds the believer shall be as secure as in the calmest hour of rest. If God

cannot save his people under heaven, he will save them in heaven. If the world

becomes too hot to hold them, then heaven shall be the place of their

 reception and their safety. Be ye then confident, when ye hear of wars, and

rumours of wars. Let no agitation distress you, but be quiet from fear of evil.

Whatsoever cometh upon the earth, you, beneath the broad wings of Jehovah, shall

be secure. Stay yourself upon his promise; rest in his faithfulness, and bid

defiance to the blackest future, for there is nothing in it direful for you.

Your sole concern should be to show forth to the world the blessedness of

hearkening to the voice of wisdom.

Evening   “How many are mine iniquities and sins?”  Job 13:23

 Have you ever really weighed and considered how great the sin of God’s people

is? Think how heinous is your own transgression, and you will find that not only

does a sin here and there tower up like an alp, but that your iniquities are

heaped upon each other, as in the old fable of the giants who piled Pelion upon

Ossa, mountain upon mountain. What an aggregate of sin there is in the life of

one of the most sanctified of God’s children! Attempt to multiply this, the sin

of one only, by the multitude of the redeemed, “a number which no man can

number,” and you will have some conception of the great mass of the guilt of the

people for whom Jesus shed his blood. But we arrive at a more

 adequate idea of the magnitude of sin by the greatness of the remedy provided.

It is the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only and well-beloved Son. God’s Son!

Angels cast their crowns before him! All the choral symphonies of heaven

surround his glorious throne. “God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” And yet he

takes upon himself the form of a servant, and is scourged and pierced, bruised

and torn, and at last slain; since nothing but the blood of the incarnate Son of

God could make atonement for our offences. No human mind can adequately estimate

the infinite value of the divine sacrifice, for great as is the sin of God’s

people, the atonement which takes it away is immeasurably greater.

 Therefore, the believer, even when sin rolls like a black flood, and the

remembrance of the past is bitter, can yet stand before the blazing throne of

the great and holy God, and cry, “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that

died; yea rather, that hath risen again.” While the recollection of his sin

fills him with shame and sorrow, he at the same time makes it a foil to show the

brightness of mercy–guilt is the dark night in which the fair star of divine

love shines with serene splendour.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.   Isaiah 26:4 

 Seeing that we have such a God to trust, let us rest upon Him with all our weight; let us resolutely drive out all unbelief and endeavor to get rid of doubts and fears, which spoil our comfort, since there is no excuse for fear when God is the foundation of our trust. A loving parent would be sorely grieved if his child could not trust him; and how ungenerous, how unkind is our conduct when we put so little confidence in our heavenly Father, who has never failed us and who never will.

It would be good if doubting was banished from the household of God; but it is to be feared that old Unbelief is as nimble today as when the psalmist asked, “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?”1 David had not tested the mighty sword of the giant Goliath for long, and yet he said, “There is none like that.”2 He had tried it once in the hour of his youthful victory, and it had proved itself to be of the right metal, and therefore he praised it ever afterwards.

Even so should we speak well of our God; there is none like unto Him in the heaven above or the earth beneath. “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?”3 There is no rock like the rock of Jacob, our enemies themselves being judges. So far from tolerating doubts to live in our hearts, we will take the whole detestable crew, as Elijah did the prophets of Baal, and slay them over the brook; and for a stream to kill them at, we will select the sacred torrent that flows from our Savior’s wounded side. We have been in many trials, but we have never yet been placed where we could not find in our God all that we needed. Let us then be encouraged to trust in the Lord forever, assured that His ever-lasting strength will be, as it has been, our deliverance and comfort.

1Psalm 77:7 21 Samuel 21:9 3Isaiah 46:5

Family Reading Plan   Jeremiah 1  Matthew 15

Throughout this day, Americans everywhere will celebrate freedom, as well they should. It’s one of the defining principles of their nation. Yet one might ask, Of those celebrating freedom, how many are truly experiencing it?

Certainly many men and women are living the American dream. They enjoy well-paying careers and wonderful homes, thanks in large part to political liberty. But meanwhile, their “pursuit of happiness” has yet to be satisfied. The reason is that lots of people remain prisoners internally, despite their apparent success. They are bound to anxiety and depression, or a fear of losing what they’ve worked hard to possess. However liberating circumstances seem externally, we eventually learn that freedom must be realized within. But how?

The answer is Jesus Christ. Isaiah 61:1 prophesied a key aspect of Jesus’ ministry, which continues to this day: He has come to heal the brokenhearted and set captives free. When we trust Him as Savior, the chains that keep us from joy are broken. We are liberated from lies that have been programmed in our minds from an early age, and we begin to see things from God’s point of view. Then we discover that our needs, desires, and total well-being rest securely in the arms of a loving heavenly Father.

Are you feeling the weight of anxiety or anger? Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, and remember the scriptural promise: “Now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). The day you trust in Him is the day He delivers you from fear and opens your eyes to who you truly are.

 The well-read collection of essays written by C.S. Lewis and compiled posthumously in the book God in the Dock was originally published in England under a different title. The book was titled Undeceptions.

 “Undeception” was the word Lewis used to describe a startling experience of awareness—moments when deception is uncovered and the cause is seen clearly from within, moments when blind spots are replaced with reality. He was taken with these awakenings or undeceptions in many of the characters of Jane Austen. In much of Austen’s work, he observes, “[T]he undeception…is the very pivot or watershed of the story.”(1)

 Lewis would unquestionably state the same of our own stories. “Undeception” was no doubt a word that fittingly described his startling experience of being brought into the kingdom of God kicking and screaming, the most reluctant convert in all England. It was that experience through which he saw himself, the world, and its creator for the rest of his life.

 Encountering God, many note the recognizing of blind spots. “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it” woke Jacob to his own deception. He didn’t wake up declaring that the God who was once absent had now appeared. He said, “God was here all along and I was the one who didn’t see it.” A friend of mine refers to pivotal encounters like Jacob’s dream as “thin spots”—moments in life where the nearness of God is nearly palpable. Other theologians describe such encounters as openings or baptisms, windows or transcendence. Still others give testimonies similar to the man born blind in ancient Jerusalem. Forced to explain to the Pharisees the unexplainable moment he had with Jesus, he mustered the only words he could think to describe it: “Only one thing I do know. I was blind but now I see” (John 9:25).

 In his book Grace Abounding, John Bunyan describes a day when he was inexplicably released from doubt and despair. While passing through a field, troubled in conscience and fearing that all was not right, the sentence fell upon his soul: “Thy righteousness is in heaven.”(2) Writes Bunyan, “I thought I saw with the eyes of my soul Jesus Christ at God’s right hand. There was my righteousness. Wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me that I lacked his righteousness, for that was ever before Him. Moreover, I saw that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor my bad frame that made it worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself.”(3) 

 Bunyan’s encounter was for him an experience of undeception. His story is also one more example of a soul not seeking experiences of self-awareness or even experiences with God, but one seeking the Lord, his kingdom, and his holiness, and in seeking finding it all.

 Of course, this is not to be overlooked or seen as easy or even painless. A person that is willing to put even his or her vision of life into God’s hands, watching as he prepares a fearful concoction of spit and mud, is a soul that seeks God with courage. Self-deception is a difficult thing to own up to, and far too often it is easier to see the deception in others than it is to see in ourselves. The blinders we walk with through life, God in his mercy must remove. Opening our reluctant eyes, the Father shows us with his radiance the darkness we’ve been squinting in, even as God prepares us to see the great and unsearchable.  

 In Bunyan and in Lewis, in the lives of Christians throughout history, the defining characteristic of their encounters with God was their willingness (even reluctant willingness) to see the deceptions within themselves and to bring these deceptions back to the feet of the one who made them visible. God’s love and mercy are to our lives the shining undeceptions that unwearyingly move us to see.    

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

(1) C.S. Lewis, Selected Literary Essays, “A Note on Jane Austen” Ed. Walter Hooper (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979), 178.
(2) See Psalm 85:11b.
(3) John Bunyan, Grace Abounding (New Kensington: Whitaker House, 1993), 135.

Morning “Called to be saints.” Romans 1:7

 We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were “saints” in a

more especial manner than the other children of God. All are “saints” whom God

has called by His grace, and sanctified by His Spirit; but we are apt to look

upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the same

weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of

this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to

mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honours him in his

service, the more also doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day.

The fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him

remarkably  like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked with him, we should

have said, “We find that his experience and ours are much the same. He is more

faithful, more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has the selfsame

trials to endure. Nay, in some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves.”

Do not, then, look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from

infirmities or sins; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which

will almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We are

“called to be saints” by that same voice which constrained them to their high

vocation. It is a Christian’s duty to force his way into the inner circle

 of saintship; and if these saints were superior to us in their attainments, as

they certainly were, let us follow them; let us emulate their ardour and

holiness. We have the same light that they had, the same grace is accessible to

us, and why should we rest satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly

character? They lived with Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like

Jesus. Let us live by the same Spirit as they did, “looking unto Jesus,” and our

saintship will soon be apparent.

Evening “Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:4

Seeing that we have such a God to trust to, let us rest upon him with all our

weight; let us resolutely drive out all unbelief, and endeavour to get rid of

doubts and fears, which so much mar our comfort; since there is no excuse for

fear where God is the foundation of our trust. A loving parent would be sorely

grieved if his child could not trust him; and how ungenerous, how unkind is our

conduct when we put so little confidence in our heavenly Father who has never

failed us, and who never will. It were well if doubting were banished from the

household of God; but it is to be feared that old Unbelief is as nimble nowadays

as when the psalmist asked, “Is his mercy clean gone forever? Will

 he be favourable no more?” David had not made any very lengthy trial of the

mighty sword of the giant Goliath, and yet he said, “There is none like it.” He

had tried it once in the hour of his youthful victory, and it had proved itself

to be of the right metal, and therefore he praised it ever afterwards; even so

should we speak well of our God, there is none like unto him in the heaven above

or the earth beneath; “To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith

the Holy One.” There is no rock like unto the rock of Jacob, our enemies

themselves being judges. So far from suffering doubts to live in our hearts, we

will take the whole detestable crew, as Elijah did the prophets of

 Baal, and slay them over the brook; and for a stream to kill them at, we will

select the sacred torrent which wells forth from our Saviour’s wounded side. We

have been in many trials, but we have never yet been cast where we could not

find in our God all that we needed. Let us then be encouraged to trust in the

Lord forever, assured that his ever lasting strength will be, as it has been,

our succour and stay.

He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.   Psalms 24:4 

Outward practical holiness is a very precious mark of grace. It is to be feared that many professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive everlasting contempt at the last great day. If our hands are not clean, let us wash them in Jesus’ precious blood, and so let us lift up pure hands unto God. But “clean hands” will not suffice unless they are connected with “a pure heart.” True religion is heart-work. We may wash the outside of the cup and the plate as long as we please, but if the inward parts be filthy, we are filthy altogether in the sight of God, for our hearts are more truly ourselves than our hands are. The very life of our being lies in the inner nature, and hence the imperative need of purity within. The pure in heart shall see God; all others are but blind bats.

The man who is born for heaven “does not lift up his soul to what is false.” All men have their joys by which their souls are lifted up. The worldling lifts up his soul in carnal delights, which are mere empty vanities; but the saint loves more substantial things; like Jehoshaphat, he is lifted up in the ways of the Lord. He who is content with husks will be reckoned with the swine. Does the world satisfy you? Then you have your reward and portion in this life; make much of it, for you will know no other joy.

“Does not swear deceitfully.” The saints are men of honor still. The Christian man’s word is his only oath; but that is as good as twenty oaths of other men. False speaking will shut any man out of heaven, for a liar shall not enter into God’s house, whatever may be his professions or doings. Reader, does the text before us condemn you, or do you hope to ascend into the hill of the Lord?

Family Reading Plan      Isaiah 66    Matthew 14

God has a purpose for your life. If that weren’t true, He’d have taken you home to heaven at the moment of salvation. Do you ever wonder why He left you here?

The Lord intends to influence others through you. Our purpose is to be a vessel through which Christ overflows to others–touching those who hurt and desperately need a Savior. Once we are saved, Scripture teaches, our involvement is threefold.

First, we love others. Jesus clearly stated that this was one of the two greatest commandments (Matt. 22:38-39).

Second, we share the good news of salvation (Acts 1:8). Some travel across the world to spread the gospel, while others teach neighbors across the street. The Holy Spirit will direct us to the right people if we are willing to obey.

Third, we serve in a variety of ways, like helping those in need, sharing our resources, and lifting others in prayer. Jesus is our perfect example of all three. His entire life was marked by caring for people–both those who loved Him and those who did not. In fact, the Bible teaches that He humbled Himself and became like us, willing to give up His life for our redemption. There is no greater love; there is no greater act of service.

Scripture clearly defines the believer’s purpose. Aligning ourselves with God’s intentions for His children–loving others, witnessing, and serving– bring us great satisfaction. In fact, we’re still on earth not merely to hear more teaching but to act on it and share with others what we learn.

 Why isn’t God more obvious? This question is often asked in many ways and in many contexts. When prayers go unanswered, why is God silent? When suffering or tragedy strikes, why would God allow this to happen? When struggling over the countless millions who do not know about God revealed in Jesus Christ, why wouldn’t God want more people to know this great, good news? When all the “evidence” seems to counter the biblical narrative, why doesn’t God just give a sign? When God was revealed through many wondrous signs and miracles throughout the Bible, why doesn’t God act that way today? All of these examples get at the same issue–the seeming “hiddenness” of God.

 Atheist Bertrand Russell was once asked what he would say if after death he met God. Russell replied: “God, you gave us insufficient evidence.”(1) While many who have found God quite evident would balk at Russell’s impudence, a similar struggle ensued between the psalmist and his hidden God. “Why do you stand afar off, O Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalms 10:1). Indeed, the psalmist accuses God of being “asleep” in these plaintive cries: “Arouse, yourself, why do you sleep, O Lord? Awake, and do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face, and forget our affliction and our oppression?” (Psalm 44:23-24).

 Indeed, the belief in a God who can be easily found, and who has acted in time and space makes the hiddenness of God all the more poignant and perplexing. Theologians and apologists have offered many explanations for God’s hiddenness: because God seeks to grow our faith, because our sins and disobedience hide us from God and keep us from seeing God properly, or because God loves us and knows how much and how often we need to “find” God. If we are honest, perhaps we are just as likely to hide ourselves from God because of our own sense of guilt and shame, just as the narrative in Genesis tells us Adam and Eve hid from God in the Garden. But, what of those who relentlessly seek after God and who are “blameless” with regards to willful hiding? Like the ancient sufferer Job, the cry rises up within us wondering why God stays hidden away in unanswered prayers and difficult circumstances. “Why do you hide your face, and consider me the enemy?” (Job 13:24).

 The hiddenness of God is problematic for theists and atheists alike. Christians often take for granted that we have a scripture which provides a record of God’s revelation. We have the benefit of a book full of God’s speech. God speaks in the wonder and mystery of creation; God speaks through the history of the nation of Israel; God speaks through the very Word of God incarnate, Jesus Christ. His life reveals the exact nature of God, and places God’s glory on full display. Atheists take the seeming silence of God a justification for their atheism.

 Regardless, all may wonder whether the only place to hear God speaking is in the past. Is God still speaking today? Has God not given any contemporary witness for God’s presence and activity in the world today?

 In fact, God is often found in one of the last places we think of—the church. For when the church is at its best, the church tells fresh the story of God’s good news across the ages. But the church can become the living embodiment of God’s presence; encountered in the love and care demonstrated by the community for each other, for the sake of the world. At its best, the church can be such a community, and can be a symbol of God’s presence among us as “God-found,” and not “God-hidden.”  The church can be the arms of God around us when we are hurting, or the voice of God speaking when we feel we haven’t heard from God in years. Such a community can be like the faithful friends who carried their paralyzed friend to hear Jesus. His faith didn’t heal him, but the faith of his friends did!(2) The church can be God’s voice, God’s hands and feet as they extend out into the broken places of the world to bring healing, help, and comfort. Through worship and liturgy, prayer and communion, service and sacrifice the church is to reveal the God who spoke and is still speaking.

 God is not often revealed in the roar of the hurricane or the loud-clap of thunder, but in a “still, small voice”—a voice that is often barely audible except to the most patient and still. But when the Church, broken and human as it is, seeks through the power of the Spirit of Christ to accomplish “greater things than these,” we see God and hear God, and find God beautifully obvious.

 For those who long to see God, who long to find God in the darkest hour, we may not find God in the dramatic or the victorious, the miraculous or the stupendous. Instead, we may yet hope to find him in the pew, at the table of the Lord’s Supper, or in the faithful friends who encircle around, fellow seekers who long to find God too.

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

 (1) Cited in Dr. Paul K. Moser’s booklet, Why Isn’t God More Obvious: Finding the God who Hides and Seeks (Norcross, GA: RZIM, 2000), 1.
(2) Mark 2:1-12.

Morning   “Sanctify them through thy truth.”    John 17:17

 Sanctification begins in regeneration. The Spirit of God infuses into man that

new living principle by which he becomes “a new creature” in Christ Jesus. This

work, which begins in the new birth, is carried on in two ways–mortification,

whereby the lusts of the flesh are subdued and kept under; and vivification, by

which the life which God has put within us is made to be a well of water

springing up unto everlasting life. This is carried on every day in what is

called “perseverance,” by which the Christian is preserved and continued in a

gracious state, and is made to abound in good works unto the praise and glory of

God; and it culminates or comes to perfection, in “glory,” when the soul,

 being thoroughly purged, is caught up to dwell with holy beings at the right

hand of the Majesty on high. But while the Spirit of God is thus the author of

sanctification, yet there is a visible agency employed which must not be

forgotten. “Sanctify them,” said Jesus, “through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

The passages of Scripture which prove that the instrument of our sanctification

is the Word of God are very many. The Spirit of God brings to our minds the

precepts and doctrines of truth, and applies them with power. These are heard in

the ear, and being received in the heart, they work in us to will and to do of

God’s good pleasure. The truth is the sanctifier, and if we do not hear

 or read the truth, we shall not grow in sanctification. We only progress in

sound living as we progress in sound understanding. “Thy word is a lamp unto my

feet and a light unto my path.” Do not say of any error, “It is a mere matter of

opinion.” No man indulges an error of judgment, without sooner or later

tolerating an error in practice. Hold fast the truth, for by so holding the

truth shall you be sanctified by the Spirit of God.

Evening  “He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul

unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.” Psalm 24:4

 Outward practical holiness is a very precious mark of grace. It is to be feared

that many professors have perverted the doctrine of justification by faith in

such a way as to treat good works with contempt; if so, they will receive

everlasting contempt at the last great day. If our hands are not clean, let us

wash them in Jesus’ precious blood, and so let us lift up pure hands unto God.

But “clean hands” will not suffice, unless they are connected with “a pure

heart.” True religion is heart-work. We may wash the outside of the cup and the

platter as long as we please, but if the inward parts be filthy, we are filthy

altogether in the sight of God, for our hearts are more truly ourselves

 than our hands are; the very life of our being lies in the inner nature, and

hence the imperative need of purity within. The pure in heart shall see God, all

others are but blind bats.

 The man who is born for heaven “hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity.” All

men have their joys, by which their souls are lifted up; the worldling lifts up

his soul in carnal delights, which are mere empty vanities; but the saint loves

more substantial things; like Jehoshaphat, he is lifted up in the ways of the

Lord. He who is content with husks, will be reckoned with the swine. Does the

world satisfy thee? Then thou hast thy reward and portion in this life; make

much of it, for thou shalt know no other joy.

 “Nor sworn deceitfully.” The saints are men of honour still. The Christian man’s

word is his only oath; but that is as good as twenty oaths of other men. False

speaking will shut any man out of heaven, for a liar shall not enter into God’s

house, whatever may be his professions or doings. Reader, does the text before

us condemn thee, or dost thou hope to ascend into the hill of the Lord?

If we endure, we will also reign with him.   2 Timothy 2:12 

We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ and with Christ if we are not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting in Jesus only? If not, whatever you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not suffering with Christ and have no hope of reigning with Him in heaven. Neither are we to conclude that all a Christian’s sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essential that he be called by God to suffer.

If we are rash and imprudent and run into positions for which neither providence nor grace has fitted us, we ought to question whether we are not rather sinning than communing with Jesus. If we let passion take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with the devil’s weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. Again, in troubles that come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream that we are suffering with Christ.

When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, and the leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering that God accepts must have God’s glory as its end. If I suffer that I may earn a name or win applause, I shall get no other reward than that of the Pharisee. It is required also that love for Jesus and love for His people should always be the mainspring of all our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in meekness, gentleness, and forgiveness.

Let us search and see if we truly suffer with Jesus. And if we do suffer in this way, what is our “slight momentary affliction”1 compared with reigning with Him? Oh, it is so blessed to be in the furnace with Christ, and such an honor to stand in the jail with Him, that if there were no future reward, we might count ourselves happy in present honor; but when the recompense is so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to expect, shall we not take up the cross with enthusiasm and go on our way rejoicing?

12 Corinthians 4:16

Family Reading Plan    Isaiah 65    Matthew 13

Growing in Christ involves far more than just attending church, tithing, and listening to a sermon. In fact, many believers do these yet remain stagnant in their walk. There are two elements necessary for us to become more like Jesus: instruction and involvement.

The first of these, learning truth, is vital to a healthy walk with God. Our Savior proved the importance of instruction by devoting much of His time on earth to it. The apostle Paul is another example, as he wrote letters to educate Christians about godliness.

So how can we gain knowledge and understanding? One of the most important and effective ways is to read the Word of God. Scripture instructs us that just as newborns crave milk, we are to desire His Word so that we might grow. I pray your spiritual thirst will become insatiable.

Yet simply listening to the truth does not mean that we’ve acquired it. I know many people who love attending Bible studies and expanding their knowledge base, but their lives remain unchanged. Just as today’s passage teaches, we have to apply the Word to our lives. Even so, actual growth requires more than merely inputting information. It requires action. James 2:26 states, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

Are we careless hearers, deceived into thinking that we’re growing? Or are we listening intently and abiding in the truth? If we’re truly maturing, our lives will be increasingly Christlike, and our desires will align more closely with God’s heart. Make sure that you are listening and responding to His truth.

 The concept of “shelf life” has always intrigued me. It is an expression that describes exactly what it attempts to define. For instance, Twinkies have a shelf life of twenty-five days, after which, their existence on the shelf as something edible expires. But shelf life is also an expression that is metaphorically full. One might say of “Cabbage Patch Kids” that they were once a quite a phenomenon; shoppers were injured as the dolls were pulled off the shelves and seized by anxious crowds. But the craze was relatively short-lived; as far as fads go, the shelf life was fairly brief.  

 In high school chemistry we took in the ponderous thought that everything has a shelf life. In fact, in many substances this is an incredibly important number to watch. A variety of compounds, particularly those containing certain unstable elements, become more unstable as they approach their shelf life. Chemical explosives grow increasingly dangerous over time and with exposure to certain factors in the environment becoming liable to explode without warning.

 There is a tendency to view ideas and thoughts as having a similar aging process. When something is deemed ancient or even slightly “behind the times” it is often accordingly considered obsolete. As if it has become out-dated like a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, the aging thought or idea, in many minds, grows more unusable with time. And in many cases, history has shown this to be an accurate picture. Certain philosophies might come to mind as movements that rendered themselves useless over time and exposure to the world. Like compounds approaching their shelf life, their collapse was inevitable and they eventually imploded without warning.

 Ideas undeniably have consequences and some approach their shelf lives more dangerously than others. While some have not fully burst at the seams, signs of instability appear. Grumbles of discontent from within their own ideological camps may hint at incoherence. Even so, the noticeable shelf life of specific ideas should cause us to question the cause of their expiration, rather than assume it is time alone that moves an idea to expire. 

 This is no doubt well-studied in science. Factors that increase and decrease the shelf life of a product move well beyond time itself. When certain compounds are stored at decreased temperatures, their shelf life is increased significantly. Likewise, the development of preservatives dramatically set back the expiration dates on food in our pantries. Like compounds and breakfast items, all ideas do not expire equally. We are thus badly mistaken to dismiss a thought solely because it is old.

 The ancient psalmist speaks of God’s hope as something that does not expire. “Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them” (119:140). Extending through generation after generation, the promises of God stand untouched and unphased by a changing environment. Personally I know how often I have learned the hard way, thinking that surely modern thought has improved the idea, only to find myself returning to words commanded generations ago. Again and again God’s own discover a reason to love the promising hope of Father, Son, and Spirit: “I have learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever.”

 Perhaps God’s Spirit is the ultimate preservative. God’s love is not offered without depth; God’s promises are filled with the intention of life. They have been thoroughly tested and have yet to expire. 

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

Morning    “The ill favoured and leanfleshed kine did eat up the seven wellfavoured and fat

kine.”     Genesis 41:4

 Pharaoh’s dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of sloth have

ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous industry; my

seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency

and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances

in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean

duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and

peace. If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the

spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven,

the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine which rages in my

soul.

 When the caterpillars of indifference, the cankerworms of worldliness, and the

palmerworms of self-indulgence, lay my heart completely desolate, and make my

soul to languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me

nothing whatever. How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no

ill-favoured hours! If every day I journeyed towards the goal of my desires I

should soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far off from the prize of

my high calling, and robs me of the advances which I had so laboriously made.

The only way in which all my days can be as the “fat kine,” is to feed them in

the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His

 company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than

the past, in love, and usefulness, and joy?–I am nearer the celestial hills, I

have had more experience of my Lord, and should be more like Him. O Lord, keep

far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to cry, “My leanness,

my leanness, woe unto me!” but may I be well-fed and nourished in thy house,

that I may praise thy name.

Evening    “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.”    2 Timothy 2:12

 We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if we are

not in Christ. Beloved friend, are you trusting to Jesus only? If not, whatever

you may have to mourn over on earth, you are not “suffering with Christ,” and

have no hope of reigning with him in heaven. Neither are we to conclude that all

a Christian’s sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essential that he

be called by God to suffer. If we are rash and imprudent, and run into positions

for which neither providence nor grace has fitted us, we ought to question

whether we are not rather sinning than communing with Jesus. If we let passion

take the place of judgment, and self-will reign instead of

 Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with the devil’s

weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. Again, in

troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream that we are

suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, and the leprosy polluted

her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering which God accepts must

have God’s glory as its end. If I suffer that I may earn a name, or win

applause, I shall get no other reward than that of the Pharisee. It is requisite

also that love to Jesus, and love to his elect, be ever the mainspring of all

our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in meekness, gentleness,

 and forgiveness. Let us search and see if we truly suffer with Jesus. And if we

do thus suffer, what is our “light affliction” compared with reigning with him?

Oh it is so blessed to be in the furnace with Christ, and such an honour to

stand in the pillory with him, that if there were no future reward, we might

count ourselves happy in present honour; but when the recompense is so eternal,

so infinitely more than we had any right to expect, shall we not take up the

cross with alacrity, and go on our way rejoicing?

To you, O Lord, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.   Psalm 28:1 

A cry is the natural expression of sorrow, and a suitable utterance when all other modes of appeal fail us; but the cry must be alone directed to the Lord, for to cry to man is to waste our entreaties upon the air. When we consider the readiness of the Lord to hear and His ability to aid, we shall see good reason for directing all our appeals at once to the God of our salvation. It will be in vain to call to the rocks in the day of judgment, but our Rock attends to our cries.

“Be not deaf to me.” Mere formalists may be content without answers to their prayers, but genuine suppliants cannot; they are not satisfied with the results of prayer itself in calming the mind and subduing the will—they must go further and obtain actual replies from heaven or they cannot rest; and those replies they long to receive at once—they dread even a little of God’s silence.

God’s voice is often so terrible that it shakes the wilderness; but His silence is equally full of awe to an eager suppliant. When God seems to close His ear, we must not therefore close our mouths but rather cry with more earnestness; for when our note grows shrill with eagerness and grief, He will not long deny us a hearing. What a dreadful case we would be in if the Lord should become forever deaf to our prayers. “Lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit.” Deprived of the God who answers prayer, we would be in a more pitiable plight than the dead in the grave and would soon sink to the same level as the lost in hell. We must have answers to prayer: Ours is an urgent case of dire necessity; surely the Lord will speak peace to our agitated minds, for He never can find it in His heart to permit His own elect to perish.

Family Reading Plan   Isaiah 64    Matthew 12

Modern-day Christians can learn some good lessons from Old Testament prayers. When Jehoshaphat beseeched God for help, he struck a balance between asking the Lord to meet his needs and proclaiming His greatness. Likewise, our requests shouldbe made with recognition of who God is. Otherwise, the focus of our prayers becomes need, weakness, failure, or fear.

Jehoshaphat cried out to God about his terrible predicament, but he also exalted the Lord’s attributes, acknowledging the great things He had done. When we pray like this, we become stronger, bolder, and more forthright. That’s why knowing the Word of God is so important. When we read about how the Lord worked in the lives of others, we understand His awesome power and might. Then we can look to the men and women of the Old Testament as an example and begin to pray in a similar way. God’s wonder-working power is still available today, and He wants His children to access it.

By proclaiming, “Power and might are in Your hand so that no one can stand against You” (v. 6), Jehoshaphat was praising God and at the same time reminding himself of the Lord’s greatness. As you pray, remind God of His mercy, talk to Him about His grace, and recall His mighty power.

Do you want to revolutionize your prayer life? If you focus as much attention on declaring the attributes of the Lord as you do on making requests, your prayers will take on a whole new dimension. They’ll cease to be self-centered and instead will become God-centered.