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

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When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches.
Psalm 63:6

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 4:4-5

The “night watches”—those hours we spend in bed during the night—can be fertile soil for seeds of worry. In Psalm 63, we find David describing his “night watch” practice: meditating on God. And this he did during one of the most tumultuous, heart-wrenching times of his life. 

King David’s son Absalom wanted to unseat his father from the throne (2 Samuel 17:1-4) When word reached David that Absalom’s army was approaching Jerusalem, David gathered his loyal courtiers and commanders, and their families, and they left Jerusalem. As he fled Jerusalem, David was cursed by those loyal to Absalom. Crossing the Kidron Valley, they ascended the Mount of Olives. From there they headed into the Judean wilderness to seek refuge and make plans. (See the title inscription for Psalm 63: “A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.”) David organized his troops and engaged the army of Absalom, and his son was killed. 

Can you imagine the worry and heartache David experienced during those days? Yet on his bed, he turned his thoughts to God and meditated on Him. Use the quiet hours of the night to commit your concerns to God in prayer.

Faith can place a candle in the darkest night.
Margaret E. Sangster

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Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.
Psalm 100:4

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 100

Fifianna Su, 9, lives with her family in a one-hundred-square-foot room in San Francisco, but last Easter she and her mom were invited to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House. The invitation came from the Chinatown Community Development Center, which received three tickets to the event. Nonprofit organizations and donors paid their way, and the mother and daughter arrived at the White House on a bright, sunny day, along with approximately thirty thousand others. Afterward, Fifianna’s mother told The Washington Post, “She knows that her dream, her future…is more than just the space we’re living in right now.”¹

Sometimes our world can seem very small and our pressures very large. But by grace, we have constant access through the gates of the Lord and into the courtyard of the King of kings. We can always come with thanksgiving and praise. Our Lord is the One who can satisfy the desires of our heart. Lean on Him. Because of His resurrection, He can give you levels of personal satisfaction the world can never afford.

Right now you can enter His gates with joy and His courts with praise!

Everything if given to God can become your gateway to joy.
Elisabeth Elliot

1. Daniel Wu, “Their Home Is 100 Square Feet. A White House Trip Expanded Their World,” The Washington Post, April 11, 2023.

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Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Psalm 51:7-8

 Recommended Reading: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

On the night before the exodus of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt, Moses gave instructions to the people. That night, the Lord would bring judgment on the firstborn sons of Egypt—but not on the Hebrew families. They were to take hyssop and paint their doorways with sacrificial blood. Upon seeing the blood, the “destroyer” would pass over their homes (Exodus 12:22-23).

Hyssop was a plant that was used to sprinkle blood during ritual cleansings. The image of hyssop came to David’s mind as he composed Psalm 51 in the wake of his sin against Bathsheba and her husband, Uriah. In verse 2 he prayed God would cleanse him from his sin, and in verse 7 he pictured how: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean.” Scholars suggest that the word cleanse means to “un-sin”—to make me as I was before I sinned. That’s what God does when He forgives us.

Christians are not called sinners in the New Testament but saints (holy ones). After being forgiven, God sees us as “whiter than snow.”

God does not demand a beautiful vessel for His work, but He does demand a clean one.
Quoted by R. A. Torrey

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Thus says the Lord of hosts [to David]…. “I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who are on the earth.”
2 Samuel 7:8-9

 Recommended Reading: Acts 16:6-10

A standard dialogue technique in screenwriting is to have one character say to another, “I have some good news and some bad news. Which do you want first?” It’s a tough choice to make when you don’t know what either piece of news will be.

David experienced something like that choice—only God didn’t ask him which news he wanted first. To prepare David’s heart for the bad news to come, God gave the king the good news first. The good news was that God had always been with David, had given him success over his enemies, and had guaranteed that his descendants would continually occupy the throne in Israel. But the bad news was that David would not have the honor of building a “house” for God in Jerusalem; that honor would fall to his son, Solomon.

There is always good news from God: He is always faithful, even in the face of bad news. Thank Him today for His faithfulness to you.

Though men are false, God is faithful.
Matthew Henry

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So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
2 Samuel 6:17

 Recommended Reading: Galatians 5:22-23

We often hear people say, “The end justifies the means.” In other words, it’s okay to do something dishonorable, if necessary, in order to achieve something honorable. But that is not a biblical perspective. God is as concerned about the process as much as the product.

Early in King David’s career, he learned this lesson the hard way. He was moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. But he failed to follow God’s instructions on how to transport the Ark. A man died as a result, and the Ark’s movement was delayed for three months. There is a lesson there: God cares about how we serve Him as much as He cares about what we accomplish. For example, not only are we to speak the truth, but we are also to speak the truth “in love” (Ephesians 4:15). We are to defend the faith but with “gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV). 

Do God’s work today—yes! But do it God’s way so He is free to bless and honor it.

God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.
Hudson Taylor

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So David said to [Mephibosheth], “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake, and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually.”
2 Samuel 9:7

 Recommended Reading: Matthew 5:33-37

We often invoke the notion of a promise when conversing about a commitment: “I promise I’ll be there at four o’clock sharp!” Jesus noted that a promise (oath) is a step beyond merely giving one’s word—and should be an unnecessary step: “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’” (Matthew 5:37). 

In the Old Testament, a covenant was a type of binding promise. Before David became king, he and Saul’s son Jonathan made a covenant involving Jonathan’s future children. Jonathan asked David to promise that when he became king, he would care for Jonathan’s children. And David did. Years after Jonathan died and David became king, he heard that Jonathan’s disabled son, Mephibosheth, was alive and living as an outcast as a descendant of Saul. So David brought Mephibosheth to his court and made ample and permanent provisions for him.

David kept his promise to Jonathan. God keeps His promises to us. And we should keep our word to one another—always.

God hath promised to keep his people, and he will keep his promise.
Charles Spurgeon

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And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.
Daniel 2:21

 Recommended Reading: Daniel 4:17, 25

There are two ways to look at the world and its affairs: through our eyes or God’s eyes. Through our eyes, we see kings and rulers acting dictatorially, causing great harm to their own citizens as well as others. We think, “Why would God allow a ruthless and evil person to wield such broad power?” 

Even when we look at the world through God’s eyes, we still ask, “Why?” The difference is this: When we ask, “Why?” from a purely human perspective, we have no reason to believe there is a good answer. The rise and fall of rulers seem arbitrary and capricious. But when we ask, “Why?” from God’s perspective, we know there is an answer; we know God has reasons for what happens in the affairs of mankind. Daniel was shown by God that He sets up kings and takes down kings—the opposite of something that is random or arbitrary. 

Don’t be discouraged when you see what the world’s rulers do. Instead, give thanks to God that He is in control, that kings come and go for a reason.

The Christ who rules us rules all things for us.
J. I. Packer

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A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
John 14:19

 Recommended Reading: Galatians 2:20

It was the end of the tumultuous decade of the 1960s, and Christian songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither were expecting their third child. Bill was recovering from illness, and Gloria was discouraged about the state of the world into which they were about to bring a child. In the midst of their circumstances, God gave them an insight: “Because [He] lives, I can face tomorrow; because He lives, all fear is gone”—words which became the song “Because He Lives,” which received a Dove Award for song of the year in 1974. 

Jesus’ disciples faced their own trying circumstances as they realized He was about to leave them. But He gave them a promise: “Because I live, you will live also.” It was a promise not only to the disciples, and to Bill and Gloria Gaither, but to every Christian as well. Because Christ lives, we can live also—now and for eternity.

If you are facing hardship or trials today, remember that Jesus Christ is alive in you. The life you live today is through faith in the One who lives for you.

Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth living just because He lives.
Bill Gaither

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And [Kish] had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
1 Samuel 9:2

 Recommended Reading: Isaiah 53:1-3

The best-selling book in history is the Bible because it never disappoints. Other books may have colorful covers and illustrations, yet they have a disappointing message. As they say, “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

When Samuel anointed Saul as Israel’s first king, his “cover” did not disappoint. He was tall and handsome; he fit the world’s image of a king. His cover was beautiful, but his content disappointed. He failed to obey God and ended up taking his own life in a battle with the Philistines (1 Samuel 31). Jesus, by contrast, had a plain cover: “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2, NIV). His cover was plain, but His content has never disappointed.

It’s easy to be attracted to, then be disappointed by, the world and its rulers. But Jesus Christ is the Servant-King who has never disappointed—and never will.

If you wish to be disappointed, look at others; if you wish to be disheartened, look at yourself; if you wish to be encouraged, look to Jesus.
Anonymous

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Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?
Job 2:10

 Recommended Reading: Job 2:1-10

How many question marks arise in your soul? There are more than two hundred of them in the book of Job. Almost every chapter is filled with questions, and many of them are by Job himself, who was described as the most righteous person on earth (Job 1:8). His first question, however, demonstrated how his faith survived the darkness: “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (NIV)

Jesus warned us that we will face troubles in this world, but be of good cheer! For He has overcome the world and all its troubles (John 16:33). He does all things well and works all things for good.

We often cannot understand what God is doing in our own or someone else’s life or why. Yet Christ is working in deep areas of our life beyond human eyesight and also in deep patterns of providential circumstances. When we can’t answer “Why?” we can certainly remember “Who.” We can place full trust in the Sovereign God who is always in control. 

Faith is the conquering grace; this is what gives the victory; this is what crushes this tremendous foe…. How does faith overcome the world? By leading the believer to the cross of Jesus.
Octavius Winslow 

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Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Psalm 51:1

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 32:1-5

People are often heard to exclaim, “Oh, that is just perfect!” when referring to a gorgeous vista in nature, a beautiful painted or photographed portrait, or a delicious dessert. But as often as we use the word perfect, we know there is no such thing. And that is definitely true of human beings. As Scripture says, “For all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). 

Even godly characters like David—a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), a man who wrote numerous psalms of worship to God—failed to live a perfect life. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba, complicity in the death of Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, and concealing of his sins marred an otherwise imitable life. But the redeeming part of David’s imperfect life is the mercy and forgiveness he found when he confessed his sins to God. He wrote an entire psalm about his confession and restoration (Psalm 51). And therein lies the lesson from David’s imperfection for us.

First John 1:9 serves as a one-verse summary of Psalm 51: If we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us. Don’t imitate David’s failures; do imitate his response.

The beginning of repentance is the confession of guilt.
John Calvin

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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Philippians 4:13

 Recommended Reading: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

The words trials and temptations are from the same root word. So it is no surprise that they are also connected spiritually as well as grammatically. A test can become a trial, and a trial can lead to temptation. Take Job, for example, in the Old Testament. He was tested, and his test became a lengthy trial during which he was tempted to doubt God’s fairness and goodness. But he hung on and resolved his trial by affirming his faith in God’s goodness.

Paul summarized his approach to hardship by writing, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” His words convey the same truth as the words of Moses to the generation of Israelites entering the Promised Land: “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far away” (Deuteronomy 30:11, NASB). And Paul said he did not resent the tests and trials in his life because they gave him opportunity to display the grace of Christ in his experience (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). 

God always makes a way through trials and temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13). You can do all things today through Christ.

Temptations are everywhere, and so is the grace of God.
Uknown

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Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5

 Recommended Reading: Hebrews 13:1-5

Becket Cook was a gay production designer in Hollywood, and his career was very successful. Yet he was overwhelmed with a sense of emptiness. One day at a coffee shop, he saw open Bibles on the next table. He asked, “Are you guys Christians?” The fellow patrons began sharing the Gospel with him, and within days Cook gave his life to Christ. His testimony now is this: “My hope is that people will realize how much more amazing it is to deny yourself and follow Christ rather than to just give in to sin now just to satisfy some immediate need…. With God, I feel this unconditional love…. Like He’ll never leave or forsake me. I’m happy to leave that dead man [my old me] behind because He’s worth it.”¹

We can leave so much behind when we know He will never leave or forsake us—covetousness, sinful habits, and the pressures of life.

Pray aloud today: “I praise You, Lord, for You never for a moment leave me and will never forsake me!”

Because we are His children, His love will never leave or forsake us. There will always be a place for us in His heart.
Bryan Chapell
 

¹Nathaniel Banister, “‘Being Gay Was No Longer Who I Was’: This Hollywood Designer Met Jesus Christ in a Supernatural Moment,” CBN News, June 16, 2022.

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JUNE 28, 2023

[Be] a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled.
Titus 1:8

 Recommended Reading: Titus 2:11-15

It’s hard to keep our language clean when everyone around us is cursing. It’s hard to keep our minds clean when pornography is only a click away. And it’s hard to keep our nerves healthy in a polarized and deteriorating culture. It’s actually impossible without Christ. 

When we receive Him as our Savior, He comes into our life by means of the Holy Spirit. Notice the word “holy”! It’s the Holy Spirit who does a work of renewal inside us, surging through our mental catacombs and flushing out our emotional passageways. He breaks the power of canceled sin and sets the sinner free. He delivers us from the slavery of our habits and perfects that which concerns us (Psalm 138:8).

It’s easy to allow our environment to influence how we live, but when we live according to God’s Word, He will bless us. Today ask the Holy Spirit to take the Holy Bible and by His power and grace make you an increasingly holy person. As the hymn “Take Time to Be Holy” says: “Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord; abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.”

The Word of God is the means employed by the Holy Spirit to transform us into the image of Christ.
Alistair Begg

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Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another.
Romans 12:10

 Recommended Reading: Psalm 34:13-14

In 2012, the New York City Police Department handled some four hundred hostage negotiations. Another year they handled a negotiation that lasted fifty hours and employed seventeen crisis negotiators. Talking a suspect “down” requires great skill and focus. The immediate goal is the safety of the hostages and the suspect by defusing the situation using patience and empathy.¹

Hostage situations are not the only things that need defusing. Relationships can be tense and potentially explosive as well, requiring the skills of someone who can calm the situation. Paul provides a template for how to bring calm into a tense situation: “Be kindly affectionate . . . giving preference to one another. . . . If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:10, 18). A tense moment calls for calm and the lowering of temperatures. We can do that for one another if we have love, affection, and humility toward every person.

“If it is possible” today, be the calming presence if you encounter a tense situation. Be a peacemaker wherever you go (Matthew 5:9). 

Humility binds Christians together in peace.
Thomas Watson
 

¹ “Police Negotiation Techniques From the NYPD Crisis Negotiations Team,” Program on Negotiation Harvard Law School, November 16, 2020.

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I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel.
Philippians 4:2-3

 Recommended Reading: Philippians 4:1-7

A couple in Liverpool, England, checked into a hotel to celebrate the man’s birthday. They got into an argument, and the woman locked herself in the bathroom crying. In anger, the man used his cigarette lighter to set fire to a towel, which triggered the fire alarm. There were eighty wedding guests in the hotel, and none of them appreciated being herded out into the street in the middle of the night in their bedclothes. ¹

Rightly does James say, “Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:20, NIV).

Oh, how God’s children need to avoid foolish arguments and damaged relationships. There are too many cases of Euodia and Syntyche in our churches. If there’s a broken relationship in your life, ask God to give you the strength to forgive the person and the wisdom to know how to live at peace with them.

At peace with the Father, and at war with His children? It cannot be.
John Flavel

¹Adam Everett, “Drunk Thrown Out of Hot Water Comedy Club Torched Hotel Room,” Liverpool Echo, January 25, 2023.

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Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21

 Recommended Reading: Romans 12:14-21

Archeologist Steven Brann was using his metal detector near Little Round Top at the battlefield at Gettysburg last February when he got a hit. Digging about 20 inches into the soil, he found an entire artillery shell, which had been fired by Confederate gunners around 160 years ago. The Army’s 55^th Ordnance Company took it to a secluded part of the battlefield and blew it up before it could do any harm.¹

It’s amazing how deeply artillery shells can remain buried in our heart and how long they can remain hidden there. When we’re hurt, abused, ignored, slighted, or offended, it’s like a projectile is fired into our spirit. We can carry the wound for a long time. We can fire back and land a shell in someone else’s heart.

The Bible counsels us: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:17-19, NIV).

We serve a God who will watch out for us and take care of our adversaries. Release your bitterness, and let it dissipate in the breeze of His grace.

Forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits.
Hannah More
 

¹ Phil Gast, “Unexploded Artillery Shell Unearthed at Gettysburg,” CNN, February 11, 2023.

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