Day: May 22, 2023

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VIDEO What to Do With Your Bible

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it. Revelation 1:3, NIV

Tom Meyer is known as the “Bible Memory Man.” He has memorized much of the Scripture and quotes it often. According to Fox News, Meyer suggests people spend more time reading the Bible aloud during their devotions. “We live in a world where nobody reads aloud,” he said. “Originally, the Bible was meant more for the ears than the eyes…. Just listen to a chapter again over and over.”1

It’s wonderful to discover various ways of studying God’s Word. We can read it silently and aloud, in small bits or large sections; we can copy it in our notebooks. We can study it, pray it, sing it, quote it, convert it into teaching, and share it with others.

As we do so, we’re learning more and more of the mind of God, growing in wisdom and maturity. Diligent study of God’s Word helps us grow spiritually, becoming more like Christ. Thank God for the gift of His Word and spend time learning from it today. You might even read it to yourself aloud!

How can you afford not to be in God’s Word?
Howard Hendricks

1 Brittany Kasko, “New Year’s Resolution: ‘Bible Memory Man’ Shares Tips for Memorizing the Bible in 2023,” Fox News, December 27, 2022.

Christ’s Call to Reformation (Revelation 1-3)

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Tell the Story

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. 1 John 1:3

Robert Todd Lincoln, son of US president Abraham Lincoln, was present for three major events—the death of his own father as well as the assassinations of presidents James Garfield and William McKinley.

But consider that the apostle John was present at four of history’s most crucial events: the last supper of Jesus, Christ’s agony in Gethsemane, His crucifixion, and His resurrection. John knew that bearing witness to these events was the ultimate why behind his presence in these moments. In John 21:24, he wrote, “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.”

John reaffirmed this in his letter of 1 John. He wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim” (1:1). John felt a compelling duty to share his eyewitness account of Jesus. Why? “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,” he said, “so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v. 3).

The events of our lives may be surprising or mundane, but in either case God is orchestrating them so we can bear witness to Him. As we rest in the grace and wisdom of Christ, may we speak for Him in even life’s surprising moments.

By:  Bill Crowder

Reflect & Pray

What are some of the more surprising aspects of your faith story? How will you share your story with someone who needs to hear of God’s love?

Jesus, please help me be sensitive to those times when I can share with others how much You love us.

For further study, see Gospel Conversations: Sharing the Story of Jesus.

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How to Treat One Another

Treating others the way we’d like to be treated is indispensable in building strong relationships Matthew 22:36-40

In today’s passage, someone asks what the greatest commandment is. Jesus replies, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” He doesn’t stop there but includes a second one: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Strong, loving connections are based on treating others the way we want to be treated. As you think about your friends, family, and coworkers, consider the following characteristics of a strong relationship:

• Enjoyment and satisfaction

•  Loyalty

• Truthfulness

• Prayer support

• Forgiveness

• Encouragement

• Generosity

• Respect and honor

• Acceptance

• Protection from emotional, physical, or spiritual harm. 

Most of us would have to admit that we don’t always exhibit these characteristics, but wouldn’t we all want them displayed toward us? Ask the Lord to give you the patience and wisdom to mend or strengthen your relationships.

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The Opened Heavens

“And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” (Revelation 19:11)

This is the final climactic reference in the Bible to God’s opened heavens. Sometimes, as in this verse, heaven is opened in judgment; sometimes in blessing. Sometimes it is the atmospheric heaven that is open; sometimes the heaven of heavens where stands the throne of God.

The first such mention refers to the world-destroying Flood of Noah’s day when “the windows of heaven were opened” (Genesis 7:11). The second mention, however, speaks of blessing. God had “opened the doors of heaven, And had rained down manna upon them to eat” (Psalm 78:23-24). The windows of heaven rained down the waters of death, while the doors of heaven rained down the bread of life! Ezekiel also saw the heavens opened in judgment (Ezekiel 1:1), but God told Malachi, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse…and prove me now…if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10).

At the baptism of Jesus, the heavens were opened and men heard the great testimony of the Father concerning His beloved Son (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:21). Jesus promised Nathanael, “Hereafter ye shall see heaven open” (John 1:51), and Stephen and Peter actually saw the heavens open (Acts 7:56; 10:11).

Finally, the apostle John reported that “a door was opened in heaven” (Revelation 4:1), and he saw the Lord on His throne—12 specific references (four in the Old Testament, eight in the New) to the opened heavens. HMM

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Ten Resolves For Those Trafficking In The Marketplace

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“Consider the High Priest of our profession.”

Hebrews 3:1-6

Hebrews 3:1

This will be the most profitable subject upon which the mind can fix itself; profitable for instruction, consolation, and example. Our Lord combined in his own person the official characters of Moses and Aaron, and discharged both offices most fully.

Hebrews 3:2

Having taken the servant’s place, he was as faithful as the best of servants could be; nay, he excelled them all.

Hebrews 3:3, 4

Jesus is the builder of the church, Moses was but a pillar in it. Jesus is God, Moses was but man. Yet the Jews greatly reverence Moses; shall we not much more honour and reverence our Lord?

Hebrews 3:5, 6

The superior relation of Christ to God as a Son, places him far above Moses, and also raises believers far above those who are under the law! We should walk in faith, and rejoice in hope; for only in holding fast both of these can we realize our honourable position as the household of the Son of God. So shall we experimentally know how far the Lord Jesus excels Moses.

Acts 7:37-41, 44, 45

Stephen, in his discourse before his enemies, gives us a few more words concerning Moses, with which we will conclude our consideration of his history—

Acts 7:37

Like Moses, our Lord was the revealer of a system, a ruler, a deliverer, a mediator, and a teacher. He was mighty both in deeds and words, which combination we find nowhere else. He was rejected by his own people, but accredited by God, and to this day he leads his people through the wilderness towards the promised rest.

Acts 7:38

Coming from the living God, the law was a living oracle, though now, through man’s sins, it has become a death-dealing word. How honoured was Moses to be the channel of communication between God and his people, and to be the associate of the great covenant angel, who spake the law.

Acts 7:41

All this we have read before. Shall we thus treat the Lord Jesus? Shall we rebel against him and set up other gods? The Lord forbid!

Acts 7:45

Jesus or rather Joshua

Acts 7:45

But though they had all the outward signs, they missed the inward spiritual grace. May the Lord prevent our falling into the same condemnation.

Amidst the house of God,

Their different works were done,—

Moses, a faithful servant, stood,

But Christ a faithful Son.

Then to his new commands,

Be strict obedience paid;

O’er all his Father’s house he stands

The sovereign and the head.

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Sovereign God

We are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 5:20)

Oh, how I wish that I could adequately set forth the glory of the One who is worthy to be the object of our worship!

I do believe that if our new converts—the babes in Christ—could be made to see His thousand attributes and even partially comprehend His being, they would become faint with a yearning desire to worship and honor and acknowledge Him, now and forever!

I know that many discouraged Christians do not truly believe in God’s sovereignty. In that case, we are not filling our role as the humble and trusting followers of God and His Christ.

And yet, that is why Christ came into our world. The old theologians called it “theanthropism”—the union of the divine and human natures in Christ. This is a great mystery and I stand in awe before it!

The theanthropy is the mystery of God and man united in one Person—not two persons but two natures. So, the nature of God and the nature of man are united in this One who is our Lord Jesus Christ!