Daily Devotions
"I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:2-3 NLT
DECEMBER 14
"Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire."- Revelation 20:14
Fire, meaning destruction in Bible symbology, was one of the most destructive agents known to the ancient world. No one would throw anything into fire to preserve it! The lake of fire is an illustration of complete destruction. When death and hell- the grave- are cast into this lake of fire, they are destroyed forever, and the death that Adam passed on to all his family will be destroyed 1 Corinthians 15:26
December 14
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (Matthew 5:7)
ALL do not know it, but it is a fact that the grandest quality that man can exercise, and the one which brings the largest amount of blessing itself, is the exercise of the God-like quality of mercy, compassion, benevolence. The Lord lays great stress upon this quality of mercy, declaring that whatever else may be our attainments of knowledge or of grace, if we have not this one we can never be acceptable to Him--if we do not have mercy upon others neither will our Heavenly Father have mercy upon us. And to insure that we do not consider this mercy to be merely an outward form, an expression of forgiveness and benevolence, our Lord expounds the matter, saying, "If ye do not from the heart forgive one another, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive you."...Only the merciful shall obtain mercy: and if we have not mercy at the hands of the Lord all is lost; for by nature we were children of wrath, even as others, and under just condemnation.
December 14
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. I John 4:18
THERE is a proper fear or reverence and disinclination to offend our Heavenly Father and our Redeemer, which we wish never to lose. Perfect love will not cast out this fear, but rather intensify it. The fear which love casts out is timidity, a servile fear or dread of the Lord or of Satan, or the fallen angels, or of men and what they might do unto us. Perfect love cannot be attained without knowledge, faith, courage, and overcoming. It is the result of the exercise of all this divine arrangement that brings us nearer to God and makes us truly thankful and appreciative of his gracious purposes and omnipotent power for their accomplishment.
Devotional Books
Exceeding Great and Precious Promises
