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
MAY 17
"Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."- James 4:4
This present world is out of harmony with God’s ways. Therefore, to have friendship with those in power suggests we are in sympathy with their materialistic ways. God’s people are spoken of as pilgrims here on earth, having their citizenship in heaven. If our loyalty is to God, we are more or less strangers here, and, in some ways, do not fit in. John 15:19
May 17
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. (John 16:2)
THE persecutions of today are more refined than in any previous period. The faithful today are not stoned with literal stones or shot with literal arrows or literally beheaded, but it is still true that the wicked shoot out arrows at the righteous, "even bitter words," and many because of faithfulness are reproved and slandered and cut off from fellowship--"beheaded for the testimony of Jesus." Let all such emulate Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Let their testimonies be given with radiant faces like his. Let their eyes of faith perceive Jesus at the right hand of the Majesty on High as their Advocate and Deliverer. Let their words be with moderation as were Stephen's, and let it be true of them, as written of him, "full of grace and power" and "filled with the Holy Spirit."
May 17
We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:18
WHAT do these words mean? They mean that the Apostle Paul had spiritual eyesight. He indeed saw earthly attractions, but they lost their drawing power upon him because of his spiritual sight--his perception of the things unseen. With the eye of faith he saw the Heavenly Father, the glorified Lord Jesus, the heavenly hosts, the coming kingdom of glory, honor, and immortality. By faith he saw the great millennial kingdom spreading out before him, and heard the divine invitation to become an heir in that kingdom, to be joined in heirship with the Master and Redeemer. He had accepted his invitation. He had enlisted under the banner of the Master; and he realized that everything else in the world was of practically no value in comparison with these eternal things which God had promised. His confidence was in the Word of God.
Devotional Books
Exceeding Great and Precious Promises
Poems of Dawn
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