Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

FOREVER FREE

“His slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us to go out and pull them up?’ ” —Matthew 13:28 In His kingdom, God lets the wheat and weeds grow together. He doesn’t pull weeds until they die or He comes again (Mt 13:30, 40). He delays in pulling weeds so that they might change and become wheat. However, it’s possible that, while waiting for the weeds to turn into wheat, the wheat may turn into weeds. Therefore, “be solicitous to make your call and election permanent” (2 Pt 1:10). “After beginning in the Spirit, are you now to end in...

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

“Remember to keep holy the sabbath day.” —Exodus 20:8 The Lord commanded us to remember to keep holy the new covenant’s sabbath, that is, Sunday. Do you remember? Is the whole day set apart as special? Or do you just go to church on Sunday? If Jesus isn’t “Lord of the sabbath” (see Mk 2:28), then He’s not Lord of your life. If He’s not Lord of all, He’s not Lord at all. The Lord’s word about the Lord’s Day for many people has fallen on the footpath. We don’t understand what God has sown in our minds, so the...

CROSSMEMBER

“While we live we are constantly being delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh.” —2 Corinthians 4:11 Mary and a very few others were “near the cross” (Jn 19:25). Almost all of Jesus’ disciples were nowhere near the cross. A few disciples were “looking on from a distance” (Mt 27:55). However, Jesus wants us to be as close to the cross as Simon of Cyrene, Veronica, and Mary were. The Lord wants us to be near the cross spiritually. The Lord wants us continually carrying “about in our...

HAVE IT YOUR WAY?

“Would that we had died at the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!” —Exodus 16:3 The Israelites had been freed from slavery in Egypt. Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, so oppressed them that he had their foremen beaten for not producing their quota of bricks, although Pharaoh did not provide the straw needed to make bricks (Ex 5:14). Pharaoh also commanded that every Israelite baby boy be thrown into the river (Ex 1:22). Pharaoh so hardened his heart that he still pursued the Israelites even after every Egyptian...

PROBLEM AREAS

“The Israelites had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel on that day from the power of the Egyptians.” —Exodus 14:29-30 Where’s the Red Sea in your life? Where must you make an act of faith and leave the enemy behind? Possibly your marriage, children, church, health, or finances are situations where you need to believe God for a miracle. Stretch out the hand of faith (Ex 14:21), put your foot in the water, and expect God to be...