Thought for the Day

(Galatians 5:18) But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Christians do well to be led of the Spirit. When they are so led, they may be assured that they are not under the law (the “do and live” law of Moses, GAL 3:10-12). They are not under the law's condemnation (ROM 8:1), nor are they under its form of duty and service (COL 2:14-17). Clearly, being led of the Spirit is important for professing Christians, but which spirit? Scripture speaks much of the Spirit of God but i...

(In the interests of enviro-sensitivity and conservation, the following is a recycled meditation with a little extra perfume in it) (Genesis 8:22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. My calendar tells me that April 22 is Earth Day, the genesis of which was in 1970 at a time when (according to Wikipedia's article on “Earth Day”) global cooling was the environmental “crisis du jour.” How things have chan...

Genesis 13:11) Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Lot was hardly a model Christian. Peter tells us that he was a just and righteous man (2PE 2:7-8) but you would be hard pressed to conclude that from his conduct and choices in life. Our text today is speaking of the time when Lot made his ill-fated decision to choose the environs of Sodom, a bountiful place, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the L...

Hebrews 12:18-24 (18) For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (19) And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (20) (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: (21) And so terrible was the sight, that Moses ...

(Deuteronomy 32:2) My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: A beloved relative recently sent me stunning macro photographs of water droplets on various flowers. The detail and clarity were such that one could see mirror images of the flowers in the droplets which clung to the flowers. This moved me to search the scriptures, which brought today's text to mind. The doctrine of the Lord is as vital...

Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. The Book of Revelation is rich with intriguing figures that have profound spiritual significance. In the eleventh chapter are described two powerful witnesses of God whose testimony serves as a torment to men. There has been much speculation as to the identity of these two witnesses and some have e...

In our modern society, the festive occasion known as Halloween is taken for granted. It is a time of curious, rather morbid activities for children and adults alike when some of the darkest themes of a sin-burdened creation are exhumed from history's graveyard for public display and for the profit of carnal merchants who promote the entire affair. Yet how many people (especially Bible-believers) have given honest, serious consideration to the nature of this seasonal celebration? What follows is a simple ...

(Jeremiah 4:4) Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. I was recently asked whether JER 4:4 might be demonstrating that the prophet had some insights into the true circumcision of which Paul spoke in ROM 2:28-29: (ROM 2:28) For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward...

1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 (1) But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (4) But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. The Apostle Paul, immediately prior to penning these wo...

Esther 3:5-7 (5) And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. (6) And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. (7) In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and fr...

(Genesis 13:11) Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Lot was hardly a model Christian. Peter tells us that he was a just and righteous man (2PE 2:7-8) but you would be hard pressed to conclude that from his conduct and choices in life. Our text today is speaking of the time when Lot made his ill-fated decision to choose the environs of Sodom, a bountiful place, “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the ...

Leviticus 23:10-11 (10) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: (11) And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. One of the richest rewards of the “more sure word of prophecy” (2PE 1:19) which is Christ's New Testament is the light that it...

John 9:6-7 (6) When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, (7) And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. The ninth chapter of John is a beautiful (and somewhat humorous) account of a great miracle of healing which made a blind man's eyes to see and his mouth to contend for the truth. Christ was anointed with ...

John 8:39-40 (39) They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. (40) But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Jesus was countering the gainsaying of the Pharisees here (JOH 8:13). They had obviously not taken to heart the rebuke of John the Baptist about the perceived value of a claimed pedigree from Abraham: (Matthew 3:7) B...

John 11:11-14 (11) These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. (12) Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. (13) Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. (14) Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Have you ever said something to somebody only to find out later that he had concluded something entirely different from what...

2 Kings 12:16-17 (16) The trespass money and sin money was not brought into the house of the LORD: it was the priests'. (17) Then Hazael king of Syria went up, and fought against Gath, and took it: and Hazael set his face to go up to Jerusalem. A very important rule for studying the Bible is the principle of “...comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1CO 2:13). Oftentimes the information on a given topic or event in Scripture is presented “piece-meal,” or as the prophet Isaiah described, “For...

(1 Corinthians 15:29) Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? 1 Corinthians 15 is, above all other chapters in the Bible, the most comprehensive treatment of the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. The implications of the denial of a future bodily resurrection of which the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the firstfruits are powerful, as this chapter makes clear. Even though the writing of this epistle was not ...

(Jeremiah 41:5) That there came certain from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their hand, to bring them to the house of the LORD. This event occurred during the days of trouble in Judah when Nebuchadnezzar's forces had razed Jerusalem and its temple. These eighty men which came with offerings and incense to the house of the LORD (i.e., what was left of it; see 2KI 25...

(MAR 3:9-10) And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. Jesus was very popular as long as he was healing the flesh of its troubles. Satan had once observed, "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life" (JOB 2:4). For the sake of health, men will part with most anything (except their sins, usually)....

Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. The Book of Revelation is rich with intriguing figures that have profound spiritual significance. In the eleventh chapter are described two powerful witnesses of God whose testimony serves as a torment to men. There has been much speculation as to the identity of these two witnesses and some have e...

Isaiah 53:1-2 (1) Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? (2) For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. The Book of Isaiah is so replete with references to Jesus Christ and His work of redemption that it could almost be called “The Gospel of Isaiah.” Such a conclusion would not be unwarranted, for the Apostle Paul, whe...

(In the interests of enviro-sensitivity and conservation, the following is a recycled meditation with a little extra perfume in it) (Genesis 8:22) While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. My calendar tells me today (April 22) is Earth Day, the genesis of which was in 1970 at a time when (according to Wikipedia's article on “Earth Day”) global cooling was the environmental “crisis du jour.” How things have c...

Genesis 33:13-14 (13) And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. (14) Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. In the Book of Ruth, Naomi said upon returning to her people, “I went out full, and the LORD...

John 15:13-15 (13) Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (14) Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. (15) Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. This passage is notable in that it is the only place in Scripture where the word “friends” appears in three successive verses. Each occurrence here...

Revelation 11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. The Book of Revelation is rich with intriguing figures that have profound spiritual significance. In the eleventh chapter are described two powerful witnesses of God whose testimony serves as a torment to men. There has been much speculation as to the identity of these two witnesses and some have e...