One at a Time by Alistair Begg

DAILY DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 2, 2018 One at a Time So she gleaned in the field until evening. Ruth 2:17 Let me learn from Ruth, the gleaner. As she went out to gather the ears of corn, so must I set out for the fields of prayer, meditation, the ordinances, and hearing the Word to gather spiritual food. The gleaner gathers her portion ear by ear; her gains are little by little: So I must be content to search for single truths, if they come just one at a time. Every ear helps to make a bundle, and every gospel lesson assists in making us wise for salvation. The gleaner keeps her eyes open: If she stumbled dreamlike among the stubble, she would have no load to carry home rejoicingly at evening. I must be careful in religious exercises in case they become unprofitable to me; I fear I have lost quite a bit already. I need to estimate my opportunities properly and glean with greater diligence. The gleaner stoops for all she finds, and I must do the same. Proud minds criticize and object, but humble minds glean and receive benefit. A lowly heart is the key to profitably hearing the Gospel. The soul-saving Word is not received except with meekness. A stiff back makes for a bad gleaner. Pride is a vile robber and must not be tolerated for a moment. What the gleaner gathers, she keeps: If she dropped one ear to find another, the result of her day's work would be but meager; she is as careful to retain as to obtain, and so at last she makes great gains. How often do I forget all that I hear; the second truth pushes the first out of my head, and so my reading and hearing end in much ado about nothing! Do I understand the importance of storing up the truth? Hunger helps to make the gleaner wise; if she has no corn in her hand, there will be no bread on her table; she works under a sense of necessity, and consequently she moves swiftly and her grasp is firm. My need is even greater, Lord; help me to feel it, that it may urge me onward to glean in fields that yield to diligence a plenteous reward.

Invisible Wisdom by David Jeremiah

Thursday, August 2 Invisible Wisdom    The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10    Waking up each morning, we use our eyes to gauge our surroundings. Is it morning? What time is it? Throughout the day, we rely on our sight. When Balaam traveled to the princes of Moab, he was most likely lost in thought or focused on his physical surroundings. He knew God had given him permission to go, but he did not realize the importance of relying on God for the words to speak. The moment God opened Balaam’s eyes to see the Angel of the Lord, he realized that God’s wisdom was the difference between life and death.

Recommended Reading: Numbers 22:21-35

Foolishness starts small. Too often, we rely on our own understanding based on what our eyes can see and on our past experiences. God is untainted by the past or the bias of people. He is omnipresent. When we draw close to God, we draw close to wisdom. This is good news. We can rely on Him and rest in quiet trust, even if we are unsure of what to say or how a situation will unfold. Spread out your petition before God, and then say, “Thy will, not mine, be done.” The sweetest lesson I have learned in God’s school is to let the Lord choose for me. D. L. Moody

Healing Flood / Our Daily Bread

Healing Flood August 2, 2018

Read: Psalm 107:1–16, 35–36 Bible in a Year: Psalms 60–62; Romans 5 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs.—Psalm 107:35 I’ve always loved a good thunderstorm. As kids, whenever a storm was truly incredible—with booming thunder and buckets of heavy rain pounding down—my siblings and I would make a mad dash around the outside of our house, slipping and sliding along the way. When it was time to go back inside, we were soaked to the bone. It was an exhilarating taste—for just a few minutes—of being immersed in something so powerful we couldn’t quite tell whether we were having fun or terrified. This picture comes to mind when, as in Psalm 107, Scripture compares God’s restoration to a barren wilderness transformed into “pools of water” (v. 35). Because the kind of storm that transforms a desert into an oasis isn’t a gentle shower—it’s a downpour, flooding every crack of parched ground with new life. And isn’t that the kind of restoration we long for? When our stories feel like tales of aimless wandering because we are “hungry and thirsty”—starving—for healing that never seems to arrive (vv. 4-5), we need more than a bit of hope. And when deep-rooted patterns of sin leave us trapped “in utter darkness” (vv. 10-11), our hearts need more than a little change. That’s exactly the kind of transformation our God can bring (v. 20). It’s never too late to bring our fears and shame to the One who’s more than able to break our chains and flood our darkness with His light (vv. 13-14). —Monica Brands Father, help us turn to You with our burdens, trusting Your love and power to write a new story of healing and transformation. God’s power transforms. INSIGHT: Following Christ gives us a hope that is both present and future. Paul said, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19). This present/future hope—rooted in Jesus’s resurrection—reminds us that whether today is good or bad, we have confidence in Him for a better day to come. Bill Crowder

Learning About His Ways by Oswald Chambers

Learning About His Ways When Jesus finished commanding His twelve disciples…He departed from there to teach and to preach in their cities.  MATTHEW 11:1 He comes where He commands us to leave. If you stayed home when God told you to go because you were so concerned about your own people there, then you actually robbed them of the teaching of Jesus Christ Himself. When you obeyed and left all the consequences to God, the Lord went into your city to teach, but as long as you were disobedient, you blocked His way. Watch where you begin to debate with Him and put what you call your duty into competition with His commands. If you say, “I know that He told me to go, but my duty is here,” it simply means that you do not believe that Jesus means what He says. He teaches where He instructs us not to teach. “Master…let us make three tabernacles…” (Luke 9:33). Are we playing the part of an amateur providence, trying to play God’s role in the lives of others? Are we so noisy in our instruction of other people that God cannot get near them? We must learn to keep our mouths shut and our spirits alert. God wants to instruct us regarding His Son, and He wants to turn our times of prayer into mounts of transfiguration. When we become certain that God is going to work in a particular way, He will never work in that way again. He works where He sends us to wait. “…tarry…until…” (Luke 24:49). “Wait on the Lord” and He will work (Psalm 37:34). But don’t wait sulking spiritually and feeling sorry for yourself, just because you can’t see one inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our own spiritual fits of emotion to “wait patiently for Him”? (Psalm 37:7). Waiting is not sitting with folded hands doing nothing, but it is learning to do what we are told. These are some of the facets of His ways that we rarely recognize. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS The message of the prophets is that although they have forsaken God, it has not altered God. The Apostle Paul emphasizes the same truth, that God remains God even when we are unfaithful (see 2 Timothy 2:13). Never interpret God as changing with our changes. He never does; there is no variableness in Him. from Notes on Ezekiel, 1477 L

Spiritual Gifts Work Together by Charles Stanley

Romans 12:3-8

Have you ever noticed that people in the church don’t all think the same way? When we become frustrated in our attempts to communicate with a fellow believer, we may begin to wonder whether something is wrong in our spiritual life. After all, aren’t we supposed to be a united body of Christ? 

It turns out that the problem could be the result of spiritual gifting. The Holy Spirit gives gifts to every believer for the common good of the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-7). But unless we realize this, we may fail to appreciate the gifts of other believers. Then it’s easy to start harboring the opinion that everyone else should be like us. 

For instance, someone with the gift of mercy might judge a believer with exhortation skills to be heartless—the exhorter may appear to value explaining the spiritual benefits of adversity over sympathizing with the hurting person. Yet both gifts are beneficial; used properly, they work together to help a sufferer see there’s hope in the hardship and comfort for endurance.

The root of division over spiritual gifts is self-focus, which can be displayed in two ways. If we think too lowly of our spiritual gift, we may become resentful or feel unimportant. If, on the other hand, we think too highly of our gift, we may believe it’s the most important one.  

If you feel at odds with a fellow believer because of your differing approaches to issues in the church, stop and thank the Lord for that person and his gifting. Then pray that he will be used for the good of the fellowship and for God’s own glory.

The Antidote for Sin by John MacArthur

August 1

The Antidote for Sin

"Let all that you do be done in love" (1 Cor. 16:14).

The more you love God, the less you will sin.

Scripture and personal experience teach us that sin always has its consequences. When you harbor unconfessed sin, you dishonor God and forfeit the blessings and joy He desires for you. Prolonged sin might even bring His chastening through pain or illness.

That's what happened to Corinthian believers who partook of the Lord's Table in a sinful manner (1 Cor. 11:27-30). Paul warned the rest of the congregation to take careful spiritual inventory of themselves to avoid incurring a similar punishment. In chapter 13 he reveals the root of their problem, saying in effect, "Some of you are physically ill because you're sinning. Start loving God and one another as you should, and your ailments will disappear."

Love is the antidote for sin. When a Pharisee asked Jesus which of the commandments was greatest, Jesus replied, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:37-40). If you love the Lord and your fellow man, you won't sin against them. That's why Paul said, "He who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, 'You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,' and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no wrong to a neighbor; love therefore is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:8-10).

Love is your highest calling and the greatest contribution you can make to others. But it's possible to neglect it or misunderstand its characteristics. That's why we're going to spend this month exploring true love and how it functions. As we do, pray that your love for God and others will increase each day.

Suggestions for Prayer

Ask God for a greater capacity to love Him, then demonstrate your love by obeying His Word.

For Further Study

Read 1 Corinthians 13, noting the characteristics of love.

Draw Near / A LOGICAL ORDER

A LOGICAL ORDER

Genesis was not the first Bible book to be written. Most scholars agree that the book of Job takes that honor in the Old Testament, and 1 Thessalonians had this distinction among the books of the New Testament. The obvious question is, "Why aren't the books arranged in chronological order in our Bible?" The answer is that our English Bible is arranged for readability. It follows this order: Law, History, Poetry, and Prophecy. The New Testament is similarly divided: Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypse. 

The Jewish Canon has only twenty-two books compared with thirty-nine in our Old Testament. The same material is in both, but the Hebrew Scripture is divided to accord with the twenty-two letters of their alphabet. In their Canon, the Minor Prophets are counted as one book, Ruth is coupled with Judges, Ezra with Nehemiah, Lamentations with Jeremiah, and the two books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles are considered as one each. They have three major divisions: The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings.

By the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Old Testament was pretty well completed as we have it today. Josephus says "that since the death of Artaxerxes (424 B.C.) no one had dared to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them." When we read the Bible from its beginning, we see how God has worked in every generation to bring man back to Himself. The theme of all of God's Word is the gift of His Son. Paul says man's highest purpose is to be conformed to that image (Romans 8:29).

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119:105‬ ‭KJV‬‬

The Gnat vs. the Bee by Adrian Rogers

The Gnat vs. the Bee

August 1

“But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” James 1:25

James 1:23-24 paints a picture of a man in a hurry. He has a lot on his mind. He takes a casual glance at himself and rushes on. If the Bible is like a mirror, then this man is simply getting a glimpse into the Word and not really applying it to his life.

Most Christians I know today are this kind of Bible student. They are like a gnat bouncing here and there instead of being like a bee and diving in and staying long enough to extract the sweetness.

Contrastingly, the man in verse 25 gazes into the Word. This is someone who delights in God’s Word, who applies God’s Word, who cherishes God’s Word.

Are you like that? Or do you take a passing glance at God’s Word and move on to the next thing on your TO DO list?

Which sounds more like you... the passing glance or the careful gaze?

August 1 / Streams in the Desert by L.B. Cowman

And do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.(Rom 6:13)

I went one night to hear an address on consecration. No special message came to me from it, but as the speaker kneeled to pray, he dropped this sentence: “O Lord, Thou knowest we can trust the Man that died for us.” And that was my message. I rose and walked down the street to the train; and as I walked, I pondered deeply all that consecration might mean to my life and--I was afraid. And then, above the noise and clatter of the street traffic came to me the message: “You can trust the Man that died for you.”

I got into the train to ride homeward; and as I rode, I thought of the changes, the sacrifices, the disappointments which consecration might mean to me and--I was afraid.

I reached home and sought my room, and there upon my knees I saw my past life. I had been a Christian, an officer in the church, a Sunday-school superintendent, but had never definitely yielded my life to God.

Yet as I thought of the darling plans which might be baffled, of the cherished hopes to be surrendered, and the chosen profession which I might be called upon to abandoned--I was afraid.

I did not see the better things God had for me, so my soul was shrinking back; and then for the last time, with a swift rush of convicting power, came to my innermost heart that searching message:

“My child, you can trust the Man that died for you. If you cannot trust Him whom can you trust?”

That settled it for me, for in a flash I saw that the Man who so loved me as to die for me could be absolutely trusted with all the concerns of the life He had saved.

Friend, you can trust the Man that died for you. You can trust Him to baffle no plan which is not best to be foiled, and to carry out every one which is for God’s glory and your highest good. You can trust Him to lead you in the path which is the very best in this world for you.
--J H. McC

“Just as I am, thy love unknown,
Has broken every barrier down, 
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine ALONE,
O Lamb of God, I come!”

“Life is not salvage to be saved out of the world, but an investment to be used in the world.”

The Signature That Saves by Stephen Davey

The Signature That Saves

Psalms 32:1

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

The late Harry Allen Ironside, former pastor of Moody Church in Chicago, Bible teacher, and prolific author, used to tell the story of a young Russian soldier. Because his father was a friend of Czar Nicholas I, the young  man had been made paymaster in one of the barracks. He meant well, but his character was not up to his responsibility and he began gambling, eventually losing a great deal of the government's money and all his own.

In due course the young man received notice that a representative of the czar was coming to check the accounts. That evening he took out the books and totaled up the funds he owed,  then went to the safe and retrieved his own pitifully small amount of money. As he sat looking at the books and money, he was overwhelmed at the astronomical debt versus his own small store. He was ruined! Disgrace was certain; prison was looming!

The only solution was to take his life. He pulled out his revolver, placed it on the table before him, and wrote a summation of his misdeeds. At the bottom of the ledger where he had totaled up his illegal borrowings, he wrote, "A great debt! Who can pay?" He decided that at the stroke of midnight the deed would be accomplished--he would end it all.

As the evening wore on the distraught young man grew drowsy and fell asleep. It was during this time that Czar Nicholas I, as was sometimes his custom, made the rounds of the barracks. Seeing a light, he stopped, went in, and saw the young man asleep. He recognized him immediately and, looking over his shoulder, saw the ledger and realized all that had taken place.

He was about to awaken him and put him under arrest when his eye was fastened on the young man's message: "A great debt! Who can pay?" Suddenly, in a surge of magnanimity, he bent over, wrote one word at the bottom  of the ledger, and slipped out.

When the soldier awoke, he glanced at the clock and saw that it was long after the midnight hour. He reached for his revolver, but his eye fell upon the ledger and he saw something that he had not seen earlier. There beneath the exclamation that he had written--"A great debt! Who can pay?"--was a single signature:  Nicholas.

He was dumbfounded! It was the czar's own signature. He thought to himself, "The czar must have come when I was asleep. He has seen the book! He knows all! Still he is willing to forgive me!"  The young soldier then rested on the word of the czar, and the next morning a messenger came from the palace with exactly the amount needed to meet the deficit. Only the czar could pay . . . and he did.

What a great reminder of what Christ has done for us. Beneath the words, "A great debt! Who can pay?" there has been written a single signature:  Jesus. 

Only Christ could pay for our sins . . . and He did!

Prayer Point: The Psalmist says that you are blessed because your sin is now covered by Christ's blood. Thank Him for paying that enormous debt for you.

Extra Refreshment: Read Ephesians 2.

Lord of the Harvest by Alistair Begg

DAILY DEVOTIONAL AUGUST 1, 2018 Lord of the Harvest You crown the year with your bounty. Psalms 65:11 All the year round, every hour of every day, God is richly blessing us; when we are asleep and when we awaken, His mercy waits upon us. The sun may leave us a legacy of darkness, but God never ceases to shine upon His children with beams of love. Like a river, His loving-kindness is always flowing, with a fullness as inexhaustible as His own nature. Like the atmosphere that constantly surrounds the earth and is always ready to support the life of man, the kindness of God surrounds all His creatures; in it, as in their element, they live and move and have their being. Just as the sun on summer days gladdens us with warmer and brighter rays than at other times, and as rivers in certain seasons are swollen by the rain, and as the air itself is sometimes filled with fresher breezes than at other times, so is it with the mercy of God; it has its golden hours, its overflowing days, when the Lord magnifies His grace before the children of men. The joyful days of harvest are a special season of abundant favor. It is the glory of autumn that the ripe gifts of providence are then generously bestowed; it is the mellow season when we enjoy all that we had hoped for. The joy of harvest is great. The reapers are happy to fill their arms with the abundance of heaven. The psalmist tells us that the harvest is the crowning of the year. Surely these crowning mercies merit a crowning thanksgiving! Let us render it by the inward emotions of gratitude. Let our hearts be warmed; let our spirits remember, meditate, and think upon this goodness of the Lord. Then let us praise Him with our lips and honor and magnify His name who is the source of all this goodness. Let us glorify God by offering our gifts to His cause. A practical proof of our gratitude is a special thank-offering to the Lord of the harvest.

The Certainty of God by David Jeremiah

Wednesday, August 1 The Certainty of God    He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.  Ecclesiastes 11:4    When television meteorologists miss a weather prediction, their only consequence is being ribbed by friends and viewers. But it’s a different story for farmers—their very livelihood depends on being right about the weather.

Recommended Reading: Matthew 25:24-30

The primary crop in biblical days was grain—specifically wheat and barley. Those crops were sown and harvested by hand. When it was time to sow grain seeds, a high wind could scatter the seeds before they ever hit the ground, providing patchy coverage in the field. So it was better to sow on a calm day. At harvest time, rain was the enemy. The grain would be cut by hand and lie in the field until it could be bundled and stored. Rain could ruin a harvest laying in the field. A farmer would check the wind and check the clouds and make his best guess as to the approaching weather. A farmer bound by uncertainty would never sow and never reap a harvest. Life is filled with uncertainty. But that should never keep us from making decisions based on prayer and counsel and trusting God with the outcome. Submit all your uncertainties to the certainty of God’s providence. Nothing in the world causes so much misery as uncertainty.  Martin Luther

Love Without Limits / Our Daily Bread

Love Without Limits August 1, 2018

Read: Psalm 145:8–21 Bible in a Year: Psalms 57–59; Romans 4 The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made.—Psalm 145:9 A wise friend advised me to avoid using the words “you always” or “you never” in an argument—especially with my family. How easy it is to criticize others around us and to feel unloving toward those we love. But there is never any variation in God’s enduring love for us all. Psalm 145 overflows with the word all. “The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made” (v. 9). “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does. The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down” (vv. 13-14). “The Lord watches over all who love him” (v. 20). A dozen times in this psalm we are reminded that God’s love is without limit and favoritism. And the New Testament reveals that the greatest expression of it is seen in Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Psalm 145 declares that “the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them” (vv. 18-19). God’s love for us always endures, and it never fails! —David C. McCasland Father in heaven, we are awed by Your love for us that never changes, never fails, and never ends. We praise You for demonstrating Your limitless love for us through Jesus our Savior and Lord. There is never any variation in God’s enduring love for us all. INSIGHT: The book of Psalms, also referred to as the Hebrew Hymnbook, is a collection of 150 songs that were sung by God’s people at various times as part of their worship. Psalm 145 is the last psalm in the final collection of songs penned by David (Psalms 138-145). David proclaims God as the Sovereign King (vv. 1-3, 10-13), exalting His glorious majesty (v. 5) and generous benevolence (v. 7) to all His creation. God’s greatness and goodness is manifested in His mighty acts, wonderful and awesome works, and great deeds (vv. 4-6). How have you experienced God’s enduring love?  For more about the Psalms, check out our free online course at christianuniversity.org/OT222. K. T. Sim

Becoming Entirely His by Oswald Chambers

Becoming Entirely His Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.  JAMES 1:4 Many of us appear to be all right in general, but there are still some areas in which we are careless and lazy; it is not a matter of sin, but the remnants of our carnal life that tend to make us careless. Carelessness is an insult to the Holy Spirit. We should have no carelessness about us either in the way we worship God, or even in the way we eat and drink. Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product. It may be a problem arising from our impulsive nature, but again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to that one particular point. Or the problem may be our idle and wandering thinking, or our independent nature and self-interest. Through this process, God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right in our lives. We have been having a wonderful time in our studies over the revealed truth of God’s redemption, and our hearts are perfect toward Him. And His wonderful work in us makes us know that overall we are right with Him. “Let patience have its perfect work….” The Holy Spirit speaking through James said, “Now let your patience become a finished product.” Beware of becoming careless over the small details of life and saying, “Oh, that will have to do for now.” Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely His. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS Always keep in contact with those books and those people that enlarge your horizon and make it possible for you to stretch yourself mentally. from The Moral Foundations of Life, 721 R