Wednesday, August 5, 2026

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“God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men … Then He openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction” (Job 33:14-16).
All of us have dreams at some time or other, and most of the time they do not mean anything. Often they are ridiculous, and although they usually involve people and places that we know, yet they are obviously just disordered thinking in our minds when we are asleep. Sometimes of course a dream can be very frightening, and we are glad when we wake up and realize that it is only a dream.
However, God has used dreams to speak to people for thousands of years, and some of those dreams are recorded in the Bible. God has a way of making a person realize that sometimes a dream is more than just something silly, and that it is directly sent to them from God for a purpose. You will remember that Joseph, one of the sons of Jacob, had dreams, but when he told them to his brothers, they were angry with him, and even his father did not understand. Later, when he was in prison in Egypt, the chief butler and the chief baker each had a dream, and Joseph was able to interpret the dreams for them. Later still, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had dreams, and he too realized that those dreams meant something. Joseph was able to interpret those dreams too.
In the New Testament the Lord spoke to the wise men, warning them not to go back and speak to King Herod again. He also spoke to Joseph, the husband of Mary, who was the mother of the Lord Jesus, warning him to flee into Egypt until Herod was dead. Later still, the Apostle Paul had a number of visions during his life, when the Lord spoke directly to him. The Lord also spoke to the Apostle Peter in a vision.
Now that we have the complete Word of God, and are indwelt with the Spirit of God, the Lord does not usually speak to us in dreams and visions. However, in places in the world where they do not have the Bible, and perhaps cannot get one, the Lord still speaks in dreams, in order to draw them to the Lord Jesus, and make them realize that they need to be saved.
As we see in our verses today, sometimes people do not pay enough attention when the Lord is speaking to them, but they will be held responsible if the Lord allows a dream in order to warn them. When God speaks, He always wants our blessing through it all, and it is important to listen.
             
July 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

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“Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven” (Judges 16:22).
“And Samson called unto the Lord, and said, O Lord God … strengthen me, I pray Thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes” (Judges 16:28).
“So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life” (Judges 16:30).
When Samson was in prison, his hair began to grow again. This is a picture of restoration in his soul, for it appears that Samson realized that he had failed in being a true Nazarite. If you and I fail in being totally devoted to the Lord, we may suffer for it, as Samson did. But the Lord is gracious, and Samson begins to recover some of his strength.
Sometime later the Philistines held a big party, and sacrificed to their false god Dagon. There were thousands of them, all gathered together to honor their god. They praised him, for they said that it was Dagon who had allowed them to capture Samson, and humiliate him. Then they called for Samson to be brought into the big arena where they were gathered, so that they could make fun of him. Apparently they put Samson between two of the big pillars that supported the arena.
The Lord was going to show those Philistines who the true God was. It was the Lord who had allowed poor Samson to be captured, but He would not allow the Philistines to say that it was the power of their false god that had done this for them. When Samson prayed to the Lord, He strengthened Samson so that he broke the two main pillars of the place, and of course it fell down, killing thousands of people. But Samson died too.
Again, all this is a lesson to us. The Lord proved that He was the true God, but Samson died too, and he was probably still a young man. However, it is interesting to notice that he killed more Philistines when he died, than in the whole of his life before. His end was better than his whole life, for the Lord was gracious to him. But it was a sad way to end up. He could have led a far more victorious life if he had been obedient.
             
July 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Monday, August 3, 2026

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“And he [Samson] told her [Delilah] all his heart … if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man” (Judges 16:17).
“And she [Delilah] made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his [Samson’s] head … and his strength went from him” (Judges 16:19).
Twice before, Samson had become involved with worldly women — Philistine women, and the Lord had graciously delivered him. It seems that Samson did not learn his lesson, and when he got involved with a third Philistine woman, the Lord allowed him to tell her the secret of his strength. She arranged to cut his hair off, and he lost his strength. You can read about what happened to him in the rest of Judges 16. This third woman did not really love Samson, but it says that he loved her. The leaders of the Philistines had promised her a lot of money if she could find out why Samson was so strong. Finally Samson told her, and he lost his strength.
This is a picture of what happens to us if we become too friendly with people of this world, and get involved with them. They may seem very nice, but they will deceive us if we trust in them. Samson trusted Delilah, but she was really only trying to find out his secret so that she could get that big gift of money from the Philistine leaders. As you read the rest of the chapter, you will find out that poor Samson ended up in prison, working hard to grind corn (wheat) for the Philistines.
We are to preach the gospel to the people of this world, and be a help to them if they are in trouble. All this is good for us to do as Christians. But it is not good to become involved with them socially, and to try and form close relationships with them. Those who do not know the Lord cannot possibly understand a Christian, for they have no new life in Christ, as a believer does. Samson’s history is a good warning for all of us, for we will lose our spiritual strength if we get involved with this world.
             
July 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Sunday, August 2, 2026

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“For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb” (Judges 13:5).
“Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? (1 Corinthians 11:14).
Our first verse today was spoken by an angel to Samson’s mother, when he told her that she would have a son. Up to that time she had no children. However, the angel also told her that her son would be a Nazarite, and that his hair was never to be cut. But in the New Testament, we read in our second verse that it is a shame for a man to have long hair. Why would the Lord tell Samson’s mother not to cut his hair, if it would be a shame for him always to have long hair?
God gave the instructions for a Nazarite back in the law of Moses, in Numbers 6. There were three things he was to do, and one of them was not to cut his hair. See if you can find the other two things he was not to do. A man could choose to be a Nazarite for a period of time, but in the case of Samson, he was always to be one.
For a man not to cut his hair is a picture of someone who gives up his dignity and rights as a man. When a Nazarite did this, it was a picture of a man who was totally devoted to the Lord, and who gave up his own rights, in order to follow the Lord. Samson was to do this, but as we read about his life, we find that he did not do a very good job of being a Nazarite. All too often he wanted his own way, instead of the Lord’s way.
There were other people in the Bible who were Nazarites, such as John the Baptist, but the true Nazarite was the Lord Jesus Himself. The Bible does not say that he never cut his hair, nor did He avoid the other things a Nazarite was not to do. But He was the only true Nazarite in His heart, for He could say, “I do always those things that please Him (God the Father)” (John 8:29).
You and I are to be Nazarites too. Our outward appearance as Christians is important, but we are Nazarites mainly by being totally devoted to the Lord in our hearts.
             
July 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Saturday, August 1, 2026

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“And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” (Numbers 22:28).
“Go your way into the village over against you … ye shall find a colt tied, whereon never man sat; loose him, and bring him … and they brought the colt to Jesus … and He sat upon him” (Mark 11:2, 7).
Here we have two different situations, hundreds of years apart, yet both involving a donkey. What is interesting is that both of these donkeys did something totally against their natural way.
In the case of Balaam, he was clearly going against the mind of the Lord, for he wanted to curse the people of Israel. The king of Moab had promised him a lot of money if he would do this. But the Lord had sent an angel to block Balaam’s way, and although Balaam did not see the angel, the donkey saw him, and would not go ahead. Balaam then hit the donkey with a stick to make it go, and suddenly the donkey spoke to him with a human voice. What a surprise that would have been! But Balaam was so intent on having his own way that he did not realize at first the seriousness of what was happening, and he actually carried on a conversation with his donkey, as if it were the most normal thing in the world! Eventually he saw the angel, and was very frightened.
When the Lord Jesus was going to ride into Jerusalem, He told His disciples to go and get a young donkey on which no one had ever ridden. Normally a man could not simply get on that kind of a donkey and begin to ride; it would probably buck him off quickly. To ride a young horse or donkey, you have to begin slowly, and go through what is called “breaking them in.” Gradually the horse or donkey gets used to having someone on its back, and accepts it. But the Lord Jesus simply sat on the donkey, and it quietly carried Him into Jerusalem without any trouble.
Both of these stories show us that God has control over His creation. When He wished, the Lord could give the donkey a human voice, and cause it to speak to Balaam. He should have immediately recognized that only the Lord could do this, but Balaam was so anxious to get that money that he could not see the angel of the Lord standing there in front of him with a sword in his hand.
The Lord Jesus rode the young colt into Jerusalem when no one had ever ridden it before, yet it went along without jumping, kicking, or bucking Him off. This showed clearly who the Lord Jesus was, yet still most of the people in Jerusalem did not believe in Him. Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior?
             
July 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Friday, July 31, 2026

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“I [Jesus] am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).
“If he [Saul of Tarsus] found any of this way … he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2).
“And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them” (Acts 24:22).
In the early years of Christianity, believers on the Lord Jesus did not at first identify themselves by the name “Christian.” In fact, it was actually worldly people who first used that phrase, for the Word of God tells us that “the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). People who were not saved wanted some kind of name by which to identify believers, so they called them “Christians,” because they followed the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the beginning, people simply referred to those who believed on the Lord Jesus as following “that way,” and referred to the truth that they believed as “the way.” As time went on, the name Christian became more common, and the expression “the way” was replaced by Christianity.
However, the term “that way” is not a bad one, for as we see in our first verse for today, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” He was the way, and the only way, to approach God, and the only way to be saved. When Saul of Tarsus (who became the Apostle Paul later after he was saved) was going out to try and arrest Christians in the city of Damascus, he referred to them as being “of that way.” Even later on in the life of the Apostle Paul, when he had been preaching for many years, the Roman governor Felix still referred to what Paul believed as “that way.” Although they might not have had a specific name for those who believed, yet the truth of the gospel had spread rapidly, and the Roman government knew all about it. Poor Felix listened to the Apostle Paul many times, yet we have no record that he ever accepted Christ as his Savior. It seems that he was more interested in getting money from Paul, rather than hearing how he could have eternal riches.
Now everyone knows what the name “Christian” means, and what “Christianity” means. However, the name is not what is important; it is the truth of Christianity that is important, and to know the One who is “the way, the truth, and the life.”
             
June 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Thursday, July 30, 2026

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“Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters … that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things” (Titus 2:9-10).
Paul gave Titus some very clear advice as to very practical things. In fact, we find the phrase “good works” used many times in the book of Titus. Why was this? The Christians on the island of Crete knew the gospel and had believed it. However, they were not very good at acting like Christians, and frequently did things that were not right for Christians to do. Paul told Titus to make sure that they not only believed the gospel, but acted like Christians.
When I was in medical school, we had to study the human skeleton. We had a number of human skeletons available to us, standing up in little closets, so that we could learn the names of the bones, and how they fit together. Those skeletons were not very attractive, and if you were to see one, you might think it was actually ugly. Yet those bones are in all of our bodies, and are very important. They provide a structure on which muscles, fatty tissue, organs such as our heart, liver, kidneys, etc., and finally our skin can be held together.
Good doctrine is like our skeleton. It may not always be pretty by itself, but it is the structure and support on which our Christian life can be built. What then does it mean to adorn the doctrine? It means that even if people do not like the doctrines of Christianity, they ought to be able to see the good works in our lives — things that they can appreciate. These good works are like the soft tissues that cover our skeletons — they are much more pleasing to look at!
It is important to remember this in our everyday lives. We may tell others about the Lord, and we may tell them how to get saved, but it will not mean much unless our lives are “adorning the doctrine.” We need to show the proof of our Christianity to this world.
             
June 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

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“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34).
When Hudson Taylor was in China, he organized what was called the China Inland Mission. Many young people joined him there, in order to bring the gospel to those who needed to hear it. Hudson Taylor liked to interview personally the young people who volunteered to spend their time in this way, in order to get to know them, and to pass on some advice.
Once he took a young man out to lunch at a restaurant, in order to have a visit with him. In the course of their conversation, Mr. Taylor suddenly brought his fist down hard on the table. As you may imagine, some of the water in their drinking glasses immediately spilled out onto the table. Then Hudson Taylor made his point. He said to the young man, “During your time in China, you will almost surely get many hard knocks. But when this happens, it is what is inside that will spill out, just as with our water glasses.”
It was a good point to be made, for in our lives, even if we do not go to a foreign land, we will likely get some hard knocks. Then what is inside will come out. An older brother used to remind us, ‘Circumstances do not produce our state of soul; they manifest (show it out) it.” He also used to say, “I will never know how closely you walk with the Lord until someone crosses you, and I see how you react.” It is easy to be pleasant and nice when everything is going smoothly, but our true state of soul (what we are really like inside) comes out when things are not going well. But walking with the Lord can give us His peace, which involves accepting our circumstances from the Lord, and taking our problems to the Lord.
The Lord Jesus experienced many hard knocks in His life, and He always reacted in the right way. Sometimes He was gracious, and at other times He reached the consciences of those who were responsible for those hard knocks. But Peter tells us that “when He was reviled, [He] reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). He did this as an example for us, and we can ask Him for the grace to act the same way.
             
June 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Tuesday, July 28, 2026

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“Is any happy? Let him sing psalms” (James 5:13 JND).
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25).
We usually expect people to sing when they are happy. The first recorded singing in the Bible is when the children of Israel had crossed the Red Sea, and were delivered from Pharaoh — the one who treated them cruelly. No doubt they were very happy to be free! Then we find in our first verse today that the Lord tells us, through James, that if we are feeling happy, we are to sing. As I am running errands in stores and other public places, I occasionally hum a tune to myself. Sometimes people overhear it, and say, “You seem very happy today!” We expect people who sing to be happy.
But here in our second verse we find two men singing who were not in a very good situation. They had been falsely accused, publicly beaten in the marketplace, and then imprisoned, with their feet in the stocks. Stocks were usually made of wood, and then locked around the ankles of the prisoner, so that he could not possibly escape. The stocks were sometimes placed in public places, so that the people could see those who were in them, and make fun of them. But these stocks were actually in the prison.
You and I would not feel like singing under those conditions. Their backs were sore and bleeding from the beating they had received, and now they were in prison, not knowing what would happen to them. How could they sing after all that?
They could sing because they were happy in their souls. They knew that the Lord had allowed all this, and that He could deliver them. Then they began to sing in the middle of the night, at midnight. It was probably pitch dark in the prison, but they continued to sing, and the other prisoners heard them. Then the Lord stepped in and did a remarkable thing. He allowed a big earthquake, and it shook the prison so violently that everyone’s stocks came loose, and all the doors opened.
The jailor was about to kill himself, for if the prisoners escaped, he was held responsible. He would likely be executed. But no one had escaped, and that very night the jailor was saved. You can read this story in Acts 16, and how the jailor got saved. Paul and Silas had been badly beaten, but they sang in spite of this, and the jailor got saved. It was worth it!
             
June 2026
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers

Monday, July 27, 2026

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“And as he (Saul of Tarsus) journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?” (Acts 9:3-4).
“He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15).
The conversion of Saul of Tarsus (afterward the Apostle Paul) is one of the most remarkable events in the whole Bible. Here was a young man who hated the name of the Lord Jesus, and who was the leader among the Jews in seeking to stamp out Christianity. He had already been present when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7), and some time later he was on his way to the city of Damascus to arrest and imprison more believers in the Lord Jesus.
However, the Lord has His eye on that young man. Since Saul had been among those who killed Stephen, one of the brightest and best believers on the Lord Jesus, the Lord seemed to say, “All right; then you, Saul, will come and take his place, and I will make out of you an even greater servant than Stephen.” This is exactly what happened, for the Apostle Paul became the one to whom the Lord gave the special truth of the assembly, from a risen Christ up in heaven.
Can you imagine what it must have been like for Saul to be traveling along, probably on horseback, and then to be struck down by a light so bright that he fell to the earth? Many years later, when he was telling his story, Paul says that the light was “above the brightness of the sun.” As a result of this experience he was blind for three days, and did not eat or drink. But he was truly saved, and immediately began to preach the wonderful truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Paul became a real servant of the Lord, and went on to preach both the gospel and the truth of the assembly.
You and I have not had the kind of experience that Saul of Tarsus had when he was saved. The Lord saved him in a special way, for although he never saw the Lord Jesus while He was on earth, yet he saw Him in heaven on that day when the Lord struck him down on the road to Damascus. Seeing the Lord Jesus in heaven made a big difference to the Apostle Paul’s ministry, for he always thought of the Lord Jesus as risen and up in heaven. But you and I have sinful hearts too, and we need to recognize that our hearts, before we were saved, were no better than Saul’s. We too need a new heart, just as he did. We may not be called to do what Paul did in serving the Lord, but we all have something that the Lord has given us to do.
             
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Growing in Grace Blog by Bible Truth Publishers