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Young Christians Calendar

A daily meditation for young Christians

March 2023

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Friday, March 31, 2023

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“And she (Eve) bare a son, and called his name Seth: for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew” (Genesis. 4:25).
Adam and Eve must have been very sad when Cain killed his brother Abel, and then “went out from the presence of the Lord.” Now Abel was dead, and as far as we know, Cain never again had any interest in the Lord. He wanted only to please himself. But now God gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth, which means “appointed.” They had confidence in God, and this son was one who pleased the Lord.
If Adam and Eve had not disobeyed God and brought sin into the world, Cain would never have killed Abel. Yet God was gracious to them, and gave them another godly son. Cain’s descendants were ungodly men, but Seth’s descendants were among those who began to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Genesis 4:26). What an encouragement this must have been to Adam and Eve! If you are being brought up in a Christian home, are you an encouragement to your parents?

Thursday, March 30, 2023

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“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise (crush) thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:15).
Several days ago, when we mentioned how that Adam and Eve had sinned, we pointed out that God already had a plan to bring in much greater blessing for man through the Lord Jesus. In our verse today, we see that plan that God had.
The devil had appeared in the form of a snake, and the Lord pronounces a curse upon him. Ever since sin came into this world, Satan has been the enemy of man. However, God said that the “seed of the woman,” would crush the head of the serpent. This is referring to the Lord Jesus, who came into this world as a man. At first it seemed as if Satan would win, for the Lord Jesus was rejected and crucified. But in that act, the Lord Jesus really won, for Satan was defeated at the cross. Now, in that sense, his head is crushed, and eventually he will be cast into hell forever. Right after sin came into this world God told man that this would happen, and it was a great encouragement to godly people all through the Old Testament, as they realized that the Lord would have the victory over Satan.

Wednesday, March 29, 2023

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“And unto Adam He (God) said…Cursed is the ground for thy sake…in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread” (Genesis 3:17, 19).
Many years ago, I was speaking to an older Christian farmer whom I knew well. He was a good farmer, and often went to farming meetings and seminars to learn more. He told me that at one farming seminar, the professor who was speaking made the following statement — “We know well that we are not getting the yield out of the soil that we should. Even with perfect sunshine and rain, perfect mixtures of minerals and fertilizers in the soil, and excellent cultivation techniques, we are getting only a fraction of the yield that the soil could give us. But try as we will, we cannot unlock the secret!” Since it was a large meeting, the farmer did not feel free to interrupt the professor. But he told me that he would have liked a few minutes to speak, for he could have told them why they could not find the secret.
According to our verse today, it is all part of the curse God put upon the ground after man sinned, so that he has to work hard in order to grow things. That curse is still with us, and it will not be removed until the millennium, after the Lord’s coming for us.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

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“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die” (Genesis 3:4).
We know that the serpent was Satan, and right at the end of the Bible, he is still called “that old serpent, which is the Devil” (Revelation 20:2). As we see in our verse today, he directly contradicted the Lord in his conversation with Eve, and Eve chose to believe him instead of what God had said.
There seemed to be some truth in what Satan said, for we know that Adam and Eve did not die the instant they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rather, as we explained yesterday, their minds and bodies gradually lost their strength and vitality over a period of years, until they finally died. We know that Adam lived a long time, to the age of 930 years, but then he died. A few others lived even longer, but they died too. Tomorrow we will see how God dealt with all this. Although He pronounced consequences upon both the man and the woman, He told them about some wonderful blessing as well.

Monday, March 27, 2023

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“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).
This is a very serious verse, for it represents the responsibility under which God placed man in the Garden of Eden. He had everything he could wish for there, but there was one command; he was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did so, God said that they would die, or perhaps more accurately, “dying thou shalt die.”
Sad to say, as we all know, first Eve and then Adam did eat of the fruit of this tree, and brought sin and all of its bad effects into this world. God’s words came true, for disease and gradual deterioration of our bodies and minds begin to take place when we are still young, and it gradually gets worse until eventually we die. Some die young, while others live to be very old, but death comes to all, because all have sinned. However, as we will see, God knew all this would happen, and already had a plan to bring man into even greater blessing through the Lord Jesus.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

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“And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life” (Revelation 22:1-2).
Yesterday we talked about the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden, but here we find a heavenly river proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In heaven this may not be an actual river of water as we know it, but it means the same as other rivers in the Bible — a continuous flow of blessing.
This river does not need to break up into several other rivers, but there is something else unusual about it. The tree of life is not only in the middle of the street, but also on both sides of the river! I have never seen a tree that straddled a river; that does not happen in this world.
But the tree of life is a picture of the Lord Jesus, who will be the One on whom our eyes are fixed when we get to heaven. There will be wonderful blessing there, but it will all be because of the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross.
The tree of life is mentioned ten times in the Bible; see if you can find them all! (It is actually mentioned eleven times, as the phrase “book of life” in Revelation 22:19 really should read “tree of life.”)

Saturday, March 25, 2023

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“And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads” (Genesis 2:10).
Do you notice how this river does the opposite from all the rivers we have today? If you live in the United States, you know that rivers like the Missouri and the Ohio are what we call tributaries of the Mississippi river. If you live in Canada, you know that rivers like the Richelieu and the Ottawa flow into the St. Lawrence river, and become one big river.
But the river that flowed out of the Garden of Eden parted into four rivers that went in different directions, instead of having four rivers make one big river. Why is this?
In the Bible, a river usually speaks of a continuous, even flow of blessing. In this world, smaller rivers come together to make one big river, but with God, His river has enough water to make a number of other rivers. The blessing of God increases as it goes on, instead of getting smaller. God’s blessing broadens out, and it will be the same way in the millennium, when a river flows out of Jerusalem. It will flow in two different directions, to bring blessing to the earth. What a wonderful God we have!

Friday, March 24, 2023

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“And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Genesis 1:26).
During the first five days of creation, God made everything except the land animals, and man. Finally, on the sixth day He created land animals, and last of all, man. But the creation of man was different from all the rest of creation. We read that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” The whole Trinity — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — was involved in making man, for man was to be different from all the rest of creation.
To be made in the image of God means that man is God’s representative in this world. This is quite a responsibility! Man was to have dominion over everything else; he was to have control over it.
To be made in the likeness of God means that man is a moral being and can appreciate the same things that God appreciates. He was without evil at the first, and upright. After sin came in, man lost much of his likeness to God, for sin has affected every part of our being. But God has preserved His creation, of which we are a part, from the full effects of the fall, for we can still appreciate beauty, goodness, and distinguish right from wrong. There is still a dignity attached to man, in spite of his sin, even though in himself he does not have the power to do what he knows is right.

Thursday, March 23, 2023

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“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).
John tells us that the Lord Jesus said those wonderful words, “It is finished,” and then voluntarily dismissed His spirit (called “the ghost”) and died. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us that these words were said with a loud voice. Normally a man dying of crucifixion had become so weak that he could not speak in a loud voice, but the Lord Jesus did not die from weakness or loss of blood, as some people try to say. No, He was in full control of Himself, and cried with a loud voice when He had borne all the judgment that God laid upon Him. Then He dismissed His spirit — something no ordinary man could do.
All this had a strong effect on the soldiers, and on the centurion (a commander of 100 men) who was there. They had never seen a man die like that before, and the centurion said, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54). All the others who were watching ought to have realized this, too.

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

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“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear…and God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He seas: and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:9-10).
Many years ago, a young girl whom I knew asked her father the question, “In Genesis 1, why did God have to wait until the third day to say the words, “God saw that it was good?” Her father did not know, and when he asked me, I did not know either. So, we asked someone else, who gave us the answer.
The expression “the third day” in the Bible usually speaks of death and resurrection. The expression “the waters” often speaks of judgment, and when “the waters” were “gathered together into one place,” it speaks of the cross and the judgment the Lord Jesus suffered there. As a result, the dry land appeared, speaking of the blessing that we get from the work of Christ for us. Man could not live on the earth unless dry land appeared, nor could we have eternal life unless Christ died for us. So God could not say that “it was good” until after the Lord Jesus had died for us, and suffered the penalty for sin. Everything that is good in this sinful world is the result of what happened at the cross of Christ. I really enjoyed this answer, and I hope you do too!

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

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“For the love of Christ constraineth us…and that He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live into themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15).
The verb “constrain” means to force or compel someone to do something by moral or physical force. The love of Christ does not force us physically to do something, but if we realize how much He loves us, and how much it cost Him to save us, then how could we refuse to do something He wants us to do?
I have left out part of verse 14, but it says, “If one (the Lord Jesus) died for all, then were all dead.” That means that before we were saved, we were “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Now we have life — new life in Christ, because the love of Christ took Him to the cross to die for us. His love ought to constrain us, but sometimes it does not have that effect. Why not?
You have all seen a magnet, and it attracts iron. But if you have a small magnet, and place it thirty feet (about nine meters) from some iron filings, it will not attract them. Why not? Because they are too far away from the magnet. In the same way, sometimes we are spiritually too far away from the Lord, and we do not feel the attraction of His love as we should. We need to get closer to Him, and enjoy His love more!

Monday, March 20, 2023

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“As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love” (John 15:9).
The Lord Jesus was just about to go to the cross and die, to put away their sins. He reminded His disciples of His love to them, and told them that it was the same love as God the Father had for Him, His beloved Son. This is a wonderful thing, and perhaps we do not realize enough what it means. We all know how much it means to us to know that someone really loves us. But is there any human love that is like divine love? No, for the Lord Jesus loves us with the same love as the Father loves Him.
When I was young, we had an older brother who used to tell us, “Memorize this verse and repeat it to yourself every day of your life!” It was good advice, although I have to confess that I have not done it every day.
Even if you have had a happy life as a child, you will find that when you have to go out into the world, you will have some difficult times. It is a sinful, selfish world out there, and we all experience it. Perhaps some of you who read this calendar are growing up in unhappy homes. Whoever we are, if we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we can go out every day, either to school or to work, with the sense in our souls of the Lord’s love for us. This is a tremendous encouragement!

Sunday, March 19, 2023

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“I became in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10 JND).
This is the only time in the Word of God that we get the expression “the Lord’s day.” It is the Apostle John speaking, and at the time he had been banished to the island of Patmos because of his Christianity. Since the book of Revelation was written about 96 A.D., John must have been a very old man! (The Lord Jesus had been crucified more than 65 years before.)
As far as we know, there were no other Christians with whom to have fellowship, so John would have been very lonely. The phrase “became in the Spirit” suggests that it took some effort on the part of John to focus on the Lord. Yet he made that effort and received a wonderful prophecy of what was to happen in the future.
In much of the world today, the Lord’s day is treated like any other day: people do yard work, go shopping, play sports and have parties. How important it is for us who know the Lord to honor and respect the Lord’s day! If we use it for Him, we will surely get a special blessing from it. Even in difficult circumstances, John remembered the Lord’s day and listened to the Lord’s voice.

Saturday, March 18, 2023

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“And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).
To be “filled with all the fulness of God” is an expression beyond our understanding. Can we really be filled with all the fulness of God, who lives and moves in eternity? In one way, no, but in another way we can.
Let us try to illustrate it this way. The oceans of this world hold a tremendous amount of water. If somehow we could empty all the oceans in this world of their water, yet keep all the rivers of the world flowing into those oceans, it has been calculated that it would take about 40,000 years to fill them up again! If we think of big rivers like the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, the Amazon, the Nile, the Ganges, the Yangtze, etc., that is a lot of water! If we took a pail down to the Atlantic Ocean and dipped it in, we could fill it easily. In that sense it is filled with all the fulness of the ocean, for it cannot hold any more. Yet it holds only a very tiny part of that ocean. In that sense, it cannot ever be filled with the ocean’s fulness.
The love of Christ is like that. We can enjoy it, but it is so big that we cannot take it all in. But we can be completely filled with it, and this is what the Lord wants for us.

Friday, March 17, 2023

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“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name” (Malachi 3:16).
This verse comes right at the end of the Old Testament, when the nation of Israel had failed greatly in being a good testimony to the Lord. Yet there were those who really cared about Him, and who spoke often to each other. It does not say that they did anything more than that, but the Lord so appreciated those that feared Him, and spoke about Him to one another, that He wrote it down in a special book.
Today we live in a world that has rejected the Lord Jesus, and is on its way to the judgment of God. Sadly, there are even many true Christians who are not a good testimony for the Lord. The Lord appreciates those who think about Him, and who encourage one another by speaking with each other about Him. Are you and I among those who do this? When we talk with other believers, do we speak about the Lord and all that He has done for us?

Thursday, March 16, 2023

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“It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth” (Lamentations 3:27).
“Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).
We do not see yokes much in western countries today, for most of the farm work is now done with tractors. However, in many parts of the world oxen are still used to pull ploughs, wagons, and other equipment. Often these yokes are double, to permit two oxen to pull together.
The Lord Jesus asks us to take His yoke upon us, so that we are on one side of the yoke, and He on the other side. When farmers wish to get a young ox used to pulling in a yoke, they often place it alongside an older ox. The older ox is used to pulling steadily, and helps the younger one to go at an even pace. So it is with us when we are in the yoke with the Lord Jesus.
Samuel Rutherford, a godly man who lived in the 17th century, once said, “Oh, what a glorious yoke are youth and Grace, Christ and a young man!” He could easily have said, “A young woman” as well. Notice too that he capitalized “Grace,” showing that he was referring to the Lord Jesus. It is good to get used to being in the yoke with the Lord Jesus when we are young. Walking with Him is not difficult; rather, as our verse tells us, we will find rest unto our souls.

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

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“And he (Joseph) shaved himself, and changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh” (Genesis 41:14).
Joseph was in prison in Egypt when he was suddenly called by Pharaoh to come and interpret a dream for him. When he was called to appear before Pharaoh, he went and shaved, and changed his clothes. Out of deference for Pharaoh and his position as king, Joseph took care to appear before him in a respectable way.
While we know that “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), yet how we dress shows our respect for the one in whose presence we are. It is good to come into the Lord’s presence in a respectable way.
Tycho Brahe was a famous Danish astronomer who lived in the 16th century. When he went into his observatory to look at the stars, he always dressed in his best clothes, out of respect for the God who had created the vast universe.
When we come together in the local assembly, we come into the Lord’s presence. It is a good thing to remember the respect that is due to Him, and to dress in a proper way. This does not mean that we make rigid rules about what we should wear, but it does mean that we dress in a way that is fitting for the Lord’s presence.

Tuesday, March 14, 2023

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“And I (Daniel) heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And He said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:8-9).
During his long life, Daniel received from the Lord many wonderful prophecies about what would happen in the future. Some of these events have already happened, so that critics have tried to say that Daniel wrote about them after they had happened, instead of as prophecy about the future. But Daniel wrote about them long before they happened.
However, when Daniel heard these prophesies, he did not understand it all, and asked the Lord about it. The only answer he got was that the words were “sealed until the time of the end.” Daniel had to be content with that. But now you and I, since we have the truth of the New Testament, can understand how everything will happen. The Lord has told us how what Daniel received fits into the whole picture, and everything is clear. It is wonderful to be living at this very time when the last pieces of God’s prophecy puzzle are fitting into place! The Apostle Paul could say in Acts 20:27, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” We are living in the most wonderful time in this world’s history.

Monday, March 13, 2023

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“Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:16).
Probably many who are reading this calendar are young, but we must remember that when Satan is attacking us, he never gives up. We have been speaking about how Daniel and his three friends were faithful to the Lord when they were young men, perhaps only in their late teens. Back in January we spoke about Daniel being thrown into the lions’ den, but you may not have realized that he was a very old man when this happened.
Daniel was captured and taken to Babylon by king Nebuchadnezzar back in 605 B.C., and faithfully served the kings of Babylon until that nation was defeated by the Medes and Persians in 539 B.C. If Daniel was in his late teens in 605 B.C., then by 539 B.C. he must have been over eighty years old! He was probably in retirement by then, but king Darius recognized his ability and faithfulness, and gave him a very high position in the government. Yet even at this advanced age he was called upon to be tested as to his faithfulness to the Lord.
Even though you may be young, remember to pray for those who are older, for it is not only younger ones who go through difficulties in their Christian lives. We older ones need the Lord’s help too!

Sunday, March 12, 2023

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“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him (the Lord Jesus)…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:9-11).
The Lord Jesus was first of all humiliated and mistreated by man, and then crucified. Then He suffered the judgment of God for sin during the three hours of darkness. But now God has exalted Him, and in a coming day every knee shall bow to Him. Even those who are not saved will be compelled to do this, and to acknowledge Him as Lord. Those of us who are saved will be glad to do this, but how serious it is to think of those who will be cast into hell! They also will own Jesus as Lord, but it will be too late to be saved then. Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? It is a serious thing to neglect the salvation of your soul, for we do not know when the Lord may come, or when we may be called into eternity.
If you have accepted Him as your Savior, then on a Lord’s day like this you can join in the praise and thanksgiving given to Him.

Saturday, March 11, 2023

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“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace…but if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:16-18).
In previous times, Daniel’s three friends had relied on him to take the lead and speak up for them, but this time Daniel was not with them. He must have been away from the area, and now these three friends are compelled to take a stand for the Lord without him. But they had learned courage from Daniel, and now they boldly tell the king that they will not worship the big idol he had made. As a result they were indeed thrown into the fiery furnace, but the Lord protected them. The only things the fire burned were the ropes with which they were tied up! Best of all, the Lord Himself was with them in the fire. You can read this story in Daniel, chapter 3.
Sometimes we may be strengthened by the faith of others, but then the time comes when the Lord wants us to trust only in Him, and to stand up against Satan. He will give us the strength to do it, and as we see with Daniel’s friends, God gave them the courage to do so. He is able to give us courage today to stand firmly for Him, and to deliver us from trouble!

Friday, March 10, 2023

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“As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams” (Daniel 1:17).
Yesterday we saw how Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself with the meat that the king was serving him. Evidently Daniel had a little more courage than some of his companions, and took the lead in spiritual things. Because of his boldness, he had a good effect on some of his friends — Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They also wanted to avoid defiling themselves with food that they should not eat, but it was Daniel who spoke up and asked for a vegetarian diet. Then all four of them honored the Lord. As a result, the Lord honored them, for we read in 1 Samuel 2:30, “Them that honour Me I will honour.” As we see in our verse today, God gave them special knowledge, skill, and wisdom, and the king was very pleased with them.
When we have the confidence and boldness to honor the Lord in our lives, we can be an encouragement to other Christians who are watching us. Perhaps someone else really wants to please the Lord, but does not quite have the courage to step forward and do so. But if you and I are willing to take a faithful stand, it may encourage them to do so too! Then they, in turn, are an encouragement to us!

Thursday, March 9, 2023

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“Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank” (Daniel 1:8).
As young men, Daniel and his friends had been taken captive by the Babylonians when the kingdom of Judah was conquered back in 605 B.C. But king Nebuchadnezzar recognized their ability and wanted to train them to serve him. Daniel might easily have neglected the law of Moses, but even in captivity, he wanted to please the Lord, and he “purposed in his heart” to do so. You may remember that according to the law of Moses, the Israelites were not allowed to eat certain kinds of meat. Daniel was determined that he would not defile himself with the food the king offered, and the Lord honored him and his friends by making a way for them to do this. They had to be content with what we would call a “vegetarian” diet, but they were happy with this, for they were keeping God’s law.
Sometimes in our Christian lives we need to purpose clearly in our heart to avoid something that would defile us. We are not restricted as to what we eat as Christians, but there are other things that we may be tempted to do that would defile us. If our hearts are really right with the Lord, we will want to avoid what would not please Him, no matter what it may cost us.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

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“My son, give me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26).
Sometimes we hear gospel preachers tell those who are not saved that they need to give their heart to the Lord Jesus. Those who say this mean well, but it is important to notice that we do not find this kind of gospel preaching in the Bible. Why not? It is because of what we had in our verse on March 4 — “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Can we bring that kind of a heart, and present it to the Lord? No, for we also read in the Word of God that “Thou (God) art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13). God cannot accept our sinful hearts.
Rather we need a new heart and a new nature, which we get when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Then, as true believers, we can give our heart to the Lord. In our verse today, God says, “My son, give me thine heart,” and this shows that He is speaking to those who have a real relationship with Him. Then we can give our new hearts to the Lord, and use our time and energy for His glory. It is because we love the Lord that we willingly give our heart to Him, and this can happen only after we are saved.

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

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“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Sometimes other people, perhaps relatives or friends, may tell us that they love us. Yet we may not be convinced of their love, for sometimes they do not do anything to show their love. The right words are there, but there is no proof that they mean it. At other times, people may deliberately deceive us by telling us that they love us, and then use our confidence in them to do us harm when we are not expecting it.
Judas Iscariot, one of the Lord’s twelve disciples, was like that. He was a good pretender, and all during the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus he appeared to love and serve the Lord Jesus. But in his heart he was a fake, and eventually he betrayed the Lord Jesus. One of the worst things he did was to kiss the Lord Jesus, to show His enemies who He was so that they could arrest Him.
But God has fully proved His love by sending His Son to die for us. What more could God do to prove His love? He could not have given a greater gift than His beloved Son.

Monday, March 6, 2023

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“As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
This verse is talking about someone who wants to deceive us, and who may appear friendly, but underneath does not really like us. However, the truth of the verse applies to all of us, for our thoughts tell us what we are by nature. I well remember reading about a little girl growing up in a Christian home, and to whom the Bible was read every day. She had accepted the Lord as her Savior and wanted to please the Lord Jesus. One day she came to her mother and said, “Mother, I don’t want to do bad things, but I have a naughty ‘think’.” We can understand what she meant, for although she did not want to do naughty things, bad thoughts came into her mind from time to time.
Even if we know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we still have the old sinful nature in us, and it keeps wanting to make us sin. It is important for us to ask the Lord to help us to push those wrong ideas out of our minds, and to think about the Lord Jesus instead. Sometimes repeating a verse to ourselves will help, or starting to sing a hymn that we have learned. We can choose what we think about, and we do not have to allow wrong thoughts to dominate our minds.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

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“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
We have seen that the heart of man in incurably wicked, and that nothing can change it. Before we are saved we are like the rotten eggs we talked about yesterday; everything inside is bad. But what a contrast is the heart of God! If the heart of man is bad, the heart of God is all goodness and love. The Bible shows us what the heart of God is like. God wants to have a relationship with us, and wants us to know Him. We cannot have a relationship with Him in our sins, but through the precious blood of Christ, our sins can be washed away, and we can be brought back, or reconciled, to God.
We do not learn to know God through our intellects; rather, we learn Him through our hearts and consciences. Through our hearts God reveals to us His heart of love, while through our consciences He reveals His holy nature. He could not have us in His presence in our sins, but His love found a way to bring us back to Himself, without going against His holy nature. The sufferings of Christ on the cross fully paid the penalty for sin, so that God could show His heart of love to us, and forgive our sins.

Saturday, March 4, 2023

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“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9).
Probably many of you who are reading this calendar are growing up in Christian homes, and are familiar with the Bible, the Word of God. If so, you are being kept from much of the evil that is in the world, and perhaps do not realize how wicked your heart really is.
I grew up on a farm, and since we kept chickens who laid eggs, I was very familiar with fresh eggs and rotten eggs. Fresh eggs are the kind you like to eat for breakfast, but they eventually become rotten if they are left at room temperature without being refrigerated. Then gas forms inside the shell, and if you break it open, it makes an awful smell. As long as the shell is intact, you cannot smell anything, but as soon as you break it open, the bad smell comes out.
That rotten egg is like our human hearts. We are all rotten inside, but children that are raised in good homes are like the rotten egg with the shell unbroken. You cannot smell the rottenness inside, but it is there. Those who may not be brought up daily with God’s Word are often like the eggs with the shell broken — all the badness comes out. But let us remember that whether the shell is broken or not, our hearts are all the same. We all need a Savior!

Friday, March 3, 2023

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“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
Even for young people today there seem to be many cares in our lives — things that naturally cause us to worry and be concerned. But here the Lord tells us to cast all our care upon Him, because He cares for us. Notice that it says “all your care,” not just some of it. The Lord does not want us to worry about things that might happen.
Perhaps we really want to cast our cares on the Lord, and maybe we kneel down and ask the Lord to take them. But then we may get up, and start worrying again. I must confess that I have done this sometimes, and maybe you have too. Why does this happen? It is possibly because we have not paid attention to the previous verse — “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Pet. 5:6). We must first of all accept our circumstances from the Lord, and not resent them. Then, when we have accepted them as the Lord’s will for us, we can roll those cares onto the Lord, and have the confidence that He will carry them for us.

Thursday, March 2, 2023

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“Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15).
A few years ago some friends of ours were visiting the state of Wyoming in the U.S.A., at the Grand Teton National park. Out in an open field, they saw some American bison (sometimes called buffalo) roaming around freely. Our friends wanted to get a good picture of a female bison with her young calf. They did not see the signs warning them not to get near the animals. They approached them in order to get a good picture, when suddenly the female bison snorted, and started running toward them. Then a larger bison, a male, also started charging at them. Our friends were so frightened that they did not know what to do. To run away would have been futile; the bison could run much faster than they could. They quickly looked up to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to protect them.
Suddenly, the bison stopped, turned around, and started walking away from them. The Lord had stopped them, for He has power over His own creation. How relieved our friends were! They thanked the Lord for looking after them, for an attack by bison can be fatal. More people die in Wyoming from bison attacks than from any other single animal, but the Lord is able to protect us.

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

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“And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5).
The disciples badly wanted to have more faith, and asked the Lord Jesus to increase their faith. But the Lord’s answer was unusual; He said, “If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you” (Luke 17:6). The Lord did not mean that believers should go around asking Him to pull up big trees by the roots. Rather He was telling them that even a small amount of faith would be effective, for the mustard seed was very small, one of the smallest of seeds. What was important was that their faith be in the right person — the Lord Himself.
Also, we do not increase our faith by talking about it. Rather, our faith is increased by using it. When we trust the Lord in little things, He rewards our faith, and then it is increased. As we walk in faith, our faith is strengthened, and we have confidence to trust the Lord in bigger things.
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