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Young Christians Calendar

A daily meditation for young Christians

December 2023

All months

Sunday, December 31, 2023

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“For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified (set apart)” (Hebrews 10:14).
At the end of another year, we are once again reminded of our Lord’s goodness to us, and also of how things are changing rapidly in this world. Yesterday we were reminded that time did not always exist, nor will it exist forever. Eventually there will be only eternity, rolling on and on.
However, we can be thankful for those things that do not change. If eternity will go on and on forever, so will the value of the work of Christ. Our salvation was perfected at the cross, and our verse today states that we are perfected forever. What does this mean? It means that nothing can change our perfect position before God, because it does not depend on time, or on us, but rather on the finished work of Christ.
A few days ago I tried to sign into a website, and was informed that my password had expired. I had to create a new one. There was nothing wrong with my old password; they just wanted me to have a new one. But our salvation will never expire; it is good for all eternity.

Saturday, December 30, 2023

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“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” (Genesis 1:14).
Have you ever realized that time did not always exist? You and I find it hard to imagine living without the idea of time to measure what we do, since we have always lived in a world of time. But it did not always exist. When God rearranged this world and made it ready for man to live on, He created time, and made things like the sun and the moon to regulate time. The sun shines during the day, and the moon at night. But the cycle of the moon around the earth takes approximately one month, and the earth takes one year to revolve around the sun. In this way we have days and nights, months, and years. But then the Lord took one week to remake this world. Because of this, we measure a week of seven days. It was God who gave all this to us.
As we get to the end of this year, it is good to remember that God created time, but that after God has created new heavens and a new earth, there will be no more time. Eternity will stretch on and on, without any time to measure it. Where will you spend eternity?

Friday, December 29, 2023

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“Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of Him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance” (Ezra 8:21).
Ezra was a godly man, a Jew, who lived in the Persian empire during the reign of Artaxerxes. The king had given him permission to go back to the land of Israel, and a number of other Jewish people went with him. This was in the year 458 B.C. It was a long journey, and they were concerned about their safety. They camped by the river that flowed to Ahava for several days, and asked the Lord for guidance. The river of Ahava was probably a canal that flowed from the Euphrates River to Ahava, to provide water for the town.
Ezra was concerned that everything in their lives might be done in a right way, whether it concerned themselves, or their children, or what they owned. It should be the same way with us. We are approaching the end of another year, and if the Lord leaves us here, we will be starting a new year soon. It is important to ask the Lord for His help and direction for every part of our lives. When we are walking in the path of His choosing, we can count on His help and protection.

Thursday, December 28, 2023

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“Whither thou [Naomi] goest, I [Ruth] will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God” (Ruth 1:16).
Naomi and her husband had moved to Moab when there was a famine in Israel, and one of their sons had married Ruth, who was a girl from Moab. But now Naomi’s husband was dead, and so was Ruth’s husband. Naomi wanted to return to the land of Israel, and Ruth badly wanted to go with her. When Naomi tried to send her back to Moab, Ruth insisted on going wherever Naomi went. Why was this?
The Lord had worked in Ruth’s heart, and she really wanted to know the true God. Even though the Moabites were related to the children of Israel (they were part of Lot’s family), they worshiped idols, and did not like the Israelites. But Ruth realized that the God of Israel was the true God, and wanted to go with Naomi, whatever the cost.
She was richly rewarded for her faith, for she eventually married a wealthy man named Boaz, and became one of the human ancestors of the Lord Jesus. Read her story in the book of Ruth.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

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“The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34)
I went to public school shortly after World War 2, and at that time quite a few people immigrated to Canada from Europe. Many of these people had known nothing but war and fear for a number of years. It was common for the principal of our school to bring new boys or girls into our classroom, and introduce them to us. Usually they could not speak much English, and they were always crying. I remember feeling sorry for them, as they were in a new country, and suddenly being brought into a classroom of strangers. I am thankful to tell you that everyone was nice to them, and they quickly felt comfortable and at home.
The Israelites were to do the same, and to remember that they had been strangers in Egypt. It is always good to treat strangers nicely, and to be a help to them. We never know when we too may be in a new place, and need some help.

Tuesday, December 26, 2023

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“Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head (person with white hair], and honour the face of the o[d man, and fear thy God: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:32).
When I attended high school (that was quite a few years ago!), we had a good principal whom everyone respected and liked. He would occasionally have to walk into a classroom in the middle of a lesson, to speak to the teacher. When this happened, he expected all the students in the class to stand up, and remain standing until he told them to sit down. We all gladly did this out of respect for him.
Attitudes in this world have changed considerably since then, but the Word of God tells us clearly to respect older people and honor them. According to our verse today, this respect is connected with the fear of God. If we fear God, we will respect those who are older.
In western culture, it has become customary for young people to speak to older people as if they were speaking to other young people. This is not right; there should be that healthy respect for those who are older, as the Word of God teaches us.

Monday, December 25, 2023

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“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
“And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing” (Leviticus 5:5).
Perhaps you may remember that we talked about the first verse for today back in early January, pointing out that if we sin, we do not need to be saved all over again. We never need a second application of the blood of Christ, for it has already cleansed us from all sin. However, we do need to confess the sin to the Lord, and be restored to happy fellowship with Him again.
Our second verse reminds us that we must be specific about our confession. A general confession that “I have done wrong” is not enough; we must do as the Israelite had to do. We must confess exactly what we have done. It is easy to say that we have sinned, for “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But when we confess exactly what we have done wrong, it brings home to our hearts the seriousness of sin. Then the Lord forgives us; we can be happy again, and enjoy the Lord’s company.

Sunday, December 24, 2023

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“So Moses finished the work [of the tabernacle]…And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:33,35).
“Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19).
When the tabernacle was finished, the glory of the Lord filled it, and Moses was not able to enter into it. The same thing happened many years later, when Solomon’s temple was finished. The priests were unable to go in and perform their duties because of the glory of the Lord. See if you can find this verse about the temple.
How beautiful it is to see how we are now able, by faith, to enter into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus. In the Old Testament, no one but the high priest could go into the holiest of all, and then only once a year, with the blood of an animal. But now the blood of Jesus has opened the way for us to go into God’s presence, for His blood has cleansed us from all sin.
When the Lord Jesus died, we read that “the veil of the temple was rent in twain (in two) from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51). The work was done, and now man could enter in, and God could come out.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

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“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously” (Exodus 15:1).
“And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30).
The singing that is mentioned in Exodus 15, after the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, is the first mention of singing in the Bible. People may have sung before this, and probably did, but there is no mention of it. Why is this?
I would suggest that it is because God could not really mention singing until the work of redemption was complete. Of course, the work of our Lord Jesus on the cross would not happen for another 1500 years, but the Passover is a picture of the work of Christ. Israel was now a redeemed people, and they were also freed from the authority of Pharaoh. They could not help but sing!
But many years later, in view of His work on the cross, the Lord Jesus would keep that same Passover with His disciples. Then He would show them how to remember Him in His death, not with a lamb, but with a loaf and a cup. But then, before they went to the Mount of Olives, He too would sing with them. He looked beyond the cross to the blessing that would come from it, and He too could sing.

Friday, December 22, 2023

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“It had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them” (2 Peter 2:21).
As I write this in December, 2021, a note on the internet caught my attention. It said that when people in the U.S.A. are asked what religion they are, more and more of them are saying, “None.” According to one survey, this group now comprises nearly 30% of American adults.
One college student, a girl who used to attend an evangelical Christian “church,” left it three years ago. (Obviously she was never truly saved.) She identified as atheist, then agnostic, before embracing what she calls “a spiritual but not religious life.” In her dorm, she blends rituals at an altar, chanting Buddhist, Taoist and Hindu mantras and paying homage to her ancestors as she meditates and prays.
We are living in the last days, and the Lord has said that this would happen. How important it is to cling to the Word of God, and to those things that never change. God’s Word will abide forever, and it will keep us from this confused and Satanic thinking.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

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“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord….The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace” (Exodus 14:13-14).
The children of Israel were on their way out of Egypt, yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he gathered his chariots and pursued after them. The children of Israel had no way of defending themselves, as they had been a nation of slaves. But the Lord was on their side, and Moses quieted their fears by telling them simply to “stand still,” for the Lord would fight for them. So it happened, for the Lord first of all took off the chariot wheels of the Egyptians, and then caused the Red Sea to come in and drown them all. But the children of Israel walked through on dry land.
This can sometimes happen in our lives, when problems mount up, and we have no way of dealing with them ourselves. Then the Lord tells us simply to trust Him, to stand still, and let Him work. It is wonderful to see this, for the Lord can change our circumstances so easily, and deliver us from an impossible situation. Then He gets the glory for it.

Wednesday, December 20, 2023

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“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
A few months ago I read a short article in a magazine, where the author said that most people in this world think of themselves, and talk about themselves, as they wish they were, not as they actually are. He complained that many people who, for example, write resumes about themselves in order to get a job, describe themselves as awesome and clever, and say how they are very good at certain things. But most of the time, they are grossly exaggerating their abilities. They are doing just what this verse says — “deceiving your own selves.”
When it comes to spiritual things, Christians can do the same thing. We can read the Bible and believe it, yet fail to be a “doer of the Word.” We are like a man who looks at his dirty face in the mirror, and then walks away without washing it. It is important to be honest with ourselves and with God, and to obey what we have read in His Word.

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

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“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not [does not scold]: and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
Wisdom is knowing how to use the knowledge we have in a right way. Many people in this world have knowledge, but do not know how to use it. God promises that if we really want wisdom, we may ask Him, and He will give it to us. This does not mean that we will suddenly be smarter than we were before, but rather that we will be able to make right decisions in our life, in dependence on the Lord.
More than this, God does not scold us for not having wisdom. Perhaps you have asked a question, and the person whom you asked made you feel stupid for not knowing the answer already. I remember some teachers and university professors who did this, and embarrassed their students. But the Lord will never do this to us; He will give us wisdom if we ask Him, for He loves us, and wants to help us.

Monday, December 18, 2023

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“Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Most of you who are reading this calendar are probably young people, and are in good health. But as we get older, our bodies start to become weaker, and we experience what can be called “degenerative diseases.” This means that we are not really sick, but that we begin to have things like arthritis, high blood pressure, shortness of breath if we exert ourselves, and aches and pains that we never had before. Another one of these things is a dementia, or perhaps something more serious called Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia is when we cannot remember things very well, and Alzheimer’s disease is more serious, where people start to think in strange patterns.
Perhaps you have seen people like this, and it is hard to have a good conversation with them. I remember a man who had this problem, and if I talked about everyday things, he got confused. But as long as I talked about the Lord’s things, and the Bible, he was fine, and all his conversation was perfectly normal. His “outward man” was perishing, but his “inward man” — the spiritual man, was being renewed day by day. How impressive it is to see this!

Sunday, December 17, 2023

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“It is the Lord’s passover…and when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Exodus 12:11,13).
The Lord instituted the Passover about 3,500 years ago, when He told the children of Israel to kill a lamb, and to put the blood on the side posts and on the upper door posts of their houses. Why was this necessary? Why could not the Lord simply have brought judgment down on the Egyptians, and left the Israelites alone?
It was because the Israelites had hearts that were just as sinful as those of the Egyptians. The Egyptians were sinners, but so were the Israelites, even though they were God’s chosen people. God could not righteously judge the Egyptians and let the Israelites go free. God could pass over the Israelites only because of the blood on the door, which spoke of the blood of Christ.
You and I do not keep the Passover, for the Lord Jesus was the true Passover. He has shed His blood on Calvary’s cross, and now His blood is before God, and it cleanses us from all sin. Just as it was God’s view of the blood that counted at the time of the Passover, so today it is the value God puts on the blood of Christ that is important.

Saturday, December 16, 2023

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“The god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Satan loves to blind the minds of unbelievers, and sometimes even young people who have been brought up in Christian homes fall under his influence. Instead of accepting the Lord Jesus as their Savior, they listen to the silly arguments of those who follow false religions, or who perhaps say they are atheists, and do not believe there is a God. Yet if you ask these same young people if they are happy, they will almost always say “no.” If you ask them how their life is going, they will often say that they are in a mess. Why is their life in a mess?
It is because we cannot live without our Creator, and when we pretend that He does not exist, or perhaps believe in a system of teaching that is not based on the Bible, we end up with no guidance in our lives, no reason even for living, no moral standards by which to live, and no hope for the future. But there is a God, and He has chosen to reveal Himself to us by sending His Son into this world. Now He wants everyone to hear “the glorious gospel of Christ.”

Friday, December 15, 2023

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“Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).
This is a good verse for us all to remember, for none of us knows what may happen tomorrow. Many years ago in England, a man remarked to a business friend about the recent death of another man, who was well known to both of them. The man who made the remark said, somewhat boastfully, “I guess I am so busy that I don’t even have time to die.” The Lord took him up on that challenge, and as he bent down to tie his boots, he had a sudden heart attack and died.
It is all right to make plans for the future, but we ought to make them with the attitude that we get in the book of James — “Ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (James 4:15). We do not know whether we will even be alive tomorrow, let alone whether we will be able to do certain things. It is important to live with the knowledge that the Lord is in control of our lives.

Thursday, December 14, 2023

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“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves…and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:15-16).
Here is another very solemn verse, as we see that the Lord Jesus will come back to this world to judge it. Of course, this cannot happen until the Lord comes and takes every true Christian home to be with Him. But before He comes back again in judgment, He will allow events in this world that will make it very clear that He is about to come. As a result, all who are in this world will be frightened, for they will realize what is happening. This will be especially true of those who live in countries where the Bible was available, and where they heard the gospel.
It is noticeable that when they call to the mountains and rocks to fall on them, they refer to the Lord Jesus as “the Lamb.” Why is this? It is because they know He came to die for them, and wanted to be their Savior. But they rejected Him, and now must fall under His judgment. I hope that no one who reads this will be among those people in that day.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

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“A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine” (Revelation 6:6).
This verse might seem to be confusing at first, but it refers to the time right after the Lord Jesus comes and takes us home to be with Him. Then God will begin to warn this world of coming judgment. One way that He will do this is to allow food shortages.
In the days when the New Testament was written, a penny was a man’s wage for a day’s work. Here we see that an entire day’s wages will have to be spent, just to buy enough wheat or barley to make some bread. Many poor people will suffer, but the oil and the wine will not be hurt right away. This means that for a while, rich people will be able to enjoy their luxuries.
As I write this in December, 2021, we are seeing some of this beginning to happen already. Supplies of food and other things are sometimes not available in some parts of the world, partly because of the Covid virus pandemic, and partly because of trouble between various nations. This is a warning to the world now, but it will get much worse after the Lord comes for us.

Tuesday, December 12, 2023

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“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12).
In our verse today we have another reason why the Lord Jesus is worthy to be the Judge of this world. Yesterday we saw that He had that right as the Creator of all things. Here He has an even more significant right to be the Judge — because of His work on the cross. He is not only the Creator, but also the Redeemer. He now has a double right to this world, and He takes that place as Judge, to make everything right in this world.
As we mentioned yesterday, man brought sin into this world, and spoiled God’s creation. But the Lord Jesus has suffered for sin, and not only has He put our sins away, but He has redeemed the whole creation. Through His work on the cross everything will eventually be put right here, and there will be new heavens and a new earth. He is indeed worthy of the praise about which we read in this verse.

Monday, December 11, 2023

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“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
This verse, and many others, tell us that the Lord Jesus was the Creator of all things, and that He created them for His pleasure. He is the One who will be sitting on the throne when all this that we read about in Revelation starts to happen, and He takes His rightful place, first of all, as Creator.
The creation around us is beautiful, although it has been spoiled by sin. However, God created it for His pleasure, and even if man does not always care about the creation, God appreciates His own work, and values it.
But has His creation always brought Him pleasure? No, for man brought sin into this world, and spoiled His creation. But the Lord Jesus, as Judge, is about to establish righteousness in this world, and then once again the creation will give Him full pleasure.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

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“Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto My sorrow…wherewith the Lord hath afflicted Me in the day of His fierce anger” (Lamentations 1:12).
All through His life in this world, the Lord Jesus was the “man of sorrows,” for He saw and cared about the heartache and all the problems that sin had brought into this world. His love went out to everyone, yet they despised and rejected Him, and did not want Him. Yes, they liked it when He healed them or fed them, but hated Him when He told them they were sinners before a holy God.
But there was another greater sorrow that the Lord Jesus endured, and this is what our verse tells us. The Lord Jesus bore the sins of every person who is saved, and the sorrow was unlike any other sorrow ever known in this world. You and I can never understand what it meant for the Lord Jesus to be “made sin” for us, and to be forsaken of God. Yet He went through all this sorrow, in obedience to God His Father, and because He loved us so much.

Saturday, December 9, 2023

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“The words of a talebearer are as dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 26:22 JND).
“Where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth” (Proverbs 26:20).
In these verses there is something important for all of us to remember. There are people who love to go around telling other people some juicy piece of gossip, and usually it is something bad about someone else. But then, there are people who like to listen to this kind of talk, for to them it is a “dainty morsel” — just like something good to eat. They never stop to think that it may not be true, and even if it is true, why go around repeating it? Then it gets passed on to someone else, and trouble is the result.
Let us not be the kind of person who goes around spreading gossip. If we are going to say something about someone, let us say something good. And if we cannot think of something good to say, let us say nothing. Also, let us not be the kind of person who likes to listen to, and then repeat, this kind of thing. If we remember this, we will not only save ourselves from a lot of trouble, but we will honor the Lord.

Friday, December 8, 2023

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“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
“There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying” (Revelation 21:4).
It is hard for us to imagine a world in which there is no death, for we have been accustomed to seeing everything alive in this world eventually die. Some trees live to be very old. There are Bristlecone Pines in California that are nearly 5,000 years old. Some animals also live to be very old, such as large turtles, which can live to be over 200 years old. But all of them must die eventually.
I remember one of the professors at the university I attended asking the question, “Why does everything alive in this world have to die?” He did not know that the Bible would have given him the answer. We know that death was the result of sin, for “by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin” (Romans 5:12).
But eventually, through the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross, there will be no more death. This will of course be true in heaven, but it will also be true on earth. What a wonderful time that will be, when we see the full result of the suffering of the Lord Jesus!

Thursday, December 7, 2023

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“Thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My word, and hast not denied My name” (Revelation 3:8).
None of us likes to be told that we are not very strong, for naturally we like to be strong and able to do a lot. Yet here the Lord praises those in Philadelphia for having a little strength. Why is this?
It is because we are not living in the early days of the church, when everything was fresh and new, and things were going on well. We are living right before the Lord’s coming, and we have only a little strength. Perhaps you sometimes feel this way and think that there is not much that you can do for the Lord. But here are two things that He values — things that each of us can do.
We can keep His Word, which means simply that when we read something that the Bible tells us to do, we obey it. It also means that we do not deny the name of the Lord Jesus. This world hates the name of the Lord Jesus, and uses it in swearing much of the time. But God values it when we speak His name reverently, and honor all the truth connected with His name. It takes courage to do this, but again, each of us can do it.

Wednesday, December 6, 2023

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“I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1).
This is a very serious thing in our verse for today, yet it was written to an assembly that pretended to be an assembly of God. What had happened? Sadly, people had gotten used to Christianity, and were pretending to be Christians, when they had never really accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior. It is possible to carry a Bible, to go to Christian meetings, to memorize verses from the Bible, and to be able to talk about Christian things, yet not be a real Christian.
There are many people in Western Europe and North America like this, as well as in other parts of the world. They are trusting in the fact that they live good, morally upright lives, and go to “church” regularly. Yet they are not truly saved, and often what they hear when they go to “church” is not a real gospel message.
If you know the gospel, are you saved? It is a very dangerous thing to pretend to be a Christian, and yet to be unsaved. A true Christian has new life in Christ, but an unbeliever is dead. Are you dead or alive?

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

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“Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16).
I happen to be writing this on December 1, and here in Canada it is getting cold. There is snow on the ground, yet there is still a little chipmunk under our birdfeeder, eating as much as possible from the seeds the birds drop down. It is late for him still to be out and about, as they usually disappear before this.
Have you ever wondered how chipmunks survive the winter? They go underground to their burrows, but they do not hibernate exactly like bears. They semi-hibernate by going to sleep. Their body temperature goes way down, and they sleep for long periods. But they wake up from time to time and eat from food stores they have collected in the fall, usually nuts and seeds. In this way they can manage, and then they come out again in March or April, when spring comes.
How wonderful it is that the Lord has arranged all this for them, and given them the instinct to know how to do it. He has planned for every animal to survive!

Monday, December 4, 2023

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“To him that overcometh will I…give…a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it” (Revelation 2:17).
When you and I are taken to heaven when the Lord comes, we know that the Lord Jesus will give rewards to those who have been faithful to Him down here in this world. Some rewards will be public, such as crowns to wear, or positions of authority in the millennial kingdom. But here we read about one reward that is private; no one else knows about it.
If we do something special for someone, sometimes he or she may write us a letter, expressing their appreciation for what we have done. We value these letters, and may keep them for many years. I knew a man who received a letter from the king of England, when he sent him a little book for his two daughters. He kept that letter all his life.
What the Lord will give us is a white stone, with a new name written on it. Something that is written on paper could easily get old and tattered, but if something is written on stone, it will last. Think of being given a white stone by the Lord Himself! Each one of us should be careful how we live down here, because that new name will last for all eternity.

Sunday, December 3, 2023

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“He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay” (Psalm 40:2).
“Thou hast laid Me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. Thy wrath lieth hard upon Me, and Thou hast afflicted Me with all Thy waves” (Psalm 88:6-7).
Before we were saved, you and I were in a “horrible pit,’ struggling in “miry clay.” We were like people caught in quicksand, and we could not get out ourselves. That is a picture of what sin had done to us, and only the Lord Jesus could pull us out.
But in order to do this, He Himself had to go down into the pit. He had to be “made sin” for us, and to experience all the awful judgment of God against sin. In the Psalms, we find how the Lord felt when He had to endure all this, and the language used in this verse shows us how hard it was for Him to do this.
He recognized that it was the judgment of God against sin, for He says, “Thou hast afflicted Me with all Thy waves.” Waves speak of judgment, and all the judgment of a holy God against sin had to fall upon the Lord Jesus. What a debt we owe to Him!

Saturday, December 2, 2023

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“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12).
Yesterday we spoke about the assembly in Smyrna, where they were suffering persecution, and how the Lord would give a crown of life to those who were faithful unto death for Him. You and I, who live in countries where this does not happen, might wonder, Can we win that crown, or is it only for those who die for Christ?
The crown of life is mentioned twice in the Word of God, and we see it mentioned again here in the book of James. In James it is not given for giving up our life for Christ, but rather for living for Him, and constantly resisting temptation. This takes real spiritual energy, for Satan keeps on tempting us with sin all through our lives. If we live to be older people, we may have to endure this testing for 60 or 70 years.
The Lord values this kind of faithfulness to Him, and will reward us with the same crown as those who give up their lives for Him. You and I can win that crown of life too.

Friday, December 1, 2023

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“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer…be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10).
In Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, we have seven different churches, or assemblies, addressed. The condition of things was different in each one, and in Smyrna, they were being persecuted for their faith in Christ. The Lord tells them that some of them may be put in prison, and even put to death for being believers in Christ.
But He tells them not to be afraid. Men may kill the body, but they cannot take away our salvation. The Lord says that if we are faithful unto death, He will give us a crown of life as a reward. In North America and in Europe we do not suffer this kind of persecution right now, but in many places in this world Christians are being treated badly. Some are in prison, some have lost their property, and many are being put to death. We can be thankful for the liberty which we have, but we should remember our brothers and sisters who are suffering for Christ, and we should pray for them.
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