Author: BTP

Dear Young Christian:

The other day, I visited an elderly believer in Morvant Trinidad. I have known this lady for many years and have always found her cheerful in the Lord no matter what the difficulties of her circumstances. This visit was no exception.

During our few minutes in her home, she told us that she had learned the importance of living at the corner of Praise Boulevard and Thanksgiving Street. (This is figuratively speaking of course).

Yes, it is easy to take up residence by Grumbling corner, at the junction of Complaining Lane, but this is not what the Lord wants for His people. He wants us to be happy and to cultivate the habit and spirit of thanksgiving and praise. So often we quote the verse, “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). The question is, how much do we take it to heart?

As we start out this week, let’s go forth with the joy of the Lord in our hearts and a song of praise on our lips. And don’t dare go down Discouragement Road.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you.

Send your comments and questions to jhyland1959@gmail.com

The Work of Calvary

“And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem” (Luke 9:30-31).

“And, behold, two of them … talked together of all these things which had happened … And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. Then He said unto them … Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? (Luke 24:13-15, 25-26).

Both before and after He went to the cross, the Lord Jesus discussed the work of Calvary. First of all, in anticipation, and secondly, as an accomplished work. How good for us today to have that work before our hearts and to speak of it together as we interact and fellowship with other believers.

In both cases cited above, we find the glory is referred to as well. How good it is to be able to worship and glorify Christ today, and then to look forward to the time when we will “appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4).

Outside and Inside

This morning, I cut into a purple plum hoping to enjoy it as part of my breakfast. However, I soon realized that, although it looked perfect and delicious on the outside, it was actually rotten on the inside and far from edible. I ended up throwing the whole thing out.

It made me think of people who make an outward pretense of being believers. They may read their Bible, attend a Christian fellowship, fool their family and friends, and on the surface seem very real. There were those like that when the Lord was here on earth. Of them He said, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:25-26).

What we need first and foremost is an inward cleansing. This is only through the blood of Christ. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Are you washed and clean on the inside, or are you simply putting on an outward show of being saved?

Monthly Question Page

Q. What is soul sleep? Is there such a doctrine taught in the Bible?

A. Soul sleep is a false doctrine that teaches that when a person dies they are completely unconscious until the resurrection. The Bible certainly does not teach this, and in fact there are many Scriptures that would refute such a thought.

The Bible teaches that when a believer dies it is the body that sleeps, not the soul. “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him” (1 Thessalonians 4:14). From other passages we know that this can only refer to the body. For instance: “Knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord … We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6, 8). In other words, it is one or the other. We are either in the body, or we are with the Lord. Those of our loved ones who have died in faith are in the conscious sense of the Lord’s presence now. In the same way, those who have died in their sins are now suffering torment, like the rich man in Luke 16:23.

We would love to hear from you.

Send your comments and questions to jhyland1959@gmail.com

Out of the Way

“O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself” (Jeremiah 10:23).

“Neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).

My wife and I were driving to a wedding in Dorothy, New Jersey. As we approached the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I decided I knew the route better than the GPS, even though it had been many years since I had driven through that area. However, we soon realized that my decision took us many miles out of our way. Although we eventually arrived at our destination, it was later than planned and the route was longer than anticipated.

Don’t we often do that on the road of life? Sometimes we think we are wiser than God and His Word, the Bible. We get off course, and, as a result, become frustrated and even discouraged. God has a way that is right, and, although not always easy, it is the best. In summary of the wilderness journey of the children of Israel, it says, “He led them forth by the right way” (Psalm 107:7). Wouldn’t we like that summary of our own life? Let’s put our own thoughts and wisdom aside and follow the Lord’s way. It is the right way!

Monthly Scripture Reading

Numbers 20

7 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

9 And Moses took the rod from before the Lord, as He commanded him.

10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?

11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

12 And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed Me not, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

13 This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and He was sanctified in them.

God Will Help Me

“For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded” (Isaiah 50:7).

“Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me” (Isaiah 50:9)?

Twice, the prophet Isaiah says, “The Lord God will help me.” In the first instance, he realizes that, this being true, he does not need to be confounded, baffled, confused, or overcome. In the second instance, he has a sense of the Lord’s approval in spite of what others might think or say.

These are two good concepts for us to get ahold of as well. Seeking the Lord’s help day by day, and having a sense that He is “a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1) will give us a clear sense of direction in our Christian pathway and service for the Lord, and will keep us from being bewildered and confused. It will also give us a sense of His approval. The Apostle Paul had that sense of the Lord’s affirmation when he said, “Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of Him” (2 Corinthians 5:9).

One of David’s prayers was, “Help, Lord” (Psalm 12:1). That is a good prayer for us. The Lord has said, “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Dear Young Christian:

It’s Monday morning again! Time to get going, and to keep going in whatever sphere of life and work the Lord has called us to.

One thing we are called to do is to keep close to the Lord. Why is it that in the hurry and flurry of life we so often drift away from nearness to Him? One reason is that we allow the fast pace of society to come between us and Himself. Another is that we allow things in our lives that give us a bad conscience. Joseph, who is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus in the Old Testament, said to his brothers, “Come near to me, I pray you.” Now that there had been a work of repentance with them he wanted their company in spite of what had happened in the past. The rest of the verse tells us, “And they came near” (Genesis 45:4).

This week, walk closely with the Lord. And if something has come between you and Him, confess it and have the matter cleared. And don’t let the pressures and busyness of daily life spoil your enjoyment of the Lord’s company.

Your Christian Friend,

Jim Hyland

We would love to hear from you.

Send your comments and questions to jhyland1959@gmail.com

Look Up

“He rose again” (1 Corinthians 15:4).

“He is risen” (Mark 16:6).

Today, we look back to Calvary and remember the Lord Jesus and the mighty work He accomplished there to the glory of God and for our eternal blessing. However, it is also good for us to look up to heaven and realize that He is no longer in the grave, but that He is risen from the dead. And not only is He risen from the dead, but He is ascended back to heaven. “He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things” (Ephesians 4:10). Even more than this, He is seated at the right hand of God as a glorified man. “The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory … set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:17, 20).

Yes indeed, we remember His sacrificial death on the cross, but we worship, praise, and thank Him as a risen, ascended, and glorified Savior. He Himself has declared, “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen” (Revelation 1:18).

The Prodigal Son

“A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living” (Luke 15:11-13).

This well-known Bible story has a sad beginning and a happy ending. Recounted by the Lord Himself, it tells of a young man who chose his own way and a life of sin and self-will. It led to a terrible condition of degradation, loneliness, and ruin far away from his father who loved him and was waiting for his return. Eventually, he realized that he had sinned and one day rose up from his deplorable condition in the pigpen, and returned to his father. With the confession, “I have sinned” (Luke 15:21), he found forgiveness full and free, and a place of fellowship with the father at his table.

Do you see yourself as that prodigal? Perhaps you say, “But I have never done those wicked and rebellious things that he did. No, but remember, we are all sinners, and we all have to repent. If we do, we will find God the Father ready and willing to forgive us and receive us in Christ.