“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love his brother remains in death.”

— 1 John 3:14

The scripture commands us to examine ourselves to see if we be in the faith and it makes clear that it is possible because of the deception of our own hearts, to be self-deceived and to be in error concerning our own salvation. I am sure that there are numerous people within the church of Christ who assume that they are saved and yet are not.

In 1 John, he lays down some key principles that help us understand this. He says, for example, “The one who does righteousness is righteous” (1 John 3:7).

He also looks at the specific subject of love, especially as the sign and test of our divine sonship. John begins by saying that this is the message that we heard from the beginning that we should love one another. This was the new commandment that Christ gave—that we should love one another, as He has loved us.

It is this commandment that John picks up on at this point and begins to describe to us. Not only was it the new commandment that summed up the ethical teaching of Jesus, but more than that it is the sign and test of whether or not we are part of the family of God. Whether we indeed have been saved or whether we deceive ourselves. How do we know we are saved? We have a love for our brothers and sisters in Christ that was not there before.

God of love, increase our love for You and our love for our fellow Christians. We only love because You loved us first. We pray today that Your love will so fill our hearts that it will overflow to the people around us…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE
CAN LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

“Come, and let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so that we will no more be a reproach.”

— Nehemiah 2:17

Nehemiah was a great man of God and yet a most unusual one. He wrote no psalms, directing the people of God to lifting up their hearts in exaltation and worship as David did. He did not leave us with hundreds of proverbs with which to guide our daily lives as Solomon did.

He wrote no epistles instructing us in the faith so that we may be built up in our spiritual knowledge. He did none of these things. However, what he did was quite unusual: He built a wall. It is most remarkable that the Bible contains an entire book written about the subject of building a wall.

It was, or course, a most important wall; it was the wall that would protect Jerusalem and its temple (which had been rebuilt) from the attack of enemies. Nehemiah well knew that the temple had been destroyed before only after the walls had been breached and broken down. He knew that if the religion of God’s people was to continue, there must at least be some hiatus in the singing of psalms and the teaching of proverbs, for there was a practical job to do—the wall must be rebuilt.

God calls His children to do different things. We each have our part in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The key is to make sure that we are on track to faithfully carry out what He has called us to do—even if it is to build a wall.

Lord, our protector, thank You for watching over Your people. Help us to protect and preserve that which You have entrusted to us. Let us gladly do the tasks You assign us, whether they are glamorous or menial…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
COMPLETE ANY TASK HE ASSIGNS US.

“If it is displeasing to you to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve…”

— Joshua 24:15

Our culture seems to worship youth and warehouse the elderly. But there are many instances in the Bible where God uses elderly people who were committed to Him.

Did you ever stop to think that Joshua was just a young man when he left Egypt? Then 40 years passed by while he was in the wilderness, and then another 50 years or more passed, and by then Joshua was an old man. He was now a man of 110 years and during all of that time he had been faithful and he had trusted in the Lord and believed His promise and with unwavering faithfulness had gone on serving the Lord as God called him to do as a warrior for God.

And so at last the aged Joshua, 110 years old, gathers together the people of Israel at Shechem and there with flowing grey locks, he calls upon them again to renew their faith and to trust in the Lord and to live for Him and he utters those famous words, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He said that on the very day of his death, 110 years old—and for all of that time he had been doing just that.

Whether you are old or young, don’t think that the Lord cannot use you if you commit yourself to Him. May we write Joshua’s words on our heart—to actively choose to serve the Lord.

Lord, my heart gives a resounding YES, as for me and my house, we will serve You. Help us to do so faithfully at any age and in all circumstances…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE WILL
SERVE HIM THROUGH ALL OF LIFE.

“And you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

— Acts 1:8

Friendship with the world can cloud our vision of Christ. Even the old legend of King Arthur teaches that principle.

Jesus wants us to tell others about Him, so that they too may come to experience His forgiveness of sins. There is great joy in spiritual reproduction.

I remember the words of Dr. Manford Gutzke, professor of English Bible at Columbia Theological Seminary. He said, “Gentlemen, you can always tell the difference between a real rose and a milliner’s rose made in a flower shop. The real rose may be beaten by the winds, it may be eaten by the cat, it may have holes from worms in it, while the milliner’s rose may be a beauty to behold. But one thing is certain, the milliner’s rose will never produce another rose.”

Which are you? The real thing or a fake? A nominal Christian never produces another Christian, but real Christians do. That’s one of the easiest ways to tell. So determine that you are going to witness for Christ. I hope you will determine that you are going to witness to someone every week. If you don’t know how to do that, you ought to learn how, and there are programs, such as Evangelism Explosion, that are more than happy to train you. But if you can’t do that, and until you do, at least invite them to come to church. Ask God to use you to help others follow Jesus.

Lord of the harvest, give me strength for today to be a Christian with a winsome and active witness. May the people I invest my time in know You and love You as I do…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
BE REPRODUCING CHRISTIANS.

“You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship with the world is enmity with God?”

— James 4:4

Friendship with the world can cloud our vision of Christ. Even the old legend of King Arthur teaches that principle.

Knights of the Round Table sought after the Holy Grail, which was purported to be the cup from which Christ had drunk at the Last Supper. The fact that they would spend their whole lives seeking after that cup is difficult for us to see. That was an age of much superstition, but nevertheless there are some truths to be learned from the legend.

There was only one Sir Galahad. According to the original tale, he kept the eyes of his soul upon that goal. By resisting temptation and by resisting a life of ease, he plodded onward until at last it was revealed to him through a great oak tree.

He saw the Grail resplendent in the heavens. He dismounted from his white horse and stood fascinated by the vision, which lighted up his armor. When discussing this ethereal vision later with the King, Arthur wisely noted this vision was for him, but not the others.

There is something to say for those who are pure in heart that they shall see God, and one of the consequences of impurity in our lives is that the vision of God grows dim and fades away. Have you wondered why it seems that God is far away, hard to find? Ah, my friends, upon what have your eyes been feasting? Where have your thoughts been dallying? Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Holy God, give me the strength to turn away from the lure of this world and all the vain things that charm me most. “Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my life” and keep my thoughts heavenward so I will not lose sight of You…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
KEEP OUR VISION OF HIM.

“…I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

— 1 Kings 19:14

God can use one man or woman of conviction, even while the rest cower in fear. Think of the great Athanasius who lived in the 300s. At the time, the deity of Christ had come under such enormous attack that it seems that the majority, even within the church, were denying the very deity of Christ. Athanasius, this bold defender of the deity of Christ, seemed to be the only one willing to take a stand. He was even banished from the Roman Empire five times, but he came back. It is possible that without his steadfast stance, we might not even know about our divine savior Jesus Christ.

If it weren’t for the boldness of Martin Luther, we might not even know about justification by faith. I think about William Carey, the first Protestant missionary who carried the Gospel to India. Carey said, “One thing I can do is plod,” and so with determination he plodded along and he translated the Bible into numerous different languages. One time one of those translations went up in flames, and he had no back up. But what did he do? Quit? No, he plodded with true determination, and he did it all over again.

Elijah thought he was the only one standing for God in the days of wicked Ahab, but God had reserved 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. May the Lord find us faithful, even if we are in the minority.

Almighty Father, thank You for raising up men and women through the centuries who have stood contra mundum. Raise up people in our time that will stand strong and show the world Your truth…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
STAND AGAINST THE WORLD.

“…in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season…”

— Psalm 1:2-3

The godly man is described in Psalm 1 as one who loves the Word of the Lord and ruminates on it in the morning and in the evening. By being so grounded in the Scriptures, he becomes like a tree with deep roots. But many people do not have deep roots, and so they hardly grow.

The Japanese have a way of taking what ordinarily are large trees and reducing them into tiny little trees and the way they do that is, first of all, cutting off the tap root. Those trees then are only able to use the surface roots, the smaller surface roots of the plant; and so the tree just doesn’t grow very much.

And that is the way it is with most people in this world. Their tap root does not go down deep into the Word of God, and so all they have for nourishment are those surface roots that are sucking up the things of this world. Consequently their spiritual growth is badly stunted and they will never show spiritual depth. They will never persevere unto the end and be saved. They will never be like Martin Luther, who could stand before the Diet of Worms and say, “Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me.” Therefore, he would not recant anything. Spending quality time in the meditation of the Bible is the key to true spiritual depth.

Lord of the Vineyard, thank You for cultivating and fertilizing and digging around me. Let my roots grow deep past the top soil and down to the nourishing rich soil of Your Word…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, OUR
ROOTS CAN GROW STRONG.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

— Proverbs 23:7, KJV

Paul believed that he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him, and he changed the world. But many Christians today never claim this promise or virtually any other promise in the Word of God. Sadly, they live lives with a trail of many defeats.

In fact, I think it can certainly be said that before any man is beaten at any task, whatever it may be, he first of all is beaten in his own mind. True grit is something that is given to us in part by the spirit of God, something also that must be cultivated.

One psychologist advised keeping the faculty of effort alive in us by a little gratuitous exercise of the soul each day. He says to do something every day that is a little heroic or arduous for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, and, thus, develop your soul. And let no man despise, he says, these unimportant efforts at self-discipline, they forge character. We talk a great deal about bad habits, but there are good habits that need to be cultivated and inculcated in our children. A man who stands by his guns, who stands fast, is generally a man who has learned to do this over a long period of time. God uses different types of people, including those who never quit in what they believe God wants them to do, despite the obstacles.

Lord, give us strength today to do something we would rather not do. Please develop strong Christian character within us. Show us clearly what small act of heroism we can do today and give us the strength to follow through…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, OUR
CHARACTER IS BUILT.

“These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with all eagerness, daily examining the Scriptures, to find out if these things were so.”

— Acts 17:11

The Scripture is the final authority in all religious controversies. It is to the Word of God, the oracles of God, not to men, that we are to turn. Down through the centuries people have said, “Well, the minister said this or the priest said that or the church has said this or the Rabbi declares this.” But the Scriptures declare it is only in the Bible that we have the infallible Word of God.

I charge you not to take what I say on faith, but to examine what I say in light of the Scriptures. I endeavor to proclaim no novel doctrines, and offer no new religions, but simply to declare that faith which, once and for all, was delivered unto the saints. It is up to you to examine it.

The Bible tells us that the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica because they received the Word with all readiness of mind. In fact, they searched the Scriptures daily to see if this preaching was true. Who was it that was preaching? None other than the Apostle Paul himself. God declares that these people were noble and I would charge you to believe nothing I say without testing it by the Scriptures. If it is contrary to the Word of God, reject it. May God make us good Bereans.

Father, thank You for speaking through Your holy Word. Help us never to reject it to listen instead to man’s opinion. Help our churches so that we all boldly proclaim Your Word and not any false doctrine which twists and distorts what You have clearly said…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN BE
GROUNDED IN THE WORD OF GOD.

“Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are able to overcome it.’”

— Numbers 13:3

Joshua and Caleb were among the twelve spies who Moses sent into the Promised Land. But sadly, he and Caleb were outvoted by the other ten who said it was a great land, but it was filled with giants.

Nonetheless, Joshua and Caleb said we are more than able to possess it. “Let us go up at once and take it,” they said. They were not men that were filled with fear, timidity, or defeatism. They were positive, they were strong, they were courageous, and they wanted to go up at once.

Now they had also seen the giants. They did not by any means declare that the majority was wrong in its facts of the case, they were just wrong in their conclusions. They had seen the giants and yes, compared to the giants I suppose they were grasshoppers. Ah, but Caleb and Joshua saw the Lord God Jehovah, and compared to Him, the Anakites or Anakim were but ants crawling around on the earth. And so that courage, which is an integral part of true grit, comes from a confidence and faith in God’s Word.

Being Christian does not mean that God spares us from facing giants in our lives. What it does mean is “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). God is much greater than Satan. The Lord can give us victory over all the giants we face. Let us face the problems in life with the eyes of faith, like Joshua and Caleb, as opposed to eyes of unbelief, like the other ten spies.

Lord of hosts, in Your army and in Your company, we are conquerors. Jesus, You who are the Captain of the Lord’s army, give us strength for today and courage to face the giants. Thank You for the “weapon” of Your Word, which is the sword of the Spirit…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN OVERCOME
THE DARTS OF THE EVIL ONE.