June 21

“And this is life eternal, that they should know thee the only true God, and him whom thou didst send, even Jesus Christ.” John 17:3

The eternal life which we secure by believing does indeed relate to future blessing, but it also has a meaning for us today. This life constitutes here and now an introduction to God through his Son Jesus Christ.

Without it, no amount of mental exercise can equip us to know God. We may reason about him, we may familiarize ourselves with the Bible and its teachings, we may even labor zealously for him in some field of service, but not until we accept life eternal as his gift will we discover and enjoy personal knowledge of him.

Faith in human ideals is no substitute for knowing God in our spirits. To believe on the Lord Jesus is to enter into eternal life as a present reality and to discover thereby a knowledge of the true God that we never possessed before.

June 20

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

This verse lays special emphasis on the mind. It is possible for a child of God to have a new life and a new heart, but to be without a new head. The heart may be full of love, while the mind remains totally lacking in perception of divine things.

In his degenerate state man had a darkened mind and one that was at enmity with God. God must therefore alter man’s mind if he would impart life to him, and so the original definition of repentance is none other than “a change of mind.”

After conversion, however, the intents of the heart will be pure and yet the thoughts of the head may still be confused. Intellectual doubts may remain to be resolved.

If a Christian’s mind is not progressively renewed, his life is bound to be unbalanced. Undeniably life is more important than knowledge; yet for growth in life it is essential to seek knowledge, and for this our daily standard of truth is God’s Word.

June 19

“Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.”

Psalm 73:25 

I cannot sufficiently stress the importance of loving the Lord with our whole heart. God calls for no less than this. He is unwilling to share our hearts with anyone or anything else. Even should he receive the biggest share, he is still not well pleased. He asks us to love him totally.

God does not tolerate competition. Our all must be on the altar. This is the Christian’s way to spiritual power. And shortly after the sacrifice is laid on the altar—nay, after the last sacrifice is duly placed there—fire will come down from heaven. Without the altar, there will be no heavenly fire.

Neither our mental understanding of the cross of Christ nor our endless talk about it will give us the power of the Holy Spirit. Only our laying everything on the altar for love of him will do that.

June 18

“Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him.”

Psalm 37:7

One who is at rest in God is not easily excited by outward stresses. His inner strength is what allays his anxieties and troubles of mind. To each Pacific hurricane there is an eye. At the circumference the wind whirls violently, but the eye, deep at the center, is most calm. 

The Lord Jesus was never put off balance by outside influences. Even at the last, when a band of soldiers came to seize him with torches and weapons, he stepped forward and asked them whom they were seeking. Being told that they sought Jesus of Nazareth, he calmly answered, “I am he.”

Met by him thus, they retreated and fell to the ground. Those who would seize him were terrified of the One to be seized, whereas the external stresses had no power to move him. At the center of his being, the eye of the storm, he was at rest with God.

June 17

“I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be trustworthy.”

1 Corinthians 7:25

God does not want the man he creates to be like a machine, having no freedom of choice but having to obey perfectly. It would be easy for him to make such a machine. There would be no trouble with man, but neither would there be glory for God. Such obedience and goodness have no spiritual value. There may not be any fault or sin, yet neither can there be holiness, for the obedience is passive. God rejects such a thing.

God does not want an automaton; he wants a man with a free will. It is a calculated risk with God to choose man as a minister of the Word. Yet in spite of the complexity of man and his many problems of sin and weakness, God entrusts his Word to man. Through the greatest rigor God obtains the highest glory.

June 16

“If any man’s work shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward.”

1 Corinthians 3:14      

We will better understand the meaning of this trial by fire if we remember that the words “as a flame of fire” describe the eyes of the risen Christ. At the future judgment he will search our work with his own discerning light, and we can be sure that his standards are absolute. That is why we ourselves now come daily to the light of God to test that our work is being “wrought in God.”

Whether or not we receive the Lord’s praise in the future depends on how we please him in doing his will today. Of course, our reward is a small matter; the real purpose of us all is to satisfy his heart. I believe that every saved person shares the same desire to bring pleasure to the Lord. That way the judgment seat becomes a goal before us that is full of the promise of his approval.

June 15

“Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel . . . therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed.” Jeremiah 48:11

The imagery of this verse needs explaining. In wine that is settling on its lees (that which settles during fermentation), stationary and still, the upper level becomes clear; but beneath is a bitter sediment that will muddy it again if shaken.

Before the days of filters, to clear the wine it was emptied carefully from one vessel to another, but however skillfully this was done some of the lees would get across. So the process must be repeated again and again to rid it of its unwelcome taste.

Moab, Israel’s natural cousins, had escaped that treatment; had not, as Israel had, been sifted and purified through afflictions, with the result, God says, that her bitter taste still clung. There is thus value in God’s discipline of us, a little today and a little more tomorrow. The goal is a savor in us, a character that meets with his approval, delights his heart.