July 21

“Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.” 1 Peter 4:19      

The creation of man was to meet a need of God: his desire was for communion with a race of men like himself and for himself. Redemption, by contrast, is remedial, restoring to God what had been lost by man’s rejection of him. Redemption makes possible the recovery and fulfillment of his original and eternal purpose in creation.

We Christians have so stressed God’s gift to us in redemption that we have lost sight of his purpose in creation. Redemption is related to us and our well-being, that is why we stress it. Creation is related to God and his purpose; that is why it is of such great importance. Thus redemption brings us back to God’s beginning, there to be occupied, not just with the satisfying of our needs, but with the fulfilling of God’s good pleasure. Should we not be willing to pray and labor and suffer for our faithful Creator?

July 20

“I . . . fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church.” Colossians 1:24

The work of Christ as Redeemer is complete, but his afflictions remain to be filled up. Christ has wrought salvation for mankind, yet not all men know what he has done. He himself only preached the Good News to those of his generation in direct contact with him. For this reason, we must go and tell the world what Christ has accomplished.

The Apostle Paul is writing of his labors with the gospel among the Gentiles when he speaks of filling up what remains of the afflictions of Christ. Experience had shown him that to the cost paid by Jesus for our redemption there was still a price to be added: the tribulations, distresses, and shame involved in the spreading of the Good News. But this must never deter us from spreading it.

July 19

“He rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.” Genesis 2:2

Rest comes after work. Moreover, work must be completed to entire satisfaction before there can be true rest. God did not rest in the first six days, but he rested on the seventh. During the six days of creation, there were light, air, grass, herbs, and trees; there were the sun, the moon, and the stars; there were fish, birds, cattle, and creeping things. Finally there was man, and God rested from all his work. When God gained a man, he was satisfied.

“Behold, it was very good” Genesis 1:31. Note the use of the word “Behold.” When we have purchased or produced an object with which we are particularly satisfied, we turn it round with pleasure and look over it long and well. God’s work of creation with man as its summit was so perfected that it brought him satisfaction. Could he have done more? He did. Through redemption he has brought us through Christ the promise of sharing his rest.

July 18

“Whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” Romans 8:30

According to this Scripture, all who have been called and justified have already been glorified. The goal is attained. The Church has already come to glory. The ultimate reality is before God all the time. He sees the Church utterly pure, utterly perfect.

Spiritual growth is not so much a question of pressing through to some far-off and abstract goal, as of seeing God’s ultimate standard in heaven and living in the power of that reality. Spiritual progress comes by finding out what you really are, not by trying to be what you hope to become. As we move forward to the basis of God’s eternal facts, we shall see, here and now, the progressive manifestation of those facts in Christian lives.

July 17

“The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” Exodus 32:6      

When God chose Israel to be his people, his plan was that they should be a kingdom of priests to himself. Now, however, they were worshiping an idol of their own choice and design. Their happiness lay in the fact that they could see this god which Aaron had cast of molten gold. The God whom Moses had led them to know had the great disadvantage of being invisible, and now even Moses himself was not to be found. It was very much easier for them to worship the golden calf standing there, familiar in form, in full view before them.

They now had another god and another worship. Whereas God had intended them to be his priests, they had turned themselves into priests of the calf. Man’s attitude of independence always leads him to prefer a god of his own making. He likes to worship what he can see and manipulate. It is much harder to submit to the authority of his faithful, unseen Creator.

July 16

“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.” Deuteronomy 1:2

Kadesh-barnea was at the very entry to the land of Canaan itself. Thus only eleven days after leaving Mount Sinai, the children of Israel would have entered Canaan. Yet because of their unbelief, they wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight long years before their descendants finally entered the land. What a circuit they had traveled!

How many days have we wasted in our spiritual journey? All too many, I fear. Problems that might have been solved in a few days remain outstanding, often for years. Like the Israelites, we circle around in the wilderness, wasting God’s time and our own. Instead let us heed his voice exhorting us to hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end. His ways are straightforward. He has a promised rest for us to enter.

July 15

“In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.” Ephesians 2:22

I was once told of a sister in Christ who was so quiet and gentle that she was “highly spiritual.” “Who is she spiritual with?” I asked my informant. The revealing reply was, “Well, singers who can sing such high notes as she can, find few who can sing with them.”

Alas, she was so spiritual that no one could be her spiritual companion! Such a sister is alright for display purposes, but she is no use for church building. The kind of Christian needed in the Church of God is one who can have another placed behind her and another in front, another over her and yet another under her, and still be spiritual. God did not just plan for a display of precious stones; he wanted a house.

July 14

“What I have, that I give thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Acts 3:6

What would we have done if confronted with the kind of need which faced Peter and John as this lame man made his appeal? Probably we would have brought the matter to a prayer meeting and urged one another to pray for this needy soul. The apostles did not do this. The words which they spoke were directed to the man himself—they were the words of testimony.

We may perhaps suggest that there are two elements in prayer. Prayer is certainly toward God, but it is sometimes also a matter of saying to this mountain, “Be thou removed!” There is tremendous power in Spirit-given witness addressed directly to the situation, as the book of the Acts so clearly shows.

July 13

“But his wife looked bock from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Genesis 19:26

It is possible for a believer outwardly to forsake the world, leaving everything behind, and yet inwardly to cling to those very elements which he has forsaken for Christ’s sake. Just to cast back longing glances is proof enough of how easy it would be to go back and repossess what had once been given up.

That is why Jesus gave his strong admonition to his disciples that they should remember Lot’s wife. She was one who did not forget her former possessions even in a time of great peril. We are not told that she was guilty of retracing a single step toward Sodom. All that she did was to look back. How revealing, though, was that backward glance! The question at issue is always, On what is my heart fixed?

July 12

“This is my beloved Son: hear ye him.” Mark 9:7

We need God’s Book and we need God’s prophets. He would not have us discard either Moses or Elijah and what they represent. But the lesson of this incident on the Mount of Transfiguration is surely that neither of these can take the place of the living voice of God to our hearts.

The kingdom involves on the positive side a recognition of the absolute authority of Christ, and on the negative side a repudiation of every authority but his as final. It demands a firsthand intelligence of the will of God that embraces other God-given aids, but does not end with them.

In the kingdom there is only one Voice to be heard, through whatever medium it speaks. Christianity is not independent of men and books—far from it. But the way of the kingdom is that the beloved Son speaks to me personally and directly, and that personally and directly I hear him.

July 11

“And it came to pass, when the days were well-nigh come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem.” Luke 9:51      

Nothing could sidetrack Christ from the goal; yet on his road thither he visited many cities and villages and taught in them. Without deviating from his course, he nevertheless bought up every opportunity by the way. Yes, though the hour approached when he "should be received up" to the Father, the short space of time between was filled with purposeful activity.

If we hope soon to be "received up" to meet him, let us not spend the in-between idly waiting for that day. Let me ask you: Is this hope of his Return just a part of our creed, or are we positively waiting for its realization? And what are we doing in the meantime? Are we daily walking with him in the way of the cross? Are we telling those we encounter by the way the Good News of his salvation? And are we alone in our witness, or are we drawing others to labor with us? The goal is clear, but the road between is strewn with opportunities, if only we will set ourselves to do diligently all that comes to our hand.