Daily Devotionals for April 19, 2026

"For thus saith the LORD God; Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep, and seek them out." Ezekiel 34:11

This He does at the first when His elect are like wandering sheep that know not the Shepherd or the fold. How wonderfully doth the LORD find out His chosen! Jesus is great as a seeking Shepherd as well as a saving Shepherd. Though many of those His Father gave Him have gone as near to hell-gate as they well can, yet the...

Observe the condescension of this fact. This Man, who towers above all other men, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners-this Man receiveth sinners. This Man, who is no other than the eternal God, before whom angels veil their faces-this Man receiveth sinners. It needs an angel's tongue to describe such a mighty stoop of love. That any of us should be willing to seek after the lost is nothing wonderful- they are of our own race; but that he, the offended God, against whom the...

"I'm sorry. . . . I'm a stranger here myself." That is the only honest answer. Others are sometimes given, but they are never valid answers. They spring out of pride or error or uncritical and wishful thinking, and they are not to be trusted. It is no good asking for information of another who is as ignorant as ourselves. We are all strangers in a strange world. Is our state hopeless then" Is no answer to be had" Must we live in a world we do not understand and go out into a future of dark...

For if I preach the gospel … willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge. § They called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said … , “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” § The love of Christ compels us.“I was afraid, and went and hid...

O taste and see.

Psalms 34:8

It was Canon Holmes, of India, who more than twenty-five years ago called attention to the inferential character of the average man's faith in God. To most people God is an inference, not a reality. He is a deduction from evidence which they consider adequate; but He remains personally unknown to the individual. `He must be,' they say, `therefore we believe He is.' Others do not go even so far as this;...

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

We need not submit to the law, nor do we need to struggle against it. It is now a matter of our standing on heavenly ground in our risen Lord, free from the influence and demands of the entire principle of law. In Christ Jesus...

This teaches us that the comfort obtained by a one may often prove serviceable to another; just as wells would be used by the company who came after. We read some book full of consolation, which is like Jonathan's rod, dropping with honey. Ah! we think our brother has been here before us, and digged this well for us as well as for himself. Many a "Night of Weeping," "Midnight Harmonies," an "Eternal Day," "A Crook in the Lot," a "Comfort for Mourners," has been a well digged by a pilgrim...

The veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. § Christ … suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God. § The way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.No one comes to the Father except through Me. § Through Him we … have access by one Spirit to the Father. Now, therefore, you...

The work of Elijah went on after the Lord had dealt so gently with him, restoring his courage. Elisha is found at the plow, and is called to go with Elijah as his disciple and friend. Elijah seems to have been deeply affected by the lessons learned at Horeb. He worked after that more quietly and patiently. He did not try any more to suppress Baalism by force - but sought to kindle zeal...

WHAT poor, dull, lifeless creatures we often feel ourselves to be; and how needful is this prayer. It is our duty to RUN in the way of God's commandments; it is our misery that through sin, weakness, and temptation, we scarcely creep. We are dependent upon the Spirit for quickening. He only can strengthen, animate and enliven us. Let us sow unto the Spirit this morning. He is gracious, and a grace giving Spirit. He delights to exalt and honour Jesus. Let us therefore beseech Him in Jesus'...

The meek are they who have consented to receive the knowledge of themselves. Self-detection has led to self-spoliation. Their wardrobe has turned out to be a pirate's chest. The more richly they went arrayed, the more they exposed their own dishonor. They gladly now sink down to their proper level, and find no place too low for them. Perhaps they occasionally shrink back from some deeper humiliation. But the Spirit of God and his providence convince them, and they take that step too. They...

Some of us will be eternally thankful to God for this verse because it taught us that assurance of salvation comes first and foremost through the Word of God and not through feelings. The Bible was written, among other reasons, so that those who believe on the Name of the Son of God can know that they have eternal life.

We can be thankful that assurance does not come through feelings, because they fluctuate with every passing day. "God does not ask the soul to say, 'Thank God I feel so...

For Reading and Meditation:     Psalm 24:1-10

We spend one more day meditating on the words: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." The concluding words of this Beatitude are often misunderstood. Many believe them to have reference to the saints' eternal reward in heaven. Tennyson expressed this thought in his famous lines: "I hope to see my Pilot...