Daily Devotionals for April 21, 2026

For Reading and Meditation:     Isaiah 9:1-7

We continue meditating on the word "pure" as used by Jesus in His sixth Beatitude. I discovered when researching this theme that the word "catharsis" - meaning to cleanse or make pure - is derived from the same Greek root as the word "pure". In psychology, the word "catharsis" is used to describe the feeling of release...

2 Kings 2:12-22

No good man's work is ended - when the man himself is taken from the earth. Every influence of his life stays among men. No one does more than a little fragment of the world's work, in his short time on the earth. Elijah came into the world, did what God gave him to do, and then passed away, leaving an unfinished work behind him. Then Elisha came and took up...

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?[He] made peace through the blood of His cross. And, you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and abore reproach in His sight. § In Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much...

Very bitter is the enmity of the world against the people of Christ. Men will forgive a thousand faults in others, but they will magnify the most trivial offence in the followers of Jesus. Instead of vainly regretting this, let us turn it to account, and since so many are watching for our halting, let this be a special motive for walking very carefully before God. If we live carelessly, the lynx-eyed world will soon see it, and with its hundred tongues, it will spread the story, exaggerated...

"He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will He pay him again." Proverbs 19:17

We are to give to the poor out of pity. Not to be seen and applauded, much less to get influence over them; but out of pure sympathy and compassion we must give them help.

We must not expect to get anything back from the poor, not even gratitude; but we should regard what we have done as a loan to the...

What can we do but pray for the throngs of defiant men and women who believe that their humanistic view of life is all-sufficient" They believe that they are responsible "captains" of their own souls. The sad fact is that even while they are joining in the age-old rejection of Jesus Christ-"We will not have this Man to rule over us"-they still are beset with fears within. The present competitive world and its selfish society have brought many new fears to the human race. I can sympathize...

If these words were appropriate at the time when they were spoken, then can we hardly conceive of a situation in which the people of God may be placed, in which these words would be inappropriate. If at that time the disciples were not to be troubled, then tell me, pray, what is the hour, what the emergency, when it is fitting that their hearts should be troubled?

Says one, " My child is dead; my beloved one. For years my predominant solicitude had been to make all things work...

The Christian, while in the world, is not to be of the world. He should be distinguished from it in the great object of his life. To him, "to live," should be "Christ." Whether he eats, or drinks, or whatever he does, he should do all to God's glory. You may lay up treasure; but lay it up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, where thieves break not through nor steal. You may strive to be rich; but be it your ambition to be "rich in faith," and good works. You may have...

While we are right to thank God in appreciation for all of the great and good men in the history of the Christian church, we actually "follow" none of them. Our charter goes farther back and is from a higher source. They were rightly looked upon as leaders, but they were all servants of God, even as you and I are. Luther sowed. Wesley watered. Finney reaped-but they were only servants of the living God. In our local assemblies, we are part of the church founded by the Lord Jesus Christ and...

My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside.The Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His saints; they are preserved forever. § The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul.The just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. § If they had been of us, they would have continued...

In this passage the Lord Jesus was reminding the Twelve that when they went out to disciple others, they could not expect their disciples to progress further in the spiritual life than they themselves had attained. In other words, the extent of our positive influence on others is limited by what we ourselves are. Or as O. L. Clark said:

You cannot teach what you do not know;

You cannot lead where you do not go.

The Savior went on to reinforce the lesson by the story of the...

He comforts us in our every affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction by means of the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God" (2 Cor. 1:4, Wey.).

It is a great comfort to know that everything our Father takes us through - much of which may be hard and...

PRIDE is one of our greatest evils: to indulge it is to nourish a serpent in the bosom. The grace of God always humbles us; and it is only as we are humble that we can be happy. God condescends to walk with the humble man, but He keeps the proud at a distance. Consider what you were by nature, what now lurks in your heart, what you would have been but for the grace of God, and be humble. All you have is the gift of free grace; all you do that is good, is the effect of God's working in you....