Daily Devotionals for August 28, 2026

For Reading and Meditation:     Ecclesiastes 8:2-8

We look at another three of Solomon's thoughts on the qualities of a wise leader. Third - a high regard for authority. "Obey the king's command," (v. 2) says Solomon, or in other words, respect whoever is over you in authority. Those who have no respect for those higher than they will never get the respect of those...

God has built certain unalterable principles into this world of ours, and not all man's ingenuity can escape the outworking of these principles. One of them is that you can't sin and get away with it.

Some of us learned this early when we swiped jam or other foods which left their tell-tale marks which mother easily discovered. But the truth applies to all of life, and is attested by every newspaper.

The poem "The Dream of Eugene Aram" is a remarkable illustration of the point....

IT was a solemn question which was proposed in the days of old, "How can man be just with God?" Man is without righteousness, he is chargeable with many crimes, he is brought in guilty, and condemned by God's holy law; and he has no excuse to make. His mouth is stopped. We feel this to be our situation by nature. But the Lord who is our Judge, hath devised a way by which He can be just, and yet justify us. It is by grace. He justifies, or acquits us from all charges, pronounces us righteous,...

Wisdom is man's true strength; and, under its guidance, he best accomplishes the ends of his being. Wisely handling the matter of life gives to man the richest enjoyment, and presents the noblest occupation for his powers; hence by it he finds good in the fullest sense. Without wisdom, man is as the wild ass's colt, running hither and thither, wasting strength which might be profitably employed. Wisdom is the compass by which man is to steer across the trackless waste of life; without it he...

John 6:22-40

It was the day after the multitude had been fed so marvelously on the five loaves and the two fishes. So great was the impression made by the miracle, that the people were about to take Jesus by force and make Him king. He first sent the disciples away, constraining them to enter the boat and go before Him, unto the other side. Then He sent the multitudes away - and when they were gone He went quietly, unobserved, unto the...

What a sweet title: "My people!" What a cheering revelation: "Their God!" How much of meaning is couched in those two words, "My people!" Here is speciality. The whole world is God's; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, and he reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom he hath chosen, whom he hath purchased to himself, he saith what he saith not of others-"My people." In this word there is the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner the "Lord's portion is...

"As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me." Psalms 55:16

Yes, I must and will pray. What else can I do! What better can I do? Betrayed, forsaken, grieved, baffled, O my LORD, I will call upon Thee. My Ziklag is in ashes, and men speak of stoning me; but I encourage my heart in the LORD, who will bear me through this trial as He has borne me through so many others. Jehovah shall save me; I am sure He will, and I...

When we are first converted, especially if we come from a non-Christian background, we are likely to be almost too naive for our own good. The wondrous experience through which we have just passed, or perhaps I should say into which we have entered, has predisposed us to believe in everybody. Our trust in other Christians is likely to be boundless. That there could be hypocrites, double-minded professors, religious pretenders, carnal camp followers, never once enters our minds. The result is...

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. § Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them. § That through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release...

God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. § He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. § As the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will … For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. § In the middle of its...

Much of Christianity overlooks the fact that if we are led by the Spirit of God and if we show forth the love of God this world needs, we become the "winsome saints." The strange and wonderful thing about it is that truly winsome and loving saints do not even know about their attractiveness. The great saints of the past did not know they were great saints. If someone had told them, they would not have believed it, but those around then knew that Jesus was living His life in them. I think we...

God's commandment is good. The law of his will designates the only path in which it is good for men to walk. It cannot be that God's choice should be otherwise than best. But man has broken God's law, and discarded God's choice. He has left the path that infinite goodness appointed to him. The question now arises. How can it be good in God to forgive man for abandoning that path? Is it becoming to let man obtain such a stupendous victory, and proceeding by a forbidden path, possess himself...