Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

It is a basic fact of physical life that we beget children in our own likeness, after our image. Adam begat a son in his own likeness, and called his name Seth. When people saw Seth they probably said what people have been saying ever since: "Like father, like son."

It is also a sobering fact of spiritual life that we beget children in our own image. When we are used to introduce others to the Lord Jesus, they insensibly take on characteristics similar to our own. Here it is not a...

The essential difference between the wise man and the fool in the book of Proverbs is that the wise man will hear and the fool won't.

It isn't a question of the fool's mental capacity. Actually he may have unusual intellectual ability. But he just cannot be told anything. He labors under the fatal delusion that his knowledge is infinite and his judgments are infallible. If his friends try to counsel him, they receive scorn for their efforts. They watch him trying to escape the...

A revolutionary insight! The gifts in Ephesians 4:1-32 are given to perfect the saints for the work of the ministry. As soon as the saints can carry on, the gift can move on.

This means that success in Christian work is working one's self out of a job in the shortest possible time, then looking for new worlds to conquer.

This is what Paul did. He went to Thessalonica, for instance, preached to the Jews for three Sabbaths, and left...

A prominent woman in Shunam showed hospitality to Elisha whenever he passed that way. Eventually she suggested to her husband that they build an extra bedroom so that the prophet would have his own room. Desiring to reward this gracious hostess, Elisha asked what he could do for her - perhaps an introduction to the king or to the commander-in-chief. Her simple reply was "I dwell among my own people." In other words, "I am happy with my lot in life. I love the common people among whom I live....

Just as Abraham's servant had a sense of urgency in connection with his mission, so should we. This does not mean we must race around in all directions at once. It does not mean that we must do everything in nervous haste. But it does mean that we should give ourselves to the task before us as a matter of top priority.

We should adopt the attitude expressed in Robert Frost's lines:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before...

There is no book on psychology like the Bible. It gives insights on human behavior that you cannot find in any other place. Here, for instance, it describes a man whose own waywardness wrecks his life, yet rather than shoulder the blame himself, he turns around and vents his spleen on the Lord.

How true to life! We have known people who made a profession of being Christians but who then became involved in vile forms of sexual immorality. This brought them to shame, disgrace and...

When there are mysteries in life too deep for us to fathom, we can relax in the confidence that the Judge of all the earth is the God of absolute and infinite righteousness.

There is the question of the status of children who die before reaching the age of accountability. For many of us, it is enough to know that "of such is the kingdom of God." We believe that they are safe through the blood of Jesus. But for others who are still not satisfied, the words of our verse should be...

It is true that "calm seas never made a sailor." It is through tribulation that we develop patience. It is through pressure that we are enlarged.

Even men of the world have realized that difficulties have educative and broadening values. Charles Kettering once said, "Problems are the price of progress. Don't bring me anything but problems. Good news weakens me."

But especially from the Christian world come testimonies to the profit derived from trials.

We read, for...

Nothing is perfect in this life. All laughter is mingled with sorrow. Every diamond has a flaw. Each person has some character defect. In all of life, there's a worm in the apple.

It is good to be idealistic; God has set within us a longing for perfection. But it is also good to be realistic; we never will find absolute perfection under the sun.

It is easy for young people to think that their family is the only one that has quarrels. Or that their parents are the only ones who...

Bread here is probably used, figuratively, for the grain from which it is made. In Egypt, seed was sown on flooded areas. As the waters receded, the crop came forth. But it did not happen immediately. The harvest came "after many days."

Today we live in an "instant" society, and we want instant results. We have instant mashed potatoes, instant tea, coffee and cocoa, instant soup and instant oatmeal. Also, we have instant credit at the bank and instant replays on TV.

But it is not...

When the early Christians were undergoing persecution, they did not wait for their circumstances to change. Instead they glorified God in the circumstances.

Too often we fail to follow their example. We postpone action until conditions are more favorable. We see roadblocks as hindrances rather than as stepping-stones. We excuse our copping-out on the ground that our circumstances are not ideal.

The student remains uninvolved in Christian service until he graduates. Then he is...

We need not take this verse as a prohibition against any and every kind of debt. In our society we cannot escape telephone bills, gas and light bills, and water bills. Also under certain circumstances, it may be better discipleship to buy a house on a mortgage, thus building up equity, than to pay out the same monthly amount in rent. And it is impossible to run a business today without contracting some debts.

But the verse certainly does forbid other practices. It forbids going into...

For the Samaritans, the center of worship was on Mt. Gerizim. For the Jews, Jerusalem was the place on earth where God had placed His Name. But Jesus announced a new order to the woman of Samaria, "…the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him."

There is no longer a single place on earth which is designated for worship. In our dispensation, a Holy Person has taken the place of a holy...

When the Bible speaks of man in his tripartite being, the order is always spirit, soul and body. When men use these terms together, the order almost invariably is body, soul and spirit. Sin has turned God's order upside down. Now man puts the body first, then the soul, and the spirit last of all.

The two non-material parts of man's being are his spirit and his soul. The spirit enables him to have fellowship with God. The soul has to do with his emotions and passions. Although it is not...