A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

Man - The Dwelling Place of God - How to Try the Spirits

For Reading and Meditation:      Ephesians 2:1-10We are acknowledging that in order to understand "grace" we must see it in relation to a Sovereign. As one writer puts it: "Grace is bound to be sovereign since it cannot by its very nature be subject to compulsion." That is why we often refer to it as free grace. There is no reason for grace but grace. I believe the old definition of grace cannot be improved: "Grace is the free unmerited favor of God." At the heart of all true communion with God there lies this gripping truth - God took the initiative. He is more inclined toward us than we are toward Him. We cannot earn His affection. We have simply to receive it. Always the initiative is from God. When you originally came to Him you came because He first drew you. The very faith by which you lay hold of Him is not of yourself; it is, as our text says, "the gift of God." Every step you make on your spiritual pilgrimage is possible because of His grace. I know this teaching affronts modern-day men and women because they like to feel that they can "work their passage to heaven," as one preacher puts it. That is like someone in debt for a million pounds trying to get the one to whom he is indebted to accept his resources of a few pence as being sufficient to clear the debt. Listen to the Word of God again and let it sink deep into your soul: "For it is by grace you have been saved  it is the gift of God." Grace is a gift. You have not to achieve but simply receive.O Father, once again my heart is moved as I realize it was not my merit but Your mercy, acting in grace, that drew You to me, and me to you. All honor and glory be to Your mighty and everlasting Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Romans 5:1-21</li><li>Titus 3:7</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How does Paul define grace?</li><li>Write out your own definition of grace.</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith  it is the gift of God " (v. 8)

For Reading and Meditation:      Romans 5:1-11We have come now to the seventh positive attitude that makes for good spiritual and mental health: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). This Beatitude seems to have a special relevance to the age through which we are passing, for if there is one thing the world needs at this moment, it is peacemakers. Our generation has never known peace worldwide. One authority says: "During most of our recent history the air has been filled with rumblings of pending war until today, at the so-called peak of scientific enlightenment, the menace of a global conflict threatens our atomic age with suicide." The uncertainty caused by being on the brink of nuclear confrontation, despite the end of the cold war between the East and West, has taken its toll on people of all nations, spiritually and psychologically. Studies show that living in a generation which has the power to annihilate itself in global destruction has a crippling effect upon the minds of thousands, if not millions of people. There was never a time when peacemakers were as important as they are now. And more and more are standing up to be counted on the side of peace. The peace organisations report increasing memberships and their attempts to alert the world to the need for international treaties continues to gain the attention of every section of the media. Yet how strange that most of those who are so concerned for peace between nations fail to see the need for peace between themselves and their Creator. The solemn truth is that no man or woman can become a peacemaker - at least in the biblical sense of the word - until they have found peace within their innermost being. O my Father, help people to come to the realisation that before they can enjoy the peace of God, they must first enjoy peace with God. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Romans 12:9-18</li><li>Romans 14:19</li><li>Proverbs 12:20</li><li>Mark 9:50</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What are we to do?</li><li>Are you a peacemaker?</li></ul></div></div>

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (v. 1)

For Reading and Meditation:      Matthew 28:1-15Was it really necessary for the stone to be rolled away before our Lord could exit the tomb? Christ's resurrection body was able to pass easily through doors, for He came to His disciples when the doors were shut. The stone was rolled away not that our Lord might come out but that the disciples might go in. It was intended not as a means of exit but as a means of entrance. One preacher put it like this: "God rolled away the stone not that His Son might rise, but that we might know He had risen; that we might steal into the empty tomb and see only the place where they laid Him." My pastor when I was a young Christian said: "Suppose we live in a home that has no electricity and a young nephew comes to stay with us for a weekend. Suppose also when we put the child to bed there is in the corner of the room a dark curtain which hides such things as traveling cases. And suppose further, when we are about to leave the room taking the light with us, the child falteringly confesses to a fear that on the other side of the dark curtain is someone that might harm him. What do we do? We go to the curtain, fling it aside, flood the gloomy recess with light and say: 'Look, there is nothing to fear.'" To remove the curtain is to remove the dread. That is why God rolled away the stone. It was not necessary for the resurrection, but it was necessary for its proclamation.Lord Jesus, had You stalled at the last ditch, had You been beaten at the barrier of death, then we would be stalled eternally. But now we go through the barrier with You. Nothing can stop us. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Hebrews 10:1-22</li><li>Romans 5:1-2</li><li>Ephesians 2:18</li><li>Ephesians 3:12</li><li>Psalm 24:3-4</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Why can we enter the Most Holy Place?</li><li>What often prevents us from entering in?</li></ul></div></div>

"... an angel of the Lord ... going to the tomb, rolled back the stone ..." (v. 2)

For Reading and Meditation:      Galatians 5:1-15Permit me to pause in our meditations on the chief differences between the Christian faith and non-Christian religions to turn our eyes inward to the state of affairs within the church. We have not been as careful as we might in relation to this matter of vertical conversion. Oftentimes we have been more interested in statistics than in actual true conversions. The church, generally speaking, has a lot to answer for in this respect. The horizontal has outrun the vertical in some sections of institutional Christianity. This is why in a number of countries church leaders will not baptize converts until they have received some clear teaching on what the Christian life is all about. In Paul's day, as we see from our text, the main question being asked was about circumcision - whether or not that was essential. Paul threw the emphasis on being a new creature. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts, he said, is faith expressing itself through love. Conversion will involve a miraculous change; when it doesn't then it is not true conversion. What sort of change? There will be the slaying of the beast within, the gathering of the discordant forces of the soul into harmony, the cleansing of a stained conscience, entry into a more abundant life, and a deep inner sense of fellowship with Christ. Conversion doesn't have to be cataclysmic to be real either. The underlying facts are a new life, a new relationship. But it is as much a miracle as the calling forth of Lazarus from the dead. O God, save us in the church from the peril of horizontal conversions-people changing in relation to one another but not in Your direction. We want the real and only the real. Send us Your Spirit in even greater measure. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>1 Corinthians 6:1-11</li><li>Acts 13:39</li><li>Romans 5:1</li><li>Galatians 3:24</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What word is used to describe the process of conversion?</li><li>What does it mean?</li></ul></div></div>

"... in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value." (v. 6) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Romans 5:1-8Why should the offer of free salvation in Christ be such a stumbling block to the world? Mainly because it cuts deep into people's pride. Bishop Neill, a writer, says: "... that which we ask the Muslim to look for in Jesus is in itself a cause of grave offense to Muslim pride. We suggest - we cannot do otherwise - that he find a Savior. The Muslim affirms that he has no need of such a thing." Pride adopts the stance: "I can save myself by my fasting, good works, or other meritorious acts." But the message of the gospel is this: there is simply nothing we can do to save ourselves. We must let God save us - or be lost. Helen Woodhouse, another religious writer, says: "We think we must climb to a certain height of goodness before we can reach God, but He doesn't say, 'at the end of the road you may find Me'; rather, 'I am the Way, I am the road under your feet, the road that begins just as low down as you happen to be.'" If we are in a hole, then the way begins in a hole. The moment we give up our pride and turn our face to God, confessing that we can do nothing to save ourselves, that moment we put ourselves in the position where we can be saved. The next step is simply to call out to the Lord and ask Him to save you. If you have never done that before, I urge you - do it today. O God, I see clearly that I can do nothing to save myself, and if I am to be saved then I must look to You to save me. I repent of my sin, and turn to You as Your Word commands. Save me. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>2 Corinthians 9:1-15</li><li>Romans 6:23</li><li>Ephesians 2:8</li><li>John 4:10</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How is salvation described?</li><li>What two responses can we have?</li></ul></div></div>

"... at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (v. 6) 

For Reading and Meditation:      1 John 4:7-21There have been two great attempts to find God throughout the ages," said Dr. E. Stanley Jones, "one, philosophy, the other, moralism." The attempts of philosophy to find God are represented by the three great philosophical nations - Greece, India, and China. These three nations have taken men and women about as far as it is possible to philosophical reasoning. Philosophy has strained itself to the utmost and yet it has not been successful in finding God. Lao-tzu, the Chinese philosopher, said the final word about God is Silence, and Shankaracharya, the Indian philosopher, said the final word about God is not that. They both concluded at zero. Moralism, likewise, cannot lead to God. The attempt to find God through the law was the noble effort made by the Jews. Never was such a moral system devised as theirs, nor an end result so disappointing. It produced, for instance, the Pharisee who stood in his pride and said: "God, I thank you that I am not like other men" (Luke 18:11). Jesus pronounced doom on the Pharisee's attempt to find God through moralism when He said: "Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). They could not reach the kingdom by even their greatest self-effort alone. Both philosophy and moralism fall short. When our best was not good enough, when our highest attempts could not lead to the kingdom, God came down Himself to lift us. Now no one need say in his or her quest for God: "Not that."O God, Your down-reach is my only hope. My up-reach is feeble and goes little higher than my head. Your down-reach, however, goes to the lowest of the low-it reaches me. I take hold of Your grace and I am lifted - to You. Blessed be Your Name forever. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Romans 5:1-8</li><li>Ephesians 2:4-5</li><li>John 3:16</li><li>2 Timothy 3:5</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What is the result of moralism?</li><li>What is the heart of Christianity?</li></ul></div></div>

"... God ... sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him." (v. 9)

As soon as we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1). That means that the hostility between ourselves and God has ceased since Christ has effectively dealt with the cause of that hostility - our sins.We also have peace of conscience knowing that the work is finished, Christ has paid the penalty of our sins, and God has forgotten them.But then the Holy Spirit also wants us to enjoy the peace of God in our hearts. This is the serenity and tranquility that come from knowing that our times are in the hands of God and that nothing can happen to us apart from His permissive will.So we can remain calm when we have a tire blowout on the busy freeway. We don't have to lose our composure when heavy traffic causes us to miss the plane. Peace means remaining cool in a car crash. Or when grease ignites on the kitchen range.This fruit of the Spirit enables a Peter to sleep soundly in jail, a Stephen to pray for his murderous assailants, a Paul to comfort others in a shipwreck.When a plane flies into clear air turbulence, and is thrown around like a feather in the gale, when the wing tips flex thirteen feet, when most of the passengers are screaming as the plane lurches, falls, rises and dips, peace enables a believer to bow his head, commit his soul to God, and praise God for whatever may be the outcome.Or to change the illustration, the Spirit of God can give peace to us when we sit in the doctor's office and hear him say, "I'm sorry to tell you but it's malignant." He can enable us to reply, "I'm ready to go, Doctor. I'm saved by the grace of God, and for me it will be 'absent from the body, at home with the Lord.'"And so in the words of Bickerstith's lovely hymn, we can have "Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin…by thronging duties pressed…with sorrows surging round…with loved ones far a way…our future all unknown" because "Jesus we know, and He is on the throne."

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"The fruit of the Spirit is… peace…" (Galatians 5:22)

James does not say that the man in today's verse has faith. The man himself says he has faith, but if he really had saving faith, he would have works also. His faith is a matter of words only, and that kind of faith cannot save anyone. Words without works are dead.Salvation is not by works. Neither is it by faith plus works. Rather it is by the kind of faith that results in good works.Why then does James say in verse 24 that a man is justified by works? Isn't this a flat contradiction of Paul's teaching that we are justified by faith? Actually there is no contradiction. Both are true. The fact is that there are six different aspects of justification in the New Testament, as follows:We are justified by God (Romans 8:33) - He is the One who reckons us righteous.We are justified by grace (Romans 3:24) - God gives us justification as a free, undeserved gift.We are justified by faith (Romans 5:1) - we receive this gift by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.We are justified by blood (Romans 5:9) - the precious blood of Christ is the price that was paid for our justification.We are justified by power (Romans 4:25) - the power that raised Jesus our Lord from the dead is the power that makes our justification possible.We are justified by works (James 2:24) - good works are the outward evidence to all that we have been truly justified.It is not enough to testify to a conversion experience. We must demonstrate it by the good works that inevitably follow the new birth.Faith is invisible. It is an unseen transaction that takes place between the soul and God. People cannot see our faith. But they can see the good works that are the fruit of saving faith. They have reason to doubt our faith until they see the works.Abraham's good work was his willingness to slay his son as an offering to God (James 2:21). Rahab's good work was betraying her country (James 2:25). The reason they were "good" works is because they demonstrated faith in Jehovah. Otherwise they would have been bad works, namely, murder and treason.The body separated from the spirit is dead. That's what death is - the separation of the spirit from the body. So faith without works is dead also. It is lifeless, powerless and inoperative.A living body demonstrates that an invisible spirit dwells within. So good works are the sure sign that there is saving faith, invisible as it is, dwelling within the person.

"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?." (James 2:14)

We receive tidings of a treaty of peace between two nations lately belligerent. Anon, we receive intimations of another war possible. Rumors of wars never fail to agitate profoundly the general bosom of mankind. But there is a rumor of another war infinitely more dire than any, between man and his Maker. It is long since this war has broken out; for thousands of years it has been raging; and we see no signs of its immediate cessation. Men perceive not that all their other miseries proceed from this feud; they seem not aware that the cruelty of all other wars, the agony of all other scourges, are just scintillations from the battlefield where they and their Creator are arrayed against one another. Let this feud be healed, and there will be no need to entertain terror of this despot or of that; to build barricades, or lavish treasures on forts and men-of-war. Diplomacy is spending all its strength in vain, while it merely occupies itself with the differences between States. Holy alliances may exercise the spirit of war in one direction, but speedily it will reveal itself in another. There must be peace between man and his Creator; then, and then only, will the nations understand one another, and perceive that they have one common interest. Blessed be God, we have a Peace-maker, who gave himself that man might be reconciled to God. His coming was the expression of God's amity. The flag of truce is held out to the world. The friends of peace are running to and fro in the earth, informing men that by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, their accumulated sins shall be done away; that they shall be held justified, and shall have the peace of God which passeth all understanding.

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God." - Romans 5:1. 

Happy the soul that is able to find its joy in the indulgence of such a hope as this. Fallen man rejoices in hope of his own glory; not of his own true glory, but of a false and worldly glory, utterly disconnected with the glory of God. That soul is already largely redeemed that has learned to identify its own interests with the glory of God. And this hope shall be fulfilled; nothing is more certain. The glory of God must go forth triumphant one of these days, and conquer all the detestable glory that men and devils have been bringing like a pall of bedizened sackcloth over the face of universal things. The Christian is even now greatly conversant with the glory of God; but the more that he knows of it the more passionately does he long for that moment when it shall be manifested with all its appropriate sublimity; when every eye shall see it; when the idolized ones of earth shall hide their heads in caves and dens; when Christ shall be admired in his believers; when they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, and their bodies made like unto Christ's glorious body; when the New Jerusalem shall come down from God out of heaven, having " the glory of God."

"And rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:2. 

Luke 2:1-20Not much is told in secular history, about the period in which the event of the birth of Jesus belongs. It is said, however, that there are distinct traces that such a census as Luke describes took place. The great emperor commanded that an enrollment of all the world should be made. The emperor did not know when he issued this decree, that long before he was born, there had gone forth another decree from a more glorious King, which unwittingly he was now helping to execute. It had been written by the prophet under divine inspiration, that the Messiah should be born in Bethlehem. But Joseph and Mary were living at Nazareth, a long distance from Bethlehem. How would they be brought to Bethlehem, so as to fulfill the prophecy? They had no business there. Now comes the emperor's decree which requires them to appear in the town of David to be enrolled.The birth of this King did not have about it the glamour which usually marks the birth of earthly royalty. He was born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, after the fashion of the children of poverty, and slept His first sleep in a feeding trough. It is pleasant for us to think that our Savior knows all the phases of human life by experience. He looks upon the baby in the mother's arms with a peculiar interest, for He Himself was once a baby. Many children are born in poverty, and sometimes they think their lot is hard - that they have not a fair chance in this world. But here is Jesus, the Son of God, beginning His life in poverty, and therefore He can sympathize with them.The shepherds out in the fields were especially favored that night. While they were keeping watch over their flock, an angel stood by them, and a divine splendor shone about them. Their occupation was lowly - but they were faithful in it, and thus honor came to them. If we would have angels visit us, we must stay at our post of duty, no matter how lowly it is. Angels never come to people who are ashamed of their calling or too indolent to be diligent at their proper tasks. The shepherds did not seem to have an easy way of living. They were poor, and had to stay out of doors all night, guarding their sheep. The people in the fine houses, no doubt, if they thought at all of these poor men, thought they had a hard time of it, and pitied them because of their poverty and hardship. The shepherds themselves, it may be, envied the people who lived in the big houses and did not have to work and stay out nights. At least some people in these days whose lot is in the lowly places - are envious of those who are rich.But we may be sure that the Bethlehem shepherds were never sorry afterwards, that they had to be out in the field that night. Think what they would have missed if, because of discontent or of self-indulgence, any of them had stayed away from their post. They would not have seen the angels, nor would they have heard the good tidings that came, nor have looked upon the wonderful Child. We need to watch, lest sometimes we miss blessings, by being absent from our place of duty. Then sometimes the place of blessing may not be in a prayer meeting - but in a field or in a shop or at home, doing some lowly task-work. We do not know where the place of honor and privilege in this world may be. We may be sure, however, that it will always be in the place of duty .The message the angel brought was a glad one. "I bring you good news of great joy." Never before had such tidings come to this world. Wherever the gospel now goes - it bears the good news. To the soul struggling with temptation, it whispers the assurance of victory. To those crushed in defeat - it speaks of hope, saying, "You may rise again, and yet attain a beautiful and noble life!" To those who are sitting in sorrow - it brings comfort, telling of the compassion of God.The good tidings were indeed wonderful. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David - a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!" This was the announcement of the most marvelous fact in all the world's history. It was not an unusual thing for a baby to be born - thousands of infants were born that same night throughout the world. It was not a strange thing that the baby was born in a stable - in the East such an occurrence was not unusual. The wonderful thing was that this child was the Son of God. He was the anointed Messiah - He was divine. That the glorious God should thus enter human life as a little child - was the marvelous thing.The angel told the shepherds how they would know the Child when they found Him. "You shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a feeding trough." They would not find the Baby robed in purple garments, like the child of a prince - but wrapped in swaddling clothes, a child of poverty. They would not find Him sleeping in a palace - but in a stable. Thus the very authentications of the divine character and mission of this Child, were the tokens of poverty and humiliation. We see what empty things - are the world's marks of greatness. When Christ came, He disregarded all the emblems of rank by which men indicate greatness, and wore the insignia of poverty and humiliation. Yet, was He less great because He did not bear the world's stamp of greatness? Greatness is in the character, never in the dress or the circumstances. Do not worry about wearing a crown - make sure that you are worthy of a crown. This mark of the infant Messiah shows us also how Christ touched the lowliest places of life, began among the poorest and plainest of the people. He went down and started at the foot of the ladder, that He might understand our life and know how to help us in the best way.<div class="center-it mtb10">Earth paid small heed to the advent of the glorious King - but heaven failed not to honor Him even in His humiliation. His birth made no stir in the world's high places - but heaven's angels came and sang their songs of praise. These holy messengers were intensely interested in the great work of redemption on which the Messiah was then entering. We are told that the angels "desire to look into" (see 1 Peter 1:12) the strange mystery of redeeming love. We know that there is joy in the presence of the angels, when one sinner is saved. We are told further that the angels are as "ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation" (Hebrews 1:14). The glimpses we have in the Bible of angels at their everyday work, show them always busy in services on behalf of God's children. This ministry has not ceased. Angels' visits are not "rare," as we sometimes say.</div>The coming of Christ brought peace: "On earth, peace." Peace is one of the great words in the Bible. The coming of Christ to this world to live and suffer and die for our redemption, was one of God's thoughts of peace toward us, the most wonderful of them all. It shows how much God loves us, and what He is willing to do and to sacrifice in order to make peace for us. Christ made peace for us first - by bearing our sins, putting them away, that we might come to God and find forgiveness. Then from the cross went forth the proclamation, offering peace to all who would accept it. Paul says, "Being therefore justified by faith - we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).If we study the conduct of the shepherds, we shall find an illustration of very simple faith. They said one to another, "Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing!" They did not propose to go to see if what the angel had told them was true - but to see the thing which the angel told them they should see. They were so sure that they would find the Babe in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes, that they at once went into the town to begin their search. It would be well for us if we had faith as simple, expecting always to find just what God tells us we shall find.We might suppose, after seeing all that the shepherds saw that night - the vision of the angels and the infant Messiah - they would be too full of ecstasy to think of returning to their own lowly task work at once, at least. We would have been disposed to excuse them if they had not returned to their sheep. Even Peter was once so enraptured with the splendor of the Transfiguration that he begged to be allowed to stay there, beholding the wondrous vision of the mountain. At that very moment, however, human sorrow was waiting at the mountain's foot for the Master's coming, and the rapture of communion with God, must be exchanged for the commonplace of duty. The highest, holiest place for us - is always the place of duty. Where their task waited for them - these shepherds must go.The joy of communion with God - must never detain us from life's common task - work. We cannot keep the rapture of devotion - if we neglect the routine of lowly service. Worship was meant to fit us for better work, not to make us less ready for our lowly tasks.

A unique type of devotional from the writings of James Russell Miller, published between 1908 and 1913.

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus

Romans 5:1-11Justification by faith is the starting point in the Christian life. There can be no tree without a root ; no stream without a fountain. The careless, unsaved ones may read about the blessings of redemption, as we have them here in our lesson, and may say, "Yes, they are very beautiful and good." But they never can possess these gifts and blessings, until they have been "justified." And they never can be justified, until they receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Nothing but His blood can put away sin. Nothing but His Spirit can change and renew the life. When we have been "justified" our sins are put forever away. There is, therefore, now no condemnation. We stand before God - as if we had never sinned .<div class="center-it mtb10">"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Romans 5:1. We must stop at these first words and study them carefully. They are the gate at which we must enter the Father's house, whose blessedness is described in the verses following. After justification comes peace. Peace is a favorite word with Paul. He does not mean peace in an earthly sense, for he did not have such peace.</div>His life was full of suffering, care, toil, persecution and trial. Yet his epistles are starred all over with the bright word peace. There are several different kinds of peace mentioned by Paul. Here, he speaks of "peace with God." This means the consciousness of reconciliation with God. We have an illustration of it, in the prodigal son after his return to his father, when he had been forgiven and restored to his place.Sin separates us from God. While the feeling of guilt is in the heart, there is no peace. We cannot look into God's face. But when we have repented of our sins and have confessed them and received God's forgiveness, there is peace WITH God.Paul speaks also elsewhere of the "peace OF God." Writing from a prison, he exhorted his friends to be anxious for nothing - but to make all their cares known to God; and then he said the peace of God would keep their hearts and minds in Jesus Christ. This is a step further than peace with God. It is a peace which holds the heart quiet and still - in the midst of whatever things are hard and trying in this world. It comes from nestling in God's love, and leaving all tangled things in His hands. Christ promised the same peace when He said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you." Evidently peace is a Christian duty - as well as a privilege. It is named as one of the fruits of the Spirit, in the same cluster with love, joy, gentleness, goodness and meekness. The peace mentioned here in our lesson, is the beginning of all true peace. The peace of God cannot be ours until - we have peace with God.The peace of God comes through Jesus Christ, "through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace." Always and everywhere, Christ is the door. We enter every place of blessing through Him. The way to peace with God, is through our Lord Jesus; and here "access" into the grace of salvation is also "through" Him. To reject Christ - is to reject everything of blessing and good. To receive Christ - is to be admitted to all the privileges and benefits of redemption. This "access" is into all "grace." Grace is undeserved favor. What we earn by our own work, is not grace - it is wages. What comes to us as mercy, through the love of God - is grace."Access" - to what? To all the blessings that belong to God's children. "All things are yours!" says Paul, in another letter. "All things are yours; … and you are Christ's; and Christ is God's." There is the privilege of prayer - we have access to that. There is the Bible - that is ours. There is the Church - that is for us. There is the storehouse of grace - grace for life, comfort for sorrow, all divine fullness - we have access into that. There is heaven at the last - the door is open for us to enter in - and go no more out forever!Because the door is open to us, "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." It may seem ofttimes that the present gains of faith in Christ are not very great. It may even appear as if the worldly man had the better of it here. But this world is not the end. There is a future in which there shall be compensation for earth's ills and losses to all who are in Christ. We are some day to be like Christ and to be with Him in glory! This ought to cheer us in our earthly life. Those who have this blessed hope ought not to be affected by the hardness and trial of the way.There is a man journeying along a lonely road at night. It is dark. The storm beats about him. He is weary and faint - but in his heart there is a vision of a beautiful and happy home, not many miles away, to which he is going. Loved ones are there, waiting for him. There he will find shelter from the storm, food for his hunger, rest to relieve his faintness and weariness. This vision of happiness, comfort, joy and safety, a little way before him - makes him forget the hardness and discomfort of the journey. So it is, that the "hope of the glory of God" should cheer us as we move through the world's darkness and sorrow and trial.Paul reminds us that we are to rejoice also in our tribulations. This seems a hard lesson. We may learn to bear troubles submissively, without complaining; but to rejoice in them - that is something which seems impossible to many. The tree is too bitter - to have such sweet fruit growing on it. But the grace of Christ is equal to this strange task - enabling us to rejoice in our tribulations. Thousands of Christians have done it. Paul himself did it. We remember his songs in the night at Philippi. This is what Christian faith may always do. The secret of it is, perfect trust in the will and love of God. No one can rejoice in pain or loss who has not a settled confidence in the righteousness of God's ways. Then he knows that the thing God sends or permits - is the best thing, though it almost crushes him.Someone tells how a flute is made. Here is a piece of wood. It is solid and hard and it makes no music. Then a workman take it and cuts holes in it, and makes a hollow tube through it. It is by thus cutting as if destroying it, that it is made into a flute, which gives forth sweet music. God seems ofttimes to be destroying His children by tribulations - but He is really preparing them to give forth sweet music. Tribulation is good, for it "works patience." Patience is a blessed lesson to learn. Any school in which we can learn it, is a good school, and the lesson can scarcely be too costly. Patience is ofttimes learned in the school of suffering. We are there trained to endure, not to cry out in the hour of anguish - but to sing instead.Richter tells of the little bird that is shut away in the darkness to learn new strains, which afterwards it sings in the light. Many Christians are taken into the darkness and kept there for a time, while they are taught the songs of patience. We look at patient people with admiration, not knowing what it has cost them to get this pearl of the Christian graces .Patience is only the first link in a golden chain. It begins in tribulation - in the fire. That is where the gold is refined. I saw the men in the great smelter at Denver, bringing in the ore - rough, unsightly, without any appearance of value, and I followed the processes until they showed us the pure metals ready for use. That is the way this chain of gold begins. The rough ore of common life is taken and put into the hot furnace, where it is purified until it shines in lustrous beauty."Patience works experience ." Experience is what we have learned for ourselves by living. Most of us do not learn much any other way. Every day's life leaves its new lines written upon our character.After experience comes hope. The more we know of the truth and the beauty of the blessedness of hope - the more does the future mean to us. Trying Christ, makes us even the more sure of Him. Testing the promises, makes us feel more secure in resting upon them. This "hope," too, is one that never shall disappoint us. One of the most pathetic things I saw in all the great West, was a little graveyard near the foot of Pike's Peak, in which sleep many of the men who journeyed there with the wild expectation of finding gold. Their hope put them to shame - and they died broken-hearted. Not so does ever the Christian's hope.The ground of all our hope is in Christ, who died for us while we were yet sinners. God does not begin to love us - when we begin to get good and love Him. He loves us first in our sins, and it is His love that starts in our hearts the first glimmering of love for Him. The argument here is very strong. If He loved us in our sins so much that He died for us - surely now, when we have been justified and saved, He will be faithful to us and will keep us from falling away. Thus the cross is the abiding proof of the unchanging love of God."You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!"

Romans 5:1-11

Justification by Faith

They weary themselves to commit iniquity. § I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. § Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. He who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works. § Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. § “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “this is the refreshing.”

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 We who have believed do enter that rest. 

We… rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations. § I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation. § Believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible. In a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. § To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ. Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? § God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

 As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. 

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 are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. § [Have] boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh. § We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 

The hope which is laid up for you in heaven. § If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. § We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God. § Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. § No one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! § The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. § Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory. § Through [Him] also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 Rejoicing in hope. 

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” § The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. § Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. § That He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Evening Daily Light

 Who knows the power of Your anger? 

The just shall live by faith. § Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. § The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference. We … rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. § Whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified.

 Noah was a just man. 

This is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. § I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor. § O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. Mighty God, Everlasting Father. § I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day. Prince of Peace. § He Himself is our peace. § Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. § Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help. § Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; passing over, He will preserve it.

 Those who know Your name will put their trust in You. 

Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me. § Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace. Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. § A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ. § By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight. By Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no one living is righteous. 

<blockquote>
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (<a id="verse_1632879712751996" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/5/1">Rom. 5:1</a>)
</blockquote>If we are weak in understanding the principle of complete justification by faith, we will be strong in seeking to produce our own sanctification."In Romans Seven Paul is describing the inevitable conflict that every believer knows when he undertakes to lead a holy life on the principle of legality. He feels instinctively that the law is spiritual, but that he himself, for some unexplained reason, is fleshly, carnal, and in bondage to sin. This discovery is one of the most heart-breaking a Christian ever made. Yet each one must and does make it for himself at some time in his pilgrimage."The believer finds himself doing things he knows to be wrong, and which his inmost desires are opposed to; while what he yearns to do he fails to accomplish, and does, instead, what he hates. But this is the first part of a great lesson which all must learn who would matriculate (enroll) in God's school. It is the lesson of no confidence in the flesh'; and until it is learned there can be no true progress in growth. The incorrigibility of the flesh must be realized before one is ready to turn altogether from self to Christ for sanctification, as he has already done for justification." -H.A.I."As conviction of guilt goes before known justification, so the experiential knowledge of self before sanctification. No effort clears the guilt; no effort effects the growth.""That they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith" (<a id="verse_1632879712785596" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Acts/26/18">Acts 26:18</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Legal Conflict 

<blockquote>Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (<a id="verse_1632877427134345" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/5/1">Rom. 5:1</a>).</blockquote>Few see and stand upon the fact that our history in Adam ended on the Cross. Our past will plague us until we acknowledge that we are now clear of Adam and safely hidden in the risen Lord Jesus - newly-born creations in Him. One of the penalties of self-occupation is self-pity and corroding remorse."Regret for a sinful past will remain until we truly believe that for us in the Lord Jesus that sinful past no longer exists. The man in Christ has only His past and that is perfect and acceptable to the Father. In the Lord Jesus he died, and in Him he rose, and he is now seated in Him within the circle of the Father's favored ones. He is no longer angry with himself because he is no longer self-regarding, but Christ-regarding: hence there is no place for regret.""The knowledge of our union with the Lord Jesus is what will deliver the believer from all that is low and feeble, and will lift him to a life of joy and peace. To gaze upon our risen Lord in the Father's presence, to whom all things are subject, will transform us into heavenly Christians, dwelling all the day in the Father's presence." -A.M."The believer shares the Lord Jesus' Cross knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him' <a id="verse_1632877427806733" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/6">Rom. 6:6</a>); His death:- ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God' <a id="verse_1632877427933811" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Colossians/3/3">Col. 3:3</a>); His burial:- we were buried with him by baptism into death' <a id="verse_1632877427627631" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/4">Rom. 6:4</a>); His resurrection:- as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we' <a id="verse_1632877427985575" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/4">Rom. 6:4</a>); His ascension:- made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus' <a id="verse_1632877427924346" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Ephesians/2/6">Eph. 2:6</a>)." -F.J.H."There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus" (<a id="verse_1632877427550508" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/1">Rom. 8:1</a>).

 Self-imposed Burden 

<blockquote>Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (<a id="verse_1632877776924005" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/5/1">Rom. 5:1</a>).</blockquote>There will be no standing against the enemy's accusations until we are firmly assured of, and settled on, the fact that our Father is at peace with us because of our living union with His Beloved Son. And this alone will give us peace with our Father."We thought we were being more Christian by striving more, praying more, reading our Bible more, and confessing our sins more. But all that brought no relief. The awful gnawing in our vitals continues. The sense of guilt increases. We need not a Nathan to say, Thou art the man!' A thousand voices are forever ringing in our ears giving the lie to what we long with infinite yearning might be an altogether convincing testimony of a truly Christian walk."Now the way out is to be found in a clear-cut recognition of the fact that, as Paul says in <a id="verse_1632877776667776" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/1">Romans 8:1</a>, There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.' Let appearances, voices and feelings to the contrary be what they may, still this is a fact. The reason, of course, is found not in ourselves, but in Another." -F.J.H."It is a wonderful thing to have the consciousness that we are in living union with the Lord Jesus in heavenly glory, knowing our position in that risen sphere, participating in all that constitutes His life in the blessed circle of love and rest where He lives unto the Father. If we apprehend this we shall not be deceived by what goes on upon the earth." -C.A.C."Stand fast, then, in the freedom which Christ has given us" (<a id="verse_1632877776534669" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Galatians/5/1">Gal. 5:1</a>, Wey.).

 Accusation 

<h3>Peace and Hope</h3>5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been justified<cr>1</cr> through faith,<cr>2</cr> we<ft>1</ft> have peace<cr>3</cr> with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,<cr>4</cr>

through whom we have gained access<cr>1</cr> by faith into this grace in which we now stand.<cr>2</cr> And we<ft>1</ft> boast in the hope<cr>3</cr> of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2

 1 Therefore, since we have been justified   through faith,   we  have peace   with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   2 through whom we have gained access   by faith into this grace in which we now stand.   And we  boast in the hope   of the glory of God.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

 Therefore, since we have been justified   through faith,   we  have peace   with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access   by faith into this grace in which we now stand.   And we  boast in the hope   of the glory of God.

Bible Verse of the Day

October 22, 2017

Romans 5:1-2 NIV

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