For Reading and Meditation:      Colossians 1:1-14Yesterday we saw that when we make it a goal to hunger and thirst after happiness, we get nowhere, but when we make it our goal to hunger and thirst after righteousness, we get everywhere. Once again Jesus touches on an aspect of good mental health when He teaches us through these words to focus on right goals. Those who study human behaviour tell us that everything we do has a goal. "We are not conditioned animals that act automatically and unthinkingly in programmed response," says a psychologist, "' neither are we the hapless victims of internal forces that drive us relentlessly in unwanted directions." It may sometimes feel as if we do things we don't want to do, but the truth is that everything we do represents an effort to reach a goal that somehow, albeit at an unconscious level, makes sense. In fact, one of the ways in which you can better understand why you do the things you do is to ask yourself: What's my goal? A woman I once counselled and who was extremely frustrated because her husband would not change to meet her requirements said to me: "My husband is so stubborn and obstinate that I just can't see any future for us together." I shared with her the concept that everything we do represents a goal, and asked her to put into words what she thought her goal might be in her marriage. Without a moment's hesitation she replied: "To change my husband." Her daily prayer was: "Lord, You love my husband and I'll change him." I suggested she altered her goal to: "Lord, You change my husband and I'll love him." She did, and instantly found a new freedom - and a new happiness in her marriage. O Father, I see what I need - I need to bring my goals in line with Your goals. Unfold more of this important truth to me as I pursue it over the next few days. In Jesus' Name I ask it. 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>Ephesians 5:1-16</li><li>Romans 6:4</li><li>2 Corinthians 5:7</li><li>Galatians 5:16</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How are we to live?</li><li>Do you make the most of every opportunity?</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

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way '" (v. 10) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Romans 5:6-21An ancient theologian - St. Augustine - suggested that "the answer to the mystery of the universe is God and the answer to the mystery of God is Christ." If this is so then I would like to make a further suggestion: the answer to the mystery of Christ is to be found in His sacrificial spirit, the supreme evidence of which is the cross. We will never in our mortal state be able to grasp the full meaning of the cross. But what we do grasp gives us a clue to what lies in the heart of the Infinite. Theologians often discuss the various theories of the atonement. Personally, I find myself accepting any theory of the atonement that makes the meaning of the cross more vital and clear. No theory seems to me big enough to fit the facts. As Jesus broke the bars of the tomb and stepped out beyond them, so the fact of Jesus dying seems to transcend our most careful statements or form of words. To really understand the cross one must have an attitude of mind and heart that responds to its meaning. I came across this: "To understand art one must have art within one; to understand music one must have music within one." I thought to myself, to understand the cross one must have a sacrificial spirit within one. Those who profess to know Christ but live only for self will know something of the cross but will miss its real meaning. The cross is best understood not by an argument but by an attitude. Father, I see that if I am to fully understand the cross I must have a sacrificial spirit within me. May I linger at Your cross until Your nature becomes my nature. Then seeing I shall see. 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>John 15:13</li><li>Galatians 1:4</li><li>Ephesians 5:2</li><li>1 Peter 2:24</li><li>Titus 2:1-14</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 love demonstrated?</li><li>What was the greater dimension of Christ's sacrifice?</li></ul></div></div>

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (v. 8) 

For Reading and Meditation:      1 Peter 3:13-22As Christians we ought never to forget that the message of the Bible is addressed primarily to the understanding; it enables us to understand life. Because of the Bible, we are able to give a reason for the hope that is within us. The psalmist found the truth of this. In the sanctuary he discovered an explanation for the way that he felt. He was not given a temporary lift that would stay with him for a few hours or a few days - he was given a solution that would stay with him for the rest of his life. It was this, in fact, that caused him to write the psalm we are focusing upon day by day. The words: "Then I understood their final destiny" (Psalm 73:17) suggest that previously he had not been thinking correctly. He had been seeing things from a partial and incomplete perspective, but now "in the sanctuary" he began to see the whole picture: "Then I understood". When? Then - when he came into the sanctuary. There is a line in one of Matthew Arnold's writings that goes like this: "Who saw life steadily, and saw it whole." What a delightful phrase this is. Nothing can be more wonderful than to see life steadily and to see it whole. Much of the inner turmoil we go through in life comes about because we do not see life as a whole. Prejudice has been defined as "seeing only what you want to see". People who are prejudiced say: "I have always seen it that way." That's their problem - their eyes are fixed on just one facet of an issue and they will not allow themselves to look at the other sides. O Father, help me, for I don't want to be in bondage to prejudice or bigotry - I want to see life whole. We must work this issue out together over these next few days, for apart from You I can do nothing. Help me, Father. 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>Ephesians 5:1-20</li><li>2 Timothy 1:8</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>How are we to speak to ourselves?</li><li>What did Paul admonish Timothy?</li></ul></div></div>

" Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have " (v. 15) 

Religion is love: the love of God shed abroad in the heart, transforming our nature into love. The blessing is bestowed to be exhibited; we are to let our light shine, and walk in love.Under the influence of love to God, for His mercy towards us; and love to man for God's sake. By the rule of love, doing unto others as we would they should do unto us. Seeking their spiritual and eternal welfare. Letting it be clearly seen, that we indulge no envy, jealousy, malice, or ill-willin our hearts against any; but that we wish them well, and desire to promote their best interests in any way we can.Love should run through the whole of our actions, and be the ruling motive in our souls. God acts towards us from love. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of love; and love is the brightest and surest evidence of regeneration.Let us not be satisfied to feel that we love, but let us manifest it; let us "WALK IN LOVE"; this is the way to be happy, useful and honourable. Bitterness, wrath, censoriousness, and selfishness, prove that we are under sin; but love is of God; and he that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.May I from every act abstain, That hurts or gives my brother pain; Nay, every secret wish suppress, That would abridge his happiness; And this may I Thy follower prove, Great Prince of peace, great God of love!

Written by James Smith for his own flock around 1840, but such was the demand that by 1846 over thirty thousand copies where in circulation.

The Believer's Daily Remembrancer

Walk in Love. - Ephesians 5:2

Paul's letter to the Philippians was really an acknowledgment of a gift which he had received from the believers at Philippi. We are probably safe in assuming that it was a gift of money. The surprising thing is the way in which the apostle magnifies the gift. He calls it "an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God." In Ephesians 5:2 He uses a similar expression to describe Christ's great gift of Himself at Calvary. He speaks of it as "an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour." It is breathtaking to think that a gift given to a servant of the Lord should be memorialized with language similar to that which describes the Unspeakable Gift.J. H. Jowett comments finely on this point. "How vast, then, is the range of an apparently local kindness! We thought we were ministering to a pauper, and in reality we were conversing with the King. We imagined that the fragrance would be shut up in a petty neighborhood, and lo, the sweet aroma steals through the universe. We thought that we were dealing only with Paul, and we find that we were ministering to Paul's Savior and Lord." When we understand the true spiritual nature of Christian giving and the vast range of its influence, we are delivered from giving grudgingly or of necessity. We are immune forever to the gimmickry of professional fund-raisers who extort by cajolery, pathos or comedy. We see that giving is a form of priestly service, not a legal enaction. We give because we love, and we love to give.The truth that my minuscule gifts to the Great God fill the throne room of the universe with fragrance should inspire me to humble worship and hilarious giving. Never again will the offering on Sunday morning be a boring, if necessary, part of the service. It will be as truly a means of giving directly to the Lord Jesus as if He were bodily present.

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

"But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18)

Love is that quality in God which causes Him to lavish unbounded affection on others. His love is manifest in giving good and perfect gifts to the beloved.We can give only a few of the myriad of verses that speak of that love! "I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3). "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us…" (Ephesians 2:4). And, of course, the best known of all, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whososoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).When John says "God is love" (1 John 4:8), he is not defining God, but insisting that love is a key element in the divine nature. We do not worship love, but the God of love.His love had no beginning and can have no end. It is limitless in its dimensions. It is absolutely pure, without taint of selfishness or any other sin. It is sacrificial, never minding the cost. It seeks only the welfare of others, and nothing in return. It goes out to the unlovely as well as to the lovely, to enemies as well as to friends. It is not drawn out by any virtues in its objects, but only by the goodness of the Giver.The practical implications of this sublime truth are obvious. "Therefore be imitators of God," said Paul, "as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us" (Ephesians 5:1-2 a, NASB). Our love should ascend to the Lord, should flow out to our brethren, and should extend to the unsaved world.Contemplation of His love should also inspire deepest worship. As we fall at His feet, we must say repeatedly:How Thou canst love me as Thou dostAnd be the God Thou artIs darkness to my intellectBut sunshine to my heart.

"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10)

That is to say, carry on the life which Christ lived. In him love made its advent to the earth; and the prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, shows plainly that the idea of the Saviour was not that that divine love should take its departure with him from the earth, but that it should abide and have an inextinguishable life in his disciples, from generation to generation, until he should come again. This, then, is your vocation. To walk by faith, and to walk in love, let these things be one in your experience. What a sublime mission! God on his throne in heaven is love. Love is with him enthroned in heaven; love, in you, wanders over the earth. The whole universe is made for the manifestation of his love; and the universe, as much of it as you will, exists for the manifestation of your love. It is the law of all created essences; and let there only be in you divine love enthroned, and the whole creation will answer your glance, and say to you, " Here am I." It must wait upon you, for it must wait upon love. You are the follower of Christ; consequently you live to love. You are, however, surrounded by a world of unloving and unlovely beings; and how can you walk in love here? Consider that formerly you found no difficulty in loving yourself; in spite of all the repulsive things you knew about yourself, you went on loving yourself, with an unwavering steadfastness. Consider, again, that Christ sets you the example. Does it become you to be more fastidious than he is? Is the servant greater than his Lord? Do you presume to despise what he regards? Did he bring too much love down from heaven, and must you send some of it back? Consider, again, does it appear wrong that you should be loved? Does a little satisfy you? Would you have your brethren make light of the command to love you? Again, is there any better way of bringing men to be lovely, than this very way of love? Finally, Is there any habit more enriching and gladdening to your own nature, than this sacred habit of love? You may well say that you have not attained, neither are already perfect. Nothing less is solicited at your hands, than that you should give Christ's mighty love an unlimited range of your nature. " I cannot tutor my affections," you say; " I cannot by any word of command constrain my heart to love." Well, then, try this way. Be filled with the knowledge of Christ's love to you. Feed upon this food; the table is spread, and there is no stinted supply. Love to him will follow without difficulty. Then, as he is in heaven and his people are on earth, love him in them. In them he is near.

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

Bowen's Daily Meditations

"Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us." - Ephesians 5:2. 

Christ … has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. § Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious. § God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. § In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. If you love Me, keep My commandments. § The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. § The house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. § They realized that they had been with Jesus. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens! § Immanuel … God with us. § His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. § The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

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

 Your name is ointment poured forth. 

Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! § The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. § For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.” … By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Abel … brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering. § Christ … has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. § [Have] boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.

 The blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. 

God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. § The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. § To you who believe, He is precious. § We love Him because He first loved us. § The love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. You yourselves are taught by God to love one another. § This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. § Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” § Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

 The fruit of the Spirit is love. 

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. § Above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” § Love covers all sins. Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. § Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return. § Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. § Not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. § If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. § Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

 Walk in love. 

Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever. § Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. § Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. § Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. § Your word has given me life. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

 Christ . . . loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. 

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and great in mercy. § Your Father in heaven … makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. Be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. § Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. § Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart. § The love of Christ compels us. Love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

Evening Daily Light

 Your lovingkindness is before my eyes. 

2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us<cr>1</cr> and gave himself up for us<cr>2</cr> as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.<cr>3</cr>

Ephesians 5:2

 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us   and gave himself up for us   as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to 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

 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us   and gave himself up for us   as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  

Bible Verse of the Day

April 13, 2018

Ephesians 5:2 NIV

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