For Reading and Meditation:      2 Peter 1:1-11It is one thing to accept the faithfulness of God as a clear biblical truth; it is quite another to act upon it. God has given us many great and precious promises, as our text for today puts it, but do we actually count on them being fulfilled? We have to be careful that we do not hold God to promises He has not given. I have seen a good deal of heartache suffered by Christians because someone encouraged them to take a statement from the Word of God, turn it into a "promise," and urged them to believe for it to come to pass. Then, when nothing happened, they became deeply discouraged. One woman told me that many years ago she had taken the words found in Acts 16:31 - "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved - you and your household" - and claimed them as a promise. When her husband and son died unrepentant she was devastated. I pointed out to her that even God cannot save those who don't want to be saved, and that the promise given by Paul and Silas was for the Philippian jailer, not anyone else. There are hundreds of promises that God has given in His Word that we can claim without equivocation. "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5, KJV) is just one among many. Someone who has counted all God's promises in the Bible numbers them as being over 3,000. That ought to be enough to keep you going if you lived to be a hundred. Be careful, however, that it is a general promise you are banking on, not a specific one.Father, I have Your promise that You will guide me into all truth, so my trust is in You that You will give me the wisdom to discern between a promise which is general and one that is specific. 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>Hebrews 1:1-12</li><li>Hebrews 13:8</li><li>2 Corinthians 4:18</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Why is Jesus so dependable?</li><li>Where do we fix our eyes?</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

" he has given us his very great and precious promises " (v. 4)

For Reading and Meditation:      Isaiah 40:21-31T he man-centered focus that is creeping into today's Church must be resisted at all costs. Such matters as disciplining children, marital problems and establishing proper priorities should be addressed also, but we must be careful that "market forces" do not mold our theology. People may want to know about these issues, but what they need, primarily, is to know God. It could be argued that our problems are so acute because we are deficient in our knowledge of God. The context in which we think and feel is so limited that it is no wonder our souls feel stifled and claustrophobic. One preacher describes our condition in this way: "We are like Peter trying to walk on the water but becoming so engrossed in the winds and the waves that we lose sight of the all-sufficient Christ who is right there beside us. The immediate environment has blotted out the sense of the eternal." This is why I have chosen today's reading from the magnificent book of Isaiah. The prophet does what a doctor would do upon visiting a patient with a minor sickness and finding the windows shut fast and the room lacking in oxygen. He would throw open the windows and invite the patient to inhale the purer air. "Take a deep breath of the oxygen of the Spirit," Isaiah is saying in effect. "See how great and powerful God is. Set your problems in the context of His might and omnipotence." We become like the thing we focus on. If we center on man rather than God then we ought not be surprised if we finish up off center - eccentric.O God, save me from being an off-center Christian and thus an eccentric Christian - the true meaning of that term. May my primary focus be always on You. Grant it, dear Lord. 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 4:13-18</li><li>Hebrews 3:1</li><li>Hebrews 12:2</li><li>Psalm 141:8</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Paul's focus?</li><li>What is the exhortation of the writer of Hebrews?</li></ul></div></div>

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers." (v. 22)

In our Christian pilgrimage it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it be for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer's enlightened eye can see death's river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which standeth the celestial city; he seeth himself enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conqueror, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in the arms of Jesus, glorified with him, and made to sit together with him on his throne, even as he has overcome and has sat down with the Father on his throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Hush, hush, my doubts! death is but a narrow stream, and thou shalt soon have forded it. Time, how short-eternity, how long! Death, how brief-immortality, how endless! Methinks I even now eat of Eshcol's clusters, and sip of the well which is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I shall soon be there. "When the world my heart is rending With its heaviest storm of care, My glad thoughts to heaven ascending, Find a refuge from despair. Faith's bright vision shall sustain me Till life's pilgrimage is past; Fears may vex and troubles pain me, I shall reach my home at last."

This timeless classic from Charles Spurgeon will help to both start and end your day with wonderful insight into God's Word.

Charles Spurgeon's Morning & Evening

"The things which are not seen." - 2 Corinthians 4:18

Morning Devotional

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. § Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We walk by faith, not by sight. § We do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. § An inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away [is] reserved in heaven for you.

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

 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 

He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. § Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. § The inhabitant will not say, “I am sick”; the people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity. § The voice of weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. § Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! § The last enemy that will be destroyed is death… Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” The things which are not seen are eternal.

 God will wipe away every tear . . . ; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow. . . . For the former things have passed away. 

Here we have no continuing city. § You have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials. § There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. We who are in this tent groan, being burdened. § God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. § Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

 We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

Every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; he heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. § Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. § Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. They do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. § We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. § He who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. § There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing § The crown of glory that does not fade away.

Evening Daily Light

 Riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. 

You shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. “When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the time of love. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,” says the Lord God. § Whom the Lord loves He chastens. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. § Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

 What I am doing you do not understand now,but you will know after this. 

We have the same spirit of faith. As chastened, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. § We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body … Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

 “Is it well with you?” . . . And she answered, “It is well.” 

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,<cr>1</cr> since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18

 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,   since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

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

 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,   since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Bible Verse of the Day

August 22, 2018

2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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