For Reading and Meditation:      1 Corinthians 15:50-58Mark';s observation "that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away" (Mark 16:4) seems a simple statement, but behind it lies a truth that is positively staggering in its implications. One is that no longer can death be an intimidator. "Death," said someone, "is the great enigma of life; humanly speaking, it is the one secret of the universe which is kept, the silence of which is never broken." To the weary and despairing, death may come as a friend; the cynical and disillusioned may meet it with indifference; to the healthy and the happy it may appear as a foe; but it comes to all. Death is like a great stone that blocks the path of human aspiration. How certain can we be of the continuity of life beyond death? What modest person would find in himself anything worthy to endure for all eternity? Such questions have been asked down the centuries. Death is a mystery - "the undiscovered country from which no traveler returns." Then came the first Easter Day, and the stone was rolled away. One Traveler did return. Death is an abysmal cavern no longer but a tunnel with light at the farther end. If people have seen it as a blind alley, then they need think no longer in those terms. It is now a thoroughfare, a highway. "'Tis death is dead, not He," said the hymnist. The mystery is a mystery no more. The stone that was rolled away the first Easter morn was not just the rock that sealed the tomb. Our Lord rolled back for us the mystery of death also.Lord Jesus Christ, I rejoice and rejoice continually in Your glorious and triumphant victory over death. For Your victory is my victory. Help me to live by it, in it, and for it. I am grateful to my depths - grateful 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>John 11:1-44</li><li>Matthew 16:21</li><li>Mark 9:9</li><li>John 2:19</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>When did Jesus declare He was the resurrection and the life?</li><li>What are the implications of this?</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

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (v. 55)

For Reading and Meditation:      2 Timothy 4:1-8There can be no doubt that the Bible presents the death of the ungodly as being terrible. How differently, however, does it portray the death of the righteous. Even a hireling prophet like Balaam, bad as he was, recognised that there was something different about the death of the godly. Listen to his words in Numbers 23:10: "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my end be like his" (NKJ). The book of Proverbs puts the same thought in this way: "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day" (4:18). I heard one preacher say that the happiest woman he had ever seen was a dying woman. She lay on her bed and clapped her hands at the approach of death. Very many people came to look at her bright countenance. "They tell me this is death," she said. "It's not death at all - it's life." People were converted by her bedside, including her son. A theologian by the name of W. Cosley Bell, when he sensed that he was about to leave this world, sent these words to the staff of the college where he was employed: "Tell the young men that I've grown surer of God every year of my life, and I've never been so sure as I am right now. Why it's all so! It's a fact - a dead certainty. I'm so glad I haven't the least shadow of shrinking or uncertainty. I've been preaching and teaching these things all my life and I'm so interested to find that all we've been believing and hoping is so." That is the way to die. One of John Wesley's proudest claims for the early Methodists was this: "Our people die well.". Father, the empty tomb of Jesus makes all our fears lies, and all our hopes truths. That empty tomb is the birthplace of eternal certainty. Because He lives I shall live also. I am eternally grateful. 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 Timothy 1:1-12</li><li>1 Corinthians 15:45-58</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 testimony?</li><li>Why is there no fear in death for the believer?</li></ul></div></div>

"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day " (v. 8) 

The attribute of God which describes Him as changeless is called His immutability. He does not change in His essential being. He does not change in His attributes. He does not change in the principles by which He operates.The psalmist contrasted the changing destiny of the heavens and earth with God's changelessness: "They shall be changed, but thou art the same" (Psalms 102:26-27). James describes the Lord as "the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).There are other Scriptures that remind us that God does not repent. "God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent" (Numbers 23:19). "The Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent" (1 Samuel 15:29).But what, then, do we do with verses that say that God does repent? "It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth" (Genesis 6:6). "The Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel" (1 Samuel 15:35 b). See also Exodus 32:14 and Jonah 3:10.There is no contradiction. God always acts on these two principles: He always rewards obedience and always punishes disobedience. When man shifts from obedience to disobedience, God must still be true to His own character by shifting from the first principle to the second. This seems like repentance to us, and it is so described in what we might call the language of human appearance. But it does not indicate regret or changeableness.God is always the same. In fact, that is one of His names. "…thou, the Same, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth" (Isaiah 37:16, Darby). That name is also found in 2 Samuel 7:28 Margin, Psalms 102:27 and Isaiah 41:4 Margin, all in Darby's translation.The immutability of God has been a comfort to His saints in all ages, and a theme of their song. We celebrate it in the immortal lines of Henry F. Lyte:Change and decay in all around I see - O thou who changest not, abide with me!It is also a quality for us to imitate. We should be stable, constant and stedfast. If we are vacillating, fickle and mercurial, we misrepresent our Father to the world."Be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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

"I am the Lord; I change not." (Malachi 3:6)

It is not uncommon for a person to become discouraged in his service for the Lord and to quit. I suppose that most of us have faced that temptation at one time or another. Therefore, in today's reading I would like to share four passages that have been a tremendous encouragement to me and that have kept me from quitting. The first is Isaiah 49:4 : "Then I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God." There are moments, fortunately rare, when years of service for the Lord seem to evaporate into nothingness. All our work seems to have been wasted effort. It appears to be another case of "love's labor lost." But not so! Our verse assures us that God's justice will insure that we are royally rewarded. Nothing that is done for Him is ever in vain.The second passage is Isaiah 55:10-11 : "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Those engaged in distributing the living Word of God are assured of success. Results are guaranteed. His Word is irresistible. Just as the armies of the world are powerless to prevent the rain and snow from falling, so all the hosts of demons and of men are unable to stop the Word from going forth and producing revolutions in human lives. We are on the winning side.Then there is that remarkable encouragement in Matthew 10:40 : "He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." Have you ever been snubbed because of your Christian testimony? Or ostracized? Or mocked? Or abused? Has someone slammed the door in your face? Well, don't take it too personally. In rejecting you, people are really rejecting the Savior. The way people treat you is the way they treat the Lord. How wonderful to be so closely linked with the Son of God!Then, of course, there is 1 Corinthians 15:58 (quoted above). Paul has been setting forth the truth of the resurrection. If this life were all, then our labor would be in vain. However, beyond the grave lies the eternal glory. Everything done in the Lord's Name will be rewarded then. No loving service will have been fruitless or futile.Christian service is the most glorious of all callings. There is never a valid reason for quitting. The encouragements of God's Word are enough to keep us from turning back.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Luke 5:1-11The scene of this lesson is the Lake of Gennesaret. "Although God has created seven seas," said the rabbis, "yet He has chosen this one as His special delight." No body of water on the earth is so sacred to the hearts of Christians, as this little inland sea. Along its shores Jesus walked, wrought, and talked. At that time its shore was a garden, without break, covered with pleasant towns and villages. Desolation now reigns about it. In our Lord's time, it was covered with fishing boats and vessels of all kinds. A great population then crowded its shores. Now the towns have disappeared, and the boats no longer sail on the beautiful waters. Yet everywhere in the sands, are the footprints of Him who came to save us. "It is the gem of Palestine, a sapphire fairly set in its framework of hills - but more fairly set in the golden words and works of the Son of God."In the story of our passage, we have one of the experiences of our Master on this beautiful sea. The people thronged about Him to hear Him speak. The crowd became very great, and that He might speak to the people more satisfactorily, He entered one of the fishing boats that were moored by the shore. The fishermen had left their boats and were washing their nets. Using this fishing boat as a pulpit, Jesus spoke to the people. That little boat had done good service many times before in other ways. It had carried people across the lake, it had been used in fishing - but it never had been put to such a use as it was that day, when the Lord preached from its deck, to the throngs on the beach.We can find pulpits every day from which we can preach to the people about us. The boy can speak at school, or from his place of duty, or in the office where he works. The girl can find a pulpit among her friends, at her daily tasks, in the social group of which she is a member. No one ever yet lacked opportunities to speak for the Master. Often the little sermons we speak along the way, as we walk, or as we ride on the street cars or on the railroad train - have more effect, a wider reach of influence, than if we stood up in a church pulpit and made a fine address.After Jesus had spoken to the people, He asked Simon, the owner of the boat, to push out from the shore into the deep water, and to let down his nets. It seemed to Simon that there could be no use in doing this. He had spent the whole preceding night on the sea, dropping the nets and drawing them up again, each time empty. "We have toiled all night - and have caught nothing," was Simon's discouraged answer. This is true of very much of the work that many of us do. We toil hard - but come home weary and empty-handed. We drag our nets all night, and in the morning we have only weeds and a few bits of rubbish in our nets.This is true of what we do in worldly business. The majority of men die poor, with nothing in their hands to show for their toil. Many do the same in their intellectual life. With countless opportunities for learning, they at last die in ignorance. Many people have the same experience in spiritual work. Pastors toil for years, and seem to have no souls in their nets. Teachers work with their classes, and seem to have no results. There is often a sad pathos in the Christian's life and work. Many of us are like children trying to carry water, in buckets with holes. It runs out - as fast as we scoop it up.Peter's obedience at this time was very noble and beautiful. According to the rules of fishing, nothing would come of the Master's command. Yet Peter did not think of that. The word of Jesus had supreme authority with him. It was not his to ask why, or what good could come of casting the net again. No appeal against the Master's word, was to be considered for a moment. So Peter answered without hesitation, "But because You say so - I will let down the nets." Many of the things our master calls us to do or to endure - do not seem best to us at the time. Yet we may always say to Christ, whatever His bidding may be - whatever He asks us to do or to suffer, into whatever mystery of trial or pain He leads us, "But because You say so - I will let down the nets." There need never be the smallest exception to this obedience. Though to our limited vision, it seems that only loss can come out of it, still we should heed the Voice that commands, assured that in spite of all seeming ill - there must be good in the end.The result of the obedience - proved the wisdom of the command. "When they had done this, their nets were so full they began to tear!" Obeying the master, though it had seemed nothing could come of it, brought its rich reward. Not always do the results come so soon. But obedience to Christ's word always brings good in the end .<div class="center-it mtb10">We have here an illustration of two kinds of work - that done without Christ's direction; and that done in obedience to His word. The one came to nothing; the other yielded bountiful results. The disciples had toiled all night in their own effort and had caught nothing. Then they dropped their nets at the Master's bidding - and drew them up full. In a wider sense, all that we do without Christ's direction, comes to nothing; while all that we do in His name, yields blessing. Some where and in some way, everything we do for Christ brings blessing. "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). "In due season we shall reap - if we faint not" (Galatians 6:9).</div>The effect of this miracle on Peter was remarkable. He fell down at the feet of Jesus and said, "Depart from me! For I am a sinful man, O Lord!" This is a strange scene - Peter imploring Jesus to leave his boat. Yet it was Peter's very love for Jesus, that made him say this. In the miracle, he had had a glimpse of Christ's power. A vision of divine glory - always humbles a sincere heart.A room may be filthy; floor, walls, and furniture stained; but in the darkness one does not see the foulness. Let the light flash in, and ever speck of stain is revealed. We are not conscious of the evil in our own hearts. But when the divine holiness is revealed and flashes its radiance upon us - we see our condition, and loathe ourselves! We should seek to see God, for the vision will show us our unworthiness, and then will lead to the cleansing of our lives, to make them more worthy of Him. We never can enter heaven - until heaven has first entered into us and filled our whole being with its holiness and purity.Peter saw in these wonderful words of Christ, the unveiling of divine power. "He was astonished at the catch of fish." Every day divine works are wrought before our eyes - and we fail to be impressed.Elizabeth Barrett Browning tells us that while some people see the glory of God in the burning bush and take off their shoes; that others only stand by and pick blackberries! We should teach ourselves to behold God in even the commonest events in our commonest days. Daily life is full of divine goodness, and the evidences of our Father's thoughtfulness and care. He made the flowers, the hills, the trees, the fields, the rivers, the stars. Are there no manifestations of divine power in these works of God? Then, the life of the individual is full of love and power. No person can fail to see in everyday providence, the evidence of God's presence and thought. He provides for us. He sends us countless blessings, and supplies all our needs. He brings friends to us with love, with sympathy, with comfort. In the life of each one of us - there are frequent occurrences just as remarkable as the miraculous catch of fish! Yet, how few of us take off our shoes - and fall down before Christ in wonder!It is delightful to notice how the fishermen responded to the call of the Master. The call had reached their hearts, and they were not a moment in deciding. They had known Jesus for some time, and were most glad to go with Him. We do not know how much He told them of His plans, of what He wanted them to do. Jesus does not usually give us the details of the life to which He calls us. He only asks us to go with Him; and then, as we follow Him, He shows us the way, step by step. Each day prepares us for the next. One duty done, leads to another.Jesus is always looking for men. The work of saving the world is still filing His heart and His thought. He wants men who will believe His message. He saw that day in these fishermen, just the kind of men He wanted to go with Him and be trained for the great work He had in hand. They had had a training in their old occupation, which had done much to prepare them for the new work to which they were now called. They had learned patience, persistence, quiet waiting, and diligence in their daily and nightly work on the sea - and these qualities would be of use - in waiting, watching, and fishing for men. The words of Jesus about fishing contain a little parable. The sea is the world, and men are the fish that are to be caught and taken from it.The Master's answer to Simon showed what we should do with our amazement and adoration. Instead of being paralyzed by the revealing of glory, Simon was to find in it a new call to service. "Fear not! From henceforth you shall catch men ." Idle wonder is profitless. Divine revealing should drive us to a fuller consecration and service. The one thing after feelings - is to put them into acts. We should all want to catch men and to save them from their sin - for eternal life and glory. We should all want to be fishers of men. The boys and girls should seek to draw their companions out of the black sea of sin - that they may be saved for heaven.The response of Simon and of his friends was instantaneous. "They forsook all - and followed Him." This is just what Jesus asked the rich young ruler to do - and what he would not do. Christ may not ask us to give up all in the sense of leaving all; but He does ask us to give up all to Him. He does ask us to believe, to give up body, soul, and property, to go wherever He may send us - and to do whatever He wants us to do. Nothing will be lost to us; however, for He will return to us, a hundredfold increase, all that we give up or lose in His cause.

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

Devotional Hours Within the Bible

Luke 5:1-11

The Call of the First Disciples

Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. § As you … have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. § He who endures to the end shall be saved. § The ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. By faith you stand. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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

 Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. 

It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. § To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. § Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? § Leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps. Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. § Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it. § Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Evening Daily Light

 Do business till I come. 

In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground. § We commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. § Aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. § The night is coming when no one can work. Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. § Always [abound] in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. There remains … a rest for the people of God. § To us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. § “This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest,” and, “This is the refreshing.”

 Man goes out to his work and tohis labor until the evening. 

No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. § Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord. § Whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. No longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love … grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ. Abide in Me. § Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

 A double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 

Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. You also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. § As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” § Sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

 Son, go, work today in my vineyard. 

58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,<cr>1</cr> because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.<cr>2</cr>

1 Corinthians 15:58

 58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,   because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  

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, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,   because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.  

Bible Verse of the Day

August 24, 2024

1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV

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