<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="eph+1:1-14">Ephesians 1:1-14</span></span></p><p>What is it in the heart of most men and women that rejects the idea of God's free and generous offer of salvation? It is pride, the deadliest of all the deadly sins. Bernard Shaw, an example of a modern-day thinker, said: "Forgiveness is a beggar's refuge. We must pay our debts." But we cannot pay our debts. As our spiritual fathers saw so clearly, the only language we can use in the presence of a God who demands so much and whose demands we are unable to meet is: Just as I am without one plea But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. In response to our coming, the free unmerited favor of God flows down to us, cancels our debt, imputes and imparts Christ's righteousness to us. How can Christ's righteousness be imputed and imparted to us? It's His righteousness, not ours. A simple illustration may help to illuminate this point. A dull little boy came home from school one day and said to his mother: "We've won a holiday." The truth was another boy had come top of the region in the examinations and the head teacher decided to give the whole school a holiday. Yet the dull little lad said: "We've won a holiday." Grace is like that. God permits the righteousness of Jesus to cover us and then, as we open ourselves to it - to enter us. He did it, but we benefit from it. Isn't grace really amazing?</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">O Father, as I contemplate still further the "riches" of Your grace, once again I have to confess it's truly amazing. No wonder men and women use that term to describe Your grace. No other adjective will do! Amen.</p><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><span class="scriptRef" ref="php+4:1-19">Philippians 4:1-19</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1ti+1:14">1 Timothy 1:14</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="tit+3:6">Titus 3:6</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What has God promised?</li><li>What did Paul testify to Timothy?</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

"In him we have  the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace " (v. 7)

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="mt+11:28-30">Matthew 11:28-30</span></span></p><p>Today we ask ourselves: What is there about this famous saying of Jesus which engenders good mental health? Mental health, after all, is more than a medical term. It is a concept that goes beyond the walls of a hospital or a doctor's clinic and applies also to the home, the church and the world of everyday living. Mental health is concerned with the dynamics of relationship and adjustment - the way we handle such things as anxiety, hostility and frustration. "Mental health," says one authority, "concerns itself with the everyday troubles of everyday people - helping them to solve their problems or face them bravely when they cannot be warded off." The statement of Jesus we are focusing on at the moment contributes to good mental health because it encourages us to be free from the attitude of demandingness - the attitude that says: "Things must go my way", "I ought to have some consideration", "People should respect my rights." One psychologist goes as far as to say that if we could eliminate the shoulds and the woulds from our vocabulary and our inner attitudes, we could become transformed people overnight. He was not referring, of course, to the moral compass which God has placed within us that cries out for obedience to that which is right ("I ought not to lie", "I should always do right", and so on) but to the attitude of demandingness that insists on having one's rights irrespective of any other considerations. One of the biggest causes of mental and emotional illness is the attitude of demandingness and over-concern. Do we wonder any longer why Christ congratulates the meek and promises them the earth? </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Blessed Lord Jesus, deliver me, I pray, from a spirit of demandingness that insists on having my rights rather than being willing to give them up for the sake of others. Help me to take Your yoke upon me and learn from You. Amen.</p><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><span class="scriptRef" ref="2co+10:1-18">2 Corinthians 10:1-18</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="2co+11:18-21">2 Corinthians 11:18-21</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="php+4:11-12">Philippians 4:11-12</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Why could Paul be bold?</li><li>How did Paul highlight the difference between weakness and meekness?</li></ul></div></div>

"Take my yoke upon you ' for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (v. 29)

<p> There are many who know "how to be abased" who have not learned "how to abound." When they are set upon the top of a pinnacle their heads grow dizzy, and they are ready to fall. The Christian far oftener disgraces his profession in prosperity than in adversity. It is a dangerous thing to be prosperous. The crucible of adversity is a less severe trial to the Christian than the refining pot of prosperity. Oh, what leanness of soul and neglect of spiritual things have been brought on through the very mercies and bounties of God! Yet this is not a matter of necessity, for the apostle tells us that he knew how to abound. When he had much he knew how to use it. Abundant grace enabled him to bear abundant prosperity. When he had a full sail he was loaded with much ballast, and so floated safely. It needs more than human skill to carry the brimming cup of mortal joy with a steady hand, yet Paul had learned that skill, for he declares, "In all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry." It is a divine lesson to know how to be full, for the Israelites were full once, but while the flesh was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God came upon them. Many have asked for mercies that they might satisfy their own hearts' lust. Fulness of bread has often made fulness of blood, and that has brought on wantonness of spirit. When we have much of God's providential mercies, it often happens that we have but little of God's grace, and little gratitude for the bounties we have received. We are full and we forget God: satisfied with earth, we are content to do without heaven. Rest assured it is harder to know how to be full than it is to know how to be hungry-so desperate is the tendency of human nature to pride and forgetfulness of God. Take care that you ask in your prayers that God would teach you "how to be full. " </p><p> "Let not the gifts thy love bestows <br> Estrange our hearts from thee." </p>

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

"I know how to abound." - Philippians 4:12

Morning Devotional

<p><span class="bible-text "> <sup class="verse-num ">12 </sup>I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,   whether living in plenty or in want.   </span></p>

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,<cr>1</cr>  whether living in plenty or in want.<cr>2</cr> 

Philippians 4:12

 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,   whether living in plenty or in want.  

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

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

<p><span class="bible-text ">I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,   whether living in plenty or in want.   </span></p>

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,   whether living in plenty or in want.  

Bible Verse of the Day

January 31, 2025

Philippians 4:12 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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