July 21
God-hungry men find God. “As the hart pants after the water brooks” (Ps 42:1), so the souls of the Upper-Room crowd panted for the living God. Spiritually naked, they fled to Him to be clothed upon with the blessed Spirit. Empty, they craved to be filled. Powerless, they tarried until they were endued. Bankrupt, they pled the riches of His grace. Then this fear-filled crowd became fire-filled messengers. Though swordless, these soldiers of Christ fought the might of imperial Rome and won. Though without ecclesiastical prestige, they opposed the frozen orthodoxy of sterile Judaism and pierced...
Read MoreJuly 20
“Is not My word like…a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer 23:29). A couple of undergraduates were standing in one of the quads in Oxford. One was a Christian. In his hand he held a Bible, having come from a church service. The other man looked at him and said, “What have you got there?” “Oh,” he said, “it’s my Bible.” “What do you carry that around for?” “It means a lot to me, and helps me.” “What,” he said, “you don’t believe that rubbish. That’s just the same as any other book.” “I know it isn’t,” said the Christian. “Well, I bet you can’t prove to me that it’s different from any...
Read MoreJuly 19
“The same came therefore to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee, and desired him, saying, Sir, we would see Jesus” (Jn 12:21). Sometimes the enemy tries to convince us that no one is interested in the gospel. Not true. Millions today will receive earth-shattering news—inoperable cancer, a spouse is leaving them, job loss, or a child in trouble. Jesus said He came for the broken-hearted, and there are more of those every day. Sometimes when a person responds, “I’m not interested,” I ask, “Not interest in what? What do you think I’m offering you?” Often they think we are going to ask...
Read MoreJuly 18
Sam Hadley, a drunkard transformed by Christ, was used by God to see thousands reached in New York. On the way to California to preach, he stopped in Detroit, where an old couple asked him to pray for their drunkard son, whom they had discovered was living in San Francisco. One evening the Christians of Oakland, a thousand strong, marched singing through the city to the Metropolitan Theater where Hadley preached. Every seat was taken, except Hadley’s when he rose to preach. Harry Ironside, sitting in the balcony, saw a man slip in through the stage door, who was then ushered by J. Wilbur...
Read MoreJuly 17
How easy it is to become preoccupied with earthly things. This was the story of Demas. Paul says of his former co-worker, “For Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica” (2 Tim 4:10). It was not the present evil world, as we sometimes misquote it. In fact, he seems to have gone to Thessalonica to work with the church there. But Paul states that his decision was based on the present, rather than on the eternal. A divided heart is a dangerous heart. As someone said, “Wouldn’t it be a terrible thing if, when you got to heaven, you discovered that...
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