Key Verse: "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
- 2 Timothy 2:3 KJV
We often get into states and frames of mind, where we
need something else besides consolation. A child would not grow, if it were
always fed upon sweets. It must have exercise, and be exposed to the
weather, and have the cold winds blow upon its face, and be hardened, so as
to enable it to bear the chill winter and the nipping frosts.
Key Verse: "And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea."- Mark 5:13 KJV
The history of the poor demoniac affords a striking instance of the malice of devils, of the power of Christ, and of the wickedness of man. How great was the malice of the devils that assaulted this poor man! They led him to dwell in solitary places among the tombs; for in those days tombs were generally made in lonely spots, among barren hills and rocks. Cut off from the company of his fellows, he spent his miserable days in crying, and cutting his own flesh; and when his friends mercifully bound his hands in chains, and his feet in fetters, he burst through these restraints and again escaped to his desolate abode. Thus he became a terror to the neighborhood, and a torment to himself.
Key Verse: "He saith to him again
the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him,
Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my
sheep."
- John 21:16 KJV
We are striving to follow Christ—but we are weak. We intend to be loving—but we mar our days with unhappy tempers and selfish strivings. We intend to be strong in faith—but many times our trust fails us. We bow our heads to take the Master's blessing, "Peace be unto you;" but again and again—the peace is broken. We intend to show the world a pattern of Christlikeness, but the temptations about us are so sore, that every day we are conscious of having failed to be true. We set out in the morning brave and confident; but alas! how often does the evening find us defeated!
Key Verse: "And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;" - Exodus 3:7 KJV
Man cannot say so. There are many sensitive fibers in the soul, which the best and most tender human sympathy cannot touch. But the Prince of Sufferers, He who led the way in the path of sorrow, "knows our frame." When crushing bereavement lies like ice on the heart, when the dearest earthly friend cannot enter into the peculiarities of our grief — Jesus can, Jesus does! He who once bore my sins — also carried my sorrows. That eye, now on the throne, was once dim with weeping! I can think in all my afflictions — "He was afflicted;" in all my tears — "Jesus wept."
Key Verse: "And Jesus said unto them,
I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst."
- John 6:35 KJV
Jesus calling himself the “bread of life” in John 6 means that he is the one who truly sustains and satisfies the deepest hunger of the human heart. In the context of Israel’s history, God once provided manna in the wilderness to keep his people alive day by day. Jesus contrasts this with himself as the true bread from heaven, given for the life of the world, whose life does not perish and who offers eternal life to those who come to him in faith, to trust, believe, and remain in him. Whoever comes to Jesus, the bread of life, “shall not hunger” and “shall never thirst” in a spiritual sense.
Key Verse: "Now the God of hope fill
you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope,
through the power of the Holy Ghost."
- Romans 15:13 KJV
How are our joys heightened by hope. But sadly—sometimes
our hopes may be false! And how vainly are our expectations pointed at some
future worldly enjoyment, which, when it comes, shall perhaps disappoint
us—even in the enjoyment of it! Yet, for such things we long, though, in a
manner—we are actually hankering after our own misery.
Key Verse: "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son."
- 1 John 5:11 KJV
Eternal Life is God’s kind of life. It is eternal because He is eternal. Nothing will ever separate the believer in Christ from the One who loves us. He gave us His free gift of eternal life the very moment we were born spiritually, and it can never be lost (John 3:15-16, 36; 6:47; 10:28). It is a life without end, and no one can ever take it from you. There are no final boundaries to eternal life.
Bible Reading: 2 Timothy 2:1-8 KJV Key Verse: " Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. " - 2 ...
