God's Word For Every Day

Proverbs 8:1-36 We seek, Lord, for the way of wisdom – and we find that it is also the way of happiness (Proverbs 8:32-34). The world seeks happiness in wealth. Your Word teaches us that wisdom is better than “silver, gold and jewels” (Proverbs 8:10-11). How are we to find wisdom? We find wisdom when we find Jesus. He is our Wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is also our Joy. When this world is getting us down, He says to us, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Proverbs 2:16-34 Lord, we love to hear Your promises of love. Sometimes, we need to hear Your words of warning. In Your warnings, we hear the voice of Your love. In Your love, You’re calling us back from a way that will do us great harm. You call us into a better way – the way of Your great salvation. Lord, when we are being pulled away from You, bring us back to Yourself. Speak to us with Your Word of warning, the Word that calls us back so that we can move forward with You and for You. When we don’t want to hear it – That’s when we most need to hear it. Speak to us, O Lord, and help us to listen. “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

Proverbs 9:1-18 Lord, You come to us with bread and wine. You come to us in Jesus, our Saviour. You come to us in love. You show us how much You love us. There is no love like Your love for us. It’s the best love. It’s the greatest love. It’s love “so amazing.” It’s love “so divine.” Thank You, Lord, for Your wonderful love.

DANIEL 1:1-2:16 ‘Daniel resolved not to defile himself’ (Daniel 1:8). We thank You, Lord, that Daniel was devoted to You. It was not easy to live as Your faithful servant. His dedication to You was put to the test – ‘Test your servants’ (Daniel 1:12). Our faith is put to the test. We ‘suffer many trials’. Why, Lord, do You allow our faith to be tested by ‘all kinds of trials? – ‘The testing of your faith produces steadfastness’. ‘These have come so that your faith, which is much more precious than gold, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed’ (1 Peter 1:6-7; James 1:2-3). Knowing that ‘every trial falls from above, traced upon our dial by the Sun of Love’, may we learn to ‘trust You fully’ and ‘find You wholly true’ (Mission Praise, 421). 2:17-49 ‘In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed’ (44). We thank You, Lord, that Your Kingdom is the only Kingdom wh...

"There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven… His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14). These words point us to Christ’s description of His Second Coming, the Coming of His Kingdom: ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). In Revelation 1:7, we have another echo of Daniel’s ‘vision’: ‘Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him’. ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending… Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee, high on Thine eternal throne; Saviour, take the power and glory, claim the Kingdom for Thine own. O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly! Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’(Church Hymnary, 316).

In Daniel 8, we have a ‘vision’ concerning ‘the distant future’, ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 8:26,17). Here, we catch a glimpse of Satan, the very powerful enemy of God’s people. Satan’s power is very frightening - ‘His power shall be great, and he shall cause fearful destruction...’. It was the power of Satan which lay behind the ‘stern-faced king’: ‘He will become very strong, but not by his own power’ (Daniel 8:23-24). Satan’s power will be broken. Satan faces certain defeat - ‘He will be defeated’. How will he be defeated? We will not defeat him - ‘He will not be destroyed by human power’. There is only one Power able to destroy the power of Satan: ‘He shall be broken by the hand of God ’. ‘Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Jeremiah 40:1-16 ‘The Lord your God pronounced this evil against this place; the Lord has brought it about, and has done as He said. Because you sinned against the Lord, and did not obey His voice, this thing has come upon you’ (Jeremiah 40:3). Lord, we hear a great deal today about ‘the feel good factor.’People need to get a good feeling: ‘Give them a pat on the back. Make them feel good about themselves.’There’s not much of a ‘feel good factor’ in Jeremiah’s preaching! The people must have been wondering, ‘Where did they dig him up from? He has nothing good to say about anyone or anything.’ Help us, Lord, to rise above the sarcasm of those who have no time for Your Word. May we ask, ‘Where did Jeremiah’s message really come from?’ - and may we hear Your answer: ‘The Word came to Jeremiah from the Lord’ (Jeremiah 40:1).

Daniel was a faithful follower of the Lord. He refused to follow a worldly way of living (Daniel 1:8). He loved the Lord. He refused to follow a way of life which would harm his walk with God. He is a great example for those who take seriously the call to live in obedience to God. As we read about Daniel’s single-minded devotion to the Lord, we are challenged to live in obedience to God’s holy Word rather than following the ways of the sinful world which is always threatening to pull us away from the Lord. In Daniel 2, we read about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation. God is speaking to Nebuchadnezzar. God is speaking through Daniel. The heart of the message, given in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and Daniel’s interpretation, is summed up in Daniel 2:44 - “At the time of those kings, the God of heaven will establish a Kingdom that will never be destroyed ... It will be established forever.” These are prophetic words. They look far beyond Daniel’s time. They lo...

Ephesians 2:1-10  What we were without Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3); What God has done for us in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-10) Ephesians 2:8-10 - saved by grace, saved through faith, saved for good works By grace - but not without faith and good works Faith and good works - the fruit of grace Faith and good works - Grace has done this. The grace has come from God. The glory goes to God.

I just know. This is what I think. This is how I feel. These are the kind of things some people say when they speak about having faith.  Often, their idea of faith is very vague - and says more about themselves than it says about God. We read these statements, I just know. this is what I think,  this is how I feel, we see a lot of I  in them, and we wonder, what about God, where is he in all of this? When our faith is real - firmly grounded in the Lord, we do not think so much about ourselves - what we believe and how we feel. We think more about the Lord and what he has done for us. Rather than giving out our own thoughts and feelings, we concern ourselves with something much more important and much more valuable - sharing the Word of the Lord. Our thoughts and feelings come and go. Sometimes, we have positive thoughts and optimistic feelings. At other times, our thoughts are more negative and pessimistic. The Word of the Lord is very different: "the Word ...