DAILY, WEEKEND, AND HOLIDAY INTERNET EVANGELIZE TO THE WORLD MINISTRY

  January 31: Discipline Genesis 49–50; Hebrews 12–13; Ecclesiastes 12:9–14 I was a stubborn child. When disciplined by my parents, I would sulk for hours afterward. I didn’t see my parents’ discipline as something that would mold me into a mature, loving person. Hebrews 12 has a lesson for people like me with a history of wallowing in self-pity when disciplined. Here, the writer of Hebrews tells us that God, our Father, disciplines us through the work of Jesus for our good. To emphasize this, the writer of Hebrews draws on the book of Proverbs, where the Father instructs His own Son. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or give up when you are corrected by him. For the Lord disciplines the one whom he loves, and punishes every son whom he accepts” (Heb 12:6; compare Prov 3:11–12). The author tells us that being disciplined is a sign of God’s love. It means He is active and at work in our lives (Heb 12:8). Like a chastised child, we might not always recognize G...

  January 30 Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death; that, just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom. 6:4 That is the life we are called upon to live, and that is the life it is our privilege to lead; for God never gives us a call without its being a privilege, and He never gives us the privilege to come up higher without stretching out to us His hand to lift us up. Come up higher and higher into the realities and glories of the resurrection life, knowing that your life is hid with Christ in God. Shake yourself loose of every encumbrance, turn your back on every defilement, give yourself over like clay to the hands of the potter, that He may stamp upon you the fullness of His own resurrection glory, that you, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, may be changed from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord. W. Hay Aitken  Samuel G. Hardman and Dwight Lyman Moo...

  January 29: The New Deal Genesis 45–46; Hebrews 10 ; Ecclesiastes 11:5–10 “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a new deal for the American people.” These words were spoken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a speech which unveiled a series of economic strategies for ending the Great Depression. We love newness because it holds hope. The same should be true when we look to the new covenant of Jesus. Although it may not feel quite as new as it did nearly 2,000 years ago—when it altered the spiritual landscape like the New Deal forced economic vitality into America—it still holds the same power today. This covenant is first mentioned in Hebrews 8; and in Hebrews 10, we see the full implications of it: “For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.… Now where there is forgiveness of [sins], there is no longer an offering for sin” (Heb 10:14, 18). Prior to Jesus, there was a need for regular sacrifices for sins to be made, but since Jesus became the...

January 28: Carpe Diem Genesis 44; Hebrews 8–9; Ecclesiastes 11:1–4 The Latin phrase Carpe Diem , means “seize the day.” Taking risks to make your life extraordinary is biblical, if done according to God’s plan and principles. The idea behind this comes from Ecclesiastes: “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days” (Eccl 11:1). Bread acts as the symbol for substance in the ancient world; the author of Ecclesiastes is suggesting that we should follow God’s plan, even at the possible cost of our livelihood. He then suggests that what we give to God, He will return. This is opposite from a self-protection mentality. The “waters” in the proverb represent chaos, suggesting that in letting go of even the most chaotic circumstances, we learn about God’s ability to give what we need. This is further illustrated when the author says, “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.… He who observes the wind will not...