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

  Morning, February 28 Go To Evening Reading “My expectation is from him.” —Psalm 62:5 It is the believer’s privilege to use this language. If he is looking for aught from the world, it is a poor “expectation” indeed. But if he looks to God for the supply of his wants, whether in temporal or spiritual blessings, his “expectation” will not be a vain one. Constantly he may draw from the bank of faith, and get his need supplied out of the riches of God’s lovingkindness. This I know, I had rather have God for my banker than all the Rothschilds. My Lord never fails to honor his promises; and when we bring them to his throne, he never sends them back unanswered. Therefore I will wait only at his door, for he ever opens it with the hand of munificent grace. At this hour I will try him anew. But we have “expectations” beyond this life. We shall die soon; and then our “expectation is from him.” Do we not expect that when we lie upon the bed of sickness he will send angels to carry us...

  Sunday, February 27, 2022, | Epiphany Last Sunday after the Epiphany The Transfiguration of Our Lord Old Testament Deuteronomy 18:15–18 Psalm Psalm 2 New Testament 2 Peter 1:16–21 Gospel Matthew 17:1–9   Christian Worship One Year Lectionary . Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2009. Print. Sunday, February 27, 2022, | Epiphany Transfiguration Sunday Readings for Transfiguration are used on the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday. Year C Old Testament Exodus 34:29–35 Psalm Psalm 99 (UMH 819) New Testament 2 Corinthians 3:12–4:2 Gospel Luke 9:28–36 (37–43)  Vanderbilt Divinity Library. United Methodist Revised Common Lectionary . Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2009. Print. Sunday, February 27, 2022, | Epiphany The Transfiguration of Our Lord Year C Old Testament Deuteronomy 34:1–12 Psalm Psalm 99 Epistle Hebrews 3:1–6 Gospel Luke 9:28–36   Lutheran Service Book Three Year Lectionary . Bellin...

  Morning, February 26 Go To Evening Reading “Salvation is of the Lord.” —Jonah 2:9 Salvation is the work of God. He alone quickens the soul “dead in trespasses and sins,” and he also maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both “Alpha and Omega.” “Salvation is of the Lord.” If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful; if I have graces, they are God’s gifts to me; if I hold on in a consistent life, it is because he upholds me with his hand. I do nothing whatever my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act rightly, that is of God, wholly and completely. THE LORD’S strength nerved my arm if I have repulsed a spiritual enemy. Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself: God’s Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God’s chastisements sancti...

  February 26: Patiently Waiting Leviticus 20:1–22:33; John 9:35–41; Song of Solomon 8:1–5 Delayed gratification is a foreign concept to our natural instincts. Our culture doesn’t encourage patience or contentment; we prefer to have our desires met when they arise. The woman in Song of Solomon tells us that she is delighted in her beloved. She praises his attributes and means of the wonders of their love. But throughout the poem, at seemingly random moments, she also warns the daughters of Jerusalem about love: “I adjure you … do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases!” (Song 8:4). This is not the first time she has “adjured” them to wait and have patience: the same refrain is found elsewhere in the poem, and it acts like an oath (Song 2:7; 3:5). Although the elevated poetry glories in love, delight, and fulfillment, it also warns about immediate gratification. The woman urges us not to force love. It must be anticipated and protected, not enjoyed before its time. It doesn...

  February 26th Inferior misgivings about Jesus Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with. John 4:11. ‘I am impressed with the wonder of what God says, but He cannot expect me really to live it out in the details of my life!’ When facing Jesus Christ on His own merits, our attitude is one of pious superiority—‘Your ideals are high, and they impress us, but in touch with actual things, it cannot be done.’ Each of us thinks about Jesus in this way in some particular. These misgivings about Jesus start from the amused questions we ask when we talk of our transactions with God—‘Where are you going to get your money from? How are you going to be looked after?’ Or they start from ourselves when we tell Jesus that our case is a bit too hard for Him. ‘It is all very well to say “Trust in the Lord,” but a man must live, and Jesus has nothing to draw with—nothing whereby to give us these things.’ Beware of the pious fraud in you which says—‘I have no misgivings about Jesus, only about myself.’...

  February 26 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him Gen. 32:1 It is in the path where God has bid us walk that we shall find the angels around us. We may meet them, indeed, on ways of our own choosing, but it will be the sort of angel that Balaam met, with a sword in his hand, mighty and beautiful, but wrathful too; and we had better not front him! But the friendly helpers, the emissaries of God’s love, the apostles of His grace, do not haunt the roads that we make for ourselves. Alexander Maclaren  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

  orning, February 25 Go To Evening Reading “The wrath to come.” —Matthew 3:7 It is pleasant to pass over a country after a storm has spent itself, smell the herbs’ freshness after the rain has, and note the drops while they glisten like purest diamonds in the sunlight. That is the position of a Christian. He is going through a land where the storm has spent itself upon his Saviour’s head, and if there be a few drops of sorrow falling, they distill from clouds of mercy, and Jesus cheers him by the assurance that they are not for his destruction. But how terrible is it to witness the approach of a tempest: to note the forewarnings of the storm; to mark the birds of heaven as they droop their wings; to see the cattle as they lay their heads low in terror; to discern the face of the sky as it groweth black, and look to the sun which shineth not, and the heavens which are angry and frowning! How terrible to await the dread advance of a hurricane—such as occurs, sometimes, in the...

  February 25: The Fear Leviticus 17:1–19:37; John 9:13–34 ; Song of Solomon 7:10–13 We often don’t realize that we’re guilty of fearing others. At the time, it can feel definite and look legitimate. Worrying others can also take the form of a meticulous house, staying late at the office, or passing anxious, sleepless nights. When we hold someone else’s opinions higher than God’s, we suddenly find our world shaky and imbalanced. Jesus’ healing of the blind man reveals that the fear of people is not a modern concept. The blind man’s parents were victims of their mission, but they were willing victims. The Pharisees had a stranglehold on Jewish life: “for the Jews had already decided that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he would be expelled from the synagogue” (John 9:22). Even within the ruling ranks, though, opinions were divided, but the fear of people still ruled (John 9:16). John reports elsewhere that “many of the rulers believed in him, but because of the Pharisees th...

  February 25th The destitution of service Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. 2 Cor. 12:15. Natural love expects some return, but Paul says—‘I do not care whether you love me or not, I am willing to destitute myself completely, not merely for your sakes, but that I may get you to God.’ “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.” Paul’s service idea is exactly along that line—‘I do not care with what extravagance I spend myself, and I will do it gladly.’ It was a joyful thing to Paul. The ecclesiastical idea of a servant of God is not Jesus Christ’s idea. His view is that we serve Him by being the servants of other men. Jesus Christ out-socialists the socialists. He says that in His Kingdom, he that is greatest shall be the servant of all. The real test of the saint is not preaching the Gospel but washing disciples’ feet, that is, doing the things that do not count in the actual estimate...

  February 25 Thy gentleness hath made me great 2 Sam. 22:36 The gentleness of Christ is the comeliest ornament that a Christian can wear. William Arnot  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

  Morning, February 24 Go To Evening Reading “I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.” —Ezekiel 34:26 Here is sovereign mercy —“I will give them the shower in its season.” Is it not sovereign, divine mercy?—for who can say, “I will give them showers,” except God? Only one voice can speak to the clouds and bid them beget the rain. Who sendeth down the rain upon the earth? Who scattereth the showers upon the green herb? Do not I, the Lord? So grace is the gift of God and is not to be created by man. It is also needed grace. What would the ground do without showers? You may break the clods and sow your seeds, but what can you do without the rain? As absolutely needful is the divine blessing. In vain you labor, until God the plenteous shower bestows and sends salvation down. Then, it is plenteous grace . “I will send them showers.” It does not say, “I will send them drops,” but “showers.” So it is with grace. If God gives a bless...

  February 24: The Day of Atonement Leviticus 15–16; John 9:1–12; Song of Solomon 7:5–9 When it comes to the cost of sin, the average person probably thinks in terms of “What can I get away with?” rather than “What do this cost other people and me emotionally?” These calculations aren’t made in terms of life and death, but that is literally the case when it comes to sin. The Day of Atonement is a beautiful, though horrific, illustration. It takes three innocent animals to deal with the people’s sin: one to purify the high priest and his family, one to be a sin offering to Yahweh that purifies the place where He symbolically dwelt (the holy of holies), and one to be sent into the wilderness to remove the people’s transgressions (Lev 16:11, 15–16, 21–22). After the blood of the first two animals is spilled on the Day of Atonement—demonstrating the purification of God’s people—the final goat shows God’s desire to completely rid the people of their sin. “Aaron shall place his two h...

  February 24th The delight of sacrifice I will very gladly spend and be spent for you. 2 Cor. 12:15. When the Spirit of God has shed abroad the love of God in our hearts, we begin deliberately to identify ourselves with Jesus Christ’s interests in other people, and Jesus Christ is interested in every kind of man there is. We have no right in Christian work to be guided by our affinities; this is one of the most extensive tests of our relationship to Jesus Christ. The delight of sacrifice is that I lay down my life for my Friend, not fling it away, but deliberately lay my life out for Him and His interests in other people, not for a cause. Paul spent himself for one purpose only—that he might win men to Jesus Christ. Paul attracted to Jesus all the time, never to himself. “I am made all things to all men, that I might, by all means, save some.” When a man says he must develop a holy life alone with God, he is of no more use to his fellow men: he puts himself on a pedestal, away...

February 24 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit John 3:8 We know that the wind listeth to blow where there is a vacuum. If you find a tremendous rush of wind, you know that there is an empty space somewhere. I am perfectly sure about this fact: if we could expel all pride, vanity, self-righteousness, self-seeking, desire for applause, honor, and promotion—if by some divine power we should be utterly emptied of all that, the Spirit would come as a mighty rushing wind to fill us. A. J. Gordon  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.

  Morning, February 23 Go To Evening Reading “I will never leave thee.” —Hebrews 13:5 No promise is of private interpretation. Whatever God has said to any saint, he has spoken to all. When he opens a well for one, all may drink. When he openeth a granary-door to give out food, there may be someone starving Man who is the occasion of its being opened, but all hungry saints may come and feed too. Whether he gave the word to Abraham or to Moses, matters not, O believer; he has given it to thee as one of the covenanted seed. There is not a high blessing too lofty for thee, nor vast mercy too extensive for thee. Lift up thine eyes to the north and south, to the east and west, for all this is thine. Climb to Pisgah’s top, and view the utmost limit of the divine promise, for the land is all thine own. There is not a brook of the living water of which thou mayst not drink. If the land floweth with milk and honey, eat the honey and drink the milk, for both are thine. Be thou bold to...

  February 23: Freedom Leviticus 14; John 8:31–59 ; Song of Solomon 7:1–4 “Even though I know it’s wrong, I sometimes think, ‘If I hadn’t accepted Christ, I would have so much more freedom.’ And then I venture down that road and realize just how terrible it is. It takes me to a very dark place.” This profound, heart-wrenching statement by a friend made me realize countless people probably feel this way about Jesus. They were perhaps walking a road closer to legalism than the road Christ envisions for our lives. Or they could be so far from actually experiencing the grace, and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit that they have yet to see how incredible life lived for Jesus can be. And what if they hadn’t figured out the latter part of this statement, unlike my friend? Jesus promises freedom: “Then Jesus said to those Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free ” ( John 8:31–32...

  February 23rd The determination to serve The son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister. Matthew 20:28. Paul’s idea of service is the same as our Lord’s: “I am among you as He that serveth”; “ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.” We believe that a man called to the Ministry is called to be a different kind of being from other men. According to Jesus Christ, he is called to be the ‘door-mat’ of other men, their spiritual leader, but never their superior. “I know how to be abased,” says Paul. This is Paul’s idea of service—‘I will spend myself to the last ebb for you; you may give me praise or give me blame, it will make no difference. So long as a human being does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does.’ The mainspring of Paul’s service is not loved for men but love for Jesus Christ. If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than w...

  February 23 Philip findeth Nathanael and saith unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write.… Come and see John 1:45, 46 The next thing to knowing that “we have found him” is to find someone else and say, “Come and see.” Frances Ridley Havergal  Hardman, Samuel G., and Dwight Lyman Moody. Thoughts for the Quiet Hour . Willow Grove, PA: Woodlawn Electronic Publishing, 1997. Print.