Two Minutes Daily for February 2025

Short Devotions-Quotes-Inspiration

2/28/2025
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the
times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you Acts 3:19-20
​Putting On the Robe of Righteousness

​Repent signifies, in its literal meaning, to change one’s mind. It has been translated “after-wit,” or “after-wisdom”; it is the man’s finding out that he is wrong, and rectifying his judgment. But although that be the meaning of the root, the word has come in Scriptural use to mean a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it, the love of what once we hated, and the hate of what once we loved. Conversion means a turning from, and a turning to, from sin to holiness, from carelessness to thought, from the world to heaven, from self to Jesus. The words in Greek are “Repent and convert,” or, rather, “Repent and turn.” It is an active verb, just as the other was. When the demoniac had the devils cast out of him, that was repentance; but when he was clothed and in his right mind, that was conversion. When the prodigal was feeding his swine, and on a sudden began to consider and to come to himself, that was repentance. When he set out and left the far country and went to his father’s house, that was conversion. (Biblical Illustrator)

Heb 9:28  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

The original “a change of mind” or “an after-thought.” Now that is exactly what the Holy Spirit produces in the convicted soul. “There is,” says the wise man, “a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Now it is the work of the Holy Ghost to dispel this false view of our way, and to bring us to see things as they really are; and when we yield to His convicting influences, the light of truth flashes into our soul, and we come to ourselves. Now we see things from an entirely different point of view, and cry out against ourselves—against our folly and our sin. “What a fool I have been!” cries the awakened and repentant soul. “So many years I have lived in this world, and yet have I never really begun to live at all! My whole past has been a wasted existence. I have been simply exercising my faculties in furthering my own destruction!” The first step in a real repentance is taken when we open our eyes to see things as in the light of the Holy Ghost, when we escape from the long delirium of a life lived under the influence of the great deceiver, and thus undergo a change of mind with respect to God and to sin, and the value of things seen and things eternal.
​(W. Hay Aitken)

​1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 
1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 
1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 
1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2/27/2025
And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven,
and God hath remembered her iniquities. Rev 18:4-5
The Degenerate Church

​Called to prepare men for the second coming of the Lord, and to teach them to live, not for the present, but the future, she becomes herself the victim of the present. She forgets that, in the absence of the Bridegroom, her days are days of fasting. She fails to realise the fact that until her Lord comes again her state is one of widowhood. And, instead of mourning, she sits as a queen, at ease and satisfied, proud of her pomp and jewellery. (W. Milligan, D D.)

​The fall of Corrupt Society

​Our scientific friends find yellow bricks still impressed with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, and they go back to the sarcophagus of a monarchy buried more than two thousand years ago. But is it possible that that is all that remains of Babylon? a city once five times larger than London and twelve times larger than New York? Wall three hundred and seventy-three feet high and ninety-three feet thick. Twenty-five burnished gates on each side, with streets running clear through to corresponding gates on the other side. Six hundred and twenty-five squares. More pomp and wealth and splendour and sins than could be found in any five modern cities combined. A city of palaces and temples. Great capital of the ages! But one night, while honest citizens were asleep, but all the saloons of saturnalia were in full blast, and at the king’s castle they had filled the tankards for the tenth time, and reeling and guffawing and hiccoughing around the state table were the rulers of the land. General Cyrus ordered his besieging army to take shovels and spades, and they diverted the river from its usual channel into another direction, so that the forsaken bed of the river became the path on which the besieging party entered. When the morning dawned the conquerors were inside the city walls. Babylon had fallen. But do nations die? Oh, yes, there is great mortality among monarchies and republics. They are like individuals in the fact that they are born, they have a middle life, they have a decease, they have a cradle and a grave. Some of them are assassinated, some destroyed by their own hand.

One evil threatening the destruction of American institutions is the solidifying of the sections against each other. This country cannot exist unless it exists as one body—the national capital, the heart, sending out through all the arteries of communication warmth and life to the very extremities.
Another evil threatening the destruction of our American institutions is the low state of public morals. What killed Babylon of my text? What killed Phoenicia? What killed Rome? Their own depravity; and the fraud and the drunkenness, and the immorality which have destroyed other nations will destroy ours, unless a merciful God prevent. (T. De Witt Talmage)

2/26/2025
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely. Rev 22:16-17
Whosoever Will-Come​

"The Spirit and the bride - The Spirit of adoption in the bride, in the heart of every true believer. Say - With earnest desire and expectation. Come - And accomplish all the words of this prophecy. And let him that thirsteth, come - Here they also who are farther off are invited. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life - He may partake of my spiritual and unspeakable blessings, as freely as he makes use of the most common refreshments; as freely as he drinks of the running stream."  (John Wesley)

And let him that heareth say, Come - Whoever hears the gospel, let him go and invite others to come. Nothing could more strikingly set forth the freeness of the invitation of the gospel than this. The authority to make the invitation is not limited to the ministers of religion; it is not even confined to those who accept it themselves. All persons, even though they should not accept of it, are authorized to tell others that they may be saved. One impenitent sinner may go and tell another impenitent sinner that if he will he may find mercy and enter heaven. How could the offer of salvation be made more freely to mankind?
And let him that is athirst come - Whoever desires salvation, as the weary pilgrim desires a cooling fountain to allay his thirst, let him come as freely to the gospel as that thirsty man would stoop down at the fountain and drink.
Isa 55:1  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

​And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely - Rev_21:6. Every one that is disposed to come, that has any sincere wish to be saved, is assured that he may live. No matter how unworthy he is; no matter what his past life has been; no matter how old or how young, how rich or how poor; no matter whether sick or well, a freeman or a slave; no matter whether educated or ignorant; no matter whether clothed in purple or in rags - riding in state or laid at the gate of a rich man full of sores, the invitation is freely made to all to come and be saved. With what more appropriate truth could a revelation from heaven be closed?  (Albert Barnes)
Rev 21:6  And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 

2/25/2025
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them,
and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty. 2Cor 6:14-18
The Christian Soul is the Temple of God

​As righteousness cannot have communion with unrighteousness, and light cannot dwell with darkness; so Christ can have no concord with Belial, nor can he that believeth have any with an infidel. All these points were self-evident; how then could they keep up the profession of Christianity, or pretend to be under its influence, while they associated with the unrighteous, had communion with darkness, concord with Belial, and partook with infidels? (Adam Clarke)

Separate yourselves, for you are God’s temple: separate yourselves and you will be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and He will be your Father. The friendship of the world, as James reminds us, is enmity with God; it is the consoling side of the same truth that separation from the world means friendship with God.
​As God's temple has nothing in common with the idol temple, so the saints are to be separated from idolators.
​For ye are the temple of the living God. The Christian is himself the sanctuary of the Lord, as is proved by the passage quoted from Lev_26:12. God dwells in his people as the Shekinah dwelt between the cherubim. (B.W. Johnson)

2/24/2025
​Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. 1Co 10:21
​And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1Ki 18:21
​Worshipping the Dead

To abstain from idol feasts was the clear duty of all Christians. By partaking of heathen sacrifices which were offered to demons, they became one with the demons and their votaries; just as in the Lord’s Supper we show our oneness not only with the Savior but with each other. It was clear, therefore, that the Corinthian Christians could not consistently partake of idol feasts and the Lord’s Supper. What an incentive is given here to frequent and reverent participation in the Lord’s Supper! It proclaims our union with Him and His people, and it gives us a distaste for all that is alien to its spirit. (F.B. Meyer)
Note: Today this relates to so much of the apostasy that is in many churches today. Such as drag queens doing church services, homosexuality being accepted and promoted, homosexual marriages, society and churches have lost their moral compass. They are not worshipping the true living God of the bible, but their own lusts, perversions and deceptions-their forms of idolatry has no limits.

​Jas 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Elijah Rebukes the Double-Minded

"Why do you walk so lamely and unevenly, being so unsteady in your opinions and practices, and doubting whether it is better to worship God or Baal? If the Lord - Whom you pretend to worship. Follow - Worship him, and him only, and that in such place and manner as he hath commanded you. If Baal - If Baal can prove himself to be the true God. Answered not - Being convinced of the reasonableness of his proposition."(John Wesley)
​
"Nothing is needed more absolutely than the answer by fire. There are many who, like the prophets of Baal, endeavor to kindle it. But when prevented from putting their own false fire into the stack of wood, they are paralyzed. The frantic entreaties, the self-inflicted wounds, the monotonous chant, are insufficient. They are carnal and arouse only the worst emotions. Spiritual conditions have to be fulfilled, as Elijah showed; then God bears witness “by signs and wonders” and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will." (F.B. Meyer)​

Here is another “God of this world”-- We deck him with all kinds of silks, satins, and load him with jewellery, and we call him Fashion. We put him in our drawing-rooms; our roués are skilful in his worship, and women are specially devoted to him. If he makes us ridiculous it is no matter. Any kind of eccentricity is pardoned, even though our own tastes condemn us for the form our worship assumes, though our own reason may rise up against it, and we may sometimes say, as we look into our glass, “What a ridiculous, empty-headed, wax doll I have made of myself!” Yet in the very same moment we none the less eagerly offer our incense to the worship of the God that we have made. (Great Texts)

2/23/2025
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth
the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:6
The Lawless Tongue

“And the tongue is a fire.” A few rash words will set a family, a neighbourhood, a nation, by the ears; they have often done so. Half the law-suits and half the wars have been brought about by the tongue.   This evil tongue, which gives our brother a wound which may never be healed, is no respecter of persons. It spares neither age nor sex. Genuine goodness, exalted worth, a life devoted to charity, are no protection. The purest, the sweetest, the holiest, the highest, the most revered and the most beloved, are the surest to be assailed. There is no such joy for an envious man as to drag some great name through the dust. We may, then, well believe what James tells us, that the evil tongue is under a diabolic inspiration. The tongue of the liar or the slanderer or the profane swearer is touched by a coal brought from the pit. The man speaks as he is moved by that fallen spirit who wanted to be something more than an archangel, who wanted to be something higher than the Highest. He inspires the talebearer, the gossip, the heedless talker, the obscene jester, and, above all, the malicious libeller.

“The tongue is a little member, but boasteth great things.” Boasting results from an overestimate of ourselves, and an underestimate of others. It is selfishness manifesting itself in words. It is the inflated mind, venting itself in windy words. It betrays weakness, littleness, ignorance, vanity, self-conceit, arrogance, presumption.
It is a sinful boasting when men display their trophies, boast of their own worth and eminency, that others may admire and cry them up; a man’s self is his idol, and he loves to have this idol worshipped: “there arose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody.” (Biblical Illustrator)

2/22/2025
​Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels,
and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; 
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. Mat 13:36-43
Likeness of Tares and Wheat

​If by tares is meant the bearded darnel of our English fields, then the tares and the wheat bear a strong resemblance to each other. They both belong to the tribe of grasses, and to the special group Trititicinoe, or wheat-like grasses. Their structure, mode, and conditions of growth are almost the same; when in the blade they present an appearance so very similar, that the Jewish farmer, who is careful in weeding his field, cannot distinguish between them, and it is only when the fruit is formed that the impostor is detected by its smaller and darker ear. (Hugh Macmillan)

The end is not a mere running down of the machinery that keeps the world going, it is not a mere exhaustion of the life time keeps us all alive, it is not a hap-hazard cutting of the thread; it is a conclusion coming as truly in its own fit day and order, as much in the fulness of time and because things are ripe for it, as the birth of Christ came. It is the time of the gathering up of all things to completion, when the few last finishing strokes are, given to the works that suddenly show the connection of things which seem widely separate, and reveal at once the purpose and meaning of the whole. Men will then understand, what now scarcely one can constantly believe, that it is God’s purpose that is silently being accomplished, and that it is usefulness to Him that is the final standard of value. (Marcus, Dods)

2/21/2025
And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. Luk 12:4-5
Death Does Not Destroy the Soul​

Even the friends of God are commanded to fear God, as a being who has authority to send both body and soul into hell. Therefore it is proper even for the most holy persons to maintain a fear of God, as the punisher of all unrighteousness. A man has but one life to lose, and one soul to save; and it is madness to sacrifice the salvation of the soul to the preservation of the life. (Adam Clarke)

When Jesus spoke to these disciples of His about martyrdom and persecution, He knew that all of them - except John - would die martyr’s deaths for Him. He also knew of His own coming suffering and death on the cross.
​All persecutors can do is kill the body, and God has ultimate power over the life and death of the believer. Therefore, we shouldn’t fear our persecutors, but have a healthy respect of God that makes us more concerned with obeying Him than any man. God holds our eternity in His hands.
​Psa 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

​Mat 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. 

2/20/2025
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD'S anointed is before him. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1Sam 16:6-7
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit
of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up,
and went to Ramah. 1Sam 16:13
Samuel Anoints David King

When I was first saved, one of the most interesting people I read of in the bible was King David. I've studied his life as much as Jesus, and see many important aspects of his life, that every person can learn from. God did not leave out his sins, failures, and troubles, they are recorded in scripture for the world to see how imperfect he was. But, with all that, God called him a man after his own heart. I believe the greatest reasons for this was, David was real, there was nothing fake about this man. His emotions ran hot, but, he greatly loved God, and was true in his heart toward God. David wrote, and sang most of the songs written in the book of Psalms in the bible. I do not take this lightly, in them, he revealed a man of deep consecration, a longing after the heart of God, and showed a deep relationship with the Lord. I've heard some shallow Christians make remarks that Christian poetry has no spiritual power-I've pointed out to them, that the Psalms are in the bible for our benefit and strength.

His life was full of trials and Saul's hatred and envy. David was chased many years by Saul, who tried to kill him. But, even when he had the chance, David did not destroy Saul, he spared his life, because he would not kill an anointed King of Israel. He left vengence in God's hands.
At his worse, when he sinned with Bathsheba, it took some time and he sank deeply into deception, but when Nathan the prophet confronted him, he was cut to the heart, and truly repented. In Psalm 51, he pours out his heart to God in deep repentance. 
​David's own children were a source of heartache and trouble the rest of his life. His son Absalom disgraced him, and also tried to kill him.
David's life is a great example of what God can do with anyone who will surrender themselves to God, and allow God to use them. At the end of his life, David was an overcomer. Lorna Couillard​

"The anointing of the young shepherd, with his ruddy cheeks and deep, poetic eyes, is a beautiful episode, in very marked contrast to the events preceding. He had already given proof of his indomitable courage, 1Sa_17:34. They had to fetch him from his sheep, which he was pasturing beside the still waters and on the hillside. God had found him beforehand, Psa_89:20. “He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds… to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance,” Psa_78:70-71.  The procession of David’s brethren before Samuel was very impressive. They probably remembered that Saul had been chosen for his splendid physique, and each held himself high and proud. “Surely,” said Jesse to himself, “one of them will captivate the prophet’s eye.” But no! God chooses by the inward temper and disposition. He knew that David was a man after His own heart. The lad had been faithful in a few things and was now to be made ruler over many. The anointing oil reminds us of the anointing for service which was communicated to our Lord at His baptism. In David’s case it was accompanied by a glorious Pentecost." (F.B. Meyer)

2/19/2025
​Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 1Th 5:24
​Without Blame At His Coming

​Two things the apostle mentions as the ground of confidence that the above petition, would be heard and answered; that is, that God would wholly sanctify them, and preserve the whole of them blameless to the coming of Christ; and they are the faithfulness of God, and the effectual calling of his saints.

​God is faithful to his word, his covenant and promises; he has promised to sanctify and cleanse his people from all their sins, and to preserve them safe to his kingdom and glory; agreeably the Arabic version renders this last clause, "and will execute his promise": and the effectual calling is a sure pledge of glorification; whom God calls he justifies and glorifies; as sure as he gives grace, he will give glory; and whom he calls to his eternal glory, he will make perfect, stablish, strengthen, and settle. (John Gill)
​2Th 3:3  But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.

2/18/2025
For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 
Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Psa 96:5-6
​​“THE LORD REIGNETH”

Psa 5_​“For all the gods of the nations are idols.” Mere images of wood and stone, vanities, nothings. “But the Lord made the heavens.” The reality of his Godhead is proved by his works, and foremost among these the Psalmist mentions that matchless piece of architecture which casts its arch over every man's head, whose lamps are the light of all mankind, whose rains and dew fall upon the fields of every people, and whence the Lord in voice of thunder is heard speaking to every creature. The idol gods have no existence, but our God is the author of all existences; they are mere earthly vanities, while he is not only heavenly, but made the heavens. This is mentioned as an argument for Jehovah's universal praise. Who can be worshipped but he? Since none can rival him, let him be adored alone."

​Psa_96:6
“Honour and majesty are before him.” Men can but mimic these things; their pompous pageants are but the pretence of greatness. Honour and majesty are with him and with him alone. In the presence of Jehovah real glory and sovereignty abide, as constant attendants. “Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.” In him are combined all that is mighty and lovely, powerful and resplendent. We have seen rugged strength devoid of beauty, we have also seen elegance without strength; the union of the two is greatly to be admired. Do we desire to see the “sublime and beautiful” at one glance? Then we must look to the eternal throne. In the Chronicles we read strength and gladness; and the two renderings do not disagree in sense, for in the highest degree in this instance it is true that “a thing of beauty is a joy for ever.” Not in outward show or parade of costly robes does the glory of God consist; such things are tricks of state with which the ignorant are dazzled; holiness, justice, wisdom, grace, these are the splendours of Jehovah's courts, these the jewels and the gold, the regalia, and the pomp of the courts of heaven. (Charles Haddon Spurgeon- Treasury of David)

​All heaven declares (with lyrics) - Martin Ball
https://youtu.be/kPkZAjA610k?si=hkkinqn8xDMqeBEQ

2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
​2Pe 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

2/17/2025
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Mat 6:34
​Leave Tomorrow to God

​Sufficient for each day is its own calamity. Each day has its peculiar trials: we should meet them with confidence in God. As we should live but a day at a time, so we should take care to suffer no more evils in one day than are necessarily attached to it. He who neglects the present for the future is acting opposite to the order of God, his own interest, and to every dictate of sound wisdom. Let us live for eternity, and we shall secure all that is valuable in time.  (Adam Clarke)

​The Lord’s tone is gentle and tender when He turns to address the poor. He says three times over, “Don’t be anxious.” He never forgot that He sprang, according to His human nature, from the ranks of poverty. His references to patching garments, using old bottle-skins, the price of sparrows, and the scanty pittance of a laborer’s hire, indicate that He was habituated to the shifts of the poor.
There is all the difference between foresight and foreboding. It is the latter that Jesus chides. The farmer must sow in the autumn that he may reap in the summer, but there is no need for him to lie sleepless through the nights of winter, worrying about the yet distant harvest. Do not be anxious about the supply of your needs, whether of body, mind, or heart. God knows what you need. If He has given life, will He not maintain it? Does He not care for the birds and flowers? Did He not give His Son, and will He withhold any good? Trust Him and be at peace.  (F.B. Meyer)

2/16/2025
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. 
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; 
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. 
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Mar 10:6-9
The Marriage Covenant

The term joined to his wife has the idea of gluing two things together. “Be glued to her... A husband ought to be as firm to his wife as to himself.” (Trapp)
The term Jesus uses for joined together is literally yoked together. Like two animals yoked together, couples must work together and head the same way to really be joined the way God wants them to be joined.
Here there is a new and overriding unity. The bond between a husband and wife should be even stronger than the bond between parent and child. The marriage bond should be stronger than the blood-bond. “And the law of God was not, that a man should forsake his wife whenever he had a mind to it, but that he should rather forsake his father and mother than his wife; loving his wife as his own body.” (Poole)
“Not only meaning that they should be considered as one body, but also as two souls in one body, with a complete union of interests, and an indissoluble partnership of life and fortune, comfort and support, desires and inclinations, joys and sorrows.” (Clarke)
What God has joined together: Next, Jesus reminded the Pharisees that marriage is spiritually binding before God. Marriage is not merely a social contract, and as God has joined He will keep together.

2/15/2025
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Pro 20:11
​Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.  Pro 22:6
Known by the Fruit

It's easy enough for most people to have children, but the upbringing of them takes work, diligence and character. It's clear to see what has been cultivated by the fruit it produces. I heard Les Feldick say several times in his bible studies "You don't have to teach a kid to lie, they come by it naturally, but you do have to teach them to tell the truth". How true his statement is. Parents many times cover for the bad behavior of their kids, and idolize them. They become spoiled, and brazen, knowing they can treat other's any way they wish, and nothing will be done to them. That's why a lot of seniors learn to avoid them. Those who won't admit this, cover it because they don't want to touch the subject. I don't care.
Watching the conduct, and behavior of many kids today, questions that come to me are:
1. Are they exhibiting what they're learning by the influences outside the home, or in it; or both.
2. Are they in a home environment of ongoing drinking, cussing, devious behavior, and learning it from their parents, and other family members? Have they learned their ill manners by their family?
3. Do they act the same way around the people they want to impress, or have to work for, or is the community at large condoning the underhanded conduct that other's have to put up with?
Below are some added thoughts on this.

​The actions of children become, in process of time, their own doings. Children move before they act, and they live as mere animals before they act spiritually and morally. But in process of time the child acts. All its movements become conduct, the result of a determination to behave itself in a particular way. This is what is meant by "his doings."
When the actions of children become their doings, the children are recognised as accountable. (1) God recognises the child as the author of its own actions; He sees the doings of the child spring from a motive and principle within. (2) The god of evil knows, by the doings of children, with whom and with what he has to do. (3) The angelic inhabitants of heaven recognise children in their ministrations. (4) Children are recognised as accountable by their fellow human beings.
Make no mistake, the world will know you by the way you conduct yourself in public, and private.

​Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 

​From these facts we draw the following inferences:—(1) If a child be known by his doings, the evils of sin are not escaped by the childhood of the sinner. (2) If a child be known by his doings, he is, as a child, exerting influence for good or for evil. (3) If a child be known by his doings, all the differences of human character are not traceable to education. (4) If a child be known by his doings, the character of the future man is often indicated by the character of the present child. (5) If a child be known by his doings, God does not treat a generation of children en masse, but individually. (6) If a child be known by his doings, one test of character is universally applied by the Judge of all.
(S. Martin, Rain Upon the Mown Grass, p. 460)

2/14/2025
As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake,
with thy likeness. Psa 17:15
​David's Inner Longing

In Psalm 17 David sings a prayer of a longing heart, that desires to have true communion with His God. This verse has much to unpack, let's take a look at it. David begins by comparing those of the world, and their desires to what his heart longs for, the contrast is vast.

As for me - In strong contrast with the aims, the desires, and the condition of worldly individuals. “They” seek their portion in this life, and are satisfied; “I” cherish no such desires, and have no such prosperity. I look to another world as my home, and shall be satisfied only in the everlasting favor and friendship of God.
I will behold thy face - I shall see thee. Compare Mat_5:8; 1Co_13:12; 1Jn_3:2. This refers naturally, as the closing part of the verse more fully shows, to the future world, and is such language as would be employed by those who believe in a future state, and by no others. This is the highest object before the mind of a truly religious man. The bliss of heaven consists mainly, in his apprehension, in the privilege of seeing God his Saviour; and the hope of being permitted to do this is of infinitely more value to him than would be all the wealth of this world.
​1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 
In righteousness - Being myself righteous; being delivered from the power, the pollution, the dominion of sin. It is this which makes heaven so desirable; without this, in the apprehension of a truly good man, no place would be heaven.
I shall be satisfied - While they are satisfied with this world, I shall be satisfied only when I awake in the likeness of my God. Nothing can meet the wants of my nature; nothing can satisfy the aspirings of my soul, until that occurs.

With thy likeness - Or, in thy likeness; that is, resembling thee. The resemblance doubtless is in the moral character, for the highest hope of a good man is that he may be, and will be, like God. Compare the notes at 1Jn_3:2. I regard this passage, therefore, as one of the incidental proofs scattered through the Old Testament which show that the sacred writers under that dispensation believed in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; that their language was often based on the knowledge and the belief of that doctrine, even when they did not expressly affirm it; and that in times of trouble, and under the consciousness of sin, they sought their highest consolation, as the people of God do now, from the hope and the expectation that the righteous dead will rise again, and that in a world free from trouble, from sin, and from death, they would live forever in the presence of God, and find their supreme happiness in being made wholly like him.  (Albert Barnes)

2/13/2025
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12
Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts
of ​the wicked. Eph 6:16
Standing in Faith

​The armour provided for us.—1. In general, this armour is the grace of the gospel believed and trusted in. In common warfare it is usual for the commanders to persuade their enemies to think highly of their strength; but in this it is quite the reverse. We must go as Israel was always taught to do, as having no might of our own, but deriving all our strength from the Lord. 2. It is described as a whole or perfect armour.—Sufficient to defend us in every part.… “Truth” is the girdle to strengthen us; “righteousness” a breastplate; the “gospel” of peace as shoes, by which we shall be able to trample upon the lion and the adder, the young lion and the dragon; “faith” is a shield; “salvation,” or the hope of eternal life, a helmet.… All this armour is to be drawn from the truths of the everlasting gospel. 3. The use to be made of it is, that we may be able to “withstand,” and to face the enemy. There is no armour for the back; he that fleeth is wholly defenceless, and must inevitably fall. (Theological Sketch Book)

The apostle mentions two sorts of enemies. 1. The first he calls flesh and blood.—The motions of our animal nature. The phrase may further intend those sensible objects which are suited to gratify fleshly desires; or it may intend mankind, who are partakers of flesh and blood. 2. The other kind of enemies with whom we are to contend are evil spirits.—These spirits are enemies to mankind. Their number is great, and the terms used denote a subordination among them. They are not divided against themselves, but act in concert under the direction of one leading spirit, who is called the devil and Satan. They have great power over such as submit to their dominion. Their chief influence is over the ignorant and superstitious. They most successfully carry on their designs in the dark. When the gospel began to shine, Satan began to fall. Among those who reject the gospel he recovers his full dominion.—(Lathrop)
​Above all, taking the shield of faith. The Roman oblong shield, four and a half feet long, covered the whole body, and was a protection of itself. So faith, the faith that fully trusts in God and never doubts, is the best of all defenses. It will quench, stop, put out all the doubts, whisperings and evil suggestions of the wicked. (B.W. Johnson)

2/12/2024
​O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Son 2:14
The Title of the Called One

"My dove - So the church is called, for her dove - like temper, and for her dove - like condition, because she is weak, and exposed to persecution, and therefore forced to hide herself in rocks. The stairs - In the holes of craggy and broken rocks, which resemble stairs. Let me see - Be not afraid to appear before me. Hear - Thy prayers and praises. For - Thy person and services are amiable in my sight."
(John Wesley)

​‘My dove.’ A term of endearment. Love sees in its object only what is beautiful and agreeable. The called one a sinner, with much that is not dove-like. Yet love says: ‘My dove.’ Yet in regard to a believer, the title thee. The believer is—(1) A ‘dove,’ because renewed with a dove-like nature akin to that of Him who renews him and dwells in him—the Holy Spirit, whose emblem is the dove; the dove-like becoming the predominant one in him, and going on increasing until it reaches perfection and is the only one, and that for ever. Believers viewed and addressed by Christ in His love, according to their new, rather than their old nature. (2) Christ’s dove, as—(i.) Given Him by the Father; (ii.) Purchased by His own blood; (iii.) Wooed and won by Him as His Bride, and made a member of His body. The little word ‘my’ as precious to Christ in reference to believers as it is to believers in reference to Christ.
(Preacher's Homelitical)

2/11/2025
In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David;
and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved,
and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
The LORD our righteousness. Jer 33:15-16
​The Son of Righteousness

​In those days, and at that time,.... In those very selfsame days before spoken of; in those days to come, and which were hastening on; in the fulness of time, agreed on between Jehovah and his Son; the appointed, fixed, determined time:
will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; not Zerubbabel, but the Messiah; who is not only a branch of David's family, and therefore said to grow up unto him, being of his seed, his son, and offspring; but a Branch of righteousness, or a righteous Branch; perfectly righteous in himself, and the author of righteousness unto others; which cannot be said of Zerubbabel, or of any other branch springing from David but the Messiah; and of him the Targum interprets it, paraphrasing it thus,
"the Messiah of righteousness;''
and Kimchi's note is,
"this is the King Messiah;''

​Rev 19:11  And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 

​and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land; judgment upon the blind Pharisees given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and upon the world, and the prince of it, who was cast out by him; and though he came not at first to judge the world and all the individuals of it, as he will do at his second coming; yet all judgment, rule, and government of his church, is committed to him by his Father; and he is on the throne to order and establish it with judgment, and to overrule all things for the good of it, and his own and his Father's glory: and he has "wrought" out an everlasting "righteousness", agreeably to law and justice, for the justification of his people; for which reason he and they have the name in Jer 33:16. (John Gill)
cross references:
2Co 5:21  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Heb 1:8  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

​As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. Psa 103:15
Brevity of Man’s Life

​“As for man, his days are as grass.” He lives on the grass and lives like the grass. Corn is but educated grass, and man, who feeds on it, partakes of its nature. The grass lives, grows, flowers, falls beneath the scythe, dries up, and is removed from the field: read this sentence over again, and you will find it the history of man. If he lives out his little day, he is cut down at last, and it is far more likely that he will wither before he comes to maturity, or be plucked away on a sudden, long before he has fulfilled his time. “As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” ​He has a beauty and a comeliness even as the meadows have when they are yellow with the king-cups, but, alas, how shortlived! No sooner come than gone, a flash of loveliness and no more.

Man is not even like a flower in the conservatory or in the sheltered garden border, he grows best according to nature, as the field-flower does, and like the unprotected beautifier of the pasture, he runs a thousand risks of coming to a speedy end. A large congregation, in many-coloured attire, always reminds us of a meadow bright with many hues; and the comparison becomes sadly true when we reflect, that as the grass and its goodliness soon pass away, even so will those we gaze upon, and all their visible beauty. Thus, too, must it be with all that comes of the flesh, even its greatest excellencies and natural virtues, for “that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and therefore is but as grass which withers if but a breath of wind assails it. Happy are they who, born from above, have in them an incorruptible seed which liveth and abideth for ever.
(Charles Surgeon-Treasury of David)

2/9/2025
Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. Heb 10:35
Spiritual Confidence

For the better understanding of this, it is well to bear in mind the difference there is between confidence and faith. They are much the same in their exercise; still they are different. Confidence is the outcome of faith. Confidence is stronger than faith, and leads the soul onward to be bold and daring. Faith is as the root; confidence the branch springing out of the root. Confidence grows on faith, and cannot live without it; but faith may exist without confidence, though there can be no doubt that the one is affected by the other, and that as the one strengthens the other strengthens, or that as the one wanes the other also wanes. ​

We see, therefore, that we may cast away our confidence by unbelief. Once begin to doubt the power and will of Christ to bless us, and our confidence is gone. The faith may not altogether have departed, but confidence is thrown away. In fact, it seems to be possible for one to have all the evidences of Christ’s character and goodness set before him, so that he cannot doubt, but must believe in Christ’s divinity and salvation; and yet to have no real confidence in Him, no confidence which leads one to trust Him fully, and to go forth in His name in all boldness and with Christian courage. If, then, you are a possessor of this confidence, hold it fast. It is a step in advance of the ordinary Christian plan. It leads to something more, something higher, bolder, and grander, for Christ and for His cause. Hold it fast, and exercise it. The more it is cultivated and exercised, the more it will grow and the stronger it will become. (Biblical Illustraror)

2/8/2025
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
​for instruction in righteousness: 2Tim 3:16
Inspiration of Scripture

All scripture is inspired of God - The Spirit of God not only once inspired those who wrote it, but continually inspires, supernaturally assists, those that read it with earnest prayer. Hence it is so profitable for doctrine, for instruction of the ignorant, for the reproof or conviction of them that are in error or sin, for the correction or amendment of whatever is amiss, and for instructing or training up the children of God in all righteousness.  (John Wesley)

“Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable.” Note that the “scripture” of this verse is not the same as the “sacred writings” of 2Ti_3:15. Here it is simply “every writing inspired of God.” The inbreathing of the Holy Ghost is the condition of its being profitable. For correction.—Setting upright again something that was out of the perpendicular. For instruction.—Fatherly discipline or process of education, often by chastisement or severe methods. The word of God does not always speak smooth things to us.
​(Preacher's Homiletical)

2/7/2025
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Heb 13:8
​A Changing World and an Unchanging Christ

​We scarcely need an inspired book to remind us of those laws of change which are written alike upon the earth and upon the firmament that overarches it. No wonder that Oriental mystics have come to look upon the things that address our senses as shows and phantasms, for we are never permitted to forget their transiency. How the face of the world has changed, and will still change! Life is but a thin green strip that unites two unexplored deserts; that which lies behind is silence, and that which lies before is death. The solid stars are but shadows, and could we watch them long enough, they would vanish like the shadows which lie for a few brief hours across our streets. The suns in the vault of heaven are bubbles of gas on those mystic and unmeasured tides of force which flow through space, and were our life less ephemeral we should see them collapse and pass away.

In comparison with the fleeting phenomena which environ us, Christ is the enduring substance, the reality which persists unchanged through all change. “They shall perish, but thou remainest.”
​​By the very law of contrast, and by the need of finding sufficient reason for the changes, we are driven from the contemplation of the fleeting to the vision of the permanent. Blessed are they who, in a world of passing phenomena, penetrate to the still centre of rest, and looking over all the vacillations of the things that can be shaken, can turn to the Christ and say, “Thou who movest all things art Thyself unmoved; Thou who changest all things, Thyself changest not.” As the moon rises slow and silvery, with its broad shield, out of the fluctuations of the oceans, so the one radiant Figure of the all-sufficient and immutable Lover and Friend of our souls should rise for us out of the billows of life’s tossing ocean, and come to us across the seas.

“The Same.” Among the mediæval mystics that term was in use as a title for the Eternal. They called Him “the Same.” They spoke of knowing “the Same,” of taking refuge in “the Same.” Amidst the restless drift and flux of phenomena they saw in God, and rightly saw, the anchorage they craved. And for us also, in the Son of God, eternal as the Father in His majesty and in His mercy, there is rest and refuge in the thought that He, this Lord Christ Jesus, now and for ever, is “the Same.”
(Note: H. C. G. Moule, in The Record, Jan. 27, 1911, p. 88)

2/6/2025
​He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him. 
​​When Self is on the Throne

It is common to give a quick, impulsive answer to questions and problems. We respond without thinking, or without hearing the full story, sometimes more interested in what we hope to say than what the matter before us really is. This is “a special snare of the self-important.” (Kidner)

This is a common trait in society, especially in this fast paced life people live in today. People want to be seen and heard, but will not hear out a matter completely, before spreading a story, or half truth, that ends up slandering the person, and ruining their reputation. 
I've been in this situation, and even as I was speaking to the person before me, could see by their demeanor, and expression on their face-they were'nt even listening to me, and weren't hearing me. I knew what I said didn't matter to them, and if asked, they couldn't repeat to me what I'd said. They were just waiting for an opportunity to talk over me. When this happens, it's clear there's no basis for any understanding, or any relationship with this person. It's a waste of time to say anything to them, and I've learned over the years, to avoid such situations, and leave them to themselves. Self is on the throne, you do not matter to these people.     Lorna Couillard 

​To whatever extent we do this, it is foolish and shameful. It is folly because a wrong or misguided answer is likely; it is shame because we do not represent ourselves well in doing so.
“There are many also that give judgment before they hear the whole of the cause, and express an opinion before they hear the state of the case. How absurd, stupid, and foolish!” (Clarke)

2/5/2025
There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. Psa 46:4
“OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH”

​The historical origin of this psalm cannot be certainly determined. Probably it was composed when Jerusalem was beleaguered by Sennacherib’s hosts, 2Ki_18:1-37.

​Mat 14:25  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 

​It befits every era in which the Church is in danger from her foes, and foretells the final destruction of Antichrist. It was Luther’s favorite psalm, and is rendered into verse in his memorable hymn, Ein’ Feste Burg. During the sitting of the Diet of Augsburg he sang it every day to his lute, standing at the window and looking up to heaven. The theme of the psalm is the security of God’s people, and this is elaborated in three stanzas, each of which ends with Selah.
Alone among great cities, Jerusalem lacked a river; but God was willing to become all that a river could be and more. Your deficiencies give more room for God’s all-sufficiency. Mark the beautiful alternative translation of Psa_46:5, R.V., margin, “at the dawn of morning.” Your sorrow is limited to a single night. See also Isa_37:36; Mat_14:25. Be still, O troubled heart! The God of the nations is your Father! Desolations are the snapping off of the dead branches to prepare for the spring. (F.B. Meyer)

2/4/2024
As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man. Pro 27:19
​Mirror of Human Nature

As a man looking into the water (used anciently as a mirror) sees an exact transcript of his own countenance, so every heart has, by nature, precisely the same moral character with every other unsanctified heart. Every child of Adam, till renewed by Divine grace, has, in view of Omnipotence and Omniscience, the same moral aspect. Notice some of the circumstances which have contributed to make men differ in their conduct who have by nature the same moral character. Grace has made a wide difference in men who were by nature alike. Difference in instinctive passions and affections makes men differ in their conduct. Some have not the talents for doing mischief that others have. Others have not the opportunities. One man may achieve less mischief than another because more restrained.
​(Biblical Illustrator)
​Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

​The most mysterious thing in God’s work is the heart of man. The Eden of the human heart has been transformed into a wilderness of vile passions. Some restrain themselves more than others, and therefore there are different degrees of depravity in the world; and perhaps, by looking around us, we may find what rank we properly belong to, and what chance we have of escaping the wrath of God.
1. Let us ask ourselves who are our intimate friends and associates?
2. Let us compare ourselves with the dying. (John Collinson.)

2/3/2025
​Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Prov 21:2
Weighed in the Balance

​Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,.... This is repeated, from Pro_16:2; for the confirmation of it; and that it might be observed and taken notice of, and men be brought under a conviction of it; which is not easily done, it being what affects all men: every man is conceited of himself and his own way, and is not easily persuaded off of it; his sinful ways are agreeable to him promising him pleasure, profit, or honour; and his self-righteous ways suit with the vain opinion he has of himself, whereby he promises himself eternal life and happiness.

The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it to this sense,
"every man seems righteous to himself;''
but the Lord pondereth the hearts: weighs them in the balance of righteousness and truth; considers them, having a perfect knowledge of them, and all the springs of action in them; and knows that every way of man is not right, though they may seem so to him.  (John Gill)

​Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

2/2/2025
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Acts 17:24
THE ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD

​Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill. In the Areopagus. Let the reader keep in mind that this address was spoken in the literary capital of the ancient world, the most cultured city of the earth to which every Roman who sought a finished education resorted to complete his studies, the home of the philosophers, orators, sculptors, painters and poets, and the great university where many thousands of strangers were gathered for study. This ancient city of so glorious history is the modern capital of Greece, and was about 100,000 inhabitants. (B.W. Johnson)

​The gospel preacher must avail himself of any circumstance in his surroundings that will enable him to arrest the attention of his audience. He must meet them where they are and take them with him to realms of thought with which they are not familiar. Paul was wise to begin with that altar to the unknown god.
Around them stood the most exquisite temples ever reared by human genius, but these were not the home of God. He seeks the lowly and contrite heart, not of the Jew alone, but wherever man is found, and on whatever intellectual plane. Men, the world over, are brothers-“he hath made of one blood all nations.” The arrangements of divine providence have been contrived to lead men to God. If they feel after Him with reverence and true desire, He will be found of them. All men are His offspring, but only those who receive the Son of God into their hearts become really sons. Repentance is the act of the will, and therefore it may be commanded. God can overlook much that is hurtful and evil, because He loves the world and deals with men according to their light; and we may rejoice therefore that He will judge mankind by “the Man.” (F.B. Meyer)

​Act 17:32  And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 

2/1/2025
​Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Isa 9:7
The Everlasting God

Jesus Christ is EVERLASTING. Of Him we may sing, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.” A theme for great rejoicing on our part.
Jesus always was. So also He is for evermore the same. Jesus is not dead; He ever liveth to make intercession for us.

​Jesus, our Lord, ever shall be. The connection of the word “Father” with the word “everlasting” allows us very fairly to remark that our Lord is as everlasting as the Father, since He Himself is called “the everlasting Father”; for whatever antiquity paternity may imply is here ascribed to Christ. It is the manner of the Easterns to call a man the father of a quality for which he is remarkable. To this day, among the Arabs, a wise man is called “the father of wisdom”; a very foolish man “the father of folly.” The predominant quality in the man is ascribed to him as though it were his child, and he the father of it. Now, the Messiah is here called in the Hebrew “the Father of eternity,” by which is meant that He is preeminently the possessor of eternity as an attribute.
​He is federally a Father, representing those who are in Him, as the head of a tribe represents his descendants. The grand question for us is this, Are we still under the old covenant of works? If so, we have Adam to our father, and under that Adam we died. But are we under the covenant of grace? If so, we have Christ to our Father, and in Christ shall we be made alive.

​We weigh the words, “EVERLASTING FATHER.” Christ is called “the everlasting Father” because He does not Himself, as a Father, die or vacate His once. He is still the federal Head and Father of His people; still the Founder of Gospel truth and of the Christian system; not allowing popes to be His vicars and to take His place. He is still the true Life giver, from whose wounds and by whose death we are quickened; He reigns even now as the patriarchal King; He is still the loving family Head; and so, in every sense, He lives as a Father. But here is a sweet thought. He neither Himself dies, nor becomes childless. He does not lose His children. He is the Author of an eternal system. (C. H. Spurgeon.)