SEPTEMBER 1

Anybody can find love if they have love.

If you show people real love, you won't have a hard time winning friends. If you're sincerely concerned about others and you show them love, they'll be concerned about you and show you love. Love begets love. If you sow love, you're going to reap love. If you sow friendship, you're going to reap friendship (Galatians 6:7). It's a two-way street.

Love cannot fail. It makes no difference where it is bestowed, it always brings in big returns. You can't give without getting, you can't show true love and concern without receiving love in return—and the more you give, the more you get.

Many others around you are just as lonely and longing for love as much as you are. They're probably just waiting for you to make the first move. Step out and try to make someone else happy, and you'll find a whole new world of love you've only dreamed of.

If you give love, you'll get love! That's God's system; that's God's rule. God will make you happy if you make others happy. It's that simple!

SEPTEMBER 2

"By your patience possess your souls" (Luke 21:19).

Hurry is the Devil's business. He's always trying to make people rushed because he knows that then they'll be more apt to make mistakes.

We should never rush ahead of the Lord or try to push things through in our own strength. When the wandering children of Israel thirsted in the wilderness, God told Moses He would give them an abundant supply of water out of solid rock if Moses would just speak to the rock. But Moses was so upset with all the people's complaining that he violently smote the rock twice with his rod. Moses did the right thing but in the wrong way, and God was so angry that He told Moses, "Because you did not believe Me"—angry im-patience shows a of lack of faith—"to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel"—to show more faith and be a better example of God's own infinite loving patience with His people—"therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them" (Numbers 20:1-12).

(Prayer:) Lord, we ask that You teach us patience and faith, which takes time. Teach us never to get in a hurry or push too hard, as though we had to do things in our own strength. Amen.

SEPTEMBER 3

The Devil wants to get you under pressure, but Jesus wants to be your pressure release valve.

Your spiritual enemy, the Devil, will use anything he can to come between you and Jesus, and one of his favorite tricks is to cause you to feel under pressure. He tries to accentuate the stress you already feel by telling you that you're not accomplishing enough or doing it well enough, or by getting you to look at what's left undone. He knows that if he can get you under pressure, you are more likely to skip your times with the Lord, praying, reading the Word, and resting in Him, as well as your times of physical rest and relaxation, all of which are important to your overall well-being. Stress also makes you irritable and harder to work with or even be around. It can really take the joy out of life!

The key to overcoming this ploy of the Devil is in asking Jesus to help you learn your limits and live within them. Pray and ask Jesus to help you know your limits, reassess your priorities, and organize your time and work, and then take things one at a time. You'll be amazed at how involved the Lord wants to be in your daily planning and work, and how specific He will be in His instructions to you. Jesus can relieve the pressure and give you peace of mind in its place.

SEPTEMBER 4

Hasn't everyone been a prodigal son?

You may be a stray sheep or a prodigal son, but God still loves you and always has hope for you, no matter how far you've strayed.1

God's plan for you is not going to fail. You're His child and sooner or later you're going to wake up to that and come running back to the Father's house as fast as you can. Salvation will prove much stronger in its pull than the pull of the mud and the mire of the swine pit on your feet. You'll run back home—back to the joy of the Holy Spirit and back to the food and plenty and warmth and fellowship of the home hearth.

It's never too late. Even if you've squandered your entire inheritance, the Father still loves you and will receive you with open arms. He'll take you to Himself, to His bosom of love, and give you a new garment of righteousness, a beautiful new golden ring of reward that you don't even deserve, and spread a feast of thanksgiving and celebration that this His son, though he were dead, is now alive and home again. Can you hear the Father's voice calling, "Please come home"?

SEPTEMBER 5

You can change the world!

If sometimes you're discouraged with the world and the way it is, don't give up! You can accomplish some real good in this poor, sad, old world by helping people find joy and happiness, salvation and Jesus, and something to live for.

You, personally, can start to change the world by planting the seeds of God's love one by one, in heart by heart, day by day, wherever you may be, and God will cause those seeds to grow. They may seem only like tiny little buds at first, just insignificant little green shoots. What is that to the forest that's needed? Well, it's the beginning of the miracle of new life.

So why not try it? If you have changed one life by the power of God's love, you have changed a part of the world. If one life can be changed, it shows that it's possible for more lives to be changed, and that means the world can be changed—starting with just one person!

And who knows, you may live to see the day when the world is changed and was changed, in part, through you—all because you shared the love of God with others!

SEPTEMBER 6

Warning! Please refer to the Maker's Manual before operating your machine.

Any thinking person thoroughly studies the instructions to a valuable piece of equipment before they attempt to operate it. As a result, they save themselves a lot of time and trouble and possible permanent damage to their equipment. But those who are too impatient to read the instruction booklet first, those who think they already know it all, and those who think they can figure it out on their own usually have nothing but trouble.

When God fashioned our bodies, minds, and spirits and then put them all together to make you, He created an amazing but delicate piece of "equipment." You are a marvel of His design, but you won't last long or be very useful unless you take care of your equipment.

That's why your Manufacturer, God, had some men of His write a maker's instruction manual, the Bible, with definite diagrams and clearly stated specifications for the complicated business of living. You could waste an awful lot of time and do an awful lot of damage to yourself and others by not taking time to read the Book first. Don't take chances. Read and follow the Book!

SEPTEMBER 7

"God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Revelation 21:4).

The Bible doesn't say there aren't going to be any tears in Heaven. When we get to Heaven and face God, we will no doubt all have a few tears to shed for mistakes we made and opportunities we missed. We'll have a few tears when we think about all that we could have done but failed to do—all the unfinished work we left behind and loved ones that we'll wish we'd loved more and been kinder to. We will all have something to be sorry about and ashamed of then.

But isn't God wonderfully loving and merciful? He says He's going to wipe away all those tears. He's going to wipe away all memory of those evil years and then there will be no more pain, death, sorrow, or tears—only wonderful eternal happiness, joy, and paradise forever and ever. He'll make up for all of our mistakes and lacks somehow.

Just a little more sorrow and a little more crying, just a little more pain, and then these things of time shall be no more. We shall forget the sorrows of the past for the glories of the future.

SEPTEMBER 8

We're gloriously saved, and wonderfully and completely delivered.

We have been saved as branches pulled from the fire (Zechariah 3:2), and as wayward lambs snatched from the Enemy's clutches. We should be very thankful! We have come from the darkness into Jesus' glorious light (Matthew 4:16). We who were in darkness have become enlightened (Ephesians 5:8).

The Lord had to break the chains; we couldn't deliver ourselves. He had to purge and purify and cleanse us. We're all clean now, no longer under the power of the Devil. He can't harm us anymore. We're the Lord's possession now, and the Devil can't have us. We're the Lord's forever. We have been born again, like a newborn baby, into a whole new world and have been given a clean heart, a pure mind, and a new regenerated spirit.

The memory of evil years,
Burned like a flame within my breast.
And though I sought relief in tears,
I found it not; I could not rest.
My yesterday, so dark with shame,
Christ has forgiven! Oh, praise His name!
—Author unknown

SEPTEMBER 9

"I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13).

When Jesus said He desired mercy and not sacrifice, He meant He would rather see us have love than a dutiful adherence to the law and performance of duties. He would rather we give love to somebody than to try to be so righteous and perfect.

The drunks and the harlots and the sinners came to Jesus for love and mercy, and He treated them tenderly, kindly. He forgave them and gave them the hope, love, and strength they needed to change for the better. Those sinners didn't go to the harsh, rigid, self-righteous, unyielding, unforgiving, critical, condemning religious leaders who told them to be perfect or go to Hell, but they came to Jesus for His love and mercy, forgiveness, encouragement, and patience.

Love throws a veil over countless sins (1 Peter 4:8). But some people are so self-righteous they think they never make mistakes. Remembering what sinners we are and how many mistakes we've made greatly helps to keep us humble and to avoid that spirit of self-righteous pride that causes us to criticize and condemn others. When you realize that you need a lot of forgiveness and mercy, it really helps you to extend it to others. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7)—so be merciful!

SEPTEMBER 10

Peace on earth will soon be a reality!

God's children are supposed to be peacemakers who try to bring peace to men's hearts and minds and spirits and bodies and countries (Matthew 5:9). We'll never have total peace on earth, though, till God gets rid of the evil hearts that make war. But that's exactly what's going to happen, thank God, when Jesus returns soon to "destroy those that destroy the earth" with their wars, waste, wickedness, and wanton destruction (Revelation 11:18).

Then at last shall the men of peace and the God of peace and the Prince of Peace rule and reign and bring peace on earth (Luke 2:14)—peace that will never end, under the righteous reign of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Then at last there will be no more wars, no more horrible havoc, no more destruction, no more cruel, senseless, diabolical, murderous loss of life, no more suffering, no more dead and dying, no more noise and confusion.

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy kingdom" (Isaiah 11:9). There will be no evil in God's kingdom on earth—only a heaven-on-earth rule by Jesus and His children.

There will be love and laughter and peace ever after
Tomorrow—in God's tomorrow—when the world is free of wars.
—Nat Burton, "The White Cliffs of Dover," paraphrased

SEPTEMBER 11

God waits for us to be humbled and pray for help.

The Holy Spirit gently descends and can be easily shooed away. It doesn't land where it's not wanted. God goes where there are open and receptive hearts that are hungry for truth. He seeks the lowly, the humble, and the contrite heart, but He resists the proud. He gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). So as long as you're calling for help, you can expect God to answer. As long as you're seeking, God will show the way. As long as you're empty, He will fill you (Luke 1:53).

It works the same way as salvation: It's not until you recognize you're a sinner that you're desperate enough to seek salvation. But when you realize that you're a sinner and need forgiveness and help, then you ask God to save you and He answers and comes to your rescue. He says, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). When you cry out desperately to Him with a hungry, empty heart, asking Him to fill it, He will.

Jesus doesn't force Himself on anyone. He waits lovingly and meekly for you. God puts the responsibility on you. So call on Him for help and He will fulfill His promise to "show you great and mighty things, which you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).

SEPTEMBER 12

Even while the world goes to pieces, God's Word stands firm!

Someday the only Word of God you may have is what you know by heart. That's why it is so important to memorize His Word faithfully, that you may be kept by the power of God and comforted in difficult times, now and in the future.

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous omnipotent hand.
—John Rippon, A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors, 1787

That's an old hymn, and a wonderful one for these Last Days when you really need to stand on the firm foundation of His Word. "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20 KJV). He's with you in His Word, and His Word is with you, and you can stand firmly on this as a foundation that cannot fail, for He's promised to keep you (Isaiah 41:10; 43:2).

SEPTEMBER 13

Because we love God, He makes even "bad" things work in our favor.

All things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28). This is His promise to us, and as we learn to hold fast to this simple truth, we will see the promised results.

We need to try to look for the good in every situation, no matter how bad it may first appear. That takes conscious effort and prayer and doesn't come overnight, but it will make all the difference in the world when we are faced with problems and setbacks. On the other hand, if we fail to view our disappointments, hurts, tests, illnesses, and other problems from the perspective that Romans 8:28 gives us, we will tragically miss many of the valuable lessons that the Lord is trying to teach us, and we will rob ourselves of the peace that comes from trusting in this important promise and principle.

"Trials equal good." Understanding and believing this simple equation can make your life richer, more meaningful, and happier. It makes all the difference in the world whether you look at problems and challenges just waiting for the worst to happen, or if you look at them with excitement, waiting to discover all the good the Lord can bring out of them.

SEPTEMBER 14

God's love is the reason and purpose for all things.

Why did God make this wonderful world for you to enjoy?—So you'd know that He loves you. Why did He want you to know He loves you?—Because He wants you to love Him. God made you to love because He needed someone to love.

What is the whole duty of man?—Solomon says it in Ecclesiastes: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV). But Jesus boiled it down to something even simpler: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart" and "love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus made it a more personal loving relationship between Him and you and others. Instead of "fear God," He said, "love the Lord." Instead of just "keep the commandments," He said, "love your neighbor as yourself." In this is fulfilled "all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40).

You'll never be able to enjoy life to the full without Him, because He has created your heart with a vacancy, a hollowness, an emptiness, an aching void that only He can fill. He saved one spot in your heart, the very core of your life, for Himself. He created you to love Him. You're His creation, you're His child, and He wants you!

SEPTEMBER 15

Every product of genius must be a product of inspiration.

You'll be amazed at what you and the Lord can come up with if you will pray. The Bible says, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:5-7). Of course, we always lack wisdom, so we should always ask the Lord!

You can pray and get answers immediately, but if you lean on your own understanding and your own wisdom, you're apt to make some sad mistakes. If you do things in your own strength, relying on your own talents, your own knowledge, or your own supposed wisdom out of pride, it will come to naught. But if you "in all your ways acknowledge Him, He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:6) … "and your thoughts will be established" (Proverbs 16:3).

No matter how small or incapable you are, there's a very big, capable God waiting to help you. So ask the Lord. Lean on the Lord. He's greater than you'll ever be, and if He inspires and guides you, whatever you do will be the greatest.

SEPTEMBER 16

"According to your faith"—not someone else's—"be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29 KJV).

When Peter and John healed the lame beggar at the gate of the Temple, Peter said, "Look at us"—and immediately the man was healed (Acts 3:1-9). His faith was in their faith, and God honored it. But God expects more from those of us who are familiar with the promises in His Word and understand how faith works. He expects us to make direct, personal contact with Him, and to demonstrate our faith by claiming those promises ourselves. He wants us to learn to put our faith in Him alone, and not to depend on someone else's faith or prayers or connection with Him.

There are times, of course, when we should ask others to pray with us, but that's different from leaning on their faith. Sometimes we need to avail ourselves of the extra power that comes from united prayer (Matthew 18:19), or to demonstrate our faith by meeting certain conditions He has set down in His Word, such as asking others to pray for our healing (James 5:14-16). God doesn't hear and answer others' prayers more than our own, and the power isn't in the elders' hands—"the prayer of faith will save the sick." It's our faith that God rewards with the answer, and He does that for us because we have demonstrated that faith by putting feet to our prayers.

SEPTEMBER 17

We need to understand the difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit and the condemnation of the Devil.

Not everything that goes wrong is necessarily your own fault or a result of your mistakes and sins, and not all trials are because God is punishing you. Sometimes these things are attacks of the Devil, who is trying to defeat you, trying to belittle, trying to accuse, trying to get you down and discouraged. He tries to convince you that you've made too many mistakes and failed too many times, so you might as well quit.

But God always has hope for you. Even when He has to correct you, He does so in love. His dealings are a proof of His love (Hebrews 12:5-6). He sometimes scolds and applies the rod, but He always adds love's healing balm afterwards to soothe, encourage, comfort, and give you hope of recovery and redemption. His encouragement after His correction is like the sun after a storm.

So don't give up the fight, especially when the Enemy of your soul is doing his best to discourage you and depress you. God will forgive you for past errors, and He can still mightily use you. Simply acknowledge and confess your sin, accept God's forgiveness, and get on with living for His honor and glory.

SEPTEMBER 18

Our main job is to help God make people rich spiritually.

Part of our duty as Christians is to show the world a social gospel, as well as a personal gospel. Jesus Himself nearly always ministered to people's physical needs before He ministered to their minds and hearts and spiritual needs. By His example of kindness, His example of love and concern for the people, they knew that He had something real.

You can't preach the Gospel to a man with a hungry stomach, but the main thing is to preach the Gospel. Visit the sick and the imprisoned, clothe the naked, and feed the hungry, but don't forget to feed their souls most of all.

God's greatest concern is saving their souls, and then He will save their bodies. The greatest thing we can give them is the key to success, the key to good health, the solution to poverty, and that's faith in God that leads to salvation. If they receive Jesus, then they're God's children. Then He's responsible to take care of them, and He will. God never fails to care for His own. He's the key to all their needs.

SEPTEMBER 19

Thank God for tears, which wash our hearts and clear our minds.

The ancient Greeks called it catharsis—an emotional purging or purifying. In Greek tragic dramas, the audience was made to experience intense feelings of sorrow, pity and fear, which according to Aristotle, brought about a purifying of the emotions that turned people to the true values of life. Sorrow was an edifying experience.

Thank God that He and His service are not all sorrow and tragedy, but He does give us a few trials and a few tests and a few hard things to go through to bring out the sweetness and the best in us. Like a giant hand squeezing a honeycomb, God puts the squeeze on us and out comes the honey. Like a beautiful flower that is pressed and crushed, God applies the pressure and out comes the perfume. Like the beautiful music that comes from the throat of a bird—almost as though in pain, yet it comes forth with song. We learn a lot through sorrow, and some of the most precious lessons in life come out of deep dark experiences.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise not in vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
—George Matheson (1842-1906)

SEPTEMBER 20

The world is your parish.

We need to go back to the original plan that Jesus gave His first followers, which they demonstrated in the book of Acts and which He stated so simply: "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" (Mark 16:15 TLB). That and John 3:16 are all we need to know to preach the Gospel.

Jesus alone saves, but He can't save you alone. He wants to save the whole world and some day He will, but He needs you to tell others about His love. He wants you to give His love and message of salvation to your part of "all the world."

If you love Jesus and are serious about pleasing Him, you have a responsibility. He has given you a commission, a job to do for Him, and you need to do it. "Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season" (2 Timothy 4:2). Love and win souls. Spread the Word. Spread the message. Spread His love.

All He needs is you. The fields are already "white for harvest" (John 4:35), so "pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest" (Matthew 9:38)—and the first one He will send is you.

SEPTEMBER 21

"Children are a heritage from the Lord" (Psalm 127:3).

One of the most precious gifts any of us could ever receive is God's love in the form of a little child, so sweet and beautiful. They're all His children, really, but He entrusts them to our care and wants us to love and train them. They're a gift of God but, like flowers in our garden, we've got to take care of them. It's a case of God's gift is also God's work.

If we "train up a child in the way he should go ... when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). If you will only teach, train, and lead your children right and set the right example, they will carry that all through life. "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children" (Isaiah 54:13).

Another wonderful thing about your children is that you're going to have them forever. If you rear them right and do a good job of God's work with God's gift, you will be so thankful when you get to Heaven and see them rewarded for their love for Him and all they did for Him and others—and you will share in their rewards because you helped guide them there.

SEPTEMBER 22

Why doesn't God put a stop to all the world's atrocities and man's inhumanity to man?

Free choice is a basic part of God's plan, from the Garden of Eden to the book of Revelation. He put us here to make choices between good and evil, between doing right or doing wrong, between serving God or ourselves or the Devil.

Free choice also shows what happens if people are allowed to have their own way and go their own way, without God. God didn't stop Adam and Eve when they made the wrong choice in the Garden of Eden, but He did punish them. To see the consequences of our choices and our actions, whether right or wrong, is a great lesson to us and the entire universe. This is why God is now allowing man, by his own hand, to bring the earth from the heaven on earth He created to a state of virtual hell on earth: to demonstrate what a horrible mess results when His creations rebel against Him.

So God has His reasons for allowing the world to get into such a state, and one of the main reasons is to give us a chance to choose. Are you choosing God's way, or your own?

SEPTEMBER 23

The most uncomfortable place for a Christian is a comfortable place.

The minute you come to the conclusion that you have gone as far as you want to go and are satisfied with yourself and what you've accomplished, watch out! The minute you think you've arrived, that's as far as you'll get. God's law of progress is: If you don't keep on getting more, you'll lose what you've got. The minute you think you've attained and you sit down to enjoy it, that's when you lose it. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). When you come to the point that you just want to stand still, you're finished.

It is impossible to stand still in the Christian life. You are either making progress, going ahead, climbing a little further upward every day, giving more of yourself and accomplishing more, or you are slipping backward and on your way down.

Are you alive and going, or dead and settling? Don't settle down and vegetate and become like the rest of the bumps on the logs. Rise up and live! Move now with the life of God, or you'll be left behind in the death of this world.

SEPTEMBER 24

Praise God for His faithfulness!

God loves you and is concerned about every little thing. There's nothing too small for God or too hard for Him. He takes a personal interest in you and wants to help you moment by moment and step by step.

You are His and He loves you and is doing His best for you. Stay close to Him, and He'll never let you down. "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (2 Timothy 2:13). He cannot break the promises He has given you in His Word. "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

(Prayer:) You've cast my lines in pleasant places, Lord, and given me exceeding abundantly above all that I could ask or think (Psalm 16:6; Ephesians 3:20). Even the little things You do are evidence of Your great love and faithfulness. You're so good to me. In spite of all my shortcomings, sins, mistakes, failures, and weaknesses, You have mercy and take care of me, protect, and supply for me. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23:6). How good You are to me!

SEPTEMBER 25

You don't have to know all the answers.

It's impossible for you to solve your problems on your own. You dare not depend on your own wisdom or trying to put two and two together. You must look for the supernatural, miraculous, and powerful leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit. God is the One who has got to lead, because only He can!

Look how the prophet Daniel prayed before he received those mighty revelations of God. In the short book of Daniel—only twelve chapters—two or three chapters recount how Daniel cried desperately to God in prayer. Daniel didn't have the answers, so he had to ask God. In chapter 2, for example, how could Daniel have possibly interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar's dream when Daniel didn't even know what the king had dreamed? God had to reveal the whole thing!

So when you don't know what to do, for God's sake, quit trying to figure things out yourself. Follow God—not yourself, not your own ideas! Ask the Lord. Get down on your prayer bones and get desperate in prayer before God. Ask Him to give you downright, outright, upright revelations—Heaven-right, straight from Him—to show you exactly what to do. Cry out to God and ask God for the solutions you need, and God will never fail.

SEPTEMBER 26

Anywhere with Jesus we can safely go.

Jesus promises to be with us "even unto the end of the world" (Matthew 28:20 KJV). But before you go anywhere, be sure you pray and find God's will, because only He knows the best place for you. Ask Jesus to guide every step, every move, every direction, and He will never fail. He will do His part faster than you can do yours. He will always be ten jumps ahead of you. "When He brings out His own sheep, He goes before them" (John 10:4). He knows what's ahead, and He will lead. All you have to do is follow.

God may give you your choice, but He alone knows what's best, so be sure to seek Him and find that out. Then do your best to follow His leading. Are you ready? Are you able? God will always provide and make a way for you to do His will if you'll obey and do things His way. If Jesus goes with you, you can go anywhere.

If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere!
'Tis heaven to me where'er I may be, if He is there!
I count it a privilege here, His cross to bear,
If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere!
—Charles Austin Miles (1868-1946)

SEPTEMBER 27

If you witness, you always win!

Our number one job is to preach the Gospel, and our number two job is to try to win those to whom we preach it. Winning souls is really God's job because He's the only one that can work in people's hearts, by the Holy Spirit. But He has to work though us. We have to be His channels, His instruments. We have to give people the facts—the truth of God's Word—show them God's love, and bring them to the point of decision to either receive Jesus or reject Him. That's our part.

Of course, we hope to win people to Christ, but that's really the work of the Holy Spirit and each one has to make a personal decision. Even if we don't win the soul, we win the favor of God by our obedience in witnessing and have done our job.

Witnessing is never wasted. You accomplish your purpose just by showing the love of God and sharing His Word with others. What they do with it is their responsibility. "Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8), so if you're motivated by God's love and are loving in your presentation, you just can't lose. You're on God's side, and He just doesn't lose! Eventually He always wins somehow. Being a witness for Him is a business that cannot fail!

SEPTEMBER 28

Play the part that God created you to play.

God told King Saul that He would make him another man (1 Samuel 10:6). God also made David into another man; He turned him into something he wasn't. It's almost like playing a role, but when God has given you a role to play and you can put your heart into it and play it with divine enthusiasm and inspiration, you become that creation of God.

God has His own plan. God has His own ways. God knows what He's doing. So for God's sake find out what He's doing and let Him do it. Find out what He wants you to do and do that. What you don't want to do is miss His best, the thing God most wants you to do, the special place God has for you in His kingdom. If you're willing to be what God wants you to be—not what you are, but what God wants you to be—then He can mightily use you.

Are you willing, not to present your program to God for His signature or to be presented with God's program for your signature, but are you willing to sign a blank sheet of paper and let God fill it in, without your even knowing what His program is going to be?

SEPTEMBER 29

Do you want a crown?

The heavenly crown the Lord promises us is not our salvation. We have eternal life through His Son, which is the gift of God (John 3:36; Ephesians 2:8-9). The crown is our reward, given only to those who run and win the race (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

God's Word tells us to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and to not entangle ourselves in the affairs of this world, that we may please Him who has called us to be soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3-4 KJV). If we fail the Lord, we will lose our reward and another will take the crown that God intended for us (Revelation 3:11).

So watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation that might lead you astray from the straight and narrow way that leads to a crown and great reward. Fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). Keep the faith, finish the course, and win the crown. Keep your eyes on the goal and your hand on the plow (Luke 9:62). "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life" (James 1:12 NIV). When this life is over, if what you did was right, you'll shine as the stars forever (Daniel 12:3).

SEPTEMBER 30

May you invest your talents wisely and reap great reward.

The people who love God the most, serve Him the most faithfully, and sacrifice the most for Him are going to get the greatest rewards and the greatest blessings, here and now and in Heaven hereafter.

The more you use what you have, the more you give, the more God blesses and gives to you. The more you use what you've got, the more God will increase it. "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (2 Corinthians 9:6). As in the story Jesus told of the man who was given one talent,1 the man who was given two talents, and the man who was given five: The thing that was important was not that one was given more than the other, but how they each chose to use what He had given (Matthew 25:14-30). It's not what you've got that determines the outcome, it's what you do with what you've got.

So "be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). You will be rewarded!

OCTOBER 1

Just think how much Jesus loves us!

God gave Jesus an opportunity to quit. Jesus had a choice in the Garden of Gethsemane. He could have chosen to save Himself, but He chose to go ahead and suffer and die for you and me so we could be saved. Think of that! He said, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39). Jesus could have taken the easy way out, but He didn't.

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13). Jesus was that friend. He took our punishment for us. God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21). To make us clean, Jesus had to get dirty. God's Word says He "bore our sins in His own body on the tree [cross]" (1 Peter 2:24).

Jesus even had to let God turn His back on Him. "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34). Jesus suffered not only physically, but also spiritually—the death of the unsaved sinner—and was three days and three nights in Hell (Matthew 12:40).

He was willing to go through all that so we could be saved. Imagine!

OCTOBER 2

Heaven is our home.

We're headed for the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, which will come down from God out of Heaven and dwell with men. This is the hope of all ages—that wonderful crystal-golden city where we shall dwell with God forever. That will be the thunderous climax of the symphony of God, and is described in the grand finale of the Bible, the book of Revelation, chapters 21 and 22. Our eternal home will be a place of such resplendent beauty that it is completely beyond the imagination of man. "For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come" (Hebrews 13:14), "whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10).

The most stupendous things that you have never even dreamed of are already in existence right now, in that wonderful heavenly city, and our departed friends and loved ones are already there, enjoying Heaven and all its thrills.

So keep your eyes ahead on the goal, like those in Hebrews 11, the faith chapter. They were willing to go through all the trials and tribulations and to be strangers and pilgrims here—people without a city or country—because they knew they had a heavenly one coming (Hebrews 11:13-16).

OCTOBER 3

"I'll take the mountain!"

And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him" (Matthew 5:1). The greatest sermon ever preached, the Sermon on the Mount, was given to a handful of men on a mountain.

Mountain peaks are never crowded. Why?—Because getting there is hard work and dangerous. If you're going to climb a mountain, you have to be willing to brave the elements and really work to get to the top. Only pioneers climb mountains—people who want to go beyond what has already been accomplished. Pioneers must have vision to see what no one else can see, faith to believe things no one else believes, initiative to be the first one to try it, and the courage to see it through!

Sometimes the challenge God sets before you may seem insurmountable, but there are no alps to men and women of faith. So what are you waiting for? Start climbing! It may be a rugged climb, but the view from the summit is worth it—every rocky step of it! Look forward and up to the heights you're soon to attain and views you're soon to thrill to if you keep fighting, climbing, winning, and don't quit!

OCTOBER 4

Your prayers can do mighty things.

Although God can do anything, He has limited Himself to work through you and your prayers.

It's not how long you pray or how much you pray, it's how much you believe. Jesus said that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you can move a whole mountain (Matthew 17:20). If you believe, every prayer is heard and answered. But if you don't pray or don't believe, it is not done. An awful lot depends on you. God said to Israel one time that bad things were happening because no man stirred himself to call upon God (Isaiah 64:7).

God leaves a lot up to us and our concern and prayer. If you only cry with half a heart, you only get half an answer. But if you cry with your whole heart, you get a wholehearted strong answer. He says, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).

When you determine you're going to pray more and then desperately cry out to God—Boom! Boom! Boom!—the Holy Spirit goes to work and it probably won't be long before you begin to see some results. God always answers when we stir ourselves to call upon Him with a whole heart. So pray!

OCTOBER 5

God never stops loving you!

What is God like? Some people picture Him as an angry God, some kind of monster with an all-seeing eye, carrying around a big stick, ready to clobber them—a cruel tyrant who is trying to frighten them into Hell. But actually, God is love (1 John 4:8). He is a loving God who is trying to love everyone into Heaven. He's so close, so intimate, so personal, so loving, so kind, so tender, so gentle, so concerned—and He's waiting with open arms. The only reason He follows us around is that He's hoping we'll turn around and meet Him with open arms.

God never rejects us or withdraws His love. He always has hope for us no matter how far we've strayed. So if you feel far from God, maybe it's because you haven't opened your heart to receive His love and forgiveness. You need not continue to feel condemned for your mistakes and sins; only be sorry, ask for God's forgiveness, and be forgiven (Isaiah 1:18; 1 John 1:9).

If you will even start going God's way—if you'll just turn toward Him and start trying to find your way Home—the Father will come running toward you and receive you with open arms of love (Luke 15:18-24).

OCTOBER 6

We can enjoy a foretaste of Heaven, here and now!

Those of us who know and love Jesus have a little bit of Heaven already. In spite of all that's going on in the world today, we have peace in our hearts—wonderful peace, glorious peace, sweet peace, a special touch of God's love!

We are already experiencing a little bit of Heaven—heavenly hearts, heavenly homes, heavenly loved ones, and a heavenly work to do for the Lord in bringing the heaven of His love to others. We're already living in the kingdom of God—or rather, the kingdom of God is living in us. Jesus said, "Behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). But God's Word also tells us that this is just the earnest of our salvation—just a little sample (Ephesians 1:14). Well, if this is only a sample of what's coming, think what the full Heaven is going to be like!

You don't have to wait for Heaven to find out what it's going to be like. You can have Heaven in your heart and your life and your family and your home, right here and right now! Do you? If not, invite Jesus into your heart by receiving Him as your Savior.

OCTOBER 7

When you get filled with the Holy Spirit, you have a much closer relationship with Jesus.

You need the infilling, or baptism, of the Holy Spirit not only so you'll have the boldness and power to share God's love with others, but also to help you in your personal communication with Jesus.

Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them a comforter, the Holy Spirit, to strengthen, empower, lead, and guide them in their spiritual lives and relationship with Him (John 14:16-18; 16:7,13-14). As long as Jesus was with His disciples bodily, they knew that He loved them and they loved Him. They enjoyed being in His presence and hearing the comforting sound of His voice, yet they didn't really know Him as they were to later in spirit. When the promise of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples found out that even though His body was gone from them, through the Holy Spirit He was with them in greater power than ever before—and not just with them, but inthem!

Like those first disciples, if you've been filled with the Holy Spirit, you can be closer to Jesus and understand His truth even better than they did when they were with Him physically and watched Him perform miracles, because you have His Spirit within you!

OCTOBER 8

There is great power in united prayer.

Some people are shy about praying with others, and sometimes they probably think about the passage of Scripture where Jesus said, "When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly" (Matthew 6:6). Well, there is a time for that, but there is also a time to pray together.

Sometimes it's important that you make your request known not only to God, but also to others. That way, they can join with you in prayer and manifest their faith and confess their dependence on the Lord along with you. Never hesitate to ask for prayer when you need it.

God loves to answer prayer and He has to answer when He sees we're united in love and prayer and purpose and mind and heart and spirit. "If two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in Heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:19-20). God's dynamics of the spirit really operate amazingly! The Bible says that when God's Spirit empowers us, one can chase one thousand, but two can put ten thousand to flight (Deuteronomy 32:30).

OCTOBER 9

Be like Jesus!

If you have received Jesus as your Savior and have the love of God in your heart, you're going to be like Jesus. And if you want to know what Jesus is like, read the Gospels.

Jesus went about everywhere doing good (Acts 10:38), striving to lead God's children back to true worship of the Father, His little lambs back into the one and only true fold of the Great Shepherd and the way of simple truth and love and peace, the true kingdom of God. Study the Gospels and see how Jesus did things. Study the master teacher who only taught and lived love and sharing, who came for love and lived in love and died for love that we might live and love forever.

The words of Jesus are the most beautiful, inspired, and encouraging part of the Bible. He was almost always the peacemaker. When people didn't like His message, He didn't force it on them. It was all voluntary, all "whoever desires" (Revelation 22:17). Jesus was patient, loving, kind, sympathetic, and forgiving, always leading and feeding and encouraging and strengthening His little lambs. He was the greatest of all examples of love, humility, and mercy. May Jesus help us to be like Him.

OCTOBER 10

New Christians need prayer, love, the Word, Jesus, and fellowship.

Whenever you help people be "born again" by leading them to receive Jesus as their Savior, they're your babies. You're responsible for them, and you must not forget to pray for them and help meet their other spiritual needs.

If you neglect them, you're failing God by begetting poor little homeless, starving orphans. Though orphans usually survive, they often have a pretty hard childhood and many of them become bitter against God because nobody loved them.

There are five major things new Christians need: First of all, they need prayer. You need to ask God to help them overcome past problems and progress spiritually (James 5:16). Next they need love. In order to understand God's love, they need to experience His love through you (Ephesians 3:17– 19). Then they need to be fed the milk of God's life-giving Word (1 Peter 2:2). They also need Jesus. Jesus is in them as soon as they're saved, but then they have to get into Jesus (Colossians 2:6-7). And they need fellowship. They need your companionship as well as your love, encouragement, instruction, and prayers (1 John 1:7).

"Do you love Me?" Jesus asks. "Then feed My lambs" (John 21:15).

OCTOBER 11

The Devil can't win for losing!

It is impossible for the Devil to defeat you unless you give in to him. "Jesus who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Jesus has already defeated the Devil (1 John 3:8). If you keep fighting, the Devil cannot win.

The Bible says, "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7). As long as you keep resisting, he'll keep fleeing, but if you stop resisting, he'll use his lies and doubts to try to persuade you to quit. He'll try to persuade you that you're a hopeless case, so you might as well surrender and leave the field to him. "It's no use," he says.

Don't listen to him! Get tough and fight back with the "sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God" (Ephesians 6:17). Don't let the Devil say "boo" and scare you out of doing what God wants you to do. Stand up and fight, and he will flee from you!

Put your faith in the Lord and His Word, and you're bound to win. Put on the whole armor of God and go on the attack with the truth of God's Word (Ephesians 6:10-18). The victory is already yours. With Jesus on your side, you can't lose for winning as long as you keep fighting!

OCTOBER 12

Get ready for the greatest job in the world!

If the whole purpose of our existence is to get saved, then why doesn't God take us home to Heaven the minute we get saved?—Because we have a job to do, and it's a big one! There are a lot of other people who need to know Jesus.

What then is the most important job in the world?—To tell others about God's love, to show them the love of Jesus. We're here to witness and win souls. His Great Commission to us is, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone, everywhere" (Mark 16:15 TLB).

Nothing is more important to God than immortal souls, so we should never let anything take the place of our concern for their eternal welfare. The souls that you win to Jesus will be your brothers and sisters in Heaven, and they'll be thankful to you for all eternity because you told them about Jesus and His love.

OCTOBER 13

God allows opposition for a purpose.

If there weren't an opponent, an opposing side, God's people would never be tried and tested. So God allows Satan to rise up and lead the opposition, to try and test His people.

Opposition tests the faith, determination, and loyalty of those being opposed, to see who's really got it and who hasn't. It also causes those who are undecided about what or who to believe to reach a point of decision.

It's part of God's sifting process to separate the wheat from the chaff, the good grain from the weeds, the sheep from the goats (Matthew 13:24-30; 25:31-33). The true sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him, and they will not follow a stranger (John 10:4-5). They won't listen to or follow the voice of the enemies of truth.

Those who are not willing to suffer and endure opposition for their faith quit and lose by default, but the genuine faithful followers call on God, and God always ultimately defeats the Devil and wins the victory!

"Your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure … is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer" (2 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

OCTOBER 14

John 3:16 was Jesus' part; 1 John 3:16 is ours.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). Jesus made the way for us to be saved when He climbed Mount Calvary and died alone for the sins of the world. That was a price that He alone could pay for you and me, but He did it!

"By this we know love, because Jesus laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). If we are saved and truly love Jesus and others, we're going to want to take others with us. We can't work for our own salvation, but we can work for the salvation of others. These works are not required for our salvation, but they will come as works of love for the Lord. They're a manifestation of salvation and your love for Jesus and others. Once we get saved, the most important job each of us has is to give our lives daily in loving concern and care for others. Jesus came to love the world, and He calls us to do likewise in every facet of our lives.

OCTOBER 15

"Do this in remembrance of Me" (1 Corinthians 11:24).

Communion is a reenactment of the ceremony Jesus conducted for His disciples the night before He was crucified. It's one of the few ceremonies that Jesus went through with them, and the only one He asked His followers to observe until He comes again, in remembrance of Him. He intended for it to be a symbol, a simple illustration that has a number of meanings. It is a remembrance, a thanksgiving, a witness, and a demonstration of unity.

Communion means remembering Him and the sacrifices He made for us—the breaking of His body for our healing (Isaiah 53:5) and the shedding of His blood for our salvation (1 John 1:7). It is a celebration of the salvation of the entire man.

It is a witness to the unsaved who watch, to remind them of what Jesus has done for us and wants to do for them. It's also a time for believers to unite in spirit, renew fellowship, confess sins, make things right, thank Jesus for His sacrifice, obtain healing, and witness to all His goodness. God will bless you as you do what He commanded. "For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes" (1 Corinthians 11:26).

OCTOBER 16

The Holy Spirit gives us joy in our labors and glory in our tasks.

If you have the divine anointing of the Holy Spirit, it makes every task wonderful. Anything you do, no matter what it is or how big or small, you can do it in the Spirit. But if you do it in the energy of your own flesh or out of duty to the letter of the law only, it drags you down and leaves you uninspired. "The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:6).

You've gotta have a glory in the thing you do.
Oh, you've gotta have that somethin'
That thrills you through and through.
Cooking taters, washing clothes,
Or blowin' baby's nose,
You need that certain somethin'
That will carry you through!
—Author unknown

Call it what you like—inspiration, charisma, talent, personality, or the Spirit—you've got to have something that brings you to life and spurs you to action.

Do you have the firepower of God's Spirit in all you do? You can!

OCTOBER 17

If you've been born only once, you'll die twice; but if you've been born twice, you'll die only once!

If you have been born twice—once when you were born physically and again when you were born of the Spirit by receiving Jesus as your Savior—you will die only once, physically. But if you have only been born once, only physically, you're going to die twice—first the natural physical death and then spiritually, "the second death" (Revelation 20:14).

Jesus' death was far worse than the physical agony that He suffered when He was crucified. He also suffered the spiritual agony of the lost sinner, dying for his sins, without salvation, without God. Only in Jesus' case He wasn't dying for His own sins, He was dying for the sins of the world. He felt the weight of all the sins of a world full of sinners, and He did that so we won't have to go through that horror of dying a sinner's lonely death!

Those who reject Christ's atonement have to suffer for their own sins, but those who receive Jesus now are completely forgiven and completely relieved from the punishment of sin. "For the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

OCTOBER 18

Turn your natural weakness into spiritual strength.

You may sometimes feel dumb and incapable, but that's not a weakness if it causes you to depend more on Jesus. That attitude will actually be a strength to you, because when you're depending on the Lord and turning to Him for the answers to everything—like you should and like He wants you to—then you'll be strong in Him. That's the strength of weakness—knowing that you need to turn to Jesus for the answers, and faithfully doing that.

Your first reaction should be to pray and ask the Lord about everything. That's the good kind of weakness—the kind that causes you to not be confident that you know what's best, and even when you think you know, you still ask the Lord about it and humbly follow His lead. That's good because then you're letting the Lord work through you to perform His will. You're letting Him have control. You're letting Him make the decisions and do things His way, and that's when your weakness becomes your strength.

You'll never go wrong by continually turning to Jesus in prayer, because the more you ask Him about things, the more He can work through you. The more you feel incapable in yourself, the better off you'll be!

OCTOBER 19

If we don't have Jesus' righteousness, we have nothing.

Those who are so proud of their own success and their own righteousness that they thank God they are "not like other men" (Luke 18:11) tend to look down on others and have no mercy, no compassion, no sympathy. But in God's sight, such self-righteous pride is one of the worst sins of all (Isaiah 64:6).

Some people have to go through a lot before they get humbled, like King David. David probably had a lot of pride and needed to be humbled before God could use him to lead His people, because look at the great things he did before that. As a boy he fought and killed a lion and a bear to protect his father's sheep, and then he killed Goliath, the giant champion of the attacking Philistines, and all Israel hailed him as a great hero (1 Samuel 17:34-37,49; 18:6-7). Apparently David then became proud, lost his fear of God, and committed some awful sins. Worst of all, he became a self-righteous sinner because he covered it up and pretended to be righteous. Finally the judgments of God fell and he lost everything (2 Samuel 11-12). But a marvelous change occurred in him after God humbled him.

We haven't got anybody's righteousness except Jesus', and He's the only One who can give it to us (Philippians 3:9).

OCTOBER 20

Wouldn't it be wonderful if people would simply do what Jesus said to do?

Jesus gave us the key to happiness and harmony when He said, "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:39). So when people don't treat others with much love, of course they're going to have problems—and they have. In fact, all of the evils in the world today can be traced back to people's lack of love for God and each other. The simple love of God and each other is still God's solution, even in such a highly complex and confused society as ours. If we love God, we can love each other, follow His rules of life, liberty, and the possession of happiness, and all will be well and happy in Him.

So ask God to help you love your neighbors with His love. And remember, "neighbor" doesn't only mean the one that lives next door. Your neighbor is anyone He brings across your path who needs your help.

A little love and understanding and tolerance and sharing could go such a long way in solving the world's problems. In fact, this should be the goal of every Christian: to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Love will solve all our problems too.

OCTOBER 21

You'll never walk alone if you have Jesus in your heart and your hand in His.

If you have Jesus, you always have company and love. No matter where you are, you are in His hands and He'll take care of you. Jesus is the one possession you'll never have to give up, never have to leave behind, never lose. You can give Him away as much as you like but you'll always have Him. He'll always be near (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

He's always there. It's not Jesus that's not always there; it's we who are sometimes not there. We sometimes run off somewhere else and leave Him way behind. But He never leaves us behind unless we don't follow. It's that simple.

Walk on through the wind,
Walk on through the rain,
Tho' your dreams be tossed and blown,
Walk on, walk on,
With hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
—Oscar Hammerstein II, Carousel (1895-1960)

(Prayer:) Go with us, Lord. That's the best that we can poss-ibly desire—that You go with us every step of the way and that we go with You every step of the way.

OCTOBER 22

A Christian is not perfect, but he is forgiven.

Some people seem to think that everyone has got to be good or bad, black or white, and there's no gray. But the fact of the matter is that when it comes to our righteousness, there's no such thing as black or white; we're all gray. Nobody is all bad, and nobody is perfectly clean and white except by faith in the blood of Christ. Only Jesus is perfect and able to help us, which is why He had to come.

Nobody is ever good enough. We're all fallible, we all make mistakes, we all commit sins, and it's only by the grace of God that we are saved. It's only His love and mercy and His grace and His sacrifice on Calvary that saves us. Nothing else. Nothing!

Thank God salvation doesn't depend on how good we've been or even how good we are now. It only depends on our faith in the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ. In spite of all our sins and shortcomings, failures, mistakes, and unsaintliness, God still loves and forgives us. "He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. … As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:10,12).

OCTOBER 23

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

Every day, millions of Christians all over the world pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven," but most of them probably don't really appreciate the tremendous reality of that part of the Lord's Prayer, or how literally it is going to be fulfilled.

Jesus told His disciples, "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). This is true for all of us who know and love Jesus; we already have heaven on earth in our hearts. But during the coming thousand-year reign of Christ on earth, the Millennium, He's going to wipe away all this hell on earth and set up His kingdom of peace and righteousness and fairness and justice and goodness and mercy and love. It's not going to be Heaven, but the next best thing—Christ's kingdom on earth. His kingdom won't only be within us then, it will be all around us. And "none of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me" (Hebrews 8:11).

For the darkness shall turn to dawning,
And the dawning to noonday bright;
And Christ's great kingdom shall come on earth,
The kingdom of love and light.
—Henry Ernest Nichol (1862-1926)

OCTOBER 24

Faith is ...

Faith is hearing the inaudible, seeing the invisible, believing the incredible, and receiving the impossible. Faith is often completely contrary to natural expectation and natural reasoning.

Faith is asking for what you need. Faith is creating a vacuum in your heart for God to fill. Faith is not only believing that God can, but that God will. Faith is the opposite of doubt and fear. Faith is not surprised at the answer. Faith expected it to happen.

Faith is tranquil when it's very stormy. Faith isn't bound by circumstances or conditions. When man says, "Tie up in port," faith says, "Launch out into the deep!" Faith is not passive; it acts out what it believes.

Faith is standing your ground when all others desert. Faith is burning your bridges so you can't turn back. Faith is being willing to pay any price. Faith is doing what God tells you to do today and believing Him for tomorrow. Faith is choosing God in spite of all other possibilities. Faith is standing on God's Word, not your feelings. Faith is being willing to die trusting. That's the kind of faith that works miracles!

Faith is like a muscle that grows strong and supple with exercise. Faith is built by faithful study of God's Word (Romans 10:17).

OCTOBER 25

God's will allows for freedom of choice, within certain limitations.

God's will—what God wants us to do because He knows it will work out best for everyone else involved—is sort of like a tunnel. It confines us and restricts us to a certain area of movement and possibility, while still allowing us to make our own decisions and operate according to our own faith. He keeps us within certain bounds, but where we go in the tunnel, to the left or right, depends a lot on us and our choices. He gives us leeway as long as we stay within the bounds He has set. We are allowed to find our way through the tunnel, but we should be making forward progress with each step, not going backward.

The tunnel always leads in the right direction. It always has a goal, and of course there's always the best, most direct path within the tunnel. When we yield to God and let His choices become our choices, when our primary motive is to please God and do things His way, when we delight ourselves in Him, then we go His direction and stay in the center of His will; we stay focused on His guiding light at the end of the tunnel, and really make progress.

OCTOBER 26

"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal."—Thomas Moore (1779-1852).

God's Word is always a comfort and the voice of His Spirit is always an encouragement in the hour of greatest trial. The Bible says, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18). When we think about that, it helps us bear some of the things we have to go through now.

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning" (Psalm 30:5). We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and the end of life's road. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2 Corinthians 4:17).

God's tomorrow is a beautiful place. We'll be with Jesus and all our loved ones, and "there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying" (Revelation 21:4). He will wipe away our tears, and the former things shall be forgotten in the glories of the ecstasies of the kingdom to come.

OCTOBER 27

Sometimes we limit God by our little faith.

Because God loves us, He tries to be as good to us as possible. As long as we're doing our best to do what's right and what we're asking Him for is good for us, He will give it to us. "No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11).

But sometimes, the Bible tells us, we have not because we ask not (James 4:2). So if you really need something, pray it in. Just be careful what you ask God to do for you, because He'll often take you literally; He will take you exactly at your word.

The story is told of a man who prayed, "Lord, I need a car. I'm desperate for a car! Please give me a car—any old car!"—And that's exactly what he got, a real clunker! So the next time he needed a car he prayed for a good one, and he got it!

God is very definite, so be definite with Him. He'll give you what you ask for and what you have the faith for (Matthew 7:7-8; 9:29). God will give you what you have faith for, and you should have faith for what you need. If the need is there, the answer must be there too, so look around and pray it in.

OCTOBER 28

You can't be God's fair-weather friend.

Most Christians can have faith in usual situations and under normal conditions for what they expect God to do. But when everything goes wrong and seems contrary to the Word and the usual, only those with great faith can say with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him" (Job 13:15). What Job was saying was, "Even though it seems like God is breaking His own Word with me, even though God kills me contrary to all His promises, I'll still trust Him."

If you're only going to be willing to believe and obey God as long as everything goes right, you won't be believing or obeying very much, because a lot of things can seem to go wrong when you're serving the Lord. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous," the Bible tells us, "but the Lord delivers him out of them all" (Psalm 34:19).—No matter how many or what they may be. So keep trusting and praising and following God, no matter what.

Trust in God, however dark your way,
No matter what hard turns the road may take.
Hold to His hand until the break of day,
When in His likeness we shall then awake!

—Author unknown

OCTOBER 29

God is pictured in His Son.

None of us can really grasp how great God our Father is. The Bible says that He is so great even the whole universe cannot contain Him. He's so beyond our comprehension that He had to make Someone who could show us His love, Someone who was within our realm, Someone we could see, Someone we could feel, Someone we could experience, Someone who would bring God down to the level of our comprehension, one Man who was like Himself, whom He called His Son.

God stooped to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to be an example of what God Himself is like. Jesus is God's most outstanding means of communication with us, communicating to us His own love by means of His own Son.

Jesus is like the tip of the iceberg, the part we can see. The greatest part of the iceberg, God, is out of sight. Even though we can't see the rest of the iceberg, we can get an idea of what it is like from the part that shows, the part that's in our realm. The Bible says that God is love (1 John 4:8), and we know that is true because of the loving part of Him that we can see in Jesus!

OCTOBER 30

No matter what else you're doing, you can always be praying.

In everything you do, you ought to be praying and looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Prayer should be like breathing—just breathing the Holy Spirit all the time. Stay in constant communication with Jesus, constantly thinking about Him and asking Him about whatever it is you're doing, and you will be anointed and Spirit-led in everything you do. If you're praying and asking God for wisdom, He has promised to give it to you (James 1:5).

Jesus can save you a lot of trouble and a lot of time if you'll pray before you start any job. Ask Him to lead you and help you, even if your prayer is just a few words. You can pray in a split second and get the answer back quick, but if you don't take the time to pray, and you lean on your own under-standing and your own wisdom, you're apt to make a sad mistake (Proverbs 3:5-7).

So ask Jesus about everything—every undertaking, every problem, every decision—and make sure you're doing what He wants you to do, the way He wants it done.

OCTOBER 31

The Word of God is the foundation of faith.

How do you get faith?—It's a gift of God and is available to anyone who wants it. The problem is, most people don't want it until they need it, and then they suddenly find they don't have the faith they need because they have no background of faith in God's Word, no foundation. After all, how can they have faith in something they know little or nothing about?

As no good building is without a good foundation, there is no solid basis for faith without the Word; faith in God is built on His Word. So if you feel like you're weak in faith, there's a simple cure: God's Word will increase your faith.

Faith comes, it grows, by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). As you faithfully read and study the Word, as you meditate on it and even memorize it, every word will inspire, strengthen, and increase your faith. Fill your mind and heart with positive, encouraging, strengthening, faith-building thoughts from His Word and you'll soon be amazed at the faith you'll have—true faith, the kind that can stand any test, the kind that works miracles, the kind that lasts, built on the solid rock foundation of His truth!

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