Category: 2024

The BIBLE VIEW #987 — Bitterness

In This Issue:
Bound by Bitterness
Advice on How to Have a Good Testimony
Forgive

Volume: 987    December 30, 2024
Theme: Bitterness

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.


Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/

Bound by Bitterness
Bill Brinkworth

One of the most devastating human emotions can be feelings of bitterness.  Its strangling grasp can creep into our lives.  Sometimes, we do not know how much it consumes our thoughts and feelings.  Before we know it, we are captured in the claws of the sin of unforgiveness.

Perhaps it started with hurt feelings over what was said, another’s actions, or even a lack of response.  We mull it over and over.  It festers in our gut.  Our spirit may even be crushed.  

We can get hard feelings about the person that offended us.  Perhaps those hurt want to get “even” with the other person.  Before long, hurt feelings can lead to different actions, including slander against the offending person or avoidance of that person.

The hurt accomplished may not even be recognized by the “offender”.  They may not have a clue as to how one is reacting to their remarks or actions, yet the offendee’s bitterness burrows deeper and deeper into one’s life.

Holding a grudge against another can be so devastating to some that it affects their health.  Anger can be a result of bitterness.  When angry, adrenaline and other hormones are released into the bloodstream, causing high blood pressure and a faster beating heart.  Depression, ulcers, heart attack, and stroke have also been linked to those that are controlled by the stress of bitterness and unforgiveness.  Not forgiving and not attempting to forget the offense can also lead people to do or say things to the offender that they would never think of doing or saying.  Bitterness can indeed affect a person’s life.

All have wrongs done to them sometime in their lives that hurt their feelings.  Some let them roll off their shoulders and continue with their lives; others stew and never let go of what another has done to them.  

The Bible has much to say about bitterness and forgiving one another.  Here is a glimpse of what is said in the Bible:

  • God says not to be bitter and hold a grudge!  “It’s not that easy not to be bitter,” is often said.  That is true.  No sin is easy to stop.  To have a healthy life and a good relationship with God, bitterness must be halted.
    “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour [to complain, utter loud noises], and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” Ephesians 4:31
  • Forgive those who have wronged you.
    “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.” Luke 17:3
  • Christ knows all you did, yet He still has forgiven all you have done if you are saved!  (John 3:16)
    “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Ephesians 4:32   Also: Col. 3:13.
  • Do not worry and occupy your thoughts with what another has done to you.  The gateway to bitterness is the thought gate.  Once an idea gets in and is contemplated, it does more damage the more it is entertained in one’s thought life.  Do not let yourself dwell on it.  Stop thinking about it before it gets out of hand.
    “Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;” Prov. 24:19
  • Do not even start entertaining thoughts of getting even.
    “Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.” Proverbs 24:29  Also: I Peter 3:8.
  • You certainly have wronged others, even unintentionally.  You surely want to be forgiven by others and the Lord, so forgive those who have “wronged” you!
    “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” Matthew 6:12  Also: Mark 11:25-26.
  • Forgive them, even if they do the offense more than once!
    “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  till seven times?  Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21  Also: Luke 17:4.
  • The only “getting even” God allows is to be nice to the offender!
    “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.” Proverbs 25:21- 22  Return unkindness with kindness!  This is certainly not what the world gives as a solution.  Vengeance never takes away hurt feelings.   Also: Mat.  5:44-45, Rom. 12:14, Rom.  12:17.
  • If any “getting even” is needed, God will do it, not you!
    “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Romans 12:19
  • Do not be happy when bad things happen to them.  Do not gloat, “They are getting theirs!”
    “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” Proverbs 24:17-18

Unforgiveness and the bitterness that often follow do not help or change anything.  The hurt feelings of bringing the matter up repeatedly certainly digs its trap deeper and deeper.  The only way to get peace is to forgive.

“It’s easy for you to say.  You don’t know what that person did to me.” You are right.  I do not know, but I have learned that carrying and harboring bitterness will hurt you and others.  Your only choices are to let it fester or eliminate it.  Hopefully, you truly want to get rid of it.

Although it is repeatedly suggested that we forget our offended feelings, most of us cannot.  Only God can forget when He chooses.  We may not be able to get it permanently out of our minds, but we can do our best not to let it be at the forefront of our thought-life.

We all battle hurt feelings.  It is our choice how we handle them.  God’s Word clearly says we should not let those temptations rule and destroy our lives.  Instead of getting bitter and blaming God about a matter, it is the time to get close to Him.  It is during those hard times that we learn of His mercy and grace.

The longer one carries a grudge, the heavier it becomes!
“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:” Eph. 4:26

Advice on How to Have a Good Testimony
Bill Brinkworth

One of the most valuable assets a Christian can have is his testimony.  What others think of him is often what they see him do, how he reacts in certain situations, and how they believe a Christian should live (although their view may not always be accurate).  Paul gave some advice on how to preserve that testimony in Ephesians 4.  Some of his advice included:

  • Do not live like the rest of the world and put the wrong value on things that are not that important (vs. 17-18).
  • Do not lust after things of this world and be consumed with greed for them (vs. 19).
  • Do not let your conversation with others be about lust for this world’s things (vs. 22).
  • Live a righteous life and strive to be a good example (vs. 24).
  • Let your conversation be honest, and do not lie (vs. 25).
  • If you get angry, get it right with those involved before the sun goes down (vs. 26).
  • Do not get close to sin, and allow the devil to destroy your testimony (vs. 27).
  • Do not steal; work hard for what you want (vs. 28).
  • Be careful of the words you utter, and make sure what you say helps others (vs. 29).
  • Do not sadden the indwelling Holy Spirit by sinning (vs. 30).
  • Do not allow the sins of bitterness, violence, anger, and evil speaking to be part of your life (vs. 31).
  • Be kind to others (vs. 32).

 As hard as we try, some will always see our example wrong, no matter how we adhere to the above advice and other godly principles.  Although it is impossible to please all the people all the time, we have a responsibility to try to have the best testimony possible.  Our example is not so much about what others think about us but what others believe about Christ from our example. 

We are often all the unsaved will ever see about Christ.  Will they determine that they do not want to be a Christian because of what is observed by our behavior, or will they consider being one because of how we live our lives?

“Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;” Heb. 12:15

Forgive
Author Unknown

In a school in Ireland, one boy struck another, and when he was about to be punished, the injured boy begged for his pardon.  The teacher asked, “Why do you wish to keep him from being punished?  He hit you.”

The boy replied, “I have read in the New Testament where our Lord Jesus Christ said that we should forgive our enemies and therefore I forgive him and beg he may not be punished for my sake.”

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:  15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Mat.  6:14-15

The BIBLE VIEW #986 — Sin

In This Issue:
We’re All Sinners
Curse of Sin
Deceitfulness of Sin
Sin, the Deceiver
Sin, the Tyrant
What Forgiveness Did


Volume: 986    December 23, 2024
Theme: Sin

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

We’re All Sinners
Bill Brinkworth

His friends whispered as loudly as they dared, “No, Avijit.  Do not go up to those people.  They do not want you there.  Stay with us.”

Avijit walked on towards the settlement, ignoring his friends’ pleas.  “I’m not like you,” he muttered.  “They will take me in and help me.”

As he approached a woman laden with wares she had just purchased at the bazaar, she shrieked as she gazed at the boy approaching her.  “Stand back,” she warned.  “Don’t get any closer!”

“But,” he tried to present his case, “I am not as bad as the others,” he pointed to the three that stood at the city’s outskirts, watching what would happen.

“Still, you are a leper!” reminded the woman. 

“But Ketak’s fingers and toes are disfigured,” he pointed to a distant figure of a young girl wrapped in tattered rags.  “Look at mine.  They are straight and strong.”  He showed the woman his young, brown fingers.  They were not affected by the dreaded disease.

“Maybe not, but still, you have the cursed disease.  Stand back.”  She said as she also took one step backward.

“But, my sores are not as bad as Badal’s,” he pointed to another figure looking on from afar.  “See, they are a lot smaller,” he pointed to the sores on his face and ears.

The woman shrugged as she looked at the disfiguring mass of sores spread across the young boy’s face and body, “But still, you have leprosy.  If you get any closer, I could also get the disease.  Stand back.  Stay with your kind, so we don’t get it,” and she quickly scurried away.

No matter how Avijit compared himself to others, the truth of the matter was that he still had a contagious disease.  He was still a leper and was a danger to others around him.  Many compare their sins to others in a similar manner.  They know what they have done but justify their iniquities as not as “bad” as others’ deeds. 

They compare themselves to the convicted thief behind bars and justify, “Yes, I have stolen pens from work, but I’m not as bad as that man who robbed a bank.”

The truth whispers back, “Ah ha, but you are still a thief.”

“I may lie to keep myself from getting in trouble with my parents, but I’m not as bad as that person who always lies.”

Again, the truth speaks softly to the conscience, “But you still are a liar!”

Stumbling for an example to clear any suggestions that they are guilty of being “bad”, justification fires back, “But, I am a good person.  I’m not as bad as others!”

The small, soft voice of conviction answers, “But sinning only once still qualifies you as a sinner.  Do not compare yourself to other sinners.  The penalty for iniquity is Hell.”

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” II Cor. 10:12

Unfortunately, it is “human” to compare ourselves to others.  It is not our measuring tool that matters, however.  It is God’s judgment that matters, and He says no sinner can go to Heaven. 

Since we are all sinners, the prognosis is not good.  However, because God loves us, He gave us a way to have our sins forgiven and forgotten.  That way is to recognize you are a sinner and believe that Jesus has paid for your sins with His blood at Calvary. 

All we need to do is admit our sinnership and trust Christ’s death is sufficient to pay for our sins; and then we can have God’s promise of Heaven one day.  All sin can be forgiven, and we can have our name written in Heaven’s “Book of Life!

“And there shall in no wise enter into it [Heaven] any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Rev. 21:27

Curse of Sin
Dr. J. Parker

O Sin, how hast thou curst us!  Thou hast thrown up a barrier between ourselves and God.  With thy chilling breath, thou hast extinguished the light of our household joys.  Thou hast unstrung our hap and filled the air with discordant cries.  Thou hast unsheathed the sword and bathed it in human blood.  Thou has dug every grave in the bosom of the fair earth.  But, for thee, we should not have known the name of widow or orphan, tear and sigh, and sorrow and death.  But for thee, our hearts had been untorn by a pang, and our joy pure as the ecstasies of Heaven.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12

Deceitfulness of Sin
Modified from an article by Henry Smith

When a man sins, he thinks within himself, “I will do this no more.”  Soon, another sin rears its tempting head, and after falling for its “bait,” the partaker of the sin again lowers his head in defeat and shame, promising never to do it again.  The lesson is still not learned, and after another sin is committed, it is repeatedly promised to “never to do it again.”

That is the way of sin to spur a man forward in his involvement in it.  Each time iniquity is committed, the man feels farther from God, less good about himself, and tormented by his own conscience.

“Give sin an inch, and you will have to retake a mile!” — Author Unknown



Sin, the Deceiver
Edited from a poem by Keach

Sin is composed of nothing but subtle wiles.
It fakes and flatters, and betrays by its smiles.
‘Tis like the panther, or the crocodile.
It hides its sting, seems harmless as a dove.
It hugs the soul, and hates, when it vowed to love.
It plays the tyrant most by gilded pills,
It secretly ensnares the souls it kills,
Sin’s promises they all deceitful be:
Does promise wealth, but pays only poverty.
Does promise honor, but only pays us shame
And quite bereaves a man of his good name.
Does promise pleasure, but only pays us sorrow.
It promises life today, but pays death tomorrow.
No thief so vile, nor treacherous as sin,
Whom fools do hug and take much pleasure in.



Sin, the Tyrant
Edited from an article by John Bate

An Arab miller was one day startled by a camel’s nose thrust in the window of a room where he was sleeping.  “It is very cold outside,” said the camel, “I only want to get my nose in to warm it.”

The nose was allowed in, then the neck, and finally, the whole body worked its way into the abode.  Soon, the miller began to be extremely inconvenienced by the ungainly companion he had obtained in a room certainly not large enough to hold both.  “If you are inconvenienced, you may leave,” said the camel.  “As for myself, I shall stay where I am.”

Thus is the ploy of sin.  It slithers in just a bit, and soon, a whole life is inconvenienced and plagued by its dominance.

What Forgiveness Did
Edited from an article by Dr. Guthrie

In the garrison town of Woolwich over 175 years ago, a soldier was about to be brought before the commanding officer for a misdemeanor.  The officer hearing the case exclaimed, “Here he is again.  What can we do with him?  He has been before us often, and nothing seems to turn him around!”

The sergeant-major apologized for intruding and said, “There is one thing that has never been done with him yet, sir.”

“What is that, sergeant-major?”

“Well, sir, he has never yet been forgiven.”

“Forgiven?” shouted the colonel, “See the long list of accusations against him?”

“Yes, I see, but the man is not before you yet, and you can cancel it.”

After reflecting on the matter, the colonel ordered the man to be brought before him.  When the prisoner was asked what he had to say regarding the charges brought against him, he replied, “Nothing, sir.  Only that I am very sorry for what I have done.”

After making some suitable remarks, the colonel concluded, “Well, we are resolved to forgive you.”

The soldier was struck with astonishment.  Tears ran down his face as he wept.  The colonel felt deeply, when he saw the man was humbled.  After thanking the colonel, the forgiven soldier left.

For two more years, the soldier remained in the army.  Not once were further charges brought against him during that time, or was fault found in the man.  Mercy triumphed.  Kindness conquered.

Such is the same mercy given to any that will humble themselves before the Father.  With a simple, sincere admittance of sinnership and trusting in Christ’s gift of eternal life, one can likewise be forgiven and have a new and different life.

“When God pardons sin, he consigns the offenses to eternal forgetfulness.”
— Author Unknown

The BIBLE VIEW #985 — Christmas

In This Issue:
He Gave!
We Have Much to Sing Praises For!
The Humiliated Christ
His and Our Birth

Volume: 985    December 15, 2024
Theme: Christmas

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say

He Gave
Bill Brinkworth

At a time when everyone is giving gifts to each other, it would do us well to remember what God has given us:

  • God has given us everything we have: food, drink, health, the ability to work, and a mind to think and accomplish everything we do.  There is nothing that we have that God has not, in one way or another, allowed us to have.  Those who proudly proclaim they have “done it all themselves” do not understand that every breath, every heartbeat, and all that we do are allowed by God.  There is no such thing as a “self-made man”.
    “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.” Ecclesiastes 3:13
    “I have planted, Apollos watered but God gave the increase.” I Corinthians 3:6
  • God has given the gift of salvation to all who will accept His way to Heaven.  God has given His son, Jesus, to die and pay for our transgressions.  All who accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for their sin can have the gift of salvation.
    “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23
    “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
  • For those who are saved, God gave His gift of the Holy Spirit to them.
    “… and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38
    “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26
  • For those that are saved, God has given them one or more spiritual gifts to serve Him.
    “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.” Romans 12:6-8
  • For those who are saved, God has given us power over the many obstacles we face during our lifetimes.
    “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Mat.  21:22
    “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” I John 3:22


God is so wonderful to give us all that He has given us.  None deserve His goodness.  The least we can do is to give back to Him part of what He has allowed us to have.  

We should give to Him, not because we have to, but because we want to.  God wants us to serve, obey, and live for Him because we love Him. Do you love Him enough to give back to a giving God?  No one can give more than our heavenly Father has, but will you give some of your time, finances, and life to Him?

“They gave him a manger for a cradle, a carpenter’s bench for a pulpit, thorns for a crown, and a cross for a throne.  He took them and made them the very glory of his career.”  — Orchard

We Have Much to Sing Praises For!
C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, Jan. 20

“And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.” Luke 2:20

What was the subject of their praise?  They praised God for what they had heard — for the good tidings of great joy that a Saviour was born unto them.  Let us copy the shepherds and raise a song of thanksgiving that we have heard of Jesus and His salvation.

They also praised God for what they had seen.  There is the sweetest music — what we have experienced, what we have felt within, what we have made our own; “the things which we have made touching the King.”

It is not enough to hear about Jesus.  Mere hearing may tune the harp, but the fingers of living faith must create the music.  If you have seen Jesus with the God-given sight of faith, suffer no cobwebs to linger among the harp strings, but be loud with the praise of sovereign grace.  Waken your psaltery and harp.

One point for which they praised God was the agreement between what they had heard and what they had seen.  Observe the last sentence: “… as it was told unto them.” Have you not found the Gospel to be in yourselves just what the Bible said it would be?  Jesus said He would give you rest.  Have you not enjoyed the sweetest peace in Him?  He said you should have joy, comfort, and life through believing in Him.  Have you not received all these?  Are not His ways of pleasantness and His paths of peace?

Surely, you can say with the queen of Sheba, “The half has not been told me.” I have found Christ sweeter than His servants ever said He was.  I looked upon His likeness as they painted it, but it was a mere daub compared with Himself, for the King in His beauty outshines all imaginable loveliness.  Indeed, what we have “seen” keeps pace with, nay, far exceeds, what we have “heard.”  Let us, then, glorify and praise God for a Saviour so precious and so satisfying.

“God be thanked for that good and perfect gift, the gift unspeakable; His life, His love, His very self in Christ Jesus.”  — Babcock

The Humiliated Christ
Dr. Guthrie.,1854

Many name Tsar Peter I as the founder of the Russian Empire.  He left his palace and the seductive pleasures and all the pomp and royalty to acquire the art of shipbuilding in the dockyard of a Dutch seaport.

He learned it so that he might teach it to his subjects.  He became a servant, that he might be the better master, and lay the foundations of a great naval power in Russia.  His country has been grateful.  Saint Petersburg, which bears his name, is adorned with a monument to his memory.  It is as massive as his mind, and the city has embalmed his deathless name in her heart and victories.

Yet, little as men think of Jesus, lightly as they esteem Him, His humbling acts were far greater than Tsar Peter’s.   He was a king who became a subject that his subjects might find in Him a king.  The Son of God stooped to toil and suffered great anguish that we would have a Hell-less eternity and a loving, guiding Lord.  What an amazing sacrifice our Saviour gave for us! 

“Being a humble instrument in the hands of our heavenly Father, I desire that all my words and acts may be according to His will. I give thanks to the Almighty, and seek His aid.”  — Abraham Lincoln

His and Our Birth
Oswald Chambers

“And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35

Jesus Christ was born into this world, not from it.  He did not evolve out of history.  He came into history from the outside.  

Jesus Christ is not the best human being.  He is a being who cannot be accounted for by the human race at all.  He is not man becoming God, but God Incarnate, God coming into human flesh, coming into it from outside.  His life is the Highest and the holiest entering in at the lowliest door.

“My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” Galatians 4:19  

Just as our Lord came into human history from outside, so He must come into us from the outside.  Have we allowed our personal human life to become a “Bethlehem” for the Son of God?  

One cannot enter into the realm of the Kingdom of God unless one is born from above by a totally “unnatural” birth.

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:7

The BIBLE VIEW #984 — Christmas

In This Issue:
The Birth of Jesus According to Matthew
Bethlehem and Calvary
No Room at the Inn

Volume: 984    December 9, 2024
Theme: Baby Jesus

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.


Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say



The Birth of Jesus According to Matthew
Bill Brinkworth

Many in the world celebrate Christmas.  People’s ideas of what happened at Jesus’ birth are often derived from artists’ renderings of the event or opinions, not the Bible’s words.

In Matthew 2, we see four areas where people who do not read the Bible for themselves err when they compare their knowledge of Christ’s birth to the biblical account:

  • The wise men followed the star to find where the young child lay, not the shepherds.
    “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.” Matthew 2:7
    “When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.”     Matthew 2:9
  • Jesus was a “young child” when the wise men visited Him, not a “babe” (Luke 2).
    “… till it came and stood over where the young child was.” Matthew 2:9
  • The wise men visited Jesus in the “house,” not the manager.  When they saw Jesus, he may have been under two years old!  That time is derived from when the travelers met with King Herod and when the leader ordered children under two to be killed.
    “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11

Herod wanted the wise men to find the child and return, telling him where Christ was.  He intended to have the child killed, perhaps because the prophesied King of the Jews would take away his reign as king.

God warned the wise men not to return to Herod.  They did not, and the ruler was wroth.  He was so angry that he had all the boy children under the age of two murdered.  If Jesus was just born, why would the king slaughter all the children under two years old?  It is quite clear from these scriptures that time had passed since the wise men saw Herod and that the child may have even walked to the door when the wise men visited.
“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.” Matthew 2:16

  • The Bible does not say there were three wise men.  It states that their gifts included three different offerings: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Because these wealthy merchants traveled for long periods, they often traveled in large caravans for safety.  There was more than one wise man because the scripture refers to them in the plural.  There could have been three or thirty merchants.  See Matthew 2:11 above.


One lesson that can be learned from Matthew 2 is not to formulate your “religion” from something someone painted or what someone else says.  Read the Bible for yourself to know “thus saith the Lord,” not what man thinks.

“But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.” I Timothy 4:7

Bethlehem and Calvary
Harry Todd

Once again, it’s Christmas time.
So you will go and buy a tree
And forget the tree of Calvary
Where Jesus died for you and me.

You will trim the tree so pretty
With lights that glow so bright,
But never think of Jesus
As being the Greatest Light.

You’ll give and receive gifts
From your friends and all,
Forgetting God’s only begotten Son,
The Greatest Gift of all.

You’ll remember Jesus the baby,
In the manger meek and mild,
But if He is not your Saviour,
Then He is just another child.

If you’ve not been to Calvary,
Christmas is a meaningless thing;
You just see the baby Jesus
Instead of the new born King.

If you’ve not been to Calvary,
This Christmas let it be
A time to bow at the feet of Jesus
Who gave His life for you and me.


No Room at the Inn
Author Unknown

“And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:7

This world did not favor the Saviour.  The prophecy in John 1:11 came true, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

He was to be “… despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3).

King Herod tried to kill the baby Jesus.  Pharisees sought to stone Him but did not (John 8:59).  Furious townspeople of Nazareth tried to cast Jesus from a hill but failed (Luke 4:29-30).  Herod and Pontius Pilate, rulers of the Jews, and a mob would combine to have Him scourged and crowned with thorns and then crucified.  Indeed, “there was no room for them in the inn,” or anywhere in the hearts of so many people.

I wonder if the baby Jesus, pricked by the straw in that rough bed and wrapped in swaddling clothes, knew that there would be no room for Him in this wicked world.

When I was four years old, in a country church Sunday school, a man gathered us little ones around his knee in a class and taught us a lesson.  On a colored picture card was a picture of Joseph, Mary, the Baby, and a donkey.  The hay was all about Him.  The  text was “There was  no room for them in the inn.”  My young heart burned with an awful sense of the wickedness of mankind. 

My sister and I had a little trundle bed which, in the daytime, folded up and rolled under Mother’s and Daddy’s bed.  Everybody at our house slept in comfortable beds, but there was no bed for the Baby.  What a wicked world it must be that has no room for their own Saviour.

Have you made room in your heart for Jesus, or are you also rejecting Him?

No beautiful chamber, no soft cradle bed,
No place but a manger, nowhere for His head,
No praises of gladness, no thought  of their sin,
No glory but sadness, no room at the inn.

No sweet consecration, no seeking His part,
No humiliation, no place in the heart,
No thought of the Saviour, no sorrow for sin,
No prayer for His favor, no room at the inn.

No one to receive Him.  No welcome while here,
No balm to relieve Him, no staff but a spear,
No seeking His treasure, No weeping for sin,
No doing His pleasure, no room at the inn.

No room, no room for Jesus,
Oh, give Him welcome free,
Lest you should hear at Heaven’s gate
”There is no room for thee.”

The BIBLE VIEW #983 — Your Word

In This Issue:
Your Words
Reneging on Your Promise to God
Three Will Know


Volume: 983 November 25, 2024
Theme: Your Word

The Daily View is a free, daily devotion. Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading. The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/


Your Words
Bill Brinkworth

God’s words, as preserved in the Bible, are always honest and can be trusted (Prov. 30:15). Our words, however, are not always truthful and cannot be trusted. All sin with their mouth.

“Word” is used at least 704 times in the King James Bible. Although most of those times refer to God’s Word, we can see from the many references that words are important to God. Some verses show us what God thinks about what comes out of our mouths.

In Romans 1, where at least 30 sins are mentioned, at least fifteen involve what was said. Some of the iniquities mentioned are ungratefulness, debating, deceitfulness, gossiping, backbiting, pride, boasting, disobedience to parents, and covenant-breaking. Although there are hundreds of commandments in the Old Testament, the popularly known “Ten” includes at least three commandments that can involve our tongue. It should be evident to all that our tongue can be used for good, or it can be used to sin.

Here is some of what the Bible says about the words that can come out of our mouths:
• Many sins are with the tongue. Our tongues can be behind some of our iniquities.
“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! 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 3:5-6
“But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips….“ Isa. 6:5
“And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.” Matthew 12:32
“For thy mouth uttereth thine iniquity, and thou choosest the tongue of the crafty.” Job 15:5
“Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.” Psalms 52:2
“Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:” Psalms 64:3
“They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.” Psalms 73:9
“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Proverbs 15:2
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.” Proverbs 21:6
“A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.” Proverbs 26:28
Also: Psalms 15:3, Proverbs 6:17, Pr. 18:21, Pr. 17:4.

• Be careful what the tongue says. It can and should be controlled!
“Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile.” Psalms 34:13
“Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2
“Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.” Job 6:24
Also: Job 27:4, Proverbs 10:31, I Peter 3:10.

• We will be accountable for every word we say!
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36
“The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:” Psalms 12:3
“For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.” Psalms 139:4
“If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.” James 1:26 There were times when Jesus, our example, knew to say nothing. Sometimes, it would be best to take His example and keep silent in certain situations.
“And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.” Matthew 27:14

• The tongue can be used for good.
“And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” Colossians 3:17
“And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.” Psalms 35:28
“The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.” Proverbs 10:20
Also: I Timothy 4:12, Proverbs 15:4, Proverbs 14:15.

• There will be times when we can speak what God wants us to say. Use it for His glory now.
“And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:11

Like the rest of our body, our tongue was part of God’s creation. Its creation was not intended for us to sin against our Creator. A saved person should strive to control what is uttered by his tongue. Some of the best advice for those desiring to please God and wanting to control their tongue comes from the adage, “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything.”

“Promises may get thee friends, but non-performance may turn them into enemies.”— Benjamin Franklin


Reneging on Your Promise to God
Bill Brinkworth

“When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.” Deut. 23:21

In desperation, sometimes people plea to the Lord for His help. They beg and promise Him that if He remedies a situation, they will do or stop doing something in return for His intervention. No matter the dire, compelling circumstances, they vowed they would do something.


A frantic mother at the bedside of her deathly ill child may beg God that if He heals her child, she will go to church every Sunday and bring her children. Distressed about losing his job, a man may promise God that he will quit drinking if only God would get him work. Anxious from seeing unpaid bills piling up and visions of being homeless, a parent may promise God all kinds of changes if only He will deliver them from the financial mess they were in.

Often, God does deliver the despairing one from the serious situation. However, the rescued person sometimes goes back on his commitment to the Lord. He reneges on keeping his promise to God.

Such was the situation in Jeremiah’s day. God had the prophet Jeremiah relay a commandment to the Hebrews. The commandment was that they were to release all the Jewish maids and manservants from bondage. They were to be set free (Jer. 34:8-10), and the servants were released from their servitude.

However, as do so many in a similar situation, many changed their minds (Jer. 34:11). They went back on their commitment to the Lord. Those that were freed were again put into bondage.

Their doubled-mindedness, unfortunately, cost those who broke their promise to the Lord quite a lot as He dealt with their disobedience and promise-breaking. Enemies attacked them; pestilences plagued them; famine ravished the people; their reputation was tarnished; many lost their lives (Jer. 34:17-22); and other punishments. They paid an extremely exorbitant wage for breaking their word to God.
Let this hard lesson Israel learned from the judging hands of God be a wake-up call to you for any promises you have made to Him. The Lord takes our words very seriously. Be honest; be true; keep your word as God expects you to!
“If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.” Num. 30:2
“When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.” Ecclesiastes. 5:45

“A promise made is a debt unpaid until you keep your word1”
— Author Unknown

Three Will Know
Author Unknown

A newly saved man was tempted to cheat. Upon his refusal, his tempter asked why.

“Because three will know that I cheated,” replied the Christian. “You will know. I will know, and Heaven will know.” This applies to all of us.
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:13

The BIBLE VIEW #982 — The Word of God

In This Issue:
Where Is the Word of God?
Untrue Statements about Modern Translations and Versions
Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions

Volume: 982 November 18, 2024
Theme: God’s Word

The Daily View is a free, daily devotion. Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading. The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/

Where Is the Word of God?
Bill Brinkworth

One of the most important yet controversial topics concerning the things of God is whether the English-speaking people still have the inspired (“God-breathed”) and preserved Word of God with them today. Many shrug this topic off as a subject to be discussed only by preachers or Bible scholars. It, however, should be very important to all.

If we do not have all the words of God, how do we know that John 3:16 is accurate? Was something added or removed from the verse? Are we saved, as the words we have been trusting for salvation may have been altered? Do we know how God wants us to live as the verses that give God’s directions to us may also have been changed? If the reliability of God’s Word is questionable, we cannot know anything about God’s will and way for sure.

It is essential that we know what we read in the Bible is what God has commanded. We must be sure we have God’s entire, word-for-word, preserved, God-breathed Word and trust it wholly.

With over 300+ English translations and versions available, and each teaching something different, how can one know where the real Word of God is? A very complex subject cannot be completely answered in this brief article. Still, some facts can be revealed, making it easier to discern where the Word of God is today.

The Jews had preserved the Old Testament in the Masoretic, Hebrew-language text long before Christ. New Testament writings were collected and originally compiled in the Greek Textus Receptus. Godly men precisely translated those two manuscripts through history.

In 1611, a collection of some of the most godly translators took those texts, compared them with other books, and assembled what today is known as the King James Bible. Later, as the English written language became consistent, the KJB (also called the KJV) went through corrections, mostly spelling, and is the King James Bible we have today. The Word of God’s inspiration is preserved in today’s King James Bible.

However, there have always been those who have corrupted and changed God’s Word.
• Eve did. She added that she was not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when God only said not to eat its fruit (Gen. 2:17, 3:3).
• Satan got Eve to doubt God’s commandments (Gen. 3:4).
• Another Gospel was preached even during the time of the first churches (II Cor. 11:4, Gal. 1:6-7).
• Some added their traditions to the Gospel (Mark 7:13).
• Some corrupted God’s Word (II Cor. 2:17).

Today, the same spirit that has always been around to confuse readers and alter what God wanted all to know is still perverting God’s Word. Although there are many renditions, most have a different origin than the KJV. They have their roots in the Latin translations of the Sinaitic manuscript (331 A.D., rediscovered in 1844 A.D.), the Vaticanus text (around 331 A.D.), the Latin Vulgate, and other writings1.

The influencers and authors of those texts were men such as Origen, whose writings reflect his beliefs that Jesus Christ was a created being and did not have eternal existence as God. Eusebius, who introduced tradition into his works, and others not dedicated to preserving God’s word, had their hand in perverting God’s words. They all interjected their philosophies rather than accurately translating what was already written.

Those texts were the foundation for most of the 300+ perversions of God’s Word. Because the original root texts were corrupt, there is no way their translations can ever be accurate. That is one reason modern versions have changed, added, and deleted words. They convey doctrines the writer or the religious organization re-writing the Scriptures wants to be taught rather than what the preserved Word of God says.

It does not even make sense that:
• Until the influx of modern perversions started around 1881, man had been without a copy of God’s Word.
• Many of the liberal translators, some of them with poor Christian testimonies, unsound beliefs, and some denying major doctrines of the Bible (the deity of Christ, Hell, Christ’s blood atonement, etc.) would be used to give us God’s Word, rather than those spiritual, intellectual giants that helped bring the English world an accurate translation of God’s Word in 1611.
• God would give us a new version that contradicts the preserved manuscripts in many places.
• God, who is not a God of confusion (I Cor. 14:33 ), would allow those honestly seeking Him to be confused without knowing what He wanted them to know.

It does make sense:
• That we still have the perfect copy of God’s Word, just as He promised:
“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:8
• That no one should add, alter, or remove His Words (Deut. 4:2, Prov. 30:6, Rev. 22:19).

Today, we have the same words as given by Moses, David, kings, prophets, apostles, and other men God used to preserve His Word. We do not have to doubt if we have it all. God’s Word has been preserved and is still available to all who seek it. It is found within the pages of the King James (1611) Bible.
1 Ray, Jasper J. God Wrote Only One Bible, Eugene, Oregon, Eye Opener Publishers, 1983

“The claims of many of the perverters of the Word of God are to make the Bible easier to read and understand. However, few today have read it, and fewer have understood it.”



Untrue Statements about Modern Bible Translations and Versions

• They make the Bible easier to understand. The King James Bible is at a 5.8-grade reading level (Flesh-Kincaid Grade level indicator). However, the New International Version is at 8.4. The New King James is 6.9, and the New American Standard Bible is 8.12. Besides, it is the Holy Spirit that allows anyone to understand God’s Word, not man’s editing (I Cor. 2:14)!
• They come from the originals. The originals were never assembled in one place together!
• They change archaic words. They do, but the words replacing them often change the meaning of the verse in many places. Since less than 20 words in the KJV are not commonly used today (not including verbs with the added “th”), It would make more sense to understand their meaning by using a dictionary rather than to change the whole Bible.
• Modern scholars now know more than they knew then. Many of the authors of the new versions did not even know Hebrew or Greek, nor were they experts in over ten ancient languages, as were many of the 1611 King James translating committee members.
• They come from older manuscripts. The Masoretic and Textus Receptus used in the KJV are older and more reliable manuscripts, not what most modern versions use. Some of what are called the “oldest texts” are not reliable at all. Also, some “most ancient manuscripts” are over 100 years newer than those used in the KJV.
• If the new Bible versions are correcting “errors,” why are all the versions different? Don’t they have it right yet?
• “So you are saying that it is only preserved for the English-speaking people?” There is a text that comes from the Masoretic and Textus Receptus for all the major languages, including English, Greek, Jewish, French, and Spanish.

2 Riplinger, G. A. New Age Bible Versions, Ararat, VA, 1995

The King James Bible has 783,137 words, whereas the New International Bible has only 727,969.
“And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” Rev. 22:19



Examples of Changes in Different Bible Versions

There are thousands of changes in all of the different versions. Here are only a few so you can get an idea of how man has changed what God has said!

King James (KJV): “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37
New International Version (NIV): Verse removed
New American Standard Version (NASB): Verse removed.
New World Translation (Jehovah Witness Bible): Verse removed.
Revised Standard Version (RSV): Verse removed.
New Century Version (NCV): Verse removed.
These re-writers wanted to do away with the biblical teaching of baptism!

(KJV) “And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Mat. 1:25
American Standard Version (ASV) “and knew her not till she had brought forth a son: and he called his name JESUS.”
(RSV) “but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
(NIV) “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.”
(NWT) “But he had no intercourse with her until she gave birth to a son; and he called his name Jesus.”
Other versions remove wording indicating that Jesus was Mary’s first born son. The facts are altered.

(KJV) “For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.” Mat. 18:11
(NASB) This verse is footnoted and implies that it should not be there.
(NIV) Verse removed.
(NWT) Verse removed.
(NCV) Verse removed.
The important reason for Jesus Christ’s coming has been deleted! The way of salvation is removed!

(KJV) “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;” Eph. 5:18
New King James Version (NKJV) “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation …”
I thought they were supposed to make it easier to understand.

(KJV) “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.” Daniel 3:3
(NKJV) “And King Nebuchadnezzar sent word to gather together the satraps, the administrators, the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the judges, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.” A difficult word was inserted and facts were changed.

“If the modern authors are supposed to make the Bible easier to understand, why did 300+ versions still not make it easy enough? Why do they still feel it was not simplified enough and still requires other versions?”

The BIBLE VIEW #981 — Changes

In This Issue:
Changed!
The Wrong Doctors
What Christ Did
Just As I Am
Need of a New Birth


Volume: 981 November 11, 2024
Theme: Changes

The Daily View is a free, daily devotion. Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading. The e-mail will also include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/



Changed!
Bill Brinkworth


When a person is saved, there will be changes in him. He will act, live, and think differently than he did before.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17

After the Holy Spirit becomes the controlling conscience of a born-again individual, there will usually be at least one area that His convicting Spirit urges us to deal with. He often “speaks” to our hearts about our flesh’s desires.
“That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.” I Peter 4:2

Fulfilling the lusts for the things in this world never actually filled us in the past and did nothing to help us. After salvation, the Holy Spirit directs us to eliminate the sinful, damaging baggage we do not need.

In the past, indulgences of animal desires (“lasciviousness”), lusts, drunkenness, partying (“revellings”), and putting other things above the Lord (“idolatries”) ruled our lives (I Peter 4:3). Now, on the side of salvation, they are to be halted.

Another important area the indwelling Spirit of God will most likely address is the company one keeps. Those who were once part of our sinful lifestyles will either get saved or need to be separated from a saved individual. It is not uncommon that those who were “friends” in sin break off the relationship and even speak negatively of the saved person they used to sin with (I Peter 4:4).

The changes in the new believer are often emotionally painful. If they are not made, the person will certainly not lose their salvation. However, their testimony for Christ and their living for Him will not be what God desires for His child.

Many get saved, and immediately the Holy Spirit of God deals with their heart about an area of their lives that needs to be changed. Often, the child of God will try to obey the voice but may fail and fall back into sin. The Holy Spirit does not give up. Repeatedly, He deals with the person’s heart. He is undoubtedly a second, third, fourth, etc., chance God.

However, when the individual hardens his heart and purposely disobeys or ignores the convicting Spirit, God may cease dealing with the child of God until he repents. When he says “No” to God too many times, God’s “voice” stops speaking to him. It is in that place many Christians find themselves. God urged them to forsake a sin they had before their salvation or their association with the ungodly, but they refused to obey.

The key to having a victorious Christian life is to listen to the convicting “voice” of the Holy Spirit and to obey it. When He deals with past involvements, He attempts to remove us from what He knows will harm us.

When saved, we are new creatures in Christ. We have a second chance in life not to make the mistakes we made in the past. Listen and obey the Holy Spirit’s directions!

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6



The Wrong Doctors
Edited from an article by C. H. Spurgeon

Have you been to Doctor Ceremony? He is, at this time, a fashionable doctor. Has he told you that you must heed him and obey his rules? Has he prescribed you so many prayers and so many church services? Ah! Many go to him, and they persevere in a round of religious observances, but those yield no lasting ease to one’s conscience.

Perhaps you have tried Doctor Morality? He has an extensive practice and is a fine old Jewish physician. He suggests, “Be good in outward character, and it will work inwardly and cleanse your heart!” Many persons are supposed to have been cured by him and his assistant, Doctor Civility, who is nearly as clever as his master. I have it on good evidence that neither of them apart nor the two together could ever deal with inward sin’s disease.

Do what you may, but your doings will not heal the wounds of a bleeding heart. Doctor Mortification also has a select practice, but men are not saved by denying themselves until they first deny their self-righteousness.

Doctor Excitement also has many patients. However, his cures seldom outlive the setting of the sun.

Doctor Feeling is much sought after by tender spirits. These try to feel sorrow and remorse, but the way of cure does not lie in their efforts.

Apart from accepting our blessed Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, everything that is done will not better the sin-sick soul. You may try human remedies for a lifetime, but sin will remain in power, guilt will cling to the conscience, and the heart will be as sinful as ever.

A young woman turned aside a friend’s appeal for salvation immediately by saying, “I only want time enough when I die to say two words to the Lord, ‘Save me’”

Having neglected her soul’s salvation, she was soon called away by death, but the only two words she could utter were the wails of despair, “Too late! Too late!” — Author Unknown

What Christ Did
Edited from an article by Clarence Larkin

Those who are saved, the Bride of the Lamb, are from a disowned and outcast race made so by the disobedience of the head of that race in the Garden of Eden. However, Jesus, the Bridegroom, saw her and loved her.

To redeem her, He came from His own lovely home in Heaven to her sin-cursed home on Earth. It was there He was rejected by members of her family, seized and subjected to a mock trial, and nailed to a cross as a malefactor. He voluntarily laid down His life for her, though, thus demonstrating His love and opening up the way for her redemption from the Law that held her in bondage.

Jesus then left her to return to His Father’s House to prepare a home for her. During her betrothal, He has left her with her own family. He sent the Holy Spirit to teach, protect, and fit her for the day of her marriage. One day, He will descend midair to meet her on her way to the bridal halls of Heaven.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:16-17

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Romans 10:9



Just As I Am
Edited from an article by Pentecost

A London artist had hired a dirty, wretched beggar to come to his studio so that he might paint the man’s want and woe. The painter was disappointed to have the man appear with his face washed, hair combed, and store clothes put on.

“I don’t want you that way. I want that beggar I saw in filth and squalor.”

Many a sinner falsely feels that, before he comes to Jesus, he must fix up a little, improve his condition, and borrow the second-hand garments of empty righteousness instead of coming just as he is, waiting not to cleanse away a single blot.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Need of a New Birth
Edited from an article by C. H. Spurgeon

I was staying at an inn in one of the valleys of Northern Italy, where the floor was dreadfully dirty. I had it in my mind to advise the landlady to scrub it, but when I perceived it was made of mud, I reflected that the more she scrubbed the worse it would be.

The man who knows his own heart soon perceives that his corrupt nature admits to no improvement. Outward “cleaning” will not change its nature. A new nature must be implanted, or the man will be only washed like that mud floor.
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:6-7

Ours is not a case for mending but for making new. No outward actions can make you clean. Your sin-leprosy lies deep within, and only accepting the sacrificial death of God’s only Son, Jesus, can change one’s heart and make one born into the family of God.

The BIBLE VIEW #980 — Knowledge

In This Issue:
They Think Themselves Wise, But…
The Blessings of Living Righteously
Knowledge, But Without Experience
Why?

Volume: 980 November 4, 2024
Theme: Knowledge

The Daily View is a free, daily devotion. Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading. The e-mail will also include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.

Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/



They Think Themselves Wise, But…
Bill Brinkworth

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.” Proverbs 21:2
“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.” Proverbs 16:2

Every person believes they know what is best for them. They usually decide what they think is right and good. However, their beliefs are often wrong in God’s eyes.

Unfortunately, with that self-centered philosophy and thinking, what is sinful and wrong to God often becomes acceptable and right, especially in godless minds. Many have not realized that if they reject God’s ways, their ideas and actions will frequently fail.

Proverbs 21 reveals some consequences of refusing God’s ways and laws. The ungodly believe:
• Their lies often are justified by what is thought to be achieved. However, God will not bless ill-gotten gains, and they will find what they believe they accomplished will not last and may be a hindrance rather than beneficial.
“The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.” Proverbs 21:6

• Gaining something without earning it or stealing is a faster way to get what they want. Unfortunately, their thievery will cost them more than they thought possible. Many thieves behind prison bars will attest to that fact.
“The robbery of the wicked shall destroy them; because they refuse to do judgment.” Proverbs 21:7

• The one who lives in defiance of the way God commands will not reap consequences for their sin. However, one may face loneliness and social rejection for their rebellion against God. One may find oneself only associated with those in the same sinking “sin-boat” as they are.
“It is joy to the just to do judgment: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity.” Proverbs 21:15
“The soul of the wicked desireth evil: his neighbour findeth no favour in his eyes.” Proverbs 21:10
“The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.” Proverbs 21:16

• They should be committed and determined to have “fun” while they can. However, it may be discovered they have little to show for their lives. What gives them temporary happiness will rob their life of having real meaning.
“He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.” Proverbs 21:17
“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.” Proverbs 21:20

• It is not necessary to work in this life. However, those who refuse to labor will be destroyed and robbed of what could have been obtained. Their laziness will cheat them of what they could have made of themselves.
“The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labour.” Proverbs 21:25


Living a life contrary to God’s desires costs everyone a price that is often regretted. A godless life ungoverned by God’s commandments is not the “easy” way of living. It creates more hurdles, difficulties, and problems than may be realized.

Live your life the way God commands. You will avoid many hardships and will have God’s perfect leadership along the way.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:6



The Blessings of Living Righteously
Bill Brinkworth

Proverbs 12 continues a style that started in Proverbs 11. In each verse’s wisdom, an excellent moral trait or action is mentioned, as well as the positive result of that behavior. The same verse reveals the consequences and effects when godly wisdom or morality is not exercised.

That chapter would be ideal for putting in a two-column chart. The “good” results of wisdom and positive character behavior found in each verse would be in one column. The other column could contain the consequence when righteous wisdom is not followed in the same verse. It would be a great comparison of biblical morality versus godless behavior.

Examine some of the results of wise, godly thinking and a righteous lifestyle found in this chapter:
• Love of knowledge (Proverbs 12:1, 15).
• Favored by the Lord (Proverbs 12:2, 22).
• Steadfastness (Proverbs 12:3, 7).
• Will be a blessing to their spouse (Proverbs 12:4).
• Righteous thinking (Proverbs 12:5).
• Help to others (Proverbs 12:6).
• Recognition as being wise (Proverbs 12:8).
• Prosperous (Proverbs 12:9, 12).
• Kind to all, even to animals (Proverbs 12:10, 18).
• Hard-working and not lazy (Proverbs 12:11, 27).
• Discerning (Proverbs 12:13).
• Honesty (Proverbs 12:14,17, 19).
• Sensible (Proverbs 12:16, 23).
• Joy (Proverbs 12:20, 25).
• Protected (Proverbs 12:21).
• Responsible and can be trusted (Proverbs 12:24).
• Recognized as a good person (Proverbs 12:26).

To most, reading the above benefits would sell the positiveness of reading the Bible, obeying God’s commandments, and receiving godly wisdom. Sadly, however, much on the list would be seen negatively and not achievable because insight and knowledge are foreign to so many.

No matter what others think, God’s way is best. Follow His commandments, and your life will differ from most. However, it will have benefits and blessings that the unwise will never experience.

“Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.”
Proverbs 4:13

Knowledge, But Without Experience
C. H. Spurgeon

I heard two persons on the Wengern Alp talking by the hour of the names of ferns. Not one word was about their characteristics, uses, or habits. All they spoke about was different fancy names and nothing else. They felt they knew their botany but only had head knowledge and no experience in seeing the plants.

Their “knowledge” was about as reliable as those who speak of the Bible but know nothing by experience of its spirit and power or its Author. Are we, too, like those “botanists” who throw around fancy Latin names of plants but have no real experience? Too many have biblical head knowledge but no spiritual relationship or experience with the God of Heaven.

“To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” — Disraeli

Why?
Downname, 1642

• For what purpose do men spend their time and wits in discerning biblical truths, but do not use it to direct them in their ways?
• Why do people read and study to discover the “light” of God’s Word if they prefer spiritual darkness and dwell in it?
• Why do many labor to heap up rich treasures of biblical learning and knowledge if they miserly keep it to themselves and do not use or share it with others?
• Why do people spend their whole lives sowing spiritual seed but never wait or attempt to reap the crop?

“No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light.” Luke 11:33

The BIBLE VIEW #979 — Repentance

In This Issue:
It’s Not Too Late!
Repentance
A Changed Heart
A Broken Heart
Verses on Repentance
“Stop Now”

Volume: 979    October 28, 2024
Theme: Repentance

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will also include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.


Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
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It’s Not Too Late!
Bill Brinkworth

Psalm 137 is a sad hymn that Israel sang. The time referred to in this song was when God’s people had been captured (Psalm 137:1-3) by the Babylonians and taken to a foreign land.

There, Israel found themselves slaves to their captives. Their freedom was lost because of their sin (Lamentations 1:8).  They found themselves surrounded by godless people and all Israel could remember was what it was like in Jerusalem.  Their beloved Temple and Jerusalem were destroyed.

Israel pined for their freedom and their country. They remembered how it was before captivity left them grief-stricken.

In the past, they and Jerusalem were known for joyous singing and happiness.  In their bondage, they could not (Psalm 137:4) utter a note when requested to sing. Their hearts were broken, and their spirits were crushed.

Too many today find themselves with a similar sadness. They remember their joy and good times before reaping the consequences of their sin.  When their memories drift back to those joyous days, they, too, are not happy. It is heartbreaking to think about what one’s life could have been without involvement in iniquity.

The captive Israelites must have constantly pondered, “It’s too late!” Maybe they shook their heads in despair, thinking, “There is no taking back what we have done. We have sown sin and are now reaping its terrible consequences.” Today’s sinners also will one day have similar regrets.

There is no way to take back what was done, that is why it is so important to stay away from sin. Unfortunately, most have to live with iniquity’s consequences, but they can go forward without making the same mistakes.

A repentant, regretting heart can decide to start over. Seeking God’s forgiveness and help can give one a second (or third, or fourth…) chance. 

Moping about “spilled beans” will not clean up the mess sin made. God is a forgiving God. There may still be a sinful crop that one will reap from the seeds sown by iniquity, but with God’s help, one can still go forward. 

Seek God’s forgiveness and His help. There is hope!

“The greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.”  — Sophocles

Repentance
Edited from an article in Homilies of the English Church.

Repentance is a true turning or returning unto God.  People forsake their idolatry and wickedness with a stronger faith and embrace, love, and worship only the true, living God.  They give themselves to good works and changed behavior, which, according to God’s Word, they know to be acceptable unto Him.

The four parts of repentance are contrition, confession, faith, and amendment of life’s wrongdoings.  They may be likened to an easy and short ladder.  From that “ladder,” one may mentally climb from gut-wrenching guilt to the castle where the Lord is pleased.

“When the soul has laid down its faults at the feet of God, it feels as though it had wings.”  — Guerin

A Changed Heart
Bill Brinkworth

Repentance is the “… pain, regret, or affliction which a person feels on account of his past conduct…” (Noah Webster, 1828).  This sorrowful attitude over one’s sins was a vital part of John the Baptist’s ministry and is essential today when one is saved from the eternal wages of one’s iniquities. 

Although a repentant person will usually change their behavior, just changing conduct alone will not save anyone. If a lifestyle change were necessary for salvation, those acts would be good work, and no good deed can save anyone from the eternal wages of sin (Ephesians 2:8-9).

John, the Baptist, illustrated that a broken heart over sin would produce a better life when he spoke to four types of people:

  • To the religious but not righteous, John told them that if they were convicted over their sins, they would prove it by a lifestyle that would show “fruits” from their inward changes.  Their changed heart would change how they lived, and others could see what the changes had done in their life (Luke 3:8).
  • To the common people, he told them that a giving attitude would show a changed heart (Luke 3:11).  John must have known that they were covetous of the things of this world and that they were not trusting God daily for their needs.
  • To the publicans, he also said there would need to be some changes in their lives. Publicans were notoriously dishonest tax collectors. John told them their spiritual remodeling should include honesty (Luke 3:13).
  • To soldiers, he did not tell them to quit the army. He told them their change of heart would include halting unnecessary violence, lying, and dissatisfaction with their salaries.

A changed, repentant heart is proof of one’s salvation. The areas John said should change in lives over 2,000 years ago should still change today when one’s life is altered by salvation.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” II Corinthians 5:17

“Sin and Hell are married unless repentance proclaims the divorce.”  
— Spurgeon

A Broken Heart
Spurgeon

What man can stand against his children’s tears?  When King Henry II was provoked to take up arms against his ungrateful and rebellious son, he cornered his son in a French town.

The son, near death, desired to see his father and confess his wrongdoing, but the stern older man refused to look the rebel in the face.  His offspring was sorely troubled in his conscience and said to those about him, “I am dying; take me from my bed, and let me lie in sackcloth and ashes, in token of my sorrow for my ingratitude to my father.” Then he died.

When the tidings came to the older man that his boy had died in ashes and was repentant for his rebellion, the man threw himself upon the earth.  Like King David, he cried, “Would God I had died for him.” The thought of his boy’s broken heart touched the father’s heart.

If ye, being evil, are overcome by your children’s tears and grief, how much more shall your Father who is in Heaven find your moanings and confessions an argument for the display of His pardoning love through Christ Jesus our Lord?  This is the eloquence which God delights in: the broken heart and the contrite spirit.

“Contrite”:  Full of guilt and remorse for a wrongdoing or sin

“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”  Psalm 34:18

Verses on Repentance

  • “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2
  • “And they went out, and preached that men should repent.” Mark 6:12
  • “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;”  Acts 3:19
  • “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:”  Acts 17:30
  • “But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.” Acts 26:20

“Stop Now!”
Tillmage

Some young men were ice-skating on a pond around an half-melted spot in the ice some years ago near Princeton, New Jersey.  As they neared the dangerous place, the ice began to break.

Most of the skaters stopped.  However, one young man said, “I am not afraid.  I will skate around it one more time.” He almost was able to glide entirely around it, but the ice broke, and he fell in.  Not until the next day was his lifeless body found.

Similarly, people often get too close to sin.  They were warned, but they were determined to do it  “one more time.”  That last willing iniquity may be their permanent downfall.

Do not risk one more attempt at ignoring God’s sent conviction not to commit that sin any longer.  Stop now!  He can deliver us from the foolhardiness and temptation of doing wrong “just one more time.”

The BIBLE VIEW #978 — Strengthening A Nation

In This Issue:
Benjamin Franklin’s Motion
True Then.  True Now!   What America Needs
Lincoln’s Plea  Lincoln’s Bible
“If They Slip Too Far, the Light Will Go Out of America!”
Different Motive    The Greatness of America
MacArthur Was Right!    Only Way Out Is Up!

Volume: 978    October 21, 2024
Theme: Strengthening A Nation

The  Daily View is a free, daily devotion.  Sign up (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/a26cc9M), and you will be e-mailed a link to read or HEAR a KJV chapter and a short commentary (200-700 words) of something taught in the day’s reading.  The e-mail will include a mini-sermon in pictures, a prayer list, Thought for The Day, and short articles reinforcing biblical principles.


Read what readers have said about the e-mailed devotion at
https://www.devotionsfromthebible.com/what-readers-say/



Benjamin Franklin’s Motion
Our Hope

At the meeting of the 1778 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin made the motion to those assembled that the Convention should not proceed without an opening prayer each day.

“I have lived a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proof I see of this truth that God governs the affairs of men.  If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice,  it is probable that an empire cannot rise without His aid. 

“We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it….’  I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall proceed in politically building no better than the builders of Babel.”

Prayer was the foundation stone in our country’s beginning.  There should be more national prayer today.

“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”  — Cowper

True Then.  True Now!
President Woodrow Wilson

Our civilization cannot survive materially unless it is redeemed spiritually.  It can be saved only by becoming permeated with the Spirit of Christ and being made free and happy by the practices which spring out of the spirit.  Only thus can discontent be driven out and all the shadows lifted from the road ahead.”

“Our prayer and God’s mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the one ascends, the other descends.”  — Hopkins

What America Needs
Wall Street Journal (Many years ago!)

What America needs more than railway extensions, western irrigation, a low tariff, a bigger cotton crop, and a larger wheat crop is a revival of religion, the kind that our fathers and mothers used to have.  We need a religion that made men quit work a half hour earlier on Wednesday so the whole family could get ready to go to prayer meeting.

“Prayer is exhaling the spirit of man and inhaling the spirit of God.”  — Keith

Lincoln’s Plea
Christian Beacon

During the days of the Civil War, a visitor to the White House said, “I had been spending three weeks in the White House with Mr. Lincoln as his guest.  One night, just after the Bull Run battle, I was restless and could not sleep.

It was near dawn when I heard low tones proceeding from a private room where the president slept.  The door was partly open.   I walked in and saw a sight I shall never forget.  It was the president kneeling before an open Bible. 

The light was turned low in the room.  His back was toward me. 

I shall never forget his tones, so pitiful and sorrowful.  “Do thou God, that heard Solomon in the night when he prayed and cried for wisdom, hear me!  I cannot lead this people.  I cannot guide the affairs of this nation without Thy help.  I am poor and weak and sinful.  O God, thou didst hear Solomon when he cried for wisdom, hear me and save this nation.” 

God heard, and He answered him.  Will He not answer today if we had leaders who sought God’s help? 

Lincoln’s Bible
Moody Monthly

Abraham Lincoln’s well-thumbed Bible in the Lincoln Museum, among other things, would abundantly prove that he was a Christian. 

On the way to be inaugurated, Mr. Lincoln uttered these impressive words, “I go to assume a task more difficult than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington.  He would never have succeeded but for the aid of Divine Providence upon which he relied.  I feel that I cannot succeed without the same divine blessing which sustained him, and on the same Almighty Being, I place my reliance for support.  I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive the divine assistance without which I cannot succeed but with which success is certain.”

“Oh, for more leaders that seek God’s help and guidance rather than those adopting sinful philosophies in hopes of gaining more votes.”  

“If They Slip Too Far, the Light Will Go Out of America!”
President Herbert Hoover

“The ‘New Order,’  ‘New Freedom,’ ‘New Day,’ ‘New Outlook,’ ‘New Epoch,’ ‘New Economy,’ ‘New Deal,’ ‘New Deal,’ ‘New Religion,’ ‘New Liberalism,’ ‘New War,’  and ‘New Policy’ are popular to the ears of many.  We have overused the word ‘New’ to escape the misery from 37 years of hot and cold wars, with intervals of hot and cold peace.

If we want to strengthen the country, the practical thing is to use the word ‘Old’ more often.  Some “old things” made this country. 

Many old things are slipping.  If they slip too far, the light will go out of America!  Old virtues, religious faith, whole truth, integrity, honor in public office, economy in government, individual liberty, and willingness to sacrifice for righteousness need to return to our leaders and nation.  We have a cancerous growth of dishonesty among our leadership.  Our great danger is suicide by complaisance with evil.

Different Motive
Christian Digest

Roger Babson, the statistician, was lunching with the President of Argentina.  “Mr. Babson,” the president said, “I have been wondering why it is that South America, with all its natural advantages, its mines of iron, copper, coal, silver and gold, its rivers and great waterfalls which rival Niagra’s, is so far behind North America.

Babson asked, “Well, Mr. President, what do you think is the reason?”

The president was silent for a while before he answered, “I have come to the conclusion, South America was settled by the Spanish, who came to South America in search of gold, but North America was settled by the Pilgrim Fathers, who went there in search of God.”

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
James 1:17

The Greatness of America
Author Unknown

Over a hundred years ago, De Tocqueville of France visited America.  Upon his return home, he wrote, “I sought the greatness of America in her harbors, rivers, fertile fields, mines and commerce.  It was not there.” 

Not until I went into the churches and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the greatness of her power.  America is great because she is good.  If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

MacArthur Was Right!
Prairie Overcomer

General Douglas MacArthur, recognizing a spiritual awakening was imperative, said, as quoted by Moody Monthly, “History fails to record a single precedent in which nations experiencing moral decay have not passed onto political and economic success.  There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimately a national disaster.”

“Choosing to honor and allow sin to flourish will lead to the destruction of any nation.  NO ONE gets away with disregarding the morality God demands in His Word!”

Only Way Out Is Up!
Walter Knight

On a gray morning during World War One, David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Britain, stood grim-visaged before his compeers and members of the British Cabinet.  The seriousness of the situation was evident on the faces of all.

The prime minister said, ”Gentlemen, we are fighting with our backs to the wall.  The only way out is up.  Our only hope is God.  Let us pray!”  When nations turn to God in their trouble, deliverance is not distant.