A Daily Devotional

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His Master’s Crib

“The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider” (Isaiah 1:3).

What an indictment this is—not only against the people of Israel, but against men and women everywhere. All were created and made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26,27), for fellowship with Him, but even His own chosen people rejected Him, and most people everywhere all but ignore Him in their daily lives.

“Crib” is the same as “manger,” and when God became man, His human parents “laid Him in a manger” (Luke 2:7), as there was no room for Him anywhere else. The animals knew Him, and so did the angels, but His people were unconcerned. “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not” (John 1:10).

When He came into Jerusalem, offering Himself as King of Israel, He rode on an unbroken colt, “whereon yet never man sat,” and the little “foal of an ass” (Luke 19:30; Zechariah 9:9) willingly submitted, knowing his divine Master and Maker. But the people of Jerusalem as a whole joined in clamoring for His crucifixion just a few days later.

The indictment against Israel could be lodged with even greater justification against America today. “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: . . . I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). The morals of our people seem to have been turned upside down, and God would say to us also: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20).

Yet—in modern America, as well as in ancient Israel—“as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

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Fire In The Bones

“Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name. But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay” (Jeremiah 20:9).

When God’s Word really becomes a part of one’s soul, that one can never be the same again. As dejected Jeremiah said in his imprisonment: “The word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily” (Jeremiah 20:, he testified; so he said: “I will not . . . speak any more in His name.” But he could not quit! God’s Word was burning in his bones, and he must let it out. “Is not my Word like as a fire? saith the L SIZE="-1">ORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29).

The psalmist, David, had a similar testimony. “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue” (Psalm 39:2,3). When the resurrected Christ “expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself,” the two disciples from Emmaus later testified: “Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:27,32).

Of all the symbols applied in the Scriptures to God’s Word, that of fire is the most awe-inspiring. Fire was not a discovery of some primitive man, as evolutionists imagine, but has always been an instrument of God’s judgment, from the flaming sword in Eden (Genesis 3:24) to the lake of fire in hell (Revelation 21:. In fact, God Himself is said to be “a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).

The Word of fire, in the burning heart cannot be contained, but must be proclaimed at any cost. As Paul acknowledged: “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16).

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Choose You A Man

“And he (Goliath) stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? Choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me” (I Samuel 17:.

The story of David and Goliath was once well known. Even those who never went to church or Sunday school knew it. It’s story line was frequently used as an analogy for an underdog overcoming a favored opponent in sports, politics, or other contest. Unfortunately, recent polls show that many Americans, especially younger ones, have never heard it. Evidently, the humanistic academic establishment has such a strong-hold on American education, as the cultural elite has on the media, that “stories” like this are systematically censored.

Now, more than ever, Americans need to “choose” godly men and women to leadership positions who will lead us into battle against the modern-day Goliaths. And the battle is winnable, for, as David said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (v.26).

David had seen, as we have seen, many prior deliverances at God’s hand (v.37), thus he knew the Lord would “deliver (him) out of the hand of this Philistine.”

As he charged, David shouted: “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts. . . . This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand . . . that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. . . . For the battle is the LORD’S” (vs.45–47).

If Christians consistently voted, or ran, or supported candidates committed to godly principles, they would win every political race, school board seat, or local administrative post. The political Goliath, then, would be defeated.

Let us not be “dismayed, and greatly afraid” (v.11) as were Saul’s armies, or reconciled to defeat as were David’s brothers (v.28), but become mighty conquerors, in God’s name.

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My Lord and My God


"And Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Thomas has been called "doubting Thomas" because of his initial reluctance to believe in the Lord's resurrection, but neither the Lord nor the other disciples ever viewed him in such a light. His later ministry, as the first missionary/martyr to India, speaks clearly of his great faith.

It is only in John's Gospel that we have any specific insight into Thomas' character. When the other disciples sought to dissuade Jesus from returning to Jerusalem, it was Thomas who urged, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (John 11:16). Thomas understood the dangers awaiting them, but was ready to go wherever Jesus desired him to go. In the upper room when Jesus spoke of going away, Thomas, still willing to go with Him anywhere, was the only one to ask: "Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?" (John 14:5). Then, just a few hours later, the Lord had been crucified, and soon "the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews" (John 20:19) as they hid themselves in the upper room.

But Thomas was not hiding! The Scriptures do not say where he was when Jesus appeared in their midst, but he was not hiding there like the others. He may well have been out working or witnessing, doing whatever he could to follow the Lord, but he (like the others) had failed to understand Jesus' promise that He would rise again.

When the other disciples reported that they had seen the resurrected Lord, Thomas, realizing the tremendous significance of such a miracle if it were true, insisted he must see the proof first hand. Then, when he saw the Lord, he showed a higher comprehension of what had taken place than any of the others, as he whispered in awe: "My Lord, and my God!"

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Logical Milk

“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby” (I Peter 2:2).

This exhortation is directed to young Christians who have only recently trusted God’s enduring Word, preached to them in the saving gospel of Christ.

Because of this miracle of regeneration just experienced, a new Christian must now “lay aside [the verb form here means to ‘lay aside once and for all’] all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies” (I Peter 2:1) and partake—as babes—of the “milk of sincerity.” The word for “sincere” means, literally, “without guile,” so he/she must now build all future progress in his/her new life—not on guile, but on guilelessness!

The phrase “of the word” is especially noteworthy. This is not the usual word for “word” (Greek logos), but a closely related word (logikos) from which we get our words “logic” and “logical.” It is used only one other time in the New Testament, where it is rendered “reasonable,” in the classic passage dealing with “your reasonable service” (Romans 12:2).

Thus, Peter is talking about partaking of a spiritual milk which is both logical and without guile. This can be nothing else (as seen in the context) then the incorruptible, eternal, regenerating Word of God, and the living Word (Jesus Christ) revealed therein.

Now the Lord Jesus is surely logical, for He is “the Truth” (John 14:6). In this same chapter, Peter also notes that Christ was without guile (I Peter 2:22). These attributes must be equally true of His written Word. The Scriptures are not full of secret meanings which only specially-trained interpreters can fathom. They are sincere, meaning precisely what they say! Neither are they naive and unscientific, but fully logical and correct in everything they say. Therefore, they are genuine spiritual nourishment for babes in Christ, and will certainly enable them to “grow thereby.”

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Exceeding Greatness

“And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:19).

There are a number of Scriptural superlatives that convey something of the tremendous magnitude of our great salvation. These are marked by the adjective “exceeding,” which in the Greek implies essentially boundless surpassing dimensions of the attributes it describes.

First of all, as our text implies, His power available to us is one of exceeding greatness. Its magnitude is measured by the power required to bring Christ back again from death and Hades.

Consider also the measure of His grace, “that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). His grace has saved us when we were dead in sins, but this is only a small token. In the ages to come, we will experience His grace as one of exceeding riches.

Then there is the wonderful peace of God. “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). In this verse, the word “passeth” is the same word. Paul is saying that God’s peace is one exceeding understanding.

Finally, consider His glory. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (II Corinthians 4:17). The future eternal glory is one of exceeding weight, or abundance.

Thus the infinite blessings and resources of our salvation in Christ are described as providing the power of surpassing greatness, the grace of surpassing richness, the peace which surpasses all understanding, and the eternal glory of surpassing abundance! All of this is freely available “to us-ward who believe.”

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Like The Most High

“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14).

These are two of the “I will’s” of Satan, or Lucifer, as he aspired to usurp the throne of God as ruler of the universe (see Isaiah 14:12–15; Ezekiel 28:11–17). Not content to be “the anointed cherub,” the highest of the angelic hierarchy (Ezekiel 28:14), he wanted to be God, and this monstrous pride became “the condemnation of the devil” (I Timothy 3:6), so that he is now “fallen from heaven” and will soon be “brought down to hell” (Isaiah 14:12,15).

Lucifer, of course, is not the Creator, for he was “created” (Ezekiel 28:15) himself. It would seem, therefore, that for him to rationalize his ambition to be like the most High, he must somehow persuade himself that he is like the most High—that is, that God is a created being like himself, and thus can be defeated. He only had God’s word that he had been created by Him, and he evidently chose not to believe what God said (just as do multitudes of men and women today).

He, like they, chose rather to believe that the eternal cosmos had somehow created them all by its own powers. The great cosmos (call it Mother Nature, perhaps) has “created” spirit beings, as well as men and women, and all the worlds inhabited by them. In this scenario, the true Creator God is viewed as only one of many. Therefore, He is vulnerable to defeat—or so Satan evidently believes.

Thus Lucifer became the first evolutionist, and this great lie by which he deceived himself became the basis of his later deception of Eve and then of the founders of all the varied pantheistic religions of the world, as well as modern evolutionism and New-Age philosophies. Nevertheless, God is still on His throne, and “the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14).

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Rest And Work


“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:28,29).

There are many types of burdens which we may try to carry. Consider the burdens of sorrow, pain, grief, fear, worry, and above all, sin, which plagues us. In our text for today, Christ promises hope for the “heavy laden” if we will but come to Him and accept His gracious offer of salvation and cleansing. He will either remove the burden, lighten it, or give us strength to bear it—whichever is best. His offer of rest includes inward peace, even in times of trouble here—and perfect peace hereafter.

It may sound paradoxical, but we can actually lighten our load by taking up His “yoke.” “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). In our text, Christ said we are to “learn of Him,” thus emulating His meekness and lowliness in heart as we carry our cross. If we accept His yoke in humility, because of our love for Him, we can endure every hardship and bear every burden with hope and patience.

Even though we are children of the King, we still have work to do. It has always been so, for even sinless Adam and Eve were responsible for tending the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15). God knew that idleness and lack of responsibility was improper. Likewise, in the future, we will have responsibilities given to us according to the handling of our responsibilities in this life (Matthew 25:21). We may be co-regents of the Kingdom (Revelation 20:6), but we will still have our responsibilities.

The burdens He gives us now are not oppressive, but with His help, and with the proper attitude, His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. It is a “rest” to work for Him.

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The Scattering Hammer

“Is not my Word like as a fire? saith the L SIZE="-1">ORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29).

One of the most picturesque of the figures used to describe the holy Scriptures is that of the hammer striking and shattering a rock. In this text, however, the “rock” is literally a mighty rock mountain.

Furthermore, the effect of the hammer is to “break in pieces.” This phrase actually is a single Hebrew word, which normally means “disperse,” or “scatter abroad.” It is frequently used, for example, in describing the worldwide dispersion of the children of Israel. It was used even earlier, in connection with the first dispersion at Babel: “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:. Perhaps most significantly of all, it is used in the prophecy of Zechariah 13:7: “Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.”

This verse was quoted by the Lord Jesus just after the last supper, and applied to Himself: “All ye shall be offended because of Me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad” (Matthew 26:31). Combining all these themes, our text really seems to be saying: “Is not My Word like a mighty hammer from heaven that shatters the great mountain and scatters it abroad?”

Our text is inserted in the midst of a stinging rebuke by Jeremiah of Israel’s false prophets, contrasting their lies with the mighty power of God’s true Word. Perhaps it is also a parable of the living Word, who is also the great Rock of ages, as well as the loving Shepherd. When the Rock was shattered, the living stones were ejected from the Rock. The sheep that were thus scattered from the Shepherd became the spreading fire of the written Word, and “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word” (Acts 8:4).

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No Measure

“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man” (James 1:13).

In our text verse, there are two different Greek words used in reference to the “temptation” of man and the fact that God cannot be “tempted” with evil. The word “tempt” in reference to the temptation of man is a Greek word also translated elsewhere in Scripture as “assay,” “examine,” or “try,” in the following examples: “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying (trying) to do were drowned” (Hebrews 11:29). “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves . . .” (II Corinthians 13:5). “By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son” (Hebrews 11:17). It is interesting to note that current usage of the English word “assay” most often denotes weighing or measuring. The tempting of man is actually a measuring of the one being tempted.

Although the Greek word used for the temptation of man has many uses in Scripture, the word James uses, when he says the Lord “cannot be tempted,” is used exclusively in this passage. The direct translation is “not temptable.” Our Lord cannot be measured because one has to be in some respect larger or greater or better than that he is measuring! “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). “I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number” (Job 5:8,9).

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The Great Divider

“Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division” (Luke 12:51).

From the very beginning, God has been a great divider. On the first day of creation, “God divided the light from the darkness,” and on the second day, He “divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament” (Genesis 1:4,7). When God first created man, they walked together in sweet fellowship, but then sin came in and made a great division between man and God. Nevertheless, “when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son” (Romans 5:10).

The price has been paid for full reconciliation with our Creator, but “men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19), so Christ, Himself, is now the one who divides. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

Jesus Christ divides all history and all chronology. Things either happened “Before Christ” (B.C.) or “in the Year of our Lord” (A.D.). Men are either under the Old Covenant or the New Covenant. Most of all, He divides humanity. “There was a division among the people because of Him” (John 7:43; see also John 9:16; 10:19). These divisions, because of Him, can cut very deep. “The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother” (Luke 12:53).

Finally, when He comes to judge all nations, “He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: . . . and these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:32,46). The division is life or death, light or darkness, heaven or hell, Christ or anti-Christ—and the choice is ours!

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To End All Wars

“And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4).

It has been almost seventy years since “The War to End All Wars” ended in victory for those who had “fought to make the world safe for democracy.” A celebration of thanksgiving followed, and a holiday was established to commemorate that great Armistice Day (now Veteran’s Day).

However, an even greater war soon followed, only to be repeated by innumerable local wars and revolutions. Instead of a world of liberty and democracy, most of the world’s nations are now under the brutal heel of totalitarian dictatorships. With the threat of potential nuclear obliteration hanging over the world, the prophecy of Christ is being literally fulfilled: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luke 21:26).

In the twenty-five centuries since our text was first uttered, there has been a war going on somewhere in the world at least eleven out of every twelve years, and it certainly seems unlikely that such a promise will ever be fulfilled.

Yet it is God who has promised, and only He can accomplish it. “He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people.” “Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, . . . The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7). When the Lord Jesus Christ comes again, “He shall speak peace unto the (nations): and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (Zechariah 9:10). Finally, world peace will come, and Christ “shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

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The Wolf And Lamb Together

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6).

This scene seems impossible; could it be merely an allegory? But that isn’t all. “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the L SIZE="-1">ORD” (Isaiah 65:25).

Whether this will all come to pass literally (and there is nothing in the context to cause us to question it), it definitely describes what God considers the ideal state of nature. In fact, in the original creation, all animals were herbivorous. “And God said, Behold, . . . to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so” (Genesis 1:29,30).

With man’s fall into sin and God’s resulting curse on the earth, this ideal state deteriorated. Teeth and claws, originally designed for digging roots and branches, began to be used for tearing and eating flesh. Even man was authorized by God to eat meat after the Flood (Genesis 9:3). It is still true, however, that both men and animals still can survive on a non-carnivorous diet when necessary, for this was designed initially as the best way, all of which leads to the certain conclusion that God did not allow any such reign of tooth and claw on the earth before man sinned. The contention of those who promote the idea of long geological ages, with billions of animals suffering and dying during those ages, charges our God of wisdom and mercy with gratuitous cruelty. In a world made by a loving God, there could have been no death in the world until man brought sin into the world (Romans 5:12).

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Spiking Your Behavior

“And the people said unto Joshua, The L SIZE="-1">ORD our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey” (Joshua 24:24).

Shortly before his death, Joshua called all the tribes to Shechem, where he challenged them to choose between their God and the gods which their fathers had served in Egypt and Mesopotamia (v.14). It was a scene of great moment, for the era of conquest was closing and the period of settlement was beginning. It was an important time in the history of Israel, when goals and priorities were being set. Joshua knew that he soon would be gone, and he could see problems ahead.

Joshua developed the basis for why the people should serve the Lord God. He reminded them of God’s provision and faithfulness through the recent exodus and their wilderness experience and conquest, as well as the establishment of their nation, but he also knew that the people were fickle and easily led astray. However, three times they vowed: “God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods” (v.16), and “Nay; but we will serve the LORD” (v.21), and as above in our text.

Upon this profession of commitment to the L SIZE="-1">ORD Joshua made a covenant, set them a statute, and made an ordinance. Then he wrote the agreement in the Book of the Law, set up a stone as a witness to the agreement, and rehearsed that to which they had agreed—“lest (they) deny (their) God” (v.27).

What a solid way of settling an issue; and we can profit from this model: Make sure you understand why you should serve God on any matter of importance that has been wavering; Write the decision down—date it and sign it; Put up a mark of remembrance somewhere in your daily path (a stake, or spike, or something visible); Rehearse, verbally and frequently, what you agreed to “lest ye deny your God.”

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To The Looking Glass

“For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:23–25).

The Word of God is not a magic mirror, but if we seek real truths concerning ourselves, the Biblical looking glass can bring great blessing. He who reads or hears the Word, but does not believe or obey it, is “a forgetful hearer” (James 1:25) who is deceiving himself. It is these who merely “behold” themselves in the Word. The Greek word used here for “beholding” and “beholdeth” means “looking from a distance”—standing erect, as it were, while posing before the mirror. The man who “looketh into” the Word, on the other hand, “and continueth therein,” being an obedient doer of its work, is the one who receives eternal blessing. The Greek word here for “looketh” conveys the idea of intense scrutiny, requiring the one who is looking actually to stoop down in order to see. In fact, it is often translated “stoop down.”

As we allow the mirror of God’s Word to evaluate and correct our lives, “we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18).

Yet this is only a token of what we can experience in the future. “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” (I Corinthians 13:12). Now we can see ourselves in the written Word. When we see the living Word, “we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (I John 3:2).