SUNDAY
Day And Night
There’s no better place to start, than at the beginning. Not only do we find day and night in these verses, we also see heaven and earth, and darkness and light. We can only imagine the beauty of the earth before man sinned. Adam and Eve lived in the perfect place and walked and talked with God until they disobeyed what God had said. At that time the earth was cursed. I can only imagine the beauty of heaven and I know that my Lord is preparing me a place to live there forevermore.
“1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:1-5)
MONDAY
Light And Darkness
We read of the beginning of creation in Genesis, but John also tells us of the beginning.
“1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:1-5)
John has more to say about light and darkness. When we are saved we walk in the light and no longer have to live in darkness. “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46)
“5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (I John 1:5-7)
God brings us out of darkness and into the light! “For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.” (Psalm 18:28)
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:6) And in closing… "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)
TUESDAY
Seedtime And Harvest
Let’s go back to our verse in Genesis 8:22. “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Sometime in April I hope to be able to start planting my garden. It will be seedtime. I will have to wait weeks before I can harvest the vegetables. They need warmth, sunshine, rain, and time to grow and produce fruit. When I plant, the ground will look bare, and then little plants will begin to grow. By the time of harvest I hope that the ground will be green with lush vines and plants, and fresh vegetables. There are some truths of sowing and reaping. If I sow beans, I will reap beans. I plant what I want to reap. This brings up the first rule of sowing and reaping, we reap what we sow. This is important in life, too. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” (Hosea 10:12) “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Another rule of sowing and reaping is that we have to wait on the harvest. When we sow the Word of God, we may not see the harvest. And sometimes we see the results of seed that was sown by another. One more thing about sowing and reaping, is that the seed comes up and the harvest is multiplied. When I sow okra seeds, each seed can grow into a stalk that produces several pods of okra, each containing many more seeds. If we share God’s Word with someone and that person believes in Jesus and is saved, then that person can sow the Word and the harvest has multiplied. Keep sowing the seed and trusting the Lord for the harvest. “Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38 )
“35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.” (John 4:35-38)
WEDNESDAY
Hot And Cold
Saturday it was 72 F. degrees and I enjoyed sitting outside for a little while. Saturday night it got down to 27 F. degrees. We went from heat, to cold, in one day. This brings us to another contrast in Genesis 8:22. “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” We know how it feels to be cold and how it feels to be hot. The chemo meds I took made me extremely sensitive to cold. I had to use plastic forks because the metal was too cold for me to hold. Michael had to heat everything I drank before I could drink it. That’s great for hot chocolate, but not so good for water. I stayed dehydrated because I could not drink enough hot liquids. In the letters to the churches God warns of people who are lukewarm. This is the last of the seven letters, and some Bible scholars agree that this is to the people of the last church age, and everything seems to point to the time we are living in now. Are we hot in our spiritual lives, or lukewarm? The old preachers during my early years called it, “being on fire for God.” I want to be busy and on fire for my Lord. In speaking of the last days Jesus said, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:12) Let’s not let our love for the Lord wax cold.
“14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 3:14-22)
THURSDAY
Life And Death
Moses knew when he was going to die, and we have his last words in the book of Deuteronomy. He reminded the Israelites of how God had been with them, and he told them to follow God. Near the end, Moses said, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deuteronomy 30:19)
“10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;” (Deuteronomy 30:10-15)
We are not under the law. Jesus came to fulfill the law and pay for our sin. We can choose life by accepting His free 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) It is true that we are all going to die, but Jesus came to give His life a ransom for us so that we could live eternally in heaven. Accept that you are a lost sinner. Believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Confess your sin to Jesus and ask Him to save you. You have a choice… life or death. Choose life.
FRIDAY
Troubled, Yet Not Distressed
When David was running from King Saul, men that were also trying to escape something joined him. “And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.” (I Samuel 22:2) I’ve often thought about David and his four hundred men; in distress, in debt, and discontented. And I used to wonder how it would be to be a leader of such people. Now, I think that this describes most of the people today. Are you in distress? Are you in debt? Are you discontented? I like the verses written by the Apostle Paul. He was imprisoned for teaching about Jesus, but he still kept his trust in the Lord. “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” If you are struggling with any of these problems, keep your trust in Jesus. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us that the Lord Jesus is always with us, “… for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
“6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” (II Corinthians 4:6-10)
Coming & Going
SATURDAY
Spring Is Coming
Today is the first day of March. Last week we had two days of snow. This week, I walked outside and the temperature was 70 degrees, and the daffodils were blooming. This tells me that spring is coming. “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;” (Song Of Solomon 2:12) These signs of spring show us the faithfulness of God. God made a promise to Noah, and He has always kept His Word. “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22) As the weather gets warmer, and you see the signs of spring, it’s a great time to recognize the faithfulness of our loving God! “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” (Deuteronomy 7:9)
