TFTD - January 2014

[Resource Manager]

01 January 2014

"As we contemplate a new year may we recognise that the truth and faithfulness of God and the constancy of His Word is all we need to sustain us in our journey to His promised Kingdom. We recognise how important it is truly to discern the Lord Jesus Christ ... and in every way in which he influences our lives, when we recall the words of John 6:40: “And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” May our shared act of remembrance help us to see with the eye of faith and believe with the heart of faith and so, by God’s grace, may we end our journey sitting down with Abraham in the Kingdom prepared for the faithful from the foundation of the world."

- Graham Cooke
Journeying in Faith (1998)

[Resource Manager]

02 January 2014

"It was from the darkness of the Tomb that our Lord arose to the perfect light of immortality on that first resurrection morn. On the second such morn, as yet in the future, when the “Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings”, (Malachi 4:2) the rays of light will indeed be brilliant; for by his death our Saviour “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel”, (2 Timothy 1:10) that same gospel to which we are joined in hope, having ourselves been individually called out of darkness into the marvellous light."

- K.G. Galvin
Alpha and Omega (1965)

[Resource Manager]

03 January 2014

"God made all His goodness, and His mercy, and His grace, pass by before us in Jesus. But not only did the Lord Jesus show forth God’s glory; in a very real sense he imparts something of that same glory to his followers if they will receive it. “We all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18). True, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, but let us not shrink from accepting what the Lord can do in transforming us into his image. The glory which the Father had given him, he imparted to his disciples (John 17:22), and he will do no less for us if we have faith to recognise the glory of God in the face of our Master and seek to show it forth day by day."

- John Morris
The God of Glory (1979)

[Resource Manager]

04 January 2014

"A star shone at his birth, and was seen by Magi in the East as a sign; and the star which is the herald of dawn, or the rising sun itself the bringer of dawn, become his symbols. Both are light givers, and become the symbols of the righteousness and peace which will spread over the world as the morning of a new day - and that day a Sabbath of rest - in the history of God’s creation."

- L.G. Sargent
The Morning Star (1952)

[Resource Manager]

05 January 2014

"As the Lord agonized at Gethsemane one fact must have been constantly before him, upon which his whole faith rested, and that was the knowledge that all was happening to "fulfil" that which was written of him. In this he was content. May we, ... in all our strivings over our doubts and problems, in the dangers and perils, return to a simple minded approach and acceptance of the Word, crying: "Lord, I believe ..." (Mark 9:24)."

- W.I. Evans
Sunday Morning (1965)

[Resource Manager]

06 January 2014

"In the days of his flesh Jesus made his Father’s will his own, and glorified Him in all his ways, and the Father acknowledged him as the Son in whom He was well-pleased. The sharing of the divine will which enabled Jesus to identify himself so closely with his Father was ultimately completed by his participation in the divine glory and nature. It is in this true fellowship that we can share. It was the very will of God which the Son made his own, that other children should share the same glory."

- Rodney Spencer
Sharing (1985)

[Resource Manager]

07 January 2014

"Why we should have been chosen as recipients of God’s favour is a question we cannot answer, and it would not be profitable for us to try. Let us appreciate the blessings which have come our way, hoping that in the end we may be accounted worthy to belong to those of whom James speaks:

"Hearken, my beloved brethren, Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him?" (James 2:5)"

- Howard Walker
Meditations (1975)

[Resource Manager]

08 January 2014

"Only with God’s help and the intercession of Jesus can we overcome. But both are promised, if we really seek with all our hearts. We need not fail. And the end? What an amazing vista of everlasting joy for those who reach it. Final and utter deliverance from all the weakness and imperfection of Today, in the glorious Tomorrow of God, "to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:3)."

- L.W. Richardson
Enduring Unto the End (1970)

[Resource Manager]

09 January 2014

"The race does not ultimately go to the swift by nature; nor the battle inevitably to the strong; nor riches to men of mighty talents. By patience the lowliest gifts become equal to the highest natural talents; and without patience the highest natural powers lose their value. As truly as God gives power and talent to the mighty, much more truly He gives talents to the patient. Did you ever know a proud man patient? Did you ever know a patient man who was not humble? "God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble." (James 4:6)

- F.W. Barnett
Patient Continuance (1961)

[Resource Manager]

10 January 2014

"When much else has been forgotten the fragrance of that room in Simon’s house lingers with us still. Wherever the page of the Gospel is turned with reverent fingers as man contemplates the culminating sacrifice of the Saviour’s dedicated life, Mary appears quietly on the scene, a picture of deep understanding and deeper love. At the very threshold of our Lord’s suffering and death, as we are able to see the magnitude of his love and to realize what we owe to him, we are met by this woman who by a tender act of loving devotion, did what she could. And, meeting her here, we are confronted by the challenge, "What have I done? Have I done what I could?"

- Melva Purkis
A Life of Jesus

[Resource Manager]

11 January 2014

"The Bible was waiting for us when we came, and it was waiting to be read by us; but not in the sense of counting so many verses and words, then closing the book, but in the sense of the Psalmist, who wrote: "Show me your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me: for you are the God of my salvation" (Psalm 25:4-5). To learn and to be taught is essential before we can hope to extract that spiritual food which so frequently lies between the lines, and beneath the surface - a reading which is calculated to implant a firm and robust foundation for the love of God and for His truth - a searching reading."

- T. Sturgess
The Secret of the Lord (1918)

[Resource Manager]

12 January 2014

"... These apostles were humble men, conscious of their failings, and anxious to receive the enlightenment which could save them from repeating the same errors. They were prepared to co-operate with their teacher and to learn in gratitude from him. One of those present after the resurrection and whose understanding had to be opened was the apostle Peter. He knew how much he owed to his Lord ... we do well to let his last recorded words in the New Testament echo in our hearts and minds:

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" (2 Peter 3:18)."

- T.J. Barling
The Heaven Was Opened (1986)

[Resource Manager]

13 January 2014

"For the Lord Jesus Christ whom we remember, the nearness of God was his stay. I am alone and yet not alone, my Father is with me. "I set the Lord always before my face: because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16). That is the secret of Christ’s victory. There is no other way ... How near is your God? He is as near as you want Him to be, a God at hand, in the midst of the camp, at the beginning of our new life in Christ and at the end."

- Harry Tennant
God With Us (1973)

[Resource Manager]

14 January 2014

"It is not a prudent calculation to be lowly. It is a love-mastered inclination to serve in small things or great, without thought of renown. Humility is unconscious meekness, too committed to worry about reputation. Of the man who humbled himself it is written: "He took the form of a servant." Love vaunteth not itself. Meekness is love’s quality. Let this mind be in you."

- Dennis Gillett
The Genius of Discipleship

[Resource Manager]

15 January 2014

"In the ecclesia our differing gifts are bricks of different shapes, sizes and colours. They are not to be used for throwing at each other; we shall never build a temple that way. That is how the Corinthians were using them, and they had to be told to "seek to excel to the edification of the church" (1 Corinthians 14:12). And love is the only mortar that can bind them all together. The third chapter of the letter to the Colossians tells us that, where, after a list of things that we are to "put on", the Apostle concludes: "And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness". (Colossians 3:14). He does not mean merely that love is more important than all these things; he means literally, "on the top of all these things", spread over them all to unify them, to bind them perfectly together."

- H.A. Twelves
Builders or Destroyers? (1950)

[Resource Manager]

16 January 2014

"When we are truly a part of this new creation in Christ, then we may live in him, not merely as a figure of speech, or in some rather distant imitative manner, but as forming the very material upon which he is working. And that, ... is the ever-present miracle that you and I may know for ourselves - the miracle that as God was in Christ, so Christ may be in us, the hope of glory."

- Ralph Smalley
The Epistle to the Colossians (1961)

[Resource Manager]

17 January 2014

The Bible ... is not a joint product in which there is a fallible element, but a God-breathed word, given through specially chosen men; as such it remains the Word of God, about the origin and contents of which man was not consulted.

- F.T. Pearce
The Inspiration of the Bible (1965)

[Resource Manager]

18 January 2014

"Fellowship should be the loving companionship of those who believe the same divinely-revealed things in all essential particulars, and follow them in the conduct of their lives. Paul calls this the "fellowship of the gospel," "the fellowship of Jesus Christ our Lord,” the “fellowship of Christ’s sufferings." While John says, "You also may have fellowship with us," and that we may know what is the nature of that fellowship he adds, "our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:3)"

- C.C. Walker
Brotherhood and Fellowship (1923)

[Resource Manager]

19 January 2014

"Jesus lifted his eyes not just to see the world, but to look beyond it. We should seek to look at the world with his eyes, but also to look further. God has given us life not to be lived with lowered eyes, but to search for Him through all that is in this world, through things, events, people. All should reveal God to us. If we do this properly then our eyes will be blessed like those of the disciples (Luke 10:23-24), for they will then see what "prophets and kings have desired to see". Our eyes will then carry God to others, for then will our eye be single and our whole body full of light."

- Derek Hayward
Present Your Bodies (1990)

[Resource Manager]

20 January 2014

"When we obeyed the Truth we looked with eagerness for the Lord’s coming which we expected almost immediately. But the years pass, our eager expectation fades, and we become accustomed to the Lord’s long continuing absence. Our eager anticipation of his immediate return has not been realized, but we must not allow a feeling of disappointment to interfere with our preparation. The only sure way to be ready on the unexpected day of the Lord is to be ready every day."

- Leonard Bedwell
The Bridegroom Cometh (1960)

[Resource Manager]

21 January 2014

"In this blessed provision for the forgiving of our sins we recognize the wonderful compassion of God, manifested to those who seek to know Him and to serve Him. In, and through, His beloved Son "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7). Reconciliation to God and continued fellowship with Him and His Son are only possible on the basis of His forgiveness of our sins. Little wonder, therefore, that this aspect of the Divine mercy is constantly stressed in the Scriptures as an outstanding feature of the character of God, and gratefully recognized and appreciated by those who have been the recipients of it."

- F.W. Turner
Meditations (1949)

[Resource Manager]

22 January 2014

"The joy we experience now is real enough, but is transient and passing. We have our moments of sorrow and depression as well as joy, but the joy to come is different. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." And when that day comes there will be an end of sorrow and trial. Weeping will give place to joy, a joy which will know no end:

"And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away” (Isaiah 35:10)"

- Philip Hinde
Joy (1977)

[Resource Manager]

23 January 2014

"It has been said that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is "the most searching and powerful utterance we possess on what concerns the moral life". All recognize its nobility, but only the Christian can appreciate its significance in relation to the Gospel message. It depicts the outlook and attitude of mind of Christ and it is impossible fully to appreciate and aspire to its ideals without him. To those prepared to accept the invitation of Jesus to forsake all and follow him, there is no greater guide."

- John J. Fryer
Design for Life (1971)

[Resource Manager]

24 January 2014

"Do we ever give sufficient thought to the fact, taught so early in Scripture, "Cursed is the ground for your sake: Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you"? (Genesis 3:17-18) Not only did man have to bear the results of his rebellion, but Nature had to suffer as well. "Cursed is the ground for your sake." Yet how much beauty remains. All this could have been taken away from us, and justly too, but it wasn’t. As God "sends His rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45), so He has not left Himself without witness in Nature. The beauty is there in abundance, as a testimony to God’s goodness and as a little foretaste of the time when the curse will be removed."

- Howard Walker
Evening Meditations (1973)

[Resource Manager]

25 January 2014

"The peace which Christ knew was undoubtedly derived from the Father, but he made it his own. Accordingly Paul could write to the Philippians: "Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:2). This, with some variations, was the apostle’s customary salutation. It was a reminder to the believers that the Gospel has its roots in the grace of God. The experience of that grace should bring peace to the believer. Peace is a term with more than one implication. It can, for example, describe the new relationship to God unto which a man is brought as the result of the sacrifice of Christ (see Ephesians 2:13-17); it can, too, represent tranquillity of mind and serenity of outlook which are the products of true fellowship with God."

- T.J. Barling
Letter to the Philippians