November 24
Abundance in God
Broad rivers and streams" produce fertility and abundance in the land. Places near broad rivers are remarkable for the variety of their plants and their plentiful harvests. God is all this to His Church. Having God she has abundance. What can she ask for that He will not give her? What need can she mention that He will not supply?
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food."1
Do you want the bread of life? It drops like manna from the sky. Do you want refreshing streams? The rock follows you, and that Rock is Christ.
If you still have any need, it is your own fault; if you are deprived, you are not deprived in Him, but in yourself. "Broad rivers and streams" also point to business.
Our glorious Lord is to us a place of heavenly merchandise. Through our Redeemer we have business with the past; the wealth of Calvary, the treasures of the covenant, the riches of the ancient days of election, the stores of eternity-all come to us down the broad stream of our gracious Lord.
We have business, too, with the future. What ships, laden to the water's edge, come to us from heaven! What visions we have of a new heaven and a new earth!
Through our glorious Lord we have business with angels-communion with the bright spirits washed in blood, who sing before the throne. Better still, we have fellowship with the Infinite One. "Broad rivers and streams" are specially intended to set forth the idea of security.
Rivers were often a defense. Beloved, what a defense God is to His Church! The devil cannot cross this broad river of God. How he wishes he could turn the current, but do not fear, for God abides unchangeably the same.
Satan may annoy, but he cannot destroy us; no galley with oars shall invade our river, neither will a majestic ship pass through.
1 Isaiah 25:6
Family Bible reading plan
verse 1 1 Chronicles 19, 20
verse 2 1 Peter 1
Honest Evangelism: How to Talk About Jesus Even When It’s Tough
The changes taking place in Western cultures are both discouraging to Christians and, ironically, encouraging. More precisely, most of the changes themselves are discouraging, but they are calling forth a different set of changes that are encouraging. The discouraging changes are easy to list. Rising biblical illiteracy means that there is less and less cultural consensus around things like the Ten Commandments. Honor is an old-fashioned word, easily mocked; truth is increasingly flexible; the lust for power, success, and money has become more and more transparent and unchecked; dignity is old-fashioned; cruelty and vengeance are sometimes depicted as virtues.
Short, clear, realistic and humorous, this book will challenge you to be honest in your conversations about Jesus, help you to know how to talk about him, and thrill you that God can and will use ordinary people to change eternal destinies.
Click here to learn more about Truth For Life
From Morning & Evening revised and edited by Alistair Begg copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Crossway Books, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187, www.crossway.org.
