JANUARY1

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid.
J ohn 14:27

hat is peace? You have seen a water puddle in the

road, Im sure. It is peaceful. There is not the slightest
stirring in it. The water is smooth and unruffled. The colors of
nature are reflected in it. That is not peace, but stagnant death!
Have you ever seen a child spinning a top? When the top is
going its fastest, it is at perfect rest. The peace of God is perfection of energy; it is a healthy vigor of the soul.
The peace of God is not the peace of stoicism or passivity. It
is the most intense activity. Some people say that they are tired
of life; they mean to say that they are tired of dying. They are
tired of the spiritual death that stops activity. They are tired of
life getting so sluggish.
What does Jesus say? I am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Everything in this natural world is pitted against you, and
unless you have His life you will never have real peace.
May the Lord have a new year in you!
Prayer Thought: Lord, thank You for inner
peace in the midst of a troubled world.
SUGGESTED READING: ISAIAH 26:3 4

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JANUARY2
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
J ohn 1:12

ur Lord Jesus Christ did not come into this world to

do the work of a social reformer, a political administrator,
a judge, or simply a ruler in the affairs of men and women.
Jesus came as the Light of the World, to perform a work of
grace in the hearts of individuals that will impart a new disposition of righteousness. This heartfelt transformation will make
God real in our lives.
Jesus Christ is a Savior who saves, not by the impressions
we derive from a study of His character, but through the work
He did by the shedding of His blood on the cross. Jesus Christ is
a Sanctifier who sanctifies, not by our sympathetic imitation of
Him, but by the fact of what He works in us.
Our Lord was not only without sin, but He also provides
a work of grace whereby you and I might be without sin. Our
Lord not only obeyed the good and perfect will of God perfectly,
but He also makes it possible for us to fully obey Gods perfect
will. Our Lord Jesus Christ was our personal substitute on the
cross, and our participation in His salvation depends on our
acknowledgment of this glorious deed in our behalf.
Prayer Thought: Father, I acknowledge my salvation
through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross.
SUGGESTED READING: JOHN 1:6 14

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JANUARY3
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.
I saiah 53:4

eware of any teaching that makes repentance the

ransom that persuades God to forgive sin. Repentance is
only the avenue whereby God enables us to see that our sinful condition is hopeless unless God does a remarkable work of
grace and redemption in our lives.
Just as I am without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
Oh, Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Isaiah reminds us that Jesus was was wounded for our

transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are
healed (53:5). This is the only scriptural understanding of how
sin can be forgiven. It is the only way that Gods character is
clearly vindicated and His unutterable love exhibited: by making His only-begotten Son the scapegoat for every man, woman,
and child.
Prayer Thought: Lord of mercy, I bow humbly, confessing
my personal need of Your grace and redemption.
SUGGESTED READING: ISAIAH 53

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JANUARY4
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have
sinned against heaven, and before thee.
L uke 15:18

he word repentance is often misunderstood. This

word, as we know it in the English language, does not fully
convey the idea that God wants us to understand.
Repentance does not simply mean sorrow for sin. No!
The prodigal son had remorse and sorrow while he fed pigs. In
despair, he said, How many hired servants of my fathers have
bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! (Luke
15:17).
But was that repentance? Obviously not. The prodigal left
the pigs and husks, and went back to his father. He said, [I]
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am
no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy
hired servants (Luke 15:1819). Almost before he realized it,
two strong arms of love embraced him, and the father clasped
him to his bosom. That is repentance! The New Testament
meaning of repentance is going back.
Have you gone back? Have you returned to your heavenly
Father? Remorse is not complete repentance. Returning to God
is repentance!
Prayer Thought: Thank You, heavenly Father, for outstretched
arms of mercy as You receive us in forgiveness.
SUGGESTED READING: LUKE 15:1132

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JANUARY5
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
R omans 5:8

hen a person is convicted of sin, he cries out,

Against Thee, and Thee only, have I sinned! From the
biblical point of view, sin is ignoring Gods claims and maintaining ones right to oneself. Sin is sometimes esteemed among
human beings, but it is an abomination in the sight of God.
Sin is not an abstraction; it is a terrible and personal reality.
Any person who has heard that Jesus Christ saves from sin, and
continues in sin, is a damned soul already.
The wages of sin is death. But God postponed the penalty
of death by allowing His only begotten Son to become the great
Victim for the whole world. For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
My sins, my sins, my Saviour,
Oh, sad on Thee they fall,
Seen through Thy tender patience,
I tenfold feel them all.
I know they are forgiven,
But, oh, their pain to me,
Is all the grief and anguish,
They laid, my Lord, on Thee.
Prayer Thought: I accept responsibility for my
sins. O God, I need Your forgiveness.
SUGGESTED READING: ROMANS 5:6 21
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Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
H ebrews 2:17

he greatest work in the world is the work of Christs

reconciliation of mankind with God. Sin put each one of
us at enmity with God and God at enmity with us.
We have too often forgotten Gods hatred of sin. The
consequence is that our sense of salvation becomes merely a sentiment; we presume that God, being love, will forgive any sinner
at any time. But if we teach that people are saved by simply
looking to Jesus, we are quite mistakenunless we understand
what the Bible means by looking to Jesus. If we declare that
there is no other name given among men whereby we must be
saved, all well and good; but if by that we mean looking to Jesus
as a representation of God, if we are lost in wonder, love, and
praise as we meditate upon that fact, and if we accept that sense
of wonder as a sign of our salvationt hen we are deceived.
Beware of any teaching that says loving Jesus means that
your soul is saved. This simply is not true, either in Scripture or
in the common experience of life. There are scores of men and
women who love Jesus, but who loathe the doctrine of forgiveness of sins by the shed blood of Jesus.
Prayer Thought: Gracious Lord, the love You
expressed toward us through Your death and
resurrection gives me hope. I praise You for it.
SUGGESTED READING: HEBREWS 2

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God... commandeth all men every where to repent.
A cts 17:30

rue repentance is keenly painful, but very beneficial in its results. Some people easily forget their period of
repentance; others never do. I am referring to the period when
a person fully feels what one has been. I do not believe the Spirit
of God allows Christians to lose all memory of the horrible pit
and miry clay of sins out of which God has delivered them.
The apostle Paul never forgot what he was; and that memory
reminded him that he became what he now is by the marvelous grace of God.
Repentance does not mean that you will never commit
those sins again.
It means that you have, by Gods grace, reached a place
where you do positively the other things. The only truly repentant person, in the fullest analysis, is the person who allows God
to deal with what was wrongsin.
Set your heart and mind toward God and let the holy light
of Jesus Christ search through every nook and cranny. The
result will be a marvelous readjustment of your whole life.
Prayer Thought: Search me, Lord. Enable
me to forsake all sin and live for You.
SUGGESTED READING: ACTS 17:2231

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