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Morning
"So to walk even as he walked."
1 John 2:6
Why should Christians imitate Christ? They should do it for their own sakes. If they desire to be in a healthy state of soul--if they would escape the sickness of sin, and enjoy the vigour of growing grace, let Jesus be their model. For their own happiness' sake, if they would drink wine on the lees, well refined; if they would enjoy holy and happy communion with Jesus; if they would be lifted up above the cares and troubles of this world, let them walk even as he walked. There is nothing which can so assist you to walk towards heaven with good speed, as wearing the image of Jesus on your heart to rule all its motions. It is when, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you are enabled to walk with Jesus in his very footsteps, that you are most happy, and most known to be the sons of God. Peter afar off is both unsafe and uneasy. Next, for religion's sake, strive to be like Jesus. Ah! poor religion, thou hast been sorely shot at by cruel foes, but thou hast not been wounded one-half so dangerously by thy foes as by thy friends. Who made those wounds in the fair hand of Godliness? The professor who used the dagger of hypocrisy. The man who with pretences, enters the fold, being nought but a wolf in sheep's clothing, worries the flock more than the lion outside. There is no weapon half so deadly as a Judas-kiss. Inconsistent professors injure the gospel more than the sneering critic or the infidel. But, especially for Christ's own sake, imitate his example. Christian, lovest thou thy Saviour? Is his name precious to thee? Is his cause dear to thee? Wouldst thou see the kingdoms of the world become his? Is it thy desire that he should be glorified? Art thou longing that souls should be won to him? If so, imitate Jesus; be an "epistle of Christ, known and read of all men."
Evening
"Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee."
Isaiah 41:9
If we have received the grace of God in our hearts, its practical effect has been to make us God's servants. We may be unfaithful servants, we certainly are unprofitable ones, but yet, blessed be his name, we are his servants, wearing his livery, feeding at his table, and obeying his commands. We were once the servants of sin, but he who made us free has now taken us into his family and taught us obedience to his will. We do not serve our Master perfectly, but we would if we could. As we hear God's voice saying unto us, "Thou art my servant," we can answer with David, "I am thy servant; thou hast loosed my bonds." But the Lord calls us not only his servants, but his chosen ones--"I have chosen thee." We have not chosen him first, but he hath chosen us. If we be God's servants, we were not always so; to sovereign grace the change must be ascribed. The eye of sovereignty singled us out, and the voice of unchanging grace declared, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." Long ere time began or space was created God had written upon his heart the names of his elect people, had predestinated them to be conformed unto the image of his Son, and ordained them heirs of all the fulness of his love, his grace, and his glory. What comfort is here! Has the Lord loved us so long, and will he yet cast us away? He knew how stiffnecked we should be; he understood that our hearts were evil, and yet he made the choice. Ah! our Saviour is no fickle lover. He doth not feel enchanted for awhile with some gleams of beauty from his church's eye, and then afterwards cast her off because of her unfaithfulness. Nay, he married her in old eternity; and it is written of Jehovah, "He hateth putting away." The eternal choice is a bond upon our gratitude and upon his faithfulness which neither can disown.
===Ham
[Hăm] - hot or dark, colored, swarthy. The youngest son of Noahand father of Canaan and founder of many peoples (Gen. 5:32; 6:10; 7:13; 9:18, 22; Ps. 78:51).
The Man Whose Sin Brought a Curse
In consequence of the improper conduct of Ham when Noah was drunk, the heart of his father was set against him. Without doubt, Ham's act was the manifestation of an impure heart. Perhaps he had always been a filthy dreamer.
Because every imagination of our heart is defiled (Gen. 8:21), we are all the sons of Ham in this respect. There is none clean, no not one (Rom. 3:10, 12).
The indignation of Noah found expression in the thrice repeated curse (Gen. 9:25-27 ). How tragic it is that the wickedness of Ham appears to have influenced the whole of his descendants whose history is one of folly and crime. The sin of one man polluted many peoples. Ham sinned, and a curse came upon Canaan. The Hamites were condemned to be hewers of wood and drawers of water.
Egypt is called "the land of Ham" (Ps. 105:23) and the Egyptian word for "Ham" is Kem, meaning black and warm. From Ham we have the Egyptians, Africans, Babylonians, Philistines and Canaanites.
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IN THE BEGINNING, GOD CREATEDOn the night before Christmas in the year 1968 Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders, the crew of Apollo 8, were further away from the earth than any human beings had been. It was the first time a spacecraft had broken earth’s orbit and ventured out across a quarter million miles to orbit the moon. The distant earth was a small blue disk in the blackness of space, and on that blue disk is where the whole drama of human history had unfolded: the creation, the fall, wars, explorations, feast and famine, marriages and divorces, births and deaths. On a historic broadcast on that Christmas Eve the astronauts beamed back to earth a video picture of the earth, and spoke of the “vast loneliness” of space. And then their voices crackled over the radio: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep.” Genesis 1:1 begins with the Hebrew words b’reshith bara Elohim. In beginning, God created. If we just stop there, we gain a decisive view of life. There was a beginning, so there is meaning and purpose to life. Prior to this “beginning” was the God who began it. God is the prior reality, the higher being, the starter, the beginner, the initiator. There is only one being who can explain the world and life, only one who knows it intimately. He “created.” The Hebrew word bara emphasizes originality. An artist may create a painting by spreading paint on a canvas, but that is just pushing molecules around. Even the vision of the artist is not truly original because it is drawn from a lifetime of mental pictures. When God created it was an act of bringing into existence. A truly original act. Behind the act was vision, and will, and love. So the question is: as we try to figure out life on the blue disk, what are the main questions we should be asking the Creator?
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Today's reading: 1 Chronicles 1-3, John 5:25-47 (NIV)
View today's reading on Bible GatewayToday's Old Testament reading: 1 Chronicles 1-3
Historical Records From Adam to Abraham
To Noah's Sons
1 Adam, Seth, Enosh, 2 Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, 3 Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.
4 The sons of Noah:
Shem, Ham and Japheth....
...read the rest on Bible Gateway
Today's New Testament reading: John 5:25-47
25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out--those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me....
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