There are great lessons to be learned even from the failures of God’s people recorded in the Scriptures. God says if his people had obeyed his voice he would have subdued their enemies and fed them with honey out of the rock. But they rebelled and walked in their own counsels.

How sad that a people who that could have enjoyed the richest of blessings from their gracious God were instead given up to their own desires and suffered the consequences of their disobedience.

How often have you neglected the place of blessing? There is counsel and comfort in God’s Word but you have spent little time reading it. There are rich mercies to be found at the throne of grace but you have neglected prayer. There are joys and blessings to be found in God’s house but you have been attracted by the empty promises of the world.

Churches sometimes mourn the loss of spiritual fervor enjoyed in former days. But instead of being brought to repentance for sin and neglect, the excuse is made that we live in difficult times. The lack of power in preaching is a concern but still messages to make people feel good take precedence over sound biblical exposition.

The next time you are facing temptation to sin or to squander God’s blessings, remember this: God is willing and able to bless his people. Today, heed his call to return. Call upon him, knowing he is willing to hear and ready to bless.

This is verse is famous for being the shortest verse in the Bible. But it deserves our attention for reasons much more significant than that. What a scene! The eternal, unchanging, immovable God-in-the-flesh Jesus, weeping in front of the tomb of a friend.

How mysterious a scene this is. And yet there are some clear implications, embedded in the context of the verse, from which we can learn valuable lessons. First, Jesus was not weeping because of despair at the death of Lazarus his friend. He had already told his disciples that this death had been allowed in order to provide an occasion for their faith to be strengthened (11:15). Moments after weeping, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead.

Secondly, Jesus was weeping because he saw the deep grief of those around him and was deeply moved by compassion for them (11:33). Even though he knew that he was about to bring Lazarus back from the dead, Jesus was still effected by the sorrow that others were experiencing.

What about you? When you have lost a loved one, or seen your fondest hopes or projects fall dead at your feet, do you despair or do you see it, like Jesus did, as an occasion for faith to be strengthened? Does it cause you to lose hope or to place your hope in the strength and wisdom of God?

On the other hand when you see others experiencing deep grief, does it move you at all? Even if it does not directly effect your life, are you compassionate toward those whose lives are shattered by sin or sorrow? Do you weep with those who are weeping around you, bearing their burden empathetically and prayerfully with them?

May this day find you walking in the faith, and in the sympathy, of our beloved friend Jesus Christ, who is still touched by the sorrows of his people and who is still able to speak life to the dead.

There are a thousand different places and people and pleasures that promise comfort and healing and satisfaction… but their comfort is vain, their promises are empty. Cosmetics are not the fountain of youth they claim to be, cars do not satisfy the cavernous need for pleasure that people have, and college will not fill the need for knowledge that every one of us feels. They comfort in vain.

Many religious leaders or philosophical seers or academic icons pretend to understand the needs of mankind and claim to have found the answers to life’s big questions. But they have seen a lie. They are just as blind in their own musings and speculations as those whom they persuade to follow them.

The only true promise, the only full comfort that is to be found in all the universe is found at the feet of Jesus. He is the Way, he is the Truth, in him is the Life. Everything else and everyone else that makes a pretense of substituting the creator God is telling you a lie, is offering empty promises, is plying a false comfort.

Are you looking today for a soul-filling, need-meeting, pleasure-supplying comfort? The greatest pleasure the world will ever know is the satisfaction of submitting to God, confessing our desperate condition apart from him, and begging him to fill us with himself.

Ask ye of the Lord. You will not be disappointed. His comfort is not in vain.

Paul was given a thorn in the flesh as a reminder of his weakness and through this he learned very well that his strength was in Christ, not in himself. He did not consider himself on a level above others; he desired the prayers of the most humble member of the church. In his first epistle to the Thessalonians he had asked simply, “Brethren, pray for us,” and here he asks that they should pray for the success of the gospel.

He desired that they pray for the gospel to be spread and that it be received and honored. The language conveys the thought of a river flowing freely, unobstructed, unhindered. He knew from experience there is much opposition to the gospel. There is persecution to face, criticism to overcome, and error to be challenged; so he prays these things will not hinder the free flow of the message.

As we endeavor to proclaim the gospel, whether to a congregation or to an individual, we must realize the challenge of overcoming the humanistic thinking that is prevalent in our day… or just the indifference that is widespread. If the gospel is to have success in our day and in our culture, we will need the Lydia-like blessing of hearts opened by the Lord to attend the message (Acts 16:14).

How wonderful is that experience when the Spirit of God opens a heart, enlightens a mind, and humbles a will! May we pray for the gospel to have free course — to flow uninhibited and unobstructed across the globe, converting souls and making wise the simple. May God’s Word be glorified or honored as it is received as the truth and embraced to the glory and praise of our Savior Jesus Christ.

It’s hard to imagine a two-year-old getting tired. They seem to have endless energy and they only have two speeds: fast and faster. When you try to put them to bed, they deny all the way there that they are in need of even a nap. But the moment their head hits the pillow, they fall into a deep and much-needed slumber.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And certainly all the rest of us have constant reminders of our limitations. Try going a day without coffee, or a night without sleep, or on a run without water. We are every one of us in need of constant refreshment, because we are not self-contained or autonomous creatures.

What is true of us all physically is even more evident spiritually. No one walks this earth in self-supplied satisfaction. Although we do not always go to the right source, we are always looking for a spring of spiritual renewal somewhere, to which we can come and deeply drink and consistently return.

Those that wait on the Lord, who look to him for refreshing or allow him to restore their souls, find that his supply is never empty, his sufficiency never runs dry. Young or old, rich or poor, sick or healthy — God is able to supply our needs, not just for a moment, but over and over throughout our lives.

They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength. Are you waiting on his good purpose, on his good timing, on his good supply… or are you still running in circles, denying that you are even in need of rest or refreshment? Lay your head on the pillow of God’s grace and find the deep and much-needed renewal that only he will provide.

Building Confident Faith

Faith is one of the most important attributes of our entire lives. When we put our faith in Jesus, we have access to eternal life. It is our faith that determines our destiny.

However, faith isn’t always easy. The writer of Hebrews tells us that faith begins with having confidence in the things we hope for. More than that, it is having assurance for things we cannot see.

While this sounds like a contradiction, faith actually requires us to believe in something outside of ourselves. If we could see it and measure it, it wouldn’t require faith. For instance, we read in Scripture that God created the earth and everything in it. But we weren’t there when it happened. It requires faith to believe that.

Jesus says that those who believe in Him will inherit eternal life—but that’s a promise that has yet to come. We have to have faith that Jesus will keep His promise, and that one day we will be in heaven with Him.

Faith is the assurance that what God promised will happen. It is the confidence that what Jesus said is actually true. This is why people in Scripture faithfully for God to fulfill His promises toward them. Most of them might not have seen that fulfillment in their lifetime, but they had faith that God would still follow through.

Take some time to consider your own faith. Is your faith filled with confident hope? Pray for God to give you the assurance that all of His promises will come true. And as you do that, learn from the stories mentioned in Hebrews 11 on what it means to have faith in action.