excerpt

Our Lord would have due reverence given to “old” things. He instructs us, for instance, that departure from time-honored truth is perilous in any generation. The devil’s bandwagon is always ready and waiting with tantalizing new trends, and his sales tactics are clever. Jeremiah 6:16 offers this command:

“Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.”

However weak or irrelevant the old paths or old persons may appear, we must not regard them as a hindrance to progress. They may well be our surest means of avoiding a by-path meadow.

“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:25). “Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth” (Psalm 71:9). “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not” (Psalm 71:18). “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age” (Psalm 92:14). “Children’s children are the crown of old men” (Proverbs 17:6). “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge. . . . But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins” (2 Peter 1:5, 9).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.

Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (July 13 reading).

One of the most venerable aspects of the life of our Lord is His perfect obedience. It is one thing for Him never to have visibly stumbled. But when we consider His utterly chaste, perfectly God-honoring thoughts, we are completely enthralled. In the purity of His motives and His inward holiness, we see most vividly the great gulf between the Redeemer and His redeemed.

“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men” (Romans 16:19). “He remembereth the obedience of you all”
(2 Corinthians 7:15). “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God . . . bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4–5). “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). “Be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance” (2 Peter 1:13–14).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: Be sober as obedient children.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (July 6 reading).]

“behold, all things are become new”

This is a remarkable observation we find recorded in 2 Corinthians 5:17. I have seen it on the face of the brand new convert─surpassing joy and a euphoria born of the Spirit’s work of regeneration. The world looks different to him now, and he looks different to the world. It is good to be around newly born-again babes in Christ.

“He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God” (Psalm 40:3). “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you” (John 13:34). “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:23–24). “He [Jesus] is the mediator of the new testament” (Hebrews 9:15). “Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21:1).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: Put on the new man.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (June 29 reading).]

To know the Lord’s name is an unparalleled, yet possibly perilous privilege. The Lord Jesus utters an ominous judgment-day prophecy in Matthew 4:23 that some would prophesy, cast out devils, and do good works in His name. But He will not allow them a place in heaven because they never trusted their soul’s salvation to Him. Theirs was, instead, the ultimate taking of the Lord’s name in vain. Only those who have truly abandoned all hope in themselves understand what it means to pray, “Hallowed be thy name.”

“O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1). “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee” (Psalm 9:10). “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God” (Psalm 20:7). “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name” (Psalm 91:14). “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name” (Psalm 103:1). “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (June 22 reading).]

Believers crave the awareness that God is for us, yet as the target of the devil and in our own weak flesh, our belief in this truth is continually challenged. For the believer, daily time in God’s word and communion with Him are truly essential to maintaining a sound mind.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). “That ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27). “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). “Saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people” (Hebrews 8:10).

GOLDEN THOUGHT: We have the mind of Christ.

[Excerpt adapted from Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer (June 15 reading).]