December 12 Daily Devotional

Bible Readings:

Deuteronomy 29:29, King James Version:
²⁹The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Proverbs 21:1, KJV:
¹The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

Acts 17:24-28, KJV:
²⁴God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
²⁵Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
²⁶And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
²⁷That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
²⁸For in him we live, and move, and have our being....

Ephesians 1:3-11, KJV:
³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
⁶To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
⁷In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
⁸Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
⁹Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
¹⁰That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
¹¹In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will....

James 4:13-15, KJV:
¹³Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
¹⁴Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
¹⁵For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Devotional:

Robert Browning's words in Pippa Passes, "God's in his heaven: All's right with the world," speaks both truth and falsehood. God is in heaven surely. But is all right with the world? Only if the poet means to convoy the thought to us that this world operates according to a pre-determined pattern drawn by the God of heaven and therefore nothing could possibly be "wrong" in the sense that God's will can be thwarted are these words true.

Even Christian people sometimes forget the Scriptural teaching of God's providence in preserving tins world and in bringing to completion His program for the universe which He made. Of course the unbeliever is unwilling to grant that this world runs according to the plan of a Sovereign God to whom he should he obedient. But also some of those who profess the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour seem quite hesitant about ascribing complete control of all things to the God of heaven. Some would even say that evil comes from Satan and good from God, in the sense that Satan creates evil and projects it upon the world without God's knowledge. Viewing the teaching of Scripture, however, we note that God is absolute sovereign over all things. "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). "The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah.... He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Proverbs 21:1). Concerning evil, note that Jehovah bade Shimei to curse David (II Samuel 16:11), and also provided for a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets of Ahab (I Kings 22:20-23).

Hence we must conclude that Paul's message to the men of Athens could have been nothing less than the great truth that God is Sovereign Creator, Preserver, and Redeemer. To us this is a comforting truth. Upheld by the everlasting arms we will not fear. Knowing that even our sinful acts are done—by us, to be sure,—but also by God's enabling providence we shall fear to do what is displeasing to Him. Relying on God's assuring word that He has appointed a day of judgment and will surely bring all men before Him we will be glad that Jesus Christ, our Substitute, has merited forgiveness for all our sins. Taught by Jesus Christ that "without me ye can do nothing" the servant of Christ will make his requests for strength known unto God before he sets out to labor in his Master's vineyard.

The practical value of this teaching of Scripture then is evident. But how little is this truth applied. In the first place, how much needed is the admonition of James 4:13-15. No one may presume to know the future which lies alone in the hands of God. Rather let us pray, "If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." The secret things belong unto God, but those things which are revealed belong to us as our rule of life. Let us walk by faith and not by sight. Let us walk by faith in the Word of God and in the overruling providence of God.

In the second place, in the day of the atomic bomb with all its power for the destruction of the nations, rejoice that this weapon shall be used only by the permission of the God of the nations. Man may think that he alone has the authority to unleash the fury of this power upon mankind, but the mainspring of the clock that ticks off the seconds of human history is wound and unloosed by the hand of the Creator of time. Therefore, predictions about the end of the world, made by the most intelligent of men and by reasoning that omits consideration of the providence of God are worthless. Remember that

"God works in a mysterious way
  His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
  And rides upon the storm."

We are very happy to make available to you this month these devotionals by the late Rev. LeRoy B. Oliver. They originally appeared in The Presbyerian Guardian during the late 1940's.

The description of his "Your Family Altar" page in The Presbyterian Guardian also fits this Web page: "The page is designed for both private and family use, whichever is most convenient in your case. If you do not have family worship in your home, we hope you will begin, and suggest using these readings. They should not, however, take the place of reading books of the Bible, or the Bible itself, through in regular course." It is those who abide (continue) in the Word who are truly Christ's disciples, who know the truth, and who experience freedom in Him (John 8:31-32). May these devotionals be used for the building up of God's people and to the glory of God.