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Men are free to decide their own moral choices, but they are also under the necessity to account to God for those choices.A. W. Tozer

Devotionals from my daily reading, Study showing your self approved, a worker not ashamed of God, having rightly divided the word of truth. To be removed reply with “REMOVE” in subject – to add send email with “ADD Daily ProclaimerC” in subject.

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Clips from e-sword daily devotionals. Hoekstra, Meyer, Morrison, Spurgeon and Word.

May 28

Looking Back
Luk_9:61-62

The modern cemetery permits no tombstones, for the ease of those who mow the lawn (and the profit of those who own the cemetery). But wander through an old graveyard; see the art in the monuments there. You will sometimes come across what appears to be a marble column, broken off. It represents a life cut short, broken off before it reached full height.
The man in these brief passages is such a column; his life was broken off, he died, cut short. The break is found at the word, "but."
Elijah and Elisha
No doubt the man thought he had good precedent. When Elijah found his successor, Elisha, he was plowing. Elijah called him, and Elisha asked for permission to kiss his mother and father good-bye. In this sense the man thought to honor Jesus as a prophet.
But one greater than Elijah is here. The complete superiority of Christ over all others is shown clearly in this passage, for Elijah was only a man, but Jesus is both man and God. He will have you on his terms, or not at all. Jesus knows the temptation of a fond farewell; how the parents will beg the young man to stay home, how the heartsickness will tug at him. He knows the man's heart, he knows his divided mind.
Divided mind
The illustration Jesus uses is familiar to a farmer. The straight furrow is easy to sow. Looking back produces crooked furrows. The crooked furrow produces patches of land that cannot be sown, which will show at harvest times as either weeds or bare spots.
The word "but" produces weeds and bare spots on the soul. They are the evil things and good things which stand between you and Christ. If you would follow Christ, you must give up the weeds (things of evil) but also you must give up the bare spots (good things standing between you and Christ). Otherwise you continue to sin—and do so thinking God approves. Would you make God the author of your sin?
All at once, or gradually?
Is it better to jump into the cold swimming pool all at once, or go in gradually? You may debate that point, but there is no question about following Christ. The gradual method does not answer the call of Christ. The gradual method says, "But first." What could possibly come first, except Christ? Jump in, with all your heart, and follow him.


NIGHT AND MORNING!
"Weeping may tarry for the night, But joy cometh in the morning."-- Psa_30:5 (R.V.).

The Night of Doubt--the Morning of Faith. It is indeed a memorable moment in the history of the human spirit, when we suddenly wake up to see that the Almighty is the All-Loving Father, that the righteousness of God is no longer a ground of anxiety and fear, but of assured hope; that He has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. What a glad hour it was to Thomas when, after a week of the blackness of darkness, he stood again face to face with Jesus, and learnt that His heart was beating in sympathy, and that His pierced hands were held out to him. Dare to believe that the Love which died for thee is dealing with all the mysteries, misfits, and dark problems of thy life. Weeping may tarry for the night in which you shut yourself in with yourself, but she is only a lodger! Joy will come in the morning, when you open your heart to Christ.
The Night of Perplexity--the Morning of Vision. We cannot explain all the dealings of God with man, still less the mysteries of the Divine Nature. Clouds and darkness are round about Him, though judgment and righteousness are the habitation of His Throne. But from time to time we obtain some broken vision of His Purpose and Achievement and Objective. Then the voice of Joy rings through our heart; then our mouths are filled with laughter and our tongues with singing! Men call us dreamers, but we count them blind. Sooner or later Christ will come! The power of Satan will be broken and his reign ended. The things that prophets and kings foretold, and died without seeing, shall be realised. The children of Light will lift up their heads, because the time of Redemption will have come. Sorrow and sighing will flee away, and in that glad Morning there will be the shout of Joy!
The Night of Bereavement--the Morning of Reunion. Their stay with us was all too short! We had only begun to fathom their sweetness and beauty. We little dreamed that we would only be allowed to sip the cup of bliss that they had brought into our lives. And then they heard a Voice that called, and saw a beckoning Hand, and they arose and went! He, that height of Weeping! But the Morning of Joy cometh, when we shall see again their radiant faces welcoming us on the other side. In that fair Morning, Joy will be at the full tide, never to recede.

PRAYER
Blessed Christ! The storm is high, the night is dark. Come to me, I beseech Thee. In Thy presence is fulness of Joy. AMEN.

Simeon and Anna
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him .... And there was one Anna. a prophetess .... which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day— Luk_2:25, Luk_2:36, Luk_2:37
Age and Infancy Meet
No more beautiful scene could be imagined than this meeting of age and infancy in the Temple. As we read the story of the life of Jesus, we find Him surrounded on all hands by hypocrisy, until we begin to wonder if there was any religion left in those who haunted these sacred courts. But here, for a moment, the curtain is drawn aside. We get a glimpse of a Jewish man and woman. And we find them living holy and separated lives, and longing for the advent of Messiah. On a gravestone erected over certain soldiers in Virginia there are these words, "Who they were, no one knows; what they were, everyone knows," and we might use these words of Simeon and Anna. Who Simeon was we shall never learn; Luke is at no pains to tell us that; but what he was in his daily life and walk, in his inmost desire, and in the sight of God, everyone knows who has read this Gospel chapter. Simeon and Anna, then, entered the Temple when the infant Savior was there, and to them the glory of the child was shown.
Never Give Up Hoping
First, then, we learn that we should never give up hoping. When Alexander the Great crossed into Asia he gave away almost all his belongings to his friends. One of his captains asked him, "Sir, what do you keep for yourself?" And the answer of the king was, "I keep hope." Now we do not read that Simeon was an old man, though it has been universally believed that he was (see Luk_2:29). But through all his years Simeon was like Alexander: he had parted with much, but he had held fast to hope. The days were very dark days for Israel; no John the Baptist had sounded his trumpet note; everything seemed hopeless for the Jews, and some of the noblest of them had taken refuge in despair. But this brave soul "waited for the consolation of Israel," and we know now that his waiting was not vain. Do you see the roots of that heart-hopefulness of his? It ran down to justice and devotion (Luk_2:25). it would have withered long since if it had not been rooted in an upright life and in fellowship with God. Dishonest conduct and forgetfulness of God are always visited with the withering of hope, for hope hangs like a fruit on the first two great commandments. Let us all keep hoping, then, as Simeon did; let us be expectant and on the outlook to the end; and let us remember that a glad and helpful temper is only possible when we are just and devout.
God's Performance Greater Than His Promise
Next we see that God's performance is greater than His promise. There is an old legend that Simeon had stumbled over the words in Isa_7:14. And as he prayed and wrestled with his doubts, it was revealed to him that with his own eyes he would see the virgin's Son. All that he dared to hope for was a glimpse—"a brief glimpse" and "a passing word" would have sufficed him. He lived in expectation of the hour when someone would say to him, "Behold Messiah!" Now the expected moment has arrived—and is it merely a glimpse of Messiah that he wins?—he takes the child of all his hopes up in his arms (Luk_2:28). No wonder that he broke forth into such glorious praise; he had got more than he could ask or think. God's promise had buoyed him through many a weary day; but the performance was greater than the promise. We should all remember that in entering a New Year, and when we speak about the promise of the year. God has a royal way of doing things, and His cups have a happy art of running over. The devil is a most lavish and tireless Promiser, but how the promise is performed let our own past days tell us. God's promises are very many and very great; but to a living and prayerful faith as Simeon's was, the performance is greater than the promise.
Simeon and Anna Saw Jesus in the Temple
Again we remark that Simeon and Anna saw Jesus in the Temple. The shepherds had seen Him lying in the manger; there, too, the wise men from the East had seen Him. But it was not in the manger that He was seen by these two devout souls; it was in the House of God. Now there is a sense in which we all must find Christ in the manger, we must discover Him under life's lowly roofs. In places which were never consecrated, but where the daily drudgery is done, there must we waken to the presence of Jesus. But on the other hand it is equally true, that we shall miss Him if we do not go to church; and we must never enter a place of worship without the prayer, "Sir, we would see Jesus." Columba got his Gaelic name, "Colum of the churches," says an old Irishman, because as a boy he was so devoted to church-worship; like Simeon, he saw Jesus in the Temple.
Till We Have Seen Jesus We Are Not Ready to Die
Lastly, we learn that till we have seen Jesus we are not ready to die (Luk_2:29-32). Children do not dwell much upon death; God did not intend that they should do so. But sometimes, even to children, comes the thought, "When is a person ready to die?" Well, length of years has little to do with it, although all young people think that it has. We are not ready to die when we are seventy; we are ready when we have seen Christ as our Savior. Have the children of the family seen Him so? Are the fathers and mothers praying for that end? A little girl dearly loves to hold the baby. Get it from Simeon's arms, and give it her.

Morning
“Whom he justified, them he also glorified.”
- Rom_8:30
Here is a precious truth for thee, believer. Thou mayest be poor, or in suffering, or unknown, but for thine encouragement take a review of thy “calling” and the consequences that flow from it, and especially that blessed result here spoken of. As surely as thou art God’s child today, so surely shall all thy trials soon be at an end, and thou shalt be rich to all the intents of bliss. Wait awhile, and that weary head shall wear the crown of glory, and that hand of labour shall grasp the palm-branch of victory. Lament not thy troubles, but rather rejoice that ere long thou wilt be where “there shall be neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” The chariots of fire are at thy door, and a moment will suffice to bear thee to the glorified. The everlasting song is almost on thy lip. The portals of heaven stand open for thee. Think not that thou canst fail of entering into rest. If he hath called thee, nothing can divide thee from his love. Distress cannot sever the bond; the fire of persecution cannot burn the link; the hammer of hell cannot break the chain. Thou art secure; that voice which called thee at first, shall call thee yet again from earth to heaven, from death’s dark gloom to immortality’s unuttered splendours. Rest assured, the heart of him who has justified thee beats with infinite love towards thee. Thou shalt soon be with the glorified, where thy portion is; thou art only waiting here to be made meet for the inheritance, and that done, the wings of angels shall waft thee far away, to the mount of peace, and joy, and blessedness, where,
“Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eternally shut in,”
thou shalt rest for ever and ever.

Evening
“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.”
- Lam_3:21
Memory is frequently the bond slave of despondency. Dispairing minds call to remembrance every dark foreboding in the past, and dilate upon every gloomy feature in the present; thus memory, clothed in sackcloth, presents to the mind a cup of mingled gall and wormwood. There is, however, no necessity for this. Wisdom can readily transform memory into an angel of comfort. That same recollection which in its left hand brings so many gloomy omens, may be trained to bear in its right a wealth of hopeful signs. She need not wear a crown of iron, she may encircle her brow with a fillet of gold, all spangled with stars. Thus it was in Jeremiah’s experience: in the previous verse memory had brought him to deep humiliation of soul: “My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me;” and now this same memory restored him to life and comfort. “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.” Like a two-edged sword, his memory first killed his pride with one edge, and then slew his despair with the other. As a general principle, if we would exercise our memories more wisely, we might, in our very darkest distress, strike a match which would instantaneously kindle the lamp of comfort. There is no need for God to create a new thing upon the earth in order to restore believers to joy; if they would prayerfully rake the ashes of the past, they would find light for the present; and if they would turn to the book of truth and the throne of grace, their candle would soon shine as aforetime. Be it ours to remember the lovingkindness of the Lord, and to rehearse his deeds of grace. Let us open the volume of recollection which is so richly illuminated with memorials of mercy, and we shall soon be happy. Thus memory may be, as Coleridge calls it, “the bosom-spring of joy,” and when the Divine Comforter bends it to his service, it may be chief among earthly comforters.

Looking Back
Luk_9:61-62

The modern cemetery permits no tombstones, for the ease of those who mow the lawn (and the profit of those who own the cemetery). But wander through an old graveyard; see the art in the monuments there. You will sometimes come across what appears to be a marble column, broken off. It represents a life cut short, broken off before it reached full height.
The man in these brief passages is such a column; his life was broken off, he died, cut short. The break is found at the word, "but."
Elijah and Elisha
No doubt the man thought he had good precedent. When Elijah found his successor, Elisha, he was plowing. Elijah called him, and Elisha asked for permission to kiss his mother and father good-bye. In this sense the man thought to honor Jesus as a prophet.
But one greater than Elijah is here. The complete superiority of Christ over all others is shown clearly in this passage, for Elijah was only a man, but Jesus is both man and God. He will have you on his terms, or not at all. Jesus knows the temptation of a fond farewell; how the parents will beg the young man to stay home, how the heartsickness will tug at him. He knows the man's heart, he knows his divided mind.
Divided mind
The illustration Jesus uses is familiar to a farmer. The straight furrow is easy to sow. Looking back produces crooked furrows. The crooked furrow produces patches of land that cannot be sown, which will show at harvest times as either weeds or bare spots.
The word "but" produces weeds and bare spots on the soul. They are the evil things and good things which stand between you and Christ. If you would follow Christ, you must give up the weeds (things of evil) but also you must give up the bare spots (good things standing between you and Christ). Otherwise you continue to sin—and do so thinking God approves. Would you make God the author of your sin?
All at once, or gradually?
Is it better to jump into the cold swimming pool all at once, or go in gradually? You may debate that point, but there is no question about following Christ. The gradual method does not answer the call of Christ. The gradual method says, "But first." What could possibly come first, except Christ? Jump in, with all your heart, and follow him.


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It does not take great men to do great things; it only takes consecrated men. Phillips Brooks