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Devotional from David Jeremiah

Butterfly A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could, and it could…

Poem by Annie Johnson Flint

Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their…

A minister, preaching upon the text, “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no healer there?” (Jer 8:22) made the remark that Christ is a good Physician. “Christ is not like those doctors who come and say they are sorry for you, whereas in their hearts they are glad you are ill, for if you and others…

I have heard of a man who lived in a certain town, and while he lived, was greatly misunderstood. It was known that he had a large income, yet he lived a miserly life, and loud were the murmurs at the scanty help he gave to those around him. He stinted himself in many ways, and hoarded his money. But…

There was a crest and motto that some of the old Reformers used to use, and that I commend to any of you who are under trial. It was an anvil with a number of hammers, all broken, lying around; and this was the motto when translated, “The anvil breaks many hammers.” And how does it do this? Not by striking:…

When a man has been drowning, I have heard that his sensations have often been very pleasant. But when the circulation of the blood commences again, pain begins at once. And the more pain he suffers, the more surely is he being restored to life. It is just so with the spiritual blood that is circulating…

I saw one the other day who was about to suffer from the surgeon’s knife. It was a serious operation, about which all stood in doubt, but I was happy to see her as composed in the prospect of it as though it had been a pleasure rather than a pain. Thus calmly resigned should a Christian be. How many…

Had Abraham stopped in Ur of the Chaldees with his friends and rested there and enjoyed himself, where would his faith have been? He had God’s command to leave his country to go to a land that he had never seen, to sojourn there with God as a stranger, dwelling in tents, and in his obedience to that…

I have heard of a woman who was condemned to death in the Marian days. Before her time came to be burned a child was born to her, and she cried out in her sorrow. A wicked adversary who stood by said, “How will you bear to die for your religion if you make such ado?” “Ah,” she said, “Now I suffer in…

We are sometimes apt to think that a charge that is unfounded is very cruel to us. I have heard people say sometimes, and I have laughed when I have heard them say it, “Mr. So-and-so has charged me with such-and-such a thing, but I am quite innocent. I should not have minded if I had been guilty.” I…

Have you never noticed how men get their senses clear through affliction? I read in the life of good Dr. Brown that when he first preached he heard two women at the door talking to one another about his sermon. One of them said to the other, “Ah! It was very well, but it was almost all tinsel.” A short…

A tree of common fruit may be let alone so long as there is some little fruit on it, but the very best fruit gets the sharpest pruning. I have noticed that in those countries where the best wine is made, the vinedressers cut the shoots right close in, and in the winter you cannot tell that there is a…

We little know how much preservation from falling we owe to our losses and crosses. The story of Sir James Thornhill painting the inside of the cupola of St. Paul’s is probably well known to you. When he had finished one of the compartments, he was stepping backward that he might get a full view of it…

When John Philpot, the martyr, was addressing a young man about to die for Christ, he said to him, “Brother, you are a vessel in the great house of your Master, and this day he will scour you, scour you hard, but remember you will soon stand upon the shelf, shining bright and glorious.” Sometimes pains,…

A man takes a mass of metal. It appears to you very pure, and very beautiful to look at. It is alloyed. He puts it into his refining pot, he heats the coals, and he begins to stir it. You say to him, “What are you doing? You are spoiling that precious metal. See how foul the surface is! What a scum floats…

The man that has seen affliction, when he is blessed of God, has the disposition to cheer those that are afflicted. I have heard speak of a lady who was out in the snow one night, and was so very cold that she cried out, “Oh, those poor people that have such a little money! How little fuel they have,…

In the olden time when the gospel was preached in Persia, Hamedatha, a courtier of the king, having embraced the faith, was stripped of all his offices, driven from the palace, and compelled to feed camels. This he did with great content. The king passing by one day saw his former favorite at his ignoble…

I know an old friend who used to tell me that for 60 years he had never known a day’s illness. A splendid healthy old man he was, but about three months ago he took typhoid fever. I went to see him, and when he got better he came to see me. He said, “Well, sir, you see I am not the man I was, but I have…

A California company is offering clients interested in space travel, the opportunity to rest in peace on the moon. For a fee of $12,000, Elysium Space will privately transport a person’s cremated remains to the moon. They are currently taking orders, and the first batch of ashes will travel to the moon…

In “Serving the Right Master,” C. Les Wesley writes, “In that moment, it was clear I had the two things of real value with me: my wife and my unborn daughter. Hurricane Katrina would not destroy anything that could not later be rebuilt. Oh, I would miss our possessions and the pictures that would be…

In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship.” —Jim L. Wilson Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, 91. Philippians 3:10 (HCSB) My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed…

A British paintball company says they were surprised by the number of applicants for a job post they put up. The company is looking for a ‘bullet tester’ with a ‘relatively high pain threshold’ and has received about 10,000 applicants. They are looking for a person willing to be shot at to ensure that…

When people watch an episode of America’s Funniest Home Videos, in general they have some idea of what to expect. There will certainly be lots of falling, people doing things ridiculous things, and many cute animal videos. Some of the segments will spark laughter, and others will elicit groans of mental…