Cloud of Witnesses Archives

A New Year Lesson from the Book of Job, by Ray Stedman (1917-1992)

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. Job 42:16-17 After this lived Job a hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days. The book of Job ends on a note of...

A Christmas Morning Prayer

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. On Christmas morning, we bow before the cradle. When we do so, we set our eyes on Jesus. May we always remember to look to Him for wisdom in all things and to seek Him for guidance in every situation. Let us also...

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, Words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (video)

by Shari Abbott, Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. <<Video Below>> Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) is among the Great Cloud of Witnesses who have gone before us into glory (Heb 12:1). He’s a favorite of mine. Perhaps because I grew up...

“Immanuel” — A Poem by Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) is well remembered for his service to the Lord as a pastor. Known as the Prince of Preachers, his sermons have inspired millions and still give hope and joy to all who read them. But...

An Inexhaustible Fullness, by John Fawcett (1739 – 1817)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “Yes, He is very precious to you who believe.” 1 Peter 2:7 Christian! Jesus is your Savior, your Friend, and your Portion. You are guilty–His blood cleanses from all sin. You are...

A Bottomless, Boundless, Endless Ocean! by Anne Dutton (1692-1765)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. God’s love is everlasting, free, sovereign, inseparable, great, and unchangeable! The happy objects of His love can never be separated from it! Neither death nor life, heights nor depths, things present nor...

What would Jesus do? by James Smith, 1857

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. How shall I honor Jesus today? First, I must DEDICATE myself anew unto Him. Second, I must look to Him for all I NEED through the day. Third, I must IMITATE Jesus in all I do. He is proposed to us in His Word as...

The View From The Sanctuary by Ray Stedman (1917-1992)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. When the psalmist speaks of going into the sanctuary, he means he came before the presence of God. He actually went into the temple where God had made provision to meet with His people. In the temple, he began to...

The Language of Revolution, By David Wilkerson (1911-2011)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health” (Proverbs 12:18, NKJV). With great and swelling words The revolutionaries speak. Like the piercing of a sword,...

Who Am I? by Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. Who Am I? by Deitrich Bonhoeffer Who am I? They often tell meI stepped from my cell’s confinementCalmly, cheerfully, firmly,Like a Squire from his country house. Who am I? They often tell meI used to speak to...

A Model of Christian Love in 1630 and for Today, by John Winthrop

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. John Winthrop (1588-1649) was a devout Puritan, but not a minister as many suppose. He was a lawyer and in 1629, he was made governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company. He was tasked with leading Puritans to New...

Pleasure is Not Happiness, by D.R. Thomason, 1831

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind!” Ecclesiastes 1:14 Happiness is the primary object of human pursuit. The desire for...

Let Me Learn by Paradox, A Puritan Prayer

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly, Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision… Let me learn by paradox that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the...

A Word in Season to Suffering Saints, by Thomas Brooks,1608-1680

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. This divine presence is the greatest good in the world. The people of the Lord should be very thankful for His presence with them in their...

“Religious Education of Children,” by John Angell James, 1846

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “You should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 Look into some families of professors. Follow them through the history of only one week,...

Is Your Imagination Stayed or Starved? by Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose imagination is stayed on Thee. Isaiah 26:3 (R.V. marg.). Is your imagination stayed on God, or is it starved? The starvation of the imagination is one of the most fruitful...

The Weaver! by J.R. Miller (1840 – 1912)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. The Weaver! by J.R. Miller (1840 – 1912) The life that is given up to God in true devotion, need fear nothing. We may have our sorrows, our disappointments, our losses, but all of our life is in the hands of...

In Christ there is No East Or West, by John Oxenham (1852-1941)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. In Christ, there is no East or West,In Him no South or North,But one great Fellowship of LoveThroughout the whole wide earth. In Him shall true hearts everywhereTheir high communion find.His service is the golden...

Popularity with the World Means Death, by Billy Graham (1918-2018)

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. The Apostle Paul urges Christians everywhere in all ages to be nonconformists as far as the world system is concerned. We are not to conform. A true Christian, living an obedient life, is a constant rebuke to those...

Delight in the Lord, by James Smith, 1842

by Reasons for Hope* Jesus

Please help us share God's truths and hope in Christ. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart!” Psalm 37:4 Delighting in worldly things effectually prevents our delighting in God. Therefore it is often the case, that...