First Light

I Thessalonians 5:9  ”For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

In I Thessalonians 5, “the day of the Lord” is mentioned as coming “as a thief in the night.” The awesome and terrible events of that day are given elsewhere in Scripture, but the encouragement for believers in found in verse 9: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.” It is wonderful to know that whenever these terrible events take place, God has not placed us into wrath because of Jesus Christ! Read more »

I Thessalonians 3:12  ”And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:”

In I Thessalonians 4:1-12, we learn about living, loving, and laboring, and the motivation for all three is the fact that Christ is coming again (verses 13-18).  We see the word abound in I Thessalonians 3:12 and 4:1.  The word abound carries with it the idea of “excess.”  We are to love people and walk in the Lord to the point of “excess”!  That’s what the Bible says! Read more »

Luke 5:18 “And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him.”

The story of a palsied man being healed in Luke 5 illustrates the truth that we are laborers together with God. Within the story, we find three elements that were involved in bringing healing to the man. Let’s look at each of them briefly, and I will draw your attention to one in particular. Read more »

Mark 3:4 “And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.”

On this day in the synagogue, Jesus saw a man with a withered hand. Everyone in the synagogue was watching, not with hopeful hearts, but with hearts anticipating anything they might use to accuse the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s argument in verse 4 boils down to this: is it better (lawful) to do good or do evil? His accusers were so invested in things and not people that, according to their laws, it was actually lawful to do evil! Read more »

This is just a reminder that as our summer camp season ends, we will take a two-week break from First Light, beginning next Monday, August 9. First Light will resume Monday, August 23. We hope you continue to enjoy the devotionals!

We hope to see you here on the Ranch this fall!

Check out our fall events on our website: billriceranch.org

Mark 2:5,8 “When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. . . . And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?”

This is a great story! A man “sick of the palsy” had a need, and his four friends brought him to Jesus. The difficulty came when the crowd was too large to carry this sick man to the Lord, but these four friends weren’t discouraged-they went to work on the roof and lowered their friend through the hole they had made! Read more »

Mark 1:18 “And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.”

We “fish” for our keys and numerous other things, but the real point of “fishing” is going after fish! The Lord Jesus, however, charged some men in Mark chapter one to become “fishers of men.” Notice the response of these men: “And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.” The words straightway, forsook, and followed in verse 18 are key. What Peter and Andrew did, they did “straightway”; and what they did is described as forsaking and following. Read more »

We are thrilled about what the Lord has done this summer! Hopefully you have enjoyed a glimpse of each week in our “Camp Quote” section, along with the prayer requests unique to each week of camp.

This summer, dozens of campers trusted Christ and scores more prayed with a counsleor about a specific decision-to God be the glory! We hosted church groups from California to New England to the Bahamas, and many places in between!

As our summer camp season ends and our fall retreat schedule begins, we will take a two-week break from First Light, beginning next Monday, August 9. First Light will resume Monday, August 23. We hope you continue to enjoy the devotionals!