Ithaca Devotions

Thursday July 30, 2026

[1] Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. [2] And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. [3] And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing. [4] Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, [5] Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; [6] Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; [7] Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. [8] Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. [9] For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. [10] But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. [11] When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. [12] For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. [13] And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Exceeding Great & Precious Promise

Thou shalt be called by a new name,...Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Isa. 62:2,3

So the church in the Hand of God is the church in the hand of Divine power. That power will use the church and she will be a crown of glory and a thing of beauty, gloriously reflecting to all eternity the workmanship of our God. How glorious it will be! How beautiful! The Lord Jehovah will have the setting of these precious jewels, one reflecting upon another in that crown of glory and diadem of beauty, with the Lord Jesus in the chief place, for the Father will not give to the church any glory that He would not give to the Lord Himself. The church is to be displayed before men as "a thing of beauty and a joy forever" – God's handiwork. R4914,c1,p2

Daily Heavenly Manna (July 30)

Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines. Canticles 2:15

MANY deal slackly with themselves in respect to little violations of their consecration vow, saying, – "What's the use of such carefulness and so different a life from that of the world in general?" Ah! there is great use in it, for victories in little things prepare for greater things and make them possible: and on the contrary, surrender to the will of the flesh in the little things means sure defeat in the warfare as a whole. We who have become "New Creatures," reckonedly, in Christ, know that we are to be tested (if our testings have not already commenced), and should realize that only as we practice self-denials in the little things of life, and mortify (deaden) the natural cravings of our flesh in respect to food, clothing, conduct, etc., will we become strong spiritually and be able to "overcome." `Z.'99-172` R2496:6

Weekly Manna (July 23)

If any provide not for his own,...he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Timothy 5:8

"THE faith" includes thoughts of love, sympathy, interest and care for others, especially for them of the household of faith....How it gives us an insight into our Lord's sympathetic nature, to find Him thinking in the interest of others at the very time when He Himself was overwhelmed in trouble! His own agony did not hinder Him from thinking of His mother, and making provision for her comfort....We note the choice of John: it was doubtless because, first of all, of his loving, tender disposition; secondly, his zeal for the Lord and the Truth; and thirdly, his courage in pressing near to be with his dying Master in His closing hours, at the risk of his own life. Let us note these characteristics, as being those which the Lord approves, that noting them we may cultivate them in ourselves, and thus be granted special opportunities for service by this same Master. `Z.'99-127` R2474:6