Reverence and Awe

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Morning: "On mine arm shall they trust." - Isaiah 51:5

Evening: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light." - 1 John 1:7

Spurgeon makes the point that we should praise any trials or circumstances that cause us to lean on the Lord, and trust in Him. When there is nothing else left to trust, in the midst of dispair, we can still trust in God - only in God.

Dishonour not thy Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; but be strong in faith, giving glory to God.

Spurgeon, in the above quote, sees correctly the problem in doubting God. I agree that this is a problem. I've got a bigger problem than doubting God! My bigger problem is trusting in myself!

When we trust in ourselves, we are our own worst enemy, and no friend to God. We are like that blacksmith in Isaiah 44,

The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals, Fashions it with hammers, And works it with the strength of his arms. Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails; He drinks no water and is faint. - [Isaiah 44:12 NKJV]

Earlier, Isaiah points to the Holy Spirit as the Living Water:

For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring; - [Isaiah 44:3 NKJV]

Isaiah sees those that trust in the Lord, and rely on Him, as being Spirit-filled, and who give glory to God by being witnesses of Christ's work in their lives:

One will say, 'I am the LORD's'; Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' And name himself by the name of Israel. - [Isaiah 44:5 NKJV]

Wherease that poor blacksmith, trying vainly in his own strength to do all the work himself - well, his strength fails, and his testimony is only of himself, not the Lord!

... their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; ... - [Isaiah 44:9a NKJV]

Let us trust in the righteous right hand of the Lord! Let us walk in His marvellous light, and may He get all the glory due His name!

Fear not, for I [am] with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' - [Isaiah 41:10 NKJV]

Labels: Devotional, Morning and Evening, Spurgeon

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

MORNING

Patience is a virtue. Waiting on the Lord requires patience. Could it be that waiting on the Lord is how He weaves patience into the fabric of our lives? As Spurgeon points out it takes years of teaching. I've been in that school for some time now and I still struggle!

Spurgeon helped me with some practical advice in this devotional. "Wait in prayer"; "wait with simplicity of soul"; "wait in faith"; "wait in quiet patience". Finally he concludes by saying "my heart is fixed on you alone, O God, and my spirit waits for You in the deep conviction that You will still be my joy and my salvation, my refuge and my strong tower"

To better understand I read Psalm 27. It begins, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life...". v4 says "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple". v11 says "Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path". Finally our verse for this devotional, v 14, "wait for the Lord".

It's all about perspective. I must be still and wait to see the light of the Lord, to experience His strength, to behold His beauty, to learn from His Word the path of righteousness. When I do, the Joy of the Lord fills my soul, but when I am caught up in the cares of this world and deceived by Satan that I don't have time to wait, there is no Joy. So I'm learning that the absence of Joy in my life is the surest indicator that I am not waiting on the Lord. I pray that our hearts would be fixed on Him alone and as a result we will find the fulfillment we seek as we wait on Him!

EVENING

Jehovah-Rophi, "the Lord who heals you". As a physician, I know Him well. I can't recall the number of patients I treated, the sutures I placed in the bodies of people over my 30 years of practice but I never healed any of them! Jehovah-Rophi did that through His amazing grace and the ability He gave the human body to heal. "He who made man can restore man", physically and spiritually.

"What a transcendent comfort it is that in the person of Christ all the fullness of deity dwells bodily". "My soul, whatever your disease, this Great Physician can heal you!" "No one can restrain the healing power that proceeds from Jesus, our Lord!" It's very gratifying to witness a patient recover from an illness or injury but even more gratifying to see a soul saved. I am so grateful that He gave me the opportunity to join Him in the practice of medicine (physical and spiritual)!

Good Morning & Evening
(click to hear this mornings devo)
(click to hear this evenings devo)

What a wonderful point of praise this morning. To ponder the size of the storehouse of God's mercy. Will it one day run dry like a grain silo in the bitter cold of winter? Will it's aquifer recede and the well run dry to the bottom leaving us to experience what we deserve for our sin, the full and complete wrath of God? Let us kindle our souls to praise this morning rejoicing that God's mercy is inexhaustible waiting to be gracious to us, "to restore our backslidings, and make our broken bones rejoice"!

I have always loved the story about William Carey and his grave inscription and here it is as our guide to God's mercy this morning. In reading this inscription I am reminded that I see the great worth in the mercy of God only when I realize my actual state before his righteous majesty. My sin and my guilt before him are more than wounds but rather the death of my soul would it not be for his gift. Mercy so free.
I rejoice with William Carey this morning that though my sin makes me a poor wretched worm, I too shall thankfully fall on His mercifully kind arms of grace.

And it is this kind of rejoicing that makes our evening devotion a lighter course to walk.

This evening we are encouraged to not just take the high road but rather secure our efforts by only driving when the sun is shining.

Spurgeon's example of the cracked dam that starts to leak gave me the most vivid picture of the beginnings of sin. When examined, almost every sin in my life could be led back to some minuscule temptation that went overlooked. And little by little that small temptation led me down a path to sin.

May we learn from this example here in Numbers 6:4 a way to galvanize our spiritual lives. Especially in a generation where people love to date sin and temptation on a regular basis falling pray to lukewarmness.

Strict walking is much despised in these days, but rest assured, dear reader, it is both the safest and the happiest.

Our society seems to be onlooking with a stone to cast at the careful Christian as though they were some group of neomonastics. But let us fear not, trust in His protection, not be conformed to this world and instead reap the benefit of a path to righteousness.

May you rejoice this evening Christian, for His mercy endures forever!

-jeff paisano

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I am freshly blessed this morning to be taught by Spurgeon. He encourages me to draw grace from Christ himself for my lamp. Not to be fooled by the "pretend" grace of this world.

Pretended grace from natural goodness, fancied grace from priestly hands, or imaginary grace from outward ceremonies will never serve the true saint of God; he knows that the Lord would not be pleased with rivers of such oil. He goes to the olive-press of Gethsemane, and draws his supplies from Him who was crushed therein.

This morning, my eyes are fixed on Christ. He reminds me that He is my holiness, my strength, my life. I pray that gleaning from Spurgeon this morning would do the same for you.

The oil of gospel grace is pure and free from lees and dregs, and hence the light which is fed thereon is clear and bright. Our churches are the Saviour's golden candelabra, and if they are to be lights in this dark world, they must have much holy oil.

How often do we find ourselves in a "barren" state... as Spurgeon describes in the evening devotion? I am going to make a note of tonight's devotion. I want to remind myself to come back to it whenever my soul is cast down. I want to be reminded and encouraged to "go to the cross again".

"Sing, O barren, break forth and cry aloud." But what can I sing about? I cannot talk about the present, and even the past looks full of barrenness. Ah! I can sing of Jesus Christ. I can talk of visits which the Redeemer has aforetimes paid to me; or if not of these, I can magnify the great love wherewith He loved His people when He came from the heights of heaven for their redemption. I will go to the cross again. Come, my soul, heavy laden thou wast once, and thou didst lose thy burden there. Go to Calvary again.

I don't know where you're at as you read this evening's devotion... but Spurgeon's words are timely for me. I want to be reminded to "sing of Jesus Christ"... reminded to lift my voice because of the Gospel. The great news of the Gospel can not be brought to my attention enough!! So... today... let us sing of and to our great Savior!

Sing, believer, for it will cheer thine own heart, and the hearts of other desolate ones. Sing on, for now that thou art really ashamed of being barren, thou wilt be fruitful soon; now that God makes thee loath to be without fruit He will soon cover thee with clusters. The experience of our barrenness is painful, but the Lord's visitations are delightful. A sense of our own poverty drives us to Christ, and that is where we need to be, for in Him is our fruit found.

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Every morning I have my set regimen. At the top of that list is coffee. Call me an addict but at least I can use my caffeine addiction as an example to illustrate God's wonder. As I drive to the coffee shop I can see the green logo and I'm already salivating. I can hear them pouring my cup of coffee and I get my cash or credit card ready. I love the way coffee has an ability to wake me up by its smell alone. But because it's so hot I have to order it with the extra cup and paper sleeve. No extra charge but if there was, I'd happily pay it. And then there's the taste. How in the world did I acquire that taste anyway? Point being-- each of these things present an aspect of how I use my senses to value my morning caffeine rush. In the same way, God has given us five senses by which we declare his worth. By our five senses we can describe our faith in Christ. Spurgeon gives the following examples:

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

Morning

"The Breaker" (sounds like an MMA champion) has gone into the ring before us and taken on our foe.

We have seen fighting competitions in the ring where one of the competitors gets defeated by an opponent that has superior strength, conditioning and skills. Sometimes it reaches the point of humiliation leaving the weaker opponent barely able to defend himself let alone mount any sort of formidable attack.

What an awesome picture that Spurgeon reveals to us in his devotion. Jesus Christ, aka "The Breaker," has gone before us and literally won the fight for us, before we even step into the ring. We can go forward into the battle knowing that victory is ours. We may get lumped up a bit along the way but in the end we will have our hands raised in victory.

"They are beaten, they are vanquished; all you have to do is to divide the spoil. You shall, it is true, often engage in combat; but your fight shall be with a vanquished foe. His head is broken; he may attempt to injure you, but his strength shall not be sufficient for his malicious design. Your victory shall be easy, and your treasure shall be beyond all count."

Hbr 13:6 so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER, I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?"

Psa 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

Let's approach each day fearless, knowing that (Isa 54: 17) there is No weapon that is formed against us that will prosper.

__________________________________________________________-

Evening

Exodus 22:6 "If fire break out, and catch in thorns, so that the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field, be consumed therewith; he that kindled the fire shall surely make restitution."

In these sections of Exodus God is presenting the laws establishing precedent for the legal system of Israel, and the judges appointed by Moses.

Here Spurgeon is drawing a parallel between a fire negligently started in ancient Israel to contention set ablaze within a body of believers. He is making the point that though restitution maybe required in either case it can rarely undo the harm caused.

As a life lost in a fire carelessly set ablaze by a neighbor, one's reputation and character may be damaged by gossip or slander from members within the Church body, the damage is often irreversible; financial payment is rarely of any consolation.

Rarely does a causer of problems recognize that they are in fact the problem; in their mind their intentions maybe good. They justify their damaging words by what they see as a problem that needs to be addressed. It is important that members of the body stay focused on their proper functions within the church.

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." - Romans 12:4-5

Whatever we do in the church it must be bathed in humility. Jam 4:6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore {it} says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."

"Oh Thou Lord and giver of peace, make us peacemakers, and never let us aid and abet the men of strife, or even unintentionally cause the least division among Thy people"

Let's not forget that we serve a omnipotent God who has not lost control of anything. He is quite capable of fixing any wrong or restructuring any ministry according to His will, to His Glory. If he uses us in the process allow Him to do so with humility and count it a privilege.

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Morning: "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love." – Song 5:8

The NKJV reads “If you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick!” It is such an assurance to the believer that our fullness in life is found in Christ, the One who is never changing and is perfect beyond all explanation.

The nearer to Him, the nearer to the perfect calm of heaven; the nearer to Him, the fuller the heart is, not only of peace, but of life, and vigor, and joy.

We come to have close communion with Christ through many different ways. Reading His holy word allows us to gain knowledge of Him and we come to know all of the wonderful promises He has bestowed upon us. Prayer allows us to talk with Him directly, to let him know our desires, worries and thankfulness. Worshipping brings us to a place of falling on our knees and calling out to Him, glorifying Him and giving Him praise for His gift of everlasting life. Fellowship brings joy to our hearts as we speak about the love of Christ in each of our lives. It is through all these different ways that we come near to Him and have fullness and joy that cannot be found within any earthly delight. May the Holy Spirit give us the desire to long after Him and know that it is only Him who can satisfy it.

For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. – Psalm 107:9

Evening: "The unsearchable riches of Christ." – Ephesians 3:8

Even Spurgeon would agree that his eloquent devotional of the unsearchable riches of Christ does not even break the surface on how great and majestic our Lord Jesus Christ is. All of the Luther’s, Whitfield’s, Edward’s and Piper’s combined could not put together a great enough exposition to fully explain what Christ has done for us, what we were before and what we have now become in light of the gospel.

Just to try and meditate on the single fact of salvation can confuse the mind. God, creator of the universe, the One who has perfectly set the distance of the sun and calculated the rotation of the earth came down in the form of human flesh and was spit upon, beaten and crucified for us, who did not even want anything to do with Him in the first place until the Holy Spirit took hold of our hearts and revealed to us His salvation.

When you put the crown on His head, you will only crown Him with silver when He deserves gold.

We will never to be able to give Him the full glory that He deserves. We should strive to live in this manner but also know is it “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”. His glory and riches are beyond even the wisest of human minds, but may we end up each day reaching to come into the fullness of His riches and then spreading them from ear to ear.

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It is refreshing that in 2 Samuel the author describes David as, "The Sweet Psalmist of God." David had lived a life full of great success and tremendous failure; He had committed sins in his life that few of us will ever equal. Even with all his dubious deeds he was still referred to as a man after God's own heart.

After all was said and done, David acknowledged his sin before God and understood the resulting pain and suffering that it caused in his life. David understood the folly of living his life separated from God; making decisions based on his own understanding.

I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.” Psalms 16:2

David recognized that the only good in him was the God in him. Great godly men are willing to step aside from their own need and humble themselves before an almighty God.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” David in Psalm 51:17

2 Samuel 15 - “Let Him (God) do to me whatever seems good to him."

2 Samuel 15:26 “You (Lord) are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.”

David never complained about God’s severe discipline for his sins. He never said “my punishment is more than I deserve.”

Spurgeon's last exhortation in his commentary is, "As we are instructed in the same school (as David), as we grow matured in grace and in years, we increasingly appreciate David's psalms, and find them to be "green pastures." My soul let David's experience cheer and counsel thee this day."

Spurgeon is exhorting us to make David's life a source of inspiration in that we can look at his life and learn from his successes as well as mistakes knowing all the while that God considered him to be "a man after His own heart."

MORNING
Living in New Zealand for two years was one of God's richest blessings to our family. While there we became familiar with sheep. There are far more sheep in New Zealand than people. It became apparent watching them why the Lord calls us His sheep. Without the shepherd to look after us, we would soon perish.

Spurgeon expresses some of the attributes of our Great Shepherd in this devotional. As our shepherd-king "He rules by the force of love and the energy of goodness". He does everything expected of a shepherd; guides, watches. preserves, restores, tends, and feeds. "His eyes never slumber, and His hands never rest; His heart never ceases to beat with love, and His shoulders are never weary of carrying His people's burdens." "It is a joyful truth to consider that He who stands today representing the interests of His people is very God of very God, to whom every knee shall bow."

We are so thankful that the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not His benefits!!

EVENING
I am so thankful that God is my refuge in this world where the Prince of the Power of the Air is seeking to destroy the souls of men. Sin, Satan, the world, and our flesh are his weapons. As we drift further and further from the Lord in this country I feel his evil presence. It is only the Lord who protects and keeps us from his snares. I pray tonight Lord, that You would not let allow us to be tested beyond our ability to bear and will always provide a way of escape! We are weak and can easily fall prey to the enemy. Deliver us from evil and the Evil one. Oh how we need you Lord!

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Morning: "The mercy of God." - Psalm 52:8

Is there anything more trustworthy than the mercy of God? We might find some other attibute of the Lord that is equally worthy of our trust, but certainly nothing apart from God on high. David felt like a green olive tree in the house of God, full of health and vigor.

What a joy that we can rely on God for His mercy, to sustain us, protect us. An outpouring of His love without end. Mercy - I don't get what I deserve - my eternal separation and punishment. Mercy - God withholds from me things that I ask Him for, but He, knowing better, mercifully says "no". Mercy new every morning whatever my circumstances. Mercy when my blog is late! I rejoice in what Spurgeon calls "abounding mercy"!

Evening: "This sickness is not unto death." — John 11:4

Spurgeon expounds on the limits of earthly sickness, and the goodness of God in making and knowing its limits. But this passage requires a look at eternity as well - Jesus knew that He would soon be resurrecting Lazarus from his grave, pointing to His own resurrection.

This resurrection from death is our great hope!

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the [Presence] behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. - [Hebrews 6:19-20 NKJV]

David prophecied in Psalm 16:10 that the Messiah would not see corruption, and Jesus fulfilled this prophecy when the stone was rolled away.

And we are in Christ - His church, His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. We have overcome in Christ, who subdues all things to Himself with His resurrection power (Ephesians 1, Philippians 3).

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death." ' - [Revelation 2:11 NKJV]

Let us rejoice together!

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Some thoughts from this Morning's Reading of Spurgeon:

We being finite beings cannot know the glory of God. However, we can get glimpses of it from creation and from God's revelation of Himself. In His revelation we have the glory of God revealed in His names, His majesty, His power, His works, His Holiness. However, I think the most important revelation of His glory is of course, His express image, Jesus Christ.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Col 1:15 NKJV)

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 NKJV)

So I was wondering what are a few glimpses of God's glory that I can see in/through/from Christ?

• He is God, yet a servant (Phil 2:5-8)


• He has contol over sickness (Mark 8:22-29)


• He has control over creation and nature (see a list of His miracles)


• Every knee will bow to Him as Lord (Phil 2:9-11)

Those are just a few, because...well the list is as infinite as is His glory! If you have never had the opportunity to take a detailed class in Christology, I strongly suggest it. To learn about Jesus Christ, is to learn of His glory. Here's a free class on Christology. It is the most popular class on the Blue Letter Bible Institute, over 20,000 students have enrolled in the course.

Also, Happy Birthday Connor! I cannot believe you are 7 years old already! I pray that God will have His hand on you not only this next year, but your entire life!

Labels: Devotional, Morning and Evening, Spurgeon

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

Morning & Evening

(click here for a link to this Mornings devo)
(click here for a link to this Evenings devo)

Depression and sadness, fear, joy, hurt, smiles, frowns... these are all a part of our emotional makeup as we live this life. And as we cycle through these almost daily, some more often than others, we can be caught up in and thrown off of that chief resounding joy that should cause all our emotions to freeze with awe and understanding.

Salvation

In it's most simple form: We have been saved. We will be with him forever.

This phrase and thought brings "God bumps" to my arms still and shivers to my spine still. What God has done for us, what he has worked out for us in his perfect salvation is joyous for the saved christian. Even the most down trodden money poor and hungry of people find rejoicing at the cross.

Thou, Lord hast made me glad through thy work.

But some of us will have issues coming to this place if we hold too high a view of ourselves and to low a view of who God truly is. And that is why I love the evening devotion:

God is our great Physician, He is the Master, the is the Head. When we rest on his knowledge and authority and headship his works and blessings are clearly seen and we rejoice with a resounding praise to our maker and Father.

Dear Christian, if your heart be troubled, if your soul be uneasy today, come to the cross, know you are His and He has saved you from many worse things than you will ever experience here in this life and has saved you to the most soul quenching joys that we will ever know.

May we rejoice this morning with David in the greatness of our savior and what he has done on our behalf:

...Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, The power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, And you are exalted as head over all, And you reign over all. In your hand is power and might; In your hand it is to make great And to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, We thank You and praise Your glorious name.
1Chronicles 29:11-13

God bless
jeff paisano

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

Morning: "The cedars of Lebanon which He hath planted." – Psalms 104:16

A few years back I had worked in a lumber mill and I can remember when I received an order for cedar wood to be cut, it was always my favorite. The look, the feel, weight and smell was quite different than any other type of lumber we had stocked in the yard. We Christians, like the cedar in the lumber yard should stick out from the crowd and this is precisely what Spurgeon was bringing to our attention with the cedars of Lebanon. For they owed their life, sustenance and protection to Him and to Him only. No earthly task or hand could do what God had done for the cedars of Lebanon.

As we go about our days in the work place, among family and among friends we need to look more joyful as Christ has given us eternal life and feel lighter with our burdens than others, as the weight of sin has been lifted of our shoulders. He had planted the cedars of Lebanon and would make sure that they were taken care of completely and perfectly according to His will, it is the same with the believer in Christ Jesus.

The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!

Evening: "And I will remember My covenant." – Genesis 9:15

Immutability immediately comes to mind and we can thank the Lord that it is so.

You are the same, and your years will have no end – Psalm 102:27

We know from various parts of scripture that we as a human race are covenant breakers while He is a covenant keeper. His promises are everlasting, His purposes do not bend, His prophecies are fulfilled perfectly and His character will not fade away.

The unbeliever is very disturbed by this truth and they look at it with hate and defiance. “If I am a good person” someone will say “then God will surely let me enter into the pearly gates, He will make an exception for me”. But we know that if they do not have faith in Christ, but base their righteousness upon earthly works there is no chance for him to enter in. God has spoken that only by faith in the blood of Christ as our perfect atonement is the requirement to have eternal life and there is no other way. He will not change for anyone, for His perfection cannot be improved upon. We can be joyful to know God will keep His promises and will see to it that each one of His elect will make it safely into His arms.

Oh! it is not my remembering God, it is God's remembering me which is the ground of my safety; it is not my laying hold of His covenant, but His covenant's laying hold on me.

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I don't really know a lot about spiders' webs, so I just leave the Morning's Reading untouched. But the text for the Evening's Reading is one that should give us hope.

Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things [are] possible to him who believes." (Mark 9:23)

I believe that Mark 9:23 has been misinterpreted by the "word of faith" movement. They say this text shows that we can have whatever we want if we have enough faith. And stripped out of its surrounding context, it might be possible to read it that way. But within context (reading both before and after the verse) we see differently. We can see from Mark 9:28-29, that the disciples were having trouble casting this demon out of the boy. And the boy's father was likely having some doubt about these disciples' abilities. Then Jesus comes along and the father in essence says to Him, "They cannot do it, can You?"

Jesus responds (in the JIMv paraphrased version), "Yes, I can. All things are possible, under the condition that you believe." You see I think Jesus is saying it is My will to heal this boy, but I am going to use you as an example. If you believe, I will do the humanly impossible thing, and heal the boy. Sometimes Jesus healed people and faith was NOT a condition. He just did it...because He wanted to do it that way. Other times, He asked people to exhibit some exercise of faith. But always, the power to heal came from the person of Christ, based upon His will.

I believe this is an example of Jesus showing His will in a person's life and asking that person to call upon Him for the power to follow His will. Jesus ask us to pick up our cross and follow Him.

Then He said to [them] all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

We cannot due that in our own strength and power. We need God's empowerment to do it. This episode, with the father and boy, was as much about the father as it was about the boy. What I am encouraged by is the father's response,

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24)

I believe Jesus...but please help my unbelief. There is a kernel of faith, a mustard seed. But there is also unbelief, please dear God, help me in removing my unbelief. Clearly, it wasn't this man's great show of faith, for simultaneously, he declared his faith to be small. It was his small faith in our GREAT LORD. The miracle...the power is in our LORD and in His willingness to help us when we call upon Him.

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I [will be] with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. (Psa 91:15)

Labels: Devotional, Morning and Evening, Spurgeon

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Morning: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." - Romans 8:28

Spurgeon points out very eloquently from this portion of scripture that this is something we can be sure of and we can lay our weary heads on this solid truth. When I think of the children of God and how so many of us are put through different trials in our lives it should calm our nerves when we think and remember the voice of God saying “it is for your good”. Like iron when it is put into a blast furnace all the impurities are removed from it and only then does it emerge stronger and sharper than before. We too are like that iron with each event in our lives. It is not sometimes that God ordains certain events in our lives but it is all the time His perfect plan is in motion. Removing what is of the flesh and of the world. He is constantly purging us of our sin who love Him and forming us into the image of Christ. If we love Him we know that all things work together for good. The boat may rock but we surely will never drown. The ground will shift but we will never slip to deep in the earth where the light does not shine and the leaves of our lives be rustled but yet they will not completely fall to the ground and be crushed for God will always be with us and it is for His glory and honor as He brings each one of his adopted into paradise.


May God bless each and every one of us to have a heart that can say

If I should lose all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God
so wills: the worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could
befall to me if God ordains it.

Evening: "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?" - Numbers 32:6

It is the call for us to take up our cross daily and too fight the good fight of faith. We are a family of believers and God had brought us together, bound by the blood of Christ we no longer live for ourselves but we are united by the wounds, the stripes and the thorns. Temptations of idleness had slipped in the minds of the Reubenites and Gadites wanting not to cross over to the land which flowed with milk and honey but were concerned about earthly tasks. They wanted to stay back and not push forward with the chosen people of God. May this not be the case for us and may we have the desire and strength to go to war against the enemies of the cross with our fellow brothers and sisters.


“I can see how to help the people within my own church” someone might say “but how am I to help a fellow Christian half way around the world’? We can go to war with prayer and ask Christ to give them wisdom, strength and safety. It is not usually a physical war that us Christians in America have to fight but it is a spiritual one and we cannot sit idle and watch the other brethren go to war without us.

» Today's reading at Blue Letter Bible

What a beautiful glimpse of Christ our Light! The beginning of Ephesians chapter 5 uses the same motifs of light and darkness to embody the lives of the children of God and the children of wrath. Darkness leaves a trail of “sexual immorality, impurity [and] covetousness” (vv. 3, 5), along with “filthiness… foolish talk [and] crude joking” (v. 4), but “the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true” (v. 9). Now the Children of Light are exhorted to “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead [to] expose them” Eph 5:11. But it is not the light of the Children that exposes darkness, explains Paul when he says:

“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Christ’s Light, as the emblem of joy, beauty, knowledge, and manifestation, is the power to expose deceitful sin in the Children of Wrath. But though it is the power, it does not work alone: “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Believers carry torches into the world and Christ provides the flame; salvation cannot happen any other way (cf. Romans 10:13-15). Notice that the Light is commanded to go and expose the darkness, not the other way around. We cannot expect dark people with no appetite for Christ to wander aimless into our church meetings and be exposed when Christ beckons us into darkness to go find them! Take no part in the works of darkness, not avoid all dark people.

I can think of older men and women who carried the light of Christ into my dark life, and remember how God used them to awaken my stone-cold soul. An exhortation: are you striving to carry light into dark lives? Can you count but one or two unsaved souls you are trying to disciple? Or are you only halfway keeping this command: fleeing from dark works but ultimately avoiding dark people? Bearing light in a dark world is a dangerous task, so let us be wise and go together, in prayer, and with haste. Think of two or three who you know are “children of wrath,” and spend time today praying, pleading for God to send you along with other laborers and the Light of Christ to expose their unfruitful ways.

“Go therefore and make disciples…” (Matthew 28:19)