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Daily devotions for 03-28-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Forsaken By All
Evening Title: Great Thoughts
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Morning: Forsaken By All
"Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled." --Matthew 26:56
He never deserted them, but they in cowardly fear of their lives, fled from Him
in the very
beginning of His sufferings. This is but one instructive instance of the
frailty of all believers if left to themselves; they are but sheep at the best,
and they flee when the wolf
cometh. They had all been warned of the danger, and had promised to die rather
than leave their Master; and yet they were seized with sudden panic, and took
to their heels. It may be, that I, at the opening of this day, have braced up
my mind to bear a trial for the Lord's sake, and I imagine myself to be certain
to exhibit perfect fidelity; but let me be very jealous of myself, lest having
the same evil heart of unbelief, I should depart from my Lord as the apostles
did.
It is one thing to promise, and quite another to perform. It would have been to
their eternal
honour to have stood at Jesus' side right manfully; they fled from honour; may
I be kept from imitating them! Where else could they have been so safe as near
their Master, who could
presently call for twelve legions of angels? They fled from their true safety.
O God, let me not
play the fool also. Divine grace can make the coward brave. The smoking flax
can flame forth
like fire on the altar when the Lord wills it.
These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions after the
Spirit had
descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can make my recreant spirit
brave to confess my Lord and witness for His truth.
What anguish must have filled the Saviour as He saw His friends so faithless!
This was one bitter ingredient in His cup; but that cup is drained dry; let me
not put another drop in it. If I
forsake my Lord, I shall crucify Him afresh, and put Him to an open shame. Keep
me, O blessed Spirit, from an end so shameful.
Evening: Great Thoughts
"And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from
their master's table." --Matthew 15:27
This woman gained comfort in her misery by thinking GREAT THOUGHTS OF CHRIST.
The Master had talked about the children's bread: "Now," argued she, "since
Thou art the Master of the table of grace, I know that Thou art a generous
housekeeper, and there is sure to be abundance of bread on Thy table; there
will be such an abundance for the children that there will be crumbs to throw
on the floor for the dogs, and the children will fare none the worse because
the dogs are fed." She thought Him one who kept so good a table that all that
she needed would only be a crumb in comparison; yet remember, what she wanted
was to have the devil cast out of her daughter. It was a very great thing to
her, but she had such a high esteem of Christ, that she said, "It is nothing to
Him, it is but a crumb for Christ to give." This is the royal road to comfort.
Great thoughts of your sin alone will drive you to despair; but great thoughts
of Christ will pilot you into the haven of peace.
"My sins are many, but oh! it is nothing to Jesus to take them all away. The
weight of my guilt
presses me down as a giant's foot would crush a worm, but it is no more than a
grain of dust to Him, because He has already borne its curse in His own body on
the tree. It will be but a small thing for Him to give me full remission,
although it will be an infinite blessing for me to receive it." The woman opens
her soul's mouth very wide, expecting great things of Jesus, and He fills it
with His love. Dear reader, do the same. She confessed what Christ laid at her
door, but she laid fast hold upon Him, and drew arguments even out of His hard
words; she believed great things of Him, and she thus overcame Him. SHE WON THE
VICTORY BY BELIEVING IN HIM. Her case is an instance of prevailing faith; and
if we would conquer like her, we must imitate her tactics.
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, March 29
"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the
head."
- Psalm 22:7
Mockery was a great ingredient in our Lord's woe. Judas mocked him in the
garden; the chief priests and scribes laughed him to scorn; Herod set him at
nought; the servants and the soldiers jeered at him, and brutally insulted him;
Pilate and his guards ridiculed his royalty; and on the tree all sorts of
horrid jests and hideous taunts were hurled at him. Ridicule is always hard to
bear, but when we are in intense pain it is so heartless, so cruel, that it
cuts us to the quick.
Imagine the Saviour crucified, racked with anguish far beyond all mortal guess,
and then picture that motley multitude, all wagging their heads or thrusting
out the lip in bitterest contempt of one poor suffering victim! Surely there
must have been something more
in the crucified One than they could see, or else such a great and mingled
crowd would not unanimously have honoured him with such contempt. Was it not
evil confessing, in the very moment of its greatest apparent triumph, that
after all it could do no more than mock at that victorious goodness which was
then reigning on the cross? O Jesus, "despised and rejected of men," how
couldst thou die for men who treated thee so ill? Herein is love amazing,
love divine, yea, love beyond degree. We, too, have despised thee in the days
of our unregeneracy, and even since our new birth we have set the world on high
in our hearts, and yet thou bleedest to heal our wounds, and diest to give us
life. O that we could set thee on a glorious high throne in all men's hearts!
We would ring out thy praises over land and sea till men should as universally
adore as once they did unanimously reject.
"Thy creatures wrong thee, O thou sovereign Good!
Thou art not loved, because not understood:
This grieves me most, that vain pursuits beguile
Ungrateful men, regardless of thy smile."
Evening, March 29
"Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him." - Isaiah 3:10
It is well with the righteous ALWAYS. If it had said, "Say ye to the righteous,
that it is well with him in his prosperity," we must have been thankful for so
great a boon, for prosperity is an hour of peril, and it is a gift from heaven
to be secured from its snares: or if it had been written, "It is well with him
when under persecution," we must have been thankful for so sustaining an
assurance, for persecution is hard to bear; but when no time is mentioned, all
time is included. God's "shalls" must be understood always in their largest
sense.
>From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, from the first
>gathering of evening shadows until the day-star shines, in all conditions and
>under all circumstances, it shall be well with the righteous. It is so well
>with him that we could not imagine it to be better, for he is well fed, he
>feeds upon the flesh and blood of Jesus; he is well clothed, he wears the
>imputed righteousness of Christ; he is well housed, he dwells in God; he is
>well married, his soul is knit in bonds of marriage union to Christ; he is
>well provided for, for the Lord is his Shepherd; he is well endowed, for
>heaven is his inheritance. It is well with the righteous-well upon divine
>authority; the mouth of God speaks the comforting assurance.
O beloved, if God declares that all is well, ten thousand devils may declare it
to be ill, but we laugh them all to scorn. Blessed be God for a faith which
enables us to believe God when the
creatures contradict him. It is, says the Word, at all times well with thee,
thou righteous one; then, beloved, if thou canst not see it, let God's word
stand thee in stead of sight; yea, believe
it on divine authority more confidently than if thine eyes and thy feelings
told it to thee. Whom God blesses is blest indeed, and what his lip declares is
truth most sure and steadfast.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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