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Daily devotions for 07-30-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Being With God
Evening Title: All Shall Come
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Morning: Being With God
"Nevertheless I am continually with Thee." --Psalm 73:23
"Nevertheless,"--As if, notwithstanding all the foolishness and ignorance which
David had just been confessing to God, not one atom the less was it true and
certain that David was saved and accepted, and that the blessing of being
constantly in God's presence was undoubtedly his.
Fully conscious of his own lost estate, and of the deceitfulness and vileness
of his nature, yet, by a glorious outburst of faith, he sings "nevertheless I
am continually with Thee."
Believer, you are forced to enter into Asaph's confession and acknowledgment,
endeavour in like spirit to say "nevertheless, since I belong to Christ I am
continually with God!" By this is meant continually upon His mind, He is always
thinking of me for my good. Continually before His eye;--the eye of the Lord
never sleepeth, but is perpetually watching over my welfare.
Continually in His hand, so that none shall be able to pluck me thence.
Continually on His heart, worn there as a memorial, even as the high priest
bore the names of the twelve tribes upon his heart for ever.
Thou always thinkest of me, O God. The bowels of Thy love continually yearn
towards me. Thou art always making providence work for my good. Thou hast set
me as a signet upon thine arm; thy love is strong as death, many waters cannot
quench it;
neither can the floods drown it. Surprising grace! Thou seest me in Christ, and
though in myself abhorred, Thou beholdest me as wearing Christ's garments, and
washed in His blood, and thus I stand accepted in Thy presence. I am thus
continually in Thy favour--"continually with Thee." Here is comfort for the
tried and afflicted soul; vexed with the tempest within--look at the calm
without.
"Nevertheless"--O say it in thy heart, and take the peace it gives.
"Nevertheless I am
continually with Thee."
Evening: All Shall Come
"All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me." --John 6:37
This declaration involves the doctrine of election: there are some whom the
Father gave to Christ. It involves the doctrine of effectual calling: these who
are given must and shall come; however stoutly they may set themselves against
it, yet they shall be brought out of darkness into God's marvellous light. It
teaches us the indispensable necessity of faith; for even those who are given
to Christ are not saved except they come to Jesus. Even they must come, for
there is no other way to heaven but by the door, Christ Jesus. All that the
Father gives to our Redeemer must come to Him, therefore none can come to
heaven except they come to Christ.
Oh! the power and majesty which rest in the words "shall come." He does not say
they have power to come, nor they may come if they will, but they "shall come."
The Lord Jesus doth by His messengers, His word, and His Spirit, sweetly and
graciously compel men to come in that they may eat of His marriage supper; and
this He does, not by any violation of the free agency of man, but by the power
of His grace. I may exercise power over another man's will, and yet that other
man's will may be perfectly free, because the constraint is exercised in a
manner accordant with the laws of the human mind. Jehovah Jesus knows how, by
irresistible arguments addressed to
the understanding, by mighty reasons appealing to the affections, and by the
mysterious influence of His Holy Spirit operating upon all the powers and
passions of the soul, so to subdue the whole man, that whereas he was once
rebellious, he
yields cheerfully to His government, subdued by sovereign love.
But how shall those be known whom God hath chosen? By this result: that they do
willingly and joyfully accept Christ, and come to Him with simple and unfeigned
faith, resting upon Him as all their salvation and all their desire. Reader,
have you thus come to Jesus?
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Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, July 30
"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name." - Psalm 29:2
God's glory is the result of his nature and acts. He is glorious in his
character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and
lovely in God, that he must be glorious. The actions which flow from his
character are also glorious; but while he intends that they should manifest to
his creatures his goodness, and mercy, and justice, he is equally concerned
that the glory associated with them should be given only to himself.
Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to
differ from another? And what have we that we did not receive from the God of
all grace? Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord! The
moment we glorify
ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set
ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify
itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the potsherd exalt
itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel? Shall the dust of the
desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean struggle with the
tempest? Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and
strength; give unto him the honour that is due unto his name. Yet it is,
perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this
sentence-"Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory.
" It is a lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by
most painful discipline. Let a Christian begin to boast, "I can do all things,"
without adding "through Christ which strengtheneth me," and before long he will
have to groan,
"I can do nothing," and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the
Lord, and he is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at his
feet, and exclaim, "Not I, but the grace of God which was with me!"
Evening, July 30
"Ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit." - Romans 8:23
Present possession is declared. At this present moment we have the first fruits
of the Spirit. We have repentance, that gem of the first water; faith, that
priceless pearl; hope, the heavenly emerald; and love, the glorious ruby.
We are already made "new creatures in Christ Jesus," by the effectual working
of God the Holy Ghost. This is called the firstfruit because it comes first. As
the wave-sheaf was the first of the harvest, so the spiritual life, and all the
graces which adorn that life, are the first operations of the Spirit of God in
our souls.
The firstfruits were the pledge of the harvest. As soon as the Israelite had
plucked the first handful of ripe ears, he looked forward with glad
anticipation to the time when the wain should creak beneath the sheaves. So,
brethren, when God gives us things which are pure, lovely, and of good report,
as the work of the Holy Spirit, these are to us the prognostics of the coming
glory.
The firstfruits were always holy to the Lord, and our new nature, with all its
powers, is a consecrated thing. The new life is not ours that we should ascribe
its excellence to our own merit; it is Christ's image and creation, and is
ordained for his glory.
But the firstfruits were not the harvest, and the works of the Spirit in us at
this moment are not the consummation-the perfection is yet to come.
We must not boast that we have attained, and so reckon the wave-sheaf to be all
the produce of the year: we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, and
pant for the day of full redemption. Dear reader, this evening open your mouth
wide, and God will fill it. Let the boon in present possession excite in you a
sacred avarice for more grace. Groan within yourself for higher degrees of
consecration, and your Lord will grant them to you, for he is able to do
exceeding abundantly above what we ask or even think.
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From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, July 29
"Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide." - Genesis 24:63
Very admirable was his occupation. If those who spend so many hours in idle
company, light reading, and useless pastimes, could learn wisdom, they would
find more profitable society and more interesting engagements in meditation
than in the vanities which now have such charms for them. We should all know
more, live
nearer to God, and grow in grace, if we were more alone.
Meditation chews the cud and extracts the real nutriment from the mental food
gathered elsewhere. When Jesus is the theme, meditation is sweet indeed. Isaac
found Rebecca while engaged in private musings; many others have found their
best beloved there.
Very admirable was the choice of place. In the field we have a study hung round
with texts for thought. From the cedar to the hyssop, from the soaring eagle
down to the chirping grasshopper, from the blue expanse of heaven to a drop of
dew, all things are
full of teaching, and when the eye is divinely opened, that teaching flashes
upon the mind far more vividly than from written books.
Our little rooms are neither so healthy, so suggestive, so agreeable, or so
inspiring as the fields. Let us count nothing common or unclean, but feel that
all created things point to their Maker, and the field will at once be hallowed.
Very admirable was the season. The season of sunset as it draws a veil over the
day, befits that repose of the soul when earthborn cares yield to the joys of
heavenly communion. The glory of the setting sun excites our wonder, and the
solemnity of approaching night awakens our awe.
If the business of this day will permit it, it will be well, dear reader, if
you can spare an hour to walk in the field at eventide, but if not, the Lord is
in the town too, and will meet
with thee in thy chamber or in the crowded street. Let thy heart go forth to
meet him.
Evening, July 29
"And I will give you an heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26
A heart of flesh is known by its tenderness concerning sin. To have indulged a
foul imagination, or to have allowed a wild desire to tarry even for a moment,
is quite enough to make a heart of flesh grieve before the Lord. The heart of
stone calls a great iniquity nothing, but not so the heart of flesh.
"If to the right or left I stray,
That moment, Lord, reprove;
And let me weep my life away,
For having grieved thy love"
The heart of flesh is tender of God's will. My Lord Will-be-will is a great
blusterer, and it is hard to subject him to God's will; but when the heart of
flesh is given, the will quivers like an aspen leaf in every breath of heaven,
and bows like an osier in every breeze of God's Spirit. The natural will is
cold, hard iron, which is not to be hammered into form, but the renewed will,
like molten metal, is soon moulded by the hand of grace.
In the fleshy heart there is a tenderness of the affections. The hard heart
does not love the Redeemer, but the renewed heart burns with affection towards
him. The hard heart is selfish and coldly demands, "Why should I weep for sin?
Why should I love the
Lord?" But the heart of flesh says; "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee; help
me to love thee more!" Many are the privileges of this renewed heart; "'Tis
here the Spirit dwells, 'tis here that Jesus rests."
It is fitted to receive every spiritual blessing, and every blessing comes to
it. It is prepared to yield every heavenly fruit to the honour and praise of
God, and therefore the Lord delights in it. A tender heart is the best defence
against sin, and the best preparation for heaven. A renewed heart stands on its
watchtower looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus. Have you this heart of
flesh?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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