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Daily devotions for 08-01-2005:
Devotion: Morning and Evening
Morning Title: Union With Jesus
Evening Title: Singing God's Praise
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Morning: Union With Jesus
"I in them."--John 17:23
If such be the union which subsists between our souls and the person of our
Lord, how deep and broad is the channel of our communion! This is no narrow
pipe through which a thread-like stream may wind its way, it is a channel of
amazing depth and breadth, along whose glorious length a ponderous volume of
living water may roll its floods.
Behold He hath set before us an open door, let us not be slow to enter. This
city of communion hath many pearly gates, every several gate is of one pearl,
and each gate is thrown open to the uttermost that we may enter, assured of
welcome.
If there were but one small loophole through which to talk with Jesus, it would
be a high
privilege to thrust a word of fellowship through the narrow door; how much we
are blessed in having so large an entrance! Had the Lord Jesus been far away
from us, with many a stormy sea between, we should have longed to send a
messenger to Him to carry Him our loves, and bring us tidings from His Father's
house; but see His kindness, He has built His house next door to ours, nay,
more, He takes lodging with us, and tabernacles in poor humble hearts, that so
He may have perpetual intercourse with us.
O how foolish must we be, if we do not live in habitual communion with Him.
When the road is long, and dangerous, and difficult, we need not wonder that
friends seldom meet each other, but when they live together, shall Jonathan
forget his David? A wife may when her husband is upon a journey, abide many
days without holding converse with him, but she could never endure to be
separated from him if she knew him to be in one
of the chambers of her own house. Why, believer, dost not thou sit at His
banquet of wine? Seek thy Lord, for He is near; embrace Him, for He is thy
Brother. Hold Him fast, for He is thine Husband; and press Him to thine heart,
for He is of thine own flesh.
Evening: Singing God's Praise
"And these are the singers . . . they were employed in that work day and night."
--1 Chronicles 9:33
Well was it so ordered in the temple that the sacred chant never ceased: for
evermore did the singers praise the Lord, whose mercy endureth for ever. As
mercy did not cease to rule either by day or by night, so neither did music
hush its holy ministry. My heart, there is a lesson sweetly taught to thee in
the ceaseless song of Zion's temple, thou too art a constant debtor, and see
thou to it that thy gratitude, like charity, never faileth. God's praise is
constant in heaven, which is to be thy final dwelling-place, learn thou to
practise the eternal hallelujah. Around the earth as the sun scatters his
light, his beams awaken grateful believers to tune their morning hymn, so that
by the priesthood of the saints perpetual praise is kept up at all hours, they
swathe our globe in a mantle of thanksgiving, and girdle it with a golden belt
of song.
The Lord always deserves to be praised for what He is in Himself, for His works
of creation and providence, for His goodness towards His creatures, and
especially for the transcendent act of redemption, and all the marvellous
blessing flowing therefrom. It is always beneficial to praise the Lord; it
cheers the day and brightens the night; it lightens toil and softens sorrow;
and over earthly gladness it sheds a sanctifying radiance which makes it less
liable to blind us with its glare.
Have we not something to sing about at this moment? Can we not weave a song out
of our present joys, or our past deliverances, or our future hopes? Earth
yields her summer fruits: the hay is housed, the golden grain invites the
sickle, and the sun tarrying long to shine upon a fruitful earth, shortens the
interval of shade that we may lengthen the hours of devout worship. By the love
of Jesus, let us be stirred up to close the day with a psalm of sanctified
gladness.
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Spurgeon's Morning & Evening Devotions
Morning, August 2
"He shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord." - Micah 5:4
Christ's reign in his Church is that of a shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but
it is the superiority of a wise and tender shepherd over his needy and loving
flock; he commands and receives obedience, but it is the willing obedience of
the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully to their beloved Shepherd, whose
voice they know so well. He rules by the force of love and the energy of
goodness.
His reign is practical in its character. It is said, "He shall stand and feed."
The great Head of the Church is actively engaged in providing for his people.
He does not sit down upon the throne in empty state, or hold a sceptre without
wielding it in government. No, he stands and feeds. The expression "feed," in
the original, is like an analogous one in the Greek, which means to
shepherdize, to do everything expected of a shepherd: to guide, to watch, to
preserve, to restore, to tend, as well as to feed.
His reign is continual in its duration. It is said, "He shall stand and feed";
not "He shall feed now and then, and leave his position"; not, "He shall one
day grant a revival, and then next day leave his Church to barrenness. " 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.
His reign is effectually powerful in its action; "He shall feed in the strength
of Jehovah." Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever Christ does is the
act of the Most High. Oh! it is a joyful truth to consider that he who stands
to-day representing the interests of his people is very God of very God, to
whom every knee shall bow.
Happy are we who belong to such a shepherd, whose humanity communes with us,
and whose divinity protects us. Let us worship and bow down before him as the
people of his pasture.
Evening, August 2
"Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my
strength."
- Psalm 31:4
Our spiritual foes are of the serpent's brood, and seek to ensnare us by
subtlety. The prayer before us supposes the possibility of the believer being
caught like a bird. So deftly does the fowler do his work, that simple ones are
soon surrounded by the net.
The text asks that even out of Satan's meshes the captive one may be delivered;
this is a proper petition, and one which can be granted: from between the jaws
of the lion, and out of the belly of hell, can eternal love rescue the saint.
It may need a sharp pull to save a soul from the net of temptations, and a
mighty pull to extricate a man from the snares of malicious cunning, but the
Lord is equal to every emergency, and the most skilfully placed nets of the
hunter shall never be able to hold his chosen ones. Woe unto those who are so
clever at net laying; they who tempt others shall be destroyed themselves.
"For thou art my strength." What an inexpressible sweetness is to be found in
these few words! How joyfully may we encounter toils, and how cheerfully may we
endure sufferings, when we can lay hold upon celestial strength. Divine power
will rend asunder all the toils of our enemies, confound their politics, and
frustrate their knavish tricks; he is a happy man who has such matchless might
engaged upon his side.
Our own strength would be of little service when embarrassed in the nets of
base cunning, but the Lord's strength is ever available; we have but to invoke
it, and we shall find it near at hand. If by faith we are depending alone upon
the strength of the mighty God of Israel, we may use our holy reliance as a
plea in supplication.
"Lord, evermore thy face we seek:
Tempted we are, and poor, and weak;
Keep us with lowly hearts, and meek.
Let us not fall. Let us not fall."
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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